It had been suggested by the Doji he met that he get one of those black bottles as a souvenir, so Jiro stopped by the Sake house. He didn't have plans to drink that evening, but who knows what might happen. Perhaps he'll run into someone that enjoys a drink and he'll get suckered into it?

A fairly unmistakable young Crab enters the sake house just after the Phoenix, finding her way to a table and ordering a bottle of the allegedly famous Poisoned Water Sake. There was no reason to doubt it would be high quality, but Mitsuko was already convinced it would be an inferior product to some of what she knew from home. Can't give these frail northerners the sort of kick that Crab need, she thought as she grinned at the arriving bottle and cups. Two for just me, Mitsuko questions. Oh, they must think... Oh well.

The Phoenix approaches the Crab and bows. "Kuni Mitsuko-san, it's a pleasure to see you again. You did well with the event earlier."

The Kuni looks up and manages to show little reaction, though inside her head the question thunders Crap, which of the twins is this?

"Ah, good evening, Shiba-san. And thank you. Um, care for a drink? I'm not about to drink this all myself. Just wanted to give it a try..." She shrugs mildly toward the other side of the table, inelegantly inviting him to join her.

"I would be glad to join you Kuni-san," he replied with a gentle smile, then asks. "Able to tell us apart yet?"

He looks to the bottle. "I was told that these make nice souvenirs and the sake was worth trying."

"Er, no..." Mitsuko grudgingly admits. "It, um... I am not used to trying to differentiate samurai from other clans very carefully."

Wait. Damn it. Shouldn't have said that.

Before she says anything more in her irritation with herself, the Crab makes a point of pouring a cup of the famous sake for Jiro and then one for herself. She looks at the swirl of dark liquid thoughtfully for a moment before looking back to the Phoenix expectantly.

He takes the cup and grins before offering a toast. "To new challenges and new friends," he says. Then waits for her to join him in lifting her cup and drinks with her.

Mitsuko smiles at Jiro's easy command of a nice toast and doesn't hesitate to raise her cup and drink with him. Her "kampai" was uncharacteristically softly spoken for a Crab.

"Um, what do you think, Shiba-san? Of the sake," she clarifies unnecessarily.

He clears his throat a bit after the drink his eyes widening slightly. "It's very good. But the stories are quite true about it being strong as well. Definitely a sipping sake. But it compares favorably to sake I have had in the past," he replied with a smile.

"Also, this is how you can tell us apart usually," he says pulling the heavy duty work gloves from his obi. "I've almost always got them with me. Haru usually is wearing a couple little netsuke I've carved for him."

He sets the gloves on his lap.

Mitsuko nods thoughtfully at the appraisal of the sake, and she nods again as Jiro explains the trick to telling them apart.

"That's helpful," she says genuinely. "You are... Incredibly alike. The strong resemblance in my family is nothing by comparison."

"We get that all the time," he jokes. "You have siblings?"

"Hai. Five. It's um, why I'm Mitsuko. 'Third girl' or something," the Kuni says, looking a touch embarrassed. Was that... No, that sake wasn't that strong...

"But I'm the fourth child of six. Um. Lots of shugenja, like mother and father." Feeling some feeling that she doesn't care for, the Crab takes another, though slow and small, drink of the sake.

"Wow! That's a lot of brothers and sisters." He smiles at that. "And being here at the Topaz championship, I'll bet you are the most talented too."

He takes a small sip.

If Mitsuko had been sipping the sake when Jiro complimented her, she might have been surprised enough to spit it in his face. Fortunately she is only holding the cup, and her eyes simply bulge at the preposterousness of that idea.

"Um, Shiba-san, I must have misspoken. All the others are shugenja, like mother and father. It... They are assuredly all more talented than I am." The Kuni looks about as nervous as is possible through the face paint.

"What? No," he says in surprise. "Being a shugenja doesn't make a person more talented. It means they have different gifts. Trust me, as someone who grew up among the Phoenix. The ability to speak with the kami does not preclude a person from being a buffoon. Sure, they're a priest and hold an honored position, but it doesn't automatically make them talented. I am sure your siblings are capable in their own right. But you... you're here."

He smiles at her.

"You're the one that has the opportunity to potentially become the Topaz champion this year, not them."

Mitsuko looks at the Phoenix seriously.

"That's... true..." She says slowly, clearly unconvinced. "I mean, they're not... They're not the right ages, but I still see what you're trying to say." Mitsuko looks down at her sake cup contemplatively. "Three of them are already past gempukku... Even mother didn't get invited to Topaz," she says quietly and trails off.

"And there are priests competing here against you for the same title. So," he shrugs.

"Clearly the ability to speak with the kami does not automatically make someone more talented than another. Just like having green eyes or being taller doesn't. They are just born different. Still have to work to master their craft."

He sips his sake.

"You have done so to the point that you earned your clan's confidence. If you're going to represent them, may as well have the same confidence they do about you, no?"

Mitsuko looks at the Phoenix with wide eyes.

"I... Um. Confidence. Right. It'll be good," the Crab says, not looking very convincing. "Um." She takes another sip of sake. "You don't seem to lack any confidence, Shiba-san," she says quite honestly.

"Contextually, sure," he says with a smirk. "I have zero confidence in my ability to win this tournament. But then, when's the last time an artisan won it? To the best of my knowledge, never. But at the end of the day, I am an artisan that made it here. Which is as close as any other artisan has made to winning it. So I'm in good company."

"That... It..." Mitsuko seems to have great difficulty responding. Finally she says, with a hint of anger, "How do you do that?" She raises her empty hand to gesture vaguely at the Phoenix. "Like... How do you do so calm?" A moment later she realizes the words weren't quite right, but she looks at Jiro with clear You know what I mean eyes.