The thought of Bellena chaperoning them again made her laugh as well, and she loosened her hold on him as she a little reluctantly moved from the comfortable spot against his chest. At least it would be easier to explain to Bellena than it would be if it were Sanjuro.

"I do think she would give us some privacy if she found us like this," Utsusemi chuckled, reaching up with a hand to smooth out some of Kenzo's hair. "She is a good friend, after all. I shall have to visit her again today... we haven't been able to speak for a couple of days now, and I think she and I both were both of similar minds during yesterday's meeting."

Kenzo straightened as they parted, although not far; Kenzo suddenly found that he very much wanted her to remain close to him. He grinned as she reached up, smoothing his hair, knowing just what a difficult task that was. Still, it did behave somewhat better under her careful touch.

"Yes, she is." He nodded. "And yes, that does seem like a good idea indeed." His lips pressed together. "I did promise you a full report, didn't I? Hmmm." He shook his head. "I'm not entirely certain I should. I recognize my limits, and the political is certainly one of them. I shouldn't like to prejudice your reasoning with my blundering." He frowned uncertainly.

"Mm," she gave a small nod, looking up at his hair, wondering why both Kenzo and Sanjuro seemed to have such unruly hair. Probably a personality difference, as she rarely recalled Ryuden having messy hair, at least not because of neglect or lack of care.

"Let me brush your hair while you tell me then? And I can tell you about the meeting."

Kenzo's lips quirked. "May you have better luck than I have with it." He seemed quite cheerful, though, as he shifted position, straightening further, and tilting his chin upwards, the better to let her reach his hair.

He sighed thoughtfully, composing his thoughts, waiting to begin until Utsusemi had started on his hair. "Hmmm. Where to begin?" He was silent a few moments. "Well, my conversation with Berena began with a discussion of possible points of tension between our party and the locals." He sighed. "Which, in retrospect, makes sense. We must seem rather like an invading force. If I were in their place..." He cleared his throat. "She, ah, made some suggestions as to possible motivations behind the decision to come here, as we did."

Utsusemi began at first with using her fingers to untangle Kenzo's hair. Some of them she suspected had been there a few days, though some she knew she was responsible for.

"True. I did advise both our captain on the point of us being considered invaders, as well as during the meeting." Not that too many had seemed to care. "Oh? Do go on."

Kenzo's hair seemed naturally unruly, seemingly taking its lead from Kenzo to follow its own path. Still, Utsusemi was able to make progress, smoothing out the tangles.

"Yes. Mmm." Kenzo agreed, closing his eyes at the feeling of Utsu's fingers on his scalp. "That's rather nice, actually." He cast a quick smile back at her. "Where was I? Ah yes." His expression grew serious once more. Very serious. "She..." His voice dropped. "She suggested that Prince Jama is trying to seek allies. And set himself up as the only reasonable way to save Rokugan, to see it progress. And that he has access to Agasha Kasuga's journals. And that he used and is now discarding the Tortoise to achieve these goals."

He shook his head, very gently, so as not to disturb Utsu's work. "It... sounded possible to me. But again, I recognize my lack of expertise in this area."

Her face tensed a little, listening to Kenzo's report. "That is... plausible, yes." But where would he have gotten a hold of Kasuga's journals? Ryuden, maybe?

"It certainly sheds some more light on it all... all things considered though, this expedition was not started for the good of the Empire, but for someone's personal ambitions," Utsusemi reasoned. Jama cared only for progress it seemed, as long as it was to his benefit.

Meanwhile, her fingers did not stop as they spoke.

"It doesn't help that his older brother is so staunchly against progress... when he takes the throne, it will make life rather difficult for you, for Ryuden-sama, and others of similar paths."

Kenzo's eyes remained closed. The topic was grim, but Utsu's touch was welcome, and the happiness from their earlier declarations of love had not faded.

"Mmm. Yes." Kenzo's lips twisted. "I said much the same to Berena. One brother seems to represent the opposite of what I stand for. The other would turn my dreams into weapons." He sighed. "Sometimes, it seems as though there are no good paths to take."

He pursed his lips a moment. "She spoke with some hope of the son of the acting Tortoise champion; Zazu's son, Saionji. She judges him to be a good leader, and someone who might be able to see things through this... whatever this is." He waved one hand vaguely.

"Is that so?" she hummed thoughtfully. "I will have to speak with her about him. We do need people with level heads here. Luckily, I do have one here," Utsusemi chuckled and patted Kenzo on the head.

"I have been giving some thought to the situation back home. Prince Hohiro will likely assume the throne, being the eldest... I think I must be a balance to Ryuden-sama. Where he is the progress prince Jama favours, I must be the one who preserves traditions, as prince Hohiro favours. Perhaps in time, he can be tempered with voices of reason."

Kenzo laughed softly at that, one hand coming up to briefly grasp hers, even as it worked at his hair.

"Yes." Kenzo said. "Assuming that... that all goes as it should." His eyebrows went up as she continued. "I think I understand. So you would be a more thoughtful preserver of tradition, then? Cultivating carefully, like a garden. Hmmm. Yes, I think you could do that very well."

He sighed. "As much as my enthusiasm may conceal it, I do feel that the same applies to progress. It also needs to be tempered with the voice of reason. People need to be willing to change, but changes need to be considered, too. This voyage begins to feel rather... less-considered."

"Seems we are of the same mind," Utsusemi smiled, leaning forward a little to peck his cheek.

"But yes, it does seem less like this journey was planned for exploration and learning, and more to suit a man's ambition. We were given the full run-down yesterday during the meeting." Her movements paused.

"First agenda was about the Unicorn, and the Tarkhanate. Second was about his true objectives here."

She took a deep breath before beginning to recount both of Jama's statements, first the Unicorn, and once that was finished, the much briefer announcement regarding Garen Hawthorne.

As she spoke, her hands eventually picked up a comb to work through his hair. Each movement brushing out the tangles slowly. Maybe this was why Ryuden always seemed to have his hair in place and properly smoothed out?

Kenzo sighed happily at the peck on his cheek. After that, though, Utsu's words made him frown thoughtfully, the expression growing darker as she went on. "Troubling..." He murmured. "I suppose I can't disagree that the Ki-Rin do require additional scrutiny. I'd caught the unfamiliar name, but I missed the lack of the Shinjo." His lips twisted. "It is important to remember not to just look for what is there, but isn't..."

He grimaced. "The second part concerns me more. I've already agreed to aid Gusai Susumu-sama in exploration later today; he requested experienced climbers for exploration. Exploration is one thing; I didn't realize I might be aiding in extermination." His shoulders sagged just a little, a sign of the trouble he felt.

Gradually, Utsu was overcoming the resistance of Kenzo's hair. He did keep it clean, so once it was properly subdued, it was actually rather nice, rich and soft to the touch.

"Hmm... Gusai-san is one I do not know the mind of, he was surprisingly stoic in light of these news," she murmured. "I certainly hope you do not encounter what the Admiral wishes for you to find, but if possible... try to see if we can learn more of the Mantis captain? Not to tell him anything now, of course, but how he feels about all this."

Utsusemi frowned a little. "Do you know who else is going?"

Kenzo straightened. "I will do my best." He said confidently. "It's easy enough for me to talk about such things." He smiled. "I hardly think anyone will suspect anything out of the ordinary if I start a conversation about what we hope to find. It's already one of my favorite subjects, after all."

"Not exactly, no." Kenzo said, with a gentle shake of his head. "I expect that Miya Suihime-sama will be there, as his first mate. As for others..." He pursed his lips. "He requested strong climbers. That greatly limits the possibilities. Of those I've met, Matsu Yasuhiro-sama seems like the best candidate, but I can't actually say for certain."

Utsusemi sighed softly, twirling a lock of Kenzo's hair around her finger.

"I would not trust the Miya. They seem too... fanatical," her frown was noticeable in her voice. "But Matsu-san... he is a good and honourable soul, even if we cannot trust him completely yet, I would trust him the most out of those mentioned so far."

Leaning forward once more, her arms wrapping around him as she pressed her face into his hair and neck, Utsusemi breathed in deeply. "Your hair is lovely... you should take better care of it."

"I agree." Kenzo said. He smirked, just a little. "I'm afraid that I've sharpened my wits on him a few times; he and Ran and I have all eaten together more than once. They don't care much for each other." He sighed, his lips curling back up. "But I agree with your assessment, of course. You are a better judge of character than I. I shall be careful around the Miya."

The feeling of Utsu suddenly throwing her arms around him, burrowing gently into his hair, was a wonderful one; he could feel her breath on his neck as she inhaled the clean scent of him. "Utsusemi..." He murmured happily. One hand reached up, sliding through her fine hair, to gently hold her head as she pressed against him. It really did seem like the perfect morning, thanks to her.

"Do you really think so?" Kenzo laughed softly. "If you've made it behave, we really can achieve impossible things together." He sighed pleasantly. "I would offer to return the favor, but your hair is already so lovely. I'd be afraid of making a mess of it."

"I can't see what he would have against Ran. She's a sweet woman," she shook her head a little, which only helped her burrow her face further into his hair.

Utsusemi hugged him a little tigher as she felt his hand through her hair. "Mmm... I do not think you could make it messier than you already had last night, to be perfectly honest," she murmured happily against his neck. "If my love wanted to brush my hair, who am I to refuse?"

Kenzo gently slid his hand down her neck in response. "She is." Kenzo agreed. "I like her, myself. They just very much got off on the wrong foot, I think. And, well..." He shrugged, smiling at the pleasant weight of her on his shoulders. "Lion do tend to be a bit prickly, after all."

That comment made Kenzo flush, pleased. "Mmm. I suppose I probably did, didn't I? Believe me, I thought it looked beautiful at the time." He murmured playfully.

Gently, and with a bit of reluctance, he disengaged Utsu's arms from his shoulders, and easing her back. He turned then, facing her, his hands coming to rest on her waist. "Well then." He murmured, grinning at her. "I should probably take the comb, shouldn't I?"

"I'm sure you were rather proud of your handiwork," Utsusemi retorted with a playful laugh, allowing him to escape from her embrace for now.

She passed the comb into his hands, fingers lingering against his. "Very well... I shall entrust my hair to you for now then. I trust you know better than to do something bad to a lady's hair?" Chuckling, her lithe form turned as she turned her back to him, and a hand brushed her hair back over her shoulders.

Kenzo let out a slow breath, his eyes warm as they watched Utsu turn around. The memory of last night, and the mussing of her hair, was rather fresh in his mind. Kenzo couldn't help leaning forward to plant a kiss on her neck, his lips lingering just a moment before he turned his attention to her hair. "I assure you, I shall be very gentle indeed." He murmured, his tone growing playful once more.

Sitting up, his hand briefly stroked down the length of her hair before he brought the comb into play. As it was, it seemed that there weren't really tangles to work out, but he began to comb it anyway, making it smoother, enjoying the feel of it against his fingers. "You really do have lovely hair..." He said. He cleared his throat. "What duties do you expect, today?