Visions of the past, burning brightly~

[wavesoakedlegs]

Who: Akechi Mitsuhide (wavesoakedlegs) and Akechi Gracia (kagayakashi)!
Where: Akechi-Chōsokabe household.
When: 03/18 (during the curse), daytime.
Status: Closed.

~

It only occured to Mitsuhide during the last day of the curse that there was something the thought bubbles would be very useful for. They presented an opportunity to share something with Gracia; an opportunity that probably wouldn't happen again.

While his thoughts often lingered on darker things, Oda Nobunaga still blazing bright in his mind and laughing at him from the flames within the bubble, he was certain he could hold them back for long enough to do what he wanted to.

Surely?

Stood at his daughter's door, Mitsuhide knocked, unwilling to simply walk in.

"Gracia..?"

Comments

[kagayakashi]

Gracia looked like she enjoyed watching his memories. She got comfortable on the bed, leaning her chin against her arms as she raised her knees up to her chest. He was so carefree back then, running around without anything to bother him. No shadows to chain him down...he was right. This curse had its perks. On no other occasion would Gracia be able to see him in his youth, a treasure she would keep in her mind and heart forever.

If only the curse showed all the good thoughts in your head. She wouldn't have minded it, then.

As the memory continued to show them playing and laughing, Gracia almost missed it. When it caught up to her, who that girl in the memory was, her thought bubble showed a rather animated pop, as if it visualized her surprise. It then showed the Lady Nou she's most familiar with; a memory not too long ago where the busty woman is leaning towards Gracia, a sly smile on her lips, and a finger under her chin. Her mouth is moving, and the Gracia in the thought bubble blushes before hiding behind Mitsuhide's pant leg. She was probably a little older than 10 at the time of that memory.

She readjusts herself on the bed and her eyes remain wide open, staring at him as if he had two heads. How different was Kichou from Nou?

"That's...That's Lady Nou in her youth?" She found it extremely difficult to believe. She looked nothing like how Gracia remembered her. After a few more minutes of staring at the bubble disbelievingly, Gracia leaned in towards Mitsuhide, as if trying to tell him the world's greatest secret.

"That's really Lady Nou? The same lady whose clothes are always too small for her? Oh, I didn't know father was childhood friends with her!"

[wavesoakedlegs]

"Yes." Mitsuhide laughed, surprised as her reaction. "She was not much different back then, really; clever, deadly, mysterious. Her father's daughter, always, who never did anything she did not want to do."

Several different memories flicker through Mitsuhide's head, then; they are all images of Nouhime as an adult, mixed with those of her father, Lord Saitou Dousan. Dousan, too, is seen through the filter of Mitsuhide's feelings; there is a harsh edge to him.

What it settles on after all that, however, is young Kichou again, regarding what looks to be another young girl.

"Let me tell you a small secret, Tama, one to keep to yourself; as I child, I was incredibly infatuated with her."

[kagayakashi]

Gracia continued to watch his bubble shift from one memory to another. Who knew he had such a colorful past as a child! She stifled a giggle as Kichou appeared again. Well hey, they were all children once in their lives! It just turned out that Lady Nou grew up a little more...womanly than others.

She gasped loudly, feeling adventurous and naughty. A secret that only she knew about -- how exciting could this get? "You liked Lady Nou? Oh, father!" Gracia squealed and edged closer to Mitsuhide, the pillow in her arms almost completely flat now.

"Did you ever tell her that? Did she know? What did you do? Tell me everything!"

Not that she was gossiping, oh no. Like he said, this would stay in the room. But it was so strange to think about it! Her father and Lady Nou...he was much too gentle for her, surely! And she, on the other hand, had to wear more clothes! Gracia always felt a tad bit uncomfortable with how much skin she showed everyone, even during the times Lady Nou was extremely nice to her. (Her thought bubble showed Lady Nou wearing Gracia's clothes, in a comedic sort of caricature.)

[wavesoakedlegs]

"I did not tell her, but she knew. I am certain."

In his thought bubble, Kichou seemed to be laughing. The other girl looked rather annoyed about this; Mitsuhide grew closer, tugging at that girl's sleeve, apparently worried.

"She was far too perceptive about such things not to be." He sighed, but it was a warm, amused sigh more than anything else. "No doubt she used it to her advantage at times, too."

Mitsuhide was certain of that. He did not begrudge her it; they were children, after all.

Humming softly, he glanced at Gracia's thought bubble... and dissolved into genuine belly-laughter, clutching his stomach as he did so. Good heavens, that was quite the image!

[kagayakashi]

Immediately, Gracia's smile turned sour. She crossed her arms and pouted in a more serious manner.

"That's still not very nice. If she knew you liked her, she shouldn't play with you like that." So what if they were kids? If she was perceptive enough to see right through her father's brilliant facade, then she was old enough to know what not to do when someone is your friend, and they like you.

She was just about to inquire about the other girl in his thought bubble, when all of a sudden, Mitsuhide begins to laugh. Gracia is left in awe, watching him clutch his stomach and laugh like there was no tomorrow. She joined in on it too, the image in her thought bubble retaining itself all throughout. She even wore Gracia's headband, complete with the elaborate floral headdress on the side.

After the laughter died down, Gracia wiped the corner of her eye with a delicate finger and stared at Mitsuhide once more, the fondness in her gaze returning triple-fold. Gently, she spoke as soon as Mitsuhide regained his composure.

"...When father laughs like that, I feel the happiest."

[wavesoakedlegs]

It was a rare sight indeed; the image in Mitsuhide's thought bubble changed for a moment, becoming nothing more than a haze of constantly shifting-colours. Only when his laughter stopped did it shift back to the memory from before, though a little advanced; Kichou is no longer in the picture, just the other girl.

"I am glad, then," he said softly, when he had caught his breath. "You have an inventive mind too, don't you?"

His smile was almost radiant now.

[kagayakashi]

"Maybe I got it from you!" She points at his thought bubble, clearly very amused at all the things he has shown her. She had to admit, he may say he's not artistic, but his thoughts were vivid and clear as day. Perhaps it might be because he was attached to these people from his childhood, but still. Gracia was extremely happy to have been witness to his past, even if it's just a little bit of it.

Her giggles died down, and she moves on to her next question. She stared at the girl that was left in his thought bubble, completely clueless as to who she was. Her father only mentioned Kichou, Lady Nou. So who was this one?

"Father, this girl here now, in your thoughts...Was she one of your childhood friends too?"

[wavesoakedlegs]

At that question mirth filled Mitsuhide's expression again. His Lord Motochika was not going to be very impressed when he heard about this.

"That's not a girl, Tama; and yes, he was."

Ah, Himewakako. A past his dearest one would rather forget; few had ever recognised him as a boy upon first sight. Mitsuhide's memory changed to one which showed the the face of the 'Princess' a lot more clearly.

"Look closely at his face. You'll recognise him, if you look hard enough."

1/2

[kagayakashi]

"He?"

Gracia moved forward, leaning as close as she could to the bubble floating above his head. She squinted, trying to make out the extremely feminine yet fierce facial expression of the girl -- or rather, the boy. Well, it wasn't anything new; Ranmaru looked more like a lady than Gracia did at times! But who could this mystery boy be? Someone from his childhood, someone her father knew way back then...

2/2

[kagayakashi]

...The realization came to her like a raging stream pouring out of a blocked river gate. She howled in her laughter, pointing at the bubble as she fell down on her back.

"It's Motochika! Oh, Motochika looked like a woman when he was a child!"

She stopped laughing after a few minutes, though her smile was still as wide as ever.

"But how? Father, Motochika looks so manly now! Does this mean when Ran grows up even more, he'll turn out the same?"

Her thought bubble shifts again, this time, showing a very vivid image of Ranmaru struggling to get Gracia off of him. She's laughing as she crawls on top of him, trying to put on a very bright shade of red lip stain on his face. It was a memory. But her imagination twists it around; Ranmaru morphs into a Motochika-like body, but his face remains the same.

[wavesoakedlegs]

That mental image was... disturbing, to say the least. The look did not work, the head not matching the body it had been mentally attached to.

Not to mention the fact that Gracia was crawling on top of Ranmaru. There was obviously history there, a certain place for him in her past. He wasn't sure he wanted to ask about it, either; the topic of Ranmaru alone was distressing, but crawling on top of another like that?

He managed to stop those thoughts from infiltrating his own bubble, however.

"Yes, he did. Lord Motochika was beautiful, back then, rather than extremely handsome. People change with time, especially when moving from youth to adulthood."

A soft smile spread across Mitsuhide's face.

"Not to mention all the work he did to develop such a physique... and that he still does, to maintain it."

Gracia was not the only one who was prone to daydreams. Even as Mitsuhide spoke he was switching off a little, trailing off as pleasant mental images filled his head. They were, thankfully for both father and daughter, not explicit ones, but the images of Motochika with a completely bared chest had a certain aura about them that made his affections for, and attraction to, the other man clear.

[kagayakashi]

Needless to say, that image would pop up in one of her conversations with Motochika in the near future most definitely. It was perfect fuel for her mischievous side. She started into another fit of giggles again, however, when she saw what was inside of her father's bubble next. Her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink as she half-turned away and half glanced over her shoulder.

Mischievous, indeed.

"Father! Don't think about things like that when I'm around! How embarrassing...!" Her words don't match her reaction. She's obviously enjoying the daydream because it goes to show, even her father had a silly side to him. Her own thought bubble showed Motochika nodding wisely, with a knowing smirk on his face.