"An Enyo, also starting her rites?" Kasumi Touhou laughed as she pulled up a chair to Shio's table. Asking for permission from a lower family was something that those of high-Eastern ancestry would not even have begun to consider - and knowing both Kasumi and Shio's personalities, it is not something that either would have found at all strange. Kasumi did not bring any of her food over to the table, having long-since finished her Drunken Noodles and Dumpling Soup, but sat simply to engage in the elaborate ruse of being here for her Rites. It was something that her family had been quite insistent upon if she was to one day lead the house and inherit her parents' vast sums of wealth, which was something that she was understandably very eager to do.

Seeing that Shio had chosen to have her Natrelmon present, Kasumi did the same with a brief flash of light from her belt, resulting in her Gen sitting on top of her head in a meditative pose. The two had very recently been linked by the spiritual bond of Gishiki, and though she was extremely new to the art, she could tell that the daughter of the Enyo family before her was already very masterful in the spiritual arts. She had heard that Shio herself had sealed away the power of the head of the Dama family when they were ousted. It was an impressive feat, especially from a junior member of a lesser family who was yet to complete her Rites - and if nothing else, that earned Shio the respect of the eldest child of the Touhou family.

"'The sunset is always beautiful in the city of Toran', my father used to say. It is true, is it not?" She asked, mentally telling her Gen to bow and show the proper respect. It would likely be a motion not unnoticed by a member of the aristocracy of the East, but its significance was probably missed by the less formal members of the West. Historically, the West had valued very different attributes in a person to the East, and in recent times that had not changed much - things were beginning to be picked up and little nuances were beginning to be shared across the two cultures, but the Rites were truly the first step to appreciating the culture of a different world. The journey was meant to unite the heart, the soul, and the mind, but few trainers realised this when they set out upon the historic journey. It was a revelation that often came later to those who survived.