[Day 3, Class 1, Ask] Black Crane's Chat

Aiko closes her eyes, taking a deep breath and centering herself, "I do care, Doji-san. And if I knew how to keep this from spilling over, you think I wouldn't have taken those steps already? Every Dragon and Crane who has died because they feel they must either avenge this slight against their Thunder or because they feel wronged by the actions of those who are seeking to avenge the slight is on my conscience, Doji-san. I do what I can to make it clear that this is supposed to be something personal, but I cannot stop those who seek to keep the cycle going from doing so."

Aiko blinks and then leans forward, "Child, do you even know the cause of the feud?"

Aiko closes her eyes, sipping her tea, "...Then let me tell you a little story. Before the Day of Thunder, Kakita Meta and his wife, myself and Soshuro Sakura, who was going by the name Soshi Fuyuko at the time, were on a mission to retrieve a notebook that had fallen into the hands of the enemy. A notebook which contained what Meta and Hanashiro believed to be potential information on a cure for the Taint, which we had obtained previously from a group of Kokujin monks. Sakura and I felt that the fact that the notebook had been found among the belongings of the Kokujin made it far more risk than it was worth, as the source was by its very nature tainted and wrong. During the mission, we encountered enemies tainted by the Lying Darkness and as a result of the actions of Sakura, the notebook was destroyed, rather than retrieved. Needless to say, the Kakita weren't pleased about this and a disagreement broke out with Sakura and myself on one side and the Kakita on the other. At this time, the Shadow Dragon appeared and the disagreement continued in front of a great enemy of the Empire. Meta, intent on a duel, kept trying to provoke me and I tried to defer the confrontation until we were back in the capital, but he kept trying to provoke me and eventually I snapped at him. The feud originated from a disagreement on how the Empire was best served, whether by allowing information from a tainted source to exist or whether the discoveries that could be made from it would be worth the risk."

A pause, a deep breath, "And that, as they say, was that."

"...A bit of an oversimplification, but...to some degree, yes. Because neither side can admit they were wrong, because doing so would admit that they were backing actions that would harm the Empire."

A pause, then a look at Hoshiko, "But I doubt that my actions or inaction will have as much impact as the actions of the students here on the course of this feud, Doji-san. I notice how you are here because you are worried about a Dragon, instead of using the feud between Meta and myself to keep your distance from him."