Akodo Seijuro
Lion Clan
“With the spirits of his ancestors standing beside him, a samurai never stands alone.”
Posts: 304 Likes: 0 
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Post by Akodo Seijuro on Jan 31, 2018 11:48:43 GMT -5
"Torn apart? So he did love her? It... but it doesn't add up at all with what I've been told my whole life! What I've read about in Arasou-sama's journal..."
Seijuro looks down, defeated. "I know at least she loved him. More than anything, I think. Mother would see me practicing my kenjutsu, or riding my pony, or sometimes when we would be talking or go out somewhere and she... she'd just cry for no reason at all. Sometimes for hours, and there was nothing I could do to help her. It was only later that her tears made sense to me. Maybe, despite everything that has happened, things ended up working out for the best." He looks back up to Aiko. "Sorry, sensei. I know you said this wasn't the time and the place."
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Post by Mirumoto Aiko on Jan 31, 2018 13:33:26 GMT -5
"Your father loved your mother, in his own way, though...I hesitate to tell you this, but there was another woman in his life that made things a little more complicated," Aiko replies, running a hand through her hair. She isn't entirely sure that she should tell him this, but...she will anyway.
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Akodo Seijuro
Lion Clan
“With the spirits of his ancestors standing beside him, a samurai never stands alone.”
Posts: 304 Likes: 0
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Post by Akodo Seijuro on Jan 31, 2018 13:44:34 GMT -5
"Are you talking about Matsu Nagato? The woman from the plays? The woman he mentioned often in his journal..." Seijuro asked flatly.
"Tayuko-dono said my Father was a man of the highest caliber! If that was true, how could any of those feelings have remained for a woman who became a traitor to the Empire and turned her back on her clan in favor of the Shadowlands? It doesn't line up with the stories I've heard - it's just the romanticized detail of some stupid play, a farfetched retelling of the truth!"
Seijuro clinched his fists, tears welling in the corners of his golden eyes. Once more, he could see his mother Chiaki's face and for once he understood her pain.
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Post by Mirumoto Aiko on Jan 31, 2018 14:48:32 GMT -5
Aiko looks at Seijuro, her voice gentle, "Because the heart doesn't choose who it loves, Akodo-san. It just does. And what the plays leave out is the fact that Matsu Nagato struggled against that darkness within her, with Akodo Arasou as witness. Yes, she was a traitor, but she tried to redeem herself...even if she did fall short at the end. I knew your father. I knew the woman who Matsu Nagato was. I saw how devastated your father was when he saw she had fallen...honorably, before she was raised and turned against the Empire."
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Akodo Seijuro
Lion Clan
“With the spirits of his ancestors standing beside him, a samurai never stands alone.”
Posts: 304 Likes: 0
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Post by Akodo Seijuro on Jan 31, 2018 15:26:42 GMT -5
Seijuro wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, clearing them of the water that welled up there and threatened to spill down in twin streams. He remembered those journal pages now - bound in a dust covered notebook in his grandfather's attic. A ratty, old, green thing that was barely held together Seijuro had discovered by happenstance. The kanji were barely legible, written in a militant hand via pencil. Arasou had compared Nagato to Lady Sun, a motif that was common throughout the many poems found within. He got to see failed draft after failed draft, the emotional through line that spoke to the truth of his Father's heart.
Seijuro had read it so many times he almost had every symbol therein memorized. All the doubt, the regret, the hesitation. Like Father like Son. They shared much of the same troubles, and none of the same joys. The young man who had matured into the Lion Thunder had such an open, compassionate, and honorable heart, while Seijuro just kept his closed off.
- Damn that Segami! He knows I'm allergic to cats, and he sends a stray to my room? He's making me look dumb in front of her!
- I made a new friend today - Yasuki Mao. Together we were able to feed a tabby who was out in the rain. Maybe this school isn't so bad after all.
- Aiko-san seemed really happy to receive that manga from me. I'm glad to know she's got my back no matter what, I just hope she knows she can count on me.
- Emiko-san was something else at the basketball game today. She was roaring like a true lion!
- Yogo Kaya and I went on a horseback ride today and then went swimming at the hole outside the city. It was fun all in all, but it reminded me of life back home.
- Isawa Kosedo isn't nearly as bad a roommate as the past few. He's a good guy to unload my troubles on, and he doesn't judge me for my shortcomings.
- Kakita Meta and I waxed poetic about Bushido today. He really knows his stuff! He's aloof, but he's smart and approachable when he wants to be.
- Why'd that cat have to steal my towel? Not only was Karyudo-san laughing at me the whole time, now I've got a week's detention... ugh, this really bites.
- How does Mitsu-sensei lift that much weight? I'll never be as strong as that guy is.
- What does a Scorpion know of Bushido? What makes Sakura think she can lecture a son of Akodo on the teachings of Leadership!
- I'm actually glad I met Taikishi. He's a good rival - we're pushing each other forwards, with no hard feelings.
- I think Kitsune Hanashiro cares about cats more than any person I've ever met... she's so patient, I think she'd make a good sensei someday.
- Karaoke went well tonight! I finally got to be alone with Nagato-chan. We helped a lost kitten find its way back home to its family, and she asked me to go to the sakura festival with her. I think she's finally understanding me... my heart was racing standing there in the rain.
- She's gone... is this how Akodo felt when Matsu marched off to war without him?
- Utaku Chiaki seems really nice; she's actually pretty beautiful too. If I met her first, I wonder what would've happened?
- Today I graduated. I'm leaving the city early. My honor, my eyes, my heart lies in the west.
- I don't want to disappoint Toshigure-shiryo. He expects the world of me.
That final page, a simple poem, bookmarked by a badly folded white paper crane that was tearing at the edges.
The first and only draft of Arasou's final poem.
Aloud, Akodo Seijuro echoes the words of that haiku his father had written so long ago. Aiko was speaking the truth. He could connect the dots with her help, in due time. He had to trust her.
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Post by Mirumoto Aiko on Jan 31, 2018 17:31:03 GMT -5
The Mirumoto stands with the young man for several long quiet moments before she rests a hand on his shoulder, "Tomorrow. After school. The teacher's dorm. I will tell you the stories you desire. Bring a good blend of tea."
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Akodo Seijuro
Lion Clan
“With the spirits of his ancestors standing beside him, a samurai never stands alone.”
Posts: 304 Likes: 0
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Post by Akodo Seijuro on Jan 31, 2018 18:01:19 GMT -5
"Hai, sensei," was all Seijuro said in reply. He knelt down and took his daisho once more, sliding the two tied off swords into his belt. The Akodo gave Aiko a respectful bow, with plenty of time to regain his composure, before he finally set off.
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