(Untitled)

[marrymarajade]

Characters:  Ben (marrymarajade ), Paladin (mythgravenblade ), Reed (heretic_hamlet ), and Rain (notpissedoff )
Date/Time: April 29
Location: The Fourth Floor
Rating: PG-13? I'll edit it as needed.
Summary: These four are each shown something.

Comments

[notpissedoff]

The static that separated the memories cleared abruptly, and now the fourth floor displayed a wide, well-trodden dirt road lined with storefronts of wooden construction. There was a crowd of people milling about in front of one of the shops; aside from curious dark-haired, kimono-clad onlookers, there were several men tied up with rope, their arms bound behind them, and others in blue and white uniforms with swords at their hips. More swords lay scattered on the ground. Some of the uniformed men were leading the tied-up ones out of the store and away, while the rest spoke amongst themselves or directed others. The many voices blended together into an indistinct background noise. Souji could be glimpsed within a cluster of other uniformed men, but only for a moment, as the scene focused in on an attractive young woman standing quietly just beyond the edge of the crowd, a cloth draped over her arms in front of her, facing away and seemingly paying the proceedings little mind.

The sounds of rapid footsteps and harsh breathing could suddenly be heard approaching, and a red-haired boy wearing a short white sleeping robe - it was Peacemaker - came running up the road towards the woman, a concerned look on his face.

"Susumu!"

The woman glanced up and turned around at Peacemaker's shout. There was blood splattered on the front of her deep blue kimono and a particularly large bloodstain on her right shoulder, but she didn't appear to be injured; neither her face nor her movements showed any indication of pain or discomfort.

"*****." The harsh buzz of static obscured the first thing she said. "Everything's done."

...'She' apparently wasn't a woman at all, by the sound of it. The disguise was very deceiving - the thick hair bound loosely at the shoulders, the makeup, the clothing, even the addition of a small mole under the left eye - but the voice was undeniably Rain's, as he was making no attempt to alter it.

Peacemaker came to a stop beside him, leaning forward and taking a moment to catch his breath. He swallowed, looking down at the ground awkwardly.

"...Hey... um..."

Rain - Susumu - slid his left hand out from under the cloth he held, holding it up to Peacemaker's eye level in a fist, and the boy looked at it, blinking. The knuckles were badly bruised and swollen.

"I couldn't hold back after all," Rain said calmly. "He won't be getting up anytime..." Peacemaker looked up at him with a startled expression, "...soon."

Rain unclenched his hand and looked at it in silence for a moment. "I came here to kill him," he continued pensively as the boy's expression became serious again. "But I've never seen anything through to the end."

"But!" Peacemaker interjected loudly, before continuing in a more subdued and hesitant voice, "But... I don't know if it was a good thing or not, but... you know..." The boy shifted a bit, scuffing his sandals on the ground. "I'm really glad... you didn't kill anyone. I'm glad, and I bet... Ayu-nee is too!"

Rain smiled down at him. It wasn't much, just a slight, barely-there upturning of his mouth and softening of his expression, but it appeared genuine, if somewhat melancholy. "Is that so?"

Peacemaker grinned, squinting his eyes shut and scratching his cheek with his index finger, blushing just a bit.

"...Well then... go ahead and go home," Rain said following a moment of comfortable silence. "And don't come out in your pajamas again! It's embarrassing..." he muttered.

"Shut up!" Peacemaker blushed a deeper red, shouting up at him in annoyance. "I was in a hurry, so I couldn't help it!"

Rain made a shooing motion with his hand, and the boy ran off as the scene faded back into static.

[notpissedoff]

Rain knew it was his memory immediately, even before it focused in on him, even before he saw Daitou - Souji - in the crowd. Everything about the place, the people, those uniforms... it all felt familiar. But when it quickly became clear that it was one of those memories, a 'Sen' memory... it was all he could do to restrain a groan.

It figured. He should have known that this place wouldn't allow him to keep his secrets to himself. His identity as a spy had now been made fairly obvious; his cover was well and truly blown. It shouldn't be a big deal, he told himself, he wasn't actively a spy in Edensphere... but if word of this ever got out, well, Lin would kill him.

His annoyance at being so blatantly outed and at being helpless to prevent it was tinged with some measure of relief, then, that at least she hadn't been here to see this.

Still... could he trust those who had seen it to keep their mouths shut? Everything else - what the boy had said, 'Ayu-nee,' his name - was important, and he mentally filed it all away to think about later, but right now confidentiality needed to be his primary concern.

As the memory ended, he remained still, silent and expressionless. His gaze, though, was steely as it darted back and forth between the others present, assessing their reactions... almost as if daring them to say anything.

[marrymarajade]

Ben looked steadily back at Rain, wondering at what he heard in the other's sense.

He... didn't actually realize that the memory involved crossdressing. Or even pretending to be someone else. He didn't even wonder why Rain wasn't dressed like that now - people could decorate themselves differently for different reasons.

The blood and the talk of someone being... beaten rather badly, it seemed, though not killed... was more important. But, Ben reminded himself, he knew nothing of the context. Probably Rain didn't know, either.

When Rain's eyes flicked back to his for a second, he shrugged.

[notpissedoff]

Ben didn't seem particularly concerned. Good. Maybe men dressed up like women all the time where he was from, who could say? Rain held his gaze for a moment, long enough to give him a slight nod. He appreciated the man's silence. The fewer questions he had to field, the better.

He turned away, slightly more at ease. He didn't think Ben would say anything he shouldn't.

[heretic_hamlet]

The crossdressing did strike him as odd- or, rater, seeing Rain in such a way, or at least the rather jarring disparity between his looks and his voice- but even more concerning were the deeds he appeared to be performing while in disguise.

Several of the others in the memory were in uniforms- strange ones, to Reed, but the conformity of their clothes as well as the presence of swords indicated status nonetheless. The nature of the subterfuge at play eluded Reed's understanding, but its presence was obvious. And it evoked something fleeting... yet familiar.

It was still none of Reed's business, and though he briefly locked eyes with Rain he only answered with a nod before staring back off into the mists. Nobody was without their secrets or mysteries- especially in a place such as this- and even holding a razor to countless customers Rain had never brought his strife to Edensphere...

[notpissedoff]

Rain returned the nod. Of those present with him, he trusted Reed the most, seeing as he was the only one Rain had known beforehand. Granted, they hadn't exactly kept in contact since that whole apprenticing fiasco, but Reed had made a good impression on Rain then and he was reasonably certain that the man wouldn't go spilling his secrets to the rest of Edensphere.

He found himself wondering if Reed's opinion of him was negatively affected by what they'd just viewed, but quickly repressed the thought. He shouldn't be concerned with whether people liked him or not. It was childish.

[mythgravenblade]

Paladin had not been expecting the attractive woman to turn out to be Rain--Rain--in disguise, and he made a small "Oh," sound, near involuntarily. So--Rain could, and in fact did, disguise himself as a woman--for what purpose? He could see soldiers in uniforms--they may have been no style of clothing he could name, but he could recognize a uniform when he saw one.

And Rain was bruised and bloody, and had obviously been in a fight...judging from the circumstances, a fight he had won. Why, then, did he say he 'never saw anything through'?

When it ended, Paladin wiped the affectionate half-smile from his face at the words and actions of the boy, and looked to Rain. There was challenge in his face, and no one else seemed to speak... "You do not need to worry," Paladin murmured. He had seen nothing he would consider bad, here.

[notpissedoff]

Rain let out a slow breath at Paladin's words, feeling some of his apprehension slip away at everyone's nonchalant reactions. No one was asking him questions, no one was making a big deal of it. He was fortunate, if he had to be stuck here, to be stuck with people who seemed willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and he felt reassured - not entirely, but mostly - that they would keep what they'd seen to themselves.

"...Thank you," he eventually murmured back after a lengthy silence.

So. With that out of the way... his name was Susumu. He felt inclined to keep that to himself too, but... it was good to have it back. Almost an even trade-off, he supposed.