[open]

[incitative]

Characters: INCITATIVE, eventually mostloyaldog
Location: Basketball court south west of the Casualty Communal
Rating: G
Time: December 10th, mid-morning
Description: Kiyomasa wandered away from the Casualty Communal and is completely inept at life.

Comments

[Afternoon?]

[incitative]

[After meeting with Kojuurou and getting another brief tour of Death City, Kiyomasa decided to gain his bearing. He traced the steps he took while with Date's retainer and found himself returning to that basketball court.

However, this time, the court was not quite as empty as he had left it. There was a man there, wearing a yellow hood and bouncing a ball, moving across the terrain quickly and throwing said ball up and into the hooped ring that was attached to a tall, metal pole. It seemed a futile act, as the ball would just fall through the bottom of the hoop - but the hooded man didn't seem to mind. He simply bounced the ball and ran to the other end of the court to do the same thing over again.

As Kiyomasa drew nearer, he could see a particular, unmistakeable emblem switched in to the man's hood. He froze a moment, a faint hope beginning to rise up in his chest - that was the crest of the Tokugawa clan. This man is an ally.

Though he hadn't expected to encounter anyone here - let alone someone from his time - the only thing Kiyomasa can do is inquire of this man's identity.]

Oi-! Are you an ally of the Tokugawa?

[incitative]

[He is an ally. That's good enough for Kiyomasa at this point - he takes another step forward. This individual isn't familiar, nothing about him is even remotely recognizable... But a man proud enough to bear the emblem of his lord is surely a man of Mikawa.]

My name is Kato Kiyomasa... I am in servitude to the house of Tokugawa.

[incitative]

[Kiyomasa stops, furrowing his brow. World? When he arrived, he had been told that peeople would come from different "worlds" but... There was only one Hi-no-Moto, wasn't there?]

I... I am uncertain what you are asking me... I am from Hi-no-Moto - I was born in Owari but I have pledged my oath to the Tokugawa.

[incitative]

Different versions of our world? What--

[He goes to interject but stops, listening carefully as Ieyasu continues. He gives pause for only a moment, letting the man in yellow's words fully register.]

Beneath... You-?!

[That phrasing instantly sparks something in Kiyomasa's mind, suddenly seeming like everything clicks now. When he first arrived, it wasn't simply a matter of people taken from Hi-no-Moto or from foreign countries to the West - nor was it a matter of people who came from the land of the living or the land of the dead. When he was told people of different worlds, they truly meant different worlds. This was not the short, fat man he allied himself with to protect his house and to spite Mitsunari.

...But this man was Tokugawa Ieyasu. He doesn't fully comprehend it but the pieces all begin to fall into place, bit by bit. This man before him is not lying.]

...Then you will have to become acquainted with me during my time here, Lord Tokugawa.

[incitative]

[Ieyasu's request to drop the formalities comes a moment too late - Kiyomasa has already sank to his knees, bowing his head before the daimyo. Although in truth he would rather only bow to a Toyotomi, he understands the gravity of expressing respect at this moment. In the world he is familiar with, respect is what would grant him and his army sanctuary - and in this world, that remains no exception.

He lifts his head but does not stand, showing his conviction as he waits for the order to do so.]

By all means... Ask whatever you require. I will answer earnestly.

[incitative]

[Obediently, he rises to his feet and offers a short nod.]

You are the most powerful daimyo in Hi-no-Moto at this moment... To offer anything less is a disgrace upon my house and those I swear to protect. [Unless your name is Mitsunari - Mitsunari wouldn't know the first thing about offering respect where it is due if it were pointed straight in his direction.] I wish no disrespect.

[incitative]

I have only arrived but a short time ago... No more than a day or so.

[He pauses to mull over Ieyasu's words.]

...You seem confused by the prospect of power?

[incitative]

Different versions of the same world...?

[Again, something he struggles to wrap his head around yet due to the man standing before him, it's hard for him to believe that such an honest-looking face would lie about such a thing. Considering the new world around him as well - is such a concept really farfetched?]

If all our worlds share is name alone, then determining one's history and loyalties is an even more difficult matter. You say that you have never had a man named Kato Kiyomasa serve you? [What about the others?] What about Fukushima Masanori? Does that name strike any familiarity?