Insubordination
Story Summary: Set after Episode 26. Takeru decides to confront Ryuunosuke about his actions.
Warning: This story contains spanking. If you are not comfortable with such material, then please do not read.
Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Sentai Shinkenger or any of its characters.
A/N: This is my first time writing for any series besides Prince of Tennis and my first time writing anything with a spanking scene in it. I apologize in advance if this is not written as well as my other stories. Thanks goes to haruka on InsaneJournal for encouraging me to actually write this, otherwise it would never have gotten from an idea in my head to actual words.
Insubordination
Takeru’s eyes swept over his retainers as they practiced their calligraphy, and his thought turned to each of them in turn.
His first thought was of Genta, who was currently out at his sushi stand since it was unnecessary for him to use calligraphy during battle. While Genta could be silly and was never raised to be a samurai, he was a technological genius who was also a great help in fighting the Gedoushuu. Not to mention that he was Takeru’s childhood friend.
Takeru’s next thoughts were of his youngest retainer. Kotoha may not have been the original person chosen to serve him, but she always put forth her best effort. She was a valuable asset to his team no matter how useless the girl sometimes thought she was.
Chiaki was a different matter. Where Kotoha was quiet and shy, Chiaki could be loud and cocky. However, his determination to become stronger was clear to anyone who cared to look past his exterior personality. He may not have been as serious as the others in the beginning, but Chiaki learned along the way exactly why they fought: to protect those who were unable to protect themselves.
Mako was one of Takeru’s more serious retainers. She was an older sister figure to both Kotoha and Chiaki, helping to guide them along their path. While her dream was to become a wife, she willing put that dream on hold in order to fight as a samurai. Takeru just hoped that Mako’s cooking would improve before the next time she tried to feed the rest of them anything.
Ryuunosuke…
Takeru’s eyes narrowed slightly as they landed on the Kabuki actor. He knew that Ryuunosuke was completely loyal to him, but he was still bothered by the other’s actions a few nights before. It had been a few days since his duel with Juuzou, and Takeru was completely healed from his injuries, but the heated words that were traded between him and Ryuunosuke were unforgotten. While he could forgive the other for the words exchanged as he was leaving the mansion easily, Ryuunosuke’s statement of forcibly stopping him the night before the duel could not be taken so lightly. As lord over his retainers, Takeru could not merely forgive such an act of insubordination, especially from Ryuunosuke.
Because there is no doubt in anyone’s mind as to where Ryuunosuke’s loyalties lie, the fact that he would openly defy Takeru in such a manner had to be taken more seriously than if any of the others had done such a thing. While defiance from any of the retainers would be handled seriously, the Kabuki actor’s defiance was more pronounced since the other retainers often looked to Ryuunosuke for leadership when their lord was unable to lead them even if they sometimes teased or argued with him. Takeru himself had handed over the role of leadership or any other important role over to the other boy, just as he did during his duel with Juuzou despite their argument the previous night.
“Tono.”
Takeru glanced to his right where Jii leaned in closer so that the others could not overhear him.
“If you wish to speak to Ryuunosuke about the other night, then I will make sure that no one interrupts the two of you.”
Seeing the look in Jii’s eyes and understanding the deeper meaning, Takeru nodded in silent agreement before turning his attention back towards his retainers. “Ryuunosuke, stay behind. I need to have a word with you. Everyone else is dismissed.”
The others looked at each other curiously, but left the room as Jii ushered them out. Once the Kuroko finished cleaning up the materials that were used during calligraphy practice, they too quickly left. Jii made sure that everyone was off doing something elsewhere before nodding to Takeru and leaving himself.
After seeing Jii leave, Takeru looked down from his seat on his raised platform to see Ryuunosuke kneeling directly before him instead of off to the side as he had during practice. “Do you know why I told you to stay behind, Ryuunosuke?”
Ryuunosuke shook his head slightly. “I’m afraid that I don’t, Tono.”
“Think back to the night before my duel with Juuzou. You were purposely insubordinate, were you not?”
“Tono, I…” Ryuunosuke trailed off, unable to deny what his lord said.
Takeru took a deep breath before continuing. “I will make it clear now that I am referring to when you stated in front of everyone that you would use force in order to prevent me from going to the duel. I will not hold the fact that you came before me with the same purpose the next morning against you because you made it clear that you were not acting as my retainer but as a mere samurai at the time. However, the words before then came from my retainer, not some mere samurai. Am I not correct?”
“You are correct.” Ryuunosuke sank into a deep bow. “Tono, I truly apologize for my words spoken that night.”
“Ryuunosuke, while I understand what your reasons were, I do not take any form of insubordination lightly. Not only did you defy me that night, but you did it in front of the others who often look to you for leadership whenever I am not around. What do you think could happen if one of them took the example that you, someone who they know I am willing to place in roles of great importance and responsibility, showed them and decided to follow it by defying one of my orders?” Takeru was silent for a moment, simply watching as his retainer took in everything he was saying.
Ryuunosuke shuddered slightly at the thoughts his lord’s words brought to mind. “I apologize once again, Tono, and am willing to accept any form of punishment you deem necessary.”
Takeru refrained from smiling at the other’s statement. He knew that the other boy would say those exact words. No matter what happened before, he knew that Ryuunosuke would always be willing to accept any punishment to prove his loyalty. Takeru changed his position so that he was seated with his feet flat on the floor. “Stand up, Ryuunosuke.”
The retainer stood but refused to lift his head and meet Takeru’s eyes.
“Place yourself over my lap.”
At that order, Ryuunosuke’s head snapped up, his eyes wide. “T-Tono, what-?”
Takeru’s eyes narrowed once more. “You said that you would accept any punishment. Do you mean to defy me again, Ryuunosuke?”
The other hesitated for a second, but he slowly walked forward and lowered himself over his lord’s lap.
Once Takeru had Ryuunosuke over his lap, he wrapped one arm around the other’s waist and quickly yanked his retainer’s lower garments down. He felt Ryuunosuke tense as his backside was bared but did not hesitate in landing the first sharp smack.
Ryuunosuke gasped at the first smack before biting down on his lower lip to keep quiet. While he was not unused to physical chastisement as a means of discipline growing up as a samurai, it had been a long time since anyone had taken him across their lap like this. The humbling action in itself had acted as a firm reminder that it was not his place to openly defy his lord in such a manner. Tears rolled down his face, and he whimpered quietly as the pain increased, but he did not struggle to escape his punishment.
After landing twenty sharp smacks, Takeru allowed him to stand and fix his clothing.
Ryuunosuke bowed deeply as soon as he dressed himself again. “Thank you for allowing me to make amends for my previous insubordination, Tono.”
Takeru nodded. “You are forgiven, Ryuunosuke, but know that I will not hesitate to punish you again in the same manner should you ever do such a thing again.”
“Yes, Tono.”
The lord sighed as he looked at the other’s still bowed head. “You may go rest now. Nothing more will be said about what happened.”
Ryuunosuke straightened and gave a small smile. “Thank you very much, Tono.” He gave one more bow before leaving to rest in his room.
Takeru closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had not enjoyed punishing Ryuunosuke, but it was a necessary action in order for everyone to move on. He stood, deciding to rest in his own room for awhile as well. While Takeru’s body may have been completely healed, now his mind could completely recover from the entire incident as well.
The End.