Shin'ichi Kokuro's Story

"Avantia speaks much to my own views," Kaida noted as the Volarian monarch finished speaking. "Whilst I have no intention of garrisoning my land with masses of foreign troops, even allied troops, I would hope that you make no claims to having any right to 'have a problem', as you put it, with my doing so. The disapproval of the TNG on such a matter would be expected, of course, in light of your past relations with the Taiyou Empire, but disapproval would, I should hope, be the limit of it in much the same manner as we disapprove of the Invictus' operations."

The Empress held up a hand to stem further replies. "But, let us hold. Thus far much of this discussion has degenerated to arguing points backwards and forwards, coupled with conjecture and anecdotes. I advise that we take a recess to regather our thoughts and discuss on a more informal level some of the smaller or more specific points that have been brought up."

Kaida rose from her chair, and as she did the rest of the assembled ministers and royalty rose with her. "We shall reconvene in the morning."

The AXIS delegation, the Taiyou prime minister, and the Argosian delegation slowly rose with the Empress and her assembled ministers. Kayabuki quickly moved to Livia, and the pair spoke in a hushed tone.

The late arrival had finally himself managed to arrive at the delegations. Identifying himself to the Losenji guards as the Taiyou Prince, Shimizu would likely get a quick pass to join the meetings, though they had already ended.

It was then the Prince elected to introduce himself to the Empress, and the young Aschen-Taiyou hybrid approached with a slow and respectful bow to Kaida.

"It is an honor to finally meet you in person, forgive my Tardiness, some things kept my attention elsewhere, but I wanted to personally introduce myself to you and your cabinet, Your imminence." He said, exchanging formalities. "I am Crown Prince Shimizu Takayama, Crown Prince of the Taiyou Empire." The man seemed to be quite tall for a Taiyou, standing at a staggering six feet in height and towering over everyone save for maybe the Avorians and the Argosians.

"I look forward to hearing your decision." He said with another respectful bow before he made his way to Kayabuki.

"Prime Minister, I need to talk to you about a few things regarding the Sato Shogunate, and possible hostilities with the Invictus." He said, and the pair moved off to a secluded portion of the room to discuss military aid for the Sato shogunate.

Livia was the last person to really rise from her seat and make any moves. She first went to Casper, shooting him a glare that would make anyone wet themselves. She slowly walked past him with methodical and well placed steps, heading out to find some refreshments.

"I could not agree more," Casper nodded, hiding his weariness, "thank you again for hearing me." He rose and gathered his things, pausing only to return Livia's intimidating glare with indiscernible coldness.

He left the throne room.

The girl's crying muffled the sound of scale and claw scraping against stone as the dragon Tamotsu was drawn towards the noise. He had picked up on the girls weeping long before his companion, Shin'ichi, had.

"What is it, Tamotsu?" Shin'ichi asked.

The dragon snorted as he pushed his head through some foliage that opened out into the over-grown courtyard of the monastery ruins. The moon shone bright tonight and even at this distance Shin'ichi could see the form of the girl curled up crying on the ground.

He frowned every so lightly before patting a hand against Tomatsu' thick scaly hide. "Stay here," he told the beast before he stepped out into the courtyard to make his way towards the girl. When he spoke his voice was gentle, but the Losenyu words were foreign to Bo's ears.

Two large pointed ears did pick up the movement and activity nearby. Despite Bo's best efforts to be distracted and depressed, she couldn't abandon instincts, so she was already staring in the direction she expected him him to come. She didn't curse the fact she had no weapon, in fact she was happy to just wait for whoever it was to come start a fight. Oh please let it be bandits or someone stupid and untrained in combat. She could really really do with someone to just wail on.

And yet despite all her desire to murder something, she just wanted a shoulder to cry on. And she knew it and she hated herself for it. A small ball of fur and self-loathing was all that there was to be found with alert eyes aimed towards Shin'ichi, fur still stained with tears which she tried to wipe free.

Shin'ichi spoke once more in Losenyu as Bo looked to him, but as no response came to him he tried a different language.

"Perhaps this would serve better?" he offered with a gentle smile as he tried the common Terra tongue.

There was a touch of a Losenyu accent to his words, but his words were clear and well spoken.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

The girl reminded him of the Torajin from Shintenchi, though perhaps smaller and more feline in nature than the Losenyu catpeople. The sharpness in her eyes didn't go unnoticed, but he offered no show of hostility or defensiveness as he approached.

His garb seemed out of place for traipsing through old abandoned ruins in the middle of the night, and the extravagant embroidery and ornamentation on the thick folds of his clothes and the seal on the back of his signet ring marked him as a member of the Losenyu Imperial family for those versed the cultural lore of Shintenchi.

She noted the odd clothing, but really was she one to talk? Dresses, especially those with only knee-length hems, were hardly appropriate for walks in the woods. She looked like an under-dressed stewardess, when standing up. "I'm not hurt," she answered, voice croaky and weaker than she liked. She internally cursed at herself for it, but didn't let it show. In fact she suddenly, well, flip-flopped. A concerned citizen would now be faced with a wide-eyed catgirl, ears folding sadly against her head with a downright pitiful face.

"Not outside anyways," she added in a soft, high tone. It left a sour taste in her mouth, but... Well she was fishing for sympathy. She could take it out on herself later for being so pathetic.

Shin'ichi knelt down as he rummaged around in his pockets before producing a handkerchief to offer out to her. Who still carried handkerchiefs around?

"Can you walk?" he asked. "This is no place to be alone at night," he explained as he offered her a hand. "Is there somewhere I can take you?" he offered.

That the weeping catgirl was a dangerous assassin had seemingly not crossed the man's mind.

Her legs unfolded, rather oddly as they weren't human legs, propping herself upright. Her paw extended to accept the handkerchief and no more than a moment did she have it before she blew her nose on it and offered it right back. Internally she recoiled with horror at the fact she had taken something from anyone after all those times Norrington had trapped seemingly innocent things and asked her to take them until she learnt better. And there she went...

New tears dribbled up to her eyes as she nodded. "Yeh, I can use mah legs," she answered, "But I wanna stay here." She was trying so hard to keep it in, but her lower lip wouldn't agree, wobbling on its own before she just blurted out, "My daddy doesn't love me!" She all but threw himself for his chest, and those fine clothes of him would be the victim of catgirl snot in a minute.

"Ah... why don't you keep that," he told her before he abruptly found the girl latched onto him sobbing.

Well this was awkward.

Fortunately there didn't seem to be anyone about to get the wrong impression from him comforting a girl that looked to be half his age and so he simply sighed and let her have it out.

"I'm sure it's not all that bad," he told her gently.

He wasn't exactly well versed in the art of comforting distraught teenagers, and he wasn't entirely sure what to do with the girl at this point.

She lifted herself off of his clothing (which she was now clinging to by extended claws) with a shocked expression to tell him just the reality of the situation. "He's more of a father to someone else's daughter and he called me a failure!" She suddenly gave a jerk, tearing her paws away from him and inhaling deeply, trying to calm herself down. She swallowed heavily and used an arm to wipe her tears and give a shake of her head. "'M so sorry."

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the palace grounds Shin'ichi was at work scrubbing down Tamotsu's thick hide with a thick bristled brush to dislodge the grit and sand from between his black scales. While the Losenyu prince could no doubt have had any number of palace servants tend to the care of Tamotsu, he had always preferred to do so himself.

He found it soothing, and it served as a distraction from the matter of politics that had found their way to Losenji.

Kaida would no doubt be looking for him after his abrupt departure during the meeting earlier, but she would likely have no difficulty locating him within small shrine that had been erected to house Tamotsu.

Indeed, it was only minutes after the meeting temporarily adjourned that the Empress found her way to Tamotsu's shrine. Her footsteps announced her presence before she spoke. She allowed a brief silence to pass as she simply observed the dragon for a time.

Finally, the Empress voiced herself. "I know that proceedings of court are not your preferred pastime, brother," she began, "But perhaps you might consider leaving Tamotsu outside in future, that you might make a slightly less attention-grabbing exit in the midst of discussions."

She walked across the shrine to seat herself on a chair. "What prompted your abrupt departure?" Evidently, Kaida had no intention of calling into question whether Shin'ichi should have left, at least not at present.

"Sometimes," Shin'ichi replied, "a simple act can speak more than words."

He sighed as he continued to scrub away at Tamato's scales. It had been well apparent to Shin'ichi that those gathered today had little interest in hearing one another's words anyways. He had expressed his disapproval of the situation in the only way that was likely to be noticed among the deaf.

Meanwhile Tamotsu rumbled in contentment as he sprawled out across the shrine floor seemingly unbothered by the discussion at hand.

"That is true enough," Kaida replied, "I am aware of your concerns regarding this alliance. I am more than aware of the hostility between the AXIS powers and the Terran National Government, even those members who have not shown that hostility in action in the past."

The Empress looked out of the shrine at the open gardens beyond. "But do you believe that by sitting at the sidelines we would avoid a conflict, should it come? Shintenchi is not isolated as it once was. If the AXIS have designs on Terra, I do not believe that we could avoid playing some part in what is to come even were we to bury our heads in the ground and pretend that it were not occurring."

The Empress shook her head. "Losenji will never sail to war against the rest of Terra while I am Empress, but there is no denying that we are vulnerable to the likes of the Invictus and other such volatile groups alone, merely by our association with the Taiyou Shogunate. Accepting this alliance keeps Shintenchi united in full, and grants us security."

Shin'ichi sighed again.

"Why are you here, Kaida," he asked.

It was apparent to him that it wasn't his words she wished to hear. Shin'ichi had always been on relative good terms with his family - though perhaps somewhat of a disappointment to their parents when it became apparent that he had no aptitude for military strategy and warfare. Lately though he couldn't help but feel a sense of estrangement between himself and his elder sister, Kaida.

"Is concern for my brother's misgivings not enough reason?" Kaida questioned, "I had hoped that these meetings might reassure any doubts fostered amongst us. Regardless of your lack of strong inclination towards politics, I value your opinion as a family member."

She shook her head. "By my judgement, the favour of the ministry lies primarily with accepting the alliance. Emiko and Uncle Haruki too. Of course, Kenji hasn't the slightest care for the matter, if he even fully grasps it."

The unspoken 'but' hung in the air for several moment before Kaida went on. "This will be the most significant change to come to Losenji in generations. History will remember me for my decision here."

The Empress rose. "I must speak with the Terran National Government's delegate. But I believe that joining this alliance is the right decision. We cannot remain uninvolved with the concerns of the rest of the world forever."

Shin'ichi offered no further response as Kaida departed the small shrine.

As Kaida departed, another figure stepped into the chamber. It was the young face of Shimizu Takayama, alone and without any guards.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." He said, hands clasped in front of him. "Prime Minister Kayabuki mentioned you walking you, is something on your mind that you'd like to discuss with me? I know that this is a difficult time, and I am here to listen to any concerns you may have."

Shin'ichi looked up as Shimizu spoke, and for a time he seemed perplexed as to who was addressing him. It took a moment for recognition to dawn on him and he inclined his head in the slightest of nod of greeting.

"Prince Shimizu," he offered.

He continued to scrub the bristled brush rigorously against Tamotsu's hide. The dragon shifted its head around to keep an eye on Shimizu. He was unfamiliar with the Taiyou prince, and thus Shimizu served as a point of curiosity for the animal.

"I apologize for my abrupt departure and any offense it may have posed. I am afraid that matters of politics are better handled by my sister. I never did have a mind for such things."

Shin'ichi's Taiyou was fluent and well spoken. The man it would seem was well educated in the Taiyou tongue, a language that was less common in Losenji than it was in Volaria.