The Footsteps of Regret

[Doji Naetaru]

This scene happens after the Doji daimyo returned to Kyuden Doji, after "The wishes of one, the duty of many" thread. It concludes a part of Naetaru's timeline. Should you wish to participate, please let me know via a PM.

The evening breeze passed through the verandah. Doji Naetaru savored a couple more moments before heading back inside. He had to retire to his chambers, for he was mentally exhausted. Since he'd arrived in the palace, he had many things to attend to regarding the Crane Clan's consistency. Since Daidoji Fitsu had gotten the reins of power he was tasked with maintaining the high art of diplomacy and thus he had to take care of more than the menial Doji duties.
However he didn't have time to settle down and take care for himself and his fine lady. Ah, his Sadoji! His pretty lioness who had managed to be more than an impeccable wife. He longed to see her, to share his thoughts and to share some moments with her.
Since his arrival, lady Sadoji wasn't fond of meeting him extensively. She was excusing herself most of the time in order to "settle" some more household duties. And Naetaru wasn't a fool, for all in all he had noticed...his marriage was far from perfect.
Moments later he was pacing along the main corridor, approaching the peach gate, signifying the entrance to the Resting Quarters.
The smell of incense filled the air as it drove away the rest of the summer bugs and mosquitoes adding a more venerated "character" to the atmosphere.
However Naetaru noticed that something was amiss...the servants rushed over as he approached, hindering his every pace with menial questions demanding menial answers.
He became alert. As he stopped looking over to the maidens. He saw that they were his wife's servants. And thus he inquired as of the reasons.
The ladies were reluctant...a thing that made the daimyo hasten his pace approaching his chamber.
However he noticed that the chamber had been blocked by the palace guards. Suddenly a hideous smell invaded his nostrils and his curiosity got piqued.
With the corner of his eye he saw the Matsu sisters, the very trusted handmaidens of his wife, the ones secured solely from her household to attend to her needs, sobbing in despair and sadness.
One of the lady's servants approached Naetaru screaming

"Lady Sadoji! Naetaru-sama! She is dead! By the Kamis!"

A palace guard rushed over to contain the woman as Naetaru rushed into the chamber.
The room was fine, permeating with the fine smell of lavender that his wife had secured months before the war had started. The ornaments, the garments, the polished tatami mat, the arranged bed...everything was perfect.
And Doji Sadoji stood beside the window...motionless.
A fine crimson stream trailing of her fine throat, which she was holding as if performing an aria. Beside her knelt body was a small letter.
Naetaru's instant thought was "Kaori..."
However his doubts were dispelled as he wrote the letter that his wife had left behind

"Everything touched by Lord Moon's Glare,
destined to wither and wilt,
in the pale face of loneliness,
I return to my true lord."

Naetaru stood frozen, stricken with grief, he managed a tear for the lady that cared for him. She was melancholic and traumatized by her loneliness. Deep in his heart Naetaru knew...and he paid for it.
He turned over to Hinto, his yojimbo...he needed to be alone with her...he crouched over beside her...caring not about the protocol of touching the dead. She was his wife and he needed to be beside her, to touch her. He needed to feel her silken caress. He rested his head beside her, putting her hand over his cheek...and broke into tears...honoring his wife with his lament.

The next days found Naetaru organizing everything that belonged to his wife. Her Matsu yojimbo asked countless times to be given a chance to seppuku, however Naetaru wouldn't let one more innocent man to die of his mistakes...
The Matsu handmaidens were sent over with the man back to Kyuden Matsu...
And he quickly wrote a letter to his wife's cousin...
Matsu Kaito needed to know of this...

[Kakita Sojiro]

Hinto had spent his day in the company of Naetaru, both attending to his duties as yojimbo and getting to know the man better. Before long, Naetaru had put him at ease and gotten him talking, almost without Hinto even knowing it was happening, and a quick friendship had begun to develop between the two.

He was escorting Naetaru back to his quarters for the evening after enjoying the night air and laughing at a joke the man had made when the servants came. One after another, a seemingly endless tide of meaningless questions and menial requests. Hinto was about to intercede and shoo them away from Naetaru when his sharp eyes noticed the palace guards outside of Naetaru's chamber. Something is very wrong here.

At the same time, Naetaru began questioning the servants - all members of his wife's staff - as to why they were all bothering him at such an hour. Hinto had already started walking towards the palace guards, and when the servants failed to answer Naetaru, the Doji quickly came to the same conclusion that Hinto had and hastened his pace towards his chamber.

That was when the smell hit Hinto's nose. He knew the smell well - blood. Stale blood, the kind that had been sitting out for some time exposed to the air. No, not here...

The distraught, nearly hysterical Matsu yojimbo told Hinto everything he needed to know. His face drained of color as he rushed after Naetaru, following him into his personal quarters.

He entered to find Naetaru with tears running down his face, reading his wife's suicide note.

As grief overwhelmed Naetaru, he went to his wife's side. Hinto knew what he was going to do, and quickly took charge of the situation by closing the chamber doors and extinguishing any lanterns that might cast a shadow through the paper walls, betraying to all outside that Naetaru was breaking one of the laws of their society in his grief. Perhaps a noble-born samurai would have been offended, but Hinto was born a common man, and he was no stranger to grief. At this moment the laws could find their way into Fu-Leng's pit for all he cared. Naetaru needed to grieve, and Hinto would be damned if that serpent Kaori or any of her supporters would be able to use this moment against Naetaru. As Naetaru's yojimbo, it was his duty to protect Naetaru from anything that might harm him, even his own actions.

As Naetaru's friend, it was his duty to make sure the man could grieve in private, without worrying about such things.

After putting out the lanterns, he slowly walked over to Naetaru and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Sama, I am so terribly sorry for you. Take all the time you need here. I will make certain that you are not disturbed. If you need something, Naetaru-sama, I will be right outside the door. All you have to do is ask."

With that statement, Hinto turned and walked out the door, shutting it tightly behind him so that his friend could hold his wife one last time and weep in peace.

[Doji Naetaru]

The next days have passed and Naetaru strove to recuperate fast, his wound however was deep and his guilt stronger.
His Sadoji, his wife was no more around adorning his household as before. His grief was apparent, but his duties demanded that he got no delay let alone time for "rest".
He had already sent a proper letter to his wife's next of kin, informing them of the event and inviting them over to the court of Kyuden Doji to honor Matsu Sadoji's memory.
Matsu Kaito, the apparent cousin of Sadoji acting as an ambassador to the Lion was invited primarily along with his family. The planning truce was a thing that had to be ensured before the trip was to be done though. The ambassador's family had the proper immunity that the diplomatic etiquette demanded.
During the days, Naetaru would spend some more time with Hinto, his Daidoji yojimbo that had proved to be more than a simple bodyguard. He had proven a loyal friend. One that Naetaru could confide in. The daimyo had ensured that Hinto was supplied with the regalia proper to his stature.
It was later in the night and Naetaru was standing at the verandah, again. A swift chill crept up to his spine, softly reminding the fact that he was standing on the very same place before he discovered his wife. Idly, he fidgeted into place, softly "dispelling" the thought. He scanned over the Fantastic Gardens and spoke softly, to no one but to Hinto.

"I think that we should get the Sakura Grove renovated."

Much to Hinto's surprise, he found out that he was speaking of the gardens...

"I shall inform the chief gardener tomorrow, we need some ikebani to arrange the blossoms in a way that the negative energy gets channeled off the Kyuden..."

He didn't say a word...he simply stood from the leaning pose he had over the balcony and he looked over inside.

"I feel tired, mentally exhausted these days my friend."

He carried on walking. Minutes later he said.

"What about your family Hinto? You never told me of it. I pray you have some jolly news to share. Tell me, anything you wish regarding your life, your wife, your children."

Naetaru wasn't inquiring of anything. He simply wished some solace from the gloom of the last days and his friend was able to lift the weigh off his shoulders.

[Kakita Mitsouko]

A simple letter, sealed with the personal mon of Lady Kakita, and written by trembling hands came to Doji Naetaru hands days after the unfortunate happening.

My friend.
How I wished to be there with you, in your moment of loss! Your family is close to my heart, your pain is my pain. Please, be strong, keep it up, as if it was a call of destiny to your young lady, a call she dared not to refuse.
Better times will come, be sure, and Benten will visit your house again. Feel my hand in your shoulder, as if I was there, and if somehow the care of your friends could ease your heart.

Mitsouko, from the Sea Watch Castle Front.

[Kakita Sojiro]

"My family?" Hinto had a small grin on his face. "Well, Naetaru-sama, one could make the argument that I learned to keep quiet at a young age. I am the youngest child in a family of six children, and I am the only boy. Growing up with five older sisters is a constant lesson in staying out from underfoot and out of sight if one wishes to get dirty. I am certain that I was subjected to more baths than any other boy who has grown up in the lands surrounding Kyuden Otomo."

"My family's name is Rushi. They have a farm on the outskirts of the Otomo lands, and we made our way growing and selling crops, mainly rice. My parents were loving and hard working, but five doweries is difficult for a farmer to afford. So, when I came of age, I left the family farm and found work as a deckhand, mainly for cargo and merchant ships. Farm work had blessed me with a strong back, and I quickly learned that I had a gift with the yumi that was an asset the few times we had to deal with pirates. I sent most of my earnings back home to my father." He chuckled quietly. "My sisters were always very competitive with each other, and within a two year span of time they had all found suitors and were married. This became quite a burden for my father and mother, so I did my part to relieve that burden. I was often in the mantis lands during that time, and if you have never had the chance to visit there, I suggest you do so."

"Things changed when the yobanjin war started. I was drafted by the Crane army and was trained to use a yari. I'm certain I don't need to remind you of those times, sama. My encounters with river pirates served me well, and I earned a promotion due to my ability to keep my wits about me in battle. During one battle in particular, my unit was tasked to relieve an infantry unit led by my brother in law, Daidoji Morito. He had engaged an enemy unit and been flanked by supporting skirmishers, and in the resulting mess he was wounded by an arrow and needed to withdraw. Unfortunately, he had nowhere to withdraw to. My unit punched a hole through the ranks of the skirmishers, and while the infantry formed a spear wall to cover Morito-sans retreat, I sat just behind them with my tsuruchi bow, a souvineer from the mantis lands. I took a position on a broken supply cart and picked off the enemy officers and shugenja that I could see. Morito-san tells the story a bit differently, making it sound as if I was emptying quivers before my first arrow had even landed, but I find his rendition a bit exaggerated."

"Regardless of whose recounting of the story is more correct, he felt that he owed me a great debt that day, and offered me a position in the Daidoji army as an officer. I objected at first, as I was not Daidoji. He simply laughed away my concern and then offered me his sister's hand in marriage as a means to 'make things proper'. I often wonder if the marriage was his true goal from the beginning." Hinto smiled. "My wife, Daidoji Osana, had gone through a string of suitors. Doji, Otomo, Bayushi, even a Seppun Shugenja. She was unsatisfied with all of them, and made certain that they knew, in no uncertain terms, what she thought of them all. She claims that she had no desire to spend her life as a pretty arm decoration to a courtier and nothing more. The night we were introduced, she made it quite apparent that the fortunes had gifted her with a tongue that could make a sailor blush and a Scorpion run for cover." His smile became a quiet laugh. "To this day, she still hasn't explained to me why she chose me, out of all of her prospects. She had the chance to marry into positions of power and prestige, and yet she chose to marry me."

[Doji Naetaru]

Naetaru managed a hearty smile followed by a strong laugh!

"Haha, truly Hinto, Crane wives can often be much as intimidating as elegant and courteous. But they certainly have an eye for the perfect husband. I trust that Osana-san found the perfect match in you."

In his eye the form of Mitsouko emerged, even by the mention of a Crane bride and her keen perfect eye.

[Kakita Mitsouko]

That very night, in his private quarters, a beautiful and gentle young lady called Kakita Tomoko was waiting for the Doji Daimyo, with the duty of soothe his heart and serving him in his needs, for the coming days, as assigned by the Kakita daimyo, Kakita Mitsouko.
Tomoko-san, chosen by the personal assistant of the Kakita daimyo, was a noble samurai newly widowed by war; and took this task by heart and was taught to not fail. If given opportunity, she was an able singer and knew many stories and poetries, among her most obvious skills.

[Doji Naetaru]

As Naetaru reached for the shoji screen of his room, he felt the warmth coming from his body. During those days, he had dismissed most of his servants for the ongoing week. He wanted to remain alone with his thoughts, with a handful of friends nearby. During those days, he would arrange his sitting pillows, he would serve his tea, he would match his attire, take care of his hair and even open this very shoji screen on his own. He was getting used to it, feeling a tiny bit of freedom in his empty heart.
However, the screen did open on its own. For a moment, Naetaru felt the pit of his stomach emptying. However as he saw the figure of the lady inside his room he remained alarmed.

"Daidoji Hinto-san, add to it, that Crane ladies can also be omnipresent." while leaving the door ajar he inquired to the woman.

"Good eve lady, I guess that perhaps our rooms have been mismatched. This is the daimyo's room."

Moments later after the woman explained her role in this, would Naetaru drop-off his alarm and smile innocently.

"So, Kakita Tomoko-san, has the trip from Kyuden Kakita been hard? Are the highways still rampaging with banditry?" he quickly motioned for Daidoji Hinto.

"Daidoji Hinto-san, please will you join us? I am aware that you have a fine aptitude for arts." motioning for him to guard from the inside of the chamber. As the woman forced a chuckle would Naetaru assure her that he didn't jest.

"Indeed Tomoko-san, Hinto-san is an excellent artist as well as an excellent warrior." nodding in respect.

Naetaru's mind quickly raced an hour before when he and Hinto would share some stories from their events in life. And Naetaru was certain that this was a flattery that his yojimbo would bear.

"Thus, I think that we would both marvel the beauty of your voice. I have noticed that you have a soft, fine voice. Please would you adorn these bleak halls with the elegance of a song? Even a hum?"

He loved that moment, to be surrounded by friendly souls. The voice of a woman was something that Naetaru had missed around those corridors. And he quickly felt relaxed and soothed. It was a blessing.

But still Naetaru understood Hinto's disposition. Tommorow he would ensure that a fine samisen player would escort the beautiful lady Tomoko. Naetaru needed her and she needed an honor guard.

[Kakita Sojiro]

Hinto's first reaction on seeing the silhouette on the other side of the screen was to reach for his kotetsu, but the woman who opened it hardly seemed a threat, and after her explanation, all was made clear.

He was a bit taken aback at Naetaru's request to join them, but pleased regardless. A smile crossed his face as they sat in Naetaru's quarters, listening to the beautiful woman sing. At a few points she sang songs that Hinto knew, and he surprised Naetaru and Tomoko both during one of the songs, traditionally sung by two, when he took the role of her counterpart. Although he had not let on to it, he was possessed of a fine singing voice and knew the part well. Tomoko didn't miss a beat, and the two wove a lovely melody together.

(OOC sorry for the delay, but between the holidays and school, I've been a busy little crane.)