Page 183 of Mercy Written in Blood

"No."

"You did bring me."

"I didn't expect Hiroshi to uncover nearly a thousand years of secrecy through umbrella ownership."

"That was careless of you."

Haruki looked at him. Renji allowed the faintest smile. Relief moved visibly across Haruki's face. The sight affected Renji more than it should have.

Reina passed him another bowl.

"Finish the lotus root."

The conversation was over. Not dismissed. Accepted. Renji returned to his cutting board. Hiroshi began asking whether he had met anyone historically important. Reina forbade him from answering. Haruki insisted that technically this was not business. Reina said it counted as interrogation. Hiroshi argued that dinner rules did not account for supernatural revelations and should be amended. Through it all, no one asked Renji to leave. No one moved away from him. No one watched his hands as though expecting claws.

Hiroshi complained about the wine. Reina complained about Hiroshi. Haruki began the rice for a third time. Renji chopped lotus root while the house absorbed the impossible and continued preparing dinner. The simplicity of it was almost unbearable.

Ayako Ishida arrived precisely when the food was ready. Renji suspected this was not accidental. She entered the dining room wearing a deep blue kimono patterned with silver grass, her white hair arranged neatly at the back of her head. Age had reduced none of her authority.

Every conversation quietened when she appeared. She looked towards the table. Then at the kitchen. Then at Renji, still wearing the radish apron. Her eyebrows lifted.

"Doctor."

"Mrs Ishida."

"Why are you dressed as produce?"

"Reina."

Ayako nodded.

"Of course."

She moved to the head of the table. Haruki pulled out her chair. She placed one hand briefly against his cheek before sitting.The gesture was so natural Haruki barely reacted. Renji did. Affection in powerful families was often performed for witnesses or withheld to preserve hierarchy. Here it appeared in small, habitual touches — a hand at Haruki's face, Hiroshi placing the least burnt aubergine nearest Ayako, Reina removing a dish from her reach because it contained too much salt. No one announced care. They simply practised it.

Ken arrived two minutes later and apologised eleven times. Reina made him sit beside Hiroshi as punishment.

"I like Hiroshi," Ken said.

"That is why it is punishment for me," Hiroshi replied.

The table filled quickly — not with soldiers or advisers, but with people who had known one another long enough to argue without fear of abandonment. Daisuke joined them after protesting that he was on duty. Ayako told him to sit. He obeyed. Two younger cousins arrived from the west wing, followed by an elderly housekeeper who refused the chair Haruki offered until Ayako threatened to leave hers.

No one introduced Renji formally. He was simply placed beside Haruki. A bowl appeared before him. Then chopsticks. Then tea. Reina served the kinpira and informed everyone that Renji had cut the vegetables because she had delegated, not because his technique was superior. Hiroshi denied this. Haruki supported him. Reina threatened both with washing duty.

No business was discussed. The rule held. They spoke instead about an actor Hiroshi disliked, a neighbour's dog that repeatedly escaped into the courtyard, the cost of winter vegetables and whether Haruki had ever returned a book he borrowed from Reina six years earlier.

"I returned it," Haruki said.

"You left it in my car."

"That is still returning it."

"Not to me."

"You owned the car."

"I didn't find it for three months."