The New Winds

The traditional vision of the martial child with a cloth running while cleaning the floors studiously was a horror to Otoko. She could never imagine hunching over and dashing. Thankfully, there were plenty of others willing to do such. For the Scorpion, she was just fine beating linens and tatami to shake dust off them. The mask helped after all, and she quite enjoyed (if one could ever call one of her emotions enjoyment) seeing the dust poof off.

Like his cousin, Bayushi Jiro was a detail man. Armed with a very simple cloth, he slowly but thoroughly cleaned each of the bokken. The fact that all of them had been in use and had could not even nearly be termed dusty seemed not to have occurred to him. While his hands polished, his eyes lazily flicked from student to student, sizing them up.

Otoko lacked a greater sense of observation, so she always took time in her noting. Thus, she ended up staring at Jiro a good moment while she lazily beat at the linens before speaking up quietly. "...Bayushi-san, I think... you missed a spot on that one." In truth, she could have commented that all the bokken seemed quite clean already, but she was fairly certain the mats and linens were as well, and a Yogo never betrayed a Bayushi anyway.

Hunching over and dashing wasn't Shiso's thing either by any measure. Somewhere they'd got a feather brush and were now doing roughly what Otoko was doing, just with more precision and less effort, and over finer detail, like bamboo holders of the scrolls, underneath the scrolls... and such places.

Jiro's eyes flicked to the Yogo as he took in her words. There was a pause as Jiro's head turned slowly to look at the bokken, then slowly back. "My thanks, Yogo-san. It seems that I have indeed been lax. It is fortunate that your eyes are sharp, cousin."

The statement lacked the ring of truth, but Jiro was careful not to let his disappointment reach the surface. Instead, he simply reached for the bokken and began to slowly, careful remove the dust---the dust that was so totally there, honest---away.

Sincerity (Deceit) practice=9

The girl gave a slight bow before looking over at the silent Soshi. She was actually perfectly fine remaining silent herself, and could have for the rest of the hour... but a Yogo always introduced themselves to the rest of the clan. Even the Yogo daimyo would have likely done so she imagined, even to two students like these. "...Yogo Otoko. Ever loyal." The words were a bit impassive, as if the statement was about the weather.

"Bayushi Jiro, Son of Bayushi Mitsuo, It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Yogo-san." Jiro returned her bow with one of his own and a neutral smile.

"Soshi Shiso!" The small Scorpion replied with much more enthusiasm. And since it was apparently a good moment to share life's wisdom, he followed Otoko's example and offered one, in conspiratory tone. "Never say never."

Jiro found a smile creeping on. "What has happened will happen."

The enthusiastic Soshi was going to take some getting used to, but she'd manage. For her clan, she could do nothing else. "It is..
good... to have you both here. I apologise we did not meet before now. I... travelled from Unicorn lands. I had... feared... i would be our only representative. The Yogo do not deserve the spotlight..."

Jiro canted his head to the right. "True enough, Yogo-san, but good service to the clan may result in fame. Would you sacrifice loyalty to avoid it?"

Her head shook slowly. "Never, though... I may do all I could otherwise to shift the spotlight and glory onto one of you instead. I do not doubt either of you could gain fame on your own merits, but I believe you would make more of it regardless."

"Naturally. As you have already made clear." Jiro smiled warmly, then nodded to Shiso. "In any case, I think we need not worry about that eventuality too much. Neko-san, here, I think will make itself the most famous of the three of us."