Dark Edge Village

Hirase once again trod across the grassy knoll where the horses gathered. It was the last time he would train in this particular field, likely the last time with this particular teacher. It could have been a moment for melancholy; he, instead, took it as a last gift. In many ways, this education had shaped his time here and his thoughts on how best to go forward. He was looking pleased, yet thoughtful, as he watched the horses, waiting for one particular horse and rider to come into view.

Shinjo Liu Yue came to the field atop her horse and with Gon on her lap. She herself was unsure if this was their last lesson together. Will I be wed to him? Is that the right choice? Her pensiveness was clear on her face when she arrived next to him. She allowed Gon to jump down and go up to the man before she herself dismounted. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Hirase-san," she announced with less fanfare than usual.

He bowed to her in turn, a small smile quirking his lips as he saw the little pup. "Teaching your new companion to ride?" Crouching, he extended a hand to rub the little beast behind his ears before rising again. "I would not have thought that possible."

As he looked up at her again, some of the smile faded, a flash of concern drawing down his brows as he detected something off in her mood.

"Are you alright? I know that last night was challenging for many...I'm sorry, I should have thought more carefully about the scheduling..."

"He has liked it and is surprisingly obedient on the saddle."

Yue shook her head. "It is not the potion that is bothering me, Hirase-san." She lowered her eyes, her cheeks a bit flushed. "If it comes time for me to choose, I may select you."

Both of the Phoenix's brows rose at this. "Certainly I would be happy to partner you. That has not changed." He flashed a brief smile but sobered again quickly. Moving closer, he took his usual mounting position, using the closeness so that he could speak quietly. "I thought you had found a happy arrangement with Taira? Or, at least, as much of an arrangement as one can, given that the choosing is yet to come?"

"The circumstances have changed. I am not sure if the arrangement would be happy any longer." Yue took a deep breath. "I will be speaking to him later on it. I simply thought it would be good to let you know that I might choose you after all."

He nodded, slowly, and turned to look at her, his expression full of sympathy. "Do you want to talk about it? Or have anything you have not yet asked that might help you in this?"

Yue sighed. "He does not have the same amount of comfort you do with my situation. I may choose you and hope that he finds a better wife than I could be."

"I see." And he did. For all that affairs were common in Rokugan, there were still many who did not like the concept. A same-sex preference was less common and even more likely to be a source for disquiet.

He looked away from Liu Yue again, checking the girths and the length of the stirrups to make this pause less strange for any observers.

"Let me be plain, then, with what our marriage, should it happen, would entail." A few soft jingles sounded as he adjusted the stirrups a bit shorter. "While I cannot say what your...our...Lord would want for you and your bloodline, know that I would never try to touch you in an intimate way, not even for the usual consummation. If you find the idea of bedding a man as distasteful as I find the idea, it would be a needless cruelty to inflict on you."

A hint of heat sharpened his tone, though it remained soft. " I refuse to treat my wife, my partner, in that fashion simply for the sake of tradition."

There was no way that Yue would not blush at such a topic. She kept her face turned inward towards Hikazume and ran a hand through the steeds' fine hair. "We would need to have children, Hirase-san. That much is certain." She let out a soft sigh. "Taira-dono does not want to inflict such cruelty upon me, as you put it. However, I believe he is less content with idea of not being intimate with a wife of his." She looked at Hirase more directly. "What makes you comfortable with that notion, Hirase-san?"

"I have never been a man driven strongly in matters of the body." He confessed this easily enough. "What my wife desired, I provided, to the best of my ability, but when she was gone..." One shoulder rose and fell in a shrug. "I am rarely troubled by those urges. Should that change, then I will do as you will be welcome to and quietly seek a willing partner."

This was sure to embarass her, but she deserved to know it.

"If you had a lover who was willing to...let your experience in conception be less fraught by being a present distraction...I would accommodate that and leave you to her as soon as my part was done." Wryly, he added, "I am at least proven to be fertile. My wife and I took less than two months to conceive Ichiro."

Hikazume let out a loud snort and trotted away from the discomfort. Yue took out her fan and covered her reddened face. "You are being blatant, Hirase-san," was all she managed to whisper for a few moments. "I am not sure what to say. This is both reassuring and mortifying."

She looked at him with a sheepish smile behind her fan. "I thought to choose you because you would be content. However, I want to know if Soshi Taira could end up being so." She let out a sigh. "And I want to ensure my own satisfaction. Soshi Taira would not be as open as you," she stated, even though the point had already been made.

"The courtly ways to state what I just have are long and tedious. That has no place between friends, not in this situation." A wry smile quirked up the corners of his mouth. "I cannot tell you how to deal with the matter of Taira, seeing as I have not met him. I can only suggest you do as I have done and be very clear with what you intend for your life and your interactions, particularly in intimacy. Know that I will continue to pray to Hotei-kami for you either way that you choose."

"Hai. I will do as you say, Hirase-san." She closed her fan, a tinge of red still on her cheeks. "Arigatou gozaimasu. Shall we begin your lesson?"

"Hai, if your horse will forgive me." The Phoenix chuckled. "And, if you do not mind, I would ask your advice on making my own choice, should it come to that."