Shimanouchi Yeijiro

(The Genjutsu/Ninjutsu Teacher at the Academy)

"You threw the match."

Kigiku's accusatory tone didn't ruffle me too much as I sat against the frame of the door. The garden was a beautiful sight in the spring rain. Fully in blossom, trees sprouting new buds to bring in a new generation of flowers.

Fittingly, it was this time they chose a new heir for the Sumire.

Probably the only thing I'd miss about this place was the view. It was such a beauty. Too bad Kigiku was too distressed to appreciate it as he continued.

"You could have stopped me in my tracks, you almost had me, but every time you pulled back. Why? Why did you make yourself lose?"

"You underestimate yourself, you shouldn't. If you show yourself to be unsure, the other heirs will descend upon you like hawks." I said softly as I watched a shishi-odoshi finally fill to the brim with water before succumbing to the weight and tipping it's contents to the ground. With the load gone it readjusted it's posture, stem rebounding it upright once more even in the rain. That's all this was really, just a fill, then a spill, and the cycle continues. Over and over, the rain continues.

A haiku, not too many syllables, maybe I could simplify it.

Water fills the hole.

It fills until it tips out.
The rain refills it.

"Unsure? Unsure! Of course I'm unsure, I'm not nearly as strong as you are. Why did you force this? Why did you let yourself get hit with the poison? I could have killed you!" His voice cracked at the last point and I actually turned to observe him.

I let loose a chuckle. Kigiku was always so proper in front of everyone else, like he was wearing a mask, he never lost his composure, never lost his cool. Yet here he was, red in the face and panting with anger, his robe a muss probably from whatever angry motions he made while he was trying to lecture me. My little brother, so formal in public, showing off his emotions to me. I was wrong, this was what I was going to miss about this place.

Oh little brother.

So full of life and blunder.

You will do me proud.

That one came a lot easier. I wonder if I should tell him.

"Don't laugh! This is serious! What if they challenge me to a duel? What if I have to fight one of those knuckle draggers from the Akebino? They'll kill me too! That's why the strongest has to be the head, that's why they make us train so hard!" He said.

"Goodness, you believe that is the only reason? Your instructors must have neglected your teachings then." I replied.

"It was the same lessons you have. It doesn't change the fact that it should be you. I wasn't prepared for this, why didn't you…" He lowered his head. "You're always scheming, always stuck in your own head. But you always told me before, if something was happening, if you were doing something. Why didn't you tell me you were going to throw it? Why make me the heir?"

A scheming monkey,

Lights his cob pipe in the rain,

Wonders why it fails.

I stood slowly as I crossed the room. I was taller than he, but only because I was two years his senior. Given time, he would grow, he would fill out and maybe even be taller than I. It didn't matter honestly, I likely wouldn't see it. But that was fine, I knew what I was giving up when I started. Still, before we separated once and for all we could talk here. Maybe that was why I let my hand slip, why I made sure he saw me stand fine after the match. My hand touched his chin, making him look up towards my eyes. Clear and dark purple, frustration having drawn tears.

"Because you ask questions like that." I turn my head. "You are not afraid to confront people, nor are you afraid to contradict what others think. You have the right mind for this job, I do not."

Taking in a breath, I let out a ring of smoke.

"Those who question things.

Will see the world more clearly.

And find the right path."

"Don't throw haiku's at me, you, you're smarter than me. You barely have to lift a single hand yet you get everything you ever wanted, everything you'll ever need." He protested. "You made uncle step down when you found out he was scheming with the Aozora, stopping Hatsu from making him a puppet king. You rigged the graduation so I wouldn't have to kill you, you stopped mother from killing herself. How can I compare?"

I let him finish. "You can't because you shouldn't." I closed my eyes. "There is no comparison between the two of us because we are not the same person. The only comparison that is worth having is the comparison between your present, past and future self."

"That damn scroll teaching doesn't mean crap against this. I'm not ready." He said at me, gritting his teeth. "They're going to eat me alive."

"Are they now?" I turned my head to the side. "Then it's a good thing your blood is poison, isn't it?"

"That's not helping."He held up a hand. "You're the only one who can fight him, you're the only one who could take down Hatsu."

"Which is why I shouldn't be the heir,"I replied.

"Wha- what?" He looked at me, surprised.

I let out a breath as I reached into my robe, pulling out my pipe. Lighting the end, I took a long drag, letting the tobacco ease my mind before replying.

"If I became the heir, Hatsu would just see me as a challenger to be conquered. I doubt there would hardly be a day going by where we aren't waging some secret war. Is that really something we need?"

"But you could beat him!" Kigiku said.

"Maybe," I took another drag before blowing out the shape of a bird in flight and a moment later I did a bee flying through the bird, the both of them disappearing in smoke at the collusion."But at what cost?"

I teetered the pipe between my fingers.

"Two dragons fight,

The world around them will burn.

Then nothing remains."

I tapped my pipe down as I met Kijiku's eyes,

"Our bickering would break the balance and then we'd have another civil war. No, we would not survive such a conflict, not with the shinobi war going on right now. Better you be the heir, he thinks you dumb and may even support you in hopes you'll be a weak leader."

"But what if…." He trailed off. "What if's are only so because you haven't planned well enough."

"Exactly." I said before taking another drag. I didn't shape the smoke as I let it out. "You say you aren't ready, but I can see it already, you're already planning for what to do next. You can do this."

"But you hardly ever do anything to win yet you always do, you could do this easily." He said.

"You only think that because I make things look like it. Nothing important is ever easy, no, I make it look easy because I am too used to it." I let a breath of smoke fill the air. "I'm too used to simply using people. It's honestly a bit tiresome at this point, it was harmless when I was younger but now I'm at risk."

"Of what?" Kigiku said.

"Of becoming like father."

I frowned as I took another deep drag from my favorite pipe. When father saw this gift from the Hamasaki he turned his nose up at it, citing it an awful habit which no dignified head would ever use.

Which is why I began using it daily.

The last year had been hectic since his death, but I couldn't help but see a marked improvement in our lives without his ever looming presence working to isolate us and try to push us against one another. Thankfully Kigiku was in many ways his opposite, his attempts at miscommunication resolved when Kigiku simply asked me to clarify any rumors or misgivings he had.

First hand information was superior, and Kigiku's tendency to always check his sources made him harder than normal to fool or manipulate. It was another reason why he'd be superior to myself as an heir.

"You aren't him, you'll never be him." Kigiku replied firmly.

"Given time, I'm not so sure." I said. "Power changes people, usually for the worse. I am not so sure I could resist the temptation. I'm much too flexible, you're rigid and it'll serve you well."

"How? How can I hold up against this? Especially since, you, you won't be there to help me." He said, looking at me.

He was correct. Conflicting heirs was a risk to the family, so whomever failed the test was sent to one of many branch families to act as secret eyes and ears for the Sumire. When I left this compound I would no longer be a Sumire and will have none of the power associated with it, former heir or no. As such there wouldn't be much place for me to come here to talk.

Though still, I smiled ."Come now, you act as if something as simple as the rules will stop me from talking to you." Stepping back, I sat down and pulled a shogi board out. "After all, how will I properly teach you shogi if I don't come and see you?"

Kigiku looked at the board and sat, absently setting up the board. "You say teach, but you mean to beat me again."

"You learn many things from loss." I replied. "Like I lost just today."

"It's not a loss if you let your opponent do it." Kigiku replied.

"We'll have to disagree there ototo-san." I said, smiling at him, my head tilting to the side. My hair hung just a bit over my eyes. I was going to miss that too.

The room at the academy was smaller than I was used to, at home, but still quite luxurious compared to the accommodations at the war front. Everything by this point was an experiment in change, change in country, change in leadership, repeated change in residency.

It's surprising how many little things you don't notice until you are lacking in them. My name being one of them. I had to throw away my old one, instead I got to choose a new one. Yeijiro seemed fine, at least I like the way the word flowed. The sober man, it even had a nice sense of irony too since I could drink for the first time in ages.

The war had cost us, and now the borders were closed. It would hurt the economy almost certainly, demand always went down after a war as villages recoup their losses. Which is why it was positively simple to get a teaching position. The old teachers were either dead after deployment or simply stepping down. Sure, there was a new Kishi sniffing around the headmaster, then there was the nasty business with the blood limit genocides.

It would have been nice for us to keep our limits in the family, but they were just too distinctive in their behavior. Their use as scapegoats for the common people will keep things quelled for a moment, but I'd give it five years at best before things start to fall apart again, though two or three was more likely.

Thrown away the ace.

Jacks are dying in the fields.

As we lose our king.

I wonder if any of these academy stiffs play a decent round of cards. Probably not. My mind is wandering again.

Walking out of the small room I head down the hallway as I look out at the recruits. Orphans the lot of them, all civilians, with very few exceptions. How boring. How many years has it been? Three, four? Puffing on my pipe I walk down the hallway when I see a man walking past carrying someone, a girl. She's quite young, and that hair.

Foreign blood definitely, probably a mixed blood, those are rarer now. The xenophobia that was rampant after the borders closed killed most of those, but this one slipped through the cracks. Either that or this is a missing heir from the Terumi. I chuckle at that thought, that was even more unlikely. If she showed any of those traits she'd have been killed outright. I bet they'll find some discreet way to test her for the affinities just in case. Wouldn't it be interesting if she was? Would the academy hide her, kill her, or use her?

Maybe I'll check into it later.

I miss the capital tea houses. They had such better variety. The plain woman who serves me bows and shuffles out to complain behind the curtain that I'm not going to pay for any services. I roll my eyes, she isn't pretty enough to warrant extra attention. She should send out her brother, he's got a better build for that type of work.

"Your thoughts are wandering." Kigiku said, his face in a scowl as he sipped his tea.

"I was just thinking about how nice the honey is in this tea." I said, looking at the teacup.

"Like you can taste it anymore." He said.

I could, if they used a stronger blend. But all the tea here is watered down. They need to use fresh leaves instead of just resteeping the old ones to save money. "Aren't you grumpy. The meeting can't have been that bad."

"The Mizushima tried to have them killed." Kigiku leaned forward and splayed his fingers on his forehead like he needed their individual weight to help support that of the weight on his shoulders. "Again."

"Ah, the genin team." I leaned down, "I'm guessing since you said they tried, they failed to make it happen this year." It was a not so open secret that one genin team every year mysteriously died after taking one particular mission with the Mizushima. Some people assumed it was coincidence, but only the truly dim thought so. More people thought it was a warning to genin, yes we let you do this mission to fulfill demand but don't get uppity.

The real reason was very simply that this mission had a location that was secret and the easiest precaution for it was to hire a low skilled team that could be quickly disposed of afterwards.

"So is it skill or politics that stayed their hand this year?" I said as I spun the lackluster tea in the cup.

"Both." Kigiku took a sip of his tea to steady himself, "Someone got that mission given to the team with the Kishi heir, which also happens to have one of the most skilled jonin on the teaching roster. Which means it was deemed to be too much of a risk to resources to try silencing them."

"Pity, I think it would have been fun to see the Kishi watchdog kill Mizushima muscle." Honestly, the merchant family had been getting a bit uppity since the borders closed.

Tempting as that was.

"I'm a bit curious why this is my problem." I cut straight to the matter, leaning down.

"Are you saying you had nothing to do with that placement?" Kigiku said. I shrugged as I lay down a bit.

"Why would I?" I replied lazily.

"Boredom, interest, setting a precedent, the fact that you'd get a show if it went the way it did." Kigiku deadpanned.

"I'm not responsible for every inconvenience presented to the Mizushima family." I leaned back, "There is a little wiggle room for chance and such."

"Are you saying you didn't do anything to influence it?" He said.

I thought back, what had I been doing the last couple of weeks, oh right, "You mean, have I been directly coordinating people to create a situation where the Mizushima can't exert the absurd amount of power they've accrued over the last few years since the borders closed?"

Kigiku just stared at me. He was good at that now, he never quite managed it when he was younger, but now he had the stare of a man who got exactly what he wanted and you better do it with a smile. Glad I didn't have to master something like that.

"No," I said simply, "You know I can't make anyone do anything they didn't want to do." That was the job of those still in the seven families, "I did make some suggestions about assignments because of my expertise of the formation of those particular genin. Whether or not they listened too, well it was a coin flip."

"It is never a coin flip with you." He said.

"You'd be surprised actually." I said as I laid on my back and looked at the sad ceiling above me. They definitely needed to replace some of their roof tiles, otherwise that water damage would cost them. "How much all of this is simply chance, I didn't for example, arrange the teams in the way they are. That was done by the other instructors. I withheld my vote entirely." Mostly because I, as per usual, got very drunk the night before the graduation ceremony. It was too much of a disappointment to watch every year, so I prefer to call in sick. You can't vote for such things when you're bedridden.

"It's a solid formation." Kigiku said, "I thought you might have had a word on it."

"Again, chance. Stop looking for conspiracy when there is none, it'll drive you insane." I turned my head to look at his folded legs under the table. His pants were too big. He probably borrowed them from a servant. The both of us were built too willowy for our own good. "Besides, even if I arranged things, their survival is nothing I could have counted on. It was after all a C rank mission."

Kigiku shook his head, "They succeeded, only to set her up to fail."

"Who?" It was a mostly female team, an anomaly with this year's set.

"The redhead, the small one." Kigiku replied, "They set her on a cleaning detail, to have an excuse to execute her when she slips up."

"If she slips up." I said.

"Her file shows good chances of that." He said, "She's wild, bucks authority, is too empathetic for the hirer's liking and she attacked the Mizushima contractor on the mission."

"Did she now?" I was suddenly more interested, "I'm surprised she's not dead already."

"It's not in the official report." Kigiku said absently, tapping, "We captured a few of the bandits after the fact, got the full story from them. Whether the contractor remembers or thinks someone else did it is up for debate. Even still, it makes things more difficult for our choices later."

"Oh," I said, pushing myself up, "You're considering her for the exams."

Kigiku let out a breath, "Why am I not surprised you already know about that?"

"Because the council recorder talks in her sleep." I said with a smirk, "Now got any details about the others?"

Kigiku rolled his eyes, "I thought you weren't going to get involved."

"I'm not, but I'm also terribly bored. The crops this year are not very imaginative I'm afraid. At least none of them have tried to make music with their genjutsu. That was a fun thought experiment." I said, smiling.

"Music?" He asked.

"Music." I replied, "Now come on, who's on the chopping block?"

"They aren't, nevermind. The survivors of the platoon with the heirs. They've only narrowed down a few candidates. The Aozora are taking the girl who's obviously a brothel baby, the Mizushima want the curly haired girl because of her test scores, the Akebino are trying to claim the largest boy." Kigiku said.

"And you want red." I replied.

"If she survives." He replied.

"That's what I would bet on." I tapped the table.

"Why is that?" Kigiku leaned forward.

"Why do you want her?" I replied, looking over him. He let out a sigh,

"She's interesting. Hides her intelligence, or maybe the academy didn't test her in a proper way."

"I'd say the latter, our standards for that are shit." I replied.

"Don't you work there?" He said.

"Exactly, I would know." Smiling, I gestured for him to continue.

"Foreign blood, not to mention, her blood type." He said, "The only one in her year that's O-."

"You want to do that to her now?" I raised an eyebrow, "She's frail, are you sure that she'll survive?"

"I did." He replied, "But that would be after, if she does a further pursuit after the exams. If she survives to get to the exams, then survives the exams themselves."

"Who's the one leaving things to chance now?" I said, smirking at my brother who hit the table, showing his frustration.

"You act like I have a choice. Our plant died at the wall when they issued that mass graduation and the next graduation crop will be too green for something like the exam." He let out a breath, "We're acting by the skin of our teeth with this push. We just barely got enough push to make the turned order."

"And why aren't you sending plants? Older chunin instead. I'm sure at least one other nation is doing so." I said.

"Too much attention. We haven't attended in so long, if it's too obvious the other nations might try to pull our entry because of foul play. Nevermind if we put in plants and they outshine the heirs the Kishi and the Hozuki would be out for blood." He said. "It's a mess."

"It's an interesting mess." I said, "Wish I could attend as one of the teachers."

"We did offer that to you, remember?" He said.

"Yes, yes, but that's too active a role. I'm better suited to being here." I said.

"Where you can manipulate mission placements, scout pieces at the academy and upset the seven families without ever seeming like a probable cause." Kigiku said.

"Exactly." I snapped. He sighed again leaning back. I wonder how many people saw the prince of flowers sigh. Such a pretentious name, I could see his half eye rolls every time someone brought it up. I was so glad I coined it.

"I just, how do I handle this?" He said, leaning forward, looking for an answer.

"I think you're doing just fine at the moment. Just keep going." I said, pushing my hands forward.

"You always say that." He said, "And it's never helpful."

I shrugged, "You're the head, not me. If I wanted to make all the decisions I wouldn't have bothered taking a teaching position and instead worked as a house servant." Leaning on my hand I poured the pitiful tea into the small plate it was set on. The plate was cracked and not properly filled so it dripped onto the table.

"Am I doing the right thing?" He asked.

"I haven't the foggiest idea." I replied, watching the water pool and dripping onto the table slowly.

"Why did I even come here?" He said, holding up his hands.

"I am not sure." I said as I moved my eyes up before I locked on his and sighed. Straightening up, I tilted my head, "Treat her like a peer."

"What?" He said.

"The girl, treat her like a peer. Not like a child, not like a servant, like a peer. Speak with her, as if you were speaking to, well not me, but to one of your seconds. Don't talk down to her, don't make assumptions about her intelligence, answer her questions levely." I tapped my finger on the table, "Don't make it seem like you're trying to control her. Just lay things out and I think that'll get you the best results."

"And if I do that in front of others..." He replied.

"Use a proxy if you must." I said, "But assume competence, if she survives long enough to see you personally, it'd be the least risky assumption to make."

He looked at his tea and nodded. He looked so small sitting down. But then I was biased. We were the same height, but his height was in his legs, mine was in my torso. I still saw that boy, the boy who ran up to me ranting, or sobbing, sometimes both. He's put most of those emotions away.

Oh well, it was for the best.

"So do you need a new name as well?" I leaned on the side of the cell, smoking my pipe as Kigiku sat there, legs crossed. He still had Aozora Hatsu's blood on him. The guards had mysteriously decided to take a break.

He sat there silent as I continued to speak, the smoke going towards the ceiling, "How about, Shitora, but use the symbol for drunkard. That way I could be the sober you could be the drunkard, won't that make us a pair." I laughed at my joke, "Or what about Hachimitsu? Or maybe that can be the new family name? Still use bees. I wonder where you're gonna put the gardens. I'm sure they'll give you the space for it. After they finish negotiations."

Still silence, though looking out the corner of my eye, I saw some flinch in his expression. "Or maybe, Hideki, that way you'd be Hachimitsu Hideki, I like the sound, don't you? It'll be a brand of excellence."

"Brand?" He looked up at me curiously.

"A word I heard in the courts during one of her presentations." I said with a smile, "It's what she calls labels for different families. That they're brands, and that each family gets a brand which they can protect individually, thus creating a more varied market for their goods. Apparently she has some ideas about making a competitive market, but with strict laws for gross percentage of the market share per family per industry to prevent what was the word she said," I snapped my fingers, "A monopoly, yes, each family can only hold a particular percentage of a particular market in overall sales and must allow competitors room to work their trade so as to promote the development of their own product. That way if they want people to buy from them, they either have to have lower prices or higher quality. Such strange ideas, if the Mizushima were still alive, they'd be foaming at the mouth."

"You haven't caught them all yet." The man to be formally known as Kigiku said.

"Not yet," I replied, "But then, they're not killing all of them, just the main family. We both know the bulk of their manpower is from their branches. Which I suppose they aren't branches anymore, they're brands." I let out a snort, "I do like the word, it's catchy, single syllable too, easy to remember."

"Are you satisfied with this outcome?" He asked.

"Aren't you?" I said with a smile, "After all these years, you got to kill him, without a single reprisal."

Kigiku looked at me, face blank, but eyes amused. This was still a public venue even if the guards were on break. "It is not how I would have chosen it."

"Eh," I shrugged, "It's better than the alternative. Sometimes, you need to sweep the board to start a new game. Oh, I know.

Red Queen moves King,

King steps down from the whole game.

The board is then flipped."

"Red Queen? A new title for her?" He said.

"I don't think it'll catch on." I said, "Or if it does, it'll be quashed. People can't get that idea in their head, it'll cause too many problems." I smiled as I looked at him, "You'll be out soon though."

"Oh really?" No longer Kigiku said.

"They'll want your council rooting out the others. It's only a matter of time." I replied.

"Where would they get that idea?" He said.

"A little brothel baby might have brought it up." I said with a smile, "Considering how forceful they've been with their approaches, another wild snow rabbit might see you a little more comfortable now the Aozora head has been put down. Beautiful footwork, by the way."

"I learned from the best." He nodded.

"Mother would be proud, rest her soul." I said, leaning back, "Be a while until you don't have an escort, would you like to go drinking then?"

"Will I bring my own cup?" He asked.

"That's the beauty of it. You won't have to." I turned, "A haircut, maybe some stubble, no one will recognize you. Then we'll have some fun eh?"

"Fun, your idea of fun has changed a lot." Kigiku said.

"No," I said, "Not really, I just have a few more options. And so will you. Once you're free."

He opened his kimono a bit, showing the mark of the violet on his chest, "I don't know if that's really the case."

"Psh," I said, "I bet I could break it." Smiling, I moved the kimono on my chest, revealing the empty skin, "I broke mine after all."

"How?" He shoved down his surprise, "Very well, I will make the appointment, once I've given enough proper freedom."

"Might take a year." I replied, "Maybe two, they'll try to watch pretty closely after everything that happened. Still can't believe you went with the Aozora with that duel thing."

He coughed a little bit, "We were, flat footed. I'm not proud of that, but it thankfully gave the right push to finally end this."

I snorted, "You bet, aren't you glad you got that promise from her?"

"That was a gamble." He replied.

"I told you, lot of this, lot of this is chance. In fact,

The fate broken bonds,

A pawn has crossed the cracked board.

The weight is no more."

"Yeijiro." New name pending said.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"You're crap at haikus."

Shimanouchi Yeijiro, if you don't remember who that is. Whelp I added a note up front.

There is always of course more going on than Ume herself can see at any given time. There is a LOT of reasons things ended up the way they did, most of which has nothing to do with Ume personally and her choices, though those are what we see having the most direct effect since it is her point of view.