A Gentleman's Failure [Tsubine/J]

Enter: J. Saionji

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"Boss, your 'friend' from the Gotei is at the front door." Tsubine was in what some might call the parlor. It overlooked the small pond in the backyard of his manor with an open wall that let in all the sounds and smells of nature. It was the only room that was quite that open, and he liked relaxing in there. It was also the room where he held any private meetings or functions involving the Rengokai or his own personal business. Today, he was using it to polish both of his important swords—Kōgin Reimei and Konkankyō.

Tsubine raised his eyebrow to the comment from his attendant. "Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down now?" It's true. Tsubine had multiple people he knew in the Gotei now. He had made a few new acquaintances and had even rekindled an old friendship. Of course, he had new enemies as well... But he doubted that was the situation at the gate.

The attendant thought for a moment. "It's the one with the expensive hair." Tsubine knew exactly who that meant. "Oh, J. Is it just him?" The attendant dashed the sliver of hope he felt with a nod. "Well, send him in—and don't keep him waiting." The attendant rushed out the door to escort J in.

Tsubine took the time between the attendant leaving and returning to put the finishing polish on his swords. J walked in as Tsubine slid them both back in their respective scabbards. "Been a minute since you've made the trek to Shōjin, J. Can I get you something to drink?" Tsubine always offered, and J never accepted. It was more of a ritual—a sort-of secret handshake between the two friends.

Enter: J. Saionji

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Tsubine had already made his way over to the ceramic jug of sake he was planning on drinking from. He had one cup down from the shelf and was about to turn around when J agreed to the drink. He raised an eyebrow and grabbed a second cup. J read his mind it seemed and clarified that Mayumi was okay. Tsubine knew that if something was really wrong, J wouldn't have waited for the door guards to let him through.

Tsubine led J to the railing that overlooked the pond. An attendant brought over two cushions for the two of them. Tsubine dismissed the attendant and the singular guard that insisted on being near him. Such was the price of being important. Tsubine poured J a cup and then accepted J's offer. Finally alone, Tsubine took a good look at J's face—he almost had bags under his eyes. That was unusual. Combined with everything else, Tsubine knew something was definitely up with his friend. "Well, I'll get right to it. What's wrong, J? You look... not so good. Is it Gotei stuff or Noble stuff? ...or is it both?"

Enter: J. Saionji

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Tsubine hadn't seen J this rattled since his mother died. Even then, it was grief-rattling. This? This was personal-rattling. He didn't like seeing J like this. J was meant to be the one that he could poke with a stick and barely get a response. Hell, the most emotion he'd seen from J was with his request to track down a couple of people. He needed to know how that was going to be going, but that was not a conversation for now. It was J time.

Tsubine took the second sip by the time J was halfway done with his second cup. He'd either have to walk J home or J'd have to crash here if this continued. "...It wasn't your sister, was it?" After getting the confirmation it wasn't Kei, Tsubine reached over and topped J's drink off. He stared more at the sake than he did his friend as he spoke. "Well, J, I hate to say it, but welcome to the club of being a guy." Tsubine looked up with a pitying smile. "You're just like the rest of us after all." After chuckling at his own joke, Tsubine continued. "So what exactly happened?"

Enter: J. Saionji

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Tsubine stayed silent for a moment. He had to be very careful with this. As far back as he could remember, he hadn't seen nor heard of J being with anyone. He didn't want to just say "wow, that's rough buddy." He also didn't want J to think this was common enough with an "I understand." That might leave the Saionji without an heir.

"Whoever that woman was, I think she hit you in a weak spot. Well, maybe not a weak spot... I guess the best way to put is that you and the Rukongai don't mix well. You're used to the schemes and politcking of nobles. That's the kind of trickery you'd be ready for." Tsubine finished his first cup and poured a second. "What you described isn't that uncommon for, well, common folk. Sometimes they just want to experience something once. They'll use underhanded techniques to get it because they don't have either the time or money to do it the way you would."

"It's part of why I'm still in business. I make sure that they don't get too underhanded... and I also make sure they don't get an excess." Tsubine joined J in staring out over the pond. "I'm not trying to defend her when I say this, but it's just a fact of life out here. The noble will almost always outlive the commoner. People do stupid things because they don't know when their time will come."

"So as for you, chalk it up to her youth and your inexperience. It'll sting for a while, but hey, it doesn't really matter in the long run now does it?" Tsubine raised his cup. "For a night, let this burn the pain and shame away."

Enter: J. Saionji

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Tsubine chuckled. He had been unfortunate to fall for a similar ruse a long time ago. In a lot of ways, he did understand why it hurt J so much. In others, he couldn't understand. Unlike J, Tsubine had more experience with women. He was rusty as hell now, but before Kanna? Let's just say he had "game" as the kids say. Tsubine straightened his back and stuck out his chin. He held his cup high. "What is embarrassment if not the stinging ache of one's pride?" He waxed poetic for a moment before chuckling again. His brief put-on air of superiority vanished.

"I don't think I ever told you the full story on how Kanna and I got together." Tsubine wasn't a lightweight like J. However, any sake after the first cup tend to make him get a bit nostalgic. "I had asked her out, she said no. The next day, she accepted one of my random challenges. It was kind of a blind date for fighters. Well, neither of us were expecting one another. And I engaged in a bit of, well, 'trickery.' You see, I didn't want to hurt her. She was beautiful, and I couldn't see a single scar on her body. I relished in being able to go 'man, I gave this big, tough guy that's famous out here a scar when I beat him.' Her? I couldn't bring myself to do it."

"She beat me over and over because I couldn't bring myself to swinging at her in earnest. Kanna figured it out and slapped me for it. I deserved it. I wasn't being honest in a sense. She wanted a challenge, not someone to coddle her. So I said that if I won the next match, I'd get to have that date I asked for. If she won, I'd give her enough money to do whatever she wanted. Of course, I was basically broke at the time, though she never knew that." Tsubine chuckled again and finished his cup. He didn't pour another. "I won, and we hit it off on that date. The rest, well, you know."

"J, what I'm trying to say is that sometimes people will lie in order not to hurt the other person. It's selfish and stupid most of the time, like what happened with you. But also realize that she probably didn't want to embarrass you. The only shame you should feel..." Tsubine poured his third cup. "...is if you did something wrong. I feel ashamed for what I did to Kanna back then. If she's a good person, she'll feel shame for what she did. But you? You did nothing to be ashamed of."