[Day 3, Dawn] A Workout of a Different Kind

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi smirked. "The recruitment officer Father browbeat into giving me this position was one of his friends from his year on the Wall. Hida Katsumoto. He didn't appreciate Father's attitude, and he didn't appreciate my physical stature. Father got him to agree to a Fortune and Winds game to decide it. If Father lost, he had to announce to the sakehouse that the Crab have always been better Scrappers, better drinkers, and better lovers than the Crane. If he won, then I would be accepted into the Imperial Navy."

"Father never loses at Fortunes and Winds."

[Kakita Sugita]

Sugita barks laughter. "Oh! Jolly good. I'll remember that. Though I always lose anyway. So you have Asahina blood in you as well?"

[Daidoji Fuichi]

He shook his head. "None. I am a little anomalous, at least as far as my family is concerned."

[Kakita Sugita]

"Oh. A rare thing." Sugita shrugs. "None of that here. Nothing special whatsoever." It is spoken in a voice that isn't disappointed by that at all.

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi smiles. "At times, I wish that I were more like my brothers; it would have made this mess much more acceptable. I have trouble believing that there is nothing that differentiates you from anyone else, though."

[Kakita Sugita]

Sugita snorts. "Name one." This should be good.

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi shrugged. This was always dangerous territory.
"You are brusque, adventurous, but still witty--almost rakishly so. Your demeanor suggests that you are not the least bit interested in standing on ceremony, or even in the details of any given situation. You are non-challant, and at times project an image of a lack of education, which is, in turn, belied by your words when you are making innuendo or cracking a joke. These dichotmoies seem rare in most Kakita I've met, and even are for most Crane, save some few members of my family."

[Kakita Sugita]

Sugita cracks up laughing. "Something like that, sure. Hardly makes me unique. I learned it all somewhere!"

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi smirked.
"You didn't ask for unique, only rare."

[Kakita Sugita]

"I did? Haha. OK OK. So I might be a rare breed. A black Crane, or whatever you want to say. But it hasn't ever mattered."

[Daidoji Fuichi]

"It doesn't matter? How much more attention do you receive because of your behavior? Much, I would expect. Not all of it positive. I certainly noticed you long before the more bland members of our crew. Consequently, people are forced to engage and react to you. They cannot put you into the same box as the rest of the Kakita; their thinking process must shift in some way. That's called power."

[Kakita Sugita]

Sugita blinks. "I am who I am because it cannot be changed, and I do not wish to hide it. Never fear Daidoji-san, I shan't be making quests for power anytime soon."

"In my opinion, you're too reserved. I don't know what to make of you. You hide the truth. That is power as well, is it not?"

[Daidoji Fuichi]

"I hide the truth?" Fuichi cocked his head, confused. "In what way? I thought that I was being fairly honest."

[Kakita Sugita]

"I don't question your Honesty, Daidoji-san. Choosing not to say something is not dishonorable. When pressed, you have been forthcoming, which is good and all. But I get the feeling you don't let your true self shine through. Fairly typical of our Clan really. Not like it's a problem. It's what all the courtiers do."

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi seemed a little confused. "I...haven't anything to hide, I suppose. I mean, everyone seemed to know instantly that I like men; I haven't tried to hide that at all. When one is trained to be able to live one's entire life without leaving a single room, then one realizes that a lot of things aren't so important any more. But manners are manners, and I don't like to offend people too much."

[Kakita Sugita]

Some people might not have figured that out. Like... This guy. ... "Wha...?" He blinks, processing...

Failed. "Um... What?"

[Daidoji Fuichi]

He blushed instantly. "You mean...you..." He shook his head. "I like men, Kakita-san. I mean, what did you think that my nickname meant?"

[Kakita Sugita]

"Uhhhh..." Thinking face. "Ah. I get it."

Shrug. "Whatever. I won't get to marry the women I want to. You won't get to marry the men you want to. What difference does it make?"

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi smiled. "Precisely."

[Kakita Sugita]

"OK. So maybe you're just naturally calm and reserved seeming. That's cool."