-Rei-
She was tired from all the physical and mental training her grandfather had imposed on her since she was sent to him that she almost missed work and nearly wanted the training in the Tenoh Tower instead, but today was her rest day and the last thing she wanted to think about was work, work outs or anything else work related . She was walking to one of those hidden bars in the seedier parts of Shinjuku and regretted asking Minako on where to go for a private drink to unwind without triggering any surveillance. Minako was a genius in knowing which bars and restaurants were off the grid of the IIA's watchlist but that also meant that those places tended to be frequented by higher ranking criminals who were aware of that the nice and shiny stores were watched at all times. Those particular blend of criminals not high enough in the food chain to afford nor had enough authority to demand for a private bar that would be locked up completely for their visit nor so low to have to resort to the backspaces of common Izakayas. She was largely left alone besides the occasional side glance of the men around her as she walked alone through the streets and eventually entered an unmarked elevator. She pressed for level five, then three and then four, just as Minako had instructed her and the elevator sprung to live and started moving upwards to level eleven. The door of the elevator had barely opened fully when a tall man in a neat waiter uniform greeted her.
"Good evening Sato-san, a room has been reserved for you. If you would please follow me." The tall pale man requested and Rei followed him behind a glass door and up the stairs to the floating second floor that seemed to trail along the perimeters of the bar. Rei could see through the glass wall that the bar was densely covered with low lives of all kind, having the time of their life drinking themselves into stupor. The blonde must have had announced her visit the moment that she had mentioned her intentions as this place didn't look like a place that would just simply have a place for someone like herself. The waiter immediately ushered her into a private, but not silent booth that had the complete view of the small bar without being seen yourself and immediately left. Rei had not a chance of ordering anything yet when the waiter returned with a tasting selection of sake and plates of snacks with a note 'be right with you. M.' So now a selection of grilled squid, chicken, fish and beef were looking back at her along with roasted nuts, vegetable tempura and fresh hand cut fries. Only Minako could think that such a combination could work, Rei thought to herself as she started to nibble on the chicken skewer sample in front of her before proceeding to taste the various sips of sake in between bites.
The men were noisy around her, talking loudly from below her booth various gibberish about their recent conquests and business successes when she noticed a group of four men being led to a booth just adjacent to hers on a more public path unlike the one she had taken which was at the end of the row and only accessible from the other side.
"Can you believe it?" The first guy seemed to continue the animated conversation that those four had on the way up to the booths that formed the upper floating floor of the bar.
"Nuh, Matsuda must have been lying." The second man interrupted the first.
"He wasn't. He saw it with his own eyes that Seiya entered with Hiroko-ojou-sama behind all he bosses. And I mean the entire upper echelon. There is even a rumour that the chief will reward Seiya for something really big by letting him marry ojou-sama" The first defended himself.
'Seiya?' Rei thought to herself a she reached for the tempura to line her stomach better before continuing to sample the sake, because her hearing was clearly suffering the effect of the alcohol.
"No way that the chief would marry his only daughter off to a No name like Seiya and even less of a chance that Seiya would dare to betray Tenoh…No one betrays Tenoh…" The third man chimed in cautiously.
"Well, no one that has survived it so far... but…" The first admitted.
"What if…" the fourth man interrupted and Rei could hear how they moved in closer to whisper, but drunk men weren't the best at it.
"What if what?" The second man demanded impatiently.
"What if he is trying to pull a… Kurosawa? We still don't know how that bastard scored the Myamotos' best seat to succeed the old master there, but he is definitely hell bent on that old man's seat considering what he has been up to around town, opening more tea houses and stores around the world even…." The fourth continued.
"True, Seiya could be more ambitious than we gave him credit for. Everyone knows that Mamoru-sama doesn't have what it takes to do what Masaru-sama wants to achieve. If he had even one percent of the balls that Tenoh has, we would not be sitting here, we would be drinking in the finest bars in Roppongi and eating in Michelin star restaurants every night rather than having to wait three months to even get his crummy booth. Maybe that fox had learned more from Tenoh than we care to admit. Otherwise, we are talking about a dead man walking." The second on conceded.
The men fell silent for a moment as the wait staff brought them more drinks and food and they started drink more than they could handle.
"Man, forget about Seiya…has anyone actually seen Hiroko-ojou-sama? The chief went ballistic this morning ranting about her new haircut and how she will have to wear a wig and what a disgrace this all was for the family. I am almost feeling sorry for her hairdresser." The third chuckled.
"Yea, THAT is a real dead man walking." All four roared in laughter.
Rei had lost her appetite in that very moment just when Minako joined her amidst the burst out in the adjacent booth.
"What did I miss?" the cheerful blonde greeted her while Rei's mouth had gone dry and the tempura in her hand had gone cold.
-Mamoru-
They were all sitting together in the main family room and having their traditional breakfast in a deafening silence. His sister sat between Seiya and Shinji to his right and his uncle sat between his mother and Shiro to his left. Only his father and his grandfather sat opposite to him.
"By the way, where is my cute niece?" Hiroko clearly tried to cheer up the mood.
"Probably still asleep with her mother." Masuyo replied back with a hint of disapproval.
"As is Babette-san. The flu is just making its seasonal round, after all, it's almost the end of the year." Mamoru defended Usagi, at least in his mind he did. He knew his wife was unhappy here because of all the insinuations, not just from his mother, but it was safest for her here, too, and that took precedence.
He quietly watched Seiya from the corner of his eyes as returned to continue eating his breakfast in silence.
Seiya hadn't even twitched in the interrogation he had to endure after they had returned from the tea house. He had not even as much as blinked while he was asked some of the most intrusive and private questions a human being could ask another, then again, it was not really the polite kind of question exchange that they had conducted with him. At least the physical aspect was hidden under his clothes and Mamoru was able to limit some of the damage Seiya had to take, but in the end, he wasn't Mamoru's responsibility. The whole way through Seiya had stayed calm, collected and, most impressively, cold when it came to the blonde that was not to be named under this roof. He had given away some of her secrets that he held that could lead to her downfall and Mamoru knew that Seiya knew even more, but played his cards close to his chest. Just as close as he had been keeping Hiroko. She had not left his side except for the interrogation and during sleeping hours, when Seiya was banished to the quarters at the back of Mamoru's quarters. Close enough to monitor, but not close enough to be able to cause trouble. First thing in the morning Hiroko had gone there to pick him up for breakfast. Not a moment had gone by since sun rise that she had left his side, but it was the early days and he was sure that his sister would get bored with her new toy soon enough. At least that is what he told himself.
"I will be going shopping later with Seiya-kun." Hiroko announced to break the silence once more.
"No, you won't. You have everything you need here and if you need anything else, send for it and it and a servant will get it for you." Masaru immediately objected.
"I wasn't planning on buying anything for myself. I don't want Seiya to lack anything he needs. It is not like he can go to … you know who and pick up his stuff." Hiroko replied calmly.
"Fine. Send a servant off with a list of what Seiya-kun needs and they will get it for you. You will not leave the estate under any circumstances, for now." Masaru eventually conceded.
"But father, what if what the servants get doesn't fit? I will even take one of my cousins along if that puts your mind at ease." Hiroko offered.
"The boys do not have time to play with you hide and seek Hiroko. They have more urgent matters to deal with. You will stay put here until I give permission for you to go anywhere. All servants have been instructed to not let you out, so don't even bother to try. Stay with your mother and do what she tells you to." Masaru dismissed with his tone any chance for further rebuttal and Hiroko started to sulk.
"If anything is missing, just message me and I will pick it up on the way home from my shift..." Mamoru tried to appease his sister a bit as she started to scowl, but his father raised his hand and interrupted him.
"Same applies to you, Mamoru. We do not have time to babysit anyone, bigger matters take priority now." Masaru said in a tone that left no space for him to manoeuvre.
-Akira-
He was still in the house, drinking coffee, watching his son was playing outside with Hotaru and a few of the bigger puppies as Haruka had her back turned to them and was speaking to someone on her phone, when his uncle stepped up next to him and startled him with a freshly baked cookies from his aunt.
"I remember standing where you are standing right now, watching my favourite nephew play with the young master's twins as if it were yesterday. If I remember correctly, my nephew would have never been startled by an old man and a tray of cookies." Hanzo chuckled deep.
"Ah, yea, this house gives me so much of a sense of safety that I let my guard down too much." Akira joined in in the good natured snicker.
"So, is Hiroshi going to follow your footsteps in raising the next generation of Tenoh?" Hanzo asked in a more serious tone as Akira took a cookie and Akira stopped moving the cookie midway to his mouth.
"So…Kenshin-ji told you…."Akira started his sentence with too much apprehension to finish it.
"He doesn't have to tell me anything. I saw it the moment I first laid my eyes on that child that she could only be a Tomoe by name. I have been raising dogs for the Tenohs all my life. You can call a fox a dog all its life but it will be a fox. You know how the little tornados kept you on your feet, isn't she doing that to your Hiroshi right now?" Hanzo asked rhetorically as he grabbed a cookie and started to eat it.
"She is…" Akira admitted with nostalgia lacing his words as he thought back the last time he came here with Haruki, Tomoko and both of the twins who were mere babies at that stage.
Just like his son was doing it right now, he had finished the base training with his own father and would advance to more specialised training with Haruki himself the following spring and was rewarded by coming earlier to the Hokkaido estate to play with the dogs and to get the basics on how to choose, raise and handle the dogs that would keep the Tokyo retreat estate safe one day. And just like his son right now, he was oblivious of the dangers that he would face to keep those two kids safe. He remembered how much he admired Haruki, and how much he missed his own father, who died just three years after that trip to Hokkaido on a secret mission with Haruki. After that, Haruki had practically adopted Akira and raised him like an older brother that any boy could only wish for.
His eyes moved from Hiroshi to Haruka, how she stood there, tall, unwavering even in the cold Hokkaido air, a watchful eye like a hawk on all of their surroundings. Larger than life itself. He had to admit that the way his son looked up to her, was like he had looked up to Haruki and he started to worry even more deeply.
When Haruki died, it was like the death of the last giant that carried the sky on his shoulder, stopping it from crashing down onto earth. The sky on which the sky castle that he had built for them rested, the castle that kept them safe.
"Eat the cookie while it is still warm, then it is extra chewy on the inside." Hanzo reminded him of the treat that was between his fingers and Akira nodded silently before he had a bite of it.
"Do you think Hiroshi is ready for that? Ready to raise the next master to the needed height?" Hanzo asked in a quieter tone.
"I didn't raise her alone. It took more than five clans to raise the one that is ruling the sky castle now, it will take all clans to raise the next if this one falls. I trust her that she has that in place, just like Haruki-sensei did." Akira replied calmer. "Don't get me wrong, there is nothing I will not do to keep her safe. I am my father's son after all. I do not just blindly live for her, I fight for what is promised to me."
Otto, the oldest Akita in the lot, joined them and nudged Hanzo to open him the door to let him out. Hanzo wordlessly opened the door for the battle scarred animal and the loyal soul walked majestically to its owner to just sit next to her and to look over the world with her.
"I never doubted that, I just wanted to be sure that you are ready." Hanzo said evenly.
"History only repeats for those who do not learn from it." Akira reiterated steadfast.
"Which chapter are we on?" Hanzo asked in return.
"The chapter where we stop learning and start making." Akira chuckled.
