(Paying 1 koku for the private room)

It was a shame that her yukata was one of the few white garments she owned, but... last night's incident had left her feeling uncomfortable about tight-fitting clothes, and the yukata was at least nice to wear in the heat.

Being the first to arrive at the private room, Hyeon-ju touched up her makeup where it was looking less than fresh because of errant tears, before tucking the compact back into the yukata.

When Akihiko enters, he looks worse than Hyeon-ju saw at the funeral that morning. His uniform lacks the clean sharpness of when it was fresh, and it's looking clear that he slept poorly, if at all, the night before. He still cuts an impressive figure, perhaps through sheer Lion determination.

Laying eyes on her, his concern almost gets the better of him as he approaches. "Hy--Utaku-san," he catches himself, stops, and bows his head. "Ah, Utaku-san, what ... How can I be of service?" Once composed, he raises his head again.

Smoothing out her yukata, Hyeon-ju took a moment to compose herself as Akihiko arrived. She had held herself together well during the funeral, all things considered, but there was a sadness and weariness to her as well, even if the makeup concealed any dark circles under her eyes.

"Akodo-sama..." she lowered her head, bowing fully from her seated position. "... My deepest condolances on the loss of Matsu Chiyoko-san. I..." Hyeon-ju, feeling that Survivor's Guilt fully, remained bowed. "I intend to find the one responsible for her death, and make him pay for what he did."

Akihiko nods approvingly and sits. He exemplifies the proverbial wild animal in a cage, obviously eager to act, but fully aware that he can't.

"For myself and my clan, I accept and thank you for your condolences," Akihiko's voice sounds distant, like he's acting out a memory from somewhere else. But in a heartbeat, Akihiko is fully present in this moment: "Utaku-san's right to justice is clear, but so is the right of Matsu Chiyoko-san's kin to avenge her." His voice is gentle but insistent. "We must do this together."

Condolences and words really were not enough.

"Yes." She said at first, remaining bowed for another few seconds before slowly rising. "... I would not want to deny the Lion that right."

The hosts had failed to see to the security of their guests within their home. It wasn't the same as with Koryn, as it was outside of the city-limits, but this had been within the city itself.

"I... feel responsible for Matsu-san's fate. It is my hope that her spirit will find its passage to its next turn in the wheel by correcting that - together, with the Lion. The Unicorn will not flinch away from this enemy that has revealed itself here."

"Hai." He grimaces for a moment, then asks quietly, "I must know everything possible about what happened. The 'news' of a mugging is laughable, fit only for those who know neither Unicorn nor Lion samurai." He looks to her earnestly, though clearly pained to ask her to recall whatever it was.

She grimaced with distaste as the rumor was mentioned. "I understand the need to save face, but claiming Matsu-san was killed in a mugging is a dishonor and an insult to everything she was."

Still, she steeled herself. Breaking the news hadn't given much time to explain what had happened, other than that the two samurai-ko had been ambushed, and that Chiyoko had died in the attack.

"I must apologise for what I am about to say will be... not exactly what we usually see as pilots, and also brings further shame upon our hosts." Hyeon-ju cleared her throat. Even in the delicate dress of the yukata and her feminine makeup, she was very much a soldier when she spoke of what had happened.

"I met the designer Isawa Shin two days ago. By chance, but he seemed like he had wanted to meet me in particular as he seemed to have recognized me from the... wrestling show some days prior." That was still something she was getting used to thinking about, as she had never imagined she'd win that. "After introducing himself to me, he explained that he was invited to the Governor's court to showcase a new design he had been working on, and he needed someone to model the garment. As I could tell from how he was dressed, he seemed to be a designer of some talent himself, so I agreed to the offer. He invited me over to his studio for the fitting. Judging from the way people seemed to speak about him, it would seem that he was indeed a respected man in the field of fashion."

"Partially, I did not want to go alone in unknown parts of the city, but I also wanted to make it a special moment with Chiyoko-san, to let her be the first person to see me in the new design. She... she knew that I have a great interest for fashion." Considering how immaculate the Unicorn always presented herself, it was probably no surprise with that confession.

At this point, her soldier's resolve faltered, the touch of... horror creeping into her eyes. "There was... you might've noticed this mushroom-smell that seems to be everywhere in this city, especially outside the city-walls? Well, it was stronger there, but... worse, somehow. I thought maybe it was... I don't know, trash, or strange local cuisine cooking. I don't know," she seemed a bit frustrated with herself. "Anyway, the studio seemed perfectly normal. Working AC, lots of working sketches of designs, seemingly recently refurbished and painted. We had a drink and things seemed normal." There was a moment of silence before she continued.

"I tried on the clothes, and... it..." her hands clenched in her lap. "This sounds outrageous, Akodo-sama, but the clothes tried to dig into my skin. Like how roots go into the earth. Chiyoko-san, she heard my distress right away, and reacted quickly. There..." she took a deep breath. "As I tried to tear this horrible thing off me, this... monstrous creature appeared; it looked like it had once been a human, but it was... it was like mushrooms had overtaken it completely, and it attacked Chiyoko-san. Isawa Shin seemed to be using magic of some sorts as I tried to fight off the monster and this clothing both, as the monster was going after Chiyoko-san. She shot the assistant that tried to assault us, and then helped rip a lot of the stuff off me. I... I should have been more forceful in telling her that we should run. The monster didn't let up and..."

Her voice faltered as she reached the point where Chiyoko died. "... It tore her apart, Akodo-sama. At that point, I hoped she could still be alive, and I grabbed her and hauled out of there as fast as I could, even as that fabric was still trying to take over me and the monster was clawing my back." A deep breath. "But I got out. It didn't follow us, probably because Isawa Shin knew that it would draw too much attention and trouble if anyone else saw that monster. Once out of there, I, with the help of a bypasser, finally managed to tear off all that terrible thing that he had called fashion. That's when I called the magistrates, and Shinjo Yul-san."

The rest didn't really need much of a retelling. From there, Yul had picked her up and the Osprey shugenja had healed her wounds.

Akihiko is too tired and too shocked to interrupt, to question. This is all madness!

But with Chiyoko dead and Hyeon-ju saying it, for Akihiko there was never really a doubt. It was all true and clear, wrenching and terrible. He hung his head at times as she spoke, as all the might-have-beens raced around in his mind at the same time as all the questions.

By the end, he has no words. "You ... It ..." He tries to stumble into a coherent thought just by chance, but he fails. After a time he stops trying, which leaves something worse between them: silence, and his eyes full of despair looking at Hyeon-ju.

The silence felt terrible. Not as terrible as the sensation of fungal-fabric burrowing into her skin, but it was heavy on her.

She bowed once more from where she sat, head lowered. "... I feel responsible for what happened to Chiyoko-san. Not only am I... upset, for what happened to me, but, I... I had invited her along as my friend, unknowing of the danger we were walking into. This is why I will not back down from personally making this bastard pay," she spoke through nearly gritted teeth.

She was angry. Upset. Sorrowful even. In the end, Hyeon-ju knew it was the Phoenix who were ultimately responsible for this incident, but she couldn't bring all of them to justice.

Akihiko bows his head and sighs.

Without raising his head, and with exhaustion in his voice, he finally responds: "The loss of Matsu Chiyoko-san is terrible. The circumstances are worse. We will be forced to respond."

Akihiko tries to muster a reassuring tone as he looks at Hyeon-ju again. "We will resolve this as best we can in pour time here. We must also," he swallows hard, voice straining now, "remember the duty that brought us here."

He stops. Hyeon-ju can see his hands flexing, like they want to grab or throw something. He looks at the table again, a growl of frustration escaping him. With great effort, he finally says, "No, the time will come for that. We must do the duty before us now, and pray our ancestors' strength to carry us forward."

Rising, she sighed deeply, nodding once.

"Hai," Hyeon-ju said softly, falling back on a soldier-like response.

She went on to speak, "I...", but the word caught in her throat, and she stopped herself from continuing, knowing that she'd give voice to Regret with what she wanted to say.

"... Once this matter is resolved, I will give my full attention back to the miai at hand, Akodo-sama. And yes, the duty that has brought us here, which we can't forget." The Utaku tried to be a bit more relaxed, but it just showed more of what she usually hid beneath her ice queen-veneer; a trembling touch at her yukata's collar as if she was still thinking of the blasphemous garment from the night before, and the uncertainity of how she could best perform her duty now.

Akihiko's emotions continue to swirl, but in that moment, where he feels Hyeon-ju may actually feel as lost as he does, he sees something new within her. It isn't like the breaking of a dam, with immediate effects, but l like the opening of a window, that makes air flow in subtle but important new ways.

"We will avenge Chiyoko. Together. All of this," he waves his hand, a little awkwardly, "We can figure out together. Let us stay united in purpose and we will stay united in action." It took a long time, but finally Akihiko's commander voice seems to have returned.

Hyeon-ju was very much an Utaku in that she was more quiet than loud, and changes were subtle like the change in the wind.

"Yes..." she nodded cautiously though with some ease to her own concerns, "thank you, Akodo-sama. I'm... I'm grateful that we stand united in this. My apologies, I've lost allies before, as happens in the line of duty, but thi-this was unlike anything I've experienced before, to be honest it has put my nerves on edge." Though she knew she couldn't know how hard this must be for the Lion.

Taking a deep breath once more, she eased her posture a little to calm herself. Reassuring herself that Chiyoko's spirit would find rest.

"... The tea here is much better than what they serve at the inn or the hotel," she began to suggest. "It might help us both find some... calm, to avoid acting rashly. I don't think Chiyoko-san would want any of us to rush into our dooms to avenge her."

Akihiko nods, with greater enthusiasm than is really proper, at the possibility of enjoying tea again. He's too tired to verbalize what days with his nemesis, the weak Asakaze teas, has meant, but Hyeon-ju's suggestion is pursued without hesitation.

After the tea is before them, and once Akihiko has consumed two slow but deep drinks, the Lion speaks again. "I wish," he says slowly, "that I had something more useful to say right now. But the thought clearest in my mind right now is, 'I'm so glad to be free of that wretched, weak tea.'"

Hyeon-ju holds the teacup in her hand for a while, breathing in its spicy aroma before taking a long sip. Unlike the hotel-tea, she had ordered in a black tea blend with some interesting spices.

She has to stop herself from spilling the tea however, as Akihiko's words spurs on a much needed laugh on a bleak day like this. Her shoulders shake from the suppressed laugh, over words that were not that funny as such, but the honest thoughts of the Lion finds a weakness in her armor.

"Yes..." smiling, her fingertips touched the corners of her eyes, carefully stopping any tears. "... I don't know how people endure living on weak and flowery teas. Strong and dark blends for me any day."

Akihiko watches her from under his eyebrows, his whole body leaning into real, respectable tea. He smiles widely at what might even have been a giggle in someone less well armored. But the pretty smile is a good start.

"I believe Akodo-kami exhorted the followers of Bushido to always do things with their whole spirit. It's a shame that anyone accepts a lesser commitment from their tea."

It takes two heartbeats for Akihiko to realize how pretentious he must have sounded, which is still impressive given his fatigue. He looks Hyeon-ju in the eyes for a moment, then bursts into a fit of snickers. It takes a few moments for him to fully regain control, but he never entirely lost it either: he fended off the full-on laughter that might have become too noisy.

Her hazel-colored eyes meet his, and as his begins to snicker, she joins in as well. Fatigue and frayed nerves often means shorter tempers, but in this case also means it's harder to keep a stoic On as is expected.

"... thank you," she said as she wiped the corners of her eyes, smiling, "I didn't know I needed that laugh so much."

It felt a little strange to laugh on a day like this, but... she had a hunch Chiyoko would have approved. "This reminds me a bit of how my Moto cousins remember the fallen; they play music and share stories of the deceased - often the ones that make us laugh."

"I think the Ikoma would agree: We cannot remember our fallen heroes for only their heroic moments, which may be short in the context of their whole life. Honoring their life and sacrifice should recall all of what they were."

Akihiko's voice is clear, but seems a touch rehearsed. This is perhaps a similar thought to what he's shared with other soldiers at similar times. Then again, he thinks, there's nothing similar to this.

"I wish... I had had more time to get to know all of that about Chiyoko-san. We were still getting to know eachother, about eachother's lives and families." She didn't doubt that the Ikoma had many great tales to tell of her though.

"But," she lifted her teacup, almost like making a toast, "she was an amazing samurai, and a good friend in the time I was granted to know her. It's our duty now to live up to her expectations of us all."

Akihiko raises his tea cup as well, formalizing his tone a bit. "Perhaps a drink to high expectations, and the honor of trying to meet them?" It's a strange toast, but it feels somewhat appropriate to the place in which they find themselves.