Yukinaga sat in court in his best kimono which was not necesarrily to say it was fine, no Crane would say so certainly, but it was sturdy and undoubtedly well made. His eyes peered out from above the visage of a fanged smiling oni that covered the bottom half of his face as he listened to the court.

After the last speaker sat Yukinaga stood and addressed the court "This Steel Chrysanthemum has been a shadow lurking in our midst for sometime now. We relaxed in his presence as he did not bare his fangs to us. Now his true colors have been shown, as he slits the throat of his own family in order to seize a throne death already relieved him of. The son of Hantei XXII is the clear heir and his mother should undoubtedly rule until the child comes of age. This is not a complicated issue Hantei XVI had his time, it is over."

Standing in the back was a simple nun, she watched and thought. She had opinions but was unsure yet how to phrase them so she learned from the others.

She was unsurprised to see a few people she know among the crowd, her travels had taken her over much of the Empire after all.

"Planning? No. But after I have heard of some id- unwise personalities suggesting that we should all celebrate our Emperor's murderer and let him rule, I could not stand it." She took her own sip.

"What does Agasha-san make of the situation? I believe my views are plainly out in the open."

Iko glanced up, pleased to see a familiar face and smiled. Stretching out a long leg under the table, she nudged a cushion out a little in invitation to sit, also obviously repositioning it, so it would not block the view of Poemu's table.

"Ryuuta-sama, I am glad to see you made it here safely. My apologies for not being able to look into the circumstance of your exit from Morikage Toshi, but it was a mad house at the end."

Ignoring the slip of the tongue politely, Poemu shook her head. "Hai, I have heard some making such views known. I am certain they would change their views if they had been present. As for my own... sumimasen, I fear my own speech on the matter lacked succinctness. I support the current rulership, being the Empress for now. Surely an actress so skilled as to perform for the Son of Heaven would move this court to reason."

Her points made, Homura mingled in with the crazy crowd. A smile on her face, and eyeing up who might be interesting to pounce on.

Metaphorically speaking of course! At least in public...

(OOC - free to talk, pm if you want Homura time)

"Er, yeah..." A strange look crossed over Kanade's face as well. She poured Shiko's glass full, then in a turn of events, held out the bottle. A peace offering, perhaps.

"Do not worry yourself," he replies as he sets the tea and snacks down for the two of them, followed by taking the offered seat. "We all had our own duties and dangers to face. I got pushed back a bit into the surrounding areas. I collected a pair of heimin children after witnessing their parents demise and saw them safely away. I only wish that I could have done more, but we can only do what we are capable of."

Glancing at the two that she was observing. "I was introduced earlier in the baths, had to warm up a bit after the cold march. She is Shosuro Sara, part of a traveling acting troupe. She was going to be performing for the Emperor on the day he died. Don't know much more."

After her short intervention Nagiko was listening to the rest of the arguments, gently moving her fan as she was trained to.

She noticed that a nun was there, and for some reason that she could not understand felt an urge to go and talk to her.

'' Konichiwa, mmmm, nun-san...'' She bowed to the nun. Nagiko was not very familiar with monk orders, except for the rare occurence when people of her clan went to the shrine of Kaimetsu-Uo. '' Have you had rice today? '' She asked politely

Tani approached Homura, arms still crossed, but at least she seemed a bit calmer after her new acquaintance's arguments. "Ikoma-san. You spoke well. Not that there should be a damned debate in the first place. But I suppose the ways of court and I are never... quite going to agree." A courtier nearby heard Tani's statement. And seemed either convinced or scared. It was hard to tell which.

1 influence point for team imperial!

"Arigatou Agasha-sama, for your kind words." She took another sip, let the warm tea flow through her. "And what do you think are your clan views on it? As a senior representative?"

"Well, nothing wrong with that. 'Specially not with it being the Mantis."

"Too much in motion to make any sense out of it... But I was there the last time this... 'Steel Chrysanthemum' sacked a city..." She said with a pause.

"Was even less enjoyable than this..."

She noticed Kashiwagi walk in, a face she *did* recognize, and raised her cup at him with one of those 'nod-of-recognition' type things he might've heard about.

"If the whole court agreed, I would suspect foul play at work" Homura replied with a deep bow to Tani "any that witnessed what I witnessed would not argue the point unless they felt they could gain from it."

There was a small look towards a group of Crane courtiers, before she turned back to Tani with a smile.

"I'm pretty sure the correct way will win out in the end. Are you well? How did the situation resolve at the gate? I found myself escorting many around, so I didn't follow all that happened."

He let the currents of the court wash over him, just a calm rock in the stream, trying to read which way thing flowed. Politely listening and greeting any that came close enough and sought conversation. But not seeing it out, not yet. He needed to read which way the stream flowed, and what might block it. Seeing Kashiwagi, there was a nod of greeting, as he gave respect to the fellow scholar.