Jiro nodded.

"If that can be arranged, I shall help," he said.  "And watch for treachery... what did he do, in that last duel?"

"He used his armour to reflect the sun in her eyes before striking," Kasumi said.

"Ah," said Jiro.  "And he calls himself a Lion... shameful.  I'll see to it that he attempts no such trickery."

"Thank you," Kasumi said, hugging Jiro.

"I do wonder, though," said Jiro, contemplating fighting in different styles.  "What might come if there were lessons to learn from each other's schools?  I have cause to envy the speed of the Kakita, certainly.  Could our power combine with that speed, to help you strike down, for example, some Lion you had cause do duel?"

"I don't know how I can get that powerful without growing a lot," Kasumi said.

"There's more to the Hida school than raw power, though," said Jiro.  "Perhaps we can find a way... it seems that we both bring different things to the marriage.  I like the idea of finding ways to use them together."

"That would be interes...," Kasumi said before stopping, turning ghost white before a deep crimson as she looked over at her travelling companions. "I-I'm not normally like this, th-this was just stress! I apologize for my outburst!"

Koyo was sitting up front with Nakanobu, who was teaching her to drive the oxcart; this wasn't very complicated, since they were on a straight road. "My apologies, Kasumi-san," he said. "I fear I was occupied and wasn't listening."

"...then let's say no more about it, here and now," said Jiro.  Kasumi could talk to him later, after all.

"What can we expect on the road ahead?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Nothing much for a while," Nakanobu said. "We'll take the road north to near Hanging Tree Village, which is an iron mining town, then turn east.  It's not worth going up there, since it's high in the mountains, but there's a village near there that supplies them."

Jiro nodded.

"It will be good to take a break from the wagon then," he said.

"It certainly wouldn't hurt," Kasumi said.

"If you would like, we can stop and have our midday meal," Nakanobu said.

"Perhaps we should," said Jiro.

"That sounds good. I could use some tea," Kasumi said.

Nakanobu showed Koyo how to pull Endurance to the side of the road, and pulled out a bento box, small kettle, and firemaking equipment. "Koyo-kun, could you fill the kettle?" he asked.  She took it and went to find a stream.

"Have you been trained in hand to hand combat?" Kasumi asked the monk.

"Yes," Koyo said. "Only for peaceful purposes, of course."

"Certainly, but I need serious practice with it in case I am ever disarmed," Kasumi said.

"It might be good to get practice with someone else, besides me, now and then," said Jiro.  "I don't get as much practice with it as I do with weapons."

"Of course!" Koyo said. "I usually do my katas at dawn."

"Dawn, huh? Very well," Kasumi said.

"I can show you some basic ones after we eat, though," Koyo said. "I should practice balancing while we're on the cart, too."

"I've heard of such things," said Jiro.  "So... balancing on one leg while on a cart?"