Tamori Taka: Gambling with the absence of deceit

"The children in my old village didn't see the value of reading, they all just wanted to play at being Samurai. I kinda figured it would be the same here." Keshintai continued, "Hey, I know you. We have class together. How come you don't play with the other kids?"

Taka was taken aback, one of her peers was actually talking to her! "Um, they don't want me to..." she half-mumbled, uncertain with how to proceed.

"What, why not? You seem nice enough!"

Taka grimaced. This girl was talking to her, could even be a friend, but what if she just hadn't noticed? What would happen if she mentioned it? She remembered Semita's words, about making friends who see her worth. If this girl was to become a friend, she needed to know the truth, needed to chose her path absent deceit, or else the friendship would be false, meaningless.

"It's my eye, it's considered a sign of misfortune. The others don't want me sowing evil spirits in their company, which I guess is understandable..." Taka looked down, shuffling her feet...