Boarding was still ongoing.

With her luggage checked in and the security checkpoints cleared with flying colors, Hyeon-ju stepped aboard with a calm demeanor.

Wearing her uniform, she was easily identified. Unicorn. Utaku. Skyrider emblem. Rank private. The purple-tinted hair was pulled back in a simple and functional bun, very military. Makeup was the kind that gave the impression of little, with the focus on soft tones and almost glassy quality for the skin.

She held an embellished leather-jacket over her shoulder as she looked for a free seat.

Spider. Already... she supressed a sigh.

Akemi froze when she heard the sound of someone approaching.

She looked, slowly.

Not a Spider.

Yes!

"Unicorn-sama!"

She waved her hand, then remembered to bow properly.

"I'm Hida Akemi, nice to meet you, how does the day find you, what brings you to this beautiful planet, did you have a nice trip?"

She could probably read Save me from the Spider invasion please in Akemi's puppy eyes.

The Utaku's shoulders squared, already cleanly angled thanks to the tailored uniform.

"Hida-san." She acknowledged the Crab with the tone of a disciplined soldier. There was no wave or smile, but a sharp and curt bow. Efficient even. "Utaku Hyeon-ju. Skyrider of the Unicorn."

"Firstly, the morning has been satisfactory so far. No complaints. Secondly, I am here to fulfill my duty to my clan and bring honor to my family. Thirdly, my trip here was perfectly fine and..." a glance to the Spiders, "uneventful."

"I trust it was so for Hida-san and her esteemed company as well."

"I cannot speak for Yasuki Nishida-sama, Fundai Tetsu-sama, Bayushi Tsukiko-sama, and the others, but my own trip to here was fine, if long.

You're a fellow military right? I serve in the Hida's shock troops. Well, I am on special permission at the moment of course, but that's where I stand usually."

The new pretty Unicorn seemed to be distracting everyone, much to Satoru's relief. A small breath and he retrieved his densai back to staring at the pixels on the screen while occasionally swiping across it.

"I'm an actress Ya-zuu-ki-sama, Hee-da-san! A lead actress on the Spider networks" Nara said, a happy smile at the comment "it's a lovely fun time! Although show is on a bit of a pause riiiiight now."

She looked around as more people spoke up, and whistled.

"Whew, busy morning rush! Everyone going to the same place too?"

"Yes. That is in fact literally all of us you have described Hida-san" Tetsu remarks drily.

Tetsu's attention snaps to the whistling girl, a Spider. "Yes, what is it?"

That the Hida didn't introduce the Spiders didn't go unnoticed, and she assumed they had been introduced to eachother since there seemed to have been a... scene of sorts when she arrived. Hyeon-ju made a mental note of it for her List.

"Was my introduction unclear, Hida-san?" Hyeon-ju didn't like repeating herself, and there was some ice in her tone. "No matter. It would make sense that those visiting Asakaze these days are currently... on special permission, as you said."

"Oooh, we should definitely go shopping together then! Naoki, please remind me to go shopping with Tetsu-san later. Who else wants to join, it'll be fun!"

She's totally oblivious to the newcomers around her until she finally looks up from her densai at the mention of her name. Wow this place got crowded quick. Well, her offer still stands, even to the strict looking Utaku girl.



A Spider? Without jade? Definitely... interesting. Perhaps enough that she should bring attention to it.

"We're all boarding the same shuttle, aren't we? Say, where's your jade, Spider-san?"

Nishida made a mental note about that. Spider Entertainer sounded a bit weird to him, not that he was exactly an expert in that matter. "I see. Entertaining the Masses is a important job within each clan. Pardon my curiosity, but may i inquire further in what projects you already worked in?"



Perfect, more people, too crowded for my own liking, Nishida thought.
A bow to the unicor goes aswell. "Honored to meet you, Utaku-san" he said briefly.

He too noticed that Akemi left out the spiders, on one hand he was inclined to fix that, on the other hand it wasn't exactly his duty to do so, so he decided that it would be better to let it stand as is.

He fixed his glasses and took a puff after wich he continued: "The day was indeed uneventful, except for the rather late arrival of the shuttle"

"An honor, Yasuki-sama," the man was given a sharp and efficient bow as well.

It would seem that her plan to get a nice quiet ride down before the rush had backfired spectacularly with so many people on board.

"Shuttles like these tend to have a long boarding period, given the nature of security checkpoints with so many out-of-clan samurai. The details of luggage, both checked and carry-on, become an infinitely more delicate operation once you're dealing with clans that are both allies, and... less friendly." Obvious point there without directly pointing it out.

She just hoped that the pilot wasn't going to be some ji-samurai that was still hungover from last night.

And then the Scorpion dropped a J-related question to the Spider who seemed to not know how to talk properly, and she found her attention drawn to the drama that might unfold.

wait, is that?

Tetsu looks back, sliding back a bit to stand between the Bayushi and the Spiders.

"That sounds lovely! It's a date!"

"I'd love to join as well Bayushi-san." Satoru said absently not looking up from his densai and ignoring some frankly rude questions directed toward his clan mate as he spoke "I have need of a few things and exploring a new place as a group is more advantageous than by ones self."

"I think that's some sort of curse. The earlier you wake up to board a transport, the later it is ready, so you're left wondering if you shouldn't just have sleep more instead of bothering. But the day you are less careful with hours, it's definitely going to depart exactly on time and you'll have to rush through a rain of incidents to barely catch it.

Had a weird story like that last when I was trying to get to my cousin Sakura's wedding on time. Bike's motor just exploded, one in a million factory defect apparently, and Kyoko had to repair it using whatever we could find around what was basically a road in the middle of nowhere, far away from both the airport and the military base it connected. The carburetor fixed with turtle shell was especially clever I must say."

Catching bits of the other conversations, Akemi also tried to remember if the decree on jade allowed her to go full "Hida smash!" on any Spider that didn't respect it, or if there was legal complications to deal with before that.

"I mean, turtle shell works in a pinch, but if you're going through the trouble you might as well pistol whip a soft metal or mild steel into the shape." Tetsu pauses and flushes, realizing that he's jumped in. "I mean, hypothetically"

The smile faded as the Scorpion poked with the question. Slowly, she tilted her head towards where the Scorpion was sitting, looking at her from an angle.

"Curious..."

She didn't answer the question from Nishida, taking a turn and a few steps until she could lean over the railings looking into the Scorpions eyes.

"Where's your mask, Bayushi-san?" she said, raising a hand to just in front of the girl as she tilted her head again, a creepy grin starting to grow "I'll show you mine if you show me yours~"

"Uh?"

Akemi gave puppy eyes to Kyoko, who rushed to her help.

"There was sadly a shortage of good quality spare metal at the time. It was not a military-grade bike, just a civil one rented for transit purposes. They don't come with any armor-plating that could have been sacrificed, or really any solid part that is not strictly necessary to their good operation. Improvisation with what the wilderness around offered was needed."

"Here, what she said!" approved Akemi. "Thinking of it, I could use a bike on this word too... Did you..."

"I have prepared a list of places on this world where you could rent such thing Hida-sama. We can go there first thing in the morning tomorrow if Hida-sama doesn't have any other obligation."

"Nice!"

"So you like to ride bikes?" Nishida asked. "My chaffeur should already have made preparations and have a limousine ready for my stay in Asakaze. An even outstanding driver, if I may say so. Sadly, I have no such exciting travel stories to tell, for me such trips always feel like a stay in Meido, waiting, waiting and waiting. "

"That is rather impressive considering the shortfalls you faced, and if it ran, it ran and you are absolutely to be commended for making it work. Your servant is rather impressive Hida-san, I did not mean to imply that they were incompetent." Tetsu offers a gentle smile. "I fear the prejudice of my training is showing. The sensei always like to say that "slap fixes that work are great for the moment, but never forget that they work well riiiiight up into the moment that they don't, and then you're stuck with a buzz saw running and you holding out your-"

Tetsu pauses, realizing the mixed company he is in. "His point being to never let the short term fix become the long term solution, but that doesn't really apply here. I do like the idea of taking a ride"

Tetsu glances back over at Tsukiko. "Bayushi-san, if we are getting a shopping group together, perhaps we can take a riding group as well"

"Bikes can go a lot of places cars cannot. They're far better on a lot of terrains."

Akemi adjusted her imaginary sunglasses.

"Plus, they're like 200% cooler."



"Yes, Kyoko's awesome! She even knows how to..."

Quick glance at the Spider.

"Do all these things servants usually do."