"Hey. Would your super Spider ninja happen to know more about my own clansmate than myself? Eriko is a mystery to me, if not for the fact she seems as eager as me at living dangerously."

She pinched him softly on the last words.

"I'm kind of a collateral damage in this whole affair honestly. Or possibly damage control."

Point taken back, he looked away slightly and shook his head, a slight smirk at the pinch.

"You know...I am saying I'll help, but I have to say I don't like it", he and resumed staring into her eyes. "If she's working against the authority here, it's just going to get you all into trouble. As eager as I was, I actually didn't know my doshin neglected actually speak to the magistrates first. That's why I'm going to the castle later today, to apologize for being a fuck up. If you and this Kuni...", he grunted a little. "And whoever else that's going are going to start a fight, it's easily twice the trouble I'm having right now, if not more than that."

He put his arm around her again and leaned in close, liking the feel of her body near his.

"So you better watch your ass, because if I can't give it a good swat later I'll be pretty fucking upset, clear?"

"Let's make a deal. You put all your sweet charm on the line to not get banished from this planet before the end of the day, I'll use every single drop of my brutish force to get out of my own trouble with all my remaining parts still attached, and we'll have a nice dinner together by tomorrow's night to laugh about all that."

"But ass swatting..."

He looked absolutely crushed she'd ignored that.

"Oh, that?

I was under the idea of letting you enjoy a free sample right now as a show of good faith if you were to agree to my terms..."

Well I was about to ask you what you needed anyway but let's go!

She shrugged, nonchalant. "If you're sure...but I think that's something an umbrella can't hide."

He kissed her without any warning, then.

"We'll save it for the private room at the restaurant. Or after. What do you need to take with you?"

She grinned after the kiss. Then back to business:

"Well, my business equipment at the moment is my armor and my tetsubo. Well, two armors technically, but doesn't exactly change the issue.

So I need about... Everything?"

"I'll leave some things for an outing at the front desk of the hotel", he said after a long, deadpan moment of staring at her. "Going fungal forest? I'll give you a gasmask, if you break my rifle or yourself, I'll probably strangle this Kuni to death though, so think about her too", and he wasn't joking about that at all. He gave it a breath and went on. "Other than that I have a light and a knife, just a tool though."

"Hey, come on, I'm unprepared, but not that unprepared that I don't have a conelantern.

...

Okay, my servant has it with her at the moment. But I totally planned to retrieve it before going.

The rest though... Well, I'll take it. Need every bit of edge I can get. Hopefully, I won't need it. But as grandpa would say: The more firepower you have, the less you need to use it.

Out of curiosity, is the rifle a standard model or your custom one with golden spiders engraved on the grip?"

"Ew who does that shit? You think I'm a Lion or a Crane?"

He made a face like she was some kind of toxic plant he should avoid.

"Hey, you're a rich man. Sometimes rich men want to remind other they're rich at all times.

Though I guess it wouldn't have matched at all with what you told me about yourself up till now. You're more the father to his men type that the I'm better than you type of commander, aren't you?"

He shrugged. "Could be both, don't need bling to be awesome. Sometimes all it takes is a good dancing partner."

"I don't doubt for a second your soldiers' eyes would pop out of their heads if they saw the both of us dancing.

Actually, I was wondering... All these other Spider there, are some of them your subordinates, or are you a ragtag bunch of misfits from different worlds that just happen to have joined forces for the event of this miai?

In other words, only much less should I trust them than you?"

"First, you trust me?" He smirked. "And the others are from all over our territory, but status is status."

"I don't really trust you... But there are some that I trust even less. You've got a member of your own little arachnid police force with you don't you? Wondering if he isn't there to make sure none of you do something foolish so far from your homeworlds."

She lightly stroked her cheek:

"Like, I dunno, fraternizing with the enemy?"

"That's a silly question", remarked Shokomaru. "And you seem awfully interested...is this conversation going to have to end on a bad note?"

His expression told her he didn't want that in the slightest, but just like she was a Crab, he was actually a Spider.

"Hey, I'm just trying to determine who will be responsible if I find a bloody otori's head in my bed as a warning that I shouldn't distract you from your duties.

Not the Crab boys would be half as subtle with you if they learned about what we're doing now..."

He shrugged.

"I don't see how it's any of their business, not like that stops the white knights from riding into battle."

He kept her body close to his.

"And honestly you might need rescuing one of these days, if you don't fight back."

"You seem awfully confident about the fact I will be the one in need of rescue. What about yourself?"

"Is Akemi-hohei promising me a rough time?" he asked with a smile.