2026-04-27: Return to Revelation
- Cutscene: Return to Revelation
- Cast: Yua Ijuuin, Kimitake Ijuuin, Natari Konishi, Para-Mind, Tyrrha, Welwetes
- Where: Kimitake's Home, Konan Ward / Blacksite Revelation
- OOC Date: 2026-04-27
- IC Date: Wed, Oct 31 2012
- Summary: When Yua visits Kimitake to attend a Halloween party with him, she instead finds herself physically assaulted by him, angry that she's having a boy -- and in the process, ensuring that his own firstborn son isn't truly his. He demands she abort, but when she refuses, he instead sends her on an errand to the Blacksite where she was created, revealing that they've been asking after her in the process. There, she meets her old abuser, Natari Konishi -- who never stopped being obsessed with her, to the point of crafting her next project to ensure she can gain access to her again. Her assault is decidedly more intimate, but aside from everything Yua has on the line by resisting, there's another factor in play now -- a girl robot, Tyrrha, who is bound to her biological signature and tasked with protecting her in battle. Yua wants to save her, too...
- Content Warning: Implied sexual assault, explicit physical assault, strangulation, reproductive coercion, homophobia, misogyny, stalking, vomit, alcohol use, coercive control.
"Yua-san?"
Yua doesn't feel Kimitake's calls are unexpected, any more; and if she feels trepidation, she tells herself that it's just because acting is hard. "Kimi-san," she smiles, into her receiver. "I'm back home! I even managed to teach my Monday class, so I didn't miss any work! Are you proud of me?"
"I am," and he sounds like he's smiling, too. "Are you feeling better, after all that...? We can cancel that Halloween party..."
"No, it's okay," Yua shakes her head. "But I have really good news!"
"Oh?" Kimitake asks, his tone rising with interest.
"When they scanned me to make sure he was okay, they could tell he was a boy! He's a boy! I'm having a boy!" Yua's excitement ought to have been infectious, but --
Kimitake pauses, a moment. "Oh... just as you planned! How wonderful! You're certain I should disturb you tonight...?"
"Mm... no, it's okay. I know you wanted to go to this party," Yua shakes her head, smiling. "You wanted to know if I was still coming, right?"
"That's right," Kimitake admits. "Shall I expect you at my house at five?"
"Sure!" Yua chirps.
Despite her misgivings, she's comfortable letting Seiji leave, rather than him sticking around. The door is open for her, but strangely, Kimitake hasn't come to greet her. "Kimi-san?" She ventures, cautiously, as she steps into the lounge, clad in a festive orange and black dress with a pair of fancy cat ears as a wealthy concession to costume. She hears a glass pouring in the dining room, and steps over, with another touch of that trepidation. "Kimi-san...?"
Kimitake stands by the wine cabinet, pouring something for himself. "So," he starts, his tone grave. "You're having a boy. And you're sure?"
"I've been sure for ages!" Yua insists, and for some reason, she feels defensive. "I had a blood test... and I was praying every day, too! But when they checked me in hospital, the scan was detailed enough we could see it! Well, the doctor saw it, she had to explain to me and Mimi... but... aren't you happy?" Her anxiety grows a little deeper; she's heard something cold, in his voice.
"Normally," Kimitake allows, "the coming of a firstborn son is a joyous event. Such men are needed for the continuation of the clan; we are built from the bones of our patriarchs. Nothing is more vital, more important -- and there is no task higher, for a wife, than his delivery. You were meant to deliver me a son."
"But... I'm having a son," Yua says, her anxiety building further, as she wonders --
"Her son," Kimitake says, as he downs his glass. "And some man whose name you elided." When he turns to her, she can smell that it wasn't his first drink. "I heard you invoking it, but I'd hoped you were wrong. Emotional. Women often are. If you'd just had a girl... we'd both be spared this conversation."
"I -- I don't understand," Yua says, as she takes a step back. It can't match his three steps forward, as he moves to trap her against the wall beside the door. "Kimi-san, you're scaring me..."
He thrusts a hand into the door's jamb, blocking her egress. In another situation -- looking up to a different Ijuuin -- Yua would be excited. It's not butterflies twisting her stomach, now.
"I'll be making you an appointment to terminate it," he informs her, with no room for questions in his cold gaze. "I'll arrange everything. It's unfortunate, but you can have her son after you've had mine."
"... w--what are you saying?!" Yua needs a moment even to gather that aghast question, her hands flying to her abdomen to guard that curve. "Don't you dare hurt Hiroki! I -- I'll tell Mimi!! All--All those mean things you said -- but that's too far! She'll make you sorry --" but Yua's the one regretting her sharp tongue, as his other hand lifts, crushing Yua's choker into delicate skin when it closes around her throat.
"Be quiet," he snarls, and all her protests die in his grasp as all her attention goes to drawing in breath. For what feels like forever, she can't -- but at length he relents just enough to let her breathe, though his fingers and thumb still lock around her. "Listen when your husband's speaking."
He can feel her swallowing down the dampness of her face, as she nods.
"You still understand nothing... it's disappointing, but not unexpected. You were not raised to our standards. You have no idea who would be -- as you say -- sorry."
He pauses, but it's just a power-play; he's just waiting to see her obedience. Yua doesn't disappoint him. The only sounds from her are her ragged breath.
A horrible smile splits across his lips for a moment, despite himself, alcohol letting a little more of his twisted inner self shine. "Miho would kill me, if she knew. And what then? Uncle would have to explain to my father why his darling had killed a member of the branch family; and we are still Ijuuins, despite our ceiling of potential. Her dearest father would be forced to forsake her... the family would be ripped apart. And the woman you call your wife, in flagrant defiance of that ring binding your finger? Not even her finger could pay for such a crime... for the good of us all, she would be excommunicated."
Yua's eye widens in horror, as he spells it out, though she is too terrified to utter a sound. His hand tightens, just slightly, threateningly. "And you? You are little more than a whore who sold her body to us for a little safety. If you proved yourself a foreign Whore of Babylon, and brought our family low again... even your precious Miho would resent you." His smile widens, showing teeth. "She would be utterly destroyed... her family is so important to her. In my death, I will punish your sheer arrogance... do you think my courage less than yours, when I am a true Ijuuin?"
"Arrogance?" Yua squeaks out, despite herself, only to cringe in her fear. A true Ijuuin...? She can't face up to this...
His look of imperial scorn carries his disregard. "You and that damned cousin of mine... you wished to be wed. That's not how we do things in this country. Openly declaring your unspeakable love -- you would tear this family apart. And after I've played the game so long..." Kimitake squeezes Yua's throat shut, for a few agonising seconds, as he hisses: "I will teach you humility."
Yua chokes, and for those moments stretched to eternity she is wordless, until his grip relaxes enough for her to desperately rasp: "Please! You're hurting me--!!"
Something in her terror makes him relent, release her; she sinks down the wall, sobbing as her arms curl around her legs in a protective huddle, Hiroki shielded by her body twice over. "Why?" She asks, trembling. "Why Hiroki? Even if you hate us... he's innocent..."
"He's hers," Kimitake snarls, his hands curling to fists as he stands over her, haloed by the sunset through his window. He's not ashamed, it seems, by his wealthy neighbours seeing this. "Alongside some lowborn mystery! I will not have my first-born son be a cuckoo in the nest!" She hears -- and feels, through the vibrations -- his fist impact the wall, above her head. She understands those implications perfectly. "You don't know the worth of the first-born son! She doesn't deserve it! You're both just women -- the ancestors ought have given you a girl!"
"No!" Yua cries, and inconsolably; the horror rises over her, consumes her, and she rocks against the wall as she cries. "No no no no no no no NO NO NO NO--!!!"
"Pitiful!" Kimitake sneers, as Yua screams through her overload. A moment later -- "NO NO NO NO NO!" -- and he realises she won't just stop.
He turns, calmly pours himself another glass of wine -- considers pouring it on her -- and then, instead, takes a seat at the dining table and waits for her to calm. She does, eventually, with no choice and a little breathing room; her screaming abates, and her rocking slows, a little later.
He's most of the way done with his glass, by the time she speaks up. "... p--please... I'm sorry. Just... don't hurt Hiroki... I'll bear you a son. Just..."
"Hm." Kimitake swirls the wine, remaining in his glass. "You'll do anything to keep it? Even when you complained so viciously?"
"I'll do anything to keep him!" Yua cries, her voice peaking. "Just because I was selfish for a moment... he still means everything to me!"
"Fine." Kimitake downs the rest of his wine in a gulp, slamming the glass back down. It trembles, sonorously; just like Yua, it doesn't shatter. "Then I have an assignment for you."
"An... assignment...?" Yua echoes, peeking up at him from the floor.
"I was contacted by the Blacksite Revelation, recently," he says, and his voice is steady as her eye widens. "They've prepared a combat assistant to aid you in battle. They asked me to go fetch it... but you're going to liaise with them directly." He lifts his wine glass, pointing it to her. "An Unawakened man like me shouldn't have too much exposure to that world directly... wouldn't you agree?"
"Kimi-san... they're the people who did this to me..." Yua trails off, a hand dropping from her knees to grasp at her heart.
"Then I'll make the appointment for termination," Kimitake says, and sounds reasonable. "It's up to you, Yua." And much like Miho before her, he drops the -san for the lack of respect, not the over-abundance of it.
"No!!" Yua barks, balling up again. "I'll go! I'll go! B--besides, an aid in combat's what I need, t-they told me to stay away from stress..."
"Then you at least see the logic. Represent me well," he warns her. "I expect you to obey their wishes... your job is to help me get ahead in life, remember. If you embarrass me... who can say? You might even get another visit from 'that man'."
"Don't hurt Hiroki!" Yua wails, rocking anew.
"You'll be in charge of that." He stands, then, and the only reason he does not sway is his formidable grasp over himself. "Come. I'll drive you. Your driver would be... suspicious."
"But... you've been drinking..." Yua starts, her voice lamed.
He strides to her, and grabs her by the arm, hauling her standing. "Get up." Yua has to grasp onto him to steady herself, feeling quite ill. "You needn't worry. I'm always in control."
Making her worry with his control is the point. Yua dreads stepping into the passengers' seat, beside him; she may not know how to steer a car, but she can tell how unsafe this is. She prays for their safe passage, even knowing where they're headed.
"I... won't be long," she declares, though her determination trembles, as she steps out of the car. She enters an innocuous looking building, in Narumi, a forsaken train station. Through a keycard swipe, she steps into an elevator, and down, and down... as the Rumour grows thick in the space, harsh lights reflecting against the bars of the cage. Yua could expose her eyepiece, if she wished.
She will not. She doesn't wish to undergo a single experiment here again.
She at least looks different, in her festive orange and black dress, cat-ear headband, and garnet gold jewellery -- her choker hiding those bruises, around her neck. The woman who steps out of that elevator, head deliberately held high, has a name rather than a number. She keeps her sunglasses on, though the sun is far away; it gives her a little distance, from it all.
Despite her bravado, she stops dead, when she sees who's stepped out to greet her. Russian-tall, with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, Natari Konishi carves right through her with a glance.
"Twenty-two!" And she is too familiar, as she steps forward, as she undercuts all Yua's confidence with that old adage of hers. "I knew I'd see you again."
... and Yua, in turn, steps back. "W--why are you here? I've come for the man Kimi-san was speaking to."
"I am no man," Natari spreads her hands, as Yua's eye widens.
"He... was talking to you...? B-but -- but he knows what you did--!" Yua protests, forgetting, for a moment, Kimitake's warning. It all comes back to her, though, as she feels the elevator buttons against her back.
He told her to obey... her.
A woman who looks at her like a meal.
"Come this way," that woman gestures, to Yua, her labcoat fluttering as she turns. "Most of the workers have gone home by now... there's no need to hesitate." 'Hurry up,' she means, coached in the language of support. And Yua does, as she tries to not look through the viewing-windows, unwilling to meet the eyes of people who weren't lucky enough to reach her position. Through the doors of a wing with 'Project Hemitheoi' inscribed beside it -- past the wings labelled 'Project Sybil' and 'Project Promachos'.
The entire underground facility is, of course, expertly soundproofed; but going through those blast doors, it becomes more obvious that this Project is a wild and bestial thing. Yua does not know what those people are going through, to make them howl and bay and bark; she does still think of them as people, though some of the sounds she's hearing are fundamentally inhuman. She doesn't know what they've done, to make humans sound so vicious; she knows, in turn, they can. Still, she does not look through the windows.
She does not see that there are no humans, in those cells.
Natari leads Yua to a room with a bay, a girl standing in repose, as if sleeping upright. There's something strange about her that Yua doesn't realise until she scans down to her feet -- and realises they end in toed claws pressing against the ground, rather than anything she's expecting. Still, as Natari approaches her, Yua starts forward, and cries: "Leave her alone! She's just a girl!" For despite her strange -- outfit? Is it a leotard, Yua wonders? -- she can't be much older than the youngest girls in high school.
"Relax," Natari says, and it's small comfort that the way she brings out a remote and presses some buttons is entirely clinical. "This assignment is terrible for that sort of thing... besides, I've never found a woman who could get you out of my mind. Your hand," she demands, reaching back, behind her, as a panel opens on the girl's forehead.
"I-I don't -- um -- o-okay --" Yua stammers, as, at length, she extends her hand out -- and Natari yanks it forward, pricking her finger on a lance in the apparatus. "Ow!" Yua yelps, a drop of her own blood falling onto the sensor there, and the machine folding back into the girl's forehead as if it had never come out. Natari releases Yua's hand, and she yanks it back to herself, evidently unnerved. "That hurt!"
"Processing biometrics," a robotic voice opines, from the girl. "Analysing... three-thirds match... parameters accepted. Reconfiguration in progress. Two percent. Four percent. Eight percent..."
"Ugh," Natari shakes her head, as she turns back to Yua. "This always takes forever. It doesn't have to always be such an argument, Shi-6!" She pauses, tilting her head. "Though, if this actually works, I guess this thing's earned its operational name..."
"Don't call her an it!" Yua protests. "She-- she can hear you!"
"Not right now, she can't," Natari says. "But if you insist -- let's go somewhere she can't hear us to wait. Come back to my office."
"I --" Yua takes a half-step back, because the last thing she wants to do is that.
But Natari starts walking, and she can't embarrass Kimitake now by running away.
The walls here are all so white -- so clinical. (Blood wipes from them without a trace; why do you think those bloody handprints linger, when Yua's the one leashing you into a space?) There's a scent of antiseptic hanging beneath everything that turns her stomach, though she manages to keep her composure as Natari opens a door. "Oh -- one moment," that awful researcher says, as she thrusts an arm out, stopping Yua from stepping in; she pulls out a remote, holding it up at a sharp angle as she inputs some numbers.
"What...?" Yua wonders, despite herself, taking a step back. (She doesn't want to go in there. She can see a plush white wooly carpet draped over the floor, the kind of couch one sleeps on rather than leaving the office at the end of the day... it's lived-in.)
"Surely you remember the cameras monitoring everything here," Natari says, as she steps inside, gesturing Yua to step in beside her. "They saved you the first time, as I recall. Not to worry -- I've been working on making sure I don't embarrass the higher ups. This little baby," she waves the remote in her pocket, "sends the camera in my office the signal to loop the previous five minutes of recording. So far as the security guard's concerned, there's still no one in here... there'll be no record of our conversation."
Their conversation, Yua thinks, her gut tightening. She turns around the office, to try and find anything which could help her -- but there's nothing. A desk and a computer chair, that lounge with pillows and a throw rug which have certainly served as a bed, a bookcase with tomes on programming and psychology, a sink in the corner...
She takes a step towards it, the thing which fits least into this picture. (She doesn't realise it's a basin for washing out one's eyes, as much as one's hands; the extra faucet goes right over her head.) There's a mirror, installed above it; she watches Natari, behind her, and sees her own ashen expression in the same glance. "Don't hurt me," she says, quietly, a touch defeated. "I... I'm pregnant."
"Congratulations," Natari smiles, behind her. "I've had three, myself... what a special time in your life. You can relax," she goes on, and her voice, at least, sounds kind. "So long as you're mindful, I won't have any reason to harm you."
Yua can't relax. "Kimi-san... he said you contacted him. He said... you'd prepared someone to help me. Did you... plan all this from the beginning?"
"I'm fascinated by your story. No matter how many deranged women I meet, I've never been able to forget you," Natari explains, as she takes a seat on that lounge, behind her. "You're brilliant, did you know that? Even your imperfections only serve to underline your fragility. You gave me this obsession, Twenty-two... so, you see, this arrangement was an inevitability."
Ice plunges itself into Yua's heart, around her bruised throat. "That's not my name," she whispers, and the lack of volume sends her hoarse.
"Hmm... I suppose you're right. You're a free-roaming asset, now... Yua, wasn't it?" She lifts a hand, and gestures, to her, each mora a guillotine as it falls. "Come, sit with me. Let's talk... I want to know everything."
And every muscle in Yua's body protests, but it isn't just Kimitake she'd doom, if she turned against Blacksite Revelation. Her hands lift, fingers pressing, delicately, to either side of her sunglasses as she lowers them.
The click as she folds their temple-pieces in, so that she can place those sunglasses on the side of the sink, sounds to her like the barrel of a gun as it arms.
"Ninety-four percent... ninety-six percent... ninety-eight percent..."
Slowly, that girl's eyes blink open -- a sharp red, with a ring of black in the colour of her eyes, signalling their capacity to focus in. The hair which bounces, as she steps forward and crouches down, is a pleasant, bright shade of teal; the colour of her artificial skin is just a little more yellowed than one might expect, giving her a sandy complexion.
There's a "rrrau," at her clawed feet; she crouches down, to reach out and pet the raptoresque creature, with a mane of feathers on his neck and a crest running down his back, ending at his whippy tail. "Hey, hey, Welwetes," she grins, the expression somehow ferocious, as she ruffles his ruff. He'd be a remote-controlled robot toy, if he were really examined -- but he's such an advanced one that his movements are surprisingly fluid. With a voice which isn't robotic at all, laid-back and country, she asks: "How's it goin', li'l buddy?"
"Rah!" Welwetes trills, his feather-ruff fluffing up happily, just like a lion's. (Well, if lions had feathers...)
"... awake now," a familiar voice interrupts her, as she looks up; the smile drops from her face, and her neutrality looks deeply aggrieved. Natari steps into the room -- but trailing behind her --
"Hey!" The girl calls out, as she springs to her feet, following the smell of emesis to a woman who looks as sick. (She wears no cat ears, now, that ghost of a Halloween costume put aside.) "Hey, hey! It's you! Hey, what's wrong? What happened?"
"Ah," Yua says, her queasy expression cut into by her surprise. "Um..."
"This is Yua Ijuuin," Natari's voice cuts in. "She'll be your mother from now on."
"Huh? I have a mother?" The girl pauses. "Eh, huh? Didn't I have a mother...?"
"I--it's all right," Yua assures her, her brow creasing with concern. (That combat assistant... she really is another person, and a child, at that.) "I'll be your mother, um..."
"Tyrrha," Natari supplies.
"Whoa, no more of that 'Shisix' stuff?" Tyrrha asks, turning back to Natari, before she looks back to Yua. "Oh! I get it, yeah. It's 'cause I found you, right, Yumama? I was looking for a long a long a loooong time. But you're not okay! You're not okay, are you?"
"No," Yua admits, looking down.
"Wow! Maybe that's how I found you after all this time." Two antenna extend out from her ears, where they were hidden as pearl earrings atop them. "Yeah, it's sooooo loud and clear! It's totally you!"
"I..." Yua can't quite finish her sentence, looking haplessly to Tyrrha.
"How fortunate I was able to bring you to her while you were in so much distress," Natari reflects, and her cruelty is hidden, behind that kind tone. "Tyrrha, will you be able to take care of her from now on?"
"Sure thing, boss," Tyrrha salutes, vaguely. "But hey, where's my dandy?"
"Rude." Yua jumps a few feet in the air, as she hears a familiar man's voice, behind her. Turning, sharply, she sees Para-Mind leaning against the doorframe there, a man with a mane of orange hair, scruff at his chin, and a suit worn just a shade too casually. "I'm not your dandy, girlfriend, they stuffed you in a chick. Like, a way too young chick."
"Dandy man!" Tyrrha grins, all teeth.
"Um, you...?" Yua looks from Para-Mind to Tyrrha.
"I don't just do troubleshooting for you, babe," Para-Mind grins, as he ambles in. "Got a call you want another chargin' booth installed?"
"Um, what's..." Yua's head is spinning, and it's not helping her stomach one bit.
"Tyrrha here can't sleep like you or I do," Natari cuts in, to explain, though it stabs through Yua's heart. "She needs a charging booth in order to regain her energy."
"Oh, then... um... won't we need two?" Yua asks, a touch meek. "I-in case we're at Kimi-san's..."
"Aren't you normally?" Natari asks, tilting her head.
"No!" Yua barks, forcefully. "N--no. No, I -- I normally live with Mimi... l-like I said."
"It's awfully warped not to raise your daughter with your husband," Natari waves her off. "But if you insist. Two charging booths. Can you take the two of them back with you, Para-Mind?" She asks, looking to the man, as he gathers his tools.
"Sure, sure," he says, hoisting a bag over his shoulder. "C'mon, girlies, you're gonna meet the Burninator."
"Oh," Natari stops them, "before you leave... one thing, Yua."
"Y--yes, Konishi-san?" Yua squeaks out, halting in her turn; her gaze is slow and trepidatious, as she looks back.
"When Tyrrha here comes in for upgrades, you will escort her," Natari says, with a smile. "And you'll come alone."
"I understand," Yua says, her gaze lowering, as terror twists distantly through her gut. Natari waves her on, and she hurries after the others.
The Burninator, as it happens, is Para-Mind's van; flaming decals consume it, black and red and outrageous. Yua feels outside her body, as she slides herself into the front passenger's seat. When she looks back to check on Tyrrha, though, she sees her standing in the aisle. "Tykko, sit down and put your seatbelt on," she urges her, gently.
"Huh? Who's that?" Tyrrha asks, and she looks awfully cross, even though her tone's quite mild.
"It's... a nickname!" Yua explains, a touch taken aback. "S--sorry, don't you like it...?"
"Nah, nah, I just didn't get it," Tyrrha says, with a grin that's all teeth. "It's great, Yumama! But hey, what's this 'seatbelt'? Can I eat it?"
"Ah -- no, um -- j-just a moment," Yua unbuckles, with a touch of a huff as she gets back out of the van, to go into the back with her. "Sit -- sit down here," she urges her into a seat, "and you see this strap? We need to wear them when we're driving in case we have an accident. You just pull it across your body and secure it in this clip, like this... click!" She provides a sound effect as the seatbelt clicks in, as if everything's normal, as if she's not outside herself.
"Whoa," Tyrrha says, as she looks down at the belt. "This vehicle comes with restraints built in. So super cool!"
"They're not really..." Yua starts, and thinks back to how she acted, when she was rescued from that awful laboratory. (Really, by comparison, Tyrrha is entirely cromulent.) "Um, you know, they are, a little? But -- but you can control when they come off. It's not anything bad, okay? Just -- just trust mama!" It's a little strange, she reflects, to herself, to be assigned a role like that...
... but she can at least play along long enough to figure out what they've done to this poor girl.
"Sure, sure," Tyrrha smiles, goodnaturedly. "Oi, mama, nankuru nai sa!" It's Okinawan -- things will sort themselves out! -- and it makes Yua pause, staring, blatantly, at the girl.
"Tykko..." Yua trails, a moment, before she ventures: "you're Okinawan?"
"Ehhh... I don't remember," Tyrrha says, as she leans over to buckle Welwetes -- now a far more hard plastic toy -- into the seat beside her. "But I guess so!"
"Hey, broads! Pick a seat!" Para-Mind calls, from the driver's seat, and Yua startles, before she plants herself in the seat on the opposite side of the aisle, sliding the door closed.
Buckle-click, and she calls: "We're ready!"
"Tight," Para-Mind says, as he starts the rattling engine. Yua leaves their exit up to him; he has enough clearance cards, she saw.
Instead, she looks to Tyrrha, squirming in her seat. "Stay still," she urges her, as she reaches out with a trembling hand. "Here..." Tyrrha's grip is steel, though -- figuratively and literally -- and Yua yelps, "Ow!"
"Huh?" Tyrrha blinks, looking down to their hands. "Didn't you want me to hold on?"
"N-not so tight!" Yua hastens to clarify, and Tyrrha dutifully loosens her grip. "Oh, Tykko... please, don't grasp me so tightly," she breathes a sigh of relief, feeling it. "That's better... sorry, mama's fragile. Your mother might be able to hold your hand that firmly, but..."
"Huh?" Tyrrha asks, tilting her head. "Ain't you my mama?"
"Oh," Yua's eye widens, as she realises -- "Yes, but you'll have another mother. Her name's Miho... I call her Mimi! She's the best! She's my forever partner, but that's a secret. She's so strong, she's an Olympian... oh," her face falls, a breath later. "But your father... mm... yes, you've a father, too."
"Huh? But you just said you had a partner... oh, she ain't a kissin' partner?" Tyrrha scrutinises it, still confused.
"N--no, she is, though you mustn't go about asking people that," Yua feels a touch overwhelmed, realising how sheltered this tremendously strong girl is, but she tries to keep her calm. "But to have a baby, we -- well, I didn't need a husband, I'm carrying Mimi's egg -- but for appearances, you understand? Appearances," Yua emphasises, again. "I married into Mimi's family by wedding her cousin... his name is Kimitake." And her gaze grows shadowed, speaking of him, as her head and her tone lower.
"Oi, Yumama," Tyrrha starts, squeezing her hand in a way she thinks is gentle, at least until she sees Yua flinch. "You look sad...?"
"Oh, I must work on that," Yua smiles, though her expression is tense. "I... need to warn you, Tykko. My union with Kimi-san, Kimitake, it is... it's a beast of appearances. He wished for a wife he didn't need to bed, as he didn't like women... I needed a man for my baby Hiroki's birth certificate. So we must keep up appearances, but..." Yua's smile wavers, as she can't keep up appearances here in the back of Para-Mind's van. "Kimi-san... he's a cruel man," she admits, softly. "He acts kind, it's convincing... but he'll be in a mood, when we return. He... he might berate you, or me, or..." she quiets, looking down.
"Huh? He's makin' you sad?" Tyrrha frowns. "Don't worry! I'll show him! Hey, how come Mimama didn't show him already, anyway?"
"She doesn't know!" Yua snaps, sharply, before she looks away. "Oh -- I'm sorry, dear, I -- it's just a difficult situation. If Mimi knew, she'd kill him... but it would tear the family apart. I can't let that happen. Please, don't start any trouble with him," she adds, looking back to Tyrrha. "He's family... it's thanks to him I could join Mimi's family, too. We mustn't hurt family, even if they hurt us. So please... unless you're sure the secret will be kept... keep your mouth shut, all right? Just like mama," because she couldn't leave such a wretched burden for a girl alone. "We must keep our mouths shut to preserve all that is good in our home... please, trust me, there is so much worth safekeeping."
Yua didn't cite the Shiisaa she was referencing, when she said it that way -- but Tyrrha is clearly Okinawan enough to get it. "That makes a lotta sense!" She declares, with excitement. "Okay! I'll shut my yap, mama!"
"Thank you," Yua smiles, to her, gently. "And... you can always speak to me if you're worried, okay? But please don't worry about me, with him... I can handle him, Tykko."
"Alrighty," Tyrrha says, smiling to her, and Yua wonders if she really grasps the situation at all.
... she wishes she didn't need to bring her inside, with her.
But they've pulled up in Kimitake's driveway.
Yua helps Tyrrha and Welwetes to, "unbuckle, unbuckle~!", but she lets Para-Mind ring the doorbell. ... she's not surprised, to realise Kimitake's had some more drinks, as he sways up. She hadn't noticed, with him having to drive to those parties, but...
She has something else to be surprised about.
"Yo, bear!" Para-Mind grins, when he opens the door. "Sorry, this one ain't a booty call -- unless...?"
"What do you want, Fumihito-san," Kimitake issues him, sharply. (Is that... Para-Mind's name...?) "You know my position on housecalls."
"I know more about your position than that," Para-Mind grins. "But nah, today I got your latest punching bag with me. Oh, sorry -- your wife. And your daughter! No, not that one. That one still ain't talkin' to ya."
(Why would Para-Mind say those awful things?, Yua wonders, distantly.)
"Come in," Kimitake huffs, as he steps back to let them inside. "So that's the combat assistant...? She's just a girl."
"She's very strong," Yua assures him, a hand at Tyrrha's back. "Please excuse us, Kimi-san... she needs a charging booth installed. Is the spare room okay...?"
"Fine," Kimitake says, turning away. "I'll be in the lounge."
When Yua shows them to the spare room, she takes Tyrrha by the shoulders. "Can you stay in here until Para-Mind is ready to go?" She asks, quite serious.
"Sure thing," Tyrrha grins, all teeth. "I'll keep him out of trouble!"
"Who heard of a robot minding a human...?" Para-Mind wonders.
A robot, Yua has no time to absorb. She shakes her head, turning to the orange-haired man. "And... could you take us with you, when you go to set Mimi up?"
"What, you don't wanna spend time with your husband?" Para-Mind asks, and snorts out a laugh, seeing Yua's horror. "Relax, relax, it's cool."
"Th...thank you," Yua bows her head, to him. "Please excuse me..."
"It's your funeral," is how Para-Mind sees her off.
Yua knows it's a bad idea to go out here, even if she doesn't spend enough time interrogating why Para-Mind knows about Kimitake's bad side. Even so, she steps out into the loungeroom. Even seeing the glass in his hand...
"You knew!" Yua yells, calling attention to herself, as she stomps a foot. "You knew she was asking -- and you knew what she did!"
"Should I have told you, when you'd already made up your mind?" Kimitake asks, dour. "Surely that would be the greater cruelty."
"IS NOT!" Yua screams, with another frustrated stomp.
"Stop acting like a child," Kimitake frowns. "I don't have patience for your tantrums, today."
"Stop it! Stop it!" Yua yells, shaking her head, her arms, her whole upper body. "She planned it! And you helped her! You helped her --" Yua chokes up, hands clutching at her chest. "... she touched me," she chokes out, her voice growing quiet. "A-and she'll do it again..."
"I have no desire for your body," Kimitake issues, dismissively. "That doesn't mean I have no use for it. Be thankful I found an interested woman."
"You -- you can't treat me like --" Yua starts her sentence, and doesn't get the opportunity to finish it --
"I'm your husband," is how he cuts her off. "And you'll do what is necessary to secure my power and standing. Do I make myself clear?"
"..." Yua looks down, and feels all her strength leave her; she sinks into a loungechair, grasping tight to the armrests. "... yes, Kimi-san." She needs a few moments more, her breath ragged, to compose herself.
He drinks in silence.
"Um," Yua starts, at length, only to swallow down more grief. "We need to say that... that I overheard you taking a call from the lab and... and volunteered to go. T--to protect you. If Mimi hears how you told me to go..."
"I gave you a choice," Kimitake corrects her.
"Even if it was a choice, she'd never accept it!" Yua insists, shaking her head. "You -- you were trying to hide it from me -- to protect me. It has to have been an accident... and it's got to be me insisting I go. And -- and you were drinking because -- because you were so upset about it. And she's the one who choked me. Okay?"
"That's what I'll say," Kimitake agrees, deceptively mild. "But can you stick to it?"
"... I can't lie to Mimi about that woman," Yua says, as she leans forward, doubling over herself. "But... but I have to lie about you. Because... if I don't... she'll lose everything. I have to keep the good things safe... I have to keep my mouth shut to keep the good things safe."
"So you understand the situation," Kimitake says. "Good. We'll blame that crazed fan of Miho-san's for the attack in public," he offers his own work on the problem, 'productively'.
"Okay," Yua nods, though she's still shaking.
Kimitake takes a breath, looking over her, as he shifts his gears completely. "Well... you've disappointed me today, but I won't need to discipline you if you listen. I'm sure you'd prefer that."
"You really hurt me," Yua admits, arms guarding her belly. "Please... don't do that again. I miss the kind and thoughtful Kimi-san... you really frighten me when you're this cruel."
"It was an unpleasant experience," Kimitake agrees. "I was drinking, so I suppose I lost my patience... alcohol can make me difficult to reason with." He's lying, of course; he hasn't drunk enough to lose all his inhibitions. It is, however, a compelling excuse.
(He needed one, in case he went too far, to explain things to his family. That Yua looks as if she believes it is a convenient added benefit.)
"I guess it's really important to you... but you agreed to protect Hiroki," Yua insists, still bowed over her belly. "Stress is bad for the baby... what if I have a miscarriage?"
"That's up to you, isn't it?" Kimitake wonders, as if it were not the whole point, his attempt to get his way regardless of her choices. "Miscarriage is generally the fault of the mother. Consider this a test of your conviction... if you're worth anything as an Ijuuin, you'll be stronger than your trials."
"Mmnn..." Yua hums, rocking back and forth, in her chair.
"I do apologise for my temper," Kimitake lies. "You are quite delicate... I failed to remember it. Let me make it up to you."
"..." What could he do to make up for this?, Yua wonders, with acid in her heart. But the thought of working with him under all this tension sickens her; for the chance of some breathing room, she whispers, "... 'kay."
"I'll think of an appropriate recompense," Kimitake says. "But I suppose the best thing I can do for you now is let you go back home. Just remember... Miho-san will certainly act, if she learns the truth."
Yua finds herself sick with her relief, as she remembers the way she muffled transmission before the Man in the Black Mask spoke of Kimitake beating her. Beating... with a fist... could what he did count? He just punched the wall, not her... but he choked her...
She cuts off her uncertainty over the terminology, as she shakes her head. "I... I won't tell her... not about you."
"Good." Kimitake's tone is the axe, coming down for her neck, in all its finality. "Then I'll be in touch."
Yua sits in silence, unsure just what to do. Luckily, it doesn't take long for Para-Mind to be done; and this time, Yua can sit up front with him, now Tyrrha knows how to do her buckle up.
"Um," Yua starts, glancing to him. "You and Kimi-san..."
"Honey, half the Order's caught a pitch from your husband," Para-Mind grins. "But me, too, sure. What, you bothered?"
"No -- no, it's not that..." Yua pauses, looking down. "... please don't tell Mimi what he's like," she starts, again. "It seems as if you know... but I don't want her to know. She'd -- she'd do something about it, and... and it would really hurt our family."
"Damn, give me a juicy steak," Para-Mind despairs. "But those old-fashioned guys are great in bed, so... guess I won't get him shanked, even if it would be really funny."
"... your hedonism is a little scary," Yua admits, hands folding in her lap. "But even if it's for a reason like that... thank you."
"Don't thank me," Para-Mind shrugs a shoulder. "I heard what he was sayin' 'bout you."
"What... what was he saying?" Yua asks, her throat tightening.
"How he'd scored some lowborn whore to do what that first bitch couldn't, how he was gonna be so much more powerful now he could do things in that other world through you, how his uncle was a damn fool for humouring you, how you'd transgressed the way of things and he was gonna make you pay... you know, normal shit," Para-Mind offers, quite casually, and with no loyalty at all.
And Yua feels a little sick, realising just how horrible the things Kimitake says in the privacy of his bedroom are... the things he's been saying, all that time he's been smiling to her. "I see," she says, quietly.
She says little more, on the trip back to Aoba.