Aotsuki's Security Dilemma

Criminal Activity

In the dark of morning, Aotsuki Tsukamoto stood in his personal chambers, gazing down at his wife sleeping on the tatami floor, and wondered what kind of sick karma had led him to this point in his life. Along with the tea kettle apparently missing from the kitchens, someone had stolen the bedding from his room. From right under Tokku-hime, apparently without waking her up. Kagami's bed was also missing, although Tama's was, inexplicably, present.   Exhausted, bewildered, and in no mood to deal with this, Aotsuki fell back on his most reliable ally. Abe no Seimei took the news of a thief in Ōtsu Castle calmly. To her mind, it must have been someone taking advantage of the chaos while Maximum Force partied, uninvited, in her sanctum. It had been a trying night for all of them.

A quick check with Isaki Annette and some of the castle guards revealed that even more items were missing. In total, the tea kettle, Aotsuki's bedding, several banners bearing the Aotsuki sigil, and some unimportant scrolls from the records room were all unaccounted for. Tallying up the damage, Abe no Seimei was brought to an inescapable conclusion. Aotsuki voiced it first: attempted impersonation. Identity theft is not a joke, as both of them knew, and so the antics of the evening took on a more sinister tone. This seemed like methods that would be used by Ikkyū and his ilk, as Seimei pointed out. Had the murderous, slimy monk popped up once again, this time in Aotsuki's very home?   Before the full horror could descend upon him, Aotsuki's gloom was interrupted by a knocking at his door. Slouching it open, he found the unwelcome countenance of Watagyūma-dōnyo on the other side. The two stared at each other for a moment, then the sea-blue oni complained that she couldn't sleep because her bed had been stolen. Aotsuki was taken aback at this new news of thievery and Watagyūma pressed his hesitation to accuse him of the act. He'd obviously taken the bed in order to punish her, as she claimed. This was a hellish, dastardly, unconscionable act. A sin that could only be absolved by giving Watagyūma all of Aotsuki's extra beds.   At this point, the noise seemed to penetrate through Tokku-hime's deep sleep. She opened her eyes, sat up, and wondered aloud why she was sleeping on the floor. Her husband turned from his unpleasant encounter to explain that there had been some... thefts in the castle that night. Finally, Watagyūma slowly began to accept that he was serious and hadn't just taken her bedding out of wanton cruelty. Umiushi-tennō took this opportunity to schlorp through the open door and into the room. Her antennae were waggling excitedly, and she seemed to be pointing her amorphous bulk at Watagyūma over and over. Even when hailed mentally, however, the empress sea slug seemed unable or unwilling to actually speak. Another mystery.   Watagyūma, at least, voiced her eagerness in helping to catch the thief and put this mystery to rest. Ever the ideal retainer, a beaming beacon of honest innocence, she was prepared to do anything necessary to help her Daimyō in his hour of need. First, she leaned in and whispered to Aotsuki that some of Umiushi's unmentionables had probably been stolen. He shouldn't worry about the slug's antics; they were, after all, understandable under the circumstances.   Kagami was called upon to review the room, and announced that nothing else was out of place. Watagyūma seemed oddly nonplussed by this statement, but quickly regained her obsequious composure. Leaning in to Aotsuki, he suddenly noticed something on the oni girl's upper arm. Covered partially by her clothing, it looked like a tattoo marking her with the Aotsuki clan mon. That was too much. Aotsuki looked into Watagyūma's deep blue eyes and saw them swimming with guilt. At first, Watagyūma backpedaled, claiming that she'd told a white lie, sure, but nothing more than that. Eventually, however, Aotsuki's impassioned speech about how this might balloon into an interclan incident seemed to penetrate. If the Aotsuki Clan were to become destabilized, she'd lose out on so many great pranks...   Finally, Watagyūma confessed. She claimed that she'd been trying to teach everyone a lesson. The Aotsuki guards were too lax. Everything was just left out in the open. It was better that she steal it than anyone with the clan's worst interests at heart. First Watagyūma dropped Kagami's bed out of a tattoo on her arm, then Tokku's documents, which the princess hadn't even realized were missing. As for the clan banners, Watagyūma decided to keep them. Aotsuki could always order more, and he did need to be taught a lesson, being so lax about Hashinara Yoshiyuki's assassination and all. With that (and with the conspicuous absence of a stolen tea kettle), Watagyūma decided to take her leave.   Aotsuki, however, wasn't done with her. He caught the sea-blue oni at the door and demanded to know what she wanted here. At Ōtsu Castle. In the Aotsuki Clan. He confessed that he'd asked her to join for no reason, and so Watagyūma's answer was simple. Or perhaps not so simple. She'd joined for no reason. Since she was a part of the clan, though, she could at least put her powers of absolute annoyance toward its interests. Aotsuki had been thinking along the same lines, and asked to have some time to consider a target. With one last affectionate call to Tama, Watagyūma left. Aotsuki called after her, demanding she give the tea kettle back, but she was gone and the exhausted Frog too weary to chase her.   Aotsuki, Tokku, and their "daughters" were left to wonder about the whole exchange in their darkened room. First, Abe no Seimei had to be brought up to speed. Then, Aotsuki confessed in his wife that he didn't know why these kinds of things kept happening in his castle. Surely the other Castle Lords of the Hashinara Clan didn't have to deal with such shenanigans on a daily basis. To that, Tokku had only one, tentative answer. Aotsuki accepted these troublemakers into his home and failed to expel them even after they'd made their natures clear. Shōjō, Ka-ten Agni, and Watagyūma-dōnyo all stood within this definition. To this, Aotsuki was forced to admit that there might be such a thing as being too kind, but he might not be able to help it. Tokku agreed, but countered that it might not be such a bad thing, so long as he continued to deal with the consequences.   With that, and a few plans to increase security and give his troublemakers direction, Aotsuki was determined to finally get some sleep. Tokku was still getting used to her ability to function on much less sleep, and so decided to get a start on her daily paperwork instead. She departed, so as not to disturb her husband's sleep, but at his request took some guards with her. It had been a troubling night, but finally, Aotsuki could rest.