D8 EE - Strange Memories (Open)

[Aimi]

"I'm familiar with the concept of a Geisha House, Kitsu-san," Aimi says dryly, "And since I doubt they would have let me through the door alone, and I am thus here as your companion, why do you not choose?"

Notably, while most regard Geisha Houses as places to rest and enjoy oneself, Aimi's behaviour is still every bit as guarded and controlled as before she entered. Perhaps even more so.

[Kitsu Moshumaru]

"Ah, my apologies."

In wanting to seem the better host, he had instead made a fool of himself. He turned to reception.

"In that case, give us room 12 with 2 house teas and the selection platter, if that's alright, Mumi-san."

One could assume 'mumi-san' was a worker f a kind here.

[Aimi]

"You seem familiar enough with this place, Kitsu-san," Aimi comments after a moment, once they've been left with some privacy in the room and the attendant has gone off to prepare their platter, "Stresses of impending marriage getting to you?"

[Kitsu Moshumaru]

"You seem familiar enough with this place, Kitsu-san," Aimi comments after a moment, once they've been left with some privacy in the room and the attendant has gone off to prepare their platter, "Stresses of impending marriage getting to you?"

The Kitsu nodded, evidently relaxed.

"Truthfully, I have been a patron of many house and many a fling since past my gempuku. My work involves meeting people at their deepest pits almost constantly and, well, this is how I coped. I admit, I'm not looking forward to having to unlearn this habit for the sake of my wife."

[Aimi]

"You'll be a more righteous man than most if you do," Aimi snorts, shaking her head, "The number of samurai who go to such places to escape from their wives and husbands boggles the mind at times."

[Kitsu Moshumaru]

"You'll be a more righteous man than most if you do," Aimi snorts, shaking her head, "The number of samurai who go to such places to escape from their wives and husbands boggles the mind at times."

The Kitsu nods.

"I dread to ask, but I can understand - these are places to escape one's duty. Raising the next generation certainly counts as one. Some may see it as a temporary shame to maintain a longer term honour, perhaps?"

Why was he defending the honour of the geisha rat?

Because he was one.

Oh, right.

[Aimi]

"Hiding from their duty? Hardly," Aimi snorts, shaking her head, "They are breaking under the weight of the world, Kitsu-san, but to criticise the world is forbidden. No one, not one single person, is capable of living up to the standards demanded of the ideal samurai. They burn themselves to ash seeking to attain it, drive themselves mad clinging to the impossible ideal, and all too often resort to suicide out of shame at being only mortal."

She gestures around them. "The Geisha House exists because the standards demanded of samurai are impossible to meet. It exists so that samurai can go before their peers and pretend they were not sobbing the night before, that their composure has never cracked, that their heart does not long for the simple empathy of another's heartfelt smile. It is a farce."

[Kitsu Moshumaru]

"Hiding from their duty? Hardly," Aimi snorts, shaking her head, "They are breaking under the weight of the world, Kitsu-san, but to criticise the world is forbidden. No one, not one single person, is capable of living up to the standards demanded of the ideal samurai. They burn themselves to ash seeking to attain it, drive themselves mad clinging to the impossible ideal, and all too often resort to suicide out of shame at being only mortal."

She gestures around them. "The Geisha House exists because the standards demanded of samurai are impossible to meet. It exists so that samurai can go before their peers and pretend they were not sobbing the night before, that their composure has never cracked, that their heart does not long for the simple empathy of another's heartfelt smile. It is a farce."

The Kitsu sipped his tea.

He was noticing a pattern to his day, but that was besides the current point.

"I see. Why were you waiting outside this establishment, Aimi-san?"

His voice held no judgement, no feigned innocence as if to spring some kind of logic trap, it seemed... it was just a question.

[Aimi]

Aimi freezes, her face snapping back into careful neutrality. Stupid girl, you get a little rattled and you just talk and talk and...

"I wasn't always a ronin, Kitsu-san," she says flatly, "Places like this remind me of... what I had, before. Some of it good, some of it bad. I feel at times if I could just reconcile myself to those memories, write them off or embrace them entirely, I would be happier... and so I find myself straying near, at times."

She shakes her head. "I ask that you forgive my outburst. It was unseemly, and a sign that I am... more tired than I thought."

[Kitsu Moshumaru]

She shakes her head. "I ask that you forgive my outburst. It was unseemly, and a sign that I am... more tired than I thought."

The Kitsu shakes his head in return, still showing a complete calm.
"You have nothing in apologize for - consider it forgiven. If there is any place to express yourself, it is here. As you say, samurai go here so they can pretend they weren't in tears the night before."

He sipped.

"I admit, there is definitely a lot to what you said. The samurai do chase ideals which at time mean you must choose one and sacrifice the other entirely at times. There are definitely those who lose themselves to the wheel in hopes of a simpler life. I imagine you have likely heard many arguments in favour of bushido and the lifestyle surrounding it, so I will not retread such ground."

Instead, his interest was piqued by another point she made.

"Instead, I am curious. You said you weren't always a ronin - did circumstance drive you to the ronin life, or was it a failure of your clansmen in some way?"

The implication of a possible failure on Aimi's part was deliberately omitted.