The Samurai House is the home of the Samurai in Kyoto. It is a smaller, but more purposed campus when compared to the various areas in Ketsurui No Iori. It is surrounded on all sides by tall trees, though from a tall building, one can see the centerpiece of the campus — the Iron Pagoda, which serves as a training facility and an administrative building.

Taken from Kyoto: Samurai House.

The sedan stopped in front of a building rarely, if ever, visited in Kyoto.

It was hard to see what the building looked like, as it was surrounded by tall trees from the front. Unlike the palace, which had lots of open land in front of it, this building appeared to be a genuine stone wall right up to gate, with the trees — mostly cypress, but with styled pine and cherry as well — blocking a person's view from the road. Vehicles that approached from the road had only one way to go, and that was directly toward it. There was a small roundabout in front of the wall, with a small cherry tree growing out of it surrounded by dirt and bark, but on all other sides was civilian Kyoto, with its tall, modern buildings. A thin walkway separated the metropolis from the wall.

A dead end, without vehicle side exits, and no visibility beyond the wall. A formidable defensive position.

There was no grand, iron-and-brass-wrought entryway set into the wall. Just a simple wooden gate, no thicker than a quadruplet of centimeters, with slats in the doors that started just below eye-length for Nyton. Handles consisted of bamboo poles hung on each gate door. No guards were visible — nor were cameras, weapon emplacements, sensor grids, active scanners, or any other sign the area was secure.

The only hint it was what it was came from the placard attached to the wall just left of the gate, with its gold-painted Yamataian characters right against the grey, faded wood they were carved into.

“Samurai House.”

The sedan's driver, a red-headed Neko enlisted, said she was instructed to drop Nyton and Kotori off at the gate. She would ensure the Shoi's things would return to Miharu in time. With that, she was away, and the pair were left with mildly sunny skies overhead. It was some time after 09:00; they had been at Rosenthal's only for about 45 minutes.

The wind rustled through the trees. They spoke with firm leaves and bendy branches — a training motif, Kotori recalled, which went something like, “Learn to bend with the wind as the trees do, and you will not break from its gusting.” The wind signaled a sharp temperature change was imminent. Cold weather; probably rain.

There was no place to knock. And no one seemed to want to greet them.