Trying Tea Again (Expecting)

[Toritaka Sasaiko]

"Asako-san, I do believe that was a laugh." She smiles warmly. "I think it is the first I've heard from you; I shall have to remember it."

[Asako Saburo]

"I admit that my sister once said that I have a bit of an underdeveloped sense of humor," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I haven't had time to laugh too much in my youth, so it's taken me a while to really develop one. Still... never bad to remember what makes me laugh, is it? I am told Hotei laughs for his contentment. Perhaps it is good for one's health to laugh?"

[Toritaka Sasaiko]

"I've heard it said it is a powerful medicine. But a shugenja can hardly be faulted for emulating the Fortunes in their praise, I think."

She considers Saburo.

"I wonder at your sister, however. Does she see your worth, truly?"

[Asako Saburo]

He laughed again, little more than a small snort and gave her a smirk that bordered on childish and roguish. "My sister values me greatly, but she has spent most of her life that I remember trying to get me to smile, a thing that has been... difficult at times. She believes I try too hard, and that it has made me too stern at times. I do believe she cares, but she wished that I would be less... the way that I am. She is by far the most open of my family."

[Toritaka Sasaiko]

"Ah." Sasaiko nods.

"For my part, and for as much as it matters, I think you are...more than adequate as you are. Though it is good to hear you laugh and see you smile."

[Asako Saburo]

He breathed a sigh and shrugged. "I think... part of the problem, Toritaka-san, is that I cannot see myself as others see me. I see only the person I see when I look in the mirror. Seeing through the world's eyes is difficult. And yet, you aren't wrong exactly. In some ways, how you see me is more important today than how I see myself. I just have difficulty... seeing that? Yes. That seems a good way to put it." He offered her a thin smile. "Though thank you. I certainly hope to be more than adequate in the end."

[Toritaka Sasaiko]

A hint of a blush touches her cheeks.

"I have no doubt of it, Asako-san. None at all."

She sips, then continues.

"I have been enjoying our teas together. I hope we will be able to continue them in Tsuma."

[Asako Saburo]

He blinked.

Why does she keep blushing? I thought the Toritaka were from southern lands, so this humidity shouldn't be affecting her needlessly. Hmmm, I don't think she looks ill. It must be the training uniforms. They don't breathe properly.

He took a sip of his tea, utterly oblivious to the world around him, and completely aware of that fact. "I have enjoyed them as well. They have been relaxing, and ... yes. I should like to continue this in Tsume. I imagine if there is time before the championship, your clan will keep you near at hand. My mother made arrangements with the assumption I would not be traveling much before the tournament. Too far to go back and forth. Far too many shrines to visit between here and the south, are there not?"

A bit of a witticism. They said that people always arrived weeks later than they were supposed to according to old miya maps, because of course the honored ancestors never got it wrong, so people were always 'stopping at shrines to Koshin along the way.'

[Toritaka Sasaiko]

"I do not think it will be too long, no, and one of the benefits of being from a Minor Clan is that our actions are not always as remarked upon as those of the Great Clans."

She sets her cup down.

"Some might also think that a disadvantage." She shrugs. "But it is as it is."

[Asako Saburo]

"There are those who consider them less worthy of consideration. I tend to think of them as ... focused on niches. The Emperor, by setting them down, allows a small group of individuals to handle a very specific thing, that might be allowed to be passed by were there not those devoted to it. It seems the case with the Moshi, who are near our lands." And it was definitely the case with the Toritaka, though he had only a little understanding of that. "But you aren't wrong. I doubt anyone will be too worried about us being set up in one of the local inns before being sent to Tsume."

If they weren't just asked to stay at the dojo until then. He didn't seem the sort to be fussed by that thought. "Frankly, your focus really does make you a good choice to train as you wish and hope. I imagine that the emerald champion will be paying close attention at Tsume, looking for people like you."

[Toritaka Sasaiko]

The blush intensifies.

"Asako-san flatters."

She smiles, just a touch wickedly.

"Don't stop."

And she laughs quite openly.

[Asako Saburo]

"Is it truly flattery if I say the truth?" he said, confused. Why was she blushing? He looked around. Was it getting stuffy in here? "Toritaka-san. You look a little flushed. Do you wish me to open the screen doors to allow some air to flow through? I know it can get stuffy with the way that the weather is today." Woooow he had no idea.

[Toritaka Sasaiko]

Boys, she thinks, and shakes her head slightly.

"I'll not say no, but the air here is well enough."

She smiles a bit again.

"But as to flattery and truth--the truth can be put flatteringly. Or otherwise."

[Asako Saburo]

He moved after setting the cup down to open two of the screens a crack, allowing some airflow before sitting down again, unaware of any thoughts that might be going through Sasaiko's head right then. It was... not a topic that he really ever thought about in his youth, so he was more than a little unfamiliar. "I like to think I say things just the way that they are, but I suppose there is truth to that. There are ways to say a positive that sound almost a negative." He shook his head. "I would make a terrible courtier, though. I prefer to complement something or someone deserving of it."

[Toritaka Sasaiko]

"Given that many are...unaccustomed to receiving compliments, Asako-san, even that can have a powerful effect."

She leans back just a bit. "And are we not here to try out new talents?"

[Asako Saburo]

He nodded, almost ready to ask if she did not receive compliments often but thinking a little better of it. It might touch on a sore point, and that was better avoided. "We are, indeed, meant to broaden our horizons. No time like the present to try and become the everyman that they believe we are meant to be..."

[Toritaka Sasaiko]

She raises an eyebrow.

"Any place you want to start with me?"

[Asako Saburo]

Blink, blink. He looked directly at her. And with the absolute lack of awareness that only a fifteen year old who'd spent too much of his life closeted away in a bubble could have, he asked. "I... am not sure. What would you like to do with me, Toritaka-san?" Yep, have fun with that one, Sasaiko.

[Toritaka Sasaiko]

Wait, did he just? What?

Sasaiko takes a moment or two to compose herself enough to reply.

"We could study some of the more courtly arts?"

[Asako Saburo]

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," he said, smiling in a way that was a touch awkward, utterly unaware that she'd had to pause to figure out what she was actually doing right now, and what he had suggested. It was a bit of an off smile, mostly because he didn't do them very often, but it was still genuine. Yes, it made sense for her to think about it for a moment. There were a lot of different things that they could be studying, weren't there? You had so many things to choose from.

"There is bound to be a lesson for everyone on the performance of the court besides the daily training sessions. I think the Subtlety of the Court might be a bit ... well, I'm finding that just reading has its limitations. Kuni-san and I were attempting the game of letters. I could show you the one I received back today and perhaps you could help me understand it better and try yourself? It would be a good use of one of our quiet periods tomorrow. Perhaps the evening, but before the Dog?" That doji was always singing in public places during the hour of the dog. So many interruptions.