The day of the wedding was overcast with rain pouring down all across Nishida. It was the driest month of the summer — the end —, though that was no guarantee the rain would not come. The raid on Uwada’s office was scheduled for the next day; Eiji postponed his honeymoon to lead it personally. Kaede was probably not taking that well. YF thought about Mizuno and what he would do with the information YF had given him. Were they ready? Was YF himself ready? YF did not think Eiji would be quick to the trigger, but with the way he reacted to Lydia’s death, YF was not so sure.

YF stared up at the clouds; on that day the rain seemed to fall even harder than usual. He opened his convenience store umbrella and held it in one hand, leading Erika by the elbow through the torii arch with the other. Even from that distance, YF could see that Kaede was even more upset than he had imagined; it was as if she had not stopped crying since Lydia’s funeral. As he and Erika got closer to the shrine, a woman in a modest, dark blue kimono turned around to face them. With her hair done up and a gold rose pin through her bun, it took a second for YF to recognize it was Reina. YF stopped and grabbed Erika’s elbow, stopping her. He had expected to see the others: Saru, Ken, Mohan, Beef and a few of Kaede’s friends, most of whom he recognized from his school years. All of them were standing near Reina, seeming to have had a pleasant conversation before YF and Erika’s arrival. YF could feel Erika shaking.

“Why is she here?” YF whispered.

Erika’s shaking grew more violent. YF looked between Eiji in the distance and Erika next to him. Averting his eyes from Eiji, he grabbed onto Erika’s elbow. “We’re leaving. I’ll take you home and maybe come back—”

“No,” said Erika, raising her hand. “No,” she repeated softer. The shaking stopped. “It’s Kaede’s big day. Let’s go on.”

When they started moving again YF could see Erika’s gaze locked on the bride and her associates; she was noticeably not looking at Reina.

Reina turned toward YF and Erika completely before starting to walk down the stone path with small, dainty steps, restricted by her kimono. Her wooden sandals clacked against the ground. The same bodyguard from the cafe — Kawara, YF thought his name was — held an oil paper umbrella ahead of himself and over her. He held his posture through the rain falling on his shoulders. The closer they came, the tighter YF held onto Erika’s shoulder.

“Ueno-san—” Reina bowed slightly just as she reached them, with her hands folded in front of her.

“It’s been a long time, Ms. Hayashi,” said YF, shielding Erika from her with his body and starting for the shrine. “We should start soon. The bride and groom are waiting.” He led Erika by the shoulders to the back of the ceremony procession line. Reina followed behind them at a distance and then walked past them to take her position at the front. Almost on cue the priest began to lead the group into the shrine. After the purification prayer, everyone stood and bowed to the shrine after the priest. The priest poured the sake first to Eiji, who took a sip and handed it to Kaede. He then poured for Kaede who handed it to Eiji. The process then repeated starting from Eiji again.

Eiji then read his vows, which to his credit were read with as much sincerity as YF could expect. At first YF thought it strange that Eiji seemed undeterred by Kaede’s obviously gloomy demeanor. But then he concluded that Eiji must have known and yet chose to keep his composure. If that were true, it was little wonder why Kaede dealt with him, and his officers listened to him. At the end, Eiji turned to thank YF as the matchmaker. Eiji smiled a frustrated smile, then came over to YF, grabbing him by the hand and leading him over to the front. As he went, YF glanced to see Erika still standing in the back. Eiji led YF all the way to the empty spot next to Reina. When he let go of YF’s arm and returned to his place, YF could feel Reina’s kimono sleeve brush against his. As best as he could, he tried not to look over to her, nor let his anxiety about her presence show in his expression. Strangely, the smell of a lake on a summer evening that he remembered from their first conversation in Itsugo was no longer present. YF glanced upward to see Eiji and Kaede take the sakaki branches from the shrine maiden. After performing the clapping and bowing procedures, they placed their branches at the altar.

“Sakai-san,” Reina said softly.

YF involuntarily glanced to see her motioning forward with her head, then looked back up ahead. He walked forward and took the sakaki branch from the shrine maiden, who bowed slightly to him. Reina reached across him to do the same. The two of them then went up to the altar, clapped, bowed, and placed the branches on the surface.

“What a wonderful thing marriage is,” Reina whispered.

YF continued to stare forward.

“Come Sakai-san, let’s not keep them waiting.”

YF turned around and started back for the procession, where he took his place at the front. The priest raised his sake cup twice before everyone drank on the third time. The priest then bowed to the altar and led the group as they exited the shrine. When YF finally turned after passing the torii, he saw that Reina was already gone.

***

With Reina gone and Kaede seeming in a better mood, the reception was much more relaxing for everyone, YF in particular.

“You know Hayashi’s daughter?” asked Saru, about six cups of sake in.

YF looked over to Erika who was sitting with Kaede and the others, somehow managing to hold a conversation with them. Erika had thicker skin than he had realized.

“We met once or twice in passing,” said YF.

Saru whistled.

“Yeah, not like that.”

“Uh huh.”

Beef was wearing a decent suit and vaping by himself on the opposite end of the table. He seemed engrossed in something on his receiver. Ken and Risa were on the dance floor. Mohan stood up.

“I do have to get back to the dealership,” said Mohan as he leaned over Saru and YF’s chairs. “I’m going to go say bye to Eiji real quick and head out.”

“Sure, see you later,” said Saru.

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“Later,” said YF.

After watching Mohan walk toward Eiji, Saru extended a thick hand and slapped Beef’s shoulder with the back of it. “What’re you doing? Have some fun. Drink with us.”

“I have to read on how to invest,” said Beef.

“You read?”

“There…there’s some articles that put it in simple terms,” said Beef.

“Huh, hope for us yet,” said Saru, downing another cup.

“How’ve you been enjoying yourself these days?” asked YF.

“Oh you know,” said Saru. “Hookers and the hot stuff.”

Now that Saru mentioned it, YF did notice him itching his neck and wiping his nose a bit more. YF tried to think that it was ultimately what he needed to get to the Ward Office; how Saru used his money was not YF’s problem. He needed to find out what had happened on Kamakura Boulevard all those years ago; hopefully Honda had something to say about what she found soon.

“You seem pretty wound up,” said Saru.

“More responsibility, more danger, you know how it is,” said YF.

“They pay you much more?”

“Nope.”

“So you’ve been demoted.”

YF had never thought about that before. “Yeah I suppose I have been.”

“Bring your ass home and Erika too. Beef and I will cut you some of what we got. We’re still brothers, man. Stop living like this.”

YF glanced at Beef, glad that the music made it hard to hear his and Saru’s conversation. “I can’t,” said YF. “At least not now.”

“Eij once told me you should change your socks as much as possible,” said Saru. “Said sweating in your boots out in the field will really fuck your feet over.”

“I’ve been on patrol before,” said YF.

Saru scoffed, then raised a hand. “Sumimasen!”

“Hai!”

When the reception waitress approached their table, Saru took a fresh clay bottle of sake off of the tray and held it out to YF. “Here, drink this. Maybe you’ve done a tour or two on the streets but with the way you’re shaking now, your boots will turn into a Ginkawa reservoir in a few days.”

YF slowly took the bottle from Saru without replying. He then looked down at his free hand, which was noticeably shaking against the tablecloth.

***

Muto confirmed that Division Four was joining Counterterrorism on the Uwada Enterprises raid. YF did not expect anything different, though there was a part of him that hoped Muto would call off the attache. When the full train of patrol cars arrived the whole area was quiet. YF had been there and passed by enough to know some of the people who frequented the area, whether to do things like get their groceries or stop for a cup of tea. To see that none of them were in the area was rather jarring. It only served to heighten his sense of dread.

YF alighted from the vehicle he was riding with one of the women in Division Four. Ahead of them, the counterterrorism squad moved silently toward the front door. Before they could take up positions on the walls, the door slid open, causing all of them to raise their rifles at the opening. In the doorway stood Mizuno, staring at the two dozen armored riflemen, cold as ice, unflinching.

“Gentlemen? Come upstairs for a cup of tea?”

YF didn’t notice before that he had never made much eye contact with Mizuno. The sectarian enforcer’s gaze was mesmerizing and dangerous. It made YF understand better why someone so polite might fit so well into their world.

Eiji motioned toward Mizuno. One of the officers patted down Mizuno. Finding nothing, he nevertheless stuck close to the sectarian as they went down the hall to the main conference room. The officers fanned out along the walls of the room upon arrival, leaving space for Division Four to enter. When YF and the others arrived, YF could see that Uwada and four enforcers other than Mizuno were seated in large, leather chairs around the low table in order of rank — Uwada seated at the head. Two of the enforcers he recognized from run-ins with Uwada before, including Machida. Two of them were probably promoted from whatever windfalls Uwada managed to rake in. But the woman seated directly to the right of the head chair caused him to freeze up. It was Mori. She was wearing a matching set of black exercise clothes as if she had just gone on a run. While the other enforcers were seated upright, tense, with their hands on their knees, Mori was slouched in her seat with her legs crossed.

“They came a bit late,” she commented.

YF was surprised to see her so relaxed with no obvious signs of coercion or restraints, despite the method and state in which he delivered her to Uwada.

“Please come with us to the station, Uwada,” said Eiji.

“Eiji!” Uwada exclaimed, standing up. “And Mr. Sakai, surprised to see you here.”

The officers raised their rifles toward him.

Uwada spread his arms. “Haven’t seen you in forever. Come, please sit.” He pointed to the empty seat to his left.

“I don’t have time for this Uwada. You either come with me, or we’re dragging you with us,” said Eiji.

Uwada tsked. “That’s not very polite.” He turned to Mori. “Ms. Mori?”

YF found himself instinctively stepping forward, closing the distance between him and Mori so that they were only one stride apart when she stood up. He made sure he was standing between her and Eiji. YF’s heart pounded as he tried to anticipate where she would strike first.

“Sakai-san,” she said in greeting, a dangerous look in her eyes.

“Ms. Mori,” YF acknowledged.

“I’m sure all of you know Ms. Mori,” said Uwada. “She’s quite a celebrity in the home country. Mr. Sakai goes back often and should be more familiar.”

YF suddenly noticed that everyone, including Uwada, was looking at him strangely. He then began to cough, the pressure building up in his neck as the unquenchable thirst came back again. YF began to claw at his chest, bending his knees as he tried to keep his composure. He then felt a strong grip on his elbow and looked up to see it was Mori. She had a confused look on her face as she switched from looking at Uwada to him.

Uwada only nodded at her faintly before turning to Eiji. “Matsuhara and his men have been expelled from the family for quite some time. We have not kept tabs on his activities since then.”

“The guns he had were linked to the Silver District Incident, of which it’s recently come to light that you may also have been involved in that affair,” said Eiji. “The timeframe is a bit too narrow. If you expelled him you must have done it recently to avoid the consequences.”

“Such accusations,” said Uwada, shaking his head. “I believe our business can’t be concluded here with an atmosphere like this. Mizuno will come with me to the station, and we can discuss matters there. I’m sure all will be settled with due process of the law.”

“Of course,” said Eiji through gritted teeth.

Mori raised YF into a standing position, and as she did she slipped something into his chest plate holder before letting go.

“Step back from him,” Eiji barked at Mori.

She took one step back.

One of Eiji’s men advanced forward and grabbed YF by the arm, pulling him back into the ranks.

“We’re heading out, rest of you stay here,” he eyed the other enforcers. “Uwada?”

Uwada walked across the hall toward them where three officers surrounded him. The group then exited out of the room with their weapons pointed forward and then left the office.