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spoken, she waits, holding Gongoro's gaze. She feels again the grip of her katana in her hand, though the sword remains slung at her back, and the unyielding spirit that led her to defeat her attacker, her enemy. Gongoro recognizes this. She sees the recognition in his expression, growing wary, and in his eyes, becoming hesitant, uncertain. At length, she sees it in the brief bow of acknowledgment he accords her. Thus he admits that, regardless of the killer's skill, she has gone where few would dare, where fewer still have the spirit to survive. She has gone to death, faced death, embraced it. A failure to honor this would be a very grave affront, demanding an immediate response.
    Ryokai bows as well.
    "I speak out of loyalty to the Honjowara- gumi ," Gongoro says, and this once his tone is nearly civil. "I tell you these killers are muscle. They are kobun! "
    "Of what clan?"
    "The Yoshida -kai ."
    This would seem absurd but for the immense gravity of the circumstance. The Nagato Combine is composed of three main clans: the Honjowara- gumi , the Toki- gumi , and the Yoshida -kai . What Gongoro is suggesting is that a staunch ally of the Chairman and his Honjowara- gumi has for all intents and purposes committed treason."
    "That is a remarkable opinion, Gongoro-san," Machiko says in her quietist voice. "An opinion that could lead us all onto dangerous ground."
    "Do you fear such opinions?"
    "What I fear is that you are insane. What kami whispers into your ear that you would conceive of such nonsense?"
    "You fear what I say because it is true!"
    "The Yoshida -kai ," Machiko says, "has been the leading partner to our clan for nearly two decades, a valued ally since before either of us were born. They are traditionalists, yes. They have reservations about the Chairman's New Way, yes. Their leadership has sometimes objected vehemently to the Chairman's decisions. Yes. This is so. But it does not make them traitors or enemies."
    Gongoro's next words emerge like acid. "Yoshida -kai is rank with hatred for all metas."
    "You exaggerate."
    Gongoro snarls. "There are those among the Yoshida -kai who would gladly aid in the extermination of all metatypes. They would like nothing better than to begin with we who are most dependent on the Chairman's philosophy. They consider the Green Serpent Guard to be an insult directed specifically at the ancestors of their clan."
    "That is absurd."
    "It is fact!"
    "You are saying that Yoshida has harbored resentment over this affront since Kuroda -sensei emerged from the Tir and pledged himself to the Chairman's service. That is more than twenty years ago. There would be no Nagato Combine if that was so. Yoshida -kai would never have joined. He would have reviled the Honjowara-gumi as a clan of kawa - ruhito , untouchables, utterly despicable subhuman refuse. He would have begun a war with the sole purpose of eliminating every last member of the Honjowara- gumi !"
    Gongoro laughs bitterly, and briefly. "Twenty years ago, Yoshida Gennai was a tired old man desperate for allies. His son has proven to be just as weak. The people I speak of are now in the position whereby they could seize control of the Yoshida -kai with very little effort. The attacks against our members could be and probably are the first in a series of attacks by which they will seize control of their clan, perhaps the entire Nagato Combine."
    Machiko breathes. "If these people wanted control of Yoshida -kai , they would not begin by attacking the Guard. They would kill Yoshida's son and take control. You have put the porter before his luggage."
    Gongoro looks at her like she is the one gone mad. "Once they have seized control, it will be too late! We will be expecting their treachery. Now, they have succeeded in taking us unawares. In one night, they have cut down our best and brightest."
    "And so they have rendered the GSG impotent? You speak nonsense."
    "Do you deny Sukayo's ability as a leader? Do you suggest that we are not poorer