Court Games Part 1

Kakita Yoshi paused his ambling stroll through the gardens of The Crane Embassy . A Kirishima azalea caught his attention, it's blossoms bright crimson under the morning sun. It was, of course, perfectly trimmed: almost but not quite spherical, the slight asymmetry itself carefully crafted.
Perfect imperfection, deliberately fashioned to complement the azaleas' place in the garden.
Yoshi smiled his appreciation at the unseen gardener. How satisfying it must be, he thought, to be able to design the very flaws that afflicted your subjects. People, unfortunately, came with their flaws already included. The best he could do was learn those flaws, and then exploit them.
Resentment, jealousy, ambition, lust...every delegate to the Imperial Court had some imperfection, some failure of character that could be leveraged.
The trick - and the trouble - was determining how to work with what you were given. It would be much easier if, like the gardener, Yoshi could simply decide that this Courtier pined for a particular woman, or that courtier craved opium. He could then arrange and shape the Imperial Court like this Azalea, getting the precise outcome he desired every time.
Yes, the gardener had it so much easier.
Yoshi looked at the purple and yellow shion blossom. It represented rememberance.
I won't forget.
He still could not forget the last time he was here.

Yoshi walked along the winding path, toward the Crane Clan Embassy proper, but he stopped when someone appeared in the path before him, blocking his way. Yoshi began to frown his disapproval, to prepare a sharp rebuke for whoever hadn't immediately made way for him, but he stopped as he recognized the grey kimono embroidered with cranes in white.
It was Kakita Toshimoko, who was known as the Grey Crane - his own brother.
"Here you are, Yoshi-san" Toshimoko said, bowing. "I heard that you had found some time away from your duties as Imperial Chancellor."
Yoshi returned the bow. "Greetings, brother. I see that, likewise, you have found yourself to parade around the gardens."
"It's beautiful under the bright gaze of Lady Sun, is it not?" Grinning conspiratorially, Toshimoko added, "But it is even more beautiful in the softer light of Lord Moon, with a fair woman by your side, eh?"
Yoshi surpressed a sigh, Toshimoko may be the revered sensei of the Kakita Dueling Academy, mentor and closest advisor to Doji Hotaru and former mentor to the Emperor himself. But he was also ungraceful - sometimes even crude.
Offering an indulgent smile, Yoshi replied, "If you say so, brother."
"I do!" Toshimoko said, but his grin faded. "Still, you almost certainly have pressing business that demands your attention - you're not here to appreciate the foliage. What really brings you here?"
"I have not met with Hotaru-ue since her arrival in Otosan Uchi ," Yoshi said. ”I wish to offer my condolences to her regarding Lord Satsume prior to the funeral.”
The remainder of Toshimoko’s grin vanished. ”Really? Condolences. . .or congratulations?” Yoshi started to open and raise his fan, the instinct of a practiced courtier concealing his shock at such an outrageous statement. instead, he glared at Toshimoko.
”I did not realize that mastery of the sword entailed such a degradation of one’s other qualities-such as simple decency and propriety. ”
”Bah. Spare me your courtly façade of indignity, Brother.” He gestured at the shion. ”That flower asks us to remember. Teinko threw herself off the cliffs at Kyūden Doji because of Satsume. Hotaru and I both well remember. So should you.”
”Regardless of your feelings, that is an unworthy way to speak of the dead, Brother."
”Again, bah. The shion only cares that Satsume is remembered, not how. If it is less than fondly, then that is his burden to take into the next life, for he is the one that chose to bear it."
Yoshi looked back at the shion blossom.
I won’t forget.

Yoshi wouldn’t, but not for the unworthy reasons Toshimoko offered. He wouldn’t forget Satsume because he had been a strong leader...and, yes, a demanding one. But demanding excellence from your vassals was how you made them strong, too. Nor would he would forget their sister, who had thrown her life away in the despairing belief that she could never live up to Satsume’s expectations, rather than just trying harder to fulfill them, as was her duty.
People, unfortunately, came with their flaws already included. Teinko’s fatal fragility had been hers. Hotaru and Toshimoko had decided Satsume was the villain of the piece, though. It was a nostalgically revisionist view, a willful blindness brought on by their love for Teinko. For each, it was their own weakness. . .their own flaw.
He looked back at Toshimoko. ”Satsume was a great man," he said. ”He represented and served our family, our clan, and our Empire with honor. You may choose to remember him otherwise, but I will not let that be forgotten."
He considered adding, He is also the one now likely to be in Yomi, the Realm of Sacred Ancestors, while Teinko lingers in Meido, waiting to be judged...But he didn't.
Another of Toshimoko’s flaws was passion. It made him easy to provoke-something Yoshi knew only too well. As children, he had once goaded Toshimoko too far over...something. He couldn’t even recall the reason now. Toshimoko had knocked Yoshi into a koi pond and held him there, thrashing futilely, almost drowning him. The furtive, wet sounds and movements of koi made Yoshi shudder and draw away even to this day. Toshimoko simply glared back at Yoshi. ”I do not deny Satsume’s service, nor his contributions, Brother. Just keep in mind, when you see Hotaru, that her feelings about him, like mine, are...strong.” ”Of course."