School Days
A Story from the Fall of the Onyx Empire
following the Events and People of Winter Court V
By Kakita Harun / Utaku Yamada WC5
Chapter 1
Shiro sano Kakita – Spring 1226
The castle was big, bigger than the one he had grown up in. But he knew that place, explored and ran though the hallways with his brothers, sisters and cousins. This place was full of people he didn’t know.
And they’re all looking at me, thought Kakita Harun mournfully. He stuffed his hands inside his sleeves, darker than most. He kept his head down, hoping no one noticed his dark skin or curly hair.
Unfortunately, it was even harder to stay invisible if your father was the Emerald Champion.
Kakita Karasu wasn’t wearing the famed armour, but his emerald green kimono with the laurel and chrysanthemum mons were enough to mark his status as the Emperor’s Champion. People bowed as they passed, Karasu acknowledged them with a nod. He was used to it after eight years since his appointment, seven since the tournament. But he wasn’t acting in that capacity today. Today, he was a father seeing his son off to the Kakita Duelling Academy where he himself had began his education.
They came into a wide courtyard. The same, Karasu knew, where the junior students did their training. Through the crowd he could see Kakita Kousuda and his eldest daughter Arahime. As Karasu approached, Kousuda made the appropriate bows and motioned for his daughter to do the same. The formalities over, the two greeted each other as kin and friends.
“Still got the beard, I see,” Kousuda said, absently stroking his own. “Kyoumi says I’m a bad influence.”
Karasu smiled quietly. His own beard wasn’t nearly as thick as Kousuda’s, but it did make him look older and more mature. Adding to this were the grey hairs starting to appear among the black in his temples and above his ears.
Kousuda had settled into being a Crane quite well, even though he was still known by many, especially Karasu, as “the Ide”.
“Kyoumi sends her apologies,” said Kousuda. “She wanted to be here, but with the Voice and the new baby, it was best that she stayed. She is well, and asked me to tell you she is still waiting for that visit.”
“I’ll manage it, somehow,” Karasu promised, running over in his mind the many things he needed to see to that never decreased. “I’m heading south after this for a few weeks. You may just get me turning up on your doorstep one day.”
“Sometimes that’s the best way, ne?” said Kousuda with a grin.
Harun and Arahime talked quietly. They knew each other well, and couldn’t be more different. Harun so dark and so quiet. Arahime with her white hair in braids, and an air of mischief behind her grey eyes.
Harun was conscious of the curious stares directed at him. “They’re still looking at me,” he said. “I don’t like it.”
“Let them,” said Arahime warmly. “You can always show them up later.”
“Easy for you to say,” said Harun. “You look like you belong here, I don’t.”
“You’re a Kakita, your father is the Emerald Champion,” said Arahime. “Where else would you belong.” She leaned closer and whispered. “And they can deal with me, I always beat you at our sparring games.”
Harun smiled. It was something.
There was a flurry of noise through the crowd. The academy sensei had arrived and motioned for the courtyard to be cleared so the testing could begin.
Karasu bent down towards his son and gently touched his shoulder. “Just do your best and let the Fortunes guide you,” he said encouragingly, joining Kousuda at the edge of the courtyard to watch the testing.
The children were all about seven or eight years of age, fresh-faced and showing a little of the pressure of their families. Admittance to the Kakita Duelling Academy was a great honour, and hotly contested.
They were lined up in rows, about a hundred in total, and less than a third would win admission. One of the junior sensei began to lead them through some basic exercises while others walked around, observing the students.
Harun kept up with the exercises; they were familiar to him due to his father and some of his trainer’s instruction. He was conscious that every so often children were being drawn aside by the sensei and left the courtyard with their parents. Some were in tears.
The Master Sensei of the Academy, Kakita Kenshin, noticed Harun in the crowd. It was hard not to, a dark face in a sea of paler ones. He knew of the brood of war orphans that the Emerald Champion and his wife had adopted, but there was clearly something more there. Harun’s features suggested a gaijin origin, perhaps Unicorn or even Zogeki. But for all that, in the easy way he moved and behaved, here was the beginnings of the model of a Crane.
Perhaps even more than his father, Kenshin thought reflectively, remembering Karasu’s own school days.
When the children numbered around fifty, the exercises stopped and each child was called individually inside the dojo building to talk to one of the sensei. Harun waited quietly, his expression neutral as he sized the other children up. And they sized up him.
Arahime was already making friends. A tall, boisterous boy named Hayate introduced himself to her, proudly proclaiming that his father was a kenshinzen and he would be one day as well.
Arahime was called before him, then it was Harun’s turn. He was met by the Master Sensei himself. Harun bowed low, his forehead touching the tatami mat.
The first questions were standard. About bushido, what he knew of Kakita’s The Sword and Shinsei’s Tao. Basic things that most Rokugani children knew. But what was really tested was how he answered, how he framed his words. Harun gave good answers, but short ones. All with the slightest hesitation in them, as if slightly ashamed of knowing things. And his eyes were cast down.
Finally, Kenshin asked him another question. “Why is it you wish to study at the Kakita Academy?”
Automatically, Harun answered. “To bring honour to my family, sensei.”
“Yes, yes,” Kenshin said distractedly, waving away the standard answer. “I would expect that of any student, but I am asking this of you.”
Harun dared look up. Examining Kenshin’s careworn face, his white hair, his piercing blue eyes. He did not look unkind.
“I wish to find my place, sensei,” said Harun, his gravity showing maturity beyond his eight years. “I want to know what it is I am supposed to do. What destiny has been set for me to fulfill. I want to serve, like my father does, and I want to know how.”
“So young, and already so serious,” remarked Kenshin quietly, to Harun he said. “May you fund that path, Harun-san, with the teachings and traditions of Kakita. But it may not be all that you seek.”
When the questioning was over, about thirty in total would remain. Then there were goodbyes to be said and barracks to be assigned.
Karasu and Kousuda gathered with their children for their farewells. In a way, Karasu mused, it was almost a repetition of his own academy days with Kyoumi. He hoped it would go better, but given Arahime shared her mother’s delight in mischief, he wasn’t so sure.
Harun took the parting quietly, as he did most things. Not for the first time, Karasu wondered how such a calm, quiet boy had come from Yamada and Nakura.
I wonder where she is now, thought Karasu, if she was dead, we would have heard. One day I will tell him, when he is old enough to know.
The futon closest to the barracks door was Harun’s, only because it was the only one not claimed. When he came in for the night, no met his eyes or even looked his way.
He pulled back the coverlet and saw a piece of paper hidden there. A single character written on it Gaijin.
He looked around again, anyone who was looking at him now looked away. He tore the paper into small pieces. If this was how it was going to be, he would have to face it.
A Story from the Fall of the Onyx Empire
following the Events and People of Winter Court V
By Kakita Harun / Utaku Yamada WC5
Chapter 1
Shiro sano Kakita – Spring 1226
The castle was big, bigger than the one he had grown up in. But he knew that place, explored and ran though the hallways with his brothers, sisters and cousins. This place was full of people he didn’t know.
And they’re all looking at me, thought Kakita Harun mournfully. He stuffed his hands inside his sleeves, darker than most. He kept his head down, hoping no one noticed his dark skin or curly hair.
Unfortunately, it was even harder to stay invisible if your father was the Emerald Champion.
Kakita Karasu wasn’t wearing the famed armour, but his emerald green kimono with the laurel and chrysanthemum mons were enough to mark his status as the Emperor’s Champion. People bowed as they passed, Karasu acknowledged them with a nod. He was used to it after eight years since his appointment, seven since the tournament. But he wasn’t acting in that capacity today. Today, he was a father seeing his son off to the Kakita Duelling Academy where he himself had began his education.
They came into a wide courtyard. The same, Karasu knew, where the junior students did their training. Through the crowd he could see Kakita Kousuda and his eldest daughter Arahime. As Karasu approached, Kousuda made the appropriate bows and motioned for his daughter to do the same. The formalities over, the two greeted each other as kin and friends.
“Still got the beard, I see,” Kousuda said, absently stroking his own. “Kyoumi says I’m a bad influence.”
Karasu smiled quietly. His own beard wasn’t nearly as thick as Kousuda’s, but it did make him look older and more mature. Adding to this were the grey hairs starting to appear among the black in his temples and above his ears.
Kousuda had settled into being a Crane quite well, even though he was still known by many, especially Karasu, as “the Ide”.
“Kyoumi sends her apologies,” said Kousuda. “She wanted to be here, but with the Voice and the new baby, it was best that she stayed. She is well, and asked me to tell you she is still waiting for that visit.”
“I’ll manage it, somehow,” Karasu promised, running over in his mind the many things he needed to see to that never decreased. “I’m heading south after this for a few weeks. You may just get me turning up on your doorstep one day.”
“Sometimes that’s the best way, ne?” said Kousuda with a grin.
Harun and Arahime talked quietly. They knew each other well, and couldn’t be more different. Harun so dark and so quiet. Arahime with her white hair in braids, and an air of mischief behind her grey eyes.
Harun was conscious of the curious stares directed at him. “They’re still looking at me,” he said. “I don’t like it.”
“Let them,” said Arahime warmly. “You can always show them up later.”
“Easy for you to say,” said Harun. “You look like you belong here, I don’t.”
“You’re a Kakita, your father is the Emerald Champion,” said Arahime. “Where else would you belong.” She leaned closer and whispered. “And they can deal with me, I always beat you at our sparring games.”
Harun smiled. It was something.
There was a flurry of noise through the crowd. The academy sensei had arrived and motioned for the courtyard to be cleared so the testing could begin.
Karasu bent down towards his son and gently touched his shoulder. “Just do your best and let the Fortunes guide you,” he said encouragingly, joining Kousuda at the edge of the courtyard to watch the testing.
The children were all about seven or eight years of age, fresh-faced and showing a little of the pressure of their families. Admittance to the Kakita Duelling Academy was a great honour, and hotly contested.
They were lined up in rows, about a hundred in total, and less than a third would win admission. One of the junior sensei began to lead them through some basic exercises while others walked around, observing the students.
Harun kept up with the exercises; they were familiar to him due to his father and some of his trainer’s instruction. He was conscious that every so often children were being drawn aside by the sensei and left the courtyard with their parents. Some were in tears.
The Master Sensei of the Academy, Kakita Kenshin, noticed Harun in the crowd. It was hard not to, a dark face in a sea of paler ones. He knew of the brood of war orphans that the Emerald Champion and his wife had adopted, but there was clearly something more there. Harun’s features suggested a gaijin origin, perhaps Unicorn or even Zogeki. But for all that, in the easy way he moved and behaved, here was the beginnings of the model of a Crane.
Perhaps even more than his father, Kenshin thought reflectively, remembering Karasu’s own school days.
When the children numbered around fifty, the exercises stopped and each child was called individually inside the dojo building to talk to one of the sensei. Harun waited quietly, his expression neutral as he sized the other children up. And they sized up him.
Arahime was already making friends. A tall, boisterous boy named Hayate introduced himself to her, proudly proclaiming that his father was a kenshinzen and he would be one day as well.
Arahime was called before him, then it was Harun’s turn. He was met by the Master Sensei himself. Harun bowed low, his forehead touching the tatami mat.
The first questions were standard. About bushido, what he knew of Kakita’s The Sword and Shinsei’s Tao. Basic things that most Rokugani children knew. But what was really tested was how he answered, how he framed his words. Harun gave good answers, but short ones. All with the slightest hesitation in them, as if slightly ashamed of knowing things. And his eyes were cast down.
Finally, Kenshin asked him another question. “Why is it you wish to study at the Kakita Academy?”
Automatically, Harun answered. “To bring honour to my family, sensei.”
“Yes, yes,” Kenshin said distractedly, waving away the standard answer. “I would expect that of any student, but I am asking this of you.”
Harun dared look up. Examining Kenshin’s careworn face, his white hair, his piercing blue eyes. He did not look unkind.
“I wish to find my place, sensei,” said Harun, his gravity showing maturity beyond his eight years. “I want to know what it is I am supposed to do. What destiny has been set for me to fulfill. I want to serve, like my father does, and I want to know how.”
“So young, and already so serious,” remarked Kenshin quietly, to Harun he said. “May you fund that path, Harun-san, with the teachings and traditions of Kakita. But it may not be all that you seek.”
When the questioning was over, about thirty in total would remain. Then there were goodbyes to be said and barracks to be assigned.
Karasu and Kousuda gathered with their children for their farewells. In a way, Karasu mused, it was almost a repetition of his own academy days with Kyoumi. He hoped it would go better, but given Arahime shared her mother’s delight in mischief, he wasn’t so sure.
Harun took the parting quietly, as he did most things. Not for the first time, Karasu wondered how such a calm, quiet boy had come from Yamada and Nakura.
I wonder where she is now, thought Karasu, if she was dead, we would have heard. One day I will tell him, when he is old enough to know.
The futon closest to the barracks door was Harun’s, only because it was the only one not claimed. When he came in for the night, no met his eyes or even looked his way.
He pulled back the coverlet and saw a piece of paper hidden there. A single character written on it Gaijin.
He looked around again, anyone who was looking at him now looked away. He tore the paper into small pieces. If this was how it was going to be, he would have to face it.
