Long before the servants knock Akito wakes, taking several seconds to orient himself before rolling over and wrapping around his pet who had taken up a prominent position at his back some time during the night. Hoko coos happily, licking Aki's face as much as he can from his bundled position in the young solder's arms. He stays like this for several long minutes before rising off the floor and slowly stretching out some of the light kinks in his body. Despite the familiar firmness of the hard floor beneath his body apparently the softness of the covers was enough to upset his body.

He does not think too much this early in the morning, instead simply thoughts of getting awake and getting to the training grounds for his morning practice. Hoko seems to share this mentality, settling on the bed next to Aki's clothes to wait to be carried out of the room. The day before is fresh in his mind and he silently cringes over several awkward points. However no singular event can even begin to overshadow the fact that he will spend the rest of his life in this strange place. That thought threatens to crush him as he dresses with swift efficiency however as Hoko slides into place around his waist and he takes up his sword he pushes the feeling aside and instead focuses on navigating through his new gigantic home.

His footsteps are silent, his life as an assassin having taught him well how to travel unnoticed even over long distances. He manages to find the outside training grounds rather quickly,  the sky just barely beginning to fade from it's cloak of night into the faint predawn light. The little audrat slithers out f his kimono and scurries off to see if it can find anything to munch on while Akito is busy. With a slow breath the man launches into a series of stretches, limbering up his body before at last drawing his sword and commencing with his morning exercises. From sword play to running to climbing, he moves all about the training ground, moving off into the trees on occasion so he can use the lower branches for swinging and pull-ups.

He does all of this without being noticed by the servants, his activities quite, his motions smooth and soundless. It isn't until one of them knocks on his door for several minutes before peeking inside that at last the servants are alerted tot he fact that he's wandering the grounds. It takes little time to find him, many having heard or been at the sparing match the day before and gotten a feel for their new resident. He is in the middle of a sequence of sword poses when the servant assigned to get him up and to breakfast tries to get his attention.

She walks slowly towards the grounds, the edge marked by the lush grass that grows everywhere in the yard suddenly becoming hard packed dirt. She pauses at the edge and tries calling to him. Akito eventually notices her, her having to raise her voice to be heard through his concentration. When at last he looks her way, his sweat soaked body bare from the waist up and glistening in the morning light. She can not help looking at his scars as he turns towards her but her eyes quickly rise to meet his for an instant before falling respectfully. “Forgive me for disturbing you my lord but his highness insists that all members of the household eat their meals together, and breakfast is going to be soon. . .”

Akito takes a moment to come out of his training daze and as the words sink in he can feel his stomach drop. [i]'I must wreak, I can't go to breakfast like this!'[/i] In a mild panic he says softly as he approaches her, sliding his sword home. “Is there somewhere I can freshen up nearby?” 

His tone is respectful and catches her off guard however she responds quickly with a nod. “Yes my lord, right this way.” She turns and begins leading the way, not seeing his arm raise as he tries to tell her she could just point. However after a moment his hand falls and he sighs, scratching his pet's head as he rears up next to his leg inquisitively. [i]'Looks like it's the royal treatment already. . . .I really hope I don't get used to it. . .It's so not self sufficient. . . .'[/i] Sighing again he motions Hoko to follow, not wanting to put the top of his kimono back up until hes cleaned off a bit.

The servant leads him to a wash room with lovely carved stone basins which she promptly fills with cool water. She is about to add some light scents to the water when he catches her attention and shakes his head. “Sorry but scents mostly just more my nose itch.” he says with a smile. It's clear from her face that she did not need the explanation but he still feels good or doing so. She offers a light bow and goes to stand in the corner of the room to wait for him. This makes him a little nervous however he knows he does not have time to hesitate. He's got a breakfast to get to.

Quickly he wipes himself down with a convenient cloth and pulls his clothing back into place. It is not longer crisp and perfect looking as it had been when he'd let his troop mates dress and press him, but he hopes it will be good enough for now. Hoko takes up his spot, promptly falling asleep, and the two make their way to the main food hall. The emperor and his wife are already seated when he arrives and he does his best to offer them a s mile as he enters however he's not sure if he actually managed to pull it off as he takes his seat and looks up at the rulers and his future in-laws.

As always the empress is all smiles. “Good morning Aki-chan, how are you feeling this morning? Did you sleep well?”

The emperor chimes in, “Still wearing your sword I see. You know, you don't need to carry it everywhere now. I won't stop you, but you should know there's no real need.” He puffs up proudly. “Does make my kinda happy to see it however. Reminds me of my soldiering days. . .May go back to wearing it!” The empress chuckles at this and squeezes her husbands arm, still looking expectantly at Akito.

A little overwhelmed he takes a second to gather his thoughts before replying softly, “Good morning, thank you, I am feeling well enough. Morning exercises were satisfying, and I slept well enough, thank you.” She smiles happily at this and looks towards the door with an expectant expression, clearly hoping her son will arrive soon. The emperor doesn't look too hopeful of this and instead draws Akito into a conversation of battlefield tactics punctuated by tales of how it used to be and how things have changed.