Page 298 of Mercy Written in Blood

"Aiko was released after agreeing to cease contact with the journalist. She resigned from the Accord. Sota was twelve."

The age settled heavily. Haruki did not move. Mori looked towards the table.

"Two years later, Aiko disappeared."

Renji's chest tightened.

"Taken?"

"We do not know."

Haruki turned.

"That phrase is becoming convenient."

"It has never been convenient."

Mori's voice hardened for the first time. The force of it filled the room.

"I signed orders I believed necessary. I watched a family collapse because of them. I know precisely what ignorance costs."

"Then why make the same choice?" Haruki asked.

Mori looked at him.

"Because knowledge also has a cost."

Haruki returned to the table. He did not sit.

"What happened after Aiko disappeared?"

"Sota was placed in an Accord-supported orphanage."

The room became silent. Haruki stopped breathing for one beat. Renji saw it. Mori saw it. Neither spoke immediately. The orphanage. White walls. Metal beds. A boy in the dark. Haruki's face had gone still in the way it did when emotion became too dangerous to display.

"Which orphanage?" he asked.

Mori named it. Haruki closed his eyes. Only briefly. Renji knew before he said anything.

"You were there," Renji said.

Haruki opened his eyes.

"Yes."

Mori looked between them.

"You did not know?"

"No."

"Sota knew," Haruki said. His voice had lowered. "That is what he meant."

Mori studied him.

"You remember him?"

"No."