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Post by Horiuchi Nadeshiko on Feb 14, 2018 22:01:51 GMT -5
Nade couldn't hold it back anymore, she had wanted to spill the beans this whole time, had wanted to do it in private with Hinata alone but now there was nothing for it.
The Unicorn simply rests her head on the table, pressing her cheek to it as she spoke.
"Katsumi invited me to her mansion today... and told me to spy on Hinata and the Prince. At first I tried to say I'd only do it if I truly thought something nefarious was going on but she pushed and she pushed and she told me she would use all her power as an Otomo to help my family grow and I know that my parents would be amazed at that and so I said yes and then I left and then I threw up in some bushes and I've been trying to find a good time to tell you Kuni-san and well now there you go. I wasn't actually going to do it but just the thought of even thinking I might made it all just... I'm sorry."
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Post by Kuni Hinata on Feb 14, 2018 22:09:32 GMT -5
Hinata was silent for a while, her face the perfect mask of neutrality that only shock could bring. Nadeshiko had been asked to spy on her by a known manipulator and liar; someone who had hurt Kobushi and who had been harassing her since she first got to school, and she had...accepted? To say she felt betrayed would be an understatement. Regardless of whether Nadeshiko intended to go through with it or not, she had still accepted the initial offer, and it took Hinata a long while to process that.
Eventually, though, the mask broke, giving out under the pressure of an expression of immense emotional pain. Tears began to well in Hinata's eyes.
"...what?" she asked, her voice a trembling whisper as she tried to keep her on from shattering.
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Post by Daidoji Kobushi on Feb 14, 2018 22:13:04 GMT -5
Out of the group, Kobushi was probably the one that had the most direct experience with Otomo Katsumi. He'd been goaded, led around by the nose, controlled --- with little to no effort spent doing it. The Crane knew what the Imperial was capable of, because he'd gotten a taste of it first-hand. Close enough to almost get into a duel over it. He looked at the Horiuchi not with anger or disappointment, but with with a hand extended. He looked at her with understanding.
"This is how she works," he says. "I've seen it first-hand. She made me get so close to a duel over nothing, as easy as talking about the weather. I don't blame you for taking the offer. She must have made it seem hard to refuse when she pitched it."
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Post by Horiuchi Nadeshiko on Feb 14, 2018 22:18:55 GMT -5
"She's like a parasite Kuni-san. Once she gets her claws in you... it's... it's impossible to get her out of you. She just digs deeper and deeper and deeper until she gets exactly what she wants and everytime you try and say no she just works deeper until she finds the one chip in your defenses and pounces. I truly didn't think I could get out of there without agreeing to something even if I had no intention of going through... and even just agreeing to it made me sick on the inside."
She fumbles into one of her pockets then, pulling out a large bag filled with 40 koku before dropping it on the table.
"She gave me 40 koku... she called it a gift. Maybe you can use it to fight her, I don't know. I just don't know anymore because right now I feel like throwing up again, I feel like I'm going to burn up on the inside, I feel like my head is going to explode. I just feel like crawling into a hole and never coming out. I just.. I can't believe how deep that woman got into me."
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Post by Kuni Hinata on Feb 14, 2018 22:30:45 GMT -5
Hinata looked for a moment like she was about to speak, but instead she just inhaled a gasp; the kind of gasp one takes when they are about to cry. She turned back to the table and buried her face in her hands, breathing heavily. She was clearly crying, but she was trying to keep it subdued so nobody would see it.
In her mind, she was berating herself. She had been stupid; she should have warned her friends earlier. She should have warned them in the text she sent out that morning. Katsumi was an experienced courtier, she should have expected the harpy to act this quickly. She could not fault Nadeshiko, no matter how mad she might be at her. She was right, the Otomo had a way of getting into your mind and turning it inside out. At least the crying was giving her a moment of silence to think, and to calm down. That was what crying was for.
So Hinata just sat there, her face buried in her hands and her mouth sealed.
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Koshiro
Ronin/Other
Posts: 504
Likes: 1
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Post by Koshiro on Feb 14, 2018 23:34:05 GMT -5
Koshiro could only keep silent as he listens to Nade's story and stares at the bag of koku on the table. "... I don't blame you either, Horiuchi-san. This... is a lot of money." He looks over to Hinata. He really didn't know how to deal with girls crying. He does the same thing he does in this situation: he reaches out and pats her back. "Th-There, there Kuni-san... there, there... M-Maybe this is what she wants. Maybe she's doing this to drive a wedge between you and us. We have numbers on our side, maybe she's trying to take us out one by one..." Koshiro feels very much worried now. If the stalker Otomo was indeed picking them off one by one, was he going to be next? He didn't have much, so would she use money as well on him? What sort of leverage would she- No... she wouldn't do something about his efforts to raise the Salty Goblin... would she? Could she?
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Post by Asahina Momiko on Feb 14, 2018 23:38:39 GMT -5
Momiko moved to put her arm around Hinata, trying to comfort the girl, even if she was trying to hide herself. Truly she needed to visit this Katsumi woman.
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Post by Daidoji Kobushi on Feb 14, 2018 23:41:26 GMT -5
"We need to be more careful," Kobushi says. "All of us. She didn't have time to prepare when she played me, and she had time to think when she got to Horiuchi-san."
"So I'd just assume she has an idea how to get to any of us now."
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Post by Tamori Yoshi on Feb 14, 2018 23:42:53 GMT -5
Yoshi didn't know what to say to all this. He'd just been enjoying having lunch with his friends, sitting next to Momiko, and admiring Kobushi's handiwork in pottery. Then suddenly, everything had come crashing down with confessions and anger and tears. He looks helplessly to Momiko in apology as she moves from the side of him to put her arm around Hinata. He too then lowers his head in order to talk to Hinata as she still sits next to him with hers buried in her hands.
"Hinata-san... can... I do anything?" he whispers to her.
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Post by Kuni Hinata on Feb 14, 2018 23:56:54 GMT -5
Hinata finally took a deep breath. She had used the time not just to dwell on her emotions, but to formulate a plan. She was a Kuni; as civil as she may be she was always thinking of ways to fight monsters. She took her hands off her face and wiped away the tears, her jaw set and fire in her eyes. With her stature and posture at that moment, it was not hard to imagine this teenage girl as the Empress one day. She was not going to give up on that dream without a fight.
"Yes. I have a plan to beat her."
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