On 18th December 1999, in the Kaneko household on the outskirts of Kissaki City, Hisui, a man in his late twenties was pacing back and forth near a closet when an older woman ran up to him.
"Seiji! Seiji! I've got news!"
The man immediately turned towards her. "I believe you should know better than to address me like that, especially at your station–"
"Ah yes, I'm sorry, but it's important!"
Seiji immediately stopped berating her. "Is it bad?"
"Unfortunately so," the woman replied. "The city has been the target of a Rocket bombing, and the people think the target should have been you."
Seiji thought for a moment. "I'm not sure I can actually blame them given my father's rule, but I suggest you relay this to him. It's his opportunity to strike them down, not mine."
"About that," she said, "he passed just a few minutes ago. The doctors did everything they could, but his long-standing issues got the better of him..."
After a few moments of shock, Seiji walked over to a chair and sat down, burying his face in his hands. "What am I even meant to do?"
"He is being prepared for the next life as we speak!" said a man running across the room. "We shall prepare to hand him to our deity, as shall happen to all of us."
"I understand what needs to happen, but... doesn't a massive state funeral seem a bit out of touch presently?" Seiji asked.
"...Respectfully, Sir, as a lord you must project strength," he said, "and striking down an uprising while taking your father's place amongst the gods is the best way to do so."
"In that case, see that it is done."
"Of course. It is our work."
A month or two later, the ceremonies did not go as planned. Seiji was forced to retreat soon after Rocket returned to level everything.
"We have a problem, Sir," the man from before announced.
"What is it?" Seiji asked.
"The uprising we mentioned… It's clear the one thing they want is your head, and it's far larger than any we've had before."
Seiji sighed. "Can't they see that I'm a husband and father to a young boy?"
"They want their heads too!" An old man interrupted as he walked in, provoking an immediate reaction from the guards. "As far as they are concerned, after your father the line is rotten and to be burned."
"You do not speak such language in His presence!" one of the guards shouted at him.
"Stand down," Seiji ordered. "Chōjū is an old friend. He may speak."
"Consider yourself lucky," the guard said. "You should lose your head for that."
Chōjū bowed. "I want to continue with my condolences in this very difficult time, given the death of your father and this situation."
"I don't even know what I'm meant to do!" Seiji exclaimed.
"Usually your father would execute them to make an example of his strength," the other man continued, "but of course, you are the lord now. You do not need to be bound by his reputation."
"In what way?" Seiji asked.
"Nobody in Kissaki has anywhere to live, Rocket destroyed all of it" Chōjū spoke. "and they're putting the blame for that on you"
A guard immediately began approaching. "I will not allow this blasphemy to be spoken in His presence!"
"Stand down. I will not tell you again. Are you suggesting..."
"He is suggesting you use the Kaneko treasury to rebuild the city to get goodwill," the other person whispered into Seiji's ear.
Seiji thought for a moment. "That… would work, wouldn't it? It wouldn't make much of a dent in the family treasury either."
"Oh, most certainly–"
"That's not an option," another one of Seiji's advisors said as he walked up to him. "Your advantage is your strength. Use it to drive fear through them with the execution of everyone necessary. It is the only way."
"Says who?" Seiji said, turning to him.
"With respect, your father put me before you to make sure the dynasty remains strong beyond both our lives. This has been the task of my family for generations," he said coldly. "Ruling through fear is precisely how your family, and by extension Snowpoint, have been in control of Kissaki for the last two thousand years, and the Yukimura family has been known to be a threat. This man before you must be executed as an example."
"Times have changed in the last thousand years," Chōjū began. "In fact, times have changed in the last ten. It wasn't that long ago that the two leaders in Oreburgh and Jubilife were struck down by the people."
"That is precisely why the idea of giving the people any power is so dangerous," the other man said. "The leaders of Oreburgh and Jubilife failed because of their weakness, because they did not execute those involved in the insurrection."
"The leaders of Oreburgh and Jubilife failed because the people united against them," Chōjū replied. "Their use of strength was the exact reason they were taken down."
"It is a show of weakness that that situation even showed itself in the first place, just like–!"
Seiji turned to the advisor and spoke coldly, just as his father always spoke to him. "Do you question my authority as the man in the chair?"
"I question whether your motives are in the right place to be the man in the chair. You are not thinking through the effects this will have on your continued rule. All the people will ever do is demand more, and it is a bad idea to give them reason to."
Chōjū continued. "The people have no homes. The people in the two cities fought back for that very reason. The Cornleone family survived a similar uprising five years ago because they gave the people of Canalave basic amenities and the right to free life–"
"I will not allow the honourable Kaneko family to follow in the footsteps of the farming syndicate in the city of Canalave–"
Seiji had had enough of his advisor at this point. "I am the Lord of Kissaki. If following the Cornleone family allows my survival, then that is what I shall do. Now, you may remove yourself from my presence."
The advisor looked at him like he had a hole in his head, then finally stood. "Very well," he said. "However, you would be lucky to remain in Kissaki for a year." With that, he walked away at last.
"Anyone else have a problem with that?" Seiji asked, and nobody moved. "Then ensure the city is rebuilt to the highest standard as quickly as possible. I no longer care what it costs — make the people of Kissaki proud to be living under the Kaneko family."
Everyone nodded, and all but Chōjū left.
"Your actions several years ago saved the life of me and my family from the Imperial movement," Chōjū said to Seiji, kneeling before him. "Therefore I offer the services of my life, knowledge, and counsel to you."
"Your offer is noted, and gratefully accepted," Seiji replied. "On that note, I shall request that you pass the knowledge of karate to my son Mitsue as soon as he is old enough, as you have done for me years ago.
"That would be my pleasure," Chōjū said, giving a smile that was rare in Kissaki.
On the first of December, 2008, it was about 2 AM. Only the security near the south of Kissaki were awake, looking for anything unusual such as a military coming in droves from the south... which happened to be present.
The alarm went off, awakening everyone in the relatively developed feudal city.
Someone ran into the Kaneko household. "We have a problem!"
Seiji woke up. "How bad is it?"
"We've become the target of an invasion," the person replied. "It appears that they vastly outnumber us and there's no real way out!"
"Prepare my suit," Seiji said. "At least if–"
They were interrupted by a plasma blade going through the person's head, revealing a certain superweapon with fabulous eyebrows behind them.
"I'm pretty sure I know why you're here," Seiji said quietly.
"Then you know you should not be. This land should never have belonged to you in the first place, and my sole purpose is to return it to the people."
Hashira led Seiji, his wife, and Mitsue outside to a crowd. He was about to strike them down when a certain old man suddenly barrel rolled in between them.
"Kissaki are a free people. You must be lost," Chōjū said to him calmly.
Hashira's eyebrows boomed. "Are these not the tyrants that have ruled this city for who knows how long?"
"Tyrant is a very strong word that does not apply to Seiji," Chōjū replied. "His fathers before him, perhaps, but not him."
"Look, old man, I'm under orders to kill them and give the people back their land. I don't want the likes of you getting in their–"
Chōjū roundhouse kicked him before literally everyone got in the way of Hashira.
"Then don't kill them. It's that simple."
At that point, Hashira simply walked away.
A week later, a clearly Kantonian man in a wheelchair showed up at the gates of Kissaki, a fair few people behind him. One of the guards noticed this.
"Do you even know what happened last time a Kantonian entered this city?" he asked the man in the wheelchair.
"Hashira is not Kantonian, he is synthetic," the old man replied. "Also, I believe there is cause to solve this issue peacefully."
"We're not interested in entering into contracts with someone who sent someone to kill us–"
"Then it's a good thing you aren't doing the negotiating then, isn't it?" the old man said, calm and collected as ever. "I am simply here to have a conversation with the Kaneko family. As shown by the public obstructing my agents without being asked, clearly people think quite positively of him."
A few minutes later, Seiji was... not pleased. "Can you explain why you let these Kantonians into my office?"
"He said he wanted to talk — probably about the time he tried to have you killed."
"I mean, he could try that before trying to kill us? Maybe then we wouldn't be quite as upset at him! If that's all he wanted, why did he send somebody to kill us in the first place?"
"If I still believed you were no use to us, I would have already had Hashira eliminate you, your family and anyone who tried to get in the way," the man said. "Your continued existence is no less inconvenient for me as our existence is for you. However, I have always believed there is always a possibility to make things work."
"Who in Palkia's name even are you?" Seiji asked.
"I am the Ue, one of the founders of the Kanto Union and the current leader," he replied. "I'm here to find a situation that is mutually beneficial for the both of us."
Seiji was already scheming. "Guards, stand down. I think we might be able to figure something out."
And that was that. In the weeks that followed, Seiji and the Ue figured it out.
What they hadn't realised was that Seiji had completely screwed them over.