Miho-Kiyo Complex

by DishonorableKnight

Starring Kiyone and Mihoshi as they join a special unit within Galaxy Police: Special Intelligence Field Operations (SIFO). Teamed up with an academy classmate with a superiority complex, an irritable intelligence officer, a former fashion model, a disturbingly efficient spec-ops agent, and an eccentric detective, SIFO is prepared to tackle cases both mundane and downright insane.

6. By the People, For the People

Prime Minister Hideaki Torishima had been cooped up in this abandoned, yet oddly clean apartment for the past two weeks. He can't remember the last time he'd gone so long eating nothing but takeout; being a National Assembly member pays enough to live like a petty noble in New Tenju, after all. Staying in hiding meant that there wasn't much choice in the matter, however.

Still, there was that other man who also serves Master Kagato that was on his mind. That man had been content with doing nothing but sleeping on the couch and watching TV. Who on Jurai is he? How long has he known Master Kagato? How did he meet him? And why does he hate yakisoba so much? It's perfect as both a main and side dish!

His thoughts were distracted by three loud knocks on the door, and then a fourth, quieter one. This was him! The takeout people only ever knock thrice. It was him!

He got up and hurried over to the door, but when he opened it, there was nobody there. He peeked out into the balcony in both directions, but there wasn't a single person in sight.

He sighed as he slowly backed his way into the apartment and shut the door. It was probably some kids with nothing better to do than to annoy him. He turned around but shrieked when he saw Kagato standing in front of him, defying logic just because he could.

"Ah! Please, master, don't scare me like that! But it's so good that you've returned. Where have you been?" Torishima asked.

"Let's just say Ashigaru Corporation has gone through a shakeup in leadership," he answered, and with his hands, he motioned for the two of them to sit down at the table for a proper conversation. When Kagato sat, he glanced at his other servant who was sleeping on the couch—the one who still wore that Republican Guard uniform. "I sincerely hope he's washed that thing by now."

Torishima nodded. "I made him wash it, though it wasn't easy convincing him. Something he said about 'washing away the scent of victory'."

As Torishima found out, even someone like Kagato couldn't hide his disgust, and he groaned slightly while he turned his attention back to him. "Right. Now that I've gotten the chores out of the way, the time has come for the next phase of our plan. We need power, but not the kind that comes out of a weapon. We must harness the raw power of Jurai, the nation itself. And what do you think that is?"

"The people, I presume," Torishima answered confidently.

"Yes. The people. Ordinary people. Billions of them! They are much more powerful than any weapon, but right now, they're inert. Divided. They lack the vision to unite them, but we change that. And when we do, we'll be unstoppable."

Torishima clasped his hands in approval. "Brilliant. But... how exactly do you plan on obtaining the people's support? Forgive my bluntness, but you're not exactly popular right now. Remember that man you killed, Suboru? He was popular, and he hated the monarchy just like we do."

Kagato sighed. "Suboru… was a mistake. But you're right. I've gone too far personally. I can't lead the people, but you can, and that is why I need your help."

"Yes, master," Torishima said, nodding. "Anything you want, I'll do."

"Jurai City is holding municipal elections in two months," Kagato continued. "Normally, the city council is just a puppet of the government in New Tenju, but if we were to gain control with the people's consent, we could declare our independence from the Empire and start all over."

Torishima pondered the idea for a moment. "It's possible," he began carefully. "But it won't be as easy as you think. Over 20 parties are running in the election. There hasn't been a majority rule in city government in… well, it certainly hasn't been done in my lifetime."

Kagato nodded. "Correct, and that's why I've arranged some help for you." He looked past Torishima at the door. "All of you, let yourselves in."

The door opened, and a group of well-groomed men and women cordially entered the apartment and formed a half-circle around Torishima and Kagato. Immediately Torishima recognized a few of them.

"Wait, I know you. You're Mr. Togo of the Social Democrats; you're Mr. Ieyasu of the Constitutionalists; I think you're Mr. Yakushima of the Young Republicans; and… even Ms. Yukino of the Justice Party. Why… what are you all doing here?"

Ms. Yukino spoke up first. "Mr. Torishima, it's no secret all of us have had our political differences with you in the past, but Master Kagato has helped us see things clearly. We can defeat the Emperor and his cronies if we join forces."

Mr. Ieyasu concurred. "This is the opportunity we've been waiting for our entire lives, Torishima. If we win here in Jurai City, then the entire Empire will join our movement."

Yakushima finished off. "The Emperor and the royal family have no future. We all know it, but we must become the people's vanguard. The revolutionaries."

Kagato nodded in approval and looked at Torishima. "You see? They are all ready to do their part, and so will the people, but what will you do? Are you going to lead them?"

Torishima took a deep breath. "Yes. I will lead them. We are the people's will, and we must not fail them. I will prepare a speech, while you rest can begin with organizing."

---

Episode Six

By the People, For the People

Airi might technically be their boss, but Kiyone knew that SIFO needed a real leader in the field. Naturally, she was going to fill that role, since she's the only one qualified for it: Ryoji isn't interested in the job; multiplying Mihoshi's hit-or-miss luck onto the whole team would be an awful, awful idea; Junichiro seems competent and well-meaning but only joined the Galaxy Police last week, literally; and Mitsuki? Going back to flipping hamburgers on Earth would be preferable.

So to get in that laser-focused mentality befitting SIFO's leader, Kiyone had recently begun waking up early to exercise before breakfast. It was also great because, as she learned, nobody in the Galaxy Police wakes up this early to exercise. Today was no different, and she took a quick shower in one of the stalls in the communal baths afterward to freshen up. After getting out and drying herself, she wrapped her towels around her body and headed for the door to the locker room where she was keeping her uniform.

As soon as Kiyone opened the door, her head collided with something with a loud bonk! And it really hurt, too! Kiyone couldn't help tumbling backward, and being barefoot on a tiled floor didn't help matters, and she slipped and fell on her back.

"Ow…" Kiyone said.

"Owwww! That hurt!" Mihoshi said in agreement as she rubbed her forehead.

Kiyone regained her bearings upon hearing her partner's voice. Of course, she'd be the one to cause an accident like this. She looked up at her in anticipation of her giving out a hand to help her up, but she noticed that Mihoshi was just staring at her and her face looked red as a tomato. Kiyone followed her eyes and realized two things: her towels fell off, and hers had to be bigger than… her towels fell off!

Without saying anything, Mihoshi shut her eyes with her hand and ran out of the bathroom. "I'm so sorry, Kiyone! I just wanted to find you and have breakfast, but I… I…"

Kiyone sighed and got up. "Calm down Mihoshi. Let's forget this happened, okay? Just wait outside. We'll have breakfast in the cafeteria in a minute, understand?"

"R-right."

---

Headquarters technically had several large cafeterias, but the cafeteria was by far the largest and most aesthetically pleasing. It was shaped like a whirlpool with a series of descending rings of booths and tables separated by transparent soundproof walls. The center of the cafeteria was a big four-way television that broadcasted GP-Saikin, the Galaxy Police's news station that talked about Galactic-wide developments.

"In other news," the broadcaster began. "Superintendent Fujikawa has stepped up her anti-littering campaign aboard Headquarters with her latest executive order. From now on, anyone who is caught failing to dispose of their garbage in the proper receptacles will have to perform an hour of unpaid sanitation work."

"I am committed to keeping Headquarters clean and tidy," Airi proclaimed proudly on the screen just before sipping on some tea.

"Madam Fujikawa, would now be an appropriate time to remind you of that innocent-little cracker crumb near your feet from five minutes ago?" Watari asked in the background.

"On the contrary, it'd be very inappropriate. Hey… is this still recording?"

Kiyone had bought a simple breakfast of steamed rice with a raw egg, whereas Mihoshi had a bowl of miso soup. Mihoshi always loved miso soup for breakfast, didn't she?

Unfortunately, Mihoshi didn't seem too talkative. She was hardly even looking at her, probably still too flustered over what happened. Kiyone had to take her mind off it, or she'd never get over it.

"So," she started. "You're probably glad that we're with Mitsuki again, aren't you?"

Kiyone could see Mihoshi wasn't expecting that question. The embarrassed look on her face faded away as she answered with her usual cheeriness.

"Sure I am. I...I missed her a lot since we all graduated. Being on Earth was nice, of course, but it would've been even better if we were all there together, just like in the Academy."

Kiyone smiled. "Being able to doze off in the middle of the day without having a care in the world; yeah, I think she would've loved Earth as much as you did."

"What about you?" Mihoshi asked in turn.

"Me? It's nice seeing her again, but it looks like she hasn't changed at all since graduating. The Universe still revolves around her, the way she sees things. If anything, getting promoted to Detective Sergeant probably made it worse."

Suddenly, she felt a pang of cold in the back of her neck and she shrieked in surprise! Mitsuki had snuck up on both of them and attacked Kiyone with an ice-cold canned coffee.

"Probably made what worse?" Mitsuki asked, sounding annoyed.

Kiyone looked innocently at Mitsuki. It was simply too early in the morning for a back-and-forth with her. "Oh, nothing for you to worry about. What did you want, anyway?"

"Airi wants us in interrogation room 153E," Mitsuki answered, cracking open her canned coffee. "She and the old man are almost finished interrogating Mrs. Kawabata."

Kiyone nodded. "Right. Let's go, Mihoshi."

---

Airi Fujikawa; a full-time superintendent cursed with part-time patience.

She was lazily looking at Keiko Kawabata through the glass separating them into different rooms, and Junichiro was seated and busy drawing something on a piece of paper. Though he could hardly be noticed, Ryoji was also sitting in a little corner of the room, absorbed in the television he was watching on his holographic projector while he silently enjoyed a bowl of miso soup.

Mr. Yoritomo might have interesting talents, hence why she hired him, but haste wasn't one of them. What was he taking so long sketching, her?

Junichiro eventually put down the pencil and stood up to show his drawing to Keiko.

"Now Keiko, this is the last question. Honest. Does this symbol mean anything to you? Anything?"

Keiko, who was wearing an ugly orange jumpsuit instead of the white kimono she typically wore. Stared at the paper but couldn't come up with anything. She silently shook her head.

Junichiro sighed and sat down again. "That's all I have, Fujikawa. She doesn't know anything about anything."

Airi nodded to Keiko. "Thank you for your cooperation, Mrs. Kawabata. I'll make sure you get off on a mental illness defense. You won't spend the rest of your life in prison."

As if on cue, two officers entered the room and escorted Keiko out. Just as they left, her favorite trio walked through the door.

"Good to see you again," she said enthusiastically.

"What was that about?" Kiyone asked.

"We've learned a lot more about Kagato and his special… abilities. We're already aware that he can influence people to make irrational decisions, like Mrs. Kawabata murdering her husband, but we've not learned that the people he targets do not have any memory of their experience during the 'hypnosis', so to speak."

Junichiro hummed in agreement. "She didn't even know her husband was dead. I had to break it to her, in a way that made sense, naturally."

Mihoshi walked over to the table and picked up the piece of paper Junichiro drew on. "What's this?"

"Mitsuki and I saw it on Mrs. Kawabata's forehead when we arrested her," Junichiro began. "I believe it's an old symbol for Tokimi, you know, one of the three Choushin goddesses. I've seen it before on a couple of the murals inside the National Assembly."

"Mihoshi and I saw the same thing on Mr. Nishimura's head before he killed himself," Kiyone said. "Kagato said he 'killed' him; that must be what he meant."

Airi nodded. "So Kagato's mind control, or maybe all his abilities have something to do with Tokimi."

"I'm curious," Kiyone interjected. "I don't know much about Juraian mythology myself. Who exactly is Tokimi?"

"Tokimi is Tsunami's sister," Junichiro answered. "So is Washu, but nobody on Jurai venerates them anymore. Probably because they're not exactly 'good' girls like Tsunami is."

Airi could see Kiyone's mind was churning from learning what Junichiro said. That's something she liked about her: she was never satisfied with a single, easy answer. She always wanted to know everything that can be known.

"So is Tokimi like a rival to Tsunami? Or maybe anthesis?" Kiyone asked.

Junichiro scratched his head. "Well, the old myths say Tokimi wants to dominate all dimensions, all universes, and whatnot, but Tsunami isn't like that. She only wants peace. Stability. So I guess there's a bit of conflict there, but really, you're stretching my knowledge of this stuff to its limit. Only so much you can decipher from just staring at art."

Airi couldn't stop wondering about Junichiro as he spoke. There was something about the casual, flippant way he talks that helps trivialize any subject he explains. It would make sense given he used to be a JCPD detective—talking to ordinary people about police procedure is important—but speaking of, he's still not given her the whole story about that.

The secrecy surrounding his background was one of the things that she was interested in, admittedly, but she realized she was missing even the basics of the basic facts. For instance: his departure from the JCPD. Was he fired? That wouldn't make sense; Ryoji dug up all the old files on him: he was a 19-year veteran without a single record of misconduct. He could've resigned, but why? Despite what Mitsuki asserts, he's hardly an old man ready for a slow and easy retirement, and if there's one thing the JCPD does right, it's paying their officers well.

Mr. Yoritmo cleverly dodged her questions when she first spoke with him by rambling about his son named Yusuke, so he's certainly hiding something, but there wasn't much that she could do about that right now…

Especially not while her train of thought is being disrupted by Ryoji spitting out his miso soup and making a huge mess as he dropped the bowl on the floor.

"Something interesting, Ryoji?" she asked him.

"E-everyone! Get over here and see this! It's the Prime Minister! He's alive!"

---

Torishima had used his newfound funds and allies to arrange a "surprise" speech on JHK, and now, he was given the clear by the television crew to make his grand reappearance to the public. His throat felt dry, but he knew that there was no turning back now. Master Kagato… no, the whole nation is counting on him. Failure is not an option!

"People of Jurai," he began slowly. "I am grateful to have the ability to speak out after such a long and sudden disappearance. Indeed, as many had suspected, I was kidnapped by the terrorist known as Kagato, and for some time I was his prisoner. However, in the single, slim chance I had, I was able to escape, and I laid low out of fear of my life."

"Kagato will hunt me down and try to kill me, I'm sure, but even so, I must tell you the truth: he is an agent of the Emperor. He told me that much himself. His mission was to break into the National Assembly and intimidate us into supporting the Emperor, to support the agenda of New Tenju and not the people's agenda. He demanded my obedience, or he'd kill me, just like Deputy Suboru. But I stood firm! I did not surrender! And I will never surrender!"

"The Emperor may have had enough of dealing with his people, but now it is my turn to say that enough is enough! Here, right now, I am resigning my office as Prime Minister of Jurai! I refuse to even participate in a government that puts a murderer at the top. It goes against everything I stand for as a representative of the people, and I am sure that many of my colleagues in the National Assembly feel the same way as I do.

"Let me say it plainly. The Emperor must abdicate. If he will not, we the people must remove him! And soon, we will have a chance to decide that for ourselves. People of Jurai City, your municipal elections are two months from now, and I have already registered a party to run. We are the People's Will, and we have one goal, the independence of Jurai City from the Empire! If you care about justice, freedom, and basic dignity, you must give our movement a chance. If we win, I promise our great city will form the nucleus of a new Juraian Republic that will be justly ruled by the people!"

"They will do everything they can to stop us. They will lie, they will cheat, they might even try to murder me, but even so, we must overcome! We must fight, and we must win! Otherwise, this will all happen again someday. So people of Jurai City, rise up, and tell the Emperor that you will not stand for his tyranny! Down with the Emperor, up with Jurai! Down with the Emperor, up with Jurai!"

---

SIFO rushed into Airi's office to watch the Prime Minister's speech on the big screen. Airi muted the broadcast as soon as it finished and sat down to think about what happened. Everyone was silently shocked by Torishima's explosive speech, and nobody knew how to even begin talking about it.

"All things considered, we at least found the Prime Minister," Ryoji said finally.

"Is he telling the truth, though?" Junichiro asked. "Is Kagato an agent?" He looked at Kiyone. "You were right there, weren't you? What do you think?"

"I only know as much as you do," Kiyone answered. "Right now we have no way of knowing definitively.

A beeping sound emanated from the console on Airi's desk. Watari, who had been hidden in the background, came out and inspected the source.

"Madam Fujikawa, it appears that the Emperor of Jurai wants to speak with us. Shall I put him through?"

"Yes, go ahead," Airi answered. She turned to her subordinates and nudged her head toward the screen, ordering them forward to stand next to her. Everyone got up and lined up left and right of her, and Watari put the Emperor through.

"A pleasure to speak with you again, Emperor Azusa," Airi began.

"I presume the occasion for this call should be abundantly clear," he said. "I had no idea that Mr. Torishima was capable of concocting such a malicious lie. Kagato is not an agent of mine or anyone else's; he's just a madman with an agenda of chaos on his mind."

"Of course," Airi said. "I find it hard to believe in Torishima myself. But for one, there's no cause for concern right at the moment. As I am aware, the election is contested by about twenty parties. Even if Torishima was telling the truth, he'd be hard-pressed to win."

Azusa momentarily looked at something off-screen and seemed alarmed. "Turn the television broadcast back on, if you will," he instructed Airi.

Airi motioned for Watari to work the console, and the screen was divided between Azusa and JHK's two favorite reporters, Haruhi and Itsuki.

"This is unbelievable!" Haruhi said. "The Social Democrats, the Justice Party, the New Constitutionalists, the Republicans, and eight other parties have all swore allegiance to the People's Will!

"Very unprecedented, indeed," Itsuki said. "Let's listen to Justice Party leader Ms. Yukino, who's giving a speech to a crowd of supporters in Aino Ward."

"Wake up, Jurai City!" Ms. Yukino said excitedly from a podium atop a stage. "Torishima has lit the torch, and we, the Justice Party, and you, the people, will carry it! We're going to burn away the rotten bridge connecting our great city to that cesspool called New Tenju. Ask yourselves, what has the Royal Family ever done for us? What have they ever given us?"

"I'll list some things off. They give us nobles who buy their way into the JCPD and watch the crime rate surge without a care in the world. They give us refugees flooding the streets after losing a war we didn't get to vote for. And they give us I. for the funds they promised to give us to fix the old Densha lines. Jurai City, do you want New Tenju to keep giving us these things? I didn't think so."

"This election will decide the future of Jurai City, and we need to show them that we don't need them any longer. A vote for the People's Will is a vote not just for independence, but it's a vote for our city's future! It's a vote for accountability! It's a vote for safety! It's a vote for clean streets and fixed Densha! And most importantly, it's a vote for freedom! So people of Jurai City, get out and vote!"

The screen cut back to JHK Headquarters. "How much trouble do you think the Emperor is in now?" Haruhi asked Itsuki.

"Let me get the statistics up," Itsuki said as he worked on a computer. "The last municipal election two years ago had a combined vote share of those parties at about 65%. That means that if the voters follow along with the People's Will, they're going to give them a landslide victory two months from now."

"Unbelievable!" Haruhi exclaimed. "Torishima's vision of an independent Jurai City might just become reality if the Emperor doesn't do anything about it."

Watari removed the JHK broadcast from the screen, and Airi cleared her throat.

"I stand corrected. This is a serious problem for you."

Azusa slowly nodded. "Yes. It is quite troublesome. I was hoping we could discuss possible solutions to deal with the People's Will."

She shrugged. "I don't have any ideas. Torishima openly said that you'd be trying to stop them. So anything you could do would only play into their narrative. But doing nothing also won't work. It's quite a conundrum."

Unexpectedly, Kiyone stepped forward. "Excuse me, but I have an idea."

Airi looked intrigued at her. "What is it?"

"Those parties might support independence, but I'm sure not all of their constituents do. I think the only way to defeat the People's Will is to unite everyone who opposes independence into a single party. That might just be enough to win."

Mihoshi clasped her hands together. "Oh, that's a great idea, Kiyone! Having just two choices makes it a lot easier for voters! You know, why does Japan have so many parties? What's wrong with just two parties?"

"Try asking Americans, Mihoshi," Kiyone answered. She'd learned a bit about foreign politics on the Internet in-between working in Okayama. "But regardless, turning the election into a referendum on independence will get rid of any confusion."

Azusa slowly scratches his chin. "It does sound like a good idea. I will contact the city's president, Sado. I'll convince him to create a rival party that will hopefully alleviate this issue. Still, if and when I require your services, I will contact you again."

Airi nodded. "Very well. We'll be waiting for you. But one more thing, Emperor. We should inform you of our findings of Kagato so far. They might interest you."

Azusa raised his eyebrow in curiosity. "Go on."

"From our investigations into his actions before his attack on the National Assembly, we've determined that Kagato has a few unexplained abilities. Of these, he's able to influence the minds of certain people, similar to mind control. We have no idea how it's done, but we've noticed that each of the victims had a symbol on their foreheads, and we've determined this symbol is an old sign for Tokimi, one of the Choushin. Do you have any idea what significance this has?"

"Tokimi?" Azusa repeated. However, his curious expression was replaced with mild contempt at the thought. "What an ancient name that is. It's probably just some red herring. What I find more likely is that the terrorist is using some advanced technology we don't know about. Nevertheless, if he has this ability as you say, then would you believe that Kagato has enslaved Torishima too?"

"We're not sure yet," Airi answered. "But it's something we'll look into."

Azusa nodded. "Yes. Go and do that."

The communication ended, and Junichiro gave a loud hmm. "So that's the Emperor? I didn't know purple hair ran in the family."

---

As the communication ended, Azusa slumped slightly. This has turned out to be one of the most stressful days in a long time.

"Growing weary, are we, Azusa?" someone asked behind him. A woman appeared from behind the throne, hiding from the camera. She was a woman wearing formal white and pink robes. Her green hair and eyes were unmistakable.

The Devil Princess of Jurai herself. Lady Seto Kamiki.

"Not weary. Annoyed," he answered. "I had a summer retreat with Funaho and Misaki on my mind lately, and now it looks like I must delay it until I settle these petty politics."

"What a shame," Seto said with a tinge of sarcasm. "They'd love watching you sit about and write poetry all day, wouldn't they?"

Azusa decided that comment wasn't worthy of a response.

"In any case, I'm glad Ayeka and Sasami aren't here to witness this foolery," he said instead. "If only I could see what they were doing right now."

---

"Aah-choo!" came a quiet sneeze from Ayeka. That was strange, wasn't it? It's Autumn, not Spring. It must've been father thinking about her again.

"As I was saying, Ryoko, you better take off those robes this instant!" she commanded.

Ryoko had really gone too far this time. In her latest attempt to woo over Lord Tenchi, she'd raided her and Sasami's bedroom to try on some of her fine clothes. She'd found a spare of one of the white and pink outfits she regularly wore, and Ayeka had caught her only after she'd put it on. Right now, Sasami was between them, trying to keep her sister at bay.

"Please calm down, sister!" Sasami said meekly. "It's just a dress! We can always get more of them!"

Ryoko snickered. "Take it off? Why? Because you're jealous that I look better in them than you ever will?"

Ayeka could hardly contain her fury. "Oh….! Absolutely not! Those clothes are tailor-made for me; you'll tear them eventually! Take. It. Off!"

"Sure, I'll take them off, as soon as I get Tenchi's opinion!" Ryoko said. In an instant, she phased through the door and into the hallway.

"Get back here!" Ayeka commanded. She rushed past Sasami and down the hall to Tenchi's room, where she knew he was still busy with homework.

She burst through the door and found Ryoko doing her usual shameful, seductive clinging to him, but she was wearing her clothes while doing it!

"How do you like the new look, Tenchi? I thought I wanted to try something more refined and Ayeka let me borrow one of hers. Don't I look great?"

"Oh, um… sure you do," Tenchi said. He then noticed Ayeka at the door. "Oh, Ayeka! I didn't just say that! You misheard me."

"Unacceptable!" Ayeka declared. "Ryoko. Take those clothes off right now!"

Ryoko went-wide eyed at her. She glanced at Tenchi and then back at her, and she got a suspiciously pleased look on her face.

"OK. Sure. I'll take them off!"

Ayeka suddenly regretted her wording. Ryoko took her clothes off. All of them! She tossed them back to Ayeka.

She had really gone too far this time! Too far! Ayeka could feel the rage boiling over, and she unconsciously summoned her miniature guardians...

---

"The real foolery is who I'm looking at right now," Seto said. "What are you doing? You're letting a few politicians in Jurai City walk all over you. Are you afraid of them?"

Azusa shook his head. "Of course not. I was just thinking, this isn't much of a crisis. This fervor of theirs is only temporary. They say they want independence, but come election day, their sense will return."

Seto scoffed. As she walked closer to him, he unconsciously slumped further into his throne. She had a habit of doing this to him.

"Would you at least try to act like a leader, Azusa? You are the Emperor! They're just peasants compared to you, and if you let one group of peasants run wild, the whole lot of them will get uppity. It's Jurai City today, and tomorrow, it'll be Eiko-VI or some other colony world, and before you know it, they'll all be scrambling for their precious 'freedom'."

"You're jumping to conclusions," Azusa countered. "Jurai City has always been like this. They think being the biggest city in the Empire makes them special. This is just more of the same noise of theirs."

Seto frowned, but she backed away from Azusa and began walking out of the room. As she did, she brought out her trusty paper fan and partially hid her face. She loved doing this, he knew, just as a way of hiding the giddy look on her face.

"What separates a strong leader from a weak one is that the strong one makes the correct decisions, and the weak one makes the popular decisions. In two months, we'll all see which one you are."

After Seto left, Azusa stood up from his throne and left himself. He needed a walk to set his mind on more pleasant thoughts for the moment. Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the halls, he found his two wives waiting for him.

Funaho, the first Empress, and Misaki, the second Empress. They were the two people that always immediately brightened his day, especially one as dull as this one.

"Azusa," Funaho began. "We overheard everything. Please, do not take this too lightly. There is a very real possibility of unintended consequences if Jurai City were to try and secede."

Misaki nodded. "For one, all the nice dresses and flowers I buy there would shoot up in price! My monthly stipend wouldn't survive independence!"

Compared to Seto, Funaho and Misaki were much easier to talk to. They were married, and they knew him just as well as he knew them. Reassuring their mild worries was as simple as redirecting their attention to more pleasant things.

"We've been thinking," Funaho continued. "Let us go to Jurai City. We must speak to the people. They will certainly listen to us. They'll realize that independence is not the way."

"No," Azusa answered. "That won't be necessary. When we need to act, we will, but right now, the best thing to do is nothing. Now, enough of this grim talk. Why don't we enjoy the rest of today? I say… let's go to the theatre again tonight. I want to see more of those puppets like last time."

It had worked just like he expected. Funaho's look of worry evaporated into the air. "Yes, puppets. I'd like that," she said.

---

Six weeks passed since Torishima's dramatic return. JHK was in overdrive and seeing a surge in viewership during its coverage of the heated election campaign between the People's Will and its new challenger, the Alliance for Innovation and Community, or AIC.

As the Emperor hadn't called back yet, SIFO had been content with maintaining their readiness and watching the election campaign unfold in Airi's office. Today was no different, though Junichiro had slipped away while nobody was looking to go down to Jurai City.

"With just a week left until voting day, new polling suggests a statistical tie between the AIC and People's Will," Itsuki from JHK said. "Both parties are polling between 48 and 49 percent, well within the margin of error."

Haruhi nodded excitedly. "Turnout is expected to exceed 90% this time around, and people have reportedly been waiting in line for hours just to vote early! With so many new voters going to the polls, we really have no idea who's going to come out on top! Let's go to street level in Aino Ward, where our friend Hanako visited a People's Will rally a few hours ago."

"We have a bunch of People's Will supporters here this afternoon who can't wait for next week!" Hanako said. "Let's talk to a few of them! Excuse me, just a moment of your time. Why did you support the People's Will?"

"Because for the past hundred years we've been voting in crooks who only care about how much money New Tenju sends their way. The People's Will is different. They're gonna stand up for us!"

"Well, how about we talk about the AIC? What a stupid name! Besides, everyone knows they're just the anti-People's Will Party. What's their platform? What are they gonna do about the Densha that'll break down any day now? What about funding sanitation and kicking out those refugee bums that just let themselves in? They don't stand for anything!"

"Well, to be honest, it was a real hassle trying to get down planetside and getting in line before everyone else, but it was all worth it just to vote for these guys."

SIFO immediately recognized that last voice and they couldn't believe it. That was Junichiro on JHK!

"The People's Will care about our city, and not like how the other guys usually say 'I care about you!' in that corny way, but legitimately caring about us. After all, they represent us, and not those pretentious snobs in New Tenju who think they're so great because they live next to a big tree and marry their cousins and half-siblings. And that's kinda weird, isn't it? At least Torishima and Ms. Yukino aren't like that. I can't even comprehend why anyone would think that'd be a good idea. Seriously, it's flat-out disgusting. I mean, yeah, families should stick close, but not that —"

"As you can see, we have a wide range of opinions out here in Aino!" Hanako interrupted. "Back to you in the studio, Haruhi."

"Hey guys!" Junichiro happily announced as he suddenly strode into Airi's office with an "I voted" pin stuck to the side of his hat. "Sorry if you missed me, I was just exercising my right to vote and I swear, the voting lines took forever! And to think I tried getting there early! Hey… why the silent treatment?"

The entire room went completely silent. They were all staring at Junichiro like he was a madman. Junichiro glanced at the TV, which Airi rewound a few seconds to show him what he'd just said in Aino Ward.

"Oh, that? What, you don't think marrying your half-sister is weird?" he pressed.

"No, Yoritomo. You voted for the People's Will!" Kiyone said, half angry and half flabbergasted.

"Yeah, and?"

Ryoji perked his head up from behind Mihoshi. "I believe what Makibi is implying is that you shouldn't be inclined to vote for the party that's all but certainly led by a domestic terrorist, especially one called Kagato whose storming of the National Assembly seven weeks ago nearly killed you."

"And did you forget about Keiko Kawabata?" Mitsuki chimed in.

"That does sound reasonable when you put it that way," Junichiro said. "Still, while I might have a bone to pick with Kagato, I think the party itself is nice enough."

Airi finished downing her tea. "In any case, if even Mr. Yoritomo can be swayed to vote for the People's Will, I think it's safe to say that JHK's polling might be too generous for the AIC. Kiyone, do you have any other great ideas for me?"

Kiyone shook her head. "There's not much else we can do to alter the election now."

Airi took another drink of tea and stood up with her hands behind her back. It was a natural pose she took whenever she wanted to draw people's attention.

"Here's how I see things," she began. "To ensure this election goes the right way, we need to somehow deal with Torishima, but we absolutely can not kill him, since that would just prove his point and make voters angry. At the same time, we can assume with a great deal of certainty that he's being manipulated by Kagato's power. So, instead of assassination, I propose we capture him alive and make him confess to the public that he was being used. That should cause the People's Will's support to collapse."

"Will the public trust the Galaxy Police, though?" Kiyone asked. "They might think we're colluding with the government to take down the People's Will."

"A valid concern, but the Juraian Public have always held a high opinion of the Galaxy Police, and they still do. Why do you think so many of them want to join our ranks?"

"Because we like to do our jobs, unlike the JCPD," Mitsuki answered.

Immediately, Junichiro gave a not-so-subtle ahem.

"I said, unlike the JCPD," Mitsuki said, refusing to correct herself.

Airi nodded. "Of course, I don't think our operation will convince everyone; there will certainly be people who will think it's a hoax, but we don't need to convince everyone. We just need to sway enough voters to stop the People's Will from winning. So that's what we're going to do. Are we all in agreement?"

Kiyone nodded her head, and soon, so did Mihoshi, Ryoji, and Mitsuki. Junichiro, however, stood still.

"Something wrong, Mr. Yoritomo?" Airi asked.

"We don't know if Torishima is being mind-controlled like Keiko was, but he's definitely working with Kagato, and that guy is way too smart to not expect us to pull a stunt like this. You might as well announce it on JHK."

Airi turned to Ryoji. "He does have a point about Torishima. Have we determined if he's being manipulated by Kagato yet? Anything definitive?"

Ryoji looked up from his typing, as he commonly did. "Torishima has made another five rallies since he came back, but none of them show the Tokimi mark we've seen with Mrs. Kawabata or Nishimura."

"You don't think… he believes he's doing a good thing, does he?" Mihoshi suggested. "That might be why he doesn't have a mark. He's been conditioned to think that way."

"All the more reason we need to bring him in alive. He'll come to his senses and tell the truth."

Junichiro shrugged. "Anyhow, I think it's a bad idea to just go in like that."

"Uh, hey, I have an idea," Ryoji began. "Let's rig the election. It's just a matter of rearranging some numbers, right? I could do that myself."

"Easier said than done," Airi said. "The People's Will has an army of volunteers ready to monitor every movement inside the polling places around the city. They'll announce the slightest instance of fraud they find and that'll just make everything much worse. As strange as it may seem, kidnapping Torishima is a safer option than playing around with vote tallies."

Junichiro sighed. "I guess it is. Fine, we'll do it your way."

Airi clasped her hands together in approval. "Great. We have one week until election day, so the sooner the better. Of course, I'm too busy to plan the operation myself, so I'll leave things with one of you. Who wants to take charge?"

Immediately, Kiyone and Mitsuki stepped forward. Neither they nor Airi saw any surprise in this.

"Right. Considering traditional Galaxy Police ranks are irrelevant for SIFO, you two are on equal footing. Junichiro, what do you think?"

Somehow, somewhere, Junichiro had snatched the director's script and was skimming through it.

"Well, with the way everything's getting set up, it looks like the only way it'll work is if Kiyone leads this job. If the shoe was on the other foot, then we're going to have a bit of an awkward time with the new girl."

"Are you alright in there, old man?" Mitsuki asked with a tone of genuine concern.

"I agree," Airi said. "Kiyone. I'll leave things to you, then. I'll inform the emperor of our plan."

---

Kiyone and Mihoshi lead the rest of SIFO to the Yagami, where the AI was surprised at the guests filling up the vessel.

"Oh my. I don't think we have enough guest rooms for the three of you," he said.

"We're just going to Jurai City, Yagami. We won't need to rest."

"Very well then."

As the ship departed from Headquarters, everyone had filed into the ship's bridge. Kiyone had sat down and had the attention of everyone else.

"Right. I say we get Torishima today so we can maximize the effect of his confession. Where is he right now, Ishizuka?"

Ryoji typed away on his tablet computer. "According to JHK's net page, Torishima is scheduled to make another televised speech from the Prince Taishō building in downtown Tsuiko. The speech is supposed to commence four hours from now. Looks like he's also doing a kind of banquet for party leaders."

Kiyone grabbed at her chin, deep in thought. "It'll take us about an hour to get to Jurai. We'd be better off waiting until after he makes his speech. Kidnapping him live on television would make us look bad."

"But how should we get him, though?" Mitsuki asked. "How are we even going to get in there? Even if we're Galaxy Police, they probably won't let us."

"You know what? I got a great idea," Junichiro started. "What's the most important thing that needs to be present at any kind of get-together, like a banquet?"

"The people?" Mihoshi asked.

"No, no, besides that!" Junichiro said.

"A secure fire exit?"

"Well… sure, but keep going."

"The food?"

"The food," Junichiro said in an approving tone. "And when you need food and you don't wanna make it yourself, you hire a food service company to handle it. Haul it in, prepare it, and then serve it on a plate. Ryoji, you know if they're any companies like that operating out of Tsuiko Ward?"

"There's one. Nishi & Co.," Ryoji answered. "But it could be over a hundred other companies, maybe some that are based outside the city."

"They'll be hiring them," Junichiro said in an insistent tone. "The People's Will supports local businesses."

Kiyone was interested in Junichiro's line of thinking and leaned in closer. "So you're suggesting we impersonate ourselves as Nishi Co. employees to sneak inside the building?" She turned to Ryoji. "I guess we can do what we did with Ashigaru Corporation again."

"Yeah, just not the part where someone jumps out of a building," Mihoshi chimed in.

Ryoji nodded. "Right. I'll fabricate some IDs to use, but you'll need to get the uniforms yourself once we're down there."

Kiyone nodded. "Alright, then the plan is to covertly infiltrate the building, but what about getting Torishima?"

"I just asked that…'' Mitsuki murmured.

"I think that if we assume Torishima is going to eat something, we can try and lace it with a sedative, one that hits either instantly or after a certain amount of time. They'll call for an ambulance, and that's when one of us can commandeer it and take Torishima for ourselves."

"But isn't commandeering an emergency vehicle a crime?" Mihoshi asked.

"Yes it is, and so is kidnapping, but those are the Superintendent's orders."

"The end justifies the means," Junichiro quipped. "But it's never that simple."

---

For the next half-hour, SIFO continued drawing together a plan for their operation; who does what, where, and when. When they finished, there was still time before they reached Jurai, and things turned into a game of "how to kill twenty minutes on the Yagami ?".

Mihoshi was wandering through the hallways. She had this inexplicable feeling that she hadn't explored every single interior area of the ship. A small closet here, a secondary reactor room there. Every time she's on the Yagami, she always manages to find more places like this, and she can't make sense of it.

"You're hallucinating, Mihoshi." is what Kiyone has always told her. But she's always wrong! Even right now, she was looking at the door of a room she's never been in. With a brave explorer's spirit, she rushed through the door, only to rediscover her room in the middle of being cleaned. Right next to two full garbage bags and neat stacks of books and VHS tapes was Mitsuki using a handle duster to clean the now-empty shelves.

"What are you doing?" she asked her blankly.

Mihoshi had heard a few rumors back during the academy days that her second-best friend was secretly a clean freak, but there was never any proof that she was the one responsible for having kept their dormitory perfectly clean every day for two years. It could have been Kiyone, after all. But now, she caught her in the act.

Mitsuki muffled a gasp and calmly put down her duster. She walked over to Mihoshi and grabbed both of her shoulders with her hands and put her face right in front of hers.

"Not a word of this to Kiyone or anyone else, understand?" she said sternly.

Mihoshi felt slightly scared. The Mitsuki she knew was never this serious about anything. "R-right. I won't say anything."

"Good. I'm almost done anyway."

Indeed, the rest of the room had already gone through a major makeover. The floors were swept, the small tables were cleaned off, and there wasn't any clothing strewn about. It only took another minute for the shelves to be completely dusted off, and Mihoshi volunteered to help put everything back in there.

"Why do you keep it a secret?" she asked while working. "It's nothing to be embarrassed over."

"It is," Mitsuki answered. "This stuff is supposed to be beneath me; it's for janitors. But for some reason, I-I can't help it! I can't control it. Oh, but this time, it's your fault! Why do you let your room get like this in the first place? Doesn't Kiyone care?"

"She stopped caring a few months after we partnered up. She told me 'just don't cause a fire and I won't ask'.

Now that there wasn't anything else to say about the subject, they both elected to sit down at one of the low tables in the room, waiting for the other to bring up something to say.

"What we're doing… do you think it's the right thing?" Mihoshi asked.

Mitsuki was caught off-guard with that question. "The right thing? Why not?"

"I was just thinking. We're going to kidnap Mr. Torishima, but he hasn't committed a crime, technically. That's not how the Galaxy Police operates. We don't arrest innocent people."

"He's being mind-controlled," Mitsuki asserted. "Just like with Keiko Kawabata. There's no innocence about it. We're doing him and the city a favor by getting him to come to his senses."

"But we don't know for sure about him," Mihoshi asserted. "And if he's not being controlled, and if the People's Will is genuine, do we have the right to stop an election?"

"You're asking the wrong question, Mihoshi. It's not 'should we', but 'can we'. And we can do it, so we're going to do it. Of course, I wish I was the one calling the shots. Damn that old man!"

"Hey now, it was just my opinion," Junichiro said suddenly. As it turned out, he was hiding under the large bed and only now slithered his way out and stood up.

Mitsuki's mouth was agape. "How did you…? I swept under there!"

"And I dodged it. In my line of work, you get pretty good at hiding in the little nooks and crannies of someone's house. Suspects never keep their mouths shut inside their own four walls, believe me."

"How long have you been under there?" Mihoshi asked.

"Oh, just after we had our little chit-chat together with Kiyone and Ryoji. I was just exploring the ship when I wandered in here. Then Mitsuki came with a whole janitor's kit and I decided to test my old skills. Still got it, though it was kind of a tight fit."

Yagami sprouted from the ceiling of the room. "Detective First-Class Makibi wants everyone to meet her at the ship's exit. We're moments away from landing in Jurai City."

"Right then," Junichiro "Although maybe I shouldn't have bothered going to Headquarters if we were just gonna go back to Jurai City. And Mitsuki, don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

---

Soon after landing at the local spaceport in Tsuiko, Ryoji pulled up a map on his device showing them the way.

"The Prince Taishō building is about a ten-minute walk from here," he said. "I'd advise taking the Chibi-Densha, but that would probably be too conspicuous.

Kiyone nodded. "The last thing we need is JHK following us around for an interview. Let's walk."

Oh, and before I forget," Ryoji continued. From his jacket, he pulled out four IDs and handed them to the others. He also handed them pairs of microphone earplugs and camera contacts to keep track of them.

"Assuming you can acquire the outfits too, these IDs will let you pass off as regular employees for Nishi Co," he said.

"And you didn't make one for yourself," Mitsuki said. "You think it's going to be like Operation: Hangyaku and want to stay nice and safe outside, don't you?"

"Only if it comes to that, in which case you'll do the shooting and grenade throwing, I'll do the thinking, and we'll all stay alive. And you'll make sure to use the right grenades this time, right?"

"Shut up."

Just a few more blocks from the Prince Taishō Building, they were walking past the entrance to a small convenience store. Mihoshi caught something on the sign with the corner of her eye that caught her attention. She stopped to read it and let out a quiet gasp.

"No snout-faces?" Mihoshi asked curiously. "They don't mean…"

"Yep. Wau," Junichiro finished. "Some people around here are just like that. 'Unwelcome'. 'Unclean'. 'Ungrateful'. 'Unpatriotic'. You get the idea."

"That's terrible. Don't the police do something about this?"

Junichiro chuckled. "Sure they do. Let's see for ourselves."

He was pointing toward a couple of parked JCPD aircars near the store and in front of an alley. They found three officers crowding around a Wau man. There was a single small puddle of water in the alley, and they made him sit in it while they looked at him accusingly.

"I told you already, I didn't steal anything!" the Wau said. "I bought it! It was just two Ryo, but I bought it!"

"Then why did the owner say you stole it?" one of the officers asked him. "Is it because you were caught using counterfeit currency?"

"That wasn't my plastic! It was his. He just got mad that I ignored his stupid sign. Why aren't you arresting that guy? That should be the real crime!"

"Accusing the owner of the exact crime you committed won't get you very far," the officer answered. "Besides, the city doesn't have an ordinance for this. Businesses have the right to refuse—"

"Their rights?! What about my rights!?" the Wau interrupted as he stood up. "I'm a Juraian citizen! I have the right to shop there!"

Immediately, the three officers began manhandling the man and turned him around, throwing his face hard against the wall. As one of them brought out their cuffs, another noticed the Galaxy Police personnel silently staring at them.

"Nothing to worry about, friends, we got it under control," he said casually. "Easiest 'assaulting officers' charge we've had all month."

Mihoshi couldn't stomach any words to say, and everyone else started walking away.

" That is why I voted for the People's Will," Junichiro said quietly.

---

They reached their destination, evidenced by the small crowd of People's Will supporters already assembling outside the front entrance."

"Who is Prince Taishō, anyway? And don't the People's Will hate the Royal Family?" Mihoshi asked.

"Taishō was the Emperor's younger brother, but he was different from all the other royals," Junichiro began. "He lived in Jurai City, and he spoke for the people, kind of like how Torishima is now. Too bad he died in the war."

Around the back of the building was the parking garage, and they found several trucks sitting with employees moving back and forth.

"That's far enough for me. 'Operation: Hi Kanshō' is going into effect. Once you get inside, I'll guide you through the building to where Torishima is, but everything else is up to Makibi."

"Hi Kanshō," Mitsuki repeated. "Did you get trained to come up with names like that?"

"Makibi, would you please tell Tsukushi to be quiet?"

"Be quiet, Mitsuki," Kiyone said. "Alright, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It won't be easy, but if we take our time and follow through with the plan, we'll do it."

All of them nodded. Now, SIFO-minus-Ryoji casually walked inside of the parking garage, they met a trio of employees who were chatting as they were waiting for the truck parked next to them to begin unloading the next delivery. Kiyone noticed the male driver was inside and busy writing something, and she motioned for the others to deal with him while she handled the other three employees.

"Excuse me, sorry to bother you all. I need a moment of your time," she said as she approached them.

"You're Galaxy Police, aren't you?" one of the employees asked, recognizing her uniform. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing wrong, I just need to ask something from you three. It's important. Would you kindly just stand in a neat row in front of me? I need to check something."

"Uh… sure, I guess."

They did as Kiyone ordered, and Kiyone took out her pen-badge. She twisted the device to a special setting that opened a small compartment with a lens pointed outward.

"What are we doing?" one of them asked.

"Just a cross-reference to make sure of something," Kiyone said innocently. The next moment, the pen-badge let out a bright flash that caught all three employees. Immediately, their faces went numb and they became unresponsive.

Kiyone saw Mitsuki and Mihoshi return to her while Junichiro was busy unbuttoning the driver's uniform.

"These should fit us fine," she said. "We'll hide all of them inside the truck. They won't wake up until we're long gone. Ishizuka, drive it somewhere out of sight."

"Certainly. It's more fun than the menial food-related tasks you'll have to do."

With everyone's uniforms on, and their IDs pinned to their shirts. They walked right into the building from the parking garage. Kiyone inspected the hallways on either side of them. Thankfully, nobody noticed what happened outside. She now whispered into the microphone she attached the inside of her uniform.

Soon, another employee wearing a "supervisor" label on his uniform called out to them.

"Hey, Chigusa, Naoto, where are you? Wait… who the hell are you guys?"

Junichiro stepped forward and. "Oh, we're just got transferred to this project. We were waiting for someone to find us. You know how it goes: they tell us to go somewhere and just find someone."

That answer, along with a glance at their IDs seemed to do the trick for the employee.

"Yeah. Guess so. Well, right now, the food is almost done being prepared, but we need a few people to deliver and set up some of the miscellaneous stuff. Napkins, silverware, that stuff. It's all going up to the 56th floor."

"56? Is that where Torishima is giving his speech?" Mihoshi asked bluntly. Kiyone almost wanted to pinch her for that. Too obvious!

"What, you're a fan? Yeah, that's the floor. He's gonna have a banquet with all the party leaders, and we're gonna look good getting it set up. Now follow me, I'll show you the stuff you gotta bring up."

"So you've been waiting for Chigusa and Naoto to get back so you could get them to deliver napkins?" Mitsuki asked. "Why don't you just do it?"

"Because my job is to make sure you grunts get everything done. It's what you're paid for, anyway. If you wanted to give orders, maybe you should've joined the Galaxy Police or something. I hear they pay pretty damn well."

"I'll keep that in mind when planning my future career path," Mitsuki answered sarcastically. "Fine, let's go and get this done with."

As the supervisor led them down the halls, a janitor busy mopping the floor accidentally nudged his back on Junichiro's arm.

"Oh! Sorry about that," he said quickly.

"No problem," Junichiro answered casually.

The innocent exchange happened in less than a second; neither they nor he stopped moving. When they left, the janitor quickly finished the spot he was cleaning and headed for the nearest utility room, and entered.

"They're here like you said," he said in a quiet tone.

A familiar voice gave him an answer. "Good. You know where to go now,"

As they suspected, they found the 56th floor to be in preparation for Torishima's arrival. The hallways connected to the elevator lobby led them to a wide room where a stage, podium, and curtains were already ready for their speaker to arrive. The rest of the room was being filled in with furniture and tablecloths.

Kiyone was curious at the sight of several security guards stationed at various spots on the floor. Torishima claimed that Kagato would try to kill him, and it looks like everyone was taking it seriously.

They arrived at their destination with the napkins and silverware they brought with them, as instructed by the supervisor, and reluctantly, they started working, both to kill time until Torishima arrived and better plan how they should apprehend him.

Mitsuki, who was fumbling with a napkin to have it stand up just right, leaned over to Kiyone while she was preparing a set of silverware and began whispering. "Security's tight. I don't think the food plan is going to work."

"Agreed. We'll go with the backup, then. We'll wait for him to use the bathroom, so then there'd be nobody guarding him."

"And how would we sneak him out? He's a bit too large to flush down the toilet, you know."

"Very funny. I was thinking we would knock him out and then dress him up in casual clothing. I know Mihoshi keeps a bunch in her control cube. I'll control one side, you'll have the other, and we'll just walk out."

"Sneak out while everyone suspects Torishima is having an extended disagreement with his dinner? I like it. Oh, and speaking of, where's Mihoshi?"

---

Mihoshi didn't feel completely at ease sneaking off from the others, but she didn't feel like setting up silverware and napkins. For one, Mitsuki was way better at folding things than her, and two, cooking is what was right up her alley. She'd gotten a lot of training from Sasami over the past year, and besides, she was still technically following orders: they were to wait until Torishima arrived and then plan the operation accordingly. What's the harm in having fun while on duty?

So, she snuck out of sight while Kiyone, Mitsuki, and Junichiro were moving pallets of crates with boring stuff inside it and headed to the building's lower level where the other company workers were busy cooking and preparing food.

With her superior GP training, she managed to sneak herself a chef's outfit to wear over her grey food worker clothes and a big-poofy hat to keep her hair in place, and now she found herself in front of one of the big stew pots that were simmering.

"Kuramitsu, whatever you do, don't use taste test it," Ryoji suddenly advised over the comms.

Mihoshi could barely contain her shriek. She completely forgot about the earplugs and contact lenses. Ishizuka has been seeing and hearing everything she's been doing for the past hour, and only now brought it up.

"Why not?" she asked. Thankfully, nobody was close enough to hear her talk over the background noise, so she could speak to Ryoji normally.

"Because you're going to put your mouth on that ladle and then put back in the pot. That's considered contamination, and the last thing we need to jeopardize our mission is having you get caught because you violated health regulations."

"But how am I supposed to know if it tastes good or not without testing it?"

"If you follow the instructions properly, you shouldn't need to test it. You do have instructions, remember?"

Mihoshi glanced at the garbage bin closest to her. "Yeah, but there weren't any pictures, and it didn't use metric units so I wouldn't know how much of what I should add. I mean, what does five Gō of spice even mean?"

"It means you measure out five Gō worth of spice," Ryoji answered. "And what're metric units?"

Mihoshi glanced at the bubbling stew that was beginning to drip down the side of the pot. "That would take time to explain, and right now, the stew is overflowing."

"Turn the heat off, then!"

Moving too fast to look at the dial, she turned it all the way in one direction in hopes the flames would die down. It turned out to be the wrong direction! More stew dripped down the side, and some got caught on the flame and ignited, causing a big plume of fire to burst out.

The situation was quickly getting out of control. Preventative measures, if any, would be ineffective at best and jeopardize the mission. Thus, she took the only remaining course of action: just go!

She quickly unbuttoned her chef's uniform and took the hat off. Back in her grey uniform, nobody batted an eye at her while she briskly walked out of sight. Meanwhile, a couple of chefs finally noticed the flames and quickly rushed over to subdue them. Thankfully, there was a lever on the side of the wall that, in emergencies, cut off the gas to all the appliances in the room, and this was able to stop the fire.

"Damn! Head chef is gonna have a fit over this! Who was over here, anyway!" one of the chefs asked as soon as the fire was out.

"Dunno," the other one answered. "And what kind of stew is this? Doesn't look like anything we're supposed to serve."

Curious, he took an unused ladle from the side and scooped up some broth to sample. "Wow. It's... not that bad. But what are these orange things in it?"

---

Every janitor had an ID that let them enter most locked doors to clean. Last on the list for today was the security room, where one person watched the building's cameras from inside. This door wouldn't take the normal ID, naturally, but he had a special "backup" given to him by the boss. He entered, causing the person sitting inside to get up in surprise.

"Huh? Who the hell are you? You're not supposed to be here!"

"I'm taking over your shift, permanently," the janitor said. In an instant, he took off his grey janitor's uniform and revealed the recently-cleaned white and blue uniform of Jurai's Republican Guard. He reached behind him and took out a saber, and before the man could scream, he rushed forward and stabbed him in the chest.

After dragging the body out of sight, he locked the door behind him and sat down to observe the cameras. He was in position, and it wouldn't take too long now.

---

Night came. The supervisor, unable to find Naoto and Chigusa, reluctantly had the new employees fill their roles. With all of the food where it needed to be, they were to stay as servers to the guests. Kiyone and the others had placed themselves at each of the tables on the edges of the room. Everyone was already inside, including Ms. Yukino and some other prominent party leaders.

For Kiyone, this was perfect. All they had to do was wait for Torishima to arrive, he'll give a speech, then enjoy the banquet, and then eventually use the bathroom, and then they'll get him. She almost couldn't think about Kagato at the moment. Even if he suspected they were after Torishima, he couldn't possibly anticipate their actions. The plan was perfect.

Torishima finally arrived. He entered through a side door and walked up the small stage to the podium, where he faced a JHK television crew and a crowd of party leaders.

"People of Jurai City," he began. "I am honored to have the ability to speak at the building named after the late Prince Taishō. He, unlike the rest of his family, was a man who understood the destitution of the ordinary man at the hands of the few privileged and powerful, and he dedicated himself to fighting for Jurai City. Tragically, he passed before his great egalitarian vision could become reality, but in a mere five days, we are going to finish what he started."

Indeed, we are on the verge of the most consequential moment in the city's history, and the history of the Empire entirely. Nothing like this has ever been done before, surely. New Tenju has always controlled the election process themselves, picking out their favorite, harmless candidates to run on ideas, but not govern by anything. We are different! We have ideas, bold ideas! Independence may seem radical, but what other choice do we have?"

"Apologies, I forget that we do have another choice. Quietly broken promises. Piecemeal change. The status quo. Subservience, because we just don't know any better. At least that's what the AIC wants us to believe."

"And must I stoop to bringing up the AIC?" he broke into a chuckle, followed by many of the rest in the room. "Innovation? Ha! Community? Haha! They can call themselves whatever they want, but if they win, what are they going to do? What is their grand agenda? I wouldn't know, and I don't think they do either. Yet somehow, we're polling at a statistical tie with them?"

He pointed directly at the JHK TV crew. "Maybe you should tell your bosses that their attempt to boost ratings is both shameful and far too obvious!"

"However, even if we suspect the polling isn't accurate, let's just pretend that they are. As such, I want to take the opportunity to make one final appeal to those who haven't yet decided on their choice. Please, think about one word: freedom."

"Freedom is something we talk about often but scarcely appreciate. We can give freedom away at our consent, as we have for the longest time to New Tenju, but it is so very difficult to take it back. Have you ever asked yourself why can't we decide the tax rates, or why can't we fix the Densha, or why can't we have a better police force? It's because we've given these to New Tenju, and they're not going to give it back."

"And I can not make it any clearer to you. New Tenju will never give you your freedom, so you must fight for it! You must do everything you can for it! You must give everything you have for it! Only then will you have a chance! Join us! Add your voice to ours! Only united as a people can we bring the Empire to its knees, or die trying!"

"Five days! That's all the time you have left to decide! Make your choice, Jurai City, but know that we, the People's Will, are the ones who are fighting for your freedom!"

Finishing his speech, Torishima gripped the edges of the podium and began breathing heavily. Ms. Yukino was the first to stand up and begin clapping, and the rest of the room went into loud applause.

From her peripheral vision, Kiyone could see that Junichiro was also clapping.

As the TV crew packed up and left, and some of the party members began walking up to some of the tables, Torishima stepped down from the podium and walked over to the table with the sake bottles. Mihoshi, standing nearest to it, quickly walked over and poured the man a drink.

"Thank you," he said. "Let this be the first of many steps toward good relations with our two peoples."

"Uh, yeah! I like peace!" was all she could say.

He nodded. "As do I."

He grabbed a utensil off a nearby table and walked toward the center of the room. He drank the whole glass and started tapping it against the utensil to get everyone's attention.

"I was honestly afraid my voice would give out in the end," he said. "I hadn't done such a speech since I first ran for my National Assembly seat all those years ago. Oh, but tonight, I want to speak not of the past, but the future. And for that, I want to personally thank each and every one of you for your tireless efforts to bring the People's Will closer to victory. I certainly couldn't have done it myself, but by working together, we are making history. So tonight, you are the heroes. Please, enjoy yourselves! Eat well! You've all earned it!"

He raised his glass. "Here's to the birth of our New Juraian Repu—"

The lights in the building abruptly cut out, and with it being late at night, it went completely dark for a few moments before the emergency lights kicked in.

"What on Jurai is going on?" Torishima asked.

One of the security guards ran into the room while talking on his comms. "What? The JCPD is here? F-food service workers?!"

He drew his weapon and scanned for the first person he saw with a grey uniform, but Kiyone was too quick for him. She was holding a bowl of Mihoshi's carrot stew that she was about to hand to Ms. Yukino when she instead threw it at the guard. It hit him square in the face and stunned him long enough for Kiyone to draw her gun and shoot him.

"Our cover's blown!" Kiyone called out. "Free fire!"

In an instant, a squad of guards rushed through the front door and began shooting at Kiyone, but she managed to get into cover behind one of the protrusions of the room.

"Oh, they're going to kill me!" Torishima cried out. He found the room side exit and darted out of it. At once, screams filled the room as everyone stampeded out to safety. Torishima slipped away amid the crowd.

Kiyone found herself pinned down by gunfire, but Mihoshi was crouched near the exit Torishima took. "Mihoshi, go after Torishima! We need him alive!"

Mihoshi nodded and quickly darted for the exit.

Running down the corridors and past terrified civilians, she eventually managed to catch up to Torishima alone in one of the elevator lobbies, just as he was about to descend the stairs next to the elevator.

"Stop!" Mihoshi commanded with her gun aimed at him.

Torishima stopped and turned toward Mihoshi, looking at her with contempt. "I knew something like this would happen. Tell me, why? What have I done? What crimes have I committed? Just exercising my free speech? My freedom to assemble?"

"Mr. Torishima, you're coming with us back to the Galaxy Police, and we're going to find out the truth of what's going on."

"The Galaxy Police?! Oh, how far they have fallen! Why get involved?! What's in it for you?! What are you fighting for, to keep Jurai City enslaved!? To keep the JCPD's boot on the people's neck!?"

Involuntarily, Mihoshi thought back to that poor Wau man in the alley next to the convenience store. Slowly, she lowered her gun and holstered it.

Ryoji's angry voice suddenly came over the comms. "What are you doing? There's no time for this! Stun him, shoot him in the leg, it doesn't matter, but you need to get Torishima right now!"

Mihoshi grunted at Ryoji's suggestion. She was a Galaxy Police officer, and she swore to uphold justice and law. No, she wasn't going to arrest an innocent person; that wasn't why she joined the force. So she took the two earplugs out and crushed them under her foot. She was going to do this her way.

---

The intense two minutes that passed since the first shots rang out felt like twenty for Mitsuki, who was crouched behind the stage.

The operation was slipping away from them with every second they're pinned down in this room. Mihoshi managed to get out, but she's Mihoshi; there's no telling what would happen to Torishima if she went after her alone. And besides, Mitsuki could feel a sudden rush of excitement, not from the gunfire, but from the prospect of being able to single-handedly salvage things. If she could both save Mihoshi from whatever she'd do to herself and capture Torishima, Airi will notice. One thing would be sure, she'd never take orders from Kiyone again, of all people!

"Ryoji, you better be good with directions. Cover me, I'm going after Mihoshi!" Mitsuki brazenly announced.

Kiyone looked like she wanted to protest, but there was no stopping Mitsuki, who was already standing up and sprinting out of the room. All she could do was pepper the guards with a flurry of shots to keep them pinned so that they wouldn't shoot her.

---

"Please, listen to me," Mihoshi began. "You're not well. You're being controlled by Kagato. He's manipulating you, making you do all these strange things. This isn't you, is it? Do you have a family? Have you seen them? What do they think of you these days?"

"My family?" Torishima repeated. Suddenly, Torishima dropped his defiant look and became confused. "I...I don't know. I haven't seen them since… I have a family? Y-yes, I need to see my family, but I've been busy with… what…? I don't even know what I'm doing here…"

As he mumbled, Mihoshi could see the Tokimi mark show on his forehead. He was being controlled, but now it was time for him to wake up!

"Come with me, Torishima. We'll sort everything out. You'll see your family again," she said.

"I wouldn't be so sure," a voice said from behind.

Mihoshi turned around, but before she could raise her gun, Kagato had an iron grip on her throat.

"Oh, Master Kagato!" Torishima said. Immediately, his confusion went away as he remembered his purpose. "Where have you been now?"

"Outside performing electrical work," he said, turning to Mihoshi. "The Galaxy Police should've known better than to try and usurp democracy, but maybe now they'll learn their lesson."

Mihoshi could feel the insides of her throat slowly being crushed. She'd already dropped her gun. There was no fighting it, she knew. The only thing left was to wait until she couldn't feel anything anymore. Kiyone would be sad, she knew; Mitsuki too, but she took comfort in knowing that, if only Kagato wasn't here, she would've completed the mission without straying from what she believed in as a Galaxy Police officer.

"Mihoshi!" suddenly rang out! Mihoshi recognized the voice. It was Mitsuki coming to save her, but she's walking into a trap. She can't take on Kagato herself! She wanted to warn her, but she couldn't utter a noise.

Soon, Mitsuki came into view with her gun. She was slightly surprised at seeing Kagato strangling Mihoshi, and in that second of hesitation. Kagato dropped Mihoshi and faced her.

"No interruptions, please," Kagato said. With a single snap of his fingers toward Mitsuki, a gaping hole in the floor opened up, and she fell through screaming.

"Mitsuki!" Mihoshi cried out. Mihoshi felt like lightning in a bottle. Kagato had gone too far. He'd just sent her second-best friend Mitsuki, through a portal to who-knows-where; she could end up dead on the other side for all they knew! Forget Kiyone's orders, forget Hideaki Torishima, forget the People's Will. Right now, the only thing she could comprehend was the thirst for revenge boiling inside her. She wanted to make him hurt, make him cry in pain!

Her CQC training that she'd been drilled on but never used was kicking in now. She knew what to do, and she immediately went on the attack. Kagato scooped up her gun off the floor, but Mihoshi was too fast for him. She used both hands to deftly deflect and throw the gun out of his hand, and, in a single motion, landed a solid punch square in Kagato's glasses, breaking them and pushing sharp pieces into one of his eyes.

As the man let out a surprised ah! and staggered slightly, Mihoshi grabbed his right arm and jumped back with it, to where she fully extended it. With both hands and all her strength, she brought his arm up and then sent it down, and at the same time sent her left knee up. The two pressure points connected at his elbow, and there was an audible snap as she dislocated his arm.

"Errrgh!" he cried out in pain.

She could hardly believe it, but she was doing it. She felt like a different person right now, but she was doing it! She couldn't stop now, he was still standing. So, she went in again to land another punch, this time toward the side of his head to concuss him, but in an instant, Kagato caught her hand with his and let out a low growl. She was lifted into the air and was thrown wildly into the nearest wall.

Kagato looked down at his broken arm before scooping up Mihoshi's gun again. He saw Mihoshi, dazed but not finished, in the middle of standing up, and he wasted no time. As soon as she got up and faced him, he fired a flurry of shots at her, most of them missing because he wasn't left-handed, but three tore through her body, and she silently fell on the floor.

He knew Torishima was hiding around the corner of the hall, and once Mihoshi was dealt with, he found him looking surprised.

"What resilience, Master! Oh, but your arm! Your eye! Are you OK?"

"Let's leave. Quickly," he said, ignoring his question.

They sped down a series of halls until they had reached the elevator that brought them to the ground-floor lobby. Torishima ran out of the elevator, but Kagato stood still just outside of it.

Torishima noticed Kagato wasn't following him. "What's wrong?"

"Right here is where our acquaintance comes to an end," he answered.

"What are you talking about? This is only the beginning. That's what you said!"

As Torishima looked at him confused, Kagato snapped his left fingers right in front of his face. The symbol on Torishima's forehead appeared again for a brief moment before instantly vanishing. The Prime Minister shut his eyes and rubbed his face for a moment before looking at Kagato again.

"What the… Ah! Kagato! What is this? Where am I!"

Kagato didn't answer, but Torishima, remembering what happened to Suboru, panicked and made a run for the front exit. It was locked.

As he walked toward Torishima, Kagato looked out at the ceiling and found a camera looking at them.

"You're finished, Torishima," he said. The Emperor doesn't appreciate your meddling."

"Meddling? Nonsense! I've done no such thing!"

"It's too late for excuses. Far too late."

"G-get away from me! Help! Someone, help me! Help me!" Torishima tried to turn and run, but Kagato had grabbed him by the throat and slammed him to the floor. He knelt to choke him until he stopped moving, and soon, he did. Standing up, he quickly exited the room without looking back.

---

Kiyone and Junichiro had taken out most of the security guards, but there were still two pinning them down with full-length blasters.

Ryoji's voice came over the comms. "Makibi, Yoritomo, you need to get over to Kuramitsu as soon as you can. She got ambushed and was wounded by Kagato. Something happened to Tsukushi, too. She just cut off."

Kiyone felt the dread creep into her chest from the update. The mission had failed, but she couldn't worry about that right now; they were still pinned down.

Junichiro had just one shot left according to the meter on his pistol, but a great idea hit him. Drink glasses were thrown on the floor as soon as the gunfire started, and he picked up the one closest to him. From behind cover, he used the reflection of the glass to see the chandelier light fixture that was right above the guards. He took a deep breath and peeked out of cover to shoot the chain connecting the fixture to the ceiling. He hit it, and the fixture came crashing down on both guards' heads, knocking them unconscious.

"Good thing I'm not the one paying for that," he quipped.

They rushed down the halls until they found Mihoshi, and Kiyone let out a loud gasp upon seeing her partner slumped over on the wall.

"Mihoshi! Mihoshi!" Kiyone cried out. "Can you hear me? Mihoshi!"

She found the three holes that bore through Mihoshi's body. Having learned anatomy at the Academy, she knew that one of her lungs was compromised. She immediately brought out her control cube and took out the only thing that could stop her from dying right then and there: an edible patch containing artificial cells that temporarily patched internal wounds. It wouldn't last longer than a few hours, but it hopefully didn't need to be.

"Where the hell is Mitsuki?" Junichiro asked.

"Makibi, the JCPD is in downtown Tsuiko. Estimated five minutes before they reach the Prince Taishō Building. What's Kuramitsu's condition?"

"Severely wounded and unconscious," Kiyone answered as she carefully placed the patch inside Mihoshi's mouth and made her swallow it. "I gave her a patch but she'll need proper medical attention."

"Local hospitals are out of the question. Fujikawa said nobody can know about us being here. We need to get on the Yagami and fly out of here."

"And Mitsuki?"

"Five minutes! We can worry about Tsukushi later; if there isn't a body, she's probably not dead. Now, get to the service tunnels on the lower level. You can slip away from the JCPD and get back up to street level. We can drive back to the Yagami that way."

"Got it," Kiyone said. She turned to Junichiro. "You're stronger. We'll move faster if you carry Mihoshi."

Junichiro nodded, and she helped him lift Mihoshi over his shoulders in a fireman's carry.

The Republican Guard imposter could hear the faint sirens of JCPD cruisers in the distance. As soon as Kagato had done the deed, he'd downloaded the footage from the cameras onto a physical drive and wiped out all the other footage in the building for that day. Now, he rushed down to meet Kagato on the ground floor.

"Boss! I got it on here! We're good to go!" he said excitedly as he showed him the drive.

"Very good," Kagato answered. "Let's leave Torishima to the JCPD."

Kagato began walking back to the elevator, and they both let themselves inside and closed the door just as JCPD officers began banging on the front entrance. They soon broke through the reinforced glass with a hydraulic battering ram.

"It's Torishima!" one of the officers called out. "What's his condition?"

Another office carefully inspected the body. "Dead. Looks like someone strangled the poor guy!"

"Damn it! Alright, secure the perimeter."

One of the JCPD officers moved to secure the nearby elevator lobby. He noticed that the elevator was on the ground floor, and he pressed the button to open it. It was empty.

---

Airi rubbed her temples. This was the worst day she's had as Superintendent since getting the job. She had heard what had happened as soon as the Yagami departed from Jurai. Mihoshi was sent to the emergency room, Mitsuki was gone, and Torishima was murdered. The Galaxy Police hadn't gotten involved according to the narratives, but that was little consultation.

It was a few hours after the incident at the Prince Taishō Building, and Airi had gathered Kiyone, Ryoji, and Junichiro were watching JHK in her office to catch up on what had happened.

"Something awful has happened at the Prince Taishō Building!" Haruhi cried out. "We don't have specifics, but it looks like it was some sort of attack. We haven't heard from the People's Will or Mr. Torishima since, but… wait, we do? Alright, it looks like we have camera footage from inside the building. It's… oh my goodness…"

And then they saw for themselves the video showing what had happened to Torishima. Kiyone, Junichiro, and Ryoji, back wearing their regular uniforms, were standing uneasily in front of her.

"Turn it off," she ordered.

As Watari did as she asked. Kiyone stepped forward. "Ms. Fujikawa, I must apologize. Our plan seemed perfect until—"

Airi raised her hand and cut her off. "I don't want to hear it right now. Just go."

"I…" Kiyone stopped herself from protesting. She nodded and left, followed by Junichiro and Ryoji.

After the door shut behind them, Airi spoke softly. "Watari…?"

"Yes, Madam? Tea?"

"Not this time. Sake."

"Oh, dear… Right away."

---

It was the day after election day. The moment everyone had been waiting for had come, and it was JHK who was going to break the news.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Itsuki began calmly. "Jurai City's municipal elections have come to a close after a tumultuous last-minute campaign between the People's Will and the AIC. With 99% of the estimated 132 million votes accounted for, we can project that the People's Will are going to win a landslide victory, winning 103 million votes and 168 out of 200 seats on the city council."

"Polling suggested that there was a statistical tie between the People's Will and the AIC just last week!" Haruhi said. "But it looks like the murder of Hideaki Torishima by Kagato inflamed anti-monarchist sentiment enough to propel his party to victory. Let's listen to Ms. Yukino, now presumably the new leader of the People's Will and soon Jurai City's new president.

"This is the moment that will define our generation!" Ms. Yukino proclaimed with her arms wide in the air. "We have shown the Emperor and his cronies in New Tenju that Jurai City will no longer tolerate being taken advantage of. This is our city, and from now on, we, the people, will decide our destiny! We will have a newer and better police force, new Densha lines, streets clean from garbage and refugees, and we're going to have a new Juraian Republic!"

Emperor Azusa, in his throne room, was speechless as his people cheered the creation of a breakaway state. He looked down and rubbed his face, and when he looked up, he saw that Seto had let herself inside and gave him that same half-hidden giddy face, and sighed.

"Alright. I'm open to suggestions."

---

PREVIEW OF

NEXT PROGRAM

Ryoji: "Kuramitsu is out of commission for the foreseeable future, and Tsukushi is… gone, but Fujikawa already found a replacement. Her name is Amane Kaunaq, and according to the files I have on her, she used to be a fashion model, but quit to join the Galaxy Police.

Junichiro: "What the hell kind of person leaves fashion to start working the beat? I for one would love to make money by just walking around with nice clothes on!"

Ryoji: "Certainly a curious career path, I agree. But we'll see how talented she is when we go to arrest Kagato's right-hand man. The next episode of Miho-Kiyo Complex: Here Comes Amane in a Souped-Up Aircar!"

Junichiro: "She's unquestionably going to steal the spotlight."

---

Author's Note: Today Was a Coincidence

Today, October 31, 2021, happens to be the day that Japan held a general election. However, I insist that the plot of this episode, which revolves around a municipal election in a city that could very much pass for one in Japan, was formulated long before the election came around. It was only now that I had the means to actually complete the episode, and I figured today would be an appropriate time.

In fact, the election that actually inspired me to write this episode was the 2020 United States Presidential Election, given its intense election campaign.

I didn't intend to have such a long hiatus between the release of this episode and "Kushi-Yori Investigations". Simply put, life got in the way, and without going into specifics, I had other things to do and other interests that kept me away from writing "For the People, By the People" for the longest time. However, I never stopped thinking about it, and September of this year was when I got serious about finishing this episode. I do not intend for there to be such a large hiatus again, but at this point, I wouldn't even trust myself when I say this.

Previously, I mentioned that I would revise the first three episodes. I still believe I want to do that, but perhaps not to such a degree that I previously suggested.

As for the episode itself, I wanted to give Mihoshi a bigger spotlight in it compared to previous ones, and I think I succeeded in that by showing her perspective of things. Originally, Mitsuki was going to be the one that got severely wounded by Kagato, but I decided I had other ideas for her, which you'll see in the next episode.

If you haven't noticed, Junichiro indeed broke the fourth wall again. I think I'm going to keep doing that once per episode, just because that seems like something he could get away with.

And finally, a piece of trivia: The People's Will is named after the real-life Narodnaya Volya. They were a 19th-century Russian terrorist organization that conducted assassinations of government officials, including Tsar Alexander II, in an attempt to spur a socialist revolution, though their efforts ultimately failed.