Nishida and Akechi walked through the park once again. He had written an invitation to someone else, he had to talk to her anyway and he wanted to know the truth.

The whole thing was a never-ending dilemma.

Akemi walked the alley to meet the two men, waving amicably at Akechi and bowing before Nishida.

"Hi Nishida-sama. Hope you're having a better day than me."

"Hello, Hida-san. My day was,.. intersintg. How as your day?" he put an emphasis on the word day, hinting at the meeting he knew she had.

Mochi barked at the unkown woman wagging his tail as ususal.

"Well it started with the Phoenix having misread my résumé and thinking I was very good at shooting at rocks from very far, which is like the opposite of my job. And then..."

Akemi pointed her chin at Akechi while giving a questioning stare at Nishida, unsubtly asking if it was safe to speak before him.

Nishida nodded. The Old Man had accompanied Nishida longer than his parents. If he could not trust him, he could not trust anyone.

"The worst news first then. Agasha-sama's men still haven't come back from the site. So we have no certitude that the problem was actually solved."

"and the even worse news?" he inquired

"The other bad news is that the magistrate roasted us about other participants in our endeavor and that we didn't exactly do a good job at convincing her there was none.

The first good news is that Yul kept quiet, so, unless Eriko continues throwing out-claners under the bus, the madness should be contained to us three.

Beating is scheduled for tomorrow's morning, but we're both big boys, we'll live."

He sighed. "I see. I wish you Kisada's strength for that."

He walked a bit in Silence. After wich he fixed his glasses.
"I think the lord magistrate has no intentions of clearing this up, Hida-san."

"...

Sure and certain?"

"You did not see the reaction when I mentioned the Kiyonami, there is something rotten, something huge. I'm not even sure anyone has been sent to the wreck."

he took out a cigarette, offering Akemi one, then lighting his.

Akemi nodded, biting her lip and refusing the cigarette with a silent move of her hand.

"I'll need as many details as you've got."

She lowered her voice, more out of reflexes than for any good reason:

"My own intel, from a source I wouldn't exactly call trustworthy so take it with three scoops of salt, is that the lord magistrate might be part of some kind of... ecologist cult? People opposed to the destruction of Asakaze's devilish flora and fauna.

I have no idea how determined is that cult, how twisted it might be from the inside, which methods they're daring to use and how involved the magistrate is with it. For all I know, could just be a bunch of stoned priests and a political rivalry between the magistrate and the governor about how much they should industrialize the planet."

"She basicaly exploded when i mentioned the Kiyonami, like in a panic way. Maybe she was just angry, but i've dealt with magistrates before,... this was new."

he listend to Akemi side of the story while smoking his cig.

"This 'source',.. has that anything to do to with the fact that there are a gazzilion rumors about you and Daigotsu-sama?"

Panic mode, panic mode!

"You know what they say about rumors..."

Akemi attempted to reroute the conversation with the grace of a Hida Courtier (Hida Courtier Rank 1 is called "Why are you even trying, it's not going to work").

"Well, the Kiyonami IS a sacred site, and the Phoenix are especially touchy with the sacred... Not trying to play devil's advocate here, just wondering if we're not on the wrong target simply because the lord magistrate was more concerned with screaming at us than dealing with zombies."

"I, normally, give no damn about rumors. But i've met Daigotsu-sama in the Bathhouse today,.... what do you have to say in your defense, Hida-san?"

"Yes, the Kiyonami is a sacred site, but... if your source is right, we have a bucket of rotten rice here. And I do not like that."

Akemi tried for a joke:

"In a bath with a Spider commander Nishida-sama? But what about the rumors about yourself?"

The joke failed hard. She then glanced at her communicator, looking for a way out:

"Hey, looks like I've got a message while I was talking to the magistrate. Should give it a look, might be important!"

Well, it was from Mumei, so it was more likely to be about their dancing arrangement, but should give her a minute to find a proper exc... Oh fuck, it really was important.

"Well... Might have an update."

She showed the screen to Nishida, hiding the sender's name with one finger. Recipients were herself and Eriko, date was indeed a few hours earlier:

Nishida frowned. "This is valuable information, Hida-san, but,..."

he continued in a hard voice: "I'm sick of these games, i demand you being honest! Who else was with you in this ship besides Shinjo Yul-san and Matsu Hide-san? Do you have a relationship with Daigotsu-sama or not? If we need to prepare for a fight we need allies and i'm sick of playing court-games with clanmates!"

he lit another cigarette.

Your turn to sacrifice something to save something else I guess, Akemi.

"I've sworn not to say their names, and, sorry, but I cannot go back on that. However they'll probably reveal themselves to you soon. Situation is getting too critical to play games, we're all conscious of that.

As for Daigotsu-sama..."

She opened her densai, and showed to him the chart from last time, now updated, quickly adding a circle around the upper left corner:



"See that zone? That's the danger zone I talked about last time. Powerful alliance material. Daigotsu Shokomaru could marry any of the two Crane, or even the Kitsune, and greatly increase the Spider strength.

So I might have taken upon myself to keep him... distracted from his marital endeavors. With whatever means at my disposal."

This explanation was not a lie in the proper sense of the term. It was something Akemi's brain had put together as a way to justify to herself that what she was doing was not second-degree treason but something actually beneficial to the clan. She herself didn't buy it fully, but it did ease up her conscience abit.

He raised an eyebrow "You're aware that, if he chooses you, you're becoming a spider? That you, most likely, will fight at the front against your former clan? Are you sure you can make this sacrafice? I would rather wish for you to stay a crab and not to become an enemy. I'm not your lord, or above in the chain in command, but i advise you to think this through again."

He smoked a bit.

"As for the rest: We need a meeting of the persons who are in the known about it, weighing out our options, planning a strategy. I would hate to die on this planet infested by Maho Tsukai and mushroom cultists."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he won't choose me."

Well, logic dictated it at least. Though Sho could prove... emotional.

"He still has obligations toward his faction. I'm just forcing him to lower his sights by pushing him into offending his allies. Should have seen Daidoji Ishiyo's face when I stole her boy under her nose. Pretty sure any marriage prospect between the two died at that moment."

This was a good memory, though maybe for a different reason than the alleged one, and she allowed herself a predatory smile.

"And don't worry, I'm actively searching for a good mate at the same time. My eyes are on the Lion at the moment, with Scorpion as a back-up.

As for the main issue... I actually have no idea who know what. Especially as people become more and more paranoid as danger seems to close in.

From my understanding, there is... Let's call it Eriko's band on one side, and a team of spiritual specialists who is investigating the cult matter on the other."

She pulled a face.

"The cover of this one is probably going to blow up very soon if it hasn't yet. Each passing hour I seem to learn a new non-local shugenja is in the known, though I have no idea who is deeply involved and who is just hearing rumors. And each might be reporting to their own boss. Unless there is yet another Spider involved I for instance highly suspect Kuchiki Tsugiharu of tipping Daigotsu Shokomaru on their every progress. He himself might be tipping other people in turn."

Like a certain Crab?

"Sh... Daigotsu Shokomaru also suggested the leader of these investigators was the Kitsune. Haven't been able to confirm that yet. He has the money to fund such an endeavor at least."