Kasumi approached the well known Ronin silently. It was not to evade detection, but rather out of an odd sense of respect. This Ronin was, much like herself, far more than she seemed. She still had on her basket hat, and Sakura would be close behind. The two would not be separated, not if she had any say in the matter.

They had been together for a long time.

She observed the Ronin, taking in things that most would miss, for a long moment. Kedo would know she was there, of course.

"Is that what the Kami whisper to you?" she finally prodded gently, "that the Lion are truly gone?"

 "Like all youths, I was tested. But they do not whisper to me." Kedo replies after turning his head to bow it - although only when Kasumi speaks, in order to grant her the privacy her soft-footed steps seem to request of the world - and then going back to his chore and self-imposed vigil, eyes moving from the painstakingly mundane to the political and profound without seeming to see much difference between the two, the Ronin frowning slightly as he considers the question and - seeming to feel that it needs more elaboration - adds "But I think that this years campaign is at an end. The Matsu have failed to carry the city with aggression and perhaps more attention will be paid to wiser council. If nothing else, a lesson shall be added to their books." at rare length and candor.

Sakura stood off to the side, quietly observing. This interaction would be ... interesting to say the least. Still, Kasumi would need guidance in certain matters.

She nodded to Kasumi, a pre-arranged signal ...

At the prearranged signal, Kasumi took off her basket hat -- revealing that she looked exactly like Sakura ... down to the smallest detail. She kept her hat close, however, so that she could once again cover her face should anyone else come by.

Her existence had not yet been revealed to the general public.

Without the hat, Kasumi's facial expressions became far more evident. Kedo's answer confused her for a bit. Finally, however, her face softened and she gasped.

"You poor thing! You really don't know, do you?" Kasumi knelt close to Kedo, though not unfashionably close, and spoke softly, her tone like that of an ancient monk was speaking to a five year old.

"All Humans speak with the Kami, though they take two paths. You follow the Path of the Tiger; we follow the Path of the Dragon ... though my path is close to being both."

"Every time you hold your hammer and form a grand blade, you speak with the Kami. Every time you become aware of your opponents and allies, you speak with the Kami. Every time things go your way, so much so that you know that you had very little to do with it -- you are speaking to Kami."

"Do you understand, seeker?"

 Kedo listens - that is something he has always done very well indeed, and the corner of his mouth quirks up as something in what Kasumi says resonates with the lessons of his masters. Something, if not all of it and enough that he lays aside for the moment the question of appearance (for after all, is it not the nature of twins to look alike?) and the revelation of Kasumi's face (it is not so very unpleasant to speak with her this way) to respond simply, "I understand that this is something that you must believe. That it informs and guides your actions, leads you into greater harmony with that that I cannot even dimly perceive but that for you is as natural as water to a carp. But it is not the Way."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:20, Sun 13 May 2012.

[For clarity -- Kasumi is dressed as Daidoji, not Shosuro. That's why anyone has seen her ... any of her.

GM-Dono -- perhaps we should change the name to Daidoji Kasumi, to reflect her appearance. This isn't the first time that mistake was made, and it's quite natural to be honest.
]

 OOC: Actually, Kasumi isn't dressed as anything because *someone* hasn't written her a description. If you'd like to fix that, I'll edit my post. Thhhhhbt. ^_-

[LOL! Fixed. Oh, and thank you GM-Dono!]

Sakura stood close by, keeping watch. She would have to go see the governor soon enough; their cover would have to be solid enough by then. But Kedo ... Kedo was able to see things that he shouldn't be able to see. So he would be a problem, unless dealt with very cautiously.

Ironically enough, the Truth in this case was far less dangerous than any story. For the others ... well, that would be a different story.

Still, she said nothing ... yet. This would be a good learning experience for Kasumi.

Kasumi watched the Ronin, unsure of what to make of his statement. How could "that which is" not be "the way"? Finally, she gave up on trying to figure it out.

"Do you know that you have a Wind Kami following you? It hails from the mountains and it's quite taken with your family ..."

A look from Sakura cut her off.

Sakura's look cut of her twin mid sentence. It was the kind of thing that only a rude Samurai -- or a young child -- would say.

"Please forgive her, Kedo-Kun" she interjected softly -- so softly that only the three of them could hear, "she's only been human for a couple of hours. The disconnection that humans experience is quite confusing to the Void Kami, and it seems she knows very little about the Little Prophet and his teachings."

"She is a gift from the Dragon -- the Dragon of Thunder and the Dragon of void. She is here to assist in our war against the Darkness."

It sounded crazy. Hell, if she wasn't there for the experience she probably wouldn't believe it herself. But, this was Kedo. He would sense that there was something about Kasumi eventually; whether he would come to the correct conclusion or not, well ... that would be "probably". He would probably even sense that Sakura had changed in some way.

Because this was Kedo.

 Kedo would have it differently of course - to him, he is but the simplest of men, one who moves in straight lines to clear ends, and to a certain degree this is even true. But in a world of curves and mist one who moves in straight lines and who knows where he is going... Well now, he might turn up in all sorts of inconvenient places.

 Ask the Lion.

 As for his answer, well now - something merely being 'real' has nothing to do with Truth and the fact that the Kami hypothesis isn't completely small-t-true either (as a brief trip into Kumi lands would ably demonstrate) would only complicate matters if Kedo was qualified to raise it and so instead he merely lets the seeming Daidoji girl work her way through her own thoughts, carefully focussing his own attention upon a nicked length of fabric strap before deciding that no, it really must be replaced - something he turns to a small and steadily diminishing supply of materials to provide - while still listening, until Sakura's words bring his head up and around, smiling slightly.

 "The Dragon, ahhh. You should have said." he merely remarks with a boundless twinkle in his eye and then turns his head back towards Kasumi, to whom he gives a small bow without rising and remarks "You have a beautiful home." in a fashion calm enough to chill a Phoenix's blood if dwelt upon sufficiently.

Sakura smiled. Kedo understood. Probably all too well.

"We will be keeping that little piece of information secret, of course" she added, "but for now we should see the Governor. I'm certain he will have a few questions for us."

"If you'll excuse us ..."

"Thank you, Kedo-Kun. I'm glad you understand." She looked back to her "Twin" before adding "We shall have to discuss this ... 'Little Prophet' sometime."

Kasumi replaced her basket hat and, after a small bow, took her place at Sakura's side. It was where she belonged.

 "I suspect I should have to do that a great deal if I was told what was happening." Kedo replies with a rare flash of dry, dry humour and a faint smile offered towards Sakura and a nod of the head to Kasumi, a more serious note coming into his voice when he answers "It would be a pleasure, although there are those better suited to speak of him than I." with the due seriousness of someone who, better than most, knows that no creature under heaven is completely unable to benefit from the words of Shinsei.

 Not even the Kami themselves.

OOC:  Okay, so the wonder twins are going to see the governor and Kedo is going...?

[Wonder twin powers, Activate! LOL!]

Sakura and Kasumi are admitted into the Governor's presence as a matter of course.  The heroine who brought word of the Lion is trusted implicitly by all of Toshi Ranbo.  Let it not be said that fate has no sense of irony.

"Sakura-san," Doji Kasarugi says absently, looking up from his letter writing, "what brings you to..."

He trails off as Kakita Tsutomu and Doji Kanisai step forward to interpose themselves between their lord and Sakura and the...thing wearing Sakura's face.  Daidoji Kumi steps back, presumably to ready something rather...unpleasant.

"Sakura-san," he begins again, "now would be a good time to explain why someone else is wearing your face.  As you were one of those responsible for preventing my death at the hands of...those things, I am giving you the opportunity to speak rather than killing you outright."

Sakura looked almost amused, though whether it was in spite of or because of the guard's actions would be anyone's guess.

"I assure you, we are both quite Human" Sakura replied, "but do not take our word for it -- check for yourselves by viewing us through the Tears of Lady Sun."

She paused for a long moment -- long enough to allow the guards to verify that they were, in fact, both completely human.

"This is my twin sister, Kasumi" Sakura finally explained.

"She was lost during the Clan War and only just was able to catch up to me in the midst of all the battle for Toshi Ranbo. It was quite the touching reunion, even in the middle of battle."

It took only seconds for a large grin to slowly spread across her face.

"Well, that is the story that the Doji Courtiers will be telling at Winter Court at any rate."

"The true story is ... rather more complicated. Since the Scorpion now know of her existence, she must now move around in a ... less than inconspicuous manner. It was inevitable, I suppose ..."

Sakura hoped that Lord Kasarugi would not inquire further ... there were, after all, certain things that the Honorable Doji would rather not be aware of. But if he did, she was ready for that as well.

"I delayed telling you because I did not want such a thing to come to light in front of the others. I hope I did not err in that judgement ..."

Kasumi stood by silently, watching the three carefully but not moving. It was ironic -- should they actually have wished harm to the Governor, those three could not have stopped it. But, now that they did not wish him harm ... the others assumed that they did.

At her introduction, Kasumi bowed.

"Hajimemashite. Yoroshiku Onegaishimasuu."

It was, perhaps, a bit too "cute*" but it was nonetheless a formal "pleased to meet you". Kasumi knew how to be "rough", of course, but such a thing was not in her nature.

Sneaky, on the other hand ...

[* - The pronounced and elongated "oo" at the end is a cutesy thing. Normally, the "u" would not be pronounced at all.]

"You choose a difficult time to reveal such...inconvenient truths, Sakura-san," the Governor replied, gesturing for his yojimbo to stand down, "please, continue with your report."

Sometimes the truth was the best way to lie.

"During a lull in the battle, I decided to take a few minutes to pray. Tengoku heard; much to my astonishment (they are very busy, after all) the Thunder Dragon and the Dragon of Void heard my prayers and granted us a boon to fight the Darkness."

"Kasumi-Chan was one of the Void Kami until a few hours ago. She is human now, but quite dangerous to the Darkness. Bayushi Kenshin-San, using a borrowed crystal wakizashi, and Kasumi-Chan dispatched an entire unit of Minions by themselves."

"Naturally this must be kept quiet -- for obvious reason as well as the in-obvious ones."

"I would expect the Phoenix to come snooping around, however. They have a tendency to pick up on such things, even when not told about them. Void is not something that most Shuenja can not work with, and their Shugenja tend to be quite persistent when they find a Samurai that can work with it."

"This is something our Courtiers should be aware of -- she is sensitive to the Void, but has never been trained to speak with the Kami. As I have been touched by the Dragon, they may ask of me as well."

"Given proper warning, I'm sure that our Courtiers can use this to their advantage ..."

Kasumi bowed once again, but said nothing this time. This was quite a bit of truth for someone undercover, but then again Sakura had left out some of the most important parts.

That was a good thing, of course.

She observed the bodyguards emotions. She had seen such things many times as a Kami, but never from the human perspective. The limitations were ... confusing.

Still, Sakura seemed unconcerned. Perhaps they were not aware of how much she was capable of? Yes, that would seem to be the best bet.

"You bring a wild tale, Sakura-san," the Governor replies wryly, "but this is not the first time you have come with a wild tale on your lips, nor even the second, so I suppose that I must trust you.  It will be interesting to see what you might accomplish with all of the Clans to maneuver around.  Go, make your plans, for if I am not mistaken, the Emperor Himself intends to be present."

Sakura bowed silently. There was no need to say anything at this point, for permission to leave had already been given.

It was time to prepare for the upcoming social onslaught.

After they were well outside of the Governor's chambers, Sakura spoke up. "If the Emperor is coming, we must check and double check this place ... everywhere the Emperor is likely to be. Somehow, we must find you some Crystal ... and get you caught up on some of the social niceties."

There was no time for waiting.