A relaxing bath after the social requirements seemed like a fine idea, and spending some time at the bath house before it closed for the day seemed like a better choice than the shower back at the Inn.

Undress, remove accessories, store it away. Move to scrubbing and cleansing (make note to pick up one of those herbal soaps for personal use later because it smells good)... and finally, joining the hot pool.

This certainly was better than being on a cruiser.

"Good evening, samurai-san," she said in a curt voice to the other occupant as she put away the neatly folded towel and sank into the pool herself.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and leaned back, enjoying the pleasant heat of the pool for a quiet moment before she'd respond.

"I'm Utaku Hyeon-ju, hohei of the 7th Sky Rider Wing. A guest here for... the miai." Hyeon-ju looked forward to the time in a couple of days when she wouldn't have to introduce herself all the time. Hopefully by that time she'd gotten to know the most important people worth knowing.

"Hmm... this miai seems to be drawing in visitors from all the clans. I've seen plenty of Crab, Spiders, some Crane, and Lion even a Scorpion..." she hadn't seen any Dragon, but she hadn't met all the guests yet. "Had the honor of speaking to your fellow Lion Matsu Chiyoko earlier today at the meet and greet."

The Utaku seemed approving at least of the Lion. "Seems like the Phoenix invited a lot of bushi here. Interesting, isn't it?"

She gave a shrug of her naked shoulders. While she didn't have the physique of a Matsu, or a soldier trained by the Matsu, she still seemed very fit and sturdy.

"Beats me, I've never attended a miai before either. I guess I thought it would be more... courtiers and pompeous folks with important bureaucracy positions or something. Not that I mind this though, I much more enjoy speaking with fellow soldiers than aforementioned bureaucrats."

She raised a neat eyebrow, regarding the Murame with silent judgement before speaking. "Did you not say that your family are vassals of the Ikoma? Surely you can't be completely untrained for social interaction?"

Well... Hyeon-ju wouldn't claim that her clan made sure that all the Moto knew how to behave either. Really, 2000 years or more, and many of them still acted like they hadn't even seen a starship...

"I see... well... consider this a crash course perhaps? You might be needed to learn such, depending on your spouse and where you end up after this miai. Half of us here will be marrying out of our clans, after all."

She was surprised that Shoan hadn't paid any attention to that. It seemed like the most obvious thing... the clan didn't spend resources sending their samurai on a love vacation to another clan's planet only for them to hook up with eachother instead of strengthening alliances and trade deals with others.

"... Uh... what do you mean reading?" Hyeon-ju had been so lost in her own thoughts for a moment, that the declaration took her by some surprise.

Maybe marrying a Lion wouldn't be that great after all, she thought, as that guide sounded absolutely dreadful.

"I'm... sure such a guide is useful for marriage between Lion samurai. I suppose I'm of the opinion that each couple need to figure out how to make things work for them - who will be primary caregiver, who will be the leader in the relationship. Things like that..."

"Is that... a common occurrence within Lion households?"

Lion was certainly being re-evaluated as a whole if that was the case. This Miai-thing was going to be more difficult than she had initially expected.