Sora strode into the dojo without much preamble, picked up the practice naginata, and got to work.

The weapon was still so new to most of the Empire that nobody had really mastered it yet, but he liked to think he was making progress.

Certainly, he put the polearm- so much more elegant than his old dagger-axes had ever been- through an array of swings that belied his age.

Never mind getting good at things like tea ceremonies, or sewing, or growing flowers. Never mind working on your calligraphy, or your interpersonal skills. Never mind honing any skills that make anyone's life better.

The blade portion of his practice weapon described an arc that would have neatly severed a human head.

At the end of the day, you're not as far from your Hikaru origins as you like to think, and you're still a killer.

It was the truth. But it wasn't the whole truth.

He brought e weapon back around ina s weeping strike that would have done little damage, but would have cleared room around him in the jumbled chaos of a fight.

Damn right I'm a killer. And sometimes a bad man.

But the world needs bad men. We keep worse things away from the good ones.

A rising strike that would have gutted anyone unlucky enough to be on the other end of it transitioned into a curious fending motion, using the point of the blade almost as if it were a spear.

I should leave letters for Jin, and Koyama, and the others. In case things go sour here. I can trust at least some of my operatives to go to ground. And protect Kinyoubi, Shirayuki, Phi, and Soryu until they can get to the Ki-Rin lands.

He knew he had but to ask, and several in the castle would cheerfully die to strike at any target he designated.

But that's not what I need them for.

The blade described another brutal arc.

I need them to learn. To be better than I am.

More than I am.

Just like my children.

But Phi had repeated a code phrase.

What else has she figured out?

Gusai, following the exercises of the morning, feels the need for more physical exercise, something with which he has something like skill.

So he bows himself into the dojo, keeping clear of Sora for the moment as he limbers up--though he certainly sketches a bow that way, there being no need to be rude, after all.

His warm-up goes adequately (Jiujutsu 23), moving through a series of strikes in several directions that students of judo might recognize as belonging to Seiryoku-Zenyo-Kokumin-Taiiku, limbering up his joints, among others.

Ah. Another wrinkle.

The Stag and Crane are thick as thieves, and flailing about looking for more partners. The Crane... no, not the Crane, Nanzi chafes at how the vision he was so delighted by wasn't chosen as Tengoku's victor. So he's trying to leverage an end-run, playing a long game.

But it's equally plain that whatever enslaver's worldviews the Stage and Crane Kami may espouse, that they have individuals who can perhaps be trusted.

Efforts should be made.

Carefully

He finished his routine with a serviceable enough swing, and then, leaning on the weapon, observed the Stag.

Gusai's jiujutsu warm-up completed, a knife appears in his hand. Perhaps he is rusty, perhaps he is distracted, but his heart seems not to be in it, somehow (Knives 19). Still, it's clear he is familiar with the use of the weapon--the more so when a second joins the first.

But he is soon aware of the regard being paid him, and he sheathes his weapons, bowing.

"I'd guess you have some insights, Jiyo-sama," he offers.

"Well. I could probably suggest an improvement to your grip and angle of attack there."

He drew his own knife and demonstrated.

"I mean, assuming your enemy is facing you, anyhow..."

"Not always the case aboard ship, true," Gusai admits. "Could you show me that grip again, please?"

He pulls out his own knife to mimic.

"Ran into your daughter not long ago," he adds. "Or, rather, the other way around."

Sora's eyebrows went up as he demonstrated the grip again.

"Which one? They're twins, so it can be hard to tell, especially if they want it to be..."

Gusai's hand adjusts on the handle. "That does feel better, yeah," he says, before adding "She said Phi. But now that you've said that, I have to wonder." He grins.

"Polite young lady, either way."

Indeed, the grip does improve matters, if only slightly (21). More practice will be needed.

But that's why he's here.

"Polite? Probably really Phi. She picked up a notion of etiquette during a visit to the Scorpion lands. Shirayuki can be courteous enough, but she generally lets it slide as soon as she figures out she can."

He paused.

"So where did my offspring collide with you?"

"In the gardens," Gusai answers. "Said she was practicing fox-chasing for a contest with her sister. Involves the Lord Consort's fox."

Gusai tries the grip with the other hand. Yes, definitely better.

"Oh, Fortunes.... poor Hsieh-Hsieh."

He shook his head, clearly stifling laughter.

"My firstborn imps from Sakkaku cooperate in trying to get the poor old man into a kimono to attend tea parties. I believe it's some abstruse set of rules they arrived at when he stole an egg from Shirayuki's breakfast once."

Gusai does not stifle the laughter so well. Less experience, most like.

"That'd be a sight to see!" he says. "And quite the story to tell!"

A bit of space, more motion with the knives. Much, much better.

"He takes it reasonably well, all things being equal. Although I had to get them to stop using MY kimono for it. Foxes shed more fur than you might think..."

"They caught him?" Gusai asks, somewhat incredulous. "Quite an achievement!"

"Well." He seemed a bit pleased. "They cheat, after all."

"Oh? How could a person cheat in such a contest, cunning as foxes are, and the Lord Consort's, especially?

"Setting bait for ambushes, laying out decoy breakfasts to confuse him... And once Shirayuki used one of Yuzuru-sama's robes from the laundry to mask her scent."

He grinned.

"I told her to never do that again, and that I was very proud of her."

"It does promise an interesting future for the two of them," Gusai agrees. "Especially Shirayuki."

He stretches out his wrists as he continues, rolls his neck.

"I feel like I'm learning a lot about the Lord Consort's fox today. I've heard stories, but..." he shrugs. "I know, too, that stories...shift, somewhat. Like those that'll come from today."

"Part of why I have such a passion for getting things written down, Otomo-san. It may not always be the truth, but it's a story resistant to... shifts."

Gusai flushes somewhat.

"It's...not a skill I have," he admits.