2026-02-12: Powerful Women
- Log: Powerful Women
- Cast: Yua Ijuuin, Miho Ijuuin, Yurika Ooshiro
- Where: Ooshiro Family Home, Kukojima
- OOC Date: 2026-02-12
- IC Date: Tue, Sept 25 2026 (forward-dated)
- Summary: Miho gets a chance to speak with the venerable Noro Priestess of Kukojima: Yua's grandmother, Yurika Ooshiro, who has both misgivings and cautions to share with Miho. Her advice on matriarchial power isn't unwelcome, though; neither is Yua's soup, cooked with love to help Miho recover from that gunshot she took. Miho embraces the nature of the island, and takes it easy...
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Tuesday's rolled around, and Yua and Miho have returned to Yua's childhood home in Kukojima. Yuna and Yuken are both at school, now; Yua's borrowing her kitchen to make a little something. Mama Ooshiro keeps dried asa in her cupboards, and so she's brewing up some nice sea-lettuce soup with fish broth.
She hums as she works, setting out mugs which can be drunk more easily on a couch for when the soup's done. Because, of course, that's where she's set Miho up, with some nice plush cushions to help keep her weight off her injured arm. The Ooshiro's loungeroom is far smaller than theirs, of course -- and the couch is fabric, with amateur re-upholstering performed when it came to end of its life to give it a new lease on it. Dozens of pictures are hung on the walls -- there are women, there, featured in the white robes of the noro. The television is an old CRT model; there's a cabinet still full of VHS tapes, beside it. There's a coffee table, in front of the couch; it has some educational books stacked on it a touch haphazardly, and a flyer for a sale at the local shop. (What does it sell? Now there's more people living here, there's more business; but there has always existed the local shop, a general store that sold most of everything they could hope to source on their village. ... in a place like this, you really need to get on a ferry to travel to a bigger island to get a lot of specialist things. It's cheaper in the bigger towns, too...)
What's clear, looking at the Ooshiro's house, is this: the future will take many more years to reach the rural villages of Okinawa. Even a house which hosts one of their most important women -- for of course Yurika lives here with her daughters -- is remarkably modest.
Right now, in a rocking chair which no one else would dare to sit in, the venerable Yurika Ooshiro sits. She's halfway through her seventies, a wisp of a woman who doesn't even clear five feet tall; her skin is darker than Yua's, her hair deep grey and her robes white as death. In her lap is curled a grey tabby-cat; she pets it, idly, as her severe expression traces over Miho's.
"... and you tell me this 'Dragon Line' of yours was at the end of your pilgrimage," she concludes an unseen explanation. "Haa... first your people send Yua-chan to Niraikanai," home of the Gods, "to plunder its wisdom, and now you intrude on our utaki... but if I could not stop the yamakunibu," Japanese people, "at the seat of my power, I could not do so at Tamagusuku Castle." She leans back, the chair rocking, gently, and perhaps she's speaking of the recent flood of immigration to their little island. "You are a harsh sound, Miho-chan," Yurika shakes her head. "You do not coexist where you can carve through... it troubles me. The reason Yua-chan was never fit for this task, it is, how would I say..." She lifts a thin wrist, decorated with a string of pearls, to gesture. "Her fragility, her lability, her lack of weight. You possess... a different kind of weakness to the spirits around you, I should think."
And yet, despite all these criticisms, Yurika likes Miho... what a stern woman.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Miho Ijuuin should be in bed, resting, but she is too animated for that. The interruption to her sleep schedule has made her medications somewhat less effective than usual, and the high of the Dragon Line both energized her and tired her out. She does not object to the modesty of the home, though; she has not once complained, not once wrinkled her nose at a lack of obvious luxury. Indeed, she's instead appreciated the plush cushions, the food she does not often get to eat...
The pictures of important women.
"Yes," Miho confirms of the question.
A harsh sound... "It is so," she answers, with a bow of her head; she speaks respectfully, because she does respect Yurika. "I am harsh. I am what I must be. ...But not only what I must be," she admits. "In order to achieve my hopes, I must cut rather than salve. It is Yua who is able to mend..."
A nod. "Yes. I have long seen things others don't. The doctors, they tell me it is nothing, but..."
"I don't think that's always true."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Indeed, there are few men pictured by themselves on the walls -- they largely appear beside women, their wives or their sisters or their mothers. Men guard the profane; the Ooshiros do not focus overmuch on them, in fear of bringing that base Earthly existence into their home.
"You balance each other," Yurika supplies. "Ultimately, it's that quality which stopped me from protesting... even though the yamakunibu are too harsh for my children." She scowls, as she looks over to one picture -- Yuna and her husband, Fuyu. "Though I've made bad assessments before... I won't forgive you if you return her to my hearth shattered." Yuna went out to the mainland, after all, and came back so griefstricken that she...
Well, Yuna's found something to drive her forward again. Helping out, there, gives her purpose. Most of her neighbours think it's an improvement, the way she gets out of bed and goes to work, now...
"... still, your sensitivity gives you insight," she allows. "Just as hers lets her appreciate your trials with gentleness, I suppose. Your yamakunibu doctors will tell you there is nothing to spirits, because their faith is too every-day to account for their health... but I see it clearly in you. You are quite special, you know, to be seji-daka," possessing heightened spiritual power which leaves her closer to the Gods, "... you would have made a fine miko for them, if you were not given to the blade."
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
They balance each other. Miho nods to this. "I appreciate that," Miho says. "I will work hard to ensure you need not, there. ..I wouldn't forgive myself either. Yua is the most important to me of anyone."
But...
"They think there is less to the world than there is," Miho agrees--or contends. One of those. "I believe it, though. It is fortunate... It allows me to do things I otherwise could not. To understand, where I could not. It brought me to Yua."
A miko...
"The blade is a passion of mine--unfortunately, it's practical now, too. ...But I'll protect Yua with it."
"...If the world were softer," she says, going back to something earlier, "Then perhaps I could be. But especially in Japan, I must cut."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"This, I believe," Yurika nods, still stern, when Miho calls Yua her most important person. "As I have seen that you are her own 'precious person'... the marriage customs of the yamakunibu have taken her far enough from me, and I will not alienate her from her mother's hearth." She rocks forward, again. "That is the habit of our people," she explains. "We do not give up our daughters when they become wives... they have two households, rather than surrendering their home to live in another. But this does not agree with the yamakunibu's 'Submissions', I suppose... to retain that power."
She shakes her head. "You are a strange one," she says, though it's complimentary, "appreciating this way of things."
It's not the only way Miho is strange.
"I thought to keep her from the world of spirits," Yurika sighs, her eyes closing, "but it seems her path travels there, inevitably. As it did with my daughter... heed me, Miho-chan, when I say that a tight grasp may itself help your fish slip through your fingers. I wonder if life would be different, for them, if I had initiated them properly... haa, but don't mind an old woman wondering. Perhaps I am already kanri hanriru... kani, 'steel', as you say, 'loosening my hoops'." Losing her restraints -- her steel bindings which loop around her barrel -- that is to say, becoming senile.
She has translated a great many terms from Okinawan like this for Miho -- just as she does for all the villagers of Kukojima. Few of the youngsters speak the old language, now.
"You are quite talented, with that blade," she adds, rocking back and forth, one eye cracking open to look to Miho. "Yuna-chan's little boy watched you quite avidly, on the television. It's a shame you're injured... he would be all over you if you weren't." She takes a long, breath, and sighs. "... but he's a good boy. He won't crowd you."
Yua can be heard, from the kitchen, humming one of those traditional lullabys she's taken to singing. Yurika looks to Miho properly, then. "You are not the eldest woman," she says. "Perhaps that's for the best... Yua-chan knows better the duties of that position. Still, you have a certain understanding of the steel a matriarch needs for her home... you are not as 'still' as a yamakunibu woman is said to be." She doesn't use the word 'passive'; perhaps she values more highly the steel a nadeshiko flower ought to hold behind her silks. "Yua-chan takes her promises seriously... I suppose she'll try to honour that position. You, in turn, must guide the home. It is not a man's position... it is not the position of women on the mainland, either. ... I do not think you will struggle overmuch."
It's at this point that Yua brings out -- mugs of soup! "Excuse me!" She chirps, brightly. "Grandmother, Mimi, soup's ready!"
"Wonderful," Yurika nods, as she puts her hands to the armrests, and pushes herself up. "I'll take mine on the porch, Yua-chan. The morning air is good for you... you are greeting our rising tida," the sun, "every day?"
"I am," Yua nods, as she places two mugs on the coffee table. "Let me bring you out soup, Grandmother!"
"Heh," Yurika smiles, finally, looking to Miho. Sharing with her a joke. "Look at her. She thinks I am already invalid... tell me again how long it took you at pilgrimage, child," she says, turning back to Yua.
Yua blinks. "Huh? We didn't get done until it was dark out, but..."
"Heh, heh," Yurika chuckles, as she walks out to the kitchen. "I'll fetch my own soup... you tend to your wife, granddaughter. You've been on your feet long enough."
"Phew... okay!" Yua chirps, as she takes a seat beside Miho, on the couch. (She has been standing up a long time. Her feets do hurt.) "Thank you, Grandmother," she smiles to her, as she leans forward, to take one of those mugs and offer them to Miho.
Off Yurika ambles, and they're alone.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"Thank you." Miho remains respectful. But the habit of their people... Miho is thoughtful to that. "In my own family, it is not always the woman who leaves her own. My sister's husband became an Ijuuin." A pause. "...I am strange," Miho agrees. "But I prefer it that way. As the youngest I have been able to make my own way... And I would see that it respects the one I love."
The world of spirits... Miho listens to Yurika's words. "Mm... I will meditate on this," she says. Of the tight grasp, of the fish that might slip through her fingers. Miho listens to the translation, and shakes her head. She will not argue, but she doesn't think Yurika's losing it yet.
"Thank you," Miho says of the recognition of her talents--and then she smiles. "In better circumstances," she says, "I would be glad to show him. Perhaps another time."
Miho hears Yua, too. But steel...
"I am... not suited, to the traditions of my people," she says. "Not in that way. I have no argument with womanhood, but I must go my own way in how I pursue it."
"...I can accept a position that is neither's."
But Yua comes out, and Miho smiles. "Thank you," she says. and then--
A joke! Miho actually laughs. "It's true. We took quite some time."
"Come, sit with me," Miho invites. "Thank you, Grandmother," Miho says as well.
"...The soup smells lovely, Yua."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"That is the weight of your own family," Yurika nods. "The same weight which saw our men becoming Ooshiros. But it is good to find your own way in life... one way or another, the young always will."
Yuken will absolutely be all over Miho next time she visits. (And, indeed, her being injured won't stop him from asking questions... once the afternoon rolls around, she's truly doomed. He even got his very own foil! Just like her!!! ... well, not quite like her...)
"I think you would like our ideas of womanhood more," Yurika says. "After all, in our tradition, a woman has two homes... that means you both are shima-naicha, now. This is what we call people of the mainland who have taken the island into them, or people of the island who have adapted to the mainland... ah, we have many shima-naicha with us, now." All that immigration...
Off she goes, though, with that tacit approval for Miho, leaving Yua to sit with her.
"Heehee... Grandmother didn't go easy on you, huh?" Yua giggles, as she picks up her own mug of soup. "Don't worry, Mimi. She really likes you!" Yua can tell that pretty effortlessly, apparently.
She lifts her mug -- they're nice, insulated ones, so Miho can hold it with one hand without worrying about burning herself. "It's asa soup, Mimi! When the Lunar New Year comes around, we chip the sea-grass off the rocks... it's better fresh, but we always make sure to dry some for later in the year, too. When you're not feeling well, you need some nice hot soup!" There is, indeed, dried seaweed in the soup-broth, as well as scattered flakes of fish; it's a warm, comforting soup, and it will give her plenty of energy.
"Are you feeling okay this morning, Mimi?" Yua asks, over the lip of her own mug, as she blows on the hot soup.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"Mm." Miho acknowledges Yurika's wisdom with a nod, rather than elaborating. As for Yuken--that's great! It will be nice to answer questions, especially by someone who she's sure isn't a secret enemy. ...Almost completely sure. They wouldn't be able to manipulate the child out ehre.
"Shima-naicha..." Miho is thoughtful at that. "Be well."
She could live with two homes. That would be... nice.
But Yua giggles, and Miho smiles. "She did not," Miho says. "I am glad to benefit from her wisdom, though. She gave me much to think about."
Miho accepts the mug, and sniffs it once. It smells wonderful to her, salty and fresh. It will give her the energy she needs. Because--
"Tired," Miho admits. "And still somewhat sore. My body is working hard to heal..."
She waits on the soup, for now.
"Thank you. Knowing your own reasons for being off your feet, you still take the time to care for me. I appreciate it."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"She's really clever!" Yua smiles. "No matter what it is, she knows what to do... even with us, you know? It might not be too obvious, but Grandmother married a mainlander, too..." And perhaps that's why her skin is a lighter tawny shade than Yurika's.
But Miho is tired, and Yua smiles, sympathetically. "It's okay, Mimi. You were shot, you know...? It's normal! And it's the least I can do!"
She sighs, hooking a sock around Miho's calf, given how her hand's occupied. "Actually, I should apologise to you... my soul was very heavy, so I really wanted to show the Gods I was working hard to cleanse myself. Because of that, I pushed you into a hard and busy day when you were already tired and in pain... it was kind of selfish, wasn't it? Moouuuu... I wasn't thinking about my family." She looks sad...
... but she at least brightens up a little when she sips at her soup. "Ahh... asa is so good!"
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"Hmm. It's easy to forget that part." That she married a mainlander, too. But, "Well, she's very clever, yes."
And tired. "That's true," Miho says. "I'm frustrated, though. ...My body usually does as I wish. Having to rest without much activity..." She sighs. "Well, at least it does not stop all activity." She smiles, and leans Yua's way a moment.
"Mm?" MIho wonders of apology. "..."
"'Take it easy'," Miho suggests. "I don't mind. ...It is how you all say it, yes? It isn't a problem."
She sips her own soup. "Mmm..."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Mmhm, mmhm!" Yua nods, cheerfully. "Oh, but he wasn't from Tokyo... he was an Inaba man, I think?" So her grandfather was a rural man, too... it must be a different attitude to the hustle and bustle of the city.
Yua leans against Miho, too, though she's careful not to put her in a position where she can't drink her soup. Soup is healing, Miho!! "It must be really hard," she sympathises, with her. "I get frustrated like that, too... when I turn around or get up too fast and get dizzy, or when I can't keep food down, or when I have to sit down... it feels like, ooooohh!!" She huffs, cheeks puffing out, in demonstration of those feelings. "But I won't be like this forever... and you won't be like this forever either, Mimi! And if you rest now, you'll get better quicker, too!"
She's always so optimistic...
But when Miho suggests that Yua be more tege, why, the heart bubbles around her are almost visible. "Eee! Mimi!" She chirps, happily, beaming to her. "Mmhm, mmhm, it's just like that! Haha... you're right! We're taking a break, so we should take it easy...!"
Sip, sip... "... it's good," Yua smiles, looking down at her cup. "I can still drink asa soup... I'm really happy."
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"Inaba..." Miho nods thoughtfully. "Father's mother was from Inaba," she reflects. How funny! It must be different.
But, soup is healing, and, "Yes," she says. "I'm sure you do. I suppose this just helps me understand you better..."
She smiles. "No, you won't. And indeed, neither will I. I will try to rest, Yua."
Miho's smile broadens. "See?" She says. "I am listening."
A beat, "It's very good. ...I'm happy you can drink it, too."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Wow! I wonder if they were friends? That would be so funny..." Yua giggles, to herself. "But I guess it's not that likely, even if it's a small town... heehee!"
She can't help but be in good spirits. She's back home! And she's back home with Miho!
"Aww, Mimi..." Yua smiles, when Miho says that her injury is her own point of empathy. "That's right! And just like you take care of me when it's hard, I'm gonna take care of you now, too!"
The soup is warm, but Yua's heart is, too. (And so is her belly; her mother made her some haramaki bands to keep Hiroki warm, now they're snug around her abdomen under her leotard.) "You are!" She chirps, brightly, when Miho says she's been listening. "You always did, Mimi..."
Sipping at her soup some more, Yua begins to hum another song, just like the children here sing...
It's soothing for Hiroki, but maybe it will heal Miho, too...!