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Post by Daidoji Kobushi on Feb 16, 2018 17:43:50 GMT -5
As soon as he'd finished his last class of the day, Kobushi headed back to the dorms. He'd left the vase there, carefully wrapped to conceal what it looked like. He ran to the familiar pottery room from there. If Mirumoto Ryuha had arrived before he did, he didn't want to make her wait. The Crane is confused about a great number of things. His place in the world. Why he seems so slow to grasp others. Why so many of the women he trained with in Clear Water seemed intent on beating him half to death. Ryuha confused him too, but he hoped she would at least give him answers. A little clarification never hurt anybody. As he made his way there, the small vase he worked hard on in his arms, he wonders. Mostly, he wonders if Nadeshiko was right and he ought to have grabbed a helmet first. |
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Post by Mirumoto Ryuha on Feb 16, 2018 22:43:45 GMT -5
Ryuha took a little time to arrive. It was mostly because she needed to work up the nerve to show up, the gumption to face her fears. She said the words over and over again in her mind a hundred times, trying to convince herself not to be afraid. You're a samurai, dammit! she protested, but her quivering legs and wavering heart offered up a harsh rebuttal to the hollow thoughts in her mind.
When she could hardly stand anymore, she found a bathroom and sat inside one of the stalls to work up more courage. She said she's spill the beans over the phone, but this was something she wasn't even comfortable discussing with her parents. The Mirumoto nervously tugged at the braid she was wearing for today, and then moved on to the pleats of her skirt - all while thinking about Kobushi, and how he was probably waiting for her with the vase. Probably calling himself a blockhead. That made her smile, a little.
She walked out of the stall and to the mirror, taking one last look at the mess of herself before she finally walked to the pottery room. "Daidoji-san?" she called out, still outside the room.
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Post by Daidoji Kobushi on Feb 17, 2018 1:41:10 GMT -5
Kobushi was late.
This was not how he planned this whole thing going. But he sees her there, still outside. He smiles, despite himself. A part of him didn't expect her to show up. Maybe she decided it wasn't worth the time, after all. He approaches, slowly. Don't want to surprise her, after all.
"I'm here," he calls out. Perhaps unwisely, he's doing it from behind her. Perhaps sensibly, he's outside of arm's reach. "I'm sorry I'm late."
He presents the vase, still wrapped in its protective paper. "This is...this is yours."
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Post by Mirumoto Ryuha on Feb 17, 2018 9:21:44 GMT -5
Ryuha's braid whips as she spins on her heels to face Kobushi, right hand reflexively moving to her sternum. Her blue eyes remain fixated on the ground, unable to look at him in the face. At least not now. She'd need more courage for that.
"You're late? I...I-I'm the one that took forever to get here." As he extends the vase out to her, the Dragon's eyes rise a little to it. He hands slowly move towards it. "For both our sakes, I won't play the game of refusals. We worked on it together, there's no sincerity to prove here."
She took the wrapped vase in her hands. "Can... we go inside the room first?"
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Post by Daidoji Kobushi on Feb 17, 2018 9:52:13 GMT -5
He smiles, comforted in knowing she's talking to him. But he also sees she's not looking him in the eye. It alarms him, as he knows nothing's happened yet. He hasn't done or said anything yet other than asking her to meet.
He surrenders the vase to her and lets her lead him into the room. For privacy's sake, he closes the door behind him. But he maintains a respectful distance.
"Personally, I was never fond of the game. I'd rather people just take what I give them or not," he admits, scratching the back of his head.
"You…don't need to unwrap it right now, if you don't want to," he says. "But I do want to know if you like it."
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Post by Mirumoto Ryuha on Feb 18, 2018 22:41:34 GMT -5
She steps inside, turning to face Kobushi again after the door was closed. Ryuha still couldn't look up at him, her hands fixated on the paper wrapping and the art that lied inside.
"It's probably because you're as much a Crab as you are a Crane," she says, managing a small smile in between her words. She slips her thumb inside some of the paper, the same thumb that clumsily cut a hole through the clay as it was being molded. "No. I want to see it now, I think."
As he hands work to unravel the gift, her eyes try to catch a glimpse of what lies hidden inside.
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Post by Daidoji Kobushi on Feb 18, 2018 22:56:26 GMT -5
"Probably," he says, reflecting her smile with his own. Once she unwraps it, she'll find a small vase --- probably big enough for flowers or to decorate a desk, nothing more. It's decorated in Dragon colors. It isn't the best vase in the world, but for an amateur like him, this is good work. It should be pretty apparent that he was thinking about her whole time he was getting the colors and the designs right. At least, it should be apparent to Ryuha. To Kobushi himself, it might not be so clear.  "I had some trouble with getting the colors right," he explains once it's all unwrapped. "So I had to improvise a little. It's a little rough, especially in some parts. I may have rushed it to the kiln, but...well, it's not that bad, is it?" |
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Post by Mirumoto Ryuha on Feb 18, 2018 23:11:00 GMT -5
Ryuha's eyes widen as she takes the vase in, letting the paper fall to the floor. She holds it carefully, slowly turning it in here hands as if the thing could slip and fall from her hands at any moment - escaping her grasp in some sudden bout of unluck or misfortune. It was a delicate thing, fragile, but beautiful. It was perfect.
"I... I don't know what to say Daidoji-san," she finally replied, finally looking up to him with flushed cheeks. "I'm impressed, it's not bad at all. I'll cherish it."
The Mirumoto gently clutched the vase to her chest as she looked at him in silence, awkwardly. "I'm sorry for running away."
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Post by Daidoji Kobushi on Feb 18, 2018 23:19:18 GMT -5
He stands there, watching her look at his work. He sees the eyes, and interprets them...correctly. He keeps a respectful distance, just silently observing as her hands turn the vase in her hands. In the end, when she finally speaks, he can't quite bring himself to look away from her. He knows he should. His etiquette wasn't that bad. But he fails, and he honestly doesn't know why.
"It's alright. I'm just...glad you like it," he finally says, looking at her clutch it like it was something precious. "And...I'm sorry for whatever it was I said or did that made you run."
"I...really don't know what it was, though. So if you're not angry, I'd like to know what made you do that. So I can try not to do it again. But if you don't want me to know, I'll understand."
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Post by Mirumoto Ryuha on Feb 19, 2018 9:20:12 GMT -5
"It wasn't anything you did. It was all me, Daidoji-san. It's... my fault," Ryuha explained as best she could, looking away from him again. She carefully set the vase down near the pottery wheel that was used to help craft it.
"Well, it's not exactly my fault. It is just how my karma coalesced through my parents. They found love soon after they met each other, but my Mother was lucky enough to had resolved her own fortunes early on. Her maiden name was Yogo Fujie."
Maybe it was hoping too much, but she hoped Kobushi would be able to put 2 and 2 together without her having to explain bluntly. She'd never talked about the curse directly like this before, not to someone who wasn't family.
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