Chapter Eight An Uninvited Alliance #3
"I need to know what the Accord is doing."
"And you will, at six."
"They may speak to Takeda and Minamoto before then."
"They certainly will."
Haruki looked towards the doors Kael had left through. The historians knew more than they had admitted. Minamoto had recognised the White Lotus. Takeda had read the journal. The Accord would not allow either of them to speak freely now. That alone justified a hospital visit.
Haruki almost smiled. Reina saw it.
"No."
"I haven't said anything."
"You found a reason."
"I have several reasons."
"You're going to see the doctor."
"I am going to check on survivors."
"Of course."
"Takeda may be questioned."
"Mm."
"Jun may lose his leg."
"Yes."
"Minamoto knows what the Unveiled were trying to destroy."
"Very serious."
Haruki narrowed his eyes.
"You're mocking me."
"Never."
Ayako moved towards the door.
"Have the car brought around."
Haruki stared at her.
"You agree?"
"I agree that you require medical attention."
"And access to the survivors."
"If that occurs while you are there, what a remarkable coincidence."
Reina laughed. Haruki pushed himself upright. Pain struck beneath his ribs so sharply that his vision blurred. He gripped the edge of the table. Reina's amusement vanished.
"Sit down."
"I am standing."
"Poorly."
"I'll improve with practice."
She placed his arm over her shoulders. Haruki almost objected. Then accepted the help.
Public devotion was easy. People expected it from him.
He attended funerals. Paid hospital bills.
Settled disputes. Remembered children's names and which elderly shopkeepers needed their rent delayed during winter.
Everyone saw those things. They did not see the moments after.
The office emptied. The meetings ended. The responsibility remained.
He had built a life around being necessary because necessity did not leave.
It did not grow bored. It did not decide someone else would be easier to love.
Perhaps that was why Dr Takahara had unsettled him.
Renji had not needed anything. Had not wanted favour.
Had not cared whether Haruki could offer power, money or protection.
He had looked at him covered in blood and seen only someone who should live.
Haruki had spent years surrounded by devotion.
Indifference should not have felt intimate. Yet it had.
"Stop smiling," Reina said.
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm in pain."
"That is not your pain face."
"You know too much about my face."
"I'm your sister."
"You're my Security Chief."
"Same thing in a Family."
Haruki sighed. She helped him towards the door. Ayako walked ahead, already issuing instructions to staff.
Haruki told himself the hospital visit was necessary.
The dressing required attention. The survivors needed reassurance.
Takeda and Minamoto possessed information relevant to the investigation.
Jun deserved to hear that his Family had not forgotten him.
All valid reasons. Professional. Responsible.
Entirely unrelated to the memory of calm dark eyes and a voice telling him his name changed nothing.
The drive to Takamori University Medical Centre took fourteen minutes. Reina spent all of them informing Haruki that he was an idiot. He watched the city pass beyond the tinted window and allowed her to continue.
Morning traffic had thickened around the central districts.
Delivery vans crowded the side streets. Students crossed between cafés and lecture halls.
News screens displayed vague reports of an industrial accident beneath the southern warehouse district.
The Accord's version had already begun. Structural collapse.
Hazardous materials. Restricted access. No mention of murder.
No mention of masks. No mention of the old chamber or the people killed for finding it.
Haruki watched the report disappear behind them.
"The lie protects the peace," he said.
Reina looked over.
"What?"
"Something their leader said."
"The attackers?"
"Yes."
"What did he mean?"
"I don't know."
She studied him.
"You'll find out."
It was not encouragement. It was certainty. People believed in Haruki most when he least trusted himself.
The car entered the hospital grounds. Haruki adjusted his coat. Reina noticed.
"You look fine."
"I know."
"You adjusted it three times."
"The seam is sitting incorrectly."
"You're nervous."
"I faced armed killers yesterday."
"And now you're seeing a doctor you flirted with."
Haruki looked at her.
"One of those situations nearly killed me."
"Exactly."
The car stopped beneath the main entrance. A hospital porter approached with a wheelchair. Haruki stared at it.
"No."
Reina opened the door.
"Yes."
"I can walk."
"You can bleed while walking. That is not the same."
The porter waited with the patient expression of someone who had witnessed this argument many times in different forms. Haruki stepped out. Pain folded through him before both feet reached the ground. He caught the car door. Reina said nothing. She did not need to.
Haruki sat in the wheelchair.
"Not a word."
"I haven't said anything."
"You're thinking loudly."
She took hold of the handles. They entered the hospital. The scent reached Haruki first — disinfectant, coffee, clean fabric, the same strange mixture he remembered from drifting in and out of consciousness.
People turned as they passed. Some recognised him. Most recognised Reina. A security officer moved towards them, then stopped when Haruki smiled politely.
"We're here to see the tunnel survivors," Reina said.
The receptionist checked the system.
"Family?"
"Yes," Haruki replied.
Reina glanced down at him. He ignored her.
The receptionist hesitated.
"Which patient?"
"All of them."
"That may require approval."
"Then find someone who can provide it."
Haruki heard the old command return to his voice. The receptionist straightened. Before she could respond, someone crossed the corridor behind her.
Dark hair. White coat. Folder in one hand. Renji Takahara.
Haruki saw him before Renji saw the wheelchair. Then Renji looked up. His eyes moved from Haruki's face to the hospital bracelet still secured around his wrist. Then to the stain beneath his coat.
The expression that followed was not pleasure. Not surprise. Not even irritation. It was the contained fury of a doctor discovering that a patient had ignored every instruction given to him.
Haruki smiled. Renji walked towards them.
"What are you doing here?"
Haruki settled more comfortably in the chair.
"To check on survivors."
Renji looked at the blood spreading beneath his dressing.
"You are one of the survivors."
"Then I'm being very thorough."
Renji closed his eyes. Only briefly.
Haruki's smile widened. The investigation could wait another minute.