Strange Ways (D6, Late AM, OPEN)

[Asako Hirase]

"I'd gathered she was innocent when we met to share tales." He smiled at the memory...surely Chi-Pu would have been embarrassed that he'd thought her adorable, but that didn't change the fact. "So, then. How can you improve the lot of the Unicorn here in Rokugan? It could begin with who you chose to wed, but there are other things surely a woman of your lineage might do."

[Moto Khulun]

“Prepare us to fight the evils that lurk in the shadows, become the leader she was for so many. Even if I leave the Unicorn I will gladly share this knowledge with them,” she says confidently.

“I will honor her memory with battle.”

[Asako Hirase]

"Certainly there are many wars here."

They were too public here to speak of what darkness had concerned them and Hirase, true to his word, would not have the secret revealed even by accident.

"Have you given thought to my suggestion of a Crab? I know there are some of their menfolk here...have you met them?"

[Moto Khulun]

“Not a peep maybe they put too much stock in careless whispers,” she says laughing.

[Asako Hirase]

"The Crab are among those least likely to care." Which was another reason he'd suggested them, having already taken Khulun for a woman of high passions. "Who have you been looking to, then? Since you can't help me further, I might as well help you, if I can."

[Moto Khulun]

“Giving up already, Sayyed?” she says with a smirk.

“I would see you happy if I could, as for those that I find of interest the Lion and Dragon have suitors I find fit my needs. I could still throw you over my horse if you are looking for a home, my friend.”

[Asako Hirase]

"From what I've seen and heard, most of your young women have already chosen. Besides, there are more of use men than there are you ladies here." The idea of being tossed over Khulun's saddle made him smile at her briefly. "I wouldn't have you looking away from what you need for my sake, though the offer is a generous one."

He considered the two Clans she had named. There wasn't much common between them and so he asked, curiously, "What trait is it that you seek? If it was purely a warrior, then the Lion is the optimal choice...yet that can't be it, there are no Mirumoto here to meet that need from the Dragon."

[Moto Khulun]

“I choose what I like,” she says honestly.

“Warrior or man with many words, same-same for me if they intrigue me; then when they intrigue I seek them out and I have them. I am not sure if that is what others do, but this is me.”

[Asako Hirase]

So it wasn't only Butaj. No surprise there, either.

"I can admire someone who sees beyond a career or a Clan for choices. Fire to match yours would be essential, particularly for one as passionate as yourself." He grinned. "Someone who will see that as a gift, especially if they bring you home instead of the other way 'round. Lion would understand it...Matsu women are very much the same, though they are more restrictive of how and when they release it. Dragon appreciate that one must walk their own path."

He glanced down, then said, "Phoenix understand fire, too. With so many shugenja who bind so closely to their element, we've had to learn to accept that gracefully."

[Moto Khulun]

“Would Phoenix accept Moto, or would they wish to change Moto?” she asks.

[Asako Hirase]

"I?" He smiled. "I want to stay here. There is much more to learn among you than back home." It faded a bit and then he said, stubbornly, "I will find my way back even without a bride, somehow. It may be years, until Ichiro is in school, but I will manage it. Even if I must beg musha shugyo to do it."

Then, more calmly, he said, "Shiba...Shiba would try to harness your wildness. I don't know if that would snuff it or not."

[Moto Khulun]

"You cannot go home?" she says.

[Asako Hirase]

"I can." He smiled. "I'll be shamed if I fail here, but I can go home. I just think it is a waste of my talents to do so. I am a student of people. Your people offer such an opportunity for learning...any true Asako yearns for that."

[Moto Khulun]

"I think you should stay and learn if you can," she says.

[Asako Hirase]

"It would be a gift. But samurai cannot always please themselves. Especially samurai fathers. While I might, if it were just me, simply become a monk of Fukurokujin and stay, I have Ichiro to think of. I would never imperil his future for selfish reasons, no matter how helpful I think those reasons might turn out to be for the Empire in the end."