[Daigo]

    As was becoming something of a normalized situation, Daigo had something planned, and his cousin was adament about being the one to directly deal with it for him. She was still not in any formal capacity his secretary or whatever it was she was making the attempt at being, but all the same she was strong-arming herself into the position. She had been a help, and as much as he wanted to tell her to stop, it was amusing in its own right. After a bit of a back and forth he finally waved her off as he left, walking out of the village. 

"You're going to do it either way, so go ahead. You know where I'll be."

    Giving him a bow with a huge grin, the woman turned and ran off. A bit of tracking down and searching later, the woman came across one Yami Kyōbō, the other bodyguard to the Lady Shuka, and handed them a scroll. Giving a very low bow, they cleared their throat.

"Nakajima Daigo has requested your presence at the location marked on the scroll. He wishes to talk to you and from my understanding test something he didn't share with me."

    Inside the scroll was a crudely drawn map, not by Daigo, but her, looking more like a child had scribbled it was a drawing of the village, an arrow leading out of the village, then a bunch of trees with a man on fire standing near them. She was clearly very proud of herself as she had a wide smile plastered on her face.

"He is outside of the village waiting for you. Please meet him at your earliest convenience."

    With that she gave a second bow, and left in quite a speedy walk, then leaped away out of sight completely. Daigo himself was sighing, standing in a patch of grass in a near perfect circle around him, where the heat radiating off of his body had melted away the snow, and a trail of footprints all the way to where he was standing, patiently waiting. 
    

[Yami]

Though I can't hear your voice, keep what I say in mind

Reiji was surprised as any other when a young woman approached him out of the blue and offered him a scroll. His interest immediately piqued, he stopped from the direction he'd been walking to turn and glance at her before--slowly--taking the offered map from her hands. "Huh? Uh--Daigo?" The young man questioned, looking the woman over for a moment. They seemed to be related in some way--at least, they looked oddly familiar.
    Reiji wasn't one to often initiate small talk with his coworkers, so he admittedly didn't know much of the man's personal life--friends, family, or other such things.
    Still, he found it curious that he was being requested. Whatever the matter was, though, Reiji wanted to do what he could help--or at the very least, see what the matter was. Surely this wasn't about Lady Shuka, was it?
    He looked down at the map, opening it up to see what was... drawn.
    "Is he..." Reiji squinted, incredulous at what was being depicted and how... horrible the quality of art was. "Being burned alive??" She didn't seem hasty enough for it to be something of that grave of a nature. Still, he was nothing but confused--compelling him further to investigate what the other man wanted with him. If they were meeting outside of the village--it was either for training, a mission, or an assassination attempt. Reiji somewhat doubted it would be the last option. He gave an awkward smile, then offered the crude drawing back to the woman. "How about you just take me to him directly?"
    A pleasantly-placed request, nonchalant, and unassuming--but something actually quite desperately needed for the white-haired Kyōbō. For the sake of upkeeping appearances--and especially in front of the young woman--he would pretend that he simply couldn't follow the directions on her map due to it's poor quality, and not because he had possibly the world's worst sense of direction regardless if there was an accurate map placed in front of him or not.

---

It would not be too long after that when Reiji would make his way out of the village toward the wooded area where Daigo had patiently been waiting for him. While the Nakajima may not have wanted his cousin to keep sticking around, Reiji--if nobody else--had been grateful that she helped guide him to their location. "I hope you weren't waiting for too long," Reiji said apologetically, waving a hand in greeting as he approached where the other male was. "Is anything the matter?"

Daigo | 413 | Notes: N/A

GLASS HAS GANGNAM STYLE

[Daigo]

    Daigo didn't seem intent on moving from the spot he was standing, and given that even the grass around him looked a bit worse for wear, he hadn't moved for at least the length of time it had taken Reiji to be summoned. It wasn't Reiji however he was looking at when someone started approaching, but his cousin, staring a hole in her. Before he had a chance to question or scold her, she raised her arms and began waving them.

"He asked me to show him, that was all."

    Daigo's lips began to part and she already heard the words on his breath before he had finished inhaling, and she was quick to bow and leave. With nothing more than a flustered sigh he turned his head to look at Reiji, giving a clearly apologetic look.

"Sorry about that. She has been rather insistent as of late to do things like this. Now it's just awkward, as if I summoned you here, when I was otherwise simply going to ask you to walk here with me."

    Clearing his throat and adjusting his clothes, he smoothed them out and took a step closer, the snow visibly and audibly melting under his feet, extending his hand and giving a respectful bow as he stood in front of Reiji.

"I hope this doesn't seem dramatic, but I'd like a demonstration of your strength. Please indulge me this unusual request."

[Yami]

Though I can't hear your voice, keep what I say in mind

As the temporary duo approached the meeting place, they were quickly met with an irritated glare from the awaiting Nakajima. Though, as the woman quickly spoke up in her defense it quickly--thankfully--became apparent to Reiji that the man's icy gaze hadn't been directed at him. How awkward, I seem to have created a problem, Reiji thought to himself, giving a lopsided grin as he rubbed the base of his neck. The woman apologized and gave a quick bow before fleeing the scene, leaving the two men alone.
    Daigo started with his own apology over the matter--alleviating some of the anxieties that had risen from the situation, at least.
    Oh, good, I'm not in trouble, he thought to himself giving a sigh of relief. "No--not at all! It's--all perfectly fine," Reiji said with an awkward smile, waving with both of his hands to try reassuring the senior shinobi. "I was a bit worried something was wrong, but so long as that's not the case then there's no harm done." It probably would have been less awkward if they'd just walked out here together, but... well, if the woman had been insistent--sometimes it was just easier to relent. It wasn't that big of a deal, he supposed.
    Reiji watched as Daigo approached closer, reaching out his hand and giving a respectful bow as he properly explained what his intentions were.
    "Ah--my strength?" Reiji asked, his cheeks reddening slightly at the request. "Oh--yes, uh..." he gave a bow of his own, trying to mask over his own flustered response. "I mostly specialize in kenjutsu--did you wish for me to slice up a clone for demonstration, perhaps?"

Daigo | 273 | Notes: N/A

GLASS HAS GANGNAM STYLE

[Daigo]

"Nothing wrong, just curiosity. I think all of us close to the Lady Shuka have been somewhat concerned as of late due to her presence being felt less than is normal, so I'm taking it upon myself to do what you might call an audit."

    This one of those moments where he was standing firmly in two worlds, and only he knew to what extent. He was firmly in one side with the Nisshoku and he had a loyalty there no doubt, but he also was firmly on the other side with Yuki and had a loyalty here. Quite a few villages would be leveled to ash and dust if Seika directed him to do so, but Yuki was not one of them. He knew better than most the dangers the village was facing from outward and even from within.

"I'd like to know that we can protect ourselves, as whispers and rumors are becoming less whispered and more factual. I'd like to know we can protect our Lady as well."

    The tone of the conversation was serious but the tone of his voice was completely calm. His hand came up to his chin and he took a step back and looked his fellow bodyguard over, then sighed as if he was satisfied with whatever the thought he had was, and nodded.

"Just know, I'm asking you this specifically because I trust you. If Shuka trusts you enough to put you in this position, then I have no reason to not trust you equally. I'd just like to see what you can do with my own eyes. If you wouldn't mind."

    Taking another step back, he looked around to make sure that nothing would be destroyed if serious jutsu were used, and not even a tree was close enough to catch fire from where they stood.

"Whatever you need to do, feel free. If you need a target, just give me fair warning, and I will deal with defending myself. Please don't hold back."