"I am not the fastest reader in the world Kitsu-san, but on long trips or extended deployments I have more than enough time to continue my reading. I am sure that with your studies you would be far better read than this one, except perhaps regarding weapons manuals, or guard etiquette."

"Yes, I can admit to not knowing much about either," Nozomi replied with a small smile. She bowed her head slightly, mostly out of timidness. "You can ask me for information regarding many topics but I cannot promise a correct answer."

"If you speak honestly then you will speak correctly" Mostly, often, usually

"Perhaps you could speak a little about yourself? Practice your introduction for other miai participants?"

"True, true. I meant others might not agree with my assessment," Nozomi said before grinning.

She pursed her lips and looked down at her densai. "Well, I haven't introduced myself differently with you. I'm a priestess and I like to read."

"Those are both good traits um...." Trying to sound casual "Do you have other qualities you think a potential match should know? I, for example, enjoy bad music, and have recently discovered a taste for cooperative arcade games."

"Ah. Arcade games are enjoyable, yes." Nozomi smiled meekly. "At the risk of sounding boring, I enjoy quite a lot of things."

She tilted her head. "What exactly is 'bad' music?"

“It might be easier to how you Kitsu-san, although I hope bad music isn’t one of the many things you like.”
Shoan fetches her device out of a pocket and carefully places between herself and Nozomi before turning it on. Immediately it starts blaring a nauseatingly upbeat pop music number by the Asahina group ‘Passive-aggression’. The lyrics seem to be about chasing your dreams like a ‘Crane soaring high’

"What is this?" Nozomi asked, trying to parse the song through her narrowed eyes. She nods along. "It is corny but 'bad' is very unspecific."

“It’s my uh ringtone, sometimes I train to it. The beat is... energetic. I believe it is fundamentally bad music since while sticking in your head it has nonsense lyrics, is not very complex and... is inane.”
Shoan starts tapping along to the beat... despite herself.

"You train and receive calls from the same song? Sounds like a way to get your heartbeat pumping," Nozomi pointed out. She looked to the music player and then smirked. "It is without talent."

"I believe it does help my training, although as you say...talentless."
Not that she turns off the song as it reaches its chorus, the two leads alternating with
"Flap your wings and-
Fly!
Flap your wings and-
Fly!"

"I suppose there are worse faults, several samurai here probably like bad music and are also dishonourable."

"I wonder if the Crane exchange jabs about said music," Nozomi wondered out loud. She then raised a brow. "I think taste in music might not have any correlation with honorable conduct."

“I certainly hope so. I hold myself to the highest standard and it would be... awkward if it was all for naught because ‘1000 kisses for 1000 deaths’ has a very catchy bass line.”

"Eh, I would think you would have learned all about honorable conduct in school. Just follow that," Nozomi suggested.

A look of genuine horror
“Kitsu-san. Bushido is not just a dusty topic from the dojo. It is a way of life, a code of perfection which we must all aspire to. It’s not a checklist.”

Nozomi's skins flushed. "Oh, that's not what I meant. What I meant is, like, your education should tell you what to do. If taught correctly, then you don't need to worry. Something like that."

Seeming mollified
“As you say Kitsu-san. And I was taught well, it is just a very personal matter for me.... sorry if I was blunt.”

"No worries, no worries," Nozomi said, fidgeting with her glasses. To calm herself, she took them off completely, wiped them with a proper cloth, and resettled them on her face. "My point was that choice in music isn't as bad as, say, betrayal."

“Definitely. Unless you encode treasonous messages in your lyrics... to my knowledge that has only happened twice.”
Shoan sits more still, occasionally sipping at her drink
“I am told it is a bad idea to get me talking about Bushido.”

"Twice," Nozomi echoed. She raised a brow but then giggled. "I'm guessing it's not much of an issue now."

She shrugged at Shoan's comment about herself. "It doesn't bother me if that makes you feel any better."