Editing City Series:Volume4b Chapter 9 (section)

===Part 1===

'''4:40 PM

The setting winter sun was a deep red.

It was not the warm color of autumn twilight or the piercing color of a summer afternoon.

It was only a moment of color changing into the darkness of the heavy sunset.

That red washed over the city of Osaka every day.

The red and the shadows created a powerful contrast on the white walls of Osaka Castle in the center of the city and the waves of roof tiles dully reflected the light.

It was a strong color.

The Kyobashi bridge to the northwest gave a diagonal view of Osaka Castle where one could look up at the colors of that light and shadow.

Someone was viewing Osaka Castle from atop the Kyobashi bridge.

There were two of them: Tokyo Chancellor Nakamura Hisahide and Vice Chancellor Aoi Hijiri.

Nakamura stood in the center of the bridge with his MD’s headphones still in his ears.

Hijiri stood next to him with her arms crossed and looking in the same direction as him.

A few people were walking by or leaving behind them, but those two ignored the flow of people and kept their eyes on the castle.

They did not move.

Instead, one of them spoke.

It was Hijiri.

“So the battle’s coming up soon, is it?”

She pulled a flyer from her pocket that she had torn from a wall somewhere.

The flyer said that Kansai’s Chancellor’s Officers were holding a Christmas party at Osaka Castle that day.

All current and former members of the Chancellor’s Officers were invited.

But even as late as it was, Osaka Castle was not prepared for a party and no preparations were underway.

Hijiri looked to the castle.

“The party is probably camouflage to give us a battlefield. They want to keep the damage contained, unlike during the Kinki Riot.” She sighed, tore up the flyer, and dropped it into the moat. “What do you think? We could always ignore their invitation and make them look like fools.”

She asked her question, but Nakamura did not answer.

He kept his eyes on the castle without looking back and Hijiri turned in his direction for just a moment.

He was staring straight ahead.

There was strength in his gaze.

He was focused.

And that powerful focus was quite serious.

He used his gaze to direct that internal strength straight ahead.

But his facial expression was horribly lacking in heat.

Even with the setting sun shining on the side of his face, he stared forward with a cooled expression.

He would seem expressionless if not for his eyes.

It was the look of a Killing Holder.

“…”

Hijiri looked away from him.

She breathed a bitter laugh mixed with a sigh of relief as if she had resigned herself to something.

“Are you gonna go for it before they gather there? …Or are you gonna wait?”

Nakamura did not answer, but she did not mind.

She glanced toward the city.

“There are more and more from the Chancellor’s Officers and Houzenji Group hanging around. I bet the tourists will be driven out of the castle before long.”

Nakamura still did not acknowledge her words.

Hijiri smiled bitterly at him.

She uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on the bridge’s railing.

Since she did not look Nakamura’s way, she seemed to be speaking to herself.

“If you say something, will what’s hidden inside come spilling out?” she asked.

There was no response.

Nakamura said nothing.

But he did move.

Still looking to Osaka Castle, he turned to face the castle’s entrance.

“…”

He began walking.

One beat later, Hijiri followed through the blowing north wind.

She remained behind him instead of lining up beside him.

They walked toward the castle grounds.

Toward the site of the scheduled party.

In the setting sun, the uninvited guests entered the battlefield before anyone else.

Hijiri said one thing on the bridge dividing the city from the battlefield.

“…I wonder if Takahiro will show up.”