Kakita left the Bat residences early that morning and walked through the castle. He could see the fingers pointing, the veiled whispers, the constant pressing of outer distraction on his mind…

But his mind was focused… distraction brings forth disaster.


—————

“Ow!” Hayaku rubbed his head. “That’s not fair! You were talking to me. Why’d Grandmother hit me?”

Grandfather smiled, “If you’re distracted you’ll never see what’s comin’ for ya Osoku-kun.”

Hayaku ducked the blow that came half-way through Grandfather’s words.

Grandfather smiled, “Not as slow as you used to be…”

——————

Kakita focused on his kata… now was not the time for distraction.

The dojo was supposed to be reserved for the Imperial families usage in the morning, but the palace staff had received instructions to be accommodating with rules in light of the exceptional situation. So he just nodded at the sight of the Bat samurai training there.

He himself had been quite negligent of his physical training as of late, but the previous day discussions with Kuu and Nozomi had picked his curiosity about the potential of the human body.

So he had dusted off his lightweight training clothes, that did nothing to hide how emaciated he was or his scars for monsters and diseases, and were so old they even predated the widespread usage of mons.

And now he was wearing them again, standing on the training grounds, going through a standard warm-up of all his muscles and joints.

Kakita continued his training with the skill of a master undisturbed for another several minutes before turning aside and finding a place near the corner to collect his breath.


————

D5 Fluff Iai/Ref Practice: 10d10o10k8 61

That was quite the impressive display, and further more not in a style Ayumu knew of.

Curiosity had him join the Bat for his break, bow and speak:

"Jiyo Ayumu, born of the Isawa, now servant of Shiba. Pleased to meet you Bat-sama.

If I may ask, your technique is not like anything I've ever seen before. What is it called and where did you learn it?"

He bowed in deference to the man, “It is the form of the kami displayed at the tournament which revealed Lord Shiba to be the rightful arbiter of the heavens on earth.”

He continued, “A form of such training is taught among the Crane. My style is a combination of that form and another which I have practiced in the mountains of the Bat.”

He bowed again, “I am called Kakita. Attendant to Ryoshun Rei of the Bat.”

"A one name man? This is becoming increasingly uncommon.

I used to go by simply Ayumu for a time after joining Shiba – and have no issue with people calling me just that, without honorifics and all, to this day – but as the double name usage became prominent, it eventually turned confusing for my interlocutors and I decided to follow the new norm instead.

I guess you must be one of your clan elite then? What we call a family founder now a lot of them have turned parents? Your mastery of the blade seems to back up that theory at least."

He shook his head, “I have only recently come to find welcome in the Bat. I have no followers or family to look after me.”

"Oh. Sorry to hear about that. I hope you will be able to rebuild your life within the Bat in time. There were a lot of people whose ties had been severed by an unfortunate life among the very first followers of the Kami, and in most cases their new clan helped them becoming whole anew.

If I may ask, what made you choose the Bat in particular? Swordspeople tend to be attracted by more martial clans usually."

He nodded, “I suppose one could say destiny. I was traveling through the lands of the Bat when some of their people found me. They invited me to their home and told me that they had been sent to find me. The Lady Nazo was more than kind in her welcoming and has provided me with a new sense of purpose.”

"Destiny eh? That word has been on everyone's lips since the fall, but as of late it seems to have acquired a new meaning entirely. Not as the general concept of things that are bound to happen, but more as having the potential to decide a great deal of the future.

For about a decade now, the monks of Shinsei have been roaming the Empire, telling some people they were marked by destiny and offering to help them in fulfilling their great purpose. How they choose people and what exactly they know about their future is shrouded in mystery.

And even before that, there is at least one occurrence of the dark powers of Jigoku attempting to assassinate a samurai whose life could have thwarted their own destiny. Some countermeasures are supposed to have been implemented by the Empire's best shugenja after that incident, the details of which I don't know.

But your story seems to hint that at least one of them is a search for special persons similar to the action of the Order of Heroes."

He tilted his head slightly, “I know little of such a search… but I know of my own path and seek to follow it the best I can.”

"You're not very talkative about where that path will lead you but that's not my role to pry.

However, what is part of my duty is to ask you about the tensions between yourself and the Crane. I didn't bother listening to the details, but seems you have some beef with at least one of them, who's been shouting their disdain of you from all rooftops.

I would like to remind you we have a full judiciary system dedicated to solve disagreements between parties in the fairest way possible. Without going that far, the Imperial servants would be pleased to offer any help they can in defusing the situation."

He smiled politely and bowed in deference, "Thank you for your support. I tend to not pay too much attention to the distractions that seek to pull me this way or that. Any contention with the 'Crane' as a whole is merely a misunderstanding, I'm sure. I have nothing but positive feelings towards the noble followers of Lady Doji."

He then continued, "If I am not mistaken, however, the law promulgated by the Lady Jiyo implores any inter-clan dispute to be resolved by the parties concerned first... I am sure if any issue were to arise that resulted in the need for resolution we could find amicable means of resolving the issue without oversight from the Imperial families."

Ayumu nodded:

"It was but an offer, and you're indeed perfectly allowed to decline it."

He took a deep breath, relaxed his muscles and stood straight:

"Well, unless you've got some questions of your own to avenge yourself for my own interrogations, I guess I have no more excuse to lengthen my break."

He tilted his head slightly to show interest and asked, “How long have you served the Lady Jiyo and in what capacities? If you permit me to interrupt you just a bit more.”

"Seventeen, eighteen years? I didn't keep count.

Long enough that I don't really consider myself a follower of Jiyo, only a follower of Shiba. At the time, if you weren't a shugenja, you were assigned to Jiyo, and that's about it. As I hinted at before, I wouldn't even carry her name if not for tradition.

Not that I have any issue with Jiyo. Quite the contrary even. But respecting someone and considering someone to be family are too fully distinct things, and in my opinion, that naming convention blurs the lines.

As for my duties, during the first years, a bit of everything and anything. Lot of work, not enough of us, everyone had to be versatile. Depending of what was needed, I could be a guard, a diplomat, an aide-de-camp. One day I would be on watch duty, another I would be keeping the books, the third cooking and mending. All in all, my task then could be described as a jack-of-all-trades assistant.

In the last years, I have focused on working as a teacher, helping prepare the next generation of Imperial civil servants. Mostly, this means teaching kids how to read and write, alongside a bit of history and law."

“I see. A noble pursuit. The way of the sword is nothing without the tempering of the more violent impulses such training encourages.” He replied.

"I'm not in charge of the martial portion of their training, but, from my understanding, a lot of my students – the future accountants, librarians, architects, artists... – won't ever receive more than the bare minimal amount required to not cut themselves with the blade that'll eventually hang by their hips.

As for the others... I guess? I confess I've never really meditated about how knowing one's letters make one better or worst at swinging sharp steel. Giving people a chance to better their life and whose of everyone in the Empire, with the side effect of making them more hopeful and thus less prone to violence, seem already a nice enough end goal by itself."

“I once had an instructor who told me that ‘A man whose sword is always drawn is never approached. He has no allies. Yet a man who never draws his sword will find it rusting in its sheath.’ There’s importance in finding balance… no matter what your main duties may be.”

He looked at the group training across the room, “All things are necessary in life at some point- war, peace, the edge of the sword, and the sound of a poem. With understanding, all things are one… they share a rhythm.”

"There's a legend about a man so physically weak he couldn't even lift a small stick, yet ended up known as a formidable warrior. Because his tongue was so sharp all of his opponents would drop their weapons and cower in fear as soon as he started talking to them.

The steel blade is but one way one can fight when one needs to fight. Knowing one's place in the world is also knowing which blades are ours and how to hone them.

Obsessing over a blade that is not made for us is a waste of the previous little time we have. Disregarding one of our weapons because we already own a better one is a mistake one pays dearly for the day our favorite blade meets an enemy it cannot defeat.

As you said, it's all about balance. And each person has their own balance they need to find."