She nodded as she listened to him speak. "A sensible solution. For the meantime, I suppose we all have to... mingle, make small-talk, and try our hands at these contests the governor has arranged for the miai."

A half-smirk. "Maybe even some bets on who will end up with who during, and after."

"Ah, yes the contests... Something tells me one at least will deal with these Otori the Phoenix are so proud of." He didn't seem too excited about the idea though.

Her next comment brought a small chuckle from his lips. "Now that's something of an interesting proposition, Utaku-san. Would be long odds to guess it truly though."

"Absolutely. And without having seen all the contestants, so to speak, it would be an impossible bet to make right now."

She smiled, and shook her head. "Yes, I've heard of these... overgrown birds. Supposedly they can be ridden like horses? I have a little experience with that, but nowhere near what my Family once was legendary for."

"Maybe something to look into after a few days, gives us times to get to know the others here, and figure out what kinda stakes to play for." He offfered with a thoughtful nod, taking a sip of his drink before gesturing towards her empty glass. "Ccould I get you another?"

"But seems, like you have an advantage over me in that regard, there wasn't much in the way of riding animals where I'm from. Never had the chance to ride anything before, well other then a few types of vechicles. But I figure that's not the same."

"Hey. That goes without saying. We're samurai. We live to serve and to kill, carrying a least one blade on us at all time to remind people of that. Being nice is a downtime luxury.

But as you said previously, this is indeed a special occasion. For a few days maybe we can indulge in a bit of niceness. Maybe."

"Maybe indeed...and since I don't recall hearing an answer to me previous question, I'll continue on as I have", he said and stood up to his full height, which only made him laugh because despite Shokomaru's best effort he still appeared to be shorter than her. "Are you wearing heeled shoes?" he suddenly asked, but didn't let her answer. "better question, why aren't we dancing yet?"

And he put his drink down, aiming to do the same for hers if she let him (and if she didn't, honestly he'd just shrug and let her dance with two drinks in her hands if that's what she really wanted to do). And with a slight bow and extending his arm to her, he would usher her to the dance floor.

"I'm sure you will have other advantages over me." Goodness knows what sort of competition the Phoenix were interested in. Maybe she'd actually have to take a look at the itinieary and plan.

"Actually, I was wondering if you were feeling courageous yet to dance?"

Akemi took half a step back when the Spider approached, locking her eyes on his:

"I'm considered on the short side for a Hida you know? But I guess everything's relative. That's kind of the theme of this evening thinking of it.

And I fear you'll have to repeat your previous question if the answer is important to you. My meager Crab brain didn't process it."

She suddenly shoved both empty drinks into his hands. The ice cubes tinkled against the glass. She didn't break eye contact.

"If I feel any hand or other body part in any place an extremely uptight Doji courtier would consider improper, I'll break it."

She let him dispose of the glasses. Rolled her eyes at the bow. But did accept the arm.

"Even Doji like being teased, just a little" he said. "I don't think i need to ask again after all."

And he took her for a spin to the music. He was no dancer, it was very apparent, but he also wasn't afraid to make a fool out of himself to have a good time.

"You... You weren't lying when you said you were not used to this."

Akemi was a mediocre dancer herself at best... But she had at least some idea of what she was doing.

"Now who is teasing who?" he asked and spun her around a little awkwardly, but without hitting anyone else. "Care to show me how it's done, then?"

As she rolled her eyes again, Akemi thought she would either be blind or have developed superior ocular muscles by tomorrow.

"Fine, try follow my lead and to match my rhythm. You've got confidence in bulk at least, and that's probably the most important skill for club dancing.

But what do they even teach you in Spider lands? Us Crabs are the proverbial obtuse brutes, but even I did study some soft skills.

Okay, mostly the ones grandpa thought could help me rank up faster.

And the dancing I learned on my own.

But still."

"And there it is, you almost sound like you're enjoying yourself", he said and did his best to match her moves. Easier now that she was leading a little, and though he wasn't good at all, he could follow instructions.

He just wasn't going to avoid bumping into her entirely.

"Damn. Just take my hands, relax and let me guide you.

You're not going to become suddenly good in one evening, but at least I'll make sure you don't bump into someone else."

She tilted her head, looking at him from the side:

"You told me about your village earlier. You didn't have balls there? This really feels like I'm the first girl you've ever invited for a dance."

"I have to regulate the fun", he explained. "No time to dance...well, mostly."

There was that one time with his staff NCO, and she had said much the same as Akemi. It might have bothered him a little that he hadn't improved, but she was so embarrassed that he didn't think the dancing was the point of it.

That didn't matter anymore, he was there with a girl, he needed to stay in the present. So he took the Hida's hands. Despite her being about as tall (okay, a little taller) as him, her hands were not as large, and it was an interesting feeling having one calloused, though smaller bushi hand that was warm in one of his, then the other holding the engineered fleshcraft hand.

He kept his look focused and tried not to sweat so much as they moved on the dance floor.

Akemi focused on dancing for a bit. He wasn't actually the worst dance partner she ever had, but she wasn't going to tell him that. With some training, she might even be able to raise him to her level, even if that wasn't such a leap forward.

Wait. Do not make plans that entail that you'll willingly dance with a Spider again. Like nope, nope, nope.

In an attempt to hide her trouble, she started speaking again:

"You're a weird guy you know. I mean even ignoring the whole Spider issue. You must be what, 20 like me? But you sometimes sound like a much older man. Is it all the smoking? Or something else?"

His mouth quirked, almost a smile but he seemed a bit at a loss. Then his eyes rolled and he laughed a little.

"I suppose it's that I always have to act like I'm in charge, or know what I'm doing", he told her. "It's not easy, a bit stressful." he chanced a move, putting his foot between hers and leaning her back a little. "You take a step, not knowing if it'll be the right one." He tried holding her there, letting some tension build unless she fought him.

"But you take it anyway, because you have to."

Akemi let herself go. For a second.

Then every single alarm in her lizard brain triggered at once.

"NO!"

She violently shoved aside the Daigotsu. She looked at him with a chaotic mix of emotions in her eyes, fear, anger, lust, disgust.

Then she just ran away without a word. Ran like mad, ran like if all demons in hell were after her. A couple of seconds later, the doors of the club slammed behind her back and she disappeared from the sight of those inside.

The moment their eyes met, he felt something for sure. And then in a flash, it was gone. Just like her.

He straightened his tie a little and went back to the bar after that. He could let her get away, he supposed. Though he should have asked for her contact info before they went to dance.

His little black spider heart was beating though, and it wasn't just the dancing. He could live with that.

Nudging his way past a few people he sat on a stool and found his drink.

"That went...infinitely better than I expected", he admitted as he lit another smoke.

He was still alive and in one piece, after all.

"Even if i wasn't, im not the type to turn a pretty lady down if she's gone through the trouble to ask." Hayato offered with a playful smirk, finishing his second drink and pushing himself away from the bar.

"Shall we then, Utaku-san?"