The first thing YF noticed when he entered his house was the wind blowing through his bedroom window, audible all the way to the front door. He tried to remember if he or Hiroyuki had opened the window the night that his brother visited; but it seemed unlikely, almost nobody in Reo society opened a window without closing it soon after. YF moved his fingers instinctively to feel for his stun glove, but it was not there – he had given it to Takahashi Momoko, the woman who was now missing. YF went first to the guest bedroom and slid open the door. He then checked both under the bed and inside the closet, but did not find anything abnormal.

YF went to the hall bathroom next. Sliding the door open did not reveal anything that looked out of the ordinary. It took him a second to decide whether he should turn his back to the hall or his back to the tinted shower door. YF decided to plant his back against the wall instead, ducking under the towel rack and shifting his gaze from the hall to the shower. When he slid open the door to the shower, there was nothing there except the soap and shampoo dispensers as well as Erika’s extra bottles of various conditioners, cleansers, and lotions.

YF then went back into the hall to face the last remaining place: the master bedroom. He stepped through the door and looked toward the open window, where a beam of light from outside streamed toward the ceiling. The rest of the windows were properly tinted, putting YF slightly at ease. He went first to the bathroom and repeated his check. The master bathroom was much larger than the one in the hall, but there was similarly nothing amiss inside the bathroom, nor in the shower, nor in the bathroom’s storage room. He next stepped outside to check he and Erika’s closet. Again, there was nothing.

With everywhere in the house accounted for, YF relaxed and approached the window, reaching over to push it in.

“It seems we have a problem,” said a voice behind him.

YF spun around to see a man in a trench coat with a sun visor covering his head, completely concealing his face.

“I take it you’re investigating the unfortunate end of the man in Itsugo’s Fifth Ward,” said the man.

YF didn’t reply. He clenched his fists and tried to use his peripheral vision to look for an escape route.

“The man won’t be missed. He was a criminal and a sorry excuse for a Reo. Bad people disappear or die all the time. Nobody puts in the resources to look for them or dig into the details. The Station doesn’t have the resources anyway.”

“I don’t see your point,” said YF. “And you need to get out of my house.”

“I’m not here to threaten or hurt you, Sakai Yasufumi. I am simply reasoning with you.”

“What do you want?” asked YF.

The man sighed. “I think you know.”

“Do a half assed job on the camera audit, turn it into the Ward Office and be about my life?”

The man nodded. “That sounds like a good plan.”

“I think the plan is bullshit,” said YF.

“Do you know the victim?”

“You gouged out his ID to make sure I didn’t.”

“So you can’t recognize people without their ID? Let me ask you again. Did you know him, Mr. Sakai?”

“What’s it matter to you?”

“Why go through the effort to find out about a lowlife druggie who himself could barely recognize whether he was alive or dead?”

“Who are you and what is your involvement with the crime?”

“I am no one, and my involvement is none. I am just a messenger.”

“If you won’t answer my questions, there is no reason why I need to answer yours,” said YF.

“So the answer you’re giving me is that you won’t change direction on your course of investigation.”

“I don’t need to answer that,” said YF, trying to control his trembling voice.

The man nodded. “I always say one shouldn’t make decisions under pressure. Give it some thought.” He turned to walk out into the hall and then paused. “But I hope you make the right choice. Ms. Ueno might not be here for the moment but she seems to be commuting between Taura and Nishida every evening. Very near your colleague’s house, in fact. Now we both know village security can be lacking. And I would hate for something to happen to her on the road.”

YF grabbed one of Erika’s dumbbells and swung it overhead as hard as he could, smacking the back of the man’s visor with the corner of the end. The man staggered forward and grabbed the hall bathroom’s door frame to stabilize himself. The helmet had a nasty crack that ran from where YF had hit him all the way to the bottom. Before he could react, YF lunged forward and brought the weight down on top of the helmet again, knocking the man onto the ground. When YF swung down a third time, the man flipped over and hook kicked toward YF’s head, catching him on the neck and bringing him crashing into the wall. The man picked up the dumbbell that fell from YF’s hands and swung at his head, which he managed to barely duck before it made an ear splitting pang against the metallic wall. YF scrambled up and pulled his torso back to avoid the next swing that hit the opposite wall before tripping and stumbling into the living room.

The man followed swiftly behind, now standing between him and the front door, the path through the kitchen being the only way around. YF instinctively made a lunge toward the kitchen but regretted doing so, as the man noticed and brought himself quickly forward to a position between the two avenues of exit. YF hazarded one look down and grabbed the matching dumbbell to the one in the man’s hand, which for some reason was on the living room floor.

He took one swing at the man to get him to back up, which seemed to have the intended effect. The man jumped slightly as he hit the back of his helmet against the kitchen cabinet. The man then wound up his arm to throw the dumbbell. YF ducked low and saw the weight fly high over his head. His first reaction was one of relief, until he saw the dumbbell fly straight through the glass door to the balcony, shattering it completely to pieces and bringing in a flood of daylight.

Every Reo child’s first few memories were of admonishments to stay away from the sun or risk imminent death. When YF first felt the heat on his neck, he was expecting it to burn to his bone in seconds before he felt the void of nothingness. An image of his mother flashed before his mind. Perhaps he should’ve taken Hiroyuki’s advice and visited her; but now it would be too late. He thought of dying without reconciling with Erika; that thought brought some level of regret. As the images of his mother and Erika played before him, YF found himself running into the hall to escape the light. He felt a hard push against his shoulder and then the sound of boots against glass before hearing a loud flapping sound of the man’s trench coat against the wind. By the time YF dove into the hall and pulled himself up to sit with his back against the wall, what sounded like a parachute deploying could be heard in the distance.

YF touched the back of his neck with his hand, surprised that there was no heat coming from it. It took him many minutes later to accept the fact that he was still alive.

***

“You poor poor thing.”

YF looked up at his sister-in-law who was standing in the door frame with her arms folded, an expression of worry on her face. Hiroyuki was standing behind her, barely controlling his anger. YF’s sister-in-law, Hata Yui, possessed that intimidating, otherworldly beauty that pure bloods like Reina typically had — crimson eyes, long eyelashes, jet black hair, and fangs poised over lips so red they didn’t need to use lipstick. YF had only met her once at the wedding, in which they had but a brief exchange. It came as a surprise, then, that she instantly agreed to let him stay with them when he contacted his brother after the incident in his apartment. At the time, YF could not think of anyone else he knew that would not be put in danger by being with them. He was only worried that his sister-in-law would object, but those fears seemed baseless.

“We’ll find the people who did this. And I’ll make them pay,” said Hiroyuki through gritted teeth.

Yui pressed her hand lightly against his arm. “I think we aren’t helping by reminding him about it. Could you tell Sakurai to fix some coffee and rice cakes? I’m sure that will raise Yasufumi’s spirits.”

Hiroyuki only grunted as he walked off down the hall.

“Thanks big sis, but I’m not hungry,” said YF.

Yui shook her head. “That just won’t do. I’ve heard you like coffee and no one makes a better cup than Sakurai. The rice cakes are home made too. Pound in the back. You won’t sleep well if you don’t eat something.”

YF thought over how coffee was supposed to help him sleep.

Yui smiled a warm smile, as if reading his mind. “From the pots and pots I’ve heard lawmen consume. I’m sure you’ll sleep just fine. At this point it probably helps you sleep.”

YF took a look around the guest room, at least twice as large as his own master bedroom. The towels and blankets were folded neatly without wrinkles, and there was not a spot to be seen on the desk or the walls.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Horii tidies up better than me but she’s on vacation and we weren’t expecting any guests for a month. Of course, you are family, so I did it myself,” said Yui, looking around the room as if checking for some area missed or some deficiency in the organization. “I didn’t have much time so I was hoping you’d forgive me.”

YF thought about the piles of his and Erika’s clothes sitting in the corner of their room. For a long time he made the excuse that the pile was not sorted because neither he nor Erika were at home much. But his sister-in-law worked long hours as the head of some sort of charity organization – one of those things elite people did. YF couldn’t even remember the organization’s name, nor what they did exactly. But he could tell her from her plain way of dressing that she took her work very seriously. It was hard for him to see where she found the time to fix up the guest room.

“It’s perfect, big sis. You didn’t have to do all this, I was just going to be here a night until I figure out how to be safe in Itsugo.”

Yui shook her head. “You can stay here as long as you like. What is family for if we don’t protect each other?”

YF found that interacting with the so-called upper echelon of society proved more pleasant than he had thought it would be. With Erika being very vocal about her political views, the image he had had of them turned out to be very different from reality. YF had pointed out to her once that Reina fit the profile of people she hated. But Erika had insisted that Reina was different. And yet, despite her friendliness, there was something off about Reina that made him a bit wary of her. Now that he thought about it, Yui shared the exact same aura.

“Thanks big sis,” said YF.

Yui smiled a sad smile. “You poor thing,” she repeated. “Come, we can talk in the dining room while you eat.”

The dining room was more like a massive hall with a very long table in the center. A middle aged man who must have been “Sakurai” stood next to the seat closest to the door. The coffee and rice cakes were already placed on the left of the head seat, all the way at the other end. Hiroyuki was standing behind the head seat, his hands planted firmly on the seat back.

“Come on little bro,” he said, gesturing for YF to go over.

Yui was already halfway down the table, approaching the seat to Hiroyuki’s right. YF took a moment to stare at the seat next to his brother. To take such a seat at such a table was not something he ever thought he would do. The whole setting left him very uncomfortable, as if he was stepping onto the surface of another planet. As he saw Hiroyuki grow visibly impatient, YF power walked to the other side of the table and made his way down to the seat left-of-head. Only after Hiroyuki sat down did the other three sit. YF then gazed at the entrance to the room. He always assumed his and Hiroyuki’s seats were the preferred ones because in ancient times enemy retainers might storm through the entrance during an important meeting of clan elders. He imagined heavily armored knights running through the door and filling the room, swords drawn toward Hiroyuki. In such a case, the man closest to the door would die first; YF looked at Sakurai sitting silently at the seat nearest the door.

“Coffee’s going to get cold,” said Hiroyuki.

Yui planted her fingers lightly on Hiroyuki’s forearm.

Hiroyuki turned to her. “I just want to know more details so I can burn the bastards.”

“Honey…” said Yui softly.

Hiroyuki sighed. “You’re right. You’re right.” He placed his hand on top of hers. “There’ll be a time for that.”

Yui nodded, then turned to YF. “How is Ueno-san? She wasn’t affected at all was she? She can stay here too, if she likes,” she said.

YF chewed a bit harder on a rice cake to try to fight the feeling of awkwardness. Everyone in the room –including maybe even Sakurai – knew how Erika felt about Hiroyuki, and probably Yui by extension. She didn’t even go with YF to their wedding. On top of that there was the odd detail that Erika and Hiroyuki had met on multiple occasions after; about what, YF still had no clue. He tried to analyze Hiroyuki’s expression to see if the latter felt any discomfort about Yui’s words. But there was nothing there.

“We…had a bit of a fight…” YF started.

Yui held up her hand, looking very contrite. “Forgive me, I didn’t know. We can –”

“It’s okay big sis. She just went somewhere else, I’m not really sure where. With what happened though, maybe it was a hidden blessing.”

“Did you try to contact her?” asked Hiroyuki.

Yui squeezed his arm with the hand that was still there.

“Uh…no,” said YF.

“Well, we have some good news!” said Yui, seeming eager to change the topic. She looked into Hiroyuki’s eyes lovingly, who smiled back at her.

“Yes, we are expecting,” said Hiroyuki.

YF lowered his coffee mug slowly, then set it on the table. “Wow, that’s great!”

“Yes, it’ll be quite a transition,” said Yui.

YF tried to think of what to say. “Boy or girl?”

“Much too early for that,” said Hiroyuki. “Though I hope he’s a boy.”

“And I hope she’s a girl,” said Yui. “I could take her to events, and go running errands together.”

“Or maybe one of each,” said Hiroyuki.

“Hey! It’s too early for that,” said Yui, smiling brightly while continuing to look into Hiroyuki’s eyes.

“Well let me know how things are, how I can help, if you have any names,” said YF.

“We will,” said Hiroyuki.

Yui stifled a yawn.

“In light of that I think it’d be best if Yui sleeps a bit earlier today. Thanks for everything, dear,” said Hiroyuki.

Yui shook her head. “Nothing to thank me for. It’s just what should have been done. But yes, if you’ll excuse me I will need to rest a bit earlier today.”

Yui stood up and bowed to both of them; the two men stood up and bowed back. She then walked down the side of the long table, her heels clacking in a steady rhythm as she exited.

“So what did he look like?” asked Hiroyuki, almost as soon as Yui had left.

YF gulped down his last sip of coffee. Almost immediately, Sakurai showed up next to him, a pot held in his hand. “More to drink, sir?” asked Sakurai.

“Yes please,” YF replied, holding the cup up with both hands. “Sun visor, trench coat. Couldn’t get his face,” said YF as Sakurai poured.

“No sectarian marks?”

“Too covered up to tell.”

“And you said he…jumped out of your window…” said Hiroyuki.

“I didn’t see it directly but that’s what the security footage shows,” YF replied.

“Huh,” said Hiroyuki. “Is there any way your property manager will give me the footage? I want to help.”

YF shook his head. “I can’t just give you that. Anyway, I appreciate it, really. But a Sentinel was attacked in his own home. I’m sure we’ll find a way to solve the problem.”

“What if the person isn’t from the village?”

“Then we’ll escalate it to the Ward level.”

“And have Uraga shred the case?”

“Uraga won’t shred the case,” said YF. “He’ll put incompetent guys on it or something but he won’t shred the case.”

“Why not let me help then?”

“Because I don’t like setting a precedent that the system can be circumvented if you just throw resources at a problem,” said YF.

Hiroyuki shook his finger in the air. “Now you’re sounding like her.”

“It may be naïve,” YF admitted. “But I’m sticking to my beliefs on this one.”

“You’re just like mom. I admire it, and I hate it.”

The first time Hiroyuki said “her” YF thought he was referring to Erika. Now he wasn’t so sure. “I suppose that’s why we didn’t get along,” said YF. He wasn’t sure which “we” he meant now, either.

Hiroyuki placed his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together. “Father has some connections to some people. He can spare a few men to ensure your safety. He’ll agree immediately.”

YF didn’t need to ask which father Hiroyuki was talking about. “It’ll be fine,” said YF. “Plus that’s just asking more from big sis—”

“I don’t ask for things through Yui,” said Hiroyuki, slightly offended. “I’ll ask Father directly. And he’ll grant me my wish. He respects me and knows I know what I’m doing. Plus, you are family.”

Hiroyuki’s immense pride and paternalistic attitudes often reminded YF of the other father in Hiroyuki’s life, their own father. It was ironic and sad, then, that Hiroyuki hated their father much more than YF did. But knowing how they were, YF could see that posting men to protect his younger brother was some sort of point of pride for Hiroyuki. It could be better just to accept his offer.

“Fine. Just one guy then. I’m sure it’ll be enough,” YF capitulated.

“Done!” said Hiroyuki, as if in the middle of an intense business negotiation.

“It’s been a long day. I’m going to go to bed,” said YF.

“All right. Wait for me to go to the bathroom and I’ll walk you up.” Hiroyuki rose and went off to the entrance.

“More coffee?” asked Sakurai.

YF looked down at his empty mug. He then looked up into the man’s eyes. Sakurai seemed very fatigued, as if he had gone on a long trip and just came back. YF found himself looking at him continuously, trying to figure something about the way that he looked; what YF was looking for, he couldn’t exactly tell. In the silence, the man reached up to scratch the area under his collar.

YF immediately raised his coffee mug in two hands. “Yes please.” YF tried to keep his hands steady as he held the mug, but on the inside, he was trembling. When Sakurai scratched his neck, YF thought he saw two large puncture wounds in the man’s skin.