"Not marrying out, no", he said. "There's that Miya who could try to make a stink, I suppose, but word is his family would like him to move on and make something of himself." He smirked. "So after some time alone with the wife, or the husband's relations, I'll likely be shipped back to my unit. Which is good. I feel like I'm wasting away in this place, people running around shooting at things and I'm here on standby."

"Hmm i can't really relate to that, most of the time i did my duty alone,... but i guess everyone would like to go back to their duty and serve their lords again."

"Yasuki-san, duty is much more fun with a partner, come now", he smirked. "Eh...then again you have that walking pair of sunglasses following you around a lot." he looked thoughtful.

"Oh, Akechi? yes, he's with me for,... well, most of my life, so in a sense i was never alone."

"I have an aid like that", Shokomaru nodded. "Well, one of my gunso, really." He sighed and leaned all the way back again. "really both of them are at my back, all the time. Just one is making sure the other doesn't stab me."

I see,.... nevertheless it's good to have people you can,.. rely on"

He smirked. "It's the secret to success." He thought about his conversation with Utaku Hyeon-ju that morning. "Some samurai are prideful and demand their accomplishments be their own, their glory. Well, it's a hundred people who get something done, one person needs to get lucky a hundred times to do the same. So yeah, help isn't just good to have, it's necessary."

"Well, there wouldn't be any clans if samurai wouldn't have started to fight and work together. So, yes, we are dependent on others."

"They would have started still, legend has it the Kami were powerful, with magnetic personalities and extraordinary ability", he agreed. "Without that organization though, most of them would have failed and there'd be a lot less of them...well, also Emperor's waving the child abuser at them from time to time."

He wagged his finger to show the point.

"The Son in heaven was definitely an important factor in the creation of the empire, what would the empire do without heavenly guidance?" he asked the rhetorical question.

He actually had another question, a question that really concerned him, even though he didn't know how the Spider Clan handled it.

"Are you looking forward to it? To become a father, I mean?"

"Well, the obvious answer is yes", he said. "It's an honest answer too." A nod, though in truth he thought about his father less than he wanted to. He'd find out soon enough how tough it was. Then he looked at Nishida. "I'm not going to complain if it takes a lot of attempts though. I'm a bit young for all of that, but duty is duty, isn't it? How about yourself?"

He took a deep breath in. "Well, i'm looking forwad to it, yes. In fact i hope to produce a good heir for the bloodline, after all there's a long line of ancestors hoping for me to continue the line."

He then smirked.

"But i wouldn't mind if it would take it's time, too."

"I probably won't have the luxury, babies grown in machines...it's such a shame there's fighting to do", he grumbled and closed his eyes again.

"Yes,... i agree" he said and leaned back again.

Shokomaru stayed relaxed. He had enough to think about and though Nishida had shared a lot, he was certain there was more. Time would tell.

/scene?

Nishida relaxed as well. Would he miss Shokmaru? Maybe, the only hope he had that he would never need to face him on the battlefield.

/scene!