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After I tackled him.

[Tenka doesn't really have any interest in hiding anything from Sousei - what's the point anymore? - so he doesn't care about the implications when a hand goes up to his throat. There was a second where Shirasu pressed the kunai more firmly against his neck and that was a surprise, but-]

He put it down really easily though.

[Which just further solidifies Tenka's belief that Shirasu will never actually hurt him. But apparently things have gotten bad to the point that Shirasu is still willing to at least fake it for a second and that's concerning.... He just gives Sousei a grin.]

But that's not a surprise! He knows better than anyone that I'm invincible, bahahaha!!

[That hardly matters if his first instinct was to raise it in the first place. Sousei had thought that Shirasu would only be able to kill the Kumou brothers via neglect--neglecting to save Tenka and Chuutarou and Soramaru. But now...

He frowns slightly, arms crossed a little tighter.]

He didn't try to hurt you after that?

[Calm is key here, even if he wants to find that ninja and shake him until he thinks better of things like this.]

'course not!

[Which is what he says, despite the fact that it wasn't too long ago that he had a kunai pressed against his throat. But regardless, he doesn't hesitate at all, instead nodding.]

... he's still Shirasu, somewhere in that dumb brain of his. He wouldn't explain anything, which is a problem and something I'm going to fix - but he wouldn't let anything happen to me either.

[For what reasons? Tenka's not sure anymore. But he saw the look of surprise in Shirasu's eyes when they'd first made eye contact. Tenka shakes him up - and Tenka intends to exploit that as much as he possibly can.]

[He's not so convinced but....whatever makes Tenka happy, he supposes.... For now, anyway, it's a temporary fix. He's not convinced that Shirasu won't just stab Tenka when it's more convenient, and that's something that he would like to avoid.

For now, he just closes his eyes, contemplative.]

...You may try to forget his crimes, but he won't. [Just...seriously. He's not going to try to stop Tenka at all, but honestly...]

Try to be careful for once. [There's no way he can take losing Tenka again, if he's going to be entirely selfish.]

[ . . . that much manages to get Tenka to curl his fingers around the edges of his cloak, pulling on it a bit even as his gaze turns contemplative. It's hard to be careful around Shirasu because old habits die hard - it took ten years for Tenka and Sousei's relationship to change and even then, Tenka lets the familiarity between them slip constantly.

So he keeps his expression neutral as he glances at Sousei.]

You know his crimes better than I do at this point - though I'm not about to forget anything that puts my little brothers in danger.

[Even if it was Shirasu who caused those situations - and that's a foreign enough idea for Tenka already. But he loves his little brothers with everything he has. He won't be negligent when it comes to them.]

. . . do you think he'd try to hurt me?

[Lose track of Chuutarou and put him in the hands of a serial killer that Tenka personally antagonized, that's unforgivable. Let Soramaru become the Orochi's vessel and everything that Tenka was trying to prevent, also unforgivable.

A lot of what Shirasu did is unforgivable - Tenka knows that. But it was also sounds so very passive. Should Tenka actually be afraid for his life?]

[Ah... that familiar weight of so much responsibility settling on his shoulders... if he's wrong here, and Tenka gets stabbed, he knows he'll blame himself for that for the rest of his life. But...as much as he'd like to say that Shirasu would absolutely murder Tenka, anything to keep Tenka away from that treacherous ninja, it's...not true.

Sousei is many things, but he's not a liar, especially not to his partner.

If it's his mistake, he supposes he'll bear it, like everything else--for now, after a moment's pause, he presses his lips together tightly and shakes his head.]

... No. I don't think he would go out of his way to cause you harm.

[...but. There are a lot of ways to get someone in trouble, and he didn't try to save Tenka either. And the fact that he drew his weapon on Tenka is alarming too, even if he immediately put it away. So after a moment's rumination more, Sousei adds in--]

But I can't say what he'll do when cornered. [It's cornered, feral animals that fight back the hardest, and Sousei knows Tenka--he's going to corner Shirasu, and try to not let him get away. So...nonetheless, be careful.]

[ . . . that's enough to get Tenka to snort faintly. Yeah. Sousei knows him really well. There's no doubt in Tenka's mind that he's going to do everything in his power to get answers out of Shirasu - to properly confront the other man about everything because they're family.]

Fair enough. [He breathes in and out, shoulders slumping with his sigh. He grabs his tea to take a sip and hum faintly. Then he'll promise:] I'll be careful.

[Because Tenka also knows completely what kind of person he is. He'll poke and prod at people to get reactions out of them, he'll provoke Shirasu if he has to. All he wants in this moment is the truth.

Though he actually doesn't have much else to say after that. Instead he's quiet as he continues to sip at his tea and think about the dilemma he's found himself in.

Making plans at least makes it easier to ignore the pain in his chest as the feeling of abandonment settles in.]

[...It's only with that settled--with that promise--that Sousei finally shifts, standing from the wall and moving to sit across from Tenka at the table. Alright. If Tenka is going to at least try to be careful, even around Shirasu...well, that's an improvement. For now, that'll have to be enough.

Sousei will have to do his best to be that guide and guard that Taiko seemed to have envisioned for him all of those years ago, now that it's finally put to the test.

... Of course, Tenka's mental state is...a little harder to fix. Especially when you lose family... Sousei's still got a rather loose definition of the term, but without Tenka and Tenka's family and the Yamainu, he'd be alone. Losing them...]

What did he say?

[Did you get any answers at all?]

[The question gets Tenka's eyes to look up, meeting Sousei's. Well, there was a lot. And one Tenka filtered out the random kissing nonsense caused by those dumb machines, there's a lot less. But the words that Shirasu did say-]

... He's glad I lived.

[Tenka shrugs idly at that, managing a small smile.]

Guess that makes the two of us.

[Again, Sousei has a kneejerk reaction, and again, it's wrong. He wants to say that Shirasu has no right to say that to Tenka, has no right to say that he's glad he lived when he didn't even make the attempt to save him--

But if that's the case, Sousei doesn't have the right either. And he's certainly glad that Tenka lived.

... He takes a slow breath.]

I see. [anything he could possibly say to that would sound trite, wouldn't it? He said he wanted Tenka to live, and the last thing Sousei wants to do is kick Tenka further, and imply that even that might be a lie.

Just more for him to note, and carry, he supposes. He won't let his guard down.]

[Even if he doesn't say it, Tenka thinks he can hear it in the silence. Sousei doesn't like Shirasu, right? With good reason - very, very good reason. Tenka knows better than anyone that what Shirasu's done is awful, considering that all of it happened to his little brothers. And for his little brothers, Tenka has trouble forgiving Shirasu.

Sousei probably feels it even more - lacking the ten years of attachment that Tenka has. So to hear anything else that sounds like it would excuse the person who took Sousei's protege - from the kidnapped's own older brother? It probably sounds like a mess.]

We don't have to talk about it, you know. [He quirks a brow and musters up a grin.] Much as I appreciate the effort.

[He'd rather just brush it under the table for now. Nothing big has even happened. (The feeling of a hand around Tenka's heart, making it hard for him to breathe at the thought of losing his friend, will eventually go away if he just laughs it off.) Though there is just... one thing he wants to make sure of first.]

But I need you to do me a favor. Partner to partner.

[Yes, he's that serious about it.]

[Well... He doesn't feel as though not talking about it is truly a viable option; all the more chance that Tenka will do something dumb, and now that Tenka is finally opening up to him about things, he hardly wants to go back to the way they were, hiding things that weren't convenient.

So no, he does think they have to talk about it.

He will put in the effort.

But for now, that's serious enough that he accepts the shift in focus, nodding simply.]

What is it?

[Because...well, he's going to do it.]

[This is going to be a selfish request and he knows it, but that's exactly why he's asking for it as a favor. There's a good chance that it's not going to be plausible or possible, but if there's even a chance that Tenka could keep it from happening....]

Just... don't spill any blood over me, okay?

[It's a selfish enough thought already - Tenka never thought people would actually shed blood for his sake before, but he remembers the riots of the villagers all too easily. He has a knack for getting himself in trouble and then burdening the people around him. But in this situation, it's his own protectiveness of his family - even if some people won't consider him family anymore - that brings about this request.]

Shirasu's done a lot of unforgivable things - so I get being mad for Chuutarou or Soramaru. [Tenka's not going to hold back much for their sakes either, because his precious little brothers mean the world to him.] But I'm not that important.

[Not important enough that he thinks his heart would be able to handle it if his partner ended up hurting the man who was his best friend and confidant for 10 years.]

[Is that what it is...this is Tenka's big request from him as his partner. Don't shed blood over him. That's a request that Sousei knows will be difficult, but...he supposes if it wasn't difficult, he wouldn't need to make the request in the first place. Despite everything, how much has Tenka asked of him over the years?

Practically nothing, honestly.

Sousei nods, simply, but the words that he finally says are--]

Don't be selfish. [Ah...] You are just as important. [Right. He's still not going to take that sort of self-deprication lying down. But nonetheless:]

... But I won't.

[He'll do his absolutely damnedest to not have to kill Shirasu, for what it's worth, though a lot of that equally depends on what Shirasu does.]

[Tenka just snorts softly. He's just as important as his little brothers? That's impossible - but maybe it's part of the fact that Tenka never quite manages to see himself clearly. Rather, his little brothers are the most important people in his world, in this world even without them - of any world. It's his job to protect them, whether it's by coming up with plans or shielding them with his own body.

He will never be as important and he never wants to be that important.

But selfish? He can take that. It's not the first time he's been called selfish. Sousei, his little brothers, even Shirasu accused him of the same thing. With that level of consensus, it has to be true.

Instead, he just shakes his head fondly as he recalls-]

Shirasu used to ask me to give him orders before. Something about how Fuuma can't live without direction and how freedom is hell - but I never agreed to it. But at the very least, he'd always listen to what I said and did what I asked from him as a friend.

[ . . . Tenka just shrugs and musters up a smile.]

I'll try that again here. After all, I did say that anyone who touches my partner is gonna get a good punch in the face from me.

[He's not going to make this request just from Sousei - Tenka's going to be selfish enough to ask Shirasu for the same thing. Because life is hard when the two people who mean so much to him are naturally at odds.]

[This is why you're selfish, Tenka. You only do what you want, and only interact in the world in the way you see it. But Sousei is used to this by now--and he's unbothered by it. He'll just keep pointing it out. His job right now is to protect all of the Kumou brothers--not just Soramaru and Chuutarou, but Tenka as well.

He scoffs faintly at that, tilting his head.]

...Don't have any of your blood shed on my behalf. [Don't corner Shirasu just to tell him not to harm Sousei--Sousei's pretty sure he can handle himself, and he's also pretty sure there are more important things Tenka should be focusing on.]

I can take care of myself.

[But even more than that, there are more important things Tenka has to focus on than whether or not Sousei's going to irritate a ninja to the point where he might try to stab him. That's just common sense, as far as Sousei can see.]

[That's enough to get Tenka to raise a brow.]

Shirasu wouldn't hurt me over something like that. [Probably. Tenka thinks about it now and well, honestly.... Tenka provoked Shirasu to the point that he legitimately had the other man pinned to the ground and he still didn't get stabbed, even when there was a kunai at his throat.

. . . we might need to work on Tenka's definition of 'cornered'.]

But jeeze, just because you can take care of yourself doesn't mean that I'm not gonna try. Partners, remember?

[We definitely need to work on Tenka's definition of cornered, and also "danger". Such as--that's a dangerous situation overall. Okay. Okay.

But honestly......... that's not even what this is about, Sousei thinks, but he'll take it. He can't deny Tenka the desire to protect him in turn, considering this entire conversation has been about the opposite. Being partners means being on even ground, right?]

...Fine. I won't go out of my way to provoke him, either. [But he also won't not if Shirasu's being suspicious and/or is in his way OH WELL.]

You're the one who requires protecting. You constantly get yourself into these situations. [back to a more lighthearted attempt aka a jab at Tenka because SERIOUSLY. How do you get yourself into these situations.]

[A jab!! How dare you jab at him! It's enough to get Tenka to frown a bit in response because honestly-]

I don't need protecting from my own ninja!

[Probably! Basically every time Tenka says something about Shirasu, it's a good idea to add a 'probably' to it.]

[JABS OKAY.]

Events would suggest otherwise.

[He's not even going to both sugarcoating that one DID YOU FORGET THE KUNAI AT YOUR THROAT.

....... wait.]

"Your" ninja... [Do you mean that in the "Kumou family ninja" way or the "oh yeah i kissed this ninja" way.]

He's always been jumpy, okay?

[The kunai at his throat wasn't a surprise considering the fact that Tenka tackled him - it's the fact that it didn't go down immediately that was a surprise.

Anyway.

The implications of that are going right over Tenka's head and he's blinking.]

Well - sort of my ninja.... He likes saying he's the Kumou ninja even though he's more part of the family than anything.

[what other way could you possibly take tenka possessively claiming shirasu]

[NO NOT OKAY.... not okay at all. Fuuma ninjas have been trying to kill them all over the place, alright. This isn't what he wanted. He's still paranoid and suspicious.]

I see. [Pro...bably. The harmless version then.] Similar to Nishiki, then.

[Soramaru's Fuuma ninja. Could you guys stop collecting them.......

...wait maybe not the best comparison, they did seem awfully close--]

[Well to be honest-]

Maybe? She told me that Soramaru helped her but apparently didn't give her a place to stay - so he's slacking!! [Time shenanigans at work here.] Shirasu came to live with us after I found him injured in the snow and then he just took on the role of shrine keeper and also decided he was our ninja.

[And also managed to weasel his way into the hearts of their dumb family.

Dammit Shirasu.]

[Sousei just slowly cants his head to one side, a quizzical gesture if nothing else.]

...She has been living at the shrine ever since he rescued her. [???] She is very defensive of him as well.

[.... Sousei just has this effect on Kumou ninja apparently.]

[ . . . ?????]

That's not what she told me....

But good! Someone's gotta watch out for my cute little brothers.

[ . . . wait.

Wait.

Wait.]

Soramaru's living with a girl?!

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