“Hey…sorry I’m late.”

“Thanks for coming out,” said YF, as he looked across the table at his sister-in-law. He then glanced at the wall clock. Despite the awful end-of-evening traffic, Yui had arrived at the cafe right on time; their drinks had not even arrived yet.

“No no no, it wasn’t anything like that,” said YF with his hands raised. “Anyway, I remembered you like Ardan black tea, should be coming shortly.”

“How sweet,” she said with a smile. “Thank you.”

Yui looked completely worn out, dark circles visible beneath her eyes despite her immaculate makeup. She was dressed in a simple white blouse with a black blazer and matching skirt, just like any other office lady in Nishida Ward. YF also noticed she was showing early signs of her pregnancy. As she set her bag down, YF recalled the heavily armored soldiers loyal to her family that Uraga had gunned down during the raid. Their armor had been the same color as her suit.

“Anything for family,” she said, her smile never dropping. “There’ve been some issues that came up recently so you’ll forgive my lack of energy. But please, let me know what’s going on. I’ll help in any way I can.”

No reference to the Aritomo raid, and no sign that she knew about it. In many ways YF found her even more intimidating than Hiroyuki. At the very least, YF had some idea of who Hiroyuki was. But Hata Yui came off exactly the way most people imagined old family daughters did from the movies and dramas about them: unpredictable. And unpredictable could mean dangerous.

“I was just hoping for some marriage advice. I’m sure you’ve heard things are rough with Erika. Thought I could ask you a few questions.”

Yui’s eyes brightened. “Sure. Ask away.”

“Let’s say you discover something about my brother that goes fundamentally against your values. What would you do about it?” asked YF.

“Let’s see…” she paused. “I think if there was something drastically wrong with him I would be at fault for not heeding the warning signs. I would've seen them coming and chosen to ignore them.” Yui tilted her head. “Because I don't think fundamental differences are reconcilable, we'd have to divorce. But the good thing is what most people think are fundamental differences are not. They are usually a difference in interpretation of the same values.

“I see.” YF tried to recall if there was a point where he could have seen Erika was sectarian but nothing came to mind. “How do you deal with a difference in interpretation?”

“You have to appeal to your shared, fundamental values.” Yui turned to the server who arrived with the drinks. “Thank you.” She took the cup of tea and caressed the bottom of the mug with her hands. YF nodded as the waitress placed his coffee in front of him.

Yui continued. “After establishing your values are the same you then need to compromise. We’re fortunate that both of us are used to making deals. That part is not so difficult.”

“So you fight with Hiroyuki?”

“Of course,” said Yui, sipping some tea. “As far as anyone on the outside looking is concerned though, we’re one hundred percent aligned.”

“Uh huh.”

“Ah. Remember not to disengage,” Yui added. “Disengaging is the worst thing to do. Both in love and in business. The moment you shut off, it’s over. No matter how hard the negotiations are, don’t disengage.”

“Do you think,” YF started. “Do you think he’s changed you at all? Do you ever feel like you’re becoming more like him?”

Yui covered her mouth as she laughed softly. “I think about that all the time.”

“I wonder if it’s that the more stubborn one wins,” said YF. “I feel like Erika influences me more than I influence her.”

“And you don’t like that?”

YF imagined Erika leading a large group of sectarians toward Kigali’s workshop. He thought about what had happened inside the Double Phoenix compound. While thoughts like those should have been deeply troubling, the more time he had to think about it, the more numb to it he grew. “I don’t know anymore.”

“The fact that you’re talking to me about it means you’re stubborn enough to work it out with her. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t care,” said Yui, sipping her tea once more.

“So you’ve made Hiroyuki see things the way you see them too?”

“Sure I have,” Yui replied.

“Like what?”

“You’d be surprised at how narrow in scope he thinks,” Yui explained. “He got to where he does because he gets things done, and he gets them done well. But he seldom contextualizes what he’s doing to anything grander than that. He’s gotten better over time. I also took on a bit of his action oriented style. I’m sure we both benefited from understanding each other.”

YF could see why Hiroyuki found it easy to communicate with Erika now that Yui had explained it to him that way. But YF was also certain that he himself was neither action oriented nor much of a planner. If Erika took the action and no one planned, what exactly was it that they were doing?

“Teamwork seems to make a hell of a difference,” YF muttered, as he thought about the difference in achievements between their two families.

“It’s important while you work all this out not to compare, or read too many network forums, books or things like that,” said Yui. “Those help to some degree but everyone is different. You have to feel out much of it on your own. I’m sure if you give it some thought you can take better next steps.”

YF nodded, stifling a yawn.

“You haven’t been sleeping much, have you?” asked Yui with a look of concern.

“Not much,” YF admitted.

“Sleep deprivation will also make it harder to think.”

YF grinned. “You’re one to talk.”

Yui smiled back at him genuinely. “One thing you Sakai boys share is your ability to put people at ease. I’m sure you will find a way to talk to her.”

YF shook his head. “It’s different now.” He breathed in and out deeply, turning to watch the slowly inching traffic of the early morning rush hour. “Familiarity breeds contempt, as they say,” said YF. “It was much easier to make sacrifices out of passion the first few years than it is the latter ones.”

Yui waved her hand in front of her face. “Oh don’t tell me about that yet. I’m still in the honeymoon phase!”

Even as she said that though, YF felt like she definitely was not.

“Erika wanted a baby. That was until the falling out. People say you shouldn’t make that step at a strained period in a relationship. Though I wonder if that’s possible these days.”

“Again,” said Yui. “People will give advice but you’ll have to feel out if you’re ready or not. If not though, don’t push it.”

YF took a sip of his coffee, which had gotten completely cold by then. “Thanks sis. I think this helped.”

“Anytime!” said Yui brightly. “And don’t hesitate to call again. I can be a sounding board for whatever you’re thinking.”

***

YF waited to get on the last morning bus to Itsugo so that he could secure a nice, comfortable seat in the back. When he finally sat down, he then mustered the willpower to take out his receiver.

“I can keep the rent going for a while if you need, but I think it’ll be better for our finances if I only extend it until New Year.”

YF looked down at Erika’s message and pondered over it. With him spending more time in Nishida Ward, he was unsure what exactly that would do for him, as he had already spent a few nights in spas and hostels.

“I’ll find places to stay and I was going to go back to Ikusayama soon anyway. Think it’ll be fine, just cancel it,” YF texted back.

“This month’s is covered anyway. Get what you need done and come back.”

“Ok.”

YF pocketed his receiver and stared out the window of the bus. When they passed over the edge of Nishida proper and into Itsugo Icchome, YF looked down toward the lower levels. The border between the city and his village had always had a reputation of lawlessness. It was too far for the Sentinels to respond to anything and not within the Ward Police’s jurisdiction to deal with. But the village council installed many more cameras and started denying drug dealers receiver-transaction rights in the area. They also increased the penalties for car and bus jackings such that the anxiety of every trip to the Ward he and Hiroyuki took as kids had mostly disappeared. YF heard about the threats various sects had made to the council and Sentinel offices over the changes, and that the new chairman had refused to bow to pressure. All of it started a few years before he got in.

“Prime Minister Iitake delivered a speech before congress this morning marking a drastic shift in policy toward high tech research funding for the military as well as infrastructure improvements nationwide…”

YF turned to the TV screen on the bus just as a middle aged man with slicked back hair rose to the podium.

“For too long our nation has sat idly as Ard and Xian pour unprecedented resources into research and development to strong arm us into doing their bidding. Thousands of years after The Liberator freed us from their grasp, we are still beholden to them. We are a people too feeble in the face of wanton mercantilism and threats of military action from more powerful actors. But where decision makers have dallied, our great innovators such as Aritomo, Imahisa, and Kawagoe have taken the lead in pushing us toward a self-sufficient future…”

YF’s stomach twisted when he heard the prime minister mention the Aritomo zaibatsu.

The prime minister continued. “In line with the reforms we will also begin an urban renewal program in districts such as Itsugo and Nojuku to solve our deteriorating communities. Residents in the relevant areas have been notified of how they should comply with the initiatives. Nishida Ward will annex…”

***

After the long trip back to Itsugo, the only thing YF wanted was a nap. But when he arrived at the Itsugo East Transportation Hub, large crowds had already gathered to protest the new government measures, completely blocking the path from the bus to the terminal. A large muscular man a few rows down stood up and said something to the bus driver about letting him out on the side of the road. The bus driver initially protested until the man stared him down, causing the former to open both the front and center doors. The large man went out through the front. YF was the second one to rise, getting off through the center exit.

While YF completely agreed with what the crowds were shouting, he did not have the energy to join them. He knew that his Sentinel colleagues would arrive soon to maintain order as best they could before the Nishida riot police showed up. YF took the back alleys he was familiar with to make his way to a smaller light-cycle sharing kiosk. Such cycles were regulated to be much lower speed than actual hovercycles and were noticeably smaller as well. In his younger years, YF derided such vehicles as alley trash along with the rest of his friends, but the older he got the more he appreciated them. He swiped his ID against the pillar and took the nearest bike, twisting the throttle and heading down the narrow paths. The trip was mostly uneventful, as it seemed that anyone who would have gathered in the alleys was now converging at the transportation hub.

When YF reached his apartment in Itsugo, he saw something different from what he was used to through the lobby glass. Three men in trenchcoats were sitting on the lobby couches, something the owner and property manager did not usually allow for non-residents. One was vaping, the other tapping his foot and staring at the wall, while the third was reading some sort of print magazine. Nobody read print magazines by then, and so YF could instantly tell something was up. He parked the bike at his apartment’s kiosk and raised his hand through the front door ID scan. YF slowly moved past the men and over to the hallway that led to the elevator. When he reached halfway down, he could hear their footsteps as they quickly closed the distance between them. YF stepped into the back of the elevator and waited for the three to get in. The door closed.

“It’s just a simple message,” said the man who had been vaping earlier. “You are to leave this building within seven days.”

YF glanced at the man who had been speaking. He knew he wouldn’t be able to take these three on, especially not in a cramped space.

“Why is that?” asked YF.

“Urban Renewal. You watch the news?”

YF looked back to the elevator entrance, watching as the floor numbers incremented on the digital display using his peripheral vision. “Fair enough.”

The man who had been vaping pressed the button to stop at the floor two above where they had just passed. The elevator made a dinging sound before the doors opened.

“Have a nice day,” said the man as he and his men stepped out.

The doors closed.

***

YF pushed the light-cycle as fast as he could to Gochome, avoiding the crowds that were now clashing with Sentinel personnel on the main roads. As he approached the area where Takahashi Momoko had lived, the sight of bulldozers and excavators turned his stomach into knots. He arrived at the construction barrier a block away as an excavator arm smashed into the top of Takahashi’s apartment building. A few buildings nearby had already been demolished; they must have started work while he was detained over the Aritomo building incident. Groups of families were standing by on the sidewalk, with one woman screaming at village services, who looked like they were trying to swipe her some money for the loss of her home.

YF shook his head. His own apartment was likely undergoing repair for earthquake codes or some such, but Gochome was about to turn into a massive homeless encampment the way Icchome had in the past. But something didn’t sit right with him about this whole initiative. YF needed to go somewhere that he knew they would get to last. He decided to head toward the massive opium house on the border of Yonchome.

***

The building did not have any police presence, much to YF’s relief. But upon reaching the front entrance, he noticed a long message scrolling down the side panel that seemed to be an eviction notice. YF reached his hand through the broken door and shoved it open, stepping into the dark corridor.

The Sentinels didn’t patrol gochome in general, largely because if they did they wouldn’t have time or personnel to deal with anywhere else. YF was aware that Viper Sect dabbled in drugs — every sect did — but he also knew the issue often caused major tensions among the leadership. Rumors circulated that the oyabun — whom he knew now was Hayashi Reina — turned a blind eye to these things, probably to raise money. YF kicked multiple needles as he moved along, something he was no longer used to after leaving the slums. One man was keeled over on the ground. Distant shouts could be heard in far off wings of the building.

“I’ll be clean…I’ll be clean…”

YF turned to the man on the floor.

“I’ll be clean…I’ll be clean…” the man repeated.

“Clean of what?” asked YF in a low voice.

“Ah…ahaha! Clean…”

YF proceeded at a slower pace, stepping over the various boxes, glass shards, and needles as he went. At the end of the first floor, he went up two flights of stairs out of a whim and then down the third floor hall. The third floor was more brightly lit but also contained various items scattered about. The stench of garbage and human fluids was much stronger there than on the first floor. One woman laid passed out on a mattress. The notification boards of every section scrolled the same message of eviction. When he reached a third of the way down, a door a few units ahead suddenly opened, a young woman holding a shower caddy emerging from the opening. She turned in YF’s direction and froze.

“I just have a few questions,” said YF, raising his hands palm out.

The woman bolted back into her unit and locked the door with a loud thud. Within seconds, alarms started blaring through the building. YF tensed up but resisted the urge to make a run for it, having a feeling that would not do much for his situation. The sound of heavy boots could be heard from above, followed shortly by many men filing into the third floor hall from both side stairs, blocking off any chance for him to escape.