"OK well tell me about her. I mean, no don't I don't need another distraction that will go nowhere. You know what, forget I even asked."Shiba Jiro wrote: ↑Fri Nov 19, 2021 11:13 pm"Because I am using my judgement as a nakodo and intuition as your brother. You would have to talk to her yourself to understand why." He shrugs.
The girl looks at the river thoughtfully as he speaks. As he kneels down to get the rock, she nods with an "mhm", and soon adds. "You do have a point, I guess, Kakita-san. Although... we try to live up to others, ne? And... to ourselves. Ne?"Kakita Yuji wrote: ↑Fri Nov 19, 2021 4:31 amYuji thought about it.
"It's hard to say isn't it? There are so many stories of the ancestors their triumphs writ large across the pages of the Empire. One can almost forget they were human. They faced difficulties, had needs, and experienced adversity just like any of us. But we have such an idealized picture of them in our mind when we try to picture words that are too perfect to have ever existed."
The trio (Yutaka was still there after all) came to the bank of the Tangu river the water lazily meandering it's way to the ocean.
"Kind of like the reaction I've been getting from some people about a project I'm working on. I'm trying to obtain two poems from each of the competitors in the tournament: one of their initial impression of the tournament and one their final impression. But some have built the ide3a up into this impossibly huge request. Surely their words must rival that of the great poets of old! And they feel they cannot compare and should not try."
He scooped up a rock and skipped it along the water.
"Which reminds me, I need to ask you if you would participate in such a project, Ikoma-san. I would like to add your thoughts to the compilation."
"I hope this will do, Kakita-san. If I may... may I ask you what your poem was?"pebbles on a stream
hopping boldly; just how far
'ere they skip a dream?
He returned the hug.Shiba Jiro wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 11:46 am"The brach will be fine. I can work with it."
He steps in and hugs Haru.
"Don't bury it brother. You have me to listen to you. And you know that no matter what you say or how you feel, I still love you. If you need time to think, then do so, but don't keep it to yourself."
"I just need to do some more growing I guess. All I feel right now is shame and jealousy which leads to more shame."Shiba Jiro wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 9:04 pm"You are half of a whole. We're just twice the person that most are. They had to split us because it would have been unfair to everyone else if they hadn't," he says with a smirk.
"Our journey is never going to be over. We're just going to have some branches. Still grew the roots and trunk together though."
"Oh... mother and father had nothing to do with the arrangment with Natsuko. They told me as much, it was a surprise to them too. That was all the work of some Isawa nakodo I gathered. Don't be angry with them for that. Perhaps they're working on it now while we're away," he says with a smile to him while he squats by the big branch.Shiba Haru wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 9:55 pm"The past isn't what I am feeling bad about as much as the future. I don't think I'm ready for a future without you but with every day the becomes more certain. My hope was that in winning this thing I could get myself posted wherever you end up being called to serve. All I have is uncertainty right now and it angers me. I'm angry at mother and father for not arranging a marriage for me, at least that would give me a rock to cling to even if she weren't here like Natsuko-san is for you. I have no idea what comes next for me and when you have known every day what you were supposed to do... I'm a duelist, the Topaz Championship has been a goal of mine ever since I knew what it was but if things continue they way they have I won't even be invited to participate in the dueling. Do you understand how shameful that will that will be? To me, to our parents, to our ancestors? The very thought of it is unbearable so when it comes true I will be utterly lost."
It was a lot to take in, but listening for awhile, Yuji knew what to say.Ikoma Aya wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 7:42 pm
The girl looks at the river thoughtfully as he speaks. As he kneels down to get the rock, she nods with an "mhm", and soon adds. "You do have a point, I guess, Kakita-san. Although... we try to live up to others, ne? And... to ourselves. Ne?"
She follows the rock as it traces its path creating circles on the water. "Hm. Speaking of that. What would Kakita-san have to say about this year's Topaz championship? As a local... you must have seen many of them, ne?"
Since he started talking about his project, she looked at him a few times. She seemed to half-expect his request, and her eyes made clear she wasn't too sure what to make of it.
She knelt down herself to take a pebble of her own. Looked at it for a moment, then at the river. For a moment, a slight smile crept into her lips - a melancholic smile, maybe, but a smile.
"That's an interesting project, Kakita-san. One most Ikoma would approve of, I bet. May I ask you to see the results of your project when it's done?"
She looked away again, pebble still on her hand. Then, instead of throwing it, she looked for something that could be carved with letters - she carried no parchment or paper on her, and didn't expect the Kakita to do either. So a piece of damp wood would have to do, for now.
Instead of being thrown, the pebble soon carved letters into the wood. As she was done, a small smile crossed her lips again, her eyes lost on the river. The pebble was soon dropped again, and she handed the Kakita the piece of wood, with angular, but carefully carved letters.
"I hope this will do, Kakita-san. If I may... may I ask you what your poem was?"pebbles on a stream
hopping boldly; just how far
'ere they skip a dream?
