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"What did you want to tell us?” McGann asked patiently. She knew this shit, but didn't think she knew Wolf had to hear it a couple of times before he would believe it.

"That we were getting screwed by the Trustees and we didn't even know it,” I said.

Wolf got this stubborn look on his face, while McGann looked sick, but interested. I wondered what they had been threatening her with. And shit, maybe the pregnancy thing
was
something she had to worry about. While I didn't know how the birds and the bees worked with demons, I had figured out how it worked with psychics. You needed at least one of them as the parent, with either the other parent having a strong latent talent, or even better, both parents being psychics. I wondered if that was what the Trustees had been telling McGann: that they had decided it was time she started knitting baby booties for them. Fuck!

"We weren't supposed to get back,” I said. “Not from what Logan told us."

"Us?” Wolf asked.

"Me and Tamazusa,” I explained. “And before you get pissed. There wasn't a place that I could tell either one of you this. That boat had shit for privacy, and this wasn't something that I wanted Helga or Tholf to know about."

"I understand that,” Wolf said. “But why wait until now to tell us?"

"'Cause this shit didn't seem true until the hoodoo stopped working,” I said. “And this shit still doesn't seem real to me, either."

"What is it?” McGann asked.

"Logan wasn't Logan's real name,” I blurted out. “He wasn't an expert on Mayan anything. That whoever was casting that shitty spell aimed it in the wrong direction on purpose."

"Why?” Wolf demanded.

"Because we all pissed off the Powers that Be,” I said harshly. “Fuck, it wasn't like he really had a chance to tell us a lot."

"Why do you believe him?” McGann continued.

"Because the guy was dying,” I said. “And I don't think that anyone would lie though their teeth to the guy who was trying to save his ass, even if I couldn't do shit. Fuck, he knew that there wasn't a chance. The bastard had opened up his leg, and even sticking my fucking hand in the wound didn't stop the bleeding."

"But why tell you at all?” Wolf asked.

"Because of you,” I said bluntly. “He thought that you were a good man. Fuck, he was right, even if we do shitty things in our line of work. But there's another faction of Trustees that want to turn this place into their own little fiefdom. I believe him, after some of the fucking stories I heard about a couple of Global International Ops."

"My grandfather...” Wolf started, apparently ignoring the last part, even as McGann nodded her head in agreement with me. She had probably heard the same rumors I had.

"Is probably in the dark, like we were,” I told him. “I think that Mrs. Adams don't know shit, either, as much as I hate to say it. If she did, I'm pissed that I fell for the nice little old lady act."

"So the Southerners that the others mention?” Wolf said.

"The Egyptians,” I answered. “That was what Logan said they were. And some of our Trustees are using them to take over Nippon. Iida wasn't part of that mess. He's just adding to the shitstorm on his own. But the Trust, or part of it, is bankrolling the Egyptians so that they can get a summer place on Mt. Fuji or whatever those fuckers are after. And we both know that after that happens, the Egyptians are going to be screwed by the Trustees. Collins had a lot of friends, according to Logan."

"What was his real name?” McGann asked. “Did he manage to tell you?"

"I forget,” I said sheepishly. “Tamazusa would know. She fucking promised him that she'd pray for him or something like that."

"And why should we believe her?” Wolf demanded.

"Since she bothered to save Keno,” McGann said tiredly. “I know that you don't like the woman, but she isn't the monster that you want her to be."

"She's not a woman,” Wolf snarled.

"She is,” I insisted. Shit, from what she told me, she could have been an asshole for the rest of her life or whatever it was she had here. “And she could have killed us all that first night that we were at her place. She didn't. And you know what? You don't have to like the lady, but you should respect her."

"She get to you, Mason?” Wolf demanded.

"This place got to me,” I said, raising my voice. “Shit, most of the people that we know here are mean fuckers. But you know what? None of these people would stab us in the back. I can't say the same about the assholes that are running my life. Fuck, anything here would be better than dealing with the shit that they handed out to us. They didn't just split us up; they told me that we could never see each other again. Did they pull that same shit on you, or did you think that I was just being an asshole?"

McGann frowned. “Why?"

"Shit, I don't know,” I muttered. “I had thought that was something that Murphy was pulling, but I didn't think so after a week or two. And we all know our reports were scrubbed so that those fuckers didn't know anything about us being avatars or whatever me and Wolf are supposed to be. I made sure the tapes in the infirmary got ‘ruined’ too."

"You're the one that did that!” McGann exclaimed. “I thought that it was Keno when I went to do that."

I grinned at her. I hadn't thought she'd had it in her, but I would have bet she had done it more to cover Wolf's ass than mine.

"I wondered why no one called us on that,” Wolf muttered. “Or why I wasn't asked about that in my sessions."

McGann frowned. “Did you have counseling, Mason?” she asked.

I shrugged. “I skipped out on my sessions. I think that was the reason they gave when they pulled me from the field rotation. I think that they were full of shit."

"I know that,” she murmured, looking scared and pissed at the same time. “I should have thought that would happen."

"That what would happen?” I asked.

"Mason....” She stopped, looking guilty and frustrated.

I nodded, suddenly getting the picture. We really couldn't have hidden that information. Not with the company having telepaths in its ranks. They didn't have a lot of them, but you didn't need a lot. You just needed them to be good. So even if we didn't tell them about the fact that we're avatars, they'd find out anyways. While ‘paths weren't supposed to rummage around people's heads without permission, if they were ordered to, they would. And since we had managed to piss off a bunch of Trustees, one of them would have ordered a ‘path to poke around in our heads. The best time for that was in a shrink session, when we were supposed to be spilling our guts to these people anyways. After ordering a full out war, a little violation of our privacy was nothing to those fuckers. We just had to figure out who they were. And from the look in Wolf's eyes, I hoped like fucking hell that one of them wasn't his grandfather. That would kill him.

Samojirou

Running into Mason wasn't something I'd wanted. I had to admit I was a little upset that he seemed so... friendly wasn't the correct word to use, but informal might have done better as a description. At least he was properly wary around me. After a short conversation, we went our separate ways.

I found Tamazusa at the edge of Hamaji's strolling garden, staring at the bell flowers and the plantation lilies that clustered around the edges of the walkway. To most people, it would appear that she was admiring the blooms. I knew she was doing that as well as plotting her next move in the Game. While she had suffered a shocking setback, I knew she wasn't finished playing.

"I just had a most interesting conversation with Mason-san,” she said absentmindedly.

"I have also talked to the man,” I told her. “He—"

"Mason Kairns is a decent man, for all that he would deny it,” she said.

I frowned, wondering where that had come from. She laughed lightly when she saw the look on my face. “Aboshi, the man was kind enough to be my protector, mainly because he thought that he needed to be when Keno-chan and I had washed ashore and were forced to take shelter. I assure you that the Northern barbarians are worse than we ever imagined.” She shuddered. “The smell was dreadful, there was no tea, and a hot bath was something they had never heard of. It was disgusting. They are almost dirtier than
Eta
."

"So Keno-chan has told me,” I said.

She nodded and started walking farther into the garden. I followed her, curious about what she wanted to tell me. We had gone almost to the center when she spoke. “Mason-san knows the truth of what kind of man Keno-chan's ancestor was."

"Was it safe to tell him such things?” I asked.

"Safer than to tell Wolf-san,” she assured me. “Mason-san knows the legend of the
Hakkenshi
now."

"So he has told me, in his own unique way,” I said with a smile. “And I do apologize for neglecting you."

"You haven't,” she assured me briskly. “Mason-san just has gotten into the habit of looking after me."

"Keno-chan mentioned that you had to sleep with him,” I said delicately. I didn't think the man had taken advantage of her, since he would have been dead then, by either her hand or Keno's.

"He was even a gentleman,” she said softly with a strange look in her eyes. “He made something that could have been very awkward less annoying."

"You are fond of him,” I said after a moment of thinking about what she had and hadn't said.

She looked up at me in surprise. “I think that I am.” She smiled sadly. “But I doubt that I would ever be as fond of anyone as you are of your blossom."

"A pet, then?” I asked.

She shook her head. “A friend, as odd as that seems. But for all his lack of manners, he does have an odd charm. He is willing to understand, which is a lot more than many others would try to do."

"He does seem to be the most open-minded of the outsiders,” I agreed.

She smiled at me. “And now I must beg your pardon for what you went through when you thought that Keno-chan and I were dead."

"I grieved for both of you,” I told her softly. “My rage and my grief were for
both
of you."

"I know,” she said softly, reaching out to brush my cheek. “And we both grieved for the pain that we knew that you were going through."

"I don't remember much of it,” I told her truthfully. I didn't. There was nothing besides anger and the hurt.

"And I am so glad that no one here has bothered with an ‘I told you so',” she said.

"There is no reason to do so,” I said. “While I also didn't trust Iida or his offer, it was for very selfish reasons. I simply thought that the man wasn't good enough for you."

She looked at me and laughed. It wasn't the practiced trill she had used for centuries to show that she was amused; this was something honest, something very human. I liked it.

"You do sound like my older brother more than my councilor,” she said, smiling broadly. “Mawatari-san was right about that. And I'm so happy, and so sad that he wasn't right about anything else. You could have claimed my
kuni
, and all this could have been avoided."

"I doubt that,” I said slowly, thinking about it. “A
kuni
is the reflection of one who it is joined with. My land would have been a terrible and empty place because neither you or Keno-chan would have been there with me. And that might have been worse than what is happening now."

"Nippon is embroiled in chaos, posed both on the brink of a civil war and an invasion from the Southerners,” she said passionately. “And I don't doubt that there will be others who come to see what they can pick from the ruins."

We both looked up when one of Inusuka's pages came running toward us. His eyes were wild, and we could tell he had heard something that had caused him a great shock. He stopped in front of us, panting slightly, his eyes wide and panicky. “Kyushu has fallen to the Southerners."

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Keno

We all gathered in Shino's war room. I didn't know what else to call it. There was a table that looked like it was set up for some sort of wargaming, and we sat in the other half of the room. “We” was all my brothers, whom Samojirou had shadow walked so that they could be here, Tamazusa, Samojirou, Wolf, Mason, and McGann, along with my father Yatsufusa. The scary thing was that he didn't really look like a dog anymore. You could tell that he was one, but he looked more like the Wolfman than his usual self. He was dressed in a dark brown kimono and
hakama
, sitting comfortably with the rest of us. Everyone looked a little stunned by his change, and I didn't think my brothers knew Yatsufusa could do something like this.

"Kyushu has fallen,” Shino announced. We all knew it. It was just that most of my brothers looked a little stunned at the news still. “And that means that Tamazusa-sama must regain control of her
kuni
as soon as possible and drive Iida from it!” He took a deep breath. “And that also means that I wish to send Hamaji and Mother to Edo for their own safety."

"I will go with them,” Genpachi said. He shrugged. “I'm not a lord. And I want to see what the rumors are in Yoshiwara and the rest of Edo."

"I wager you do,” Shinbee sniggered. I wasn't surprised that Konbungo hit him on the back of his head for saying that.

"Will it be acceptable to send Wolf and his companions to Edo with them as part of their protection?” Tamazusa asked. “They are competent fighters, but not familiar with our ways. As well as Tholf and Helga for the same reason, besides the fact that Helga seems to be a protege of Fuse-hime at the moment."

Wolf looked a little confused. “We have betrayed you in the past,” he protested. “Why are we here? Why are you willing to trust us now?"

Shino glanced around the room before replying. “My brother has always spoken highly of you, that you all had treated him honorably during his captivity. Our mother has said the same thing of her time in the real world with you. It is obvious to us that you have been betrayed by your own people. Tamazusa-sama has taken you into her household, and she is no fool. We all feel that you will add to our councils, which is why you are here."

"I do not know if I can accept that trust,” Wolf said. “These people, they may use my own family against me. I do not know if I can honor your trust if that happens."