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Nagumo clan estate.
Tosa, Japan, June of Bunkyū 1.

["I come as a messenger of the Princess of Yase. My mistress wishes for me to see the face of the child under your care with my own eyes."

Technically, it isn't a lie. She does wish to see the ward of the Nagumo clan, and she is acting as a messenger - on her own behalf, perhaps, but on the behalf of the Princess of Yase nonetheless.

Sen is well aware that after so many attempts have gone horribly awry - her messengers being turned away or being entertained within the house but never actually being allowed to see Kaoru for themselves - that this isn't going to be easy. She is prepared to be stubborn with the men who have received her, and so she does. It's a fact that the servants have orders to placate her and send her on her way, but that is something she won't allow.

She had arrived the day before, just after noon. Now it is noon again, and she still isn't gone. Currently she is kneeling on a cushion in the room for receiving visitors, and she thinks that perhaps she has finally succeeded - a servant is dispatched to go and fetch Kaoru. She would prefer a private conversation, but that same servant will most likely be instructed to monitor them as they speak.

That's fine. Now that she's here, she's sure she can figure out a way. Things have been quiet enough lately that she has a little more freedom to act on her own (and she is acting on her own - for once, Kimigiku has no idea where she's gone, though she's left instructions with a child in the village to tell her that she saw the princess going to Tosa if she hasn't returned within two weeks), and she is sure she's up to the task of bringing Yukimura Kaoru home.

She looks up when she hears the sound of a sliding door, and smiles.]

Ah... are you Kaoru-san?

[She swears to god if they've brought some random girl to try and trick her, the Nagumo clan will become very well acquainted with just how much damage Yase can do when she's been offended.]

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[And then, like that sharpness had never been there at all, Kaoru's smile grows a little sunnier and he laughs in a light and gentle way.]

I do feel in much safer hands now! Though I'll continue to hope that you won't need to extend a hand in the end, either way. It would be better for both of us that way, I believe. It seems your friend isn't terribly fond of me...

[WHO KNOWS WHY goodness, what a vast and unsolvable mystery.]

[Better for everyone in the world, more like...

Sen laughs along with him, but after a moment or two her expression becomes just the slightest bit pained. "Your friend isn't terribly fond of me" is one of the largest understatements she's ever heard - Kimigiku hasn't exactly made her dislike of Kaoru a secret. It's a little strange to see, considering how fond she is of Chizuru... nearly everyone likes his sister better than they like him, god.]

Kimigiku does not trust my judgment when it comes to you, I'm afraid. [Surely it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that she went and got herself kidnapped because she wanted to save him. SURELY NOT.] I do apologize for her behavior. I'll... speak to her about it.

[IT'S JUST HIS LOT IN LIFE being second... place.......

But he'll laugh politely behind one hand, raising the other to wave in gentle dismissal.]

There's no need for that, though I do appreciate the offer. After all, even if you spoke with her, it would only make her more agitated. Isn't that so?

[Not that... Kaoru would mind it...... But Kimigiku is such a nonentity in his mind that her negative emotions aren't really worth a whole lot to him. No point!!]

[That's such a crappy lot in life. Kaoru should demand a refund. Preferably in a way that doesn't involve genocide.]

...I suppose that is the case. [Her expression is still pained, because good lord. If she could fix whatever was broken between the two of them she would, but the way things have gone so far, she truly thinks it might be a lost cause. She'll just have to be more subtle about it, so that Kimigiku won't get upset.]

Still...

[She holds her hands out, palms up.]

I do not condone the way she has treated you. You have my most sincere apologies for not being able to do more to keep her in check.

[Not that Sen's most sincere apologies will mean much, anyway. Nor will the fact that she doesn't condone it. The last time she didn't condone the way Kaoru was treated, they both ended up suffering all the more for it.]