Dark Edge Village

Akil woke up early this morning, recalling from one of the books he read that Samurai were supposed to do that. And supposed to make sure their chores were done before the servants even woke. The rules on these things were weird.

His tent was reasonably spartan, anyway, which helped the cause. A rolled futon, a small table with some hot tea on it, and a trunk full of belongings was all that was there. His daisho was, at least, on a stand, well tended to even if simple. With someone to wait on this morning, he was seated calmly, his tea untouched.

Fukawa had also gotten up early this morning, as was her habit. It was a good idea to try and get Akil ready for society as best she could. He was no Butaj, but there were tons of sayings and expressions that had come to flourish in the empire, none of which dealt with dead goats.

She scratched on the yurt's entrance.

"Akil-san." she said, "I am here."

Akil Rose as he heard her voice, perhaps a bit too eagerly. "Fukawa-san! Please, come on in."

And enter she did...closely followed by her puppy follower.

She left the door open for propriety though.

"It is good to see you again, A-kun." she said. "I hope you don't mind if Takahiro joins us."

Takahiro was busy cataloging the scents of the Unicorn's yurt.

"he is no worry at all," he shook his head, "I will be living with him soon anyway, after all."

Fukawa tilted her head at that.


"You're not nervous about that, are you A-kun?" she asked. There was just something slightly off in her Akun's normally happy attitude it seemed to her.

"Beyond worrying that we will live together and you will come to find me incredibly boring?" He shook his head, "Not so much? With everything being so close to being over, I suppose I have spent some time reflecting."

"Hmmm, perhaps I should consider this A-kun." she says, with a fist on her chin. "There will be plenty of good looking men who are skilled in flute playing where we are going. Takahiro had to run an obstacle coarse and jump really high to earn his place in my household, should I ask the Moto if they'll set the course back up for you to run?"

Fukawa was teasing with a smile.

"Only if you want to watch the most embarrassing attempt at athletics ever," he laughed, scratching at the ground now to try to persuade Takahiro to come to him.

Takahiro was drawn to the scratching hand, and begin to lick it vigorously.

"Takahiro has the advantage of not being expected to follow all the rules of etiquette as well." she says.


She smiles at him.


"You love me, A-kun, and I love you. What more could I possibly hope to find in the length and breadth of the Empire?" she asks.

He slipped his hand around to pet Takahiro, smirking at the little dog. "You are going to be so much trouble in a year..."

Looking to Fukawa, his smile softened and warmed. "I do not know. Of course, there is still so much here that is new to me. But knowing you love me does give me hope that some day what is new will not feel so new.

"Speaking of which," he continued, "you had lessons for me, as I remember."

Takahiro gave the Unicorn a big doggie grin as if saying Yup, I sure am!

"Well, nothing as formal as lessons, but you mentioned a concern about understanding what people said when that used certain sayings, or quotes. I'm sure you've had, 'Have you had rice today?" drilled into your head, but if there were some less common ones you'd heard, I could answer what they mean. Failing that, I can think of some other ones for you to consider." she says,. with a teasing smile. "They might even make you less boring in company."

"What sort of phrases are you thinking?" He blinked. "And I admit, even though I have used 'have you had rice,' I'm still not sure WHY I should say that. It feels like I am assuming the person is to incompetent to have fed themselves."

Fukawa laughed at that.

"It originates from times of famine when it was a legitimate question of one's well-being. If your neighbor had not had rice, and you had, it was expected you would share what surplus you had. The question persists as a tradition, though the harvests have been good enough in Crane lands for it to be little more than that." she explains

"That... makes a lot of sense," he nodded.