The xenobotanical gardens were supposed to be lovely at night, so Tetsu suggests ending the night there.

I'm not exactly eager to end it

It takes a little while before she arrives, but soon he spots her hurrying over, waving over her head. "Sorry for the wait, Tetsu-san..." She said, barely breathing heavy despite the rush she was clearly in. "I had to wash off the residual con funk from the tournament hall." Indeed, her hair is still a little bit wet.

She's now dressed in a layered tank top and shorts, much more appropriate to the resumed heat.

Tetsu sniffs himself, suddenly self conscious. "Oh, you're absolutely worth the wait." He pauses. "What I mean is that you look nice. And smell nice. And I just said that out loud? How do you do that, and how do you look better in shorts than me dressed up?"

Se waved a hand and laughed. "You look and smell fine, don't worry." She turned around for him to give him the 360 view. "And I'm glad you think I look good. But you probably think I look better because you're looking through your own eyes at yourself and me. I think you look great dressed up. I'm a little embarrassed to be dressed so casually."

Tetsu tries to not to stare at the 360 view too hard. "Shizuku-san, you'd look great in sackcloth." Tetsu tugs on his collar, suddenly feeling the heat. "But if you're feeling underdressed" Tetsu loosens his hakama at the shoulders, letting it fall to his waist, exposing a wiry frame with knots of muscle covered by a thin black short sleeved shirt. "Oh yeah, that's much better." He extends his elbow to act as escort.

"I've never been here at night before"

She doesn't miss the opportunity to give the eye a little herself as she moved to join him. She looped an arm through his. "I haven't been here much at all yet, honestly."

"I came for an event earlier, for the ikebana thing." Tetsu starts to stroll, trying to match their paces to be smooth. "I even won a voucher to that place earlier."

Tetsu suddenly looks a tad guilty. "I have to admit, I have been out with a few other possible matches on the miai. I can say, none of them went past dinner, and I certainly didn't have anywhere near as much fun. And I never wanted to go on a second as much as right now"

"Oh yeah, that... I got as far as research and decided against going for ikebana. That's really impressive that you won a voucher in that event, though," she replied with a grin. When he looked guilty, though, she listened seriously. "I mean, it's a miai. There are all sorts of factors you have to consider. I have more than one person I'm giving consideration to, so don't feel too bad about it. I'm definitely having more fun with you than almost anyone, and you've made me feel the most comfortable."

"I know. There's political considerations as well and just because I don't like them doesn't give me the luxury of ignoring them." Tetsu offers a sigh "I wasn't quite given instructions so much as guidelines, and I have a lick of sense, so I can justify any choice that I make, and I may not even get the choice." He continues to walk in silence. "You're the one I'm most comfortable with too. Even more than my clanmates, funnily enough. You get me to stumble over my words like a fool, and yet I never feel too bad. I am more..." Tetsu searches for the word "Me, than I am with most when I'm with you, if that makes any sense."

"Yeah, exactly. One of my clanmates all but told us we should choose who we like and justify it afterward," she chuckled. "Yeah, that makes sense. I feel the same way. And it's not like I'm not awkward, too. I never feel like you're annoyed about it or making fun of me in a harsh way."

"I don't know, it just makes you seem...human." Tetsu moves his hand to cover hers. "Relatable. Which counts for a lot when you kick as much ass as you do. I seriously have to ask: is that it? Is being a bit awkward and spacing out really so much that it would make things hard on your family, and cause you to go on a miai? It's like" Tetsu pauses, "like wanting to scrap a classic luxury ship because its not the latest model. If you just look slightly below the surface, you see so much beauty and potential to outstrip everything else with a bit of love and care"

"Thank you... I honestly suspect they didn't want to get too attached when I was younger. I was a pretty sickly kid before the hard work to correct that paid off," she said with a shrug. "I nearly died at birth, even. They had to work to get me to breathe, and I had to stay in intensive care for a while. I wonder if just trying to protect themselves became a habit."

Tetsu opens his mouth to speak and then shuts it. When he speaks again he is solemn. "I wish I could say Crab were differt. We are brutal in our own way to get people ready to serve. I won't pass judgement for what I don't understand fully, but I will say this."

He brings Tsukiko's hard to his lips and kisses the back of her kuckles. "You turned out to be one hell of a samurai, and you do yourself proud Shizuku-san"

She turned red as he kissed her hand, but smiled. "Thank you, Tetsu-san."

"I still think that blush is cute by the way. Though, I have to wonder..." Tetsu's eyes glint in the low light.

"Ah, thank you..." She looked confused by the glint in his eye. "Hmm?"

"I kind of had a bad thought." In spite of that, his smile remains. "Wondering if you would blush more if I kissed your lips instead"

Even bringing it up made her turn crimson. "I-I... well, yes, but... I mean, propriety! Maintaining some is important!" She waved her hands in front of her.

"Propriety? There's no one around to make us observe it." Tetsu gently strokes her hair "But I know, I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I mean, the blushing is cute but I don't want to freak you out. I'm really enjoying... what this is"

She nodded, flushed. "... Tell you what. It's only a few days until the decision is made. If it's made in our favor, then I definitely am in favor of kissing."