It was looking to be a fine day, Naomi concluded to herself as she looked at the sky above the ship. And the wind was refreshing too.

Dressed in simple hakama and a sleevless top, she was prepared for a first day at sea. She missed the feeling of silk from the kimono now stowed away in her chest below deck, but she knew that such clothes had no place for someone who should be on duty on a ship.

She hummed lightly to herself as she studied the sky once again, feeling certain that today would be a pleasant day to sail.

Dressed in a purple kobakama, one normally worn by a rider, but also well suited for a naval life and a simple short sleeved white shirt, Iuchi Xiao Hua made his way to the foredeck, yawning as he did so.

Noticing a girl... a woman he had met briefly the day humming near the railing, he walked to her, curious to solve a certain mystery. Not wanting to scare her, the man greeted the Shiba from a proper distance.

"Good morning, Shiba-san."

"Oh, good morning, Iuchi-sama," she looked back at him, then turned to bow.

"Judging by the sky, Tengoku seems to keep Suitengu-Kami at peace today. It should be a smooth sailing." Naomi straightened from her bow. "Have you had rice?"

Following her gaze to sky, the man nodded. "That sounds about right."

Turning to regard Naomi again, he continued, smiling. "Ah, not yet. How about Shiba-san?"

She gave a nod in reply to that.

"It seems there are surprisingly many of your kin on board, Iuchi-sama. I didn't know that sailing was so popular with the Unicorn."

Hum... I feel I should ask, just to be sure... oh, but it would make me look so silly if it wasn't the case.

Smiling a bit sheepishly, the man chuckled before he replied. "To be honest, I didn't know it either. But I guess, we all go where our duties take us."

Blushing ever so slightly, he tilted his head to the side and asked. "This may sound strange, but is your father mayhaps Shiba Gunichi of the Happy Mermaid Harbour?"

Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ohmigosh...

It was surely the sun that was the cause of her pink cheeks now. "Why, yes... that'd be him, unless there's another Shiba Gunichi somewhere in a port with similar name. Do..." a pause as she formulated her question, "... you know him, by chance?"

"Erm, no.. I have only heard of him. My father has met him, though." he shuffled at the spot, somewhat embarrassed. This was certainly unexpected.

What you leave behind, you shall find before you. As far as Xiao Hua was concerned, the little teacher had been painfully right when he said that, over thousand years before.

"My family has an... agreement of sort with his house." Word 'trade pact' would remind her of money, and thus, was word the man wanted to avoid.

Oh dear...

There was some uneasy shuffling of feet.

"... I thought I recognized the name, but I imagined it was... well, someone else. Not that I have anything against you, of course, but... well, it was kinda a very odd coincidence..." her voice faded into a murmur.

"I suppose it gives us a chance to get to know eachother... right?"

Suddenly, Xiao Hua seemed to think that his feet were the most interesting thing in the world.

"The same." he muttered, sheepishly. Oh dear... Oh poor Hana...

Lifting his gaze carefully to meet hers, the man continued. "Yes, talk about coincidences. Or, maybe this is an auspicious encounter..." he chuckled in an awkward manner. "The Fortunes work in mysterious ways.."

"And yes, you are right." Iuchi nodded, more firmly. "That can't be a bad thing."

Silver lining on a rather dark cloud. Small, dark cloud.

I'm probably not pretty enough...

Naomi didn't allow such a pessimistic thought to darken her expression.
"Well, we shall still have to do our duties... here, on this ship, I mean. It should take priority that we can perform well here, yes?"

"Ah, yes, of course." the man admitted readily. "I would expect nothing less from a samurai of the Shiba."

Trying to ease the somewhat awkward mood, the Iuchi tried to smile disarmingly. "But, I would like to learn to know you a little. Assuming we have the time."

Inwardly, he sighed. Well, at least was somewhat pretty. And she wasn't too skinny either. Good hips for child bearing, she seemed to have. But still, he longed to be with Hana.

But then again, duty was duty.

"Likewise... Iuchi-sama." She had considered to give a try to say his name, but if it didn't roll well in her mind, then she probably couldn't make it roll well on her tongue.

"I think we'll have time though, unless we get assigned to completely different parts of the ship at different hours of the day. And there's nothing like the present either," at least she was optimistic about the situation.

Well, he does seem like a nice guy.

"... So... you're a shugenja?"

He nodded to her question. "Yes, priest of the kami and... a merchant patron of sorts. And yes, I am sure we have ample time. No need to rush things." the man tilted his head carefully to the side, smiling still.

"Are you familiar with ships by any chance? Considering the arrangement between our families, I'd wager so..."
Iuchi continued, a genuine curiosity twinkling in his brown eyes.

Hana...

She gave a nod. "I've been on ships since I was young. My father sometimes let me take short trips on the small kobune with him when they went to nearby ports, but as I got older I didn't have much time for it as I've been mostly in charge of father's home and all, and looking after my brothers... at least they're all old enough now to manage on their own, and my oldest brother should be a father by now. I imagine I'll get word eventually of it." Naomi smiled happily as she rambled on, either being oblivious to the fact that she was rambling on, or just was used to doing it.

"I don't know much about ship-building, but sailing isn't unusual to me. I suppose I could say I was blessed with sealegs."

I wonder if her mother has passed to yomi... Again, something he wanted to ask, but could not. A common trend on this ship, it seemed. Also, she sure is a mouthful...

"Hee.. Then again, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You have a large family then? I have only two younger sisters."

"I have two older brothers and one younger; Daijiro, Shigeru and Takeshi. Mother and father were blessed with four healthy children," she gave a smile. There was no sorrow in it, for it had been too many years ago. Instead, it was pride and happiness for her family.

"I wish I had sisters when I grew up," Naomi chuckled. "It was really awful to only have brothers sometimes. But, I love them nonetheless."

"I love my sisters as well." the man told her, smiling and nodding, as if he understood her. "At times, I felt like they were nuisance... especially the eldest, Kohana." he chuckled. "The younger one is called Chang-Ei, after the tribe of our mother."

"Ah, my name, in case you were wondering, is written with 'akatsuki'" He lifted his palm to her, drawing the complicated kanji on it with a slow strokes of his finger. "And with 'hana'. Not the normal 'hana', but a the archaic one..." the man continued, outlining the second character as well.

"The characters have been chose to fit the meaning my name carries among the tribe my mother came from. So you could call me 'Kyouka'." Xiao Hua chuckled, spelling out the name with another readings of the kanji.

"I... do think it would be easier for me to pronounce that. I am not very familiar with the names of your mother's tribe. But, Iuchi-sama is fine with me... unless, you would prefer it if I wasn't so formal. And, it might be confusing sometimes perhaps, since I believe there was another Iuchi on board too?"

A slight shake of her head to calm herself from rambling too much. "Kyouka would be fine..." I hope I don't have to learn a new language later.

"Ah, uhm.. not.. my last name will suffice well." he blushed. "At least until after..."

"If you were to call me by my given name... before..." the man stammered. "Some might... misunderstand and.. I do not want to tarnish your reputation..."