Year of the Boar, Thirteenth Month, Day 19.

I decided after I had given the matter a significant amount of thought, that approaching Sasanuma was almost certainly not a good idea. I do not know him really and I have yet to ascertain how much influence he really has. Speaking to Haru seemed to be a far more sensible idea. 

I was not at all sure how to broach the subject; I was concerned about what might go straight back to Kaede or Sasanuma but I could not leave it alone. I knew that I would not sleep until I had some sort of answer. I decided that I would simply ask Haru whether she still felt the same about continuing to work for me and see what came of the conversation...

She seemed quite hesitant when I asked her; I was surprised by that. I expected her to be firmly committed to leaving my service but instead of telling me that she was resolved, she said she thought having allies in other Houses would be valuable. That was a turn up for the books. I decided that pushing the issue was not the right idea so I let it be for the moment and asked her instead about how she communicated with Aoki before the birds were trained.

Apparently, my guess had not been far wrong. Aoki has a small network of his own. He befriended a merchant or two and convinced them to carry his notes back and forth in return for what, I am not sure that I want to know. That being the case, I of course, asked Haru if she would be prepared to get a note to Aoki. I hesitated to tell her the details but I knew that in her place, I would be reluctant to potentially put myself at risk without at least knowing why.

I decided to tell her about the birds, if for no other reason than I expected her reaction to be revealing in one way or another. I was almost disappointed that she seemed surprised to find out that I had received no birds for some while. She assured me that Aoki would know the answer and agreed that she would get a note out to him. I spent the next stick composing the note so that it is ready to go as soon as one of the merchants appears. Haru thinks that one of them will be around soon wanting to sell hair ornaments in time for the solstice celebrations. I hope she is right. If she is not, I do not know how I will find out what is happening with my network unless I leave Silent Thunder.