Dark Edge Village

Hiroji waits in his yurt. His face still slightly reddish from the morning's shenanigans.

Kogo scratches at the front of the yurt, slightly confused by the message she received, but willing to assist. "Hiroji-san?" She calls.

Hiroji stands up and invites her in, bowing when she enters. "Ko-Kogo-san. Thank you for coming." He stutters a bit. "I've had a... Very odd morning. I'd like some help in sorting it out..."

She looks at his face, becoming quite concerned. "Of course Hiroji-san, I will help in whatever way I can. What has occurred? Is it something to do with the Onyx Champion?" Kogo misunderstands his concerns.

Hiroji shakes his head. "No it's... It's more complicated than that..." He sits down and gestures Kogo to do the same.

Kogo sits, her mind whirring, her brow furrowed in thought. "How could it be more complicated than that? Have the Unicorn made some kind of pact? What has occurred?"

Hiroji shakes his head, his face reddening agian. He says with a stutter. "No it's... It's Otaku Kitakuhime I think... I think she likes me."

Kogo, floored by this being why she has been summone and with such concern, restrains mightily the urge to smack the Crab samurai upside the head. "THIS? This is more complicated than the Onyx Champion? Have you lost your senses?"

She loses her cool for a brief moment, and then steps back taking a deep breath. ""Kaiu-san, perhaps it is best you start at the beginning?" She says, with a trace of edge.

Hiroji is silent for a moment. "It's... I'm..." He takes a pause. "This morning when I was walking the dueling fields... Otaku Kitakuhime rode up to me. She proposed to help me in marrying an Otaku... I was flustered. To say the least. So we spoke and she clarified she did not mean that I marry her, although... It did seem like she wasn't exactly against that... And then she called me big, strong and brave and..." His face reddens again. "And I am having trouble processing this situation."

Kogo listens carefully, her eye twitching slightly. This miai needs to end or I will be sorely tempted to make Noburu a nakodo and just pair everyone together by the draw of a hat.

"Kaiu-san. I do not see what is wrong with this situation. You are big and strong and you are a samurai. Otaku-sama has also offered her help to myself in finding a suitable spouse. What is the difficulty?"

He is silent again. And then he speaks, he is sounding somewhat panicked. "But.. I... Why would she say those things? In the way she said them? And all the time she just looked at me like... Gah!" He says frustrated. "What does it all mean?"

Kogo sees so much of herself in the Kaiu but also has less patience with it, because it reminds her of her own failings. "Kaiu-san. Breathe. Center. Take a moment." She breathes as well, hoping to get him to follow along. "It may mean she finds you attractive. It may mean she was teasing you. It may mean that she thinks you would be a good addition to her clan. In any way, it is likely positive. Otaku-sama would not play with your or try to harm you. She is an honorable person. "

Kogo's cheeks redden just a tinch. "She may be a flirtatious person as well. The Unicorn have different rules they have lived by. We must realize this may not be quite how others have courted in the past, but we may marry into the family. Some...flexibility is required."

Hiroji breathes and closes his eyes. But the red on his face does not disappear. "I... It's just... This is so new to me. Strange. I... I did not even realise something like this was a possibility."

Kogo's cheeks keep their pinkness but she returns to steady ground. "It is new to many of us. I suspect that is why this miai has been so fraught at times. Do not fear. If you are chosen, you will be chosen. If not, there is an honorable marriage awaiting you. Your duty is just that. To do your duty. If Otaku-sama assists you, all the better. If you wed her, all the better for your Clan."

Though from what she told me yesterday, she has a bevy of suitors flocking around her. She seems more like one who would wish to pick herself.

He sighs. "I... I suppose... I did not ever think of myself to be... Praised in such a manner... I suppose I will have to re-evaluate things." He opens his eyes. "Thank you Kogo-san. As always your council has been very helpful."