Sayomi asked, very earnestly, to see the daimyo. "It is about the Empire's future."

Sayomi receives a wince as she asks for Ryota, but no one is willing to long separate his savior from him when she asks. She is led to the study, where she finds her Daimyo staring blankly ahead, breathing very shallowly, unresponsive.

"He has been like this ever since the Empress' death. Sometimes he gets up and wanders the halls or goes up to the Tenshu, but we have been unable to get him to respond to anyone," his karo informs Sayomi.

Sayomi knelt as she entered the room, her face set in grim concern for lord Ikoma.

"My lord," she bowed, speaking gently, "I've returned from a mission given to me by the Daughter of Heaven Hantei Retsuhime, along with Ikoma Honoka, Daidoji Sae, and Yasuki Ryoichi. We were successful, and we brought to Kyuden Ikoma the son of Hantei Muhaki and Sadahako-no-Kami."

Maybe those news would stir him.

Nothing.

But then...Sayomi sees a flicker in an eye. She feels a chill down her spine.

It had not been auspicious.

"My Lord," she pressed a little now, more firm in her voice, "this one is humbly asking you to extend a formal invitation to this man, who was summoned by the Empress herself. It is what she would have wanted you to do."

His frown develops into a scowl. A response! But perhaps not the one hoped-for. His eyes shine like coals as he intones a single word. "No."

No...?

Outrageous! Sayomi steeled herself, knowing that some might think she was stepping out of line, but she was willing to put herself forward for what was right. House Tatsukawa had once aided a Hantei and her allies, they were not going to stop now.

"No? You can't be serious, my lord. What will the Imperial families say, or Akodo Sanae-dono say... what would the Empress herself say?"

He does not reply. The concepts are beyond him, just as the offer of hospitality to the catalyst of the delay that broke the Empire is beyond him. His great head falls to his chest. The tears begin to flow, silently, without any contortion of his face. If this is the Ikoma Ryota that Kitsu Sayomi saved, then he has broken more completely than anyone she has seen before.

She sighed, realising there was nothing she could do to reach through to him now. This had shaken him, and she could not un-shake him. As much as she wanted to.

"... Please rest, my lord. I will see you again tomorrow, and hope Amaterasu's light will find you then." Her words were soft, sympathetic, and she bowed once more before retreating.

Outside Ryota's room, her sigh was heavier than before. This was bad. Real bad.

(thank you for the scene!)