Page 249 of Mercy Written in Blood

"I won't."

Haruki heard the smile in his voice.

"What kind of book?"

"One he already owns."

"That seems inefficient."

"It's damaged."

"Ah."

Ken's tone changed. Understanding more than Haruki had explained.

"I'll move the meeting."

"Thank you."

"Do you need anything else?"

"No."

"Cake?"

"No."

"Decorations?"

"Absolutely not."

"Candles?"

Haruki hung up. He pulled out of the parking space. The hospital rose behind him, rows of windows reflecting the pale afternoon.

Renji would finish late. He would claim exhaustion. He would insist the day was no different from any other. Haruki would allow him to say it. He would not argue. He would simply arrive.

Renji had spent centuries surviving. Haruki could not teach him how to live in a single evening. But he could remember the day Renji had forgotten. He could place something new beside everything the date had once meant.

Haruki said nothing to him yet. He drove towards the bookseller, already planning.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sota Fujimoto

Sota Fujimoto chose a public garden for the meeting. That was the first thing Haruki disliked about him.

Men arranging ambushes preferred warehouses, private rooms and unfinished buildings — places where exits could be controlled and blood cleaned from concrete. Men who wished to appear harmless chose restaurants. Sota had chosen neither.

The garden occupied the grounds of a former merchant's estate near the northern edge of Takamori. It opened to the public at eight and closed before sunset. Retired couples walked its stone paths. Schoolchildren came to sketch the koi pond. Office workers ate lunch beneath the maples when the weather permitted. There were too many witnesses for violence. Too much open space for confinement. It was almost reassuring. Which meant it had been selected to be.

Haruki stopped beneath the entrance gate. Ken stood half a step behind him. Two other Ishida men waited outside the garden, close enough to respond but far enough not to appear part of the meeting.

Sota's message had been specific.Come with one person. No weapons drawn. Bring Doctor Takahara if he is willing.

Renji had not been willing. His refusal had lasted eleven seconds. Then he had asked to see the message again, read it twice and announced that allowing Haruki to attend alone would be irresponsible. Haruki had replied that Renji was not invited as his physician. Renji had said, "I am aware." That had ended the discussion.

He now stood to Haruki's left wearing a dark wool coat and the expression of a man attending a consultation he expected to find medically disappointing.