One and Nature [Day 1, EA]

[Kakita Masao]

The Crane continues to smile at the ronin warmly. "You would know better than me what is valuable in your situation. I don't pretend to understand. But what I do understand is you helped me get something straight in my head -- here, without an audience, before I might have made a mistake at a terrible time. I won't say it's like you saved my life, but maybe you saved my honor, my family's respectability at a sensitive time..." Masao shrugs.

"I don't know about needing your services, Yoko-san, but I do hope I'll see you again." The look he gives her this time is ... nervous? "I suppose you sort of know my weakness now, so I should be trying to keep you close, right?" He tries to smile and look sly at the same time, ending up with what might best be called a "silly soldier" look. Perhaps it's endearing.

"Oh. You know," he says, wheels turning in his mind, "it would be a lot easier for me to reach out to you about potential work if you were staying close. Perhaps with a retainer fee in hand, to help secure convenient lodging for this week?"

[Yoko]

"You're kind," she said, looking to him for a little while without saying much else. After a moment, maybe two, she stirred and pushed herself up more into a seated position and then further onto her knee. Standing she sighed a little, "I- would very much like to accept that, if I'm going to be honest.. but if I took your money without a mind for what I was going to possibly need to do, I'd feel too indebted to whatever it was. Not a good position to speak from, eh? Tell you what though, I will be around here a bit longer either way."

"So, if you want to find me.." she twists the corner of her bottom lip a little, turning it into a smirk. "Well, just go running through the streets shouting my name, eh?" she laughed, shaking her head. "Better yet, I'll get a sense of where I'll be and figure out a way to get you told, eh? This way you find yourself with a need for a ronin, you know where to find me, eh?"

[Kakita Masao]

Masao can't help but smile.

"In all honesty, I think this one is already in your debt, Yoko-san, but I will happily accept your terms. Not thinking through the streets and shouting, I don't think, but I'm sure we'll find a way to reach each other."

"And if you'd like a preview of what I might ask, I can tell you plainly," his voice turns somber. "The success of this wedding is my highest duty here, but if nothing else, my cousin -- the bride, Daidoji Yushoko -- and her niece must be kept safe. I do not believe they are in any danger, and certainly the Crab would never allow them to be harmed, for it will shame them beyond measure. Still, one does not grow old as a warrior by letting their guard down, neh?" He tries a smile again, but it mostly reflects that loneliness that she has seen glimpses of through everything he has talked about.

[Yoko]

"I'm just a ronin but-" she shrugged, stepping over toward her things and started collecting them. "But, if I was going to sign up for some coin and any cause, if you found one in pursuit of that you'd have me willing and ready. Nice and easy eh? Wedding's, unions, they should be at least a little happy. Even if you and yours don't tend to find that opportunity, eh? Still, the kid deserves the happiness they can get while they're a kid so.. if anything starts disturbing that, I'll happily sign up," she shook her head, laughed, "now you got me talkin' big, eh?"

"Do you know the bride and her daughter well, Kakita-sama?"

[Kakita Masao]

The Crane smiles warmly. "It's not 'big talk' to say you want to do the right thing, especially to do right by a child. Yoko-san's honorable instincts are clear. Like it or not," he jokes kindly.

"Daidoji Yushoko-sama is a direct cousin, actually: her aunt is married to one of my uncles. And her niece is the daughter of the Daidoji daimyo. But we are not especially close, I suppose. I have been largely consumed by my training and service with the Iron Warriors, so I think my mother and father would be more knowledgeable. I know Daidoji-sama is no warrior, but I believe her niece aspires to be one -- she is still years from gempukku, though."

[Yoko]

"Hey-" she chuckled, turning around and shaking her head. "Don't go telling anyone, eh? People start hearing that and they'll think I'm not your average ronin?" she laughed, teased, and then leaned down and swung her bag up onto her shoulder.

"Maybe you'll have to show off your skills to her sometime? Figure a girl like that would love it. Give you a chance to interact with the girl some, shape her in all the right ways eh? Young girls, boy too, deserve to have a few good adults in their lives, someone to look up to."

[Kakita Masao]

Masao smiles and nods, absorbing everything Yoko has to say. "I can keep this fact to myself, but it is pretty clear that you aren't average at all," he says, eyes bright.

[Yoko]

Holding up a lone finger to her lips she made a soft shushing sound. Laughing she settled her things, collected her bottles, and then walked a few steps.

"So, I'll see you again soon probably, eh?"

[Kakita Masao]

"I think you can count on it," he says with a happy smile.

/scene