Learning to be proper (Day 9 EM, Akil's yurt)

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa nods.

"Another good thing about learning famous quotes, it's a nice sidestep of arguments." she says. "It's one thing to poke holes in the words of a fellow samurai, it's quite another to try and go against the words of the founders of the Empire."

[Shinjo Akil]

"So I should start reading Leadership and the Sword and all of those?" He nodded, his hand moving to scritch the top of Takahiro's head.

[Doji Fukawa]

Takahiro leaned into Akil's hand thoroughly happy.

Once we're married..... Fukawa thought.


Fukawa smiles.

"You're in luck, I brought those along with a book of Tao sayings, and The Subtely of Court, along to the miai." she says.

She looks seriously at him.

"Although never try quoting Leadership to a Lion. It's an excellent way to start a fight with them. Actually, the Tao will set them off too."

[Shinjo Akil]

"Why?" He canted his head, "I suppose I understand Leadership, but why would they shirk the Tao's wisdom like that?"

[Doji Fukawa]

"As the story goes, when Akodo himself was presented with the wisdom of Shinsei, he rejected it, saying 'Your way is not our way.' Akodo felt that a samurai's full devotion should be to bushido, not the various insights of a monk that had the ear of Shiba and the Emperor. The Emperor ordered that a copy of the Tao of Shinsei would be placed in every Lion dojo. Being an honorable samurai, Akodo obeyed this. However, he ordered his clan that they would never open their copies of the Tao. To this day, if you go to a Lion dojo, you should find an unopened copy of the Tao of Shinsei on display."

Fukawa smiles a bit.

"Though when they emptied out their dojo here, they apparently even took that with them." she added, amused at the Lion's thoroughness.

[Shinjo Akil]

"Yes, they sure were in a hurry," he nodded with a bit of a laugh, "Though... I mean, it is not like they are all that bad, right?"

[Doji Fukawa]

The smile flew off of Fukawa's face so fast it was as if Akil had slapped her. She turned away from him to stare out the yurt.

"If.....if you tallied up all of the deaths of the Crane clan through the entire history of the Empire, you would find 'Killed by a member of the Lion clan on the battlefield' to be the leading cause of death among the Crane.

Nearly ever summer they go to war with one of their neighbors. They have used what was your clan's land to raise the largest military in the history of the Empire. They used the surplus wealth to bind the Scorpion clan to them, so their territory gains will not be reversed in the Winter. They pressured the Phoenix to swap the land they had torn away from the Phoenix to be exchanged for the land we had given the Phoenix, ending a centuries old alliance, and driving a literal land wedge between the Crane and Phoenix clans, and giving the Lion access to the ocean. They've built the Shimizu capital on that land. With the help of the Scorpion, they had a member of their clan marry the Emperor. They won a war against the Naga and further strengthened themselves with the spoils from that. There are some who say they are five years away from conquering the Empire."

As she had listed off what she knew about the Lion clan, Fukawa was near tears.

"But other than that, very honorable people, strong warriors, right hand of the Emperor." she concludes.

[Shinjo Akil]

His face dropped into a look of horror, one of someone who clearly knew he had harmed a loved one. As she spoke, he slowly stood, approaching her even as she rattled off her list of problems. As she was wrapping up, he did perhaps the most daring thing he could think to do.

He put his hand on her shoulder, gripping it firmly. "Fu-chan.... I'm sorry. I..." He closed his eyes. "I didn't... I didn't realize just how all of this was."

[Doji Fukawa]

Without looking at him, Fukawa reached up and lay her small hand over Akil's.

Sensing something wrong, Takahiro goes back to his mistress and tries a combination of whining and licking.

Fukawa doesn't say anything for a bit, simply drawing strength from holding Akil's hand.

She takes a deep breath, settling her On back into place.

"it's ok, A-kun." she finally says, releasing his hand. "The Lion sent the samurai that were most like the Unicorn to this miai: friendly strong warriors. The Scorpion sent a lot of smooth talking samurai. And the Crane could hardly open marriage negotiations with, 'We've suffered setback after setback recently, care to join up?'

She turns back to face him.

"I am sorry A-kun." she says apologetically.

[Shinjo Akil]

He seated himself, looking to Takahiro and smiling to the little dog. If but my love can be so pure.

Once she begins to speak again, he seats himself, never letting his hand leave her shoulder. He listens to every word she has to say, eyes closing to internalize everything. Once she apologized, his eyes open, that friendly smile returning to his face. "Why are you apologizing to me, Fu-chan?"

[Doji Fukawa]

"Because I want you, A-kun. I shouldn't be so selfish. I should simply refuse to make a choice tomorrow, and return home in shame. But I'm not strong enough to give up on you, and so your fate will be tied to mine." she admits.

She left Akil's hand on her, though she did reach down and reassure the puppy with a head pat.

[Shinjo Akil]

He shook his head at that. Leaning closer to her, he placed a small kiss on her forehead, and his heart raced to infinity. "You should do no such thing, beloved. Remember, no matter what else is out there, regardless of other factors, I asked you to choose me. You have my fan. Not Kogo... not anyone else. I cannot..." a breath, and a smile. "I cannot begin to describe how excited I am to be preparing to spend the rest of my life with you. So please, no more words about how you are not strong."

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa blushed at the kiss.

"A-kun, I ache to be with you. If the hosts weren't watching us so closely, the things I would do..... she whispered. Fukawa took her left hand (the one not currently petting a dog), and kissed two fingers before applying them to Akil's lips, passing on the kiss indirectly.

She inched away from him, though she really, really didn't want to.

"I hope that answers your question, A-kun." she says, for the benefit of nosy eavesdroppers. "What else should we talk about?"

[Shinjo Akil]

He smiled as her fingers touched his lips. It was a poor substitute for a real kiss, but it would have to do. As she inched away, he let his hand slip off her shoulder, not fully letting go until he absolutely had to.

"Tell me about fan language?" He offered, "I have heard there is a lot to it, but it has not been explained WHAT there is to it."

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa nods.

"There is a lot you can say with a fan." she offers.

She takes out her fan to demonstrate.

"Anger" she unfolded the fan loudly with a snap!

"Boredom" she unfolds and folds the fan repeatedly as if playing with it.

"Availability to talk" she angles the fan to about 45 degrees with the top edge away from her, as if she were about to wave someone over.

"Unavailability to talk" she angles the fan to about 45 degrees with the top edge towards her, as if she were about to shoo Akil away.

"Of course, exchanging fans with a lover is a good way to proclaim your love without actually publicly doing it." she says.

"You can also say thinks based on what you have painted on the fan, or which artist did it. I've her tell of one courtier having the kanji for 'Silence' embossed in gold upon their fan."