Kakita Megumi was born of relatively humble parents. Her father being a duelist of little renown while her mother is a nearly unknown member of the courts. The union of her parents was fortunate for the newborn since it was a premonition of her future upbringing: a fusion of courtly manners and honourable duels.
Megumi's early life was commonplace among those born to nobility. Her mother played a key role in teaching Megumi the ways of the court while she was yet very young. It was hoped that Megumi would follow in her footsteps and join the courts. The young daughter witnessed an iaijutsu duel and instantly fell in love with it. Megumi's naturally stubborn nature kicked in and she insisted she follow her father's footsteps instead. After some time and a little argument Megumi had her way but only at a compromise: her studies of courtly life would progress at pace with her martial skills. This concession wasn't happily made at the time but since then the young Crane has come to appreciate her training for the courts.
Throughout school Megumi showed a natural talent for both physical and intellectual studies. She excelled quickly though never reached her true potential. The reason being according to her sensei is that Megumi was simply "too Crab". Indeed even her fellow students noticed this trait and nicknamed her the "Crabby Crane", a name she is loathe to hear and that has caused considerable trouble for the young Megumi. The worst incident followed shortly after Megumi first caught wind of her nickname. That day she was to have a practice duel with a visitor from the Phoenix, the young Shiba Rokorou. The young Crane was determined to prove to her peers she was a Crane and sought to end the duel quickly. The Phoenix visitor had no idea and was taking the practise a bit lightly mainly because he got to know Megumi and the two quickly became acquaintances. When it began all of Megumi's fury was unleashed. That combined with her superior skill was too much for Rokorou and the duel was over in one cut unfortunately placed at the head.
When it was over Megumi was initially unaware of what happened, though the lifeless body of Shiba Rokorou brought her to her senses in great haste. After the incident Megumi was reprimanded heavily. She was nearly removed from the Kakita school forever, there being only one reason she was permitted to stay: Kakita Saburashi who noticed her talents. Even then she was not allowed to practise with the other students for a long while and had to make a personal apology to the Shiba family. Indeed she was not even permitted to take up the sword for a time. It is fortunate the Phoenix were willing to listen to Megumi's words of apology, though this did not cancel a debt in the minds of the Phoenix nor in Megumi's own mind. They also gave Megumi a small statuette of Shiba as a reminder of their meeting and possibly to hint at some much needed humility. This statue is kept on her person at all times. Perhaps to the Crabby Crane the debt can never be repaid. Since the incident of Shiba Rokorou the young Crane has been granted access to many of the privileges she once enjoyed.
Now that the Topaz tournament has arrived her sensei is hoping that Megumi's natural skills will be sharpened and that her undesirable traits will be tempered through meeting other clan samurai, particularly if the Crabby Crane witnesses these shameful parts of herself in them. This will be the first time Megumi has been given the sword since that ill fated duel; there is still some concern among her fellow students something bad will happen however.
