#traitor to kin. (ryoshu)

[heartserased]

@toktic declared: [ STILL ]: the sender places their hands on the visibly angry/upset receiver to try and restrain them. for ryoshu

heavy breaths escape from bloodied lips. seeing that man again... she nearly reaches for the odachi on her hip, nearly slices him cleanly in half... until she feels arms tightly wrap themselves around her waist. ryoshu freezes on the spot, and just about knocks the person back and off of her. she usually hates being suddenly grabbed from behind, but once she hears that familiar ticking... her shoulders relax.

"tch. if you were anyone else, i'd s.y.n.c." she remarks with a soft laugh. "you're lucky your ticking gave you away, 愛される."

[heartserased]

ryōshū is rather observant, moreso than the rest of the sinners. while everyone else (aside from don quixote, all things considered) has been none the wiser to their manager's condition. she's noticed something off with them for a while now, picking up on signs that are similar to her own blood withdrawals. physical deterioration isn't hard to pick up on, especially for someone as observant as she is.

it's a rare moment that the two of them are alone; the other sinners are getting some well-deserved rest in their rooms. ryōshū can't sleep; the struggles of her own withdrawals aren't easy to ignore. so it's to her surprise that, when she heads out of her room and into the main part of the bus, she sees @toktic there, slumped over in one of the seats. she sighs to herself and settles into the seat across the aisle from them, tugging a cigarette and her lighter out of her pocket.

"hey. something happened on the warp train, didn't it?" this is the most she's spoken in a while, deciding that her s.a.n.g.r.i.a. wouldn't be worth it in this instance. "you're in need of blood. i can sense it."

ryōshū takes a drag of her cigarette. sighing once more, she curses herself for not being there to prevent this. somehow, some way, dante must have been turned while they were on that train. she wishes she could have protected them, that she could have helped. but wishes rarely ever come true. she learned that the hard way long ago.

[heartserased]

Living in the woods isn’t all bad  —  there’s all kinds of food (or ingredients to make food) just hanging around. Sometimes, an animal or two is killed for necessity, but otherwise, the witch and the swordswoman just stick to fruits and vegetation. Ryōshū is often the one sent out to hunt and gather, which she doesn’t mind, as Faust is typically busy working on her newest invention or whatever else.

On one particular afternoon, the swordswoman is inches from killing a bird when she hears a soft crying from afar. As much as she wants to ignore it, the sound reminds her of times long past ……. and it tugs at her heartstrings too much to push aside.

Clicking her tongue as her prey takes the opportunity to flutter away, Ryōshū goes to investigate the source of the crying.

In a nearby clearing, a small child  —  an infant girl, from the looks of it  —  is alone, abandoned, crying. Ryōshū silently approaches, careful not to disturb her too much as she kneels down. The child’s dark hair reminds her of someone in the village  —  it seems that old hag finally settled down. She gently picks the child up into her arms, carefully cradling her close to her.

The smallest of smiles appeared on her face for a brief moment as the infant calmed down and drifted off to sleep.

“...You were abandoned, too, huh?” Muttering to herself, Ryōshū carefully rises to her feet, deciding to abandon the hunt for now. This is a more important matter than gathering food right now.

Returning to the house, sleeping child in tow, Ryōshū greets Faust in a soft voice. “I’m home.”

Closed starter for @soulsbetrayed !