001. every reunion is a type of heaven // open post.

[kawaakari]

Take a prompt, take your time, post whatever you like.

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July 31 || Tuesday

[atlas_shrugged]

[ He's holding the box with Kaien's pipe in his hands as he lingers just outside Kasumi's office. It's been awhile since he was last here... and their last conversation had ended on a very curt note. He's not quite sure what to feel.

Still, she hadn't turned down his invitation to drink. And he would really like to speak with her again. He gathers what courage he has left in him and knocks on her door ]

Good evening, Magistrate Aoi.

[ He's back to being formal. He's afraid to offend her. He thinks he may have offended her before. He hasn't brought any alcohol either. Only the pipe because he's thought it would be best to give it to her tonight for safekeeping till they can address the matter of Brother Kaien being MIA. ]

[kawaakari]

[She's been aware of his presence ever since she came around, but decided to continue working as per usual. He'd come around when he was ready to.

Hence, when the knock and the greeting comes, she's simply setting her things aside and bringing out that bottle of sake, together with two cups.]

Good evening. Come in.

[And she'll smile at him the moment he does, and lean back in her low chair, arranged impeccably as always.]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brig steps in, box in both hands like a sacred relic. Well, technically, it was.

How long has it been? 2 months? And he remembers how hard he tried to find a way to get back here. How slightly sad he was that he wasn't able to visit her when they were here at Seigi after they walked with Brother Death in Aokigahara.

He notices the sake and the cups. Well, I guess they were drinking. Keep it casual, Brig.

He sits down in front of her table and carefully places Kaien's pipe on her desk. ]

[kawaakari]

[She knows what's in that box immediately.]

You are bringing this to me for safekeeping, I assume.

[Saying that as she's pouring him a drink.]

[atlas_shrugged]

Yes, Ma'am. The only safer place I could think of leaving it with at the moment is with your son. And I know how painful it is for him to look at it.

[ He picks up his cup but waits for her to pick up hers before taking a drink ]

It would be tactically unsound to leave bring it with me to Africa. And even if it's safe here in Seigi, I'd rather be sure it's in the best hands, Mother Wolf.

[kawaakari]

A fair point.

[Smiling, as she takes the box and sets it behind her.]

I'll take good care of it. Kaien was a great oni-tsukai.

[atlas_shrugged]

Thank you, Ma'am. I'll feel safer about it knowing it's in your care.

[ And picking up on that last part of Kaien ]

If the files on the Themis database, the stories from An'yu-sama, and the esteem Hikaru holds the man in weren't enough, Ma'am, seeing memories of him make that beyond contestation.

[ Brig remembers Kaien giving the child a tiny dancer toy in the memory; it slowly paints a look of melancholy on his face. ]

[kawaakari]

[Picking up on that, of course.]

What did you see? From the pipe.

[She's heard about it, of course. That little instruction Henry Lim gave Brigade.]

[atlas_shrugged]

We saw Jotunheim, Ma'am. [ A beat ] Jotunheim and the last moments of Brothers Kuzunoha and Yamazaki before they were overrun.

[kawaakari]

Ah.

[Her voice has grown soft at that point. Understandably so, because she fought alongside Makoto and Kaien. She watched them grow up, in a way. She watched them help her son, help the Vigil.

She also had to bury them, or what little there was left of them to bury.]

That must have been... difficult.

Is that her faaaacial expression now??uwu

[atlas_shrugged]

[ He notes her voice go soft. He doesn't pry. They must've been close. Zangyaku is family. ]

They gave the order for everyone to leave. That they'd buy time for everyone to get out safely. [ Great sacrifice. A pause. Pregnant with sadness and respect. ] He gave a scared child a tiny, dancing doll he'd made to comfort her. [ Compassion and kindness ]

Pretty much, yeah. Lol

[kawaakari]

That does sound like something he would do.

[It's so Kaien Yamazaki, in fact, that it's a little painful, because hearing about that makes her remember all of the other little things that he used to do around Seigi, and whenever they happened to be on the engagement. Stories. Echoes.]

I heard from the few who managed to witness a bit of his last stand with Makoto that the two of them had fought splendidly.

[A part of her wishes that she could have seen it, or stood by them. Perhaps if she and a few others had been available, they wouldn't have had to die that way.]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Then he's as incredible a man as An'yu told Brig he was. A man Brigade would like to be like. ]

Did he do those kinds of things often, Ma'am? Small gestures, great gifts?

[ Brig nods at her last statement. An'yu told him that news as well. Two men against insurmountable odds. A veritable two-man Thermopylae. ]

[kawaakari]

[She nods with a tiny smile.]

He was a man of action before he was anything else. He learned the words later, and he used them well.

[Then, with a small chuckle:]

I suppose befriending my son helped, in that direction.

[atlas_shrugged]

Brother Hikaru's a talker. [ Brig smiles softly ] And it rubs off people easily.

Brother Yamazaki hadn't always been the giver we saw in the vision, before he met Brother?

[kawaakari]

He was. There was a time, however, when his heart was crushed and his resolve broken. We were worried that he would remain that way.

[Taking more of her drink now.]

[atlas_shrugged]

Would it be all right if I asked you to tell me more about it, Ma'am?

[ Kaien sounds like a man who soldiered through much and became all the better for it. Brig would like to at least know his story, if he never gets the chance to meet him alive ]

[kawaakari]

That's a story best told by Hikaru, actually. He was the one who saw Kaien through it.

[And she, Makoto, Feranen, and all the rest were eternally grateful.]

Have you met his sister? She is still alive.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ And so Brig will ask Hikaru about it. But that last bit is very much news to Brigade ]

I didn't even know he had a living relative, Ma'am. I'd be very much glad to meet her.

[kawaakari]

She is usually in Hirato. [That was Zangyaku's power base in Kyoto.] She is the Lady of the Night there.

[And she was rather close to retirement. Understandable, given how old she was.]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ A living relative. News on Kaien would hopefully be welcomed by her. ]

If I'm permitted, perhaps I can go visit her, Ma'am. When things are less busy.

[kawaakari]

That's a possibility. I can also let you know if she drops by Seigi, and ask Kalika to inform you if she comes to Kibo.

[Kanna is still one of the best Whisperers they have, and she was always willing to train new batches.]

[atlas_shrugged]

I would like that very much, Ma'am.

[ He means it.

He pauses and takes a sip of his sake. And takes a puff of his cigarette ]

How have you been? [ He smiles at her ] It's been a while.

[kawaakari]

I have been fine, all things considered. It has been rather interesting down here as of late, but few are aware of the fact that things could be much worse.

[And she's weathered THOSE storms. This is nothing.]

[atlas_shrugged]

I do recall you mentioning to me before that there's a lot of much bigger trouble out there. [ Months before ]

I hope they haven't been too interesting [ With a dash of how Hikaru says it ] or too difficult to manage.