The New Winds

The sound of someone practically attacking the dust of the morning's exercises with a broom was audible from some considerable distance. Saburo had eaten with all of the relish of someone having their last meal, wolfing it down quickly and done with it as quickly as possible. When the meal was done, he was out and starting the process of making sure that the dojo grounds were as clean as possible.

He looked very much like a man ready to kill every single errant leaf in front of him. Damn them all, making the yard dirty. He would get every last one of them in a pile... and tell himself that he would burn them to cinders. But he hadn't been authorized to cast spells, so he'd have to just pick them up properly with a rake. Hmmph. This place would be clean, one way or another.

"Ah, Kohai-... Asako-san, was it?" Nobuko approached from one side where the young man, far too angry at the leaves in front of him, could see her do so while speaking softly in the space between the sounds of his rake striking the ground and crunching against the fallen foliage.

Once she was certain she had his attention, she offered a bow of her head. Her hands were folded in front of her in a demure manner, covered by gloves of a coarser cloth than the student issue uniforms they were all required to wear.

"Perhaps it might help us finish faster if one of us rakes and the other picks the leaves up after? I would be happy to take a turn at the rake," she offered, "You have been at it for some time and a I thought perhaps a break might come as a relief."

Fuck! Imperial Warning! Imperial Warning!
FUCK! NOT A MIYA!

He turned, faced her and practically clicked his heels together while dropping into a military-style bow straight from the hip. "Otomo-sama." He'd paid attention to each of the introductions, and while he hadn't necessarily picked up given names, in part because so many might change at gempukku, he knew families. He stayed low, waiting until she spoke again and he was certain of the leave to rise from his bow.

Wait, the imperial had said something. Take the rake? She was... right, student. Of course she had duties here like all of them. A curt nod and he offered her the rake, even if he preferred it over collecting the leaves himself. Grubby, filthy work if you asked him, but there were probably no germs in them. Probably. Hopefully. He'd clean later.

"Of course. Thank you for the assistance. The more hands, the less time this will take, yes." His tone was clipped, exact.

In truth, Nobuko simply didn't want to be the one to bend over and pick up leaves. She'd taken the opportunity to offer help as a way of avoiding doing so herself and was pleased to see the Asako was not the sort to question such an offer or ask for her to do the labor that required more... uncouth positions for a lady such as herself.

She took the rake carefully in her gloved hands and stepped to one side where the Asako's efforts had managed to scatter the leaves more than containing them. Her own attempt at the raking began with tentative, very light sweeping motions that barely moved the leaves at all. Clearly she was not used to doing such labor.

"Kohai is fine," she offered politely. "We are all students here, after all. We should be able to address each other as such."

While the unstated 'as equals' could easily be implied by the words, it was most certainly not said or meant.

"If my kohai prefers to be known as such, I am not one to question." He nodded. It was a way to get across his acceptance as formally as possible. He'd probably keep it pretty close to that normally, just because he seemed to operate aggressively in formalities. Waiting until the leaves were in position, he knelt down and started to collect them, cramming them into the available basket along with the other detritus. There would be enough of that to get rid of soon enough, though... really the dojo was kept far more immaculate than either of them imagined. It was the Ruby Champion's dojo after all.

"You are a student of the courtly arts, yes kohai?" He wasn't very good at conversation, but he didn't need to be stuffy under the circumstances.

It was a good thing, too, that the dojo was already pretty clean from the efforts of the students earlier in the day as well as the scheduled group effort now. It meant Nobuko only had to try a very, very small amount to help out and be seen helping out. Barely any effort at all, really. As long as she could do that for the entirety of the special training period, she didn't expect her hands would suffer too much from the unusual (for her) exercises.

"I am," she responded to the question, brightening ever so slightly at the inquiry. "Well, somewhat. My focus is less on the intricacies of court and more on providing a needed breath of culture, art, and conversation to those who do attend the courts regularly."

As well as a future spouse, whatever career they may undertake for their clan or family.

"I play the Koto and am pleased to say I have some skill at Origami," she added, to clarify her meaning, "And you are blessed by the kami to know their language and speak with them, yes?"

He nodded. "An artisan and attendant of the courts in training." It struck him as slightly unusual to see such a person here, though social position had its purpose and frankly? He'd seen every potential profession represented among the attendees. Bushi with various forms of training, shugenja, monks, courtiers, artisans of almost every stripe. So, perhaps this entire project was meant to cover the full breadth of training in the empire? Certainly there were nearly thirty of them present, were there not? It wasn't out of question, considering the Ruby Champion's stated purpose. "An honored profession." She could have called herself a ditch digger and he would have said that. An Otomo was an Otomo.

"I have been gifted to heir their voices, yes. As such, I have trained with a tutor of the Isawa family in my family lands until recently." No, no academies for him. He probably wouldn't have done so well, considering his circumstances.

"Personal guidance from a respected teacher is quite the honor," she said, acknowledging that it meant he did not have the formal schooling others of his clan might, but that it did not mean he was poorly trained. The opposite, most likely, from what she knew of the Isawa.

She gave a few more half-hearted 'sweeps' with the rake as she continued to speak, "Your schooling must be very comprehensive to have done as well as you did in the morning tests."

"Considerable allowances had to be made. I am grateful to my father for doing so. I was not his only pupil, but nevertheless the honor was very real." The reasons behind it had been entirely different than pure honor. Strings pulled out of necessity were pulled nevertheless and the puppets danced to the tune. The result was an Isawa's training in an Asako's lands.

His efforts to clean up after her sweeps were much more assiduous. He was aggressive in ... pretty much everything. "It is my intention to enter the Elemental Legions when I have matured and proven my worth. To do so, I cannot merely be a priest of the kami. I must be prepared for all things, and to eschew the bushi's training would be unwise."

"I, too, am grateful to my father for making allowances to grant me the privilege of schooling in a more unusual manner for one of my station," she admitted, feeling a bit like a kindred spirit in the that regard. "My mother was Kakita by birth and I wished to study at the same school she attended. Even for someone of my standing, that can be difficult to arrange for."

She stepped to the side a bit, to give Saburo room to get at the leaves that were collecting too close to her feet for him to get at without risking impropriety and began gathering a new pile with half-hearted sweeps of the rake.

"You have ambition and drive, Kohai-san," she mused, trying to picture the boy before her as member of the famed Legions and most certainly falling short. As much because she only really knew the heraldry involved, not the uniform, as it was because he simply didn't have the physical stature she would assume members of the legion to have. "I am certain it will serve you well in pursuing such a position."

For all his aspirations, the sickly looking young man, barely younger than her and almost late in his current state to his gempukku? He didn't look like one of the Legions waiting to claim his seat. Those yellow eyes were not a healthy appearing thing, and definitely didn't leave any real indication of his future glories. Only the angry, sullen resolve that bubbled to the surface in him constantly spoke to it. "No member of the Legions can truly reach their position without the drive to transcend their limitations. Each of them are unique, priceless assets of the clan. I will live up to that truth and rise to the occasion." He was firm in the resolve, at least.

"So, you have been trained by the Kakita Artisans then?" He had to assume. He didn't see sign of a daisho to this one. "They are accredited for their work by all." He didn't choose to mention the Shiba. He did know better than getting into that little quagmire of rivalry. Better to leave that to artisans, yes?

Between the lack of daisho (not that anyone had one right now), and her admitting to being an artisan trained by her mother's family, the Kakita school was a very good guess indeed.

"Hai. I am proud to call them my teachers and hope to bring honor to the memory of my mother when I reach my Gempukku," she answered nodding and stopping any pretenses at trying to rake. She had given the bare minimum of effort in conducting the manual labor and that's what counted, right? Right.

After a moment, she glanced around at the half finished job and held the rake back out for Saburo to take, "It seems we are almost done. I will leave the rest to you, Kohai-san. I must get ready for our next lessons."

He rose and nodded, holding out a hand for the kumade. Such a thing would never qualify as a weapon in his mind. Distantly? He'd heard there were strange people who actually fought with them. He had no idea why. Flimsy things. "Of course, Kohai-san. I will finish the last of this up." He didn't see any reason to question her choice. She was imperial and entitled to do as she pleased to some extent. He, however, wasn't going to stop until he was absolutely done. Every. last. leaf.