001 Dream Recording

[hairpinings]

Sender: Yamatonokami Yasusada
To: Everyone
Subject: Passive Dream recording

CW: Blood and Death

[ There was a handful of men wearing bright blue haori uniforms gathered around the enterance of a quaint looking inn in the middle of the night. Unfortunately it wasn't all that peaceful. The men outside sounded annoyed when finally the front door to the inn bursts open and the leader of the group charges in.

"WE'RE HERE TO SEARCH THE PREMISES!"

The man shouts loudly as him and the other men all come charging into the building. Swords were quickly drawn and the men in blue started fighting with some other unidentified men. There was a lot of clashing of swords and screaming as people began getting injured. Men falling over, covered in their own blood, doors being slashed open.

Then suddenly the scene pulls away from all those men and it begins to follow a man with longer hair with a fierce look on his face. He quickly rushes up the stairs to the second floor of the inn. Clashing into more battles than the men down on the first floor. The sheath connected to the man's uniform seemed to be red at first, a bright bright red, but then within an instant the sheath turned to a dark blue with a blue cord hanging from it. There was an overwhelming sense of dread and worry, sufficating as the man with the ponytail reached a certain room.

The man continues to fight killing his enemies one after another when suddenly the man freezes in his movements and falls into a coughing fit. As the man coughed, blood came out of his mouth and even reached the sword in his hand as well. One of his enemies wanted to take this chance to attack, but the man coughing was quite the demon when it came to fighting and he wasn't going to let his life end there. He took his sword, that seemed to keep switching from red to blue and stabbed it right through the man. When he pulled the blade out, the sword's tip cracked and broke off and the last thing that could be heard was the scream of

"SOUJI!?" and another coughing fit before the scene fades to blackness. Pain. Sadness. Overwhelming lonliness in the dark untilt he dream fully ends.]

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[redbeauty]

[ Kiyomitsu lies on his back, facing Yasusada, as he watches the dream play out on his dream crystal lantern. They were just talking earlier today about how unlucky people had been lately with their dreams being put on public display. Yet, the night after that conversation... It's almost like he'd spoken this into existence.

By the time Okita is coughing up blood in the dream, Kiyomitsu gets out of his futon and walks the short distance to Yasusada's futon, opting to kneel silently beside him.

It was... weird, watching this dream from Yasusada's point of view. The events were pretty accurate to how Kiyomitsu remembered them, ignoring Yasusada's inability to get certain facts straight. So this was the dream that had plagued him for months at the Citadel. Even in December--in their world, anyway--it had still been creeping up on him sometimes.

He feels a certain detachment as he watches the rest of the dream play out, but when the sword snaps, and he realizes it was Yasusada who broke in the dream, he's pretty sure what he's feeling is his heart dropping into his stomach.

Before he can figure out whether or not he should try to shake Yasusada awake, the dream ends. ]

[hairpinings]

[ It takes a few minutes as the dream fades for Yasusada to snap awake, letting out a startled scream as his hands quickly grab at his face. It was probably hard to see in this darkness, but Yasusada's face was sweating and his chest was rising pretty quickly as he tried to catch his breath. he quickly turned his head to see if Kiyomitsu was still sleep, but as soon as he turned his head Kiyomitsu was in view which only made him scream again, falling out of his futon. ]

K-K-Kiyomitsu!

[redbeauty]

[ Yasusada's scream startles him, but he doesn't move from his spot. When he sees Yasusada turns his head, Kiyomitsu tried to speak, but-- ]

Yasu--

[ Then Yasusada screams again, and Kiyomitsu is startled a second time. ]

--sada. It's just me....

[hairpinings]

[ Yasusada quickly clutches at his heart through his night clothes, staring up at Kiyomitsu, still panting a little. He was trying to seem like he was okay, but he was very clearly not okay. ]

K-Kiyomitsu... S-Sorry was I... snoring?

[redbeauty]

...Well, yeah.

[ Kiyomitsu slowly shifts so that he's mostly lying down on his side, but propped up by his arm so he's not completely flat with the floor. ]

It was pretty loud.

[ He's probably not lying, although he may be exaggerating how loudly Yasusada was snoring, if he really was snoring. Still, he produces a handkerchief and uses it to gently dab away some of the sweat on Yasusada's forehead and chest. ]

Are you okay?

[hairpinings]

[ He didn't really like keeping secrets from Kiyomitsu, and he sort of had this sinking suspicion that Kiyomitsu had already known that he was dreaming about a certain incident again. ]

I'm... fine. I'm sorry. For waking you up I mean.

[redbeauty]

It's all right.

[ Once he dabs away as much sweat as he can, he folds his arm under his head to use as pillow while he looks at Yasusada knowingly in the dark. He does want to tell Yasusada what happened, but he isn't really sure how to bring it up. Ultimately, he just decides to be straightforward with him, as delicately as possible. ]

I think you... were having that dream again.

[hairpinings]

... It's written all over my face, isn't it?

[ finally feeling like his heart as calmed down enough, he slowly shifts back onto his futon, laying in the same position that Kiyomitsu was, just mirrored. It felt so embarrassing, and frustrating... and a little terrifying as well. ]

Some trip I've been on, huh? Still can't even stop having that same dream.

[redbeauty]

Hey, cut yourself some slack. You weren't finished with your journey yet. It wouldn't be fair of anyone, including yourself, to expect you to have sorted out your feelings about that person yet.

And I...

[ Kiyomitsu sighs, glancing aside. ]

I have something to tell you.

[hairpinings]

[ . . . ]

When you look away like that, it makes me ten times more nervous... What else could I have possibly done?

[redbeauty]

Ah, no, you didn't do anything wrong, Yasusada.

[ He frowns faintly, bringing his gaze back to Yasusada to meet his in the dark. ]

We were talking earlier today about how a lot of people have had their bad dreams on display for everyone to see, and... I think maybe because I brought it up... maybe that's why it happened.

[hairpinings]

[ It took a long long moment before Yasusada quickly sat up, still looking at Kiyomitsu fully. ]

D-Don't tell me! D-Did I do the same?? Did my dreams— uugggh!

[redbeauty]

...It's late. Maybe everyone's asleep and no one will notice.

[ Kiyomitsu sits up as well, but not nearly as quickly. ]

It'll be okay. Everyone here has been pretty understanding, and even though it might be embarrassing... it seems to happen to everyone eventually. No one's going to judge you.

[hairpinings]

[ Yasusada buries his face into his hands, letting out a loud groan that quickly turns into a whine of sorts. it was different when it was happening to other people, but when it happened to him,... it just felt worse. Did that mean that Kiyomitsu saw too? And he saw... that he pretty much took Kiyomitsu's place as well?

he bites his bottom lip, only barely daring to peek at Kiyomitsu from between his fingers. ]

[redbeauty]

Come on, don't bite your lip like that. You'll leave a mark.

[ His frown deepens a bit as he tilts his head thoughtfully. ]

Yasusada.... You can't control what you dream. It's not your fault you had that dream, okay? The only bad thing about it is that it was probably upsetting to you, so...

[hairpinings]

Still... I hate that you had to see that.

[ He's assuming that Kiyomitsu did. He didn't outright say he did, but Yasusada has a huge feeling that he did and he was just trying to be nice about it. ]

[redbeauty]

I've seen it before... more than once, actually. Ah--not from your dreams, but... you know.

[ One of his hands reaches for his own ponytail, idly playing with the tip of it. ]

...I noticed that in your dream, though, you were the one who broke.

[hairpinings]

I... was kinda hoping you didn't see that part especially...

[ Because that part... he knows that part would be extra sensitive for Kiyomitsu. Even if he acted like it was no big deal, he knows something about it would really hit him.

Ehe...

[redbeauty]

Yasusada.... That's not really how you wanted things to go, right...?

[hairpinings]

I'd prefer it if no one had to break if I'm being honest, but...

[ If it meant he could be useful one last time and he could protect Kiyomitsu as well... ]

[redbeauty]

I see....

[ He prefers Yasusada's answer to what he had suggested, honestly. ]

I think... as difficult as what happened in the past was... that I'm grateful it happened. I know it sounds weird to say, but if it weren't for everything that led up to the Ikedaya Inn, I would have never been summoned by our master. And you might not have been, either.

[hairpinings]

You mean you're still happy to see me again, even though I keep making you wait for so long?

[redbeauty]

Well, I could do with a little less of having to wait.

[ But, from the way he smiles at Yasusada, it's clear that he's always been happy that they've been reunited at the Citadel. ]

[hairpinings]

[ At least that seems to get a little laugh out of Yasusada. He does feel a little guilty that he keeps making Kiyomitsu wait, but... it's nice that they can laugh about it regardless. He takes a deep breath, maybe even two to help calm his nerves a little. ]

I guess there were worse things I could have shown everyone right? I mean I could have shown everyone a dream where I show my clumsiest sides.

[redbeauty]

That's true.

Plus... as tragic as your dream was, the only person who will probably be able to tell it was your dream is me. So, if anyone else saw it, they'd probably just think it was someone else's dream. And none of those people are here, so...

[ With a smile, he shrugs his shoulders. ]

Anyway, you're probably right. The next dream you show everyone will totally have your face plastered all over it as you stumble and fall down a hill or something.