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Post by Asai Yuuto on Sept 27, 2006 21:27:07 GMT -5
Being a man of his word had worked a lot against Orie, and Yuuto was more than a little pleased that there was no need to persuade Orie to join him for tea. Well, not much, at least.
The tea had been perfect, and the company (while a little quiet) enjoyable. The silence wasn't unnerving, though. It was companionable, and Yuuto didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable. However, when he glanced down at Orie as they exited the chashitsu, Yuuto wasn't sure his younger companion had the same feelings about the entire ordeal.
Stepping out of the tea house and onto the roji, Yuuto inhaled a deep breath of fresh, cool air. The garden was lifeless at that time of the year, but the air considerably less stuffy than the enclosure of the chashitsu. He smiled pleasantly, crossing his arms inside the haori sleeves.
"Did you enjoy it?" Even a little? he added silently to himself, leading Orie along the shrine path encased in trees.
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Post by Orie Hidehira on Sept 27, 2006 21:36:05 GMT -5
"Yes," replied Orie, automatically. It wasn't an entirely false answer, but it did lack a certain amount of enthusiasm. He certainly hadn't detested the entire ordeal, but he had been hoping in the corner of his mind that the general would've just let their little appointment slide. Based on their previous interactions, Orie was convinced Asai was making a particular effort to unruffle him in some way, shape, or form. He did seem to gain some sort of enjoyment in seeing him thrown off kilter.
Orie stubbornly refused to allow himself to make himself a bigger idiot than he had on the first day they met, regardless. "If that'll be all, Asai-sama..."
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Post by Asai Yuudai on Sept 27, 2006 22:13:32 GMT -5
Today Yuudai decided to perch himself on one of the lowest branches of the tree, his eyes focused down towards the trail intently. He heard Yuuto took up a guest and had plans for tea, so he waited patiently to see the newcomer and hope to catch the Asai leader off guard. There was no sign of the two until he heard an unfamiliar voice. Alerted he placed his left hand down on the branch and braced himself. Without warning either two that he was there he sprung himself off the branch and made way towards Yuuto. At least an attempt to bring the older man down.
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Post by Asai Yuuto on Sept 28, 2006 0:58:31 GMT -5
"Actually-" he started to say, but before he could get the sentence out, Yuuto's sharp hearing picked up something amiss in the branches above their heads.
Almost, but still not quick enough!
Sidestepping easily, a lithe body dropped quietly down to where Yuuto had previously been standing. Long, black hair trailed behind the newcomer's back, his clothing fluttering as he leaped. The stranger landed on crouched legs with perfect grace, but Yuuto only continued to smile pleasantly at Orie, as if men falling out of trees were an everyday occurrence in Chiba.
"Actually," he tried again, "I thought I might introduce you to some of the Asai clan that you will be working with closely from this point onward."
Yuuto's golden eyes slid to the man rising to stand beside him, amusement clear in the tone of his voice.
"Good afternoon, Dai-kun." The general's eyebrows rose, and mock-surprise colored his features. He wasn't fooling anyone, even if he did manage to appear like he'd only just realized Yuudai was standing there.
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Post by Orie Hidehira on Sept 28, 2006 8:37:53 GMT -5
When the first words of response wasn't, "No, you may go," Orie was too preoccupied with resisting the overpowering urge to make a face to notice the man stealthily creeping up on them from above. He jumped when Yuudai appeared, nearly tripping on the uneven ground, but thankfully had enough luck and restraint not to cry out or fall gracelessly on to his backside.
Were all the members of the Asai clan this weird?! He fought to maintain the neutral look on his face, greeting the man from the trees with a short bow but no words, waiting for a real introduction. What was with this family anyway?! Did they all aspire to make their first impressions as odd or strange as they could make them? Grandfather, he complained inwardly, what did I ever do to you that warranted this?
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Post by Asai Yuudai on Sept 28, 2006 9:47:50 GMT -5
Go figure, not even a 'favored' guest can distract him. He almost sighed at the personal defeat, eyes shifting towards Yuuto. Sure, he would have said something quite cynical about missing this time around but he would respect his cousin's authority, for now. Catching Orie's bow out of the corner of his eye, his attention focused on the younger male. Yuudai had no idea Orie was so young, no doubt his eyes had fooled him.
"Who do we have with us today, Yuu-san?" he asked, assuming Orie wasn't that important to start wavering around 'Asai-sama'. And if he was? Well, that was Yuuto's fault for addressing him as Dai-kun. Perhaps it was proper to slide into introduction but it hadn't crossed his mind when he was too busy staring.
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Post by Asai Yuuto on Sept 28, 2006 16:39:48 GMT -5
"This is my first in command," Yuuto explained, resting a palm in the small of his cousin's back. "Asai Yuudai. When I'm not in Chiba, he is my voice."
Orie's bow was stiff, and Yuuto had spent at least enough time in his company to see that the boy was uncomfortable. Granted, Yuuto and Yuudai's relationship was a bit odd, and there were times when Yuudai stressed even the general himself, but Yuuto had been hoping...
He shut that thought down quickly. Yuuto wasn't entirely sure what he was hoping where Orie was concerned, and there were more appropriate times to sort out his motivation.
"Orie Hidehira is Sensei's grandson," Yuuto informed his cousin, knowing that Yuudai had met with the elder Orie on more than one occasion. "So do try not to manhandle him too harshly," he joked.
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Post by Orie Hidehira on Sept 28, 2006 17:21:22 GMT -5
"Hajimemashite," Orie said perfunctorily, choosing for his own sake rather than anyone else's to ignore that particular jest of Yuuto's. He was quickly learning that if he wanted to at least keep himself sane, that he should omit about half of what actually came out of the general's mouth. It was turning out, so far, to be a particularly successful coping method.
He lifted his attention to find Yuudai scrutinizing him, and immediately tensed. Was the fellow looking for something? Measuring him up? Was everybody he met going to do this, or was it just some sort of familial habit? He steeled himself and met the other man's eyes without any hints of intimidation. Maybe this could work out to his advantage. "I'm sure that you two have important things to discuss, so if you don't mind, I'll get going."
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Post by Asai Yuudai on Sept 28, 2006 19:09:03 GMT -5
"I'll try not to," he said to correspond with Yuuto's informative response. His attention was still focused on Orie, smiling when the boy actually looked at him. So, this is Sensei's grandson? Yuudai knew Sensei and Yuuto were close but noticing the tension from Orie made him pause and consider the younger one's statement. Was it important? No, not entirely. Taking a quick step forward to block Orie's path, while his smile widened.
"You're the guest, nothing is more important than you right now," his voice was liquid and smooth and his left hand rose in emphasis while he turned. Now that his face was in his cousin's direction he rolled his eyes, knowing this would be difficult.
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Post by Asai Yuuto on Sept 28, 2006 19:30:44 GMT -5
Eyebrow rising slowly, Yuuto wondered at his cousin's reasons to prod. However, he merely inclined his head toward the path, waiting for Orie and Yuudai to precede him before following at their heels.
From behind, the general couldn't help but notice how well Orie and Yuudai complimented each other. Their skin tones, hair color- Yuuto suddenly felt even more different among his own people. He firmly pushed such pointless, self-pitying thoughts down deep, and focused his gaze on the stiff posture held between Orie's shoulders.
"Speaking of important guests," he began, "how is your new pet coming along?" The subject was safe to discuss in front of Orie, and Yuuto was never above testing his younger cousin's sensibilities. "Has kitty's claws grown back?"
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Post by Orie Hidehira on Sept 28, 2006 20:35:06 GMT -5
Orie kept quiet, eyes narrowing at Yuudai when the other man turned to face his cousin. He didn't like whatever sort of secret conspiracy was running unsaid here. The expression didn't last for long - it was rather impolite, directed at a superior, so by the time anyone noticed, it had been replaced by neutral blandness.
He walked a little out of step behind Yuudai, keeping his thoughts to himself. If they were going to talk about things like this, he thought, they could've just let me go. It seemed trivial enough at face value, but he was experienced enough with Yuuto's conversation patterns to suspect what they really were referring to. This is none of my business.
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Post by Asai Yuudai on Sept 28, 2006 20:44:24 GMT -5
Continuing forward he listened to the other's footsteps, wondering why he had even bothered to ask for Orie to stay if Yuuto was going to bring up other matters at hand. "Tch, it's not my pet - he's fine and he will be leaving soon," he made it clear a second time that he didn't want Omi around. Nakamura annoyed him for some reason and no matter how hard he tried to make a valid point of it - it would just slip away. For a moment he lifted his hand to gesture towards Orie, making a silent threat that if Yuuto brought Omi up again he would ask the same question back in context of Orie.
"Are you enjoying your stay?" he asked Orie, suddenly appearing aggressive. Yuudai did get the hint Hidehira wanted to leave, thus he wanted him to stay.
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Post by Asai Yuuto on Sept 28, 2006 21:27:12 GMT -5
Restraining a sigh, Yuuto mentally answered for Orie.
Not in the least.
It wasn't that the general was blind to Orie's discomfort. He was sure that removing himself from the picture would help the boy relax more, but if that were the only option, Orie would just have to grow accustomed to being nerve-wracked. For some reason, he felt that Orie was worth the effort- that all the hassle wouldn't matter if Yuuto could only get the young man to lighten up.
Suddenly feeling older than his twenty-eight years, Yuuto scrubbed a hand over his face in frustration. Roughened fingertips brushed the familiar scar, and his habit of tracing the vertical line took over.
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Post by Orie Hidehira on Sept 28, 2006 23:01:26 GMT -5
Orie glanced to the side, looking at Yuudai for a moment before replying. He wasn't exactly sure what that question was supposed to accomplish, or what sort of answer the other was hoping to glean from it, but he didn't let it bother him too much. "Yes, thank you for asking," he responded, just as it was customary and expected for him to say. "Do you also reside here usually, sir?"
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Post by Asai Yuudai on Sept 28, 2006 23:16:30 GMT -5
Yuudai's expression suddenly changed, the smile fading from his lips. There was something out of place and he slowly took note of what it was. Yuuto, was in fact, very silent. He was used to hearing his voice and now it was no longer filling his ears. Barely hearing Orie's question, his head slowly nodded and he replied just as curtly. "Yes, I usually do." It also bothered him that Orie was so dang polite, hardly venerate. So inhuman.
He wanted to say something about it but he also didn't want to come off as harsh when he told Yuuto he would watch himself. Turning to look over his shoulder at his cousin, he shook his head 'no' silently. Maybe because he didn't know how to treat strangers anything but kind. "So, ah, Orie-kun," he said, looking forward once more. "I haven't earned anyone's respect so cut the act. You're not here to impress me or Yuu-san." Once it was out, he started to regret it.
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