<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/P7bMJyq.jpg) </div>Well.  This was concerning.  It must be the guardian that her mentor had mentioned.  That was fine.  It was that it was already aware of her that was the concerning bit.<br/><br/>It knew she was there.  She knew that it was there.  Did it know that she knew that it was there?  Perhaps not, although that she'd stopped to look around might give it a clue.  Or, perhaps, it was still expecting to catch her unawares.  If she could turn the tables on it, well, that might be the best way to deal with whatever it was.<br/><br/>Still moving casually, Reiko kept herself alert.  She didn't draw her kunai, not yet, but she shifted a little, loosening it where it rested in the sleeve of her short kimono.  When it attacked, she would be ready.  Although... still moving along, she winced, just a little.  Something about her senses felt a little off.  An imbalance of her spiritual energy; too much Yin, it felt like, weakening her senses.  That it was caused by having her body twice teased with no release wasn't something that occurred to Reiko...