We have much to discuss

The male could feel the tension of the area getting larger and larger, and like most people didn't exactly want to deal with this. For that fact he simply moved toward a nearby window, keeping his front toward the two as the spoke and parked himself on the windowsill, legs propped inward with his back to the frame of the window itself. His staff had still remained on his shoulders as he looked at the two obviously staying out of it just to keep this from devolving into a needless blood bath or anything of the sort. From his point of view many things had been missed, but this wasn't his fight to go against. So instead he kept his guard up knowing that he'd eventually need to either just leave or fall out of the window and drag on. There became a small moment where he would sigh and look between the two, the problem being danced around more than anything, but once the female had left? He kept his eyes on the male until the door had opened once more and Shiori came back in with her report. Here's to hoping things do not get violent in here.

“Well you are info dumping all over the place.” He would respond after the girl offered to write it all down in a report for him to read over. “That might be a little easier to take in if its written down.” He would concede giving access to whatever the girl needed as she wrote including time.

So, it is just speculation at this point on whether there is an heir. Kyousuke would look over the paper after the girl was done. “Well if it will provide the truth feel free to test his blood. Though, I am not sure where you would find the queen’s.” After all blood was typically removed during the embalming process. There were other forms of DNA however.

“Why don’t you search the late queen’s room for her hairbrush. Perhaps it will have what you need on it.” He would say reading over the note again. “When the evidence gets here please bring it straight here and tell no one else about it. Don’t need people to know before we ourselves are sure.”



“So, Mu-jin what exactly do you remember about your own past?” Hopefully, Shiroi would not answer for the man. Kyousuke wanted the truth in this matter and that’s all that was important. If he was an heir, then he was. But currently Hoshi was following a different ruler in Akihana. 

WC: 228

After the write up was read, Shiroi would listen to Kyousuke's response. "Honestly I hadn't even thought of using hair. That's way easier if it works out. Good suggestion."

Shiroi would be about to leave as Kyousuke asked Mu-jin a question. Shiroi breathed in, and motioned as if she was about to answer, but then thought better of it. She left the room with just a few words, said sarcastically, and with a stuck out tongue. The full words were "just don't say something that couldn't get you killed." However, when she finished the word couldn't, the `nt` sound was muffled and sounded like it had been fumbled. This idea was exemplified by her stopping walking and stopping talking as she shook her face a moment, then finally continued. She gave one last look back, tongue sticking out just barely, showing that the last sentence was in jest. Of course, Kyousuke would probably still think it odd.

Shiroi was not exactly known for joking like that.

But hey maybe he would assume she and Mu-jin were a thing, and perhaps by extension use that to logically conclude that she was highly overvaluing the chance of him being heir.

Shiroi would clarify her permission as she went up to the late Queen's room. Some of her things were likely to still be around. She had a member of the help staff accompany her, to make it faster to locate the brush. Once the two had located it, Shiroi would thankfully find a fair number of blond strands of hair, though some were more faded than others. She would carefully grab the brush by the handle and rip off several of the strands of hair, being careful not to touch them, before heading back to the hospital.

Once there, she would order a number of tests. She wanted to know if there was a relational match between the vial of blood, which she provided (and was currently talking to a different set of practitioners than previously, she made sure of that), and several of the strands of hair. A random sampling of them, give or take. She was prepared to cover the increased price of running so many tests, but she wanted to be sure. Who knows if any other blonds had decided to use the thing? Thankfully, all the strands the lab technicians would pull happened to be from the queen. Multiple different samples could have meant the requirement to exhume the queen for verification, but that seemed like it would not be the case.

Of course, Shiroi would not know the answer just yet. These tests took time to run, especially in such a high number. So Shiroi would return back to the palace, back to the pair of persons. All in all, this would take several minutes.

Hopefully nothing bad had happened.

Assuming she found them in once piece, she would speak up. "The tests have been ordered, I did manage to find hair on the Queen's hair brush. Though it may be wise to still look into the possibility of exhuming her, in case someone, such as the help staff, used the brush after the Queen had passed. Though there were only blond hairs, so that would limit the amount of people it could be. Are there even any blond individuals on the staff? Civilian staff, that is."

[[ If you guys want to have a back and forth for a bit, go ahead, BUUUUT I figure just keeping this to as few posts as possible will be better. ]]

Things had calmed down at least to the point where he didn't need to sit in the window so he calmly removed himself from the area and back to leaning on a wall watching the two for a moment before Shiori had left on her mission. His eyes had only caught hers for a moment until a question had been directed at him because quite honestly? He was hoping he didn't actually need to talk, but here he was about to. The question was actually pretty simple since his past had been a jumbled blur and almost paralleled Shiroi's up until her coming to the village and the whole coma bit. Shrugging his shoulders for a moment, the cross haired shaped pupils laid eyes on the male as he began to speak," I remember faint hues of gold and a warm face. Arms and then being taken. After that it has been light and dark, numerous people bidding for me only to be adopted by a cult of some sort I think? My mind is fuzzy because of the experimentation done on me. After that? I just wandered the lands until Shiori found me while out on her mission. Weird stuff can be done to a child if they have no parents about...i managed though," he didn't elaborate too much on what the experiments were and he wouldn't out of protection of himself .

Seeing Shiroi stick out her tongue Kyousuke would respond in kind except his tongue was gray and took the shape of a six foot sword that was thin enough to fit in his massive jaw without cutting himself. The sword would revert to an average colored and normal sized tongue just after.  “Are we going out for drinks soon?” He would call out, but assumed she would ignore him and continue to do her thing.

“Indeed, I know how it feels for a child to be left alone.” Kyousuke would say to Mu-jin regarding their shared parentless upbringing. Though it seemed Kyousuke had been older than the boy when he lost his own parents. A testament to the emotional fortitude of the person before him.
Asking the types of experiments didn’t have anything to do with how he was potentially related to the queen, so he wouldn’t ask. The blonde hair was a bit of a clue though. All of the royalty had gilded hair. Though the hair of the boy was brown, blond was usually a recessive trait the body often opting for the darker colors of brown or black.

“So, I think you will need a place to stay while Shiroi does her thing. A place in the palace would most likely be best. Its fortified and Shiroi would probably like to keep her eye on you. Besides if you are an heir this is where you would live anyway.”


If Mu-jin said nothing the male would wait for Shiroi to get back. If he responded however he would continue the conversation until she arrived.


“I would rather go through all options before digging up the dead. That also really isn’t my call to make. I merely supervise the ninja as kage, royalty and stuff of that nature would be Akihana’s.” Thinking briefly there were a few blonde haired people on the staff, but not platinum blonde. “None, of which that have platinum blonde hair, but the DNA would reveal if someone had used it.”


WC: 337

"NOT A GOOD IDEA!" she yelled back after Kyousuke's question, not bothering to turn around to answer it. That could be explained later. The reason was entirely practical, for reference. She liked alcohol. She also... should not ever have alcohol. It was a terrible combination.

**FAST FORWARD**

"Understandable. And that means that pretty much the only candidate that could screw up the tests would be Akihana, who may have even used it at the Queen's behest, or relatives of the Queen. With any luck, either that's not the case, or it won't matter."

Shiroi relaxed a little, though.. that was not necessarily a good idea. "So, now for the hard part. You like Akihana, right? To some degree at least, no need to go into detail of how much."

"So, I don't know her personally, but she seems nice enough. But... look. If you're not a ninja, you almost universally dislike if not despise her. Not because of her personality, but because of her actions.

"Well intentioned or not, hell, INTENTIONAL or not, she's essentially executed a coup within this land. She came in one day when the people were too weak to fight back. She had the hair, and was misidentified as a princess. Whether or not that mis-identification led to her meeting the queen, nobody trusts it if they're told it didn't. Then the Queen never got better, even though Akihana's a supposedly amazing medic. And honestly, I'm not surprised. I never got to examine the queen directly, and I wasn't here when she was poisoned, but... I heard rumors. After that long, there's really no coming back, just prolonging the inevitable. But anyways, they were promised hope, and their hopes were dashed. They saw their leaders, the ones outspoken against Akihana and her fellow ninja, slain by those same ninja. And yeah, I heard the reason. I'd believe it, those men were... questionable even before Akihana. But the common person didn't know that. All they can see is that the most powerful individuals on their 'side' were killed by the 'enemy'. Then there's the dismantling of the Queensguard and their replacement with yet more ninja. That was, at least in part, the Princesses idea, was it not? But how will someone not within the castle see that? They'll see either a lie, or they'll see a threatened Princess doing what she must to stay alive when surrounded by the same people that killed the Queen and her council. And then the Princess left, without fanfare. We saw it as being frugal. They'll see it as an escape attempt. And this isn't conjecture. This isn't my wild fantasies. This is actually what is being said.

"And the thing is, how certain are you that it's not true? The happiest, friendliest people alive are generally the ones that are the saddest inside, the ones in a deep depression. Akihana seems nice. But so do most sociopaths. There's doubt. And if she's not a sociopath, if she didn't put in motion a coup, if she really was trying to do what was best for the village...

"Did she even come close to succeeding? The village is nearing the point of civil war. It would require serious damage control to fix it. It's great that they forced out the missing ninja. That alone is... amazing. If they had done that, and then left, they would be legends. Heroes. Undoubtedly, they would be loved.

"And i do mean they. More people are involved in this than just Akihana. She's the figure person. She's the one everyone notices. But that also makes her a great scapegoat. There's several other people who could be the 'actual' mastermind in the scheme. What's their scheme? Not sure. Maybe they have full control over Akihana. Or maybe they just manipulate her here and their. Maybe their goal isn't control of the nation, but something more like wealth. Under that idea, they would not need to control Akihana at all, they would just have to influence other people to get someone they know into a position of power.

"So, we've still got... probably about twenty minutes before the tests finish, assuming they jumped right to it. Which I feel like they did. So, Kyousuke. I have a really important question for you.

"Will you help me save this village, even if Akihana, or Denkiteki, or anyone, turns out to be the enemy?"

"Personally i'd like to live somewhere with a waterfall and a great view of the forest outside of the village. Also since i have some ninja training i'd like a chance to at least promote myself to a standpoint that would allow me to grow as one. With that being said do you have any tests or trials one can do to gain higher ranking? And no...for the love of whatever God you worship I am not sitting idly by as you figure out this conundrum. I want to be on my toes and constantly training...and there shouldn't be a damn thing you can do about it." HE said what he had meant and he stood by it. Now to see what would happen.

Kyousuke was listening to Mu-jin as he spoke and was about to tell him how he could achieve a higher rank, but a giant vein in his forehead filled with blood making it very prominent when he was told there was not a thing he could do about it. As Shiroi was not around he could do a lot of damn and this kid was about to find out. Intensifying his fighting aura he would just look at the guy keeping his arms and legs in a position ready to fight. (Display of power strength 725)
 
“Now unfortunately for you I can do a lot of damn. In fact, I can stick you in a cell and give you around the clock guards or do you prefer a castle where you can go wherever you like and only have Shiroi watching you.” It wasn’t said out of spite rather a sense of pride. Kage or not he was still a member of the queensguard and he would protect an heir to his damnest even if he had to lock the little bastard in a jail to do it.
 
“If you are an heir it’s my job as the other members of the guard to protect you and we can only do that if we are near you. If you join Hoshi you could do our missions and gain a reputation that way. Once, the tests are through you can go wherever you want after that and if you would like still be a village ninja.”
 
“Yes, I do.” He would answer it was more in a friendship sort of way though. Something in her had become different since she returned from Kumo. She became more distant from the people than she had used to be. It was strange in all honesty, she became the kage giving him the title of deputy, but then shortly decided it was best for him to be the kage and for her to be the queen. Maybe, she thought being both would be tough. If she was kage she would lose the support of the citizens, as queen she would not have command of the shinobi. It would be impossible to coordinate two opposing groups to work together.
 
“I was a part of that coup. It was for the best, in my opinion. Anyone with chakra was hanged or murdered in some other gruesome fashion.” As Shiroi began to talk about the dismantling of the queensguard Kyousuke would point to Mu-jin and try to hush her. She would likely remember the reason the queensguard had been disbanded as she was in the meeting when the princess promoted some and explained things. “Shiroi remember the contents of the meeting on why the queensguard was disbanded?” Hopefully, she would just nod and not shout out what had happened.
 
Shaking his head Kyousuke would talk as Shiroi questioned what he thought of Akihana as being true or a façade. “I don’t think she is a bad person and never would be intentionally.” He would say pretty adamantly. “However, I have noticed a shift in her personality since going to Kumo. Their leader Youka had body parts in swamps and made sub-human monstrosities. The type of person who would torture your mind to do his bidding, that however is just a thought I’ve had.”
 
 
Pausing as Shiroi asked her last question he would answer. “I would save this village no matter who got in the way, but I don’t think we will have a problem with Akihana or Den. If we do however I will stop them. Not through death though, but through justice.”
 
Kyousuke had one question before the test was finished for Shiroi. Well a couple, but two were more prominent than others and she hated questions. “What does finding the heir mean to you, like why is it important?” Once, she answered that he would ask another depending on the response.
 

“As Hoshi is a matriarchy and always ruled by a queen what is the use of a male heir. He is pretty much just bargain bait. To be married to some noble family to make them happy.” Kyousuke knew the guy didn’t want that who would marriage was supposed to be about love not who will provide more to the crown, but that’s how royal politics worked.

WC: 722

Shiroi nodded when Kyousuke confirmed he was friends with Akihana. She expected as much. Being a Queensguard, and apparently a Kage, he likely spent much more time around the woman than Shiroi did. She also nodded when he mentioned his part in the coup. His statements did not contradict her own, that even if it was entirely good intentions, that was not obvious to the layperson, if it even occurred to them.

Shiroi took the hint about the queensguard, and hushed up. "Ok valid, but regardless of why it actually happened, especially since we aren't... actually telling people... It looks sketchy from the outside."

"Huh. I knew a bit about Kumo, but I didn't really know much about Akihana's trip there." Something popped to the edge of her mind, but she just could not quite place it. For now, the conversation would continue as originally performed.

"Glad to have you on my side. The best case scenario is that we confront them and... nothing untoward happens from it. They'd essentially be forced to step down. Perhaps that'd be willing to be exiled, though... depending on how the public relations go, that may not be necessary. The worst case scenario, of course, is that Akihana and/or Denkiteki were in fact trying to forcefully take over the country. Actually..." Shiroi remembered something. "There's a person I caught awhile ago. They came into the village with papers from a dead village. Their mind had been... very heavily altered. Memories completely changed, from what I could parse. It all seemed logical, but there were clear... inconsistencies. He had memories of walking to Hoshi from... oh shit the memories were him walking from Kumo." Shiroi leaned back against the wall and began pondering. "New worst case scenario. Akihana was compromised by someone in Kumo, and is essentially a puppet. Plan of action doesn't change for that situation, except for adding on trying to hunt down her puppeteer if that is the case. So let's still hope for the best case, even if we prepare for the worst."

And to Kyousuke's next question, Shiroi would respond as such. "A proper heir, directly from the Queen, within or without of wedlock, who is already of age, is a major thing. It means that there's a rightful heir that needs no interim. Finding them is the difference between being fully within the right to ask Akihana to step down, and staging another coup. It's a lot of political sway, and will help keep the common populace on our side, even if Akihana et. al. go unpunished."

And Kyousuke would almost certain ask his final question, based on that response. (Hopefully. I think I understood your intentions, message me if I'm wrong.)

"I guess now is good enough. Kyousuke, I must apologize. I've... not technically lied to you, but I've not corrected you either, despite having many a chance to do such. Mu-jin... isn't the heir. I did find out about the heir after meeting Mu-jin, but those were largely disconnected events. Mu-jin just has... certain perks that made him a good scapegoat. I hope for the best but plan for the worst. So I planned for the small chance that you were in on some grand plot, perhaps even the mastermind. I did not expect it, but... better safe than sorry."

Shiroi stood up straight and looked Kyousuke right in the eyes... despite that causing her to look so far upwards.

"The heir is in this village. The proof that is on its way is the father. The father being the correct person I am absolutely certain of. There is zero room for error in what I found. The blood sample should confirm the heir is his daughter. Yes, daughter. When the sample is finished sequencing, we can check the chromosomes. I will not tell you who exactly the heir is yet, because she wants to meet with her father first, and her father has not yet returned to the village. We should probably begin walking to the hospital now, though. They may realize what the samples matching means, and it would be best to make sure they stay quiet, and as few as possible know, until we tell everyone."

Shiroi would wait for Kyousuke's response, hoping that whatever anger or frustration he likely felt after being deceived, and distrusted, would not be enough to change his mind.

“Now unfortunately for you I can do a lot of damn. In fact, I can stick you in a cell and give you around the clock guards or do you prefer a castle where you can go wherever you like and only have Shiroi watching you.”

Well said for someone who had been pinning him against his with..what was this a fighting aura? The pure pressure almost caused the male to smile, his body dropping to his right knee, but his eyes very closely on the male almost waiting for him to strike him,  not like anything would come of it," If you're going to strike me do it now before she gets back or else you are going to have quite the story to tell....or you know what they say. Dead men CAN tell tales," death was his close concubine and he relished in its embrace when it had consumed him. Only gave him a reason to know that he was still alive in a sense so what would dear Kyou do?

The scenario had many a road but for now we're going to keep it on two. If Kyousuke had indeed slugged the young male, wherever he had hit him, his body would sling backwards probably inflicting some near death injury that might have killed a person. Upon hitting the ground he would "die" and await appropriate time for the reaction of said ninja before popping back up and sighing," I'm telling mother on you. Such a brute.," there would obviously be a smile on his face after the fact knowing that the male meant business and could very well hold his words. Now if he had literally knocked his block off, well he would at the last minute grab his head before it had flung off of his shoulders and laid there, head sitting somewhere near his body and allowed it to heal before speaking," You know....you didn't have to hit me THAT hard y'know? A simple love tap would have sufficed you brute." Of course both of the action oriented routes would have their own continuations depending on the male and what he did.

Now if the Kage had not hit him and instead just held him there for some time before Shiori came back in he would still have that usual smile on his face," I'd rather not go back to a cell and you said i'd have to do...missions? Surely there would be something else i could do rather than going through such...things. Eh. Your house Your rules then. Fair is fair I suppose," he wasn't giving up, that wasn't what this was about. Instead he was simply finding a middle ground in which he could barter with. When Shiroi had came in and fully filled Kyousuke with the full truth, rather or not the male...no going on the assumption that the male did slug him (Because lets be honest we wanna see you slug the boyo) he would rub whatever part was hit and sigh," Dispensable even though i was paid for this. C'mon at least praise me a little more," knowing the fact that he was probably in an ill position there might have been issues or maybe a new route to barter.