The New Winds

Otoko had spend her time before bed the past week reading. She had finished a book about spirits a few nights back, and now she read a smaller work about gaki specifically. She sat on her futon as she read, absorbed in the text.

Saburo had learned one thing in the last several nights. If he tried to read in the communal study areas, a certain crane was going to show up and sing, and while she was starting not to stink at the artistry, it was incredibly distracting. However, nobody came to the barracks, and that had its advantages. As he passed by, on his way to his space, he happened to spy the girl at her cubby hole. It was still a little odd how little privacy they had here.

Giving a quick bow, he cleared his throat. "Yogo-san. You are well this evening, I trust? May I ask what you are studying?"

Otoko had actually been a slight cause for Saburo's woes since Sakura had gone there to sing after singing outside the window of the barracks and disturbing Otoko some night's back.

Not that Otoko had actually been annoyed or anything, any more than she seemed to be at Saburo's interruption. Placing her scroll into her lap, she gave a seated bow before responding. "Gaki."

In that moment, there was an obvious pique in his interest. His eyebrows climbed and he took a step up to the screen to look in at her. He had a momentary concern and decided to settle it by simply asking. "For reasons we've spoken of previously, I assume? Would it be improper to join you in study momentarily? I consider it an... interest of mine as well." It wasn't inaccurate. There were things about gaki that concerned him, having nothing to do with the events of the first night in the barracks.

She gave a small nod, though she gave no immediate response to what she was nodding to. Perhaps it was everything at once. "I... reluctantly call Mai-san of the Mantis a... friend... and she was the one affected by the Mokumokuren. I wish to see if I can find out why it was here, and if anything more... permanent happened to her."

The curse? Of course the curse. He settled in a respectful distance away and shook his head once. "I do not think that anything involving you calling her a friend would endanger her towards a gaki, unless you have a particular affinity for that realm," he said. And from what he knew of the curse now that he had spoken to Himeko privately on the matter... She hadn't said she was her best friend, and this wasn't a betrayal. It was a gaki hunting someone. "But... learning more of the variety of gaki and if its touch affected her does seem wise. They are not the same as other, less savory creatures, but their touch is ... unhealthy I am told."

OOC: Sorry, lost tag

Otoko softly shook her head. She didn't seem perturbed at all by Saburo's reference. "I do not mean as tied to me Asako-san, I speak of any potential after affects of the gaki feeding on her soul. The sensei would likely have thought of something if there was a bad after effect from the experience, but I wish to make certain... just like it was mostly the students that patched up the screens."

He breathed a sigh of relief that she seemed to understand that. A quick nod. He didn't need to explain that he had somehow, in the last several days, figured out what the Yogo Curse was. He shifted in his seat and grunted. "Of course. And the study of Yurei and Gaki is not exactly a common one in the empire. The number of those familiar with the subject is ... not minimal, but a small percentage off shugenja. What have you noticed thus far?"

She motioned vaguely to the scroll in her lap. "...Unsurprisingly, the material here is of hardly any use. The sensei here have the same access to it, and it is material fit for students. If there are answers, I would guess they would be in a library I would not have access to... yet."

"I have not noticed any major changes in her behavior or well being since the day her scream woke several of the students up." It wasn't his intention to draw attention to the scream, but he hadn't woken, so it was the only way he knew it happened. "From... From what I am aware, if the touch of a gaki occurs and has a lasting effect, it is usually hard to miss and quite ... visible in a sense."

He didn't actually look like he was speaking out of a textbook there for some strange reason. It was more like he was remembering something.

"Hai, perhaps so.... and yet, it is the things that I am not aware of yet that concern me." She paused, and she seemed a touch sulky in tone as she murmured, "Besides... I like learning about gaki."

He blinked, glancing at her. "You do? I would imagine it is considered something of an unpleasant discussion topic in general. What is it that interests you about them, as a rule?" Besides the obvious matter of an angry ancestor or two, given their talks in the past. "I admit that I've done some studies out of a feeling of ... necessity at times, but I've never met anyone that intentionally did so out of interest."

"Sometimes, we must plan for the uncomfortable. The Crab have their own studies, and the Asako Inquisitors and other organizations as well. I had some knowledge of spirits before coming here, but the incident with Mai-san had shown me I have much I don't know. I... wish to be of help, even if it is on a topic others might find unpleasant." There was a touch of conviction in her otherwise placid tone.

"I can appreciate a willingness to study the unpleasant, even if it is not something widely known. I was simply curious as to the reasons. There will always be need for a few experts of that sort, in the end." He considered that. "Blessedly gaki are not loose often, though that makes me wonder why that one was here, and how it arrived."

Otoko nodded softly. "That was the other reason for my reading. Along with the other spiritual visitors we have had during our stay, it is something that must have some cause behind it."

Pausing, Otoko was thoughtful a moment before she shrugged softly. "...As for why me, why gaki... I suppose, in the end Asako-san, I believe a study of gaki to be a dangerous subject, even hazardous to one's health if one gets too hands on in research. Perhaps I believe it would be better for Ningen-do to lose me than to put another at risk to learn more."

He frowned. There'd been other things that they were going to talk about, other topics, but that last. He shook his head. "I... do not agree, Yogo-san. It is your life and your duty in the end, but the simple fact is that countless samurai of your family and line have served, regardless of the potential risks. And the empire has not suffered for their presence. You are not a burden by being what you are. There are risks, I suppose, but ... regardless of those, are there not risks in anyone's emotions getting away with them and doing something foolish?" He frowned. "I won't suggest you stop studying gaki. I myself have some... reason to wish it. My grandmother lives under Emma-O's judgement, and I suppose I have a certain curiosity. But I do not think you should consider your life unworthy of care."

Otoko shook her head softly after a moment. "...Do not think I have some sort of death wish Asako-san, nor that I doubt I can serve my family and clan as well as any samurai. Being accepting of risk is as much as any samurai can do, hai? Most prepare to fall in battle serving their clan, and I see this no differently. There is no shame in wishing to put yourself first at risk in the name of assistance to others. I wish to study so that others might live without fear."

"That... is a better way to phrase it, Yogo-san. I approve of that way of thinking. I apologize. I should not assume quite so much, because of certain things. But you are not wrong. Some of us must put ourselves in special risk that others remain in safety. The Crab do it every day in their own way. This would be no different, I suppose." Certainly, he was less concerned about that way of thinking, rather obviously.

She actually gave Saburo a very faint and brief smile. "I am... gladdened... that you understand. I feel as if you have been more wary for me lately, as if you know more of why Yogo left the service of Lady Asako. Know this much at least; it was not for a lack of loyalty or duty in his soul... or in mine."

"I... am aware of what you are dealing with, in the most basic sense. It isn't a thing I've ever really experienced much of myself." Ok, he might have experienced his first glimpses of infatuation recently, which was... disconcerting to him in the extreme, but it wasn't an unpleasant experience. "I do not think you need to be too concerned. Just... mindful. You seem to always have this in your mind, always so very carefully neutral. You do not have to ... well, for lack of a better word, you do not need to love someone to be close to them."