7:12pm, 2 days since Inuko began sleeping in the same room as Kiba.
Since that embarrassing morning, Kiba and Inuko had learned to shower at different times so overlaps never occurred.
She hadn’t really spoken to him much, preferring the companionship of Maiko and Ryota. Although Ryota had spent many years in the company of Takeshi and assisted him in many of his murders, he was hardly a rude or unsociable fellow. In fact, one might say he was far too sociable. He would talk of his homicidal deeds as if they were something to be proud of- but why else would he have wound up in the service of Okuri, for in his eyes, they were something to be proud of. In fact, Okuri, Kiba and Takeshi all possessed the same savage tendency.
2 days ago, Ryota had received word from his clan that he had been he was acknowledged as a member again and his old man was coming to celebrate having a member in the new Shogun’s inner circle. Ryota was overjoyed to hear this. When she watched him dance around, Inuko silently wondered what it must be like to be disowned.
Yesterday, Ryota’s father, Tetsuya Kobayashi, arrived. A grizzled old man in black robes with yellow linings, he greeted Ryota with the customary bow.
They spoke of many things, most to do with their clan and how Ryota being a part of it would bring many advantages to both of them. They talked about the family’s state of affairs, and how his little sister Emiko was doing. They conversed on how the economy was doing. And before Inuko slipped away to bed, she overheard words of Ryota needing a bride.
Today had come, and Maiko was being taken away. Turns out Ryota needed a wife to be accepted back into his own clan, and Maiko had volunteered. They had only known each other for a month, and yet they were willing to spend their entire lives together on a whim.
And to make matters worse, her own parents had abandoned her. They didn’t even have the grace to tell her! Apparently, her father had developed ‘heart problems’ and needed to be taken back home for medical treatment. As the Bombardier pulled away and she walked back through the massive steel gates, Inuko began to wonder about her and Kiba.
They weren’t really a couple, but they were something, weren’t they? He asked her out and she said yes. (Although the date went terribly wrong) They had seen each other with no clothes on (though never intentionally) and they slept in the same room (but not in the same bed) despite her parent’s wishes. What did that make them? An item? A pair? Flirts?
