Washing the pain away

[Kakita Kenji]

"You mean?......." His eyes were wide open."There could be more under our very feet right now?"

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

"No. It is that I planned for Goblins. I did not scream because I thought we could take them. And even if they were an easier enemy, two people almost died. What would have happened if those were Goblins? How many would fall? Half of us? We all?"
He took his kimono off.
"If those were really goblins, I would not have screamed. I would have let many people die. This is the second time I fail on evaluating my own situation."

[Kakita Kenji]

"In a certain sense, this is a lucky coincidence and a chance to learn. I mean, who would expect an imperial dojo to be attacked? Probably no one would have got hurt if everyone had held their ground and listened to you. But some saw the glory of battle and less the danger of death. But who am I to question that? We're ne soliders nor are we full Samurai yet."

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

"Oh no, sending one person ahead to defend themselves whilst the other hit the enemies surrounding them is a traditional Hida strategy. It is just that I thought nobody here would be stocky enough to endure the hits. Haruki-san did well, very well."
He entered the water.
"I'll be a soldier too, Kenji-kun."

[Kakita Kenji]

"I was surprised too. I never felt he was so good with the sword, I underestimated him."
He waited until Aiichiro had entered the water.
"Yes, what we become and what we are is different. Before the wheel, we're just children now, no more, no less."

Kenji looked at the water again.

"Children should not fight at night against creatures of the deep and fear for their lives......
I understand that as a samurai I must give my life for my lord if he asks for it, but first I would like to take my Gempukku, if that is not too much to ask.

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

He submerges his head to damp his hair, then come back up. "That's the Crab bushi gempukku, Kenji-kun. To thread off the Shadowlands and only return if you bring together the head of an enemy. I don't know about Ginkarasu-san's case, but mines is different. My gempukku would be to design a siege engine to be placed on top of the wall. Usually people start those designs a year or half in advance, because they must be delivered at the day of our gempukku. I have a draft of mines."

[Kakita Kenji]

"...." Kenji was speechless for a moment

"The more I learn about the Crab Clan, the more I appreciate their duty to the Empire It's definitely not easy being a crab"

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

He splashes water over Kenji. Aiming at his face, but mostly splashing his neck.
"Thank you, I guess, but stop pitying."
He splashed more repeteadly.

[Kakita Kenji]

"Hey, what the,.....! Your going to regret that!" Kenji began splashing water back at his friend. Deeply gratefull for the distraction.

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

Aiichiro was simply better at splashing water. Moving his entire arm sure helped.
"I'm feeling no regrets yet!"

[Kakita Kenji]

"That's,..... unfair,..... you,..... suprise,.... attacked,..... me!" Kenji said in between splahing and getting splashed. "Also,.... you,..... studied,.... the,.... engineering,.... things!"

He began to laugh wholeheartedly.

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

"Why do you and Ginkarasu-san say the same thing when you lose?' He provoked. "You lost the duel, Kakita. No excuses. Shame on you and your lineage."
He took distance.

[Kakita Kenji]

"I lost to a surprise attack, there's no shame in that," he said miffed. He straightened his hair.

In a snappy tone of voice and a smile on his lips he then said "But if you want to duel, we can always arrange that."

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

"We shall then duel on Nezumi knowledge." He replies, not being able to hide a smile. "Challenged party decides the terms, isn't it? Or, you know, I have better ideas..."

[Kakita Kenji]

"Oh, what ideas do you have," Kenji asked

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

"Oh, it is a quite complicated one. You see, we will need an object and something to cover eyes with. Blanket will do."

[Kakita Kenji]

"This seems strange, but i agree to that, sounds fun"

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

"So we put the object somewhere. One of us cover our eyes get spinned by the other until the other stops. Then the spinned person needs to point at where the object is."

[Kakita Kenji]

"hmmmm, okay, when do we 'duel' then?" Kenji asked "I'm gonna show you how good i am at blindly pointing at objects!"

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

"We could track a score. The first person to do it right five time wins, what about so?"