Re: Chapter 6 - the problem with questions...
Momoko felt the blade pass her face a fraction of a second before her own blow would have landed, and the fact that she had been beaten suprised and excited her. A stand of her hair whisped its way to the lawn as she stood there, a slowly spreading smile on her face.
"Ah. Bayushi-san, I congratulate you on an easy victory, and thankyou for teaching me so much. I do hope that the next time we practice, it is I who can give you the haircut." Her tone was polite and formal, but with a hint of joviality.
That changed. What she said next was dead-pan and serious. "If I am to become a bone of contention between two or more clans, it may be that they will seek to draw me out in a duel. I would ask, in such a situation, that you would act as my champion. I can understand that you may not wish to, that your loyalties are streached between your sensei and your family and clan. If I am to be a voice of the Miya, it would be good to have a man I both know and trust to act as my guardian and advisor." She bowed very deeply, then turning, she took a single blossom from the tree with her sword.
"Please, use this blossom to time the length of your term with me, a symbol of a trust that we both shared in each other."