The Sound and the Fury

[Takahashi Aki]

The Steward did not regret hacking the sound system of the Toraono dojo during the Djinn invasion. It was if anything a shot in the dark as far as assaulting the massive ego of the beast . The Steward never expressed it, but he was amused with the concept of 'hells bells getting at the Djinn'.

What the Steward did regret was the massive damage the Djinn did to the speaker system once he was able to get on the nerves of the Djinn, or at least that was what the Steward thought. Like himself the Djinn was complicated. The Steward merely judged that when the Djinn destroyed the sound system it was out of spite for what the Steward had done to him in the musical assault.

Thus the Steward took it upon himself to repair the sound system of the Toraono dojo. It wasn't a complicated job, but it did involve having to use a ladder as he was not as tall as Kuro was. The Steward worked his way from room to room fixing and replacing the speakers, one at a time. It was fairly early in the morning so the Steward did his best to keep himself from dropping any of the speakers or causing a loud ruckus. It wasn't hard, but he was bound to wake at least someone, sometime during his maintenance work. At the very least he hoped he was not going to wake Kuro or any other notable individual in the house hold.

The Steward held the next speaker to install as he climbed up the ladder. The Steward poked at the wall to make sure it was going to be steady before mounting said speaker. Having made sure that the wall was not going to crumble, the Steward fired a plasma bolt into the wall. From there he would insert the necessary inserts and then place the speaker on.

 

[Toraono Suzuhime]

Suzuhime yawned lightly from the luxurious bed she shared with her husband. Waking up a bit earlier than he typically he would, it seemed he was still wiped from trying to keep up with his wife's sex drive despite being 'inexperienced'. Poor man, he'd get better eventually. Suzuhime sitting up from her spot in the bed and looked down at him lovingly. Even such an intimidating figure such as Kuro could look so vulnerable when he slept. It made the young woman happy that she was the only person to see Kuro in such a state. Gently stroking his forehead before she quietly exited from beneath the sheets. Suzuhime was in no attire to currently go into any other part of the dojo, so she would adorn a large night gown, perhaps trying too hard to seem innocent. But the night-time clothing covered her modestly, so it was fine. Suzuhime suddenly heard faint sounds coming from outside of their room. The sound of foot colliding with metal... someone was climbing a ladder... how Suzuhime knew was pretty pathetic. Due to her own severely short stature, if she didn't climb something, she used a ladder for it... all too often.

Suzuhime had exited from her bedroom, her hair slightly unkempt as she looked up to where the noise was to see a rather unusual site. The man was obviously not a servant of the dojo. Especially since both Suzuhime and Kuro had issued orders that guests and servants were not allowed back here by their bedroom chamber's unless requested. Suzuhime adopting a rather stern face, while trying to think of why someone was up there installing... speakers? Yes... Kuro had told her about it, a rare chance where he actually forced Suzuhime to stay far away from the central part of the village. Having never seen Kuro like that, she obliged. She later returned to see most of the dojo destroyed. Thankfully it was repaired rather quickly, and in time for the lavish wedding Kuro arranged for them. Something about the speakers being destroyed...? It all seemed like a hazy memory. Suzuhime had still been reeling from her last mental breakdown at the time. Nevertheless.

"Excuse me!"

She called up to the man on the ladder. When he would acknowledge her, she would instantly begin the interrogation. She could swear she had seen this man before... but it escaped her from where.

"Vho are you, vhat are you doing back here, and vhy?"

She crossed her arms expectantly. Quite unaware she was being so disrespectful to the Steward​

<i></i>

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The Steward hard a voice. It came from a lower position. The speaker also had a hint of a foreign tone to her voice. The Steward turned as finished installing the speaker and looked about. Then he turned his gaze lower. Ah yes. The speaker was shorter than he originally supposed she was. Suzuhime was known to Sousuke as 'the foreigner', it was not a name of a disdained nature, it was merely Sousuke's observation of her. The Steward said nothing but stepped down the ladder. "In the name of the One King and the Mother Suna Pilgrims I was christened Takahashi Sousuke the third. I prefer Sousuke truth be told, but most people have the habit of putting nicknames on me.I trust that we are above that now Yamakazi Suzuhime, or should I say Toraono Suzuhime?"<i></i> The Steward was very much aware of 'the foreigner's' married status. The Steward held his hands behind his back and stood there for the moment. A silence followed as the Steward made an assessment of the tiny woman. "Marriage has put a few pounds on you since we originally met, and from the time you were in my lecture. I would think ... maybe three? No more than five."<i></i>

The Steward's gazed shifted from the tiny foreign woman to the speakers. "Ah. Yes. My late wedding gift. I recycled some material and put together a new speaker system for the dojo. I am not a man of mass wealth, or any wealth truly. It is most unfortunate I could not attend, but I did attend your engagement party. That was ... quite something."<i></i> The Steward merely blocked out the images in his mind of a certain ritual battle between Queen Azame, and Suzuhime. The Steward recollected not being comfortable with their nakedness. To him, it felt morally wrong to gaze and so he did not. "When I say that I refer to the assassins. I am still having difficulty in understanding their bioglogy since the undead should lack the ability to move their muscles since they should quickly deteriorate and or fall apart."<i></i>

 

[Toraono Suzuhime]

Suzuhime raised an eyebrow to the speaker. Sousuke huh? As yes... the steward Kage. Didn't she attend a lecture taught by him once? She ended up falling asle-. And it seemed her deigned to add on the notion that Suzuhime had gotten fatter. She had been recently confirmed to be pregnant with twins by her brother yes, but it shouldn't have been that obvious yet. She had to keep in mind that ser Sousuke here was a very scientific, and more importantly, a very smart person. Suzuhime raising an eyebrow.

"Vhell I suppose zhat's a comforting alibi. But your observations of mein own physical form are un-needed from now on. Agreed?"

Suzuhime would uncross her arms. Trying to be a bit friendlier.

"I suppose I owe you a thanks for saving zhe dojo as best as you could. Kuro vouldn't let me anywhere near all the commotion zhat had been going on."

She would lose her frown looking up at the speaker he was supposed to be installing.

"Vhell... I hoped to fix the speakers myself. But we appreciate the gift Sousuke."

Suzuhime found it awkward to speak to Sousuke in such a manner. When she first arrived, she treated him with high respect. Being how he simply let Suzuhime in without much fuss. At least they were both rather extraordinary engineers.

"So, I believe we have never gotten properly introduced, ja? I've noticed you're quite experienced with mechanical things as well."​

<i></i>

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"Well. I suppose I could agree to that, pre-supposing that both of us are to remain healthy. Something that I would seem to--"<i></i> A fit of coughing came over the Steward as he was trying to state his point, but failed to do so. After a few seconds Sousuke seemed to have gotten over his fit. He paused for a moment and waved his hand as he cleared his throat. Hopefully Suzuhime would have gotten his point. The consort of Kuro thanked him for saving the dojo in which Sousuke merely nodded his head as it had yet to seem he was capable of talking yet. Next she thanked him for the gift. Again the Steward tried to clear his throat having some difficulty in doing so. Another fit of coughing came over him. Ultimately he nodded his head.

Suzuhime next made a point of that the two had never properly introduced each other. "You know my formal title of course. Though I suppose you would not know that I am the third Takahashi Sousuke."<i></i> He paused for a moment thinking what else made up his formal introductions. "I was christened by the Mother Suna Pilgrims, and named after my grandfather and his ancestor before him."<i></i> He added shortly after. There was a pause again. "It is ... somewhat expected for me to be mindful of mechanical items. We Takahashi are after all well known for our puppets. I can assemble them, theorycraft about them, but ultimately my shortcoming is getting the chakra-strings to properly work."<i></i>

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Demon Kuro strode around the bed chamber in the remains of the throne of bone in all his terrible sluggishness with a tingle of happiness rounding out his general anger over the loss of so many lives to Djinn. The loss of life was unacceptable to him and he would love to do nothing more than spend eternity granting Djinn or whomever he truly was pain till the end of days. As he rounded the corner he saw two of his favorite people and his mood immediately improved. He had been using his telekinesis and alternate bodies non stop since Djinn had been felled. He looked to his wife and smiled but he could not help but notice Sousuke did not look well. He might need to have the family medic take a better look at his blood brother. "My love, I trust you aren't pushing my brother into one of your engineering projects before he finishes his own Sousuke is very astute and punctual when it comes to his personal projects. Speaking of which, it may be time for you to get another check up, as our Steward we can never be too careful about your health." The reason his main body stayed physically exhausted but at least it was a happy exhaustion.