Dark Edge Village

It had been...well. Not good, exactly, but certainly satisfying to hear through the rumormill that his supposition about the relationship between Liu Fei and the man she'd suggested he visit was as he'd thought it was. Courtier instincts were not completely off.

Still, he wanted to meet the man. Not only because the suggestion was sound but because he was curious about the male who found a woman like her to be preferable over every other woman here.

He asked around, finally narrowing in on the place where the Scorpion had laid there claim. Another quick round of questions led him to one particular yurt.

Standing just outside, he raised his voice just enough and asked, "Bayushi Suitechi-san? Are you in?"

Hearing his name being called as he was resting from the event, Suteichi put his mask back on and went to the flap to see the Asako standing there.

"Konichi-wa, Phoenix-sama." he said with a respectable bow and pleasant tone. "How may I be of assistance to you today?"

The man bowed in turn, his expression placid.

"Konnichiwa. I'm Asako Hirase, scholar. It was suggested that I seek you out for a conversation, one courtier to another. If the time is wrong, I apologize, but I thought I should at least introduce myself and try to make arrangements."

Suggested?!... Seems I am making a name for myself... I will need to control that...not right now. An opportunity has presented itself...

Suteichi gave a faint smile, "There is always time to speak with a fellow professional. Please, welcome and be welcomed." he invited Hirase in.

"I have some Shiba's sunset tea steeping, might I interest you in some refreshment Asako-sama? I do have some manju and some senbei My supply of daifuku and chinsuko have been depleted."

"You were wise to think to bring such things. Senbei, if you will."

Accepting the invitation with a small smile, Hirase entered and found himself a place to sit down.

"My home doesn't have much by way of confections, though we do have a fine harvest of apples this year. I brought quite a few of those along, which has proved to be helpful in riding lessons, if nothing else."

"That is wonderful!" he spoke as he served him senbei and sat across from him on a cushion. "I remember having some of those apples when I attended a wedding in Asako lands. Most delicious. I would be happy to share more senbei for a couple of apples?" Suteichi poured tea for them both.

"So! It has been suggested that you seek me eh? I thought perhaps you heard me perform last night at the music event that was hosted."

"What I have I will happily share, Bayushi-san." Hirase accepted what he was given gracefully, a smile on his face at the sight of things he hadn't tasted in more than a year. "As for music...though I heard it from afar, I was elsewhere. The Otaku who fell and I had been in discussions, you see, and I thought to go and visit her horse."

It likely sounded strange, but then again, if Suitechi was courting a horse-mad woman himself, perhaps he might understand the purpose.

"I met Shinjo Liu Fei there. She convinced me to abandon the course of action. She is also the one who thought I ought to speak to you."

Sipping his tea, Hirase awaited the other man's reaction.

Ah... my Hiomoyasu has been talking of me.... Benten is a most generous fortune.

"Ah...yes." he replied, he wanted to fight back the smile he had hearing her name but the smile forced its way through. "She and I have become...close during the course of this event. You went to visit the fallen's horse?...Interesting." he took a sip of tea.

"Were you close with Otaku-sama?" he question came with a concerned tone.

"Not the way some have become in so short a time." While there was no disdain coming from the other man, there was a sense of weight to the word 'some'. "But I cared for her and would have accepted her claim when the time came with joy. Hotei's gift, certainly, and possibly in time Benten's as well."

He enjoyed a small nibble of his cracker, then said, more slowly, "Otaku men tend the horses. I had it in mind to at least comfort hers to honor the connection that could have been. But Liu Fei suggested a better way that might not result in Tianma trampling me to paste. The Unicorn, as you have surely noted, need education in our ways. But they also need voices, particularly those from outside, to speak for them. Aggressively, at times. I have the skill to do that, but not the experience. Which is where you come in."

Suteichi popped a manju in his mouth as the Asako spoke. He smiled as he arrived at the point.

"I am glad I was not sought to aid you in courting a horse." he jested. "This is about aggression or assertion Asako-sama?"

"Let us say is it more about proactivity." Thinking of the Seppun, Hirase smiled a bit. "I have no troubles reacting with the proper aggression if pressed, but to actively spark needful conflicts has never been my way. It has not needed to be in my prior assignments."

"Ha. A minor difference between you and I then. Differences help us. Rather they should. What is it you wish to know?"

Lessons were a comfortable place for Hirase, either in the giving or the receiving. He relaxed, shoulders growing soft, as he hunkered forward, elbows on knees.

"One of the purposes for which I was sent was to learn about the returned Ki-Rin and report back to the Clan about them. I am, if not famed, at least known for such research among outlanders back home, which is why I was chosen for this task. I had intended to simply document my observations, which I have done, without commentary, leaving any conclusions about the correctness of the behaviors and beliefs to the reader. It is clear, now, that this will be insufficient if I want to actively move my kin, and the Empire at large, toward acceptance."

Fingers began to tap lightly on one knee.

"My purposes, then, are twofold: First, how to increase readership and second, how to use that readership to actively force opinions, including the discrediting of those who oppose the beliefs written within."

Suteichi nodded at his explanation.

"You wish to expand readership. Is this for entertainment, educational, or both?"

"Gain." A small nibble followed. "For myself, it gives words more weight. But also for those I write of. The Unicorn, in this case, though perhaps not only them as time passes."