With summer the grass grew long, brushing against Hattori's shins as he strode through the Maze's pathways. It was late, the night air muggy and humid, with most of his clan mates resting in their dens. All but one it seemed. He found one of his children in the communal space of the Maze, lingering by the fire; as though Katsurō thought if he could stare at it hard enough it would give him all the answers he wanted and more. Even Hattori picked on the fact he was clearly troubled, all pensive and brooding, a weight on his shoulders that as far as Hattori could tell had no reason to be there.


Hattori cut straight to the point as he approached."What troubles you?"

Brooding was unfortunately in his nature, just like the fiery orange and red that ran down his back and marked him as Hattori's son. His green pheasant pecked idly at the ground nearby, occasionally opening its wings to soak in the warmth of the crackling fire. When his father approached, Midori scuttled into the surrounding bamboo with an awkward, quick gait. Katsu raised his head, watching the bird retreat into the bamboo before turning to address his Kaicho. All of his failures from the past few months had tallied up in his head and created a millstone so heavy around his neck that he was surprised he could lift his chin from the psychic weight of it all.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell his father about his cowardice in the face of danger when that fetid worm erupted from the ice, so he chose the more obvious of his shortcomings. "I was unprepared for the raid. I brought shame upon myself and upon Tojo-kai," he said quietly, staring as the embers spit and floated up in the tepid summer air.

"speech"

coded by NachoMumma

Hattori paid the bird little mind, by no means were companions mistreated in Tojo but they were closer to servants than clan mates, as far as Hattori was concerned at least. He let the silence linger on as he approached, settling by the fire as he sat there, stiff with rigid shoulders, as though he ought to sit perfectly still for a portrait. All things considered, the raid went rather well on Tojo's side, even in his old age Hattori had put on a decent enough show and the same could be said for most that had participated that day. But Katsurō?

Hattori had to agree with his conclusion, he had not fought well. At all.

"And why do you think you performed so poorly?" Because Hattori was not the sort to spare feelings or beat around the bush, but he wanted to hear of his son's reasoning. See if he had any excuses.

Katsu struggled to keep his ears in a neutral position. It would be even more shameful now to fold his ears entirely in humility, although they were positioned appropriately in a deferential manner to his father and Kaicho. Why had he performed so poorly? The raid had been so quick and brutal, nothing like a measured practice spar at all. Noise of the battle had deafened him and his eyes had roved so quickly between opponents that he hadn't acted in time before picked off like a scab. "The noise and clamor of it all distracted me, I wasn't used to focusing in such conditions. I will train harder," he said, still not looking away from the flickering fire. He didn't want to bear the weight of Hattori's considering gaze. The Hallows wolves had been armed to the teeth and he wasn't familiar with how to counter weapons like that. Excuses, excuses, excuses...

"speech"

coded by NachoMumma