Akemi entered the rental agency with overflowing enthusiasm as soon as its doors opened in the morning, accompanied by her far more stoic servant and mechanic, Kyoko.

"Okay Kyoko, here's the deal. I need a new bike. You know the big ones, that can drift on any terrain, and can comfortably carry someone else? I need one. Preferably a red one. The red ones go faster… into people's heart."

Kyoko ignored the bad attempt at a joke. She tapped and swiped quickly on her densai, browsing quickly between a multitude of spec sheets for as many vehicles. One got her attention, and she displayed the picture in full screen:

"Like this Hida-sama?"
"Yes! Exactly! Perfect!"
"I'll make arrangements immediately."

Kyoko moved forward to negotiate with the dealer. Akemi stretched both of her arms up to the sky, smiling of contentment at the thought of her future new toy, and started leisurely strolling the alley of the shop while the details were ironed out. She could hear the whole conversation, but didn't really listen, only getting a few words here and there.

"... Reinforced suspensions yes. Should be able to handle two fully armored riders without a hassle. No, my mistress doesn't intend to use it for warfare purpose, but she does carry around heavy equipment...

Soon after there was a small burst of exuberant pink haired Vulpine at the counter.

"Ineedsomethingthatcanhandletheforestsandtakeatleastthreeorfourpeople. I'mhereforthefullMiaisoI'llneeditforthefullstayplease."

The Phoenix Rental Rep (thereafter known as PRR) stared back with a look of horror that Izumi was fortunately used to. He took a deep breath and concentrated hard.

"I need something that can handle the forests and take at least three or four people. I'm here for the full Miai so I'll need it for the full stay please. . . . . "

He looked like he'd possibly strained something speaking so slowly, as the PRR nodded in relief and started gathering the required documents. Then the PRR made a question of colour.

"Green.BrightGreen.ForestGreen.CamoGreen.Doesn'tmatteraslongasit'sgreen!!!!!"

The nearby Kyoko, deep into reading the fine prints of the insurance policy, took a second to look at the scene.

Pitying the clerk, she intervened, all polite and bowing:

"Hi samurai-sama. Green it is right? Very well. Why don't you enjoy a cup of green tea..."

She gave at the employee a glance that meant You have tea right? If not, just find some.

"...in the company of my mistress, the respectable Hida Akemi-sama, while we iron out the oh so boring legal details?"

She pointed out at the woman with hair dyed white and red contact senses who was currently window shopping the most gaudy biker suits.

Izumi listened, all bright eyes and open mouth.

"SureIlovegreentea!!!"

At the pointing, he made a dip that could charitably be called a bow and bounced off to meet the browsing Crab.

"OhiyoHida-san! Areyougettingabike?"

"Uh? Oh, hello samurai-sama. Indeed, gotta have a ride so I can take on the wind."

Kyoko gave her a look that meant Manners dammit!, and so she bowed:

"Hida Akemi, daughter of Hida Norika and granddaughter of Hida Kinichi, honored to meet you. To whom do I owe the pleasure?"

He bobbed a bow back, pink hair bouncing across his shoulders.

"I'mKitsuneIzumi. ImanagepaertoftheperfumesdivisionatKitsuneBiopharmaticals. PleasedtomeetyouHida-san. YouherefortheMiaiaswell?"

Akemi got some words out of the quick fire, but may have missed others.

"Indeed, gotta find a spouse. Or maybe even two!"

She pondered her last sentence:

"Don't think that's possible actually. Nevermind that. You're the manager of Kitsune Biopha you said? That's impressive as such a young age.

My grandparents also run a company, Aoishi Industries, but they're old than the two of us combined."

A doubt.

"At least I think so. They're both over 60 and I'm only 20."

"Onlypartoftheperfumesdivision. Goeswiththefamily. MommaFoxisontheboard."

He looked at the riding outfits, mentally wondering if they did them in XXS sizes.

"WhatdoAoshimake?"

Akemi made a sign that was a mix between a finger gun and snapping her fingers towards Kyoko. The servant swiftly appeared by their side, a densai in her hands, that she handed to the fox. On display on the screen was a detailed catalog of Aoishi Industry's services, illustrated with copious pictures of furnaces, transports, and smiling employees and customers.

Depending of how good Izumi is at this whole business thing, he might pick up additional details:
Terribad: Aoishi is a company that retrieves metallic rocks from mining sites and transforms them into metal ingots.
Okayish: Aoishi markets itself not on its industrial capabilities but on how it can help mining companies, small and big, at all stages of their growth, through a myriad of services, from simple administrative support to basically handling everything from the moment the ore leaves the mine to the sale of the raw metal in bulk.
Some insights: Fees are suspiciously low, and a strangely thorough micro- and macro-credit system is also offered.
True businessperson: Customers must commit to very strict obligations, especially on minimal output delivered. If fulfilled, they ensure little risk and good returns for Aoishi, through economies of scale and not having to deal with their customers' real world problems. If not fulfilled, penalties quickly pile up, and guarantees are basically on everything the customer owns.
This is child's play for me: Aoishi is a loan shark operation with a semi-respectable facade.

"Ohmetalsandmining. NotsomethingweKitsunegetinvolvedin."

Thosearelowprices . . . howdotheysurvive????

Apparently Izumi thought in Hyperspeed as well.

"We'remoreinterestedinplantsandthechemicalswecanextractfromthemformedicineandscents."

"Flowers? Are you about to offer me one?

Sorry, reference to something that happened at the spaceport yesterday. You were saying you were the heir of..."

Kyoko might have shifted the densai to show information about Kitsune Biopharmaticals before returning to paperwork.

"Kitsune Biopharmaticals, one of the most important chemistry company of the known galaxy?"

"Nottheheir,butMommaFoxisontheboardofdirectors."

He grinned.

"Iwillbeaswell,butmyBigSisterisfirstinlineforthat."

"Oh. But you are in total control of..."

Still totally reading.

"... the most profitable section of the company, are you?"

"Notyet, butwhenDoryoku-samaretiresIwillbe."

He kept on grinning, brushing unbound pink hair out of his eyes.

"Bytheneveryonewillbewearingoneofourscents!!!!"

"That's cool. Do you have samples? Are you a sponsor of the miai, like, offering a lifetime of perfume to whoever won the dancing contest? Is there a dancing contest planned actually?"

He pondered that, realising a missed opportunity.

"Nowearen't. TheOspreyhavetheAlliancecontractshere."

He thought some more on that.

"AndLionexporttaxesaresohighrightnowIdon'tthinkitwouldwork."

"Taxes? You might want to enter contact with some members of my family. Or maybe with Yasuki Nishida-sama who is also part of this miai. I think they have opinions about taxes."

Izumi smiled at that.

"HatheLioncontrolallourcolonies. Wealreadygetconcessionsfortheworkwedowiththeirfoodproduction. Otherclansthough? TheIkomamakethempaythroughthenoseforeverything."

Akemi nodded:

"Sure. Definitely.

So, uh... Not hoping to find a nice Lion to marry here then?"

"I'mfromInari'sCradle. SeeLionseveryday."

He grinned.

"MommaFoxsaid 'find a nice Unicorn or Phoenix to bring back with you if you can'."

The slow speech sounded quite strange after his usual rapid fire.