AN: First of all, a big thank you to AKAAkira, larlz, chromate and Selryam for putting up with me despite my atrocious upload speed. I love you guys. There was never a time when I considered not finishing this, so please be assured that I'll keep updating until the very end, no matter how long it takes ;).

Second, let me confirm that larlz's proposed timeline is indeed correct, just in case anyone was wondering:

Most recent manga events - 10 years before Aegis

Scorched Ground chapters - 5 years before Aegis

Anemone (Hinagiku and Sister Sonia in Greece) - 2.5 years before Aegis

Everything else happens in the "present".

xxx

Hinagiku ran her finger over the crate. The wood had lost its original hue, covered now in a faint green all across its surface. The smell of mold spread slowly but surely throughout the room. The wonders of third-rate sea transport, Hinagiku laughed in her mind. She entertained the thought of pressing down on the casing to see whether it would give in under the pressure of her finger, but the cold gaze of the other occupant of the room stopped her from fooling around.

She raised her head to look Segawa Kotetsu in the eyes. The two were acquaintances through Izumi, if not exactly friends, and Kotetsu had acted cordially enough towards her the last time they had seen each other. Now he looked at her with the eyes of a wounded beast ready to lash out at a moment's notice. Even as he stood still and kept up a pretense of calm, his eyes darted between Hinagiku's hands and feet, seemingly looking for any sign of hostile movement.

To an outside onlooker, the picture they formed must have looked queer - a lean, well-built man acting as if threatened by a young woman a head shorter than him. Of course, whether Kotetsu realized it or not, the truth of the situation was quite the opposite. It was queer exactly because, combat butler though he might be, Kotetsu was an usually calm man with little actual combat experience. Even if he leapt at Hinagiku here and now, it would not be much of a fight.

Rather than worrying for her own safety, Hinagiku was more concerned with why Kotetsu would regard her as a threat in the first place. She had chosen him for the job exactly because he could be trusted. He was both a relative of her close friend and somebody with a deep connection to Ayasaki Hayate, and therefore personally interested in striking back for the attack on the Sanzen'in mansion. It was tempting to put the question off until after she had secured and inspected the package, but deep down Hinagiku knew that giving in to impatience now could only hurt her down the road.

"Any trouble on the way here?" Hinagiku asked.

"Not really," Kotetsu grunted noncommittally.

Kotetsu's journey from northern Eurasia back to Japan had been carried out primarily via water routes and using some of the cheapest transportation available. All in all, it had taken him nearly a month to get back. Hinagiku was certain there had been plenty of trouble involved, even if it was not all serious trouble. Still, the weariness in Kotetsu's voice convinced her that tiresome as it had to have been, the transport mission had also been largely uneventful.

"That's good to hear," Hinagiku replied simply, the gears in her brain still turning.

If it was not some mid-way event which was behind the change in Kotetsu's behavior, what else could be the reason? Had someone picked up on their plans and gotten to Kotetsu with blackmail or threats?

Hinagiku thought it feasible, if not likely. She kept her own security lax, choosing to allow her enemies to play whatever tricks they wanted on her. She thought this better than to give away the full extent of her counterintelligence measures. Her opponents were confident enough in their superiority that they had already slipped in that wordless threat - the black feather - into her apartment. Hinagiku could only welcome them revealing their hand. And Hinagiku was confident that, should they try a more direct approach, she could handle it. Probably.

But things were different with her friends and associates, most of whom could not possibly get out of an assassination attempt in one piece. Hinagiku did not have the resources to offer them sufficient protection, and had no intention of doing so in the first place. There was no point in showing everyone who her most important friends and allies were. Instead, Hinagiku had Nagi's guarantee that the Sanzen'in Secret Corps would take care of the safety of all their mutual acquaintances. As it was, the Sanzen'in Secret Corps made watch of over a thousand important business, science and political partners of the family - a few dozen new names on the list were just like a drop in the bucket. Nagi only hired the best, of course, though it would be naive to assume their opposition was any less capable. No, the power balance was about equal. The important part was that no one would dare make a move against the full might of the Sanzen'in just to get at the lone wolf Katsura Hinagiku was. Hinagiku made sure to make herself into and easy and attractive target.

But Hinagiku had another reason to doubt anyone had messed with Kotetsu. Had anyone realized the importance of the package Kotetsu brought with him, they would have intercepted the object long before it could make it to Japan. Of course, there was always the possibility that her meeting with Kotetsu right now was just a trap or a farce, and the contents of the crate were long gone. Well, there was only one way to find out.

"So, should I have it opened?" Hinagiku tested the waters.

As expected, Kotetsu was not thrilled to hear her suggestion. But he surprised Hinagiku when he went to pick up a crowbar and proceeded to dismantle the crate on his own. The cheap wood gave in without Kotetsu even breaking a sweat. Inside the crate was a long rectangular case made from much better quality wood, but now covered with a faint greenish hue from the mold, just as the crate had been. It would normally be insane to transport anything valuable under such conditions, but that, of course, was all part of the plan.

Kotetsu made no move to remove the smaller case. He stepped away from the crate as soon as the contents were fully visible, as if to keep a safe distance. From the corner of her eye, Hinagiku could see he was still as tense as ever, and his grip on the crowbar in his hands was so strong his knuckles had turned white.

Unbidden, the image of Kotetsu leaping at her with the crowbar in his hands as soon as she lowered her head to look at the case came to her mind. Either that, or the case turning out to be rigged with explosives set to blow up in the face of whoever opens it. She quickly discarded those, hopefully silly, visions. Was her paranoia getting worse?

She placed one hand on the case, ready to open it.

"Oh," Hinagiku let out a small sound before pulling back her hand.

A bystander might think Hinagiku had remembered something important and put off opening the case. Oh, I forgot to buy onions for dinner - that was the kind of "Oh," that left Hinagiku's lips.

But the reality of the situation was different. Now that she was no longer touching the case, Hinagiku remembered her thoughts from just a second ago as if through a haze. It was as if she had woken form a good night's sleep and the dreams of that night were determined to disappear without a trace. But with her disciplined mind, Hinagiku forced the fleeting thoughts and images back up front, ordering and reorganizing them into a coherent whole.

When she was done making sense of her own thoughts, Hinagiku smiled, half in bemusement and half in horror. Had she really just entertained the idea of snapping Kotetsu's neck, ripping his head off, smashing his ribcage so that she could tear out the squishy stuff inside, and then stomp on his dying heart? No, no. That would take too much time. What she had really wanted was to slash Kotetsu's body open right in the middle, then cut off his legs and arms one by one. And when she was done with him, there were still the guards waiting outside the room she could play with. And after that, the staff of the building, the passers-by on the streets outside, families resting cozily in the nearby houses, all the people in the city - so much flesh just waiting to be cut, slashed, skewered and severed. Ah, if only she had a blade in her hands!

"Oh," Hinagiku repeated slowly, blinking in disbelief. "Oh my."

Hinagiku had spent a good part of the last two years on a wild goose chase for something like what Kotetsu now brought her. All the deliveries so far had been little more than cheap replicas or toys. At some point after missing the mark so many times, Hinagiku must have convinced herself that something so vile could not actually exist. But she had been wrong. This, this was the real deal.

Hinagiku turned back to Kotetsu. She was still not sure whether she should be disturbed or elated at how the cargo had exceeded her expectations, but at least all her doubts concerning Kotetsu's behavior were now cleared. Considering he had spent nearly a month in close proximity to the case, it was actually more of a surprise things ended without a mass murder incident occurring somewhere along the way.

Still, armed as she now was with a better understanding of the entire situation, Hinagiku could clearly see that keeping his sanity intact had put a strain on Kotetsu. He was confused, torn between the conflicting urges to either take the contents of the crate for his own, by violence if necessary, or flee as far away from the thing as possible. Hinagiku could not blame him. And the only way she could think of to help him out of this stupor immediately was some shock therapy.

Hinagiku took a deep breath and calmed her mind. She studied Kotetsu: his body build, stance, eye movements and the crowbar in his hand. She crafted an image of him coming at her and swinging the crowbar at her head. Then she imagined herself moving in response, evading the swing by the smallest margin possible and immediately responding with a counterattack - two simple moves to thoroughly neutralize the target. The image was not like the vicious and brutal vision which had assaulted her mind earlier. It was a simple projection of a possible future. Hinagiku replayed the images in her head again and again, removing inconsistencies, considering alternatives and reassembling everything once more. And once the projection inside her mind was vivid enough she could hardly tell it apart from reality, she released the idea outside.

Hinagiku never even moved a muscle, but Kotetsu jerked back in surprise. His eyes widened and his mouth opened in surprise.

"W-what the..." he stuttered, taking a step back, away from Hinagiku.

Kotetsu was not the type to get into life-or-death fights. It was no surprise he was a stranger to the ideas of killing intent and battle auras. But Hinagiku saw that after the initial shock wore off, "dying" once like that did Kotetsu some good. The pent up energy left his muscles and a steady gaze returned to his eyes.

"Okay, okay," Kotetsu repeated the word half to Hinagiku, half to help himself calm down. He had no idea what had just happened, but did not feel like finding out right then. "Just take the thing and get it as far away from me as possible."

Hinagiku nodded. She threw her cloak over the case before lifting it out of the crate.

"Sorry. And thank you." A few honest words were all Hinagiku could offer Kotetsu. "Take a rest. You deserve it."

xxx

Chapter 12

Camellia

xxx

"So, where's the catch, Hanabishi-san?"

Tada Shuu, the latest guest to Miki's office, leaned backwards in his seat and looked down on her. He had to be careful, of course. But he was also curious.

"There is no catch. Our interests just happen to coincide." Miki answered the question calmly. "There might be matters in which we hold opposing views, but the Hanabishi family recognizes the contributions your company has made to the welfare of this country. There is nothing unusual in us supporting forward-thinking individuals... especially if that means getting rid of the likes of Sawashiro Haruto."

Tada tuned Miki's words over in his head. Attractive as it was, the offer the Hanabishi were making had come out of the blue. They wanted a united front to undermine Sawashiro Haruto's position in the Japanese telecommunications market.

On the surface, Tada and Sawashiro were business partners and colleagues in the same party. But in truth, no one viewed the two as equals. Tada was barely past thirty - in many ways, he was just an upstart both in business and politics. Even as he introduced superior solutions and made daring decisions, he could not escape playing second fiddle to Sawashiro. With decades of business experience under his belt and old acquaintances everywhere, the older man was too well entrenched in his position for Tada to make significant gains against him.

On the one hand, he could certainly use the influence of a well-established family like the Hanabishi to knock Sawashiro down a peg. But it was precisely because of his experience with the old man that he knew those at the top never gave anything away without expecting to gain something in return. What were the Hanabishi expecting to get out of the deal? He tried to connect the dots in his mind.

"Let's say I provide you with the information you're looking for," Tada began, even as he went on formulating a theory in his mind. "You'll use it to damage Sawashiro's reputation for what it's worth, then you'll go straight to the old man and tell him exactly where you got that information from. You can only benefit from discord arising in our party. And if either of our companies were to suffer in the aftermath... I do hear rumors of your connections with the Sanzen'in. I'm sure they wouldn't mind the opportunity to increase their share in the telecommunications market."

Tada looked closely for any signs that what he had said had hit the mark. But Miki's expression did not change one bit as she nodded lightly.

"A perfectly understandable concern, Tada-san. But we do not intend to state any conditions regarding the extent and form of our cooperation. You may tell us as much or as little as you want, omitting any information you think might be traced back to you. If you would like, we can send you reports of how we use the data, or else refrain from any unnecessary contact altogether. I am sure there is a degree of cooperation beneficial for both of us."

Tada grew silent for a while, and Miki let him think things over. It was only after a longer pause that she resumed speaking.

"You might be wondering why it is me speaking to you, and not one of the family members present in the current diet," Miki ventured, and Tada's reaction told her she was not mistaken in her assumption. "We thought it reasonable that you should speak with the person directly in charge of the operation. We want to hit the Sawashiro group with all we have got, Tada-san, and there will be retaliation. Unlike you or our diet members, I am fully expandable. You need only make full use of this opportunity, and I will gladly take the fall when it comes."

Tada reassessed the woman before him, younger yet than Tada himself, and saw how every detail of her expression spoke of one thing only - she was deadly serious about this. What was it that made Hanabishi Miki determined enough as to abandon all regard for her own well-being and career in a political scuffle like this, Tada did not know. An old grudge? Surely not just family loyalty.

But maybe he did not want to know. Maybe he did not want to become the target of the cold vengeance burning behind those seemingly calm blue eyes. But if that passion was real, Tada thought, it could certainly be a powerful weapon. Did he have it in him to make use of that weapon without getting burned? Why not? He did not know what the Hanabishi people expected to gain out of this, but that was not necessarily an important issue. They handed him the initiative, he only had to make sure that, at the end of the day, he gained more than he had ventured. Maybe it was time to show the oldies where they belonged.

"Well then, Hanabishi-san," Tada began "Let us talk."

X

XXX

X

Hinagiku forgot herself and entered the office without knocking. Thankfully, there was nobody in the room except Miki, so it did not seem that she was interrupting anything.

Miki appeared to be too concentrated on the paperwork before her to notice her new guest. Hinagiku closed the door behind her without a noise, leaving herself the quandary of how to announce her presence inside the office without giving Miki a scare.

Hinagiku watched Miki working silently. Miki would sift through the stack of papers on her desk, occasionally circle a line here or there, cross something out or write some notes on the margin. The stack of paper was more than two fists in height, and HInagiku could easily imagine it would take several hours for Miki to get through all of it. But Miki worked tirelessly and without pause, unperturbed by the amount of documents still ahead of her.

Minutes passed, and the sinking sun lent the room ever less of its glow. Breaking away from her work, Miki reached out to turn on the desk lamp. It was then that she noticed the silent intruder.

"Oh," Miki said, narrowing her eyes. "But welcome, Katsura-san."

Hinagiku shuddered at the cold edge in Miki's voice.

"Uh," she stammered out. "Hi." Real smooth, Hina, real smooth. Hinagiku could not help berating herself inside her mind. She had gotten exceedingly good at putting on appearances for those involved in her political schemes, but here she was, stuttering when it came to greeting Miki of all people. Had she gotten so used to her mask that it took effort for her to act genuine? But! - a defensive part of Hinagiku hurried to interject - it was as much Miki's fault! Miki never hesitated to pull all the right strings to get Hinagiku flustered. It was that pair of pure blue eyes, ostensibly impassive, while in fact-

But Miki did not wait for Hinagiku's indignation to win over her embarrassment. Remaining seated behind her desk, Miki pushed the stack of papers before her to the side and started cleaning up her workplace.

"It is well you came, Katsura-san," Miki went on in a more neutral tone. "My uncle has asked me to give you his regards. He also mentioned he would appreciate you appearing less frequently in the press."

"Thank you, I will try," HInagiku answered, playing along. "I've heard Izumi got back from her trip? She was bragging so much about the souvenirs, but I can't say I was impressed with what she sent me. How was yours?"

"Not that bad, all things considered."

"Good for you, then," Hinagiku quipped. "I just came to say hi and deliver some papers."

Hinagiku walked up to Miki's desk, but did not hand the other woman anything. Obviously. She was not carrying any papers with her to begin with.

"Thank you," Miki paused to accept the non-existent documents. "I'll contact you when I'm done with them."

"Take your time," Hinagiku said with a nod. "I'll be going, then."

She took a few steps toward the door, opened it and closed it. She had no intention of leaving the room just yet. As she turned around, she caught a glimpse of Miki reaching a hand under the desk. A moment later, the lamp on Miki's desk lost its glow. Hinagiku took her cell phone out of her pocket, glancing at the screen and confirming it dead and unresponsive.

There was an inconspicuous button under Miki's desk used to trigger on the Magnetic Diffusion Field Device built into the walls of the room. It stopped all electronic devices from working without damaging them permanently. Miki's office was a small fortress - the windows were only transparent from the inside, the walls were soundproofed and all manner of interference from the outside was cut off. With the MDF device on, even self-contained spying tools smuggled inside would fall dead for as long as Miki deemed it necessary.

Sometimes, one had to take measures to speak privately. Hinagiku's belongings had recently been checked for bugging devices and she thought herself clean for the time being. But mistaking what she thought for what actually was would be just silly. Hinagiku was nothing but a naive novice compared to the people the other side had in their ranks. And anyway, Hinagiku could not help but wonder whether the people who had checked her things for bugs were not themselves double-agents. Paranoia? Well, anything was possible.

"Long time no see, Miki," Hinagiku started their conversation anew.

As the words left her mouth, Hinagiku realized how much truth they contained. How long had it been since Hinagiku and Miki had exchanged more than passing glances and fake words of courtesy? A long time. Long enough to feel like forever.

"Hi there, Hina," Miki said and Hinagiku nearly started at the rare sound of her name so casually shortened. "Glad to see you're as socially awkward as ever."

"Huh!?" Hinagiku felt blood rushing to her face. "W-well, at least I'm not being sarcastic twenty-four/seven."

"But Hina," Miki waved Hinagiku's accusation away with a dead-serious look on her face. "I do take lunch and toilet breaks."

Hinagiku felt a tremble of nervous energy pass through her body as again her name left Miki's lips. She was filled with the temptation to go along with Miki's friendly banter, laughing and poking fun at each other to their hearts' content. But that would not be right. She had to set things straight first.

"Miki, I-"

But Miki interrupted her with a raised hand and the business-before-fun look. What Hinagiku had to say was more business than fun, but Miki meant business-business, and both of them knew the blue-eyed woman would get her way.

"As you might have heard, Snow White is ready to deliver her stuff to you anytime." Miki started off. "I expect it to function properly, insofar as mad-science stuff can ever function properly. If you test it out immediately, they might still have time for some small adjustments before Day Zero, but that's up to you. Moving on, I gather that what Kotetsu brought you was the real deal?"

Hinagiku nodded silently.

"I'm not sure if I should be worried or happy about that." Miki put on a frown for Hinagiku's benefit before marching on with her speech. "Not much time left for trying things out. You sure you can handle it?"

"Will do," Hinagiku replied with no hesitation. "Isumi promised me her assistance with it."

"That's assuming she doesn't get lost somewhere on the way," Miki cautioned.

"She won't," Hinagiku replied firmly. "Not with that thing involved."

"That bad?" Miki asked.

"It exceeded expectations."

A momentary flash of emotion in Miki's eyes told Hinagiku that Miki had fully understood the nuance in Hinagiku's tone. Which was all the more reason for Miki not to ask for details.

"Good for you, then," Miki resumed, back to her practiced calm. "So you're all set up. As for things on our end..." Miki paused and closed her eyes. "It will be enough. I'll make sure it's enough. Right now, it's all a matter of making sure the bubble does not pop before we're ready for it to."

"I trust in your choices, Miki," Hinagiku said, the one time this evening when their roles of supporter and supported were switched. But she meant her words.

"Good to hear," Miki responded simply, concluding the business-business part of their talk. "Your turn, then."

Hinagiku turned her gaze away from Miki.

She felt her resolve wavering and she started second-guessing herself whether it was the right thing to breach the topic. Already the cowardly part of her mind was providing her with arguments why keeping silent was the better option - this was not the time for arguing, she would just be hurting Miki, they could always talk about it tomorrow...

Hinagiku scattered the foolish thoughts with a great mental effort. She clenched her fists, straightened her back and took a deep breath. Before the moment was gone and she could un away, she opened her mouth.

"I was at Ayumu's again."

Exhausted with the effort of getting the confession out, Hinagiku kept her gaze locked firmly downward during the following short silence.

"Oh," Miki finally responded, voice perfectly flat. And Hinagiku could not help rising her eyes for that short split-second, just in time to catch a flicker of hurt behind Miki's always impassive eyes. That flicker of emotion hit Hinagiku like the strike of a whip, and she immediately lowered her gaze, back to studying the office floor.

The renewed silence stretched longer and made Hinagiku all the more miserable. Her short statement of visiting Ayumu obviously implied the usual backstory. She had gone drinking, had too much, got in a bar fight, fled the scene and ended up crawling to Ayumu's apartment as the first safe place that came to mind. But that was not a particularly important problem anymore. Two or three months ago, they would have had to worry about someone following Hinagiku and taking photos to be used to hurt her public image. Now that the media were accusing Hinagiku of anything and everything from selling Japan out to the US up to devouring infants alive, a silly article or two could hardly make a difference. If that were all there was to it, Miki would just mock-scold her and they would be over it in a minute. But that was not all there was to it.

As always, it was Miki who eventually broke the silence between the two. She was the less stubborn and oftentimes more emotionally mature of the two. And the idea of sitting around moping until late into the night did not exactly appeal to her.

"So," Miki raised her hands over her head in an awkward gesture of... what? Resignation? Surrender? "Did something... happen?"

"No!" Hinagiku burst out without thinking. And then she recoiled at the loudness of her voice and carried on in a barely audible whisper. "I think I told Ayumu some stupid things. But she wouldn't bat an eye over it and just told me to sleep like she always does."

"That Nishizawa Ayumu," Miki let out as she spun in a circle in her chair. "I'll never know if she's completely insane, or simply straight. Well, if nothing happened, we can just put it all behind us and forget about it, can't we?"

Hinagiku hated Miki's light-hearted tone but did not know how to respond. Miki kept her eyes on Hinagiku and felt they were about to lapse into another long silence.

"Come on, Hina, don't beat yourself up over it so much. It's not like I expect I can keep you all to myself-"

Before Miki could utter another word, Hinagiku was over the desk and landing smoothly right by her side. Hinagiku leaned forward, grabbed Miki roughly by the collar of her shirt and cut down the distance between their faces to almost nothing.

"You can," Hinagiku insisted, peering deep down into Miki's eyes. "You can and you will."

Miki's shirt was worth a fortune, like any other piece of her wardrobe was, and the dressmaker would be sure to cry at the sight of the treatment it was now receiving. But the moment Miki's mouth moved to speak up in protest, Hinagiku bent lower still and sealed Miki's lips with her own.

In the following moments, Miki's chair threatened to topple over under the force applied to it, but Hinagiku kept it locked firmly in place with her foot. When they finally parted, Hinagiku's expression was still that of burning intensity. Miki, on the other hand, had her eyes glazed over and experienced difficulty in keeping her breathing steady.

Miki was not one for fighting losing battles. She conceded the argument to Hinagiku.

"Change places?"

There was a quick nod in response.