[D2, LE, open] Post-play promenade

[Asahina Soyokaze]

Soyokaze had meant to speak up but in his hesitance the Matsu spoke up before him. Now there were too many different lines of conversation happening at once and he was losing track. He wanted too run but couldn't allow the shame on his family, he had to pick a conversation and go with it.

"While well acted I fail to see the "love story" in this play, it was just odd."

[Kaikoga Fujiko]

Fujiko did a double take at Ishioka's offer of a spar, then got her mind off the gutter. She wasn't the kind of girl who would immediatly think two men, sweaty, desperately gripping at hard, long shafts of wood and seeking dominance over one another would be some sexual thing. Clearly this was just some ploy to ask for a second opinion (or a first, depending on when each meeting would take place) about his love woes in some deniable way. After all, if two samurai had to lock their swords, their faces red with exertions and breathing heavily as their bodies were pushed to their limits all so they could whisper secrets about love to each other, this was just how it had to go- ok, no, fine, she totally was the kind of girl who would think that.

She, however, was a lady with dignity, and not some scandalous woman with no dedication to her ships.

"Well, those are certainly many plans for tomorrow. Speaking of which, Shosuro-sama, will you attend the play tomorrow? I would greatly enjoy your company if you do." She then turned to the Crane. "As for me, well, I loved that play. The subtle exploration of secret or even forbidden love hidden behind the laughs and impossible coincidences." She sighed, bringing a hand to her cheek. "I wish I could see such things more often."

She nodded at the couple subtly.

[Asahina Soyokaze]

She then turned to the Crane. "As for me, well, I loved that play. The subtle exploration of secret or even forbidden love hidden behind the laughs and impossible coincidences." She sighed, bringing a hand to her cheek. "I wish I could see such things more often."

"The characters had only known each other for one night and the Kaiu wasn't acting like themself or even seemingly aware most of the time. The Miya and the Kaiu effectively haven't even met yet, how could what the Miya feels possible be called love? I thought love was supposed to be less fragile than that."

There was no malice in the Asahina's words but instead bitterness and confusion.

[Shosuro Hikimasu]

He obviously wants to talk about something, and I'm relatively sure I can escape if he tries to kill me.

"If you'd like to spar I can give you a match, Matsu-san", he replied. Then he regarded Fujiko. "I suppose I can help you as well."

Unless something else comes up, like not getting into a spar with a Matsu.

[Shosuro Hikimasu]

"The characters had only known each other for one night and the Kaiu wasn't acting like themself or even seemingly aware most of the time. The Miya and the Kaiu effectively haven't even met yet, how could what the Miya feels possible be called love? I thought love was supposed to be less fragile than that."

There was no malice in the Asahina's words but instead bitterness and confusion.

Hikimasu thought that an odd thing to say. All feelings are fragile and ephemeral. He thought loving someone was a commitment, something you choose. Passion on the other hand wasn't chosen.

[Kaikoga Fujiko]

"The characters had only known each other for one night and the Kaiu wasn't acting like themself or even seemingly aware most of the time. The Miya and the Kaiu effectively haven't even met yet, how could what the Miya feels possible be called love? I thought love was supposed to be less fragile than that."

There was no malice in the Asahina's words but instead bitterness and confusion.

Fujiko smiled at that. I was waiting for this moment!

"Aha, but you see," she raised a finger, an excessively self-satisfied look on her face. "That is only if you think the romance was between the Miya and Kaiu instead of it being a smokescreen." She turned to the poor, poor Hikimasu who already suffered too much at the mercy of Fujiko's advanced shipping theories. In her mind, his confused look was clearly because he thought the same. "Isn't that right, Shosuro-sama?"

[Shosuro Hikimasu]

Fujiko smiled at that. I was waiting for this moment!

"Aha, but you see," she raised a finger, an excessively self-satisfied look on her face. "That is only if you think the romance was between the Miya and Kaiu instead of it being a smokescreen." She turned to the poor, poor Hikimasu who already suffered too much at the mercy of Fujiko's advanced shipping theories. In her mind, his confused look was clearly because he thought the same. "Isn't that right, Shosuro-sama?"

*nervous laughter intensifies*

[Asahina Soyokaze]

"Aha, but you see," she raised a finger, an excessively self-satisfied look on her face. "That is only if you think the romance was between the Miya and Kaiu instead of it being a smokescreen."

So I did miss a deeper meaning, I knew it, another failure.

"A smokescreen for what Kaikoga-sama, I seem to have missed something you have spotted in this work."

[Kaikoga Fujiko]

So I did miss a deeper meaning, I knew it, another failure.

"A smokescreen for what Kaikoga-sama, I seem to have missed something you have spotted in this work."

"Well you see, in the end, the interaction isn't really between the Miya and the Kaiu, now is it?" This would be a long explanation, likely better had over tea, but her throat was a sacrifice she was ready to make. "When you think about it, really, once Haruko loses her sense to the acupuncturist - who could be anyone - it's between the Miya and the spymaster, really."

As she talked, she unconsciously inched closer and closer to her prey.

"After all, while the witch hunter and the inquisitor just try to have her removed and the monk tries to divine some deeper meaning to her actions, only the spymaster directs her. And where do those directions lead her?" She snapped her fingers. "That's right, right into the Miya's arms. In the end, it's not Haruko the courtier falls in love with. No, just like maidens fall in love with the poet and not his letters, he falls in love with the spymaster and not his pawn."

She started pacing around Soyokaze, her voice getting faster and faster with excitement.

"Oh, but why would he not just come and talk directly to the man he loves?" Her hands were clasped over her heart, and she would have been looking at the moon were the skies not so cloudy. "How hard it must have been to push someone else to him? Well, obviously, their families." As she looked down, her gaze, full of compassion and pain for the starstruck lovers, met Ishioka's. "Yes, the old rivalries getting in the way of new love. How sad, how heartbreaking, but also... how beautiful."

By then, she'd made a complete circle and had ended up next to Hikimasu again.

"Is it not?" she asked him.

"So really, this piece was not about some silly one-day love. No, this was a heartwrenching tale about the many different forms love could take, and how through ingenuity and dedication, it could break free of all chains..."

She bowed her head.

"At least in some small way, the spymaster and the courtier could live their love, if only for a single day."

And she raised it again, looking straight into Soyokaze's eyes, gaze full of conviction.

"And that is why the marriage proposal at the end is so beautiful!"

She let out a long breath and calmed down a bit.

"Um, I mean... at least that was my reading of the play."

[Asahina Soyokaze]

"Well you see, in the end, the interaction isn't really between the Miya and the Kaiu, now is it?" This would be a long explanation, likely better had over tea, but her throat was a sacrifice she was ready to make. "When you think about it, really, once Haruko loses her sense to the acupuncturist - who could be anyone - it's between the Miya and the spymaster, really."

As she talked, she unconsciously inched closer and closer to her prey.

"After all, while the witch hunter and the inquisitor just try to have her removed and the monk tries to divine some deeper meaning to her actions, only the spymaster directs her. And where do those directions lead her?" She snapped her fingers. "That's right, right into the Miya's arms. In the end, it's not Haruko the courtier falls in love with. No, just like maidens fall in love with the poet and not his letters, he falls in love with the spymaster and not his pawn."

She started pacing around Soyokaze, her voice getting faster and faster with excitement.

"Oh, but why would he not just come and talk directly to the man he loves?" Her hands were clasped over her heart, and she would have been looking at the moon were the skies not so cloudy. "How hard it must have been to push someone else to him? Well, obviously, their families." As she looked down, her gaze, full of compassion and pain for the starstruck lovers, met Ishioka's. "Yes, the old rivalries getting in the way of new love. How sad, how heartbreaking, but also... how beautiful."

By then, she'd made a complete circle and had ended up next to Hikimasu again.

"Is it not?" she asked him.

"So really, this piece was not about some silly one-day love. No, this was a heartwrenching tale about the many different forms love could take, and how through ingenuity and dedication, it could break free of all chains..."

She bowed her head.

"At least in some small way, the spymaster and the courtier could live their love, if only for a single day."

And she raised it again, looking straight into Soyokaze's eyes, gaze full of conviction.

"And that is why the marriage proposal at the end is so beautiful!"

She let out a long breath and calmed down a bit.

"Um, I mean... at least that was my reading of the play."

"Your understanding of the situation presented in the play is far deeper than my own, thank you for the lesson. I do not think there are many here who would see the things you have seen." Soyokaze said with a bow.