Kagomine Birthday Traditions (ka̠ɡo̞mɪn bɜːθdeɪ trə-dishʹ(ə)nz)
Wait up
"Excuse me, Miss Tsumon, please wait up."
"Miss?"
"Err, I don't want to go into an exploration of lineage right now, but I do think I have precedence..."
The diadem on her brow was new... "Saer?"
"Saer-Nattingham is my home now."
"Apologies, great one, how can I assist?"
This wasn't going well, the slight woman's body language had withered, but the indignation had been replaced by resignation and discomfort, not what Luci hoped for. "I'm sorry, do you remember my brother?"
'Oh, the noble Linni? Yes, I was his guest not that long ago, how may I be of service?"
"His birthday is coming up, I was wondering if we could get him a birthday party, but themed in Tsou colours and costumes..."
"Do you ever have Kagomine birthday parties?" The response was tart.
"Every five years, we have non-Kagomine birthday parties, usually, to remind everyone that while tradition is a fine thing, there is a whole world to experience..."
"I'm sorry, I'm being very rude, and your tradition is yours to uphold, obviously, but why would you..."
"Why would I ask someone who works the import desk at New Tsou House for Tsou costumes and foodstuffs? For a Tsou-themed party? Hmm if I need to explain that, I'm probably the one who missed a memo..."
The slight woman just laughed. "I'm sorry, I've been spending too much time with Piersa it seems..."
"Piersa Ouranos? Of FlyForce?"
"Well, yes, but she recently became Military Attaché to the virtual embassy you, your brother and aunt set up?"
"I remember signing those papers, but ... wait, she's been to Tsou already?"
"I helped with that." The tsou woman had a blissful smile on, it wasn't every time you could catch someone important unawares, by being diligent and doing what was expected of you... "And yes, she's been to New Tsou City, and met with our King."
"What about the actual ambassador?"
"Virtual Embassy, remember, you haven't named an actual voice of Meihomei yet, or I'd have introduced them too."
"That simple, huh?"
"Nothing's ever quite that simple, with two nations who are still officially at war, but who keep finding reasons not to fight each other, but, my remit from my Aunt, and indeed, her remit, when it comes to Kagomei, is that we shouldn't be enemies, and we'll save each other so much hassle if we aren't, and if we don't treat each other, like enemies."
"Would it count as friendship, to have you as our guest then?"
"Me?"
"Well, you, and your Aunt if she is so enclined, certainly, she and Linni have been spending time together, thanks to their cats..."
"And my part?"
"Look, I have a budget, I am however, a busy woman, if I can delegate to you some tasks to organize some of the costumes and foodstuffs, for this party of perhaps a hundred people, I will count it a victory."
"A hundred? That's sizeable!"
"My brother will be thirty-five, and so this is his coming of age, many wish to come and wish him well."
"He's not a priest, and only a Feyd, there's not that many..."
"My cousin will be there, many wish to be seen by the Bameimeito."
"Oh, my! The crown prince himself?" Mako was fanning herself with a paper fan.
"Come on, I know my cousin is nice and all, but the fans are a bit too much..."
"Not in Tsou, in Tsou it's considered civilzed to hide your passions behind a fan, especially if their target is from foreign lands... The Ministry is everywhere, and neither forgives, nor forgets..."
"How many of you would..."
"Please don't continue that... Any wife of his would have untrammeled freedom, by our rules, he's a prize, just for that... More freedom than nations we're actually allied with, of course, precisely because we've been fighting the Kagomine so long, upsetting their crown prize, so close to the finish line? That'd get a ministry agent sent to the salt marsh!"
"I can't blame you, for choosing freedom over... other things."
"I'd hope you wouldn't, your new grib is Kagomine by birth, but Tsou by extraction, after all..."
"How? What, when?"
"The Zwei are people of interest, in Tsou, they left some time ago, but not so long ago they are culturally foreign..."
"So you would consider him a countryman?"
"An expat, or a countryman, depending on the specific circumstances, but yes, he is not so far gone as to be strange... It is part of why this war went on, for so long, with such furor, many were relatives, fighting on both sides, or in-laws, and that only made the fighting more vicious."
"I hope I never fight with my brother like that..."
"I'm sure most Kagomine would scoff, and think your brother not very scary..."
"And you?"
"How many secrets of yours would your brother know? All of them I wager... All that collateral damage..."
Luci had turned green... It was scary... Most people underestimated Linni, those people usually ended up living, productive members of society. Mostly because he wasn't the vengeful sort, but the people Linni had grudges against perfectly overlapped the set of people she had grudges against, and her cousin Amarat's for that matter, it was a tiny set...
"I'm sorry, are you ok?"
"Yes, just trying to figure out what secrets you meant, I'm of course, perfectly transparent..."
"Oi, a senior government official, with no secrets? You Kagomine are so funny..." She tittered, which let Luci relax a bit.
"So, can our family count on you?" Luci didn't know, but framing it as a debt to the family, not to her, was a powerful call to action. And a trait shared by both their cultures, it implied a debt that belonged to the family, not just the people talking.
"How can I refuse? Your family, your extended family, is the Imperial family, I'd be a fool to refuse, even if your brother hadn't managed to make my aunt go googoo over his cats... I shall prepare a quote, so that you know of my probity, and send it to you by Analectaday"
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