Dynamic interviews were easier to fit into a busy samurai schedule. They also made for more thrilling imagery when the interview was of the filmed variety.

But damn it, do they remind Kanna there was a world of difference between being in shape like her and the physical capacities of an actual athlete.

She was already sweating profusely by the end of the warm-up and was struggling to follow now that the "casual jogging in the park" had begun. Only her Lion's pride allowed her to keep matching the rhythm of her sport partner of the moment.

Thankfully, Lions had a lot of pride.

Keep cool. Adjust glasses. Maintain stride. Control breath. Ask questions.

"So. Bayushi Tenma-sama. Don't know what your husband told you. I'm a journalist. Kitsu Kanna. Ikoma press. Working on portraits of samurai's from other worlds. Detective stories are universally popular. Is there one starring yourself you want to share?"

Deep breath. Longer sentences.

"A lot of fictional detectives are described as purely cerebral, solving mysteries in their heads while delegating all the physical work to their subordinates. You definitely don't play by that cliché. Any professional achievement of yours emphasizing that aspect is likely to catch our readership's attention."

Tenma definitely wasn't tired. Jogging in the rain had a way of keeping her cool and feeling loose, though there was always the possibility of being splashed or slipping... still, everything was paved here, so there wasn't much in the way of mud or anything to slip on, and at least the puddles were mostly clear and clean.

"Oh, he hadn't mentioned much, Ryuhei-san that is. He did mention your name though... I remember reading one of your biography pieces once, it was really well done."

She gave a smile towards Kanna before looking back where she was going, "As far as that whole cerebral thing goes, it's not my thing because it doesn't get things done, you understand. It's nice to know what's going on before you go into a situation, to be informed and have things figured out and all; But at a certain point most magistrate work comes down to force you understand. Force and a bit of good old fashioned common sense. At least that's what Soshi Saibankan-dono always taught, and how I try to live my Duty."

The brain is never as oxygenated as during a physical effort. How this wasn't making thinking any easier was clearly a mistake in the design of humans.

"I would say there might be so extra trick to this, or the Fortune of Justice would be a Matsu or a Hida, not a Soshi.

Maybe for me to understand we need to delve deeper into how works an investigator's brain? Could you give me an example of what you call 'common sense' in that context? It's a concept that can be used to describe a lot of things."

"Fair. In this case I think the basic thing comes down to 'common sense' meaning trusting your instincts and emotions. If you're observant and open, those things will often lead you right, because they'll help put you in the mindset of those you're judging or looking for. Apply 'Otomo's Razor' and don't do too much speculating, just try to be in someone else's sandals and understand the whys and hows of those you're dealing with. I know a lot of fiction makes this seem like some sort of deductive superpower, identifying mud samples or watching for the ticks a liar. But it's not something that requires a superhuman eye or a lot of brain power to just think like others and try to understand where they're coming from. It's more like a sort of common sense or experience type thing relying on precedent and instinct."

Well, no question whether Tenma was chatty or not. She seemed more than pleased to talk about work, even if it came across kind of rambling and stream-of-conscious than any sort of more thoughtful, deliberate answer.

"So, for you, detective work is all about empathy? The ability to think, feel, act, like the criminal you're chasing?"

There was a joke to make about why Scorpion magistrates were that reputed from that statement, but Kanna diplomatically chose to take a breath rather than articulating it.

"Wouldn't that require sharing enough traits with your prey to work? For example, let's imagine that the culprit is, unknowingly to you at this point of the investigation, a rogue ronin shugenja. Most of their life, their personality, their decision making process, has been defined around the fact they can hear the spirits. Which you cannot. How do you factor such incompatibilities in?"

"The Scorpion ARE the Underhand of the Emperor for a reason of course, Kitsu-san; To know your enemy, you must know your enemy. And if that means the occasional dishonorable tactic or such? A small price. As to when there are incompatibilities..."

She seemed to think for a moment before smiling, "Well, there are ways around that. Usually by talking to those who know the person best. Even if your interrogation doesn't find directly what is happening or where they are, you can learn a lot about them in the process. The other usual way is calling in assistance; After all, the magistrate school thrives in the Soshi for a reason; So the Scorpion can combine the talents of shugenja, bushi, and courtiers in the pursuit of justice."

And assassins. And narcotic specialists. It was the XXXIIth century, everyone knew about the Scorpion ninjas, but it was still good manners not to bring up the subject.

"When fighting fire with fire, one must take great care of extinguishing both fires in the end. Otherwise the forest is still burning."

Calm down Kanna. The Scorpion's not technically an enemy of the Lion at the moment. Even when they brag about being dishonorable scoundrels.

"Your last remark is quite interesting. Is that the big difference between fiction and reality for you? That the real cop is never alone?"

---

OOC: Sorry about the delay.

"Of course. A real magistrate fights for the Clan and the Empire, as part of an organization of people stretching across galaxies and time. Anyone who buys into the 'rogue cop' mythos is a fool in my book. It also helps with the fighting fires you mentioned; If you're on your own, you're accountable to no one but yourself. But if you see yourself as part of a bigger whole, then you won't let fires grow out of control since you're not the only one affected."

She paused thoughtfully.

"Such are the ways of honor and duty, no? That we set aside our own self interests, our own well beings even, in order to serve a greater good?"

"Bushido is made of seven virtues. The path of honor comes in finding the right balance between all seven at once, not in excelling in just one or two. Better than following none of course. But in no way sufficient."

A hint of a smile:

"I think lazy writers have a part of responsibility in the ever-presence of lone detective archetypes, while all clans are all about the collective in real life."

She pondered that for a second:

"Well, except maybe the Dragon.

But otherwise, it's sometimes just a cheap trick to reduce the number of characters in a story. If your plot is about an eccentric detective against a devious killer, both loners, then you only have to handle two ways of thinking and speaking instead of many."

"Hai, the Kitsuki certainly are... unique. They have always deviated from tradition, though I won't say they've used dishonorable methods or such. Who are the Scorpion to judge the Dragon, after all? As they are so fond of saying, are there not many paths to enlightenment and Bushido?"

As they came to a corner, Tenma slowly came to a stop, motioning for Kanna to follow her under an awning. The awning was over a bench, supposedly to protect it from the sun and rain and give people a place to appreciate things in comfort.

"Then again, from your probing questions, I would take it that you are like many Lion in believing there is truly one way of doing things, a set of best practices for law, honor, and life."

"If only. That would be way too easy if there was one single, well-defined, virtuous path that you could blindly follow all your life long. Instead it's a constant balancing act, each decision requiring careful examination within its context to determine the proper way.

For example, I was talking not an hour ago with an Utaku about subjects like how sometimes facing alone an enemy that could easily kill you was the greatest honor, and sometimes it was a shameful waste of one of the clan's lives.

It's on the contrary the 'anything for the clan' mentality that I find quite simplistic. When you arrest someone for thievery, you don't discharge them on the pretext they didn't commit murder, do you? So why would you tolerate something like lying to expedite your duty? A set of laws is not something you just get to pick the parts that you feel are important and ignore the rest."

So. Short. Of. Breath.

"Believe me, I'm trying to understand you. But the idea of feeling no shame for lies, cowardice, and other things I would rather not know about because you did for the clan? That's just fully alien to me. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror after such acts. Nor could do any Lion really."

Well, maybe that was one more reason the Scorpions were wearing masks: So they wouldn't have to face their reflection.

"Ah, I see what the issue is then..."

She motioned to the bench, noticing the reporter seemed to be short of breath. It didn't exactly take a detective's eye to see that.

"When did I say I'd do absolutely anything for the Clan? No no... while we Scorpion might be charitably described as 'pragmatic', that pragmatism is as much a balancing act as honor. Some stories of the Clan are exaggerated, to say the least. That infamous one of an ancient lord ordering his subordinate to kill himself just to prove how unquestioningly we follow orders? Complete nonsense."

Tenma, for her part, leaned against one of the supports holding up the awning, "The way I like to think of it is simply that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and there's a constant searching and analyzing to decide where an action lies on that spectrum. To take your example from your talk with an Utaku, it means questioning how facing overwhelming force alone serves not just the Clan but your Family and the Empire as well. Are you buying time for people? Are you making a gesture you feel may rally resistance or hurt the morale of the enemy? Or are you simply throwing your life away because it's what you feel you must do? Then, in my case, it comes down to that; If my lie means greater peace, prosperity, and happiness for multiple people, than my own honor feels like a small price to pay."

She gave a small shrug, "Honestly, I've met Lion and Crane who feel the same. It's just a matter of just how great that degree of benefit would need to be for the sacrifice."

"I think I understand what you mean. However, I cannot agree to it.

The bushido virtues are the backbone of samurai society. We trust what the other says because we know that we don't lie. We fight as one on the battlefield because we know our comrades won't forsake us. We believe in justice because we know the judges put honor and duty above money.

When you start twisting these principles, even for good reasons, it's the very strength of the samurai, as a collective entity, that's impacted.

There's a Lion joke that goes: When ten Lion bushi fight together, they all have each other back. When ten Scorpion bushi fight together, they're all watching their back from the others.

An exaggeration of course, as any joke. But with a pearl of truth. Our strength comes from our orthodox compliance to bushido. Whatever we could earn by challenging it would come at tenfold the loss for our own."

That got a small nod from the magistrate, Tenma listening politely.

"I do know what you mean. Still, I absolutely trust my Scorpion brethern to have my back, despite or maybe because they would be willing to bend the strictures of Bushido in order to do so. I don't feel like there's a collective structural, organizational, or societal deficiency present because of that."

She lifted one hand, then the other, "Not that I think it gains those things either. To me, unlike many Scorpion perhaps, I feel both are equally valid ways of running things."

She lowered her hands and smirked lightly, "Then again, maybe I'm just saying all that to keep up an image, for myself or my Clan. Ultimately, that dishonesty would just be another sacrifice in service to the good of society in my eyes, no?"

"Oh, I don't know if you're lying or not right now. But that you are an unusual Scorpion? That, that's an unfalsifiable truth, as demonstrated by the fact you've married a Unicorn in what seems to be a marriage of love.

Out of curiosity, how did the both of you manage to convince the Phoenix nakodo of approving such betrothal? Miai are usually an affair of politics more than anything else, and I fail to see the political acumen of this alliance."

"Ah, that. It was more an exchange of favors and such than anything else. Combined with the fact Ruhe-san had won so many accolades at the Phoenix hosted festivities, it kind of ended up as a special case. Luckily for me. It also helped that the Unicorn were looking to court some favor with the Scorpion, seeing as we're their main political lifeline with the Dragon, and thus the most likely to be of help in the whole Ide II situation. Something the Phoenix nakodo was more than happy to help facilitate on behalf of the Unicorn, just another grain of rice in the pile of trying to repair their relations I hear."

She looked thoughtfully out at the rain as she talked, "Honestly, I think I'd guided things pretty well there with the chance meetings and offhand suggestions. My main worry was my family rejecting the arrangement, but I'd underestimated their interest in the matter and they simply refrained from comment. So it worked out, in its own way."

"Are you from a family of courtiers? If so I can definitely imagine them frowning for an instant, then casually replacing plan A with plan C, just adjusted for a few details. A courtier is a tactician of politics, the good ones are the ones that can adapt to what's happening in real life on the fly."

"Some courtiers, some bushi. My father is a courtier, and my mkther a bushi. My siblings an eclectic mix of the two. Still, it's quite possible you're right and it was a calculated move on their account. Suppose it's hard to tell given the distances and circumstances."

As Tenma watched the rain it actually started coming down harder, a brief chilly downpour that hit the wood roof of the shelter noisily.

"Planned might be an exaggeration on my side. 'Something that can be worked with' might be a more accurate description. But it's more of a wild guess than anything else. If this was for a book, I wouldn't write it down in absence of corroborative testimonies."

Looking at the rain:

"Guess the workout is over unless you've got two good raincoats, the second you can lend me."

"No coats or such. Perhaps poor planning on my account, given the forecast called for rain. Still... they said it would be light, so I don't suspect this will last to long..."

Tenma turned to Kanna, an impish smile under her mask, "Not that I'd let this stop me; I don't mind getting a little wet as long as there's no lighting. You could join me if you want; I bet your readers wouldn't mind a picture of you or I in soaked clothes for your story. Might add a new layer of appreciation seeing such a cute, earnest reporter willing to above and beyond for her report."