A Letter for Hymn [Fuuen, Yugiri]

She walked with him looking as their scenery became a lot more removed from the robust town. Yugiri through to make a cheeky remark about taking a lady to a secluded place, though she didn't want to make the night all about ribbing him and teasing. That was hardly romantic was it? Although she did gravititate towards to banter, whether friendly or more meanspirited, there wasn't a lot of distinction for her was there when she was detached from romance?

"You know, this pathway is really well maintained. I don't remember it being so well maintained when I came here last time."

It was a little bit of an accusation, not that she had anything but his own words to validate the suspicion. Going up to the mountains were something she did often, timing herself to the top and back again. Making her hoho as efficient as possible. She couldn't say that she lingered much or admired whatever was at the top.

"No? That is rather peculiar, isn't it?"

But, of course, Fuuen's smile grew a touch more coy. He was perfectly willing to concede the truth of the matter. Why would he hide such a thing? Was there any shame in his efforts to impress, to create a pleasant evening for her? Hardly. But the path itself was only a fragment of the beauty of this place, for at the end of the path was the true purpose for their trek.

A clearing that looked as though it had gone practically untouched for centuries, a cliff on one side that bore a large waterfall, falling into a lovely pool. Lanterns dotted the area, neatly around the pond, and a few more sat around what was clearly a tea room from an age long past.

"This is a place I've found can easily be missed. Perhaps it is the nature of the forest, the hills, even the cliff. But it is a treasure few have seen."

"Just a tad."

She had her answer and that was the end of that, the amount of thought she'd spend on this topic. Yugiri did admit though when they arrived at their destination that she had missed this whenever she came here, she would not have thought to ask or investigate into any of the more obscure locations that may be tucked away here.

"Oh my, it's quite the picturesque spot. Isn't it? Well, from my perspective of not having seen it before, I wonder if its wonder dulls for someone who has been here before?"

The small woman asked her partner, a faint grin on her lips while she walked forward. In dragging him along she only did it briefly so that he could catch on that she wanted to advance rather than spend too much time admiring the spot. What was it like inside?

"It is indeed quite stunning a place. But I think that to see something of exceptional beauty is an experience never dulled by repetition."

He glanced at her as he said that, and matched her grin with one of his own. Though he followed after her, he did stop before they'd entered, glancing at the waterfall as he did so. He'd planned much of this night, but by and away none of it as elaborately as this.

"But, before the sun's light is completely lost, there is one more thing I would quite like to show you."

Indeed, it would soon be all but impossible to see what he had created here. The stars were already visible in the sky, and while that had certainly been his intention, he also understood that seeking that perfect moment also meant that there could be no possible room for error. He removed himself from her, admittedly disappointingly, and stepped closer to the pool as he drew his ever-present blade. He took a deep breath, then stepped once, swinging elegantly.

At first, there was nothing, and then all at once the waterfall itself was cleft in two. But that was hardly what he wished to show her. For in the cliff face behind the water was text, etched flawlessly:


And then, just as quickly, it was gone, the waterfall's natural flow cascading over the words and covering them from all the world. Words that, in all likelihood, only the two of them might ever know, for they might easily be lost in time as the water washed over them. Fuuen sheathed his blade, turning to Yugiri with a smile. It was not smug, not coy, simply an earnest expression. He had, after all, meant what was conveyed by that poem with all the sincerity in the world.

But, of course, the back and forth of exchanging letters now once more laid upon Yugiri.

"Hopefully it was to your liking."

"One more thing, huh?"

Yugiri couldn't say that she had any idea of what this might be. He walked into the pool of water and she cocked her head just a little bit. Still more than a little bit of curiousity while she waited and to his next action was something that she could not say that she expected. It could've been missed if she had blinked but she didn't and the vizard gave a resigned sigh while closing her eyes to ponder the words.

"Oh my..."

Everything hidden in her kimono was absolutely incomparable to everything in heaven and earth, huh?

Yugiri had to commit just a little bit to maintain her composure, a faint smile on her lips as he looked back and asked her the simple question.

"I adore it, how will mine ever compare?"

She asked with a coy grin, where was her's anyway? Yugiri kept the card up her sleeve just a little bit longer, he had more than earned it with this display.

Ah, her tone of voice told Fuuen perhaps more than any words would have. It was an alluring sound, and one that certainly pulled him back to her side. He once more wrapped his arm around her waist, leading her into the tea room with all the same confidence he had displayed through the night.

"On the contrary, I can only imagine that yours must surely be every bit as breathtaking."

The tea room's interior was a simple, if refined sort of place, traditional in every possible way. However, despite its clear age, it seemed quite immaculate, a further sign that it had been readied for this evening. After what he had shown her, was there any need to maintain even a pretense that he had not prepared for this evening? Certainly not, and he led her inside carefully, to a simple room which had been made ready for a long evening, a warming kettle in one corner to keep the brisk mountain air at bay. None of it was especially subtle, of course, but Fuuen had already known that subtlety would be all but gone at this stage.

"It is quite a lovely place to share such a pleasant evening, would you not agree?"

Yugiri drifted along with him, letting him guide her into the small room which was clearly prepared. Frankly, it had not surprised her. The suspicions of him having so much preparation into the night was evident from the start and she was not an ignorant fool. The amount of knowledge into the local area, the preparations? Ah, she did like someone who could prepare in advance and do such flamboyant gestures which were every bit as genuine as they were flamboyant.

He really did like her, huh?

Her head tilted just a bit while she thought about that. It definitely was not the type of date that you'd do for something lighthearted and she had to think, could she see herself with Fuuen for the rest of her life? Settle down? Well, no. Not settle down, maybe he could accompany and have a means to find her under any circumstance but she'd never settle down in a single spot. He seemed like the very same kind of individual. So what did they look like?

Ah, maybe that would be as time would tell.

"Mmm, yes. Though I think I owe you a letter by now, wouldn't I?"

She teased, letting him take the step of asking her for it. A question that was poised while she purposely admired the rest of the room around her. Depriving herself of whatever reaction he might have but her coy grin being every bit as confident and alluring as she wanted it to be as a trade-off.

The back and forth, the exchange of words and gestures, all of it was, in its own way, an art in Fuuen's eyes. That much was something he could appreciate, and he found Yugiri's mastery over it lovely in its own respect. He certainly did find her quite exceptional, or he would not have done all that he had to impress her and convey his feelings toward her.

But, perhaps more beautiful than any of that was the knowledge that she would not be the sort to be completely won by it. He was under no illusion that this evening would lead to Yugiri staying at his side for the foreseeable future, that she would become a demure and submissive housewife to whom he might return when his travels were completed. She was, as he had said, a woman of the passing breeze. One who he had little doubt would understand his wandering nature, his desire to simply go wherever his fancy led and to see what he might find.

"You do indeed. I should quite like to read it, rather than let our exchange be cut short so soon."

His words, regardless of their relation to the immediate exchange of letters, were all too clear in their true meaning. Did he wish to know what the letter itself said? Of course. That was simply the sort of man that Fuuen was, after all. But, at the same time, there was something far more appealing than any words could ever be within that kimono.

"Oh my. Alright then..."

Yugiri chimed out a response, hands reaching up to once again tamper with hair. She sure was quite peculiar over it tonight, it was not easy to work it into something so elaborate which is why it had been kept short for the most part, rarely did she ever let it grow out unless she was using it for the sake of fighting. The lady walked a bit away, just a metre in front of him before gently working at the obi.

Getting that out of the way and reaching up to the collar before she let it drop and expose her shoulders, lower and lower until it was settled at her hips and her back was on display. This was the part that had required the most care since she had purposely had to go out of her way to acquire an ink that could do what she wanted. This was part of it after all.

Her reiatsu flared, gathering and being forced out of her back through her Shunko, wistfully float towards the ceiling and text was visible. The ink that was otherwise invisible until reiatsu was flowed through it and used for the passing of messages which were secrets. This was technically that.


It was not in japanese like their other haiku, she had tried to apply the english that she had picked up from Erchanhardt and her travels through America. A couple of corrections from Ira which she would surely not understand the reason why since she just asked about specifics rather than any help or knowledge that it was a haiku. She hoped that he would be able to read it though it seemed quite a common language down here - the intention of it might've been a bit vague though maybe he'd understand, feelings could be shared through any language as its medium.

"Ah, it's so cold tonight."

She teased before pulling her kimono back over her shoulders and returning to a more modest look, showing him just a bit of her which she now knew he thought was incomparable to everything in heaven and earth.

Fortunately, such a small haiku was not all she had. A hand disappearing into her kimono to pull out what seemed like a small ball, crushed in her fingers to dispell the kido seal and manifest the letter in between her fingers.

"I did promise a love letter, though I believe there was something about having things in excess we spoke about earlier."

After a quick lady-like laugh Yugiri held out the letter, not going to deprive him of it through her teasing. Playful but not cruel.

Yugiri's Letter:

If Fuuen were not a remarkably composed man, with a firm sense of self and of the situation, he doubted that he would have been able to fully contain himself at the sight that he was blessed by. He had certainly been quite correct, that it was a sight which surpassed all of heaven and earth, but the meaning of the poem was not lost on him. Nor, for that matter, was her continued playful teasing, or the elegance of her laugh. If he had not been so committed to keeping his composure, he may not have even had the werewithal to actually take the letter from her and read it.

As he pored over the words, he realized that he had created expectations which had not even begun to reach the truth. No poetic words or layered imagery would ever have pierced to his heart half as much as such genuine words, and any clever retort that he might have had prepared quite quickly disappeared. It would have been poor form of him, in the highest possible order, to not meet such honesty in kind. If she wished for him to take the lead, then he would certainly do so. Not controllingly, but as a guiding hand. A gentle breeze to carry her along.

"I quite enjoy your presence in my life as well, Yugiri. And I have no intention of letting it go when there is still so much I would wish to show you."

Perhaps, in any other circumstance, he would not have been so confident as he was in the moment. But having taken down the pretenses of metaphor, having brought the whole nature of the evening to the very forefront, there was little else he could do but act. No flowered words would ever be able to convey even a fraction of a single action, and so with all the care in the world, he brought his hand to the small of Yugiri's back, and held her close to him. He had thought to kiss her, admittedly, and truthfully the thought had hardly left his mind. But that could wait, for whatever might come afterward, he still wished to share such a simple embrace with her. A gesture of intimacy, with no other possible interpretation. Yes, he wished to kiss her, to lay with her, any number of things.

But he also simply wished to hold her. A warm breeze, for a lovely black cat.