NIKKARI;

[crashout]

Comments

[uncleanse]

Haha... I could tell.

[ he teases! because he likes!! ]

Besides, I'm sure you have far more questions for me than I do for you.

[crashout]

[Rude. But yeah, let's move away from his fiancee and back to something else...]

Yeah, I do. Such as when you became a father and why? I thought you couldn't meddle with history and stuff.

[uncleanse]

Haha... I wouldn't necessarily call myself a "father," but I can see why you would think as much.

That is exactly why my comrades and I had been dispatched to that era in the first place. Our enemies had already laid the groundwork for disrupting history by slaughtering the Matsudaira clan and their retainers. Thus, we took on the identities of the fallen and raised Lord Ieyasu in their place.

It helped that one of my peers was one of Lord Ieyasu's most prized blades—his extensive and intimate knowledge of Lord Ieyasu's lifetime helped us greatly in ensuring that the major events of those years stayed intact.

[crashout]

So...because you knew how the past went, you were able to recreate someone's future in the present. [Back to this bullshit again, because, haha, that's kind of very familiar. He's still highkey humiliated about what Nikkari saw and a little flutter of "want" beats in his chest for someone not even here, but he's stepping away from the bookcase to approach him.]

How many of you were there raising this kid?

[uncleanse]

Mm. There were six of us in total. Incidentally, Tonbo-san was also one—he was, perhaps, the closest thing our lord had to a true father figure.

[crashout]

[...a laugh.] I can kind of see that, actually. He gives off that sort of appearance.

[...wait.] He also told me he was good with children and now I feel kind of stupid for not thinking a little harder on that.

[uncleanse]

Haha... did you just accept it for what it was?

[crashout]

It was the first day, what else was I supposed to do?

[uncleanse]

Fair enough, I suppose.

Curious about anything else?

[crashout]

I'm always curious about you guys. [He can openly admit that.] But...so what, after he was grown up, the mission was over and you went back to the citadel? You had to pose as human for a long time, didn't you?

[uncleanse]

[ he just flashes another smile at that, though this one is subtly... subdued, compared to the usual. ]

Mm... not quite. You see, one of the men we acted as, Hattori Hanzo, played an important part in Lord Ieyasu's life. He would become one of our lord's most trusted allies, even going as far as to help raise his son, Nobuyasu...

And would later kill him once he'd been accused of treason against his father.

[crashout]

[...]

...were you that person? [Curious. Non-judgmental. Nikkari is a sword, after all. He's learned enough from Kanesada that the swords can't change history.]

[uncleanse]

Haha.

Fortunately, no.

[crashout]

[A sigh.]

Good. [...he'll step closer again.] Then...no more questions for right now. But maybe later?

[uncleanse]

[ he tilts his head as junpei approaches. ]

Hm?

[crashout]

[...hm. He's too afraid to offer to let him ask questions so he just turns and gestures for Nikkari to follow.]

Horror novels. Come on.

[He can't stop Nikkari from saying or doing anything though.]

[uncleanse]

Ah—right, right.

[ there's the briefest moment of hesitation where nikkari just stares at junpei before he gives a little shrug and reaches out to take the other man's hand. ]

[crashout]

[...well. If you give a boy your hand, he'll take it. Nikkari reaches for him and Junpei lets his fingers wind around Nikkari's, ignoring the fact that his hand's shaking just slightly from...nerves? Something else? It's hard to say. His face provides no tells and he begins to walk ahead.]

Fiction or non-fiction, you think? Not that this isn't enough of a horror scenario as it is.

[Is he still trying to be casual? Yeah.]

[uncleanse]

[ nikkari's certainly amused when he feels the tremble of junpei's hand in his, but unlike all their previous experiences, he chooses to keep this laugh to himself instead of share it. boy cute and he doesn't want to ruin the moment. ]

The line between the two may not be so clear cut, you know. Many believe my origins to merely be a legend, but I, of course, know each word to be true.

[crashout]

Are you really a ghost story then? [Thanks for not laughing at him because he's leading them further into the library and out of sight, still not quite connected to the conversation but holding Nikkari's hand.] How do you know that what you know is true?

[uncleanse]

[ his grip on junpei's hand suddenly tightens. ]

Would you like me to prove it?

[crashout]

[...well. Given where his head is at, and given this is someone he likes and trusts, the answer's obvious.]

...yes.

[uncleanse]

[ he closes his eyes as he guides junpei's hand to the bangs that cover his right eye.

when he opens them again, the red iris in that usually hidden eye suddenly seems sharper, more intense than the few times he's let other people see it. the deep, eerie grin on his face completes the picture. ]

[crashout]

[He pushes back the curtain of hair and blinks in surprise, jerking back just enough as he stares directly into his eyes.]

...what are you...? [...but, he's curious and not entirely afraid.]

[uncleanse]

Hahaha... I thought you knew? It is said that doing something for long enough can cause one to become their work.

Nothing has changed, of course.

I am Nikkari Aoe, the sword named for the frightening grin of the first ghost he was used to slay. What do you think, then, has happened to me over the course of my long, long life?