---"Kitsuki-sama, we had a disagreement with Hida Tachimoko over her accusations against Naomh Roberts, as I knew her testimony to be untrue. Hida Tachimoko insisted on a duel to the death, driven in part by personal issues she had had with me. I obliged."
- Mention that you have a letter, written by her for Moshi Naeko, to be delivered in the event of your victory, you will happily deliver this letter as soon as you have had a moment to recover from the aftereffects of the fight, and the honorable Kitsuki would be welcome to accompany you as you do. You suspect that its contents will be pertinent.
- Admit that the duel had been a long time in coming.
Although you're still heavily wounded, you manage to pull yourself together to face Kisu in full. The contents of the letter give you cause, the Rakshasa, Sagon could be anyone, anything, if it was true. If that were the case could you really trust Kitsuki Kisu? The flare of paranoia is difficult to shake off, but you manage. Largely by launching into a bare recitation of the facts.
"Kitsuki-sama, we had a disagreement with Hida-shiryo over her accusations against the gaijin Naomh Roberts. I knew her testimony was untrue due to my own understanding of Naohmh's character. I confronted Hida-shiryo over this and she insisted on a duel...due to a long time feud we shared, she insisted on it being to the death. I lived, she didn't."
"Am I to assume that you think this exonerates Naomh?" Kisu asks.
You shake your head.
"No, Hida Tachimiko-shiryo was wise enough to foresee the possibility she could lose, she left a letter for Moshi Naeko-sama to explain everything and retract her accusations." You say.
"Naturally, you will allow me to inspect the letter?" Kisu asks.
"No" Kyoko says bluntly.
"...No?"
"What Isawa-sama means is that it is addressed to Moshi-sama, we will not dishonour a request from an honourable samurai by not fulfilling it. If afterwards Moshi-sama wishes to share it with you, then that is her decision, if Kitsuki-sama is in doubt, he may escort us, but I seem to need a brief rest." You say quickly.
Kyoko is your friend, but that Isawa arrogance might get you killed yet.
For a moment the Dragon magistrate looks over you as if carefully weighing your soul wiht his own eyes. The level of scrutiny isn't something you like, but you endure anyways. Finally, Kisu shrugs.
"Well then, allow me to escort you to Moshi-sama then, we will have a healer there as well." He says.
You look at Kyoko and she nods. Unspoken was the agreement to go along with it for now, with the yoriki and the state you were in. There was no other choice. Kyoko probably could have summoned down a fire storm, but that was not an option she was willing to do just yet.
So with the help of Kyoko and a yoriki you're half carried to Moshi Naeko's office, who looks most put out by the fact that you are currently half dead. Kisu makes his report and Kyoko hands over the letter from Tachimiko. The yoriki puts you down on the floor and runs to get a healer.
Naeko looks up from the letter, and then at you.
"Megumi-san, you have been in a coma for weeks, and your first thought is to go duel your sworn rival....whatever your intentions, that was as my sensei used to say. A really stupid move."
She puts the letters down and steeple her fingers.
"I am not unaware of your lets call them extracuricular activities, nor am I entirely unsympathetic to the wish to pay back the debt of someone who saved you. But, this sort of short sighted foolishess, is not something I want in any of my subordinates. As soon as you are finished healing, you and your squad are dismissed from service. The charges against the gaijin will be dropped"
Your heart beats in your chest as you hear her speak. To everyone else it seems like you have been effectively punished for your actions. Stripped of your station, your pay, and in theory your friends. But...Moshi Naeko isn't angry at you. The way she hides the slight twitch of a smile, her eyes looking with some form of exasperated affection. No this isn't a punishment, not in truth, this is...you being freed to go do what you had to do. How much the enigmatic Mantis knew, you couldn't say, but she knew enough that you needed to be able to just go. With this you could, the paper work of your dismissal could take months to go through and until then, you would have no real duty to attend do.
"I apologize for my iniquities Moshi-sama, and accept your punishment in the spirit with which it was meant" You say bowing from the floor.
As Kitsu Ame arrives, glares and sets about healing you. You reflect that maybe Moshi-sama would have been a better ally than you thought. Well, it couldn't be helped now, all you could do is wait for the Kitsu to finish knitting you back together and return to the Shrine of Goemon.
Its early evening when the band gets together to discuss events. Izu is looking slightly put out that you managed to get him fired by proxy, Sora is somewhere between furious and understanding, Yukiko is just bewildered. While they all understand when you explain, seeing the last few months effectively amount to nothing was a blow none the less.
Finally it's Jubei who breaks the silence.
"We leave in two days, if any of you have something to finish up, now is the time to get it over with."
The command effectively breaks the tension, and you spend the rest of the evening coming up with a plan to deal with possible infiltration from the Rakshasa. From now on, when you met, you would all have to give a pass phrase based on the hour, and month. It was a little complicated but you think you got it. In common time, all the months had animal names to go with the noble courtly ones. The hours were also given animal names. So depending on the hour, you would work in the name of the noble month into your first few sentences. So during the hour of the Goat you would mention Doji somehow, but during the Hour of the Rooster you would mention Bayushi. It's a pretty simple one, all things considered, but it was just complicated enough that Sora was mostly satisfied with it. (Although you suspected Sora didn't trust you with anything more complicated)
That done, you retired, letting the next day be set up for supplies and to just enjoy the last time you'll see Shiro Enishi for a while.
In the end you don't spend time with any one person but manage to touch base with everyone. With Sora's appointment of you as second in command, that is more or less your job.
From Izu you learn that he's been ready for a while, and is eager to go, less to save the Empire, (while he acknowledges that is very important) but more from the wish to be travelling again and learning as he can from the road. The strange man offers a hearty unicorn style handshake before you go, and you take him up on it.
Sora surprisingly is on her own, and she admits to nothing, but notes that you had better not get into any more death duels without her permission. Aww, she does care, at least you think she cares. Its always hard to tell with the Scorpion. You end up sharing a quiet moment overlooking the city.
You find Yukiko packing up a lot of careful keepsakes, when you ask why, she admits that she doesn't think she'll ever come back to Shiro Enishi, most of this she can ask to be sent, but there are just some things that you don't trust to others. After hearing her out, you help her pack a few more things before heading out to the last member of your little team.
Kyoko is...naturally experimenting in her house, the nervous energy she feels clearly getting to her as she works through a dazzling array of complex alchemical formula mixed with some ritual language that you can't read. When you talk to her about it. Kyoko admits that she never thought she'd get a chance to be a hero, and that this, is very much worrying her in a lot of ways. After some quiet tea, you manage to reassure her.
The last two people you visit are Brother Jubei and Princess Ayako. The pair are quietly reminiscing about the times they shared. You join in as a supportive outsider, the princess and Brother Jubei only slowly letting you in. Still, as the night wears on, you end up resting with a good feeling about everything. Naomh Roberts apparently left in the early morning, just walked out of the city. That feels almost anticlimactic, but on the other hand you nearly died so she could do that, so it's all good...probably.
The sun is shining in the morning sky as the six of you move out the gate. While you kind of wish you were on a horse, Sora pointed out that it would draw even more attention that you were trying to avoid. Instead you're to slip out in pairs with people and meet up at a certain spot outside the city. You decided to pair up with....
[] Isawa Kyoko
[] Togashi Izu
[] Princess Ayako
