[D5 LE Expecting] Heirs of Heaven

[Ryoshun Rei]

Rei drank, then leaned back and smiled. "Very good choice, Genji-kun."

[Togashi Satsuki]

Satsuki sipped her sake, then looked away to hide her grimace. Alcohol wasn't something she partook in much, and the taste felt odd to her. "Y-yes... very good."

"So!" Quickly change the subject! "Anything you guys wanna talk about? Apart from Rei-Rei, I haven't really had the chance to meet most of my cousins..."

[Hantei Genji]

"Ha!, Next sear the Bat brewers will make tea inferior, I am sure." He winked at everyone.

When Satsu asked the question he fell silent. "Do your parents ever talk about Tengoku? Father...not a lot. He prefers to think of Ningen-Do, and the many tasks needed ere."

[Doji Dojihime]

Dojihime listened for now, she was content to enjoy the warmth and not really have to think overly long on anything.

[Togashi Satsuki]

When Satsu asked the question he fell silent. "Do your parents ever talk about Tengoku? Father...not a lot. He prefers to think of Ningen-Do, and the many tasks needed ere."

"Sometimes, yeah," she nodded and put her cup at the edge of the pool. Maybe she'd think of a way to dump out the contents later.

"Both mother and father answer any questions we have, and they both know a lot about the realms that lie beyond Ningen-do, including Tengoku. I haven't been there as such myself, but... kind of seen the edges of it, if that makes sense? Like when a lake's water is so clear that you can see the bottom? Kind of like that."

[Doji Dojihime]

Dojihime listened and said, “I have heard the story from my father, all light and perfection and flying dragons. It sounds overly fanciful but that has always been my image of Tengoku; a place of ordered perfection of beautiful things and flying dragons.”

She then took a healthy drink of the alcohol and added, “Or the more idealized form of what our mortal world aspires to be.”

[Togashi Satsuki]

"It is beautiful, yes," she nodded in agreement, sighing softly. How she wished she could've done like her mother and seen it all with her own eyes.

"But father says that Ningen-do has a beauty that Tengoku doesn't have, and we should in many ways seek to understand that uniqueness and beauty."

[Doji Dojihime]

"Beauty is defined by imperfection," she mused repeating the words of many a Crane artisan.

"But what do you say Kosaru-chan, it seems our lives and even words are defined by our parents. One must wonder when we stop living in their shadow and are simply ourselves," she mused aloud.

[Togashi Satsuki]

"A common metaphor for such pursuit of self-identity is that 'one must kill one's parents'. Which isn't literal of course, as the meaning behind the parable is that you must separate your self from the self that has been created by your childhood and upbringing."

Satsuki shook her head with an amused smile. "I don't know... I think I'm very much my own person, pursuing my own interests, without trying to be my parents? I'm not trying to be the teacher or artisan that mother is, or... well, everything that father is."

[Doji Dojihime]

“Maybe it’s different for all of us… I just feel that when people look at me they my mother or my father or expect me to be them. I feel that I am just me, but what others think is just as important as who I know myself to be,” she said wistfully.

“Then I wonder… in some far future will I be subjecting my own children to this very existential crisis of identity and self? I see you as your own person, cousin but what do others see? I know we cannot control that, but it does play a role in how others treat us and what they expect of us.”

Dojihime added, “I apologize, this is where my mind goes when I have quiet moments.”

[Togashi Satsuki]

"Nothing to apologise for, Hime-chan," Satsuki offered kindly with a smile. "I think all four us here can relate to what you're saying, with the expectations of us having to meet up to our parents' standards - but more the expectations others have of us."

"I still have people in my clan who look to me, expecting me to be wise and perfect and to be a leader who might one day take my father's place, but... well, life's too short to be concerned about what others think of you? You can't please everyone."

[Ryoshun Rei]

"My father has never spoken of it." Rei said after listening to the others. "Perhaps, it is because our time with him is limited. Or, he might not care to think of it. I've never asked him. Agasha has told me about Tengoku, though. Mostly the dragons."

[Togashi Satsuki]

"I think your father probably has a unique point of view that we should consider more sometimes." Satsuki agreed with Rei, smiling at her fellow white-haired cousin. When you're dead you're not concerned about politics and stupid people expecting things of you; family was probably much more important to him.

"How often do you get to see your father?"

[Doji Dojihime]

"I still have people in my clan who look to me, expecting me to be wise and perfect and to be a leader who might one day take my father's place, but... well, life's too short to be concerned about what others think of you? You can't please everyone."

“Pleasing everyone is literally my job,” she said laughing lightly.

"My father has never spoken of it." Rei said after listening to the others. "Perhaps, it is because our time with him is limited. Or, he might not care to think of it. I've never asked him. Agasha has told me about Tengoku, though. Mostly the dragons."

"I have always wondered, how do you talk to your... father?" she asked.

[Ryoshun Rei]

"Prayer." she answered. "I can hear him when I am near Shiden Ryoshun, as I can with many spirits, and I know he can hear me when I pray to him. There are times however, when the boundaries between the realms are thinner. Those are the few moments when we can see him."

[Togashi Satsuki]

Satsuki watched Rei with a quiet and thoughtful expression, with something mysterious to her gentle smile.

"... I think I take it for granted how easily I can speak with my parents. But I'm glad to know he's not gone forever, that you can still hear him, and see him. I hope I can visit Shinden Ryoshun someday, and offer my prayers too."

[Ryoshun Rei]

"Uncle gave me permission to build a shrine." she smiled. "I hope that will help bring father closer to everyone."

[Doji Dojihime]

Dojihime nodded her approval, she was still wrapping her head around the fact Rei's father was a ghost, she figured she would be use to that fact but nope... still weird.

[Togashi Satsuki]

Satsuki nodded too. "I'm happy for you, Rei-Rei. You should come visit again some time too. Maybe bring Agasha along too." There was a happy smile, then she looked from Rei to Dojihime, and to Genji. Then back to the two girls.

"Soooo... we all know auntie Kinsen is pretty much scoping out any person with a womb to hook Genji-kun up with. What about you two? Your parents aren't pushing you to get married right?"

[Doji Dojihime]

"They can try, but I have plenty of siblings to pawn that off onto," she said with her eyes closed relaxing.

"But it is fun to play matchmaker."