Isora's Rest, where Fusako hailed from, was a world of water. If one wished to just bathe in the ocean, it was easy enough, if not scandalous, but many of the islands that broke the ocean's surface had a geothermal cause to them, so hot springs were fairly common as well.

Fusako, thus, was somewhat of a water bird. She swam for exorcise frequently, and enjoyed nothing more when she relaxed than a hot bath in the most lovely of settings. YuRaku wasn't quite Isora's Rest standards, but those were owned mostly by Kakita Artisan, so it was a high standard. She enjoyed it quite readily enough all the same, and after rinsing herself off, she entered the hot bath with a satisfied sigh, swimming around just a bit before finding a place to relax.

After an afternoon of being planted...or was that playing with plants? Nara made her way to the baths to see what it was like. She certainly wanted to get a nice hot soak!

Slipping out of her many layers, she scrubbed her pale skin with the focus of someone who hated any kind of stain, cleaning the soap off before collecting a towel and heading towards the baths....only to find a girl swimming there.

"Oh. Hello" Nara bowed, before moving to slip into the hot water "ah! That's hotter than I expected!"

Spotting the new bather (or soaker), Fusako rose and gave a bow before slipping into the water again. She didn't immediately recognize the woman, but she was clearly a samurai. Her voice had a casual, no nonsense air to it as she settled. "Mmm, you have to get in slowly, let your body grow used to it. One step at a time dear."

"Eeh, too late now" Nara laughed, wincing a little and taking a few moments.

"Ok...starting to get used to it...slowly..." she said quietly, before peeking at the other woman "sorry for the interruption of your swimming."

The white haired woman gave a low laugh as she relaxed, arms on the edge of the bath. "You can hardly interrupt someone in a public bath. Company's just a part of the contract."

Deciding a bit of politeness was in order, and deciding to make things less mysterious, she spoke up again. "Asahina Fusako, here for the miai."

"This is fair" Nara nodded "ooh, hello! I'm Susumu Nara, lovely to meet you! I'm also here for the miai, which I guess is obvious being that I'm a long way from Whisper" she laughed "how have you found it so far?"

Fusako was much more a reader than a watcher, so was unfamiliar with the actress. "A pleasure Susumu-san. As for how I've found the miai... our hosts have been fine. Today's competitions were not my style, but I suppose it takes all sorts."

"But one was ikebana. I thought flowers would suit you" Nara looked curious "the birds were strange though. I think one liked me, it made these happy sounds when I stood next to it afterwards, although I think it was laughing at me too. I did fall over it once. The judges didn't think I did well though, so maybe I didn't."

"Though I quite enjoy flowers, I am a business woman, not an artisan. I did well enough for all that however." She paused, tucking some of her hair back. "The birds seemed easy enough to deal with, even if I don't see the point of it."

"Hai, the flowers I can understand more..."

Nara looked thoughtful, taking a few moments before a giggle escaped.

"Perhaps it's the Phoenix's way of testing a persons...riding abilities, for other marital activities."

"There are much more direct ways of testing that, if they really wished to," she noted with a slight frown. "A rather scandalous sumai tournament for instance."

"Wouldn't the direct way be more...shameful?" Nara said with a shrug "I don't know. I think if it was a miai hosted by the Spider it would be very direct. The Phoenix it feels like there's metaphors for everything. Either that or they just used us to help break in the creatures for future use."

"Quite shameful indeed," she noted. "I believe the Phoenix are direct in their own way. In this, I can see that they actually think riding animals still to be some sort of virtuous bushi skill that we should all know."

"Perhaps they need to do some events that are not designed for bushi then" Nara commented idly "unless they believe only bushi are worthy of marriage. Which is surprising as I always believed them more of a spiritual than a fighting clan. What would a Crane miai be like?"

"From what we learned from before the miai, the governor of Asakaze quite favors bushi in particular, so I imagine that there will continue to be more contests designed around their training. Not that a courtier trained won't find a way."

Pausing, she leaned back, looking up toward the sky a moment. "Mmm, a Crane miai... that does, in part, depend what family is hosting it. The Kakita and Doji would both have the most elegant and pompous of miai, with the best of accommodations and contests. The Daidoji, in contrast, would have a well presented yet far more simple miai, as fits their character. My own family would have a miai much like this one in simplicity, but with more of a focus on meditative, religious, and knowledge based tests."

Nara liked the Doji miai idea more, but didn't comment on that.

"They all sound very different, but very fun. I think a Susumu miai would be something similar to the Doji. Perhaps not as elegant as a Doji, but one cannot easily compare to a Doji in elegance, ne? I'd certainly feel more comfortable in that kind of miai, although I am trained in how to use a rifle. I needed to learn for my show after all."

Well, it was a conversation piece. "Show, Susumu-san?"

"Oh, do the Crane not get Spider programming? I'm the lead on a TV drama called Teenage Demon Hunter, and have been for a number of years. Since before my gempukku in fact! It's quite a fun role as well. I play a girl that has to balance a normal life alongside defeating demons that are trying to take over the world, using a magical rifle that talks" Nara grinned "it's a lot of fun!"

She nodded. "I am certain that there are parts of Crane territory that do, perhaps even Isora's Rest. And it does sound interesting Susumu-san.bi might sound dreadfully backwards, but I'm more of a reading and theater type myself. Can't even remember the last time I watched a program."

"I've always wanted to try theater. It's like TV programs except without takes, right? As a great actress I can do things in a single take, so I could easily do a theater performance!" Nara said with a tilt of her head "but you read instead of watch? How come? I can't remember when I last read a book."