Disclaimer: As long as I shall live, be dead and before I even existed, I don't own anything about or in SW3.
A/N: This is set during Motonari's story mode, so there are SPOILERS up to and including the cutscene with Muneshige and Ginchiyo in (you know, the three arrows one?)... well, kind of. It's only based on that cutscene - this fic is supposed to be a sort of humourous alternative to it. ..I say 'sort of' because (as always with humour) some people might not find it funny. -sweatdrop- Oh well. I hope you enjoy, anyway..!
Aversion
It was not a remarkable room – understated in design, little decoration but for the many books piled around the place. Quaint, Tachibana Muneshige could think – simplistic and cluttered, his wife would say. Still.. It probably suited the needs of its owner just fine – somewhere to provide seclusion for reading in peace or for uninterrupted discussion.
Alternatively, it was a convenient place to dump them both in before their 'host' was ready to join them. Hah. Either way, though, it didn't matter. The backdrop was but a hum in his mind, all but lost before the many thoughts twisting and swirling around and demanding his prime attention. Some of those thoughts could be labelled 'anxieties' (he preferred to view them as 'concerns'), others more pressingly so, however.. Again, he was paying them little attention. He had never been one for fretting, and being fresh out of battle Muneshige was reluctant to play host to any kind of skirmish, never mind an internal one.
Besides, what could be done about anything now? The books surrounding him would hardly care or respond if he decided to rant, and 'consolation' had never been his current company's forte. So yes, there was nothing for it but to wait.
...He was not sure how long ago exactly he had decided that, but looking up from his book all was as still as it had been when they were first ushered into here. Silence continued to reign, only their breathing interspersing it, though perhaps the quiet felt heavier than before. The discomfort of delay definitely provided an undercurrent that was a little trying to sit through. Despite this Muneshige didn't feel like starting to complain – he was a warrior, after all, and any decent one was well-acquainted with patience.
His wife, while equally patient when she wanted to be.. was not always content in being so. She was also not in the habit of keeping such grievances to herself. With that in mind it was, frankly, strange that she was staying so quiet. There had not been a word from her since her almost obligatory displeased comment when they first set foot into this room. An occasional cough, granted, but not even a muttered grumble that would unintentionally serve as a comfort to him.
A subdued Ginchiyo – that was always a concern.
Muneshige turned his head in his wife's direction. She held the same posture as earlier, and in her hands was no doubt the same book. Normally he might assume her quiescence was down to being engrossed in the work in front of her (while not exactly one for literature, that didn't mean she did not read and enjoy it occasionally) – and though this was still possible, given the circumstances it was not likely to be true.
No.. there was something else. He hardly blamed her for that. However strong she was – the Tachibana had just suffered a setback, and though they would bounce back like they always did it was alright to feel.. well, to feel about it. To show that you cared about it. He could understand that – after all, he did care about it too.
Or maybe he was overshooting the mark. Perhaps all she needed was her space. Hm.. It was so hard to tell when not to push it in situations like this – make the right choice and- Heh. Either way, actually, this was probably going to blow up in his face. Oh well. It was no big deal – it was more a question of whether to appease his irrationality; his selfish concern. Entirely unnecessary as it might be (she would always be fine, with or without him) there was always that unreasonable sort of thought that gained more of his consideration than it should.
..That, and if she was going to start ranting it may be best to have it over with now, in the interests of diplomacy.
"I'm sure he will not be much longer now." Muneshige ventured, being sure to not sound too.. unsure. He would rather not be one of the targets of her potential diatribe.
She stopped rubbing her eyes and scoffed. "He had better not be. How dare he keep the Tachibana waiting so long, let alone keep us in this.. dumping ground. What is this supposed to be – their library? Pathetic..!" A sniff.
"Perhaps he is giving us all the opportunity to.. calm down first." By the look of things, it might well not have been a bad idea..
"Hmph. Whatever he's doing, he'd do well to hurry up and join us soon." Ginchiyo looked back to her book, wiping her eyes as she did so. "I will not sit and wait like this forever."
Muneshige made a faint sound of agreement, attention trained more on his wife as opposed to what she had actually said. Her eyes.. Now that he thought about it, they did look a little red. Irritated, maybe..? The alternative was not an option – this current circumstance was taxing at the most, but certainly nothing that upsetting. Ginchiyo, crying because of this? Not a chance.
So, irritation then, or a cold? More likely, but not much more comforting. If it had to be anything he hoped for the former, because Ginchiyo ill was like a bear with a sore head: almost endearing, but a whole new level of grouchy.
Sadly, the sniffing that accompanied the 'tears' indicated a cold over something merely being in her eye. Resisting the urge to sigh suddenly, Muneshige searched his pockets.
"Here. Take this."
She stared at the tissue as though it were completely alien.
"I have my own. I do not require one."
He merely held her gaze, his hand remaining outstretched. Take it. Let me do something for you, just this once. There was no reason she could not humour his chivalry this time.
Evidently deciding it was 'just a tissue' Ginchiyo snatched it. Muneshige, unaffected by now by the manner in which she accepted things, turned back to look at the book in front of him. To be honest he could only vaguely recollect the title, and a few minutes later he was none the wiser as to what the tome was even about. Yes, he wasn't particularly trying to read this thing – but he could give you a detailed explanation of the scrawl the book was written in, the exact shade of the ink.. or the way the text could so easily blur together until it became one darkened mass of nothing. ..Ah, what you could notice when you weren't really paying attention.
The sound of the shouji door sliding open permeated the silence. Neither Tachibana had to look up immediately – who else could it (..had it better) be? The sight of Mouri Motonari was merely confirmation of, rather than a means to determine his identity. Muneshige was tempted to brace himself in sympathy for their new company – Ginchiyo was going to be right on his case.
Sure enough, she practically sprang up the moment she set eyes on him. The book was roughly discarded to emphasise the words.. Or the words were emphasising the discarding of the book. Either way.
"It's verbose, and entirely uninteresting. If I..."
An uncomfortable pause, which had only been prolonged as she trailed off.
"I..I-.ACHOO!"
Silence, of the blaring kind. Not a sound but for them all blinking.
Ginchiyo stoutly pulled it back together.
"..As I was saying," The look on her face was as if one of the two males had been the person to interrupt her. "If I were you, I'd give up on becoming an historian."
Muneshige followed up with a nervous laugh.
"I apologise. She has.. little-"
"ACHOO!"
..Definitely must be a cold coming on. It was strange, Muneshige thought – it had almost come out of nowhere.
He didn't have to finish his words, anyway, as Motonari seemed to have accepted the apology.
"Potential must not be stifled, it must be nurtured. Now-"
"ACHOO! ACHOO!"
He could have swore that the book piles around them shook. Ginchiyo returned both gazes defensively.
"What?"
"Are you.. Well.." Muneshige started, then went ahead and finished biting the bullet. "Are you alright?" To direct such a question at her was to invite misery upon oneself, but he couldn't help it. Chalk it down to one of those idiosyncrasies that came about from being her husband.
"Yes, you seem rather..." Motonari trailed off too – apparently he couldn't find a way to complete his thoughts without somehow incurring her ire. ..Not that it would have mattered, Muneshige knew. Not a thing Mouri could have finished that off with would have failed to annoy her.
"What."
"Out of sorts," the Tachibana male finished for him. The redirected glare he received from his wife for the trouble, well.. Let's just say he was used to it.
Ginchiyo huffed, the snuffly action not coming across as imperiously as it was obviously intended to be.
"I am fine.. It's these books – they're so dusty. Really, if you are in love with reading as much as you seem to be you ought to be taking a lot more care of them."
There was no need to apologise this time – indeed, there was very little need to say anything. The facts merely hung in the air – the books were musty, certainly, but dust-laden enough to cause such an extreme reaction? And if there was such a lot of dust around, why was it that only Ginchiyo had reacted to it? Something did not quite add up.
"ACHOO!"
Her failure of a nose was wiped, along with her treacherous eyes. A tearful glare was levelled at them, as though she knew the exact nature of the thoughts that were going through her husband and host's heads. Muneshige once more had to stop himself from sighing. Why is she so stubborn? It was just a cold – or an irritation – or something.. It would hardly be a great failure to admit that; hardly sinful for her to accept their concern.
But no. That would just not be her style. That would just not be his wife. She'd fight it to the end – no more help, no more weakness. Blasé and stubborn to the very last – really, she didn't care about her well-being at all, did she?
..Not that this was news to him. He simply had to assist when he could, without disturbing her pride too much.
"ACHOO! ACHOO!"
Something has to be done. He found himself thinking. This is hardly helping our discussion.. or naturally, your general health.
Muneshige looked to Motonari, but the latter had already risen. It was not surprising that they had both reached the same conclusion.
"Perhaps we should relocate. A change of scenery might help."
"Yes. I'm sure that will do the trick." Muneshige chimed in agreement, moving a bit closer to Ginchiyo (though not to physically help her up. Lord, no, he wasn't that stupid).
"No, I—ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!"
Apparently he had got too close, and he stepped back to avoid the swiping arm in his direction. Muneshige was left to teeter, trying to avoid the numerous piles of books placed haphazardly behind him. Somehow he didn't think that dozens of tomes would make for a comfortable place to land.
"ACHOO-ACHOO!"
Motonari, meanwhile, moved to assist him (or perhaps it was the books he was concerned about), though he nearly tripped over something else that had been disturbed by the commotion. Muneshige was left to flail a minute longer by himself in his efforts to regain physical equilibrium.
"Hmm, now what are you doing here...? I th-"
"ACHOO-ACHOO-ACHOO-ACHOO..Urgh this is ridiculous..!"
"Meow?"
What was that, Muneshige wondered...- A cat..? He stared down after regaining his posture to find that he had not been imagining the noise. There was indeed a feline, pretty enough, staring impassively. There was just enough dopiness in the gaze to remind Muneshige strongly of Motonari – sometimes the man's placidity could make him appear almost vacant, though that was far from the truth. Heh – seemed pets really could resemble their owners.
This particular owner wore a strange look on his face, resembling.. growing realisation. Hm. Why did Muneshige have a bad feeling about this?
"What...?"
When no answer seemed immediately forthcoming, Muneshige scrutinised Mouri's face. His eyes flickered from the cat... Over to Ginchiyo.. Back again...
The cat was content in being stationary – Ginchiyo, on the other hand... Well, she looked a mess, to put it frankly. Her condition hadn't improved – since they'd noticed the cat she had progressed into a coughing fit, hacking a-
Wait. Since.. The cat...-
It clicked.
"What," Muneshige said sharply, "You think the cat..?"
Motonari was rubbing the back of his head. "It would be the most plausible explanation..-"
"Y'mean duh tell me," Ginchiyo began, before violently blowing her nose and trying again, "You mean to tell me that I have been..Like this because of your pet cat...?"
If Motonari hadn't been nervous before, Muneshige wouldn't blame him if he was now.
"..It.. has happened before, come t-"
Somehow, their surroundings suddenly became just that bit darker.
"Why- why you..-!"
Uh-oh. Time for the poor husband to interject here.
"Come now, dear.." He began, as placating as he could, "I'm sure it was an honest mistake. I don't think any of us could have guessed that this would happen.." While he could sympathise, it was true – to what end; for what reason would Motonari do this? He had none. If he had wanted to humiliate the both of them there were far better, and more characteristic ways in which he could have done it.
No, it was unfortunate, but negligent at most. ..Mind you, if he was wrong, Mouri would regret it.
"Yes, I can guarantee my part in this was completely down to oversight." Motonari affirmed, chagrined. He accompanied his next words with a bow. "Lady Tachibana, I do apolo-"
"I don't want to hear it." Ginchiyo growled. "This is- an outrage.. The pride of the Ta-CHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!"
"Why don't we.. take this somewhere else?" Muneshige suggested, hovering as nearby as his infuriated spouse would tolerate. Why did he suspect a upcoming cooling-off period again..?
Motonari nodded. "Yes, that would be best. Please..." He gestured, "After you."
As could be expected, Ginchiyo was all too happy to leave the 'simplistic' and 'cluttered' room behind. Muneshige exited at a more comfortable pace, pausing at the doorway.
Motonari took the chance to reiterate his apology. "I am sorry, Lord Tachibana. I truly did not intend for this to happen."
"Ah.." Muneshige waved a hand, replying just as quietly. "Do not worry about her. She is stubborn.. But sensible. I'm sure there will be no hard feelings."
A beat.
"..Perhaps." They both said in unison, then exchanged dry smiles. Oh, well. Muneshige moved off, leaving Motonari to glance one last time into the room. The silence remained heavy in there; lulling.
Well – at least to the cat, curled up in the middle, frolicking in serene dreams.
Motonari sighed heavily. I feel so exhausted.. and we haven't even got to the negotiating yet.
A/N: This was partly inspired by the SW3 character artwork of Motonari as well.. Though you might have been able to guess that by now. xD