Lunch with "Shōta"

Gathering / Conference

After the morning matches had finished, Fubuki had much to do. There was the matter of Aka no Kitsunebi's parasitic dagger and the bronze casket that came with it. Before handling that, however, her* business took her across to the eastern side of the arena. Upon her* arrival, however, Ryūzaki Sanosuke was already expected for a meeting with the Alexandrians, and so Fubuki was denied entry.

She* took the opportunity before returning, however, to speak with Date Masamune and his two adherents. Fubuki fell into the persona of a fangirl, gushing over the indulgent Masamune. At the same time, she* dropped a heavy hint about "Hope." The man himself was obviously oblivious, but if Katakura Kojūrō or Masuda Kita understood Fubuki's reference, they gave no sign of it. Kita watched her* suspiciously as she went, but that expression on her was nothing particularly out of the ordinary.   Upon arriving back at her* comrades, Fubuki sent Tōdaisen Nobuyoshi home, and returned to her final point of business. Shōta had noticed her* interest in him earlier, and was now waving her* over. The boy had surrounded himself with Musashibō Benkei and Sasaki Kojirō, making moves on both. Benkei appeared indulgent, if uninterested, but Kojirō's response was colder. The fact that she hadn't hurt Shōta for his advances, however, was probably testament to the boy's newfound charisma.   Pleased to be approached by a new group of women, Shōta rakishly laughed and joked with them. He had seen Fubuki looking at him during the matches, he said, and so wanted to invite her out for lunch. Of course, the others were welcome to come as well. Seeing this as an opportunity to learn more about the "new" Shōta, Fubuki accepted.   The group repaired to The Tanuki's Glee in Shimonoseki proper, where Kono Mikono welcomed Shōta as her "favorite customer." The boy took this praise in stride, flippantly claiming that he had been here every day for the past week. Fubuki knew this couldn't be true, but kept her* mouth closed as they were all shown to a table with a nice view of the patio outside.   Here, their conversation ranged across various subjects. Shōta proved, uncharacteristically, to be a confident and suave speaker with a devil-may-care attitude. Fubuki learned that he was interested in joining the Hashinara Clan more officially, and he in turn was able to tease out that she* had at least some affiliation with the organization.   Eventually, Fubuki made her farewells, and gathered her companions for travel to the lands of Aotsuki. It was time to confront Aka no Kitsunebi's ailment.