[ OPEN ] trust in me

[kaientai]

Who ⬤ Sakamoto Ryouma + others!
What ⬤ Ryouma has more business meetings...
When ⬤ the end of June and throughout July
Where ⬤ his office + wherever else around the city!
Content Warnings ⬤ None at the moment! Will add if anything comes up.

pm or hmu @ koutenko to request a starter!
also open to wildcards!

Comments

[kaientai]

Can't promise to stick with it, but at least you make actual suggestions.

[ it's one part joke and one part serious. ]

Most of the time people just tell me to stop.

[ which ryouma doesn't really mind because it's inevitable, but lately things that never bother him have a bad habit of sticking around in his head anyway. ]

[bratherine]

( Well, that's because you're a ridiculous man, Ryouma. )

... ( Kate glances away for a moment, watching a group of yokai kids chase a ball down an alleyway, screeching and laughing as they do. ) Happens t' me sometimes.

( A shrug. She does a lot of stuff, and has only been building that habit further since settling into Jigokucho proper. Alarms are good sometimes. )

[kaientai]

It'd be better if I were just less busy, but the way things are lately, that ain't likely t' be the case for a while. But I did say I was gonna do somethin' 'bout the war and I proved it, so y' know, missin' lunch once in a while is worth it if less people are gettin' hurt 'round here for no good reason!

[ yes, that means kate and her formerly injured ribs. ryouma'a excuse is that the work is important. that's always his excuse, whether he's missing lunch or walking willingly into danger because he thinks he needs to. he's happy to try, but he's also been like this for a very long time... ]

I prefer takin' ya t' get pizza over droppin' ya at the clinic any day!

[bratherine]

( You can say all of that, but Kate is still going to poke a finger into his side, a sharp jab because... )

Happened once 'cause of a dumbass bird.

( Put the guy you're in love with on a leash and she won't be in the clinic again.

But hey, that looks like another branch of the pizza place they went to before. )

[kaientai]

[ hold up. "bird" can mean any number of things, it's true, but ryouma generally keeps tabs on whose doing what in the city as best he can — it's his faction's business to know these things, after all — and he knows kate got into it with a shuten.

so, naturally, the venn diagram that includes "bird" and "shuten" is a lot smaller pool of possible individuals. ]

When ya say "bird"... what d' ya mean exactly..?

[ it also explains the delay in realising she was even poking him. ]

[bratherine]

( That's... an interesting reaction. No yelp, no focus on anything other than the word bird.

But, luckily for Ryouma's information gathering, Kate has no problem complaining about the jerk who broke her rib. )

Some fluffy haired dumbass who can't keep his clothes on. ( ... Come to think of it. ) Accent's a bit like yours.

[kaientai]

Ah.

[ it's a small world here in hell after all. that's easily the most loaded sound ever, seeing as he fairly clearly has connected some dots. ]

An' I s'pose y' told Emily that too?

[bratherine]

... Aye.

( Why wouldn't she? Squint. That first noise, though. )

Y'know 'im, don't you?

[kaientai]

Sure, I do. Izō an' I are—... I mean, we grew up in the same place...

[ which she can tell given she's noticed the accent. boy, he's awkward right now. ]

Sorry..?

[ why is he apologising?? izō won't so he feels like he should. ]

[bratherine]

( Izō will never, but look, her ribs are fixed and she hasn't had to see him since. That might be as close to an apology as we get. )

... What? You're family?

( The annoying, ready to pick a fight guy and the cheerful, generally responsible one? That sounds oddly familiar for some reason. )

[kaientai]

We might as well be 'cause we go way back! I know how he might seem, but he's not like that all the time, I swear!

[ he doesn't expect to convince her but it's worth a shot. ]

[bratherine]

( Squint. Well, while they sit down at their table... )

Aye? What's he like with you, then?

( d i s h. She probably won't change her mind but she deserves some embarrassing Izō goss beyond his terrible fashion sense. )

[kaientai]

[ ryouma laughs nervously a little, less because of the idea of having to answer the question and more because the answer to that question a lot of the time is... izō also gives him a hard time. ]

Well, that depends. Izō is always Izō, no matter what. That's somethin' I really admire about 'im. Even when he's bein' nice, he's still who he is.

[ which is to say, izō will never let him live if there's an opportunity to give him a hard time instead, but ryouma is fine with this. ]

Besides, ya gotta be a real stand-up guy t' stay friends with someone after they shot ya.

[ izō tells everyone, so it's not like it's a great big secret. laugh until it doesn't hurt anymore or something like that. this is probably not what kate was hoping for at all... ]

[bratherine]

( Honestly, if they ever stopped sniping at one another, they'd probably be great friends. And in another timeline they were.

But um. Wait what. )

Y'shot 'im?

( She's trying to resist the urge to say he deserved it, honestly. )

[kaientai]

Yeah, I did, durin' that whole curse business. I didn't mean t' do it, but I didn't mean for anything else I ever did t' hurt more'n they helped either. I figured he'd be real justified in decidin' t' write me off after that...

[ so... it's complicated. and he would have her believe izō is too. he continues, as if he knows what she's thinking. he doesn't, but it's an easy guess. ]

He was tryin' t' save me. Didn't wanna leave me there and that's how he got repaid for it. That's the kinda person he is. Izō's real rough around the edges but the guy ya want on your side in a pinch.

[bratherine]

( ... Here she was, hoping for something silly and stupid, but instead Ryouma paints a different portrait of the man.

Sigh. Dammit. Now the man is more than just a cackling bird villain in her mind. How rude. )

... Tell 'im to buy me coffee and I'll forgive 'im.

[kaientai]

Yeah?

[ ryouma beams brightly. look how happy you've made him, kate!!! izō will probably not ever buy her a coffee but it's the willingness on her part to entertain the idea of peace (??) that counts! ]

Then I'll tell him so! Hehe, I bet ya don't get along 'cause you're sorta alike. Nicer than ya both let on...

[ once again, he perceives. ]

[bratherine]

( Ugh.

Shudder. )

Never say tha' again.

[kaientai]

Hehe, which part?

[ the part where they're alike or the part where she's nice. he's not going to listen, but good to know anyway. ]

[bratherine]

All of it.

( Being nice or like Izo. Gross. )

[kaientai]

[ ryouma just gives her a look that suggests that reaction isn't doing much to convince him otherwise. ]

Don't worry, I won't tell nobody!

[ he'll protect her street cred~ ]

What's wrong with bein' nice?

[bratherine]

( What if she glowers at him, what then? )

...

( Pizzas come to their table and Kate shuts her mouth before she starts talking, waiting for the waiter to leave before she answers. )

Don't suit me.

( She feels like she's been angry for so long, rebuffing pity and making mistakes, that actually being nice has to be a mistake, right? )

[kaientai]

Oh, I see. Well, that just means those times ya are nice, it must be extra special then, huh?

[ he will continue to make this worse. he ordered another seafood horror pizza that has way too many things on it at once. ]

[bratherine]

( Yeah, she's very glad she's just eating this veggie special. Healthier than her usual cheese concoctions, mostly because she's eaten one too many junk meals since getting here. So let her pretend that a vegan pizza is a better option than cheese with extra cheese. )

Ugh...

( Don't make her out to be nice, Ryouma!!! )

[kaientai]

Hehe, I'm just kiddin'. Wouldn't be so much fun if ya didn't react that way, y' know!

[ maybe he should be making more of an effort to be... professional? mature? maybe. ryouma is not really responsible at all when you get right down to it, but he makes the effort when it's needed. it's appreciated that this is a very casual sort of friendship. because only friends have pizza dates, right??

that being said, he brings his hands together in front of him happily because thanks for the food and then picks up a slice that has enough on it to necessitate folding it. ]

Don't like the meat kind, do ya?

[ is this a roundabout way to ask about her preferences? maybe. ]