Courtyards and Walkways

"Gomen ne.." Anzen whispered an apology, thinking she may have upset him by touching his face. With a deep breath, she turned her gaze upward, tucking her hands behind her knees. "I will not deny you the chance to learn and to heal. When you return, there will be a place for you." A pause. "How long until you leave? I am sure you are excited to get some new geta and impatient to be on your way." She finally looked down, blinking slowly and tilting her head to the side, letting a faint smile caress her lips.

Setoku was watched silently as he spoke and stood. It wasn't​ until he offered his hand that she removed her own from behind her knees and delicately land her hand in his. Allowing him to pull her to her feet, she made sure his blade never fell from her lap and was held tightly in her free hand. "I do hope your journey is swift and safe, return quickly.." Anzen offered an encouraging smile, though her eyes remained darkened with concern. "Are you sure to you want to leave this behind..?" Her eyes flickered to his blade.

Delicately, as to not damage her pale obi, Anzen slipped the blade down next to her beloved fan. While doing so, she leaned toward Setoku until her lips were almost to his ear, close enough to feel her gentle breath, as she whispered as quietly as she could. "As a woman, I tread carefully around a blade in public.. But I do have a naginata that I am learning in secret with currently only my brother as a sparring partner. I could always use the extra teaching." When she settled back on her feet, she used her free hand to pull all of her raven hair across her shoulder to let it cascade to her waist. "I shall keep it as a way for you to protect me while you are gone, though I may not be well versed with the blade." She smiled, watching him through her lashes once again.

Kaen approached wearing the robes commonly used by those loyal to the Hizashi-sama family. He pinned his hair back that was once covering his left eye, now displaying that of which he hid. He headed towards a family face, and that of a man who was touching her. " Hello . " He stopped before her and bowed, " I aplogise for the hasty exit before."

She wasn't quite sure this was a good idea, but sitting in the silent guest stay hadn't done well for her mental state. The shadows alone rattled her nerves as the sun began it's descent for the evening. Almost laughable, really, considering she once coveted them.

But the Akiyama woman would quietly slip outside into the courtyard once again - carefully picking her way around the ground of the estate to avoid groups once again. The sense of unfamiliarity and unknown faces shouldn't have disturbed her so, but things were no longer as they had been. For the moment, she sought a quaint place to sit on her own - finding a sense of tranquility beneath the cherry tree that sat by a still pond.

The woman met the eyes of a smaller female, and thankfully she didn't shy away. Kiara didn't rattle her as badly as she thought might happen, and she held the gaze for a moment or two longer.

"Hello," she greets back, dipping her head a little in a form of a greeting bow. Sparing a moment more she glances around, finding that they both were very much on their own. It was odd to see someone like Kiara shying around, at least to Ketsueki it was. "I... I hope I'm not intruding upon you," she adds, trying to at least make a start at something of conversation... even if it was now the most awkward thing for her.

It was hard no to show a grimace in her expression - though she didn't dare ask as to what exactly Kiara saw. The idea of the girl watching Ketsueki being hauled onto the ground in a prisoner's cage wasn't something she liked to muse over, and feared to hear if that was the case.

Her hands came together in her lap with one carefully brushing over the back of the other in a self-comforting gesture while she let her eyes wander to the water. "I wish I knew, honestly. I still don't quite understand what's going on. All that I know is Lord Genji has had me brought here, against a different fate sought out for me. He's had me mended, clothed and bathed and fed - like a guest. But I'm unsure what happens beyond that."

She goes quiet for a minute before quietly clearing her throat and lifting her chin - trying to lighten up a little and steer to something else. "What brought you here, if I might ask?"

Ketsueki keeps her expression stoic when the girl opts to divulge something apparently important - important enough to bring her voice to a whisper. In return, she nods her head slowly in understanding.

"That would explain why you're here with Lord Genji at his estate," she replies, keeping her own tone low in respect to Kiara. "I'd warrant a guess that you're royalty from Katashima - of course, that's just my speculation," she adds, trying to at least offer a glimmer of a smile to the girl. It would make sense for the Daimyo to want to take in lost Katashima royalty into his household.

In fact, if it hadn't been due to her arrest in the first place upon arrival to Tawakoshi - she would have said this would have been the place to bring her parents a long time ago for a new start.

There was no hiding the distress this time. It was clear in the following silence that Ketsueki was struggling for an answer. A part of her wanted to lie, but she'd never made a habit of doing that despite her lifestyle before Tawakoshi. And then again, there was the reason for her imprisonment in the first place - and it was due to speaking on the subject.

The only saving grace was the fact she was still sitting here in the courtyard of a Daimyo and not on a boat to be exiled. Perhaps it was all right to speak about, or at least mention.

She would turn her hands over to show her palms - her hands now perfectly healed thanks to another's efforts. Before, they had been mangled with fingers broken. One would never know that upon looking at them. "I had been imprisoned," she replied flatly, her tone remaining low. The last thing she wanted was that two-faced advisor snooping around and listening in, and deciding to put his sense into the conversation. "I was arrested. I had everything stripped from me. I was tortured. When I was brought here, I was a mess."