"I love wearing kimonos. If you want to wear one all throughout the year you essentially need 12 of them, one for each month. A kimono should represent the time of year. Spring is my personal favourite time of the year. Its when the days only get nicer" She smiles, remembering herself and her sister watching the cherry blossoms fall. Then she became more serious again
"This is not about the money. As that captain said, she works of some noble on Honshu. Those are always high profile targets. Either for elimination or kidnapping to get to those we actually want. But she wasn't on the vessel. So its more useful to wait untill that person is on the ship, but least we now have that ship in our database. Sharing the donation was very generous of you, I thank you for this, but in the end the big fish slipped away.
Actually, I was just curious to the man who brought me 5 injured pilots to our Sisterhood She laughs and open her fan to cover her mouth as not to be seen as rude.
"I did not know that about kimonos," answered Doc. "I mean, I am not the most fashionably knowledged guy in the galaxy so I just figured it was like any other dress that a woman might wear. You know, you stand in your closet with your finger on your chin thinking, What do I want to wear today kind of thing." He shrugged and gave a chuckle. "See? I learned something today."
He nodded in reference to the pilots. "It will not be the last time I rescue a pod floating in space. I am a doctor and to me all life has value. So what if the authorities would leave them to die. I will not. The problem I run into is where to bring them. I do not get a very good reception on some bases so I have to be careful." He pats his robes, indicating he carries weapons on his person. "Luckily I seldom have to use them. But, it is not uncommon that I have a passenger for a long trip until I can get them home. It is actually kind of nice at times when you are far from any human habitation."
He sipped his Saki. He was comfortable and relaxed. For the moment, what he often heard of women of the Golden Chrysanthemums weren't being displayed.
"If you do not mind me asking, I know of the mission of the Golden Chrysanthemums, the one about male dominance in Kusari and oppression. I understand this even if I do not agree with methods used. In fact, of my four Med Force commanders, three are female. I will admit, they earned it and I have utmost trust and faith in them."
"No no, a kimono has all kinds of rules to wear. Like if your overlap the kimono the wrong way, it is seen as a grave insult and it will be as if you are dressed for your own funeral. It takes alot of knowledge to wear one properly." After waving with the fan a few times, she closed it with a quick handgesture and straightened her posture.
"You must realise first when dealing with Kusarians that our society exists on several layers and I do not mean this is in a metaphysical sense. To the average Kusarian, this is a completely natural thing since they do not think in an absolute truth. It is malleable. The world as it actually is, is something that they only experience in their private mind. And when you throw the label 'culture' on it, it has basicly become an untouchable principle.
This is where the Golden Chrysanthemums come in. We are indeed classified as terrorists and criminals. But if we show weakness, the system would neutralise us. But excuse me, what was your question?"
He gave a quick shake of his head, as if he had a broken thought. "Mmm...I seem to have lost my question. It must not have been very important."
"Call me an optimist if you wish but an old life of violence got me nothing more than pain and heartache. While not always successful, I have on many occasions settled many a dispute either between myself and someone else or acting as a mediator between others," he explained. He motioned with his hands open towards the table, "Much as we are now by breaking bread."
He placed his hands on the table, on on top of the other, "The Kusari government is more complex than I know for sure. I do know that it is a very male dominated society. I once had a meeting many years ago with the late emperor Jien Kogen. It was about improving relations between Zoners and Kusari. You know, I did not let it more than mildly annoy me at the time but Midori was at my side and she went out of her way to beautify herself and respect the then emperor of her homeland. In talking with you, it reminds me of it. It was the first and only meeting I ever had with him so I guess it accomplished little."
He sat back a bit, smiling lightly. He often did this when he mentioned Midori. "I just wish she could have taught me more about the culture here than I gave her time for." He sighed before sipping his Saki.
"Sometimes the time of talk is over and the time of actions begins. It is hard to compare our meeting to our centuries old war against the Kusarian government and the oppression we faced. Matsuda fought with words and laid the seeds of our movement. It was only when she took action by trying to assassinate the governor that our movement started flowering. Who knows. If she never did, her movement would have faded away, absorbed by the system that she defied." She refilled both of their cups with sake
"Understand that the emperor himself has little true power. The Imperial throne is just a tool that those in power use to legitimise themselves. This is just another false reality established by the system. Power in Kusari is very diffuse and it actively works against someone obtaining too much of it."
"I guess that would make sense," he replied after sipping his refilled cup of sake. "Presidents and Emperors are really figure heads, chiefs of state of you will, the real power being with a senate, a congress or whatever. In the case of Bretonia or Gallia, a monarch." He grumbled a little at the mention of monarchies as he disliked the Queen. "Even still, those elected officials are often financed by corporations and such."
He stopped and gave a chuckle. "Listen to me, ranting about politics. That was not my intention of my being here."
He was in Kusari, a place he actually liked and wanted to know more. He just relaxed and turned more pleasant towards his host. "So please, tell me more about Kusari, about the Golden Chrysanthemums themselves. I know what they seek and how but I am sure it is deeper than that but if you would rather not, that is fine too. I do not want to make you uncomfortable."
She smiled at his words.
"The power does not even lie with the senate or even the government. It is a balance between the politicians, emperor, bureaucrats, the Media and the mega corporations. They each share in this power struggle and none of them truly rule Kusari."
She laughed and shifted her position slightly to make herself more comfortable on the pillow.
"Your really hate the Bretonians ne? What we seek huh? We want to overthrow the Kusarian Systen, which I just described to you and replace it with our Matriarchy lead by own leader, Kiri. She will lead Kusari into a new era and rule under with the mandate of the goddess Amaterasu herself."
He nodded, "An ambitious plan. You definitely have your work cut out for you."
He thought for a moment. The idea of his daughter being part of such a revolution frightened him. Still, no one knew that he was the father of a Golden Chrysanthemum. For someone to know could well make life difficult for them both.
He then looked at his guest. The kimono, the face paint and the elegance that came with it. "I have heard of kabuki but have never seen it live. Midori and I only talked about it a time or two. Can you tell me more about it? Being able to see it would be a tribute to my late wife."
She was suprised about his sudden change of topic
"You know of kabuki? It is interesting you ask, since kabuki and the geisha have been intertwined since the birth of both proffesions. Between you and me, kabuki actors never visit the entertainment we provide because the find it boring and it ends up with us discussing work anyway. Some male kabuki actors specialise in female roles, since traditionally it is a male only art form. I personally am a fan of kabuki plays. Geisha also perform in kabuki plays, where we naturally also take on the male roles, like that of a samurai."
Doc thought a moment. Common ground. He wanted to know more about kabuki and who better than a Kusarian, a Kusari woman who both knew something about it and liked it.
"So where would I be able to catch a good performance?" he asked of her. "I have never seen a live performance and would like to."
There was something about her but he couldn't figure it out. The aggressive nature and cardamine use for some reason was finding a back seat. Still, he kept a lid on Emiko as it would ruin everything. "This might sound a little odd but perhaps I could take you to a kabuki theater? I mean.." He then smirked, "...I am a doctor and it would not be hard for me to get you in unnoticed."