[D8MM] Rice to See You (expecting)

[Daidoji Ryu]

It was a busy day in the market, same as every other day.

Despite the busy flow of traffic, Ryu had managed to find a relatively quiet spot. A stall serving warm congee, a covered seating area, a burner to keep people warm. Just far enough from the flow of traffic to keep from being disturbed, but close enough to watch the swell of the crowd as they moved by.

Ryu sat, waiting, kneeling on the provided cushion. He wasn't eating yet, but he did accept a pot of tea, and was slowly sipping from it. Across from him a teacup was set, but not yet filled. His expression was as neutral to frowny as ever, but his grey eyes were alert as he watched the crowd.

[Kuni Shiori]

While Ryu was watchful of the crowd, Shiori easily stuck out from the crowd of the unpainted faces of Lion samurai and commoners. It was interesting to see the market alive with the routines of the morning, enough to almost be distracted with people watching, but she wouldn't waste Ryu's time and find where he was waiting for her. She dipped down in a casual bow with a small smile. "Good morning, Daidoji-san. I hope you've been well since the last time we spoke?"

[Daidoji Ryu]

Indeed, people-watching though Ryu was, he spotted Shiori quickly and easily enough. And he, likewise, gave a slight smile, as well as a bow when she drew close.

"Good morning to you too, Kuni-sama." Ryu said. Naturally quiet, he pitched his low voice a little louder to be heard over the nearby crowd. "Have you eaten?" He asked, even as he poured her some tea.

Tea poured, he picked up his own cup again. "Well enough. But busy. Very busy. Things changed so quickly, what with..." He grimaced, giving his head a tiny shake. "And you?"

[Kuni Shiori]

Shiori nodded in approval when he poured her some tea. "Much appreciated, Daidoji-san. My morning started early today with a lengthy walk into the wilds to get in touch with nature, in a sense. In my haste, I found myself skipping breakfast. Not being a morning person does unfortunately make me forget some of the usual habits from time to time. What do you have there?" She asked curiously as her gaze went down to his congee.

"Busy is a sign of prosperity, or at least some of the Yasuki I know would say. But you are right, things seem to have escalated rather quickly since we've talked. Court hasn't stopped, for better or worse, and the world continues. I've found myself a bit more involved but only in the periphery, as you've probably seen in my dramatic appearance," she bobbed her head once with a faint smile. "If that hasn't scared you away, I will be lending my skills once again with tonight's art exhibition."

[Daidoji Ryu]

Reminded, Ryu looked down. "Congee, plain and simple." He looked back up at her, a tiny smirk on his lips. "You and I should still share a bowl of noodles. But breakfast is not when I like to have my culinary adventures. Allow me to order you a bowl." A single gesture later, and a bowl was placed in front of Shiori; the stall only served the one thing, so ordering was easy.

The mention of performance got a smile from Ryu. "I haven't been scared away, no. And let me assure you, as someone who's seen many a play, you did fine." Yes, she'd forgotten her lines, but there was something... Ryu chuckled softly. "For myself, I liked playing the role of a hero."

He began to eat, as carefully as he did everything else. "Mmm. I'll stop by, then. Busy though I am. I'd like to see it. What are you doing?" Inwardly, he knew he should be getting to the business portion of the conversation, but he was enjoying speaking with the intriguing Kuni, actually.

[Kuni Shiori]

"Ah, a good barrack breakfast," she nodded twice in appreciation. "Thank you. And, I suppose if you're going to be talking about culinary adventures, I think you should probably throw sake house hopping in the mix. I'm not so sure if this one is so suited for it, at least without being familiar with the town. I know at Sunda Mizu Mura, in the few times I've made my way there, I've noticed that there are quite a few along the docks. It's a bit of a necessity, considering if one gets trashed or closes down for whatever reason, you're going to have a dock full of angry sailors and fishermen."

She placed her hands together to show appreciation for the meal before picking up the clay spoon to give it a good stir before scooping up a spoonful. "That's good to hear. I suppose I got my point across. As for the role of hero, I imagine that you've found that role more natural. Maybe a bit of typecasting?" She brought up curiously with a raise of her brows.

When she took her first spoonful of congee, she allowed the warmth of the meal to settle in her. It wasn't as cold as she thought it would be here, especially when she heard so much about snow arriving sooner in the northern regions of the Empire, but still much colder than the Crab lands. "I'll be playing the role of a storyteller, this time around. Our offering will be a combination of our delegation's skills put together in a synchronized effort, a sort of...formation of art. I'm probably spoiling a bit of the surprise here but I assure you it's worth seeing...if it all goes to plan."

[Daidoji Ryu]

Ryu's grey eyes narrowed briefly, but then he nodded, smiling just a little. "Alright. I suppose we'll have to see what the sake houses here are like. I suppose we've already seen one during the day. Perhaps we'll get a chance to see that kingpin we theorized."

His gaze followed her hands, even as he took another of his careful bites. "... not really." Ryu said after considering for a few moments. "It was my first time as a leading man type, actually. A few years ago, I was cast as an evil advisor, tricking the naive daimyo." His lips quirked. "It was fun doing the evil laugh for that one, anyway."

As she described, Ryu paused in his eating, listening carefully. "I see. How interesting." He smiled again. "I wager it's worth seeing even if it doesn't all go to plan." So often things didn't. "I look forward to it."

He stirred his congee a bit, frowning down into it. "Kuni-sama..." He began, his soft voice a bit hesitant. "You strike me as someone who notices things." His gaze came up from his congee. "Have you noticed any... strange things?"

[Kuni Shiori]

She quirked the brow above her encircled eye for a moment, "I don't think you mentioned your previous acting experience in the slightest. It would explain why you had somewhat of a leg up and Doji-san saw you fit to be cast for a few scenes in the play. I kind of wonder if there was consideration to cast you as the demon instead. Of course, you would also have to play noblewoman too."

Shiori did a small shrug on the matter and said nothing else to jinx it. She would hope that it all goes according to plan, or else it would start becoming a habit of hers. Thankfully for Shiori, the performance would have done off without a hitch later tonight.

When Ryu asked her, she would have taken another spoonful of congee by then, unfortunately. There was a pause of silence as her expression turned serious, giving her time to reflect both on the conversations she had earlier and the occurrence today. "You're the second one to bring it up. Yes, I have, actually. A few days ago, around the last appearance of the late Empress in court, there was a sort of disturbance from the kami that I experienced. I wasn't too sure what to make of it and had assumed the Lion, or specifically the Kitsu, would have been all over it. Our hosts might be handling it and they aren't obligated to share everything but there are still a lot of questions."

[Daidoji Ryu]

Ryu shrugged. "Well, it wasn't much. Still, I liked the opportunity to play the hero. I hadn't been called a handsome man with a sword before. I liked it." He barely smiled, but his grey eyes seemed cheerful as he looked across the table at Shiori.

Always watching, Ryu saw as Shiori's expression changed, his own becoming... well, even more serious. It was almost too bad; his smiles were rare enough as it was. "A few days ago? How curious. And concerning." Ryu stirred his congee a bit more, then as though remembering it suddenly, took a quick bite.

A few moments of silent thought followed, with Ryu going back to stirring. "One of the Asahina in Crane House, Asahina Hoshiko, felt some sort of malign presence last night. More than felt, actually, it spoke to her." His grey eyes narrowed. "The disturbance you felt... is there anything else you could say about it?"

[Kuni Shiori]

"Oh," Shiori murmured with a bit of surprise in her tone, wondering if she actually managed to hit some unexpected note here. She smiled a touch sheepishly with a shrug. "I know I cobbled something in my haste but I just called whatever that I saw. So, that seems surprising nobody stated the obvious."

"I am acquainted with Asahina Hoshiko, actually. We traded some books a few days ago, one of the first days in Court. What she experienced seems far more serious than what I went through," she said as she narrowed her eyes out of concern and scrutiny. "I had only experienced some sort of elemental outrage in the local kami, like they were completely stirred into chaos. I don't know if it was the earthquake or the passing of the Daughter of Heaven. What you speak of doesn't seem quite the same thing, especially if it happened so recently."

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Hmmm. Well." Ryu said. He blinked twice, lips shifting. "I don't think it would have worked for the scene if I'd said that I received a sword from a rather pretty mountain spirit. But I certainly could have."

"Oh?" His expression turned strictly serious again. "Perhaps she can explain it better than I. She said the kami did not answer her? Or were blocked." Ryu grimaced. "I'm afraid I didn't quite follow. I've made a study of people. Spirits are quite beyond me."

Right, he needed to eat. Ryu took a very business-like swallow of soup. "There's been some mundane oddness, too. My cousin, the Emerald Magistrate, was a bit curious about a local fire that turned into a mysterious disappearance. With everything else that's going on, I'm not sure it's anything, but I begin to wonder..." Ryu looked at Shiori. He didn't say anything, but his grey-eyed gaze was clearly inviting input.

[Kuni Shiori]

Shiori had perhaps shown a momentary lapse of being flustered by the comment with a blink and a wordless glance down at her congee before ultimately taking a spoonful to either mask that or continue on as normal.

The serious topic at hand was also a good place to focus on too, of course. "Perhaps at the kyuden? I know I asked the kami at the mine and they were responsible but they are cryptic, as always."

Her eyes narrowed at the topic of the mundane investigation. "I did miss news about the fire...was it local? And who has disappeared?"

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Perhaps." Ryu grimaced. "Hoshiko-san had her experience at Crane house. I'm sure the two of you will be able to come up with a plan regarding that."

He set his spoon down, picking up his teacup again. "It was local, yes. A fire in a home, although the initial cause was unknown. Fortunately, no one was killed. At least, not by the fire."

Ryu took a sip, his frown deepening. "The curious thing happened after. The second in command of the fire brigade never made it home. He hasn't been seen since. It could be a coincidence, I suppose. Perhaps his body will turn up in a few days. But such a thorough disappearance at such a strange time makes one wonder..." He shook his head, and followed with another sip of tea.

[Kuni Shiori]

Shiori tilted her head slightly at the mention of the Crane House. She supposed the occurrence was private enough that the delegation would keep that matter to themselves. "I'm sure that Asahina-san is more than competent. I've gathered from my chat with her that she is experienced with the spirit realms but perhaps I could lend a hand if the opportunity arises."

She took a pensive moment to have a spoonful of congee. "I wouldn't be so sure that he would appear too easily, dead or not. It is a curious case but without knowing all of the details, I could only imagine some possibilities...suppose that he found out something regarding the fire and they got rid of him. Or suppose he was responsible for the fire and used that as an excuse to mask his demise. The latter one might be a bit too far-fetched," she admitted as she picked up her tea cup.

[Daidoji Ryu]

"She is." Ryu said. "And I hope you will. I invited you here with an eye towards cooperation."

There were only a few bites left in the bottom of Ryu's bowl. Nevertheless, he carefully scraped it with his spoon, carefully enough that it didn't make noise, for a final mouthful. He set it back down, then gave Shiori a nod. "That's a possibility, es. And I don't think that's too far-fetched." He gave her an approving nod. "His wife said she thought he'd run off, not that anything bad had happened to him. Perhaps she knew better than his fellows."

He sighed, picking up his teacup again. "I don't know how to prove any of these, though. Not without more to go on. His body turning up would certainly help. If he's actually dead, of course." Ryu certainly didn't wish for a body to be generated if there wasn't one to begin with.

[Kuni Shiori]

Shoiri gave her bowl a few stirs, finding herself thinking for a moment that this breakfast would be really complete with some fried dough fritters but she supposed that fried foods weren't a Lion specialty around here. It probably didn't help to leave good congee to cool so she took another spoonful. "It would be really disappointing if this was all a ploy just to get out of fire duty but I would doubt someone would be so desperate when the sentence for such crimes is usually death."

The conversation with the earth kami was still fresh in her mind and she didn't want to experience that again but you shouldn't leave any stones unturned. "...I assume someone already contacted the kami at the fire?" She offered curiously before taking a sip of tea.

[Daidoji Ryu]

Ryu chuckled softly. "There would certainly be easier ways to do it." He gently shook his head. "Besides, where would he have gone? Neither the fire brigade nor his fellows at his other job, the pork shop, knew where he'd gone. Unless I missed something..." Ryu shook his head, looking down at his empty bowl.

His gaze flickered back up at her question. "We didn't. It was just me, my cousin, and her yoriki, a Lion bushi. So far as I know, the kami weren't consulted." He was silent a moment. "Could the fire kami tell us which way he went?"

[Kuni Shiori]

Shiori finished the rest of her congee in quick order and gently nudged the bowl away from her, allowing the establishment to collect it from the table if they so wished. Her gaze went to the crowd of people who walked around in front of them. It might have helped if they had some familiarity with said person or a drawing to go by. As a heimen, he could have been the one serving congee to them the entire time and neither of them would have been the wiser.

"I know that heimen can have problems that might not even have considered in our lives. Suppose he was trying to live another life or not in the servitude of the Lion but I don't know how far he could have gotten, he would need the proper papers to cross territories. There might be a paper trail there but only if that were the case. If he moved fast enough, it would have been too late to stop him." She gave a shake of her head, wondering how complicated or simple the matter truly was with simpler people. "This must have been important enough to take your cousin's attention, I assume..."

"It's unlikely...but any bit helps. I imagine that the fire kami could at least tell us what transpired during the fire but they are known to be impestuous and impatient. It would be like talking to a child who only has attention on something for a few short moments, at best, with a tendency to lash out without warning. My touch with the fire kami isn't great but I am more than willing to aid in any way I can, especially when you've piqued my curiosity. As you see, I can provide more than swords," she smirked momentarily at that.

[Daidoji Ryu]

Once the nearby staff was quite certain that the two samurai were all done, they swooped in and whisked the bowls away. Never take a samurai's plate done before they're definitely done with it.

"Yes..." Ryu admitted with a delicate grimace. "But they don't generally get very far. Not without help. But that doesn't mean that he didn't do it, just that he'll be coming back soon." Another grimace at that; there was only one way that journey would end.

Another sip of tea. "Perhaps. My cousin is stubborn. That's often a good thing. This may just be something she wasn't letting go of." Ryu's tone was as neutral as his expression. Perhaps he didn't quite believe that.

He glanced up from his study of his teacup, a smile touching his lips. "Mmm, don't forget, it was a magic sword. But I never doubted it." His grey eyes narrowed. "In fact, I noted your curiosity when we first met. What things do you find you are most curious about?"

[Kuni Shiori]

"Hopefully our hosts will be appreciative of her efforts in this. I can't imagine the Lion would want to devote much of their time on one heimen," she said on the matter. That was perhaps one of the few avenues that she could see a guest offering her aid and not seemingly overstepping her jurisdiction in the slightest, even if she wasn't an Emerald Magistrate, to begin with.

Shiori raised her brows at the question at first before offering a sheepish smile. "Did you mean in general or do you mean in the topic of the investigation, Daidoji-san? To sort of answer both, I find most people curious. To be more specific, their relationship, reasoning, and how they communicate with each other. For you see, my House is trying to expand themselves merely just managing iron mines to potentially focus more on diplomacy. Of course, in the Kuni method, we're attempting to evaluate this from an academic standpoint. It might be a bit futile, given that people and chemistry aren't something you can put on paper. Not yet, anyway." She smirked faintly at that note.

"This situation does offer a good riddle, even if there is nothing abnormally supernatural about it. So curious that such a thing would happen, rather than before a fire or without even a needed fire to have happened. Something tells me that there's potential that a body showing up might not even make such a mystery easily solvable."