A voice came out from nearby, one tone too high:

"Yeah, I'm at the garden. What do you mean you're not available anymore?

...

Yeah, yeah, I know, stuff happens. But still, could have warned me earlier. Would have made other plans.

...

Bye."

Akemi hung up the communicator and sighed, clearly pissed. Then she paid better attention to her surroundings and realized she wasn't alone.

She bowed, embarrassed:

"Oh sorry Lion-sama. Hadn't noticed you were there."

"Hmmm?"
Shoan looks over with politely feigned surprise

"That is quite alright, I was sitting rather still, and being very quiet."
Her eyes flick up and down Akemi. Hmm, Crab, probably not a local. They pause for a half second on her flesh crafted arm before continuing on.

"The miai can be a stressful time.....or at least it has been for me Hida-san."
She bows back from her seated position politely
"It was just over there I made a fool of myself last night." The lion gestures to a dirt path in-between rows of tall mushroom trees
"So I can confirm these gardens are no stranger to raised voices or rising tempers."

"Hey, a date gone wrong?"

Akemi looked embarrassed by the bluntness of her own question, and bowed again:

"Hida Akemi, daughter of Hida Norika and granddaughter of Hida Kinichi. My deepest apologies for my outbursts."

Shoan's On remains flat, but her brows do furrow slightly

"Hai, something like that. I am Shoan of the Murame who serve the Ikoma. Please, do not feel the need to apologise, it is good to meet you Hida Akemi-san."

Well, honesty was a virtue.... and the Lion reminded herself that counted for questions too
"I said something foolish after my companion explained some..difficult truths. I am not the first samurai to do so, nor will I be the last but still....I felt uniquely stupid in the moment."

"Oh.

Those things happen yes.

But hey, unless you're really at odds now, should have ample time to fix that before the end of the miai, neh?"

She stretched both of her arms upward, fingers joined, as for a gymnastic warm-up, a habit of her when her mind was going astray:

"As not-a-courtier myself, I kind of live by social mistakes and patch-ups at the moment. Not easy dealing with that many different people from that many different backgrounds."

"Well...it was one of those 'we can never marry since our clans despise one another and our relationship would be doomed to failure' talks so...."
There's the slightest shrug
"...If we do fix it before the end of the miai, I will tell the whole planet you are a soothsayer Hida-san."

Akemi also gets the nod one not-courtier gives another, particularly in rough not-courtier scenarios like a miai
"Sometimes I regret being a not-a-courtier, but I have no aptitude for diplomacy. Still, I know the basics"
She leans forward, one leg twitching slightly from having fallen asleep

"I have some iced tea if you have thirst, sadly I think my meal has gone cold or I would offer that to you as well."

Akemi more or less went through a mental blue screen of death at that part of the conversation, eyes looking way behind Shoan.

After a time she finally rebooted:

"Tea would be nice thanks. No worry about the food, I have a dinner planned with my clanmates... eventually. It has already been pushed back twice but it should happen before dusk."

She sat on the ground:

"So... This is the moment I should ask you how your miai is going Lion-sama... But I now suppose that the answer will be along the lines of it's complicated."

Shoan doesn't quite laugh, but there is a quiet snort that might be the Lion equivalent

"Complicated, yes, that is a good way of describing it."
She carefully sets a cup out for Akemi and then cracks open a chilled can of iced tea before pouring out a glass

"And please, you do me too much honour to address me as 'sama'. Yours is a proud family of a Kami while mine is of more humble stock. I think I am many years from earning the right to be addressed so respectfully."

She pours herself a glass of tea too.
"Now this is the moment where I ask you how your miai is going Hida-san, I hope at least it is better than mine?"

She stared at her muddy reflection in the tea, then back at her benefactor:

"Well Shoan-san... I would also go for it's complicated I guess. Lot of good candidates but still no serious lead. Lot of time poured in issues not directly related to the miai. And our Phoenix hosts playing some game that I don't understand.

Yes, all in one, it's complicated. Interesting. But complicated."

"The Phoenix certainly have an...unusual way of doing things. It feels as though every other day one guest or another is suffering serious injury or worse. It is more the sort of miai I would have expected from the Spider."
It even had murderous monsters running around.

"I'm glad you have so many good candidates, surely one of them will make for a good partner at the end of all this?"
She glances down at her own drink for a moment
"I think I am out of good candidates for the moment, but I will continue searching."

Shoan sits in silence for a few moments

Akemi nodded.

"If I may ask... Which qualities are you seeking for in your potential spouse?

As for myself, I would say that, assuming two potential spouses have the same political value, I would rather marry the one I can connect with. Preferably another warrior, preferably someone whose experience of life allows them to understand me and me to understand them, even if we don't agree on everything."

"I didn't think my standards were that high."
replied the woman with extremely high standards

"They just had to be an honourable samurai that would bring glory to the Lion. But I think someone who understands what it means to be a warrior would help, like your preference."
Shoan's too polite to point at Akemi's metal arm, but she does eye it for half a second.
"Some samurai do not understand what it means to sacrifice for duty, it is easy to speak with those who do."

"I haven't met much of such samurai but, as a member of the Hida Shock Troops myself, might be sampling bias. People who are afraid of making the ultimate sacrifice rarely volunteer for that unit."

She folded and unfolded each of her mechanical fingers, one by one.

"Though I think it was Sun Tao who wrote A soldier who is too eager to die, will be killed. It's important to walk the thin line between doing what must be done and sacrificing to no avail a life that is ultimately your lord's property and not your own."

“A samurai who goes looking for blood finds it.”
Shoan bows her head respectfully

“I know the shock troops be reputation, it is a fearsome unit. It is my honour to share tea with such a veteran.”

Akemi nodded:

"Thanks. We make do indeed."

She allowed herself a grin:

"On the battlefield, there is always an enemy foolish enough to dismiss us as a relic of the past, failing to get a good shot through our armors, and suddenly finding themselves locked into close combat with an angry Hida. We're especially effective nowadays as a boarding team, when the other side has nowhere to run and cannot use heavy weaponry without self-destructing."

A shadow passed through her eyes as she said that and she switched subject.

"You didn't tell me which unit you serve in yourself. Yet another pilot?"

"Oh no...not at all, although I have the sunglasses for it."
Shoan seems to find that hilarious for some reason.

"I serve in the Jade Legion myself as a simple ground pounder. Hopefully it's a position where I will not have to face a Hida Shock trooper any time soon."

"The Jade Legion?!"

Akemi appeared shocked:

"Damn, that's impressive. Super elite unit, with only the very best youths handpicked for it.

If I may ask, what is the story behind your own ascension to it? They simply don't accept people who haven't proved their worth tenfold yet."

"It is something I am quite proud of, thank you."
Shoan tips her can back, skulling the rest of tea

"It's not the most exceptional story, and it is one I have told before, but I shall tell it again."

Shoan squares her shoulders slightly, as if bracing herself
“I was part of a large force present on a planet whose identity is not something I can discuss. We had to deal with a large and highly motivated insurgent force. It was a difficult assignment as our enemies would often hide amongst the local populace.”

She sighs.

“My squad was stationed in a small town in a farming community. We’d been conducting sweeps in the area for insurgents and had been engaged in low intensity conflict for nearly half a year. Eventually the enemy became bold enough to attack us directly. There was an assault on our barracks at night with massive casualties for both sides. I... survived, others did not. My conduct during that engagement was deemed exemplary and saw me moved to a different squad that pursued the enemy through more unorthodox means.

I was part of that team until the conclusion of the conflict and afterwards most of our members were promoted to various other commands. I was given a position in the jade legion.”

Crumpling up her can and returning it to her small bag.

"I hope my duties there will be different."

Akemi pondered:

"Was... Jigoku implied in the incident? The Jade Legion is not named after that stone simply because it is nice looking to the eye."