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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Jan 19, 2017 14:45:04 GMT -6
Yumiko shook her head. “I can’t,” she whispered, voice hoarse from the pain she was suppressing. “She- He-” She took a shuddering breath against his shoulder. “They betrayed me, and she still says nothing! And carries his child. Again.” She tried to pull away, but Masanobu’s arms tightened around her. Her resistance waned and she fell back against him, hands clenching. “The child’s kicking me and I can’t watch them, not now. “
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Jan 19, 2017 15:50:52 GMT -6
Kouen rubbed her back tenderly, not sure what she was talking about, but understood some of it. "Whatever she did, you can't blame the kids for that." He was not sure who she was, but he figured out the actions between his sister and Sojiro was what was setting her off.
He pulled back slightly with his hands going to her shoulders and looked into her wet eyes. "Yumiko, listen to me. I know you have had a hard road in life since you were very young, but you can't keep running away or bottling them up inside you. They're not good for you and they're not good for the baby. Also," he shrugged. "Something I have heard my mother talk about when Makino was a baby. If you're upset or tense the baby knows that, and it can effect the baby. So many times my mother was on edge from my father being late or coming back badly injured and," he could not help but chuckle. "Makino spit up all over my mother, and we are not talking about just a little bit were are talking bucket loads."
He sighed, "I guess what I am trying to say is you need someone to talk to, a strong shoulder to cry on. No more bottling it up for your health and the baby's." He smiled warmly at her. "Let me be that strong shoulder for you."
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Jan 19, 2017 16:26:47 GMT -6
His low voice and resolute eyes calmed enough of her turmoil that she could understand what he was saying. And in the end, Yumiko couldn’t help but give a small smile back, even as she looked down and rubbed her stomach where her child had been kicking her. “Misao’s child is already good at that,” she murmured, “sensing when my emotions go awry.” She gave a deep sigh. “I’m not trying to bottle it up… not consciously…. I just didn’t want any of that tangled past to hurt the hope given me, this gift that’s so warm.” More tears pooled in her eyes, but Kouen caught them before they could fall. "I wanted to forget."
She lowered her head. “I don’t want be trapped dwelling on any part of it anymore. But I lost the captains. The grief there brings out the rest, and this time, it wouldn’t go away.”
A wave of rage crashed inside her and she spun away to face the wall. “When I saw her, it all swelled inside me. It hurt to see Maki and Soji.” Her cheeks flamed with shame. “And Ukitake and Kisuke wouldn’t want me so mad with her. She's gone through so much. But I can’t stop it!”
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Jan 19, 2017 16:56:18 GMT -6
Kouen rested a hand to her shoulder with her turned away. "Affairs of the heart are the worst. I know. I suffered a few of my own. Betrayal, denial, one sided, lies, insecurities, you name it, but really... after you thinks about it. Was it all worth it?" Kouen shrugged.
"Maybe, but most of the times its wasn't. It was an unhealthy relationship that neither of you needed to be in. Everything that happens in a bad relationship is the Gods way of telling you 'Hey! Baka! Wake up! This one is not the one for you!'," Kouen rubbed her back softly. "And I am sure your friend. The Vessel. Kita Miyamoto. I am sure she did not mean to hurt you. People don't fall in love with people to be malicious. It just happens. The heart has no boundaries. It's our morals that keep us honest."
He turned her and made her look at him. "From what I do know about all of this. Your friend, Miyamoto loved Sojiro's father, Ichimaru, very much, but their love was built from a situation that force them together. Could you really call that love? To me, it was a love of necessity. To get them through, to keep them strong; and it worked. They're free now. In their hearts, they may feel that love for the other, and they know it is a love that will never die, but it is not a love that keeps them content now that they are no longer fighting for something." he shrugged. "I could be wrong about them, but if I were. Wouldn't they still be together and the Vessel not with another man?"
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Jan 19, 2017 21:10:16 GMT -6
“But if they belonged together….” she glanced down, hands shaking before Kouen took one of them, “why… did he keep coming after me? Why did he never say a word?” Tears dripped to the floor. "I waited for him for three years... and he .... they..." She looked away and nearly turned away from him again.
He slid his fingertips under her chin and made her look at him. "Because some people are just so dense to love they don't realize it. Can I ask you a question, Yumiko?"
She nodded quietly, taking another breath.
"Please do not take this the wrong way, and search your heart well before you answer." he paused and looked into her eyes. "But did you really love him? Vale Tervaden, I mean. Your heart belonged to the man that kidnapped you from my understanding of the information given to our family. To my knowledge of what I heard. Your heart was not into loving another after what the first man had done to you."
Yumiko twisted her head away from him and closed her eyes to stall the flood that seemed to open up at that particular question — at a certain memory at the lake in Las Noches. Where a similar question had been asked. “I don’t know the answer to that. I thought…” she bit her lip, “I thought I had found the answer to that. Why else would have I have surrendered to him again…. after everything…? After he’d hurt me….. and I’d gone back…. It ….” This time, she did turn away again, hugging her middle, the warmth inside her. “There was something…” tears slide down her cheeks, “fragile… precious… like candlelight.” She ducked her head against her chest. “He still left. He took her. She took him." She shook her head quickly. "And in spite of what is said and my past there, I refuse to believe he’s right. Misao wouldn’t have come if he was right. He wouldn’t have said that….”
Her eyes opened, back becoming rigid and pupils flaring with rage again. "And he wouldn't have taken Ukitake from me." Her limbs fell again and her body listed to one side. "Unless it was a punishment..."
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Jan 19, 2017 22:07:10 GMT -6
"Stop thinking that, Yumiko. An enemy as intelligent as Aizen kills according to ones ability, he does not kill to punish another. He is taking out the pillars of the Soul Society. The ones that can do damage in his realm, to his army. There are still a few left so the Soul Society still has a chance." He turned her to look at him. "One more question. One that will will not like, but you have know in your heart that it has ended. One that I hope will help you move on in this turmoil you suffer from."
He looked into her eyes. "If either were to appear in front of you now. Telling you the honest truth that they wanted to be with you and only you. That they love you and they are willing to change." He paused, "would you take either of them back?"
She laughed shortly and shook her head slowly. "Honesty.... according to so many people around me, all I've known is nothing but lies...."
Kouen shook his head, "you did not answer the question, Yumiko. Would you. Or would you not. Take them back."
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Jan 19, 2017 23:32:02 GMT -6
“I-” She looked down again, rubbing her belly. “I don’t think I could get close to Vale again without recalling the pain of his betrayal. Going to her… after he said he’d be back…” Yumiko took a shuddering breath. “Aizen, Sousuke….” She sighed and leaned against the wall, feeling winded. “I thought I had escaped him when I escaped Las Noches the first time, but I still don’t know what drew me back to him during the Takeover.” She raised her head. “But at the same time, I chose Vale because of what was happening to me with him. I walked away from him."
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Jan 19, 2017 23:38:57 GMT -6
Kouen released an exhausted sigh as he let his shoulders drop, he then straightened up as he took hold of her arms gently but firmly. It was time someone helped this girl move over her past. "Have you always been this unsure of yourself? Do you love Vale?! Do you love Aizen?!" Kouen's tone slightly forceful as he held on to her arms making her look at him.
"What do you expect?!" she snapped, a little hurt. "My world keeps turning itself upside down just when I think I got it right!"
"Do you think you're the only one in this realm that has suffered?" He pointed to his mother's room, now his sisters. "What about those two kids in there? What about the others that have suffered at the hands of Aizen? Do you see them wallowing is grief? Do you see them letting this shit eat them alive? No. You don't. Because they know shit happens. They cried. They got mad and then they move on. Not hold on to things and let it ruin their life. That's what you have done, and until you can admit to yourself and tell yourself what happened happened you could not have stopped it, and stop pining over two men that never will love you. You are never going to get on the road to healing."
His hands dropped from her arms as he turned away from her combing his fingers through his loose dark hair. "I am sorry Yumiko, but you're killing yourself emotional over people that never cared about you. Never loved you. If you keep this up you will be a basket case before next year is over." He turned and looked at her once more his head shaking lightly.
"I don't want to see that happen, you're a wonderful woman. You deserve better, but at the rate you are tearing yourself apart over this. No man is going to want to deal with all your baggage, or issues. And I know you don't want to be alone the rest of your life. I can see it in your eyes. You want someone to love you, and for you to love in return." He looked to her swollen midsection. "And your child might love you unconditionally, but they will never give you that type of love you are craving right now."
He touched her arm gently. "Please Yumiko. Let it go."
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Jan 20, 2017 1:02:42 GMT -6
She twisted out of his grip. “I know I’m not the only one who has suffered, Masanobu. I heard screaming of those who were suffering worse than me. Including Kita’s at both of my lovers’ hands.” She turned away from him. “BOTH times. And I didn’t stop it. Hell, I just spoke to your mother about what could happen. I DID walk away from that! I know how blind I was there. I wanted to just shut it all off!” She slammed her foot down, glaring at him, as he stumbled backward.
“I’m sorry, but you’re wrong. I did walk away.”
Then, she sighed and sat down at a bench in the hall. “I did… but it didn’t help that when I lost whatever dream, illusion, or lies that had been built around me that I lost my best friend. I’m so mad and upset at her. Vale always was selfish, but I thought….” she wiped another tear away. “It left me so open to pain, and then Aizen took the captains away.”
Incensed again, she stood up and faced him. “It was like being in that room again and my parents walking away… Maybe I’m a fool to you, Kouen Masanobu.” She rubbed at her face again. “But it’s not so easy to just ‘move on’ when in a few days, you lose your friends and most of those you called family in one swoop. I had little to begin with. And almost all of them were connected to my best friend who I can barely speak of without hurting.” She dashed at her tears again. “And she said nothing! And then the one thing I craved — as you so succinctly pointed out — was just blatantly displayed right there. They’re so young and they found it, and I - all I’ve ever had our illusions that never quite go away!”
“There’s been nothing but another round of lies….” She set her hand on her stomach. “I know that’s not completely true… but without this bundle of warmth kicking at me…” she chuckled hoarsely, “it’s hard to remember them when so many memories are connected to those I’ve lost.”
Her shoulders shook. “And he didn’t deserve to die like that after all he did!”
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Jan 20, 2017 1:20:10 GMT -6
Kouen limped slightly as he stepped toward her. "No one deserves what happen to them at Aizen's hands." He walked over and sat next to her, turning slightly to look at her. "Feel better now?" He smiled warmly at her.
"Yumiko, look. I am not asking you to forget about the two men that mentored you and made you part of their family. I am telling you to let go of Las Noches; and you can. Stop thinking everyone here is like the men there. Because they're not. As long as your memories live there you will live there." He paused and turned her head to look at him with a gentle touch of his fingertips. "Come home, Yumiko. Not all of us are assholes." He grinned gesturing to himself as he sat up. "I have not told you one lie. I may have been painfully truthful with you, but not a single lie have I told you."
His hand lifted as he brushed the hair from her face. "I would never dream of hurting you. It's not my style to hurt a woman."
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Jan 20, 2017 1:43:50 GMT -6
“No, but it is your style to make them cry,” she murmured, leaning against his hand as her head spun from all the crying. She gave him a small smile as he pretended to look offended and then chuckled at her. She chuckled, too, closing her eyes.
As much as it hurt to speak of everything, she did feel better. She still missed the captains, especially Ukitake. And Kita’s silent appearance still hurt. But the headache and buzzing were gone. And she could enjoy the special warmth about the children’s relationship. It was a quality that they would need if Aizen continued to target them. Even when he had the Goddess.
She pulled away from Kouen slightly and looked down to the floor.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m still angry at her, but I’m worried what will happen to her if she’s stayed there willingly.” She paused and took a deep breath. “We were friends.”
That was another hard truth, the past tense of that statement.
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Jan 20, 2017 1:52:59 GMT -6
Kouen lifted her head again getting her to look at him. "I think she will be alright. She is strong not just in power, but will. For anyone to return to the hell I have heard about in Las Noches and to Aizen. They would have to be."
He cupped her cheek and smiled at her. "Worry about you and that baby of yours, and the pervert sitting next to you."
Yumiko turned hesitantly looking to the other side of her seeing no one, then turned back looking at Kouen.
Kouen smiled and gave her a small wave of hand as he wagged his eyebrows at her.
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Jan 20, 2017 1:59:22 GMT -6
Yumiko couldn’t help but laugh at his expression. “But you’re not a pervert. You’ve been too helpful for me to think of you like that. I’m no where near naked.” And she looked down at herself as if to look for something out of place. She glanced back up at him through her lashes.
"Oh no!" He stood quickly and offered his hand. "It's much too early in our relationship for that." He gave her a sly smile. "Shall we? I think your nephew might be waiting for your return."
Yumiko chuckled and took his hand and then leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for coming after me with your sister so close. I might not have spoken to anyone if I hadn't then."
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Jan 20, 2017 2:16:43 GMT -6
Kouen bowed to her, his free arm across his chest. "You're very welcome, dear Lady Ryouma." He stood and smiled warmly at her linking her arm with his. He then started a path back to the room where everyone was.
"Whenever you feel sad or things start to weigh on you. You know where to find me, and I do expect to see you from time to time." He looked her way before he reached to open the door. "Of course not just to hash out the past. I am hoping to work on the future as well."Yumiko blushed and lowered her eyes again. “Your mother did invite me.” Kouen smiled triumphantly as he looked back toward the door and opened it slowly. "Yes. Yes she did."Moved
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Post by Makino Tori on May 4, 2017 14:56:45 GMT -6
"Heart to Heart Talk": (continued) Makino was slowly making her way back through the Medical Ward to her room, her thoughts on Sojiro, and worried. She felt them flare then just disappear. With her visitor earlier, her head was swarming with thoughts and ideas of what might have happened. Though, she was trying hard to think good thoughts and hoping he had just found someone to talk to that had calmed him, but her gut kept telling her that that was not the case.
Finally, not able to take the wrenching feeling growing inside her she turned herself around. Only to find Sojiro's Aunt, Yumiko, a few paces behind her.
"Hello Yumiko." Makino greeted her, her stomach tying in a bigger knot. She closed her eyes and lowered her head. "Please tell me it is only coincidence you are behind me, and you're not here to give me bad news about why I can't feel Sojiro's presence?"
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