The New Winds

Waking before the sun yet again, the Kuni makes his way to the temple for his morning prayers and purification. After completing the ritual coinciding with Amaterasu's greeting of the day, he thanks the monk that helped him once more and began daily walk through the complex.

Interestingly, Yotsuo would stumble upon Kenji, as it looked like the young crane had been here all night.

"Kakita-san, a pleasure to see you again," Yotsuo says as he approaches before bowing. "How have you been?"

"I had a very instructive talk with the monks here. The championship had taken over me," he said calmly

"I'm glad that they were able to provide you with understanding. Just a bit too drawn into the competitive spirit?" he asks with a smile. "I can imagine that isn't uncommon for skilled students of one of the most known and respected dojos in the Empire."

"That. But also the fact that... "Kenji wondered if he could be open with Yotsuo. "I trust Crabs, I call Aiichiro-kun and Ginkarasu-kun my friends, since you're also a monk, I'll be open with you if you don't mind."

"Of course," he says with a nod. "We have a different primary duty from the Brotherhood, but all monks care for the spiritual well being of others."

"My parents never had a high opinion of me. They constantly compared me to my dead brother, Nagito. Their voices are always in the back of my mind and my failures during the tournament only fuelled my anger and frustration."

"That is an unfortunate burden to live with. I have seen it among my own siblings, how my parents compare them all to each other and how it can cause some friction. I get left out of all those comparisons given my unique place, since that would be like comparing a tetsubo to a bunch of katanas. But I also understand how those that have died get elevated because we only choose to remember their successes and achievements, and avoid thinking about their struggles and failures. That is an important thing to remember, that we are not perfect beings, and no matter how perfectly your parents may wish to remember your brother being, he still had to struggle and fail before he reached his peak. Whether you reach his level of skill quicker or slower than he did, or if you have already surpassed his skill or not, it is difficult to draw upon memories of his failures. But he had them, as we all do. Even my grandfather, who my parents venerate with only the highest praise... the one time I got to speak with him in Yomi, he told me stories of his own life that were full of successes and failures. I am certain that your brother would do the same if we spoke with him today."

"Your ability grants you an insight I can only dream of. But yes, this is a comforting thought, even if I find it hard to imagine it, I was only five summers old when he left this world. I think one of the thoughts that gave me the most strength that night is that I will probably leave my lord's court to be Gokenin. As it looks like I will hopefully finish my Gempukku, good or bad as it may be. As long as I serve my lord well, the accomplishments here at Tsuma are unimportant."

"Well, they are not unimportant in and of themselves, because they are part of your story. But they will have no effect on how well you perform your duty. Everything we have done leads us to the point we are at now, and we should keep our composure and give our full effort as best we can. But we should burden ourselves with our failures but learn and grow from them. That way, one day, our families and descendants will look at our successes and they will be greater for the things we learned in our struggles."

Kenji laughed a little: "Yes, I think I know what you mean. The struggle against the endless flow of fate can teach us many things. Even though I failed the first tests with flying colors, I learned a lot. I have so far paid little attention to the temples and spiritual things of our world. Except for Bishamon, of course, since I am a Bushi. But these temples can actually give you peace of mind"

"Not just peace of mind, but purity of spirit. That is one of my main motivators for such frequent visits. I find that I have gotten quite good at finding peace of mind no matter where I am. I've practiced meditation enough that I suspect there are few things that could actually break my concentration. But it is much nicer to do so in such serene and beautiful surroundings as these," he says with a nod.

"You are quite right, until yesterday I had a strong feeling of sin and guilt on my soul, after spending the night here I feel... better"

"I am glad to hear it. Last night I had an adventure in Yume-do. I was far more active there than I usually am so it was particularly important to come here to cleanse the Control of that realm. It is something that is simply part of my routine. But there are a great many things that can slowly poison our spirits if left unattended to. The things that affect me just happens to be far more... mystical in nature."

"Is it a heavy burden to be awake every night dreaming? I don't know when I had the last dream I can remember, oh wait, the former Emerald Champion visited me in my dream, even though the dream felt very real".

"It is not a burden. My body rests well as my mind explores it's own imagination in a malleable realm. Being aware is not the same as being wakeful. In that state I have no concerns or worries. I can fall from unreachable heights and come to a soft landing, shape the landscape into fantastic creatures and feel no hunger or thirst but can eat and drink without ever becoming full. It is so separate from the realities of Ningen-do that I completely shed the burdens of this realm," he explains.

"Also... I don't believe you were dreaming. I saw him as well on the first night we arrived. But I had been awake for hours and in meditation," he said. "But I didn't know that he had visited anyone other than the Crab. That is interesting."

"Oh, really?" Kenji was suprised, "That's intersting, did he also wanted you to take care of Hitoshi?"

"Yes. But I cannot say I've been able to do anything for him. Though I have been witness to his unfair scoring, I haven't heard any official complaints raised that I could provide testimony for," he replies.

"I don't think that testimony of a few children would make the responsible ones do anything. But I also have to admit that I didn't care about the boy's performance before. As it seems he will pass his gempukku, which is why it has already been done what Doji-shiryo had asked for.... moment,.... Could you not visit him?"