Reiko Hasegawa
"Me?" Reiko asked, astonished. She did not have much experience with or knowledge of design or art, not to mention the chance of the absence of talent. A lot of pressure weighed down on this assignment, but she also knew that Kayden had faith in her, and would only ask her to do something that he knew she could do. That decision had already been made.
"I will do my best," she said, her mind already racking through its contents to think of inspiration. Of course, the obvious sign dancing in front of her was a lightning bolt, strong and true, the same colour that erupted from Kayden's sword when he swung. Nothing else could symbolize the rebellion better than the "bolt from the blue" which had returned to finish what it started.
"Damn, no warning whatsoever," Cecil moaned, perched in the window of Kayden and Reiko's former room. The two of them forgot to leave a note when the disappeared for the rebellion, and while Cecil knew who they were with, her time in the palace caused her to be behind on the location of the troops. Sending a letter would be pointless, even with this kind of news, no matter how important.
It's not like I have time to go find them, Cecil thought, moaning lowly again and rubbing her temple. What'm I gonna do?
--
Just yesterday, she was walking through the hallways when Miyamoto had appeared out of nowhere, a serious expression on his face. As per usual, she cracked a normal "Kuronuma" joke, but her other master was not amused. Instead, he had lead her into his office, and sat down, glowering at her.
"Don't act like Kuronuma when I know you aren't him," Miyamoto growled, holding up a hand when Cecil's mouth had nearly dropped open. "Kuronuma kept a tight budget, and I've been noticing holes in our work, money flowing to a different source. Kuronuma also never walked around outside as much; he would do his business and come back here immediately."
She had been caught. Cecil couldn't believe it. She wrapped her mind around the situation, trying to find a way out of it. She ended up smiling and laughing.
"Sir, I don't know what you speak of," she said.
"I salute you, though, for keeping up the ruse so long, and refusing to acknowledge the truth," Miyamoto said. "I myself did not notice until two days ago, and we are the only two in this palace to know the truth. However, this does not change my next assignment for you."
He leaned forward so that the two of them were face to face, candlelight turning the office frightening. "One of the spies saw Reiko leaving the city and heading out to the country. Your job, whether you are actually Kuronuma or a spy, is to find her in the country, rebellion or no, and bring her back. If you fail to bring her back in a month, I will expose you, because Kuronuma would have succeeded in that amount of time. Then, the rebellion will be in greater jeopardy."
Miyamoto leaned back into his seat. "That is all. You may go."
Cecil left calmly, showing no sign of fear, but once she returned to her quarters she swore and pounded on the bed. Then she departed as her usual self to speak with Kayden, to see what he would say. She wasn't too worried, but something about Miyamoto's words had chilled her.
--
Now she sighed again, looking back out over the city. "Well, I guess I have to head out there anyway. Better start while there's still light." She slipped a hood over her head, turning back to Kuronuma and heading out of the city, acting as a traveler on official business. Once she had picked up on Kayden and Reiko's trail, which smelled particularly of grain, she figured that due to relative freshness, it would take her a day at the most to reach them.
