-Haruka-

She was still bashing the figure that lay on the ground, still covered with the cloak, and could feel how her hands and arms were getting soaked with a mixture of her own blood and the blood of whomever that she was beating to pulp, when suddenly a big hand rested on her shoulder and a deep and yet familiar voice told her to stop.

"Haruto don't you dare to stop me...…" she started to say in defiance as she turned around, just to face a, taller than life, man, with strict eyes behind his glasses and a deep frown etched on his face. "…Dad…" Haruka muttered startled.

"Look what you have done" he scolded her with his deep and judging voice and Haruka looked down at her hands, which were a lot smaller than she remembered them being, covered in blood and painfully cut. Her father knelt down to her and raised the hood of the figure laying on the ground, revealing a rook that was broken into a million pieces.

"This is not how you play chess." Her father continued to chide her and Haruka looked ashamed onto the ground and her small shoes that her mother had gotten her for her birthday when she had turned five.

While she stood there, confused, ashamed and lost, her father picked her up in a way only a father could and Haruka felt as safe as she hadn't done in a long time. As he raised her head with a hand under her chin, she turned away, as to not to have to face his eyes that were filled with his disappointment in her.

"Look at me, Haruka. Why did you do that?" He asked her.

"It kept on cheating." She answered his question with childlike frustration.

"That is still not how you react to that. It was just a rook." Her father lectured her.

"But I couldn't take its king and make him stop cheating." Haruka defended herself.

"Haruka, who plays the game?" Her father asked her.

"The player." Haruka answered still frustrated.

"Correct. Not the rook, not the king, but the player. Now Haruka, are you just a pawn or a player?" Her father asked her and she took a moment to understand what he meant, but before she could answer he continued to speak.

"Which figure do you hate the most when you play with grandpa?" he asked her as he carried her out if the cave that they were in.

"The king." Haruka answered sincere.

"Why?" her father asked patiently.

"Because the king is useless. He can't do anything and when you lose him, the whole game is lost. I hate the king. All other figures are more useful and yet they all get sacrificed for the stupid useless king." Haruka aired her frustration.

"And who do you think the king is?" Her father continued in his usual tone.

"The king is the king. He rules over his half of the chessboard." Haruka answered.

"Does he though? Isn't the player the one that moves the chess pieces? The king is what is most important to the player, because it is not as capable and strong as the other figures, that is why the queen is the most powerful piece. To protect the king when all others have failed." Her father reminded her.

Understanding her error, she wrapped her arms silently around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

"I hate chess." She mumbled into his neck.

"Why?" her father asked her sincerely.

"Because I hate having to sacrifice pieces." Haruka explained. "And every time I took one of Haruto's pieces, it made him sad."

"But that is how war works." Her father explained.

"Not in Shogi." Haruka countered.

"Why do you prefer Shogi?" her father asked.

"Because no piece needs to die, they can even come back into the game, you have generals and the rook and the bishop are way better." Haruka explained with simple, childish terms.

"So why did you not play Shogi?" Her father asked.

"You never let me play Shogi." She explained.

"And why did I not let you play Shogi?" Her father asked her.

"Because you said it is an adult game." Haruka recalled.

"But you learned and played with Haruki from someone anyway." Her father reminded her and Haruka went quiet, because she knew that he was right and that he had caught her despite them trying their best to hide it.


-Kakyuu-

It had been a hard 18 hours of surgery and she has had only a few hours of sleep since Haruka got out of it, but she wanted to double check on the process of the tissue analysis and to check that Haruka was still stable. Satomi was passed out in the quiet room while Yuuko was sleeping in Haruka's treatment room when Kakyuu had gone to the laboratories after she had checked on her blonde patient. Frustrated with the result, she leaned her head against the wall on which the screen with the results was mounted and looked over to Haruka's room through the several safety windows that separated them. She could see a faint outline of a tall, slim person with short hair next to Haruka's bed against the light of the setting sun, and her tired mind took a moment to realise that there was no one in the building that fit that description. She rubbed her eyes and took another look but could only see the various machines that were keeping Haruka alive. No trace of another person besides Yuuko and her could be seen. Exhausted, Kakyuu dropped herself on the couch in the room and rubbed her sore temples. This was gnawing at her last vestiges of energy and maybe even her sanity.


-Michiru-

Michiru had just arrived in the office and went straight to Kazuko's office where she was to meet Kazumi for another day of reviewing of video footage but Manami was already waiting in front of it and was blocking Michiru's way into Kazuko's office.

"She will be ready any moment." Manami just informed her stoically and Michiru nodded in acknowledgement.

"Should I wait in my own office in the mean time?" Michiru asked the other woman who had clear dark circles under her eyes, but whose eyes seemed nonetheless bright and attentive with the usual, hard to read, cold demeanour.

"Okamoto-san has asked me to ask you to wait here" Manami replied and Michiru sighed internally. Even though she had been working in this department for a few days now and tried her best to get along with everyone, Manami was the one person that didn't seem to warm up to her.

Instead of trying to strike further conversation with Manami, she moved to the coffee machine and made each of them a cup.

"I should be making it for us." Manami said hesitantly.

"Nonsense, you look like you have worked hard all night for Okamoto-san. You deserve some rest. Any sugar and or milk?" Michiru asked over her shoulder.

"Just a touch of Milk." Manami replied and Michiru could hear a slight relaxation in the other's voice.

"Thank you, Kaioh-sama" Manami said gratefully as Michiru passed her the coffee cup.

"Just Michiru, is fine Ishigawa-san. I believe we will work together for quite some time." Michiru smiled gently.

"Then please just call me Manami, if you don't mind." Manami suddenly just nodded slightly shy before she took a sip and seemed to savour the heat, strength and energy that the coffee gave her.

"You two seemed to get along well." Kazuko joined them as she opened her office door through which she had watched the small exchange, catching Manami slightly off guard.

"Oh, you must be Michiru-chan." A small, cutely round woman, standing behind Kazuko commented as she pushed past Kazuko to have a closer look at Michiru.

"Yes mum, that is her. Michiru-san, this is my mother Okamoto, Mari." Kazuko sighed as her mother looked Michiru up and down with keen interest.

"Nice to meet you, Okamoto-san." Michiru put the cup aside and bowed politely.

"Definitely a Kaioh." The older woman chuckled mischievously. "You need to eat more when you work here. Don't follow the example of these two." Mari gestured to Manami and Kazuko. "These two never eat enough. Look how frail they look." Mari complained motherly and Kazuko and Manami just sighed in sync.

Michiru had to think of the two big Ramen bowls that Kazuko had just destroyed at Kaito's Ramen shop but just tried her best to nod in polite agreement.

"Mum we all eat just fine." Kazuko sighed.

"You haven't had any of my famous beef stew yesterday." Mari disagreed.

"Mum, that is because I didn't get home yesterday." Kazuko tried her best to stay calm and patient, but it was unmissable that she was reaching her limits.

"When will you finally get married and give me grandkids?" Mari shifted the topic, but before Kazuko could reply, a tall slim man white hair, a few streaks of black hair scattered among them, joined the group.

"Mari." The man called stern. "Stop hassling the kids, we have work to do." He reminded her and she just looked at him defiantly.

"You were supposed to come home last month!" Mari pouted.

"You know the training in Iga is a lot more complicated as that I could just drop everything and come home." The Kazuko's father sighed while her mother just turned around and continued to pout.

"Michiru-san, this is my father Okamoto, Yori." Kazuko cut in. "Dad, this is Kaioh, Michiru-san." Kazuko introduced Michiru to her father.

"Nice to meet you sir." Michiru bowed.

"Nice to meet you, too." Yori returned the gesture.

"We are going now mum, thank you for looking after my department. I have left everything you need to know where you can find it." Kazuko addressed her mother who still had her back turned to her father.

"It is not my first time leading this department." Her mum just huffed slightly offended.

"Just go, I will make sure nothing burns down while you are gone" Yori whispered into his daughter's ear who just nodded and proceeded to usher Michiru and Manami out of the office.

"I'll make it up to you when we get home." Yori could be heard saying, as tried to appease his wife in a gentler tone, once they were through the door and on their way to the lifts.

"Where are we going?" Michiru asked Kazuko.

"Kyoto." The other just replied short to Michiru before she addressed Manami. "Are our go-bags ready in the car?"

"Yes. All equipment and go-bags are already in the car." Manami confirmed.

"Let me grab my go-bag." Michuru replied.

"Where we are going, you won't need one. You will have all that you need there." Kazuko just informed Michiru.


-Satomi-

She joined Yuuko in the vault as the other was examining further organs that Haruka needed to get replaced.

"You look more relaxed." Satomi noted and Yuuko just nodded as she lifted a lung partially out of the blue nutrient solution and watched it breath steadily.

"She was here, wasn't she?" Satomi continued and Yuuko did not react but put the lung back into its container before slipping off her gloves and making some notes on the tablet next to the containment vessel.

"You know that I will have to report it eventually." Satomi sighed and Yuuko put the tablet back into its holder.

"You can't report something that you have not seen with your own eyes or have no evidence for." Yuuko just replied before moving onto the heart section.

"You don't think I will be investigated for suppression of information? Unlike you, I am still on the roster at the agency and I could get called back into active duty any time. If Okamoto gets wind of this, I won't be the only one in trouble." Satomi gave food for thought.

"Let Okamoto be our problem, right now you are not needed as an agent, right now you are needed as a doctor who will help me to transplant every organ Haruka had ever injured and is actually replaceable." Yuuko stated calmly.

"That means every conceivable organ that is represented here." Satomi looked around herself and her shoulders slumped at the outlook of having to perform many more difficult operations in the coming days. "I will still be called in for questioning and then I won't get around of reporting my observations…." Satomi pondered aloud as Yuuko held a beating heart in her freshly gloved hands. Yuuko froze with her eyes affixed on the heart for a millisecond before she put it carefully back down and stepped right up to Satomi, looking straight into Satomi's eyes with her intense dark green ones.

"You can't report anything if I never let you leave." Yuuko commented, her voice utterly calm but her eyes holding a mixed and difficult to interpret expression.

Before Satomi could reply anything, Kakyuu had entered the vault and announced that Haruka was stable enough for another procedure.


-Michiru-

They had driven all the way to and through Kyoto and were now on their way to a small well-hidden town outside of Kyoto in which her grandmother was living. Michiru wondered if they were going to take their next break there and if they could pass by the small sweet shop near her grandmother's home. She just wanted to pick up something for Hotaru for missing to pick up the little girl for the coming days as it seemed. Unlike Kazuko, Manami was a very courteous driver who kept to the utmost speed limits that were displayed on the roads that they took. Kazuko had slept all the way here while Michiru stayed up and offered several times to take over the duty of driving, which Manami insisted on doing herself and so Michiru was stuck with enjoying the scenery and resting. Before they arrived at the edge of town, a rice farmer blocked the street ahead of them with his vehicle. It was like clockwork, even when she came here with her parents, that one of the farmers would block them a stretch of the way there. Manami seemed not to be phased in the least by it and drove behind the farming vehicle patiently before it finally turned into one of the fields and she had a clear way to the centre. Michiru noticed a lot of people greeting Manami friendly while they passed them in the streets and Manami driving very confident in the small and windy streets before they came to a halt right in front of her grandmother's house, where her grandmother was already awaiting them. Kazuko had woken up in an instance and quickly hopped out of the car to greet Michiru's grandmother with a deep bow, swiftly followed by Manami. When Michiru got out of the car and went to her grandmother to greet her, her grandmother gave her a warm smile.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but you all look tired. So how about you all go to your rooms and get refreshed and rested for dinner and then we'll talk." Miyu suggested and Kazuko and Manami straight away walked away in to a clear direction.

"Miyu-baa-chan, I …." Michiru started, but her grandmother shook her head.

"I understand, just go to your room and get changed into something more comfortable. We have a lot to talk about. Just come and see me in the garden as soon as you are ready." Her grandmother instructed her and Michiru obliged.

As she walked towards the room that she always used when she visited, in the opposite direction of the rooms that Manami and Kazuko were using, she wondered how close her grandmother was to the agency, how long her grandmother had known that she was an agent and how screwed she was with her parents. Just when she thought of her parents, she realised how childish her worries were and that the only reason that she was here and practically got a bump in her security clearance, was because the problem they were facing was a lot bigger than herself, bigger than her family and probably even bigger than the agency itself.

Once she had a quick shower and change into more comfortable clothes, she made her way to the garden and came across her aunt's room from which she heard a quiet voice speaking that wasn't her aunt's. Her curiosity overcame her and Michiru took a careful peak at the slid that the door was still opened.

Her aunt was inside and tugging someone into bed while scolding them.

"I told you to dress warm and take your time to get here, but of course you didn't listen. Your bloodline deserves their reputation for stubbornness." Riko scolded the person that was fully covered up in her bed and had the blanket pulled all the way up as if to hide from her. Only a small mop of fair hair stuck out at the top, but before Michiru could have a closer look, her grandmother had stepped up behind her.

"You haven't been here in a long time, come this way, this is the way to the garden." Her grandmother told her and led the way, leaving no room for discussion, and Michiru followed her silently.

"Michiru, do you believe in destiny?" Her grandmother asked as they walked through the traditional hallways.

"Would my believe in it change any of it?" Michiru asked in return.

"That is a very good question." Miyu responded thoughtfully as they turned a corner. "Do you ever feel that there should be more to life than the arts and the enjoyment of life?" Her grandmother followed up.

Michiru felt conflicted on how to reply. Of course, her music and her paintings meant the world to her, but somehow only to some point. She didn't want to seem ungrateful by voicing that she believed that there was a higher calling for her than mastering the arts that she was allowed to choose herself. She knew that her parents and grandparents had to put a lot of effort into enabling her to have such a privileged life and so she struggled for words that would be appropriate.

"You have a lot of questions, don't you Michi-chan?" Her grandmother asked her rhetorically as they sat down on two cushions that were laid out ready for them with a pot of tea and a set of matching cups.

"I do, but … I don't know where to start." Michiru admitted as she got comfortable.

"Let's start with a small story then." Her grandmother suggested as she poured each of them a cup of tea and Michiru nodded silently. "Long ago, before there was you or me, there were many family clans at war with each other over territories and power in Japan. The time of the Samurai and Shogunates, followed by imperialism." Her grandmother started her tale and Michiru felt comfortably safe, as she hadn't in a while. "With time though it got more and more obvious that power and strict governance alone would not advance anyone while it benefitted only a few, it put misery onto too many others. Few clans that stood the test of time since they had good alliances between the most powerful ones to achieve lasting peace. The main clans and their followers lived well, because the essential secret to peace is a strong and benevolent leadership with a faithful following. And they governed what was entrusted to them wise and fair. It became apparent with time though no clan could significantly advance in such a system, so they all came together and decided to join up even closer and to leave the governance and guardianship to a few clans, and the research and the academical advancement to others. It was important to not just survive in this world but to thrive in a way that was beneficial for everyone under our rule. To leave no one exposed to any harm by rivalling clans, the ones at power were tasked to ensure safety for all allies. To ensure that no one would ever go for the power grab and to abuse their position, strict rules were implemented and a rotary system was applied. With each generation, there would be a change of governance and guard of the people, with always two main families being at power to keep it all in balance. One to govern and one to observe and to halt the other if abuse of power was ensuing. Meanwhile the others could pursue regular lives and contribute to society in various other ways." Her grandmother explained and looked out to the small garden as if she was looking into the past.

"Why a rotary system and why wait a whole generation before rotating?" Michiru asked Miyu and Miyu looked her deep into the eyes.

"Governing people, ensuring peace and stability isn't something that comes with ease. It takes dedication, commitment and sacrifice. Something that needs to be offset, by rewarding the following generations with a care free life. The way it works is that the one that is on the execution side would train up the following generation of another clan that would follow in their footstep and the oversight side would do the same. That way, you ensure a passing of power that would not concentrate no power into one specific clan while passing also the maximum of knowledge as secure as possible." Miyu explained as Michiru listened attentively. "With modern times approaching, the inevitable globalisation ensuing and furthering of the reach of the unofficial governing system, it became time to officially institutionalise the agreement to gain some sort of legitimacy for the oversight body and therefor an intelligence agency was founded on the official level while on the executive level, where things were murkier, a council was formed where all leaders, who held real power in the underworld and upper world were represented, was established, with a few chosen ones to mediate." Miyu made a small break to take a sip from her tea and silently sighed. Michiru noticed how contemplative her grandmother looked into her own cup before taking the sip, but didn't comment it, as to not interrupt the older woman's train of thought. "While the system worked very well for several generations in the past, with the globalisation, many more players came onto the playing field of power and democracy was gaining momentum so it was seen as antiquated that a certain clan would always hand over power due to birth right, rather than due to competence, therefor the executive branch got an overhaul by the main mediator and democratic elements were implemented, while the intelligence agency got more restructured based on merits but maintaining some elements of birth right to ensure the safety of the original clans and their followers, with its own council of elders and the main goal to ensure a fair oversight. It seemed all well until a series of unfortunate events unfolded and was slowly throwing off the delicate balance that had maintained the peace and prosperity throughout the many generations." Miyu explained.

"What happened?" Michiru asked eager to learn more.

"The ruling generation of the executive and the coming generation of the oversight was lost in two separate events that happened in very short period of time." Miyu recalled. "But that in itself would have been no problem, if it were not for the fact that thanks to the democratic system and the failsafe measures, one clan was suddenly reigned both sides. A conflict of interest was feared by some of the critics of the system, but the executive branch was elected, therefore it was not the fault of the system itself, but the people within the system and the majority of people placed high faith into that clan that was known for an uncompromising sense of duty. But the peace didn't hold for long until the executive's leadership was assassinated, putting the system back into jeopardy and chaos that had to be remedied again with an emergency fill in. It couldn't be helped." Her grandmother's face was grave with sorrow at this point.

"Did something happen to them as well?" Michiru asked concerned and her grandmother looked up from her tea cup and directly into her eyes. A melancholic smile formed and she slowly shook her head.

"No, by this time new safety measures were implemented." Miyu elaborated. "But that did not make up for the generations that were already lost."

Michiru let that information sink in, but before she could ask another question, Setsuna joined them and called them for dinner.

"What are you doing here Setsuna?" Michiru asked her surprised.

"I take it you have not come to that part of the story yet, Miyu-baa-chan." Setsuna chuckled.

"It is a long story." Miyu sighed.

"Indeed. Maybe it is time for me to tell the rest of it after dinner. The others have confirmed their arrival for later and your presence there will be essential." Setsuna informed Michiru's grandmother who just nodded in acknowledgement before getting up and leading the way to the dining room.


-Kakyuu-

She exited the OR exhausted but satisfied with her work. Lung, spleen, intestine, stomach, pretty much every crucial organ, except the heart, had been replaced in the marathon of surgeries that Haruka had undergone in the past days and now Yuuko was just closing up Haruka for a final rest before they would replace even that. Satomi joined her shortly after and placed her used scrubs and gloves quickly into the bin before stretching.

"You should get changed, too. A hot shower and some food won't hurt you either." Satomi commented as Kakyuu just stood there.

"Is it really ok to leave Yuuko-sensei alone with Haruka?" Kakyuu asked as she turned her gaze back to the room that both had just left.

"You talk with Haruka during your surgeries when you get stressed, Yuuko copes with stress by double checking absolutely everything." Satomi explained. "That is what makes her so good in the field. Nothing is left to chance if she can help it."

Kakyuu looked through the glass panel and watched Yuuko making the final stitch. Two days of rest and monitoring were assigned to see how Haruka coped with her new organs before they would go for the most weakened organ of all. By now Haruka was completely clear of the virus, but showed no sign of waking up and Kakyuu wondered if all of her efforts were just too little and too late.

"She isn't going anywhere while she is connected to the machine. Allow yourself some rest, maybe go down to the Yamaguchis and play a bit with Hotaru. You need a break from all of this, too. When Haruka is ready, she'll get up again. You know her. Once she is up and can talk and walk, she will be even more exhausting than she is now." Satomi winked and Kakyuu had to chuckle. Ami's mother was right. Haruka would not want her to be like this and she would come back when she was ready. In the very least if not for her talking and begging for Haruka to come back, then for Hotaru.


-Michiru-

After a short and silent dinner, Miyu and excused herself quickly to attend to some business while Manami and Kazumi were immediately leaving for some unsaid duties, leaving Michiru and Setsuna to their own devices.

"I take it, your grandmother didn't answer many questions but just gave you a bunch more." Setsuna chuckled.

"You could say that." Michiru nodded as she digested more than just her dinner.

"So where did she stop her tale?" Setsuna asked as they sat down on the porch, facing the inner garden.

"I think she stopped after the democratisation of the council and the hand and the loss of life that caused an upset in the replacement system." Michiru recalled as she leaned in her chair and looked up to the cloudless sky through the window.

"Did your grandmother ever tell you who the one was who conducted all these changes?" Setsuna asked and Michiru shook her head. "Tomoe, Daichi was the mediator to that time and the one who implemented the democratic elements in the council with the hand. I believe you know his great granddaughter, Hotaru." Setsuna chuckled. "And your grandfather, Kaioh, Susumu was the head of the IIA during that time, getting rid of the ultimate inheritance clauses." Setsuna added calmly.

"That's not possible. My grandfather was just…" and then it dawned on her that every time her father said that her great grandfather was in the police, overseeing that everyone obeyed the law, and that her grandfather couldn't follow the exact same footsteps, that he meant this. "But we are no great clan as grandmother described founders of the IIA and the council." Michiru tried to make sense of all this new information.

"Michiru, your family might not overtly hold an impressive estate as the Myamotos' or Tomoes' but you do hold power. Ever noticed how it is close to impossible to just get into this town, that something or someone always blocks the way and that there is no real traffic through here?" Setsuna game Michiru to think about.

"That is because we are in a rural area and it is pretty normal that farming vehicles would need to use these roads, too. Also, this town is in the middle of nowhere and why would anyone would want to come this way? It has nothing special that no other town has as well." Michiru pondered.

"But yet, everyone is well off and it is very well maintained, because the whole town is our estate." Setsuna explained. "From the nine main clans in the alliance that your grandmother told you about, the four strongest were chosen to do that task. The Kaiohs, Meiohs, Tenohs and Tomoes. The Kaiohs and Meiohs had always had very close ties and so, instead of having our separate estates and more or less making sure that the enemy would always know where we are by displaying our power, our families founded this town, that is only inhabited by our own and our followers who work for us. Anyone trying to come through here gets subtly checked at every entry and exit." Setsuna explained. "My father was your grandfather's apprentice and should be sitting where Haruka's grandfather is sitting right now, but thanks to a plane crash, here we are." Setsuna sighed. "After my grandmother died as well, your grandmother took me in and took it upon herself to take care of both estates, so that I wouldn't need to worry about it." Setsuna explained.

"How come we never met as kids?" Michiru wondered aloud and Setsuna looked over with a smirk.

"You grew up all over the world because that was the safest place for you and I grew up here because that was the safest place for me." Setsuna explained. "It has gotten more than clear that we had become targets after Haruki and Tomoko Tenoh got assassinated and so a revised plan had to be made. I know that you know that your father is not just the CEO of Umi corp." Setsuna stated calmly.

"So, he's also an agent of the agency after all…" Michiru mumbled to herself.

"Try 'retired mediator'. He didn't do it out of fun, since he was supposed to be the generation that was supposed to enjoy the break, but he did it for you, so that you may be kept safe and have the break instead." Setsuna explained.

"That means Haruka's father used to be the previous mediator, because Hotaru's uncle is enjoying the break. But…why this whole secrecy and sense of urgency now?" Michiru asked.

"Because history is about to repeat." Setsuna stated solemn.

"How so?" Michiru asked confused.

"Power is being monopolised again from one family in both sides of the scale. Who is still the current director of the IIA and who do you think is the current mediator?" Setsuna asked Michiru.

"Well Takahashi is the current director of the IIA so that would make the current mediator….no, that can't be…" Michiru uttered in disbelief.


-Haruka-

Her father carried her into the warm sunlight and Haruka could feel the warmth on her skin but kept her face buried in her father's broad shoulders. She felt tired, guilt ridden and simply not up to the task to walk even just another step. Her father didn't say anything but just carried her fatherly and without scolding her any further. Haruka had to admit that she had missed this part for a long time. Being able to rely on someone unconditionally and without having to think about anything to add to the planning or doing of anything. She slowly relaxed in his arms and just when she was about to drift off, he put her down on a chair in front of a shogi board that was mid game.

"But you said kids aren't allowed to play Shogi." Haruka reiterated.

"And what are you now?" Her father asked as he sat down opposite to her where Haruto usually sat.

Haruka looked down on her adult self and sighed.

"Whose turn is it?" she asked as she assessed the situation for her side.

"You tell me, Ruka-chan." Her father told her in return and Haruka started to focus on the way the pieces were placed.

"Ok…I think it is my turn." Haruka replied hesitantly and was about to reach for her bishop when her father turned the table around and asked again. "Tell me Ruka, whose turn is it?"

Haruka frowned again re-observed the constellation.

The situation was rather unclear with both sides being at perfect balance and whomever would move first would gain an overall advantage over the other.

"Haruka, who are you playing?" Her father asked again.

"Right now, that would be you." Haruka replied.

"So, is it my turn?" Haruki continued to ask.

"I guess…'' Haruka frowned deeper in anticipation of her father's move, but instead of moving any figures that were already in the board, he took a long-forgotten silver general from his side board and placed it to the centre right of the board, that was neither an advantage for him, nor a disadvantage for Haruka.

"Haruka, who do we play when we play any game?" Her father repeated.

"Our opponents." Haruka repeated.

"And how do we play forever?" Haruki continued.

"By keeping perfect balance of both sides." Haruka recalled her gaming lessons with her father.

"And what is off balance here?" Haruki kept drawing Haruka's attention onto the board when the penny dropped on Haruka's side and she stared at several blank stones on her father's side.

"Which one is your king?" Haruka asked startled at her own revelation, but as she looked, up her father was gone and she was facing a huge mountain on her own.


-Setsuna-

She was sitting next to a silent Michiru who needed to work through a lot of information that had been given to her just in the past few hours. This was not really the way anyone had intended for Michiru to find out her family's history, but time was running out and they were all running out of options on how to manoeuvre. She looked up into the sky and watched the waning last quarter of the moon among the sparkling stars. The Dublin meeting couldn't be postponed any longer as to not rouse suspicion and there had been no word from Kakashi for a while on how Haruka was doing. Absentmindedly she turned the ring on her finger as she thought of him. It had been a very long time since she last heard his soothing voice and this nagging in the back of her mind didn't help her not to worry about him. She knew that he was a very capable man and if worse were to come to worst, she would be able to track him down, but there were more pressing matters at hand right now and she had to be here for Michiru, who just got burdened with the world's problem in one swift move, unlike her, who grew up with it.

"So, we have an unknown enemy amongst our ranks." Michiru summarised, more to herself, than for Setsuna, as she sat there, staring thoughtfully into the night's sky.

"Yes. We have narrowed a lot of options down in the past decades without rousing any suspicion, but we have not been able to really pin point the origin of it all yet. For that we just have too many enemies that pop up daily and this is too coordinated to be random." Setsuna sighed.

"So, what is the plan for Dublin?" Michiru asked.

"It is secret meeting of the influential official power wielders that have name and rank to lose if anything were to leave that place. None of the underworld bosses will be attending, at least not in person. Just politicians, wealthy entrepreneurs and the likes. I was meant to go there as a high ranked agent, just to ensure higher security level, as it is routinely done by the agency, but plans needed to be adjusted, now that things have worked out differently. In two weeks' time, I will be announced as the vice director of the IIA, and I would be going from a simple head of a department to the second most influential person in the IIA. That isn't as low profile as we had intended. That is where we would need you to step in. You have made enough experiences with the last council meeting, so competence isn't up for question, you are a Kaioh, therefore naturally trusted since you belong to one of the original defence clans and you have made amiable connections to many of the staff of the people that we are trying to vet. You hold no high rank nor are in charge of any department. You hold no obvious agenda, despite fulfilling the normal duties of the agency. No one would question your presence. I can't tell yet on how Takashi will react to the news of my ascension to the second in charge with just hypothetical power and how that will affect his attendance, but when he goes there, it will give me the chance to overhaul our systems in his absence here in Japan and at least smoke out some of the cockroaches that have infiltrated the system at home while you catch the bigger rats over there. Or at least tag them for future extermination. All of that is only if you want to do it, of course. You have the right to decline this duty, as your father has already done your family's share of duty and you have no obligation to entertain this request by the IIA council." Setsuna reminded Michiru.

Michiru didn't react to the suggestion of pulling out of the task that was being asked of her, instead she asked after a long silence: "Was Haruka groomed to become the mediator like you were groomed to become the head of the IIA eventually?" Michiru asked calmly.

"No, well, it is not something that could have been stopped either way. Kakashi had tried to keep them as innocent for as long as possible. But the twins weren't stupid. They knew their parents weren't simple people with regular day jobs. Haruka might have just found out that her father was the mediator before, but she had always known that he was a high ranked agent and that that was something she wanted to become herself. To follow their parents' footsteps was an important matter for them to cope with the loss of their parents. Kakashi himself thought a lot of times about quitting the agency to keep them out of harm's way, but he decided against it, because it was Tomoko's wish for him to actually do something he enjoyed and had chosen himself, rather than something that was chosen for him. It was also necessary for him to keep some familial links with the Tenohs so that Haruka and Haruto would stay protected. Of course, it also helped that he was already well established in the agency when they joined. He could keep their backs clear from additional hassle and he could keep an eye on all their missions. Haruka might have gotten elected, but she knew that the fate of a Tenoh was not just a simple 9 to 5 job. It was only a matter of time of when fate would reveal itself rather than what she'd be doing with her life." Setsuna recalled he memories of Haruka when they were younger.

"Where is Haruka right now?" Michiru asked.

"No one knows." Setsuna informed her friend.

"That is impossible. The boys will always know. Taiki would not let her disappear like that." Michiru countered.

"You underestimate the loyalty of Haruka's people. They are nearly loyal to a fault to her. Don't forget that even till now, Haruto counts as missing and not as dead, even though we all know better but there is no proof of his death and none of the ones that know will say so, so there is that." Setsuna sighed. "There is a difference to inherited loyalty and earned loyalty. As you can imagine, Haruka has been taught all her life, to only bank on the second kind but never to take the first kind for granted. The Yamaguchis have been loyal followers of the Tenoh's for centuries and even if it was pretty much a given that every Yamaguchi would lay down their life for the Tenoh cause, with every generation, they are asked to renew their allegiance as soon as they hit puberty before they get rigourously trained to one end and one end only, to work for the Tenohs till they have taken their last breath. Every change of the family head would ask for that ceremony and every generation would oblige since they inherit that duty. No questions asked. The Nishikawas under the Kaiohs had it easier, but they are just as loyal to the Kaiohs as the Yamaguchis are to the Tenohs. Difference is that the Kaiohs never demanded a pledge of allegiance, but more were given that privilege by the ones that pursue the same goals and believe in the Kaioh leadership. Your grandfather believed strongly that loyalty could never be demanded but only be received based on shared values. All Nishikawas have the chance to do whatever they want and are never bound to follow their ancestors' footstep, but as you can see, this town is full of Nishikawas and their relatives who have entrusted themselves to your grandmother's leadership. Back when Haruka and Haruto went rogue to rescue their guys, afterwards, Haruka was gone for a long time. She was purposely captured and sold to a Russian gang, that had some beef with her due to a previous encounter, from what we gathered. She did it to give the guys a fighting chance to get out alive and as soon as I got word of that I had launched my own mission to get her back, but when I arrived in the abandoned Gulag in Siberia that was used by the people that she was sold to, I arrived at a place where clearly a massacre had taken place. Not a single living soul was left behind. It was a very distinctive mess that only Haruka could leave behind. I knew I wasn't the only one that had launched a covert rescue mission, but even after contacting every possible source of information, Haruka's whereabouts were unknown to me. Months passed and not a single sign of life of her was recorded by anyone in any network. I wasn't by far the only one but I have to admit that I was one of the ones that had already given up on her, for her own sake. Having just lost her closest living family member and returning home to a mess with all the grief that she carried in her would not be something you'd wish upon your worst enemies; besides that, it was winter. You could be a master in survival and still not survive the harsh temperatures of Siberia in that season without special gear and on the run. Then months later, it was like encountering a ghost when I went to pick up Hotaru with Kakashi, who had been heartbroken all this time, and I just saw her casually standing there in front of the Tomoe's manor. Kakashi had known the whole time what had happened to Haruto, thanks to Kakyuu, and grieved in his own silent way. But he never gave up hope on Haruka and never let either die in the system. I think I have never seen Kakashi ever happier than he had looked that day. He had always said that, unless he sees and holds her dead body, that she is alive. I trust him, so as long he has not said otherwise, that's Haruka's status." Setsuna recalled and remembered how Kakshi had fallen around Haruka's neck and just balled his eyes out as Haruka just stood there and calmly consoled her uncle.

Michiru just sat quietly next to Setsuna and looked into the fish pond that was in the back, as if to read the past and the future in the moon that was reflected on the smooth surface.

"Can you give me all relevant data on what I need to know and everything to do with our families' history, so I can read up on it again at my own pace?" Michiru asked sombre.

Setsuna took out a small chip from her phone and passed it to Michiru. "I need it back before tomorrow night and if anyone asks, you don't have it from me."

"Hmmm, we don't have much time to prepare so I will get right to it." Michiru noted.

"Yes. Things are moving faster now, but that just means we are getting closer to the real culprit." Setsuna nodded in agreement.


-Rei-

They have had all their hands full in the last few days of having to cover up Setsuna's absence from the office. Minako had learned with ease to copy the older woman's signature and referred as many high priority or authorisation matters to other head of departments to take care of while Rei prepared the Dublin meeting exactly according to Setsuna's specifications.

Both women were highly strung, but even the longest days came to an end eventually and Minako was stretching herself luxuriously after she had finished making the last calls to Ami in the research department.

"Hey, want to grab a drink before turning in?" Rei tried to ask as casually as possible as she cleaned up her desk.

"Rei, are you ok?" Minako asked her perplexed but with a light laugh in her voice.

"I am, I was just thinking we celebrate that we have now survived the third day in a row of end to end work." Rei just shrugged casually, earning herself an intrigued look from Minako.

"I can't, not tonight." Minako replied to Rei's surprise, causing her to stop putting away some papers for a moment.

"But if you like, you can join me for an Aino family dinner." Minako offered in return with a wide grin.

Rei hesitated slightly at first but then agreed after Minako insisted that her reluctance was unwarranted.

In any case, her grandfather had urged her to place a bug on Minako since their last meeting on the previous weekend and Rei had reluctantly agreed to bug her friend. Deep inside she knew that there was no way that Minako would be a mole, but her grandfather had insisted and so she had not much choice in that regard, but to obey.

"My parents are rarely around, but when they are, we try to spend as much time as possible with one another." Minako explained as they walked towards the elevators to the underground parking structure.

"I see." Rei just nodded as she tried to figure out how to do proceed with her private mission.

"Don't worry, my parents don't bite. They will like you and before you repeat yourself, no, you won't be imposing on us." Minako just continued cheerfully. "Just relax. It is just dinner and my dad is an amazing cook." Minako reassured her.

"Alright, alright I trust you, but at least let me buy something on the way to bring home to your parents." Rei just replied to calm Minako down from her excited state.

"Good idea, you can get some dessert and I grab us some nice sake. Let me message Akira-ji and ask him what we had last time." Minako got immediately busy on her phone.

"That stuff was lethal. Don't you want to go with something lighter around your parents?" Rei raised her concerns as she thought back to the last time they went to Yamaguchi's.

"Like?" Minako asked in return.

"I don't know, just something else and more appropriate maybe." Rei suggested.

"You are right. We should grab something else as well. It is only appropriate to celebrate their return." Minako grinned wider.

"I didn't mean more, but more appropriately, like a bottle of wine maybe." Rei tried to steer Minako into the right direction.

"Anything and everything is appropriate with my parents. They are pretty relaxed and liberal." Minako laughed. "But alright, just to make you feel more comfortable, I will ask dad what he is cooking and get an appropriate bottle of red for it." Minako laughed as she called her parents.

"Let me get that one and the dessert. That is the least I can do for dropping by unannounced." Rei offered but was quickly silenced with a finger on her lips by Minako.

"Dad, what's for dinner?...Sukiyaki…no, that is awesome. I will be bringing a friend. Yes, just one, so don't cook for a whole infantry unit." Minako warned her father. "No dad, seriously, just one friend, and no she insists on bringing something for dessert….Uh huh …sure… sake, fits best, right? Yea we will be over before you know it." Minako hung up and shot Rei an 'I told you so' look and Rei just sighed.

"Let me drive. I would want us to get there in one piece." Rei insisted.

"You know you won't be going home tonight then, right?" Minako asked rhetorically.

"Why?" Rei asked perplexed.

"Dad already got the sake, and if you bring dessert, he won't let you leave without having tried it." Minako explained.

"Well, I guess one won't hurt that bad." Rei just shrugged it off.

"It sounded awfully similar to the one we had last time at Yamaguchi's" Minako laughed as they entered Rei's car.


-Taiki-

He was exhausted from having to accommodate the additional Yamaguchis who suddenly decided to move to the Tenoh tower with all of their own families. Apartments needed to be unlocked, security measures needed to get adjusted, evacuation plans needed to be revised and a whole lot of people needed to be verified and added to the system. Yaten had worked tirelessly to make sure that everyone logged into the system and that there was no security weakness that would present itself with this change and made sure to double the security around the clinic and the core of the operations. The only upside to this was that Hotaru made more friends and that the Yamaguchis took care that Hotaru would get safe to Kindergarten and back, so that the little girl wasn't locked up all day getting any ideas here while still being absolutely safe.

The sun was already rising when he finally made his way back into the community area just to grab himself something to eat so his stomach would not wake him when he'd be trying to sleep in a minute. As he arrived there, he noticed that Yuuko and Yaten were already sitting in silence at opposite ends of the table, drinking coffee in a deafening silence. It was hard to tell who of the two would break the silence, with which they treated one another, first. From experience, he knew that Yaten wasn't the type to back down if confronted, but neither someone who would make the first move either. Yuuko was harder to read. When they had first met her, she was the typical friendly and warm, yet pragmatic and goal oriented kind of doctor that he would go to himself. No nonsense chit chats, but asking outright for the symptoms and asking Shinobu to get undressed for her to make her own observations. Then, during the flight and on the phone, she sounded more like the executive branch of a mob syndicate, just precise, often irritated yet made clear final decisions and orders. But here she turned absolutely cold as soon as she had spotted Yaten. Cold, unemotional and snippy at times. The only one who could read her like an open book was Satomi, but Satomi was just as difficult to read with her ever friendly manner. It was hard to tell what Satomi thought or wanted since she always smiled and was always kind. You never really knew when you were walking the thin ice or the concrete ground with her. Suppressing a sigh, Taiki just passed them both and went into the kitchen. While grabbing one of the last cup noodles and leaving a note in the system to relocate more emergency rations here, he debated with himself if he should hide here, eat his food and hope for them to leave so that he didn't need to pass them again, or if he should just take this back to his apartment. As he was debating to maybe just even sleep here, Satomi joined him.

"How long have those two been like that?" She asked him casually as she made herself a cup of tea.

"Not sure, I just got here myself." Taiki admitted while playing with the cup noodles in his hands.

"You know, you cannot live of that for longer periods of time." Satomi commented, but offered him some of the freshly boiled water anyway and he finally opened the pack for her to add it.

"I am not particularly hungry anyway. I thought I just grab a snack before bed." Taiki tried to justify his choice of nourishment as he closed the lid again to wait for the noodles to be done.

Satomi just looked at him for a moment as if she wanted to say something, but then decided against it and went to the fridge to pull out a small salad that she had ordered with the Yamaguchis' but had never touched.

"It's not poisoned and fibre is good for a healthy digestive tract." Satomi just said with a wink as she put it next to his cup noodles and went out of the kitchen to drag Yuuko without another comment out of the common area so that Taiki could eat in peace and Yaten could relax.


-Yuuko-

"I see no brain." Satomi commented after she had dragged Yuuko down to the vault.

"That was too hard to clone, also, no successful transplant was ever performed." Yuuko elaborated as she walked in between the various tanks of organs.

"But aren't you supposed to participate at the world's first head transplant some time soon?" Satomi asked.

"Yea, head transplant, not brain transplant. Anyway, that is not going to happen now." Yuuko just replied unemotional.

"You could still make it back in time." Satomi noted.

"No, I wouldn't, even if I did, there are more important matters than that." Yuuko just shrugged non-committal.

"You are nervous about the heart transplant tomorrow." Satomi stated as they came to stop in front of the five beating hearts at the very far end. On close inspection a trained eye could tell that the two on the left, beating in sync, were slightly different to the three on the right, which also beat in sync to their own rhythm.

"You know this one here, is Tomoko's and that one is Haruki's, followed by Haruto's there and Haruka's" Yuuko started to explain. "Haruka's are obviously the best match for herself, but is hers really the one that she needs?" Yuuko asked, more to herself than she did to Satomi.

"What do you mean?" Satomi asked confused.

"Haruki's is stronger than Haruka's hearts, Tomoko's has the better endurance structure and Haruto's is genetically modified to combine both of those characteristics. He needed a gene therapy early on to keep his weak body alive. Tomoko and Haruki got their sample taken as fully-grown adults, but Haruka and Haruto were still only three years old at that stage, way too small to be able to tell under which conditions and stresses these hearts would need to grow up in. Theoretically, I would transplant Haruka, a fully battle-hardened adult, a heart of a three-year-old, that has grown up in over two decades in the perfectly stress free and ideal environment. I don't know if it will be able to handle real life outside of this tank." Yuuko explained.


-Michiru-

The sun had long set and she was alone in her room in her grandmother's house. It had been a full day, with studying up, revelation after revelation piling up and suddenly many oddities in her past making sense with this new context with which she could work. She had not slept since Setsuna had given her the chip and she had been reading since. The family network, the clans, the intricate structure of main and support families was vast, but the main guardian clans had been shrinking through the decades. Not many of the original bloodlines were left but the ones that were, were deeply committed to their family vow. The best example was Setsuna. She was truly the last in her bloodline, with no one related close enough to her, to call themselves an original Meioh anymore and yet, there was no desire in her to revive the clan, but an inert drive to carry on her duty, as the future watcher of the world. A task so great that she had decided that once she would take over the agency, that she would split it up again for all the clans to do their part again and to share the load of watching and guarding the world, since she wanted to avoid them to ever fall into the chaos that had ensued after Hotaru's grandfather had died, followed shortly by her own grandfather's departure to the afterlife as well as Haruka's parents tragic demise. A wonderful thought to share the burden again, rather than to keep it so concentrated, but not one that could be made a reality while Takashi was still in sole power. From what she had learned through the files and through her grandmother, he had been consolidating a lot of power in his position, even powers, he shouldn't have. Michiru wondered how much Haruka knew of all this and since when. Even if she knew only a fraction of this, as the mediator, she would come into contact with it eventually. Mediator…Haruka had been it the whole time and not told Michiru. Michiru was annoyed with herself that she had not noticed. Usually she was better at reading people than this, but Haruka was a walking enigma that Michiru was too invested in to solve objectively. Sighing, she sat down at her rooms window and looked outside to watch the moon for a bit. She wondered if Harua was alright, what the blonde was up to and where she was. If she was watching the same moon or if she was busy with something or someone. Michiru watched the guards walking their rounds when she suddenly noticed that someone was silently standing atop the highest roof, looking up to the moon. She recognised that, in the moonlight nearly white shimmering, mob of hair. It was that familiar mess that she knew all too well from the weeks of staying in the Tenoh tower. She was just about to get up and to rush towards that figure to check if her eyes were playing a trick on her when she noticed a second, smaller, figure approaching the first and out of reflex, withdrew into the shadow of her window.

"I knew it that I would find you on the highest roof even though I told you to stay in bed." Michiru recognised her aunt's voice, but the tone was unfamiliarly strict and chiding.

"I have to go soon." A very raspy voice, laced with a thick cold answered barely audible to Michiru. Michiru strained her ears to their limits to catch the following words, but could not hear them properly for the life of her.

"You are not going anywhere. You have just arrived and you are like this. You need to get healthy first." Riko insisted vehemently at first but then sighed and asked in a more tender tone. "When's the operation?"

"Today after sunrise." The raspy response came hesitantly and Michiru could see how her aunt hugged the other person intimately and comforting.

"You know I love you right?" her aunt suddenly asked the talker person and grabbed the face with both hands tenderly.

"Since when?" the raspy but childish counter question came in response to her aunt's rhetorical question.

"Since the first time I laid eyes on you in Kindergarten." Riko chuckled and tiptoed to give the other person a kiss but the taller shadow pulled away.

"I can't, I don't want you to give you my cold." The rueful response came as the taller shadow turned their face away.

"You are my big bear, you can't give me anything that I don't want." Her aunt's confident reply came before they kissed and the taller person gave in and wrapped their arms tighter around her aunt's small waist.

'Big bear…' Michiru thought to herself, it did sound familiar, but before she could finish her thought, her aunt spoke up again.

"I will take care of the agency. Make sure to take the route that I have marked for you. It is the only one that is completely monitored by us, so no word about your presence will get to Takashi-ji." Her aunt cautioned the blonde who just nodded obediently.

"You know I only love you, right?" the sincerity in the raspy voice caused a knot to form in Michiru's chest.

"Uh huh, since when?" her aunt responded slightly mocking.

"Always." Was the raspy reply.


-Minako-

They have had a good dinner and Rei was still sleeping in her room when Minako got up from the couch and moved to the kitchen to make some coffee. It had been a good dinner with her parents. A light hearted and cheerful one where everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. She cleaned the kitchen while the coffee machine was doing its magic and put the last dishes into the dishwasher. Her parents were long gone again by the time she had woken up and it looked like that they got called to work in the middle of her mum's cleaning session. The rubber gloves were still wet and only hanging off the side of the sink when she got into the kitchen and only half of the dishes were in the dishwasher. She had explicitly told her parents to leave everything be, but as usual, no one listened to her when it came to this and so she finished what her parents had started and cleaned the rest of the kitchen from the remains of the night before.

"Good morning." Rei greeted her shortly after she was done putting everything back into its place.

"Good morning." Minako greeted back with a cup of fresh coffee which was rewarded with a grateful smile coming from Rei before she had her first sip.

"How come you're so chipper when you have had even more to drink then me." Rei complained as she rubbed her temple.

"I have my dad's genes. Alcohol doesn't get to us." Minako laughed and Rei reacted with an arched eyebrow. "Ok, ok, it does get to me, but I metabolise it over a short nap easily, unless I mix drinks" Minako explained sheepishly.

"Where are your parents?" Rei asked after the caffeine seemed to take its effects.

"They are already back at work." Minako explained.

"Oh, right. They did mention that they were event managers and that their schedule could get all over the place." Rei recalled.

"Yea, hey, want some pancakes for breakfast? I can make us some. I might not be as good as Makoto, but they are edible." Minako chuckled and Rei nodded still slightly hung over. "Great. Feel free to use the bathroom while I am in the kitchen. Fresh towels and other stuff that you might need are all in the blue cupboard in the bathroom. Just make yourself at home." Minako said cheerfully and watched Rei walking to her bathroom.

When the door closed, Minako quickly looked through Rei's bag and spotted a receiver just as suspected. So, Rei really did bug her place last night. It wasn't just some drunk illusion. Minako had to think a moment on what to do with this information. It didn't look like department issued equipment, but neither did it look like an amateur toy either. If she swept for it now, it would be too obvious, if she removed it, it would raise alarm bells as well. Deciding to pretend not to know she returned to the kitchen to make those pancakes while thinking about Rei's motives to bug her place.


-Yuuko-

Yuuko had brought two tanks with two beating hearts in it into the OR and placed them right next to Haruka. Everyone was ready for the final surgery and she took one last deep breath before they commenced the most vital surgery yet. No one spoke a single word, all knew what needed to be done. When they got to the heart, Yuuko stopped for a moment. She had seen the heavily scarred tissue before, but actually touching it, made it particularly clear to her, how heavy it actually was. It was time to make the final decision on which heart she would transplant now. There was only this one chance since if this didn't work out, the whole body might reject every other lab produced organ as well and the domino effect would lead to a quick but certain death.

"Yuuko" Satomi called out to her. From the look in her counterpart's eyes, it seemed not to be the first time the other had called her.

"Get ready to switch the machines." Yuuko just instructed Kakyuu, so that Haruka would still have blood flowing through her veins while they removed the heart.

Yuuko put the old and damaged heart into the metal bowl and reached for the tank on her left but then in the last second decided for the one that was on the right. She removed it, drained it off the blue liquid and placed it in Haruka's chest. Many well-trained stitches later, heart seemed to pump the blood well, the big moment came, the switching of the machines so that Haruka's new heart would pump real blood on its own for the first time of its life. Yuuko gave the signal and Kakyuu switched over. Suddenly the blood pressure plummeted. The heart slowed down and then stopped.


-Haruka-

She was hanging off the very steep, nearly vertical wall of the mountain that she was climbing. The fog was dense despite the strong wind that was blowing from all sides. Every limb of her hurt and her palms were getting sweaty. She could feel the grip of her fingers slipping from the sweat of her hands. There was no helping it. She was going to fall. She had no safety line and she was all on her own. She had climbed for what felt like an eternity and now it had come to this. There was no support anymore under her feet and her right hand slipped, but before she fell a strong hand reached for her right arm and pulled her up.

"What took you so long nee-san." Haruto mocked her as he pulled her over the ledge.

"I was busy." She just smirked as she caught her breath and looked at the big read temple gate that was behind him.

"You gotten heavy. Still eating candy before or even in bed?" Haruto teased her.

"None of your business what I eat before or in my bed time." Haruka chuckled.

"You look exhausted. Have a rest here." Her brother gestured to a familiar looking stone bench and they both sat down and looked down to the valley ahead of them. The fog cleared only very slowly.

"So, this is it, huh?" Haruka asked.

"This is what Haruka?" Haruto asked in return.

"Death." Haruka came to the point without hesitation.

"You sound disappointed." Haruto remarked.

"I kind of expected mum to pick me up." Haruka admitted.

"Why?" Haruto asked.

"Because she always waited for us when we came home or picked us up when she had the time." Haruka explained.

"Ah, yea. Though I thought you resented mum too much as that you'd want to see her." Haruto noted.

"How so?" Haruka asked surprised.

"Well, you never came down to the vault after we had unsealed it." Haruto recalled as Haruka leaned back and looked up into the vast sky above them.

"She left a shadow of herself there. A shadow that wasn't her but reminded me nonstop of her. I am no masochist. I don't need that incessant pain that constantly reminds me of her absence while showing me how it would be if she were still around." Haruka shrugged.

"Hmm, and now you are here." Haruto commented.

"Hmm." Haruka nodded and kept staring into the sky.

"Why did you not fight harder to stay?" Haruto asked her and she looked at him thoughtfully before she replied.

"Death is an inevitable part of life. We all face it eventually and many have faced it before us. We have been to so many funerals, even while mum and dad were still alive. So many people came and so many people went. Good people, bad people, people we have hardly known and people that took a huge part of our hearts with them when they left us. So many sacrifices for this world that does not know to appreciate it and how much we sacrificed for it. Instead of enjoying the peace that we work so hard for, so much corruption, crime, war and death. So, what do we do this all for when in the end nothing changes? We make the world go around and the world just wants to destroy itself. We all die eventually, no matter who we are and what we do in life and nothing matters then anymore. What do we work for when it all just ends in vain and is forgotten eventually?" Haruka asked her brother rhetorically.

"Remember what you always told me about the cherry blossoms?" Haruto asked her after a moment of silence.

"They're beautiful especially because they are ephemeral." Haruka sighed.

"Yes, you told me to enjoy them, no matter how short lived their beauty may be. Because you know it is only a short period of time that they will be at full bloom, you have to enjoy every single moment with them to the fullest for as long as possible. And even when they pass, the tree remains as a kind of promise that next year it might bloom again." Haruto recalled fondly

"Ah, yea. My naïve inner optimist has actually died a long time ago. I only pull up its corpse when I have to cheer up people. I have not enjoyed any blossoms in a long time." Haruka admitted. With work never really seizing, Haruka had not spend much time enjoying nature and the cherry blossom season was just so much shorter than all others, so that it wasn't always possible to appreciate it.

"Only because it passes, doesn't mean you should forgo it in all its entirety." Haruto reminded her.

"I am tired of holding what is not mine to keep. I am not the saint you make me out to be. I am selfish and have an inert desire for pleasure. I am tired to let go for the sake of others. Suppressing my desire to have something that is solely mine has worn out over time. I am also just human." Haruka smirked.

"You know, leaving isn't the hard part here. It is only the ones who stay behind that carry the burden of your departure." Haruto gave her food for thought.

"I know. You left me in quite a mess." Haruka sighed before she asked "Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt? You relieving me of my existence?" Haruto asked in return and Haruka could feel herself slightly nodding.

"You know, if it did or did not hurt, doesn't really matter here. Because in comparison to eternity, a few moments of pain fade into nothingness. You gave me something priceless. I was allowed to go fighting by your side and held in my last moments by someone who truly loves me unconditionally. You always knew that I lived on borrowed time and I got all I could every wish for." Haruto smiled gently.

The fog and clouds cleared slowly and they looked down into the valley in front of them.

It looked like Kyoto with all its temples and the Kyoto tower with the skyline that presented itself. It slowly morphed to the skyline of Berlin with its two tv towers. The smaller one was flooded in cool blue light before it morphed to a warm yellow and the skyline changed to the one of Paris.

"Interesting. I thought you hated Paris." Haruto noted.

"Still do. It is still the same city as it has ever been after all." Haruka just shrugged.

"So why waste that precious little time you have left on a city you hate?" Haruto smirked.

"Who knows." Haruka just shrugged noncommittally.

"You know, any place in this world has only as much value as the value that we give to the memories that we have made there." Haruto chuckled and Haruka just rolled her eyes as the skyline changed in front of them from one city to the next until they looked down back onto Kyoto.

Haruto stood up from the stone bench and walked up to the edge of the plateau on which they stood and looked down onto the peaceful city beneath them.

"We made pretty good memories down there, didn't we?" he asked Haruka who joined him on the ledge.

"Yea. We spent most of our free childhood time there. Kakashi would take us hiking or Akira would take us fishing. Or we'd just get spoiled rotten by our baa-chans." Haruka thought fondly back to both of her grandmothers who doted on them every time they got the chance to do so.

"Did you take Hotaru to all of our childhood places?" Haruto asked her.

"Almost all. I can't take her hiking over several days yet. She is too little for that right now." Haruka told him.

"I am sorry." Haruto suddenly blurted out.

"For?" Haruka asked surprised.

"For not telling you that Hotaru is ours." Haruto admitted.

"Oh, I knew from the start that she is a Tenoh. What did mum always say about us? 'No other baby could be so stubborn when it wants something'." Haruka recalled laughing.

"I wonder if she will grow up with enough love." Haruto said thoughtfully as he looked into the distance.

"You don't think that I would leave things unarranged for her. Setsuna and Kakyuu love her as if she were their own flesh and blood and you forgot about Atsuko-baa. She and Akira dote on her just as much as we got doted over when we were her age." Haruka reassured him.

"But a parent's love is still something else." Haruto reminded and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I know." Haruka admitted with defeat.

"You are a good father to her, you know?" He told her and Haruka didn't know how to respond for a moment.

"You would have made a better one. You are her real father after all." Haruka tried to laugh the matter away.

"You know what is mine is yours." Haruto reminded her.

"Not entirely true. I would say, Sayuri was always yours and never mine. So, you are her real father." Haruka chuckled.

"Hmmm, maybe you are right and as her real father it is my duty to do all in my might that I can for my daughter." Haruto said thoughtfully.

"She knows how much you love her. I made sure to tell her how much you loved her." Haruka recalled.

"But I never told her that I loved her." Haruto argued.

"Yes, yes you did. Just after she was born. You held her in your arms and told her how much you loved her." Haruka reminded him.

"You know the funny thing about love? We never say it to the people that we truly do love. I missed my chance with Sayuri so many times." Haruto recalled ruefully.

"But now she is here with you, you can tell her every moment that you wish to tell her." Haruka countered.

"But what time was wasted, needing to wait for her to come here for me to tell her. If I just would have had the courage, things might have gone very differently." Haruto answered.

"Hmm, maybe." Haruka just nodded as the mood had turned and she could feel that it was time.

She turned around to face the big red gate while her brother still had his gaze affixed onto Kyoto.

"Shall we?" Haruka asked him and he didn't turn away from what he was looking but instead stopped her from going anywhere.

"You know, it is a father's duty to look after his daughter even more so than his son." Haruto suddenly said out of the blue.

"How so?" Haruka asked surprised.

"Because the world is an ugly place and only a father can protect his daughter from it." Haruto said resolutely.

"I don't think…" Haruka started her rebuttal was interrupted by her brother.

"You know, only you can teach Hotaru all she needs to know to survive in this ugly world." Haruto continued.

"Hotaru is in good hands, as we were when mum and dad left us behind." Haruka tried to reassure him again.

"Do you remember where dad kept his walking stick?" Haruto suddenly asked her.

"Locker 68 if I am not wrong." Haruka tried to recall. "Why do you suddenly want to know that?" Haruka asked in return.

"Because you will need it. We will always be here, waiting for you, but the storm that is brewing needs its true master to command it back into order." Haruto just said cryptically as he looked her deep into her eyes.

She saw her reflection in his eyes and wondered what he meant by it, but before she could say more, he put his hand on her chest and pushed her over the edge of the mountain while saying. "Mum and dad want you to know that we love you and that we are always with you."

Haruka could feel how she was falling rapidly, with the last thing that she could hear him faintly scream after her. "You show Hotaru how much I love her and don't you dare to come back here any time soon."


-Kakyuu-

It had been a long surgery with many unexpected complications but now Haruka was back in her room. Machines still attached for the worst-case scenario, but technically Haruka was not dead yet. And that was the only thing that mattered to Kakyuu at this stage as she rested her head tiredly on Haruka's bed. She was exhausted and at her wits end.

"Water" a small whimper could suddenly be heard and Kakyuu jumped up.

Haruka attempted a faint smile under the oxygen mask that she was wearing and Kakyuu suddenly started to cry from joy and utter exhaustion.

"Not that kind of water Kaki. I need water to drink." Haruka chuckled.

"Welome home, idiot." Kakyuu just smirked through her tears.