Kasumi eased the door open and looked about.

Perfect.

Hirame was out.

She motioned to her accomplice to follow her in as she produced a tiny, horrible thing from inside of her kimono.

Dressed in her plainer garb that she had worn for the more physical tests, Ahiru didn't stand out as she normally did in her ceremonial clothing. And it was way easier to move without all those layers too as she followed Kasumi.

"I managed to make a few more this morning, before the test..."

"Oh? Good work, Kakita-san!"

Kasumi's grin was genuinely sunny as she positioned her single nightmare-doll where it could "watch" Hirame enter.

"Bein' as you're his wife to be, I'm not gonna be too pushy with suggestions... but if y'want, I can take one and sash it in his boat a bit later..."

"Ooooh, that sounds like a good idea," Ahiru concealed a mischevious grin behind a raise sleeve.

Yes, she was enjoying this last few days of silliness before they all had to become adults (disclaimer: being an adult wasn't all that it was cracked up to be).

"I'll leave boat-adventures to you. I'm... not very good with ships and the like. Don't want to risk falling in and drowning."

"'Sides, I'm less likely t'be noticed down at th'waterfront."

She cocked her head at the Crane.

Smiled.

"By th' by, sorry if I needled ya a bit yesterday. I'm not s'good at, well... mindin' feelins. Was just tryin' t'say, if y'end up in th' Mantis, we'll value ya highly."

Ahiru sighed, feeling lots of conflicting emotions on the issue. "It's alright... I took no offense. And it's not that I think the Mantis wouldn't value me. It's more... leaving behind the life I know. Fitting in. Finding my way."

"Funny."

Kasumi grinned.

"Y'strike me as th'sort t'land on yer feet. An'make it look easy. Wherever y'go."

"All samurai should make the most out of any situation they're in to best serve their lords," she replied, a bit automatically as it was the kind of stuff she had been told all her life especially about the various expectations and duties awaiting her as an adult samurai. "But to be perfectly honest I would hate to spend most of my life on a ship. Stinking of salt water and brine as I put on a pleasant smile in the ports I visit."

"If destiny wills me to become a Mantis, then I will give it my all, but I will do it on my terms in the ways I want to."

Kasumi's grin widened.

"Yeah. You'd be a great Mantis, Kakita-san. Now... where else should we hide on of these little presents?"

Ahiru wasn't sure how to feel about the compliment, so she focused on the task at hand instead.

"Hmmm... does he have a chest or trunk for his clothing? It would be an unexpected place."

"Oh, aye, right over there... an' maybe I c'n... na, too obvious. One in th' boat, one in th' sea-chest, an' p'raps one under th'rafters, lookin' down from above?"

"Ah that's a good idea. One in the rafters might even remain hidden for quite some time."

Most people didn't spend a lot of time looking up at the ceiling after all, so it could probably stay there unseen until morning!

"Awright, reckon I c'n shimmy up there without too much fuss..."

It was how she'd hung her own hammock, after all.

"But if I, ah... miscalculated? Y'might wanna be a body-lnegth clear-a me, just in case..."

She raised an eyebrow questioningly. "A body-length clear of you? Why, whatever for...?"

"In case I fall. Woulnd't do t'land on ya!"

The tone was perfectly cheerful as the Mantis started shimmying up the rafters like a squirrel.

"Oh. Oh... right, yes, that makes sense."

But wouldn't it be useful to have someone nearby to catch her...? Pffft, little duckling, as if you'd be able to catch anyone falling, let alone doing anything more than letting them break their fall on you.

Stepping away, she made sure to keep a good distance between herself and Kasumi, watching her shimmy-shammy her way up with some concern. "Are... you sure this is safe?"

"Nope!"

She carefully placed the tiny nightmare in the rafter at an angle where it looked as if it were trying to hide.

"But pretty much nothin' is, in my experience. An' no one ever got ahead playin' it safe. Y'take your chances if y'think they're worth it."

She swung down, hanging from the crossbeam by her hands before lightly dropping to the floor.

"An' anyway, I spend a lotta time atop a mast, you wanna talk about not safe... hoo."

Goodness me, Ahiru thought as she watched the acrobatics.

"Ah, the mast. That is the..." she thought, tapping her chin, "the column, at the center of the ship, yes?"

"Aye. I sit in th' crow's nest a fair bit, servin' as lookout. Way up top. It's a lotta things, but safe ain't one'a them... but th' funny thing is? I'm way more comfortable up there than I been anywhere in Tsuma. An' s'far as I can tell, just as safe. Safer, maybe."

"Why do you feel so comfortable up there? With no shelter from the elements, so high up that a misstep could be fatal...?" it seemed she was genuinly trying to figure out why Kasumi would prefer the crow's nest to Tsuma as a whole.