[Day 4 Early Night] To Jigoku with Yume-Do

[Ide Amaya]

She blushed, "you flatter me. My kimono has mud on the hem and my hair is bedraggled. But yes, I imagine it might be very warm."

[Matsu Nintoku]

"I don't mind that," he shrugged and took a sip from his cup. "It is a more... genuine look? I don't know."

[Ide Amaya]

"It never occurred to me that the courtly kimono might not hold appeal for you, but I did not bring any of my riding clothes to the ma-ai." She takes a sip of sake, and this goes down easier than the first, though she still thinks her throat will be raw tomorrow.

[Matsu Nintoku]

"I am simply more acquainted with utilitarian garments. It speaks to me in a different level," he explained. "It reminds me of home."

His cheeks were a faint pink although it wasn't clear if the reason was his bashful nature or the alcohol he had drunk.

[Ide Amaya]

"There is a certain comfort in clothing without all the excess... fuffery," and she shook one of the draped sleeves and indicated to the heavy fabric obi.

[Matsu Nintoku]

"That is why I normally prefer utilitarian clothes although... there are limitations," he motioned to his gi; good training clothes but barely appropriate clothing "Didn't have anything else"

[Ide Amaya]

She gives the faintest of shrugs, "it does not bother me, Matsu-Sama."

[Matsu Nintoku]

He gave her a faint smile and nod before turning to the fire. "I guess you are going to hold me in regards to my promise, right?"

[Ide Amaya]

"if it helps you speak, then yes. I am here to listen, and I wish to know what weighs your heart so heavily."

[Matsu Nintoku]

He remained silent for a while, the crackling of the fire the only noise in the yurt. He leaned back and sighed "Have you ever thought what would happen if your nightmares were made flesh?"

[Ide Amaya]

"Yes," she answered matter-of-factly, "for I have seen it to be so."

"Do the corrupting shadows stalk even here in Rokugan?"

[Matsu Nintoku]

He was slightly confused at her quick reply; he had never heard them be referred as shadows but he certainly could say they were corrupting.

"I guess, yes." He continued "I fought them over the past months after the defining of Shiro Akodo. It was difficult but in the end I gained new scars and they died."

"But that isn't what keeps me up at night."

[Ide Amaya]

She caught what she took to be surprise, but the Dark Ride was something painful to speak of, and she was unsurprised that none had alluded to it before now. "What form are these living nightmares that hunt you?" she asked gently.

[Matsu Nintoku]

He was once more confused "Nothing hunts me but my memories Ide-san."

[Ide Amaya]

"Memories so dark that you cannot sleep, and their clouds have stolen your smile?" She took another sip of sake.