Heavenfall

Well this was a fine situation. Umeno understood that the expedition had many people, but sharing a room with other people?

They better not be too perky she thought, changing into her sleeping robes, letting her long brown hair loose.

Typical fucking Seidou.

"No, no," you tell them, I'll just sleep outside, I like it."

And they come back with some dogshit about "security risks."

Like these people have anything I'd want to steal. I'm LEAVING soon. Where would I put it?

Idiots.

He stumped into the room, looking irritable. Part of that was the ledger one of the quartermasters had handed him in a panic, asking if he could work some new efficiency into it. He couldn't even make sense of the columns of numerical figures, and he only refrained from tossing the thing over hsi shoulder due to a baseline reverence for the written word.

And then he spotted her.

Ah. And we get to double up.

He didn't say anything to the woman at first, he just dumped his equipment in a corner near the door.

"I won't bite if you won't."

Among the Hikaru, mixed groups of all ages and sexes had shared tents, and while it was a lot easier to get to sleep if nobody was actively screwing, he'd learned to tune that out too, in a pinch.

Umeno didn't carry much with her. That said, her armor and weapons took up quite a bit of room on their own, so she had sat down to naje certain hammers and armor both were in order. When Sora made his way in, she was making certain all the ties of her armor weren't frayed. She gave a quiet grunt, then raised an eyebrow at the comment.

"...I wasn't planning on it. Or was that some sort of offer?" Her voice was young, but had a rough edge to it as her brow furrowed in consternation.

"Fortunes, no."

He shucked off the relatively nice outer kimono he wore and deposited it on top of his stuff.

"Just something I said to a giant rat-man earlier today that seemed appropriate here. For similar reasons, since I doubt any of that hardware is just for show."

Umeno's brow remained furrowed a moment more before she shook her head and allowed herself a light smirk. "No, it's not. But I'm not in the habit of using it on men that bite a little anyway... or at least, I doubt I would."

The man seemed a touch uncouth, but then, so was she. Old though. She shrugged. "Wonder if anyone else's assigned here. Long as you don't snore like a bear, should be fine. Umeno... er, Bayushi Umeno, I mean." The girl didn't look too pleased about adding the Kami to her name, but no less set on it all the same.

"Jiyo Sora. And nobody has ever mentioned my snoring, although I admit, not many would know one way or another."

He cocked his head to the side.

"One of Bayushi's followers, hm? New to it?"

The girl gave a slight frown again for a moment before sighing and nodding. "Yeah... yeah, I suppose you could say that. It's taking some getting used to, actually following someone's orders and doing what they ask. Just joined him a few years back, and I'm still not used to it."

Umeno paused, looking a touch thoughtful before she grunted. "...He's actually a bit of a know it all bastard, just between you and me. Smart though, and skilled. Only man that's ever beat me at my own game." Whatever that was.

"Oh, they're better at things than we are. All of them. I suspect Doji could outmuscle me if she took a mind to do so, and Hida might actually be more polite than I am."

He chuckled.

"You know, the thing with Bayushi? His own sister couldn't tell me what he would do if he became Emperor. Spoke volumes. But his twin's an easy guy to follow."

A quick frown.

"Although, looking back over the last five years, I don't think he's ever given me an actual order. He's just offered me choices."

The girl raised an eyebrow at that. "A part of the Imperial families? Suppose a smarter woman woulda realized that at the name, but I'm a slow learner."

There was a long pause before she said bluntly, "You don't seem the sort of man to serve an Emperor y' know."

He chuckled at that.

"Five years can change a lot, but only if you try. I'm a better person than I was when I met Shiba-sama in the ways I care about, but the things that didn't bother me don't appear to bother the Emperor. Or his consort. Or the mother of his children. Or the children themselves."

He gave a thin smile.

"And sometimes you don't need a polished, groomed warrior. Sometimes your children are best protected by a mangy stray."

Umeno gave a small grunt and a wide grin. "I wouldn't call myself quite the same old man, but I think that your master and mine have similar thoughts as to why we're with them. I may lack some of the polish that many of the others that followed him have, but polish doesn't matter when blood's on the line."

"And isn't it always, on some level?"

If he minded being called "old," he didn't show it- after all, for a Hikaru, he was certainly no spring chicken. Over a quarter century!

"Besides, I leave the polish to Yuzuru-sama- he's far better at it than I could ever hope to be. We all have our talents. Mine's just a bit... messier than some."

"Sora-sempai, do you need..."

Freeze.

"Wrong room? Or maybe wrong time? I can go back later. Or tomorrow."

Ayumu had already begun to step backward quietly.

Hm. Wonder what has him so fussed.

"Ayumu, no, you've got the right place, and you're not interrupting anything. Bayushi Umeno, this is Jiyo Ayumu- he's something of a rising star with Jiyo-sama's techniques."

In that he had actually learned them.

Unlike Sora himself.

"Oh cool. I wouldn't want to interrupt anything. Nice to meet you... Should I go by your full name? Just Bayushi? Just Umeno? As for me, you can simply call me Ayumu."

He waved at the ledger and similar papers:

"I just wanted to know if you needed a second pair of eyes to look at the number crunching sempai."

Jiyo Ayumu wrote: ↑

Tue May 19, 2020 8:12 pm

"I just wanted to know if you needed a second pair of eyes to look at the number crunching sempai."

"You couldn't possibly do worse with it than I did. Be my guest."

"You're thinking too little of yourself sempai. Those numbers would be overwhelming for anyone save a few professional bookkeepers. I may have had to deal with getting the quantities right when I was into dressmaking... But nothing near that complexity by far. So many people, with so many different needs... Food, water, clothes, medicine, weapons... Is that religious apparatus? Are those protective trinkets? Are we really supposed to plan for a trip that should last somewhere between three and six weeks? Could it be even less precise?

Here. I've done the best I could, but you will need an actual specialist for more."

(+1 Provision Point)

Umeno said nothing in reply. In truth, it was half that she wasn't given a chance, and half that she was more than happy to take the opportunity to shut up. She always appreciated those moments.

She was only mildly interested in... whatever they were doing. It involved numbers, one of the least interesting things she could think of. She kept tending to her armor, keeping an eye on them both.

"Is there anything else I can help you with Sempai? Of course, the offer extends to you should you need anything Lady Bayushi Umeno of the Scorpion."

In doubt, Ayumu opted for using as many names and honorific as available.

"I'm quite all right, at least for the time being, Ayumu."

He glanced at the Scorpion. Chuckled.

"And after my staggering in here and utterly destroying any hope Bayushi-san had for a tolerable roommate, she, too, might be beyond help."