[EE9] - The Feast of Thanks

[Seppun Urusai]

His Majesty having said to sit up and eat, Urusai does so. To do otherwise would be unthinkable.

Similarly unthinkable would be to fail to offer the appropriate courtesies to his father. Tokaji is on duty, of course, so approaching would be entirely inadvisable at the moment. But perhaps after?

The voice in his mind commends filial piety--and discretion. But Urusai says in an aside to Sakura "You and I will need to speak with him," and he nods in his father's direction. "Your brother can commend us, but he--my father, Seppun Tokaji--will have to approve of it."

Tag!

[Asahina Sakura]

At the word of the Emperor, Sakura sat and returned to her bowl - though all appetite had fled. Her gaze held on Urusai for a beat, then to Tenshin, then Urusai's father, then His Majesty, and finally to Sotori, and where his ephemeral companion had been behind him...

She nodded and replied quietly. "I uh. I... Yes? At his leisure, and yours, of course, um, Seppun-sama."

[Seppun Urusai]

"Is all well?" Urusai asks, taking a bite to give time. "My father can be an imposing man, I know."

[Asahina Sakura]

His concern draws her gaze back to him and Sakura lightens, "It is! I um. It must be good fortune, and an auspicious sign towards our match, that he's here? I mean, that the whole Imperial retinue is!, but um, your father!, in particular... If he ended up here, um, right when you want to talk, with him?"

[Ikoma Aya]

The increased confidence Aya seemed to have tonight could hardly withstand the unexpected visit. The Emperor and his retinue, here?

The first reaction she had was not quite a reaction - she almost choked on the rice she had just bit. It took all of her effort to clean her throat discreetly - or, well, discreetly enough - before doing as the others, kneeling and bowing to the ground.

For some of the others here to be considered special might make sense, probably. Some of them were probably the children of important personages. Seppun Urusai was an Imperial himself; Akodo MIchi seemed to come from important stock, as did some of the others. But... her?

Her mind kept going back to her sister, her family, her friends. They would hardly believe her when she told about this. Or... well, if she could tell them about this, for her sister....

A long blink and a sigh probably go unnoticed, as her head is still touching the ground - and only leaves the ground when the son of heaven bids them to sit up and eat. To hear such praise from the Emperor himself? It... felt unreal. Was this unreal? A dream, perhaps? A nightly gift from Yume-san's spirit?

She pinched herself as she sat at the table again. It didn't feel like a dream... but how could it not be one?

The flame on her eyes showed a hint of pride, after a while, although it was mixed with much confusion.

But for now... rice, fish, tea. And quite a few sideways glances to the others at the table, at a few other pinches now and then, just to be sure...

[Seppun Urusai]

"Er, well, yes," Urusai stammers out.

He takes a sip of tea to give himself more time.

"But you seemed...concerned just then. Is there something I can help with?"

[Asahina Sakura]

"...Not concerned? ...Okay well, yes, concerned. I thought I saw ...I mean, I did see ..." she stumbles through what she wants to say, gaze flicking from Urusai to Sotori again before dropping her voice considerably.
"He's not alone, either," she tilts her head for him to follow her gaze to the Emperor's son.

[Funegao no Hirame]

Having bowed with everyone else, Hirame straightened, smoothing out his clothing.

"Well! How about that?" He said, flashing a grin at everyone around him. Right, reserved and all, yes, but this was the friggin' EMPEROR!

[Seppun Urusai]

"That is...hm."

Urusai's brow furrows.

"I can't think that any...accompaniment would not have been known by my Family. But if we are able to speak to my father, we should not it to him. I don't know who the officer of the detail is here, so he would be the point of contact."

He sighs. "Is there still...company with him?"

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

Uh-huh. Pull the other one, it's got bells on it.

[Asahina Sakura]

He sighs. "Is there still...company with him?"

Her gaze narrowed with focus, but she dared not stare too long before dropping her eyes to her bowl, "No? Uh, not that I see..."
A pause.
"I'm sure they know? They have to know, right?"

[Seppun Urusai]

Urusai shrugs slightly.

"I have to believe it," he says into his bowl. "But we will report it as we can."

Because I can't see it, so I can't act.

The voice in his mind suggests reporting at the earliest possibility. Any delay could be a danger.

"Your brother is an Emerald Magistrate, yes?"

[Kaiu Taura]

While she is eating her food, she is doing so very absent-mindedly, not ill-mannered, just distracted as she tries to commit to memory everything about the Emperor and his family and close associates here. She know she will be asked about it at length so she had best have things to tell them.

And he really did say very kind things about her and the other competitors, that she would have to remember too.

[Shosuro Kaoru]

Kaoru's body had mechanically returned to feed itself, her chopsticks delicately bringing food to her mouth. The processor in her brain however was simply overheating.

So the Emperor was there on a whim. Fine. But seriously, shouldn't at least some of the upper Imperial servants have stayed in the Forbidden City? Actually, wasn't it exactly the duty of the Imperial Chancellor to remain and handle current affairs in such circumstances? So what was the boss of her boss' boss doing there? Who was even running the Empire at that moment?

[Asahina Sakura]

"Your brother is an Emerald Magistrate, yes?"

She nodded quickly, "He is! We should, ...see him? Go to see him? Arrange to see him, in an official capacity."

[Akodo Michi]

Michi took the Emperor's words well and sat up as commanded. Took the words well, as it was expected of her. There was no doubt in her mind her Lord was fortunate to have her. Was she special though? Certainly not. She was what was required. A sword against evil, a life lived with justice. A requirement, regardless of the failures one faces in meeting it.

There, though, she admitted even with lord Toturi present, she still felt very alone. It was not something she would, or perhaps even could show.

[Kakita Ahiru]

Following the rest when given permission to rise and eat, Ahiru took her seat next to Hirame.

"Wow, can you believe it? Such august audience for tomorrow's finals!" she said behind a raised fan, keeping the voice somewhat low. "It must be such a great occasion for the princes too, to have some exciting entertainment tomorrow. I know it's pretty common for the Emperor and his family to observe the Topaz Championship, but since neither his majesty nor the princes were here at the start I had thought they wouldn't show... how lucky we are that they came for the finals."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

So now they get to trot their stage-managed finals in front of the Emperor. And all the jabber about how we're all impressive won't change the fact that only a tiny minority will get to show off that... impressiveness in a way he'll actually see.

What. Fun.

Kasumi simply poked at her food.

Was it far nicer than what she was used to? Sure.

But that really wasn't the point.

[Kaiu Taura]

"Is there something the matter with your food, Yukikaze no Kasumi-san?" Taura asked in a whisper. "It seems quite amazing to this one."

[Shiba Jiro]

Jiro returns to his seat with the emperor's words and eats. He notes Kasumi's mood. He's only known her for about a week, but he can imagine what she is thinking. Something about the pomp being ridiculous probably.

But when he looks to Natsuko he can't even begin to imagine what she thought of the situation. She did all the things she was supposed to, but it was difficult to read her expressions. The only time he had been able to read anything about it was when he disappointed her.

Life... is... so messy.