The prince really could hardly care less what others thought of him at that exact moment when he jumped through the window. For all he knew Hitomi was in trouble and time was of the essence. Reaching his tutor and making sure that she was safe was all that mattered to the prince as he moved through the gardens which had become hauntingly quite. Kurosawa began to worry if maybe he had been too late and that his actions had not been quick enough to save his tutor from whatever animal was hiding in the gardens. Before he began to think about that too much though, Ryou noticed Hitomi’s lantern light, and heard her angry voice cut through the bushes. Sneaking closer without making a sound the prince found himself party to watching a moment that it was obvious his tutor wanted kept secret. What was even more curious was the person that the women was conversing with… there was something strange about the man, but Ryou just couldn’t put his finger on it. How had this person gotten into the gardens without him noticing the man, Ryou wasn’t really sure… and any ideas that came to mind sent chills down his spine at the implications. This was even more so the case because the man was wearing the clothing of an Imperial Messenger, but was having clandestine meetings with Hitomi instead of coming to greet her and himself while they were back in his room. It was his curiosity that kept the prince firmly rooted in spot… he wanted to know exactly what was going on.<br/><br/>That was when talk of his eldest brother came up, and it wasn’t in a manner that he had expected. What was this ‘group’ that they were talking about? Why exactly was it watching over his brother? The better question probably was what exactly had happened to older prince? The very fact that his brother had disappeared somehow worried him. Was Hitomi possibly involved in it? That was something that Kurosawa highly doubted, but he did wish that she wouldn’t keep such important information from him. The prince quickly realized that had he not overheard this conversation, then he never would have known about his brother’s condition. At the same time though, he felt like his trust that he had put into his relationship with his tutor was slightly broken. What else exactly was the women doing behind his back… now seemed the best time to find out. Whenever the mysterious stranger brought up news of a new servant that piqued Hitomi’s interest… Ryou began to wonder what it was all about. Enough so that he planned on following Hitomi around for the rest of the night just to see what she was up to when she thought that he was not looking. The way that Hitomi talked about this new servant made him wonder exactly what his tutor had planned for this widow. The prince hoped that he wasn’t about to discover something else about the person that he cared about most which he would regret later.<br/><br/>Just for the moment that he was thinking about all this, was he distracted from the conversation between the two, and this was all the time that the man needed to disappear. Looking around nervously when he realized that the other was gone, all Ryou saw was the appearance of the white fox darting out from the bushes and running off into the night. Leaving that threat which he had worried about when it came to his tutor’s safety to have been soothed from his mind for the moment. Now it was on to the task at hand… following Hitomi to find out whatever the women was up to in the servants quarters. Sneaking along the prince crept right out of the gardens and in the direction that his tutor had headed, careful to not draw any attention to himself and thankful that it was growing late. As he got closer to the servants quarters Ryou began to notice that there were fewer and fewer people on the walkways. The prince figured that it was probably because most of them had gone on to bed at this point. The ones that had jobs to do at this time of the night where already out and preforming them, which made it the perfect time to come into the servants quarters unseen with no questions asked. He was sure that was how Hitomi had slipped in here so easily.<br/><br/>Noticing his tutor slipping into a doorway next to the end of the hall, Ryou crept along quietly so that he could get a peek inside. Unlike the other areas of the palace though, this one was a bit less well constructed… much to the detriment to the stealth that Ryou was trying to use. Because of this it took him a bit to get close to the door, but also when he finally did and got into position to open it and look inside… Hitomi would have an idea that he was there. If she would know that it was the prince or not… well that depended on if he had been noticed earlier by her. The sound of voices and other noises coming from inside made the prince even more curious as he started to open the door and peek inside. Again the older construction worked against him and gave him away, but he didn’t notice this since all he could do was stare slightly wide eyed at whatever was going on inside. Whispering to himself the prince said, "Hitomi?... What exactly are you doing?" He didn't notice again that his words might carry and give himself away to his tutor with whatever she was doing. It certainly though gave away the person who was watching her as being the prince.<br/>