"Hmm," she twisted her bottom lip a little as her brows furrowed. Bringing her finger up to her chin she tapped it a little, tilting her head to the right as she did. "I'm not sure!" she said, a soft chuckle. "I've not been around too much, and what's proper among the other Clans as far as how much attire they bring with them wasn't a major topic during my training," she giggled into her sleeve.

"Of course, even that is a bit to personal situation, hmm?" she said, a little smile with her raised brow. "Coming here for this Miai I was in fact only sent with my kimono," she opened her arms a little, stepped off one foot and onto the other to give a little rocking showing off kind of motion. "Which was in order to reduce the weight requirements to get me here from transport to transport. Instead, I was given enough resources to get what I needed on planet."

"That makes a lot of sense. Weight is so expensive when any given Navigator can only move so much along the Way. I don't keep much, myself. The ship has most of what's needed. But clothes...I feel so indulgent with practice wear," She flashes a bit of the leotard again, "and regular, and that super formal dress for events."

"At least it's a pretty kimono if it's your only one for a trip. Will you leave everything else behind when you go?" Maybe that's how some of the clothes here came to be here in the first place. Travelers unwilling to burden themselves too much just setting everything aside.

In quick succession, she finds another t-shirt of very similar style in cornflower blue, and a few looser ones in moss green and gold. All rather simple with only the green one having any design at all, and that was just a single butterfly patch on the back. Enough to try on at least.

"Thank you!" she smiled as she walked over, looking over a shoulder at what Mumei had collected. "Maybe it is! I don't know what I might bring with me when I leave, but there are certainly a lot of other things I have to bring. Clothing like I've been wearing other than my kimono isn't all that important. So, yea, I'll probably leave it."

"I like that green one Nakauchi-san," she added with a quick smile.

"Yeah? The patch is cute, and kind of looks like it's added. Someone loved it enough to decorate, I guess." She looks around for a changing room and...there's a mirror, but no real room. She looks toward the man at the counter, lifting the armful of clothing and glancing side to side, eyebrows raised in obvious question. He shrugs and points at the mirror.

"Hmm...ok." Mumei shrugs out of the tattered jacket, and drops it on the floor beside the mirror. "Good kimono are expensive. Definitely worth keeping. And the lighter clothes here might not make much sense wherever you go next." The leotard, flashes even in the unfussy light of the shop. Iridescent shades of purple and blue shimmer along it. But...it's skin-skimming enough to just try tops on over it. So she does, starting with the green one.

"Been finding any possibilities here that might let you guess where you're going next? Like marrying out or moving to the next posting, but with a husband in tow?" she says, muffled a bit by the shirt as she pulls it over her head.

Ichika meanwhile found herself a little stool sorta thing to sit on. Watching Mumei try on clothes, both in the mirror and out as she glanced between the two. "I've gotten a lot of attention from a few of the Spider but.." her voice got sheepish suddenly on the clan name, her voice trailing off.

With a little spark, as she realized this, "What about you Nakauchi-san?" she asked, but immediately glanced away.

Stupid question.

"Well, you're allies, so that's natural," she says, her head popping out. "though maybe distressing?" That sheepishness is decidedly hard to decipher without more information. "And both Kuchiki seem nice enough overall."

Turning a bit, looking over her shoulder at the little patch, she smiles a bit, and rather obviously not at the clothing. "Hit it off surprisingly well with Shinjo-sama. There's a depth of excitement about exploration that's hard to resist." She steps a bit toward Ichika, arms out in a bit of a 'so how's this look' gesture. "I've spotted the same in Shiba Atsumori-sama and your clan's pilot, but haven't spend more enough time with them to know more than that.

Ichika smiled, giving her a thumbs up as she chuckled a little before she said, "That makes sense. Navigator having an eye on pilots," she waved off the thought with her hand, it wasn't a serious consideration.

"I haven't met Shiba Atsumori-san yet, not sure if I've even seen him. But Daidoji Ishiyo-sama is nice, I like the way she talks." she smiled, shifted her hands into her lap as she leaned forward a little. "The Kuchiki though.. they're not the ones interested, at least.. I don't think they are anymore, the one wasn't. Doctor guy?"

Laughing as she strips off the top, setting it aside to try the mustard one, Mumei says, "aren't they both doctors? Both medical at least. Medical and Kuchiki are kinda like Navigators and Nakauchi."

"You've probably seen Shiba Atsumori-sama. If you find yourself wondering 'who is that incredibly enthusiastic Phoenix talking to a recording drone' all the way through one of these competitions, you have seen him." The mustard goes great with her hair, she thinks, but the fit seems like it's meant for broader shoulders.

"But that's all who's interested in you. Anyone you've wanted to meet more often?"

"I suppose they are," she giggled into her hand. Nodding along, she tried to remember but it didn't quite ring a bell, not right away at least. Ichika, when Mumei checked, raised her hand about half-way and gave it a little rock to either side a few times.

"Not really," she said, glancing away. Leaning forward as she was she pushed onto the tips of her toes on the ground a bit. Putting her hands to the side of the chair instead. "There's one I should be getting to know better, or.." she shook her head, "well, there's also another too, kinda, but.. it's.." she looked down. "Complicated?"

"Complicated? Keeping anyone might be, but getting to know them shouldn't be." she frowns at the top and shimmies out of it. "Getting to know people feels like pretty much our only job. Granted, that's felt really odd, I'm used to being busier with actual work-work. You know?"

The cornflower blue is next. "You should definitely meet Shiba-sama. Unless you really don't like animals...then I think you'd be a poor enough match to maybe not be worth the energy, you know?"

"I don't mind animals," she said with a soft laugh. The new shirts getting a little nod with a smile, "I've thought of that. All of this has been.. well, probably a lot easier for me than a lot of you guys, yea? Getting to know people is my work," another laugh, this one she had to cover with her sleeve. Shifting awkwardly so that her weight didn't cause her to fall off the seat she'd found for herself.

"Still.. meeting with them might be nice. Having a chance to spend time with animals sounds nice. With a few of the Spider it's been a bit hard.. cause," she glanced away, shifting again as she leaned back properly onto the seat. "There's been a few times. They're nice to me, wonderful even but.. they seem to have this-" she furrowed her brow, twisted her lip. Speaking slowly as if she was choosing just the right words, one at a time. "Unabashed familiarity with casual violence," she had a muted smile for herself at that, happy with her choice and nodded.

Of course, actually saying it brought her hands back into her lap as she fiddled with her right index finger. Playing with and brushing at it. Scratching it lightly.

There's an audible snort and sort of convulsion from within the half-put-on shirt. By the time Mumei's face is visible once again she's merely suppressing the laugh. "Well put. I'd add distressingly complacent about living in horrible conditions." She shrugs, more soberly. "There's good reasons for both, obviously. But...it does make it an unappealing clan to join," she says with as much diplomacy as she can find.

"Those I've met have seemed to be nice people." She didn't really count luring one from his dance partner with her dance partner as a meeting...though that certainly wasn't a *good* first impression.

"But I half wonder if a few wouldn't be just as pleased to marry out into a clan that...that has a less crushing duty to perform."

Resting her hand as she looked back up, Ichika smiled when she caught Mumei's laugh, at least, what she heard of it. Offering a small nod atop, "There's one.." she glanced down, furrowing her brows a little. "Daigotsu Ryuu-san, my roommate at the Wisteria, he.. I think he would serve well in another Clan. Though.. I don't know," she started fiddling with her finger again. "Before I left there was a lot of expectation for me to be marrying out, I think, if I got married at all.."

The blue is probably the best fit so far as Mumei tugs it into place, turning to see all sides in the mirror. "I guess that kind of makes sense. Part of the way the Doji make ties with everyone, no?"

"But would they really be upset if you married someone in who wanted to be there? That's making ties too, isn't it?"

"I still think it needs a little something, make it a little cuter," she said with a smile. Nodding toward the other shirt.

"Well," she started kicking a little with her feet, a little pendulum motion. Adjusting her eye-patch, My mother and father always aimed to have me married out from when I was little. At least.. when I started learning poetry," she laughed, though it was muted. "I was pretty good, yea? Anyway, my mother would always arrange for me to perform some of my poetry in front of people, I don't remember who they were, but they always had a son or daughter my age," she glanced away, her expression was neutral.

"They hoped I'd be a good bride some day. Get a spouse who was important, yea? Raise the family a bit with the marriage," she said that bit more sheepishly than the rest.

"Think they'd be disappointed if I brought someone home, because then I didn't manage those expectations," she sighed, "well, the old ones. I don't think they'd be that surprised anymore."

The Osprey nods at the assessment of the shirt. "Yeah, this fits better. But I just feel like there's some heart to how much someone liked this one, you know?" Her expression is hidden as she removes the shirt, still listening.

When she emerges, her expression is...concerned, a bit sad. "So, is your heart in your poetry, or was it just...the thing you were expected to do well to bring...well to meet those expectations with?" She shakes her head. "Never understood purposely raising your very best to hand off and let some other clan claim credit for their eventual accomplishments."

"No, no," she shook her head a little. "I've always loved poetry, and I still do! I should probably write more with everything going on. It'd be nice.." she shook her head again,. That wasn't the thought for now.

"I'm not so good of a poet that they have any great hopes and far from the very best of anything," she said with a half-muted chuckle. "Still, I was pretty and had an art which almost any samurai could appreciate that I was passionate about. Of course, I took to my training naturally too but," she waved off the thought, it was a lesser note due to the expectation of it being there.

Mumei shrugs. "Nobody does their best work at our age. I'm not even a full Navigator yet."

She picks up the green shirt, stroking the little butterfly patch. "You're the one here, doing what you need to do in the rules they've set for us. I think...if you're sure you're going to disappoint no matter what, chose the disappointment that leaves you the most room to pursue what you could excel at."

"Unlike clothes," she holds up the shirt. "Sometimes there aren't any good choices, just the best we can do out of not great ones. You know?"

"Y-yea," she looked up to Mumei, glancing only momentarily at the shirt. A small smile growing as she looked to her, a firm nod. Dipping her head, "Thank you, Nakauchi-san," she said, a touch shyly.

Pushing off the seat she stood up, walked up closer to her. "You know, I still like that one the most. It's plain, like the others at first but has just a little hidden touch of personality to it," she nodded, another little smile. "At least, if you pick any of the others you should really think about customizing them yourself, yea?"

The Osprey nods in acknowledgment of the thanks, slowly putting the other shirts back on their hangers. "Yeah, this one is leaving with me...on me, honestly. I'll try to customize whatever jacket I end up with. Thank you for your sound eye and company, Doji-sama."