"You look worried, brother. What's exactly disturbing you?" Seiji asked in a confident tone, actually not bothering to scan Hideo's rather pale face but focusing his glance on the people sitting under the cherry tree in front of the table that they both were now sitting on.

"You know exactly what bothers me, and I won't change my opinion about it." Hideo replied sternly, also looking in the direction of the cherry tree, where a lass on his early 20's would begin dancing shyly while several family members around her would cast smiles and clap their hands gently.

"Ah... You and your military codex and whatever verbiage linked to it. Brother... Brother... Marrying her will strengthen the position of our family, eventually subverting one of the very few Hogosha families in Honshu to our con-..."
"Or they'll subvert our family to their control and thus strengthen their position across Honshu even more?" Hideo finished in a sharp tone, having never doubted on interrupting Seiji's sentence everytime he would find a flaw in them, despite the fact he was still the older sibling.

"Who else besides an Iwakura would know better about handling the business of Optronics, brother? Please..." The older brother laughed, catching the attention of his fiancée who stopped dancing and let her cheeks become blushed, wondering if Seiji's laughter was aimed at her. Clearly noticing the small misunderstanding, he shook his head at Hideo and stood up from the table. "See? Now unless I forward my apologies to Yuko-chan, we will indeed have her family stomping us. Enjoy this day, in memory our defunct father."

Hideo narrowed his eyes as he watched his brother walking back among the Aikawa members to offer a cynical bow at the girl, who eventually returned a smile and accepted Seiji's offer to resume together the slow dance she had started before. He had a hunch the Aikawa, as self-proclaimed protectors of Kusari like the rest of Hogosha families, would find the annexation of Iwakura's electronics conglomerate as one of the many stragetic moves to settle in the planet's underworld, and money laundering required of a 'willing' legal company

Whether this feeling would actually come into reality or not wasn't part of the wisdom that his father granted him upon death, but as junior officer of the Naval Forces he had already learnt about better safe than sorry.

"Poke." Hideo casted a soft smile as he felt a nudge coming from his mother, a rare gesture in him ever since he enlisted the Naval Forces. Miyoko knew her children quite well enough to know when something gnawed their minds, leaning slightly to the side so she could be heard. "I find the bride fitting for your brother and talented in business, certainly a double assurance." She began as a manner to break the ice barrier that seemed to surround her youngest son.

"Do you think father would have ever approved this?" Hideo's dry tone wasn't much different as the last time Seiji inquired about his brother's somewhat paranoid attitude, cutting the smile sharply afterward.

The old woman let a sigh out, barely audible in the middle of the wedding banquet, where people ate and drank to honor the married couple. "I can assure you he would have wanted the best for you and your brother, stability. Besides seeing Seiji's matrimony lasting until the end, my only hope now is to see you where he is right now in a nearby future. So please, let whatever thoughts you have fade away."

"The business talent should just remain on Seiji and if anything would happen, I am meant to be the second warranty." His tone became more rude than usual, actually unable to speak his actual concerns regarding the Aikawa tight links with the Hogosha families and a more than obvious plot to take over Iwakura's company before Seiji, Hideo and Miyoko would notice. That, of course, was under Hideo's ever-inquisitive mind which also feared being on the wrong tack.

His look seemed stuck on the married couple who were coddling each other gently as the recited several speeches to the guests, lost in his own thoughts to the point he completely ignored the two voices addressing him from his sides, both her mother's and a Imperial Navy emissary that had stepped into the scene quietly. "Shosa Iwakura, direct message from the Taisho, you're being recalled to the Tau front." Hideo couldn't cast a gesture of surprise once the emissary had succesfully drew his attention. "The Taus? But why...?" The messenger shook his head softly and motioned with it toward the exit door, meaning to give the necessary explanations in privacy. Hideo looked back at his mother, who returned a nod. "Duty is duty, son. Make our family proud. We'll be fine here."

---

"The Taisho is summoning as many seniors officer as possible to reinforce our battalions in the Tau cluster and..." The messenger couldn't finish the sentence before Hideo flooded him with a rushed question. "But how are the Bretonians posing a threat to now recall officers?" Both men shared a sigh, although each of them due to their own reasons. "One hour ago the Gallic Kingdom formally declared war against the Empire. I know the event you've been caught in is a sensible one, but this is the Taisho's will... And your duty to defend our homeland."