Akemi shrugged:

"If you say so. What would you consider your own personal greatest accomplishment then?"

"My ship was going through an asteroid field once, low and slow to chart a course through for the bigger ships to not just have to blast or batter their way. Turns out there was some silicate-based xeno creatures in the field, living in the rocks. Weird things with membranous wings that ate the minerals in the rocks to live and whatever else in the stars to supplement their diets. Took out a few scout vessels before they realized what was going on. Chewing on the power cables and then attacked the vessels themselves...cracked 'em open to snack on the personnel inside."

He pauses, settling into a somewhat grim look.

"Ended up part of the clear team. Scouted out the asteroid field in zero-G suits with some tech types in some super-light fighters. Ended up finding their hive rock. Big thing, almost like a beehive with them running around all inside. Gunso went down, had to take command of my squad...thirty of us. Purged the whole thing though...step by step. When it was done, just their shattered bodies and twelve of us left."

"Oh? So I guess you've been promoted to gunso rank after that?"

"No, the gunso survived. Needed emergency evac, a new leg and right eye, but he lived."

"Still seems worthy of a promotion though. You could have lead another unit if your own didn't need a new commander. Is the Spider hierarchy that strict that you literally cannot advance in rank as long as your superior is alive? Such a system sounds... dangerous for your own officers."

"If after the miai command deems me worthy, then I will be promoted. The survival of my superior officer will reflect well on me as well as my other actions, but the military bureaucracy is slow and decisions are not made in haste."

"From your story, I wonder if you getting into the miai is a reward for your actions, or a way for your hierarchy to remove you from the front time enough for your glory to fade and your promotion to be canceled.

Cause you know, you don't exactly match the profile of what I would have expected the Spider clan to send here."

"Perhaps it is one or the other. I am unsure, though it may just be that it was deemed time for me to marry and continue the legacy of my family line."

He shrugs a bit and when she mentions his being atypical, his head tilts to the side a bit as he lifts a hand to run through his hair.

"What did you expect of a candidate sent here for the miai, then?"

"Money. Status. Blessing of the Kami. Things that would make of a Spider an acceptable match despite the fact they are Spider."

"Perhaps you might then alter your perspective on the Spider, though given the thin veneer of being 'polite' you've had over this entire conversation, that seems unlikely."

"Please, it's a Crab-Spider private talk, you don't need to pretend there is no issue between your clan and, well, all other clans, that call for some sort of compensation for whoever will end up marrying you. A Spider needs one hundred koku to pay for what a Crane can buy with a single smile as an ex-business associate of my grandpa would say."

"I don't bear any personal ill will towards the Crab or any of the other Clans in particular. One would hope that, for the miai, matters like grudges would be set aside for the good of those involved."

He shrugs slightly.

"In any event Hida-san, perhaps it would be best for you to scuttle along before something decides it wants to crack your shell for the flesh inside."

"You know, in some way, that would make things simpler. Fighting is easy, you just have to kill the one on the other side. This kind of event? Hard as heck.

We're supposed to be nice to each other but at the same time we mustn't forget that we might end up on opposite sides on a battlefield a few months from now, and that every bit of kindness we offered back then might bite us in the ass hard. I can't exactly support your quest to find yourself a nice sniper spouse with the knowledge I might be setting up the shot that will kill me on doing so.

Do you intend to have someone marry in the Spider or to marry out by the way?"

"If you lack the Courage to be able to set aside such things, perhaps the Courtesy to your enemies will be the virtue you can call upon to salve your conscience."

When asked about if he intended on marrying someone in or out, he gave a slight shrug.

"That entirely depends on the results of the miai, I would think. The Spider would enjoy strengthening the ties between our allies I am sure, or finding new allies that would be beneficial through marriage out."

"Namedropping that set of virtues? Interesting. Curious what your education on the subject is. I'm rereading Leadership right now with the benefits of experience and it's, let's say, far more ambiguous and prone to compromise than the short version I learned as a kid."

"I subscribe to the idea that Shourido and Bushido both have their merits. Something of a pragmatist in that regard, I suppose. And yes, Leadership is...well, perhaps Bayushi was correct after all."

"I'd rather not take a side in a 3,000 years old wit contest between the Lion and Scorpion.

I also think there is a caveat playing Bushido straight in our case though.

All these rules, they have been written having in mind clans that might be enemies one day, but might as well become allies the next. So yeah, if you're a Lion talking to a Crane, even if you're fighting an all-out war on the side, you try to keep it civil enough to facilitate the reconciliation later on.

Crab and Spider on the other hand deal in absolutes. We're never going to look at each other and think 'this one, I will be nice with them cause I want them as a friend later'. Because that later is never going to come. So even our most polite interactions will be all form no substance. Pretend games, because tradition, because unpleasant consequences with the local authorities if we make a scene, even because some enjoy this twisted game.

But if you insist we go back to polite smalltalk..."

Akemi did a hair flip as dramatic as her moderate-length hair allowed, and fanned herself with her invisible fan:

"Tell me, Susumu-sama, where did you get that sick helmet of yours? Is it part of your standard uniform? And what is your secret trick to fit your long flowing hair inside without damaging them?"

"Define irony: The Crab declaring they will never be friendly with the Spider, yet purportedly one of the greatest of their number allied with the Shadowlands and tried to take over the Empire. But please, Hida-san, continue to lecture me on absolutes. It is so very sincere."

He reaches out a hand, grabbing his helmet. He carefully tucks in his hair in and seals the helmet closed once more.

"Quite easily, in fact. As for the helmet: mostly standard issue. Visor can be clear or shaded like mine."

Akemi rolled her eyes:

"Oh, please don't tell me you believe your own propaganda."

She tilted her head:

"But seriously, why the choice of long hair? Must be a pain to redo it each time you remove the helmet. Mine aren't nearly as long, and Kyoko already takes just so much time fixing them when I get out armor."

Letting the first point go unanswered, he shrugged.

"Perhaps a touch of vanity. I look better in long hair than in short, typically. I do not mind the extra maintenance such things require."