Tenchi Masaki wrote:

This was written in half an hour.  Apologies for the roughness of the
draft.
C&C is greatly appreciated!  Please send some!  Please?

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   Jubei stared into his small cup of tea, watching the tea leaves
slowly turn and spin in the microcosm of currents in the hot tea.

% A variation of staring into the abyss, eh? ^_^

The small dark green porcelain cup was warm to the touch, and it
glinted in the sunlight as Jubei turned it slowly.
   "You

'Your' I think

answer?" a voice across the short tea-table asked.

   Jubei looked up from his tea.  The man sitting across from him,
in his rather gaudy clothes, smirked.  Jubei turned his head to his
left

The two 'his's are pretty close together. Changing the second one to 'the'
would be okay, I think.

and looked to the humble-looking

% 'looked to' and 'looking' are too close together. 'stared at' or
'examined' would work for the first.

 man next to him.  The man had

his eyes closed, as if in deep thought.
   "I'm not so sure if this duel is necessary," Jubei replied.
"Neither one of us really needs to prove anything, ne."

ne?" Again, I think.

   The man with his eyes closed nodded sagely.
   "So you're saying you'd rather not test whose skill is greater?"
the gaudy-looking man asked with a smile.
   "I would prefer not to," Jubei replied quietly.  "Surely a man of
your status would know that there is nothing to be gained by
frivolous dueling."

But someone might write a fanfic about the match someday.

   "But it would only be with bokuto!" the gaudy man noted.
   "Would it be worth that much time?" Jubei asked.
   "Of course!" was the fervent reply.
   Jubei looked over to the silent member of the party.  The man
opened an eye and regarded Jubei evenly.  Jubei raised an eyebrow.
   "Perhaps," the man said quietly.  "It would be best to have the
duel, at least to calm our energetic friend."
   Jubei nodded and bowed curtly.
   "Thank you, Kamakura-dono," the gaudy man replied with a large
grin and a bow.

I get the impression Kamakura hasn't really done him any favors.

   It didn't take long for Jubei and the gaudily-dressed man to face
off, a bokuto in each of their hands.  Kamakura clapped.  The two
quickly struck out at each other.
   "A tie!" the man in loud clothes shouted jubilantly.
   "We only struck each other at the same time, Mishima-san," Jubei
noted.
   "You lost, Mishima-san," Kamakura noted dryly.
   "Impossible!  I struck Jubei at the same time!" Mishima protested.

Kamakura: You only hit him in the pinky, he nailed you square in the
chest. Jubei wins.

   "Do you require another strike to prove to you that you lost?"
Kamakura noted dryly.
   "Perhaps we should simply drop this matter," Jubei noted.  "I'm
quite tired from my travels an-"
   "Another time!" Mishima declared.
   Kamakura nodded and the two arranged themselves accordingly.
Kamakura clapped his hands again and the two struck at each other
with lightning speed.
   "A successful strike!" Mishima rejoiced.
   "I think you lost," Jubei noted quietly.
   "Nonesense!

Nonsense.

I struck you first," Mishima protested.  "The
reputation for

'of' would be better here, I think.

my school has been upheld."

   "Then surely you would remember that Musashi-sensei said that. 'a
chop is always a chop regardless if it kills your opponent.  A cut,
no matter how effective is

effective, is

always a cut.'
   "That is why you lost every time, Mishima-san.  You can not hope
to chop a trained samurai to death, let alone a samurai in armor - no
matter how lightly armored.

Tessai could have chopped a samurai to death. ^_^

A nice little tale. Kind of remember it from a long time ago, but the
format you put it in here was fun.

D.B. Sommer