11:35pm
        Rei sat at the end of her bed, holding her arm up she stared at the locket, completely mesmerized by the historical nature and the power that was held in small golden clasp that had been tarnished by time and wear.  Her head jerked up when the door to her small bedroom opened and she saw a woman enter.

        “Rei-san, I hope you don’t mind but I will be sharing your room with you tonight, I’m afraid that we haven’t been introduced, my name is Kasugi Yukito, your father’s advisor.  My goodness you do look like your father, you have his nose and mouth…”

        “Goodnight Yukito-san, the traveling has made me tired.”

        As Rei leaned over the other side of her bed, she felt Yukito’s eyes on her and she anticipated the moment that she spoke, “you don’t like me very much; do you?  You are prejudging me, I am not going to take over your ota-san, I will never do that, I promise you that.  I want to help you, your father, your relationship with him, I don’t want to take your place in his heart either…”

        “You will never be able to take ota-san’s place, you can try all you want, but you will never succeed.  As for mine, I don’t have a place in his heart, you don’t have to try and get on my good side, in fact, if I hated you, he might love you more.  Oka-san and I have lived separate lives for a very long time, I don’t care what he does with his life, and if you become part of his life, it has nothing to do with me.”  She slipped into bed and turned th lights off, “you don’t have to waste your time trying to be my friend.  This room is only big enough for one, will you leave, or shall I?”

        Yukito stood in the darkness of the room as she saw the outline of Hino-san’s daughter slide into the futon.  Sighing, she knew that there was no need to say much more, she turned and left the room, “goodnight Rei-san, we can talk tomorrow then.”

        Once Rei felt that ‘that woman’ had left the vicinity of her room, she breathed with relief that she would not have to share a room with her.  In the comforts and privacy of her own room, she felt the memories of her childhood rushing back to her, blinking her eyes several times she tried to keep her tears at bay but failed.  Turning, she closed her eyes and eased herself into the land of memories.

Flashback
        Sitting on the other side of her parent’s bedroom door, Rei leaned against the thin door listening to the familiar sounds of her ota-san walking heavily around the room while getting ready to make an appearance at the ministerial dinner.  When she was younger, she had the distinct impression that her mother’s footsteps were much lighter than they were now.  As Rei closed her eyes, she could imagine the position that her mother was in at the moment merely by the sounds.  Deep inside her heart she knew that the heaviness and unsteadiness in those footsteps was because of the worsening of her mother’s health, yet despite the realization that the sound of those steps indicated the seriousness of the condition, it comforted her to know that she could still hear them.

        Rei’s eyes opened quickly when she suddenly heard a loud thud on the floor; she jumped from her position and opened the door without knocking.  She did not need to look to know that her mother had collapsed and was currently unconscious.  She shook her mother lightly and was terrified that there was response.  “Ota-san?”

        Without even thinking, Rei ran out of the house and down the street to the house at the corner where their doctor lived and begged for his help.  It never occurred to her to use the phone.  As soon as the doctor arrived, her world became blurred, she did not notice time passing as she sat by the bedroom door waiting for the doctor to perform a miracle.  It was not until her oka-san stood before her with a disapproving look that she realized that she was sitting in the hallway, blocking the path.  She scurried onto her feet and greeted her father.

        “Rei, what are you still doing here, still not dressed for dinner?  We are not going to be late on such an important occasion, and I expect your best manners tonight.”

        “But oka-san!”

        “What did I say about talking-back?”

        She did not need to say another word for the doctor had just finished examining his patient and had slid the door open.  Her father greeted the doctor with a look of surprise seeing him leaving his wife’s room.

        “Hino-san, I’m afraid that I have some bad news for you…” the doctor looked at Rei who was determined to stand her ground and hear all that the doctor had to say.

        “Go ahead, Rei should know that her mother is dying.”

        Rei gasped at this, although she had known that her mother was extremely ill she had not expected the bluntness and directness of her father’s speech, it seemed so… definite.

        “Your wife’s condition is deteriorating faster than we had expected, her weak disposition is not cooperating with the medication we are giving her.  Hino-san, I’m afraid that she does not have long to live.”

        “And tonight, is she well tonight?”

        “She is awake now and I have given her a higher dose of painkillers, she will be sleeping through the night.”  The doctor indicated to the woman inside the room lying in her futon, she was only semi-conscious and it seemed that the drugs were taking an effect on her ability to stay focused and awake.

        “You gave her painkillers?  Tonight?  Do you know what tonight is?”

        “Hino-san, I am well aware, your wife expressed some anxieties about not being able to attend the gala dinner, but I am afraid that…”

        “REI!  Get dressed, we must get ready to leave in ten minutes, doctor, do everything you can to make my wife comfortable and we will see her in the morning.  Rei, I will wait for you in the car, now hurry up!  I will go in and see her now.”

11:50pm
        Himaga was not surprised to find someone knocking at his door at this time of the night, he had retired to his chambers early, but as yet he had found that this household did not seem to function without his interference or directions.  Tossing the political dossiers on his desk he grumbled, “yes?”

        “She is dead.”

        Himaga raised his eyebrows as he looked at Seira, her hair so long that it acted as a veil as she walked towards him.  Those earrings that he had given her glowed with red, they were not supposed to glow steadily, they were supposed to blink.  Damn, she was drawing too much energy, and the earrings were permitting it.  He hadn’t expected this from her, he had only expected a request for instructions, “who is dead?”

        “The lunatic woman, I pushed her out the window.”

        “You WHAT?”

        “I killed her, she was useless.”  Seira answered monotonously.

        “I make the decisions here, how dare you do something without my permission?”

        “It has been done, and it has been dealt with.  I saw no reason for making you aware of this prior to my actions, you would only agree.”

        Himaga clenched his fist tightly and thumped the arm of his chair with anger, standing up he stood only inches away from her face and took her by the shoulders, “you will not make assumptions about me; do you understand?”

        “What will you do without me?”  She broke free from his grasp and slithered around him.  With a grand sweep she sat herself onto the large armchair that had previously been occupied by Himaga.  She eyes did not move from him as she crossed her legs and gave him a questioning look.

        “No one is indispensable,” he growled.

        “But you will not survive without me,” she replied calmly, “come on big boy, admit it, I am the key to you winning this election, one way or the other.  You know you’re not exactly lone wolf here.  I’m going to help you,” she tapped her long red fingernails against her cheek as she studied his reaction to it, “and I want a share of your success.”

        “I don’t deal with humans.”

        “But you have to, 40-60.”

        “25-75.”

        “35-65.”

        “30-70.”

        “Done,” she smiled and walked past him as she left the room, “goodnight, nice doing business with you.”  As she left the room, he looked at her openmouthed.  Once she left the doorway, her whole demeanor changed, her hair shrunk into her head into its usually soft tresses of auburn hair, and her confident posture was replaced with that of a young shy woman.  She was right about his dependency on her, and he hated the fact that he had made such a deal with her, but once his plan had been completed, he was sure that he could do away with her.

12:00pm
        Rei bolted awake from her deep sleep; she felt her body shaking from the cold and the sadness that was within her.  It was at that one particular moment in time in her childhood that she realized that her father didn’t care about his wife’s condition.  It was at that one particular moment in time in her childhood that she realized that she was disgusted with her father.  She stood up from her futon and opened the windows, feeling the warm air rush into the room, “ojii-san, what makes you think I can succeed in converting such a man?”

        There was a hurried knock on the door before it was flung open, Rei turned quickly to see who was disturbing her evening.

        “Miss Hino, is everything alright?”

        “Other than you coming in my room at this hour at night, is there any reason at all why it shouldn’t be alright?”  Rei asked harshly.

        “Miss Hino, when the windows opened, we thought… perhaps there might have been an intruder into this house.”

        “There has been no intruder, now please leave.”

        “Hai Miss Hino, but please,” the old man stepped into her room and with a quick stride came to stand beside her, “leave the windows shut,” he then proceeded to close the window with an efficient swipe of the hand.

        Rei watched him leave her room and shut the door behind him.  The room became a prison.  A closet.  Turning back to the window, she opened it once again, determined not to be trapped by her situation.  Yelling it loud enough for that man to hear, she said, “I will open my windows when I want to.”

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