Haru was in a bad mood but had the decency to knock on his brothers door this time.

"Jiro, can I come in we need to talk?"

Jiro called out. "Come on in."

He was lying on his tatami mat, staring at the ceiling, his hands resting on his chest.

He entered the room, sliding the door shut behind him quietly.

"Apologies brother I expected you to be up by now, did you have a late night?"

His tone was uncharacteristically neutral but low.

"I have been up for a while. Not a late night, no. Did you sleep well Haru?" he asked his brother in a friendly tone. His smile was real, but a bit sad.

"I did, despite how odd my day was yesterday. I was hoping we could work on Yuji-san's gift a bit this morning while I trouble you for some advice and give you some you don't want. I'm bound to screw up the gift more than once so we should start working on it."

He moved into the room properly and started preparing some tea, a rare thing for him to do.

"Sounds good," he says, rolling off the mat and making his way to his feet. He grabs the supplies arranged for and starts setting it up while tea is prepared.

"My advice? Don't over-steep."

"I did OK in the tea ceremony test, give me a chance to show you I've been paying attention. Though, I realized in that test that I should have paid more attention and asked you to teach me properly years ago. At the very least I may need the skill to impress a girl some day."

Tea Ceremony with Jiro
No skill so approach is whatever | TN: 2 | Success: 3 / Opportunity: 0 / Strife: 1



"So I need some advice, let me tell you about the past few days if you don't mind."

"Of course. And I can teach you if you are looking to learn," he says, accepting the tea.

"Fill me in."

"So after the test, a test I'm not sure I could have reasonably done better at and still failed mind you, I went for a long delayed ride with Suzume Rin-san.

It was a really good time and helped me resolve my feelings on some things. See, while I haven't explicitly said it I was developing feelings for both Rin-san and Mitsuko-san. A complicated situation but over the past few days I had pretty much realized that while I care for Rin-san I DEEPLY care for Mitsuko-san.

This is a terrible place for me to be because, as you may or may not be aware, they are in love with each other."

Haru sipped his tea and was pleased with his effort.

"They are not in love with each other," he says with a shake of his head. "At best, they are deeply infatuated with each other. Kuni-san just came from a family situation where her self confidence was low. Positive reinforcement and compliments are something I don't think she is used to. Suzume-san is wonderfully pleasant but also extremely upbeat and complimentary. These two personalities feed off of each other. It may be that someday they might actually be in love, but they barely know anything about each other."

He sips.

"You and I have known each other our whole lives, understand each other's tendencies, share things we would not with others, argue like rivals, and show affection. Have you ever noticed that that is not so different from how mother and father act towards each other? To love something you need to know it. You like them, they like each other, but none of it is love. Doesn't mean it's not meaningful or important, but don't rush into concepts that you are barely aware of. And as for how to handle being in the middle? Sit down with both of them and have a damn awkward conversation, all three."

"Well, I've had plenty of awkward conversations with Mitsuko but we will get to that.

Needless to say Rin-san has zero interest in me, which is actually a blessing I think but yes Infatuation is probably the right word. So after that I went to the Crane event, after the kit match that I clearly let you win I went to the pool and Yuji-san's game of holding your breath.

By the way, he most enjoys painting the same scene from different seasons so maybe we can do something with that? a painting of him painting something in winter but his canvas shows spring?

Anyway, I didn't stay long because I got my kimono a bit soaked, I went to the training ground to try and dry off and wring some of the water out of clothes and ran into Togashi Shinko-san, do you know here?"

Where previously this would have been a loaded question there was nothing accusatory in his tone this time.

"Not really, I've just seen her compete and poke around a dead body," he says with a shrug. "And did Suzume-san say she was interested?"

He keeps the info about Yuji in mind.

"Interested in me? No, I just said she isn't interested in me.

Anyway, Shinko-san was there and after a few suggestive comments and looks at me with my kimono off she challenged me to a little bokken match. If I lost, I would have to go on a date with her.

A double date.

With you and Kasumi."


Sip.

"Did you accept the match? And if so, did you win?" he asks as though nothing is wrong with that.

Sip.

"I did and I did.

The result being that her and I will be having a "date" tonight, just the two of us."

Haru studied his brother's On carefully and made no attempt to hide it, a smirk on his face.

"That is good. I would have hated to have to tell Natsuko-san I had to cancel our outing because a degenerate gambler roped me into a dinner date," he says, a light smile appearing.

"So, it turns out that part of the reason she approached me is because of the things I whispered to Kasumi when we met the other day. Again, I will spare you the details but SHE didn't in recounting my claims. Needless to say I am fucking livid about her utter lack of class and decorum."

His tone was much calmer than his words.

"Then she leaves, rather suddenly which allowed me to race back here and change because I had dinner plans with Mitsuko last night. let me tell you, that was as awkward as it gets. I told her everything. She mentioned asking her parents about arranging a marriage with me. I offered to let her be with Rin if that happened. It was weird and intense and I'm having a hard time getting it all straight in my head."

"Ah... You guys don't understand. You are all political pieces to be wielded by nakodo. I would have been too if I hadn't been arranged as breeding stock for our family's history," he smiles warmly at Haru. And yet, it can't be ignored that while Haru is angry, Jiro is absolutely speaking from a place of pure cynicism.

"Stop worrying about marrying for love. Find bits of happiness where you can. Work with the person you are paired with, hope that it is pleasant. Do your duty and make your own happiness brother. That is what we must do, because the clans don't issue happiness to their samurai."

Haru matches his brothers cynicism but remained warm to Jiro. "Oh come on you keep talking like you are above this all but tell me truthfully, how much "happiness" have you found with Kasumi? I bet more than you are willing to admit. You're just as infatuated as the rest of us aren't you? Kasumi is with you, I can feel it."

He looked at his brother with pleading eyes.

"You've got to stay away from her Jiro, I know you care for her but she can't be trusted. You deserve better than her, please."

"I feel. Just like you do. And I recognize it for what it is. I won't stop spending time with a friend based on the opinions of others, even you Haru."

His smile is replaced by an expression of curiosity. "Have you ever been faced with a choice between two things, knowing that you will feel regret no matter which you choose?"