Shanae
I could really go for a trip to the hot springs right now, Kakita Kiyoko thought as she trudged up to the open gates of the Crane embassy. An attractive woman with pale porcelain skin accentuated by a distinctive beauty mark to the right of her chin and platinum-white hair worn in a chin-length layered bob, she was attired in the simple white gi and black hakama that she had worn to train in that morning, and quite sure she reeked of sweat. She nodded to the pair of ashigaru standing guard at the embassy gates, scarcely paying them any further mind as she made her way beyond the gates toward the embassy's armory. A bath sounded wonderful about now, she thought—quite stuck on the thought of washing away the sweat of the morning's training—and shifted a bundle of bokken, wooden practice swords, from one shoulder to the other.

The Kakita duelist silently deposited her bundle in the armory, made a note to inform the quartermaster that one of the ones she had taken with her that morning had broken, and returned to the main gate via the garden-lined path she had taken to the armory. Although the heat was starting to get oppressive, Kiyoko still slowed her return trip, happy to enjoy the garden's tranquility as a gentle breeze set the leaves of the flowers and juniper trees that lined it rustling. Maybe the words to a haiku would come to her as she dawdled.

Dawdle, she did, but the words did not come—and then after only a few minutes, she started to get distracted by how sweaty she felt. Definitely time to return to her quarters and a bath. Kiyoko looked up from the hyacinth that had most recently caught her eye, and started for the main entrance to the embassy again.

||
Courtney
Yukimi had finally arrived.
For a moment she stares at the Crane Embassy finding some relieve on the familiar architecture, the white walls and bluish tiles. It is an impressive building and still, it was hard to find among the erratic streets and other buildings of Ryoko Owari.

Yukimi has a delicate figure, the large bun on top of her head suggests her black hair is rather long but it was now tied for travel. She wears a white kosode and a blue hakama beneath a grey haori that had collected some dust during the travel. The scroll satchel at her side was visible even before the mon of the Asahina family could be noticed on the haori.

At some distance the young shugenja was followed by a servant girl and a grey pony that was caring some bags, a parasol, and the little supplies left after the long journey.

Crossing the gates, into the gardens of the embassy, the sight of a beautiful white haired samurai-ko was definitively a relieve, and also certainty that she had reached her destination.

Yukimi moves slightly to the side of the pathway and stops offering a low bow to the the other Crane, greeting in a gentle, but noticeable shy, tone:

"Good morning."

||
Shanae
Kiyoko paused at Yukimi's approach, just outside the sliding door that led into the embassy's foyer. She glanced past the woman, shooting a dark look at the ashigaru at the gate. She hadn't heard them greet this woman. The servant girl and the pony in Yukimi's train caught Kiyoko's eye then—this woman must be another newly-assigned staffer. The Kakita returned Yukimi's bow. "Good morning," She replied. "Are you a new arrival? I am Kakita Kiyoko."

She must be a shugenja, Kiyoko thought with a glance at the scroll satchel at Yukimi's side. "Allow me to welcome you to the Crane embassy of Ryoko Owari Toshi. Were you told to expect anyone when you arrived?"

||
Courtney
"Hai. Hai. I'm Asahina Yukimi, shugenja from Shinden Asahina. It is a honor to meet Kakita Kiyoko-san."

Yukimi then seachers her sleeves as she speeaks:

"I'm very greatful for the welcome. After such a long travel it is good to find a place that evokes some familiarity..."

From her sleevs she produces some lettters and travel documents and her eyes quickly scans one of them:

"My sensei, Asahina Heitaro-sama, only asked me to come and serve the clan as needed. I believe my arrival is unannounced, no one is expecting me, but I bring a letter from my sensei and another from my Daimyo. So, hopefully, the clan will make use of my presence, if my humble skills can be of any assistance."
"Does Kakita-san know who should I approach? May be a secretary to the ambassador?"

||
Shanae
"Likewise, Asahina-san," Kiyoko replied. She motioned for the shugenja to follow her, then opened the sliding door into the main building of the embassy compound and stepped inside. Sliding her sandals off at the entrance, she stepped up onto the raised interior floor. "I do not know whether our new ambassador has a secretary or not, now that I think about it. Doji Rika-sama has only been here a short while—as have I, really, but longer than she has."

The Kakita moved toward a hallway and glanced over her shoulder. "For now, I can show you to an unused room that you can use for your quarters, Asahina-san. We can check in with the ambassador after that. No doubt she will be interested to know that we have a new shugenja assigned here. If she does not know already." 

Doji-obaachan *Did* Seem to be disturbingly well-informed, after all.

||
Courtney
Yukimi promptly follows the Kakita once invited. She also leaves her sandals before entering the building.

"Hum..." - Yukimi mutters as she hears the Kakita talk about the ambassador, showing she was still listening altought her eyes were drifting through the place.

When offered a room Yukimi bows deeply once more:

"Thank you, Kakita-san."

The shugenja nods in agreement as she carefullyu enters the room. She leaves some of the weight she was carring from the travel and also gestures for the servant to bring her stuff.

"If I may ask, how long have Kakita-san been here? How is the city?"

||
Shanae
Kiyoko led the Asahina woman down a long hallway, then paused in front of a sliding door. Opening it a crack and peeking in to make sure it was one of the unoccupied ones, then slid it the rest of the way open. The Kakita then motioned with her head for Yukimi to enter.

The room itself was completely bare, with tatami mat flooring and, since it was an interior room, four unadorned rice-paper walls. A single wall scroll hung from one wooden support column, with the Rokugani character for "Courtesy" On it.

Kiyoko watched impassively as Yukimi entered the room, followed by her servant. To the Asahina's question, she replied, "Not long. Maybe a month or two? I admit that I have lost track of the days. The city itself is not so bad. People are people here, just as they are in Kyuden Kakita or Otosan Uchi."

She still wasn't entirely sure how much of the sobriquet 'City of Lies' applied to its non-samurai denizens, given that she never had to pay for anything herself. But the tensions between the various Great Clans weren't really all that different here from the City of the Rich Frog or any other city with multiple Clans vying for power in it, either.

"Does Asahina-san wish for a few minutes to settle in?" Kiyoko asked. "Or I can show you around the embassy grounds. We can see if Doji Rika-sama, our ambassador, is in, also."

||
Courtney
"It is good too know that rumors are just rumors about this city. I have never been away from Asahina lands so I was concerned this massive city would be overhelming. But Kakita-san says wise words, "People are people", indeed.

The shugenja seems to find some confort in those words. She quickly leaves her stuff and the dusty haori behind. Once the load a lighter she looks ready to follow. Yukimi nods negatively when asked if she needed a few minutes:

"All is well, I don't wish to inconvenience Kakita-san any longer than need. I appreciate your time and your kindness in showing me around. L'm ready to proceed."
Shanae
Kiyoko nodded wordlessly. She turned on her heel and stepped into a room across the hallway from Yukimi's, where she deposited her own katana on a daisho stand—her own room. She then stepped out of that room and headed down the hallway back to the foyer, assuming that Yukimi would follow her. Once they were back in the foyer, Kiyoko continued walking toward an exit on the far side of the simple tatami-floored room, and said succinctly, "The foyer."

The Kakita woman continued out onto a veranda, where she pointed out the gardens on that side of the embassy compound: a handful of cherry-blossom trees, a few juniper bonsai trees, some bushes and flowers, and a small path that meandered between them all and a small pond filled with koi fish. "It is usually cooler in the garden than in the embassy itself, especially in the evenings," Kiyoko noted.

||
Courtney
Yukimi followed the Kakita with quiet steps but very curious eyes noticing the paintings on the rice paper or any decorations on the corridors.

The view of the garden brings some relief to Yukimi: "It is a beautiful garden. I have a koi fish back home, she is blue and white like a porcelain pot, belonged to my grandfather once. I wonder how long these ones have been here, how many people did they see come by. Does Kakita-san have any pets?"

Yukimi is momentarily distracted by the garden, but after a few moments she recollects herself and is ready to keep following.

||
Shanae
"If you see a white cat, that is Rokuko-chan," Kiyoko replied. "I don't know that I would consider her 'mine,' but I am caring for her now. She belonged to a Crane magistrate who vanished some time before I arrived in Ryoko Owari."

A faint smile flickered across the Kakita duelist's lips. "When I found her, she was living in a trash heap behind a restaurant in the northeast wharves area of the Merchants' District."

Turning and moving off the veranda toward the embassy's library, Kiyoko glanced over her shoulder at Yukimi. "Did Asahina-san not bring the koi with her? Or are you having it shipped here later?"

They arrived in the library, which was a large room with a single low desk and shelves filled with scrolls and books lining the walls. They also overflowed the desk itself, and the floor in front of the desk. Apparently no one had bothered to pick up that pile of books after it had fallen to the floor the *Last* Time she was here, when Adohiro was giving *Her* A tour. That probably said something about how often the library was used, she thought with a mental shrug. "The library."

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Courtney
"I see, it very kind of Kakita-san to look after Rokuko-chan."

Yukimi is still following the Kakita but her eyes drift through the place so she doesn't seem to notice that the Kakita glanced towards her. Yet, the shugenja is paying attention to the conversation:

"I did not, I was worried it would miss the pond, the weather, the other fish. Also, I'm sure Aona will be well cared for while I am here."

Yukimi attention is drawn quickly to the pile of books, to which she approaches traying to glance over the titles, wondering what kind of books people would keep there.

"I can see myself spending some time around here too."

||
Shanae
Kiyoko nodded in acknowledgment of Yukimi's compliment. It helped that Rokuko-chan cleaned up well—the Kakita woman would not have been so keen on caring for a cat covered in filth, or that frequently came home covered in the same.

"How long do koi live for?" Presumably, long enough that Yukimi was confident it would still be alive whenever she returned home from Ryoko Owari.

Kiyoko glanced at Yukimi as the Asahina woman approached the piles of books on the desk. For her part, Kiyoko had only briefly looked over the titles. Only one, a pillow book called *Sei's Diary: The Life & Times of an Imperial Courtier in Otosan Uchi*, had even momentarily caught her interest. Probably, more pillow books were in those shelves and piles of scrolls and books, along with reports, and maybe a few poetry books.

"No doubt Asahina-san would have it all to herself, given the state of things." It *Did* Seem like no one else had visited the room in at least a week or four.

||
Courtney
"The average is 50 or 60 years if I recall correctly, but is not uncommon for well cared for fish to go over 100 and eventually even over 200 years."

Yukimi stood up after bending briefly to read the titles.

"Hum... Indeed, I think I could make the options here more interesting too." - Sounds like she have some ideas about the place: "But lets not take any duties before I hear from Doji Rika-sama, the clan may have other plans for this humble servant."

After a carefull look around the shugenja seem ready to follow again.
||
Shanae
Kiyoko walked out of the library wordlessly, trusting that Yukimi would follow her. She led the shugenja down another hallway, pausing at one set of sliding doors to open it and poke her head inside. It was a large hall, with tatami mat flooring and a small raised platform at the opposite end, devoid of decoration slung for a few wall scrolls bearing calligraphy. "The mess hall. I think it is a bit early for them to be serving lunch, though."

Without further commentary, Kiyoko slid the door shut again and led Yukimi farther down the hallway, then outside. The pair passed through another garden filled with small juniper trees and other shrubberies, then toward a long wooden building. Again, the samurai-ko paused before the door, but this time, she did not open it.

"The barracks. The armory is in here as well, should Asahina-san require a bow or spear."

||
Courtney
Yukimi follows Kiyoko taking the change to get familiar with the place. The lack of details and decorations also means Yukimi scans quicker through those places.

"Oh, I will have no excuse to skip my archery practice then..." - she says with a little more humor than disappointment, but still sounds like having a excuse, she would skip it.

Then, sort of out of the blue, Yukimi asks: 

"What is your favorite art, Kakita-san? Any counts, martial or other." 

||
Shanae
"Kenjutsu, of course!" Kiyoko exclaimed, uncharacteristically animated as she turned back to the shugenja. "There is nothing quite like the clash of blades to reveal what is in your own heart, as well as another's. And then there's the intricacies of each of the various kenjutsu styles themselves. Like, even beyond the iconic rivalry between the Kakita and Mirumoto styles, there is the hard-hitting Hida style of the Crab, and the subtly deceptive style of the Bayushi. Truly, seeing a master of any of those styles is almost a sacred experience! I once fought a master of the Akodo Kensai school, and it was fascinating seeing how his *Jodan kamae* Led into his *Chudan kamae*, or how his—"

With every word about kenjutsu, Kiyoko leaned in closer to Yukimi, violating her personal space and growing more excited. Abruptly, the Kakita duelist stopped and recomposed herself. With affected indifference, she straightened the hem of her gi as she said, much more evenly, "Definitely kenjutsu."

"Although I do like writing poetry, upon occasion."

||
Courtney
Yukimi smiles grows a little broader as she watches the excitement of the Kakita. She doesn't seem bothered by the proximity at first but takes some smalls steps back as the words of the Kakita become more intense.

Yukimi hides a modest laughter behind her sleeves:

"A true Crane, I see. One who enjoys art with passion. Kakita-san must be a formidable bushi."

Yukimi bows with the compliment.

"Poetry is also good. I don't write poetry, but I spend quite some time reading it."

||
Shanae
Kiyoko simply nodded. She had briefly considered saying something like 'This one only seeks to bring honor to the clan,' but that really would have been a lie. She was quite intent on mastering kenjutsu *For her own sake*; the fact that it would bring honor to the Crane clan was a secondary, if still important, consideration.

"It is a custom among bushi that one writes haiku before major events like duels or battles. Many samurai also write death haiku before they join their ancestors, too. My interest in poetry is a litte deeper than that, but perhaps not as much as a true poet. What of Asahina-san? If you do not write poetry, I assume your interest in art comes out in other ways?"

||
Courtney
"For a long time all I knew about the empire was what I read on these haiku and travel books. I only found out on my way here that there are some differences between the books and the actual roads and paths and turns that life can take. Now I have these unimportant philosophical thoughts about what is perceived and what is real, so I keep reading. But it is merely for my own mental amusement, nothing of practical relevance. Nothing that will change the world, or ones life, like kenjutsu or any real art can do."

"Concerning art, I often find myself polishing beads that I turn into pendants or bracelets while I talk to the spirits within it. My art is humble, it won't ever stun a crowd, but I still enjoy it very much."

||
Shanae
"I see," Kiyoko said. She started walking away from the barracks, and led Yukimi back to the main building. Stepping back onto the veranda, she led the shugenja through another sliding door and down a long hallway filled with sliding doors on either side. She paused before one door and slid it open a crack. Looking inside and determining it was unoccupied, Kiyoko slid it open the rest of the way. 

The room beyond the door was another spartan affair, with tatami mat flooring and bare rice-paper walls. A small sitting desk was in the center of the room, with a *Zabuton* Cushion to the far side of it. "An office. I do not know that any are assigned, so if Asahina-san finds an empty one and needs it, you are likely free to use it. Perhaps that would be a question to ask Doji-sama."

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Courtney
"Hai. Hai." 
Yukimi nods showing she was still listening to the tour, assimilating the place and the information shared.

"Do we have a tea room available too? Not for now, I'm just wondering..."

||
Shanae
Kiyoko nodded, sliding the door shut. "There is a tea room, yes."

"I can take you there after we meet the ambassador, if you would like," She said, heading off down the hallway. Around another corner and a few twists and turns later, the Kakita duelist paused before a large sliding double-door. She spotted a servant and motioned him over. "Is Doji-sama in her office? If she is, please announce Asahina Yukimi-san and myself to her."

"Hai, Kakita-sama," The man replied, and knelt at the door. Opening it, he peered inside.

||
Daniel
Doji Rika was propped up at her writing desk, drooping eyelids fighting to stay awake as she tackled yet another set of paperwork. Truly her eyes were not failing her despite her age, but on days such as this she wished they would. At least someone else could take over the task and she would be free to participate in her favorite activity: the midday nap.

Still, as the servant entered and announced her presence, the elder Crane straightened and turned, putting on the warm smile and pleasant demeanor once more. New faces were always welcome, especially as they dulled the bitter taste of a few of the faces she had become all too familiar with here. "Very good, send them in. And bring us some tea, please."

As the two samurai entered, Rika would grab her cane and rise steadily to her feet, then bow perfectly. A faint wisp of a woman, she still had the bearing of a great stateswoman despite. Posture, poise, clothing, even though fatigue ate at her bones today more than others she did not let it show. "Kiyoko-san, how are you dearie? Staying away from troublesome suitors I hope?

"And you, you must be our new shugenja! I am so pleased to see you. The energy of this office has been . . . Off since my arrival but I cannot for the life of me see why. Perhaps you could—" She waved a hand dismissively, beckoning them to a small round table where a servant was already pouring tea for them. A small bowl of senbei crackers was also placed in the center. "Ah, but we can discuss personal matters later. Come, sit, have tea with me. We can discuss your arrival better that way."

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Courtney
Yukimi nods thanking the Kakita but focuses on the door before saying anything else.
The shugenja lowers her head and places both hands together as the door slides open.

She glances briefly noticing the ambassador appearance once he invite to join is pronounced. Yukimi bows briefly to the place itself before entering and a few steps after entering she offers a deeper, longer, bow to the ambassador:

"Doji Rika-sama, this humble servant of the Crane is Asahina Yukimi, shugenja from Shinden Asahina, sent by Asahina Heitaro-sensei. It is a honor to meet the Crane ambassador."

As she takes her place near the round table a mild breeze seem to follow her into the room, luckily it seems to dissipate before the stack of paperwork.

"I will be happy to align the chi of the place if Doji-sama thinks it is needed, and if the kamis allow me to." - She sounds a little shy, but the willingness to help is definitively there: 

"About my arrival, I bring a letter from my sensei and the kind Kakita-san ha shown me some of the embassy before bringing me to your presence." - Once more she bows to the Kiyoko: - "Thank you, Kakita-san."

||
Shanae
Kiyoko knelt and bowed, then slipped inside the room alongside Yukimi. "This one is well enough, Doji-sama," She said. The woman always knew how to say *Just* The right thing to jab at Kiyoko's mental weakpoints. "And yes, no troublesome suitors." Or any suitors at all, thankfully. *At least let me join the ranks of the Kenshinzen before you marry me off*, she thought silently.

The Kakita duelist hesitated a moment before following Yukimi to the table. She removed her wakizashi and placed it next to her on her right side as she sat. Having freshly arrived from her morning training regimen when she ran into Yukimi earlier, the samurai-ko had not had a chance to bathe and really rather hoped she didn't smell *Too* Sweaty, now that she was in closer proximity to the other two.

Kiyoko dipped her head in acknowledgement as Yukimi expressed her gratitude, then turned her attention to the ambassador. "My pleasure, Asahina-san." 

||
Daniel
"Delightful." The Doji accepted the letter, reading through it slowly and nodding along as she did so. Her eyes would jump from the Asahina to the paper and back again frequently. "Very good. I am delighted to have you here, dearie. We have much work to do here if we wish to control the flow of power here within the city. Are you up for the task?"

||
Courtney
Yukimi nods in a mild affirmation, like she knew the expected answer but the question made her uncertain. Thinking for a brief moment she seems to find reassurance in some memories:

"Hai, Doji-sama. Asahina Heitaro-sensei wouldn't have sent me otherwise." - She nods more confidently as the words are spoken.
Daniel
"Strength of character does not exist by *Another's* Words, Asahina-san. I have seen many a letter of recommendation from a sensei handed me by a pupil lacking." The Crane Ambassador's mild admonishment was quickly countered by her kindly demeanor. "Yet I have no doubt you are made of much sturdier stuff than they."

Bracing herself on her cane, she rose to her feet and tottled over to the papers, gesturing for the two to remain seated. Finding what she needed, she brought it over and knelt once more, presenting the paper before the shugenja.

"We have a unique opportunity to affect lasting change in the city." The document unfurled was a request to the Imperial Administration for a project within the Temple Quarter. It contained the written approval of both the Unicorn *And* The Phoenix. "We are using our political clout to expedite construction of a temple to Kisshoten. Now I am aware that among our people the idea of the Eighth Fortune is a subject of no little theological debate. If she were a Fortune of import, why did it take centuries to discover it. However, this effort is crucial to the future.

"First, it is likely to infuriate our enemies in the Scorpion and the Lion." She began to list off her reasons, counting them on her fingers. "Second, it is a reminder to all that the Scorpion's chokehold on the city is not absolute. Third, it is one of the few areas the Unicorn and Phoenix are still cooperating on."

She sighed, the tiredness evident in her features passing beyond mere physical drowsiness. "Relations between their clans have degraded even further than the already poor state it began in. In return for our political aid, you will assist in whatever they collaborate on. Perhaps by passing their *Unique* Ways through our more refined sensibilities we can ease the distrust the Phoenix hold toward our allies."

||
Courtney
Yukimi remains sitting, stoically, but the she can't prevent the nervous blood rush to her cheecks as the first words of the Doji make her somewhat intimidated.

It is a relieve that the Ambassador doesn't stop on what sounds like a repreemend. Of course, the praise that follows is heard with much more caution than it would other wise.

Either way the game of words, and attitude, puts Yukimi on a "Proper", less relaxed, posture.

As she hears the about the temple she shows no reaction and dare not to comment on the subject.

"I see. So the Crane, the Phoenix and the Unicorn would like to see this temple to Kisshōten built and tended to?"

||
Shanae
Kiyoko remained silent, allowing Rika and Yukimi to speak without interruption. If her own presence were required, no doubt Doji Rika-sama would inform her. As it was, it did not seem like there was much need for a duelist in such an endeavor. On the other hand, infuriating the Scorpion and Lion clans might make things tense, and may even lead to an iaijutsu duel or two. On the *Other*, other hand, such things were unlikely to require her to serve as a yojimbo for the shugenja.

And for her own part, the question of Fortunes hardly interested her at all. An eighth one made no difference. So it was just as well that she did not get embroiled in this particular scheme.

||
Daniel
"Indeed, Asahina-san. I believe it an attempt to display the less scandalous methods by which the Unicorn speak to the kami." There seemed to be a slight measure of disdain in the Crane's words, as if she was speaking of an unpleasant memory. Still, the explanation was sound enough, and acting as a branch to heal was very much what the diplomats of the Crane were famous for. "Do you have questions, either of you?"

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Courtney
Yukimi takes a moment considering all that was said:

"I understand our interest in the temple. It is not very clear to me yet how to assist. We are pressing the construction so... The temple is being build but not yet done? Is anyone working on an opening ceremony? Is there any agreement between the Unicorn and the Phoenix about who will serve on the temple?" 

||
Shanae
Kiyoko shook her head. "No, Doji-sama."

She knew better than to ask her own role here—the last thing she wanted was to get volun-told for this particular assignment. Instead, she turned to listen to Yukimi, thankful that the Asahina woman had spoken up, hopefully deflecting attention away from Kiyoko herself. What exactly was it that 

Yukimi would do with this temple construction, anyway? Consecrate the building, maybe? Shake one of those weird stick-things she had seen *Miko* Hold at shrines, and ask for the Fortunes' favor?

Actually... Were all shugenja *Miko*? The duelist mentally shrugged. Yukimi wasn't wearing a *Miko*'s attire, their characteristic white kimono and red hakama, but maybe she only wore those when she was attending to whatever it was that *Miko* Did. Who knew?

||
Daniel
"The temple has yet to begin construction. We will need to select a spiritually pleasing location, ensure the properly consecrated materials are used, and more." She checked off the information from an imaginary parchment as she went. "Most important though is the transport of the pre-existing shrine to her in the Small Holies. I believe the Unicorn have *Ideas* On how to accomplish that.

"As for opening ceremonies, who is to serve at the temple, and other such questions, I am certain that both clans have thoughts. A third party will do wonders in easing differences in opinions here." She smiled, then took another small sip of her tea. "Meet with Ide Khulan and Isawa Noboru when you are able and inform them of your attachment to this process. I am sure they will be pleased by your aid."

||
Courtney
Once again Yukimi nods affirmatively, confirming that she understood with a brief: "Uh-hum"

"Thank you, Doji-sama. I will arrange to meet both Isawa Noboru and Ide Kh-uran Khulan" - She corrects herself as soon as possible on the uncommon name, better start with the fenix, while practicing pronunciation.

||
Shanae
Ide Khulan... Why did that name sound familiar to the Kakita duelist? No matter. Kiyoko remained silent, content to let the conversation between their ambassador and their newest shugenja play out without her input. 

The duelist felt a trickle of sweat run down her side under her gi and frowned inwardly. On a hot day like today, she was very much looking forward to that post-workout bath. She shifted slightly on the balls of her feet in her *Seiza* Position, and hoped this meeting would end soon.

||
Daniel
"Wonderful." The elder Doji clapped her hands together once, a joyous smile radiating from her features. Taking an appraising glance around the table, she slowly nodded her head. "Well this meeting was not one scheduled, and I am certain that you all have other tasks to complete, so let me not hold you back from those.

"Yes, far more important things than keeping an old lady company during the loneliest time of day." She sighed softly, eyes staring past them to nowhere. One did not have to be a courtier to spot the manipulations of a grandmother. Blinking twice, she refocused on the pair. "I would hate to keep you from your duties. Thank you for your time, Asahina-san, Kakita-san."

||
Courtney
"Thank you, Doji-sama. Have a lovely day."

Yukimi bows deeply in farewell but doesn't take long to be ready to leave. Not in a hurry, but almost.
Yukimi glances at the Kakita, the was probably ready to leave even before this meeting started, and follows her out the room once she does it.

||
Shanae
The Kakita duelist groaned inwardly at Rika's pensive stare. She really did not want to stay here any longer than necessary. The woman was certainly friendly—she seemed to like Kiyoko well enough—but at the same time, Kiyoko always felt on edge in the Crane ambassador's presence. She never quite knew where she stood with the woman. Most of the time, Rika treated Kiyoko with gentle courtesy; occasionally the woman would wheedle her, as if to remind her that they were *Not* Friends.

Kiyoko gave Rika a small, apologetic smile. "Forgive us, Doji-sama. It is as you say: we do have other duties to attend. Thank you for taking the time to meet with us."

She gave a seated bow, then rose to her feet. After proper etiquette was dispensed with, she led Yukimi out into the hallway again.

"I trust that Asahina-san knows the way back to her quarters? If so, I will take my leave from you as well," Kiyoko said, sliding the rice-paper doors to the ambassador's office shut behind them.

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