Hayato had rented a single seater atv to make it out to the races, and had brought his holorecorder with him. He had thought it was going to be clear, but the rain storm caught him by surprise as much as any of the others.

Soaked to bone, he still took some pictures though. It was a event more for fun then anything else after all, and he was sure a few people would appreciate the pictures.

unskilled artisan photography LA day 6 otori race.: 3d10 15

With the wrestling ring gone and most of the Rumble Slam Arena making preparations for their next live showing, Chiyoko decided to linger a little longer on this planet. It was a rustic, strange and dangerous place, which gave it some charm. However, it wasn't exactly one-shop town either, so that made the accommodations more tolerable than that Suzume world she stayed at once.

She dressed in a grey blazer with a black top and skirt combination. Her hat was a turquoise cap of the Aoihama Stingrays baseball team.

"Terrible weather isn't." Hayato offered to one of the few people that had to make the trek out here to see what this race was all about. She looked a bit familar and he frowned for a moment trying to place where he might of seen her.

""Didn't I see you in the crab bar the other day? I'm Tsuruchi Hayato."

"Yeah, it's not great..." she admitted as she bit her bottom lip and gave a wary glance around the forest clearing. There were a few bugs she saw early that were made of nightmares, she had to admit. They made good filler for her personal holo-recordings for her trip. "But we don't need to be here with environmental suits, so that's a plus. The hike was interesting..."

"You might have, not a whole lot of bars around here. I'm Hiruma Chiyoko, good to meet you, Tsuruchi-sama," she said giving him a bow.

He returned her bow with one of his own. "That's a fine point you make. Environmental suites aren't the best thing to wear to make a good impression at the miai." He paused to look her over for a moment. "Still, kinda surprised you decided to walk all the way here."

The name apparently didn't ring any bells, but he was a mantis. "Still, a pleasure to meet you, don't see many visitors here that aren't a part of the miai?" He didn't recall seeing her in any events.

"Not really about good impression, they're just troublesome when you're on mining colonies or gas farming colonies...but more troublesome if you're not wearing one," she smirked as she gave a glance of her surroundings, "I figured that I should get my steps in if I'm going to be missing a gym day, plus I can get some cool recordings of wildlife for my logs."

"Now that you've mentioned it, do you mind if I hitch a ride with you back to the Shiro?" she threw a thumb back to the Shiro.

"I guess there aren't a lot of us. This isn't exactly a hot tourist spot but with everything around, it seems like they are really trying to be one. They even had a wrestling show twice in a row, how's that?"

"I should probably do that myself one of these days, I brought my holorecorder but this is the first chance I've had to use it." He smirked and patted his gut. "Coukd likely use with the exercise too."

"Well, I don't mind, but..." He pointed at his one seater atv. "You're gonna need to hang on tight." His lips curled into a half smile. "And I'm pretty sure you won't be comfortable with that."

When she mentioned the wrestling match he smirked. "That was kinda neat, I went to the one they had the first night. Was rooting for the Menace, but I kinda expected her to lose regardless. The bad guys never win the big matches."

"There's always the gym. I'm sure there's plenty of space there now. I get the feeling the place cleared up real good once people stopped trying to look good when they finally found their catches. That's what's going on around here again right? A miai? We're not being watched, are we?" she said as she glanced around to see if there were and nakado hiding in the bushes. Was that how these things went? Like some sort of constantly recording serial? There were a few shows like that on the Miya networks, she heard.

"I might pop around here more often when doesn't smell so bad. It's really something awesome to be here, you're used to seeing mushrooms and then there's these mushrooms that can crush you," she gestured to a large handing mushroom with her arms. "Good thing they don't breath and talk back, huh? I might swear off mushrooms for good, for real."

"Yeah, she totally jobbed down, didn't she?" she said with a roll of her eyes. "But she looked good, I hear. They weren't really going to do a belt change in the middle of a story nor in the middle of nowhere. No offense to your miai."

"Well I haven't seen any hidden cameras floating around." Hayato replied, his eyes shifting towards the sky. "And I can't imagine your average nakodo is all that stealthy." It would be an amusing thought to catch a half dozen of them lurking in the nearby forest though. "Worried that someone is going to hop out of nowhere and see that you are married, Hiruma-sama?" He teased.

"Can't blame you for that, could you imagine their caps wobbling back and forth as they all started chattering at you at once." He repressed a shudder. Talking mushrooms were not somethign he wanted to meet.

"No offense taken, we are out in the middle of nowhere. As for the Menace though? She did look good, really seemed to have the Champ at the begining of the fight."

"Nah, not worried at all," she said with a shake of her head but it seemed that curiosity still had the better of her as she looked about one last time for the likelihood for cameras in the woods. "It's the first time I've attended an on-going miai, so I don't know fully what to expect. I thought they don't do these things anymore, it's way too old fashioned. Like feudal era stuff. Maybe if it was one on one. Seems a lot of trouble for something you can maybe even do from a densai nowadays, huh? Do they force you to talk to everyone one here to find your match?"

She hopped into the vehicle to take the extra seat, "Well, they have to make the match excited somehow. Keep the audience on their toes and all that."

"Far from it, though it might work out better if they did." He made his way to his vesicle glancing at the short skirted crab as she followed along. "As it is, it seems to me you have those who are popular and those who are not. So some people's days are full and others find themselves talking to wrestling enthusiasts. Not that such is any fault of your hosts, it's natural I think for people to flock to those they are attracted to in these kind of situations."

He entered alongside her settling into his seat and storing his holorecorder before starting the small jeep. "That makes sense likely one of the reasons they pick attractive women too. Not that they aren't skilled actors and wrestlers as well, but the more to draw fans in the better. Right?"

"Isn't that all things in media, right? You got to have some look," she gave a hapless shrug of her shoulder. "But, really, tell me more about this miai. I'm more interested in that. It's kind of hard to know much if they don't record it. It would explain why I don't hear about it on the informator, other than the governor is proud of this and proud of that with a few shots of the daughter. What's the real story around here? Do they have some bachelor that everyone is lining up for? Any heartbreaks or tears?"

Her voice lowered and she glanced around, "did anyone get kicked or voted out?"

"I haven't encountered any heartbreak myself, though i suppose its just a matter or time. Some of the Crane Maidens here are quite popular after all. It's a matter of time alone until someone ends up in tears." Probably not as long as he'd think we'll if he could tell the future.

"No one was kicked out yet, we've had broken bones though as well as some poisonings." Hayato replied his voice lowering to match hers. "And one person has died."

"I bet," she nodded knowingly, "it's not surprising that the Crane would be most popular around here. Marriage is kind of their craft. I imagine they are probably adorable and charming. Kind of would like to know everyone who is involved here so I can track what's what but maybe I'm trying to find too much entertainment in this, heh."

She looked unsure for a moment, wonder if Hayato was pulling her leg. However, she did hear the rumours there was a Crab funeral, so that must have been true. "So not exactly a walk in the park then. Sorry, didn't mean to sound ignorant with the question. There just seems to be these shows where people are being filled as a 'documentary', I kind of thought of that. That kind of sucks, then."

"Eehh, I don't think there is any harm in it. You seem to be on a bit of a vacation, so what you do for entertainment is your own. You could probably just make your way to one of these events we are in, if you want to see most of the faces." Shifting the jeep into gear, he started on what was likely a very bumpy ride home.

"It's nothing you need to apologize for. It's sad that someone passed here, but we were told that the wilderness holds dangers. Or at least he was." He turned and offered the Crab a crooked smile. "Plus there is some pretty juicy stuff going on you here about it on the streets."

When the jeep started to move, Chiyko's hand went up to hold on to one of the top handles. After her hike, she had a pretty good idea that this wasn't exactly going to be a smooth ride back at the very least. "Yeah, about that...I was hoping to see some people here, like they would string along the path with some dividers for the race. I guess this isn't exactly supposed to be a place that you just hang out. That kind of a bummer...But there's always the Shiro, eh?"

"I'm sure there are...I haven't really been speaking to people here. So what are some fun details then? Tell me," she said as she made a gesture for him to spill the beans.

"Yeah, I thought people would at least come out to watch." He replied with a wry smile. "Still i think it was probably worth the trip, i at least got a few decent shots of people and their birds." The start of the ride was a bumpy as the landscape and soon enough they were rattling along back to the Shiro.

"Well, I suppose the juiciest bit it about one of your kin and one of the spider. The spider fella ended up abandoning his crane dare to go dance with your cousin." He glanced at the crab. "I don't mean to be crass or insult your kin, but it looked to be as if they were about to fornicate on the dance floor."

"That didn't draw too much bad after attention though, nit as much as word of a Crab and Spider making out in Public a few days later."

Chiyoko gave two wide blinks at the piece of gossip and opens her eyes with amazement. "Argh...that's something like dirty dancing. Don't people have to keep hands off of each other at a miai or they think they can touch the goods, so to speak? Still, sounds pretty dirty, nevermind the weirdo combination. Anything can happen here, right? They could pair a Lion to a Togashi monk if they wanted to? Maybe, they are actually in love."

"I suppose some people just want to get a feel of what it is they might be buying?" Hayato offered with a smirk. "Not that it's what people are suppose to do, most of us stay at the same little inn and share rooms. We are supposed to be able to control ourselves and behave like proper samurai."

The last part brought a soft chuckle. "You'd think that wouldn't you. Come to a miai dare to find the match benten has chosen for you, or somethign like that. Fact of the matter is most of it is politics, my lord at least let me know his expectations for me before I arrived here. Can't imagine others are much different."

She nodded in understanding, "Kind of a bummer with the whole illusion of choice thing going on then, Tsuruchi-sama. Kind of makes me wonder why doesn't everyone choose a samurai from a very narrow list then do the whole song and dance here. I guess it's time off involved in it, kind of like me now? Maybe everyone here is supposed to be extra special, off the list, candidates then? I ran into an Imperial when I got here and a Kitsune, both very important people."