Wedding at Fire Shrimp Village an L5R PbP

After leaving Ishi and Shouji back at the grounds of the shrine, Yoko made her way into the village. First she checked in with the inn, but it was likely no surprise she came up empty there. No sense in going back to the inn when they could be doing something proper, she figured. Of course, the party that the crew was setting up was a good second bet but with everything going on she doubted it. Partying didn't seem like the thing to do now anyway.

So, she took to the village's streets. Seeing if luck might bestow her with finding the two, but it wouldn't be until later that she did. Yet, sometimes life offered other momentary distractions.

Saisei seems indeed momentarily distracted standing in front of a small fountain and looking at it with empty eyes. As if he wasn't there at all, just his body.

Which of course was concerning enough to anybody with a heart, and Yoko prided herself on keeping hers strong.

"Otomo-sama," her voice came first, stepping up beside him and looking down into the fountain. Laying her hand low she hooked her thumb into the center of her obi. Looking a bit over her shoulder to him she gave a little smile, "Mind if I ask if you're alright there?"

He snaps back into himself and rubs his forehead for a moment. Turning to Yoko, he bows, saying, "Good evening Yoko-san. I think I sort of zoned out for a moment looking at the water below."

Half-chuckling, and half of that from nerves, Yoko paused and regarded him a moment. Hooking her left hand onto her hip and quirked her brow, "Otomo-sama, I- are you alright?"

"Besides the constant sneezing, I can say I am. Sort of." He opens a thin smile and provides another bow, "Thank you for the preoccupation, Yoko-san."

"Hey," she raised her hands up in mock surrender. "Just.. making sure, eh? Things have been a little weird for me lately, figured might be for you too, eh?" she catches that thought and waves it off.

"Anyway, just doing what anyone would do. Since everything's alright, figure I should leave you to what you were doing then?"

"Wait." He says, catching her attention back, "How weird are we talking about?"

Yoko looked to him, pensive for a moment before she exhaled slow. "We met two days ago, eh? Don't need to be laying all of my unfortunate dealings on you," she laughed, shaking her head.

"Two days ago. So you are aware!" He remarks.

"Guess so," she chuckles, shaking her head a bit. Though she glanced elsewhere a moment, flexing her hand in thought.

"We have been in the same day twice, now. Have you heard about the curse, and the girl?" He asks, fixing his eyes on her for a moment.

"Curse?" she quirked her brow, shrugged. "Yea- guess that makes sense," she said, bringing her hand up and extending her index. Swirling her index finger around in a circle. "Round and round, maybe? Maybe it'll happen again, maybe it won't, eh?"

His eyes follow her finger goes round for a moment, as if hypnotizes. He snaps out again and nods, reaffirming, "Hai. A curse. We should stop it somehow. There's a little girl suffering what happened. A ghost."

"Sounds a good enough thing, eh? Just- not sure how much I can really help. Been doing what I can to figure it all out, the whys and how's, but when it comes to it.." she tapped her hip, her blade shifted against her hip. "Not really my forte."

"Same here. Although I do know some people around with potentially more information for us to move forward." He says, "Well, at least that's what I am trying to do."

"Good thing to try," she said, glancing to him with a smirk. Turning about she leaned against the fountain, crossing her arms over her chest. "What kind of information, and people, if I can ask, Otomo-sama?"

He takes a moment to form his phrase up as he gets momentarily distracted, "Eto..."

A cough, and he continues, "Try to find out if they know about Hitomi-shiryo and what she's looking for."

"Good thing to look for, I think. Who else have you spoken to so far, Otomo-sama?" she asked, her brow quirked.

"Toritaka-san, Kakita Yuuwaku-sama... so far, at least." He says, focusing on her brow, now.

"Toritaka Hanatsuko?" she asked, nodding her head a little as she looked out toward the street. "That makes sense. Said she was here chasing a spirit," she laughed, "guess she found one but not the one she was looking for, eh?" she shook her head a little.

"Haven't had the chance or pleasure of the second, but I did meet a couple other Kakita here. The Magistrate, Kakita Konohamaru, and Kakita Masao. Not sure if either of them remember but- well, they are both decent enough sorts. Here's to hoping they remember too, eh?"

"Hai. Toritaka Hanatsuko indeed. I've met both Kakita samurai you mentioned. Quite the personality the first, and a fine young gentleman the second."

"Have you-" she hesitated a moment, looked to the sky another. "Have you spoken with Otomo Yusuke recently?"

"I..." He narrows his eyes and diverts it elsewhere to reply, "I have not."

Which is quite strange of him. He asks, "Why Yoko-san asks –– is he ok?"

"Just curious, eh? Good time to get an idea of where everyone is at and what they're doing. If we can rely on them in all.." she gestured around, "this, eh?"