The fine line of trust. [Closed]

[smiling_samurai]

Characters: Heihachi Hayashida & Toshizou Hijikata
Content: Heihachi has a present for Hijikata...one he doesn't trust to keep in his own posession.
Setting: Hijikata's Room, 4423.
Time: Backdated to the day Heihachi returned to the ship. Sorry Ket, I meant to do this earlier. orz
Warnings: The BLINDING GLITTER of Hijikata's room after Souji's

Comments

[smokydemon]

It wasn't easy, studying in a room so thoroughly bedecked in bright goddamned pink sparkles (where the Hell had Souji even gotten his hands on that much glitter, anyway?), but Hijikata was doing his best. He'd tried ripping down the decorations, but Souji had made such a face at him that he'd had to stop almost immediately; there was just nothing for it, not until after the holiday. So he sat, a black spot in the midst of all the pink, and stared determinedly at the book of battlefield analyses he'd picked up a while back and never had the chance to read. He had almost managed to forget his less-than-ideal studying conditions, when a knock came on the door, forcing him to look up and see them again.

"Come in," he called, his tone clipped and serious as usual.

[smiling_samurai]

Heihachi opened the door and had to resist the urge to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness. The ship's halls were dim, lit by low-powered globes that were just enough to keep people from running into things, while Hijikata's quarters were bright and sunny despite the personality of the man who lived there, and with the addition of the sparkles magnifying the light it was...dazzling.

"I see you weren't kidding about the sparkles," he laughed, closing the door behind him and making a mental note to tell Gorobei about this later. As eager as he was to shed the burden in his bag, though, he paused long enough to give a short, polite bow of deference. "It's good to see you again, Mister Hijikata."

[smokydemon]

Hijikata gave the decorations a despairing look. They really did surpass the limits of good taste, which Hijikata simply wouldn't have tolerated if it hadn't been Souji involved. "You thought I was 'kidding'?" he asked gruffly, turning a look of mild (for Hijikata) annoyance on Heihachi

[smiling_samurai]

"I thought you might have been exaggerating," Heihachi admitted with an amused grin. "Although I really should know better than to underestimate Souji

[smokydemon]

"You should know better than to underestimate that brat," Hijikata grumbled, though he'd long since stopped thinking of Souji as either a nuisance or a child. There was very little that Souji couldn't do when he set his mind to it, and when he said he was going to decorate Hijikata's room, it had ended up damned well decorated, never mind Hijikata's opinion on the situation.

They had more serious business to discuss, though; as Heihachi set down the box, Hijikata leaned forward to examine it, removing the pipe from his mouth and letting it rest, smoking, in his hand.

"Am I supposed to open it?" he questioned, noting Heihachi's reluctance to set the keys down. He wondered what was inside, that could make Heihachi's cheerful side retreat so quickly.

[smiling_samurai]

"You probably should," Heihachi said, sounding a little uncomfortable. "I guess it wouldn't do you any good if you waited until we actually needed it, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't share it with anyone you didn't trust absolutely

Pfft, Hiruma would have been SUCH a bad choice XD Hiji's more, you know...discriminate.

[smokydemon]

Well, that certainly explained Heihachi's reluctance about the whole situation. Hijikata had seen just how fiercely the redhead reacted to anyone he thought of as a traitor, and could imagine a little of what might be going through his head based on that

Given to Hiruma, you could probably expect copies of it distibuted to every town. 8|;;

[smiling_samurai]

The only excuse he could claim was that he’d never actually set out to bring this kind of information back. Heihachi wasn’t a spy of any description; for all his creative evasions of the truth, he didn’t have the right mindset to deceive others for any length of time. It had never even crossed his mind on his initial visit to the Silvana to try and bring back any kind of information to his ship. It hadn’t even occurred to him when he’d requested passage on board to get him back towards Vohemar. He had fully and honestly intended simply to work for his board and then leave, but at the end of a particularly long shift when he’d been once again trying to vent one of the temperamental steam valves it had occurred to him that anyone with a grudge against the Silvana would probably love knowing how many maintenance issues the ship had…and from then on the thought had been well and truly planted in his mind despite many efforts to get rid of it

...Yeah, sounds about right.

[smokydemon]

Hijikata had always had an eye for detail and a knack for reading people and situations. The way Heihachi averted his eyes and hung his head spoke volumes, even without his words--doubt and guilt. Soft things, ones he hadn't honestly been certain the other samurai still carried.

A kinder man would have tried to comfort him, but Hijikata wasn't any good at that kind of thing. He just did the best he could--ignored it, and hoped Heihachi would pull himself together. Emotion and sympathy really weren't Hijikata's strong points.

"In your opinion, how likely is it that we'll come into conflict with them?" It was important for him to know, and if Heihachi thought it unlikely, perhaps that thought would be helpful to him. "The hope is that it won't be necessary to use this..."

[smiling_samurai]

Forcing his shoulders back and shaking off the brief dip in his mood, Heihachi spent a moment in thought. "Not likely, I think. Whatever it was Jushirou was doing here, I don't think it really had anything to do with us. I think it was another enemy he was looking for

[smokydemon]

Hijikata tucked the new bits of information away. He had been very angry with Jushirou when he left, but with Heihachi vouching for him...Well, if they crossed paths again, Hijikata was far less likely now to attack him without giving him a chance to explain.

He'd heard of the incident in Melior, so Heihachi's assessment of Rowe didn't come as very much of a surprise. "I see," he replied. It would obviously be in everyone's best interests if they didn't catch the Silvana's interest in any negative way... The ship was legendarily strong, and anyway he didn't see that there was any reason they needed to fight, so it would be a useless endeavor on both sides.

Still, in the event of a miscommunication, he now had something to fall back on.

Cy fails at tagging this week. ;A;

[smiling_samurai]

"The Silvana was still in Garrettstown when I left," Heihachi added. "I'm not really sure where they're headed next, but hopefully it'll be back to Ivona. Then we won't have to worry about running into them."

Although not everyone on board knew exactly which ship Jushirou had really been working for, there were some who did and hadn't taken too kindly to the betrayal. If the two ships happened to find themselves in the same port by chance, Heihachi didn't want to think too hard on what kind of retribution might follow, and where his own loyalties might lie in that situation. He was pretty tired of dwelling on it.

"Thankyou for taking the box for me," he told Hijikata, bowing again. "It wasn't a weight I wanted to carry. I'll leave you to your, uh...studying?"

A hint of a smile made his lips twitch. Really, if Hijikata could focus on anything other than the blinding sparkles in the room, he must have some truly impressive concentration.