Shinsei's arrival into the Imperial City portrays ill omens to Kinsen's experience. Trouble was brewing and she could feel it. To douse that feeling off, she decides to take a warm, cozy bath.

It must have been Senior Night at the hot springs, because along came Sora.

Hm. I think our first falling-out happened in a bath...

Well. No reason to let that stop him from having a soak.

"Hantei-san. How does the winter find you?"

"Good evening, Jiyo-san~! Please, treat me well." She beams out loud from the rock the was resting her head at. Then waves a hello. "Winter is treating me well enough. Specially in this ever-so-well-placed natural hot springs."

A sigh and she says, "I hope Lady Sun has warmed you likewise. How has been these couple last days?"

"A bit... surprising. Hadn't planned on having so many people around for the winter, but it's had its moments. Your guy Gusai has some pretty potent booze."

He paused.

"And if you'll forgive an unsubtle observation about an unsubtle fact, would you mind if I asked how your search for a bride for your son is going?"

"Oh, does he?" She asks rhetorically with a sly smirk.

After a giggle, Kinsen shrugs, and starts giggling again, "That was direct, neh~?!"

The Stag waves her hand dismissively, "It is going much better than I ever expected. I am really proud of him."

"Good."

He chuckled.

"As a man concerned with the future, it's always good to work on securing it, hm?"

"A little incentive is what it took. Genji-kun is dilligent and wise. I often don't see him doing things I would expect, but in the end the results he brings are far great than I would have imagined. A true leader, and a wise ruler."

Kinsen smiles, and looks to Sora, "How are your kids doing. I saw them running around here and there. How many are they?"

"Well, Phi and Shirayuki are twelve, which means their future is coming along sooner than I'm really ready for. Soryu is seven- and convinced that 'the pretty Ki-Rin lady with the otters' is who he should marry."

He chuckled.

"So there are those three, plus Kinyoubi and I are expecting another relatively soon. My duties keep me on the road a lot, but I'll be taking a bit of breather until the new child is... squared away. I try not to leave Kinyoubi to handle too much by herself."

"Ara, ara. Congratulations, Jiyo-san!" Kinsen with a happy sparkle coming from her eyes, "Four kids, hmm~ that is some heavy work to handle, indeed. So your kid already claimed the Ki-rin. That is cute."

Kinsen looks down to the water and back to Sora, "I am happy for you."

"Thank you, Hantei-san. "

He grinned.

"And they can be a handful, but thankfully the girls have some practice- they helped take care of Soryu. They act up a bit more when I'm around, actually, because they know they can."

A pause.

"The girls also like to torment Hsieh-Hsieh by forcing him to attend their tea parties when they can, which keeps them pretty busy. Did Genji ever get up to anything similar?"

She nods, and closes her eyes, remembering, "Genji-kun does look after his sister Kazoku-chan. Worries about her and wants to please her too. They all grew up very close when they were young. Since his lessons started early, he left the household join the Dojo still a very young boy. Kazoku some years after that, too."

A hint of sadness can be noticed, but she refreshens it with a smile, "I am so glad his training is complete and that I have time to participate in helping him shape his future Clan. Kazoku, next season, I hope, too."

She runs her fiingernails above the water, making rippling patterns that soon reach out to Sora, "As for pets. No, no mistreating. They do like nature and the wilds, but we've never had a house pet such as the cute Imperial fox."

Kinsen giggles a bit, thinking on the creature having to attend to a tea party.

"I believe the girls arrived at the idea after he stole an egg from Shirayuki's breakfast one time."

He frowned.

"I just wish they hadn't wrapped him in my better kimono so many times before I got back from the road and found out about it. That thing was a total write-off."

"Ara. It was revenge, then." Kinsen nods her head a couple of times. "Understandable."

With a smirk, she replies, "Yeah. Foxes aren't known for being perfumed. Poor you if you had to wash it off."

"Oh, I wrote it off. Or more precisely, I told them they would need to keep it next to them as they slept from now on. So. That got... sorted."

He sighed.

"You'd think I'd be used to it after all of the Ayakashi-influenced... antics the Emperor's daughters could get up to."

Kinsen chuckles, "Lesson well taught, Jiyo-san. We hardly remember the tribes by now, specially me. Yet, it was that time that taught us how to make things better. This generation needs some hardening, for sure."

"It's part of why i find the Crane tendency to not discuss things they find disagreeable so stupid."

He chuckled.

"I mean, you remember, Hantei-san. I was not onboard with a lot of what I saw coming. But. I look at the life my children lead and comare it to to my own childhood among the Hikaru, and..."

He shrugged.

"This is better. But you can lose sight of why it's better if the old days are forgotten or glossed over. It's always important to be able to show why one is right, in my estimation."

She laughs a bit, and takes a moment to refocus her eyes at Sora, "Now that you say so, I am actually remembering it. You did look odd back then. This black greased up sheep that no one wanted near them. Shunning off the word of the Kami and their ways."

Kinsen continues to laugh more, and puts a hand over her mouth to stop. She says through her fingers, "Not that you don't look odd. You still, do. Older also. But you're not greasy anymore. Even a respectable family name you got. Who would tell... the very thing you were against, now you serve."

A chuckle, and she says, "I won't say I was right, since it is obvious. You, on the other hand, was just stubborn and contrary. Yet that good eye of yours does now how to get you to the right places. As for the Crane, lady Doji-kami wisdom is beyond my comprehension to judge their ways like you are portraying. I find that many things are better forgotten, or not discussed at all."

"Ah, but again... knowing the old days is important to understanding the benefits of the new."

He half-smiled.

"And I think you might find I haven't changed as much as you suppose. Imagine my surprise though, when Tengoku's chosen victor was also the Kami I was able to trust implicitly to understand that not all of our ways needed to be thrown out."

She tilts her head a bit, "I did tell you it wasn't about throwing out, but accepting the new. Adapting."

After a shrug she inquires with a tiny lip pout, "Would the previously angry weird-eye-man trust this one's words now?"

"One thing I haver never doubted, Hantei-san, is the sincerity of your belief and intent."

Which seemed to imply "yes" under the circumstances.