[ - but that's because he lived in Japan and studied extensively. He'd done research on even Kashuu's sword when he first got it, searching for answers to determine its origin. He technically knows plenty.
[If nothing else, the fact that he's using proper punctuation is enough of a sign that this matters. He types and erases a second response, then another; it takes him a while to actually decide on what to send.]
my former master got one just like it.
[He'd posted about it on the network, too, though he doesn't expect Baren to remember that. Briefly, Yasusada wonders if he should've mentioned all of this then--but no, that conversation had been for him and Soujirou alone.
Now, though...
Baren never made him promise to tell the truth. But that's because he'd never needed to. Yasusada is alarmingly honest by nature, and this is just further proof of that.]
He hadn't thought as much of it then, because it wasn't entirely his business. He filed it away in memory for his swords, in case they needed him for something like that but.
It wasn't relevant until now.]
you wanna come over yacchan chuu's passed out so i'll make food and we can chat until sleeping beauty wakes up
[There's a delay as Yasusada hesitates, debating the best course of action. But if it were him, he thinks, he'd want to talk about this face-to-face, so:]
be there soon
[When he arrives, he'll be wearing exactly what he had on in the photo--haori and all, no matter how ridiculous it might look. This is one fashion battle Kashuu cannot hope to win.]
Regardless, they'll meet at Chuuya's apartment (technically Chuuya and Baren's apartment) and Baren will let Yamato in without even blinking. There's already the smell of something being cooked. The bedroom door's closed but otherwise everything looks pristinely clean. Baren ever deigned to put on a shirt over his sweatpants - apparently he and Chuuya had been having a day in.
[As he steps inside, there's a wary look on his face, but it's not directed at Baren. His gaze sweeps the room even as he sets his sword case down near the door, like it's as normal as taking off a coat or a hat indoors. (It kind of always has been, for him.)
It's definitely important to talk about, but before that--]
Is it out here? The cat.
[Clearly Kashuu has not been exaggerating about this.]
Baren does look wary and tired for all of a second... but then he has to go and be a good master. So he'll shake his head and look around, making a soft clicking noise to lure out their cat. Rimbaud responds because animals love Baren for some reason, darting out to rush to him - and he'll pick up the cat easily, kissing its forehead and then disappearing to deposit him somewhere in the bedroom.
Then he'll come back, gesturing with his now freed hands.]
[Yasusada doesn't even seem to notice the expression on Baren's face, too busy glaring at the cat as soon as it appears. To his credit, he doesn't do anything ridiculous to antagonize it, but he does stay rooted to the spot--and underneath the distaste, there's a spark of genuine fear that's more-or-less new.
He doesn't move until Baren comes back, but then he visibly relaxes, toeing off his shoes and shuffling inside properly.]
Thank you. [It's muttered, and Yasusada doesn't look at Baren when he says it, but it's sincere all the same. As he settles on the couch, he pulls the haori just a little more tightly around him, like a security blanket.
He takes a minute to catch his breath, and when he looks up, the expression on his face is surprisingly difficult to read.]
...how much has Kiyomitsu told you? About-- back then?
[ - easily. Because the spark of fear is new. Baren catches it, but doesn't question it. He'll keep it in mind for the future. Rimbaud will be away so that Yamato doesn't freeze up like that again. He'll go to join Yamato on the couch, whatever's in the kitchen still not quite ready anyway.]
Not a lot.
I looked up his sword when he got it - and it made more sense when he got that memory after his birthday.
[the one where Baren was sure he wasn't enough to field it alone. even if he was there to handle the initial shock, Yamato was the one who really was able to make Kashuu feel safe.]
So I found out a bit more on my own - but it makes more sense for me to hear things from your angle, you know.
[Yasusada nods slowly, taking in that information. The more he learns about Baren, the more this kind of thing makes sense--now, he can definitely see Baren as the type to go digging by himself. Especially since Kashuu is... well, Kashuu about so many things.]
So you know we were owned by Okita Souji. [He doesn't speak the name with reverence, but there's definitely something to it, some sort of added weight.]
What did you find out? About him. [He isn't being intentionally cagey, of course, couldn't even if he wanted to. He's just buying time to gather his thoughts, struggling to decide what's acceptable to share, and what isn't. Especially since the man himself has been so close all along.]
I didn't look too deeply - a look into his personal history would tell me in detail where his swords went. If my theory about Kiyo being so attached to the sword was true, then I didn't want to learn anything that I couldn't get out of him on my own.
[ - the general answers, then.]
Part of the Shinsengumi, wore the same haori as the one you've got. As the one that guy on the network got.
[He'll take up the time, slowly.
But he can't do it all by himself. There's not much he can say to add to the conversation.]
[Another nod; this, too, is perfectly understandable behavior when it comes to Kashuu.
But they were partners--they had to have been, if he'd spent so long waiting for Kashuu to come home, oblivious to the fact that he never would. Okita Souji is as much his master as Kashuu's; the right to share is equal between them. And Soujirou has been more-or-less open about his health here in Recolle for a long time--it's difficult to hide oxygen tanks, after all.
Still, he doesn't think Baren knows Soujirou personally. Probably, he should start there.]
Soujirou Katsuki. That's his name, here. I've known him almost as long as Kiyomitsu... we all went to the dojo together. But he... [A pause; Soujirou had taken great pains to keep the details to himself.] ...his health is really bad, so he had to leave.
[Another pause, longer this time. He drops his gaze down to his lap, fingers curling in his large sleeves.]
Okita Souji-- died of tuberculosis. When he was 26. [That's history, facts, something anyone could find if they looked. But--]
[ - ah. He remembers Yamato telling him about the group of them that went to the dojo. His important memories there. How funny, that his former master was right there with him all along. Baren waits through the explanation and purses his lips quietly at Yamato's final admission.
He was there.
It's a different kind of pain.
Between Kashuu who left everyone behind too soon, and Yamato who was left behind by everyone else until the very end.]
[He's put it off for far too long as it is, even though August was such a strong reminder of how much he hates it when they're separated. He can't imagine Kashuu will be surprised, though. He's probably been counting down to this too.]
He probably figured it out, though. He was with me in October, when I... saw it. In the fog. [That, of course, had been a twisted version of the truth, but it hadn't struck all that far off the mark. And honestly, given his natural dislike of cats, he can't help but wonder which one held the most truth.]
[There's one thing that Baren has learned from both Chuuya and Kashuu: the physical part of affection, of understanding, is always easier to him than the verbal. So he watches Yamato for another moment before closing just some of the distance between the two of them on the couch, just enough that he's in arms reach.
Baren reaches out a hand - ungloved, he's at home, showing all the scars of his mistakes from when he kept things to himself - and pats the top of Yamato's head.
His expression softens.]
... I can't pretend to understand, Yacchan.
[He'll be honest. He still doesn't think he's meant for this.]
And I bet that neither of them wanted to leave you - [he remembers his other mother laying in a hospital bed, hand clutched by her two sobbing twins] - but that doesn't change how you feel when you're left alone, huh...?
[With a few notable exceptions, Yasusada's normally the type to respond to the physicality of others around him. Baren's reached out to him like this before, so it isn't a complete shock, but for a minute, he simply stays still, leaning neither into nor away from the touch.
He doesn't respond immediately, the words hanging between them; but then he sighs, shoulders drooping just slightly.]
It doesn't really matter if they meant to or not, does it? If they're gone, they're gone. They can't tell you they won't be back, and even they could, when there's nothing you can do to stop it...
[Swords can't cut illnesses. He knows that, has always known that, but that doesn't change the fact that he'd had to watch, utterly powerless, as those he'd cherished most vanished from his side.]
...I wish it had been me.
[It's not that he wants to die--far from it. If he had his way, he'd be able to live forever alongside his most precious people. But given the choice between falling in battle, protecting the master he'd loved so dearly, or dealing with the fate he'd actually ended up with... it's a simple choice, as far as he's concerned.]
[Because it's easier to die knowing that you've accomplished your purpose, it's easier to go first than to wait and wait and wait for people who aren't going to come home. He keeps his hand in Yamato's hair, running through it in slow, gentle motions.]
I hear you, Yacchan. [Even if he doesn't understand. Even if he's not someone who can give him the answers he wants. He's not Kashuu. He's not Okita Souji. He never will be.] It's okay to be upset.
It's hard - to be left alone without the people you love, when you have no say in what happens to them.
[ - it's life. Cruel and unforgiving.
Baren can only acknowledge that truth in this moment.]
["I know", he says, and that's what gets Yasusada to lift his head and look at him, eyes wide. They're growing to understand each other bit by bit, but Yasusada still isn't used to the idea of Baren agreeing with him.
But then, maybe it shouldn't be surprising. He remembers how Baren had spoken about his sister, after all.
"If they'd taken her, I would've found her."
He stands by what he'd said, even now. Devoting so much of yourself to someone is a dangerous way to live. But he knows it because he's exactly the same. And he's not exactly the best at taking his own advice.]
...I tried to save them. [He doesn't hesitate, exactly, but his tone is quiet, and there's something fragile in his expression as he speaks again.] A long time later, after we were with our new master. We had to go back to the night Kiyomitsu--
[He'd just said it a moment ago, but now the word catches in his throat; it's too much, when the image of Kashuu's broken blade flashes through his mind. He pauses, breathing deeply.]
--I ran into Okita-kun on accident, and when he spoke to me, I abandoned the mission to follow him.
[Baren knows what Yasusada means without him finishing - he gives a short nod to indicate this understanding, so Yasusada doesn't feel the need to continue.
. . . but Baren hears the abandoning of the mission and he pauses. He understands. He gets it. The need to completely run blindly for the person who matters so much to you.]
What did— .... hah, nevermind.
[He shakes his head.]
... It doesn't even matter what he said, does it?
[Wouldn't Yasusada have followed him no matter what?]
[Does it matter? If Okita had said something else, what would he have done? It's difficult to think about. He hasn't let himself delve too deeply into his memories of Okita himself; as much as he's accepted being a sword, something about that feels like crossing a line, like taking one step too far away from his humanity. (Or what's left of it.)
His eyes stray to his vessel, and he stares at it for a little while, silent. Finally, he answers Baren's first question.]
...he said, "That sword looks like a splendid piece of work. If you aren't going to use that sword now, just when do you plan on using it?"
[It hadn't been a scolding, or an order. But it didn't need to be. Baren is right; from the moment Okita called out to him, he'd been lost.]
[ . . . . and at that, Baren can't help it. He laughs a little bit - sincerely entertained, not mocking. He whistles afterward, low and with the tone of being impressed (regardless of whether or not that's what he actually feels).]
Woooow. What a cool guy.
Does that mean he was just complimenting his own taste in swords....?
[The glare Yasusada shoots in his direction is less than instinct but more than reflex. It's an automatic response to perceived disrespect, no matter how insignificant-- to the idea of anyone not appreciating Okita with all their worth.
He catches himself immediately and blinks, looking briefly confused. But then, is it really that surprising of a reaction? True, it's unnervingly intense for a connection from another life, but Yasusada's always been a little too intense about everything anyway.
Still, though he speaks up to defend Okita, he doesn't snap or grumble in a way that would've matched such an expression. He's not the best at controlling his emotions, but he is capable of it on occasion.]
He's one of the best swordsmen in the history of Japan, he can compliment whatever he wants. [He fiddles with his haori sleeve, sighing quietly.] But no, he didn't recognize it. And that's not what he was trying to say, anyway. He thought I was a new recruit. So he must've thought I was hesitating because I was afraid.
[It's an interesting reaction - and it's one that Baren notes, files away for later. The glare is something that doesn't bother him, given how used to it he is when people think poorly of him. The confusion that Yamato feels afterward is more interesting and Baren watches, trying to pick it apart. It's probably a feeling from the memory - a feeling like how he feels toward Sakichi - that doesn't entirely belong to the Yamato of this time.
But as he gets memories of the Yamato of the past, the feelings come with it. It doesn't overwrite the current personality, but it can't be ignored so easily.]
So a good leader. A good man.
[ - in a certain definition of "good", but Baren won't mince those details at the moment.]
Ah... it'd be hard to turn away from something like that.
[That comes without hesitation or reluctance of any kind. He may still be figuring out his feelings when it comes to his own relationship with Okita, but Okita's strength and leadership are well-documented--it would be remiss of him not to acknowledge that.
Besides, Yasusada is loyal. Aside from his tendency to dwell on memories, that's his strongest core trait. He's loyal to a fault, and with no present to potentially destroy the rose-colored glasses he uses to view the past, how could he be anything but devoted to a man he only remembers as a god?
He's quiet for a minute, watching the memory play out in his mind. His next breath is a shaky inhale, and he glances towards his vessel, like he wants to get up and grab it, to hold it for comfort. He stays where he is, though.]
I still tried not to kill anybody... I wasn't-- I wasn't trying to change history. [He looks back at Baren, and there's the faintest hint of distress in his voice; for whatever reason, he needs Baren to understand that he hadn't intentionally tried to betray his new master.] But when he collapsed and I tried to protect him, he... he said, "don't make excuses for not doing what you must."
I think... he thought I was abandoning the mission to protect him instead. And I was, but-- not the way he thought.
[That's the most reasonable conclusion he's managed to come to, though he's tossed those words around in his head many, many nights since he'd first heard them. Okita must've assumed he was trying to avoid joining the fight properly--that he was using Okita's health as an excuse to keep from fighting. Over and over, he's wondered what he could've said, what he could've done to change things--and disregarded those thoughts just as quickly. They're dangerous, after all.]
[Baren's understanding of Kashuu and Yamato's purpose is still hilariously foggy at best - but luckily he's a quick study. They're swords given human form after all, and the sword that Kashuu currently holds isn't broken. Therefore it must've been reforged, or something along similar lines. So he listens, putting all the pieces together. They're swords given a mission, and then they can be sent back in time. They aren't allowed to change history.
He understands that clearly when Yasusada looks into his eyes.
Baren remains calm, refrains from judging. He doesn't offer consolations, but he doesn't show any sign of disappointment either. Instead he listens to the story and while Yasusada doesn't reach for his sword, Baren does. He goes to retrieve it, holding it carefully and respectfully in his hands, closing the distance between Yasusada and his vessel.
He sits back down and holds the swords between the two of them. Yasusada can take it from him if he wants - but if he's not ready, Baren will still hold it.]
Still - he managed to tell you what you needed to hear, huh... [Baren can't help the smile that pulls at the edge of his lips.] It's funny, isn't it? I don't believe much in destiny... I don't like it.
But sometimes the world really works mysteriously, doesn't it, Yacchan?
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[ - but that's because he lived in Japan and studied extensively. He'd done research on even Kashuu's sword when he first got it, searching for answers to determine its origin. He technically knows plenty.
He just never bothered to share.]
a gift from retrospec?
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[If nothing else, the fact that he's using proper punctuation is enough of a sign that this matters. He types and erases a second response, then another; it takes him a while to actually decide on what to send.]
my former master got one just like it.
[He'd posted about it on the network, too, though he doesn't expect Baren to remember that. Briefly, Yasusada wonders if he should've mentioned all of this then--but no, that conversation had been for him and Soujirou alone.
Now, though...
Baren never made him promise to tell the truth. But that's because he'd never needed to. Yasusada is alarmingly honest by nature, and this is just further proof of that.]
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He hadn't thought as much of it then, because it wasn't entirely his business. He filed it away in memory for his swords, in case they needed him for something like that but.
It wasn't relevant until now.]
you wanna come over yacchan
chuu's passed out so i'll make food and we can chat until sleeping beauty wakes up
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be there soon
[When he arrives, he'll be wearing exactly what he had on in the photo--haori and all, no matter how ridiculous it might look. This is one fashion battle Kashuu cannot hope to win.]
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Regardless, they'll meet at Chuuya's apartment (technically Chuuya and Baren's apartment) and Baren will let Yamato in without even blinking. There's already the smell of something being cooked. The bedroom door's closed but otherwise everything looks pristinely clean. Baren ever deigned to put on a shirt over his sweatpants - apparently he and Chuuya had been having a day in.
Neatfreak Baren at work.]
So what's on your mind?
[What did he want to share?
Baren won't make assumptions.]
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It's definitely important to talk about, but before that--]
Is it out here? The cat.
[Clearly Kashuu has not been exaggerating about this.]
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Baren does look wary and tired for all of a second... but then he has to go and be a good master. So he'll shake his head and look around, making a soft clicking noise to lure out their cat. Rimbaud responds because animals love Baren for some reason, darting out to rush to him - and he'll pick up the cat easily, kissing its forehead and then disappearing to deposit him somewhere in the bedroom.
Then he'll come back, gesturing with his now freed hands.]
Nope.
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He doesn't move until Baren comes back, but then he visibly relaxes, toeing off his shoes and shuffling inside properly.]
Thank you. [It's muttered, and Yasusada doesn't look at Baren when he says it, but it's sincere all the same. As he settles on the couch, he pulls the haori just a little more tightly around him, like a security blanket.
He takes a minute to catch his breath, and when he looks up, the expression on his face is surprisingly difficult to read.]
...how much has Kiyomitsu told you? About-- back then?
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[ - easily. Because the spark of fear is new. Baren catches it, but doesn't question it. He'll keep it in mind for the future. Rimbaud will be away so that Yamato doesn't freeze up like that again. He'll go to join Yamato on the couch, whatever's in the kitchen still not quite ready anyway.]
Not a lot.
I looked up his sword when he got it - and it made more sense when he got that memory after his birthday.
[the one where Baren was sure he wasn't enough to field it alone. even if he was there to handle the initial shock, Yamato was the one who really was able to make Kashuu feel safe.]
So I found out a bit more on my own - but it makes more sense for me to hear things from your angle, you know.
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So you know we were owned by Okita Souji. [He doesn't speak the name with reverence, but there's definitely something to it, some sort of added weight.]
What did you find out? About him. [He isn't being intentionally cagey, of course, couldn't even if he wanted to. He's just buying time to gather his thoughts, struggling to decide what's acceptable to share, and what isn't. Especially since the man himself has been so close all along.]
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[ - the general answers, then.]
Part of the Shinsengumi, wore the same haori as the one you've got. As the one that guy on the network got.
[He'll take up the time, slowly.
But he can't do it all by himself. There's not much he can say to add to the conversation.]
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But they were partners--they had to have been, if he'd spent so long waiting for Kashuu to come home, oblivious to the fact that he never would. Okita Souji is as much his master as Kashuu's; the right to share is equal between them. And Soujirou has been more-or-less open about his health here in Recolle for a long time--it's difficult to hide oxygen tanks, after all.
Still, he doesn't think Baren knows Soujirou personally. Probably, he should start there.]
Soujirou Katsuki. That's his name, here. I've known him almost as long as Kiyomitsu... we all went to the dojo together. But he... [A pause; Soujirou had taken great pains to keep the details to himself.] ...his health is really bad, so he had to leave.
[Another pause, longer this time. He drops his gaze down to his lap, fingers curling in his large sleeves.]
Okita Souji-- died of tuberculosis. When he was 26. [That's history, facts, something anyone could find if they looked. But--]
...I was there.
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He was there.
It's a different kind of pain.
Between Kashuu who left everyone behind too soon, and Yamato who was left behind by everyone else until the very end.]
... Yacchan.
You already talked to Kiyo about this?
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[He's put it off for far too long as it is, even though August was such a strong reminder of how much he hates it when they're separated. He can't imagine Kashuu will be surprised, though. He's probably been counting down to this too.]
He probably figured it out, though. He was with me in October, when I... saw it. In the fog. [That, of course, had been a twisted version of the truth, but it hadn't struck all that far off the mark. And honestly, given his natural dislike of cats, he can't help but wonder which one held the most truth.]
...I'm pretty sure Kiyomitsu died first.
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Baren reaches out a hand - ungloved, he's at home, showing all the scars of his mistakes from when he kept things to himself - and pats the top of Yamato's head.
His expression softens.]
... I can't pretend to understand, Yacchan.
[He'll be honest. He still doesn't think he's meant for this.]
And I bet that neither of them wanted to leave you - [he remembers his other mother laying in a hospital bed, hand clutched by her two sobbing twins] - but that doesn't change how you feel when you're left alone, huh...?
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He doesn't respond immediately, the words hanging between them; but then he sighs, shoulders drooping just slightly.]
It doesn't really matter if they meant to or not, does it? If they're gone, they're gone. They can't tell you they won't be back, and even they could, when there's nothing you can do to stop it...
[Swords can't cut illnesses. He knows that, has always known that, but that doesn't change the fact that he'd had to watch, utterly powerless, as those he'd cherished most vanished from his side.]
...I wish it had been me.
[It's not that he wants to die--far from it. If he had his way, he'd be able to live forever alongside his most precious people. But given the choice between falling in battle, protecting the master he'd loved so dearly, or dealing with the fate he'd actually ended up with... it's a simple choice, as far as he's concerned.]
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[Because it's easier to die knowing that you've accomplished your purpose, it's easier to go first than to wait and wait and wait for people who aren't going to come home. He keeps his hand in Yamato's hair, running through it in slow, gentle motions.]
I hear you, Yacchan. [Even if he doesn't understand. Even if he's not someone who can give him the answers he wants. He's not Kashuu. He's not Okita Souji. He never will be.] It's okay to be upset.
It's hard - to be left alone without the people you love, when you have no say in what happens to them.
[ - it's life. Cruel and unforgiving.
Baren can only acknowledge that truth in this moment.]
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But then, maybe it shouldn't be surprising. He remembers how Baren had spoken about his sister, after all.
"If they'd taken her, I would've found her."
He stands by what he'd said, even now. Devoting so much of yourself to someone is a dangerous way to live. But he knows it because he's exactly the same. And he's not exactly the best at taking his own advice.]
...I tried to save them. [He doesn't hesitate, exactly, but his tone is quiet, and there's something fragile in his expression as he speaks again.] A long time later, after we were with our new master. We had to go back to the night Kiyomitsu--
[He'd just said it a moment ago, but now the word catches in his throat; it's too much, when the image of Kashuu's broken blade flashes through his mind. He pauses, breathing deeply.]
--I ran into Okita-kun on accident, and when he spoke to me, I abandoned the mission to follow him.
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. . . but Baren hears the abandoning of the mission and he pauses. He understands. He gets it. The need to completely run blindly for the person who matters so much to you.]
What did— .... hah, nevermind.
[He shakes his head.]
... It doesn't even matter what he said, does it?
[Wouldn't Yasusada have followed him no matter what?]
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His eyes stray to his vessel, and he stares at it for a little while, silent. Finally, he answers Baren's first question.]
...he said, "That sword looks like a splendid piece of work. If you aren't going to use that sword now, just when do you plan on using it?"
[It hadn't been a scolding, or an order. But it didn't need to be. Baren is right; from the moment Okita called out to him, he'd been lost.]
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Woooow. What a cool guy.
Does that mean he was just complimenting his own taste in swords....?
[look he's just amused]
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He catches himself immediately and blinks, looking briefly confused. But then, is it really that surprising of a reaction? True, it's unnervingly intense for a connection from another life, but Yasusada's always been a little too intense about everything anyway.
Still, though he speaks up to defend Okita, he doesn't snap or grumble in a way that would've matched such an expression. He's not the best at controlling his emotions, but he is capable of it on occasion.]
He's one of the best swordsmen in the history of Japan, he can compliment whatever he wants. [He fiddles with his haori sleeve, sighing quietly.] But no, he didn't recognize it. And that's not what he was trying to say, anyway. He thought I was a new recruit. So he must've thought I was hesitating because I was afraid.
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But as he gets memories of the Yamato of the past, the feelings come with it. It doesn't overwrite the current personality, but it can't be ignored so easily.]
So a good leader. A good man.
[ - in a certain definition of "good", but Baren won't mince those details at the moment.]
Ah... it'd be hard to turn away from something like that.
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[That comes without hesitation or reluctance of any kind. He may still be figuring out his feelings when it comes to his own relationship with Okita, but Okita's strength and leadership are well-documented--it would be remiss of him not to acknowledge that.
Besides, Yasusada is loyal. Aside from his tendency to dwell on memories, that's his strongest core trait. He's loyal to a fault, and with no present to potentially destroy the rose-colored glasses he uses to view the past, how could he be anything but devoted to a man he only remembers as a god?
He's quiet for a minute, watching the memory play out in his mind. His next breath is a shaky inhale, and he glances towards his vessel, like he wants to get up and grab it, to hold it for comfort. He stays where he is, though.]
I still tried not to kill anybody... I wasn't-- I wasn't trying to change history. [He looks back at Baren, and there's the faintest hint of distress in his voice; for whatever reason, he needs Baren to understand that he hadn't intentionally tried to betray his new master.] But when he collapsed and I tried to protect him, he... he said, "don't make excuses for not doing what you must."
I think... he thought I was abandoning the mission to protect him instead. And I was, but-- not the way he thought.
[That's the most reasonable conclusion he's managed to come to, though he's tossed those words around in his head many, many nights since he'd first heard them. Okita must've assumed he was trying to avoid joining the fight properly--that he was using Okita's health as an excuse to keep from fighting. Over and over, he's wondered what he could've said, what he could've done to change things--and disregarded those thoughts just as quickly. They're dangerous, after all.]
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He understands that clearly when Yasusada looks into his eyes.
Baren remains calm, refrains from judging. He doesn't offer consolations, but he doesn't show any sign of disappointment either. Instead he listens to the story and while Yasusada doesn't reach for his sword, Baren does. He goes to retrieve it, holding it carefully and respectfully in his hands, closing the distance between Yasusada and his vessel.
He sits back down and holds the swords between the two of them. Yasusada can take it from him if he wants - but if he's not ready, Baren will still hold it.]
Still - he managed to tell you what you needed to hear, huh... [Baren can't help the smile that pulls at the edge of his lips.] It's funny, isn't it? I don't believe much in destiny... I don't like it.
But sometimes the world really works mysteriously, doesn't it, Yacchan?
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