It seemed that the planet did have more weather than just hot and sticky. It could apparently do 'Raining like a tall ox pissing on a flat rock.' It was not the sort of morning soak that Tsugiharu had hoped for.

And so he had retreated to the mall. The nice enclosed mall. He hurried past the ornamental carp statues which seemed to almost be swimming where they stood and took a moment to shake off a bit of excess precipitation.

Shizuku entered the mall at close to the same time, wearing a broad grin and a cheerful demeanor, completely at odds with with the weather outside. Or maybe because of the weather outside. For the fact that her coat had a hood, the hair underneath looked suspiciously damp, like she hadn't worn it for a bit on purpose.

She waved and bowed to Tsugiharu once she got his attention. "Good morning, Kuchiki-san!"

Tsugiharu offered the cheerful Daidoji a smile and bow of his own.

"Good morning, Daidoji-san. A fan of storms I take it?" he asked as Osano-Wo boomed throughout the heavens above.

And with the Thunder came a voice. A familiar voice. Well at least that Tsugiharu could hear.

This drew a drown from Tsugiharu.

"Hm, could you excuse me a moment, Daidoji-san? There's a mystical disturbance that requires my attention. I'd love to walk around with you for awhile if you're amenable to the idea." he offered sincerely.

He stepped away somewhat and made a call on his communicator.

"I completely understand, Moshi-san. Perhaps tea in the common room this afternoon would suit circumstances better? I'm at the mall right now, so I could pick up perhaps something a bit higher grade than is found at the inn." he offered. "Also, did you want to meet closer to lunch or closer to dinner?"

"Think nothing of it Moshi-san. Looking forward to it. May the Merciful One watch over you." he said bringing the call to an end, and heading back over to the Daidoji.

"Love 'em. Don't see them often aboard ships."

She waited for him to finish his call, tilting her head. "Everything okay?"

Tsugiharu nodded.

"Hai, nothing major to worry about after all. Can you imagine life before communicators though? When you could go for a walk in peace without the possibility of sudden messages? Not great for emergencies, but good for peace of mind." he mused.

Outside Osano-Wo rumbled.

"So, shall we do the walk and talk, Daidoji-san? Not that we've been apart that long, but it's a busy miai." he suggested.

"I mean, would it be good for peace of mind? It seems more like an 'ignorance is bliss' kind of situation, and I can't buy into that," she replied with a shrug as she walked to join him. "Sure. How has it been for you since last we spoke?"

Tsugiharu nodded.

"Fair enough, I had a fairly good time at Retro Night. Picked up these rather stylish shades. Mostly from doing well at Castle Crusher, but also pulling off an unexpectedly good set on the dance machine." he admitted. "Pity Castle Crusher went back into the vault, I would've liked to play it some more."


He paused a moment looking at the window display at Silver Star. The local Phoenix fashions did seem to be trending towards lighter weight to deal with the planet's heat.

"Did you manage to do well at Retro Night, Daidoji-san?"

"Yeah, Castle Crusher is super fun. I don't know much about engineering, but it was pretty easy to guess where the weak points would be," she replied brightly. "I also hit the beat-em-up and the dance game. It went well! I got a copy of Fantasy Fight out of it... I've been meaning to learn to play."

Tsugiharu brightened at that.

"Oh! Well, I'd be happy to play Fantasy Fight with you Daidoji-san." he offered. "I really enjoy it's strategic elements."

"Great! The more people I play with the better I'll learn," she replied brightly. "I wish I'd gotten the expansion, but the base set should be enough to learn from."

Tsugiharu nodded.

"It's generally better to start with the base set for learning anyways." he agrees. "A lot of players prefer playing without expansions anyways. There does tend to be a bit of power creep and shoehorning in of odd mechanics as the designers try to keep the game current. But the old guard point to Go and point out that there are no expansion packs for Go."

"Blah, power creep. The bane of serial plays and games everywhere," she noted. "Sounds like it's for the best, though I'm not sure about the comparison to Go. It's a totally different genre of game with different conventions."

"Ah, forgive me Daidoji-san, I had forgotten that gamers were beings of pure logic who never let their emotions factor in to whether they win or lose a game, or an argument." he said with a bit of a smirk.

There was a reason that sword polishing and gun cleaning was still offered services at many an arcade. It was cheaper than replacing a shot out screen after all.

Tsugiharu continued the walk as Osano-Wo underlined their trip with various deep booms. He wandered over to Towa, pausing for a moment to examine the plethora of insect-themed accessories.

"Hmm, what do you think, Daidoji-san? Are bug necklaces and hairbrands going to be the next big thing?" he asked.

"I'm... not really sure what that has to do with what I said," she replied, raising an eyebrow. "I can't really follow your logical jump from... Go and Fantasy Fight being different types of games, I'm assuming?... to the emotions of the players."

She glanced at the accessories. "Anything can take off. Every era has its questionable fashion choices."

There was a side glance at the Daidoji.

"That even though your statement is factually true, it would not stop people from making the comparison because it sounds clever." he explains.

He turns his attention back to the bug bits.

"Hmm, but what about you personally, Daidoji-san? Does this sort of style appeal to you personally?"