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An unpolished soul is a dangerous thing, said Tatsutaro, Tomoe's Father and Sensei of the "Falling Rain" school of fencing. He was of the rare mind that as long as man was willing to devote himself to Bushido that was enough of a reason to accept him into his school. And so boys from all walks of life, high and low were permitted to learn fencing. As a result, the Geishu were blessed with perhaps the largest bevy of trained Samurai in the nation; the men were strong, loyal and most of all honourable. Tomoe's brother, Tajima took over as Master of the school and kept the tradition his father started. He heard of the Hikijis arrival and so put his students on alert. The man did not trust the Shadow Lord and by extension did not trust his son either. The students trained for a possible confrontation with the Hikiji. They would learn quickly what it meant to be a samurai.
There was one man on the school grounds that understood that all too well. Usagi was restless and sought out the school in the hopes that a little sparring would lift his spirits. It wasn't meant to be. The Rabbit Ronin was far too skilled for even the senior students to best him. He retired to a quiet corner of the grounds, stripped to the waist and sparred alone with a bokken. Tajima watched the Ronin practise and marvelled at his skill, though his technique baffled him. Tomoe mentioned to him that Usagi's style was unorthodox, to say the least. But he also noticed a great hostility with the man, as if he were trying to kill some imaginary beast with every stroke of his sword. Being so preoccupied was not healthy for a true samurai. The followers of Bushido must remove such anger from them if they want to be real warriors. In short, Usagi's spirit was in jeopardy. Once Usagi paused to catch his breath, Tajima walked up to him. Unfortunately, Usagi's spirit was still engrossed with combat and sensed Tajima's approach as a threat and lashed out. Thankfully, Tajima was just as adept as Usagi was and ducked out of the way of the bokken. Usagi was immediately filled with shame.
"By the Gods, forgive me, Tajima-san." He fell to his knees and bowed to the man.
Tajima helped him up, "No harm done. But your actions prove to me that you are in some measure of distress, Usagi."
Usagi rubbed his forehead, "Yes, I guess that's true. I have never felt this level of...frustration before."
"Perhaps if you spoke with my sister..."
"Unfortunately, she stands between me and the heart of my frustration. Your entire clan is in the way. And if I were to act all would be lost."
Tajima sighed, "I must assume it involves the Hikijis."
"I have never been this close to Shadow Lord before. I could bring chaos to his world and avenge my Lord Mifune."
Tajima turned to the heavens, "All my life, I've taught my students what it means to be a samurai. That you serve your lord even after death," Now he looked at the earth beneath him, "But the price we would pay for your Lord's honour..."
