Page 264 of Mercy Written in Blood

"It may be false."

"Yes."

"You expect us to verify it."

"Yes."

"You use truth like bait."

Sota's expression became almost sad.

"Everyone does."

Haruki looked at the envelope. Then at Sota.

"What happens when we refuse?"

Sota seemed genuinely puzzled.

"Refuse what?"

"To help you."

"I continue without you."

"No retaliation?"

"No."

"No threats against my Family?"

"No."

"Against Renji?"

Sota's gaze shifted. Something colder entered it.

"Doctor Takahara is already threatened. Not by me."

Renji's expression remained unreadable. Haruki stepped closer to Sota.

"If anyone connected to you harms him—"

"I know."

Sota did not step back. The answer was quiet. Not mocking. Not submissive. He understood the sentence before Haruki finished because he would have made the same one. Again, that resemblance. Haruki hated it.

Sota looked between them.

"You think I brought you here to threaten what you care about."

"Didn't you?"

"No."

He gestured towards the envelope. Then towards the garden beyond them. The elderly photographer now stood near the reeds, camera raised towards a small bird on the water. Children crossed the western bridge Sota had helped restore. Ordinary lives continued around a conversation that could alter all of them.

"I brought you here because you care," Sota said. "Both of you. More than the institutions you serve deserve."