He scratched the back of his neck.

Ain't that the truth.

"I was going to get married, never knew to who, someone distant in my mother's line, one of her 3rd cousins, I think. They all died in a plague shortly after I was born", he shrugged. "They decided a miai would be best instead, as it offered chances for alliances and things like that, but I always felt like my mother had a lot of regret over what happened. It's natural, i guess though."

He stood up and smoothed out his suit coat and slacks.

"Honestly I'm surprised your marriage hadn't been prearranged."

"It had been. But there was some scandal with my betrothed that led to that being cancelled. By that point my sister had already been selected as the new heir. I think that negotiations became harder because I was no longer next in the ruling line for the Hanako. Plus the scandal with my betrothed was kept quiet so other nakodo probably thought I might have been involved."

"Pardon the expression, but that sounds like a real shit sandwich you had to eat."

He could have put it more delicate, but he didn't think it would have communicated what he really thought.

"Well, since I don't know what happened it could have been a blessing or a loss. If my betrothed was the cause of the scandal then I dodged a marriage with someone potentially prone to such things. If she was affected by it and didn't deserve it then it might just be an unfortunate consequence. Either way, it's not so bad. No stigma followed me afterwards and now I have the potential of befriending and having an actual relationship with whoever I become betrothed to. It's more problematic for the family than for me personally, but even then it's not truly a problem. And the change in heir for the Hanako was decided a good 3 years before that arrangement fell through and they were glad to keep it until the scandal."

"You have a healthy perspective", Shokomaru observed. "Most people would be hung up on things."

He started walking again. "Looks like a bench over there, might be some good viewing if they expect you to sit down."

Michiya nods and moves with Shokomaru to the bench. "It would be silly to just place benches at random in a garden. They take great pains in placement of everything else around here for spiritual wellness."

"Have you ever seen a Crane garden up close? I hear they manicure whole planets. So the planet can be a garden, with continental gardens, with provincial gardens, with little township gardens...maybe with a little garden on the side of it", he said, having a seat and looking around.

"I did visit Kyuden Doji back on Rokugan a few times. The gardens there were quite beautiful. Though I have never seen any on another planet before this one."

"Kyuden Doji", he said like he was tasting the words. "That must be something. I've been on a few rocks and space stations, but the most I've seen of something like that is in history books."

"One of the benefits of growing up on Rokugan is the opportunity to see the oldest structures in the empire. It's amazing to think about the idea that there are some familial lines that have never left the planet while the vast majority of the Empires's population has never even been there. It's such a disconnected idea, that there are such vastly different ways of life. The average samurai in a great clan can sometimes has more in common with those from another clan than those in their own clan that have only ever known the home planet of the empire."

He thought about that, face looking quite thoughtful.

"I suppose that's right...", the thought seemed to continue. "When the clans fight there, are they on horseback with bows?"

"They do not fight there, not in battles. Only arguments. Waging war on Rokugan creates risk, no matter how small, to sites that have unimaginable historic value. And to the throne. At this point in the Empire's development any such activities on the planet would likely lead to censure from the throne I imagine since it could lead to destruction of priceless artifacts," he says with a shrug.

"But from time to time people put on re-enactments of historical battles. I've seen a few of those."

"That sounds amazing", he sounded a little excited, foot tapping a bit. "Like, horses, the old do-maru, ugly masks with huge mustaches and everything, huh?" he smirked. "Sounds like a lot of preparation, but also a lot of fun."

"It's exciting to watch. But there is also a lot of downtime between battles so you get to talk with the reenactors about the different equipment and tools they use and how it was used historically."

"Anything fun to share on that? Must have been pretty..uh..comprehensive. I imagine actors like that get into a lot of detail for their work." He looked around, there likely was a real reason for this bench, but he just saw mushrooms.

"Many of them have handcrafted katana that they practice with and carry when in their costumes, though when the battle is playing out they use blunted katana or bokken to minimize risk. I've gotten a chance to see some really well made heirlooms, from weapons and armor to smaller items like inro and netsuke. It's not often that folks bring such important artifacts with them off of Rokugan anymore. And while modern blades are likely even more effective for actual use in battles the quality of those classically made katana is amazing. They'll sometimes do demonstrations comparing the two."

"My kenjutsu sensei at the dojo had an old relic katana, made back in the colonial times. He took it out on the first day and did a four pig cut", he made a slicing motion with his hand. "It was pretty mean, though the guy and his ancestors have been dedicated to training Spider bushi for dozens of generations now, so you expect something like that. Still pretty impressive if you've got the perspective."