Nishida had booked a small room at the Akatsubaki to meet with his Glimmerstone dealer. Inside the smoky facility, with one of the servants in the room playing the koto, Nishida found himself at home again.

A thick smell of incense was in the air, probably laced with something, and Nishida had a cigarette in his mouth and some sake on a small table.

His bodyguards were standing guard at the door, waiting for the invited guest.

Dressed in his best, which was not saying much, Dai arrived at the Akatsubaki. It was not a usual stop for him... hell he would rarely be allowed in the door... but here he was.

After finally convincing the front door that, yes, he was supposed to be here and, yes, he was expected he is finally shown - under much observation - to the appointed room.

Entering he visually acknowledged the guards, his own weapons left for 'polishing' anyway rendering him little threat, and bows deeply to Nishida.

"Thank you for seeing me so quickly, Miya-sama, I am sure yours is a busy life."

Nishida rose briefly for Dai, nodded slightly and spoke "Greetings Dai-san. Busy, yes, but those with goals are always busy." he replied, pointing to a cushion and sitting down again. "I see you made it out of the Desolation alive. Your documentation of the Desolation is thoroughly entertaining."

He finished his cigarette and stubbed it out in an ashtray. The geisha her koto and the incense created a soothing atmosphere, but Nishida seemed very lucid.

Dai settles in and nods, "It was a close call, I will admit, but it was fruitful."

He withdraws two glimmerstones and a datadisk.

Laying them out between them he points to the leftmost stone, "This one appears in a recording if you wish a record of its daring obtainment to sweeten the gift." He points to the rightmost, "This one does not and has no ties to you or I if that is preferred. The disk has the recording of the retrieval."

"Both options are good" he began, surveying the stones. "However, I am sure that Dai-San can make his filmed stone into Koku better in other ways. Maybe one of your sponsors would be more interested." he replied, pushing the stone with the disc aside a bit.

"As for your payment. I want to let you in on a little secret first: I am not a born Imperial. In fact, I used to be known as Yasuki Nishida, so as you can imagine, I'm no stranger to markets."

Dai listened intently, "Congratulations on your nuptials." It was a stab in the dark but a likely one, "I'm listening."

"Thank you" he grinned a little. "Anyway, I took a closer look at the market for the Glimmerstone. Your first suggestion for compensation was exactly what I would have done if an uneducated samurai had given me the job."

He raised a hand before Dai could reply.

"Take that as a compliment, I respect your business sense."
Nishida took the sake that was on the table and poured 2 glasses.

"What do you think, shall we talk about compensation again?"

He handed Dai one of the sake glasses and held his up in the air expectantly.

"One does have to at least try to cover their expenses if they intend to stay in business. Permits, and bribes, are not cheap." He nods to the disk, "Plus a boutique experience on a special order adds value to an exchange."

Dai grins slightly and raises the glass acknowledging that, while those statements were all technically true, Nishida was shrewd and definitely not a mark, "But, yes, let us speak further."

"I couldn't help but notice how you had your eyes on my portable computer when we first met."

Nishida clapped his hands and one of the servants brought in a package and placed it on the table. "So I spared no expense or effort in getting you a model, should you be interested."

Dai's eyebrow raised slightly, "You are most observant, Miya-sama, and far too kind."

"You're welcome, you have to honor a business partner, don't you Dai-san?"

He drank some of his sake.

"So what do you say, what price did you want for the Glimmerstone again?"

"Well under... previous... understandings," Which he knew were no longer the case and that he wasn't going to win a bidding war with a Yasuki period let alone when they knew the value of the item in question, "We had said seven koku. But I believe, given the thoughtfulness of this gift, a simple exchange could be in order."

"I'm glad to hear that, Dai-san. You are a good businessman, you have learned to make the best of your situation." he set the sake aside and then pushed the portable computer over to Dai. "I really hope you like this gift."

Dai, in turn, pushes forward the agreed on glimmerstone. As impatient as the street rat part of him was to get his hands on the computer he waits until the Miya had collected the stone to in turn gather up the other stone, the disk, and pull the package of the computer to his side.

Nishida took the stone and held it up to the light for a moment. He could directly understand why it was called Glimmerstone and the light smoke in the room underlined the mystical structure.

The geisha continued to play her koto and Nishida clapped his hands again, this time the servant brought a teapot, along with two cups.

"I hope you don't mind tea?"

The transaction complete the ronin found himself slightly surprised at not being immediately ushered out. But given the fact that the only tea he normally had a chance to sample was what the temples set aside for the desperate who threw themselves on their aid he was not ready to question a second gift - even if it might not seem like one to the Miya.

"Oh.. certainly not Miya-sama."

"Well, nothing beats a well-prepared cup of tea."

For Nishdia, good tea was simply one of the basic things he had. But he was also not someone who only prepared "simple" tea and that was obvious, but some would also say that Nishida was simply old-fashioned.

He took the pot and poured the fine tea for the Lucid Dreams that Yurei had recommended, and handed a cup to Dai and himself.

"Well Dai, I hope you like it."

----
D2, ME Tea ceremony 2 / Void 3 | 5k3 ⇒ 22 (TN: 20)

The ronin is silent for a moment as he relishes the tea, "That... was wonderful. I don't have much to judge against, to be fair, I'd say that the stuff at the temple is equal parts grass if grass itself wasn't rare in this city. But this, this is amazing."

"I'm glad you like it." Nishida took a sip himself.

"I asked myself a question Dai-san. You seem to be an idivduum with certain skills. Have you ever thought about working for the Imperial Family?"

Even Dai can't quite hide his surprise at the question.

"I'll admit it had never crossed my mind as being a possibility to think about, Miya-sama."