十五 [Voice Post]
The room is small and the air in it a little stale and I think maybe it's all the life stories that have been dragged to light here, for better or for worse. I'm kneeling and so is Nakaya, the man who is my ticket to freedom. He's nervous and shows it all too obviously - blabbering forth in a string of awkwardness. I have to reprimand him - dear brother-in-law... please!
I'm not Rin now. I'm Shimodaya Sawa from Takayama, the younger sister of Nakaya's wife Sato, a girl I only know from the notes Sato gave me so I might memorize them.
The o-bugyō-sama's eyes seem to pierce me and sweat runs down my face. My insecurity must be showing, the fear of losing my head today, because I can feel my brows creasing, the corners of my mouth pulling downward.
He's definitely suspecting, that much is clear, because he talks about Rin, who is a wanted criminal. For highway murder - I would have thought for sure I'd shudder at the memory, but thankfully, it's too distant now. Everything is caught in a haze, and the life of Rin is far away, even as it is unfolding right this moment. I feel like I've never been this sure of myself.
Sawa is close, she's hovering around the room, and I can feel her sadness when I tell the loss of her parents. Certainly, that's why tears are running down my cheeks, to my chin, to my lips, tasting salty - right?
Let those tears be your tsukō tegata. - that's what he says, with a rueful look, explaining he had to be ruthless, but it's alright now, I'm free.
Except then I stand up, ready to leave, and he reveals his true face. He's a sly fox, that o-bugyō-sama; he's saved the prize question for last. With a manoeuver to catch me off guard, no less.
Sawa became the mother of twins at the age of fourteen, directly after the catastrophe. The children had to be pulled from her womb that was cut open. And so... you can of course prove that "hard delivery"...? To the eye?
My mind is racing now. He's calling some old woman to examine me - that will be my end, I know. So I call out, I voice objections, tell him not to bother the poor old lady. Oh, no, sir, not like this, not with me.
A few cocky words, more daring than they have any right to be, and my obi comes loose with the for once quick work of my fingers - this is what you mean... - then it's lying on the ground and my outer kimono falls open, the heavy fabric pulling downward. Soon enough, I'm done with my inner robe as well, and a broad strip of skin is in plain view.
The cold air makes my stomach tremble a little, and goosebumps rise on my skin.
Here! L-Look all you want!
So I'm pulling my underskirt down just low enough to reveal a long, vertical scar sitting there, a scar that Sawa got three years ago, and that was passed on to Rin by her elder sister last night in the bathroom. Blood has been paid for this, and even if it's a small price to pay compared to that guy who cut off his leg - pain has still gone around. Pain of losses and possibilities and flesh wounds.
And that's how I get through, in the end. No more sly manoeuvers.
The shivers and the tears only come later, when I'm sitting next to Nakaya and when I'm alone, with ten ryō hidden in my lunch that I did not expect to see.
(OOC: And such is the story of how Rin illegally passed a checkpoint on sheer guts and mad acting skillz. Available for your viewing pleasure here. I say she's currently having a vision and... doing some kind of vision-trance-talk. Yes.)
I'm not Rin now. I'm Shimodaya Sawa from Takayama, the younger sister of Nakaya's wife Sato, a girl I only know from the notes Sato gave me so I might memorize them.
The o-bugyō-sama's eyes seem to pierce me and sweat runs down my face. My insecurity must be showing, the fear of losing my head today, because I can feel my brows creasing, the corners of my mouth pulling downward.
He's definitely suspecting, that much is clear, because he talks about Rin, who is a wanted criminal. For highway murder - I would have thought for sure I'd shudder at the memory, but thankfully, it's too distant now. Everything is caught in a haze, and the life of Rin is far away, even as it is unfolding right this moment. I feel like I've never been this sure of myself.
Sawa is close, she's hovering around the room, and I can feel her sadness when I tell the loss of her parents. Certainly, that's why tears are running down my cheeks, to my chin, to my lips, tasting salty - right?
Let those tears be your tsukō tegata. - that's what he says, with a rueful look, explaining he had to be ruthless, but it's alright now, I'm free.
Except then I stand up, ready to leave, and he reveals his true face. He's a sly fox, that o-bugyō-sama; he's saved the prize question for last. With a manoeuver to catch me off guard, no less.
Sawa became the mother of twins at the age of fourteen, directly after the catastrophe. The children had to be pulled from her womb that was cut open. And so... you can of course prove that "hard delivery"...? To the eye?
My mind is racing now. He's calling some old woman to examine me - that will be my end, I know. So I call out, I voice objections, tell him not to bother the poor old lady. Oh, no, sir, not like this, not with me.
A few cocky words, more daring than they have any right to be, and my obi comes loose with the for once quick work of my fingers - this is what you mean... - then it's lying on the ground and my outer kimono falls open, the heavy fabric pulling downward. Soon enough, I'm done with my inner robe as well, and a broad strip of skin is in plain view.
The cold air makes my stomach tremble a little, and goosebumps rise on my skin.
Here! L-Look all you want!
So I'm pulling my underskirt down just low enough to reveal a long, vertical scar sitting there, a scar that Sawa got three years ago, and that was passed on to Rin by her elder sister last night in the bathroom. Blood has been paid for this, and even if it's a small price to pay compared to that guy who cut off his leg - pain has still gone around. Pain of losses and possibilities and flesh wounds.
And that's how I get through, in the end. No more sly manoeuvers.
The shivers and the tears only come later, when I'm sitting next to Nakaya and when I'm alone, with ten ryō hidden in my lunch that I did not expect to see.
(OOC: And such is the story of how Rin illegally passed a checkpoint on sheer guts and mad acting skillz. Available for your viewing pleasure here. I say she's currently having a vision and... doing some kind of vision-trance-talk. Yes.)