Behind the veil (D7, LM, Open)

[Kitsu Kanna]

Kanna was trying to clear her mind from the illusions of the Scorpion world by meditating over the illusions of the Scorpion garden.

A poetic idea, but not one with much weight to it. Sat cross-legged on the grass, doing her best impression of a contemplative monk, she nonetheless was stuck only perceiving what her senses told her and not the true fabric of reality. Or at least some hindsight she didn't have before entering the park.

Well, at least the day was pleasantly warm.

---

D7LM | Meditating to recover Void
Meditation/Void, TN20 | 4k3 ⇒ 19 (TN: 20)

[Susumu Yakumo]

After sleeping in that morning, Yakumo had taken her car over to the park again in hopes for better pictures of the park's local fauna with less people around, as World of Dreams seemed to be the type of world that was of a nocturnal nature. Dressed for her meeting later that day, she kept a parasol with her in case the sun got too bad, but alas photography required two hands so she had to go without.

She did catch a few interesting pictures, some she could show to Yuji later for other purposes, and a whole lot of photos of the elusive lilac drakes. Turning around, her camera's lens caught on a meditating Lion sitting on the grass, only a couple of meters away. "Oh, sorry... I didn't notice you at first," she said, offering a bow. It was rude to suddenly point a camera at someone after all.

[Kitsu Kanna]

"Susumu-sama."

Kanna was almost surprised that the idol could exist under daylight, for she seemed to be a creature of the night and of carefully cast shadows.

Well, assuming a local illusionist wasn't just playing a prank on her and the Spider was indeed talking to her. That's the lasting issue with illusions, they make you doubt everything.

"How does the day find you? Not too tired after the concert of last night?"

[Susumu Yakumo]

There was probably a liberal application of sunscreen on her pale skin to allow her to be a Daywalker.

"It's a good day so far, Lion-san - just enjoying having a clear shedule after some hectic days." Yakumo put her camera away for now. "A little tired, but that's how it always is before noon. Did you have a good time yesterday?"

She of course assumed that almost everyone who was anything would've been there.

[Kitsu Kanna]

"Skipped your concert actually. Too late for my schedule. A samurai is to go to bed early if no duty is keeping them awake, and with you dragging in half the town, there wasn't much work that could effectively still be done by that hour.

I'm Kitsu Kanna by the way. Ikoma press. Which, on this world, people seem to assume means some sort of paparazzi when this couldn't be any further from the truth."

[Susumu Yakumo]

Yakumo blinked innocently. She had heard legends of these Lions who went to bed so early in the day they woke up before midnight, because it would... stop assassins, or something? Lion worlds had to be full of really dangerous politics and assassins, she figured, for them to keep to such paranoia.

Hadn't stopped people from showing up to her concerts on Lion worlds though.

"Ikoma press, hm? Are you here to cover the events of the winter court then?" since she assumed the Lion wouldn't do anything as lame as slanderous tabloid work, even if she had stated that not to be the case. "Or chasing some interesting journalistic mystery?"

[Kitsu Kanna]

"Oh my job is something you're likely to be familiar with. Your manager might have presented to you a journalist of your clan who is to help you write your memoirs? And by that, it is to be understood that what will happen is that the both of you will schedule a few interviews, then the journalist will write down the full book using the first person singular pronoun, you'll skim through it to check for mistakes, and it'll be printed with only your name on the cover?

That's the gist of my work. I help consolidating the glory of people of honor by supporting them in literary endeavors they're too busy for.

I'm thus there not so much for the Winter Court itself than for the people the Court brought on planet, among them lots of irreproachable samurai that have yet to achieve the degree of glory they deserve."

[Susumu Yakumo]

"Memoirs? Isn't that something for more established, and more... hmm, older celebrities, to regain some fame?" she asked curiously. Not that she was a big reader of memoirs anyway.

"So Kitsu-san is here to interview... potentially interesting people? Hm that does sound like it could be very fun. Have you met anyone of great interest for your writing yet?"

[Kitsu Kanna]

"The framework of the books change depending on the age of the celebrity. When they're young, they're more akin to self-help books. 'Ten tricks on how to defeat a pirate flotilla, from the mind of Akodo Bob, youngest commander of the float'. After they're retired, they become classical memoirs. In between, they're closer to essays filled with anecdotes.

The bulk of the work doesn't change much. It's always about the life of a special person. The rest is marketing. And politics of course. For example, at the moment, we have a particular appetence for tales of heroes that shone through battles against a specific set of opponents.

And I definitely met many interesting people here. Only a few that meet the requirements to get published in our new Heroes from the distant stars collection sadly. Far too many people seem confused about the fact the Lion requirements for glory aren't high – we're here to grow it anyway – but our requirements for honor are non-negotiable."

[Susumu Yakumo]

"Well of course. I can't imagine anyone would write a piece like that and feature all the ronin and criminals." If Kanna had meant her clan specifically as someone not meeting Lion standards of honor, whatever that was, it didn't seem to register with the diva.

"If you need to be introduced to any member of my clan, I'd be happy to do so. Susumu Yuji-sama has served loyally here on World of Dreams for a couple of years now, and Susumu Sumiko-san is a very smart prodigy of the dojo on Whispers. Both absolutely wonderful." And Yakumo was not at all biased.

[Kitsu Kanna]

"I've actually run into these two during my stay on the World of Dreams. Very courteous people. Perfectly at ease on a Scorpion world.

However... Tell-me Susumu-sama, what do you think honor is?"

[Susumu Yakumo]

"Hm?" Yakumo raised an eyebrow at the question, wondering for a moment if she was back in school to answer a quiz.

"I think that's a complex question to answer, since I don't think people have even come to agreement on that over thousands of years. Buuuut," she did give it some thought and a proper answer of her own, "to me, honor is the social contract that binds us samurai together, ensuring that an Empire can exist. Without it, I don't think we could have a civilised society, or an Empire that stretches over a galaxy."

[Kitsu Kanna]

"Not a bad answer actually."

Surprisingly so. But there was a difference between having theoretical knowledge of something and putting it into practice.

"Honor is many things, but indeed what allows a samurai to trust their fellow samurai.

The soldier in battle knows that their sibling-in-arm won't falter because they're devoted to courage, and in that fact they themselves find the strength to stand strong.

Because they're both sworn to duty, the magistrate knows the guard won't turn a blind eye on malevolence for a few coins, as the guard knows they wouldn't have been assigned that boring station by the magistrate if it wasn't useful in the grand scheme of things, and both are freed from the worry that would hinder their work.

Because society has a whole believes in compassion, the samurai does not fear growing old, knowing the younger samurai will keep supporting them even after they've become unable to support the clan any further.

And of course, the simplest example: A samurai can speak soul to soul with their fellow samurai as they know the both of them will reject verbal violence and lies.

Which leads to the next question: What is deception?"

[Susumu Yakumo]

Yakumo chuckled and shook her head. "Is this a pop-quiz, or interview, Kitsu-san?" she said with a teasing smile on her pretty features.

"Pretty sure it's lies and duplicity. Can also be omission of truth, or twisting it. Not that all deception is bad though - people tell little lies every day in their lives."

[Kitsu Kanna]

"I don't know about what 'people' do but a samurai doesn't do lies, little or big.

And I think the conversation has naturally brought us to the reason no disciple of Susumu will be pictured under a favorable light in a Lion book."

[Susumu Yakumo]

Well that escalated quickly.

"Kitsu-san has never even omitted the truth even a teeny tiny bit ever?" she asked with a sincere smile. "Not even when someone asked you hey how are you today? and you didn't feel like going into it so you tell them I'm fine? Or if telling a lie was nescessary to save your lord, would you not?"

Yakumo laughed gently. "I'm not asking in all seriousness of course. I'm not even trained by the Susumu, so I hardly represent all of my kin."

[Kitsu Kanna]

"I wouldn't say I have been absolutely perfect on that front – perfection is the domain of the divine, not something mortals can aspire to – but I've definitely always pushed for truth even in circumstances it wasn't the easiest path. And I've certainly never crossed the line of willingly deceiving someone.

I borrow my name from my ancestors. I must return it to them unharmed. I borrow my honor from my descendants. In shaming myself, I shame them as well. Leadership. Even if you haven't faulted yourself, the honor debt the original Susumu has left behind is a chasm that will take a few hundred more generations of impeccable behavior to be plugged.

But praise be upon you if you're contributing to that monumental task through your own honorable actions. Crane trained I guess? They have the most reputed artistic schools after all."

[Susumu Yakumo]

"A few hundred more generations? Goodness, Hasn't it been thousands of them already over the nearly... two millenia?" Yakumo did the math quickly in her head, as she wasn't the best at remembering dates. It was all pretty ancient history anyway. How many generations is in a millenia anyway?

Spider would have to hold their breath a thousand years more to be seen as more than gutter-trash by this Lion it seemed.

"Yes, I was given the opportunity to train with the Crane when I was young. I was born and raised on Shiragiku, but I spent all my years training for my gempukku with the Crane, learning from the finest artistic teachers in the Empire. Singing and dancing obviously, but also traditional arts."

[Kitsu Kanna]

"A generation is about 25 years. 2000 divided by 25 is not even one hundred. Not that math matters much here. Honor cannot be put into equations. This is more of an educated guest based on stories of old about people having to pay back a karmic debt over many generations.

Don't you find this system beautiful actually? That idea that if you work hard to live a good and honorable existence, your children, or maybe your grandchildren, or maybe your grand-grand-etc-children will be freed of the stigma you personally have to endure?

Theology aside, I fear Shiragiku is one of these planets I know only the name of. Lion don't exactly wander casually on Spider worlds these days."

If they ever did any day.

[Susumu Yakumo]

"I suppose it looks beautiful to those who get to look down at me and my kin as if we're some kind of monsters, sure," Yakumo retorted with a dry tone, because to her it sounded an awful lot like cow-dung that those who bled and fought on hostile worlds against the worst enemies of the Empire were rewarded with this kind of treatment from those who were supposed to be their fellow samurai.

"Overall, I think the Empire, and the galaxy, could be better off with more kindness and compassion towards one another. Instead of holding on to ancient history. Maybe it's just me prefering to live life very day-to-day - but there is no time like the present to do better."