[D5, EA, expecting] Just a modest stroll

[Matsu Ishioka]

Ishioka pauses as he hears this, accidentally bumping her slightly with the abrupt stop.

"Ah, apologies, Usogawa-san, but..." He shakes his head, then looks at her with a smile. "I feel the same way. My grandfather, who I am very similar to, was a great teacher. But one of his key lessons was to trust in what you know you can trust, the 'tried and true' methods. That is... That is the sort of thing I am challenged by now," he admits. He looks down briefly, then continues nervously. "It, ah, might be considered a new idea for a Lion to spend so much time with one from a minor clan, but... Well, I haven't needed much convincing that this is a good idea."

[Usogawa Narumi]

She takes his arm with a dart to stop herself from losing balance. "It's fine." Is it? She looks to him to see what he'd rather.
But she can't help from allowing a smile to grow the longer he speaks.
"Then I'm glad I managed to get under your skin enough that you can't get me out of your head. But I suppose your first lesson, if you're truly interested matchmaking, is determining which will make a marriage the most harmonious: status or honor. The head or the heart."

[Matsu Ishioka]

There's a little catch in Ishioka's breath when she grabs his arm, a pause, then a notable exhale. His eyes flicker to her hand and then her eyes, then he smiles a little before carrying on as if everything is as it should be.

When she finishes, he feigns offense. "Does Usogawa-san doubt my honest curiosity about nakodo work? I am hurt." He doesn't try to pout, knowing it will only look silly. "So you must tell me, how do you determine the best path to this harmony?" He cocks his head to look somewhat directly at her as she answers without losing the arm contact.

[Usogawa Narumi]

"I don't." Narumi answered succinctly, and met his gaze only to let those two words hang for a moment.
"They tell me," she elaborated and ticked an eyebrow skyward.
"The same way these tests are telling Shika Pei-Pei-sama and the other matchmakers about us; I interview, I entertain, I assess. But it's not in my hands on whether a match will be harmonious or not. That's always up to the suitors."

[Matsu Ishioka]

"I see," Ishioka says noncommittally. "I wonder what my embarrassing go match says about my head and my heart," he thinks aloud. Looking back to Narumi, he asks curiously, "Do you have an opinion? About whether I harmonize better from head or heart? It's too early for there to be a wrong answer, of course, as we've got many challenges left..." Ishioka seems to be trying to soften the question, worried that it was too serious for this stroll.

[Usogawa Narumi]

She's quiet for a moment in consideration. Thoughtfully, she answers. "It might be too early to say, but given the unique nature of a miai and the possibilities it contains, I've not been shy about encouraging others to not ignore what their heart wants, first and foremost."
Knowing full well he's enthralled with another samurao-ko who takes his breath away and stolen his heart.
That left her wondering where their encounter in the sake bar last night left them; given their shared unhealed grief confessions, Narumi posited she sat firmly in the other camp.

[Matsu Ishioka]

The Lion's eyes narrow a little in curiosity. Narumi didn't exactly answer his question, but he had given her that option. But she also seemed to be thinking about more than she was saying. Kami, this was easier when we'd been drinking.

"It's one thing to not ignore," Ishioka notes analytically. "It is another to trust your heart. That," he says with a small sigh, "seems..." He stops and shakes his head. "Do you... ever counsel that one should trust their heart, Nar-er, uh-Usogawa-san?" The Lion looks embarrassed for a moment. He hasn't crossed that line yet, but maybe in that moment he was comfortable enough to do it without even thinking.

[Usogawa Narumi]

His near slip causes her to smile, in fact to blush a little. Hadn't she done the same to him the day before, called him by his name? She wasn't sure.
Probably.
"Ah no. I don't... Not really. This one has never been given the freedom to trust her heart. And when she's followed it, it's only led her to trouble," Narumi tilted her head to glance at him, and held onto his arm comfortably.

[Matsu Ishioka]

Her smile, and the little blush, help him carry on without turning self conscious. He looks thoughtful for a time, thinking about what she'd said.

"You seemed very good at hiding your heart when we spoke over tea," he recalls. "So good I wasn't sure whether you should be trusted," he says with a tiny laugh and a smile. "But it didn't seem like your heart was hidden too deep." He moves the umbrella to the side she's holding, freeing his other hand to reach over to hers. With the tip of a single fighter, he traces one of her fingers up to near her wrist. "So I guess I trusted my heart a little bit on that, at least."

[Usogawa Narumi]

He'd feel her pulse racing in her wrist and it's everything she can do not to close the space between them now that they've stopped strolling.
"Crab blood, remember. I'm excellent at building walls... and hiding my true feelings behind them," she says quietly, and honestly.
"... I'm glad you trusted it, as well. Else I'd have gone on oblivious and we'd not be here."