Kyuden Shika

The day's duties done, and sans spear and armor, Shika Nesshin heads to the Song. A bit of sake and a bite to eat are always welcome, after all.

A Dragon samurai sat at a low table within the sake house, dressed in a green kimono decorated with a triangular geometric pattern. His hair was in a neat topknot, and he looked to be in his mid 20s. There was a sake bottle and a cup in front of him, but the Dragon drank in a peculiar way, merely touching the cup to his lips for a taste each time, rather than gulping it down. The Dragon watched Nesshin with interest as the Deer arrived.

Nesshin feels eyes upon him--not the regular ones; he's from here, and he knows the people, and he returns the casual greetings offered his way with a wave and a smile--and he sees the staring Dragon.

Another one? he thinks. Well, it is a miai.

He approaches, sits nearby, signals for an order. "All well with you?" he asks the Dragon.

"Well enough," the Dragon replied in a soft, cultured voice. He offered Nesshin a seated bow. "I am Kitsuki Kiyonobu, visiting for the miai. I hope you are doing well also?"

"Shika Nesshin," comes the reply with a returned bow. "And yes, which I appreciate--as I do all of the guests in our lovely lands. I hope you have been treated well so far here."

The sake and snack come. "I'll top you off, if you'd like."

"No need," Kiyonobu replied. "I like to drink slowly, and I have enough for now."

"As for my treatment, I have no complaints thus far," the Dragon continued. "But, I have only just arrived today. I assure you, though, I do not plan to cause any trouble for you and our gracious hosts .... Guardsman Shika, is it?"

A corner of his mouth quirks up. "I've been called far worse," Nesshin says, "and less aptly.

"Not the first Kitsuki I've met today," he adds. "Had a bit of a spar with your kinsman Hajime in the dojo earlier."

"Really. I shall have to look cousin Hajime up while I'm here. It seems our family is rather marriage-minded this year," Kiyonobu said wryly. "I understand Kyuden Shika often hosts miai? You must have seen many of these before, then, but I'm afraid it is my first event of this sort. Could I trouble you, Shika-san, by asking what I should expect?"

Been getting that question a lot, Nesshin thinks. But that makes sense.

"The matchmakers are having us undertake a series of events designed to reveal our characters," he replies. "Pei-Pei-sama is usually quite tight-lipped about them, though. Says the surprise is part of the assessment--which the matchmakers then use to pair people up to best effect.

"So I've seen a lot of them, yes, but I've not been in one before, as might be thought, and I don't know exactly what we'll all face these next weeks."

"Ahhh, so you, yourself will be participating in this miai?" Kiyonobu inquired, nodding. "How interesting. I look forward to seeing what tests the matchmakers pose us, that may 'reveal our characters'." A small smile crossed his face.