Hizen Tadahiro (肥前忠広) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
harimaya) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
jigokulogs2022-09-11 04:20 pm
harimaya) wrote in jigokulogs2022-09-11 04:20 pm
harimaya) wrote in jigokulogs2022-09-11 04:20 pm
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(He's not. He's really not. And he knows how childishly stubborn this sounds but after this whole fall and how pitiful everything is? He has to say something for himself.
At least he's able to help paddle his way to shore somewhat. Like someone being guided along with a lifeguard ring, kicking his feet beneath him to make it easier.
... Ah. Speaking of... oh no. He's not going to like it when he gets back on shore.)
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[ Rattlesnake? King cobra? Fifty foot tall orochi-spawn? No problem. He's more than confident in his sword skills, or at least in his ability to run away.
An extremely venomous sea snake approaching while he's swimming or bathing? Absolutely not. (He also won't touch nagas, but that's just his class disadvantage speaking.)
But Kojirou isn't being attacked by snakes right now so he doesn't have much trouble reaching the shore, where he begins to pull up the sword spirit. ]
But it looks like they will not be a problem today.
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Once they reach the river's bank, he's more than happy to start carrying himself out of the water. He lets go when it's shallow enough for him to walk and he splashes his way back up onto dry land. He feels so heavy when his oversized hoodie is soaked and weighted down with so much water. He rings out and rolls up his sleeves. He turns his sword upside down to shake out any water he can from the sheath and tries to fix the loose bandages around his neck.
Pitiful. He looks pitiful. Like a cat that's lost most of its volume in the bath.
Perhaps the most offensive part is the fact that... it looks like he's lost a shoe in the river. He's just one wet shoe and one barefoot on land.)
Whatever. (About the snakes.) Thanks for helping...
(He really is thankful but it definitely sounds more like... pouting? His pride hurts, okay.)
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The water never went above his neck, but that's not much help when that means the rest of his clothes are soaked through, and he's just as wet as the soaked dog opposite him. No shoes either, but that's just because he left his sandals on the bridge. ]
It's Kojirou. You can call me Sasaki Kojirou.
[ Was Hizen searching for a name? Kojirou offers it anyway, because where would the world be if they couldn't at least be polite to each other? ]
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Sasaki Kojirou?
(Like, from the legends?)
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Hm? You recognise the name?
[ Not entirely unexpected. He's in the right version of hell for it, and Sasaki Kojirou, Musashi's greatest rival, is a name famous in most versions of history. The yokai here would definitely know what the name means, and no shortage of Lost Souls that would recognise it too. ]
I suppose I am that man, and this [ he rattles the sword hanging loosely off his shoulder ] is the Laundry Pole.
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(And as a result, not a single touken who doesn't know about Kojirou's... uniquely named sword. Well, Hizen has certainly heard worse. When you know a candlestick cutter and a beard cutter.... a laundry pole isn't too weird.
Ah, but hadn't he fought a swordswoman named Musashi a while back? They'd known Izo and Ryouma too. Could this guy be related to?)
.... Are you really him?
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[ It is certainly true that all the samurai who came after them would have known of Musashi, and therefore of Kojirou. There were some big Musashi fans amongst them too. It doesn't surprise him at all, and it would certainly be at the forefront of people's minds considering there is a version of Musashi running around the city. ]
I'm not sure that's a question worth answering. My saying yes would do nothing to allay your doubts. Nevertheless, that is my true name.
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(And he holds up his sword. Speaking of though, he can still feel some water sloshing around in the sheath and he turns it upside down again and tries to shake it dry.)
Gimme a sec.
(He's just going to draw it to shake that last bit of water out and wipe his sword down with a damp sleeve. God, this sucks. He's soaked to the bone but having river water on his true form just makes his skin crawl.)
Y'know, I met someone who called themselves Musashi once. Wasn't nothing like I imagined, though... you seem more normal.
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[ Most people who called themselves samurai back in his day were barely qualified to swing a sword. Kojirou would have hardly considered them swordsmen.
There's also that one Archer that carries swords around but is actually a mage. Archer is a very silly class. ]
I imagine so. The figures in history are often wildly different from how we remember them.
[ The female Musashi is just one of them. Technically, she came from an alternate timeline from his own, but they had still interacted before this, and she was definitely still Shinmen Musashi. ]
I might look more like how you imagined, but I also wouldn't look too closely.
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(He's a time traveler. He gets it. And he's been in this city long enough to meet enough Fates to know how things go.)
Not really sure what I imagined but at least you're a guy.
(Yeah. Anyway,)
Hizen Tadahiro.
(That's his name. It's only fair to offer his own now.)
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All Heroic Spirits are summoned with the basic knowledge needed to survive a Holy Grail War. That includes quite a lot of history that they wouldn't be familiar with otherwise. It's how a minor Japanese spirit like himself was able to pick out Excalibur instantly.
Unfortunately a samurai's katana would not pass muster here. Few of them are notable enough to be considered a Noble Phantasm, but the name still rings a bell. ]
Like the old province?
[ Well, pseudonyms are fairly common all over the world. It's enough to be a minor curiosity but ultimately not a huge issue. ]
More importantly, why did you decide to take a swim in the river?
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Mhm.
(He isn't surprised that Kojirou would know. The area was called Hizen back then, as well. He doesn't expect many to recognize his own name right away. Tadahiro swords are largely regional with the more famous ones making their name in later eras...)
I didn't! I fell!
(From directly under a bridge into the water. Yeah.)
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looks at the spot where Hizen was threading water
looks at Hizen ]
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Quit lookin' at me like that.
(His sword is still drawn!! Because he's really trying to dry out his sheath as much as possible before he returns it. He clenches his fist around the handle and glares,)
One minute I was chasin' after some punks and the next thing I knew, I was in the river.
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[ Kojirou is usually very careful about keeping his presence in check. If he were at his best, even powerful sixth senses would not be able to see him as anything more than a harmless, ordinary flesh and blood human.
But if he's going to be physically threatened, then that facade drops immediately, the sword casually hanging over his shoulder dropping to waist level, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.
But he doesn't go any further than that, continuing to talk in his usual, elegant tone of voice. ]
So you fell into a trap. Most people will, once or twice in their lives. Where did you fall?
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(He is just... frustrated. Embarrassed. Let him be tense and prickly because his grip isn't relaxing. He's just an angry, soaking ball of tension and hurt pride.)
It wasn't... a trap. (And he looks down at the ground.) Just can't... it's stupid. Don't worry about it.
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[ But Kojirou does seem to relax a little, just a hair of tension leaving his body. He seems to have some control over his own faculties at least, and isn't going to just start swinging. ]
If it wasn't a trap then what was it? I doubt someone who dares to call themselves a swordsman is the type to trip over nothing and fall into a river.
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Ah, that catches his attention. He looks surprised to hear someone speak about it so casually after just meeting them...
But it's funny that he mentions how no swordsman would dare trip over nothing and fall into the river because Hizen just looks even more embarrassed and grumbles,)
... You don't know me. (He isn't just a swordsman but he's an actual sword!) Who d'ya work for? Didn't see ya at the welcome party...
(This guy isn't with Shuten........)
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[ Is that a thing you're allowed to say around an actual sword? Too bad, Kojirou doesn't know better, but what he does know is that there is a certain amount of training even the most wretched and pathetic samurai is supposed to put themselves through.
Wouldn't want to end up having some rich kid stab their own eye out with their own sword. ]
I happen to be contracted to the Tamamo clan, but all the clans need their bodyguards. [ That's how he's rationalising being stuck in this whorehouse, at least. But he also wants to say that just because he's not with the Shuten doesn't mean that he should be underestimated. ]
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...
(Tamamo, huh?)
The fox.
(A clan that Shuten has clashed with quite a bit in particular. Hizen isn't naive to really expect their peace to last for long and this means he should be careful, especially against someone who can so freely admit they have bloodlust. He's a cautious spirit and he gives his sheath one last shake dry before returning his sword to it.
... It still feels uncomfortable but he can tolerate it for now.)
My contract is with Shuten. Nothing personal but I ain't gotta explain what I can do to you.
(But he knows how it looks. He looks foolish still dripping water and missing a shoe after falling into the river like that so he'll admit one small thing,)
... I'm learning something new.
tfw i messed up the html
[ They'll get around to properly fighting sooner or later, but Kojirou has no interest in putting down a wet dog who is still missing an entire shoe. Or perhaps he's more of a cat? ]
Where words are necessary, however, is explaining how you fell into the river, unless you wish to do a reenactment.
[ He'll swim after you again if it comes to that, don't worry! ]
don't worry about it lol
Go ahead and try.
(Because he isn't going to get caught off guard again! )
'Sides, I don't gotta explain anything to ya. 'Specially if we're just gonna end up fighting someday.
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[ At least have both shoes on! ]
But here I was, thinking that a life debt was worth a bit more than this. That vixen certainly hasn't earned enough of my loyalty to get me caught up in her personal affairs.
[ Shuten, Tamamo, who even cares about that? Well, lots of people, but Kojirou wouldn't count himself amongst them. He does exactly enough to fulfil his contract to keep Tenkohime off his back, and that's about it. ]
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What? You're saying answering a question's all I gotta do to pay you back?
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