Ine Kusumoto is a mixed-race doctor of Western medicine whom you meet in Edo and can be romanced by increasing Bond and Favor in Rise of the Ronin.
As with every character in Rise of the Ronin, the key to starting a relationship, or Veiled Vow, is to increase your Bond level and Favor bar. Most decisions you make relating to Characters boost your relationship, but there are some decisions that are better than others. Here is everything you need to know about romancing and building Favor with Ine Kusumoto.
How to Romance and Build Favor with Ine Kusumoto
There are three ways to romance and build Favor with characters in Rise of the Ronin: Bond Missions, Gifts, and Positive Discussion. Ine Kusumoto features in a few Main Missions, but her story mostly takes place across 3 Bond Missions that you must complete to increase your relationship.
- Fruit from Distant Shores (Level 24) – Unlocks after completing “It Hurts to Be Good” Main Mission.
- Ine’s Worries (Level 25) – Unlocks after completing “Fruit from Distant Shores” Bond Mission.
- Collect Western Medical Texts to advance her research and treat cholera sufferers.
- Cultivating the Cure (Level 26) – Unlocks after completing “Ine’s Worries” Bond Mission and reaching Bond level 3 with Ine.
Completing all three Bond Missions will increase Inte Kusumoto’s Bond significantly.
Positive Discussion & Favorite Gifts
There are two other ways to increase Favor and Bond with Ine Kusumoto in Rise of the Ronin, and that is with positive discussion and giving Ine her favorite gifts. You won’t need to do this too much if you complete all three Bond Missions, but these conversations are an easy way to get you over the line of that Favor bar.
A Doctor’s Duty
After completing the first Bond Mission, you will share a conversation with Ine called “A Doctor’s Duty”. This conversation begins with, “Good timing! I was just looking for you. There’s something I wanted to tell you. I just wanted to thank you for always being so helpful. You’ve helped me more than you know. Well, that’s… all I wanted to say, really. Do you have anything you want to tell me?” This gives you three response options:
- I just wanted to see your face.
- Let me help you with something right now.
- Come on, don’t be so formal.
The top two options, “I just wanted to see your face” and “Let me help you with something right now”, are the most suitable. Choosing one of these and replaying the other option in Testament of Souls is the best outcome here.
Another Side of Ine
After completing the final Bond Mission and playing out her storyline of trying to cure cholera. Ine Kusumoto will want to speak to you again, and this time, she wants you to come purchase medicine with her. Unfortunately, this skips time until after the journey, and Ine feeds a cat before it quickly runs away. This will present you with three choices:
- That’s too bad.
- So you’re an animal lover?
- You should be that nice to me.
The best option here is, “You should be that nice to me“. This will provide you with the largest increase to Bond and Favor. “So you’re an animal lover?” is the second best choice and one that you can replay in the Testament of Souls to reap the benefits of both choices. “That’s too bad” isn’t received very well and doesn’t provide any positive benefits.
The best gifts to give to Ine Kusumoto are Western Medical Text, Frankenstein (Private Pressing), Milk Chocolate, and Yew Koboku. These can be found throughout the game by completing Main Missions, Pilgrim Dog rewards, and Cat Concierge. Below, you can find a table of some locations where you can find these gifts.
| Gift | Location |
|---|---|
| Frankenstein (Private Pressing) | Katsu Kaishu Estate (Edo) |
| Milk Chocolate | Katsu Kaishu Estate (Edo) |
| Western Medical Text | Satsuma Clan Edo Estate (Edo) |
| Yew Koboku | Koishikawa Botanical Garden (After Completing Robert Fortune Bond Mission) (Edo) Trader in Gojo (Kyoto) |
Ine Kusumoto Bond Rewards
There are four Bond levels for every character in Rise of the Ronin, and increasing favor will also increase your Bond with that character. Here are all the rewards you can earn for increasing your Bond with Ine Kusumoto:
| Bond Level | Rewards |
|---|---|
| Acquainted | (No Rewards) |
| Friendly | Increased Efficiency (Medicine) Apollo’s Revolver Intellect Points +1 |
| Inseparable | Increased Efficiency (Medicine) Gesture: Bow 2 |
| Fated | Increased Efficiency (Medicine) Intellect Points +1 |
Once your Favor bar reaches the maximum, you can ask Ine Kusumoto, “Can we talk outside? There’s something I need to say.” This will trigger a cutscene where you must say, “I’m in love with you” to progress to a Veiled Vow. It’s important to note that Ine also doesn’t like sharing, so she won’t want to share you with another Veiled Vow. Therefore, she will confront you and ask you to either end it with her or the other individual.
That’s everything you need to know about becoming a Veiled Vow and romancing Ine Kusumoto in Rise of the Ronin. Make sure you check out our Guide Hub for more articles and news on the game.