Hachi had been summoned because he was Enforcement. He was sure.
That was the only reason, he figured, that he sat in the quiet, small council of Hideki Sasaki, heir to the Sasaki clan and de facto leader, even with Granny Shizue still kicking. She headed the table, even, but when Hideki spoke, she nodded silently.
Hideki's council always met in the little outdoor tea area in the main house's courtyard garden. Hachi had seen the place often, but he'd never been offered a seat at the table.
When a branch family member was given a seat, it was because you were one of Hideki's brothers—Masashi or Shouhei—or because the leaders had an order for you.
The fact that Hideki, Masashi, Shizue, Yasuko—Masashi's daughter—, Nanae, and Hachi were all there meant that it was no simple order. The fact that the last son of Shizue, Shouhei, wasn't there meant it one of the worst orders to recieve.
It was either something the kinder son wouldn't approve of, or something regarding him.
"As you know," Hideki began when everyone finally settled. "The vote on choosing the next Medical Division's captain is coming up. As we have a captain amongst our midsts…"
He glanced at Masashi with something akin to pride. Masashi didn't notice. He only scowled slightly, the eternal downturn of his lips deepening.
"Why isn't Shouhei here?" Masashi asked sharply.
Hachi smirked a little behind his hand. Only Masashi would speak with such a tone to his brother. Shouhei would never; he did his rebellions alone—the piercings, the tattoos, and the refusal to be on the same political side as the clan's head and the heir.
"He wouldn't want to be involved," Shizue said gently.
Hachi's smile wilted. So it was what he suspected.
"We're discussing the matter of controlling the outcome of the vote," Shizue continued. "He would object and possibly even alert someone."
Hachi resisted the urge to snort. Just because Hideki was a more senior Enforcement Doorkeeper didn't mean Hachi wouldn't report the meeting and its contents. He'd go right to Captain Akabane if he had to, and he wouldn't shirk from watching his cousin's head roll.
"Very well," Masashi said. "What is your plan, then?"
"A show of support. The Sasaki Clan will escort you to the vote and return you when it's over," Hideki explained.
"You want to threaten the captains," Masashi said.
Hachi watched the others' unflinching expressions. Even Nanae didn't seem bothered—perhaps she'd been told by her father what the meeting was about.
Hideki shook his head. "It's a show of how supported your vote will be. It's democracy in action: you represent their will, so they'll show up to support you."
"And how are the other captains meant to react? It is a private vote—guests will not be expected."
"They'll be waiting outside. None but yourself will enter the council hall," Hideki promised.
"Even for you, brother, this is a little far, don't you think?" Masashi chuckled.
Shizue hissed, making both brothers flinch, albeit Hideki did so less. "You'll listen to your brother, Masashi. You'll obey the heir; he protects the future of your clan."
"Of course, mother," Masashi said quietly.
"Of course…" she trailed off.
He lowered his head. "Of course, brother."
Hachi watched with disgust. One did not often see a captain bow to a nobody; this was a humiliation ritual—one of many in their twisted family structure. To watch Masashi hold his head high in public but bow and bend behind the closed doors of the main house was pitiful.
"Then it will be done?" Hideki asked coldly.
"Of course, brother," Masashi said again.
"Very good," Hideki said. He turned to Hachi, who straightened and lowered his hands to his knees. "My fellow Enforcement Doorkeeper, your job is to quash any reports about our escort before it can be enacted, and to offer any insight you can find about the security detail for the council hall."
Hachi bowed lowly. The lower he bowed, the less they questioned him.
To go unnoticed, he thought darkly, all one had to do was behave like a tool and not a person.
Hideki nodded. "All are dismissed. Mother and I will arrange the escort from our most trusted, and we will convene before the vote at the main house."
Everyone nodded.
Hachi eyed Nanae once more as he rose to leave.
If her father had his way, life would go on as it always had. If not, her whole world would change. He internally sighed.
Weak.
Everyone in the Sasaki Clan was weak. Too weak to fight back, too weak to question orders, and too weak to face the inevitability of change.
***
Hisako wasn't one to gnaw on her nails, but she had the compulsion to while she watched Sylvain undergo another ability test.
Each week, the Medical and Intelligence Divisions had been taking him into an observation room to test out his control. The room—a padded gymnasium-like room with an adjoined viewing room complete with a one-sided mirror—gave Hisako the creeps.
Creeps or not, Hisako was privileged to be able to watch Sylvain during the tests, especially after causing such a scene when Sylvain had, the first few times around, fainted the second the phantom left him.
So Hisako felt the urge to gnaw her nails was appropriate, but she contained herself. Instead, she gripped the lip of the window so hard she thought he knuckles would pop.
Dr. Moon was in the room with Sylvain, along with a few people monitoring his health and the readings from the electrodes on him.
Sylvain looked nervous, but there was a steely resolve in his eyes that'd been steadily growing.
"C'mon," Hisako breathed.
Sylvain closed his eyes, focusing. His hands raised, and then the bones of the phantom raised even higher, pulling away from the flesh. His eyelids fluttered, and his legs faltered, but he remained conscious.
The phantom pulled away completely, and they were only connected by their touching fingertips. It looked like art—Sylvain with his arms raised to brush against the ghost haloing above him.
The phantom circled above with interest. Freedom had changed the creature.
Recognition. Acknowledgement. Like her tiger.
Sylvain had to lean against the table behind him, but he remained upright, watching the ghost.
"Okay," Dr. Moon instructed. "Now draw the ghost back in."
He took a deep breath, then lifted onto his toes to touch the ghost again. He made a soft noise and spoke in a cooing tone. The ghost dipped its head, and he touched its shoulders, pulling it down into a hug like one might retrieve a runaway balloon.
The ghost resisted before permitting it and returning to Sylvain's body. It returned slower than it emerged, bony fingers clinging to Sylvain's clothes and hands like a reluctant child.
The heavy privacy curtain to the observation room flew open, making Hisako nearly jump and slam her shoulder into the glass. A familiar man stood on the other side.
"Vice Captain Fujioka!" the doctor with her exclaimed.
"Goodness," Fujioka gasped. "I'm sorry to surprise you. I knocked, but it mustn't have been loud enough."
"Is everything okay?" Hisako asked.
"Depends on your definition of 'okay,'" Fujioka sighed. "You are being summoned, Mochizuki-san. Our captain would like to ask you to fulfil your end of the bargain."
"I—" Hisako looked back at Sylvain.
He was seated atop the table, undergoing measurements—"baseline" this, "active" that, "significant changes in" so on.
"One moment, please," she asked Fujioka.
She burst past him to the opening of the observation room. It had an even heavier curtain—practically a fabric sleeve filled with lead—, so it made a racket when she pulled it back just enough to peer through.
"Mochizuki-san." Dr. Moon admonished her coolly with a calmly clicked tongue. "Please remain in the other room."
"Sylvain!" she exclaimed. She gave him a thumbs up, and he gave one back with an exhausted arm. "You are doing it! Great job!"
He smiled weakly, and she ducked back out to see Fujioka smiling warmly, waiting for her.
"Ready?" he asked, lifting his gate key.
"Yes."
***
Hisako stepped into Captain Iwamoto's office and was surprised by the sight of Hachi and Eiji alongside the captain, Amajiki, and a stranger.
"Mochizuki-san," Iwamoto greeted. He gestured to one of the open seats across from him.
Hisako bowed and seated herself. Fujioka took the spot next to Iwamoto.
"Welcome back," Iwamoto greeted. He gestured between the stranger and Hisako. "Sasaki-san, this is Hisako Mochizuki. Mochizuki-san, this is Shouhei Sasaki—Nanae-san's half-uncle and cousin to Hachi-san and Miyu-san."
Hisako did her best not to stare at the man. He was no older than thirty-five, and he was Nanae's uncle?
He wore a red kimono with the sleeves tied up, a matching red hakama, and a black undershirt with sleeves that went to his wrists. His piercings clashed with his otherwise traditional aesthetic—he had barbell lobe piercings and silver snakebites, accentuating the solemn set of his lips.
She hurriedly bowed deeply, remembering what the name "Sasaki" meant. "Apologies. It's an honor to meet you, um, Sasaki-sama."
He chuckled. "I'm but a distant heir," he said. "No need for any fancy address. 'Shouhei' is fine, especially for what we're about to do."
She lifted her head. "If I may ask, what are we about to do?" she asked quietly.
Iwamoto giggled a bit. "It's a fair question. This is an intimidating group of people to sit at a mysterious impromptu meeting with."
Beside her, Eiji nodded—Hisako had a feeling she'd accidentally roped him into all this business.
"Unfortunately, I do have an equally intimidating task for you all," he hummed. "In two days from now, the captains will convene to debate and vote on how the Medical Division captain will be chosen.
"Thanks to Hachi-san, we've been informed that the Sasaki Clan intends to escort Captain Sasaki as a show of 'support.'"
"They want to intimidate the others to convince them to vote traditional?" Hisako asked slowly. "How does that work? Aren't captains stronger than regular Doorkeepers?"
"It's a matter of the other kind of power," Shouhei said. "The Sasaki Clan practically runs the Kanto Division. We're the richest division, the richest region, the richest family. Wealth? Power? Fame? The Sasaki Clan runs a monopoly on those things—we're king-breakers or makers. Even captains bow to my mother and my eldest brother."
Hachi curled his lip in open disgust.
"And… we're being sent to stop them?" Eiji asked, voice small and uncertain.
Hisako startled—it did sound like it was going that way.
"You have connections," Iwamoto reasoned. "This party is designed to stop the escort. I permit combat, and we have Captain Akabane's best and brightest on standby, but the Enforcement Division cannot become properly involved without established hostility from the Sasaki Clan.
"You are being sent to discover that hostility, or to defuse the procession."
"We only know, like, three Sasakis, and one of them is Hachi," Hisako reminded him.
"Yes, but one of them is the heir's daughter," Shouhei said with a small smile. "My eldest brother Hideki is many contradictory things, but he has done the most for love, and he loves his daughter very much."
Her mind faltered between the barebones brawler Nanae and the bejeweled young Miyu. It was clear which one was more of a "princess."
Hisako paused. "Miyu? We… I don't think we're that close to Miyu."
"No, no," Iwamoto chuckled. "Nanae-san. Nanae-san is the heir's daughter."
"I…" Hisako chewed on her lip.
Yeah, Shouhei had basically explained everything. Nanae's half-uncle. His brother, the heir, and his mother, the leader. Her head spun trying to attach such power to smiling, strong Nanae.
All that power, and all that inability to share it.
"You want us to change their mind by changing Nanae's mind?" Hisako asked.
"It won't work," Hachi said bluntly.
"But we still have to try," Shouhei added. "They are entitled to the chance to make the right choice."
"What happens if they don't?" Hisako asked. "The Enforcement Division gets involved? Then what?"
"Nanae-san won't get in serious trouble for orders she receives from her father or grandmother," Iwamoto assured.
"But what happens to them? What's 'serious trouble'?"
Shouhei smiled sadly. "Depending on the severity of their conspiracies, anything from decades in prison to execution."
Hisako stared, silenced.
"And what's not-serious trouble?" Serizawa asked quietly. "What happens to Nanae-san and Miyu-san?"
"It depends on how much of an accessory they were in the conspiracy," Iwamoto replied.
"Nanae is the heir's daughter," Hisako pointed out.
"For her? Maybe a decade in prison," Iwamoto said.
Hisako blanched.
"This is what's required to destroy the old system and restore power to the people," Iwamoto explained. "Power isn't gifted away by an unfair owner. It's seized."