She went out the estate, as she looked for Mutsu. Mutsu who agreed to help her find Mamoru if necessary.
He came to her, dressed like a normal citizen was. Except for the headband, but he was still too inconsequential that it will work. She knew it did, because Mutsu accompanied Mamoru to meetings and almost no one knew what he was doing there.
"Can we spend time after you meet Mamoru-san?"
"Sure, I'll treat you to something. Hime-sama gave me the day off." She asked Sachiko specifically, and she was away choosing to take Kagura instead of anyone else. Which she thought for the better as well, since the girl knew the place best.
"She sounds like an awesome mistress, can I work for her?" She ruffled his head, knowing that he still wished to be with her. She did miss him, his energy and ability to lift her own spirits. Mamoru will not have let him go by any circumstances, and anyone else is disposable to him when compared to Mutsu.
"You can try." Since the servants were hiring when they saw the future Daimyo come here. It being no longer simply a possibility but a necessity. Although she knew that Mamoru will shoot this down the moment he got the chance to. He wasn't going to trade his bodyguard for anything.
But she has spent almost two nights mulling over this issue. And an extra day, because of just how difficult it was. She couldn't be certain that it was the same person. There was no way it could not have been him. Both of them had an angular jaw, as well as the same eyes and cheekbones. He was tall, the same could have been said about the man. As much as their own hair had been different, but was miniscule. He could have easily grown it out.
Four years couldn't have changed anything as well. Thus making it impossible for him to have been unrecognizable. She spent the entire night mulling over her own decisions the moment he saw him. Only two days here and she came to see something that she didn't have any wish to ever forget.
For a city which boasts to be unforgettable, it did so in a way that she didn't expect to at all.
"Where is he?"
"On the street as a letter writer."
"Is he there because he has to be or because he wants to be?"
"He says it earns money as well as a good cover, which explains why he knows how to read and write." He went forward to a sign on the side. With a rather large curtain covering the entire place. In red and white. "Can I go in there?"
"No."
"Please?" The boy showed her puppy eyes. Which as a doting elder sister, Kaede could not say no to it. Besides, they have the time to watch after all.
"Alright, once I'm done."
"I can see why." Other than the highly dubious nature of them in the first place, there was always the thought of an agenda behind it.
But she had to see Mamoru, just to be safe and certain. Mutsu did suggest plenty of places, although she knew that she will have only been able to visit one.
"We're here." The boy chose to stand by the side, while Mamoru sat down holding a brush. While glaring at her, wondering what she was doing here in the first place. He sat it down, and asked her to sit. As a sign that she needed and was required to sit.
At least to seem like a client. Which was easy, since she was a serving girl and few will have much of an education. Schools taught them the basics, but it rarely worked well into letters.
"Is there anything?"
"I found Kouya." He stared at her, almost as though she was making a joke here. His expression was not what she had in mind.
"If it is through the wanted posters, I don't want to hear it." He showed her one underneath the table.
"What posters?" He lifted up a poster of a old man looking both deranged and raving. If she didn't think that was possible. She chuckled at the sight of it. Mamoru did as well, knowing that chances were either Kouya will thank them for making his life easier or laugh at how he was portrayed.
"I got a glimpse on him." He looked to her. Staring at her, at how implausible at the situation had become. With all these fake posters spreading around, just how was it possible for him to have considered coming here.
"Slightly taller than you, with the same features, he grew out his hair and is accompanied by Hajime of Houya inn and a girl I can't even tell who it is."
"If Hajime is around, then his sister should be close." She couldn't deny it, although she didn't know just why were they here. If she did, then it will become clearer.
But she had been too shocked to do anything. Seeking him for years and he ends up appearing in front of your face and you miss the chance. It was unforgivable, she knew that herself.
"Is there proof?" He shrugged, it was a deduction that was easily able to come into. As neither Hajime nor Junri--his elder sister-- could afford to leave at all. They were understaffed as it was, relying on his speed. But that was for something else.
"I saw it with my own eyes, and sketched it out." To the best of her own ability, she was still able to get it right. There wasn't a picture taken or a portrait commissioned, he thought that it was just too dangerous. It was for the better, since the portrait taken of him had been anything but accurate.
People will be looking for an old man, not a young man with a whole life ahead of him. But here she was, remembering every inch of it. Kouya had been a figure that she could not forget; which was why she kept a sketch of him which she took as remembrance of the boy. At least before he departed on a ship leaving the country. The only one which he consented to.
She took it out as well, Mamoru being one of the only two who knew it existed in the first place. He looked at them, this was well kept and easy for it to compare.
"You didn't look at this while you were sketching?" He looked at her, knowing that it will have not been beyond her to make this choice. And it was well kept, skepticism was expected concerning such a boy.
She shook her head; it was the truth. Mamoru simply stared at her for a moment, since everything else will have betrayed her if she wasn't telling the truth.
"Even if I were to think that he is, what is he doing here?" Apart from how dangerous it was, there were few reasons to come to this place.
"I saw him, not talked to him." Mamoru gave a nod on his head, as much as he knew that it was a wasted opportunity to not talk to the man. If anything it will have been a lot easier. Although both of them have very very distinguished features, which will have made them stand out. As well as his height, which put many to shame.
"He isn't likely to be using the same name he did before. Besides, isn't this a good chance for you to find him, I did see him in this city after all." He did know that this was a good chance, Kouya will not have many allies if he under an alias. And if it was him who seeked him out, then it will make sense.
He also had the ability to really scour the city, without the posters.
"I'll leave it to Mutsu to do the scouting for now."
"You certain he can?"
"He's naive, but he won't betray any of our secrets."
"Good choice." She had to agree, Mutsu was a part of them after all which meant that it had been necessary.
"Remember to keep to your job, Kaede." She gave him a wink, before turning to leave. After all everything she did was according to her own plan. She was never one to have given the control over to anyone else. And the reason why she was left to it.
Because they needed someone independent and not reliant on them for orders in the first place. She left with Mutsu, to the circus that he asked to go into.
Sachiko brought Masaki around the better parts of the city. Something the boy greatly relished because of the freedom it allowed him as well. One of the few things that he never had much of a chance to have. Kagura came along, for the sake of their safety.
The girl mostly kept herself quiet, and rarely ever talked about anything or anyone. Sachiko initially had not been receptive to this; by this point she had long given up on her talking about anything. Quiet, and mostly observing most of the time. However, she did take a stick to Sachiko muttering thank you. Which was a good start.
If anything, Masaki fit in as though he was one of them. Not the son of a Daimyo, not the future feudal lord he will be. In a way that she knew even children groomed to carry burdens were still children at the end. And only then, will they be able to grow up to be good leaders-- capable of understanding the pain of others and that they are people too.
Sachiko was helping herself to her fifth stick of dango, which was in a long time. As well as Taiyaki, loving the taste of red bean in her mouth. Kagura stood by the edge, and looked over them. Keeping herself very much hidden, as well as careful.
She looked around, the daylight illuminating the place.
If there was anything that this city had not changed was that it was still vibrant. A chance to really see things that could not be found in any other location. With the closure of Okiban, this had been even more popular. Having been so long since she spent it outside like this, years even.
It was still here as well, as she ran from place to place without ever worrying or wondering about anything else. Such a huge change from where she was now, having to hide things from Masaki, coming to this place without her mother knowing. Surrounded by people and at the same time, woefully alone in mind.
"We should leave." Kagura was beside her now. "It seems that the Wariya are interrogating people."
She looked to the front, only to find two men. Or rather a boy and a young man, as they looked around. The only thing she could see that really defined them had been the haori they wore, filled with pieces of a shattered moon.
Which told everyone who they were, albeit a little strange.
"Quickly." She got off, quickly finding Masaki as much as possible. She could have the idea why Kagura had made it so important-- it was for the sake of secrecy. Avoiding anything that might possibly blow their cover at this point. If they found Masaki, then they might report that Masaki was here despite the fact he should not have been.
Not at any point, the same for her as well. This will have alerted their presence if one just went to them for information; she looked at Kagura who had known this from the start. If anything, she will have thanked them heavily for it.
When they came to it, it was a little too late. Masaki was talking to them now.