[indent][indent][sup][h1][color=2e2c2c][b]▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅[/b][right][b]▅▅▅▅▅[/b][/right][/color][/h1][/sup][table][row][/row][row][cell][sup][color=2e2c2c]__________________________________________________________________________________[/color][/sup] [img]https://i.imgur.com/kjlQ9ud.jpeg[/img] [h3][sup][url=https://youtu.be/G_JfKOjwzwo?si=fAhziHrbIF9rCshV]Times change.[/url][/sup][/h3][/cell][cell][sub][sup][sub][h3][b][color=black] Table of Contents[/color] [color=gainsboro]Table of Contents[/color][/b][/h3][/sub][/sup][/sub][sup]_______________________________________________________________________________[/sup] [indent][indent][sub][sub]A Tabletop Discussion ' ' Feat - [@Dane][/sub][/sub] [Sub][sub]Location - [b]VIP ROOM[/b][/sub][/sub] [indent][indent]' ' ' ' ' '[/indent][/indent] [color=beige]Michikatsu saw no offense with the way this woman presented herself. To him, she's quite the character to show no fear nor worship towards the King of Demons, turned Prime Minister of Yamato, eyeing for the throne. A simple smirk so subtle, Michikatsu contemplated on what would be beneficial for what was soon to come. Not a single remnant nor indication that he used the Transparent World Eyes to analyze Muragarasu’s overall construct. It was sublime, he needed to see what exactly she was made of, and it exceeded his expectations. To put it this way, Demons from Michikatsu since the late Taisho Era ascended to a level of normalcy, where it's almost impossible to tell them apart against humans. For the past 60 years, no Hunter dared pursue Michikatsu and his organization in the rabbithole, if anything, he did more good than harm, for the nation. The Yakuza reformation became his business, in turn, most Demons kneeled, yielded before their King, adapting human ways as discreetly as possible. His determined slitted scarlet eyes were very telling. [color=#7A0000]“Yamato. Imperial Japan will be at my full grasp over the next election. I did not come here to solicit more approval since human political affairs amuse me not, outside leisure. What I'm touting is insurance. I am redefining the Yatsuchizuki’s Four Consorts, there's a vacant spot and I am here to give it to you with no malicious intent. A woman of your tenacity is something I have not seen since the person that sired you.”[/color] There was a spiral of emotions visible on Muragarasu’s face, contorting from a sneer to a glare before resting on a plain admonished deadpan aimed squarely at Michikatsu. The onsen’s owner, within her own nest, was being spoken to so brashly, and if it were anyone else she’d have their head promptly separated from their neck. Rage coated the back of her tongue with a bitter flavor that almost made Mura gag, so instead she just raised her hand to punch the bridge of her nose and sigh. [color=#67E0C8]“There is nothing in this world that I would hate more than to be a ‘consort’ for the tactless prattle of this era's demons. No, I’d like to continue keeping to myself— playing with my own things, without the drib and drab of bureaucracy.”[/color] Mura snorts her nose before raising her cup of tea towards her lips to take a sip of the lukewarm liquid. Defiant to the end, just like that person who sired her, Muzan would have killed her for being non-conforming to his cause, but to Michikatsu, he at least, respected the boundary she reinforced, already showing the signs of a proper business partner. [color=#7A0000]“Remarkable. If sovereignty to yourself is what you pledge to maintain, so be it. Ashamed that there's a lack of info-brokers since Ryunoko Keodis, you could have been the continuity. No matter, since that proposition is set, what about this?”[/color] Michikatsu then snapped his fingers, Nakime strummed her Biwa and summoned a brief case, containing Blue Spider Lilies. [color=#7A0000]“Surely, there must be something you desire to be given grace upon the King? If not this, then the next offer might do.”[/color] Blue spider lilies were not something you came across just meandering through Japan, and Muragarasu knew how important and meaningful the herbs were to demons. Even if she didn’t have the knowhow to use them, she could leverage the access to them in order to get something she wants from somebody else. The proprietress clicked her tongue and flashed her teeth for a moment at Michikatsu, the pink stain of the substance she drank marking her porcelain teeth. [color=#67E0C8]“I am always available for business, my king. But a deal has two sides to it, so you must always arrive expecting to lose just as much as you are to gain.”[/color] She winked a fluttery lash at the demon king before leaning forward to look at the briefcase. [color=#67E0C8]“The spider lilies are something I can make a power ploy out of— but before I even entertain the thought of taking them, what do you actually need from me?”[/color] Michikatsu, stoic from the disappointment he felt, as if nothing happened, logically accepted “no” as an answer from Muragarasu. This type of sensation of rejection reminded him in a roundabout way of Yoriichi, defying even the most impossible circumstances. Rejection maketh a man stronger, they said. [color=#7A0000]“I have learned that I have another direct descendant in the Corps, and another Demon King’s blood courses through his veins.”[/color] In reality, Michikatsu was pissed for not finding out sooner. He wanted to die a Samurai's death and needed someone to be the strongest, he begrudgingly respects Yoriichi's descendants but he hates the idea of having to die to a Sun-user that isn't directly his offspring. He tried this stint between the Blood Moons for the past 60 years but they were all too weak to kill him and he doubts that the current Kings could also kill him. [I]Conversation between them at this point, in terms of sound is muted, and if it were from a manga perspective, Kokushibo’s speech bubbles were redacted/empty/blackened[/I] [color=#7A0000]“That is right. I saw the covenant you made with him, through an inherited memory lane. I am simply requesting to keep tabs on him, my connection with him through blood isn't enough since both Kingly bloods are at war within his soul, if anything, you have my blessing to oversee his growth.” [/color] Michikatsu needn't say any further in words, but he outright told Muragarasu of his truest intentions at this moment, which was to help him cultivate his descendant to his full potential, even if it involves engineering circumstances to make it happen. [color=#7A0000]“And that is why, I want you to be resistant to the Sun, as by November 11, 1987, Ubuyashiki Takaya has foretold my death, and you know damn well that when an Ubuyashiki tells a premonition, it is absolute. Muragarasu, I am doing everything I can for our race and even for the humans in this Empire with the little time I have left. I have been marked for death and I couldn't be happier. Today is June 8, 1985, almost a year and a half to go. “[/color] He paused as he sipped his tea, Nakime remained in silence the entire time. [color=#7A0000]“Whoever succeeds me as King, may not be so merciful, which is why I am giving relevant Players in this shogi game’s drawing board an insurance to live.”[/color] [color=#67E0C8]“Ah, so that was the familiar blood that I tasted—“[/color] Mura hummed at this revelation, and even smiled coyly as some of her own hidden information had drawn points of conclusions behind her eyes. [color=#67E0C8]“Well if you’re looking to oversee your own downfall, then I would be more than joyed to assist in this endeavor. As for the young Dragon’s growth, my hidden hand will be there if things turn for the worse— but he is more than capable of overcoming the challenges thrown before him.”[/color] A long-winded response was required for such a loaded topic, and who knew if the Demon King was as educated on Muragarasu’s abilities as he claimed. The proprietress raised her free hand upward and pointed a red-painted finger towards the entrance of the Onsen, wagging it for a moment before she spoke again. “The nichirin blade displayed at the entrance of this establishment, have you seen it before?” Michikatsu smiled. Whether his business partner said it mockingly or not, none of it matters at this point, he knows that there's insurance to all this. When Muragarasu pointed towards the Nichirin blade on display. He found himself in nostalgia, he chuckled briefly, reminiscing the days that he and Muzan used to hunt Sun-users, down to extinction. [color=#7A0000]“A blade forged under Masamune’s Swordsmith Techniques, ah…yes. This is one of those Sun-users that endured our persecution, quite the branches that Yoriichi produced, succession through him is regardless of blood and bond.”[/color] [color=#67E0C8]“Would my lord happen to know the name of its last user?”[/color]Mura smiled, and her question was asked with a honeyed tone that sounded both sweet and real, whilst simultaneously holding some deep and hidden aggression within it. [color=#67E0C8]“I ask because it has been in my possession for so long you see, that I cannot recall the owner’s name. T’would be a shame for such a sword of repute to remain nameless, titleless, and forgotten don’t you think?”[/color] The red painted lips pressed to a thin line, and they spread into a lopsided crescent smile with only her top row of ivories shown. It was a fond memory on how that man resisted persecution and went into hiding, nowhere to be found by Muzan nor Michikatsu himself. [color=#7A0000]“Tsugikuni Kazuma. The names of my descendants and Yoriichi's descendants are things that I take to heart, I can look at deep roots of genealogical ancestries with my Transparent World Eyes whether by biological or object constructs.”[/color] Michikatsu referenced his ordeal with Tokito Yuichiro, who survived their fight. [color=#7A0000]“Just by looking at the sword, Kazuma lived to elden age.” [/color] [color=#67E0C8]“Kazuma,”[/color] She quietly repeated the name to herself. [color=#67E0C8]“— Kazuma-san.” [/color] And in those quiet reiterations it seemed as if Muragarasu’s eyes glossed over, not even really acknowledging the fact that he lived into his elderly years. [color=#67E0C8]“He was quite formidable, I am glad to hear that he survived despite circumstances..”[/color] The proprietress then returned her attention to Michikatsu with a far less guarded smile before pressing her lips together and whistling out a high-pitched but pleasant sounding tune. Once she did this, a small opening in one of the ceiling panels rattled before out came a mangled raven that still lived despite its lacking half of its head. The unsightly avian perched along Muragarasu’s shoulder and she leaned over to whisper into the empty cavity within the creature’s head. [color=#67E0C8]“This little friend will function as a direct means of communication with me, he is of my blood and his life is my own. I’m sure you’ve seen these ravens around your territory, but this one is special.”[/color] Mura would then swiftly grab the raven within her gentle clutch, rotating the bird in her hand to show along its lower stomach what appeared to be a crystalline shard of her blood wedged into the feathers and skin. That bird reminded him of a Kasugai Crow, that the Demon Hunters would use and he himself once used. [color=#7A0000]“Very well. “[/color] He didn't ask what makes it special, as long as it gets the job done. A Talisman from Nakime got summoned, which has a slitted purple eye and dark sclera. The makings of the talisman is that of the Japanese Shaman, the Onmyoji; this would be their way of communication as well. [color=#7A0000]“Consider it an exchange, and for your neutrality, the Torigoya Establishments will be left untouched, think of it like the Geneva Convention, your neutrality shall influence whatever conflict it may be and you still maintain control.”[/color] He passed the talisman as an exchange contact. [color=#67E0C8]“Geneva—?… I’m not sure what that is.”[/color] Muragarasu was adamant on not really involving herself with global politics and enjoyed the smallness of her own world. But she took the talisman all the same, inspecting it between her fingers before tucking it into a pocket hidden around her bust at the intertwining of her kimono. [color=#67E0C8]“And since you were so forthcoming with our first proper meeting, I’ll allow you to ask one question in which I will answer. There are no lies told under this roof, so ask something worthwhile before you leave.. if you’d please, my king.”[/color] Upon this offer Muragarasu would take one last sip of her bloodied tea, examining the bottom of the cup for the dried herbs and bits of coagulated blood settle upon the bottom of its porcelain tones. Michikatsu looked with genuinely benevolent intent. [color=#7A0000]“To sum it up, you have my gratitude for taking care of my descendant. Do what you want with flowers. I got two questions.”[/color] He paused for the question he ought to ask. [color=#7A0000]“Once, we were humans, and so were demons. I lament the fact that both being two sides of the same coin, are mostly too blind to find significance. I question and abhor the fact that the sagacity of BDAs and Breathing Styles to the species that behold them are fragile, if not the idealized coexistence, how can we Demons and Demon Hunters preserve our precious techniques without being bounded by the norm of having to kill each other?”[/color] [color=#67E0C8]“Marvelous question. And the answer is quite easy if you look to the past— in times of peace, how do warriors refine their craft if there are no men to fell their blades upon? Books, artists, schools, cults, all are sources of knowledge that can be gleaned upon to acquire something you may be wanting. But wisdom can come in many forms, can be passed down in many ways, through blood or other methods of connection.”[/color] Muragarasu smiled and thought about the humans she had shared many secrets with throughout the years, and even a few demons. [color=#67E0C8]“Your second question?”[/color] The proprietress asked with that still warm smile. Michikatsu prepared and moved with his second question. [color=#7A0000]“Sooner or later, it will be chaotic. I have not considered any Demon worthy to succeed my throne, so do you have any recommendations on who shall be on the throne? I don't need an answer now, on who may that be. But this is something I'm in the making, but this would be something you'll find in that talisman, and you hereby be the witness and reader to my will.”[/color] Quite the condition, but inside that talisman had candidates and Muragarasu was given a choice to be the one to declare on who shall be King, the talisman has his blood in it. [/color] [/indent][/indent] [/cell][/row][/table] [/Indent][/indent]