Breakfast For Bastards (D5 Late Morning) [Mizuki's Room]

[Yogo Mizuki]

Mizuki was up. Everything is prepared. She had left her mask off. She had seen him before, but hadn't got to know him. He was handsome which in a gaijin. Something Mizuki considered to be a positive.

But her mind wasn't so much on the breakfast. What happened last night? She looked at her tea depressed. Am I going to hurt her? I can't return the feelings. So, why did I do it? Mizuki herself was hurt and confused over the day. And Yue came in declaring her love like some pillow book. She said it was her last opportunity. Just a little bit of happiness. It's what I believe about the Curse. I just want a little bit of happiness. But Mizuki couldn't shake the feeling that she would just wind up betraying her too. Maybe the Curse isn't to betray the one you love most. Maybe it's to betray everyone you love. Isn't that what they say about Yogo? Damn Yuichi! Filling my brain with his self-loathing and bitterness. But she doesn't feel it. He's probably right.

Mizuki casts these doubts from her mind. She's meeting a possible suitor. She needs to be on her game.

[Moto Butaj]

Butaj increasingly has his own relationship issues to think about. Last night he traded one beard for one confession of a childhood crush, and there were newer feelings his heart may have picked up but none of those matter as much as the sadness because of Chi-pu's passing. The invitation for breakfast seems nice and kind so it does not behoove him to respond poorly to it and bring sorrows to it. He tries to emanate his usual positivity when he enters the building and heads in the direction where Mizuki's room can be.The heimin are uncooperative so he just stands at the end of the wing before several screens and announces himself. "It is Moto Butaj!"

[Yogo Mizuki]

Mizuki opens the door. "Hello, This one is Yogo Mizuki. Please, come in." She is beautiful, though her looks are more like the Crane Butaj might have seen. She invites him to sit.

"Thank you for coming, Moto-san."

[Moto Butaj]

Butaj has not seen enough to make easy differentiation between different eastern beauties to note the oddity. Her beauty is an unqualified feature thus and makes him broaden his smile, contract his abs and pull the diaphragm up before he knows it. "Butaj is happy to meet you." He nods, then remembers to try a bow. She looks too frail for handshakes so he doesn't offer it. Intrigued, he follows her lead and sits where pointed to, cross-legged.

[Yogo Mizuki]

Mizuki returns the bow and sits down across from Butaj. "Normally, Scorpion would wear their mask, but I'm told that it bothers some Unicorn. Besides, I'm sure you want to see my face."

Mizuki sips some tea. "I suppose you will want to know about me. The Yogo Family are a powerful shugenja family, but I do not possess such talents. So, I took up the other Yogo duty of watching over my Clan's financial interests. This has led me to being a... bit more direct than many of my kin."

[Moto Butaj]

"Butaj appreciates honesty." The Moto nods, studying her face. It was pleasant to look at. "Butaj also appreciates those with talents in commerce for they provide for the Clan."

[Yogo Mizuki]

Mizuki considers for a moment how many Unicorn have commended her for her honesty. They may be developing a misleading view of her Clan. She feels like she has done her duty.

But she nods in appreciation for the comment. "Thank you." After a moment, "There is something you should know about the Yogo. Our ancestor was a powerful shugenja and a cunning general. He defeated an army led by Fu Leng himself. The Dark One Cursed him to betray the one he loves most." Mizuki takes a deep breath. "A Curse that has been passed to his descendants. My parents had it. I have it. My children will have it."

Before Butaj can react, Mizuki adds, "It does not always end in an epic tragedy. My parents love each other. And while the Curse hurts, they have managed to move on." Remembering yesterday's conversation with Yuichi. "And sometimes, it does."

She watches Butaj's reaction carefully while she eats some rice.

[Moto Butaj]

Butaj rubs his stubble at the revelation. He's not taken aback, turned aghast, just confused. Somehow terrible fates and great misfortunes others like to give big words to when they tell about them don't have the same effect in Butaj's mind. Shit happens in life, but it doesn't mean you have to stop smiling and looking forward to joys of life. How else he would be a cheerful bastard?

"It does sound to Butaj like Yogo Mizuki has learned to live with this old curse and has some good examples and ideas how to deal with it and go about it. Are you able to enjoy life despite it weighing on you?" Ah, those large toothpicks. Where's a fork? "Does it happen with every love or only one love? It would surprise Butaj if Yogo Mizuki has not been in love yet."

[Yogo Mizuki]

Mizuki cheered up. This is certainly going better than with the Iuchi. "It is the supposed to be the one you love most. But historians can't even agree who Yogo betrayed." Mizuki shrugs.

"I am looking for happiness and do occasionally find it." Mizuki ignores the love comment. Probably not the best thing to admit to a potential suitor.

"I do have examples. One is my mother. She is a talented artist and was invited to study at the Kakita Artisan Academy. Shortly after she left, I was born. Funny thing is, I look like a Crane despite neither of my parents having a drop of Crane blood."

[Moto Butaj]

"Well, Butaj has a good idea why he doesn't look like his father at all." Butaj chuckles. "It is usually a simple matter. Butaj's mother chose how she chose, and so Butaj is who he is. Butaj likes to think it makes him more interesting and capable, not less. If Butaj's real father managed to enamour a married woman, he must have been a more formidable man than her husband, and that tells a lot." Butaj takes a 'toothpick' and skewers a pickle with it before tasting it contemplatively. "What makes Yogo Mizuki happy then?"

[Yogo Mizuki]

Well, that's an interesting way to look at it. Mizuki gives Butaj a smile. So, he's a bastard too.

Mizuki takes a moment to think. "I do enjoy my duty. If I can't be a shugenja, I can still be a Yogo that way. Besides, there's something enjoyable about cutting a good deal and crushing your opponents. Otherwise, I enjoy the theater. I've also been experimenting in making my own sake. It's OK. What does Moto-san enjoy?"

[Moto Butaj]

"Riding, wrestling, music, dance, and other things. Like Yogo Mizuki, Butaj enjoys things he's good at."

[Yogo Mizuki]

Mizuki gives him a smile. "So, you're a talented man. And what does Moto Butaj look for in a wife?"

[Moto Butaj]

"Butaj would like to trust his wife. Love would be nice, but Butaj would settle for enough tender feelings that spending time together and lying with each other would bring joy rather than not. But more than else Butaj would like his wife to know that his soul is from the steppe and his heart has grown to be a Unicorn, and this part of Butaj will never disappear even when in another Clan. Butaj would be very sad if his wife tried to make him into something he is not and cannot be, and would disrespect where Butaj comes from, his traditions and customs. Ideally, Butaj's wife would help him find a way in a new Clan that is not at odds with who Butaj is, and would like to learn about the ways of the west from Butaj as much as he would like to learn about the ways of the east from her." He chuckles as he looks at her. "Butaj asks for a lot already, doesn't he? If he could ask for more, he would like his wife to be beautiful, passionate in bed and enjoying music and dance."

[Yogo Mizuki]

Mizuki's smiles gets smacked off of her face. Trust.

She recovers her on as he lists off things. The others she could satisfy. She wasn't much of a dancer, but could learn. Another match dead at the beginning. But he didn't react to learning about the Curse like the Iuchi. Mizuki needed to make sure.

"But Moto-san, if we married, and I loved you, I would betray you. Is that something you could live with? I will take no insult if it is not. You would not be the first. You would not be the last." That was a lie. She would try not to be insulted, but rejection always hurts.