How Does That Make You Feel? [Private/Sousuke]

[Kazumi]

Shikara Toizume
NPC​

Everything was neat, tidy and in its place. Everything was peaceful, serene and calming. Everything was ready. Toizume made another walk around through her offices to verify that everything was as it should be. The books on the shelves inset into the wall were numerous, in their correct order and were dusted clean. The sofas were at their correct angles, the coffee table in the center perfectly aligned with the walls, and the drapes on the windows that looked out onto the surface of the village were tied back into a neat bow. She knelt down and ran her finger across the smooth wood of the window window seal. Dust, she would have to see to that later, but there wasn't enough time.

Toizume was not typically the overly neurotic type when it came to her office, with the key term being: overly. There had been two circumstances which required this level of detail. Firstly and most disruptively, her office had been wrecked just the day prior. She had been guiding a patient through his memories when some had gotten slightly out of control and it had triggered a psychotic episode. Toizume was prepared for this, it had happened before with other patients, but the resulting scene had done considerable damage to her furniture and the state of the office. Secondly, the ex-Kazekage and currant Steward was finally coming in for an appointment. He had put them off for months how, citing administrative responsibilities, and this would be his first session since he had stepped down to vacate the position for its rightful leader.

With everything set, she took a quick calming breath and walked her way into the restroom at the side of the office to make sure she looked presentable after blazing around the office in a last ditch tidying effort. Examining herself in the mirror, she adjusted her bangs and her brads, bringing the latter over her left shoulder where she preferred it to rest. It would not be but a few minutes before the appointment's time, and the Steward was rarely late for any of his appointments, if he went to them at all. Finally, she gave her cheeks a little smack to give them that faint warm glow and to reaffirm her attention before she turned and made her way from the small restroom to her desk. She slid the chair out and sat down, taking the lats few minutes to review over his past paperwork, not that she needed any refreshing, but she needed something to center her mind and keep her from messing with her braids. This could, after all, be a very important session for one of her most difficult patients. Potentially life changing, for better or for ill.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

At precisely 6:27pm Sousuke arrived. The Steward knocked on the door three times. He stood at the door looking reasonable. He was clean shaven, like always, he wore black armour which was a mesh of sorts. He dreaded this meeting. He had been avoiding it as much as he possibly could because he did not need an individual pointing out that some incident in his childhood dictated the individual he became, or the fact in some small corner of his mind he was an extraordinarily repressed individual. He was doing this more for the fact he wanted to be done with it and to move on. Since Katuso had become Kazekage, certain time slots were freed up in his never-ending schedule.

If Toziume were to answer the door, Sousuke would not look at her first but instead he would look around the room noticing everything was at a a particular angle and precise spacing. He would blink not once, but twice. He would seem as his usual self. Hard to read for the most part, and neutral in all things. Curiously he would seem less tired than he usually looked. There were no dark markings underneath his eyes. He would be allowed into the room and he would continue his observations. "The repairman despite a rushed job, seemingly has put the room back together easily enough. I could have done a better job."<i></i> He asserted. He would stop and turn his gaze back to the doctor. He would look at her face noticing the red, and then he would look up at the ceiling. His "Rouge might have been less painful, I don't know why you needed to ..."<i></i> He made an imitation gesture of smacking the facial cheek. Women had this thing about make up. Some used it to cover up certain things, but Sousuke was quite alright with a plain looking woman of natural proportions. It was a very strange and long winded thing. Sousuke was once told by Naganisa that the less clothes one wore the freer they felt. It was a very strange and disturbing notion considering her lack of clothing for the most part.

"Is this the part where I take a seat, and you ask me questions and try to unravel some grand and long missing characteristic that would help to form a true and complete individual?"<i></i> He finally inquired of Toizume. This meeting, he suspected, was going to be a first for many things. Sousuke was of an older schooling of not to complain and not having to explain. That was the notion of nobles a generation ago, to which Sousuke was not born into.

 

[Kazumi]

Hearing the knocks, she stood up from her desk and made her way over to the door to greet her patient. As the door opened he would be greeted with a warm and welcoming smile, even if he did not reciprocate in kind. She watched him as he quickly latched onto his comfort zone, attempting to preempt the conversation in an attempt to somehow avoid the entire purpose of the appointment. "I have seen your work Sousuke, I have no doubt you would put the work to shame. Not everyone is as naturally talented as you are, after all." Her words were level and pleasant, working to try and gently remind him of how not everyone lived up to his exceptional status.

When he did finally seem to notice her, the diversionary tactics continued. "Yes, but you know I do not care to use them. It is the same reason you polish your armor and shave your facial hair." She gave him an amused, if slightly playful grin before she closed the door and followed after him, moving over towards the couch on which she sat, knowing he would make his way to the other as he always had. "With all the changes you have been going through recently, perhaps you might consider allowing a small bit of facial hair to grow. You might like it." She was not entirely serious, and it was not the first time she had made a similar comment, but his responses were always amusing.

She sat down and looked up to him as he stood next to his couch attempting to mentally accept the events that were about to occur with his brand of humor. "It is indeed Sousuke. If that is what you hope to achieve. I am simply here to help guide you along the way." She gestured down to his couch and nodded. She would wait from him to finally take his seat, letting a few second roll by in silence to help him relax. "Before we begin, how has life been going for you? Events seem to have been transpiring very quickly for you from what I hear. The installment of a new Kage. The adoption of a daughter. The rumors of conflict with the Daimyo. If there were two of me I still would not have enough time to live in that chaotic maelstrom." As she finished, she continued to look over to him with genuine interest and only a faint showing of concern.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Those with natural talent were expected to perform and to put those talents to good or ill use. Perhaps if things did not unfold the way things did, Sousuke perhaps would have found himself in the higher echelons of an elemental Ancient Court. Perhaps he would have been a high ranking member of the Daimyo's army. Perhaps he would have been a self-made business man in Soon's and maybe one of the Merchant Lords. "I do what is expected of a person with my ability."<i></i> He answered formally as he took a seat on the couch. He didn't immediately lean into the chair. He sat there and allowed his gaze to drift into a corner in the room. "There was a long standing joke once made by a foreigner who married into the Nekozuka line, that the Kazekage is apparently a machine programmed to do what was best for the village and did such no matter how big or small the task is."<i></i> He narrated. He paused for a moment. His metallic hand tapped against the arm rest of the chair. He knew that Enzeru was joking, but several people took it as spoken gospel. "Facial hair tends to sometimes get trapped in a helmet, depending on the length it is grown. More of an occupational hazard. I once had lost of my hair from an incident in Inferno, and for several months people were calling me by my father's name... even though my eyes are very different. Hair is very flammable, especially when demon lords touch things and they tend to burst into flame."<i></i>

He finally leaned back into the chair when she spoke of the events that transpired. "Not an appointment, more so the true Kazekage coming into his own. He's not so much as a new Kazekage, just one that ... took time in finally accepting his position. I hesitantly became Kazekage. My ancestor Shiro did the same once. It was called a regency, but the Sunahoshi at that time was a child. Kazekage Katuso is in fact older than me. It wasn't a regency, it was more complicated than that. The rightful heir to the title decided it was time."<i></i> He answered. "Teke is my second adopted daughter. I suppose most people have entirely forgotten about Okibi, which is disheartening really - she once threw a public birthday party for me once."<i></i> Sousuke's expression seemed to sour greatly at the notion of this. What transpired between Sousuke and Okibi during the Cabal crisis was never documents, nor spoken of. Sousuke had taken care of Aki as best as he could. Who Aki was in the grand scheme of things was an unknown with the exception of Yume knowing that. Kuro could go on and on about what he lost, but Sousuke did not speak of it. The final topic went unspoken or perhaps avoided entirely. Sousuke did not like the fact Roku threw down a declaration of War. Katsuo equally threw down the gauntlet when he said unto those of Sora something akin to the prospect of 'we survived X, Y,Z and did X again, what do you think you have a chance?' Sousuke more or less was going about things in the shadows. It worked for Mikaboshi, doing things in the shadows. Acquiring attention and dragging things into the light led to harsh repercussions and several more items and or matters to account for. "You are Shikara Toizume the first of your name. You are not Takahashi Sousuke the third of his name, and ... ... ..."<i></i> He fell silent for a moment. "The oddity in history."<i></i>

 

[Kazumi]

Tousime sat and listened quietly for the most part, appearing attentive and nodding along with him as he spoke. Getting Sousuke to open up was one of the hardest parts of her job, when she got to see him, and while he tended to ramble, it was her best opportunity to find an opening in which she could wedge open that shell of his. She listens to him speak of the joke and remarked, "it is rare that any group of people can agree as to what is best for a single person, much less a village." There were a number of detractors during Sousuke's reign as Kage, many were fueled by a worry that he would not abdicate the position should the time come, but others simply did not agree with how he ran the village. She was not sure how Sousuke felt about those individuals, knowing him he could have either ignored them without a though or toiled over how to somehow appease the unappeasable. In either case she hoped to sooth those concerns, even if they were in the past.

After he explained how the selection of the Kage worked, she gave him an amused chuckle, "You need not explain such matters to me, Sousuke. His office is in this very building." Jokes and humor often seemed to be lost on Sousuke, but she believed there still was a human core to him, even if it was burred deep down beneath a sea of regrets and responsibilities. As he began to speak of Okibi she shifted her gestures subtly to appear more empathetic, nodding more solemnly. It was not a topic that was often brought up, and she knew that a wrong step here could prematurely end any chance for progress with this session. "I do remember that," she reminded him, edging the solemn tone with an air of remembered elation. It was not a strong memory of hers, just one of thousands, but she doubted that he even remembered she was there. "Quite the spectacle it was. She did a grand job of organizing it. Given your private nature I was surprised that you had agreed to it."

She tilted her head to one side and gave him a more enthusiastic smile, hoping to try and keep him from clamping back into his mechanical shell. "I even remember catching sight of you and Yume." She didn't outright say anything, knowing him more than anyone could follow the dots. "It was a pleasantly rare sight to see you as happy as you were." She gave him a small and pleasant laugh before clearing her throat and dulling her expression of elation. Taking on a more serious tone she continued, "I doubt anyone that knew her has forgotten her. They simply worry of upsetting the Steward or Kage by mentioning her." Truth be told, Toizume did not know what had happened to the girl. Given their career choice, she could have well been deceased, but she was not going to pry to deeply into Sousuke's private affairs without his consent.

She allowed the conversation to die for a moment between them, giving him time to recenter his thoughts as she readied herself for the second round. "What oddity do you refer to, Sousuke?" She leaned forward faintly, just enough for him to notice and to give off the strong impression of genuine curiosity. It likely was nothing, but she had to chase every lead that was available.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"Usually the one thing people can do in unison is disagree. It is a very tiring process but entirely possible to try and get people to agree on things. Most times it involves a reminder of a losing resources, rank, life, or perhaps the one true threat of mutually assured destruction. I cannot remember who coined the phrase first, historically that is, but 'unite or fall' is a very powerful phrase. I haven't said it, but usually people can get the implications of it when I have had a long form discussion with my nobles who are reminded by Lord Akamichi Nobu that I am the reason why some of them have continued to live decently."<i></i> Sousuke's himself was never quite sure what to make of it when Nobu did indeed step in. "Self preservation no matter one's ... moral insanity or sanity is a top priority."<i></i> Sousuke spoke this more for himself than for Touzime.

It was then they would discuss the secret birthday party Okibi had done. "My birthday is within the winter months. I tend to ... have the holiday party take precedent before any of my own celebrations. The holidays are more for a time of remembering of what we've done as a village rather than my own aging. I don't need to be reminded that time is a limited thing for me."<i></i> Mortality was fleeting. Time for an Ancient was really nothing. For someone such as Shiori time really meant nothing, if he understood her properly. An Ancient could die and in time reform, it may take quite a bit of time for a human, but it probably passed in the blink of an eye. "I didn't agree to the mistletoe. That happened on its own."<i></i>The concept of people not talking about Okibi to not cause him harm caused Sousuke to give the woman a confused look. "I doubt that. Lady Haku Tomoko the third keeps stating that she expected me to be older, taller, and less of a busy body."<i></i> One by one he would recite various nobles in the court who had mistaken him for someone else on occasion, and that it was the common people who remembered him best. He gritted his teeth. He turned into a lying position of sorts. He stared at the ceiling. "She had a child that was not hers by consent. She walked away from Sungakure, and stated I was an idiot for trying to save a doomed people. That the whole lot of them were ingrates and they deserved their fate to be destroyed by the Cabal. She stated that saving Sungakure was impossible, and that I didn't need to do the math to know I was going to die if I were to go to save the city I loved. She stated that ... I loved the city more than her, and that loving a dead cold lifeless object was ..."<i></i> His voice cracked for a moment. "... it was something I would do because in the ultimate end of things I was never really a human, just a machine in the flesh of one. A machine pretending to be a human."<i></i> He swallowed hard. "To make matters worse at that time she told her son she could not love him. He was not her responsibility and he never would be. Thankfully the child did not comprehend what she was saying."<i></i> Sousuke's eyes narrowed as he looked to the ceiling. "For a long time, perhaps too long have I blocked out those words in my mind with white noise. Some things are best left in the cold pools of one's memory. Some things are best left forgotten because they are the opposite of motivational."<i></i>

When she asked what he meant by oddity, he would looked from the ceiling over to her then. "The first Steward-Kazekage. The first Takahashi Kazekage."<i></i> He spoke for starters. "I was not coroneted - which I felt was not needed. I've tried to be frugal with my resources and distribute them as best I can to those at risk. Even then we still have the Grand Palais."<i></i>

MFT 300+

 

[Kazumi]

She listened silently, nodded as he wove the tale of Okibi, which she knew must be very difficult for him. He was rarely the kind to open up, so to do as much as he was doing now was a welcome surprise. Mentally, she attributed it to the stress of leaving his prior office. He had little time for sleeping, much less self-reflection, and while he was still one of the busier men in the village, with the rightful heir in his proper seat it must have been invigorating to have some level of freedom from the shackles of responsibility.

"Forgetting or burying the hard parts of our past is often the easiest way to move on from it, but those graves are loose and when the rains of hardship start to pour, those burials rarely last. Instead I would recommend coming to terms with what had happened. With Okibi. With the Cabal. With the village. You hold yourself to unattainable standards, to goals that we mortal humans are incapable of reaching no matter how wide our grasp. You pursue them with a fervor and determination that leaves you little room for things you consider frivolous such as humanity." She flipped a page up on the clipboard she was holding, glanced at something written within before she continued.

"Here in Sunagakure, we celebrate our humanity. We pulled ourselves out from the grip of our immortal tyrants and cast aside their shackles of slavery and servitude. In this, we seek to embrace that which differentiated us from the Ancients. Companionship. Cooperation. Our very humanity that joins us together in a way that only we humans could understand." She set it the clipboard down in her lap, reached up and took off her glasses to give them a quick cleaning. "Inside that armor of yours, " she gestured towards him with her glasses before sliding them back on, "beats the heart of men. Fragile, mortal and flawed, but it is those traits that define who we are and bring us together."

She paused for a few seconds before continuing, "you had asked why I reddened my cheeks before your arrival? It is because I am a vain human. Some may see it as a frivolous thing, but it is that imperfection that keeps me grounded and reminds me of who and what I am." She offered him an amused smile, appearing genuinely pleased about something. "We should embrace our imperfections and accept our flaws and failings. For it is through these that we grow and bond with one another. That we become those people that you love so dearly. The village is not a cold lifeless object, but the bonds of humanity that we all share as a people."

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke gave the woman a hard look, it was not full of malice or anger. She told him that what he was trying to do the unattainable. Sousuke had been pushing himself for a long time. He was trying to become the superior Takahashi Sousuke. In the goals he sought, there were indeed things he did certain things on the side. "The Kazekage, or Steward-Kazekage,"<i></i> He began, "Has no limits. People have died or have been injured because of my limits. Katuso is ... well, I don't hold him to the same standard as I do. He hasn't made poor decisions, not that I can speak of. I've made quite a few poor decisions, and I've been fighting the repercussions because of my decisions for some time."<i></i> Sousuke had slain a large monster in Soon's - to which he had lost his legs to. While he would not call himself a hero, his actions saved many people. He had been freeing people from slavery who were being transported to Sora. Sousuke had survived the wrath of Mikaboshi, and managed in part to resolve things peacefully. Katuso had helped to do the speaking part of the peace, Sousuke merely freed Mikaboshi of his pact. On the other end of things, there was still a hidden conflict with Mother Suna present. Katuso had told him to put that to bed, and he did. It was not out of his mind though, he suspected she would continue her task to revive her family. Mikaboshi deemed it impossible, but Sousuke was still trusting that Mother Suna would not lie.

The woman spoke of what Sousuke knew well of, humanity, and how it was celebrated in Sungakure. He was well aware of the facts. He answered her on the matter, "Sometimes one must die so others may live."<i></i> He ruled out loud. Humanity for Sousuke was one of those things he would be hard pressed to describe. Sousuke knew that Toizume knew who he was, what she did not know was what made him tick. All of this would be an exercise to know him better. "So do tell me, who do you think you are, and who are you truly?"<i></i>

 

[Kazumi]

Toizume slid herself back onto the couch, crossing her legs as she let him speak form his position on his couch. Her expression of amusement had faded, replaced with one more akin to distant concern. Her gambit had not worked as well as she had hoped, but even if it was not the leap she had hoped for, a step would suffice. She remained quiet until he posed the question to her. her reminder was firm but not annoyed, "we are here to talk about you, Sousuke." She waited just a moment before continuing, "from your tenure as Kazekage you know better than most that we are not privy to all that goes on within that office. Had I not had an office close enough to sometimes hear shouting, I might have thought your tenure was seamless, given the events outside of your control. There are those in the village who think so highly of you that they even believe you should not have abdicated, but we both know you are a man with too strong of loyalties and tradition to even consider such things. Things often look very different depending on which side of the window you are looking through."

She would pause to allow him to comment, should he wish, before she continued. "Have you been doing as I had suggested during our last session? A journal of the nightmares?" part of her fully expected that he did not respect her or her advice, and that he only went to these sessions out of an obligation to the village or his associates. Given that, she expected that he would have some excuse as to why he would not have made the time to record what they were or how they made him feel once he had awoken. It was her hope that a trend would emerge, or that seeing the fears of the irrational mind on paper would help him better come to grips with their true nature which might have helped to alleviate them.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"We're here to talk about me, there is something very painful in saying that out loud because it seems selfish of me to do this."<i></i> He paused for a moment and reconsidered it. This was helpful in some manner really, doing this gave the woman a job, and thus a livelihood which was something everyone needed. He leaned back into the couch and was ultimately lying down and stared at the ceiling. He listened to her speak of how people thought highly of him, which was something that never quite dawned upon him. Katuso had told him that he was the Kazekage this village deserved, but not the one it needed at this particular point of time. It was a peculiar notion, Sousuke put a lot of faith and stock in Katuso. He thought of Katuso to be a paragon of humanity, and so far he had not made a poor decision. "Did you know that I did not speak as a child? I was maybe four or three and a half? I am challenged in ways and brilliant in others. Autistic, socially challenged, but at the very least I consider myself not morally insane. I have been on trial my entire life for being socially or mentally challenged. Take your pick, one is far more honed than the other in a particular scope. I'm aware of what I am, when others are not or when others try to hide it. It's not the most moralizing thing when you find out your leader's greatest challenge is dealing with a crowd of people and trying to revive three old orders which held power in history."<i></i> Sousuke had to think, was Toizume present when he revealed the Orders? Did she see him proceed through the difficulty of dealing with such a crowd?

When Toizume then spoke of one of her requests, he record his nightmares, he held out his hand and called several papers to him. The papers formed a book, that flopped over in his hands. "I've kept a journal."<i></i> He spoke. He swung over and handed her the book he had in his hands. The contents of the book were disturbing. Most of them were alternate versions of things that had occurred. He detailed a battle with the Cabal that had ended with his brutal death, and Yume had acquired the Black Blade, which became a Black Resolver and she shot Urufuu in the back of the head. Another detailed that he was the last human in Wind Country and he was put on auction to the highest bidder between Ancients and Demons. Another dream detailed how Sungakure had been destroyed and he went about on a solo mission killing each member of the Cabal in gross detail using a shadowy power set. One of the lesser graphic nightmares was a reveal that he was not his parent's child and that he was in fact not human. Other nightmares contained vivid descriptions of monsters, and the rise of said monsters. There was a curious one of him being put on trial, and he was held accountable for the death and misery of Wind Country, and how he had allowed the Daimyo come to power. He curiously had written out part of what he had said earlier about how his entire life he had been on trial for being challenged mentally.

 

[Kazumi]

She took the book from him, paging through it quickly and only taking the briefest of glances through it, if only to verify that it was what he claimed it to be. She then closed it and set it on the table between them. "You speak of that word very frequently, Sousuke. Of morals and moral sanity. What is it that the word means to you? And before you recite me the exact lexiconical definition, I mean specifically what the word means to you." She uncrossed and recrossed her legs in the opposite manner as she watched him. She was aware of the documented facts of his conditions, medically speaking at the very least. It was part of the reason for her question; she presumed him to have fixated on the word to try and simplify a greater whole that he had difficulty processing. She hoped that even if he did not come to a better grasp of that, she might be able to gleam something from his answer.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke would give Toizume an odd look. Moral Insanity. Yes. He did in fact use that word quite a bit. Why was she asking if he knew the meaning of it? Sousuke was going to answer, but then she added something perhaps more meaningful to this be it that she told him to tell her what the word meant to him. Sousuke closed his eyes and rubbed them. He didn't answer at first, he thought about it. He was going to answer morally bankrupt, but he stopped himself because that was indeed a lexiconical definition. He held up his hand, "It means to me, I'm not the Daimyo of this country. A man who is so ... concentrated on his own ambition and without remorse to achieve it. I fully am aware of the saying the ends justify the means, and I did believe in that at one point. I've come to learn from Katuso the journey of getting to the end is full of meaning and that it legitimatize one further. The Daimyo allowed his favoured son, Shouki, to torture and harm his legitimate son and leave scar tissue. For what purpose? Did it please him? I have taken significant ... time portions in my day to help people in their day to day activities. Doing this thing is probably why I am unhealthy. In doing this I've been referred to as the Samaritan. The opposite of a morally insane person is the Samaritan. In order to truly be one, you have to give up substantial goods and have ... incorruptible qualities."<i></i> He answered for starters.

His vision focused on a particular tile in the roofing of this office. "Kaito, a member of the Cabal, a wronged man I would later learn, I will admit I did wanted to end his life. I judged that if he had left to remain amongst the living that he would continue to harm people. If you leave an individual alive long enough they are more than likely to return to their original programming to which his was murder and anarchy. Did I consider my actions morally insane? Maybe. Luckily he has not been murdering people. He's been confined to a hospital dying of cancer."<i></i> He stopped for a minute and went quiet unto which he muttered. 'I have no idea if those two items are related. I once thought Kaito to be morally insane, but he revealed to us where the heart of the source of the Daimond Maelstrom was. I suppose the point is, the deal Katuso brokered with him ... made all of our lives better in the long run."<i></i>

 

[Kazumi]

Her knee began to bop up and down subconsciously as she listened to him work his way though it. Around half-way through his answer she took notice of it and pressed her hand down upon her leg to stifle the jittery movement. It had been a late night before, and it seemed that the tea was causing her to be a little jittery, but she had to make sure not to give the man anything to distract him from his own inner machinations. She silently wondered how much of this he thought through on his own, or how much of it was being forced to the surface by means of their sessions. She hoped it was the latter, but it was a vain thought that she tried to ignore.

"We often make decisions that we do not truly know the outcome. Sometimes we make them by instinct, others by calculated odds and others by pure whims. What matters is that we can live with the decisions we make, but also that we do not blame ourselves for not knowing this outcome before hand." She tilted her head from one side to another, musing over a thought. "I would like to believe that the Daimyo is like the rest of us, just more controlled by his fears than you or I. To think that our current conflicts may have been avoided if he had the fortitude to work with a therapist to sort through his personal demons." This was, again, her vanity speaking, but it was something she truly believed.

"Now," she looked over towards the back of the room to her desk where an old fashioned clock sat, "our time today is coming close to an end. Was there anything you wanted to discuss before I unshackle you from your seat?" She gave him a smile, trying to keep him from clamming up from the direness of the prior discussions. "Perhaps on how you are spending your newfound free time or perhaps something else?" Toizume adjusted herself, making her appear more relaxed, as if they were simply friends sipping tea together and discussing a good book, rather than a doctor and patient.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke gave Toizume a 'really? You're kidding me.' expression. He shook his head. He grimaced slightly at the thought of what could happen to Toizume. Most of it involved death, violence, and her being violated. Sousuke had seen the work of Shouki to women, and it was certainly something he was going to avoid from happening again. "I wouldn't let you within one kilometer of that man if I could help it. Not only him, but his son, Shouki, too for that matter."<i></i> That was perhaps one of the nicer things Sousuke could say to this woman. Did he like this session? Not overly. Did he think well of Toizume? Well. He wouldn't want to see harm come to her. This woman had a bit of an ego, if she could think she could solve the Daimyo problem? That was ... perhaps bloated to the point of ... it didn't matter. This woman was entitled to her opinion, even it was dangerous to herself.

Sousuke looked over to the same clock she looked at. Time had passed rather quickly. Time did that when you don't pour over every second on a clock. He sat up. "We'll talk about another appointment. In two weeks, same time?"<i></i> He took a moment to consider what she had said. "We'll talk about that next time. I've been re-evaluating some of my prior relationships with people. Most of the time it's full of regret and annoyance on my part."<i></i> He spoke. Most of these relationships were considering women in his life. Yume and Shiori for the most part. Then there was the odd situation with Toraono Seika. There was the oddest one of the lot being Mikaboshi. There was untold amounts of regret in that. Mainly because ... it was unrequited, and what one thought of the other necessarily wasn't always made aware of.

"I'll show myself the door."<i></i> Sousuke finally spoke as he made motion for it. Once the door was closed, he would open it once more and poke his head in. "You don't need to pat your cheeks for me next time."<i></i> He said before closing the door for the final time.

[Topic left]