[D8MM] Rice to See You (expecting)

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Hopefully." Ryu said blandly. "Her yoriki is a Lion, so they're at least aware of it, I'm sure."

The first question made Ryu smile, just a little. "A good answer." He said. "Because I did, in fact, mean both." He looked at her, grey eyes narrowing. "In fact, I thought I recognized that interest in you. I have a similar interest. It's one of the reasons I thought this might be a good place to meet." He looked out towards the street, where throngs of people still passed by. A few screens offered a bit of privacy; elevated to block the view from the street, but patrons could see out more easily.

He looked back to her, an eyebrow going up. "An academic endeavor? How interesting. Some of that works." He drummed his fingers on his teacup. "I've taken notes on what sort of tea a court friend likes, or what topic to avoid with them. But you're right, it's all hard to quantify. The web of interaction of our society..." Ryu trailed off with a sigh.

Then he gave his head a little shake. "Anyway. Yes. That's what keeps drawing the mind back to it." He gave a crisp nod. "If you could perhaps answer those questions, we would be grateful."

[Kuni Shiori]

"I suppose there is some overlap in what are Families are known for in their traditional duties," she nodded soundly at that as she looked to the street of people who were walking by. "It is easier to watch people just go about their business and routines, there's a bit of comfort of being in public. I imagine that doing this in court wouldn't be so easy to do without a good reason or some subtlety involved."

"Those are rather good places to start. I admit that I sort of had the same sort of intentions on my first day of court but it can be rather overwhelming. If you've managed to maintain a proper log, I really admire the effort, Daidoji-san," she said with a chuckle settling down with a faint frown. "However, I'm sure that such accounting might have been useful in an investigation like this. I get the feeling we'll have to get lived in or a fixture of the community to know all the possible secrets. We can always be so fluid like rain in a storm, find our way down the tiniest ant holes and into their many tunnels that are hidden under the surface."

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Hmmm." Ryu murmured. "Subtlety, yes. But besides that, people are more guarded in court. They know they're being watched. And so we can't trust what we see." His voice was softer as he spoke now.

Another little shake of his head. "Right. Um. Well, I do my best." He frowned a moment. "But also, when I'm writing a letter to someone I met a year ago at court, but need to confer with on some matter. There's so many of those, it's hard to keep track."

Then he gave her a curious look, tilting his head slightly. "That's a very interesting way of putting it, Kuni-sama." He said, his voice soft and serious. "I wonder if we'll be here long enough to, ah, soak in. Or if we're to be but a sprinkle, and then gone by morning, evaporating with the sun, deep tunnels untouched."

[Kuni Shiori]

"Not that I think people let their guard down here but I notice that people seem to let their guard down at least a little when in a crowd, unless they are at least a little paranoid. There's the small assumption that they blend in and are just another tree in a forest. Of course, there is also the good manners that starring is particularly rude and should be done," she chuckled a little at that thought. "If you aren't so concerned with priority, sometimes you can catch people off guard. Often you won't, but people can slip."

"Depends, I suppose," she let out a sigh with a shrug of her shoulders as she brought her hands together, rubbing them a little for warmth. It wasn't cold but chillier than she was used to. "As much as we would have liked to, I don't think the locals considered us part of the collective community after just one visit. There's a likelihood that we might never be considered part of the collective after 100 visits. There's something I did bring up with Doji Shinnosuke-san on this, we seem to have certain aspects or accents we might keep to ourselves. Perhaps, not too different from the theory of masks in the Scorpion Clan, actually. Maybe, exactly what they mean. We might make like water but we won't ever truly be the ants who dwell in the tunnels."