[D7, LE](Bath House) Bubble Bath [Open]

[Asahina Soyokaze]

"That was entirely the will of the heavens at work, I had never played it before. I had been pinning my hopes on the poetry but I choked during the delivery, I hope that wasn't the only event for artisans."

[Susaki Tanabe]

"Ah well then the heavens smiled upon you indeed, it was a beautiful play of kemari." he said with a continued smile.

"do not worry about you rough delivery, it happens to even the best of men at times. Nerves can get to us all. As for the types of events we shall see, they seem to be pretty varied, some arts, some games, some trials of strength and endurance. They may come back around to artistic skills."

[Asahina Soyokaze]

"I certainly hope so. Being here and watching the likes of yourself, Asahina Bo-sama, Matsu Ishioka-sama has show me that I have led an overly focused life so far." Soyokaze dipped his head back to wet his hair again. "Are you finding much success here?"

[Susaki Tanabe]

Tanabe waved a hand "Ah the trials are what they are, we do not even know the purpose of them. At the end of the day the ones who 'win' are the ones that are matched as they desire. Or at least matched in a way that will one day work out for them."

"As for my luck? Well in some ways people might say I am unlucky but if you ask me I am the luckiest one here. My very first day I met a wonderful Kuni woman who will be my wife if there is any justice in the world." he said hios jovial smile warming more and more as he spoke and thought of Yasu. There was a pause where he realized he had gone several seconds without speaking and subtly shook his head coming back to the moment.

"What of you Asahina-sama? How have you been finding the miai outside of the events and trials?"

[Asahina Soyokaze]

"Difficult." he said as he leaned back against the side of the pool. "I find myself in a similar position as you but I have made several mistakes along the way and am not confident in the least. Meeting people has been...difficult, bolder men than I wasted no time in gaining the attention of those who grabbed my eye and admittedly I have been hiding in my forge far too much. These tests the Shika have had us doing baffle me. I can see the meaning behind many of them but we do things very differently in Crane lands, there are normally interviews with matchmakers and arranged time with people they think may be good matches. Large group dinners with predetermined topics of discussion, the only thing they have in common with this is the nightly plays and even then attending them is all but mandatory."

[Susaki Tanabe]

Tanabe grinned a little "Well Asahina-sama it seems like you must grow more bold. So long as Kuni Yasu-san is not one such you had your attentions on!" He said with a laugh full enough to create some ripples in the water.

"In seriousness there are still many days left. Should you feel something for someone make your feelings known, somewhere public if you can." He said with a wink knowing that the Deer are constantly observing them "don't sound so defeated Asahina-sama you are a pretty man I'm sure more than a few would return interest if you expressed it."

[Asahina Soyokaze]

There it is, it took 7 days but someone finally called me "pretty".


Syokaze smiled and joked. "You have no need to fear me Tanabe-san, I wouldn't know what to do with a woman so tall. I have made my feelings known and they were received mostly well...but there is another and he is many things I am not. My worry is that she is just trying to spare my feelings, though I don't think she capable of doing it with malice. I have no plan B and though i know I need one i don't want to need one." He gave a relaxed shrug. "It took me a long time to get to this feeling, I didn't really think it was real, now that I've found it i want to savor it while I can."

Before the inevitable fall.

[Susaki Tanabe]

Tanabe shook his head with a vaguely amused look on his features "Well Asahina-sama, you may as well tell your goodbyes to her now. You have no confidence in yourself, there are others trying to take her affections and you immediately look to what they have that you don't. But what about what you have that they don't." He said giving the Crane a significant look.

"We just met, you don't have any reason to believe anything I say but if you want her, if you have no one else to pin your hopes on then fight for her. Show her how much she means to you and do things only you can do for her. Live this miai as if it is your last week and live it in such a way that when you are done you know there was nothing more you could have done."

[Asahina Soyokaze]

How true those words may be

"I have done all I can short of say the words aloud but she knows my heart. She bears gifts I crafted her myself and we have plans for our first dinner together. I have written her poems and recited some on private walks in the garden. She is clearly torn and if this comes down to confidence then...well...I suppose no man is perfect. I am astonished at how generous everyone is with advice when we are supposedly all competing with each other. I suppose I am lucky that there is only one with who I compete with. Is there anything you think I have forgotten?"

[Susaki Tanabe]

"Eh only competing if we want to have the same match Asahina-sama. Otherwise no reason to not want as many people to walk away happy as possible." He said with a warm smile as he enjoyed the warmth of the water around him.

"As for your situation every person is different. Hard to say exactly what to do but if it was me I would say the words plain. But I've always just said how I feel. In the end if you do your best so you can live without regret that's what matters."