-Shirou-
They were led behind Kenichi into a separate room in front of a panel of people that Shirou only knew by name and he couldn't help himself but feel proud of himself. He stood up taller and squared his shoulders. Today was the day that these arrogant morons around him would finally have to acknowledge him for whom he truly was while he was secretly pulling the rug under their feet and his son was stealing their utmost guarded treasure. He already received two messages from Shinji reporting on the progress of the attack and that everything went swimmingly. It was like taking candy from a baby. As he stood between Masaru and Minoru he was gleefully looking forward to the shock in their eyes when they would learn the truth of his origins. The old man was never in his life giving him what he wanted, but now he was old enough to step aside to so that he could take what was his, his birth right. His mother was standing demurely two steps behind Kenichi and after he would acknowledge her in front of the council and his intention to make her his lawful wife, he, Shirou, would be the inevitable heir of what he would make an empire once he would take over the reign.
An old short woman in the middle of the panel stood up to address them.
"Edelstein, Shirou, you probably know why you have been brought here…" she started calmly and he could feel the ache in his cheeks from trying not to grin from ear to ear.
"…you are being sentenced of having conspired actively in the assassination of Tenoh Haruki and Tenoh Tomoko amongst other high clan members." The old woman continued, making his face cramp with cognitive dissonance.
"What?!" was all Shinji managed to grunt and then turn his head to Kenichi. "Father… this is not what you have promised me!"
"You are no son of mine!" Kenichi said stern before turning to Babette. "And I vow to never merry her."
"How dare you say that to mother! How dare you…after all you have…" But before he could finish his incomplete thoughts a loud and dominant voice cut his train of thought.
"ENOUGH!" Takashi Tenoh spoke the final word to put silence into the room while Shirou and his mother were being surrounded by guards. "The evidence presented spoke for itself. The verdict is final. Meioh, they are now in your care."
"You can't judge us like that. The law of the clans has it that this kind of verdict has to be unanimous and I don't see the head of the Tsukino!" His mother objected firmly.
"I am present Babette." A gentle voice came from the shadows and a tall slim woman with completely silver greyed hair stepped out of the shadows. Shirou almost didn't recognize her but the moment she spoke, the blood froze in his veins.
"Didn't I tell you, son? They are immortal." His mother grinned coldly towards him and he finally understood her true endeavor.
"Stop. We will not accept the verdict. My son has already breached the Tenoh tower and is coming for your secret treasure." He triumphantly held up his phone where a red dot was blinking while making its way on the map into the Tenoh Tower and the faces of the heads of the clans went hard.
"I think you forget, there is always a Tenoh in the tower…" Takashi said coldly.
"But all are here right now." Shirou countered.
"Are they?" Takashi smirked.
Suddenly a message arrived on his screen: I am in. Ready to proceed.
-Michiru-
The sound waves were crashing against the well-designed walls, reverberating back from them and amplifying the vibrations that washed over the audience that sat in a daze in front of her, except for one who sat on a higher balcony and was looking in her direction intently without really looking at her. As her hands moved with a routine that she acquired through years of determination and perseverance with which she created the most invigorating sounds that she had ever put to paper, her eyes locked with Haruka's and the storm in the other person's eyes showed quite clearly that nothing could appease the blonde at this moment. Only seconds earlier she had noticed a small flashing from where the blonde was sitting and saw how Haruka pulled out her phone. Instantaneously her expression had darkened and Michiru knew immediately that it was just a matter of moments before the other would storm out of the concert hall.
"Whatever happens, keep playing as we practiced." Riko's voice came calmly over her ear piece which called her back onto the stage that she was standing on.
Michiru closed her eyes for a long moment to signal that she got her aunt's massage.
When she opened her eyes again, the blonde was gone.
-Taiki-
"He collapsed, he collapsed! He didn't use the oxygen tube!" Yaten's panicked voice came from his left as he was supervising the northern frontline that was holding the line and Taiki froze. Seiya truly was an idiot, he thought to himself as he caught himself merely moments after Yaten finished his panicked exclamation.
"You know what you need to do." Kakyuu's calm voice came from his right where she was laying on the couch, resting after she was sent out from the vault by the professor.
"Protocol says that we have to secure all perimeters first before we tend to any injured." Taiki said with all the calm he could muster to not fuel Yaten's panic any further.
"Is that what Haruka would do?" Kakyuu asked him challengingly while Yaten looked at him hopeful.
He could tell that no matter how angry Yaten was with Seiya, he was still their brother and that Yaten wanted to rescue Seiya just as much as he wanted it himself.
"Shouldn't you be the one stopping me from being as reckless as her?" Taiki asked in turn.
"I know you won't be as reckless as her. So be back as soon as possible. We'll be waiting here for you. Family comes first. We've got your back." Kakyuu said reassuringly as she shooshed him out of his chair to take his seat and to take over his position. Taiki practically ran out of the room and rushed down as he knew that he had mere minutes to get Seiya before irreversible damage would set in if he didn't get him out of the tunnel in time or didn't increase the oxygen level in it which was only possible by being in the adjacent room to it while both ends were completely sealed. As he rushed down the hidden tunnels and slid down the various slides to the lowest levels, forgoing all elevators because he knew that no matter how fast they were, they would feel too slow to him, only fuelling his already ever-growing unease, and besides that, they were reserved for the professor and Kakyuu if anything were to happen anyway. Just as he reached the last door to the room on the other end of the tunnel, he saw through the window panel how Shinji was dragging Seiya out of the tunnel before dropping him unceremoniously on the ground and his stomach dropped, before sitting down next to him to catch his breath. Shinji had made it into the inner ring of their fortress but none of their automatic defence systems sprang to life. Maybe Seiya's presence stopped Tomo from attacking as he was still not blacklisted from the system in hope of his return. Taiki had to think quick to use the element of surprise but suddenly someone stepped out of the shadows from tower and walked towards the other two men, Katashi.
Taiki decided to hide in the shadows himself to see how the situation would unfold before stepping in.
"You finally made it." Katashi said dryly as he walked towards the tunnel the had just come out of and sealed it tight.
"He is so bloody stupid." Shinji breathed hard.
"Sometimes you have to be very stupid to sustain being loyal." Katashi said calmly as he checked for Seiya's pulse. "Write to your old man before he gets antsy and then stow him away over there." Katashi continued his instructions while he got his own phone out and made a call.
"Lock down the concert hall now and make sure to retain all marked people, especially heighten security for my wife and do not let her out of your sight. Operation Resurrection can continue as planned." Katashi said calm before hanging up. "I go and check up on the other fronts. Make sure Seiya won't be able to interfere anymore before you join me." Katashi said clipped before disappearing in the pathway that would take him to the northern fronts.
Taiki didn't know what to think of Katashi anymore, if he was friend or foe but he couldn't wait much longer, the one thing he knew was that no one was allowed to penetrate any further than this.
He waited for Katashi to leave and for Shinji to turn his back on him as he proceeded to tie down Seiya with a rope that was hanging on the wall and attacked. He knew that he couldn't shoot Shinji as he was clad in bullet proof clothing and the sound of the shot would make Katashi return, so his only option was close combat.
As he lunged, he put Shinji in a vice grip and even though the other man was struggling hard, he could feel that his opponent was slowly losing his conscience.
"Just give in this is, not your war." Taiki said into Shinji's ear.
"You couldn't just stay out of this…This is not your fight" Katashi's answer came from behind him before he felt a hit on the back of his head and the world went black around him.
-Haruka-
She was called into the meeting room and she rushed to it as quick as she could. In front of the door, she straightened her back before she stepped in. It was quite the sight. All elders on one side and the two people who are responsible for taking her parents on the other. Just the Chibas seemed a bit forlorn on the side lines.
"Haruto!" Her grandfather called her stern. "What is the situation in the Tenoh Tower?"
"It is all under control, grandfather." Haruka tried her best to respond calmly.
"We hear there have been attacks on the Tower, Haru-kun." Miyu continued gentler.
"There are always attacks on the Tower, Kaioh-sama" Haruka stated.
"I take it that Haruka is taking care of the attacks…" Miyu continued.
"Indeed. There is always a Tenoh in the tower, the advantage of having a twin." Haruka smiled.
"Are you confident that she can take care of it?" Youta Hino spoke up.
"I could swear on my life that no one is more capable than her to defeat even an army on her own if that would ease your mind, Hino-sama." Haruka replied with a small smirk on her lips.
"There has been a crucial breach." Kenta Aino noted harsh.
"You mean this one?" Haruka took out her phone and showed a live feed of many of the Chiba men being detained by an army of robots. "As I said, Haruka has it all under control."
"And yet we hear that she had a traitor amongst her men." Youta remarked.
"Loyalty is something that can mislead people to do the worst things for themselves for the sake of the greater good…but the trust we place in our men is never placed lightly as we pay it with blood." Haruka said calmly.
"We are satisfied with your answers. You may leave and prepare for the distraction so that Meioh can lead the prisoners out while saving face for us all." Miyu concluded the session and Haruka was glad to get out of the room.
-Yumi-
She was waiting outside the meeting room for Haruka, who seemed all too glad to have left the room.
"The preparation for your speech and the champagne are done." She informed Haruka who just nodded.
The blonde must have noticed the increased security around her as Yumi watched her gripping her walking stick tighter.
"Will you be on stage with me?" Haruka asked a rather rhetorical question.
"Of course not." Yumi replied.
"I want to be on it on my own as much as possible. Can you make that happen?" Haruka asked.
"Yes, but what about the flowers for Michiru…." Yumi reminded the blonde. "It would be rude to not give it to her in person on stage, let alone out of your character."
"Right, right…I will make it short as possible, just have one of your girls have the flowers ready for me right at the start and make sure you stay close to her afterwards." Haruka instructed.
They walked silently into the banquet hall, where the stage had been readied and waiters with the champagne were standing ready for the audience to the leave the concert all and to join them in there.
Haruka looked at her watch.
"We still have a few minutes, we're ahead of schedule." Haruka noted.
A small twinge crept into Yumi's heart. Usually when Haruka said that, it meant more intimate time with one another, but the tension in the air was clear that the blonde was restless and with her head and her heart miles away from Yumi.
The doors opened and Yumi instinctively stepped on step away from Haruka who stepped towards her guests with a wide smile.
The upper balcony was swiftly filling up with the elders and the higher officialsmwho seemed to be chatting relaxed while the hall filled quickly and Haruka assumed her position on stage.
"Thank you all once again for coming to this event. It feels great to be amongst family and friends tonight, but before we go on, let me thank the star of this evening personally for her great performance, Kaioh, Michiru." Haruka was passed a big bouquet which she handed to Michiru who walked humbly on stage.
They exchanged handshakes and Michiru left the stage as gracefully as she got on.
There was no denying why the blonde had fallen for the elegant violinist who was returning from stage and received the glass of champagne that was given to her with a gentle smile.
"Now let's raise our glasses and toast to a good evening with one another …" Haruka had her glass raised and started to drink from it, when Yumi was about to do the same she noticed how the guards were leading the prisoners behind the stage towards the exit when suddenly Babette Edelstein reached for the pin in her hair.
Everything happened so fast from there. Babette swung the pin towards Haruka's back but before it could reach the blonde, the violinist had already dropped everything in her hands and lunged towards Haruka to push her out of the trajectory of the pin which struck her in her arm. With lighting speed Michiru removed the pin and swung it right back striking right into Babette's chest who staggered backwards.
Just in that moment Shinji lunged forward and Haruka unsheathed her sword from her walking stick and struck off his right arm that was reaching for Michiru. The guards quickly brought the prisoners out and Haruka and Michiru got back onto their feet. Just when Haruka had finished dusting herself off, Michiru collapsed beside her.
"Did she drink the champagne?!" Haruka yelled over to Yumi, who looked shocked at the floor beside her, where a bouquet of flowers and a spilled glass of champagne lay broken on the floor and she shook her head.
"Get me a helicopter now!" Haruka screamed.
