The practice halls of the dojo weren't a common area to find Hayato, but occasionally he fely the need to poke around with other weapons. Picking up a bokken he tossed it from hand to hand to get a feel of it. That's how it worked right? Replacing it he tried a few other's until he found one that was weighted so it didn't feel like it would throw his shoulder out.

Nodding to himself he stepped onto the floor proper, now hoe did this go in the vids he saw? Taking up an approximation of a dueling stance, he tried to focus of nothing. Yeah that was it! Before swinging the blade forward in a mock draw, nope that was all wrong. His body had enough of a feel for weapons that he could tell that much.

so rolling his shoulders and neck he tried it again. That wasn't much better, maybe he really should of asked Ishiyo to show him how? Well, that could likely wait for another day.

With no news on the Shin and Eriko fronts, Akemi could do nothing but prepare.

She was in the clear as far as equipment went, having invested some good money since the last time when she had to play with the emotions of those around her to get everything she needed on short notice.

And while she had no idea how any of these issues would evolve, she didn't doubt they will eventually require of her to play of her tetsubo.

So here she was, in the dojo, in full armor except for her bare feet, a heavily weighted boken in hands, working on her strikes.

---

If expecting just say so and I will move my own post to LA.

The cra was certainly a weird one, at least by Hayato's counting. Of course it might be normal for her to hear armor in the training hall.

A polite node was given to Akemi, though he didn't move to bother her either. She was practicing after all , and while he had switched to more mundane strikes with the Bakken so was he.

((Nah its open))

After a series of intense exercises, with a clear focus on violent slashes, Akemi took a break, set the boken on her shoulder and lifted her visor up. She was sweaty and a bit rosy but not much more.

She looked around and finally noticed the Tsuruchi. She nodded in turn:

"Tsuruchi-san. How does the day find you?"

"Hrm?" Hayato looked up from his practice, which was probably more akin to playing. Either way it hadn't been nearly as intense as the crab had taken part of.

"Fairly well, just getting a bit of exercise in." He admitted after a moment. "How about you, has the days since we chatted found you well."

"Well, I've lived some interesting days for sure. Some good, some bad, all in one unforgettable."

She was stretching her arms as she talked, one by one, passing the boken to the other when needed, to make sure they won't eventually become sore after that much intense exercise:

"Never went to this beach we talked about last time though. Circumstances did change a bit after the repeated wild life attacks."

"Eh, the drifters aren't too bad. The beach us kind of a ahit hole though." Hayato offered as he took a few more practice swings.

"You'd probably get a half dozen fungal infections if you went there in a bathing suit." His lips curled into a half smile. "Glad to hear you had a good time though, end up meeting the love of your life?"

Akemi might have given him an unexpected side eye at that question:

"Is that really relevant? It's a miai, it's about getting the most politically advantageous marriage, not about love."

He snorted. "If you think I'm given any relevance to those rumors, that's not it."

Hayato looked over at the crab. "And you're right political matches aren't exactly about love. You said you made some unforgettable memories though. Which just makes me think you found something in that direction."

"I could be wrong though, I mean there were a lot of fun things here that didn't even really involve the miai."

Akemi took a deep breath and kept on with making sure her muscles will remain free of cramps.

"Sorry. A bit on the edge right now.

Had really intense moments yes. Dunno if that was true love if such a thing even exists...

But the dream is almost over and it's time for the dreamer to awaken."

"That sounds very...." He turned towards the Hida and smile, it was probably a little bit teasing. "Dramatic."

"Not that dramatic is exactly a bad thing." He took turned his bokken over in his hads. Yeah something seemed off. "It just means it sounds like you're trying to convince yourself." There was a lingering pause. "Though i should say, i'm not trying to sway you from a decision if you've made one."

He snorted. "Honestly i'm probably just using you as a sounding board for my thoughts. Apologies."

"Going through a love conundrum yourself? Sorry to hear that.

That's quite the common disease here. Is to be expected when you gather so many brilliant youths in one place I guess. Met a few other suffering from it, with a wide variety of symptoms... And exactly one couple who got lucky to have a perfect match between reason and passion."

She frowned.

"Well, maybe two actually. Will depend if the Phoenix decide to pull the rug out from under them or not."

He chuckled at that. "No love conundrums on my part Hida-san." Which was the honest truth of it. "I've just encountered a few people with them."

"Glad to hear you've met a few people that managed to find Benten's blessing though. I suppose that means this miai did something that the nakado and our parents couldn't do on their own."

She laughed:

"Indeed. Don't think my grandpa ever arranged a truly happy marriage. Acceptable compromises at best."

She tilted her head:

"If lovesickness is not an issue on your side, might I ask if you've managed to find a good partner yourself, or would you rather not answer that question?"

"Acceptable compromises still leave a lot of places for one to grow." The Mantis replied with an easy smile. "Time and patience can do a lot of things for a couple that even days of intense emotion can't compare to."

He moved over to the rack and put his bokken away. "As for me I've a few options depending on the way things go. I think most of them will prove to be good ones too. Which I suppose is the best most of us can hope for."

Akemi nodded, still continuing her cooldown stretches.

"Slow and steady does not win the race but keeps you fresh for what comes after the race. Or something like that. I might be starting to mix my grandpa idioms after hearing so many of them.

Will the Phoenix agree with your plans though? From my understanding they offered you a position in their elite 'Sentinel Corp' or something and you refused? How did they take that?"

"That sounds like he's trying to tell you to spend your time making children for with whoever it is you emd up married too, since the who doesn't particcularly matter?" It was pretty weird as sayings go to say the least.

"The Phoenix never really expected me to take that position, Hida-san. Do you think anyone really wants a samurai that will leave the service of his lord to join the clan of another at a simple offering?" He shook his head. "The offer was just a formality, a type of honor as it were."

Akemi smiled:

"Wouldn't be so sure they weren't secretly hoping for it even if there was close to no chance that would happen. They do sure seem like they could use the help and that wouldn't have been their wildest move this miai. I'm still not over the ikebana of death."

She grimaced:

"Not certain what grandpa wanted to say, but if you cannot get a good marriage, at least give me a lot of great-grandchildren so maybe one of them turn more competent than you sounds like something he would think yeah."

"I skipped that one, and it seems I was a wise one for doing so." Hayato replied as he stepped back onto the mats and took a jiujitsu stance.

"Seems your grandfather is prepared for most eventualities. Which do you figure you'll fulfill?" He asked glancing in her direction. "Nit that you need to answer of course Hida-san."

"He won't ever be happy but I guess I'll be only mildly disappointed and won't totally write off that I can succeed at making a name for myself. Not from hands-on politics it seems, as I went completely under the radar for the whole of this miai, but maybe through future military achievements.

In others words, I'll think he simply won't care and let me live my life with my spouse until something changes drastically. Probably the best outcome I could hope for actually."