#poor Yatsufusa

[traditional-with-a-twist]

xvii. Beauty and Her Beast

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Obi is waiting for her when she returns.

He unfolds like a cat from among the flowers, sauntering over to greet his mistress--and like an animal, he scents at once that something is wrong.

His next step cancels the distance between them. He places himself at her side as he always has, ever since entering the royal service--but this time, things are different.

Enough has changed between them that now, when his hand moves, he allows the movement to follow through to its natural conclusion. 

One fingertip extends, reaches, and comes to rest on her elbow.

...

She turns her face up to his.

“Obi,” she says, but his name sounds like a question.

“Yes,” he answers her simply, unhesitating, even as the vertebrae of his spine lock together, fusing him into one long line of tension.

He keeps his voice light as he adds, in obedience to her wishes, the four syllables long denied to him: “Shirayuki.”

The lines between her eyebrows ease. Her hand makes an absent, seeking gesture; it comes to rest in a loose hold on his sleeve.

...

Shirayuki has never found it easy to voice her concerns.

Even now, though she plans to tell Obi, wants to hear what he thinks, hopes he can reassure her -- she hesitates.

Obi has never found it easy to guess her thoughts, but he’s willing to try if it will help her to put them in words.

“Something amiss at the pharmacy?” he begins, a moderate opening sally in case it won’t take more than a gentle nudge. 

His hand has advanced on its determined path to nearness with her; he cradles her elbow in his palm now.

“Oh--n-no, they’re all doing well--I mean, Yatsufusa…” She bites her lips.

Obi zeroes in on the clue. “Did he say something to you?”

“Yes, but it wasn’t…”

...

She didn’t know quite how to explain it. She didn’t quite understand it.

She hadn’t expected it.

When she burst into the office, hair flying, eyes shining, the message delivered by Higata clutched in her hand, she was half-wild with excitement.

The message was such good news, so long-awaited, too much to keep to herself. She wanted to celebrate, to give thanks, to rejoice with someone who must be equally relieved and delighted that Garrack and Ryuu were coming home.

...

Immediately after the war’s conclusion, the Chief Pharmacist had received orders to suspend her regular duties in deference to the critical conditions overwhelming the hospitals in the port town.

She and her protegee had departed at the head of a wagon train, overseeing the shipment of supplies that Shirayuki, Obi, and all the regular staff had helped prepare.

Official reports with terse updates on their progress provided evidence that they continued alive and well, but no personal correspondence accompanied these missives.

There had been no word of when they would return, until now.

...

Shirayuki was too happy to speak; she only waved the letter and beamed at Yatsufusa.

What words could describe the enormity of her feelings? She has been so alone, so out of place, and now so happy... At last one of the roving thoughts escapes her: 

“They’ll be back in time for the wedding!”

...

Yatsufusa wasn’t a man given to emotional displays. 

He had received the princess with the quiet equanimity typical of his character: Below his perpetually hidden eyes, his mouth creased in a slight sign of the pleasure he shared with her.

At this pronouncement, the smile vanished.

It was true, then.

...

He had wanted to dismiss Higata’s frantic, half-articulate tale as mistaken or at least misapprehending. 

Now there was no choice but to believe it.

Garrack always found a way to foist her work off on him, he reflected. Even from a distance.

...

“Your highness…”

Shirayuki looked quizzical, then a light dawned. Oh, yes. He meant her. She answered with a hesitant smile, looking her question.

Yatsufusa cleared his throat. “With regard to your...wedding…”

She colored prettily.

As gently as he would inspect a wound for infection, he asked whether she had considered what was customary?

Customary, she repeated, wondering.

Yes, customary. Had she considered that, as the bereaved intended of a second prince, she must honor the Wisteria royal family in her choice of a future husband?

...

The message vanished into folds of white as Shirayuki’s hands wound into her skirts. “Honor?” she repeated faintly.

“Honor...or dishonor.” Yatsufusa felt the cruelty of his task, but he set to it as he would set a bone.

“It would be--more correct, for you to marry someone of noble lineage, your highness.”

...

Shirayuki was not a politically-minded person. 

Before she met Zen, her thinking rarely bothered with questions beyond her intimate circle, what concerned the people she knew personally, and those challenges and dangers that immediately involved their lives. 

Befriending a prince had necessarily changed that. 

Now the problems impacting her friends were problems of state: dilemmas and dangers that convened councils and kept kings awake at night.

In some curious way, Shirayuki hadn’t felt the difference. For Kihal and the Yuris Island birds, for instance, she had diagnosed and prescribed a solution the same way she would have treated a patient.

The diplomatic implications added different dimensions, rendered the occasion more solemn, but otherwise affected not at all her desire to help, or her determination to make things right.

...

The problem confronting her now cast long shadows in Shirayuki’s mind, precisely because of the political terms with which Yatsufusa had framed it. 

An obscure implication of duty now jutted from the mists to threaten her bid for a safe harbor. None of her mental maps--all drawn on the scale of human relationships--could afford her any guidance.

She didn’t know what to do.

...

Uncertainty chills rapidly into fear, for someone accustomed to operating with a driving sense of purpose.

By the time Shirayuki reached Obi, her stomach felt tight, her throat closed. Her skirts weighed on her, though she had worn them lightly just an hour before.

As she recounted the story, her head had sunk lower and lower; now she confesses to her shoes: “I never thought about it that way before.”

...

A snort startles her. Her head jerks up.

Obi’s eyes crinkle. “A noble family, huh? That’s the problem?”

Shirayuki blinks at him, bemused. “I...think so?”

...

Interwoven with her doubts about the future lurked a nervousness verging on panic that something in what she had said might prove harmful for Obi. 

She flinched at the thought of handing him a bundle spiked with invisible needles, something that might cut into him before she realized what was wrong.

He didn’t look as if he were in pain, though. If anything, he looked amused.

...

“I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you,” Obi says airily. He looks past her, so tall and so near that she can’t see into his eyes.

“But will there be trouble if--if we… I mean…” Her fingers tightened on his sleeve. “What can we…”

“Sorry, mi--Shirayuki. There’s nothing we can do about my birth.” 

Obi barks a laugh. “If someone has a problem with that, he’ll have to complain to the people responsible for it.”

His palm slides up her arm, his thumb tracing a soothing circle against her shoulder.

Shirayuki smiled uncertainly. Fear lost its grip in the face of this levity, but instead she was baffled. What was so funny?

Why was he laughing?

[cherriesink]

Yamagami Tokuichi - Murmurs

Murmurs are snippets of character reflection earned by increasing Explore Points during Exploration. They usually include 6-7 monologues about other characters and 3-4 monologues about things important to the specific character.

These lines are taken straight from the English translation of the game, so fair warning of bad grammar.

About Yatsufusa “Yatsufusa... is like a son to me. I can’t help myself whenever I see his hopeless eyes.

...But I don’t blame him. Because it takes time to accept the fact you’e suddenly become a vampire that can only drink blood. Even I haven’t fully accepted it myself. Why are we alive... and how long do we have to endure this... What’s the point of all this anyway? Nobody can keep up if those thoughts cross their mind.

But he is a C-Class- unlike an unranked vampire like me. He’s surrounded by good people too. He can live a good life if he wishes to.

Wait, “life”? ...Are we livin’ a “life” when we never die? We don’t have a clue how long vampires last... Argh, there’s no way I can teach him somethin’ because even I don’t know what vampires are exactly. I’m so unreliable...”

About Kurusu “I became a vampire the same time as Kurusu. I was a major and he was a private first-class. I was a bigwig when I was a human who didn’t even know Kurusu existed...! Then, I was bitten by a vampire and became unranked in the vampire ladder. And Kurusu, who was just a private first-class is now an A-Class vampire- the strongest in Japan...

In the military, you can climb up the ladder by working your butt off. But an unranked vampire stays unranked no matter what... 

Why?! Why did this happen to me?! I was just an honest guy... Where did I miss my step and let a private-first class surpass me...? 

Life can change in the blink of an eye. It would’ve been me and not Kurusu ranking in A-Class if I would’ve walked a little more to the right. You really can’t guess what life brings you.”

About Maeda “Maeda is worse than a vampire when it comes to being disdainful! You know how people call each other evil? Well, he’s the master of evil! He’s always been like that. Cause he doesn’t have any friends. He always looks down on others. That’s just how he is. 

It’s the worst when you go against him in kendo... He doesn’t care about samurai spirit and kicks. He was boastin’ that he’s a master of Taisha, but he’s outta his mind if he thinks his moves are so elegant, belongin’ to a classical martial arts school! Call it “Maeda” school if you must. He provokes you and threatens you, playin’ with your mental state. He attacks once the opponent loses it. It still gives me the chills when I remember his fightin’ strategy.

He’s now leading Code Zero, but nothin’ has changed about him. I feel bad for the vampires that he taunts and then kills. Poor them... they underestimate him ‘cause he appears human. But that’s a bad idea ‘cause he’s not.”

About Takeuchi “Why does Takeuchi wanna his inventions on me every single time?! Invent all he wants. But why does he always have to use them on me? 

He’s not scary ‘cause he’s a vampire. He’s simply a monster. He’s intelligent, and my hats are off to his inventions. But he lacks heart. I don’t think there are any vampires out there like him. I doubt that anything has changed from when he was a human.

I hate the skunk ball the most out of his inventions. Only vampires understand how bad it smells. The smell even gets to the eyes. What’s even worse is that our clothes absorb the smell and won’t come off for a week. Yes! It’s effective in battle ‘cause we all have the deodorize mask and it stops the enemy for a second. In a way, it’s the best weapon. But I can’t stand the lingering smell after we take off the mask! Make a soap that gets rid of the smell if you’re gonna invent somethin’ like the skunk ball, Takeuchi!”

About Suwa “Suwa mocked me from the first time we met. He might look like an innocent kid, but... I can never win against him in arguements either. I secretly call him “Mini Maeda.” He said he was already alive before the Edo period. But I can’t believe that he managed to survive that long with his personality. I mean he said hunting vampires is his hobby... What kind of hobby is that? I guess he holds some knd of a grudge against vampires because he grins when he kills them. Talk about horror stories, right? 

Yet, he likes watchin’ plays, so I don’t get that guy at all. If he still has humanness left inside him where he enjoys watchin’ plays, then why can’t he share that with me? Total mystery I tell you.

Oh... and another thing I hate about Suwa is how he likes to quote kabuki. It stops our meeting ‘cause it doesn’t make sense at all, so we gotta ask what he means.

So, to sum it all up.. evil ones will always be evil, no matter how long they live for.”

About Defrott “Defrott is a mysterious guy. Apparently, he became a vampire during the Hundred Years’ War... But you don’t see underaged vampires that often. Because they’ll burn themselves before figuring things out. And I heard western vampires kill underaged ones. So- it’s tougher for them to survive.

It’s even tough for an ordinary vampire to survive. Yet, he appears to be a child and made it through the Hundred Years’ War. So... he must be really smart. I’m sure he’s mighty since he’s an S-Class... But I bet he has to be pretty wise if he was goin’ against another S-Class ‘cause he’s pretty petite.

Although... he’ll vanish me before I can even realize it since I’m unranked.

Defrott... is a French name. But the Hundred Years’ War took place where things were complicated between England and France, so he must be pretty complicated too. I wonder where he was born.”

About Tenman-ya “I feel relaxed at Tenman-ya. So, maybe I’m suited to work as their manager instead of Code Zero. I bet they rarely have dangerous jobs, so I’m seriously thinkin’ if I should work for them and leave the military...

Only, they deal with vampires far more than Code Zero does. It’s a problem ‘cause the eyes of vampires ranking above me freaks me out... it’s really terrifying.

And I heard that even the ones you should avoid go there too. If I leave the army, I won’t be able to use any of Takeuchi’s weapons. So, when I consider that... I mean, I’m just an old fart that’s slightly stronger than a normal person. Just thinkin’ about being surrounded by vampires gives me the chills...! In the end, Zero is the safest place because Kurusu is there. 

I heard Shinnosuke’s grandfather passed away when he was just a child... He must’ve sacrificed a lot of things.”

About Family “I wonder what Tomiko is doing right now... She originally came to our house as a servant. I was 14. It was love at first sight. My father found out my feelings for her, and fired Tomiko. I left my house to be with her and I went to her house. 

But I was rejected by her parents... Because we weren’t socially equal... Who know how many times I begged for their approval. I didn’t care if my family disowned me. 

I went to her house everyday... But I realized that I never asked how she felt about me after persuading both of our parents... I remember my body shaking when I asked her to marry me.

I promised her that I’ll love her for the rest of her life... but... I’m sorry, love... I’m sorry I became a vampire... I can’t be by your side anymore. 

But I will keep my promise. I’ll always watch over you. Until... your very last moments.”

About the Past “I wasn’t good at kendo, judo, or jukendo... So I worked my butt off. I studied military strategies so that I can become a general one day. Takenaka Hanbei and Kuroda Kanbei were my idols because they won battles solely with their brains...

But the secret order given to me by the Empire was espionage of Britain’s special unit. I had no clue where to look into at first. But soon after, I found that I was gettin’ myself into an atrocious matter...

Nobody would’ve guessed that it was a vampire research. Vampires lost their homes- as modernization took place during the Industrial Revolution. And the British Empire asked for cooperation in exchange for providing them a place to live. Now that I think of it, that was the template of Code Zero...

And I ended up gettin’ bitten, becoming a vampire myself... Nothing went according to plan for me.”

About the Change “Nothin’ interests me since becoming a vampire. Code Zero does pay us... but I told them to send all the money to Tomiko. 

I can live as long as I drink blood, so it’s not like I have any hobby. I don’t go watch plays like Suwa. And it’s not like we can go out to eat or grab somethin’ to drink. It’s pointless to dress up. I mean, where do we have that we can go to lookin’ fancy, right? 

So, that’s probably why vampires need a hobby or else we’ll die of boredom. I only cared of Tomiko’s happiness and nothin’ else. So, I don’t have a clue how to kill time...

Oh yeah, an ambassador taught me chess back when I was in Britain. Maybe I can be the strongest chess player if I keep playin’ it for 100 years. Kurusu... is my only choice I guess. I doubt he’s any good though.”

[summonerscenarios]

Okay so this may not make sense unless you seen BNA, But How would Guilds of your choice react to the fact that MC is a beastmen, but can switch between their beast form and human form(Going off on that they thought MC was fully human), and maybe a little on Shino would react 😖(cause well..you know when it comes to his past love and the whole-thing) Sorry if this seems like a lot and if you don't want to do it, you can just delete this. Have a good day or night.

Yessss I just started watching it actually and it’s SO GOOD!!! I do hope that these hcs are what you were looking for! Also I’m doing this under the assumption that MC knew they were a Beastman! Enjoy hun~

----

Summoners

With how close you and the Summoners are on a daily basis this was bound to come out eventually, so when they all learn that you’re not entirely human like they had all first assumed needless to say there’s a whole lot of questions. Shiro at first goes off on a tangent, speculating that your sudden shifting ability could maybe be some undiscovered ability of your sacred artifact since all the other transients you guys have met with similar abilities have all been because of their sacred artifact. He lays off when you assure him that you’re pretty sure you were a beastman long before you came to Tokyo but that just brings about a whole bunch of other questions about beastmen types and abilities. He’s honestly so intrigued that for a moment some of his questions probably push the boundaries of what he’s usually like so just be sure to give him a lil nudge to think before he asks.

Kengo doesn’t really see what the big deal is - to him it’s just one more cool thing about you! However even he thinks it’s pretty neat that you can switch between two different forms at will. He’ll ask the obvious questions about the differences between your human and beastman form - does it make you stronger? Give you special powers? Make you look more intimidating? Though he has to remind himself that you can change forms whenever you want because you’ve shocked him more than once when he turns away for a moment and then turns back to find you’ve changed in that momentary time span.

Ryota can’t stop himself from fawning over your new appearance, asking you why you never told them about this before because you look so cute! If you’re okay with it he really wants to feel the new changes that come with your beastman form; he’ll compare his hand to yours and cuddle up to you as he admires your new appearance, the whole time asking if everything’s okay at different intervals. Plus if you have fur fully expect him to give you plenty of fuss because it’s just so soft!

Hanuman is super psyched when he finds out! He’s constantly asking you to switch back and forth to see how quickly you can shift and if you humor him with it he’ll be grinning like a dork the whole time because it is so entertaining. Agyo swiftly jumps in eventually to scold Hanuman into letting up and giving you a break, even as you laugh it off and say that it’s fine. Agyo doesn’t have nearly as much of a reaction as you thought he would, but if you’re some kind of beastman though he makes an offhand comment to himself that you look like you’d make a pretty good guardian dog partner now!

Moritaka, similar to the others, is taken aback when you first tell the Summoners, but doesn’t truly believe it until he sees you shift back and forth with his own eyes - somehow seeing it happen right in front of him suddenly makes you beastman abilities more real than just simple words. He’s equally entertained watching Ryota fawning over your new appearance and Hanuman egging you on with the switching, but acts as a voice of reason if they get a bit too much. To him it’s almost like you’re just like any other therian when in your beastman form, but he goes out of his way to remind his rambunctious friends that even while not being entirely human like they all first though you’re still you. A part of him also ponders how Yatsufusa would react upon learning that the one who holds the soul of his beloved is a beastman, but that’s a question to wonder for another time.

At this point there’s been enough surprises and sudden revelations about you that Toji thinks he’s seen them all. But then you switch from your human form to your beastman form and suddenly he’s right back to being absolutely mystified about just how many surprises you’ve got up your sleeve. Most of the questions he’s asking are about how many people know and if the teachers have been notified and things along those lines but you can tell that he’s looking over your new form pretty damn intensely. You jokingly ask him if he wants to join Ryota in the impromptu petting, and though he refuses the fact he keeps looking back at you from the corner of his eye is obvious he’s considering it. If you’ve only told the Summoners about being a beastman then Toji makes a comment about how this could be useful if you ever need to go into hiding - just about every big player in Tokyo has their eye on you so being able to shift into another species than what they all know you as could play into your favor if you need it.

Berserkers

It doesn’t occur to you that you probably should have given the Berserkers guild a bit of a heads up about being a beastman until you walked right into the Colosseum in your beastman form. You don’t even make it past the door before Garmr all but barrels you over, the joy of seeing you back melting away to alarm and confusion seeing that you aren’t in your human form. The poor therian is conflicted because you definitely smell like you, but you don’t look like you, and he spends so long sniffing and running circles around you trying to determine whether this is some kind of trick to make him think you’re his master that his head is spinning by the time that Bathym peeks his head out to see what the commotion is, dragging an unwilling Andvari out with him. 

Neither of them buy your assurances that it’s really you at first, because obviously you were a full human, right? But then you turn back into your human form and all of a sudden you’re being swarmed by all three at once. Garmr is absolutely ecstatic knowing that it’s definitely you and won’t let go of your arm, Bathym is trying to pry for all kinds of details wanting to get a good ol look at all the changes your beastman form causes, and Andvari is already rattling off the possible marketing schemes this new development could bring in like it’s some kind of neat parlor trick - honestly not the reaction you were expecting.

By the time you actually manage to worm your way inside the commotion has brought some of the other fighters out from the locker rooms, and any hope of keeping that little secret to yourself goes out of the window because of course Bathym’s gonna spill the gossip to them. Ikutoshi’s nonchalant about it really and just assumes that it must be some kind of thing to do with your sacred artifact similar to his own, but he does have a couple questions of his own when he sees you shift into your beastman form.

Nomad nearly has a damn heart attack when he sees you in your beast form, and almost fools himself into thinking that someone must have done something to you to cause the transformation. Do the guy a favor and let him know that you’re a beastman before he convinces himself that he’s got to add someone else to his revenge list; Once you do explain to him Nomad calms down significantly and mostly just makes a comment about how he gets why you didn’t go out of you way to tell the other berserkers since most would probably wanna put your skills to the test in a fight the moment they found out.

SPEAKING OF FIGHTING. Macan takes the whole beastman thing in stride, but he gets super excited if you’re some kind of lion/tiger/cat beastman because. If anything he’s insistent about taking you on in the ring in your beastman form, which when coming from Macan is probably an offer you’re going to want to turn down unless today’s the day you’ve decided who’s gonna eat who. It doesn’t help that Claude is also eager to see your beastman prowess in combat, having been notified by Snow of your presence and the situation during your encounter with Garmr. He desires to see what you’re capable of in this new form especially if you’re one of the bigger kinds of beastmen, and if you agree you’ll probably end up earning yourself a couple more brownie points in his favor, but if you’re firm he’ll relent and leave the matter be for now.

Genociders

You bring the fact that you’re a beastman up to the Genociders so casually, but honestly out of all of the guild’s their response is arguably the calmest. I mean Arc already had some suspicion that there was something about you that wasn’t entirely human, so when you first confide in them that you’re in fact a beastman it only confirms their suspicions. If you’re worried about their reactions about keeping it from them you really don’t need to be because they take it all in stride. 

It takes a little bit of helpful coaxing from the guild master before they’re able to convince you to show off your beastman form around them, and they remind you constantly that no matter what form you take you’re still the same person in their eyes. Arc spends some time talking to you about different kinds of beastmen as well as if you only have the one form (depending on if you retain this information since coming to Tokyo is another matter entirely but Arc still appreciates that you go out of your way to answer their questions in a bid to get to know you better. 

Of course it doesn’t take long for Azathoth to butt in too to get a good look at you, giggling to himself as he asks all about how you ‘unlocked a new skin’ and when you were gonna tell them you unlocked that achievement. Though from the way that he grins and laughs to himself the whole time, you have a feeling that he knew long before anybody else thanks to the previous loops. It still doesn’t stop him from trying to poke and prod at your beastman form, having plenty of fun messing around with your new fur, feathers or scales depending on the kind of beastman you are.

Of course to Babalon and Surtr you will still be their darling child. Upon seeing your beastman form Babalon is quick to dote on you, cupping your face in her hands before smoothing a comforting hand along your ears and cheeks. The way she coos over you is just as motherly as before, but you can tell that she finds amusement in the way you relax into her touch when she finds the spots that ease the tension right off of your shoulders. This is only further amplified when Surtr brings a hand to rub fondly atop of your head, going off on some long winded speech about how you should never be afraid - that you’ll always be his beloved child regardless of if you have feathers/fur/scales etc. Honestly you’re pretty sure that he gets off topic about the whole thing but at least you know that he’s being genuinely kind about it.

Bonus! Shino

Shino is absolutely stunned by the revelation that you’re a beastman. To know that you, the one who carries the soul of his beloved can take on the form of a beastman within these Tokyo walls leaves him feeling conflicted. There is some naive part of him that thinks this could be some twisted fate, that his inability to be with you in your past life no longer barred by his status as a beast, that the version of you here and now is no longer held back by the concerns of the past world. This is also conflicted by his torn feelings about the whole thing however, where he feels as though he still doesn’t deserve his relationship with you regardless of whether you’re a human or beastman. While he doesn’t really make any movements when you change his eyes are trained upon your beastman form, intently watching the way you shift between forms. So intently that it’s easy to feel a little intimidated under his gaze, but he snaps out of his stupor upon hearing your voice calling out to him, bringing him back to the present moment.