Page 360 of Mercy Written in Blood

Isao laughed.

"Rules written by another man afraid to act."

Sota crossed the floor. Accord weapons tracked him. Mori raised one hand to hold them. Sota stopped before Isao. The two men looked at each other. Movement and consequence. Founder and believer. The ideology confronting what it had permitted.

"You used hostages," Sota said.

"We forced a choice."

"You tried to take a child."

"We tried to free his history."

"You attacked a hospital."

"We went where the bloodline was."

Sota's face became still.

"You became the argument they use against us."

Isao leaned forward against the restraints.

"No. We became what they made necessary."

The words reached everyone. Mori. Haruki. Renji. The distinction between factions blurred for one dangerous moment. Each had said some version of it. Necessary. Containment. History. Protection.

Sota looked towards the dead vampire near the western tables. Then the injured Unveiled members being treated by Ishida medics. Finally, Haruki.

"I did not order this."

Haruki's expression remained unreadable.

"No."

"You believe I caused it."

"Yes."

Sota accepted that. He looked at Renji.

"And you?"

Renji thought of the community centre. Sota's mother. His missing sister. The orphanage. The reasonable man asking what truth was worth.

"I believe you created a place where people could mistake escalation for loyalty."

Pain entered Sota's face. Brief. Unhidden. He looked again at Isao. Then removed his wet coat and placed it across the back of an unbroken chair.

Mori's posture changed.

"What are you doing?"

Sota rolled his sleeves to his elbows. The gesture was ordinary. It made the room tense.

"I came to take responsibility."

Isao's expression sharpened.