Part two to tonight's update. Not much to say here except that I almost chopped this one in half for the length. Because I had to tweak this one around for the sake of preserving chronology, I will include a tidbit at the end to clear up the present time line.
Enjoy! :)
Aomine, Kagami, and Akashi arrived in Hirosawa, the train ride overall uneventful. Their transport had not been inconvenienced by other passengers, thanks to the Lord's clout affording their private cars the protection of a few borrowed grade-As from Zhestokiy. At Akashi's insistence, Aomine's burn was inspected and Kagami's sprained knee pacified with a compression wrap. He hadn't liked that his injury was exposed to the Fire brothers when they had been allowed to retreat behind closed doors. He'd also been incensed when the physician scolded the mistreatment dealt to the wound, predicting recovery had been set back another week. Declaring the scarring would not heal cleanly only further aggravated him. At the time he'd thought it peculiar Kagami sought privacy over minor sprains and scrapes then recalled how the prince deferred undressing in front of him in Kise's tent.
Leaving him to conclude Kagami was a prude.
For much of the journey, he sat alone, sleep and appetite virtually absent under the ceaseless surveillance of his minders. Once he had contemplated shifting to another car. The likelihood that Kagami would follow or Akashi would interject discouraged the attempt. Even after Akashi had withdrawn behind the closed doors of the isolated compartment for treatment for the better part of two hours.
The wrap up at Casimir had plagued his thoughts, keeping him wide-eyed and anxious while the watchdogs carried on absentmindedly. What were the conditions the Lord negotiated to acquire his release? Why the designation of asset? He found it difficult to imagine what that could entail given he had nothing of value to offer Akashi in exchange. Clearly the tag was a euphemism for what the shrimp could not or would not say in front of his brother. Blame for Hyuuga's murder remained an unproven case of mistaken identity. Sure, he was guilty of killing forty-eight of Akashi's elite assassins and even more from chapters in Zhestokiy and Selene. The outcome of which he could only suspect would be convoluted once brought before a judge.
In the courtyard, Akashi had promised to expound upon his conference with interim Kaizer Hayakawa. Two and a half days they spent confined to a train car and still he knew nothing.
Secretary Furihata Kouki and a team of grade-B assassins intercepted them at the train station adjoining the Fire capital and guided them on a forty-five minute trek to the castle. Akashi had spent the majority of the jaunt conversing with the secretary, taking turns volleying orders and presenting updates. None of which Aomine had attended to at the time.
As they approached the castle, he'd wished he had.
The inclined pathway winding to connect the lower courtyard fronting the iconic towering façade of the only Japanese-Gothic castle in Asia to the inner courtyard was overrun by a throng of protestors swaying like tall grass. Military police lined the balustrade, barricading violent lashing hands from spearing through. As they reached the gate, Apparitions hanging over the roofline of the curtain wall lobbed slurs, profanities, rocks, shoes, bottles, and other projectiles that the grade-Bs were forced to deflect. More officers cleaved a path through the madness to the castle. Another contingent of Shadow Apparitions materialized from the mob flooding the inner courtyard and hustled to fortify their convoy.
Ensconced in a pack of killers, plunging headfirst into the chaos, hate speech rang loud. Indignities, defamation, racial epithets—while not applicable to him anymore, given his awakening— shocked him.
Kagami must have sensed his heightened discomfort. He'd drawn an arm around Aomine and his quickened pace urged the detail on. Within a few heart-stopping moments of apprehension the whoosh of the castle doors sealed them safely inside. Cries of outrage and contempt penetrated four inches of mahogany. Tremors racked Aomine's muscles, weakening his knees as realization sunk his gut.
Akashi had paraded a globally-recognized criminal through a horde of radical and violent objectors with minimal protection.
Was he insane? Was he challenging his countrymen to exercise temperance? Or was he trying to intimidate Aomine to ensure cooperation? Tension had eluded the assassins during the drama but the pointed glare Kagami was drilling into his brother's temple, behind the safety of closed doors, and the astonishment blanching Furihata's face said it all.
It was a power play.
And Akashi had briefed no one save his officers.
He was insane.
All but two of the assassins were dismissed. Akashi and the secretary departed up an ascending stairwell. Kagami's lips pursed an angry line as the men led them deeper inside. Aomine marched in tow, paranoia nipping after his every step. As they threaded the halls, he thought back to the Lord's charming assurance that he was no prisoner.
Well, he sure as hell felt like one.
They climbed a squatty flight of stairs and stopped at a door. One of a series running either wall, spaced at intervals suggesting the presence of apartments. The assassins flanked the portal and one opened the room without reception.
Aomine did not enter and tossed his head to the door.
"What the hell is this," he asked Kagami.
"Until Akashi finalizes all his angles, this is where you'll stay."
"Was that dog and pony bullshit he just pulled one of his angles?"
"If it was, he obviously didn't share his plan with the rest of the group."
"I saw the look on your face," Aomine said, jabbing an accusatory finger. "We both know it was."
"And he may very well have orchestrated that, too. Point is, pissing and moaning about someone who isn't here to someone who can't do anything about it isn't helping."
Aomine sighed hard through his nose and shook his head.
He motioned to the sentinels. "Get rid of them. I don't need babysitters."
"Not your call. The guard dogs stay."
He scoffed. "So, what, I'm your lady-in-waiting, your majesty?"
Unexpectedly, Kagami laughed. "First off, as heirs, we're equal in rank. Second,"—he pointed—"those bony shoulders does not a flattering dress make. And third, and most importantly, you are not a prisoner. So, relax."
Aomine groaned, peering into the sunlit room. Neither guardian acknowledged him.
Which he appreciated.
"Just sit tight until I come for you. Read a book or something."
Aomine lay on the bed, one arm tucked under his head. A book, neglected pages face up, bowed over his belly. Sunlight pierced the room with the golden glow of late afternoon. Patchy clouds strolled high beyond the panes, the shears drawn back. It had been raining when he awoke from his nap about five hours ago to a room just as vacant of energy and life as it had been when Kagami herded him inside yesterday.
Three days had passed since Imayoshi's arrest and he still knew clueless.
The only faces he had seen since were those of the silent duo when they cracked the door to deliver meals. An attached bathroom and his increased notoriety within the capital meant no sojourns to stretch his legs, either. The room, albeit fully furnished, possessed little entertainment to nullify his boredom. A modest corner bookshelf held around three dozen titles to skim. Only a handful teased enough interest to browse. Eventually he had chosen a century-old journal on the usage of snow leopards by the Fire in the 1700s that, while informative and somewhat interesting, could not engage his focus.
His fingers drummed the waxy pages, gaze absently tracing the coffered ceiling. Thoughts of Goryokaku trickled back. And Tetsu. Kagami's efforts to redirect his pessimism toward a more hopeful outlook did not last long. He knew Imayoshi, not as a sly fox, but a coiled viper. Vulnerable to the larger predators surrounding him but always hiding unseen with a potent and necrotic bite. Tetsu had studied his adversary well over the years. Yet even with his refined perception, he'd read the snake wrong. Lured into the beast's den and ambushed.
It was that damned collar.
Grief pricked his eyes. Why didn't he just destroy the wretched contraption? At least if he had, Tetsu would have stood a chance against the Dan and his minion.
But he didn't.
Because he couldn't bring himself to defy Imayoshi.
And now Tetsu was gone.
Pressure ballooned in his skull, eyes, and throat. Tears probed for release.
Two swift knocks startled him, jostling him from melancholy.
He hesitated, attention on the door.
Again, two knocks.
"Aomine."
Irritation shot through him. About damn time.
He rolled from the bed, careful not to crunch his waist, and rubbed away all trace of conflict from his face.
He cracked the door.
Kagami filled the gap.
"Can I help you, warden?" he asked.
"Don't be shitty."
"Cram the indignance. Is this your idea of payback for leaving you alone with Nigou?"
Puzzlement screwed Kagami's face.
"The dog."
For a moment it appeared Kagami would retort. Then thought better of it and shook the idea away. "My involvement in lobbying for you ended when we boarded the train. Akashi hasn't contacted me either. So, you're not the only one who's been bumming around with questions and no answers." He paused and stepped back. "Until now."
The prince turned, jerking his head. "Let's go."
Aomine slipped into the hall, easing the door shut. The sentinels did not budge. Hands folded in front of them, chins up, eyes vacant but watchful.
He did not flash them a parting gesture or second glance and followed Kagami.
. . . . .
Kagami depressed the latch without the courtesy of a knock. The office's double doors rose at the end of an aisle of desks seating little more than a dozen Apparitions busied with stacks of paperwork, nose-deep in journals, ledgers, and binders, and immersed in conversation over telephones. Not technological enough to suggest these were intelligence agents. Akashi was too suspicious and forward-thinking to position his most critical artery in such an open and easily-accessible location. Must have been the pipsqueak's secretariat.
Aomine stepped in behind Kagami.
Akashi sat at his desk, hunched in hushed conference. Stooping over the opposite side was Furihata. The Lord cut them a glance. The secretary straightened, regarding them with a face pinched by either agitation or disappointment. Aomine couldn't tell. He supposed either reaction was to be expected the closer and more personally one worked with Akashi Seijuurou. If his own brother's constant scowling were any indication.
"Please, come in, Taiga."
Kagami did not react to the Lord's stale, monotonous sarcasm. "You called me."
Akashi brought steepled fingers to his lips and refocused on his secretary. A moment passed. Then Furihata collected a bundle of folders from the desk.
"Just page me when you're ready," he said through clenched teeth.
Akashi grunted understanding. Aomine sidestepped as the little man stalked past and jerked the door closed. The abrupt exit did not appear to bother the Fire brothers.
"It's a miracle your bullshit hasn't driven him to quit already," Kagami said.
Silence was Akashi's response.
Kagami occupied one of the two plush chairs fronting the desk. Aomine dropped into the other.
After a tense moment, the Lord drew back, woven fingers falling over his stomach.
"I trust my associates did not present a problem," he said to Aomine.
"To be a problem, they would have had to confront me. Which they didn't. They just stood imposingly outside the door, saying nothing. Which you didn't."
"As I'm certain Taiga told you, I was finishing negotiations. Placing you in that room was more than just a countermeasure to safeguard you from the radicals who believe you deserve far less charity than I have granted you. It was also to provide me time to sort out and solve this mess you two made."
Kagami scoffed. "How the hell is any of this my fault?"
Aomine leapt in. "Pick one from an infinite number of things that have gone wrong in the last two weeks."
"You are not exempt from blame." Akashi's authoritarian tone cut deep. "In all the occurrences you fault Taiga for, you were also involved."
He suppressed the electric needles prickling beneath his skin.
Kagami said nothing, also seeming to temper a retort.
"The most grievous of which was the hot point of debate between Hayakawa-san and I at Casimir. For the time spent waiting for him and I to come to an agreement, I extend a sincere apology to you both. Although he is a competent man, albeit eccentric to the point of dysfunction, he is also a devout zealot. Much like his predecessor. They disagreed on a great many things but they were both ardent patriots of Zhestokiy. Losing his mentor was a serious slight and not to apprehend you a grave injustice."
"Is the palace coroner an ardent patriot, too?" Aomine asked. "Or did the examination of the Kaizer's corpse unveil that the stab wound to his chest is larger than my blade could inflict?"
"There was no official exam conducted by palace coroners."
Kagami barked, "Why the hell not?"
"Now you're indignant," Aomine scoffed. "Where was this suspicion before you chased me through the damn fort crying wolf?"
Kagami glared at him, face red and pulsing with a warning glow. "I walk in on you slathered in blood standing over a corpse with a weapon in your hand. What the fuck was I supposed to think?"
"That's just it. You didn't think," he yelled. "You jumped to conclusions and because of you, here I am."
Akashi interjected. "If that comes as no surprise to you." He paused, reeling Aomine and Kagami's attention.
Something that had gone unspoken rankled Kagami and he shook his head.
"I didn't sign up for the two-pronged character assassination pitchfork up my ass today." He started to rise from the chair.
"Sit."
Kagami hesitated, fingers tight around the armrests, half lifted from the seat.
"I warned you not to go after Aomine."
"You commanded," Kagami countered.
"And you disobeyed me."
Challenge escalated Kagami's tone. "You have no jurisdiction over me anymore."
"When you undergo an unsanctioned operation in enemy territory and assault a foreign dignitary, that flimsy contract goes out the window. In case you forgot how the chain of authority works outside the smithing village, you may dictate Izuki's actions but I overrule you both when matters of national security are concerned."
Kagami did not budge.
"Imayoshi considered your offense against Aomine a declaration of war."
Rebellion faded from Kagami's tense muscles and he slowly sunk into the cushion.
"You disclosed it," he muttered. "At the conference. That's why you ejected us."
Confusion folded Aomine's brow. It wasn't because of the fight?
"I don't see that you left me much choice," Akashi said.
Kagami sighed, fingers sliding around his neck, pinching and kneading the flesh. He bobbed his head in concession.
"As I was saying," the Lord continued. "Hayakawa-san blocked the coroners from performing a necropsy. Predictably so."
"So, I'll be going down in history as the one who assassinated Hyuuga, with no concrete evidence save for one witness with a loud mouth?"
"You weren't listening."
The knowing lilt to the Lord's voice was provocative. Aomine thought back. Before the brother's bickering episode.
There was no official exam conducted by palace coroners.
He understood. "One of your people?"
Akashi smiled. "The best. Not his desired denomination as he prefers to work with the living. But a genius with a scalpel at any rate. His appetite for accuracy and truth is voracious."
He wondered about the mystery man but shelved the inquiry for later.
"I am in possession of the report. While I cannot clear your name immediately or cure Zhestokiy's interpretation of your character, know that your innocence has been confirmed. Until I can present it before a judge, I'm afraid you'll have to encumber the stigma of a king killer."
"Why would you be interested in cleansing my guilt? Aren't you sore from losing Hyuuga?"
"In my own way," Akashi said. "He was a friend to me, regardless of the roles we played sitting at opposite ends of the conference table."
The Lord's gaze flicked to the desktop, as though considering something. A cryptic seriousness masked his face, sharpening his eyes.
"I knew too late that Imayoshi had trained the crosshairs on Hyuuga," he said, attention locking on Aomine. "You would become his scapegoat to get from me at the fort what he failed to acquire at the summit. Contrary to Imayoshi's instruction I knew you would not kill Hyuuga. Susa Yoshinori, on the other hand, was far more willing and capable."
"He was at Casimir," Kagami chimed in, his posture in the chair slackened, seeming to have calmed. "I recognized the daggers in your arm and leg."
Aomine had, too. Before he could voice his assertion, Akashi confirmed it with a nod.
"Now he's in the wind. Provided a last ditch distraction by Imayoshi that afforded him a quick escape."
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. That bastard was still on the loose.
"Fantastic," he grunted.
Akashi, however, appeared unbothered by the problem. "Don't be so glum. He'll be dealt with."
"By?" Kagami asked.
Aomine shared the prince's skepticism.
"Selene is running point on a manhunt. Our dearly deranged ghoul's treachery struck a nerve and so our once-pacifistic friends are now hackles up and teeth bore on the offensive. I extended my resources to assist their efforts but thus far have not been accepted or even acknowledged."
"Not sure Izuki would be flattered to be labeled a resource."
Aomine leaned forward. "They're chasing a ghost. He's discreetly worked alongside Imayoshi for more than a century without being discovered. How are they planning to catch him?"
"While I appreciate your concern, we've drifted off topic." Akashi shifted to sit straight. "I've finalized deliberations with Wakamatsu-san and completed release procedures for safe passage back to Nice. Effective at sundown today. Once you return, expect to be debriefed of all that he and I discussed. Including the consequences of your newly-awakened identity."
Aomine wished he could feign surprise. In the event the incumbent Dan became incapacitated and could no longer hold office, the directors launched an emergency election amongst themselves to nominate an interim replacement to hold station for up to a year. With him and Satsuki absent, four remained to cast a ballot. Knowing her sex would eliminate her chances, a sad discrimination of their democratic practices, Araki wouldn't hesitate to vote for herself if but to spite her competitors. With all the friction Wakamatsu generated with his brash and boisterous personality, his ideologies paralleled the course Imayoshi had upheld to steer the country and upsetting continuity during such a fragile time could spark public resistance. As passionately as Wakamatsu coveted the mantle of sovereignty he would find nothing enjoyable about cleaning up Aomine's messes.
Their imminent meeting would not be pleasant.
"Hold on, consequences? Are you implying that my nature will hinder my return home?"
"Not your return but definitely your citizenship."
A terrifying reality seeped in. "They're going to banish me?"
Akashi said nothing, face stoic.
He slammed a fist on the cushioned armrest, voice fed by angry panic, "I'm a lawful citizen of Jia."
"Only if you were born within the country's border. Which, as we both know, you were not."
Anxiety palpitated his heart and his chest hollowed. "So, Wakamatsu's just gonna expatriate me to Zhestokiy because I light up during a thunderstorm?"
"I assure you I don't know what the interim Dan intends."
Aomine ground his shoulders into the backrest, covering his mouth. The fingers of his other hand drummed an impatient beat on the armrest.
He couldn't believe this. His life in Jia was over? Just like that?
Akashi's dulcet voice stroked his ears. "There is one thing I can assure you of."
He forced composure, uncovering his face, and jerked his head.
"Your ex-wife, Momoi Satsuki, is safely in my custody."
Relief chased away the panic and thawed the tension straining his muscles.
Finally, he thought, something went right.
"Where is she?" He couldn't care less how childishly exuberant he sounded. "I need to see her."
Akashi, however, minded and in his trademark monotone said, "She is under the supervision of my spymaster in a secure location."
"Did you not hear me, short stack?"
Irritation claimed the Lord's face. "She will be released when our business is concluded and no sooner. I would think considering the lengths Taiga and I have gone to despite how gravely you have wrong, bereaved, and inconvenienced us both, the least you could do is recognize your place in this situation and lower your prideful head."
The biting words, spoken calmly, brandished an obvious threat. Now he understood the pertinence of asset. He was wrong before. He possessed the invaluable exchange of indentured gratitude and unquestioning cooperation.
Though he did not bend, he lowered his gaze. Side-eyeing Kagami revealed, by either experience or instinct, he had also turned his heated gaze downward.
Akashi motioned to the windows rising on the wall opposite the door. "I invite you to look outside."
Aomine pushed himself from the chair and strode to the first window.
"Beyond the gate, into the plaza."
He peered through the panes. Four stories down, beyond the flaring rooflines of a wide-mouth, bulky gate opened an enormous, pitted terraced plaza. Positioned in a half circle on the second level landing were a collection of wooden structures. Squinting clarified their tall square shapes and recognition struck him.
He glanced back at Akashi. "Funeral pyres."
The Lord's head dipped in affirmation.
He had also counted. "There are five."
Kagami skated to the same window, the sill wide enough to accommodate them both.
Again he stared out at the pyres. Fire Apparitions utilized cremation to handle the remains of their dead. Each Apparition expired eventually and while their overall biology was similar, their decomposition was not. When Fire Apparitions died, the flesh would gradually expel fluids, dehydrating the corpse into a husk that would then disintegrate into ash. Ancient practitioners of the mortuary arts considered such degradation a disgrace and instituted the pyre to complete the deceased's life cycle. Beginning life in fire and ending in embers accompanying a magnificent final blaze. The receptacle itself was crafted from expertly seasoned cherry wood imported from Hi-Sokoku, providing a long-lasting burn and emanating a fragrant aroma.
The ultimate return to nature.
Definitely more poetic than the Ice's more staunch rituals.
When he'd noticed the number of stacks, he could only assume they stood for one thing.
"Those men your spymaster lost. Tetsu's fictive kin. Is that what those are intended for?"
Kagami cut him a side glance but said nothing.
He recalled, in the prince's house, as he and Tetsu eavesdropped in the adjoining room, the spymaster spilling his guts about the assassins Aomine had taken away from him.
Men that had been like sons to Izuki Shun.
Brothers to Tetsu.
And, apparently, something just as precious to Kagami.
We both lost something to that man.
"They are not."
Aomine and Kagami whirled.
"Aomine Daichi, age seventy-nine. Imayoshi Nori, age seventy-two. And three newborn hybrid children. The first, one week old. The next, four days. The last, only three."
Heterochromatic eyes lifted, earnest and commiserate. "I cannot begin to imagine, nor would I dare, what you experienced too early in your youth to be denied fatherhood. Contrary to our positions as contenders on the checkerboard of politics, I feel there is no greater offering I could make in light of the events that have now become clear."
Breath stilled in Aomine's chest. Blood pulsed loudly in his ears.
"Aomine," Akashi continued. "I am sincerely sorry for the grievous loss of life you have suffered."
He couldn't bring himself to respond. Body, mouth, brain. All struck numb, his senses paralyzed. He wasn't sure what bothered him more. Akashi Seijuurou being intimately apprised of the most heartaching and sensitive moments of his life or that the Lord sectioned out personal time and resources to construct pyres to honor the cherished ones Aomine had lost.
Strangers. Unknown to him but for the final confession of a depraved monster erasing the tracks of his sin.
Akashi's voice eased over the white noise clawing inside his skull. "I understand if you do not want to accept our funerary custom—"
"No," he blurted.
He calmed himself and continued to say, "Satsuki endured the pain of illegally cremating our children before. Hiding her agony from me. Blaming herself for their deaths to make sense of how three newborn children could just… die. I wanted to understand why she did it. But I never could. Her selfishness at the time denied me the opportunity to attain closure. To puzzle out the mystery on my own. Instead, I've spent the past fifty years attributing their premature fates to my genetic shortcomings as a defective Apparition."
He bit his lip, stopping himself from exposing much more than he already had.
Gaze level with Akashi's, he made clear, "I want her with me when they burn."
The Lord nodded then looked at Kagami. "Taiga, would you fetch Momoi-san?"
Kagami hesitated, shooting appraising glances between him and Akashi then crossed to the door. He balked as he threw one of the slabs open.
"You?"
His incredulity piqued Aomine's interest toward the portal.
From his desk, Akashi said, "Let him enter, Taiga. I've been expecting him."
Kagami stepped aside and Sakurai Ryou shuffled inside. The secretary swept a bow to all in the room.
Then set his sights on Aomine. Something in the little man's face plucked at his insecurity and he fought not to withdraw into himself. Sympathy glossed Sakurai's bright, round eyes creased with the parental endearment of a lost bond re-forged.
Again Kagami's words from the forest resurfaced. Says he delivered and cared for you as a baby.
Questions mounted but his tongue thickened and no words came.
The door sealed softly as Kagami left.
"I'm glad you're okay," Sakurai said to him.
Still nothing.
"If my behavior at the fort, or even at the summit, was inappropriate or bothersome, I sincerely apologize."
He lifted calming hands. "It's not that."
Sakurai's lips quivered into a smile. "I'm so sorry for all that you've had to endure, Aomine-sa—I mean, Dai—No, I mean…" he palmed his face. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to address you now," he sniffed, emotion robbing him of coherency. "Professionally, it had to be Aomine-san, but—"
"For you, Aomine-san was my father."
The secretary's head, concealed beneath a curtain of tented fingers, bobbed. As Sakurai fought to tame his tears, Aomine reflected back to the palace courtyard. To Imayoshi's account of what transpired that night one hundred years ago. He was only a month old when he was abducted. Sakurai was serving as his mother's midwife, having helped raise him. Imayoshi made no mention or implication in his narration of a third person inhabiting the farmhouse. Nor did they check for one.
Because his birth had been a secret. And so, too, was Sakurai's involvement.
The grief-stricken hunch and overflowing anguish made sense.
His words came soft and cautious. "You were there, weren't you? When my parents were killed."
Sakurai shrank, eyes pinched shut. Tears spilled down fingers bridged over his nose.
"They didn't know you were there. Listening."
Sakurai lifted his head, hands falling away. "I was sleeping in the den. Nori-san assured me I could take a few hours rest. I later awoke to loud voices coming from your nursery. When I sat up, I saw him there, crouching outside the door cracked just enough for him to hear the goings-on inside. I couldn't bring myself to confront that monster."
Akashi sat silent, observing.
"You didn't want them to kill you." He paused. "Or me."
"My silence cost your parents and an innocent woman their lives. Now my confession has scarified another."
From his desk, Akashi said, "Enough, Ryou."
Sakurai wiped his eyes.
Aomine pinned Akashi with suspicion. "What does he mean?"
"That day, at the summit—"
"No," Akashi barked.
Sakurai flinched. "He must know."
Aomine glared at the Lord. "Why shouldn't I?
Akashi did not react to the challenge. "Because I don't expect you to understand."
Hackles erupted and Aomine stomped a step forward.
"This is my life," he yelled. "I'm sick of everyone else dictating what I can or can't handle. What I need to know or what is privileged information. You're not exercising discretion for any other reason than to save your own ass because even you realize that to anyone else whatever you did was unjustified."
Steepled fingers shielded Akashi's lips as he sighed. He nodded to Sakurai.
"That day at the summit," Sakurai continued, eyes downcast, "Imayoshi intimated intent to trigger a conflict, using the altercation between you and Kagami-san as the catalyst. When that did not work and he rebuffed Akashi-san's threat, I knew what his true aim was. At the castle, while in conference with Hyuuga-san, I divulged the incident in 1906. He was now their target. Akashi-san was then summoned and apprised of the situation."
He stared hard into the Lord's heterochromatic eyes.
Akashi leaned back, interlocked hands falling. "I thereafter concocted a plan using Junpei as bait to confirm our suspicions about Imayoshi. The result of which precipitated events long laid into place by the Dan."
He wished that surprised him. Instead anger festered.
"So, you set up your own partner. Like a pig to slaughter."
Akashi's brow furrowed at the repulsive tone. "Junpei offered himself. He believed he could handle whomever the Dan sent, knowing the man himself would not act. We both expected your arrival at the fort. What we did not anticipate was an undertaker. One who knew Junpei intimately enough to precisely blindside him."
"Sakurai told you both that Susa was present when my parents were murdered. That man is an accomplished killer, embedded in the farthest-reaching information network and head of security technologies encompassing half the Apparition World, and you expect me to believe neither of you predicted Imayoshi would sic him on the Kaizer?"
"I don't care what you think," Akashi said. "I'm telling you what I know and what I know is that Kaizer Hyuuga Junpei was unafraid to meet his end if it meant uncovering the truth."
Aomine recalled the brief discourse at the fort. Through a crack in the door.
In English, between killer and victim. Words he could never reproduce on his own.
"Think what you will of my methods," Akashi continued. "But you are far too underqualified to even think of lecturing me about the duality of moral principles and political gambling associated with ruling an empire."
Static coiling around Aomine intensified and he marched to the desk.
His palms slapped the tabletop. "You expect me to forgive you for what you've done?"
"A thank you will suffice."
Rage infused his muscles and he lurched.
Sakurai sprang and clutched his arm in a tight embrace. Aomine teetered.
Akashi did not recoil.
Sakurai eased himself between Aomine and the Lord. "Please don't. Lord Akashi is not at fault."
Anger ebbed, weakening the vibrant pulsing light swarming Aomine to crawling flickers.
He glared. "How can you say that after what he just said?"
Sakurai's grip hardened. "I was there. He speaks the truth. Hyuuga-san knew what destiny awaited him at the fort." Tremors racked the little man's fingers. "You tried to save him, didn't you?"
He said nothing, looking sideways at Akashi.
"When we collided in the hallway, you were covered in his blood."
His gaze again bore into Sakurai. "You told Akashi I killed him."
Distress warped Sakurai's face. "No."
Aomine yanked free. "I heard Kagami tell you to inform him"—he jabbed a finger at Akashi—"that I murdered Hyuuga."
"That may be what he ordered of me but that is not what I reported."
He couldn't bring himself to argue.
"I'm not asking you to forgive his deception or accept his heinous actions as righteous. I only ask that you understand that because of him, you are here, alive, and Imayoshi is in prison where he can no longer pollute you."
He searched the secretary's earnest eyes. After all that had happened, he wasn't certain that he could untangle himself from the grief, anger, and confusion that eroded a gaping hole of emptiness inside him. Despite Sakurai's assurances, the Lord was withholding far more of his involvement than felt necessary to disclose. Making Akashi too untrustworthy.
He knew contesting the bastard on his home turf would be a mistake. His position as an asset could quickly be commuted to prisoner. All of the countermeasures painstakingly executed voided by a single hapless misstep. Submitting to Akashi rankled him. But he was tired.
And as demeaning as it was to be indebted to the puny prick, the tyrant held his life in his hands.
He sighed. Tension seizing his muscles exhausted and the spindly bands of light vanished.
He regarded Akashi. "Where do we go from here? What was the point of bringing him?" To Sakurai, he mumbled, "No offense."
"He claims to have something for you. I'm told it's a parting gift of sorts."
Sakurai produced a packet envelope and offered it.
Aomine accepted, asking, "Who from?"
He scanned for a sender or address. Finding no markings on the front, he flipped to the backside. Centered on the flap was a line of remarkably pristine calligraphy.
我が息子大輝
Shock reverberated through him.
Our son, Daiki.
He motioned with the envelope. "Is this—"
Sakurai nodded, a faint smile tugging his lips. "Letters from your parents to you. Written after you were born, Aomi—I mean, your father—entrusted them to me to release at my discretion. Now is that time."
His eyes traced the kanji again.
"Thank you, Ryou," Akashi said from his desk. "Assuming your business is finished, there are agents waiting to escort him to the library. There he can see just what his parents had to say."
Akashi reached for a stack of portfolios.
He started for the door.
"May I accompany him?" Sakurai asked.
Aomine peered back.
"I have no objections." The Lord did not halt his task, pen tip tracing lines in a portfolio opened before him. "However, understand the escort stands."
Sakurai bowed then scuttled to the door. As Aomine followed him through the threshold, Akashi's voice stopped him.
"One thing, Daiki."
He waited, not looking back.
"With all the conviction Imayoshi expressed as he exposed his crime, not once did you strike him in retaliation. He brazenly confirmed every suspicion you held against him. So, why?"
Aomine wondered, too. Every word from his uncle's mouth agitated the emotions stewing inside him into a violent swarm. White noise had erupted in his brain, scattering his concentration, and seducing the light to overtake him. Pressure bloating beneath his skin, stinging and probing, threatening to rupture. Until all he could do was surrender to it.
The punishment he intended to deliver was to be far more severe.
So why did he hold back?
After all that Imayoshi had done.
You are not one of us. You never were.
He glanced back.
Akashi sat expectantly.
"Thanks," he said. "For what it's worth."
And he slipped out, sealing the room behind him.
Points of Clarification
*Timeline-Akashi, Aomine, and Kagami board a train bound for Hirosawa from Casimir on the morning of Day 8. They disembark in Hirosawa on the evening of Day 10, for which Aomine spends until the evening of Day 11 contained in a guest apartment when Kagami fetches him.
*Assassin grades-Selene ascribes rank to their assassins ranging from E to A and each denomination fulfills a separate role. A and B are international, expert members, who serve spymasters employed by the Rus-Ainu in chapters across Fumetsu and Zhestokiy, including dependencies and exclaves, and Selene. Grades C through E are domestic and reside in service strictly to Selene.
*Your Majesty-Aomine's facetious dig at Kagami ilady-in-waiting/i refers to a European custom of a woman of lesser social status escorting or assisting another woman of superior class to royal functions, usually in some form of servitude. While Aomine was trying to be sarcastic, Kagami's actual regal teachings set him straight in that, as heirs, they are, in fact, equal in rank as princes.
*Snow Leopards-Considered a vintage familiar, the snow leopard participated in the Fire's long-standing struggle with the Ice throughout the last thousand years to claim a firm foothold in China. First in 300 BCE, then later in the 14th century, the cats were trained to stalk and kill Ice Apparitions when winter fell-a grave disadvantage for Fire Apparitions. Since 1700, they have been formally retired from military service and the few hundred left protect farmland.
*Jian Democracy-Intimated in previous chapters by Aomine and others, Jia/Nise is known to be vehemently conservative and resistant to change. As a democracy, the majority word influences the course the nation takes. Evidently, Momoi and Araki serve in government positions. Equally evident is that despite their seemingly equal office on the board of directors, their weight in deliberations is not as great as Wakamatsu or Aomine, other board members. While women generally are not discriminated against in Ice society, their position as leaders is a fight-in-progress, evidenced by Aomine's assertion that Araki's sex eliminated her chance of succeeding Imayoshi as Dan.
*Die Young-Daichi, age 79 at death, would have looked no older than 26. Nori, 72 when she died, appeared to be 24.
