YF felt a strong slap on his shoulder and instinctively threw his arms up to block his face from the sun, only to realize seconds later that the lobby window’s sun shield was on.

“Come on let’s go,” he could hear Reina say.

YF lowered his arms then sat up slowly, looking up at her. She was now wearing a white T-shirt with the character “Rise” along her side as well as a pair of denim shorts. Her eyes were covered by comically large sunglasses, probably to hide the puffiness.

“Aren’t you going to use your sun visor anyway?” asked YF motioning to her neckband.

“We’re going,” she repeated.

“Where?”

“You remember you were getting me those vehicle mods,” said Reina.

YF shook his head. “The person who was going to install those got drafted into the army.”

“Who, Toa?”

YF made an expression toward Reina as if to tell her to stop talking.

Reina waved a hand in dismissal. “She’s not the excuses type, someone will have them ready by now.”

YF thought back to the events of the previous evening. “You know I’m going to submit a report on you to the Ward Police,” said YF.

“If you get me the vehicles I don’t care.”

“What do you even need them for?” asked YF standing up. “You already got Ai somewhere.”

Reina rubbed her nose with the back of two fingers and then scratched her side idly.

YF frowned. “Did you…”

“What do you think?” Reina snapped. “I couldn’t get enough time with her otherwise.”

YF could not recall whether he saw the signs she was high the evening before. Hotel lights were always dim in their country, even the upscale ones. Foreigners usually had to ask the front desk to configure a setting so that they could get that awfully bright illumination they were used to. But even for natives it was hard to see sometimes in those rooms. Foreigners circulated the myth that it was because Reo engaged in much more frequent sexual activity and the dimness helped usher the mood. But the truth was nobody knew why hotel lights weren’t a bit brighter. In any case, he didn’t remember her showing any physical signs of use. But watching her repeat the motion of rubbing her nose and scratching her skin explained her erratic behavior.

“How many lines?” he asked.

Reina started walking toward the elevator. “You can say whatever you want and call me whatever you want. I don’t have time to banter and you’ll lead me to the cars.”

YF found himself stumbling after her. “How are we getting there exactly?

“I had an associate leave a ride in the parking lot. Just swipe me the directions,” Reina replied.

YF picked up his receiver after the elevator doors closed. But as he did, he found a voicemail from the Magistrate’s Office.

Reina looked toward him. “What?”

“I’m pretty sure I need to get to Yonchome.”

“And where am I going?” asked Reina.

YF recalled the face of Mr. Betel Nut, Toa’s associate. “It’s in Icchome.” YF scrolled through his receiver and swiped once toward Reina. “Drop me off at the station. By the way, you should show up with a bag of betel nut. Maybe two bags.”

Reina raised an eyebrow. “Come again?”

“Betel nut.”

“You mean those places with the trashy girls in miniskirts in the big windows?”

“Correct,” YF replied.

“I don’t even know where I would get that shit. You sure he doesn’t want a pack of real cigarettes or something?”

“I highly doubt it,” said YF. “And you can get that shit at Santoku.”

Reina was already typing through her navigator. “Got it,” she sighed.

“Toa also said something about him needing a bit more than a bag of chew to persuade him of things.”

Reina chuckled, dropping her receiver in her purse. “Don’t worry about that, I’m sure I’ve got just the thing.”

YF inhaled slowly and closed his eyes, trying not to guess what she meant. When they arrived at the basement parking lot, Reina power walked out to a black, luxury looking car and pressed a few buttons on her receiver, the gullwing doors rising before they arrived.

“I’m driving,” she said. “Border Station close enough?”

“That’ll work,” said YF, climbing in.

YF waited a few minutes in silence before asking what he wanted an answer to: “What happened to Maeda and the others?”

“You’re not very responsive,” said Reina. “Much of that could’ve been avoided if you were.”

“And how would I make a difference on what happened to Maeda?”

“The plan was to involve the Itsugo Sentinels. The Ward Police is too high profile and Magistrate Kuroda wouldn’t send his active personnel for this. I was going to ask you to contact Kuroda-san directly and assign yourself to be my bodyguard. If you relayed that to Kuroda and had Kuroda relay it to my father, he wouldn’t have sent people after me.”

“So your plan B was to put Maeda in a cell indefinitely to distract everyone while you escape?”

“Maeda will be released shortly. But if you had come earlier and agreed to talk to Kuroda this wouldn’t have happened.”

“I’m not your call boy,” said YF.

“No you’re not,” said Reina, surprisingly apologetic. “But for all I do for Erika I’d hoped you could help a bit more.”

“What do you do for her exactly?”

Reina stepped hard on the accelerator. “When you see Kuroda-san, ask him to help me set up a press conference. I intend to announce my return.”

“So then Erika and Maeda would take on an even bigger role for the sect then.”

Reina nodded. “Everything is going as planned. There should only be one big job left before the gears start to turn.”

“And that involves the vehicles?”

“Precisely,” said Reina. “And you will be involved with that.”

“How? I’m sure Kuroda will put me back on active duty.”

Reina shook her head. “He’ll put you back on active duty but with a delay of one month. In that month, we’re going to put the last pieces in place and advance everything forward.”

YF had a sinking feeling at the words “last pieces”. He also wanted to ask what “advance forward” meant, but decided he’d probably rather not know. “The month delay, you put in for it?”

“No, you will.”

“And why would I do that?” asked YF.

“My men have captured one of the Double Phoenix runners. A nobody. We’ll re-mark him and put in enough to prove he was the one who took me from the Double Phoenix compound.”

“Who says I need to clear my name?” asked YF.

“I did,” said Reina. “And I will also set you up in the Ward Office and with new living arrangements.”

YF wanted to ask Reina why she thought he needed all this. But he knew that she knew it was for his pride. Pride enough not to go crawling back to Ikusayama to live in his in laws’ house. “You need to tell me what these vehicles are for. And what we’re retrieving.”

“My fellow classmates, initiates,” said Reina dripping with understatement.

“The other ARC subjects.”

Reina nodded. “We need to get them out of the hands of Aritomo.”

“The ones heavily guarded by Hata family’s men.”

Reina winced; it was barely noticeable, but YF noticed it.

“You’re planning on attacking all at once, aren’t you?”

“I have no choice,” said Reina through gritted teeth. “If I make a precise plan to get them back one by one they will catch on. The only way is to time my return with the attack. I will be the talk of most news outlets for a few days. It’ll be enough for Maeda and the other enforcers to get the other subjects.”

“What do you plan on doing with them?”

“I wish I could say ‘nothing’,” said Reina. “But the truth is I have to put them under heavy guard.

“Why’s that?”

“No more questions,” said Reina.

The characters “Border Station” loomed up ahead. Reina pulled up next to it and opened the gullwing passenger door. “Remember to tell Kuroda about the press conference.”

“And my arrangements?” asked YF, hardly believing he had said those words.

“I’ll swipe them to you within the hour,” said Reina with a grin.

When Reina dropped YF off at Border Station, he stood there pondering for a while the diametric personalities of the woman. She could switch from the most alluring feminine side of herself to the intimidating sectarian leader to the bargaining politician all within seconds. It made him question if he had any idea who she was — or if even Erika knew who she was for that matter. There was no second guessing that the woman was dangerous, but he felt that he could trust her yet a bit more. The problem was when the time came — and it would come — that he could not.

YF turned to the station and switched on his full face mask, walking down the hall and up the escalator until he reached the platform. There, he waited by the nearest queue until the train arrived.

***

When he arrived back at the Sentinel Office, YF was pulled immediately into Kuroda’s office.

“You couldn’t reply that you were going to obey your summons?” asked Kuroda, closing the door.

“Sorry,” said YF. He paused as if to say something, but the words would not come.

Kuroda waved his vape box hand, making his way to his desk. “The process of integrating Itsugo fully into Nishida Ward has begun, as you know,” he said, sitting down. “It means we’re going to be very busy. Especially you. The stack of formal training on your terminal is…enormous, to put it lightly.”

“Training?”

“Physical fitness, marksmanship, ethics, basic criminal law, you name it. And Uraga’s threatened to cut anyone who doesn’t pass.”

“When is the evaluation for this?” asked YF.

“About half a year’s time. It’s a generous amount, one that admittedly Uraga wrestled from the central government. Better get to reading. You also have a backlog of work from your leave of absence.”

“No one took care of it while I was gone?”

Kuroda inhaled deeply from his vape box. “Why do you even ask these questions when you know the answer?”

“Short staffed,” said YF.

Kuroda nodded.

YF thought about Reina’s promise to transfer him to the Ward Office. He was sure he still needed to pass some sort of evaluation, especially on Uraga’s watch. Perhaps Reina didn’t know. Or perhaps she was sure he would get through it. The idea of finally making it to the Ward Office was too good to pass up though.

“I need about a month,” said YF.

Kuroda raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“I’ve been evicted from my apartment.”

Kuroda’s expression grew sympathetic. “Sorry to hear that. Do you need me to put you up somewhere?”

YF shook his head. “I’ve got a place. But there are some other preparations to make. People to help, changing my registration certificate, moving and such.” There was really nothing to move. Even if there was, he did not think the sectarians hired to kick people out of their homes would let anyone back in. But Kuroda didn’t have to know that.

Kuroda nodded slowly.

“And we will need to arrange security for Hayashi Reina,” YF added.

Kuroda looked amused. “Ms. Hayashi?”

YF nodded. “The sectarians released her. She would like to appear in a press conference that she is safe and will continue her duties at her father’s business.”

“This…this is big news. But why would she tell you?”

“I was her neighbor.”

“You were her neighbor…” said Kuroda. “You knew her father had his mercs on every corner looking for her and you didn’t say anything.”

“I didn’t find out who she was exactly until recently,” said YF. “But frankly, sir. Even if I had known earlier, I didn’t feel like getting my throat slit in the middle of the night. I’m sure they could break into my apartment if they wanted to.” He recalled the masked man who had been sent to stop him looking into the Aritomo affair, a memory he had suppressed until that point. The thought made him recoil.

“You all right?” asked Kuroda, with a look of genuine concern.

“Yes. But now that they’ve released her of their own will I think it’ll be fine. Let’s just do what we can to protect the event.”

Kuroda twirled his pen while inhaling from the vape box, grimacing. “We don’t really have the personnel.”

“I’m sure she’ll fund the job, and it’ll help weather the office through the village incorporation transition.”

Kuroda exhaled a cloud of smoke that brushed over his desk. “I’ll think about it. Enjoy your break. I’d get some reading done on the train though, if I were you.”

“Yes sir,” said YF, bowing.

YF stood up from his seat and shoved his hands in his pockets. He turned on his sun visor once he exited the Magistrate’s office, trying to avoid eye contact with his colleagues as he shuffled out of the half-repaired Sentinel Office. He passed The Antelope and over to the bus stop, waiting alone under the fully shielded shelter. The afternoon sun was beating down on the heavily tinted glass, threatening to kill him. As the months advanced, it would only get stronger. YF pulled out his receiver and scrolled to Erika’s contact, thumbing a message in. “I miss you.”

“Me too,” came the reply.

“Construction going well?” YF typed in.

“Yeah I’m on break. Heard the boss needs your help. Guess you won’t be coming back for a while.”

“Yeah.”

“Stay safe. Hopefully it ends quicker than expected.”

“Right.” YF paused, thinking of what to say next. Since he couldn’t come up with anything, he made up an excuse. “I need to take care of some stuff. Will call you later.”

“Okay.”

YF backed up one window on the screen and scrolled toward Saru’s contact. But before he could press it, he received an encrypted message notification. “Meet Uwada and Mizuno at Itsugo Icchome station.”