Hitomi chuckled as Marian came to rescue the little girl, returning to a casual standing posture and shrugging off Snow's comments. "I've got time to kill, why not? I did just return though, so I'm going to get myself a nice, warm meal and a drink at the tavern before I set off with the whelps." She already had all her gear on her, and a nice hot bath would be welcome, but she figured Snow would not appreciate the distraction at all.

There were some catcalls and cheers the moment she entered the tavern, seeing as how she had gotten herself a reputation amongst the patrons for being who she was. Though they also knew she was infamous for rejecting unwanted advances very harshly, so thankfully no idiots approached her this time. She headed straight for her usual table and soon had a bowl of stew and a cup of the tavern's finest in front of her.

In twenty minutes she was back outside and waiting for the signal to leave again. This time, without the air of mischief and playfulness she usually had around her. It was best she set the tone for the training exercise - if she caused any of the students to be distracted with winning her attention, Snow and Marian might not let her live down the consequences. Her wazikashi had been left behind - she figured if the students had to go through the training with only one weapon, it wasn't fair for her to have more than they were as well. Besides, her kin was born to roam the forests, and back in Japan the spirit forests were far more dangerous than the one they were about to enter.

"I'm ready... though I'm curious why you'd want me there. I'm not a very good teacher, at least not for many of the students here." Hitomi asked Snow. "Besides, Marian might try to force a chastity belt on me should I get near any of her precious little whelps."