Guest room

Sayuri would smile at Zakiyah when she spoke up. "I am sorry if you were offended by our assumptions, Zakiyah-sama. Another room will be prepared immediately." she said with a warm smile and she would nod towards one of the servants that were waiting at the door. At once she moved and small sounds of movings could be heard in the other room.

"You must both be very tired from your journey. Tea and snacks will be brought soon, so please take your time to rest and relax. I will let your arrival be known to Lord Genji, though I am afraid it might take him a while to see you. He has been very busy as of late." she bowed again. "Feel free to use any of the facilities in the mansion. Anything you would wish for will be provided by our maids, you will only need to ask." She would snap her fingers and a most elegant girl would walk into the room.

Jamil nodded his head at the quickly supplied information provided by Lady Sayuri, followed by the emergence of Nakatani. The emmissary smiled but bowed his head.

"I think rest will be what we need at the moment, Lady Sayuri, and perhaps the refreshments offered as well," the Sakandi man said, his own dark eyes resting on Nakatani's face for a moment long before they swept to Lady Sayuri.

"If you could let me know when Lord Genji is available, or what his schedule is like, that would be most helpful, Lady Sayuri."

He kept his hands behind his back as he spoke, standing tall but not standing militantly. He was dressed in several layers of Sakandi garb, it seemed and no doubt really would like to rest and refresh.

"I am sure rest will do you both good. I am sure Nakatani will make sure refreshments will be here soon." she would glance towards the girl as she said so. "As for Genji's schedule, I will make sure to talk to him about your arrival and give you word as soon as I know more." she would bow deeply to both him and Jamil once more. "And with that, I will leave you in the capable hands of Nakatani-san. I hope you will enjoy your time is our mansion Jamil-sama, Zakiyah-sama."

She would then turn around, her hair swirling as she did so and leave the room to the others.

Yasuke was counting the gold coins Xiong had given him a couple of days ago, but his recent lack of luck with the dices had meant they were dwindling a bit too fast for his liking. Snatching a secret here or there would be of real use now, but the pressure of doing so was getting to him and he wasn't able to currently think out of the box.
"Damnit! If only I could beat it out of someone..." he mumbled to himself and started getting impatient waiting for the pipe and bottle of sake he had ordered. Well, it was probably not tonight he was going to turn the pockets on Genji and fill his own with gold, so he might as well enjoy himself a bit.

As Yasuke fell into deep thoughts, the shoji doors slid to the side he sighted a cute looking, black haired servant girl bringing him his sake and his pipe.
"Well... if luck doesn't follow you in gambling, try love, they say..." he said to himself muted and sat up a bit more straight, placing his hands on his thighs in the most manly position he could imagine. Well, who were she - a mere servant girl - to resist his charms? Okay... maybe not charms, but his rank as samurai ought to interest her none the less he thought.
"Well hallooo there!" he said with a wry smile and nodded satisfied after checking her out from top to toe. This was a good start he thought, as girls loved attention! "I see you brought me more than I had ordered. Why don't you come sit down here with a real samurai for a while? You must be tired working?" he said and padded the floor besides him - a gesture not too far from what you would do when calling a puppy to your side.

"Hmm..?" Yasuke scratched his chin as the servant girl didn't move over besides him, but her point was a true one and he remembered that this pick up line probably wouldn't be as useful inside the mansion as out in the districts. Also in here he was probably the least real samurai of them all and this one didn't look as gullible as many of the city girls. But she did sit down and didn't flee. If he had learned anything about women, that was a good start!

"Yeees... Hahaha!" Yasuke laughed, though his mind was now working hard to come up with something to change the subject. "Nice kimono! Where did you get something that matches your pretty face that well?" he said with a wide grin as he took a sip from the sake. "Let me see that pattern up close!" he said and leaned forward as he reached for her hand intending to hold it if she didn't withdraw it. "Also I'm sorry, I never got to ask you your name young misses!" he said with what he intended to be a charming smirk and a small, flirting wink followed.

Yasuke noticed that she was withdrawing her hand and had to sit back down if he wasn't going to climb all the way over the table. She was playing hard to get. Very hard to get, that much was obvious. Surely she would have noticed his advances and said if she wasn't interested by now, as any normal girl or woman would have done. But she still sat there and didn't even answer his question about her kimono. Yasuke eyed a challenge. It then suddenly dawned to Yasuke that perhaps this girl had never been with a man before and thus was too shy to react to - or too inexperienced to - understand his subtle advances. She certainly acted that way so perhaps another approach was needed here. After all she was still there.

"Nakatani eh? I'm Sou Yasuke." he said as he took a puff of his pipe and studied her a bit as he casually blew the smoke upwards. "Is this the first time you've been alone with a man?" he asked with a straight face. "I know it's not my business, but if you're shy and don't know how to deal with men, you can just say so. I'm a straight forward guy!" Yasuke said and shrugged his shoulders. "So let's change the topic. Tell me a bit about yourself, what keeps you in the mansion instead of going off to see the world?" Yasuke asked, genuinely interested in knowing a bit more about this quiet girl, as he pointed the pipe towards her. "Care to taste some?" he asked as non threatening has possible.

"Hahaha, that's great! A geisha with lord Genji as patron! You have some humor for a servant girl! I suppose dreaming away like that is tempting when it gets a bit dull delivering sake and pipes to demanding samurais huh?" he asked with a wide grin, ignoring her rejecting the pipe and studied her for a moment. "Wait... are you serious?" Yasuke asked as his expression changed promptly. Judging by her not laughing with Yasuke she was and Yasuke scratched his head. This meant she might still be close with Genji! Damn, what was he doing trying to hit on Genji's girl? Yasuke felt the sweat on his forehead, but composed himself. This could be a good piece of news too, because being close to Genji meant being close to secrets - secrets that could make Yasuke a lot of gold. But flirting was over for now - at least until he had ascertained whether it was the case or not.

"My story..?" Yasuke asked surprised, as he was caught while trying to lay plans in his head. "Well my father was a samurai and taught me the family's way of being a samurai. And then one day I got a hint that they needed soldiers here in House Hizashi and traveled here to make use of my skill. You know, just for the honor of the family and all that." he said and smirked. Was it convincing enough? He hoped it was, because there was no way he was going to tell her secrets that would make Genji execute him if he knew.
"I noticed... that you seem fond of Genji. Are you still together with him?" Yasuke asked casually and sipped at the sake before quickly adding: "I always thought the old man was difficult to read. But you probably know him very well, don't you?" he said trying to wrap his intentions in casual conversation.

A strong man like himself? Yasuke had never seen it like that before, people relying on him for protection? To him it sounded absurd as there was no way he would ever rely on someone like himself for protection. She didn't of course, but her answer sounded generic and Yasuke was not entirely sure she bought it.
"It's fine you feel that way, Nakatani-san. But being close to strong men can be a devious form of safety." Yasuke said and crossed his arms.

"Just for the sake and talks? I see..." Yasuke said with a smirk, not believing that part one bit. "Of course we all place our fate in lord Genji to guide us and lead us, but you say you claim you don't even know him? Surely you'd know that a man like Genji would sacrifice any of use if the right prize was put before him. Can we really call him a protector?" Yasuke argued as he narrowed his eyes a bit and looked at her more intently. He was getting bolder again, knowing she probably hadn't direct ties with him. "What if someone kidnapped you right now? Would he even spare one man to send for your rescue? " Yasuke asked as he studied her reaction.

Using kindness as a weapon? The concept was foreign for Yasuke, but he was interested in challenging her a bit more.
"So if kindness is your weapon, are you threatening me now? Am I allowed to protect myself?" he asked with a wry smile. She did seem fragile and as opposed to the Tea House girls who seemed like that were not defenseless at all, she looked genuinely unable to protect herself. Actually she'd probably be more likely to hurt herself than someone else should she need to fight. He chuckled a bit thinking how kindness would help her out there in the unprotected, real world.
"So, Nakatani. How did that go with Genji then?" he said with an overbearing voice, excited to hear what kind of excuse she would come up with as to why her kindness didn't persuade him.

What she said about other people wanting to protect her seemed to catch Yasuke's interest in a strange way. Had she been having visits from other influential people at the time she was a geisha or was she just dreaming away?
"Nakatani-san. Who from this mansion would be able to go out on their own to find you? Surely none of the servants are allowed such a freedom." he said and bend a little forwards. Yasuke spotted her restless hands and thought this girl was surely hiding something. "I'm not going to judge you, we are where we are because we made choices in our lives. Some easier than others, that's for sure." he said trying convey a bit of empathy. He didn't care about her choices as he didn't care about his own though. What was interesting here was who in this mansion was unable to resist the urge to protect this little, clumsy and helpless cutie pie. Surely she was the type that needed that kind of comfort.