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[SeriousConcentrate]

"Wait....Dad sent this? Dad....Dad's working with the Resistance?"

"Your father...?"

"Perhaps he is; I didn't read it. I thought you might enjoy the novelty of receiving a letter that no one else had pored over first."

[Caellath]

"Ya know, mighta wanna skedaddle 'fore more guards come a knockin'. After ya'll done gettin' naked, or dressed, or doin' this and that."

[Praefectus Screptum]

"He is right. Standing in the same place will make it easy for their reinforcements to find us.
"We probably should move right now and figure things out as we make our escape."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Yusuke continues poring over the letter, as if trying to absorb every possible piece of information.
"Dad....we have to get to Sangonomiya at once. If Dad's there, then...."
He looks at Setsurou, before placing a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks, Setsurou. I...I really appreciate your help. Sorry. It....feels like I don't thank you enough. Or anyone. Not really enough."

"Didja say 'Sangonomiya'? Like, the town Sangonomiya?"
Yusuke's eyes widen as he turns to see Todoroki. His mouth hangs agape.
"....Todoroki?! What the....what the hell are you doing here?!"
"That's a nice way to greet an old friend, Yamada! Damn, how's Master? I haven't seen him for a while. Been meanin' to find him."
"He's fine, but...what the hell are you doing here? How the hell did you even get mixed up in all this?"
"My partner an' I wanted in on the fight. So we fought. Now we're here with you. Guess we're headin' the same way anyway; Kaedehara Dojo's in the same direction."
"Whoa. We're going to Sangonomiya first. You realise what we're in the middle of? You have any idea?"
"Yeah, yeah, you're Cursed. I know. We grew up together under Master, remember? Still remember havin' to chase your cat backside when you'd run off after Master ran us both too ragged with trainin'. Well, I suppose we could drop by Sangonomiya first....'course, with all of whatever just happened happenin', we might not get much of a choice."

"Tanigawa. Tenjuu. Tsubouchi. Yamada."

A stern voice sounds from the other end of the road. As you turn to see who they are, you see a group of soldiers in the road, spears in hand and swords at their belt. Fortunately, the jailbreak group recognise the insignia on their chest; the Kamisato crest, signifying their allegiance with the Kamisato Clan, who were already opposed to the Empress' rule. Whoever they were, they were likely with the Resistance.

You also notice, far away, far outside of even the Cursed's ability to sense other Cursed, a masked figure, wearing a hood and  what appeared to be a kitsune mask.
"...."
"Lord Kiritani sends his regards. He has accompanied us to see you through to safety. I see you have gathered some allies. By any chance, is there a Rengoku Rin among you?"
"Lord Kiritani?"
"No clue.

[SeriousConcentrate]

"No thanks is necessary."

The snakelike ninja was still pretty clearly pleased to receive it. Before he could continue, Todoroki approached. Setsurou, for a moment, looked as if he was about to step between them, but when it was clear Yusuke knew him he stayed still. And then he did place himself between the Cat and the soldiers, having not noticed their Kamisato crest initially.

"I don't know Kiritani, but if they are sent by Kamisato we can trust them."

[Chevaleresse]

Madoka simply nodded when she was mentioned, electing to stay quiet for the moment. At the question of the man's identity, she looked to Todoroki, but when he asked who the stranger was, she went back to watching the masked individual.

[Praefectus Screptum]

"These folks are REALLY popular, huh?"
"We assume we will be moving now, then?"

[IcyTea31]

Having heard her name called, Miyako peeked out from behind the building, then turned back to Kaori and Rin.

"Say, Rin, have you ever heard of a Lord Kiritani? Someone working for them says they're here to help us, and specifically asked for you. They wear Kamisato crests so they're probably fine."

[RedMageCole]

"Kamisato, huh?" Kazuki made himself apparent, losing any sort of caring that Miyako and Kaori would be aware that he had been peeping. "Salutations, completely inconspicuous sheep," Kazuki briefly waved to Kaori with a smirk, before turning back to Miyako and Rin with his stern expression. "Emphasis on the 'probably.' I already have one clan tryin' to off my boss, I don't need a second one... buuut if she trusts them, I'll try and trust them as well. Once more— emphasis on the 'try.'"

[IcyTea31]

If Miyako was surprised by Kazuki's appearance, she didn't show it. This was the man whose ego had been wounded in the assassination attempts just minutes ago.

"Trust is a strong word. I don't know these people. But they wear the symbol of an ally, apparently knew enough about our mission to call us by our names, and didn't interfere with it until now. If they wanted to betray us to the Empress, they already had the opportunity. But what does Rin have to do with this? How could they even have known we'd meet?"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"...."
Rin was still patiently waiting for an answer before she was summoned.
"A Lord Kiritani....I...I don't know one, but..."
She had a feeling about something.

She heads up.
"Are you Rengoku Rin?"
"Do you recognise this badge?"
Rin holds up the badge of the Juunishi. The soldier examines it, plucking the badge from her hand, and running back to the mysterious masked man standing far away, talking for a few minutes. After a while, he returns.

"Lord Kiritani sends his apologies, Lady Rengoku. He apologises that you had to meet this way, and that you had to be involved in all this. He would have preferred to meet you with the meet he had set up with the letter."
"W-wait, letter? He....that was him? Then who is K.N...?"
"Kiritani Noriaki. Leader of the Sangonomiya Resistance. A close ally of Lord Kensuke Kamisato."
"Wait, you were involved with these guys already?!"
"N-no, Yamada. I mean, I've heard of the Resistance before, f-from a few people, here and there, but....I never dreamed they'd even know who I was...."
"Lord Kiritani took interest in you after your actions in Ibaraki Province, Lady Rengoku. But....unfortunately, his plans have now changed, given the events of today. Today did not go as planned."

At that, Rin's blood ran cold.
"Ibaraki...."
Her Gnosis pulsed lightly. She shook her head.
"I didn't do anything special there. I-I'm happy to help, whatever you need, but I'm not sure....I'm the one you want."
"Lord Kiritani was very clear. It was his intention to break Sir Yamada free, in collaboration with Lord Tokiwa. And it was his intention to procure your services, Lady Rengoku. He also wishes to convey that this was not how he had intended to do so, but given the changes in the plan, he has come to personally see things through and ensure you are safe. All of you."
"He knows my dad? How? When? Start talking!"
"Lord Kiritani is not in a position to divulge such information at the moment. In any case, we have come to arrange secret transport for you all out of town to Sangonomiya. As you are likely to now be fugitives from the Imperial Throne, Lord Kiritani, as a show of apology, would like to officially welcome you to the Resistance and take you under this protection. Do not worry, you will be handsomely compensated."
"This hurts my head....what the hell did we get ourselves into here, Madoka?"

[IcyTea31]

Now Miyako was surprised. She had had too much on her mind to recognize the name right away, but now that the soldier mentioned it, it clicked. Yes, Lord Kiritani was the leader of the resistance. But what was he doing here? At a loss, she made sure to leave the clothes bundle for Kaori when she'd transform back, then stepped out of hiding.

"My...lord? We were going to sneak out of town with Yusuke and the...recruits, and then travel to the Estate anonymously. But if you can arrange safer transport, that is of course...welcome? And we're...very thankful?"

Miyako wasn't great with authorities that she respected. The desire not to offend them made it hard to say anything at all.

[Aurorix]

Traxesa crosses his arms, this new stranger was all kinds of untrustworthy in his mind.


"I'm with Kazuki on this one. This reeks of suspicion, not to mention the vague offers compensation. Besides, there has already been two assassination attempts today. Usually people tend to do things in sets of three, so who's to say nothing fishy is going to occur as soon as we take this 'secret transport'." The boy shrugs his shoulders, "Though with a group of this size, at least we may stand a chance if anything does occur. That is, if we all trust each other to work together. Which is kind of hard when most of us are strangers."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"Lord Kiritani figured you would say that. He also figured you would not trust him immediately. But, he would like you to communicate to you that you should consider just who arranged for Lady Tanigawa to acquire the schedules for the guards so you might be able to catch Sir Yamada during his transport between prisons when the guards were least likely to be able to stop you.

And, of course, since he also figured you would not trust him immediately when he suggested compensation, he has already arranged for your first payment to be delivered as a show of faith."
Two other Kamisato soldiers approach, bags of golden coins in hand.

Then Traxesa mentions the assassination attempts. At that, the soldier actually snaps out of his deferent tone to Lord Kiritani, and sounds legitimately surprised. He holds his hand up to stop the soldiers from moving.
"Did....you say assassination attempts? Against whom? Do you know who did it? Were they with the Empress?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Hiruma clan assassins went after Rengoku. As you can see, they did not succeed."