In the days past, the laundry fields came to be filled with a strange silence. One of indecision, of suspense, but it all eroded when they saw her again.
"Welcome back," one of them said in an excited voice.
"You had us worried," another added.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," she said, trying to calm them down.
"So where did you go?" One of her friends asked in a low tone.
"Don't tell anyone this," she whispered, "but my father got me permission to leave to attend my older sister's wedding."
"Anyway, how have things been here?" She asked.
"So dull and boring without you," one of the girls answered, "but a few interesting things did happen."
"Really? Tell me all about them," she said with a smile.
The sounds of their loud chatter filled the air as they had done just a few days before. From across the field, while still doing her work, Takae watched them.
"Tsubaki Hanasuba," she thought to herself. "She's supposed to be dead, so how is she still here?"
"Is she a walking corpse?" She asked herself. "But that's impossible. Lloyd and Izumi saw her being buried in the forest."
"This can only mean that she's an imposter," she concluded. "But how exactly has she been impersonated?"
"This new Tsubaki doesn't have any abnormal source energy and seems like an ordinary human," she thought. "Whatever means they're using to impersonate her, it's something that can overcome even our higher sense."
Her gaze fell to the water swirling in the basin by her feet, the motion dragging her deeper into her thoughts.
"It's been a week since that night, and I still can't get it off my mind," her inner voice said as if speaking to someone.
"We knew that something was off from the start, but to think that it led to the Djinn," she thought. "I would've never expected that they were also looking for the Seiiki and using this method to do it."
"From what we heard, they have some captives from the corps and are trying to use them to get the information they need."
"They're trying to use the town as leverage to persuade him to talk. An underhanded move, but not a bad one," she thought. "But if I was in his shoes, would that be enough to force it out of me?"
"Probably not," she thought as she stared at the rippling reflection coming off of the water. "There's no guarantee that if he talks, they would actually spare him or the town. In fact, it's almost certain that they'd wipe both of them out to hide their tracks."
"So from that perspective, there is no way that he can bring himself to talk, so the attack on the festival is inevitable."
The ripples widened as her scrubbing intensified.
"That is why we have to strike first."
Her grip tightened on the soaked sheet in her hands as she thought, "But how do we go about it?"
"Besides the location of the cave and their intentions," she thought, "their skill level, numbers, contingency plans."
"And we still don't know how much of that information was twisted to try and put the pressure on him," she continued. "What else could they be hiding?"
Her gaze turned back to Tsubaki unconsciously as she thought, "And worst of all, how does this impersonation work?"
"We need to know its range, limits and costs before we can plan our next move."
She found herself sighing as she thought, "I wish that the transmission didn't cut so soon. If we only knew more about this enemy, about this ability."
"Ability?" She found herself saying out loud as she came to a sudden realization.
"It's an ability," she thought. "It has to be."
A smile stretched across her face.
"It was right there in front of my eyes, and I couldn't see until now," she thought.
"Yes, with this we might have a chance," she mumbled. "Now that I know this, we can draw them out into the open before they have the chance to attack."
"All I have to do is keep watching her and learn as much as I can," she thought. "And the best part is that even if they're starting to be aware of us, they won't be able to see this coming."
"Hey," a voice called out. "Are you okay?"
She turned only to see that it was Taki carrying in the next batch of clothes.
"You were grinning and snickering to yourself," she said as she placed the pile down on the ground. "I thought you had gone insane."
"No, I'm fine," Takae shot defensively. "I was just remembering a funny joke, is all."
"If you say so, you nutjob," she said.
"I'm not crazy!"
"I should stop talking about it," Taki said, turning away.
When she turned back, Takae was looking down at the basin as she always did when she was thinking about something.
Though when she did look up, she noticed her stealing glances at Tsubaki and her group. She seemed more quiet than usual, even going as far as actually doing her work.
When the group suggested ditching work, she hesitated but ultimately agreed.
As they were walking away, in their path by the corner, a familiar face popped out. It was the same girl that Tsubaki had been bullying just a few days before.
Once she saw her, she immediately ran away back around the corner. There she stood clutching the sheets she was carrying, already having come to terms with her fate.
Moments later, the group took the turn, and the two were now facing each other eye to eye. The girl glared at her, ready to fight back, but after a simple glance, Tsubaki just walked away.
Both the group and the girl stood confused for a moment before the group just followed along without saying anything.
Once they were gone, she fell to her knees, breathing heavily.
"She must have learnt that it was me who ratted her out," she thought. "So why won't she do anything?"
"Is she really the same person?"