-Setsuna-

The atmosphere was excited and yet relaxed, but Setsuna would not be lulled into a false sense of security, as they stood close to the entrance area, waiting for the others to arrive.

Haruka stood in the shadows behind her and Setsuna recognised without turning around that the blonde was brooding. She knew that it was hard for Haruka to be as friendly and as approachable as Haruto always was, but that was not the main objective here anyway. Kakashi came inside after his last cigarette outside and waved for the blonde to join them. Eyes ever so cold the blonde walked towards them out of the shaddow with a wide grin that never reached her eyes.

"Don't make me wipe that grin off your face, dear uncle." The growl was deep and menace laced, but Kakashi's grin only grew wider with the ever so sparkling mischief in his eyes competing with the summer fireworks that they had watched the past summer in Hokkaido.

"There, there my dear nephew. We have worked too hard to let this moment be tainted with senseless squabbles." Kakashi just grinned warmly.

A resigned sigh escaped the blonde and Setsuna focused again back on the many cars that arrived outside. Many high-ranking people from all sorts of organisations arrived in an orderly manner and were smoothly guided into the venue.

'All wolves in sheepskin' Setsuna thought to herself

They arrived as scheduled, Takashi with Miyu, Osamu and Aiko, closely followed by Wakana and Youta.

Takashi frowned deeply as he spotted them but Miyu waved excited.

"Good to see you again, Setsuna-chan, Kakashi-kun." Miyu greeted them cheerfully. "And who do we have here? That must be, Haru-kun, you have grown so much, the last time saw you in person, you were still in diapers…you look just like your dad, don't bow to me so shyly, but lean down and hug me and show me your cheeky smile so I can pinch your lovely cheeks." The old woman instructed and blonde obliged obediently.

"Of course, Kaioh-sama. It is an honour to meet you, again." The blonde grinned wide as the old woman pinched the cheeks like grandma would their grandchild.

"Grandfather, Mizuno-sensei, Kino-sama, Kaioh-san, Kaioh-san." The younger Tenoh then greeted the rest.

Setsuna noticed how Takashi froze ever so slightly when he heard his grandchild speak, but the old man caught himself quickly again. Osamu on the other hand seemed to have been fixated in place for a moment.

"Haruto-kun, I hope you are of good use here and are no bother to anyone. Let's not waste time and go to our seats, there is plenty of time to catch up after the concert." The old man said grumpily.

"Of course, grandfather. I will take Kaioh-san and Kaioh-san to the seats that their daughter has chosen for them." The blonde offered and gestured for Aiko and Osamu to follow.

"Well, then I will take you to your seats. Almost everyone else is already present." Setsuna gestured towards the door that they would be taking.

"What about you, Kakashi-kun?" Miyu asked as the other man didn't move from his spot.

"I will wait here for Sato-san." Kakashi replied politely with a bow.


-Satomi-

There had been a big altercation between Yuuko and Yaten, again, once the blonde had left the building. Satomi and Taiki had a hard time separating the two and reminding them of their duties, but they managed and now I was just a matter of finding where each of them had stormed off to, to chaperon them and to make sure they would stay focused on their tasks.

She entered the lab where Yuuko was hiding behind her specimens and test tubes.

"That was an unnecessary outburst with Yaten earlier." Satomi said calmly and was waiting for Yuuko to react.

The other just grunted, but didn't move.

"Are you really that critical of Yaten, the boy, or are you still mad with Yaten, your older brother?" Satomi finally addressed the elephant in the room and braced herself for the impact.

Yuuko just slowly and carefully removed all the items on the desk in front of her and then slammed her fists hard on it before she put her head resigned onto it and buried her face in her forearms.

"He had no right…he had no right to do that." Yuuko mumbled into her sleeves.

"To re-create himself or to play god?" Satomi asked gently as she put her arms on her friend's shoulder to comfort the other.

"Don't commit blasphemy…gods don't commit suicide…" Yuuko muttered.

"It is what it is now…Tomoko-senpai was clearly involved and the result speaks for itself… literally." Satomi continued to comfort Yuuko and pulled her into a hug.

"He isn't my brother." Yuuko mumbled into Satomi's chest.

"Of course, he is not…but he is still family." Satomi caressed Yuuko's head.

"I know." Yuuko mumbled.


-Miyu-

It was a short but taxing discussion and everybody around the table had finally fallen silent so that everyone could have a moment to digest the information.

"So, we've reviewed all the evidence now. How shall we proceed?" Miyu asked and looked around the room at the other people's faces until she reached Takashi's brooding grimace.

"Tenoh…you are the executive; you need to do something about this." Kenta Aino finally cut the silence.

"Agreed. We've all suffered suspicion just because of this. We've all grown up together and paid the blood price one way or another, but never as senselessly as due betrayal." Katsutoshi Kino second Kenta.

"If we act with haste now…we have to keep in mind the collateral damage…This matter is not as simple as executing the culprits without proper trial." Youta Hino cautioned.

"Indeed, we are owed a proper trial. It is not justice when the innocent are punished." Wakana concurred.

Katsutoshi slammed the table. "They don't deserve a trial; they only deserve death."

"But we do. We deserve a clear trial. You know it is not that simple, the entanglements are not to be undone by our whims. We cannot stoop that low, ever. We have our mechanisms on how we deal with these matters." Miyu calmed the enraged man down.

"He is my friend, but so are you all, more than just friends….I am the executive…I owe it to you all to have justice being served as fair and just as it has always been." Takashi finally spoke up.

"Good. I thought you might say that and I have taken the liberty to have something prepared for your interrogation." Miyu nodded solemnly and signalled for Masao Ishikawa and his granddaughter Manami to finalise the preparation for the trial room.

Everyone got up and left the meeting room to assume their trial seating in the adjacent room but before Takashi got up, Hiroto stepped up and walked to him.

"You know I can do this for you or we could just end it quietly…" Hiroto Myamoto whispered to Takashi.

"I need to witness his answer for myself…and will then I will pass judgement." Takashi replied in an even tone.

"You are on home ground…don't soil your hands with unworthy blood." Hiroto cautioned him. "One word, and your will be done."


-Kenichi-

Kenichi Chiba was led into room that was clearly not the upper balcony of the concert hall and entered with his head held high. He didn't expect his request for a clan council meeting to be granted so soon, but the sooner the better he thought to himself. As he walked through the door though, he noticed how Ishikawa, Okamoto and Myamoto were already formally dressed as referees while Takashi was already almost fully dressed in his Kendo suit and armour, the helmet resting in his hands, the bamboo sword to his side. All the head of clans sat behind the paper door and Kenichi could not tell what the mood was there, but if Takashi's face was anything to go by, someone must have died, making his ascension in the ranks only more likely. Excitement flooded his system and he looked into his friend's eyes for reassurance but found nothing but distance.

"This way." The attending that had led him here pointed into a changing room where his Kendogi and Bou was laid out ready for him.

Once the door was closed behind him, he looked for a note or the like, but nothing. He quickly got dressed and excited the room to sit down opposite to Takashi, helmet in hand and sword to his side.

"Referees, please put on the chosen colours for the combatants." Daisuke Okamoto spoke and Takashi handed his helmet over for Masao to put on for him with the red ribbon, while Hiroto did the same for Kenichi with his helmet and a white ribbon.

"Bow." Daisuke instructed and both men bowed and got into the fighting stances.

"Herewith you and your clan are on trial for several murders and murder plots against the present clans, Chiba, Kenichi." Daisuke announced and Takashi started to attack.

"Wait, what? I did no such thing." Kenichi defended himself while he blocked Takashi's first attacks.

Whack, whack, whack, Takashi was relentless, but Kenichi blocked all his attacks.

"Takashi, you know me, I would never betray your trust. If anything, you are the one who had been plotting against me ascending to the governing clans!" Kenichi went into counterattack.

Whack, whack, whack, Kenichi wouldn't let these baseless accusations sit unchallenged like that, but Takashi blocked his attacks with more ease than a man his age should be able to.

"I know you, that is why I am giving you this chance to answer me honestly. Did you have your son kill mine?" Takashi asked between his ever-increasing blows.

"Masaru would have never…he does nothing without my permission… he was by my side on that day… and you know that." Kenichi screamed with a strong counterattack of his own.

"I wasn't talking about Masaru." Takashi screamed back.

Whack, the last attack echoed through the room.


-Mamoru-

The Taiko drummers were done and bowed to loud applause before clearing the stage for the orchestra to enter.

Mamoru's heart was still beating strong with the excitement that the drummers managed to illicit in him.e

The choreography of the exchange was smooth and beautiful in itself and the orchestra started to play Jingle Bells to lighten the mood that the drummers had left behind.

Then the conductor reached for a microphone.

"Thank you all for coming to Kaioh-san and friends' concert, I am Nitou, Sho, your humble conductor for this evening, before we begin, I would like to express my and the orchestra's gratitude towards all of you who have come from far and wide on this special day to celebrate together but we want to especially thank our main sponsor and friend, Tenoh Haruto, who made all of this even possible." The conductor pointed up to the highest balcony in the back and everyone turned around where a tall blonde man now stood up in the spot light and was handed a microphone.

"Thank you, Nitou-san, I am the one who needs to thank you all and all my friends and my family here for gifting me with your presence tonight and indulging my whims to make it bigger than ever before. My gratitude goes especially for Kaioh-san who has so graciously allowed me to hijack her concert for my entertainment and the entertainment of my highly valued guests. Without all of you, none of this would be possible. Please remember to stay after the concert for a special buffet and to make good use of the open bar during the break." The low, even voice of the blonde echoed down to them invitingly before he bowed deep and was met with applause of the people surrounding him.

"This can't be…" Minoru stammered next to his father who looked at his uncle irritated while the Edelsteins couldn't have more different reactions to this.

Shirou seemed to have seen a ghost, while Babette's eyes were filled with excitement and Shinji was colder than ever.

Just then Michiru entered the stage and was met by another applause.

She bowed towards them and they all focused back to the front, except for Hiroko who whispered incessantly with Seiya, who had a hard time calming her down, while she kept staring up the balcony.

"The honour is all mine, Tenoh-san. Thank you all for coming to the premier of my new pieces. I hope you all find joy in them as much I had while writing them. My first piece is called Winter storm." Michiru introduced her first piece.