practicality: (wistful)
practicality ([personal profile] practicality) wrote2010-12-03 02:15 pm
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Does the word 'Shinsengumi' mean anything to anyone?

[OOC: 'Shinsengumi' = 'newly selected corps', more or less. Actual historical group so knowing doesn't fourth-wall him]

[identity profile] coughcoughshank.livejournal.com 2010-12-06 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
[Daitou watches Rain, sees that glance away - so he had failed, at some point in his past.]

I...was justifying my reasoning for killing a man.

[identity profile] notpissedoff.livejournal.com 2010-12-06 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
[Rain looks calmly back at Daitou. He should probably be caught unawares by that sudden admission, but finds that he isn't in the least. He has to wonder if he himself has ever killed anyone... he already knows he's been trained for it. And if Daitou was bound by this code, he almost certainly has been, too.]

Are you a samurai?

[identity profile] coughcoughshank.livejournal.com 2010-12-06 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
I don't know. Though after that memory...I think, maybe. I'm good with a sword - even my dream was fighting.

[identity profile] notpissedoff.livejournal.com 2010-12-06 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
It seems likely.

[That his dream involved fighting is to be expected, considering what the man chose to name himself. Rain thinks for a moment, then goes back to something else Daitou had touched on.]

You said you know the list of other trespasses. [He's curious as to whether the rest of them are just as familiar.]

[identity profile] coughcoughshank.livejournal.com 2010-12-06 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[He ticks each one off on a finger as he speaks. Now that he's seen them, it seems almost impossible that he couldn't remember them.]

Leaving the Shinsengumi. Raising private funds. Engaging in private litigation. Engaging in private fights.

[identity profile] notpissedoff.livejournal.com 2010-12-07 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
[Rain listens silently as Daitou lists them, and remains quiet for a moment afterward.]

...That all sounds familiar. [Like it's something he should know as well as his own name, except that he's forgotten that, too. He looks away, out into the distance, then closes his eyes with a slight sigh.]

We may both be guilty of leaving.

[identity profile] coughcoughshank.livejournal.com 2010-12-08 06:27 am (UTC)(link)
[Daitou is silent for a moment, then nods]

Even if it was against our will. I suppose we'll face the consequences whenever we return home...

[identity profile] notpissedoff.livejournal.com 2010-12-09 05:32 am (UTC)(link)
...Perhaps being taken is not considered the same as leaving. [He has to hope so, anyway.]

[With everything Daitou's said sounding so familiar, Rain recalls their first meeting at the dojo, when he briefly wondered if he'd seen the man around before. He brushed aside the feeling then, but he realizes now that they almost certainly must have known each other. And that Daitou is the first person he can say that about. His next question is spoken before he thinks it through properly.]


Did you see a young woman in your memory? [He immediately regrets asking - he doesn't want to talk about her - but too late.]

[identity profile] coughcoughshank.livejournal.com 2010-12-09 11:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I hope so.

[Daitou's eyes had fallen at the thought of what awaited their return. He wanted out of this place, but that was a hard price to stomach. He glanced up at the question, though.]

No, only the boy. And...there was someone else's name, but I missed it, I think. The person who wrote the code.

[identity profile] notpissedoff.livejournal.com 2010-12-10 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
...You missed it? Or was it blocked?

[It isn't anything that Rain has experienced personally, but he's aware of the phenomenon. If the tree doesn't want you to remember something, it simply won't let you hear it, or see it. He has heard a few names in his memories, but can't offer any insight as to who may have written the laws. The mention of a boy brings a vague sense of familiarity though, and it takes him a moment to place it. Not from a memory; from his birth dream.]

I heard a boy once, although I didn't see him. He was... very loud. And upset. [Rain frowns.]

[identity profile] coughcoughshank.livejournal.com 2010-12-10 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
[He frowns slightly]

Blocked, maybe. The memory-me said something that sounded as if it should have had a name at the start.

The boy in mine was upset, too. Angry.

[identity profile] notpissedoff.livejournal.com 2010-12-11 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
[Rain wonders... well, it's worth a try. If they truly are from the same place, comparing information can only benefit them both. And he can share this much without compromising his privacy.]

I've not had anything blocked from me in that way, yet. I've heard the names Masuya, Yoshida, and Hijikata. [And Sen, but he's not going there. That's personal. He glances back at Daitou.] Are any of those familiar to you?

[identity profile] coughcoughshank.livejournal.com 2010-12-11 08:58 am (UTC)(link)
[Daitou can hear the first two names just find, but there's a roaring sound, like a sudden wind, over the last name. He frowns]

What was the last name you said? I couldn't hear it over the wind.

[identity profile] notpissedoff.livejournal.com 2010-12-11 10:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[...Well. The wind isn't that loud. Rain repeats it, slowly and clearly, to be sure.]

It was Hijikata.

[identity profile] coughcoughshank.livejournal.com 2010-12-12 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
[And again, a rush of wind. Daitou's frown deepens.]

I missed it again. Like something was trying to keep me from hearing it.

[identity profile] notpissedoff.livejournal.com 2010-12-12 07:49 am (UTC)(link)
That's almost certainly the case.

[If Rain had needed any more confirmation, there it was. They both knew this Hijikata, and he was someone important enough to Daitou that the tree didn't want him remembering just yet. Rain turns to face the other man straight on.]

I believe we must have known each other.

[identity profile] coughcoughshank.livejournal.com 2010-12-12 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[He nods.]

If you know a name this place won't let me hear. What do you know about that person?

[identity profile] notpissedoff.livejournal.com 2010-12-13 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
[That he was putting his trust in me... Not going there. Rain looks away, shaking his head slowly.]

Next to nothing. I believe he was someone of authority. I... may have reported to him, but I can't be certain. [He pauses briefly.]

Can you tell me anything more about the boy?

[identity profile] coughcoughshank.livejournal.com 2010-12-13 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
[Daitou frowned again at that, absentmindedly picking at some of the grass in frustration. Someone important - but he didn't know why]

The boy's name was Tetsu. He was small - spiky red hair. He was upset with me for what I had done.

[identity profile] notpissedoff.livejournal.com 2010-12-13 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
[Now it's Rain's turn to scowl at what sounds like a sudden loud, strategically placed gust of wind.]

I can't hear that name.

[So he's remembered someone important to Daitou - a name and perhaps a voice, at least - and Daitou's remembered someone important to him. And they're prevented from telling each other much. Well played, Edensphere. And why would a loud little boy be important enough that Rain can't hear his name?]

[identity profile] coughcoughshank.livejournal.com 2010-12-13 04:30 am (UTC)(link)
[Daitou sighs heavily at that. Mysteries for both of them, it seems.]

I hate this place.