Nozomi's small figure can be seen on the aftdeck as the clouds overhead begin to gather. Carefully she begins her stretches, and enjoys the lick of the sun's heat against her skin. After a time, she moves to begin practicing the stances and small strikes that Himiko and the Badger had briefly shown her.

Taking a moment to enjoy the weather before the eventual rain would come, Naomi walked to the aftdeck the hour before she would start her duty for the evening.

She noticed that Nozomi seemed to be training, and instead of interrupting her fellow Shiba, decided to take a seat on deck and watch her training like a sensei would.
Or at least she tried to give the impression of a sensei.

At first, Nozomi doesn't notice her audience, and continues her movements slowly and with great focus. One of them involves a half-turn with a sweep of the leg, and this brings her clan mate into view. The girl's focus falters, and she slowly drops her arms from their positions and pulls herself to a more centered stance. Bowing, she says, "Sh-shiba-san... I didn't see you th-there. Decide to c-come and enjoy the af-afternoon, as well?"

"Hai, I figured I'd enjoy the weather before the rain comes on us... I didn't mean to intrude on your training, of course," she offered a smile. "And please, do call me by my given name."

"If you'd like, N-naomi-san... Although I can't say the t-training is likely to be overly ef-effective. Doesn't hurt t-to try, though."

She shakes her head "I'm p-probably already better than th-that Unicorn... As l-long as I stay that way, I s-suppose..."

"Eh? What about a Unicorn?" she looked slightly puzzled, wondering what it was about. There were enough Unicorn to choose from onboard, after all.

"The touchy one." She fully meant both the meanings implied in the statement.

Wrinkling her nose a little, she adds quietly,"Although the o-other Iuchi doesn't strike m-me as the type to r-really get out and exercise m-much, either. He's a st-strange one..."

Almost inaudibly comes the mumble,"Coming f-from me, that's s-saying something,"

Naomi wasn't quite sure what was the deal with Rinzuki, except that she seemed to have been involved in that spectacle earlier...

"Oh, him? He's not that bad, is he? I think he's kinda nice..."

"N-nice enough, I suppose. Shows p-proper respect to S-s-suitengu-no kami, at least." She looks out to the ocean as she mentions the kami's name.

Looking back to the other Shiba, Nozomi shivers slightly, "Until you sh-show reluctance to be im-impressed by his g-gaijin... toy. Then he acts p-personally insulted."

Naomi blinked. "The what toy now?" And he hasn't shown me...?

Nozomi wrinkles her nose at the recollection. "That... S-seefar Occulum he's always c-carrying about. It's a m-metal tube... He's oddly d-defensive over the th-thing."

"Oh, that thing? I don't think I had a problem with it..." Naomi shrugged. "Maybe a misunderstanding?" She had a hard time believing Xiao Hua to be a bad person.

Nozomi sniffs and runs her fingers through her hair, pushing her bangs back away from her face. " As you s-say, Naomi-san. He k-knows the words of Shinsei v-very well, which is heartening. Even if he d-does seem to somehow have gotten the o-opinion you were a p-pauper because you cook for your f-family."

The smaller of the Shiba looks at her cousin,"I suggested y-you do it because you c-care for your family, a c-concept he seemed to have t-trouble wrapping his h-head around."

Nozomi really couldn't have cared how the Unicorn had felt, usually, but she had definitely felt a bit defensive over it due to the fact the man had been distainful of a member of her family. A bit of Isawa pride and arrogance having rubbed off on her? Possibly. Or maybe a Shiba's innate desire to be protective of others? Also very possible.

Naomi blinked, obviously shocked or something.
"P-p-pauper? My family?!" She stammered out in a stunned voice.

She sighed. "... It's not because we're poor that I tend to such things at home, far from it. We're hardly poor... but, father is a traditional man when it comes to a woman's place in the household."

The little shugenja watches her clansmate's feathers ruffle. "I don't th-think the Unicorn understand t-traditional, Naomi-san."

And how could they, really?

"Perhaps you're right..."

I thought this would be fine at first, but now... Naomi looked lost as she tried to put her thoughts properly in place.

"What else do you know about him?"

"Not a g-great deal. He's got a h-horse back at home..." Nozomi shrugs in the middle of her exercise. "Seems a b-bit proud of being a m-merchant." Of all things. Her tone clearly indicates how she feels about that.

"What do y-you know of him? Or his c-clanmates? You m-might have seen a very d-different side of them all." She somehow doubts it, bit if it was a member of her family saying so, she'd be far more inclined to believe it.

"Uhm, I haven't spent that much time with the other Unicorn... the other Iuchi, well, I'd rather not give her too much attention, considering how much she puts on an act to get it. The Shinjo seems decent enough."

"He's the one I've spent the most time with out of all of them," Naomi looked around a bit, wondering how many might be listening. "I should try to get to know him better, after all..."

"I agree a-about the Shinjo..." Nozomi tilts her head slightly, her curiosity getting the better of her, "But wh-why him over any of the o-other crew-mates?"

"Oh... I should get to know everyone well, of course. Crewmates almost get to be like a family after some time, after all..."

She lowered her eyes. "But... please don't tell anyone this, Nozomi-san..." Naomi's voice lowered. "... My family has arranged for me to marry him. We didn't know the other one was going to be here on the same ship."