-Haruka-

She had just finished the last cucumber sandwich and had another cup of tea when Belinda came back, fully clad in leather.

"Wow." Haruka's glasses slipped a bit and she needed to readjust them.

"Well, thank you." Belinda smirked. "I am glad I can still surprise even if you have seen me, like this, many times before."

"And I have to say, you are like good wine, getting better each time. I hope Sam knows what a lucky woman she is." Haruka caught herself and grinned.

"Oh, she knows." Belinda winked. "Ready to meet your sponsor?"

"Yep." Haruka got up and grabbed her cane.

They took the elevator back down to the underground level and walked through a well lit hallway to one of the other houses where they took an elevator back to ground level.

After they exited, they were greeted by a whole array of women who were dressed with everything ranging from latex to leather and silk.

"Business seems to be going well." Haruka commented as she walked behind Belinda and glanced the various women appreciatively up and down.

"Of course, it is. The more uptight a society, the bigger the urge for some release. I even got some of the boys to join the fun." Belinda commented.

They walked past several doors until they reached an intimidating black leather covered door. Inside an old man, with silver grey hair and slightly overweight, was being prepped by two of the 'boys' that Belinda had mentioned earlier.

His back was turned to them as he was stripped down to his tighty whities and leather paws were fastened to his hands and feet.

"You two can go out for a moment." Belinda addressed the other two men who weren't wearing anything besides very tight-fitting leather shorts and Haruka was genuinely wondering if those weren't maybe a bit too tight as they walked past them and out of the door.

The old man turned around and looked at her slightly confused, with a yearning glance towards the leather dog mask that was laid out ready on the small side table.

"Bernhard, we need to talk business before we get down to play time." Belinda informed him and Bernard started to frown.

"What is it this time?" Bernhard asked with a scowl.

Belinda stepped aside so that he could see Haruka and Haruka could see how the penny dropped in his mind.

"This might upset some of the new applicants." He said in low voice.

"And does the sitting chairman of the conglomerate really care for the approval of some newbies?" Belinda asked him rhetorically

"No." Bernhard replied resolute.

"Then it is settled." Belinda reached for the dog masked and pulled it over the man's head and fastened it at the back. "This is my good boy." Belinda rewarded Bernhard with a scratch under the chin and the man got down on his knees and growled with satisfaction.

"Haruka, my dear, you can go and see Joy now. Just ask one of the girls to show you the way." Belinda instructed the blonde without taking her eyes off her client who whimpered for her attention and Haruka just nodded and left the room.

Outside she looked around for someone who wasn't busy with a client and bumped into a lady, wearing all white silks with a particular intriguing garter arrangement and Haruka made a mental note to ask Belinda where she sourced all these clothes.

"Like what you see?" The black-haired woman asked with a mischievous smile on her lips.

"Can you blame me?" Haruka asked in return with an unapologetic grin.

"Depends. Would you want me to?" The woman replied with a playful glint in her eyes.

"I would definitely not say no to the offer, but I am here to see Joy." Haruka apologised.

"Ah, you are Belinda's special friend, Tenoh, right?" The woman asked with apprehension.

"Yes, nice to meet you, and you are?" Haruka returned the question.

"Jennifer, nice to meet the fabled unicorn that Joy always talks about. Come this way." Jennifer chuckled.

"Unicorn?" Haruka was puzzled, but Jennifer just led the way through different doors to a plain white door and knocked.

"Come in." a sweet voice answered and Jennifer opened the door for Haruka to step through.

"You brought a guest Jennifer?" A dark blonde girl sitting on the other side of the desk asked.

"Yes, she has." Haruka answered with a low chuckle.

"Haruka!" Joy shrieked with delight and stood up.

"Just stay there, I come to you." Haruka offered and walked towards the other women and hugged her tight.

"It is good to hold you again." Joy said happily as she wrapped her arms around the taller blonde.

"Yes, it is good to hold you again, too." Haruka replied as Joy reached for her face to trace it.

"You are wearing glasses now?" Joy asked as she felt the frame.

"Yes." Haruka replied and patiently let the other trace the rest of her head.

"Your hair is still SO fluffy." Joy exclaimed with childlike excitement.

"Unicorn." Jennifer snickered. "I leave you two to it. If you need anything Joy, don't forget to press the buzzer." Jennifer reminded Joy.

"Will do." Joy replied before the other left the room and closed the door behind her.

"How have you been Joy?" Haruka asked the blind woman who carefully sat down on her chair again after they finished their customary hug.

"I have been good. And you?" Joy asked in return.

"I am good." Haruka replied.

"Hurt your left leg?" Joy continued to ask.

"There is nothing that I can hide from you, can I?" Haruka chuckled.

"Well, you can always try. I am blind after all." Joy smirked.

"But you are one of the most attentive minds that I know." Haruka countered.

"You have not come here to just shower me with compliments, have you? If so, keep them coming. My ego enjoys every boost that it can get." Joy grinned unabashed.

"Hahaha, as if you needed that." Haruka chuckled. "I have come to ask you for a second opinion." Haruka pulled out her phone and connected her headphones to it. "Listen to this and tell me if you recognise anyone on there." Haruka explained as she carefully put the earbuds into Joy's ears.

Joy stayed quiet and listened attentively to what Haruka was playing for her.

"Is that you as a child? You sound so adorable. Oh and there is your brother, right?" Joy asked for confirmation as she started to listen to the recording.

"Yep, I was so young and innocent." Haruka sighed theatrically.

"Haruka, we both know that you were never innocent." Joy chuckled and kept on focusing on the recording "I hear your dad, your mum and…." Joy paused and Haruka held her breath. "I heard this voice before, but he is not one of Belinda's clients or Sam's patients…" Joy commented "He had interrupted various of Belinda's clients while they made bookings though." Joy explained as she took the ear buds out of her ears again when the recording had finished.

"Ok,…I suspected as much…" Haruka commented pensively.

"Why don't you just run it through the voice recognition database?" Joy suggested.

"I have, but I got no conclusive hits." Haruka admitted, "My ears aren't as sharp as yours, but I suspect that that guy either works for or is in the conglomerate." Haruka shared her suspicion.

"He probably is." Joy agreed. "All the people that I heard him in the background of are in one way or another connected with the conglomerate."


-Setsuna-

They had finally arrived in Dublin and everyone was busy setting up the security systems and measures within the given perimeters. The local agency division headed by Lachlan had joined Minako and Makoto in their endeavour to keep the whole meeting save, while Rei and Ami made sure that Setsuna would stay safe if all measures would fail.

Setsuna made herself comfortable in her room and started to take out her laptop to review a few documents when her phone suddenly rang.

"Evening Setsuna-chan" Riko's voice came through the phone as she picked up.

"Evening Riko-ba-chan" Setsuna replied.

"How are things on your side?"Riko asked easily.

"Everything running as planned." Setsuna reported. "How about your side?"

"Ahead of schedule. Make sure when he calls, to squeeze as many favours and commitments out of him as possible. He seems positively smitten." Riko chuckled.

"Will do. Do you need anything else?" Setsuna asked in return.

"No. I got everything in order here." Riko replied. "Just give me a heads up when we have what we want."

"Will do." Setsuna replied.


-Kakyuu-

She was downstairs in Sam's impressive laboratory and observed how the older woman let the small device, that she had taken out of Seiya, be taken apart by skilfully manoeuvring robotic arms inside a sealed room to avoid any contamination or contraction of the poison.

"This is really great equipment that you have upgraded to since the last time that I had been here." Kakyuu commented.

"You should see what I have planned for the other room, once the extension is finished." Sam chuckled.

As every component was put into a separate container and catalogued while the structure was meticulously recorded, Kakyuu made mental notes on what she would ask Haruka for this Christmas.

"Don't order these." Sam suddenly said. "This is old tech. From what I hear from the Sora Industry research department, better tech is coming out really soon and you know your lab will be the first to try it out." Sam chuckled.

"I didn't know that you are in such close contact with them." Kakyuu commented surprised.

"I got to stay up to date if I don't want to miss out on things. Also, technically Haruka does sign my pay checks so I need to report back all the technical matters at least. Not that they ask me to, I just feel obligated to contribute to science." Sam chuckled and Kakyuu nodded knowingly.

The Sora Industries was a big and complicated structure that the Tenohs had built over generations and it had only become more convoluted, but also more technically advanced with the restructuring that Haruka's father had conducted. Technically, all of Haruka's assets, herself and Sam included, were in one way or another employed by Sora Industries in the 'tech', research or development department. How many there were, Kakyuu doubted that even Haruka truly knew.

Before Kakyuu could dwell any longer on her thoughts, Sam started to point excitedly at her screen.

"Look at this magnificent nerve toxin." She pointed at the molecular structure of the poison that the machines had analysed. "I know I shouldn't be saying this, but you got to give it to whomever made this, they truly know their craft." Sam nodded in reverie. "Now we just have to come up with an even better antidote." Sam's eyes sparkled with anticipation.

"It looks pretty complex. This won't be an easy feat." Kakyuu commented with a deep frown. "It must have been hard to synthesise in the first place and what does it actually do?" Kakyuu asked.

"From the structure I am going to assume that it docks on to your nervous system and causes havoc there, if it is efficient your heart will stop. If it is cruel, it will target your lungs and let you suffocate, if it is evil, it will 'just' mush your brain and leave you comatose. But that is all just suspicions." Sam elaborated.

"I better go to Haruka and tell her not to take this stuff so lightly. Heavens know what could have happened to any of us if the trigger mechanism had worked." Kakyuu replied a bit paler.

"While you are at it, tell her that I cannot make an antidote straight away, I will have to order a few more things to get started on that." Sam advised Kakyuu.

"Will do" Kakyuu replied before she left the laboratory and made her way to Haruka.

She walked into Haruka's room and found the blonde asleep in one of the leather chairs facing the window, her glasses lopsided on her nose, her hand on her phone, her earbuds in her ears.

The matter of getting used to glasses so that she would not look like that, that she just had gotten them, was something that Haruka still needed to work on, was what Kakyuu was thinking as she removed them carefully.

She knew that Haruka had not slept much or adequately since they had left Japan and therefore, she didn't want to wake up the blonde. Instead, she pressed the button to the side of the chair and made it recline before she grabbed a blanket from the nearby couch and covered Haruka with it. Carefully she removed the earbuds and checked what Haruka was listening to. It was again the recording of the last phone call she had ever shared with her parents before their death.

The twins had played their parents their latest piano piece and their parents were showering them with love and praise for their effort and achievement. It half angered her and half broke her heart that Haruka listened to that nearly religiously since she had found that recording in between of Haruto's old things.

It was Haruka who avoided all the mementos as recordings of their parents like the pest while Haruto was still alive and now she was practically glued to it. Maybe she was catching up on some grieving, Kakyuu thought to herself as she sighed and put the phone onto the table next to the chair. She proceeded to take a reading of the chip that she had implanted just under Haruka's collar bone. Heart rate was stable and lungs functioned as to be expected. She proceeded to prick Haruka lightly on her bare forearm and ran the blood sample thought her diagnosis tool. Liver and kidneys seemed to be doing fine as well. She quickly passed on those details to Yuuko and then put her own phone away again, before she sat down next to Haruka on the free chair and looked out to the night sky.

Suddenly Haruka's phone's screen lit up. 'News alert: Come back of the year: Michiru Kaioh's special gallery exhibition will open in Paris in three days' was the headline that was displayed on the screen before it went back into battery saving mode.


-Seiya-

Since they had arrived in London, everyone was busy with something, except him and maybe Kakashi. It had always been hard to tell with him if he was busy or just slacking off.

Taiki was busy catching up on Sora Industry matters.

Yaten was busy monitoring the Tenoh Tower and keeping an eye on the daily news feed of the globe and the underworld to summarise it for Haruka at the end of the day.

Kakyuu was bunkered up in the laboratories with Sam and working on the antidote from sunrise to sunset.

Kenji had flown to Dublin to join Setsuna in the preparations for some meeting and Haruka...

Well, she was there for breakfast then disappeared into thin air and generally returned for dinner.

Seiya was positively antsy as he paced around the living quarters that had been given to them and bumped into Kakashi who sat in the living room on a couch by the window, reading a newspaper, while his brothers sat nearby in the dining, busy staring at the screens of their laptops.

"If you don't sit down, you will wear out the nice carpet." Kakashi commented as Seiya entered, without looking up from the newspaper.

"We have been here for almost three full days and we are not doing anything." Seiya stated frustration.

"Correction. YOU aren't doing anything, because you are supposed to rest up and get well enough so that you can be of some use again. WE are all doing something " Kakashi replied with a dry chuckle.

"I am fine. I am all mended and good again." Seiya argued.

"You aren't, according to medical assessment. So, sit down and relax." Kakashi replied unphased.

"Like you are?" Seiya retorted.

"I am keeping up with the news and enjoying my suspension. Unlike you, I am on forced vacation, so I make the most of it and relax a bit. Who knows when I get that again when I get back to work." Kakashi just shrugged casually.

"You are pretty confident that you will get your post back." Seiya noted with a sceptical eyebrow raised.

"What can I say, I am engaged to the second in command and she won't leave me out to hang unless she needs me for something else." Kakashi replied nonchalant as he turned over a page.

"When did that happen?" Seiya replied genuinely surprised.

"And this is why you should keep up to date with the news." Kakashi chuckled.

Seiya sat down frustrated on the chair opposite to Kakashi and sighed.

"If you have so much spare energy to sigh around, why don't you go to Belinda and ask if you can work it off with someone." Kakashi smirked.

"Yea, no. Belinda and her girls don't provide happy endings, but that is beside the point. If I wanted to get tortured, I would just go and train under Haruka's supervision and I am not into pain." Seiya refused the suggestion.

"Suit yourself." Kakashi just chuckled.

Then Seiya got an idea.

"Hey, Kakashi-ji." He called for Kakashi's attention again.

"Changed your mind?" Kakashi grinned sly behind the newspaper.

"No." Seiya replied adamant. "But since you apparently know everything. Can I ask you something?"

"Not sure if you can and not sure if I will have the answer that you seek, but go ahead" came a disinterested half nod from Kakashi.

"Who sponsored me into the second chance program?" He asked Kakashi who lowered his newspaper.

"Why do you want to know?" Kakashi asked with a frown.

"Well, I know that Taiki got sponsored by Haruto, but there is still me and Yaten who got into the second chance program and I know there is a limit of one person that can be sponsored per agent, so who sponsored me? You are all knowing after all." Seiya replied challengingly.

"There is a reason why the sponsored isn't supposed to know who sponsored him. You are not supposed to be loyal to your sponsor, but to the cause of the agency." Kakashi replied evenly.

"We are not in the agency anymore." Seiya countered and noticed how Yaten suddenly listened up while his eyes were still focused on the screen.

"Even so. That knowledge might taint your loyalties." Kakashi replied.

"Not possible. I know whom I am loyal to. Haruka gave us all the chances we needed to get where we are now. I would not betray that. Never." Seiya said resolute.

"Those are pretty big words coming from a serial deserter." Kakyuu chuckled as she joined them. "Has anyone seen Haruka?" she asked as she looked around the room.

"She is not here." Kakashi stated the obvious.

"Do you know when she returns?" Kakyuu asked unimpressed.

"When she comes back." Kakashi smirked and Kakyuu rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Kakyuu, do you know who sponsored me?" Seiya asked the red-haired doctor.

"Why do you want to know?" Kakyuu asked him in surprise. "Does it even matter anymore? You are here now."

"I am bored and I just want to know." Seiya looked at Kakyuu imploringly.

"Fine." Kakashi suddenly replied. "Kakyuu should have better things to do than to answer your questions. Setsuna sponsored you on Haruka's request."

"That makes sense." Seiya nodded. "So Haruka sponsored Yaten. Yaten was the first one of us who got sponsored into the program even though he was just a teen after all."

"How does that make any sense?" Kakyuu suddenly asked. "I am the one who sponsored Yaten because Haruka said that she needed to extend hers to someone who needed a lot more support to be admitted into the program and he would be least likely to cause me problems. You have to know that a sponsor gets punished just as harsh when the sponsored screwed up. After all, a sponsor is putting their reputation and career on the line for the sponsored. If that was not you, then who did she sponsor?"

"Don't look at me. I didn't need to be sponsored." Kakashi just shrugged playfully.

"Wait, there would be consequences for the sponsor if the sponsored screwed up?" Seiya asked shocked.

"Sure. You just didn't know about since you didn't stay long enough to qualify as sponsor. Whatever the sponsored got as punishment, the sponsor would receive tenfold. That is supposed to encourage the sponsor to make a wise choice. The agency spends a lot of resources in training you up after all. You got all always collective punishments to remember that your choices affected more than just you, so that covered for us sponsors to ever have to come out, but we would get punished behind the scenes. Not that Yaten ever stepped over the line, or at least got caught doing so officially." Kakyuu winked at the silver haired man who blushed behind his screen.

"Makes sense." Seiya mumbled and thought back to his time in the agency.

"No, seriously. Who did she sponsor into the second chance program?" Kakyuu turned her attention back to Kakashi.

"Does it matter, you are all here now." Kakashi quoted her unapologetically.


-Michiru-

She sat at dinner with her aunt and Elsa on their last night in Venice before they would be heading to Paris.

The waiter came to ask them if they wanted anything for dessert as he cleared their table of the main course and Riko ordered an espresso, while Elsa ordered herself a tiramisu and Michiru joined her on that.

"No Crème Brulee today or just saving it for when we are in Paris?" Elsa mocked her.

"Why you ask?" Michiru feinted ignorance.

"You have been almost always ordering it when it was on the menu." Elsa chuckled.

"Are you trying to say that I should watch my weight?" Michiru chuckled.

"Hahaha, oh no, not at all. I just don't remember you being a sweet tooth at all when we were still at school." Elsa laughed.

"I have been working hard, a little treat every now and then should be fine." Michiru replied aloof.

Michiru had to admit that she had noticed that about herself a while ago, a habit that she must have picked up at the Tenoh tower, where Haruka would have one almost every other day, if Kakyuu wouldn't stop her.

"I envy you for your young and active metabolism so much. I don't think it would pass me without consequences if I had a piece of tiramisu now." Riko joined the conversation.

"I don't believe that at all, Riko-san. If anything, I envy your metabolism. Mine would definitely not cope with that big steak that you had earlier." Elsa argued.

"I need that protein in case I still grow taller and need the muscles to support that extra weight." Riko chuckled. "By the way Michi-chan, your phone has been blinking a lot in your handbag. I am not one to encourage phone use at the dinner table, but whomever is trying to get in touch with you seems pretty persistent." Riko added with a glance towards her handbag.

Michiru looked at her companions apologetically before she pulled out her phone.

"Wait! Let me guess, the sender is a tall handsome man with dark hair and square jaws along with a pretty chiselled body and his name starts with …. a D." Elsa had her eyes covered with one hand and the other hovering like a fortune teller over Michiru's phone.

She was right. Six messages alone in the last hour.

"Indeed. You are amazing Elsa. If journalism doesn't work out for you, you should really consider clairvoyance and predicting the lottery numbers." Michiru joked.

"So, what does he say?" Riko asked with a smirk.

"He just reminded me that I agreed to have dinner and some shopping with him when we get to Paris and asked me about the restaurants that I have been to already." Michiru summarised the texts.

"Have you been to Paris a lot?" Elsa asked curious.

"Oh, I have only been there for a few recitals." Michiru recalled.

"Oh, so you have already tasted all the good places and seen all that is worthwhile. Daniel really has his worked cut out if he wants to impress. But you know what? Seeing it with someone special might open a totally new perspective on things." Elsa nudged Michiru.

"You are coming along. If I am getting dragged to sightseeing then so will you." Michiru chuckled.

"Huh? Not possible. I have been asked from so many art magazines to write articles. I got so much work to catch up on." Elsa refused.

"How about you Riko-ba-chan. You won't leave me alone tomorrow, are you?" Michiru asked her aunt who had a glint of a smirk on her lips.

"I have to manage the opening of your exhibition for the day after. You just go and have fun." Riko chuckled. "You will get your own driver for the day though, so you will not really be alone and can ditch him whenever you want to." Riko winked.


-Yaten-

Haruka had called in a family meeting in the living room was already there except Haruka and Seiya.

They arrived shortly after Yaten and Haruka sat down at the head of the table while Seiya sat down opposite to her.

"As you might have already suspected, tomorrow night I will be joining the conglomerate." Haruka announced without much introduction. Kakashi and Taiki frowned deeply.

"Is that not a bit too much exposure?" Yaten cautiously raised the issue.

"I am taking my father's honorary seat, that gives me only veto rights on all matters and direct access to the conglomerate's network. I won't be making any executive decisions. I know that that will put the same bull's eye that my father had on his back squarely on my forehead, but I need that access to find whomever has been trying to kill me all this time. It is not like I am not being targeted already anyway. This is your chance to pull out though. You know what it means if I join the conglomerate. If I am in, you are in, because I will have to make it official to them who is and who isn't working in my inner circle. You will receive the same safety and danger that I am and I completely understand if you are not up for it." Haruka looked at each of them and her eyes lingered on Seiya a moment longer than the others. "I would say, just sleep the night on it, we will resume this conversation after breakfast." Haruka suggested but before she could end the meeting by just standing up and walking away, Kakashi chuckled.

"We are bound by blood. There is nothing to be asked. I have your back in this life and the next." He smirked.

"Yea, you don't need to think about it, they do. The rest might want to take some time to think." Haruka smirked right back.

"No need for me. I am staying by your side." Kakyuu announced steadfast. "I respect anyone who is leaving, but I am not going to." Kakyuu looked resolutely in Haruka's direction, who just smirked.

"Same here." Taiki nodded unwavering.

"You don't have to ask me twice." Yaten joined in.

"Well, it is settled then." Seiya concluded and Haruka proceeded to produce four white boxes on the table.

"I know it is not big or flashy like the others may have, but it should be useful for when you need it." She explained as she handed Kakyuu who sat to her right the first box. The box was just a simple black lacquered wooden box with the signature moon crescent of the jeweller who made the its contents.

When Yaten received his, he carefully opened it to see what was inside.

It was a necklace with a pendant with the Tenoh family seal prominently worked into it, like a more elegant version of a soldier's dog tag, made of platinum with all of them having their initials on the other side. Just Kakyuus was worked more elegantly into an oval shape, containing a prominent, yet tasteful ruby and the chain seemed more delicate.

"Hey, what about me?" Kakashi mockingly expressed his outrage for being left out.

"We are bound by blood." Haruka chuckled. "And you will receive the Meioh seal of approval soon enough. Also, with your global reputation, you don't need any seal to exert authority." Haruka chuckled.


-Michiru-

As promised, Michiru was assigned a driver and given the number of the driver, so that she would be picked up anywhere and anytime if she just called and let it ring or dropped it a text. The driver was mute according to her aunt but could read lips if you spoke clearly and faced him. His brown beard was cleanly trimmed and his eyes behind the grey tinted glasses seemed very sharp.

"Don't worry. Arthur is a good friend of mine and will look after you well. Not that I think that you cannot defend yourself." Riko had told her this morning when she introduced them.

For some reason, Arthur looked very familiar to Michiru and yet something seemed to be off, but she had no to time to think about her gut feeling, she had to focus on her 'date'.

Daniel's face lit up when he saw her exiting the car and the pit in Michiru's stomach wanted throw up her brunch, but her face displayed nothing but serene bliss.

"Good afternoon Michiru..-san" Daniel added as he saw how Arthur looked at him grimly.

Even though Arthur seemed to be lighter built and, in comparison to Daniel, and rather androgynous, Arthur's presence left no space for disrespect.

"Good afternoon Daniel-san." Michiru replied before she turned to Arthur. "We will just be going down the Champs Elysees and shop a bit and then I will call you to drive us to dinner." Michiru explained to Arthur.

"Oh, you don't have to drive us, we can just take a taxi." Daniel offered, but Arthur seemed solely focused on Michiru.

"You have to look at him if you want to tell him something. He is deaf and does lip reading." Michiru explained to Daniel before she looked back at Arthur and smiled gently. "I will text you when we are ready to go to dinner." Michiru told Arthur and reassuringly squeezed his upper arm and Arthur just nodded obediently before he got back into the car and drove off.

"So, let's go." Michiru encouraged Daniel and went ahead of him.

"Where to?" He asked.

"I thought you wanted to go shopping." Michiru reminded him.

"I thought that would be something you'd enjoy." Daniel voiced his thoughts.

Something she would enjoy? Michiru enjoyed walks at the beach, painting, making music, but shopping definitely didn't belong to the enjoyment that she would go out on a date on, she thought to herself.

"Well then, let's see what we can find. I might need a new perfume anyway. I am running low on mine." Michiru announced.

"What coincidence. So am I. I know this really good store that has a really big variety." Daniel replied excited and lead her down the Champs Elysees to a big Perfumery. They were greeted by two well dressed women and immediate asked what they were looking for.

Michiru didn't mind experimenting and so she got persuaded to try a few new perfumes and settled down with a new fragrance that just came out from some designer.

When it was Daniel's turn, the selection was a lot smaller, but Daniel was very enthused to try something new as well and so got into a deep conversation with the sales assistant, while Michiru browsed the various bottles of cologne for men. Suddenly she smelled something familiar and she nearly moved her head too fast back that she could have injured her neck.

Another sales assistant was spraying a sample of a cologne almost too familiar to Michiru for another customer. The sandalwood notes mixed with the cardamom and lavender made it distinct and yet something was missing. When the sales assistant moved to another scent, Michiru picked up the familiar dark blue bottle that she had seen so often in blonde's wardrobe and took herself a sample.

It was a good scent, but the person that usually wore it in her presence was missing and that missing factor made her heart yearn.

"Should I give that one a try?" Daniel called her out of her thoughts.

"First, I thought that you should maybe give this a try, but now that I smell it again, maybe not." Michiru replied uncommitted, but the sales assistant already gave Daniel a sample that he rubbed onto his skin and then offered to Michiru to smell.

Obligingly she leaned to smell his forearm but she couldn't suppress a light frown. No, this didn't smell right. On his skin the musk note was becoming unbearable.

"Yea, maybe something else. Something with less lavender" Michiru suggested.

Daniel looked disappointed and so Michiru grabbed a random expensive bottle of perfume and asked him to try that one instead while discretely sliding her sample into her handbag.


-Seiya-

They were driven by Simon, one of Belinda's men, to a mansion just outside of London. The sun had set a long time ago and the streets got progressively more deserted.

Haruka was sitting next to him, her eyes closed, her complexion relaxed.

Simon pulled through a big iron gate and daunting feeling that Seiya experienced in his stomach didn't get any better. The new chain around his neck felt heavy and unfamiliar but it still calmed him to have it.

As the car stopped Haruka straightened up and waited patiently for someone to open them the door.

A young man in a stiff formal uniform opened them the door and they got out to face a big old mansion that was dimly lit.

"This way please." The young man went ahead and led them through the big, heavy wooden doors.

Inside they were met by a security check and two Dobermans started to approach Haruka.

The blonde looked at them in her usual unfased manner and the dogs lay down obediently as she motioned with her hand for them to lie down.

A mischievous smirk crossed Haruka's lips for a moment before she caressed the dogs under their chins.

"You have very well trained dogs there." She commented to their handler who couldn't hide his pride and stood up straighter.

Haruka took off her glasses and went through the body scan ahead of Seiya.

The rhythmic clicking of Haruka's cane against the marble flooring was nearly hypnotic to Seiya and the calm that Haruka exuded permeated him. He was her right hand tonight in the lion's den. He couldn't afford to drop his vigilance due to his nerves.

It was his turn to walk through and he could see how the light switched from green to orange to indicate the scanning process.

Haruka was standing on the other side, already talking to an older, heavier set, man and they both seemed to exchange simple pleasantries.

Seiya glimpsed up to the orange lit lamp. This was taking a bit too long for his taste and so he focused back on Haruka. The old man had now a grim expression on his face, but Haruka just nodded serenely to whatever he was telling her and then he finally stepped away from her.

Just then the light turned green and Seiya could step out of the body scanner.

"That took you long enough." Haruka chuckled.

"Yea, they must have mistaken my endowment for a weapon." Seiya replied dry.

"Ready?" Haruka asked him as she readjusted her glasses.

"Ready." He confirmed and they walked into the ballroom together.

Plenty of people were already there, even familiar ones. Caiden Warwick was standing towards the back of the room as they made a short eye contact and he nodded in their direction as sign of acknowledgement.

More people came and the room filled itself to the point where it got nearly uncomfortable. There was a tension in the air and the chatter rose. Tonight would be the initiation ritual for all new members, so sponsors as well as the sponsored were nervous to see who would be the last one to be admitted this year.

Seiya spotted Hiroko in the crowd and nudged Haruka.

"Interesting." Was all the blonde had time to say before Hiroko came their way with Kitae being her shadow.

"Fancy seeing you here Tenoh." Hiroko greeted.

"Fancy seeing you here Chiba. Haruka replied with a smirk.


-Michiru-

"You really didn't have to call your driver." Daniel reminded her as they sat in the back of the car that her aunt had assigned to Michiru and were driven to the restaurant to which Daniel had given Arthur the address to earlier.

"My aunt is very specific on how I get around." Michiru just replied unperturbed.

"She is not completely wrong for being concerned for you." Daniel concurred.

"Oh? How so?" Michiru asked with a playful tone.

"You have had a lot of exposure with your art, it is only natural that a time will come that fans might swarm you and that you need a getaway driver then." Daniel surmised jokingly and Michiru just chuckled.

"I don't think I am that famous." Michiru waved off.

"If Elsa were here, she would side with me." Daniel replied.

"Do you want me to call her?" Michiru smirked.

"No." Daniel replied, realising a millisecond too late that reply was a bit too forceful and Michiru just giggled as he blushed.

"I mean, it was very hard to get a reservation in the restaurant that we are going to. I have been in contact for them for weeks and only by pulling strings, I managed to reserve a table for two, not three." He tried to justify himself.

"Oh, so this top secret restaurant is also very popular, how could it possibly be secret then?" MIchiru asked him to fill the time that they had to spend in the car together with something that didn't remind her of the blonde as they drove through familiar streets where the trees were shedding their autumn foliage in the light of the street lights.

"It is a secret to the broad public since it is not really listed anywhere and their reservation schedule is full for the next 19 months since their food is said to be amazing among the people who know their food well, so no one from the broad public would be able to suddenly walk in there and get a meal." Daniel explained with a hint of pride.

"And you managed to get us a table on such a short notice." Michiru stated impressed to stroke his ego a bit.

"I had a bit of help." Daniel admitted sheepishly as Arthur pulled around a corner and came to a halt.

"So, I need to thank your 'help' then for tonight's dinner?" Michiru joked and Daniel was caught speechless, but before he could reply anything, Arthur had opened the door for Michiru and Michiru stepped out in front a very familiar looking restaurant.

"It might not look like much from the outside, but the food is amazing." Daniel reassured her, but Michiru already knew how amazing it was.

As they stepped through the black door, they were greeted by Andre who didn't even look up from his reservation book where he noted another reservation from someone who had just called.

"Name, Monsieur?" Andre just asked with half an eye on Daniel.

"Ferguson" Daniel replied.

"Ah, table for two." Andre replied disinterested as he looked up properly again from the book and noticed Michiru standing right next to Daniel.

Andre's reaction was hard to read. It was a mixture of shock and French blasé as he called over a waiter, who would lead them to their table and gave them their menus. The table that they got assigned was in the middle of the restaurant and Michiru felt slightly exposed here.

It was not like that cosy table that Haruka and her had shared the last time that she had been here. Given that they were close to the kitchen last time, it was by no means a bad table like they usually are when you sit near the kitchen in any restaurant, but rather cosy. Tactically seen it was the perfect table, with the sight over the whole restaurant without being in anyone's line of sight, except the waiting staff and a quick exit through the kitchen if needed. But was that really what Michiru was thinking about now? Was she really thinking like the agent she was trained to be or was she thinking of the blonde that sat opposite to her the last time that she was here.

Was she thinking of Alex or Haruka?

"Which one do you prefer?" Daniel asked and called her back into the present.

"Hmm?" Michiru looked up from her menu.

"Do you prefer a red or a white wine?" Daniel repeated himself.

"I think I will be having the duck and the mushroom soup as entree, so I would go for the red." Michiru replied with a smile.

"The lady prefers the red." Daniel addressed the waiter who nodded and poured them each a glass and leaving the bottle next to the table.

"You already know what you will have?" Daniel sounded surprised.

"Well, in some things, I know what I want." Michiru smirked.

"I like that. A woman with a plan." Daniel laughed as he looked back into the menu. "Good, if you take the duck, then I will be having the lamb and I join you with the soup." Daniel decided and the waiter made his notes.

'If you only knew' Michiru thought to herself.


-Haruka-

They had strategically positioned themselves in the shadow of a big pillar to avoid drawing too much attention while still being able to keep an eye on the people who came and were already in the hall. Haruka was looking around the room. Many people who spotted her started to whisper and Haruka knew exactly what her presence and presentation caused here. Confusion.

It was the day the last new member to the conglomerate would be accepted for the year and so all the faces in the room should be familiar faces by now since many candidates had, often for years, worked towards this moment. But Haruka knew, that anyone on the list to be promoted could be bumped to next year, just because she would be claiming her seat. So people who didn't know her, would be wondering who she was, but people who knew her father, it would daunt what was about to happen.

"That is Andrew Goldstein, try not to step on his toes, he is one of the bigger bankers here and to his left with the cane is his brother David, his security chief." Kakyuu's voice sounded in Haruka's head as her eyes lingered on two men who were talking in a hushed tone together, occasionally glancing her way, and Haruka tried hard not to comment on their behaviour to Kakyuu, as suddenly she spotted a familiar looking woman in the distance with a taller silver haired man trailing behind her. All of Haruka's senses went on high alert when she spotted him. Something felt off about him.

They made eye contact and the woman with the long black flowing hair smirked before she made her way towards Haruka and Seiya.

"Chiba, Hiroko, baby sister of Mamoru. He was in one of your first training units. The guy ghosting behind her is Kujakuseki, Kitae. Leader of one of the deadliest security force units of the Chiba clan. Expert in disposal. Rumour has it that while Mamoru's uncle Minoru is the security chief for Masaru, Mamoru's dad, it is actually Kitae who pulls most of the strings there." Kakyuu informed Haruka as Seiya nudged her lightly and the other two crossed the room.

"Interesting." Haruka mumbled.

"Fancy seeing you here Tenoh." Hiroko greeted her with a slightly tilted head and a curious glint in her eyes.

"Fancy seeing you here Chiba." Haruka replied with a smirk.

"Didn't think that you would ever show up here." Hiroko commented.

"Didn't think you would be eligible to even be here." Haruka replied and Hiroko just smirked as she pulled her scarf aside, to reveal a silver pin on the strap of her black dress and Haruka nodded with respect.

"I am representing dad. It is not like Minoru-ji could be here in on his own without a real member or a representative of a member. He is not a direct descended of member after all." Hiroko's smirk grew a little bit wider.

"Oh yea… he is here, too?" Haruka enquired with a disinterested tone.

"Yea, he is all gung-ho about his pet making the cut this time and possibly beating your dad's record of being historically the youngest member to have made it." Hiroko rolled her eyes and Haruka couldn't supress a slight sneer.

She noticed how Kitae looked at Hiroko and her with slight disapproval at the tone of disrespect that Hiroko displayed but otherwise kept his face in his usual stone mode.

"Oh well, he is a man of a certain age. That he finds joy in little boys isn't something uncommon here. I don't judge" Haruka glanced over to Kitae to see him fume slightly but still sticking to keeping his composure.

"Oh no, this puppy is too big for that. He is even older than Mamoru-nii." Hiroko chuckled. "..and ignore Kitae. He is just jealous that Minoru-ji loves Shinji more than him and that he got all the good work so that he could qualify here." Hiroko passed a jibe to her bodyguard.

"I guess a promotion is out of the question for a while Kujakuseki-san?" Haruka addressed Hiroko's minder directly.

"No promotion could bestow more honour on me than what I already have, Tenoh-dono. There is no greater honour than to serve the mistress." Kitae replied mechanically while Hiroko rolled her eyes.

"I'd imagine. What do you think, Seiya, do you feel so honoured to serve me?" Haruka asked Seiya who stood slightly tense by her side.

"Sure." Seiya replied curt.

"Not a man of many words huh?" Hiroko looked Seiya curiously up and down.

"This is Kou, Seiya. You have only met his brother so far, Taiki. I didn't hire him for his linguistic skills, but his weapons expertise." Haruka chuckled. "I don't need the guy who takes care of all my guns to say more than to confirm to me that we are ready to get into action." Haruka elaborated. "When you have things that you want to protect, you don't get dogs that bark, you get dogs that bite." Haruka chuckled.

Suddenly, Minoru joined them, with Nishi and a man, a bit taller than Mamoru and definitely more impressive built than Mamoru, following close behind him.

"Hiroko, here you are." He called for his niece.

"Yes, uncle?" Hiro replied polite.

"I have been looking for you." Minoru said reproachfully to his niece.

"I apologise, it was me who had called her here." Haruka stepped out from behind the pillar and looked down at the smaller man through her glasses. She watched how the blood in his face drained.

"It's ok Haruka, I came here on my volition." Hiroko stepped between her uncle and the blonde, facing her uncle.

"Shouldn't Shinji be getting ready for the selection?" Hiroko asked, referring to the man that stood behind her uncle.

'So that is Shinji…' Haruka thought to herself and made a motion as if to adjust her glasses but in truth to take a picture of him to add to the database. The other man looked very similar to Mamoru, just colder with red-brown hair instead of the jet black that Mamoru sported. The eyes a cold light green compared to Mamoru's warm blue ones. His hands rougher than the one's of the doctor, the shoulders squarer and the jaw more prominent.

"That is the thing, when we went to the selection hall we were sent back here. I think someone made mistake somewhere. You need to talk to Stone again." Minoru urged his niece.

"There is no need for that." Bernard Stone joined the conversation. "A decision has been made." The big man with the almost white hair and the white beard said in a low voice to Minoru before he turned to Haruka.

"Tenoh, this way." Bernard led the way for her.

"Stay here Seiya, I will be back soon." Haruka instructed Seiya who just nodded stiffly and she nodded in the direction of Hiroko and her uncle before she followed Bernard out of the hall.


-Michiru-

"Something in particular on your mind? You seem to want to say something already all day but you have stopped short of it a few times." Michiru asked Daniel as their plates for the soups got cleared away.

"I guess there is nothing I can really hide from an agent from the IIA." Daniel admitted sheepishly.

"You are giving me too much credit. I am not really a fulltime agent. I only get called in when they need extra people. For the most part, I am just an artist. The meeting the other time was an exception." Michiru told a white lie.

"Oh?" Daniel sounded genuinely surprised.

"Did you really think that I could spent that much time every time when a mission is being conducted and still make music and paintings at the same time? I am by far not that talented. As you can see, my aunt doesn't know that I am and agent but even more telling she doesn't even trust me to not get lost in Paris and has assigned me a driver. So, I am by no means one of those overly competent agents." Michiru giggled before she took another sip from her wine and Daniel seemed to relax a bit more.

"I think you are very competent with your work." Daniel argued for the sake of it.

"Well, thank you. I think you are also doing a good job with taking me to this wonderful dinner." Michiru replied and Daniel's ear flushed.

"There is actually something that I wanted to ask you already this morning, and I don't want you to misunderstand. I want you to understand that I am not making light of your strategy of holding all these gallery openings to boost your public exposure, and I think it is really valiant of you to donate all proceeds to your children's charity, I just think you could make even more money by maybe selling your art, maybe even at an auction." Daniel suggested.

"I see. I appreciate your thoughts, but as far as I know, I don't have that many wealthy donors who would be willing to buy that many pieces from me at a high price. If I would know more rich people who would be interested in art, where there would be a competitive auction for my art, I would do it in a heartbeat, because only those would achieve the money needed." Michiru replied.

"You are of luck then, I happen to be attending a private art auction event in Dublin soon. Only very rich attendees will be participating, all of them avid art collectors. I believe there you could achieve sums that even a few world tours could not achieve with just two nights of exhibiting your work and then getting it auctioned off." Daniel explained excited.

"Dublin…was there not something…" Michiru pretended to be thinking and Daniel leaned closer to her.

"Yes, it is the meeting of all the European continent forces held by the hand council member responsible for them. Representatives from all factions including the Italian mafia as well as the conglomerate will be attending but that is just in the background. The foreground is the art auction for charity. Since you are an agent of the IIA and with my connection with the people organising the auction, I would think it would be really easy to arrange for you to attend as well, even without your aunt finding out that you are an agent, since it is a legitimate event on the surface." Daniel explained excited while Michiru thought to herself 'Jackpot'.


-Haruka-

Everyone in the room was wearing robes over their suits and evening dresses as they were standing the round, candle lit room. The oath had been made and Haruka was instructed to stand up. Supporting herself on her cane, she rose to her full height and the chairman passed her a small wooden box.

He opened for the box that revealed two golden cufflinks and a silver pin, engraved with the same falcon that she had on her cane and her initials underneath them.

Haruka had to supress a melancholic smile as she thought to herself that she could have just used her father's ones, but these were her own. She owned that seat now.

Bernard, removed the golden cufflinks and Haruka stretched out her arms so that he could attach them for her.

"Welcome to the fold." Bernard told her and she nodded to show respect.

The other members with canes stomped with them on the ground to show their approval while the ones without came up and patted, one by one, on Haruka's shoulder before they returned to their spot.

Once Haruka was the only one left in the centre, Bernhard indicated to her a spot to his right and she lined up with the other members.

"Now to the matter of the envoy that we will be sending to Dublin. Naturally, I will be going and I will be taking Goldstein, Darrow, Montgomery, Lowry and Tenoh along with their security detail with me. Any objections?" Bernard asked into the circle of the hooded people and a resounding "Nay" came in unison back.

"All the other matters on the agenda will adjourned until I return." Bernard announced and then extinguished the candle to his left to signal that the meeting was over. All the others slowly dispersed, leaving the people that Bernard had mentioned earlier behind.

"I hope you understand that the chairman has been very generous with you." Andrew Goldstein informed Haruka in his nasal tone and Haruka just nodded.

'If he only knew who he was talking to' Haruka thought to herself.

"Cut it Andrew. Haruka is not some child that you need to lecture. If you have problems with my decisions, you take it up with me. Keep your energy for Dublin. We have bigger fish to fry with Thomas." Bernard reminded the other man.

"My apologies." Andrew mumbled before stepping back again.

"All of you, just get your men ready so that we can arrive properly in Dublin. We need to show a united front if we want to get what we need." Bernard reminded them and everyone just nodded with understanding before they left the room.

Just before Haruka could leave, Bernhard held her back.

"Since you are an honorary member, your presence will not be essential nor consequential most of the time, but your veto-power has its own strength. I don't know what your game plan here is but beware that your father was not that popular amongst these people. He made way too often use of his veto-rights than it was healthy for him." Bernard cautioned her.

"I understand." Haruka just replied and gripped her cane tighter.

"To stop anything here, any member only needs two veto-votes from the honorary board, don't be the first all too often." Bernard added before he left her behind in the dark room and joined the people outside again.

Haruka pulled off her hood and took a deep breath. The cool fresh air outside of the robe was refreshing. She looked down on her wrist where the cufflinks sparkled and she had to smirk to herself. So much hassle for such an ordinary accessory, but it was her ticket in. She glanced one more time around the room and then left through the same door as everyone else had. On the way out there were lockers where everyone could deposit their robes and she arrived by a pristine looking one near the middle. H.T. and the family crest was written on it with gold, the falcon resting above the initials. The sign of the honorary board that kept an eye on the rest of the conglomerate's lions that were on all the other lockers.

Haruka straightened her suit and walked out through one of the many secret exits to look for Seiya when she suddenly heard it.

She retreated back into the shadows and stayed perfectly still.

"What do you mean, Tenoh got chosen?!" the voice she was looking for said with suppressed outrage.

"Do you know who you are talking to?" Andrew replied with threatening disapproval.

"I apologise. Thank you for the information." The voice replied with muted anger. Yes, it was that voice. Haruka was nearly absolutely sure and tried to edge closer to see who Andrew was talking to, but from the reflection that she could see on the polished stone floors, it was Andrew who had his back towards the corner and the other man would probably spot her straight away, so she had to stay here if she wanted to find out more.

"If you are so keen on having a sway here, you should have applied directly, instead of sending so many lackeys instead. We are the conglomerate, not some tea party after all. Did you really think that your boy could make the cut just with a few recommendations of whom none even bothered to turn up personally but only sent their representation?" Andrew's chiding sounded belittling and condescending to its core.

"You are right. I might just do that next year. Right now, I am too busy to prepare everything for Dublin." The voice replied cold before both men started to walk away.

"You better get those Italians under control if you want this meeting to be more productive than the last one we had in Lisbon". Andrews voice was fading due to the distance.

Haruka peeked around the corner to see if she could at least draw a glimpse of the two at least from the back, but they had already taken another turn.