The melody swelled, and the Between Rounds light dissipated.
Hisako and Nanae met, and Hisako, astonishing herself, beat her in a contest of raw strength, off the start, at least.
She swung Toraichi and, when Nanae caught it, Nanae skidded back a few inches—a win, in Hisako's book.
Then, Nanae wrenched Toraichi from her hands, causing pain to lance up them all the way to her shoulders. Hisako had to let go to protect herself from the attacks that followed.
Nanae cleared the gap between the end of Toraichi and the hilt, then loosed a flying backhand. Hisako used her power to drop down and duck the attack, then slide back on the grass.
Nanae didn't let her escape. She was a whirlwind—all that power and speed Hisako had once relied on turned against her. Hisako jumped up, tugging Toraichi to her.
A poor idea.
Nanae took the moment of pause it took to concentrate on Toraichi and launched herself, unleashing a flurry of blows.
Hisako dodged the first, then the second. As her fist whipped past her head, Hisako saw that Nanae's gauntlets looked different—the little keyhole designs had an icy blue to them, standing out starkly against the gold.
Ice?
She worked harder to dodge the attacks, but Nanae's advancing dance negated any attempts to escape, even upward.
It had to happen eventually. An attempted dodge resulted in a glancing blow. Cold burst through her shoulder like a biting burn. It threw her off her rhythm, which left her open for Nanae's next attacks.
Getting punched by Nanae was like being punched through by a cannon. It was a hole punch through paper—a fist through her ribs.
If the situation were different, she would've tapped out after the first punch.
Nanae squeezed in two more before she let Hisako fall, winded and frozen: one to the sternum and the second to the other shoulder.
Hisako hit the ground. The grass and soft terrain made it hurt less, but the cold and the ache of the punches quickly consumed her. She gasped when her lungs unclenched, breathing against the frost constricting her chest and collar.
Her ears were ringing, but the melodic beat continued, making her heart swell at each crash and rise of the instruments. It drowned out the pain and made her forget the ache in her muscles and bruises.
"Mochizuki-san!"
She rolled aside and up to her feet, unsteady and staggering but upright.
"Very good, Mochizuki-san," Shouhei called.
He was still locked in combat with the absent-minded Sasaki, whom he seemed to be handily beating back. When the man pulled back to swing his halberd, Shouhei drew back and dashed into him, slamming him to the ground with his shield.
While the man recovered, Shouhei began to bang his spear against his shield.
The melody changed. It became something frantic and howling—it scratched an itch at the base of Hisako's skull. Everything sharpened, everything heightened.
Nanae hesitated before running at Hisako again, but for Hisako, it felt like a whole time-out. Toraichi snapped to her hands faster than ever before, and the moment Nanae entered her range, she swung.
She knew the grace of Dr. Moon's ceremonial dance, blade cutting through the air without resistance, with the ferocity of Kamui's attacks and the raw technique of Vice Captain Fujioka.
The song raged on, and she was in the zone.
Nanae attempted to block Toraichi's edge with her gauntlet, arms braced together, but Hisako twisted the blade at the last moment, slamming into her with Toraichi's flat. It threw Nanae's arms away, destroying her defenses.
Hisako spun into a kick. Her boot connected with Nanae's shoulder, knocking her to the ground, then Hisako quickly dropped Toraichi onto her, weighing her down with the combination of her blade and ability.
Nanae struggled, and her gauntlets beat at Toraichi, but it only resulted in frosting the blade and the grass around her.
Hisako turned to see how the others were faring.
Shouhei had laid out his man again, this time finalizing it with the point of his spear at the man's throat. As he collected himself, the song began to close out.
The ice-man was gone, but Hachi's ominous door stood near him as he cuffed the woman Eiji had bested and tangled up with Stinger.
Amajiki stood with a staff in his hands near Hachi's door, ice crusting his uniform and frost on his heaving breath.
"What now?" Hisako asked.
The music had stopped pounding in her head, and the fatigue was starting to catch up, making her limbs leaden and her pain rise to the surface.
Hachi pulled his phone from his pocket and sat on his cousin's back, making her wheeze out a lungful of air. "I'll let the captain know we've established hostility."
"This was only part of the escort," Shouhei said. "And my brothers have escaped. This is only successful once they're all in cuffs, and the family gives up this stupid little game."
"Agreed," Amajiki said. "In different words, but…"
"Escaped?" an unfamiliar voice echoed playfully.
Everyone turned back to the house where Hideki and another man had appeared. The newcomer looked amused, and Hideki looked furious.
"Captain Sasaki," Amajiki greeted.
"I hope all this commotion isn't for me," he chuckled. "I'm not worth that much trouble."
His older brother eyed him venomously. "And yet here we are." His eyes flicked to Nanae and the others. "Losing. Is my baby brother's rag-tag crusade really that strong, Nanae?"
She had stopped struggling underneath Toraichi but wasn't done trying to redirect its weight off her. "Uncle Shouhei did something. Hisako isn't that strong normally."
Hisako frowned, and her heart cracked a little. Was Nanae lying for her sake? Trying to protect her as she was for Nanae? It sounded genuine to Hisako's ears, but she didn't abandon hope.
"He has Sasaki-sama's strength," the absent-minded man cried.
Shouhei narrowed his eyes at him, and he abruptly passed out, his strained face falling into something peaceful. He was asleep.
"If you hadn't silenced him, I might not have believed him," Hideki remarked.
"Spiral-san is not crazy," Shouhei said sharply.
Masashi glanced at his brother. "You left the children to take care of the mess?"
"Mother collapsed. Shouhei's doing."
"That woman will die the moment nobody is waiting for it," Masashi said. "You ought to have left her."
Hisako watched them hound each other with every biting glare, every sharp word. "Why are you doing all of this?" she cried.
"I won't argue over power with a nobody," Hideki replied.
"In what world would you ever lose power?" she snapped.
Hideki narrowed his eyes at her.
"Even if you aren't able to literally control decisions, you have all the fame and money to influence them. And you have your entire family to vote your way. All of this violence only makes you look like the enemy of progress; all of this is just an ugly delay," she spat.
Masashi chuckled.
"Leave. Forget the escort. We'll meet you there," Hideki ordered.
Masashi stopped laughing, and his face darkened. He bowed, excusing himself back into the house.
"Have you bothered asking what other people think?" Hisako asked. "You don't seem the type to consider others' feelings on this. What does Nanae want? What about Miyu? Or Shouhei, or Hachi?"
"What they want—what I want—doesn't matter. All that matters is the future of our clan."
"Even a nobody like me can see how weak an excuse that is," Hisako said. "Hachi and Shouhei were right—you are shameful. All of this is shameful. You act like you're better than the rest of us, but all you are is scared of change. At least the rest of us can swallow our pride and admit it."
Hachi burst out laughing. "She cut you to the bone, Sasaki-sama."
"Enough!" Hideki erupted. "You'll have your punishment, Hachirou. You and Shouhei both will stand before the council. The rest of you… You'll never leave this estate alive."
Nanae released a horrible, wrenched gasp.
"It's for the good of the clan, Nanae," he said gently.
"They're my friends!" she cried.
He looked genuinely sympathetic. It made the hairs on the back of Hisako's neck stand on end. "And the clan is your family," he replied softly.
Nanae's face fell. She stopped struggling and stared at him. On her arms, the gauntlets shattered into pieces. Her eyes widened, completely distraught but resigned to it. She fell limp against the grass and stared at the greenery, completely checked out.
"Nanae," her father breathed. "We can fix it once this is over."
"It's never over," she murmured. "There is no 'over' with the issues in this family." Her eyes turned to him, piercing and dark like his had been. Father and daughter. "Even you must see it."
He did. He admitted it with the shutter of his expression, the minute flinch of his eyes.
He saw all that was wrong with his clan, and he still held it in the highest regard. Hisako almost respected it, but what was wrong with the Sasakis was something to be ashamed of. Where had the defiant man who married the wrong woman and sired the wrong child gone?
Hisako released Toraichi, but Nanae didn't rise. Hisako offered her hand to her.
"Join us," she said quietly.
Nanae's eyes slid to her, softening and returning to the despairing pain.
"We're here to help," Hisako said.
"Help who?" Nanae asked dryly, lost in her own pain.
"Everyone. You don't have to follow anyone you don't believe in; we're here to show everyone that."
She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing out the seeds of tears. "It's a little late for me."
"It's never too late to try," Hisako urged.
"Why?"
"Why try?"
"Why bother with me?"
Hisako smiled. "I'd rather have you fighting by my side than fight you again; you hit harder than a sledgehammer," she joked. "Seriously, though, you're my friend. Friends help each other, especially in their moments of need."
Nanae smiled crookedly and sniffled. She took Hisako's hand. "Will this make us even?" she joked weakly.
Hisako chuckled. "I'll think about it."
She pulled Nanae up, ignoring the pain that stabbed at her torso with the effort.
Her father startled. "Nanae, if you betray this family—"
"You're not the clan head, father," Nanae said. "I'll face grandmother's judgement alone. I'd rather take my chances with her than try to convince a man who believes his own lies."
His face fell, stricken. "Very well. If that is what you wish." His face twisted into something angry and cruel for a blink. "You'll be of no use to them anyway."
Hisako heard approaching footsteps—many of them; a steady stampede of approaching Sasakis.
"Not mine," Hachi said quietly.
Hideki lifted his head, face smoothing over back to that stoic mask. The horde arrived—a mass of Sasakis ready in red for the escort. Hisako glanced over them, scanning for Miyu's familiar dyed hair or glittering jewelry.
She didn't find it. All she found were scowling, aggressive faces on toned, seasoned Doorkeepers, all of them. Too many of them—there had to be at least three dozen.
"Do we run?" Hisako asked quietly.
"We scatter," Shouhei sighed. "Let's reconvene at the gate. Hopefully, we can catch up to Masashi."
"Nanae—" Hisako began, ready to pull her in one direction.
"No," Hachi said. "The Sasakis go alone. Especially Nanae. Nobody will fight her. You and Eiji go together. Amajiki—your choice."
"I'll be fine," Nanae promised, separating herself from Hisako's orbit. "You need Eiji's attention anyway, and three is a crowd, especially when they'll already be looking for anyone out of the family colors."
"Okay. Stay safe, okay?"
Nanae nodded.
"See you soon."
Nanae smiled, and Hisako took off with Eiji. They ducked into the house under the bamboo privacy curtains that hung from the doorways. The halls were a more extravagant version of the halls in Hachi's door, but they were equally maze-like.
Thankfully, with the lack of doors, it was easy to find their way to the opposite exterior of the house, among the quiet cherry blossoms.
"The branch area is that way," Eiji said, pointing past the walls. Over the tops of them, Hisako saw the start of the persimmons. "We can sneak through there until we reach the gate."
Behind them, she heard people running through the house.
She turned to Eiji. "Lead the way."