The New Winds

Bayushi Jiro presented himself at the door of the Ruby Champion's office and lightly scratched at the lintel in the customary request for entry.

It is a few moments before the screen slides open. Agasha Sumiko looks at the Scorpion and gives a shallow bow.

"Hello, Bayushi-san. To what honor do I owe your presence?"

Jiro responds with the full bow required for a woman of her lofty position. His face the studiously neutral mask of an adult courtier, he responded. "I wished to speak with you, Champion-sama, about recent events in the dojo, in an effort to better understand my colleagues among the other clans, as well as this dojo's response to them."

"There has been a significant amount of spiritual activity. I have been keeping a close eye on things, and after last night, I was able to convince the Governor to spare some additional guards. Please, come in and sit. Tell me what is on your mind"

Jiro did so, his gait suggesting just a hint of effeminacy, confirmed in the way he arranged his hands in his lap. "I have been somewhat concerned at the stories I have heard in the dojo of this spiritual activity you have mentioned. And at the...eagerness of my fellow students to involve themselves in these events. I appreciate your assurance that the matter is under your personal observation, but I wonder if steps have been taken to ascertain the cause of this increased activity?"

"I have asked our shugenja sense to commune with the spirits and those skilled in divination to ask for guidance. It is difficult to say for certain, but it seems quite a few of the students here have a powerful connection with many different spirits, fortunes, and realms. All being in one place magnifies that, leading to more disruptions. It is something I have meditated on as well to see if I can find an answer, but none has arrived to me yet."

"That would explain the alacrity with which some of the students are leaping at each...situation that arises." Jiro frowned. "We Scorpion have a reputation, somewhat deserved I might add, for curiosity, but it is leavened with a healthy dose of caution. The lack of the latter in my colleagues has raised a rather uncomfortable feeling in me of...I suppose concern for their safety. And bewilderment."

"It is concerning, but on the other hand, it is comforting to know that the upcoming generation will meet their fates head on with defiance."

"Fates, Agasha-sama?" Jiro tilted his head in inquiry.

"If one is touched by different spirit realms this soon in life, it has to be none other than fate. I can hardly think of anything one might do to anger them so easily when their whole life has been inside a dojo"

"I see." To say that Jiro was relieved at the explanation was an understatement, as his first impression of her use of that term was somewhat more terrifying. "Perhaps those strange fates are also to blame for the attack on the sleeping quarters, or the thinning out of the student body this afternoon. Not spiritual phenomena, at least, I do not think so, but certainly abnormal."

“The attack on the students was because a group decided to visit a local crime lords establishment that the governor is doing nothing about. A failure of his Duty, and one I wish to see rectified.”

Jiro tilted his head. The obvious question was why any student was visiting a crime lord's establishment. The more subtle one would be why the Ruby Champion was letting the comment about the student body thinning out this afternoon slide right on by.

"I wonder what this Governor gains by letting this villain operate?"

Jiro was under no obligation to draw the Ruby Champion's attention to either of those issues a second time. Sometimes a Scorpion swam with the current. "I am unfamiliar with the nature of the Governor in question, but I have received a little training in politics. Dereliction of duty is seldom solely a matter of temperament, though that can play a role. More often there are other pressures involved. Desire, fear. Either acts as an anchor around the neck of even the most well-meaning samurai."

"Whatever Seppun-sama's defense is, his superiors in Otosan Uchi will be quite displeased when they get my report. Is that al, Bayushi-san?"

"I suppose so, Agasha-sama." Jiro rose to perform a bow, taking the opportunity to surreptitiously scan her desk for documents left casually on top of it. "Thank you for taking this time to address my concerns, humble as they were."

The desk is relatively clean, but there is a letter on the desk the Ruby Champion was writing before the interruption. It seems to be addressed to the current Emerald Champion, but nothing else written yet.

Jiro rose from his bow, hesitating in his departure only for any last words the Ruby Champion might have.

"Keep up the good work, Bayushi-san. You are doing your school proud. "

"Thank you, Agasha-sama. Please have a pleasant afternoon." A second bow, and Jiro made his exit.