The Day of Thunder

Goju brought two bowls breakfast to his father-in-law's tent and stopped outside. "Reo-sama. I brought some breakfast if you're interested." Their duties kept them apart for the most part, but he figured he should try to make some time to see the man.

Reo nods in thanks. In spite of making the trip, he doesn't feel like he has a bead on his son in law.

"My thanks Goju-san. I hope that you've gotten whatever you were hoping to this trip"

"Well, I was summoned by Shinsei, so I didn't have any particular goal. Thought there is something I want to later. I just need to build up the courage."

OOC: Since Reo is one of the top spymasters in the Spider, it's entirely reasonable that Hisomu would have informed that he claims to be Hantei's son who had his Name erased by a Nezumi. While Hisomu doesn't remember him, he can tell that he son of a Kami and looks very similair to Hantei's wife. I'll leave it to you if Reo knows this or not. Either way, Goju does not know if Reo knows.

"Good to hear." Reo sips some of his hot water and takes a spoonful of breakfast. "I'll admit, I was pleasantly surprised when my daughter announced her engagement. I was too embroiled with work to notice a courtship, and that was a failing as a father. But I am glad that you are settling in the Spider." Reo studies the man's face, as if checking it with something from memory.

"Admittedly, it wasn't much of a courtship. We worked together and were in love before we realized it. So, I wouldn't worry about it. Her own dedication to research is because she admires you so much."

He takes a bite of his food. "Thanks. I wasn't sure what to expect when I joined the Spider, but it was... more suited to me than the other Clans would have been." Well, he at knew that was true for the Stag even it hurt. "Like I found home again."

Reo studies the man for a moment. "I'll say this for the Spider: we are the home of the lost and found. I know I was, and so was your mother in law. So are the children I adopted, who are as much my own as those I more directly sired. And so you are too."

Reo pauses. "I didn't believe it, you know. The claim you made. But I'll be cursed if your face isn't just like that of Hantei Kinsen. I should know, she promised to eat Reiko-sama's heart. I am still salty about that all these years later."

Goju was surprised at first, but quickly realized of course the spymaster would know. "Yeah... Mom is... rather passionate...."

"You know, it's the strangest thing." Reo tries to squint intently. "I logically understand the points separately, but when I try to put them together..." He shakes his head. "It doesn't click. It's not the strangest thing I've run into in my life but it certainly is interesting. Well, I suppose that you married into the group of oddities so you fit right in"

"Think of how my uncle must feel. It's why I have been mostly been staying away from my brother and cousins. It feels weird and a little creepy to know things about them and they know nothing about me." He takes a bite. "Though I do plan to see Genji later today. Not sure how it will go."

Goju nods at that last statement. "Aye. I feel more at home than home if that makes sense. Not that I don't love my family. Just that I make a better Spider than Stag."

"Ahh, I think I do. The Spider was always a clan of the leftovers made into something new." Reo blows on his food. "We aren't like the Crane or Scorpion who heavily drafted from one tribe. Sure, there was a core of Isawa from Reiko-sama, but they mostly went to the Imperial Court. I was from the Kakita and I know we had a mix of Noriaki and Hikaru. Usually, we were the ones who didn't quite fit with what the others were doing."

Goju considers Reo's words while he eats. They would resonate with him when he speaks to the shaman later tonight in his dreams. He needed to forge his own path to become a better man.

"Aye. And Uncle Hisomu gives us the opportunity to excel at our own path."