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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Nov 12, 2016 15:10:46 GMT -6
“Anyone would feel weaker at that loss,” Yumiko murmured, her mind turning to the parting words of her parents while sealed then the tumultuous deaths of Kyoraku and Ukitake. She smoothed the kimono over her belly. “I’m glad she has a supporting family. It may make it easier if she’s targeted again. Which is possible when she’s connected to Sojiro and his …. parents.”
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Nov 12, 2016 15:21:22 GMT -6
Kouen nodded slowly. "It was a hard time for all of us. He died in the Takeover when Tervaden's woman attacked." Kouen's hand clenched at his side then relaxed. A weak smile then crossed his lips. "I should have been there with him. Not running with my family."
"You were taking them to safety. Not running." Her head shook lightly as she looked down to her lap. "There was not much any of us could do in that time. Aizen had us all by the throat or at least someone we loved."
Kouen nodded slowly. "Like I said it was hard for all of us back then."
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Nov 12, 2016 16:14:51 GMT -6
Yumiko nodded. “Yes, it was…” She closed her eyes, once again torn at the decision not to reveal who had done the killing in the Takeover. In spite of everything. She opened them again. “Everyone had their own burdens to deal with at that time, but the important thing is that it ended. It wasn’t meant to be.”
His rule or anything else that happened then.
She chuckled as her son kicked her again. "It's too beautiful a day to be worrying about the past," she mused as she stroked her belly. "Masanobu-san, are you musical yourself or only admirer of your mother's skills?"
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Nov 12, 2016 16:29:14 GMT -6
Kouen smiled brightly. "I am rather talented in many areas of the arts, thanks to my mother and her talents. She wanted to make sure her children were well versed," he chuckled lightly, "and well challenged at every turn in their lives."
He turned and looked toward the manor. "Lady Ryouma." He looked back to her. "Would you like to have tea with me?"
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Nov 12, 2016 17:02:19 GMT -6
Yumiko hesitated for a moment, unsure about disturbing his sister as she had before, but then nodded with a smile. “I think I’d like that,” she replied. She returned the flute to its case. “Would you mind helping me up? It’s easy to lose my balance in my condition.”
Kouen smiled and offered a hand to her. "Of course I will. What kind of gentlemen would I be if I did not help you up?"
Taking his hand, Yumiko’s smile grew, a devious light in her violet stained eyes. “I am sure our training would give us some kind of answer for that, if we needed to find one."
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Nov 12, 2016 18:11:19 GMT -6
Kouen helped her to her feet as he then playfully clutched his chest over his heart. "You wound me with your words, my lady. A player I am not. When it comes to the ladies I was taught well and my father tough his sons never to play a lady. Her vengeance would be swift and deathly if we did so."
Yumiko chuckled lightly shaking her head at his playfulness as she dusted her kimono off and smoothed it out.
When she was finished Kouen still smiled as he offered his arm to her. "Shall we then?"
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Nov 12, 2016 18:53:54 GMT -6
She nodded again and gave him her arm. She smiled quietly. She hadn’t been on a normal outing in a long time. Even more so after secluding herself when everything had had happened. As he took her arm again, Yumiko folded the case’s strap over her shoulder. “So Masanobu-san, what skills in the arts did your mother pass on to you?"
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Nov 12, 2016 19:08:42 GMT -6
"Nothing out of the normal. Music, painting and of course drawing. The art of calligraphy. I can play four instruments. The flute. Including the Koma flute, the samishen, the biwa and the so no koto." He looked over to her as they walked toward the manor.
"What about you? Any hidden talents you are not telling?"
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Nov 12, 2016 19:30:18 GMT -6
“I write poetry and sometimes scribe them into calligraphy art if they’re short,” she confided. She sighed quietly. “To be honest, you’ve surpassed me. “I haven’t played most of the instruments since I was confined, though I remember the long hours of the koto. I was still perfecting my technique for a performance at the time.”
She lifted her kimono up. “The samishen and the flute came back easier than others, probably because I played them for my brother.”
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Nov 12, 2016 19:52:26 GMT -6
"That is understandable. I am sure when you get the chance to play the others again you will find you have not forgotten as much as you believe." He looked forward again as they walked. "So are you still teaching the Kido class at the Academy?"
He looked quickly toward her the forward again. "Makino spoke highly of you talents with Kido."
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Nov 12, 2016 19:58:45 GMT -6
Yumiko blushed and lowered her head. “I had a break down when the captains died. I ran away.” She looked to her escort a few moments later. “I’m surprised she said that when I set her off on the first day, but you can tell her that I want to go back to that class after I have Misao’s son.”
She looked down again. “Kotetsu-san believed that I should wait until after I had the child to go back when we realized I was pregnant and that the gestation would be shorter than normal for our bodies.”
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Nov 12, 2016 21:52:04 GMT -6
"Maki-chan knows talent when she sees it. And upset is nothing and from what I heard it was her classmate that upset her more that you did." He looked her way and smiled. "Also, if you truly had upset her you would not be here talking to me now. Because you would probable loathe the Masanobu clan."
Yumiko shook her head. "Never. I do not judge others by one's actions."
Kouen smiled and patted her hand that held on to his arm. "That is good to know. Because my other three siblings are pains. Me and Maki-chan are the only normal ones out of the five Masanobu children."
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Nov 12, 2016 22:08:15 GMT -6
Yumiko chuckled softly. “Well, I will be glad to teach her some new tricks when I return to the class. Before - before the tragedy, Ayase-san and I were going to combine our classes in an experimental combination of kido and zanjutsu.”
“That’s not something we’re taught that often.”
Yumiko nodded, gaining confidence in her voice again. “No, but there are multiple kido spells that can give fighters an edge if they can learn to look beyond the initial lessons. It doesn’t have to be the masters or kido specialists. It can be tricky at first, but I want to give it a try. The enemy may have strength on their side, but that isn't always what wins a skirmish."
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Post by Kouen Masanobu on Nov 12, 2016 23:11:14 GMT -6
Kouen nodded as he listened to her go on about the Kido class and different ways she wanted to train and teach the kids. He found her ideas interesting and very well thought out. "I am sure with the right attitude you could do this without interference for the Academy board." He chuckled lightly with a tilt of head as he looked at her again.
"As long as you're not killing the students off while training them."
Yumiko shook her head quickly. "I'd never hurt them. Not even when-" She lowered her head, face flushing at her lapse. "I wouldn't," she repeated.
"That's good to know. They need more instructors like you Lady Ryouma. A few of those instructors are too harsh at times. Over half of the students there don't even know the name of their zanpakuto."
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on Nov 12, 2016 23:39:37 GMT -6
Yumiko set her opposite hand on her midsection, calming her son again and calming herself in the process. “In their defense, they’re teachers first. Warriors second. If that. Some choose to be there to support the Gotei because they didn’t want to … or couldn’t fully support the Gotei as soldiers.”
“Like you?” he asked.
Yumiko shrugged. “I don’t know… I suppose it was easier to learn from a possible enemy than expect them to support you in battle. The negative feelings have gone down… but they’re still there.” She looked back to Kouen Masanobu. “I’m honored that you think that I was doing some good before I abandoned my post. I hope I can do so again when I return.”
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