"Hmm..." she toyed with her cool aviator-sunglasses as she thought about what was the most interesting spots so far. "This mall isn't too bad. But I think the most interesting spots in the city are Kayama, the botanical garden... and maybe the baths? I prefer a relaxing onsen to an arcade, to be honest. Though I suppose I should check out the arcade too..."

"What about you? I guess maybe the library at Fukurokujin's temple is of interest to you?"

"It indeed it a place of interest for me but i lament the fact that i have not yet had a chance to visit it yet. It is on my list along with taking a trip outside the city at some point. Asakaze has some fascinating sounding wildlife." He said feeling himself starting to get pulled into a long stream of discussion on the topic but pulling himself back with some effort.

"so far The arcade was a novel experience, probably not one I'd spend most of my time with unless I was in the company of someone who enjoyed it. The botanical garden is certainly interesting, the colors within the UV spectrum are fascinating. I have not yet been to the club in town but I believe I will be going. The baths were certainly memorable..." more detail on that he certainly did not give before moving on.

"All in all I believe I will struggle to see everything I want to and gather information on potiential matches. It promises to be a busy time here."

"Mm, the benefit is that it seems like there are plenty of people here for the miai, so visiting these places you want to see is also a good opportunity to socialise with other potential matches."

It was also a little tiring that everyone you met were someone you had to impress, and to be scrutinizing of.

"Have you had a chance to look at the list of the events our hosts have planned for us? Some of them look like they might be of interest to you, or within your wheelhouse?"

"Indeed it is heartening to see so many come together for such an event."

He nodded in response to her question "Yes unsurprisingly most seem aimed at bushi types but there are some i have a chance at really impressing during at least based on the names. Master of archives has my interest piqued for obvious reasons. Robotics Rally should be interesting. My goal is to show up to all the challenges regardless and give them my all. Even if I don't turn heads it won't be said that I back down from a challenge."

Satoru looked down to Hyeon-ju "what of you Utaku-san? Any challenges you are particularly interested in taking on?"

Master of Archives was one that had completely escaped her firs view of the list, and now she realised she'd probably have to start cramming again if she wanted to do well in these challenges.

It was flight school all over again, and it was hard to fight the urge to cram. And study. But this time she was supposed to be socialising.

"Orbital Defense sounds interesting... maybe it's just my hopes, but it sounds like something that will require knowledge of tactics, and hopefully piloting skills. Ride To Ruin... I just hope it's not more of those Otori, but I shouldn't be surprised if it does." She nodded to him. "Likewise, I intend to participate in all the things our hosts are putting on, and give it an honest effort. I don't expect to win, or excel at all of them, but I think it's good for others to see what you are capable of."

he chuckled a little "My those Otori certainly did not make a good impression. I'll note you don't want to take any sunset Otori rides across the countryside."

"But yes it seems there is a wide and varied set of challenges before us in the coming days. I'm sure many will show us what they are capable of." he paused slightly mulling it over "Perhaps moving forward we can aid each other in preparing for coming challenges, for example I could help you study, I am a repository of many different forms of knowledge to one degree or another."

"They did not impress me terribly, no." There was a little bit of sourness in her tone as she admitted that.

She chose not to see that as an insult that she wasn't a good student herself, and that it was said with good intentions. Hyeon-ju hadn't become top of her class by slacking.

"And... I assume you would like to learn about military tactics and the basics of piloting in return? You might be surprised to know I am a diligent study, Kuchiki-san, with a skill-set aptly suited to a warrior-focused competition." The Unicorn gave him a wry smirk.

"Of course I would expect nothing less than diligence and putting your all into everything, however it would only be logical to assume I have, at the very least, a broader knowledge base than you while you likely have deeper knowledge of certain subjects. Most of the training for my duty has been study with just a bit of combat training while your time was split between study, physical conditioning, flight training, team building. We both have our specialties. And yes, I know basics of war knowledge and history of war but wouldn't mind a more....in depth analysis from someone who has studied it more than I. Same goes for piloting but i suspect there is only so much that can be learned about that with out hands on experience."

"True... without a proper simulator here, it is kind of hard to properly learn it. There's only so much you can actually learn from reading about it and being told about it. Maybe the arcade has some flight-sims for you to try to get a feel for that."

She tapped her chin. "Of other subjects I know well... iaijutsu, kenjutsu, hojutsu, survival skills and hunting. Some minor training in courtly bearings, but... that is not the strongest part of an Utaku's training really. They give us all a run through enough to make certain we know how to behave. Otherwise, there's always oshidama."

Her chuckle was almost warm. "Of course, it sounds more like you should maybe be going to the dojo more often in your preparations, whereas I need to read more."

the almost warmth in her chuckle didn't go unnoticed and elicited almost warmth in his grin but he put on a contemplative face scratching his chin "One begins to wonder if you could combine the two? exercise and learning? maybe hard to do it while practicing kata, which I certainly need to do, if the Daigotsu that taught me hand to hand watched me now." he shivers a little, its unclear if it feigned or genuine "let's just say it wouldn't be pretty." his tone was light though so perhaps it was a joke?

"Oh?" she looked at him with some curiosity. "How come, if I may ask?"

"Lack of use, I went through basic training for the military which involved learning hand to hand combat but well when you're a shugenja using your fists is hardly ever the right choice. I also know how to shoot so in most situations I either shoot the threat or call upon the kami to protect me. While I take time to keep my body in good shape, as you've seen, keeping my juijutsu skills fresh never seemed like a priority. It may have been an err in judgement who is to say." he finished with a shrug.

"I see. I wasn't aware of how martially inclined your family is... many shugenja families tend to not engage much in the subjects more studied by bushi. I know the Iuchi in my own clan have often been an anomaly there in being so active on the battlefield there compared to others." She nodded a little as she spoke. "In the days of old, the Unicorn's three armies had one army dedicated to shugenja and their defenders. An army focused on mobility granted through the power of the kami."

"Today, that is more represented with our Baranunghar ships, the only fighters in the galaxy to have a pilot and a navigator both."

"Not all of my family are martially inclined, we are healers primarily doctors and scientists. I learned the art of healing from my father who also guided me in speaking with the Kami. I learned the more martial skills from joining the military. When you're out on the frontier everyone needs to be able to defend themselves even if the kami don't respond or aren't present."

he nodded to her explanation "I have looked into space faring procedures before though I have never had to actually do anything with it. it is a fascinating subject."

"I see..." the Spider was mostly a mystery in many ways to her, but at least she was learning a lot more now. "I don't think I've ever heard of places where the kami aren't present. How does that affect radiant weaponry, or other modern technology that have kami in them..."

She gave a concerned look to the Kami-pet hanging on her hip.

"Those technologies store the kami so they still function though you will be out of luck if you need to recharge radiant weaponry and its a curious mystery what happens to kami released on a world without them. From my own research why a planet would be without kami is largely a mystery. There are theories here and there but nothing definitive."

He sees her look to her kami pet and his lip twitches upward slightly "Your kami pet would be fine Utaku-san. Have you named it?"

Well at least that would be some relief. It sounded like an absolute nightmare to be stuck on some planet without any radiant weapons at all. Only... shudder... primitive weaponry.

"Hana." Unclipping it from her clothes, she held up the little device. It was one of the Unicorn-specific versions of the item, also known as the Ki-rin edition among the Unicorn because the sprite depicting the kami usually chose a ki-rin or unicorn shape. Which was of course popular. Didn't hurt either that they could brand it as a lucky charm in a way.

And true enough, there was a ki-rin like sprite on the screen.

His cool stoic expression didn't change as he inclined his head "An honor to meet you Hana-san." the level of seriousness in the action could be hard to read through his On.

He looked back to Hyeon-ju "How long have you had it? I have not looked too much into them before though I understand some of the basics."

"Five days now, so she's fully evolved. This is usually the point where I struggle to keep them for long myself... I'm not a shugenja, so it is a learning experience to discover more about how to satisfy a kami properly."

The sprite of course didn't react much and seemed to be napping right now.

Satoru thought for a moment before nodding "Well perhaps I can help teach you how to relate to the kami as well? Though I may have to pick up one of my own kami pets in order to better understand the communication interface you are working with."