Failure

[Doji Sakura]

Sakura had climbed onto the roofs once more. After the last tests, she saw the points people scored and it depressed her. She'd been a total failure the whole tournament..

dropping down onto the roof she lays down and curls up, holding her Jade tanto and looking at it.

I'm the worst student here...

[Kakita Kazuko]

Sakura had climbed onto the roofs once more. After the last tests, she saw the points people scored and it depressed her. She'd been a total failure the whole tournament..

dropping down onto the roof she lays down and curls up, holding her Jade tanto and looking at it.

I'm the worst student here...

Having failed the extra credit early and being forced to sit out on the sidelines and watch the others all alone, Kazuko spots out Sakura not being her usual cheery self and follows her when she leaves, seeking to lift her spirits. Her fellow Crane also did poorly, but not as poorly as she. Well, the Doji tend to be more sensitive and show their emotions more than the Kakita, she supposes. Oh, the benefits of not being a bushi... Being lost in her own inner turmoil, Kazuko momentarily loses track of Sakura until she hears her voice coming from the roof.

"Sakura-san, don't say that, that's not true. Do you mind if I join you?"

[Zashi]

Zashi is preparing for some extra credit, not quite eager as he realizes that he's really getting out of the depth. Sakura's absensce suddenly becomes apparent.

"Sakura? Sakura?" The Kakita is there, distracting him for a moment before he sees...is that Sakura curled up in a ball. Zashi snarls and runs to her side, glaring at the Kakita. "What did you do to her?"

[Kakita Kenji]

Kenji also climbed onto the roof, which has probably become a couples hotspot. He had actually only followed Kazuko when he saw that she hadn't achieved anything in the tests and wanted to comfort her a bit. But it looked like there were more people here than expected.

"Cut it out, Bushytail" Kenji said annoyed. "No one would hurt Sakura-san. Especially not Kazuko-chan"

Had he forgotten to address her with san in front of others? Maybe, well, what's out is out. It's not like the whole world was talking about it.

[Doji Sakura]

"Ano...please stop fighting...I'm fine" Sakura managed to say from her curled up position. Her tone of voice suggested she was not fine.

[Zashi]

"Sakura, I know liars." Zashi squats down, gently brushing a lock of her hair. "And my dear one, you are a terrible liar. Please consider that an admirable trait" He looks up, glaring at Kenji and practically hissing again, but a look back down on Sakura means that he does his best to look calming

[Kakita Kazuko]

Kazuko glares right back at Zashi, giving off an air of contemptuousness to rival the likes of even Doji sensei, not in the best of moods after the training either. Looks like all the lessons and talks with her have paid off, in a way. She should reconsider her stance on Sakura's choice of company however... Perhaps Zashi's rough nature was having a pernicious influence on Sakura...

"Please, look at the company you are in. Must you use that tone even when Sakura is so obviously in distress?"

She backs off to let Zashi comfort her though, giving Sakura a pitying look that says that she's here if she needs her, if she can see from her position. She'd much rather be near Kenji anyway.

"Sakura, we're here to help, can you tell us what's wrong?"

[Kakita Kenji]

Kenji sighed. "I'm not here to fight Sakura san, I hope Zashi san isn't either"

Kenji went to Kazuko and stood by her side.

I'm only here for Kazuko, flashed it through his head.
He rejected the thought, Sakura was one of his friends and if she needed support, he would be there for her, too.

"Whatever the problem is, Sakura-san, you can count on us to be there for you."

[Doji Sakura]

With everyone pressuring her, she eventually relented.

"I finished last. I'm the worst student in the whole dojo" she curled up a little more "I'm the biggest shame of the Crane."

[Zashi]

"Oh." Zashi paused, caught off guard at the response.

That's what this is about?

His posture relaxes and he tries to sit down, allowing Sakura to prop her head on him if she wants. It seemed silly, but even he had gotten caught up in this, hadn't he? He had been frustrated when he had slipped in the rankings. He had known Sakura's inferiority complex and the pressures that her Clan placed on her.

"Well, last I checked, you weren't. You were in the middle." That wasn't enough though. Being told that she wasn't THE worst was not going to help her right now.

Zashi lets out a sigh. "Sakura, I promised Truths, right? Well-" He looks up at the pair of Crane's over his (hopeful) betrothed. "No, Sakura, you are not going to be at the top of the rankings. There are going to be many ahead of you. Yes...it doesn't feel good. But Sakura..." Zashi looks up at the night sky.

"In the grand scheme of things, what's happened in these weeks doesn't matter. For some of us here, scoring in the top group will be the crowning achievement of their lives, but what matters to samurai isn't how well we do in a joint classroom training experiment. Eighteen months from now, even the one who wins the Topaz Championship is going to be completely replaced. What is going to matter, Doji Sakura-san, is how we serve our Lords. You have a unique gift, someone I haven't seen in many people. You take your loneliness, and your anxiety and your sorrow and with it, you make things of exquisite beauty that bring joy."

Zashi places his hand over hers on the tanto. "You bring honor to your family with your talents. Maybe your day isn't today, or tomorrow, or six months from now. But your days will be there, I am sure of it. And you have your entire lifetime to show it." Zashi offers a soft smile, waiting to see if it worked.

[Kakita Kazuko]

Even though Zashi's words were not meant for Kazuko, they did make her feel better about her own poor ranking. She's confident that she'll do great things in the future and what was a temporary standing when there were more important things to focus on, like impressing Kakita sensei tomorrow? She doubts anyone will remember the exact scores after the Topaz championship. Still, this won't make her change her stance on Zashi quite yet.

"Zashi-san is right, Sakura. We all have different strengths and weaknesses. You've crafted so many wonderful things here that the others couldn't even begin to make, so don't be so hard on yourself."

[Kakita Kenji]

"I can only confirm this. I have gifted you this crystal because I know that if anyone can make something of it, it "s you, Sakura-san. The Kakita School strives for perfection in a single skill, and you have proven again and again that you are a fantastic blacksmith and artisan. Had the tests tested our artistic or craft skills, you would have led the top, I'm sure. " he said with a nod.

[Doji Sakura]

Sakura listened, her head having ended up on Zashis lap by how he sat with her. There was a few small nods that Zashi would feel more than see, before she turned slightly to look at the others.

"Ano...Do you really think that? That I can be...be great? This is supposed to be the perfect samurai test and I was the worst one."

[Kakita Kenji]

"It was a test to see how broad the training of each dojo is, Sakura-san. The Kakita Academy isn't exactly known for its diversified training," Kenji said with a smile. "You've excelled in the area the academy teaches you: forging. And nobody can top that"