The New Winds

Having sent a note to Nobuko about the need to confer, Bayushi Tomohiro rose early and headed to the edge of town. There were plans to make, after all.

Nobuko received the note and when Erina arrived before dawn as she'd been asked, Nobuko led the two out of the Academy and to the place Jiro had asked her to come. Erina was probably very confused about this, but as Nobuko's hair only needed to have the braids smoothed out after sleeping on them, she figured it would not take long and then she could send the girl home.

Though she did want to speak with her about the service issue before doing so, at the moment, Jiro's invitation was more important.

The two arrived not too long after Jiro himself and she gave a bow in greeting before indicating a spot that Erina could put a rolled tatami mat down for the two of them to sit on.

"Tomo-kun," she said, "This is my handmaiden. I have assumed this is a conversation she can be privy to? If not, I will need to send her off a bit, but keep her close so she can attend to my hair before the first matches today."

Tomohiro greeted Nobuko warmly, and was pleased that she had the foresight to bring a tatami. The girl was a genius.

"Of course, Nobu-chan. I am certain that Erina-san's loyalty is above question, and that there is no danger of our conversation being repeated no matter the subject under discussion." He smiled pleasantly. "Not that I plan to put her loyalty to too great a test. I merely wished to apprise you of a rather amusing development related to the matter of Hitoshi...and also to dish in a reasonably out of the way place. You see, I could use your advice, I think." He thught for a moment. "Yes, I am sure of it. But business first. Did you have a chance to pursue anything on the Hitoshi front?"

"Amusing?" she turned her head intrigued as they settled on the mat. Erina stepped to the side, but Nobuko waved to indicate she should continue with her efforts on ensuring her hair was in place. "I feel as though perhaps your efforts might be more interesting than mine. However, I did have a chance to speak with Hitoshi in private yesterday. We had tea at the House of Red Lotus. He was concerned that while he had made enough points to pass as of the end of the day, further... events... could conspire to prevent his official graduation."

((Going forward, since it is Otomo Nobuko's advantage, Erina will be controlled by Nobuko! Her personality is very timid, afraid of samurai, but quite skilled at her craft of weaving. She misses her parents deeply, and has only ever known Tsuma. She does not know much in the way of samurai life, and many things confuse and intrigue her. She is 15, and very thin, having not eaten well. Her belongings are few, her clothing tattered and dirty.))

Tomohiro frowned. "I suppose a similar thought had occurred to me. At first, I thought that perhaps the Crane would take the hint that their actions were being widely observed and thought of poorly by many of the attendants and choose to forgo their vendetta. Then I considered what my clan would do...but then, we would never find ourselves in this absurd position. No one that I have spoken to recently on the subject has given much thought to what steps a person would need to take to save the Crane from themselves in this situation."

He grimaced. "In fact, were it not for the request from Doji Satsume-shiryo, I do not think that I would. But do you know whether anyone has actually spoken to a Crane official on the subject?"

"I do not, no," she sighed, "And I am uncertain that doing so would be wise. They may take it as a challenge to their authority and seek to enforce their will through punitive measures against those that speak up. Something that would be well within their rights, considering their stations and ours. Until this festival is over, we are all still children."




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OOC
((Correction: Erina's personal clothing is tattered and dirty, but right now, she's in a borrowed servant's uniform from the Academy and her wardrobe will be updated appropriately later. Because if Nobuko's gonna be rich, her servants are gonna benefit XD ))

"Then the shiryo ought to have considered better-placed agents, because there is very little that we can do except make the Crane suffer for their foolishness after the fact." Tomohiro turned his head. "But I suppose a clear-eyed understanding of our position is better than trying to match teapots and hoping for a revelation."

"Match teapots?" she asked even as Erina's hands stilled, clearly not sure about the whole 'making the Crane suffer part'. Nobuko reached up and tapped the girl's wrist to get her back into motion, which she did immediately, looking wide-eyed and trying to focus on her work and not speak out of turn. The servant really wanted to, though, and it was super obvious.

"What do you mean, match teapots? Match with what?"

"Isawa Tanshin thought we might find the full set for the teapot that the shiryo left behind. I'm not sure what he thought would happen then, but I imagine it would have been wondrous." Tomohiro sounded dubious. "Kitsuki Asahi determined that the teapot was not made by human hands, however, so that rather dashed the plan, but it was a valiant effort."

"But... you didn't have the teapot he left. He left it with me," she said, confused and frowning. "It is a beautiful thing, but rather plain by the standards of his clan... did you also get a teapot?"

"Hai, in silver, with a mad amount of detail." Jiro paused. "Curious that there should be different ones, yes?"

"Curious... or they were merely given based on who they were left for," she mused, "I used the one left to myself to perform the ceremony for Hitoshi. Nothing seemed to have happened with it that I can tell."

She shrugged then winced as her movement forced Erina to tug a little too hard on one side of her head. She said nothing about it, however, and merely continued, "However, Hitoshi has been informed that there are, among the competitors, those who support him and wish to see that no excuses are made to remove points from his total or move the measurements further along to make it harder. And that he would do well to temper his temper."

"That is something, at least." He sighed. "I personally resolved not to approach him, as I felt my public involvement would draw unwanted attention. We Scorpion are often the targets of outlandish theories regarding our motivations, and as a result are often watched, even when we are invited to famed competitions." A smile. "Perhaps especially then."

"It is for the best that you did choose not to," she agreed. "Fortunately, your gathering at the Red Lotus happened very close to my own meeting of him. So any attention that might have been drawn from the possibility of the two of you speaking would be quickly dashed by him having no obvious interest in your gathering."

Tomohiro nodded once in agreement. "I suppose. I admit, however, that I see further intervention only increasing risk without increasing the likelihood of beneficial outcomes. I intend to let the matter rest, I think."

"I have told him that there is not much that can be done directly, but that I am able to be called on, as are others - whom I did not name - who are willing to help as well should it look like he is pursued by those in power even after having earned enough to go on to the tournament. It is clear the ones hampering him do not wish to do so directly, but if they feel too stymied, may do so. At which point, their dishonorable actions can be called out by another. It is troublesome, however, that we do not have anyone of equal or greater status we may ask to do so. Any attempts to stand up to these forces in such a direct matter may not be possible."

She shook her head and got another painful tug for the effort with Erina apologizing softly and effusively, then continuing with her braiding when Nobuko did not reprimand her.

"Has Kaidan-san played his game lately?"

She did truly think the 'game' was harmless at the ceremony. She was not naive enough to ignore how useful it could be otherwise.

"He has been rather distracted with his kitten." He sighed. "It is practically all he talks about. Well, all except Kakita Kenji."

That raised her eyebrows. She had not realized Kenji's gaggle of admirers also included someone among the Scorpion.

"Do you think we might convince him to play it again sometime soon? Wyn-san said that there was a cart that arrived in town the same day he did and it seemed to hold many wares of interest and pulled along by a grandfather."

"I think it possible, Nobu-chan, but we shall have to see. Kaidan-san's games are...unpredictable, and, as you have seen, not without a degree of risk."