Sorry for the long delay. I got distracted writing an AU about Hibiki being Yamato's tattoo artist, which you may have recently seen. In any case, I hope you enjoy. Let me know!

Chapter 25: To Tame Your Wild, Wild Heart

After securing Trumpeter's cooperation, we split up to search for Benetnasch, and I find Yamato on Ebisu Bridge again. Maybe he's fond of the place — he seems to end up here a lot. He's standing over a dying man who gives him a piece of candy meant for his daughter as I approach.

"Incompetent, huh?" He stares down at the piece of candy, conflicted, then notices me. "Hibiki… Do you believe I have the right to accept this?"

Is that… remorse? Self-doubt? "Only you have that right," I tell him firmly. Despite his methods, he has spent his entire life trying to protect us.

"...I see." He doesn't seem comforted. "I don't know. Is it too late to understand how civilians think?"

Lost in thought, he silently walks away, and I hesitate before jogging to catch up and loop my arm through his.

"It's never too late," I insist.

"Incompetent…" Yamato shakes his head as we walk back towards the Osaka Main Branch. "I would have let him die. In my ideal world, he would be among the first to go."

I lean into his side. "He was incompetent at his job because he was in the wrong job. This poorly structured world just wants everyone to fit into the same few boxes it has built."

He glances at me. "Interesting… You think he would have been competent if he'd had a job that suited him better."

"Look at it this way. Fumi is a scientist, Keita is a boxer, and Hinako is a dancer, right? So Keita wouldn't be able to dance, Hinako wouldn't be able to solve complex science problems, and Fumi wouldn't be able to box. Perhaps if you gave them a decade to learn, they'd manage. But Fumi would maybe box half as well as Keita, Keita would maybe dance half as well as Hinako, and Hinako would maybe be half the scientist Fumi is. Imagine you had met them in this alternate world — would you consider them incompetent?"

Yamato doesn't answer, but I can see he has begun to think.

"Imagine that just as you, as a Hotsuin, knew no choice but to lead JP's, Keita's family didn't abandon him and instead forced him to go to university and study to be a scientist. This happened often in the previous world. Did you know Hinako was forced to be a dancer? Fortunately, she is very talented at it and eventually came to enjoy it. But imagine that had been Airi instead. Hinako has been trying to teach her to dance with very limited success. What if Airi had been forced to choose dance instead of piano? Would you call her incompetent and write her off as flawed?"

Violet eyes widen. "I see… You may be right — perhaps I have oversimplified the problems that plagued this broken world."

I smile — we're making progress. "Knowing this, I believe you would sacrifice yourself to protect even them. Even seeing the world as rotten, even cursing your name and birth, you have already sacrificed so much to protect us all." Taking the hand still holding the piece of candy in my own, I fold gloved fingers over it. "That's why I think only you have the right to accept this. That's why I always believed in you."

He finally cracks a smile as well, covering our joined hands with his other one. "How civilians think… In the world you desire, the world you claim to be superior to my ideals, perhaps you can show me."

"It would be my honour," I murmur, squeezing his hand as we lean closer, but then my cellphone rings. Damn it, it's Daichi — "Benetnasch has been spotted by Akasaka Palace."

"Let us be going then." Yamato doesn't seem to share my chagrin, leading me in a brisk walk now. "You should have this," he adds, pressing the piece of candy into my hand."

"Y—"

He shakes his head, cutting my protest off. "You're the one with a sweet tooth, right? I always see you eating the sweet items among the food supplies."

"It's so I don't run out of sweet things to say." I get a confused look in response and shake my head. "It's a joke." I forget that only Hinako ever goes along with my lamer ones. "I do like sweets, yes. I'm flattered you noticed."

"Ha… I have been watching you, after all." Before I can use the opening to flirt, he sighs. "Was it our competence that allowed civilians to become so complacent? I said I have no qualms about making sacrifices for Japan, but is that what spoiled them? They never had to take action because the government did so for them… like domesticating a wild species, we have bred them to be sheep."

I ponder this as we make our way through the branch, then ask, "Were sheep domesticated by building the perfect farm? Or by conditioning them not to defy their shepherds?"

He glances at me, pensive, then says, "You make a compelling point. It suits corrupt and unworthy leaders to keep the masses complacent and docile."

"We should teach people to take responsibility for their lives instead of telling them everything will be fine as long as they obey the rules. Abandoning them when the rules break down will only get them killed before they can learn enough. Our protectors doing a poorer job would be neither productive nor efficient. Who would be left to lead by example?"

"Hah!" We've reached the Terminal room, and Yamato keys in the code for Tokyo. "Us, of course. Are we not the only ones left now?"

It'd be funny if it weren't true. "Still, perhaps it's true that the safety of our environment leaves us unprepared for danger." The Terminal activates, and I wonder if I'll ever get used to being broken down into data and reconstructed. I don't get queasy like Daichi, but I wouldn't describe the sensation as pleasant either.

"Then what of you?" he asks as we arrive, catching me when I stumble. "You were raised a civilian, same as the others, yet you are thriving where the others have fallen."

Instead of finding my footing, I lean into his almost-embrace. "I don't think I could claim to be less complacent or better at surviving. I simply discovered a knack for demon summoning and work well with people. Anyone can grow, change or adapt, but everyone has different talents. It just so happens that mine are particularly relevant to this crisis." I hold up the piece of candy in my hand — it's a peach gummy. "Have you tasted this before?"

"No."

I open it as I straighten. "Then we should share." I bite off one half and offer him the other.

"I've never been especially fond of sweets," he protests, but still obliges my imploring look.

Giggling as we head to the exit, I tell him, "Love of the half-eaten peach never dies, you know," hoping he'll recognize the reference, that he'll take it for the come on it is.

It takes a second, but then his expression softens for a moment before he smirks. "Well, then I expect we have nothing to worry about in the battle ahead."

It's not me I'm worried about —he should still be injured from our earlier fight, even if it's minor enough to shrug off— but even hinting that he should sit this one out would be considered an insult.

"Oh, what was it you said…" I wrap an arm around his waist, grinning when he reciprocates. "Anyone who challenges me other than you is a fool?"

Yamato laughs heartily, open affection in his eyes. "My, my… Such a sharp tongue you've developed. Perhaps my praise has made you vainglorious? Still, you have always backed up your lofty words."

Well, now I have extra incentive to make it through this — maybe, tonight, we can exchange different promises. "Let's get this over with."

Smiling, he inclines his head as we march towards Akasaka Palace. "We shall."

Ronaldo and his friends have perfect timing — on the day of the vote to repeal the disputed bills, another scandal erupts involving a group of Representatives and their affiliated companies. I must admit I'm impressed by their investigative work — they managed to uncover a lot of evidence once they knew what to look for. Charges are pressed —mostly embezzlement, fraud and insider trading— and the "suspects" arrested.

On top of the Opposition wins in the by-elections following the previous scandal and reshuffle, the absences nullify the ruling coalition's majority in the Lower House. With a major faction voting our way, the motion to table the vote fails, and the political wheel spins ruthlessly onward. By the time Yamato and I return from Takarazuka, the excitement has passed with the vote, and the bills are accordingly repealed as unconstitutional to widespread public celebration.

Naturally, at the next meeting of the Board of Oversight and Review of Specially Designated Secrets, we are commanded to keep an eye on North Korea. We will, of course — that's not something we need to be told, what with all the news of space launches and hydrogen bombs. Yamato would never let any harm that he could prevent befall us, and I would trust him over anyone in government any day.

Meanwhile, I keep a closer eye on the scandal victims and their associates — I can't allow them even the opportunity to act against us. For now, it doesn't appear that anyone suspects my involvement, but that doesn't mean things won't change, and we can't afford to be careless — I learned that the hard way. I also uphold my end of the bargain — the faction leader gets the corporate secret he wanted. It's the formula to a new drug the company will be patenting soon, supposedly one that has shown promise in slowing the progression of Alzheimer's. If they end up in a drawn out patent war, I might have to leak it on the public domain — the drug companies may be able to afford years in and out of the courts just for the right to keep prices high, but we'll be losing people to dementia every day in the meantime.

Regular JP's work never ends, of course, so today brings me back to Aichi prefecture. There have been a string of missing children cases in the outskirts of Toyokawa recently, an hour away from Nagoya, and our scanners have picked up some activity in the nearby mountains. I suspect it's a Yamanba or several on the loose, nothing major, but I bring an assault team and a decon team with me just in case — it doesn't pay to be overconfident in these matters.

After about two hours of searching up the mountain path, I come to the realization that we've been walking in circles — there's some kind of confounding spell on the surrounding forest. After some thought as we pause to rest, I conclude that none of the demons I can summon presently are known for finding lost objects, people or places. On the other hand, I can think of at least one with the same modus operandi — getting people lost in the wilderness and spiriting children away. Perhaps we can beat Yamanba at her own game.

Summoning Oberon, I tell him the problem and watch him go from polite attention to his most unimpressed look — if he were more like a modern human, he would probably roll his eyes and scoff something like, "Bah, amateurs." With a twirl on glittery wings, something changes around us, and he beckons for us to follow as he flits along the mountain path, rapier in hand. This time, we find ourselves at a clearing with a small cave at one end. A dishevelled old woman with long white hair hobbles out as we approach, using a gnarled wooden staff as a cane. The only real giveaway is her ears — they're sharper and pointier than Oberon's.

As soon as she spots the fairy, she shrieks, dropping the cane to lunge at him as knives appear in her hands. "They're mine! They're mine! Foreign intruder, begone! You shan't take them! You shan't take them from me!"

We watch a quick scuffle between the witch and the fairy, ending in a thunderous Ziodyne that vaporises Yamanba, then exchange glances in the ensuing quiet.

"Um… is that it?" asks Agent Kamiki beside me.

"A most unpleasant greeting, but I sense no one else about," Oberon replies politely, voice deep in contrast to his size.

"Why don't you and your team stand guard at the entrance, Agent Horikawa? Agent Kamiki's team and I are going in to see if the children are there."

He salutes. "Yes, Vice Chief."

The agents take out their flashlights, and we enter the cave. Search as we might, though, we find nothing of note besides ten jars of sake — nine sealed and one half empty.

"I told you I sensed no one," Oberon says pointedly, arms crossed.

I pat the fairy king on the back placatingly. "We can't file our report without conducting a thorough search though."

"You humans," he sighs. "Still so bureaucratic."

"Do you sense any humans further down the mountain?" Maybe the children, and their kidnappers as well, simply got lost in the earlier illusion.

The fairy flies a bit higher and concentrates, stretching his magical senses. "None," he reports at length. "A few local spirits, nothing more."

I thank and dismiss him, then call the Nagoya branch.

"Yes, sir?"

"No children here. Anything else on our scanners?"

"Hmm… No, sir, the surrounding area is clear."

A job for the Aichi Prefectural Police then. We never should have been called in.

"Thank you." I hang up and turn to the others. "Well, looks like we're on JP's first free hiking trip! Let's have a picnic before we head back."

We sit down, unpack our lunches and discuss the risks of helping ourselves to the witch's wine stash. In the end, Agent Hirota takes the dare, opens a sealed jar and helps himself to a cup of perfectly ordinary sake. I shouldn't be condoning this sort of recklessness, but there hadn't been anything abnormal about the jars when we inspected them earlier.

As we're packing up to leave, Yamato calls. "Hey Chief."

Everyone falls silent and sits up a little straighter.

"Kuze, we need to discuss next week's Diet meetings." All work and no play, as always. "What is your ETA?"

"Give me a couple of hours. It was a wild goose chase. We're climbing down the mountain."

"Hmph." Someone will get a talking to for wasting our time and resources by not checking this thoroughly. "Come to my office when you return." As if I'd go anywhere else first.

He hangs up, and I text him, "I miss you too."

There's no reply, but in my mind's eye, I can see him sighing in fond exasperation. Pocketing my phone, I tell the others, "He wants me in a meeting as soon as I get back," with a hint of chagrin.

"Tough life," Agent Shinobu says with a laugh. "I still don't know how Vice Chief Sako used to do it all by herself."

"Dedication, Misovitan D and no social life?" I suggest, and everyone snorts.

"C'mon, guys, let's get going," Agent Kamiki calls, tapping her foot by the pathway. "You know what the Chief's like when we're late."

The hike down goes much more quickly, but of course we're also not getting lost this time. We reach the base of the mountain in about forty-five minutes, are driven back to Toyohashi Station, then catch the train to Nagoya because it arrives first — it's about the same amount of time in either direction anyway. I spend the hour or so responding to e-mails and reading reports, then move on to checking my stock to see if I can improve my demons' abilities as we transfer to the subway to get closer to the Nagoya branch.

I'm just exiting the Compendium function to fuse a new Mitama when the ground starts shaking.

Suddenly, there's a thunderous rumble around us.

Next thing I know, the train brakes screech. Everyone flies back, and reflex has me hanging on — thankfully, my arms were already wrapped around a pole. It's like déjà vu, and I grip my phone tightly as screaming people hurtle past.

Then, a shattering crash — walls crumple, windows splinter, as the train tilts, derails, collapses, and I'm hitting the summon command without even checking which demon it is.

Oh Gods. Yamato. Please.

I squeeze my eyes shut and brace for impact.