(D5 EE) Compromised

[Kitsu Murato]

He was dazed, and honestly on the edge of unconsciousness from the bump. But he didn't quite go out. "What? Taiko-san?"

His wits seemed to be getting away from him. Then his head bounced off the mat and there was a slight fading had print on his cheek. Apparently Ishioka wasn't the only one displeased though the ghostly presence didn't make itself otherwise known.

"Damnit..." He finally takes Ishioka's hand up. "My sensei is an ass." When he says that he suddenly puts his hands up and defends himself from thin air. "Don't you think about slapping me again."

One could claim Murato was as mad as a hatter, if that handprint hadn't actually appeared.

He looks at Ishioka. His eyes were slowly darkening to a light orange but not quite normal. "Ever have one of those days where you were burgled, had your heart ripped out, didn't get any sleep, then got slapped around by a spirit?" He knew the Matsu hadn't, was being disrespectfully facetious, and deserved to be slapped for it.

[Matsu Ishioka]

The Stone Matsu, however, wasn't always much interested in what people thought they deserved. Despite the whole episode, Ishioka's face remained as frustratingly neutral as ever.

"Have you ever seen your sister murdered in front of you," he asks in a flat voice, just loud enough for Murato to hear. "I don't like those kinds of questions. Come, sit, have a drink of water. Then start with the heart question. I'm better with that one," he says, voice completely deadpan.

[Kitsu Murato]

No, only a cousin, he thought, knowing that a tragedy pissing match would accomplish nothing.

"It wasn't intentional, I don't think. It just happened. I won't go into details. It's not proper to do so and I'm not trying to share something that private. It simply... hurt. And showed me that there is something wrong with me. So now I have to figure out what that is."

Moving he takes the bokken from the ground, to put it back on a rack before collecting his daisho.

[Matsu Ishioka]

Ishioka's eyes narrow. "You can come and sit to talk a little, or I can follow you through town asking my questions. You'll discover I'm at least as persistent as you'd expect a Matsu bushi to be," he says matter of factly. Expecting the threat will be enough to at least keep Murato from walking out the door, Ishioka walks to a bench near where he'd set his things and sits down.

The Matsu raises his eyebrows to inquire whether the Kitsu is going to sit with him, but regardless he begins to speak. "I do not believe it follows from a broken heart that there is anything wrong with the broken-hearted. You could waste a great deal of time looking for a problem that doesn't exist," Ishioka observes calmly.

[Kitsu Murato]

"I'm not leaving. Just putting the equipment away. I'm angry, not disrespectful of the dojo's cleanliness," he says shaking his head. Murato moves to the bench as well, and with a clearer look at him without the anger spilling over there is clear exhaustion there.

"A pattern of failure is a clear sign that something is wrong with the individual failing. Unskilled, incapable, ignorant, naive, cursed... something leads to that failure," he says with a shake of his head. "I am in the pattern, nobody else is."

[Matsu Ishioka]

"Ah, a pattern. Good. Much more logical," Ishioka says, sounding almost pleased. "Tell me more about this pattern that you see, Kitsu-san. New eyes bring new perspective on a problem, as you know." He adds, voice a little softer, "Especially when those eyes have been sleeping better, hm?"

[Kaito Oubaihime]

"You need to just flow... and feel..." Oubaihime came back to the dojo to see who she would find.

[Kitsu Murato]

The arrival of Oubaihime... he sees her there and he feels his heart sink. All anger is gone, replaced by something else.

"This is a festival where people find love. Others I've known have done so. Other's likely will. The commonality in the pattern, being that I am a lucky charm... for others to find love," he says with a shrug.

When will she find someone better?

[Matsu Ishioka]

Ishioka is focused on Murato, and he sees the change as the Phoenix enters. He listens to Murato's words, then follows his eyes.

"Kaito-san," Ishioka calls immediately. "Most fortuitous timing. Would you humor my worries and please examine Kitsu-san? He's had one or two blows to the head today and I would be most distraught if he needed care and we did
not get it for him."

Ishioka gives a small glare to Murato that suggests he better "be nice," not knowing how well Murato and Oubaihime know each other.

[Kitsu Murato]

The Kitsu doesn't even spare the idea of not being nice a thought. He cared for Bai... but that now just made him wonder if he was potentially doing what he felt had happened to him. Or if she was likely to find a better prospect. That would be the average now.

But his head had started hurting, and he reached up to find a bump. No... two bumps. Taiko... you... He glares at an empty space in the air.