Subaki was busying himself by arranging patrol times for some of the other soldiers when he felt the sudden presence of another in the room.
"Subaki," said the presence. Not one to admit that he was startled, Subaki simply turned around in the desk to address the voice. It was hardly a wonder why he couldn't sense someone coming up from behind him until it was too late, as it happens, the presence was none other than Saizo.
Putting on his (potentially) award-winning smile, Subaki greeted Saizo. "It's good to see you," he began, "but if you're here to spar with me, I'm afraid I'm a bit busy at the moment."
"That's fine, I'm under orders to not excessively strain myself anyways."
"Oh? And why's that?"
"That's not important, what is important is that you know everything there is to know about Lady Sakura."
"Why, thank you," Subaki beamed with pride, "I do my absolute best to keep a perfect track on Lady Sakura's schedules, eating habits, and so forth. Why the sudden praise?"
Saizo shuffled his feet ever so slightly. "Because I'm in an awkward position and need to repay her in some manner. As I understand it, she's quite the fan of sweets and since I'll be at the capital on business, I'm certain you could enlighten me as to her favorites."
"Is this a way to repay her for the incident where she saved your life?"
"How did..?"
Subaki beamed yet again. "As you said, I know just about everything about Lady Sakura, any missing information I don't have, Hana would know. Me knowing the event where she happened to save your life is trivial."
Saizo was silent for a moment before continuing, "Fair enough. I still would like to know something to get, though."
"Well, there just so happens to be a special cake made by a bakery near the palace that my lady had wanted to try out, however, it's supposedly quite delicious and has been sold out every time we went. Get her something like that, and I'm certain she would be absolutely delighted."
"That's all I needed to know, thank you."
Just as Sazio was about to disappear, Subaki asked, "Since you brought it up, I have to know… just what 'business' do you have at the capital?"
"Oh, well, let's just say that Ryoma wishes me to remind a certain noble's friends that they shouldn't keep such dark company."
"I… see. Here I thought you wouldn't be straining yourself?"
Even under his mask, Subaki could tell Saizo was smiling. "Nothing straining about this, lucky for me."
With that, the ninja disappeared in a puff of smoke, forcing Subaki to relocate himself while the room cleared.
The morning after Saizo had successfully reminded certain parties of their loyalties, he found himself at a mental crossroad. Before him was the bakery, a rather unassuming building, but the smell that wafted from it was more than just bread. Under normal circumstances, the smell of sugary treats such as the ones within would make him gag, but to have to walk into the den in which these confections are made nearly caused him to double over.
Saizo felt ashamed as he stood across the street, just staring at the bakery. Was he not Saizo the Fifth, royal retainer, and a mastery ninja? After all the assassination, spying, and fighting he's done over the course of his life, were baked treats truly going to defeat him?
No. If he could not even purchase a simple cake, Saizo felt that he may as well never return. This was a do or die situation, the toughest he had ever been in since inheriting the title of Saizo the Fifth.
With a deep breath, Saizo entered the bakery, unintentionally slamming the door open. To see a masked man in a tattered-looking battle uniform suddenly storm in, the couple who owned the bakery were shocked, to say the least.
"Can, er, can we help you?" the owner asked nervously.
Saizo silently moved up to the counter and looked down at the confections behind the counter's glass. "Cake," he muttered after a very long, and very tense silence.
"P-Pardon?"
"Your cake. The famous one. I require it for a young woman."
At that, the owner visibly relaxed, figuring that whomever this man was, he must simply be a very nervous boyfriend. He took a deep breath and pointed down to a cake, "Well, son, that happens to be the one that most people come into our shop for."
Saizo had to fight back the recoil of disgust he felt just by looking at the cake. It was a cake roll, with slices of strawberry baked within alongside custard or frosting, covered in a thick layer of pink frosting and chocolate-covered strawberries to boot. The cake was, quite possibly, the most horrifying thing Saizo had ever seen. Saizo simply nodded down at it, not trusting himself to speak.
The owner's wife put the cake roll into a box, the amount within was clearly too much for one person to handle by themselves. Even from within the box and through his mask, Saizo could just smell the saccharine treat, and quickly paid for it. He made a mad dash out of the bakery, holding the box as far as he could from himself.
Unfortunately for him, the ride back would take the rest of the morning, the torturous, sugary aroma assaulting Saizo as though it were poisonous gas. However, since it was a gift for his life, he knew that he would endure this cake for Lady Sakura.