The Long Ongoing Night / The Oldest Mystery [Harupia]

[Takahashi Aki]

Harupia was the far more graceful one in terms of the social art. The woman looked at him with a small smile. "I did see someone yes." She spoke with a particular honesty. "You see, it's a funny thing you know. Being a lover. Being a lover is not the same as being a partner." She swirled the contents of the tea about in her mug. The heat was rising. "I was a mistress to someone. Long ago. Didn't know about it. Can't say that I liked the notion of it. I was young at the time. Thought love was this pure thing." There was a this sort of sorrow present. A woman who was cheated out of something pure at a time in life. "I didn't get over it. It's the type of betrayal that runs deep and long." She looked into her tea.

Sousuke didn't say a single word. He was given a moment to think about it. It made him think of Shiori. Women were a strange thing. This situation was very different from the full truth about Shiori. It was illogical really, and the man had to really think hard as to why he was trying to compare the two. Women scorned by love. "You visited us after you saw that person."<i></i> He spoke. "Maki Shin."<i></i> He spoke the name. The name caused the woman to wince at the mention of it, like it was some sort of deep dark secret. "He was found in the basement of the Kazekage tower. Curious murder it was. Very clean."<i></i> Sousuke did not drink from the tea. He simply left it there. He was looking back at the woman.

"Seemed like a nice guy at the time. Yet he had many girls in the port for a married man. A married man who had a dying wife in the hospital." She would remark.

"He did keep that quiet. Remarkably his wife bounced back after his death."<i></i> Sousuke remarked. Was it justifification? The Steward's cold eyes shifted over to Harupia now for his analysis. It was of course quite obvious, but of the two men? Harupia was the farm more emotional and understanding one.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

Harupia smile brightened as she replied to him, though the corner of his lips did waiver as she spoke on. It did fill out the pieces of the puzzle nicely... Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned. He only had the... occasion to experience such a thing a few times when he was young. He tended to be a bit more frivolous than he honestly should have. He had wandering eyes and a curious soul... though that was only when he was single. Whenever he felt any inkling or there being more than just the most...carnal connection, he would devote himself to one partner. And in all cases thus far, he had...rotten luck when ti came to that.

He did listen to more of the story unravel. Young women falling for a man, finding out she was one of many, and one of the women was a dying wife. He looked down at the tea but didn't quite feel link drinking at this time himself. He sighed a bit as Sosuke turned towards him "It was...Curious. From what I know her state was quite dire, and yet she managed to recover... while Maki himself was found dead, with his entire blood drained from him. What I wonder about is... why to meet him in the Kazekage tower of all places? I can imagine if you had met...anyone other than us on that day... the situation might have gotten a lot messier, and fast"

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The woman's expression turned into a grimace of sorts. "Some people have talents. I have mine. I'm certain you have someone under your employee who can do the same." A confession. That is what they were here for after all. The Steward reacted slightly. His eyes narrowed at her. Harupia continued the discussion. She tilted her head from one side to the other. It seemed like she was trying to find an answer herself. "I was angry." She spoke. "I knew his schedule." She added. "I knew where to find him, and where he was most vulnerable. At the time I did not think that I would put the entire tower in a panic. Lord Judori did his best and was able to keep many things quiet on that day. It's a trick of his, not sure how he was able to do it. He was never given enough credit for how he was able to keep things on the low. Lord Judori was a man who cared for his people. We were given a rotten deal when Lord Katuso's Dad passed, and Lord Judori did his best with the rotten deal we had."

"You kept us company for some reasons. I can think of many, but the first would be that if you were found with us, it would make you less suspicious. Then there is the matter of trauma."<i></i> Sousuke began. He thought about it. "People turn to pets, or animals as a form of ... comfort or therapy. Children too can offer that too, sort of. Children in their innocence and belief structures can ... calm or comfort an addled mind. Given what you had done, you had found Harupia and me. In that you sought a repreive a sorts, which was dispelled the moment I opened the book to that page. It is why you wanted to get rid of it."<i></i> He spoke. The analysis and what had occurred all fell into place. He was met with a smile from the older woman.

"And now what? You've solved a mystery that's been around since you were a boy? Shall I spend my days rotting in the Obsidian Palace?" Came the inquiry. A troubled look came over the woman. She was at long last asking for her judgment.

The Steward would rise up from his seat. He would seem bigger. Taller. He quietly mulled it over in his head. "You've lived with yourself all these years. That alone is your own personal hell to contend with."<i></i> He motioned for Harupia to come with him. "I wish you a good night and many more to come."<i></i> He would say before leaving promptly. He motioned for Harupia to come with. As they would leave, they would hear a heavy sigh, and a return response of 'good night and many more to come'.

The Steward and his friend would exit the building in silence. The Steward brooding over the situation. After a long bout of silence he would speak. "Was that punishment enough?"<i></i> He inquired as they would make their way back to the Kazekage Tower. As they walked, the night was still at its darkest, and indeed it still continued to be the long ongoing night.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

Haru listened, his face relatively emotionless compared to how he usually was, just careful listening to the story unfold, between his friend and the older women before them. She did pretty much confess to the deed while explaining why she did it where she did. It seemed like...a bit of a leap in logic. Then again, she had only been found out literary decades after the deed. Sosuke's father had a massive burden to bear, that was for sure. Perhaps trying to keep the thing under wraps was his way of maintaining a modicum of peace in this entire situation.

Sosuke seemed to rationalize the fact she decided to sit around with them rather than just move along. It made sense, as much as he knew about psychology. Must have been a bit of a shock in that situation, seeking solace, an escape and encountering that book his friend had. Then again in their line of work shellshock like that wasn't something uncommon. He guessed the question was whether it was worse to see it live to happen around you, with adrenaline pumping through your veins during a fight, or see the results of said battle from the doors of the medical area.

He had practiced himself as she asked the question about punishment, expecting something violent to happen...but in the end, it was all...amicable. Sosuke decided she was punished already...and given his towering stature he was almost willing to believe it. Blinking a few times, he bowed his head, though he didn't return the verbal farewell as he followed his friend outside. They walked in silence for a while before Sosuke spoke to him in the quiet night street. He mulled the question over in silence before saying "Honestly? She had evaded formal punishment for several decades for a crime done within the stronghold of the village leader. It was against a man who was a criminal, though you could argue whether adultery is a crime worth one's head. All we know is that she felt it was and took justice in her own hands. And then lived all those years, knowing the sole witness were a pair of kids who almost further traumatized her by accident. She almost seemed...like she wanted to be punished more? One thing I can say... That feeling of guilt, of being yourself up for doing something you weren't supposed to... It does things to your mind. Makes you feel crazy...drives you to do crazy things" he said rubbing his left arm absentmindedly "I'm not mindreader but that can be quite the punishment in itself... Id knows a thing or two about it" he finished with a bitter chuckle.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"The laws of man are different from the laws of the state."<i></i> The Steward spoke almost sullenly. "It's a rather frustrating how the two are written, but they're independent of one another."<i></i> The two continued their walk back towards the tower. The blackened sky still very much above them, as it properly should be. "We didn't observe her commit the murder. We were there out of fluke."<i></i> He remarked in the face of Harupia stating that the two of them were witnesses. His father had this all neat and tidy. It could have exploded into something much larger, but it did not. That was perhaps the most perplexing thing in all of this. The two would approach the gates to enter the building. Sousuke would open the gates and walk along the cobblestone path. "One has to live with the guilt. There are things that I have done, and it has been lurking somewhere in the back of my mind. This war with the Daimyo is full of murder and ill will towards man or woman. It's not really different in the end. Death is all consuming one way or another."<i></i> He spoke grimly.

He noticed Harupia rubbing his arm. There was something there, but now was not the best time to talk about it. He raised his metallic hand and placed it on his friends shoulder. "Thank-you. For everything. I don't give you enough gratitude."<i></i> Harupia was indeed a good friend to visit him on this night of all nights, and then to go out in the dead of the night itself to This perhaps might have seemingly come out of nowhere, but the Steward felt that this was necessary. "I'll close things down here, then head home. Tomorrow will be another day, with a slightly less longer night. That's something to look forward to. Isn't it?"<i></i>

***

Sousuke would look up at the table. The child knew his book was up there. He didn't notice that the other boy had been using his ability to push it off. Sousuke approached the table and took hold of the leg of the table. "Booook."<i></i> He spoke what almost seemed to be mournful in tone. He shook the table leg. He wanted the book. Maybe if he shook the leg of the table enough the book would fall off? It was entirely possible. After no luck and several minutes with the lady gone to get the adults. The boy would look over to Harupia. He stared at him with a deadpanned expression for several moments. "Book is nice, but maybe hanging out with Haaaarupia might be nicer. Haaaaru. Haaaaaaaru."<i></i> He spoke chanting the name at the slightly older boy. "Haaaaru the huuuuuuuuman."<i></i> He proclaimed as he clapped his hands together.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

Harupia nodded a bit as his friend spoke about the laws and the fact they didn't really have any solid evidence "I guess we could raise this through a court but any punishment now would seem pretty paltry...I somewhat doubt the victim had anyone who would really seek retribution after what I've heard here. Do you know what exactly happened to the wife he was cheating on?" he pondered, not really thinking about it before. He did pounder how it all was held under wraps. He recalled his father was ready to tear apart the person who did it, though Judori did have a way of keeping him from flying off the handle. It just felt so...bleak. A crime was committed, but no one cared much to see it come to light. And the women had to live with the fact she killed the man she loved...one who was not worthy of the affection but had it none the less.

It seemed the dark night made Sosuke even more introspective. Indeed, the village wasn't the same since that first strike from the Daimyo...and while they were healing slowly, the sting still remained. And it would be some time till they could bleach it out competently...but they were fighting every day to do so. With a sigh he would say "Death comes for all yes... but yet the world still turns. I had to deal with that a lot when I was training to master the Wood ninjutsu style. My early plants kept dying in seconds...but from the soil in which they withered and filled with nutrition, bigger things could emerge. All we can do is make sure we allow everyone here to have a solid, fertile foundation to grow on...and scorch any weed in our path".

He did notice Sosuke's curious gaze. He didn't quite give all the details about his...condition to him. he would need to at some point...though quite frankly he probably knew as much as the Steward to some degree. He blinked feeling the cold metal on his shoulder but smiled widely as he said "Well, I try my best... I may have failed to be as good of a friend as I could be...but I will try to make up for it" He wasn't sure how long it would'd take for him to clear the blemish of disappearing from the village for so long...but he had time to work on it. After that, he said " Yeah, I much prefer the day. Usually, the night makes me think of work. A bit ironic in a way huh?"

Harupia was slightly nervous, the shaking of the table throwing of his not really well-formed control over the sand. Not to mention the worry of being caught, since he could only guess the women would tell his parents. it did last for a while though eventually, the women did leave without saying much else. He let out a sigh of relief, before noting the other boy staring at him. before he could say anything Sosuke spoke. He blinked several times but ended up smiling brightly before saying "Y--yeah! hanging out can be fun!" he said enthusiastically towards him. As strange of a meeting as he was, he was glad to make a new friend!

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The Steward had to think for several minutes about what happened to the murder victim's wife. He tapped his chin and thought about the matter. "She ... recovered actually. It was three days later."<i></i> He thought about it for a moment. "I suppose that is what one calls a miracle."<i></i> Miracles were this strange thing in human history. The miracle was a .01% chance thing to happen, but remarkably they did occur. The Steward was subjected to a miracle or two in his time. "Would you call it a miracle?"<i></i> He would inquire a moment later. It made the Steward wonder if miracles occurred more often but the fact was that most people did not notice them because of the scale that they were on. Maybe Sousuke was in fact subject to hundreds or perhaps thousands of miracles, it was just on a very small scale. With this thought in his mind, he wondered about the numbers. Maybe it wasn't .01% anyways, but perhaps something higher. Numbers rarely lied, but the miracle was what made the numbers capable of being falsehoods.

His mind snapped back as he listened to Harupia explain that he also knew of plant jutsus, and how the learning process was rough on him. "My plant and or wood jutsu manifest ... very differently. They appear machine-like ... which I guess that means I don't have to worry about soul much. At the same time, whatever plant I would be producing isn't going to be feeding people."<i></i> He admitted. Sousuke would nod his head at Harupia stating that the night made him think of work. "Heh. Indeed. Perhaps on that day ... we will be celebrating something worthwhile instead of something grim."<i></i> He would nod his head. "Maybe I'll just book the evening off for that day."<i></i> He spoke with what sounded like mirth. "Good night, Harupia."<i></i> Sousuke would address his friend before retiring into the depths of the Kazekage tower.

[Topic to conclude pending Haru's post]

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

He waited for the reply before blinking, genuinely surprised about it "huh...that is...interesting to say the least" as he pondered on it...A medic in with an aptitude for blood manipulation...could it... But that would depend on what the wife was actually suffering from, and if the guy's blood would even be compatible. As Sosuke pounder on nature of it and asked him, he couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he said "Those can be hard to come by in a world where a man can split the ground in two with a snap of a finger... But I could say so. There had to be a very specific turn of events to lead to the woman's life being saved...the fact they aligned just right does seem quite miraculous, for better or worse" In a perfect world there wouldn't be a case of someone having such a low percentage chance of surviving...but this was not a perfect world.

He listened to his friend talk about using Woo Jutsu himself. It was some...interesting insight. But he could feel his friend was growing weary, and he wasn't that far of. Though he did speak in high spirits in the goodbye "Goodnight Sosuke" he said with a nod as he let sand coil around his feet, making a short hop as he embarked on the sound Nimbus and took his own journey home.

(Exit)