"Very well," Subhash said quietly. He adjusted his gold-rimmed spectacles, seating them more firmly. "You seem to be well-supplied with advisors whose words you heed. I will attend to the Coordinator."

Theodore paused a moment, seeming to weigh the Director's words. "I understand," he said finally.

Subhash bowed, brief and shallow, then turned his back on them. The Director strode directly across to the group around the Coordinator, dismissing the Pillarines. Ninyu watched, shifting his attention between the Kanrei and the Director. His face was stiff, as though he fought to control his thoughts. Reaching a decision, he cleared his throat.

"Kanrei," he began, holding out a packet wrapped in plain white silk. "Here is something for Michi Noketsuna."

Theodore accepted the offering and looked questioningly at Ninyu.

"It's some information that might be of interest to him. Recordings made by one Jerry Akuma. It seems that Akuma felt it necessary to secretly record his meetings with certain persons. The recordings are quite revealing. There is, of course, a copy for you. It may tell you something about your father as well."

"Domo,Ninyu -kun.I hadn't thought you interested in helping Michi- kun."

"I'm not, but these recordings may encourage him to slither back under the rocks he crawled from. The Dragon will be better off without him and the bad company he keeps."

"These are not fabricated, are they?" Constance asked. Her voice contained only curiosity, but Fuhito suspected her words held more. Once again, he was out of his depth among the subsurface meanings that seemed to fill the court and ensnare the lords of the Dragon.

"The truth is damning enough," Ninyu snapped. He stepped back, and without bowing first, walked halfway across the room before stopping. He seemed unwilling to join those around the Coordinator, but in his covert glance back to Theodore, Fuhito saw his reluctance to return to the Kanrei's group. He stood in the middle of the room for a moment, indecisive. Then he settled his shoulders and strolled slowly out past the Otomo.

"There is trouble brewing," Constance warned. "He is both more and less than one of your companions. Trust him with little."

"I trust him as I must," Theodore stated. "He's completely loyal to the Dragon. As long as the Combine's survival is threatened, he will never betray it."

"He is a small spider, learning the ways of the master weaver at the heart of the web," Constance observed. "He and his teacher may not see your interests and those of the Dragon as one and the same."

Theodore shook his head. "I can't afford to worry about that now. Besides, he won't be a danger for some time to come."

"Any time is too soon," Tomoe asserted.

"That is true, To-chan.But we must deal with the present right now. The future must wait for tomorrow." Without looking at Fuhito, Theodore added, "Isn't that right, Fuhito- kun?”

"Hai, Tono!"

71

Unity Palace, Imperial City, Luthien

Pesht Military District, Draconis Combine

18 June 3040

 

Piotr Hitsu, the man Theodore knew as a kuromakuof the yakuza, entered the audience chamber only after the guards had withdrawn from the room. Hitsu looked worn, aged more than the years since their last meeting could rightly claim. The kuromakuwalked slowly across the floor, his limp more pronounced than when the two had met on Corsica Nueva.

A young boy followed him into the chamber. The boy, impeccably attired in a brilliant white kataginu,was dark-complexioned and thin, clearly no relation of the stocky, pale Hitsu. Something about the boy's face reminded Theodore of one of the oyabunthat Hitsu had gathered into an alliance to serve the Combine. The lad, nervous and ill-at-ease in the formal garb, carried a half-meter cube whose shiny, lacquered surface reflected the surroundings as perfectly as a silvered mirror.

The kuromakuapproached the platform where Theodore knelt. From three meters away, he bowed. He came forward another two steps and bowed again before kneeling.

"I'm pleased to see you again, Hitsu -san,"Theodore began affably. "It's been too long since we have talked face to face as friends should."

"You friendship honors an undeserving old man, Kanrei."

"Nonsense. Have you brought word from the oyabun?They have been silent and invisible these last few months."

"Things will soon be as they were, Kanrei." Hitsu smiled weakly. "Assuming the satisfactory conclusion of today's business."

"If not word from the oyabun,what then is today's business, Hitsu -san? Your request for this meeting was not specific."

"The business is honor," Hitsu informed him. The kuromakusettled himself firmly, resting his palms on his legs just above his knees. He drew a deep breath, and letting some of it loose in a sigh, stared directly at Theodore. The old man's dark mahogany eyes glinted harshly. "Honor and apology."

Hitsu waved the boy forward. With awkward movements the boy rose, padded forward softly, and placed the box on the dais, just to Theodore's right. He bowed raggedly before returning to his place behind the kuromaku'sleft shoulder.

"Nezumi- sanhas atoned," Hitsu stated.

Theodore didn't need to look into the softly humming box to know that it held the refrigerated head of Yasir Nezumi. The oyabunhad paid for his ambitious mistake with his life. He also suddenly realized that the boy must be Nezumi's son.

"Nezumi- sanwas rash," Hitsu continued. "But he was mine as oyabunof the oyabun."The old man ignored Theodore's start at his announcement.

"Nezumi- san'sshame is canceled by his act. My shame remains. As his oyabun,his actions are my actions, and his honor is mine.

"He used your name in unknowing contravention of your will. His ignorance was, of course, no excuse. He acted without my permission or consent, which he would not have received even had I knowledge of his plans. But neither is my ignorance an excuse."

As he spoke, Hitsu removed a pair of white handkerchiefs from an inner pocket, one silk and one cotton. He laid them on the floor in front of himself, silk to the left, cotton to the right.

"This is unnecessary," Theodore protested, suddenly aware of the old man's intent. Yubitsume.The ritual finger-cutting atonement of the yakuza. Though he wished to forbid the action, he knew that it was bad form to refuse. And this man was necessary to Theodore, to the Combine. If Theodore refused his offering, the old man's sense of honor would be outraged. Hitsu would slit his belly in shame. Theodore could not allow that. Even before he had known that Hitsu was oyabunof the oyabun,he had felt that the man's resources, advice, and knowledge were immensely valuable to the Combine. "Your intent is sufficient for me, Hitsu -san."

The old man closed his eyes briefly, but said nothing. Instead, he removed a plain, scabbarded knife from within his jacket. With deliberate slowness, he freed the shining steel from the lacquered wood. Placing the scabbard at his left side, he laid the knife down at his right knee, edge toward himself. Hitsu placed his palms flat against the tatamimats and bowed deeply. He straightened and extended his left hand, palm down and fisted except for an extended little finger, to rest on the mat. He took the knife in his right hand, reaching across to rest the edge against the first joint.