[D9 LA] Long Time No See

[Kitsu Masaru]

(Expecting but public)

Masaru had been in the mood for some tea after his stroll on the docks. He stopped by the inn to change out of hos sturdier clothes into something a bit finer.

He then made his way to the tea house hoping for some warm tea to drive away the slight chill caused by the rain and unusually cool tenperstures.

[Asahina Sakura]

Spending the whole of the afternoon at the tea house sounded like a good idea to her, and so Sakura already had a seat at a table with a pot of red tea. Spotting the Kitsu, she lifted a hand to signal him over to join her. "Kitsu-san! Please?" she motioned to the empty cushion and nodded. "It's been um, a while? How are you doing, uh, since we last spoke?"

[Kitsu Masaru]

A bright smile lit up the Kitsu's features as he saw the Asahina summon him over his warm eyes looking to hers as he bowed and joined her "please Masaru is fine at this point." He said with a chuckle as he sat.

"But things have been....interesting. busy, but interesting for sure. Less time for socializing than I would have liked." He said with a small shrug.

"What about you? Been keeping busy?"

[Asahina Sakura]

She gave him a wide smile and shook her head quickly before pouring tea for him. "Then I am Sakura to you?"

Adjusting to sit comfortably again, she moves to tuck hair behind her ear but instead finds none, it all being pulled back into a tight bun instead.

"Interesting? Interesting how? I mean. Good! That's good to hear! Me? Oh. Um. I. Well. I've been getting to know the other contestants... and keeping up the Shrine? I um. Hm." Her nose wrinkled as she struggled to figure out how to catch him up.

[Kitsu Masaru]

He met her eyes holding them for a moment "If you want to be." He said simply before nodding in thanks for the tea and taking a sip.

As he sets the cup down he chuckles "Well, first of all I'm placed much higher than I expected. My only hope coming here was that I wouldn't embarrass myself, or more importantly my dojo and clan. But never did I dream I'd end up possibly going into the iaijutsu tournament. Its.....a lot really." He certainly seemed less composed than their last meeting, a bit of nervous energy permeating his being. It was not with bragadocious swagger he talked about his standing but with a more shocked bewilderment.

He shook his head "and on top of that a group of contestants tracked down and turned in at least one of the criminals smuggling opium here."

He took another small drink and a breath "Well just many things I never expected when I arrived here."

He nodded along with her explanation "Thats good for you though, it was heartening to see the contestants come together to care for the shrine. And socializing, well thats certainly something I wish I'd had more time for." He said his smile softening a fraction as he looked down to the tea and then back to her "but it's good, making connections is important for these kinds of things."