The New Winds

Yotsuo went looking for Bayushi Moriko on the final morning. He had been hoping for a lesson in the art of identifying deception or evasion in conversation. He hope that the courtly sensei of the Scorpion might have some insights for him.

"Ah. if it isn't our beautiful Kuni-san"

"I thank you for your kind words, Bayushi-sensei," he replied with a bow. He suspected it was a jest relating to the voting of the morning, but he didn't really know how to respond. Before today only his mother had ever called him beautiful, and he suspected that mothers were required to compliment their children. Both for their children's sake and their own. It doesn't speak well of a person's appearance if they find their own child ugly.

"I was actually hoping that I could trouble you for a final lesson before the school is released. In attempting to verify veracity of words and observing visual clues and cues."

"Ah, you wish to hone your investigative ability?"

"Indeed. It is one of the abilities that my school focuses on and improving my understanding can only serve me well in my duties. Plus... the better at it I am the better I'll be able to watch for dangers in the strange places I will visit," he says with a nod.

"Very well. Then perhaps we shall have some fun with this lesson. When you were a child, did you play the game called Hide and Seek?"

"On occasion, yes. Though it isn't the most popular game in Crab lands," he says with a nod. He still remembered the time the neighbor child hid and was never seen again. He didn't even remember his name for some reason even though he had always been a playmate before the disappearance.

"I could imagine not...but we are not in Crab lands! So, I will hide and you will search for me!"

"Of course sensei," the Kuni replied with a nod. He moved to a wall to be out of the way and closed his eyes, giving the sensei time to hide.

"Oh, it won't be just me hiding behind a curtain. You will need to find me in the kitchens, and figure out which cook I am."

"Alright. I will give you some time to go there and integrate yourself Bayushi-sensei," Yotsuo replies with a nod.

And so the Scorpion does, leaving the Kuni alone in the room

After giving a good amount of time, Yotsuo moved to the kitchen to try and identify the sensei among the chefs. When any of them try to ask him if he needs anything he dismisses them and lets them know he is just observing. He watches carefully, not focusing on one in particular. When one of them looks at him, he gives them a glaring stare to try and cause a bit of discomfort and looks for any of them that seem to either paying attention to try and blend in based on their own observations, or paying no attention to the others and showing no discomfort with the Kuni student watching them like a hawk.

Eventually he narrows down a choice but he is not sure of it. He approaches and asks, "Bayushi-sensei?"
----

D10 Hare, Find the Sensei, Investigation / Perception: 5d10o10k3 16

The ragged looking peasant bows and says in a very scratchy voice,

"Excellent work, Kuni-san. Now, how did you know it was me"

"A change to their usual environment altered their natural behavior, I believe. I knew that I was looking for someone trying to fit in with their surroundings. By causing a certain level of discomfort by my presence I could see who was more concerned with my presence rather than who was more concerned with all present. I assumed that since you had chosen the test that your costume and ability to pass as a chef would be good enough that I wouldn't be able to identify based on that alone, so I had to introduce an element that you would need to compensate for," he said with a bow.

"With this lesson I think I've discovered that it is easier to catch discrepancies by introducing unexpected elements for a target to react to."

"Very, very good, Kuni-san. I could not have said it better myself."

The bow is returned.

"Now, how are you at observing words?"

"I believe I am improving. I have had discussions with Shosuro Tomoe-sensei during walks to the temple and she does emphasize the importance of words in the life of a samurai. I've been trying to figure out how best to apply observational skills to such things. Looking for changes in speech patterns and body language to observe shifts in interest or disinterest in topics. I believe it helped me in the lessons that covered topics of courtly interaction a bit. But I'm certainly no master of that."

"There is a game you should play constantly with your peers. It is called Two truths and a lie. The goal is to determine what from the tree statements is the lie."

The Kuni nods at the suggestion. "It seems a reasonable way to improve such things. Practice is paramount when we seek to perfect our skills. I think that it sounds like a game that might be enjoyed in Sakkaku as well, so I may be able to get some practice with otherworldly beings when I visit there in the future. I imagine they will be far more difficult for me to read once I begin interacting with them more."

"If you can travel to Sakkaku on a whim, you should be one of the greatest lie detectors in all the land. "