Nishida went to the bathhouse. Now Akemi and Yul were being questioned, instead of going crazy about how much worse they could make the situation, he went to the warm pool and enjoyed the fresh breeze.

He massaged his temples again. It was supposed to be just a miai, nothing more than another business meeting like so many before. Why have things become so complicated?

The door opened and slapped shut.

Oh, this is going to be awkward.

Shokomaru had thought to be social again, and like last time doing so at the bath house it landed him with Yasuki Nishida. Only things were much more complicated now, weren't they?

Fuck it.

He scrubbed off while the Crab relaxed. If Nishida did more than a polite acknowledgement, Shokomaru wouldn't bother the man until he was getting into the tub.

Nishida heard the door and turned around. He raised an eyebrow.

Could it really be?

"Greetings, Daigotsu-sama, how are you?" he asked casually.

"I've had it worse, Yasuki-san, I think", he said and finished getting the morning grime away, dumping water on his head and shaking it out.

"Yourself?" he got up and wandered over toward the pools.

Hm, two men. That was fine.

A woman with a mask on entered the baths, towel wrapped around her. She turned and shut the sliding door to the changing rooms behind her before turning and bowing wordlessly, seeing that the two were talking. Going over to one of the rinsing stations, the Scorpion took off her towel and started washing up.

Shokomaru noticed the woman but aside dipping his head slightly to her he didn't bother her.

Nishida also dipped his head towards the Bayushi. He has seen her mask somewhere before,...

Ah, she was on Akemi's list! he rememberd.

He then turned to Shokumaru again:
"The days were already better, but nothing i can't cope with."

Having rinsed off efficiently, Tenma walked over to the actual bath and sunk herself in slowly, so as to not cause any noise or splashes, "Good day, minna-san. Bayushi Tenma; Do not let me ruin your relaxing bath here."

"Pleasure is ours, Bayushi-san. I'm Daigotsu Shokomaru, this is Yasuki Nishida."

He regarded the Crab again. "Glad to hear, it's been a while since we last really ran into each other."

"Good Day, Bayushi-san" he greeted her, then, again, turning to Shokumaru:
"Unfortunatly, yes, but i has a lot of business to attend to, alot of meetings to attend, alot of unruly underlings to scold, you know the drill"

"Unfortunately I do, they don't tell me anything", he shrugged. "It's like they don't understand how this all works."

"Mine neither." he sighed, "But i guess i'm not in direct charge to them,.. still a disrespect to my status."

"I made them solve the problem while I judged them", he chuckled. "Could have been worse, but that Agasha Kaori...I don't know about her."

"Tsk. I know what you mean" he said disparagingly. "But this isn't the place to discuss such things" he said nodding towards the scorpion.

Shokomaru had actually said so thinking the Scorpion might have an opinion of her own. He leaned back in the pool and relaxed for now, waiting to see if it would spark further discussion.

She seemed to blush a little as the Spider looked at her, putting up both hands, "Oh... well... I-I don't exactly have any servants here myself, you understand. Left the doshin back at the station. And whatnot."

Not that she'd missed them per say; She was mostly used to taking care of herself. ...and she didn't know a Agasha Kaori either.

"Probably for the best, Bayushi-san. Vassals, underlings, even goons, they all have that special something that just begs for trouble, hmm?"

He winked at her.

"So I don't blame the locals, we're a handful."

He chukled at that: "That special talent is what concerns me, i hate to sort things out when my mind should be focused on finding a spouse"

"I still say there's more than that going on around here", he grumbled. "Maybe I'm just a suspicious Spider, but I don't trust everything around here. And I know it's rude, but a samurai should speak their mind when people die. It's more serious than someone's prickly reputation."

"...I suppose I would say there's nothing going on from my end, out of the ordinary at least. But guests dying at something like a miai feels like it should be a bigger deal than it is. I also suppose that means I wouldn't mind having some extra sets of eyes to keep track of that stuff for me."