False Pretences

Re: False Pretences

feeds@yuku.com (Minobe Korin) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:22:25 GMT

Kin's mockery was like a slap in the face. Korin's head twitched away so he didn't have to look him in the eye. But after that - nothing. Korin felt he was looking in on his own thoughts and had found a yawning gap where he should have felt something. Dispassionately, he analysed his lack of reaction. There should have been shock, then embarrassment - he was being melodramatic - then anger, indignation. Korin knew this, intellectually, but felt none of them. It...

Re: False Pretences

feeds@yuku.com (Kin Ehime) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:07:24 GMT

"And you can't tell anyone because you're afraid that the love of your life is going to end up in terrible peril because of your connection, and that jeopardy follows your every waking move," Kin replied sardonically, rolling his eyes with a theatrical sigh that was entirely sarcastic. "Are you sure you you're in the right building? I'm certain a theatre may serve your purposes much more adequately than the Healer Hall can." It would also have a far...

Re: False Pretences

feeds@yuku.com (Minobe Korin) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:32:48 GMT
Unconscious. That was better than near-death, but not by much. Korin needed to see him. And if Sai was unconscious, that wouldn't hurt Korin's determination to keep him out of the reach of Ozawa's spider touch. He- he would have to tell Kin, though. Kin was too steeped in the Healer Hall principles of privacy and confidentiality to let anyone in to see a patient without a reason. If he wanted to see Sai - and gods he wanted that - Korin would...

Re: False Pretences

feeds@yuku.com (Kin Ehime) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:30:56 GMT
The Master healer ran his hand tiredly across his face and sighed raggedly, feeling his age biting at the edges of his consciousness. He had often told himself I'm too old for this, or made sarcastic comments about today's youth when he could get away with one. Most of the time what he said was entirely mockery, however. He wasn't quite forty yet and didn't really have a reason to spout that kind of nonsense. But here, dealing with dramatics he didn't even want to...

Re: False Pretences

feeds@yuku.com (Minobe Korin) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:58:50 GMT
Korin's first mistake had been not concentrating properly on faking the pain. His second, and worse, mistake was when he raised his eyes to meet Kin's gaze.

He was already on a knife edge, building lies upon lies like a house of cards, and all of them built upon the entirely imaginary foundation that Sai didn't matter to him. The Master Healer's gaze demanded answers, making it so plain that there were a thousand more useful and enjoyable things Kin could have been...

Re: False Pretences

feeds@yuku.com (Kin Ehime) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:27:11 GMT
Kin suppressed the urge to frown in thought, keeping his face as impassive as usual. Korin had failed to answer his question, but that was not what was bothering the Master Healer. What was bothering Kin was that the spot of Korin's supposed pain was moving. A fraction, not enough to be immediately noticeable, but each time he inspected the area it got further and further left. He ran his fingers over the area and applied harder pressure, listening to the almost mechanical...

Re: False Pretences

feeds@yuku.com (Minobe Korin) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:02:53 GMT
Korin tensed up as Kin approached. He could act normally, even confidently, but since he had come into the party even the slightest unexpected physical contact made him jump violently. He forced himself to relax to the point where he barely twitched when Kin clinically explored the muscles on his chest. When the Healer reached the area beneath his left collarbone, Korin winced.

He needed to bring it up, to ask about Sai, but he had been silent for so long. He seemed to have...

Re: False Pretences

feeds@yuku.com (Kin Ehime) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:27:09 GMT
"Please sit down," Kin said professionally, indicating the bed by the wall with a gesture of his hand. Korin moved to it soundlessly and when he had sat down on the edge of it the Master Healer approached, stepping inside what was supposed to be Korin's personal space. Kin had long since stopped feeling odd by the idea of getting so close to another person, let alone a man, desensitized to the fact that it was inappropriate. He was a healer after all, he couldn't do his job...

Re: False Pretences

feeds@yuku.com (Minobe Korin) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:18:52 GMT
Korin accompanied Kin into the room, feeling uneasy for the first time in a while. He had become used to having some measure of control over situations. He was glad Aiko was gone, though, because he had been afraid it would be hard to shake her off.

He was taking a risk, here, he knew. A huge risk. How did he know Kin would tell him what he wanted to know about Sai's condition? How did he know he wouldn't talk about the strange questions the Party Secretary was asking about...

Re: False Pretences

feeds@yuku.com (Kin Ehime) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:42:51 GMT
The Minobe Korin standing in front of him was not the same Minobe Korin that he had locked in his office for three hours , and who had indignantly treated him to lies and subterfuge for the entire duration. There were similarities of course, and nothing about his appearance had changed save his wardrobe. It was in his manner and Kin spared him another glance, sizing him up more closely. Between the time he had seen the man last and now, Korin had become a member of the aristocratic nobility -...

Re: False Pretences

feeds@yuku.com (Minobe Korin) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:17:20 GMT
Only after he had said it did Korin realise just how much he now wore arrogance like a second skin. The Master Healer could have been there for some completely unrelated reason, but Korin had automatically assumed that any one important in his immediate orbit was there to see him. And Kin Ehime was, but the reception wasn't a friendly one.

Korin held up one hand in a concilatory gesture, a slight, confident smile on his face. "Please, Ehime-sensei, I should hope I...

Re: False Pretences

feeds@yuku.com (Kin Ehime) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:51:31 GMT
Ehime-sensei! The Cherry Basket has been stopped at the gates.

That had been the first warning that his day was about to go steeply downhill in a matter of minutes.

They are with Minobe Korin of the Masagao Party.

That had been his second.

To say that Kin was fond of Korin would have been a blatant lie. He liked the man about as much as he liked anyone - which left much to be desired, of course. The fact that he was now the...

False Pretences

feeds@yuku.com (Minobe Korin) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:49:49 GMT

Korin paused. The gate to the Healer Hall stretched up above him, smooth polished wood that arched over the path, framing the peaceful view of the main compound. In the end - only pushed a little by Korin - Lord Ozawa had decided it wasn't necessary for him to call off his previous engagements to come, but Sakina and Yuki had demanded to come, and Aiko was tagging along as well. Along with Korin's two guards, they made quite a stir. Korin knew the healer hall protocols, though,...