Akemi had requested a meeting with Nishida, and saw no reason not to have it in the quiet of his super luxurious, spacious room. She had already had far too much meetings in packed restaurants like that.

She was wearing her usual business suit, and had her densai ready in her hand.

Nishida awaited his guest in his room. His personal computer was on the desk and some notes where left there too. It were mainly notes on current market prices of specific industrial refineries, destillers and the like.

Whe he got note that his visitor arrived he open the door to his room. He also wore his businees suit and bowed to greet Akemi: "Hida-san, welcome, come in. I hope you don't mind tea?" he said and pointed to a place on the floor. He prepared two Tatami mats to sit onto. A ancient Tea Kettle and old porcelain tea cups, were in the middle between them.

She bowed in turn:

"Hi Yasuki-sama. Won't say no to that. My throat is as dry as the desert after talking with so many people today."

"Perfect, please sit down" he said and gestured to the Tatammi mats.
After he sat down himself he started to heat the water. "I have a most wonderful tea here with me, Hida-san. You might know it, it's Black Earth tea. The ancient Hida have cultivated this tea back then on old Rokugan"

"I trust your expertise here Yasuki-sama. I am in no way that versed in tea myself.

Has your day been good so far?"

"My day has been good so far, i hope your's too?" he said while he prepared the tea.

---
[D4:LA] Tea ceremony/Void TN15: 5d10o10k3 17
Akemi&Nishida gain 1 VP!

"A bit weird. Ups and downs. The Phoenix hasn't tried to have us fall from giant mushrooms or poison ourselves yet, so mostly on the positive side in the end.

But as you may have guessed, I didn't ask for this meeting only for small talk."

She tapped on her densai, and a list of names and pictures showed up:

"Kitsune Izumi. Tsuruchi Hayato. Daidoji Ishiyo. Asahina Fusako. I guess you've at least heard of them. Each has ties to their clan military-industrial complex. What are your opinions on them?"

The Water in the kettle began to heat up as Nsihida looked them up.

"I have met Asahin-san, she's a feisty, but classy crane. I also saw the Mantis in the bar last night, i have no strong opion on them other that he's with those filthy pirates. The Daidoji and Kitsune i only saw briefly on the events, the Kitsune seems also to be a bit,... well let's say energetic."

He took the hot water and filled it into the cups, waiting for the tea to unfold his full aroma.

"My own opinion is similar.

The Tsuruchi presents himself as just a golden boy, taking his family's money but having nothing to do with its business. I haven't completely ruled out he is underselling himself on purpose, but let's accept that there is no more to this than meets the eye for now.

The Daidoji however seems 100% genuine in her lack of effective ties to her family business. I believe her when she says she just wants to be a pilot.

The Kitsuki I cannot read. He might be exactly what he looks like to be. He might be playing an act. No idea.

The Asahina she's the real deal without a doubt. Rich, powerful, and knowing what she's doing.

All in one, they're all precious assets in some way. Key to industries that might turn instrumental in the war to come.

So how do we prevent them from falling into the wrong hands?"

"The Kitsune seems like the one with the highest Status, it's unlikely that he will take a spider as his match, but if he does, there's not much we can do.

The Asahina is on my level. Theoretically a marriage between us would go both ways, her ties to Asahina Arms are valuable, but her main business are clothes, so it would be good if we get someone from us to marry her, but it's not the highest priority.

The Mantis are allied with the spiders anyway. Best thing would be if he goes home without a match, or if he takes someone unimportant. Having one of us marry him would only work if it would be someone of higher status so we could get a advantage on the pirates, maybe a year or two without them raiding our space.

The Daidoji is a high value target. Her ties to her company and the fact that she's a pilot would be a great adition to the clan, or if one marries to the crane, a good foothold for further negotiation. We should focus on her to ensure that she isn't caught into a web."

"Koryn is out best bet at the Daidoji I would say. But I wonder if we couldn't match her with a Lion or Unicorn pilot should she refuse him. She didn't seem averse to the idea. And I'm under the impression that as long as she gets a spouse on the right side on the chart, we're good.

Not ruling out our chances with the Asahina. She's far too clever to trust the Spider, and might want to play the long game by allying herself with a less treacherous clan. But, outside you, I don't see who can match her in this courtly game. Maybe we should once again reach out to our Lion allies?"

"I had a talk with Asahina-san, the day after we arrived. I could possibly match with her. She understand business, something that would make a good match for me. But i don't know if it would be better if we get a strong foothold on Asakaze....

Anyway, i agree, we should focus on either marry on of our own to these two or get a Unicorn or Lion to do the job."

he finished making the tea. He gave a cup to Akemi and one for himself, waiting for them to drink the tea in unison.

Akemi raised her own cup and took a small sip of the hot liquid.

"Tell me more about that governor's daughter that you're pouring most of your efforts into. Not without good reasons to my understanding. She is key to an entire planet in a way."

"I hope you like it" Nsihida said in regard to the tea.

"Asako Chiruah-san is a most intelligent girl, also shes the impersonation of a Kaiu pocketknife. From what she told me she goes out and catalogues the newfound plants, makes research on the otori, helps the engineers, and so on. I also think she likes animals in general. I don't know if we would fit personality wise, but she's one of my major targets. If i could manage a blissfull, or at least tolerateable marriage with her, would drastically increase our influence on Asakaze. But as Tetsu-san mentioned yesterday, I'm concerned of the Isawa."

"Hum.

Could be a good idea to keep the Kitsuki far from her. They do seem to have a lot in common, and the governor could push for his daughter to marry someone working for the kind of company that could provide him with an outlet for this planet's strange flora."

She tilted her head on the last sentence:

"I remember Testu calling some Isawa a pig, but not that he offered any explanation for that. Care to enlighten me on that subject?"

Kitsuki? "You mean the Kitsu? From the Lion delegation? What's with her?"

Nishida cleared his throat. Akemi was a crab so he could be bland. "I inquired if there was anything he needed. So he, non-chalantly, asked if i can arrange a 'good fuck, that leaves you sort of dead afterwards'."

his face got only slightly angry.

"A bit unbecoming of a man of the Kami if you ask me. But he also said he has only eyes for one girl here on Asakaze and that he is on a confidential mission, even if he's sleeping in the dorm with the other miai guest. Something reeks of old rotted fish, if you ask me"

"Sorry, slip of tongue. I was thinking about Kitsune Izumi, the one we talked about earlier. You know, the one that is mainly here to study new plants, like your Chiruah-chan, and might put a lot of money on the line to buy those he finds interesting in favor of his family's company. Could be the perfect son-in-law for the governor if he plays his cards right."

She grinned at the bad words:

"So, a crazy shugenja on a pretend secret mission? What could go wrong? Is he on the governor's right side or can we offer him a temporary retreat in a far away monastery?"

"Ahh yes, that one. He could indeed become dangerous to my mission. So we should try to keep them on a distance, or at least sell the Kitsune a 'better' match."

he took a sip from his tea to regain his focus.

"For now i'm collecting information. Maybe he will indeed retire early, maybe we discover some oni in his cellar, who knows?"

"I wouldn't joke too much about onis' in a Isawa's cellar. That's a thing that has happened in the past, and it's not like we're missing Spider to teach him on to channel his issues into a many-armed beast.

...

Maybe ask Eriko to check on him just in case?"

"Hmm, she would have a fitting skillset to may gather something about him, yes. I'll ask her. Are you in possession of her contact?" he asked her.