Entry tags:

weiss kreuz

The Road Towards Kamakura, part VI (Weiss Kreuz, Nagi/Mamoru)
Title: The Road Towards Kamakura
Fandom: Weiss Kreuz
Pairings: Nagi/Mamoru, Crawford/Schuldig, Mamoru/OFC, Nagi/OFC
Rating: R
Summary: In exile in a distant and unimportant post for his family's crimes, Mamoru builds himself a new life.
Word Count: 61000 words.
Author's Note: Thank you so much to toscas_kiss for beta-reading, and to puddingcat, for her wonderful illustrations! This is a sequel to Sailing to Hirugashima, a science-fiction AU in a space-opera setting. Like that story, it takes its title from place names important to the founding of the Kamakura shogunate.
Sections: I; II; III; IV; V; VI; VII





"When you see Schuldig," Nagi said, two mornings later, "Say nothing. Don't give him a reaction."

Mamoru nodded. The Psi-Corps officers had not been in evidence, for which he was grateful, but it seemed this was not a state of affairs that could last. He and Nagi stopped at the door of the room in which he'd asked breakfast to be laid ready; Mamoru was glad for Nagi's warning. Crawford sat, neatly dressed in Alliance clothing, sipping the local coffee as if he no longer found it distasteful. Schuldig was suspiciously examining the baked fish on his plate, as if it might suddenly attack him. He was wearing a coat of the most hideous cut and bright-green colour Mamoru had ever seen. His unruly hair was tied back with a piece of clashing yellow cloth.

"Look at this bastard," Schuldig said, thrusting his plate under Crawford's nose for inspection.

"Delightful," Crawford said, looking not at the fish, but up at Schuldig's face. He reached up and pulled him down into a kiss. The plate dipped, dangerously close to spilling its contents on the floor as Schuldig leaned down into Crawford's touch, his face for once clear of any spite or malice.

Mamoru ignored them and went in to take a fish for his own breakfast.

"These are local," he said, as if he were unable to see the Psi-Corps officers reluctantly separating to sit placidly side-by-side as if they had never engaged in such inappropriate behaviour. "They have a stronger flavour than the tank-bred fish so commonly available. They are perhaps an acquired taste – would you prefer something milder?"

Schuldig ate some of the fish at once, as if to prove he was not intimidated by anything, even something uglier than his current clothing. "I've had worse," he said. "This coffee, for example. I know you have plenty of tea."

Mamoru said nothing, just smiled absently and drank his own coffee. He was inured to it by now, and had taken some small, spiteful pleasure in telling the kitchens not to provide tea this morning. "I hope you are both well today," he said.

"Thank you, yes," Crawford said.

"While you've both been enjoying married life," Schuldig said with a leer, "We've been sightseeing."

"Sightseeing?" Mamoru said, annoyed he had given Schuldig some of the reaction he was looking for. "On Alcmene? What is there to see?"

"We looked around the city," Crawford said. "There was some interesting architecture."

"And we were thinking of going to look at this famous dam that keeps getting mentioned on the news broadcasts," Schuldig said. "We couldn't get convenient transport, though."

"It's probably more interesting in reports," Nagi said. "It's just a dam."

"Nagi," Schuldig said sorrowfully, "You're forgetting your training. Anything that provides hydro-electrical power for a growing city like this is more than just a dam. It's a viable target." He smiled sweetly. "Ah well, at least I bought some souvenirs. This cloth is locally produced, did you know?" He fingered the sleeve of his coat happily.

"When does the ship leave?" Mamoru said, his mind filled with sudden horrible visions of Schuldig in his hideous new outfit, happily setting explosives on the dam.

"It will be another week," Crawford said. "There are many things we would like to discuss with Nagi, if his schedule allows."

"Yes," Nagi said.

They ate the rest of their breakfast in silence.

For days thereafter, Nagi seemed distracted. Mamoru heard him at times, voice raised in fervent argument with Crawford and Schuldig, their conversation stopping at odd moments as if some things could not be said aloud. When he met them, Crawford and Schuldig were polite, which unnerved him as much as their original hostility had. Something was building, he thought, seeing Nagi become more and more withdrawn in his speech and more and more desperate for affection in the moments they could snatch together. It was a relief to at last have Crawford ask if they might all discuss something together.

"Takatori-sama," he said with quiet assurance, "You are a fair man, I think. You don't make distinctions amongst your staff based on their ethnic background, you preserve your concubine's status now you are married –" He politely ignored the look of irritation Mamoru shot Nagi's way. " – you treat Nagi no differently from people who are not in the Corps."

"I try not to be biased or prejudiced," Mamoru said with caution.

"If you were back in the Empire," Crawford said, "Nagi might be transferred away from you, assigned to who knows where. Would that be fair to either of you?"

"One must do one's duty," Mamoru said. He quailed at the thought of losing Nagi – he had a terrible suspicion that next Crawford would triumphantly say the stain upon his family was gone, and he could return home alone. He wouldn't do it, he thought, not if it meant giving Nagi up.

"He wouldn't be able to say no," Crawford said. "He couldn't leave the Corps. He's been an active field agent for almost ten years – since he was thirteen, Takatori-sama – and he never signed up for any of it. Just by being born, we were all consigned to an entire lifetime of membership. Do you think that's fair?"

"I don't know," Mamoru said. "The government must think so. Don't think I don't know Nagi was put on active service so young because of you, Captain. I know it was due to your advice and influence he was sent to your team rather than be kept in safety to finish his training with others his age."

"Safety?" Schuldig said. "There's a lot more Nagi could tell you, it seems. If it wasn't for us, he wouldn't be the person you know. You wouldn't much like the person he would be if he'd spent another few years in the training schools."

"That's possible," Mamoru said evenly. "I don't much like you."

"How brave you've become," Schuldig said quietly. "Anyone would think you were a real person of influence rather than the pathetic exile you are."

Nagi reached out and took Mamoru's hand, squeezing it in warning. "Schuldig," he said. "You are insulting my friend."

"They're doing it again," Schuldig said in disgust to Crawford. "That together-we're-stronger thing."

"It's love," Mamoru said. "I'm truly sorry you've never –"

He didn't see Schuldig move, but he was no longer kneeling opposite Nagi but rather standing over Mamoru, his hand on his throat. "You owe us," Schuldig said viciously. "We kept Nagi more or less human, we put in a good report for you, we got you more money – don't look so surprised, who did you think did it? – we stopped Nakagawa weaseling out of his deal with you. You owe us."

"Schuldig!" Nagi and Crawford yelled together.

Mamoru blinked as Schuldig stepped back. Nagi had only just started to move, he saw, and with some fear realized the last seconds had passed in a split-second, Schuldig's outburst poured directly into his mind.

"You were forgetting to be afraid of what I can do," Schuldig said, with a mocking bow. He went back to his place, sleekly satisfied.

"I'm sorry," Nagi whispered, seizing his arm. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," Mamoru said. "Yes," he repeated more strongly.

"Touch him again and I will forget every bond we share," Nagi said. "Have you forgotten to be afraid of what I can do?"

"That won't be necessary, Nagi," Crawford said. "Please accept my apologies, Takatori-sama, Schuldig can be rash."

"He may have negated the effects of the other incidents of carefully-planned 'rashness' you have brought to Nagi's attention, Captain Crawford," Mamoru said, glad Nagi still had a hand on his arm, warm and comforting. "All your efforts to influence us towards something, and Schuldig loses his temper at the wrong moment. How irritating for you." Crawford's face didn't change, but Mamoru felt sure he had scored against the man.

"Ambassador Takatori," he said. "Your friendship is precarious, whether you admit it or not. You want your family to go home, if not in your lifetime, then in your sons' or grandsons'. Let us suppose you go home tomorrow, or in fifty years – in either case, you lose Nagi. He doesn't get to retire, he's the property of the state. Even as an old man, the state could find some use for him. We are also the property of the state. You have hope of change, we do not. You have a family, we do not. Attempts to have family are seen as useless – why not? It's been shown over and again that our abilities do not occur in our children. So we're no good as breeding stock, and therefore the stubborn efforts of some officers to act like normal people is clearly willful disobedience to be discouraged. We're not normal people, we're assets."

"Nagi's not an asset," Mamoru said. "Not to me."

"If you could help change things so he'd be free, would you?" Crawford said. "So he could serve out a term of service and then never have to worry about being sent away from you?"

"Of course, but he won't be," Mamoru said. "No one will call me home."

"Maybe he'd like people like Nagi to be free, but those like you and I could be state property forever," Schuldig said. "We're not imperials."

"I don't care what anyone is," Mamoru snapped. "What's the point of this discussion? I can't change anything, and even if I could I don't understand what it is you want."

"I want to be free," Crawford said. "I'm a slave, Ambassador Takatori. Schuldig is. Nagi is, though he has allowed himself forget it here. I would like to be allowed to forget it. When I was old enough to ask to have corrective surgery for my eyesight, I was told it was an unnecessary expense for someone like me and I could continue wearing the glasses. The trainers found it amusing; I'd like to forget I was seen as mildly defective equipment asking to be repaired, rather than a person needing medical aid."

"I'm sure you could have it done here," Mamoru said in annoyance. "I'll pay."

"I've made it a point to keep the glasses," Crawford said with odd, prickly pride. "More importantly, I would like not to have to worry I could be assigned apart from Schuldig at any moment. It's not likely to happen, but it could, and neither of us could do anything about it."

"Are you asking if you could somehow be assigned here?" Mamoru said, trying to keep the horror from his voice. They'd cause havoc. They'd terrorise the staff and sow discord everywhere they went. They probably would blow up the damn dam. "I can't see any way you could be – and you wouldn't like it here, there really is nothing to do. I'm sure Nagi has complained to you of how depressed that can make me."

They looked a little amused, as if his thoughts were clear to everyone, not just Schuldig. "No, that's not what we want," Schuldig said. "Just listen – you don't hate non-imperials, do you?" He grinned as Mamoru shook his head. "Apart from me, anyway. But you can't deny that things are set up to favour you over us – it's easier to get promotions, bankloans, everything if you're an imperial."

"I didn't set up society the way it is," Mamoru said.

"Who said you did? The Psi-Corps – there are so few of us, relatively speaking, that none of that holds true. It's one of the few places you can move up purely because of what you can do, not because of your background, or at least it is when it's being used to its full extent. Which, I'm sorry, doesn't usually include farming off an officer to sit on his ass doing nothing amongst the barbarians. We've been at peace for years; trade's built up, everyone's so keen on cultural understanding and international harmony – we're facing a situation where it's no longer treasonous to own uncensored Alliance media, it's not as difficult to get visas for academic travel. Before you know it, there won't be the same need for us, and that will mean business as usual: people like us –" he gestured between himself and Crawford " – never getting preference, people like Nagi sitting pretty."

"Ah," Mamoru said. "So for your own self-interest, you'd like there to be more repression?"

"What the Alliance would allege is repression," Nagi said primly.

"Personally, I think the Alliance's religions should be legalized," Schuldig said. "The trouble that would cause would keep the Corps ticking along nicely. That or a war, of course."

"Our point is that we thought you'd be interested in the plight of an organization that is currently truly integrated, but that has some areas that need improvement in its control of its members," Crawford said.

"You want me to help you continue to hold on to the huge power the Corps has, while giving you the freedom to break away from the control it holds over those in it who have enormous destructive power," Mamoru said.

Crawford nodded, as if pleased with a slow child.

"I'm an exile," Mamoru said. "My family has fallen, I can do nothing."

"You could if you took up your father's position," Crawford said. "We could help you get that back."

"Liar," Mamoru said. And to Schuldig, "What were you doing on Semele? You claim to understand friendship – you don't know what your letter did to Nagi. Were you trying to defect?"

Schuldig lifted one shoulder lazily. "I was more interested in ramping up hostilities. A few border skirmishes, maybe some atrocities against civilians – invented ones of course. Something politicians back home would fall over themselves to use."

"I knew you weren't a traitor!" Nagi said, sounding like a pleased child.

"Nagi!" Mamoru said, aghast at the look of incomprehension he got. "You people are supposed to be the guardians of loyalty," he said in disgust, standing up.

"We are," Crawford said. "Wars help focus people's patriotism."

Mamoru walked out on all of them rather than hear another word.

The days that followed were tense. Nagi made some half-hearted comments about his friends being under a lot of stress, then fell into a morose silence. Mamoru ignored him for four days, dividing his time between Shizuka and Claudine and keeping an eye out for trouble there, too. Finally, deciding he would scream if he set foot in the female world again, he sulkily allowed himself to notice Nagi's equally sulky overtures for peace.

"I hate your friends," he said as an opening remark.

Nagi didn't reply aggressively, which alarmed him. He just looked torn and muttered something that sounded uncomplimentary about everyone involved.

"Crawford's right, you know," he said after a little. "We're just things to the state, and abominations to most people, like they called me on the ship. You hear that often enough and you start to think, I'll show you an abomination, and then you realize that's what your trainers wanted -" He turned away. "When I was fifteen, I destroyed a house this size," he said dully. "I reduced it to splinters, because someone I liked and who liked me was dead. I killed everyone in it, enemies, allies, people unlucky enough just to work there – everyone except for my team who knew I wasn't what my records said, and who ran the moment I started screaming. It stopped data falling into a terrorist group's hands, and I got a commendation."

"Nagi –" Mamoru said, unsure what to do.

"They came back to find me," Nagi said. "Schuldig's pretty bad at comforting people, but he tried. Puberty's a bitch, he said." Nagi gave a weary little laugh. "Yeah. When I met you, and you liked me, it was the first time I hadn't felt like a thing in a year and a half or more."

Mamoru put a cautious hand on his shoulder. "You're not going to destroy the house, are you?"

Nagi looked about him in an exaggerated way. "The walls here are a lot stronger," he said. "I'm not sure I have the energy right now." He sighed as Mamoru pulled him into a hug. "I know you think I'm pretty abominable," he said.

"Don't be an idiot," Mamoru said. "I can't pretend to understand what it's like to do what you can, or to have been trained as you were. I know the person you are, though, and I like him. I love him, if you hadn't noticed." Nagi felt all at once as if he had relaxed, tension leaving his body, and Mamoru held him tighter. "Schuldig said we're like a wall, and I see you as the keystone," Mamoru said into Nagi's hair. "Which makes him a rubbish architect, but I still like the image. I don't think that's anything you're likely to be able to break into splinters." Nagi was shaking slightly, and making desperate, quiet gasps for breath, which Mamoru felt it kinder not to draw attention to. He waited till Nagi had control of himself again before kissing him. "What do you want?" he asked. "I've always trusted your judgment, even when you said I'd like that stupid romantic film."

Nagi's laugh sounded better this time. "I don't remember much about that film," he said. "The person I was with kept blocking the screen and kissing me."

"That's the bit I remember liking," Mamoru said teasingly.

Nagi's smile was sad. "Damn it, I wish I really had been a damn college student."

"And I'd have been a beginning, yet successful small businessman –"

"Florist."

"—nothing wrong with that, and no one would ever have said a word to us, and we'd have a blameless life, with only an occasional worrying dip into the red."

"Ah, but my business degree would have kept us in the black."

"Business? I thought you were studying sociology?"

"I changed after meeting you, so I could be of use to you and our business."

"You couldn't be of more use than you are, right now," Mamoru said, stroking his face. Nagi leant against him heavily for a moment, eyes firmly closed.

"If you make me cry again, I'll be very angry with you," Nagi said quietly after long seconds of silence. "Let me talk to Crawford and Schuldig. What they say about the Corps is right, as far as it goes, but what can you do? Let them recall me in fifty years, we'll still have had our life together."

He spoke to Crawford that same day, telling Mamoru only that it went well. When the time came for Crawford and Schuldig to leave for the ship, they seemed unruffled and politely sorrowful to take their leave.

"I wish you well in your married life, Takatori-sama, Nagi," Crawford said. "Please convey our respects to your wives. Please be aware that we bear you no ill-will for your refusal of us, Takatori-sama," he said with a false sincerity that made Mamoru's skin crawl. "You don't have to fear that I will work against you because of it."

"What will you do?" Nagi said sharply.

"Do? Why I'll make a favourable report as before," Crawford said mildly. His smile was fond and distant as he looked at Nagi's face. "I'll encourage people I know are favourable to me to endorse those reports, I'll send more Psi-Corps officers who are in my debt here, and they will make favourable reports. I'll do my utmost to work on Takatori-sama's behalf, my duties permitting. All things being equal, I'd say I might be able to get him recalled within the next five years, and judged as needing no Corps supervision whatsoever. And then I'll sit back and see how he likes that."

"You're a bastard," Mamoru breathed, outraged as Schuldig laughed.

"Very probably, but the Corps blocks all access to our birth identities, so I can't tell you for sure," Crawford said spitefully. "Not that you care about the way it treats us, anyway. I'll look forward to working with you again, Nagi."

They turned on their heels and walked out, leaving Mamoru and Nagi staring at each other in shock.


* * *


The unease of Crawford and Schuldig's departure wore off only slowly over the next weeks. Mamoru felt exhausted, sitting with Nagi over plans and charts of known enemies and potential allies, trying to see the paths by which Crawford might make good his threat, if indeed it was more than empty spite. It was unlikely to be more, Mamoru thought, for it would involve calling in so many favours that it would surely be uneconomical merely for a petty revenge. As nothing immediate could happen, he and Nagi gradually drew breath and felt more secure once again.

Their home life was tranquil enough, Mamoru feeling relieved that Shizuka showed no signs of complaint over the ever-more obvious proof of his continuing association with Claudine, though she did seem annoyed that her sister became pregnant before her.

"I win," Nagi said smugly.

"Were we in a race? Anyway, I have a head start, I'm just letting you catch up," Mamoru said, looking up from his reading.

"Let's face it, if we're in a race," Nagi said, making an obscene gesture towards his groin, "Younger. Better at swimming."

"So that's why Psi-Corps in the dramas are all stoic and silent," Mamoru said. "When you lot start talking, you're all filthy-mouthed and disgusting."

"At least I'm not the one whose wife has given him a chart with favourable dates and times marked out in block capitals," Nagi said sweetly. "I suppose I won't be seeing much of you for the rest of the week?"

"Use the time to catch up on paperwork. Or your sleep."

"I'm not offending you, am I?" Nagi said.

"Oh, no," Mamoru said. "I love this sort of conversation so much that I may have to share it with my wife, who will share it with your wife, and then both our lives can be made hell every time we set foot into the women's rooms."

"Touchy, touchy," Nagi said. "What about the press, if and when she does get pregnant? Can't you imagine the tabloids' glee if they get pictures of her and Claudine going for check-ups together?"

"If only I were a monk," Mamoru said wistfully. "Preferably a hermit. Damn it, we're going on the offensive this time: we'll be the ones to release the information, we release images – something like a big informal portrait of everyone in the family, no explanations, nothing that looks like an apology for our odd, foreign ways, and if anyone says anything, you kill them."

"I'd approve wholeheartedly, except I think you'll probably change your mind and merely have Laurent working overtime to sue people," Nagi said.

"It all depends on how infuriating the stories are," Mamoru said. He stood up, carefully folding away the little chart he'd been studying. "If you'll excuse me, it's late afternoon, and it seems it's time for me to visit my wife."

Nagi saluted formally, as if Mamoru were going to certain death.


* * *


It was five months to the day after their departure when Ito, face set and quietly terrified, told Mamoru that Crawford and Schuldig requested an appointment at his earliest convenience.

"They're back?" Mamoru said, his notes on the minutes of the planetary development council's latest meeting lying forgotten in front of him. "Dammit, I don't want –" He paused at the sight of Ito trying not to wince. "Are you all right, Ito-san?' he asked more gently. "Did they try to threaten you?"

Ito shook his head. "Captain Crawford just asked to see you, sir," he said. "He said it was urgent. I have the number at which to contact them, if you could give me your answer."

It was clear the man didn't want to risk speaking to Schuldig, not that Mamoru could blame him. On the other hand, it would be embarrassing for them both if he were to suggest Ito could not manage a simple call.

"How urgent?" he said, resigned.

"He indicated he needed to see you as soon as he could, sir," Ito said.

"I'll see if I can clear up some time," Mamoru said, a tiny joke that made Ito at least look like he was beginning to regain control of himself. "Tell him he can come to see me tomorrow. And Ito-san? If you want tomorrow off –"

"Thank you, sir," Ito said. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

He left, and Mamoru waited till he was sure he was out of earshot before hurling his notes across the room in fury. He ground the heels of his hands into his eyes, calmed himself as much as possible, and contacted Nagi.

"They what?" Nagi said. "What do you mean, they're back? I would have known. Hold on a minute –" He broke the connection, leaving Mamoru fuming. Unable to bear the wait, Mamoru went to his office, standing over him as he ran through lists of ships recently docked at the station.

"There have been no imperial ships," he said. "None. They either came in on an Alliance ship, or they never left the planet."

"Damn," Mamoru said. "Assuming they never left, what the hell have they been up to?"

"Nothing flashy," Nagi said. "Nothing that warranted mention in the press – I can't think of anything on Alcmene that would require two officers carrying out espionage. We're too far off the trade routes, too unimportant to both sides here. If the Empire wanted something investigated, they'd tell me to do it, not send in another two officers. If they were spying on us, I'd have noticed." He ran his hands through his hair, muttering, "I would have noticed, there's no way I'd have missed it."

"So if they came in on an Alliance ship," Mamoru said, "They came in on false papers?"

"They certainly didn't come in on their Corps IDs," Nagi said. "They either influenced someone to bring them down illegally, like they did before, or they came in undercover. Which means they had to get the fare from somewhere – not anything Schuldig would scruple at, mind you. He probably walked into an Alliance bank with a big smile on his face and a polite request just to give him enormous amounts of money. Unless they're here officially, in which case they'd have had their fares paid – either way it's a lot of money to get them here. And a lot of time too – what the hell do they want now?"

"At least they're unlikely to want to assassinate me," Mamoru said. "They asked for an interview."

Nagi looked at him as if he were simple. "What better way to easily get a target into your hands?" he said. "You stay behind me when you see them, hear?"

"All right," Mamoru said. "Are you really worried they might want to kill me?"

"I don't like surprises like this," Nagi said. "They make me nervous. Really, they shouldn't think they can just come here whenever they feel like it. I made my choice."

"Suppose they've come to gloat, to say you're being transferred away from me?" Mamoru said, putting a hand on the back of Nagi's neck.

"Let them try," Nagi said viciously. "I'll fight it. I won't have my damn life taken away from me." He leant back against the pressure of Mamoru's hand. "There's no way Crawford would call in that many favours," he said. "He's too stingy. He won't have done it." He didn't sound as if he believed his own words.

"We won't let them do anything to us," Mamoru said. "Not take you away, not have me sent back. I don't care if nothing ever happens on this planet again, as long as you're here." Whatever they wanted, he thought, he and Nagi would deal with it.

Crawford and Schuldig presented themselves exactly ten minutes before the appointed time the next morning. Mamoru waited till he was ready, then asked Ito to admit them. He admired the man's refusal to be absent, he thought as Ito left the office. He turned his attention to the men standing before him, and was glad of Nagi's silent presence at his side. If he reached out just a little he knew he could touch air as impenetrable as a wall, Nagi's invisible defence for his meeting.

"You wanted to see me," he said.

They didn't look at each other, or show in any way they found his flat, unwelcoming tone amusing. They bowed down to the floor and stayed there.

"I beg your pardon for my previous behaviour," Crawford said. "Please accept both our apologies."

"Get up, man," Mamoru snapped. "You're not funny."

They stood again, their serious expressions not changing.

"I'm not trying to be disrespectful," Crawford said.

"Why are you here?" Mamoru said. "What reason do you have for coming back?"

"We came back as quickly as we could," Schuldig said. "It was a roundabout route, but we finally got a ship headed this way." He looked at Nagi searchingly. "We didn't want to delay more than necessary."

"We have news for you," Crawford said. He did look at Schuldig then, as if he wanted to put off saying more. Mamoru told himself it was designed to manipulate him, to make him feel worried. "We had nothing to do with this," Crawford said. "Nothing." He stepped forward, his hand going to his pocket, and paused as Nagi stepped forward also. "It's not a weapon," he said, and slowly took a data chip out, handing it to Nagi. "Watch this with no one but Nagi present, Ambassador Takatori," he said.

"Why?" Mamoru said.

"Because you won't need to hide your reactions with him, and you'll need him," Crawford said. "Your secretary has the details for contacting us, should you wish to do so. May we go?"

"Yes," Mamoru said, staring at the chip as Nagi put it on the desk.

"You could wait in the staff dining room, if you wanted to eat," Nagi said. He sounded calm, Mamoru thought, though no doubt Crawford and Schuldig could detect the underlying concern as well as Mamoru himself could, after knowing Nagi so long.

They bowed to Mamoru; he paid no attention to them leaving, his eyes fixed on the chip.

"Do I want to watch this?" he asked.

"Probably not," Nagi said. "Move over –" He brought another chair up and sat down, sliding the chip into the computer. He turned the brightness up on the screen and fiddled with the sound.

The quality was shaky at first, as if someone had used a poor quality camera. Nagi turned the brightness up on the screen and fiddled with the sound, and suddenly the picture sharpened, the graphics reader compensating for the low quality file. Mamoru frowned at the sight of what seemed like some stock footage of an imperial city, a date superimposed over the image.

"Three months ago," he said. "What is thi—" He stopped, recognizing landmarks.

"The Hakucho system, recovering from the predations of the criminal regime of Takatori no Reiji, must never again experience the horrors of that time," a voiceover said. The images changed to bodies in the streets, soldier patrolling. "Now that peace has been restored, all precautions must be taken to eradicate elements that might bring back the corrupt rule of those who cost the system so dear, whose example could have encouraged chaos to spread to other systems. The Takatori family, shamed and brought low, must not be allowed to think it can rebuild its strength and impudently trample on the lives of loyal citizens again." The scene changed again, now showing a blank wall and a group of five soldiers and an officer, at attention and expressionless. The date stamp winked insistently in the bottom right hand corner.

Mamoru gasped as two figures were brought to stand against the wall by another soldier. Nagi's hand grasped his arm tightly.

"That's not possible," Nagi said, as Mamoru's grandfather turned to look expressionlessly at the camera. The young girl beside him took his hand in both her own, looking up at him pleadingly.

"The danger of such rogue elements has not diminished over time," the voiceover said. "Although only bastard children of the family exist, it is clear that the traitor Takatori no Saijou has not relinquished his desire to rebuild the evil his son created."

The officer called out a command, and the soldiers readied their weapons. The girl yelled something, and Mamoru's grandfather looked down, saying something calmly. She leant against him, and he covered her eyes with his hand, never looking other than calm, not looking away again from their executioners, not even at the end.

"The Takatori family does not exist in the Empire," the voiceover said. "It dies with this generation. There will be no legitimate continuation of these traitors."

The screen went blank.

"Mamoru? Mamoru?" Nagi said. "This is some trick. It's easy to put a date on an image, you've known for years your grandfather was dead. I'm sorry about your niece, truly, I thought they'd have spared her. Mamoru?"

"Don't lie," Mamoru said. "I'm not blind or a fool. She's older in this. She must be twelve. This is recent. Play it again."

"Mamoru, I don't –"

"Play it again, I said!"

He watched it again. And again, looking at their faces till he was sure what they were saying.

Great-Grandfather! Great-Grandfather!

Hush, child. It will be all right. Come here.

"Mamoru. Mamoru, you have to stop."

"No," he said stubbornly, reaching forward to play it again. Nagi took his hands and held them tight.

"No," he said, standing and pulling Mamoru away from the screen.

"This is my fault," Mamoru said. "Why kill them now? They found out Nakagawa had given us his daughters, they're worried what I'm up to. There's no other reason." He looked up at Nagi in bewilderment. "I did this."

"No, Mamoru," Nagi said. "You didn't. Are you listening to me?"

"I'm going to be sick," Mamoru said abruptly. Nagi glanced at the waste basket; it leapt into his grasp just in time for Mamoru to lean forward and empty his stomach. He sat back, shaking and ashamed. "Sorry," he muttered. "Damn, I'm sorry."

"Come on," Nagi said, and got him up and moving. "That's it, just keep walking –"

Mamoru let himself be taken back to the residency, stood in his bathroom when Nagi told him to and brushed his teeth, then let Nagi make him lie down, just as he was, on the quickly unrolled futon.

"You don't have to worry about seeing anyone till you're feeling better," Nagi said. "Just me."

"I did it," Mamoru said again, and tried not to cry. Nagi lay beside him and held on.

"It's just me," he said. "You can cry. But you are not to blame. You're not." He held on tight till Mamoru was quiet again, then kissed his face. "Rest," he said. "You need to be calm. I'll go and talk to Crawford and Schuldig. Do you want me to have one of the women come to take care of you?"

"No. I only want you," Mamoru said, wiping his nose on the back of his hand. "Don't go just yet." He let himself have a few moments more, then pushed at Nagi. "Go and talk to them," he said.

"Rest," Nagi said. "Then wash and change. We'll be in my office."

Mamoru wearily obeyed. His head was thumping and he felt sure he would disgrace himself again if he saw anyone too soon. When he thought he felt a little better he got up and stood under the hot water for as long as he could bear it, then dressed in conservative dark clothing. He looked pale and worn out, he saw, and very young. He'd have to do.

He walked to Nagi's office, wondering why he didn't feel angry. Inside he could hear raised voices, analyzing and dissecting the clip and its ramifications.

"Look, the girl was young, but she could probably have had a child," Schuldig said. "Maybe they were worried Takatori would find some way to get her out and married off to someone they couldn't touch. That's all they'd need, some other powerful fucker out to claim his dear little wifey's inheritance."

"As for the timing, yes, probably it was a warning to Nakagawa and to your Takatori," Crawford said.

"He is not responsible –" Nagi started.

"No, of course not. They'd have done it anyway, sooner or –"

"Fuck, quiet," Schuldig hissed.

Mamoru pushed open the door and walked in. All three of them looked at him like naughty children caught planning mischief. Nagi had changed his clothes too, Mamoru thought numbly. He shifted his gaze slowly to Crawford.

"You said you could get me back to the Empire," he said, calm as Nagi had wanted, as if he were discussing something of no great interest to any of them. Nagi had half risen, looking at him as if he seemed in need of help. Mamoru waved him back to his place. "You said I could help you if I had my father's position and power."

"Yes," Crawford said. "I said that."

"I want my father's position," Mamoru said. "I want his power. I want –" He felt the anger at last, strong and terrible and very much like pleasure. "I want the heads of all my family's enemies, I want them crushed so they cannot come back at me. I want what is mine." He looked at Nagi then, and saw satisfaction. "If I have all that, I will do everything I can to give you what you want," he said, looking back at Crawford. "Can you give me these things?"

Crawford inclined his head, less extravagant in his courtesy, but, Mamoru saw, more honest.

"Takatori-sama," he said. "I believe I can give it a very good shot."


* * *


"It will take time to bring supporters together, Takatori-sama," Crawford said. "You want to achieve this in as fast a time as possible, I assume."

"Yes," Mamoru said. He was tired of arguing, of discussing strategy. He did not want to be told it would be best if he spent years - years, he thought in disgust – building slowly.

"Some months spent now will yield results later," Crawford said. "If you can't be recalled legally, you'll have to go in with enough backing to win and then regularise your position afterwards."

"If I win, I can write the history?" Mamoru said.

"See, he's not so stupid," Schuldig grinned.

"Schuldig," Nagi said warningly. He glared as Schuldig laughed. "You're speaking about a system governor," he said.

"Not yet, I'm not."

Mamoru reached out and took hold of Nagi's wrist. His protectiveness was touching, but it distracted from the more important matters. "Nakagawa will help – can you make him if he tries to remain neutral? How valuable are his daughters' lives to him?"

"We can ensure his loyalty to you," Crawford said. "You don't need to hold his daughters over him yet." He slid a chip over to Mamoru. "There are other members of the Corps who would support you, once they thought you would in turn support them. These are some of their files. There are also plenty of Takatori supporters left in the local forces – I assure you they will fight on your behalf, especially once they see you have Psi-Corps backing."

"What can your associates do?" Mamoru said, leaning forward to take the offered chip, turning it over and over in his fingers. Nagi seemed to have simmered down, so he let go of his wrist and handed him the chip.

"They can do a lot, and rally support themselves," Schuldig said.

"We can look at this later and decide if they really would be useful," Mamoru said quietly to Nagi. He supposed it was galling to Crawford and Schuldig to be taken less seriously than a young man they considered their junior, but he found it hard to care.

"Assuming you will find the support of those officers useful," Crawford said in a dry tone, "They will need to be found and the matter put to them in a way they will find attractive."

"Once I have my father's position I'll work on your behalf, as I said," Mamoru said. "I don't see the need to continually restate that. At the very least I will make my system into one where Psi-Corps personnel cannot simply be assigned and reassigned without consultation with the officers themselves. If you can deliver more than one system, I can say the same for any systems that I become governor of."

"You are ambitious," Schuldig said approvingly.

"It appears so," Mamoru said. "The more you can give me, the more I can give you."

"Let us start with your father's system," Crawford said. "More may come later, if you want it, and if we are able to sustain successful activities. Now, what we need is to alert our friends to this, to gather them together – you'll find that the sight of amassed Psi-Corps personnel will work wonders on those who are as yet neutral towards you. The more support you seem to have from us, the more you'll have from others. No one will think our support is in any way illegitimate; who could imagine us working for our own benefit?" His smile was thin and cynical. "We will have to leave you to gather that support. It would go quicker if there were three of us rather than two."

Mamoru didn't look at Nagi, wondering what was preferable to see, eagerness to go or reluctance to seek further involvement. "I can see that," he said noncommittally.

"I'm not supposed to leave him," Nagi said.

"You're not supposed to take part in this sort of conversation either," Schuldig said. "Afraid he'll decide he prefers girls once you're out of his sight?"

"Nagi," Mamoru said quietly as Nagi drew breath for an angry response. He was pleased at the immediate subsidence to watchful irritated silence. After another moment he felt an invisible light touch on his cheek and knew himself forgiven for the interference. "Please draw up a schedule," he said. "Let me know how long you estimate gathering your allies will take. I'll review it in the morning." He nodded to them as he left the room. Nagi would follow or not, as he wished, he thought.

It was more than an hour later when Nagi crept under the light quilt, waking him from a doze. Mamoru let himself be gathered into an embrace, sleepily putting his arms around Nagi.

"I don't want to leave you," Nagi said.

"I know."

"Crawford's right, it'd make things move quicker."

"I know that too." Mamoru sighed, and tried to wake up properly. "When will you go?"

"Crawford said there's no point in delaying, we should leave on the first available ship. That's the day after tomorrow, I'd have to go up to the station tomorrow afternoon."

"Will you come back?" Mamoru said, and coughed as Nagi squeezed the breath from him.

"You ask the stupidest questions," Nagi said fiercely. "Wake up. I want to make love." He muttered half-audible encouragements and endearments as Mamoru obliged, lying at last exhausted and breathing hard at Mamoru's side.

"I'll get you everything that should have been yours," Nagi said. "That includes me."

"Good," Mamoru said. "It's not worth it, without you." He felt Nagi gradually slip into sleep, and closed his eyes.

The next morning they made love again, as slowly as they could, drawing out every moment. Mamoru knew suddenly they'd never meet again, and hid his face in Nagi's hair so his grief wouldn't be so clear. If Nagi had really been just a student, he thought, they might have had only a brief friendship, before Mamoru's grandfather had brought the weight of his disapproval down to separate them. He'd had Nagi by his side for years, he should be pleased by that, not sad that Nagi loved him enough to go into danger for him.

"Don't risk yourself," he said. "Don't get caught or killed."

"I may not have been on dangerous assignments for the last few years," Nagi said. "That doesn't mean I've forgotten my training – are you crying?"

"No," Mamoru said. "Just come back. If you can. If you want to."

Nagi looked at him closely, a little frown drawing down his eyebrows. "I'm going to make fun of you for this when I come back," he said finally. "Did you think this was the last time we'd be together? You must think I'm easily got rid of. Ah – Mamoru, no –" He held on tight as Mamoru took deep, uneven breaths. "I'll be back as quick as I can," he said. "We'll leave together, then, and I'll kill all your enemies for you, every last one. They're my enemies too, remember. I'm a Takatori. No one will be able to say we haven't avenged our family."

"Yes," Mamoru said, and more strongly, "Yes. We'll rule the system together, Nagi. Or if you want more than that, and Crawford can give me another system –"

"You know what I want," Nagi said. He sighed. "I have to get up. You too, come on." He climbed to his feet and stretched. "I'll use my shower," he said, tying his yukata loosely around him. "I don't have much time."

Mamoru watched him go, then got up wearily. The shower was hot, and he stood there, trying not to think just for a few minutes. Dressed and hungry, he ate quickly before looking for Nagi again, finding him with Crawford and Schuldig.

"Our proposed schedule," Crawford said, bowing.

Mamoru took the pad and read the schedule over. Crawford had given him two, he saw, one assuming Nagi's participation, one not. Things would move faster with Nagi's work, he knew, and they had already said goodbye. He nodded in approval. "Thank you, Captain Crawford," he said. "I'll expect the three of you back by your estimated date."

"Yes," Crawford said. "We'll need to leave for the station this afternoon."

"Please let Nagi know if you need anything. I'll be glad to provide it," Mamoru said. The previous days of discussion lay heavily on him, and he wanted nothing more all of a sudden than for them to be gone. They'd finally got what they wanted from him, he thought, the deaths of his last relatives no more than the useful spur for action. His mind shied away from how his grandfather and niece were surely treated during their years of imprisonment, the memories of his own time in prison seeping up in his memory like filthy water. Schuldig looked at him, not as if he thought it funny, but as if he had some odd sort of sympathy. Mamoru turned away. "I'll leave things in your hands," he said, and went to his office, where he sat behind his empty, polished desk and thought of nothing at all.

The staff treated him with awkward care, not yet knowing what it was he would do, but clearly knowing he was in distress. Ito brought him small, easy things to look at, Hayashi briefed him on an incomprehensible economic dispute between two of the main corporations on Alcmene, forcing him to concentrate. After a little, Hayashi and Ito exchanged glances, and brought Ishikawa in to make Mamoru look at figures and calculations till he began to wake up to his everyday life once more.

It was almost lunchtime when his door opened unceremoniously and Nagi strode in, clad in his black uniform, his face grimly expressionless. Mamoru stood slowly.

"I'm going," Nagi said, stalking up to him.

"Yes," Mamoru said, taking a hesitant step forwards.

They flung themselves into each other's arms, Mamoru dropping the pad he held forgotten in his hand, Nagi's agitation making things all over the room sway and topple.

"Out! Come on, out!" Hayashi said, eyes wide, towing the others from the room as Nagi's intent to bear Mamoru over backwards became obvious.

When at last Mamoru could think clearly again he sat up, letting Nagi help him to his feet. He watched Nagi neaten himself and tried in vain to smooth his own hair down.

"I just had sex in front of my staff," he said in horror. "How can I ever face them again?"

"You kissed me in front of them," Nagi corrected. "I'm almost sure they were gone by the time we hit the floor." He passed Mamoru his comb. "If you hurry up, you can probably convince them that's all you did, it's not like we were very leisurely about things."

Mamoru laughed unwillingly, and took Nagi in his arms again, kissing him more slowly. "You just about have time to shower," he said.

"No. I want to smell you on me," Nagi whispered. He stepped back. "I will be back, Mamoru. Don't doubt that." He paused. "I said goodbye to Hiroko," he said brusquely. "I told her that you'd look after her and the child, and she shouldn't worry if it's a girl."

"I'll take care of her," Mamoru said. "Go on. Go. Come back in one piece."

He didn't go to see them leave. When he was sure they were gone from embassy grounds he sat down to finish his scant day's work. Hayashi looked worried, while Ito's embarrassment was as solid as a blow. Mamoru met their eyes as if nothing untoward had happened and dared them to say anything.

The day dragged slowly on.


* * *