20: Field-test

The road stretched out wide and far into the distance. This far inland from the border zones, the usual forested scenery often gave way to sprawling fields and rolling hills. Visibility was quite clear for several kilometers, barring the occasional change in elevation.

Kana enjoyed herself on her walk, plodding down her northeasterly course at what amounted to a leisurely amble. The sunlight on her skin was quite enjoyable and infrequent breezes felt refreshing. Such things were still new and exciting to Kana, who had dwelt within a cell for far too long.

She was free to take her time, after all, no biological needs forcing her to hurry. Additionally, her disguise would be rendered moot if she just sprinted for kilometers without tiring in full view of other people. That would be a rather memorable sight.

That's right, other people were all around her now, mostly the far off figures of farmers pasturing animals in their fields on either side of the roadway. Walking down the trail as she did garnered barely any attention, much to Kana's delight.

She'd been nervous and uncertain when she first spotted a town atop a hill far in the distance, but resolved herself to play it calmly instead of running away. It quickly became apparent that this was the right move, as no one bothered her nor cast more than a glance in her direction.

Just a lone traveler minding her own business, nothing to be concerned with. That's what Kana wished to appear as, and she had seemingly succeeded.

Kana, on the other hand, was using her rather sharp vision to examine the farmers as she passed, mostly to search their features and clothing. Even now, she was still a ways off from the town, so there would be plenty of time to inspect her surroundings.

More experience with these things would help her refine her Henge in the future, as well as generally familiarize herself with how other people looked and acted in this country.

She had been bitten by her lack of common experience before, back at than inn in the Land of Grass. Kana had tried her best, but people were clearly suspicious of her and even now she did not quite understand the flow of that brief conversation.

Kana was most comfortable in her own company, but she still yearned to understand and connect with people. Moreover, she still desperately wanted to know how she had ended up in that prison cell atop Mt. Shumisen.

Where had she come from? In the darkest and quietest hours of the night, sometimes the feeling of emptiness caught up with her, the feeling that she had lost something precious. And as much as Kana didn't want to admit it, this feeling was one of the things that bothered and ate away at her most. Like a hole in her heart, completely separate from all of the things she'd gained.

Now that she'd escaped the constant threat of mortal danger, these types of thoughts had once again found their way to the forefront of her mind.

As she was now, Kana stood little chance of finding the truth of her origins, or of her family. Those vague infant memories of red-framed faces lingered at the corner of her mind, but they were hopelessly faded. It was more of a feeling than a solid lead to pursue at this point, but Kana's own hair was of a similar red...

Factoring in her observations of the farmers around her, Kana now had a few ideas in mind for pursuing her past. One was this red hair, a rather memorable and visible marker of individuality. As of yet, Kana had not seen anyone other than her with this red hair throughout her time at Mt. Shumisen all the way to now.

This reinforced her conviction to hide her hair color until she could learn more about herself, for the sake of caution.

Another option was the signet on her hair clasp. Kana had already held this as a high priority before since it was rather distinctive as well, and might offer insight about her affiliations. Given the prevalent use of iconography worn by the warring shinobi, such as on their hitai-ate and flak jackets, it was highly likely that this could lead somewhere.

This brought up another dilemma Kana'd already considered: whether or not to display the signet openly, in the hopes that someone might recognize it. Once again she dismissed this idea, figuring it to be too risky.

Still, Kana liked wearing it. Her hair was a lot more comfortable when tied up as it was. And as long as she was wearing it, she would need to include it in her disguise in order to prevent the Henge from causing discomfort.

So she left the ornament in position, but tucked the whole length of her hair inside her cloak, the clasp itself hidden behind her cloak's cowl even when she had it down. That was sufficient enough concealment, Kana reckoned.

With all that in mind, Kana neared the outskirts of the town. A young man stood holding a spear at the town's threshold, appearing rather alert as she approached him. His expression exclaimed surprise for a moment as he scanned her, a slight flush appearing in his cheeks.

"H-halt road-demon! No way are you getting past me!" This proclamation might have been more concerning if the man hadn't nearly stumbled over the butt of his own spear while shouting. His youthful and pudgy face flushed even more. She could no longer think of him as a man... more of a large boy?

"...   ...   ...?" The only change to Kana's neutral expression was a slight furrowing of her brows as she looked up at him from where she stood a few meters away. How she was even supposed to react to that... Kana didn't understand at all. Was her disguise insufficient after all?

"You don't make fun of me! I can see the laughter in your eyes!"

He was barely taller than Kana, so her gaze was clearly visible to him. But again, Kana was perplexed. This time as to how one could laugh with their eyes, and while distracted pondering this deep philosophical question, the boy shouted out again.

"You must be the demon we heard about, causing trouble for travelers all over these parts! I won't let yo-"

The sound of a sliding door slamming open echoed loud enough to halt the boy in his tracks. He stiffened up so much at the sound that he nearly dropped his spear.

"Oh, come off it Kenta! Can't you see the poor girl looks nothing like what the messengers described? And get out of the road! If you're going to play hero, then actually put a bit of training to that spear arm. You couldn't even puncture a bale of straw with those flimsy arms!"

Off to the side, a matronly woman stood on an elevated porch, the door behind her still swung open where she'd abruptly exited. Her eyes leered down at the boy while she unleashed another volley of lecturing words, her greying brown and shoulder-length hair bounced around as she gestured vehemently.

Eventually, the woman turned to Kana with an apologetic look on her face. The boy, apparently named Kenta, was cringing away from them both now.

"Sorry girly. The first traveler we've had in a month went on telling a load of tales about demons and shinobi wars that it's got Kenta all riled up. I swear, if he really wanted to help protect the town, he'd go train with the actual militiamen."

The woman looked annoyed at something, her eyes spearing Kenta with a gaze far sharper than the boy's own spear.

"Now get out of the way, boy! Stop scaring away my potential business!"

Kenta needed no further prompting and took off down the roadway, managing to somehow trip over his own spear twice before he was out of sight.

"... good grief." The woman briefly touched her right palm to her face while she shook her head.

Kana marveled at the woman's gesture, which somehow conveyed a sense of exasperation far greater than words ever could. Soon enough, she returned her attention to Kana.

"Anyway, I apologize again for that. That Kenta boy... he's not a bad kid but he's pretty helpless. If you'd like, come have a rest at my inn and I'll treat you to a meal to make up for him waylaying you. You have the look of someone in need of a good rest. Ah, my name's Michiko by the way. Who might you be young one?"

Kana gave her head a slight shake after failing to keep up with Michiko's flurry of words. Did everyone here have to speak so loudly? Belatedly, Kana realized she'd been asked to introduce herself.

"Ah... then Michiko-san, I am called Kana."

Fortunately, Michiko was looking at her with a patient gaze. However, this gaze softened even further upon hearing Kana's voice for some reason.

"Come then, Kana-chan. Let me get you a place to sit and see about that meal I offered." she said this while wrapping an arm around Kana's shoulder, ushering her towards the open door.

While inwardly nonplussed, Kana found herself firmly whisked away and inside Michiko's inn. Before she knew it, Kana was seated at a booth table as the older woman set about filling a glass of water and a bowl of rice.

Michiko's gaze and presence had so rapidly switched from sternly scolding Kenta to kind and non-threatening that Kana couldn't keep up. People were tough to deal with and it was somewhat distressing. Not knowing how to react was always nerve-wracking, but Kana was able to clamp down on the feeling before she could panic.

Of course, none of this was particularly visible on her face. To Michiko she merely seemed demure.

Still, it was her second time entering an inn and Kana was both baffled and hopeful given how differently her interactions had gone this time around.