The fine line of trust. [Closed]
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 ( Read more... )
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 ( Read more... )
Hijikata's question made him pause, and give his answer a serious moment of consideration. He ready or comfortable talking about what he'd been up to, not even to Gorobei who knew most of his real reasons, or to Kambei who he trusted implicitly. Later on, maybe, he'd be ready for it, but at the moment he'd given anyone who asked an answer too vague to be useful and too cheerful to hint that most of his reasons for going had been far more complicated than simple appearances suggested.
Hijikata, however, deserved a honest answer. Perhaps not a full explanation, but the truth as best as Heihachi could give it.
"I didn't learn quite as much as I wanted to," he admitted, finally pulling his dreaded burden from his bag. It was a metal strongbox with a sturdy looking lock that he'd tinkered with himself to make it especially hard to pick. It wasn't large at all, barely longer and wider than his hand, and the way he put it on the table suggested it held something fragile even though that actually wasn't the case. There was also a key, although it took him a long moment of indecision before he placed it down beside the box. "But I got something to even the score. These are for you."
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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.
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There was a second layer of reasoning in Heihachi's choice to give the contents of the box to the ship's strategist. He'd most likely get the best use out of it. There was Hiruma as well, of course, but Heihachi didn't know him well enough, and if there was one thing he didn't want it was to have it fall into the wrong hands.
"This is...the design specs for the Silvana, as best as I could replicate them," he said, arms crossed and his gaze set firmly on the floor. "I wasn't there for that long, so there's a few holes in my schematics, but I've got an outline of their engine capabilities and their armament. Their top speed, hull weaknesses, and a few things I learned about the crew that we might be able to use."
This was not a betrayal, he reminded himself. This was just...evening the score. He didn't doubt that Jushirou had taken all this information and more back to the Silvana, so it wasn't like this wasn't deserved.
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At any rate, he wouldn't let this information fall into the wrong hands--and he wasn't likely to use it himself, unless the Silvana threatened them. That, for the moment, was a difficult thing to assess--the motives of the infamous ship were not an easy thing to ascertain. But if something bad did happen, this would certainly help Hijikata keep the 4423 safe.
Carefully, he fit the key to the lock and opened the box up, giving the documents inside a cursory scan. It was tempting to read through them, but he would have ample time to do so later on... He put them away again and locked the box, turning to look up at Heihachi.
"You've done well," he said, which was almost like "thank you" in his book. "I won't tell anyone about this unless there's an emergency." Not even Souji. "If there is one, the Captain will know, and Hiruma may get some details. Nothing will be used unless it is absolutely necessary." Hijikata didn't waste anything, after all, and he understood the value of information. And after the risks and personal trouble it must have taken Heihachi to bring him this information, he wanted the mechanic to understand that it wouldn't be abused.
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Actually committing it to paper had been even worse. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to even try until he was well away from the Silvana and back on a ship towards Colvus, but he’d found that he had a disturbingly good memory for the little imperfections in the Silvana’s design. He’d even given a transcript of something of the things Jushirou had admitted to him, as well as the things he hadn’t that could possibly be explored by someone more willing than Heihachi to exploit the situation.
“Thank you,” he said, inclining his head towards Hijikata in true gratitude. “Truth be told, there’s not a lot of real weak points we could use. I doubt we could ever beat them in a fight, but at least we could inconvenience them enough to run. But I…hope it doesn’t come to that.”
After an awkward pause he lowered his head even further and admitted, “I have a friend on that ship, so I really hope we never have to…”
And he couldn’t finish that sentence but Hijikata would know what he meant. Since he was being open about what he’d been doing, he also felt compelled to let the strategist know that if the 4423 and the Silvana ever did cross paths as enemies, Heihachi didn’t trust himself to be reliable in that situation. That was the reason he’d forced himself to give up the box in the first place.
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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..."
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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."
He hesitated for a moment, uncertain of voicing his own assumptions, but pressed on. "But their Captain seems very driven, and he's the kind of person who doesn't care if he causes a bit of collateral damage if it's in the name of the greater good. If he thought his enemy was hiding on this ship, he'd probably destroy us all just to be sure, and if we get in the way of his mission he wouldn't hesitate."
Alex Rowe's actions against the giant spider in Melior and his treatment of the Montague's survivors all pointed to this, even though Heihachi couldn't say he knew the man very well in person. His callousness and single-mindedness weren’t necessarily terrible traits in a Captain, but considering the power of his ship it was an unlucky person who made an enemy out of him. Heihachi just hoped the 4423 never fell into that category.
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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.
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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.
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