Aya has been walking in much slowlier steps than usual since.... possibly since her duel with Hirame this morning. She's possibly not even aware of that - and if she is, she definitely couldn't quite put into words why.

The... Emperor had come to see them. Crown Prince Sotorii had watched her first duel. The Emerald Champion had watched the duel between her and her fellow Lion, Michi - and come down to congratulate them!

It was all still hard to believe. Could... could she actually be doing something worthy of fulfiling her promise to Yume-chan? Starting to fulfil the promise, rather. It was a lifelong promise. But... for a moment or two, she felt almost as if she were worthy of being here. Of... of living up to ...

A growl in her stomach and a slight sting in her right ankle suddenly made her come back to the present. Aya and Rin would have some time before the next duel, thankfully - and as surreal as this day was, their bodily functions still worked pretty much the same as on any other day.

A slight smile found its way to her lips as she thought that and remembered her last sparring session with Rin, both of them sharing their food before going back to training. Maybe they could do the same before the duel?

She tested her right foot on the ground. It might warrant a quick look, maybe a salve. Maybe Rin could use some help before the match too. It... didn't have to be too different from their previous matches as they trained together during the championship, after all, right? Knowing what she knew of Suzume-san... she wouldn't cheat, or suddenly see her as an enemy, ne? It was... it could be just a lunch break like any other, both of them getting ready to one more match.

Right?

Ikoma Aya wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 10, 2021 9:05 am

Snip!

"Ikoma-sama!"
Said Rin was hurrying over to Aya, sleeves flapping and...were those bean buns?...Where had she even?

"Ikoma-sama!"
Rin bows deeply
"Don't you go running anywhere on that ankle now. I got buns here, and this really nice servant just up and asked if he could bring me food and I told him no, he could bring us food. 'Course he didn't know the us but he knows the me and I'm part of the us so he'll figure it out."

Buns are indeed offered.

"We should get you somewhere where you can sit down. Ain't right you should be dueling if you're not at yer best now."

Suzume Rin wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 10, 2021 9:11 am

"Ikoma-sama!"
Said Rin was hurrying over to Aya, sleeves flapping and...were those bean buns?...Where had she even?

"Ikoma-sama!"
Rin bows deeply
"Don't you go running anywhere on that ankle now. I got buns here, and this really nice servant just up and asked if he could bring me food and I told him no, he could bring us food. 'Course he didn't know the us but he knows the me and I'm part of the us so he'll figure it out."

Buns are indeed offered.

"We should get you somewhere where you can sit down. Ain't right you should be dueling if you're not at yer best now."

Aya's overthinking as she held tight to the netsuke on her obi is quickly overcome by Rin's triumphant entry - with buns! Where had she even?...

"Suzume-san!", Aya said in a much calmer, more confident voice than she had had... at any point today so far, probably, turning to meet the Sparrow with a slight smile even. "I told you you'd be a tough and strong competitor, hadn't I?", the deep voice said. "Wish I could have seen your duels, Suzume-san! You've done well even against such a strong opponent as Togashi Shinko-san!"

She takes one slow breath... as she seems to be getting a tad overexcited.

"Oh, and this?" she taps her right food on the ground. "It should be nothing! Ah... are you hurt, then? I, ah, I'll try and take a quick look at my foot, just to be sure, so I, ah, could help you too I suppose!" She turns to a furoshiki she had brought to the academy, gets some balms and tinctures from a travel medkit there. "I... ah, this, eto... it helps if something's sprained, or just hurting! Sure you must know even more than I do about such things, ne?", she says somewhat awkwardly as she looks for a herbal tincture to apply on her ankle.

"I... have onigiri again, too! Shall we sit down and find a place to eat and do this, then?"

The salve didn't do much for the ankle itself, sadly. But it was soothing!

Now what could they do while eating... stories, maybe?? Or...

She fished something else out of the furoshiki. A shakuhachi flute. Of course!

.... really? Of course? Now?

"Ah... do you enjoy Honkyoku, Suzume-san? Or... do you play?", she asked, tapping the flute.

OOC:
Rolling First-aid (Support action, can be used in a fight, so should be fast!) on Aya and Rin!
On Aya
D10 EA - Lunchtime! - First Aid (pg.157). Water (3)/Medicine(1) roll on Aya. | TN: 2 | Success: 1 / Opportunity: 2 / Strife: 0

1 sux, 2 opp - WELP! No healing.
1 Opp heals 2 strife though!
ALSO - 1 Opp for: If you failed, provide assistance to the next character trying to accomplish the same action (just in case XD)
Composure at 2/8

EDIT: STRIFE, not strain. Wrong game!
EDIT - one Opp went unused!

Ikoma Aya wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 10, 2021 9:43 am

Snip!

"Oh just got lucky is all. Both Togashi-sama and Kitsu-sama were real fearsome, glad we were just using bokken. I bet your duels were much more exciting, pretty sure I heard the 'bonks' from my side."

And then Aya reveals she has more food. Best.Duel opponent.Ever. Onigiri is exchanged for buns, onigiri is slain without mercy, consumed in an instant. Rin still isn't thrilled the Lion isn't at peak strength, but she reckons it will take more than a strained ankle to stop 'the girl with fire eyes'.

"Honkyoku? Oh..um, I'd hate to disturb our lunch with horrible wailing."
She gingerly takes the flute
"Only know simple tunes really, sorta stuff you play for the family when the day's over and folk just want to rest and all."

Day 10 LA Lunch Gap

Water/Performance to play the flute and maybe drop some stress with Aya's permission. TN 1 | TN: 1 | Success: 1 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 0


((Well..very kind of you Sakaku, spend the opp to drop 2 strife))

True to form it's a simple tune, one anyone could play with a little practice. Starting slow and somber but speeding up into the sort of fast beat which gets hands clapping and feed stamping...well, maybe not in polite company.

A little embarrassed, Rin hands back the instrument.
"Gosh...sorry about that. But, I do feel a bit lighter now? Guess a distraction did me some good. Hope all that honking wasn't too distracting Ikoma-sama."

Suzume Rin wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 10, 2021 9:58 am

"Oh just got lucky is all. Both Togashi-sama and Kitsu-sama were real fearsome, glad we were just using bokken. I bet your duels were much more exciting, pretty sure I heard the 'bonks' from my side."

"Oh..." Hearing that as she starts to rub the tincture on to her ankle, she turns to Rin genuinely worried. "Did you now, Suzume-san? I... I hope I haven't hit Funegao-san (seriously, Aya? Again?, she thinks right after she calls him ship name-san) and Akodo-san harder than I should! I... ah... that wouldn't be honourable! To hit with greater force than necessary and alll..."

Suzume Rin wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 10, 2021 9:58 am

"Honkyoku? Oh..um, I'd hate to disturb our lunch with horrible wailing."
She gingerly takes the flute
"Only know simple tunes really, sorta stuff you play for the family when the day's over and folk just want to rest and all."

True to form it's a simple tune, one anyone could play with a little practice. Starting slow and somber but speeding up into the sort of fast beat which gets hands clapping and feed stamping...well, maybe not in polite company.

A little embarrassed, Rin hands back the instrument.
"Gosh...sorry about that. But, I do feel a bit lighter now? Guess a distraction did me some good. Hope all that honking wasn't too distracting Ikoma-sama."

Thankfully Rin takes the instrument and starts playing before Aya continues the overthinking she'd got back to. Simple tune or not, it was soothing, and it brought a smile to her lips. The simple tune was not quite the same as those they played back home, but she thought she'd heard it once - many of them were traditional tunes, after all. But more importantly, it reminded her of the time when the whole family would take up an instrument each and play something, then usually father would stop to tell a story, or just tell something that had happened to him (wait, that was a story too, wasn't it?), often ending with a witty remark or a joke. Aya and her sister would usually look to one another, often cringe, and start laughing - her mother often chiding them. They had to keep their feelings in check! Well... not always, but they shouldn't be laughing around like that...

The memory brought a curl to her lips... and it made her want to do something similar.

"Oh.. that was a nice tune, Suzume-san! And... I think I've heard a similar tune once? Do you also take lessons with the traditional books?" Her eyes lowering to the ground. "Ah! I... ah, suppose not? It's funny though, this is very much one of the tunes my father played once - I think he said he learned it at the Ikoma Bard academy?"... And so she starts telling a story about her family's forays into music, asking Rin now and then what her own relation to music was... and to storytelling!

Trying to build on her father's and mother's tradition - now weakened after her sister Yume-chan's parting, which she now actually mentioned in passing to Rin - she included... actual jokes here and there while telling the story. "But then.. you know, you say 'honking', ne, Suzume-san, but then how different would that be, ne? Honking-kiaku, Honkyaku - one naturally leads to another, ne?", she says close to the end, her deep voice deadpan. "And your piece, really... it was a first prize in a lottery!*"

*Hon-ku-ji - 本籤. Yeah, I know...

OOC:
D10 EA - Lunchtime! Stories and plays on words... Air(2)/Performance(1) TN 1 for fluff! Wordplay passion applies! Recovers 3 strife as a result. | TN: 1 | Success: 2 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 1

2 sux, 1 opp, 1 strife - not THAT bad of a story + jokes after all!
1 strife taken, 3 recovered due to Passion, for a total of -2 strife!
Composure at 0/8
1 Opp spent to: Learn another character in the scene’s demeanor (if an NPC) and current strife. - Let's say Rin!

Ikoma Aya wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 10, 2021 10:22 am

"Oh..." Hearing that as she starts to rub the tincture on to her ankle, she turns to Rin genuinely worried. "Did you now, Suzume-san? I... I hope I haven't hit Funegao-san (seriously, Aya? Again?, she thinks right after she calls him ship name-san) and Akodo-san harder than I should! I... ah... that wouldn't be honourable! To hit with greater force than necessary and alll..."

Thankfully Rin takes the instrument and starts playing before Aya continues the overthinking she'd got back to. Simple tune or not, it was soothing, and it brought a smile to her lips. The simple tune was not quite the same as those they played back home, but she thought she'd heard it once - many of them were traditional tunes, after all. But more importantly, it reminded her of the time when the whole family would take up an instrument each and play something, then usually father would stop to tell a story, or just tell something that had happened to him (wait, that was a story too, wasn't it?), often ending with a witty remark or a joke. Aya and her sister would usually look to one another, often cringe, and start laughing - her mother often chiding them. They had to keep their feelings in check! Well... not always, but they shouldn't be laughing around like that...

The memory brought a curl to her lips... and it made her want to do something similar.

"Oh.. that was a nice tune, Suzume-san! And... I think I've heard a similar tune once? Do you also take lessons with the traditional books?" Her eyes lowering to the ground. "Ah! I... ah, suppose not? It's funny though, this is very much one of the tunes my father played once - I think he said he learned it at the Ikoma Bard academy?"... And so she starts telling a story about her family's forays into music, asking Rin now and then what her own relation to music was... and to storytelling!

Trying to build on her father's and mother's tradition - now weakened after her sister Yume-chan's parting, which she now actually mentioned in passing to Rin - she included... actual jokes here and there while telling the story. "But then.. you know, you say 'honking', ne, Suzume-san, but then how different would that be, ne? Honking-kiaku, Honkyaku - one naturally leads to another, ne?", she says close to the end, her deep voice deadpan. "And your piece, really... it was a first prize in a lottery!*"

*Hon-ku-ji - 本籤. Yeah, I know...

OOC:
D10 EA - Lunchtime! Stories and plays on words... Air(2)/Performance(1) TN 1 for fluff! Wordplay passion applies! Recovers 3 strife as a result. | TN: 1 | Success: 2 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 1

2 sux, 1 opp, 1 strife - not THAT bad of a story + jokes after all!
1 strife taken, 3 recovered due to Passion, for a total of -2 strife!
Composure at 0/8
1 Opp spent to: Learn another character in the scene’s demeanor (if an NPC) and current strife. - Let's say Rin!

"Greater force than necessary? Ikoma-sama you're sweeter than Mochi. I know you ain't gonna hit anyone any harder than they deserve. One whack here and there is fine. I think the honourable part is you caring so much, it's very proper."

As for the stories, well. Rin sits and listens with rapt attention happily interjecting when Aya asks a question. When she learns about the Ikoma's sister Rin actually sniffles, although she'd play it off as a cold if anyone asked.

"Honking...first-"
There's an undignified snort and much sleeve fluttering as Rin does her best to maintain her composure.
"Gosh, and you're funny too! You say it so plain like and then whack! You're joking."

(( Rin's at 2/8 on composure))

Jiro approaches the pair and bows, a package in hand. "Good Afternoon. It is an honor to meet with both of you. I have, if you would like, been trained in the tea ceremony and would be glad to help both of you find your center in preparation for your final match."

He rises from his bow and smiles gently.

---

Ooc:. Rolling to get it out of the way, so as to not delay, but not specifically happening in the post

D10 LA, Tea Ceremony for Rin and Aya, Skilled Assist from Rin, VP | TN: 2 | Success: 2 / Opportunity: 2 / Strife: 0

Success, everyone heals 3 strife

With opps I can:
1) give everyone a VP
2) heal a fatigue and lower next roll TN by 1

Leaning towards VP option currently

Natsuko follows with nothing in hand, but satchel bulging a bit with the collection of onigiri stuffed inside. She looks as cheery as her general lack of actual expression can. Perhaps there's some relaxation to muscles around the mouth and eyes giving that impression?

"The possibilities around you both are dizzying," she says as she bows to the pair. She asks Aya, 'was that the Emerald Champion speaking to you after your last victory?"

**************
Also for later, narratively, but rolling to avoid holdups elsewhere.

Day 10 LA: Medicine/Water for first aid on Aya. Void point spent. | TN: 2 | Success: 2 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 1


For Aya, I believe: -1 Fatigue
opp and strife cancel

Isawa Natsuko wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 10, 2021 3:46 pm

Natsuko follows with nothing in hand, but satchel bulging a bit with the collection of onigiri stuffed inside. She looks as cheery as her general lack of actual expression can. Perhaps there's some relaxation to muscles around the mouth and eyes giving that impression?

"The possibilities around you both are dizzying," she says as she bows to the pair. She asks Aya, 'was that the Emerald Champion speaking to you after your last victory?"

The girl turns to Natsuko, the scene of them both training just a couple days back* coming to her with another smile. She was... an odd one, the Isawa. True to what those in her area said about them, possibly? But... still nice, in a way?

"It was!", Aya said when her mind stopped racing. "I... was quite surprised! I'm sure Akodo-san was, too! Although... maybe she had seen him before? She did train at the main school of the Akodo War College in Hayaken, after all."

But for me to see him? And.. receive that honour??

Her on seems to have a hard time pretending to not be too excited.

"Has... has Isawa-san.... do you... know Akodo-ue as well, then?"

OOC:
* (I'm assuming that happened!)

Natsuko shakes her head, "I only thought I recognized the symbols there. A great honor, even if he were *only* your champion. And all watched by the empreror. Might never see him again in all our years."

She settles to a seat, beginning to pull out food, then notices the buns and onigiri already there. "Oh, well, we will have plenty to eat, at least. Umeboshi, flaked fish, spiced egg, and kanpo," she names of the fillings as she sets them out.

"And tea if I recognize Shiba-san's kit there."

He nods, moving to set out the teaware. Four participants was beyond his ability to focus on, but he felt he would be able to stretch it to only the two duelists easily enough.

He smiles at everyone as he readies for the ceremony, nodding and guiding, enlisting Rin's assistance in the process. The experience should leave all refreshed and more ready for the match.