The New Winds

Nobuko sat down near a door that opened to the yard, where she could see those coming and going and they could see her. But, more importantly, where she could have some fresh air while she worked without the breeze being too strong. She didn't need it blowing her paper around.Several sheets were plain and she had some charcoal to use to help compose her intended letter prior to writing it properly on the much nicer scroll she had procured for this purpose.

She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, then said a prayer to the Fortune of Happiness. Once she was done, she got to work: gloves on, charcoal in hand, she focused on composing a very important letter.

Ginkarasu walks carefully by, balancing a pair of buckets full of water and walking very slowly in order to do so.

She paused in her writing a the sight of the Yasuki.

"Ah, Ginkarasu-san," she called, trying not to be so loud as to startle him. "Perhaps it would be best to only hold one at a time?"

"But I need both buckets to do the cleaning right, Otomo-sama!" He does so carefully, because he doesn't want to spill. "It takes awhile, but you want to rinse afterwards. And doing it alone means I gotta have extra, if any of the first dries before it can be rinsed off."

"But why does it mean you have to carry both at once?" she set her brush down, just as carefully as he was holding the buckets. "Can you not bring one over, then fetch the other? Or better still, ask a servant to carry them for you? They are allowed to help us if it will not distract them from their other duties."

A loophole she had taken full advantage of pretty much every day. Though the way she did use their aid, it was almost as if she didn't even realize the extra power she had over them for being an Otomo.

...she probably did know, but she certainly didn't act like she understood that detail.

Ginkarasu shakes his head, "It's my duty to clean as a student. And if I leave the second bucket, someone else may claim it, and then it takes even longer. I know I'm not as good as you Otomo-sama, I never get done as quickly, but I'm working hard to get better!"

He looks down to the ground a second, "Plus, the servants tend to avoid me."

She clicked her tounge in a very disapproving 'tsk' at that final statement.

"I shall have to speak with them. It is their duty to serve, not to avoid service," Nobuko declared as she organized her papers so they would not move while she stood. "And do not compare yourself to me, Yasuki-san. You are far better at other things than I am. If we tried to weigh our worths, we would never find any equality save that we are both students."

Also, as Kuge, it was known she was better than him by the Heavenly order of all things. Which, by the same reasoning, as Buke within the Samurai caste, he was better than the servants who were shirking their duties by avoiding him.

Once she stood, she started to pack her things up carefully so they would not be harmed when she offered, "Allow me to carry one bucket for you. Then you can finish faster."

She wasn't going to help further, but she liked Ginkarasu.

"If..if you insist, Otomo-sama. It's really kind of you to do more cleaning after you finished your chores. I'm really lucky to know you." He smiles warmly.

He carefully sets down the buckets, rubbing his shoulders where they had been straining.

Ignoring the fact that her chores were little more than dusting a single shelf and calling it a day...

"It is nothing," she insisted and moved to pick up one of the buckets. Which... oof! She did not carry it in a particularly well-practiced manner. "So heavy! You are very strong, Yasuki-san. I should not be surprised I suppose, but you have often surprised me. All in good ways."

He bows a bit, then stands upright, taking the one bucket.

"My Dad said that chores in dojo's are given both because they are things that need to be done and to help train the body and mind via the doing." He looks down to the one bucket. "When I got here, I could barely lift this one bucket. Now I can just manage two. And maybe I could lift more if all I'd been doing was lifting buckets all day. But who needs a samurai that only lifts buckets?"

She could barely lift the one bucket herself. But she had also started this whole strange extra-focused training being unable to fight for herself beyond firing a yumi (mostly for shows and contests, not battle) and had found herself picking up some basic hand-to-hand combat fairly well.

"My father had different views on chores and exercises that helped train the mind and body. But as our family does not have a history of being bushi, it is understandable that our training was different," she mused as they walked. She let Ginkarasu lead the way, though she walked much slower than him so as not to risk spilling the water.

"I think your training is going quite well," she continued. "You have proven most adaptable to the challenges set before you. And though you are more... practical... than I am used to any samurai being in seemingly all aspects, I am learning that is a trait of the Crab Clan as a whole. I am..."

She sighed, "Woefully unfamiliar with most clans samurai outside of the Crane. I had not realized how impractical that was for me until very recently. If I am to have a spouse who could come from any clan, I familiarize myself with all clans. My family and those from the Crane marry often, so it is likely I will be wed into that clan... but it is not an inevitability."

He nods a bit.

"I do have some thoughts on that, but I'm not very well versed in history, and I have a bit of a bias, Otomo-sama, being a Yasuki." His response stops then, and he looks back, for permission to go on.

"You may speak them," Nobuko answered with an encouraging smile.

"The Crane I've met here are more polite and friendly then I ever thought I'd know. And I'm sure those you know are great as well. But is that unfamiliarity true to others in your family? Or happenstance because of your circumstances?" he nods his head in thanks.

She tilted her head in thought, clearly putting some real consideration into the answer, "A little of both I suppose. The Otomo have retainers at every major court, though not all of them bear the family name. But we mostly live and work in Otasan Uchi, where the families we see the most are the other direct servants of the Son of Heaven. The clans all have representatives there, and many of us move with the Imperial Court when it moves so that nothing can go amiss with ensuring the comfort of our glorious Emperor or those who may be honored to speak for him."

Nobuko let her head fall forward to watch her feet as they came across a slightly rougher area of ground to cross. Not really noticeable normally, but with the water it suddenly seemed quite trecherous.

"I left for school with the Kakita when I was much younger, and started my education in their courts. What I know of the Imperial Court comes from the few times I was indulged in being allowed to follow my father in his daily duties prior to my first trip away and the times the Winter Court was close enough to my school that I was able to join him as part of the retinue there. But as a child, it was not proper for me to take part in any real discussions with clans and most of them did not bring their own children to distract them. Nor did they wish to spend time with one. So while I have heard much about every clan in passing, I do not know of them the way I know of the Crane."

Another pause, "My mother was from the Crane, as well. Until now, it just seemed natural to assume I would not be straying far in my marriage."

He smiles at her words, "That would explain it. Thank you."

They get to the door of the dojo, and he slides it open. "I'm not likely to ever see the courts of the Crane. The Kaiu and Hida go there; and it'd be an insult to have a Yasuki yojimbo at any of their important courts. Are they as beautiful as everyone says?"

"If the yojimbo is an accomplished one, then it does not matter what family they come from," she reassured him, though they both knew that one had to be very accomplished to overcome the fault of one's family in certain areas.

"But yes, they are very beautiful. The pillars carved of the oldest wood by the greatest of artisans. The screens painted by the most talented of artists. You're practically transported to the places they depict, so detailed they are. And the music...."

She sighed, "I am most blessed to be taught by them. I can only hope that one day my own ability with the Koto will one day match theirs."

"You play music? That's wonderful! I'm surprised no one's put on a concert here." He looks around. "We've got quite the audience, and you could have people from lots of clans remember your music and hope to hear it again."

"A few of us play or sing in the morning lessons with the other artisans in training," she answered. Then realized, "Ah, but you're with the bushi, becoming better skilled at the art of protecting others. It is a shame you cannot come join us for a time..."

Nobuko set the bucket down inside and turned to him, "Would you like me to play for you? Tomorrow perhaps?"

He's very surprised at the offer. "Uhm? Just for me? But." He wracks his brain. "If you did it for a crowd, you could have a crowd of people spread knowledge of your skill when they go home! That's got to be a worthwhile thing for a musician, yeah?"