[Day 5, Late Evening] Three Amigas (Expecting)

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Kasumi-san!" Mitsuko hisses. "Just because you're pretty and smart and confident and everything..." The Crab waves a hand in vague frustration - thankfully not the one holding her sake cup. She growls a little in frustration then shakes her head.

"Anyway," she steers the conversation, "so you've got one, so let's start there. Who are they? Why do they not really work?" The Kuni looks earnest about analyzing and solving the problem, that being how she approaches things.

"He's already engaged t'someone else."

Kasumi sighed, and sipped at her sake.

"So. Even though I can't get'im outta my head, I feel like I need t'try."

[Kuni Mitsuko]

"Oh," Mitsuko says unhelpfully. "That is tough... Um. Darn it. If Rin-san were here she'd have a story that would help..." She tries to think more creatively than she's used to.

"Well, for a 'he' to distract you, what about one of the Shiba boys? Haru-san is pretty sweet, and Kuroneko-san is too..." Mitsuko smiles a little, a sparkle in her eyes showing she's trying to help.

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

This time the Mantis did let her forehead hit the table, albeit slowly and gave voice to a sort of inarticulate groan.

"Too close t'th'source. S'Shiba Jiro I'm talkin' of."

[Togashi Shinko]

"He's already engaged t'someone else."

Kasumi sighed, and sipped at her sake.

"So. Even though I can't get'im outta my head, I feel like I need t'try."

Shinko shrugs. "Doesn't mean you don't have a shot to have some fun. As far as I hear it, a discreet affair is better than holding hands in public, and even those considered "most honorable" seem to find ways of forgetting their objections when they want some quim. " The words are blunt, but Shinko takes a very heavy gulp.

"Wait, is that the duelist or the courtier? Because I see what you mean" Shinko lets out a low whistle. "They are mighty pretty"

[Kuni Mitsuko]

The Kuni's eyes go wide with equal parts wonder and horror at Shinko's words.

"An... Ah..." The Kuni shakes her head vigorously. "Shinko-san, that's not good advice!" She hisses. "That's... I mean, he..." A little desperately she looks at Kasumi, realizing that she's no expert and helping her friend is her real priority. "That wouldn't help anything... Right?"

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Well. It'd be fun. I can be pretty sure'a that. But it'd be a crappy thing t'do t'his intended 'fore they're even married."

[Togashi Shinko]

Shinko shrugs again. "Hey, geisha get work. Otherwise there wouldn't be geisha houses. And don't think for a moment that it's somehow just Ronin or merchants. The men are dipping their wicks just fine. Didn't the Kakita dueling master just acknowledge that he knocked up a Mantis out of wedlock, neh 'Sumi-chan"

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Oh, hell, I got an Imperial bastard in m'family tree..."

[Togashi Shinko]

"Ahhh! See!" Shinko taps her nose knowingly. "And an imperial? Nice. "

She turns back to Mitsuko. "The point being, it's not exactly unplowed land, if you get what I'm saying. " Shinko winks saucily. "I'm not saying it's a smart idea, or that you should do it, but you can stop torturing yourself on the idea you "can't". Maybe you decide that it's not worth the trouble, but it's you flexing your own power and choice, not a "

Shinko looks out and raises a hand theatrically "GASP! WE CANNOT. IT IS FORBIDDEN! "

[Kuni Mitsuko]

"Shinko-san!" Mitsuko growls angrily. "There are lots of things people can do that they shouldn't. What happens after? Hm? She gets to remember one night that she'll never have again? Brilliant!"

The Kuni looks like she might be done, but the bastard talk had struck a nerve too.

"And don't get me started about family histories," she says with a fire in her eyes. "You know who does well from their parents bad choices? One in a thousand bastard children? One in ten thousand? There are plenty of things for parents to screw up even when they're both there, and that sure as Jigoku wouldn't happen here..." Coupled with angry eyes, Mitsuko's Kuni facepaint was much scarier than they'd seen it before.

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

Kasumi seemed to take both outbursts in stride.

Maybe it was the booze.

"An' doesn't address m'real problem. Not hurtin' anyone who don't have it coming."

[Kuni Mitsuko]

Mitsuko softens immediately at her friend's condition. The clueless-about-feelings Kuni emerges, asking quietly, "Does, um... Does he know? Like, how much you're feeling?"

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Oh aye. An' if I didn' think he felt at least a bit th'same, I'd have had a good cry where no one could see me an' prob'ly moved on by now..."

[Togashi Shinko]

Shinko's gaze softens. "You're better than most to care like that. And if you need a room for a while, it's me and Jun for the whole Dragon section back at the inn. I can bother him for While if you need the privacy. "

"And if you need to have it out with the Shiba to know for sure, how about we arrange a date for you. Properly chaperoned by myself and his brother? "

[Kuni Mitsuko]

The Crab looks sideways at Shinko.

"Um, do you... How do you know Shiba Haru-san?" Her hand tightens around her sake cup, but it's a small thing to notice in that moment.

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Also a looker- naturally- an' a bit of a flirt given th'chance."

She sighed.

"Takes too much on himself, though. Boy needs t'relax."

[Togashi Shinko]

"Do you have a problem with those bastards Suko-chan?" Shinko's lips purse at the words.

The Crab looks sideways at Shinko.

"Um, do you... How do you know Shiba Haru-san?" Her hand tightens around her sake cup, but it's a small thing to notice in that moment.

"Met him at the banquet, in passing. I didn't know a thing about him, never mind he was a twin. The boy completely blew me off. He's a swordsman though...you can't hide some of those muscles. All lean and fast twitch"

[Kuni Mitsuko]

"Also a looker- naturally- an' a bit of a flirt given th'chance."

She sighed.

"Takes too much on himself, though. Boy needs t'relax."

Mitsuko grins a little and nods. Then when Shinko offers her opinion, the Crab relaxes, not having realized that she'd gotten... Anxious? Protective? The Kuni shakes her head to clear it. This Is Kasumi-san's time.

"So you, um, just want what you can't have--effectively can't have, I know, Shinko-san," she says, raising her empty hand. "So if we can't distract you, we need to, um, reset you. Like a go board. When one game is lost, you concede and move to the next." The studious Crab nods to affirm herself. "So, um, what... besides Shiba Jiro-san, what would be fun to do while you're here? Let's figure out how to get you that," she says encouragingly.

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Well, not runnin' aground every other damned event would help, but I reckon that's outta our hands..."

[Togashi Shinko]

"Wait...Jiro is the artisan?" Shinko seems to think on it. "Wait, you guys are going for the artisan? "