Immovable object and unstoppable force

-“What is the meaning of this? I thought you were displeased with me”
Jagasaki stares down at the pot of Gesundheit-brand ice cream, whose high quality could be inferred even by scooping a small piece of it with the tiny plastic spoon it came with, which he ate whole.
For Shizune’s part, she just prepared a rather average cup ramen, instead of the cheapest one in the store. She even added an egg to it this time. For the first time since the two met, the young woman looks relaxed.
“Well, yeah… but you’re also the only one I can share this with so I’m letting it slide. I got hired by the Soul Hunter Society!” she drops the news with a beaming smile at an unimpressed Jagasaki.
-“How come?”
-“Well, apparently Ito awakened… crazy, right? So he was being scouted and I sort of managed to get included”
-“Yes, I saw that fool pass out after his first fight with the spider wraith”
Shizune stares at Jagasaki, wanting to believe her ears just heard wrong.
-“You what?”
-“The other night, at that ‘gallery’ place. He Awakened and fought but was fully exhausted after facing the wraith. Then I destroyed the spirit, fed on its remains and left”

Shizune’s noodles slip through her chopsticks and land back into the paper bowl, with a small splash to punctuate her silent stare at Jagasaki
-“...Why didn’t you tell me?”
-“An awakening is a joyful event. When humans exceed the limits of mere mortals, raising their soul into a higher realm of perception, an explosion of power and vitality that echoes the event that birthed the cosmos" Jagasaki concludes, closing his fist. "From my understanding, you hate him. It would bring you nothing but annoyance" He turns to look at Shizune once more. "Besides, you must have felt his spiritual pressure change, as well as the surge of power from the awakening itself. It seemed unnecessary to mention.”

-“I did feel a surge of spiritual power but I assumed that was some other Awakened fighting somewhere else. The city is freaking huge and there’s lots of them! I can't just identify someone when they Awaken, I don't have the resources of the SHS!!"
Shizune breathes out her increasingly annoyed tone, returning to her more neutral attitude. Now things started to make sense, and she also felt rather upset at Ito’s gang for failing to mention this to her.
-“And that idiot is a Blood Scion… fits him being strong as hell with no effort”
-“Hoh, a Scion. Then the potential I saw makes sense… Perhaps it’s worth investigating whose hero’s blood runs through his veins”
-“Well, I don’t think he knows who his great-great-greatwhatever grandpa is... And I bet it was someone just as stupid as him anyway”

The more she thinks about it, the more Shizune feels the need to hold her forehead with her hand and let her head hang.
“… Ugh, he awakened a pretty strong Inheritor Code too… of course, he must’ve had high spiritual presence even before manifesting his real power… lording over Innocents so easily should’ve given me the clue”
She thinks back to how everyone was always apparently was powerless to even stand up to Ito despite being just a teenager, and how he apparently had experience fighting adults at the seedier parts of Osaka.

“And that explains why I didn’t notice anything different today...”
“Have you ever felt like everyone somehow conspires to just... ruin your day?” She looks up at Jagasaki.
-“I have no patience for conspiracies, I just kill as needed”
-“I guess you would say that” Shizune replies dryly as she rolls her eyes and recovers the bite she lost moments ago
The destitute mage finally has some taste in her noodles, and the first genuine intake of protein in days is enough to make her feel this cup ramen actually tastes like a meal.

“At least that’s one less thing to worry about, I just need to perform well and I’ll be earning big”
-“You only care about money” Jagasaki says bluntly, unimpressed.
-“Money is all I need right now. Once I buy my house back I’ll think on what to do next…" Shizune concludes, slurping on her noodles.

Jagasaki sees no reason in continuing the topic and opts to focus on savoring the confectionery, scooping pieces of it with his nails. Occasionally he also comments highly on the ‘cho-koreto’ bits, that unknown candy Shizune mentioned when presenting him with the dessert earlier tonight.
-“What’s unfortunate is that these Soul Hunter Society people have not recognized your talents yet, instead you had to rely on that Ito to be noticed.”

-“It is what it is. Honestly, I’ll take it. The Soul Hunter Society wasn’t my first choice, but I’m not in a position to be demanding. Besides, the more I think about it the more convenient it is. If I worked for the government you’d probably need to be registered as a Bound Spirit, remain under heavy surveillance and perhaps seal your powers partially. The SHS won’t care about you as long as you don’t hurt humans… in which case you’d just become a bounty”

-“Oh, you think they have power to rival mine?” Jagasaki puts his hand on his chin, scheming
Shizune looks at him unamused and points at him with her chopsticks
-“I see what you’re playing at here, and I’m not going to answer one way or the other”  Simply put, Shizune can already tell that if she answered ‘no’ then Jagasaki would just disrespect the SHS, but if she were to answer with the ‘yes’ that she is most confident of, Jagasaki would specifically seek to fight their strongest enforcers.
The demon lets out a loud hmph sound, and acquiesces to Shizune’s play, as he likewise knows that he’d act like that.

“At least after this deveolpment you’ll have proper enemies to fight and develop your talents with" He smiles showing his jagged maw "I am eager to see how worthy is the heir of the bloodline that struck me down. Even beyond that, I expect impressive results from you, Shizune” he says, pointing at her with his clawed nail from above.
-“Oh wow, such high expectations. I am thrilled.” she responds, deadpan
-“Your sarcasm means nothing. I will be observing your development closely, as you don’t seem the sort that will disappoint me”
-“And what if you’re wrong?”
-“Then I’ll dispose of you and unseal myself completely”
-“So no pressure, huh?”
Shizune finishes the cup noodles as she looks at Jagasaki, still deadpan. Despite that being practically a threat, she is not moved in the slightest.
“At least you’re honest with your irrational demands, I hate that I can’t hate that.”

Shizune prepares the futon she usually sleeps in, if only because she’d rather just lay horizontally and turns the TV on by waving her fingers to enchant this apparatus that’s slightly older than her. Then it magically leeches a signal from the building and shows what different TVs in the apartment complex are showing. She settles on what seems to be one of her neighbors playing the hit game Ankoku Tamashii 3 for background noise, as the other options she has seen are considerably worse.

Laying down on the futon, she thinks about her future out loud.
-“I wonder who I’ll be partnered with”
-“What do you mean?” Jagasaki asks, even while paying close attention to the recently-started playthrough due to the game's aesthetic catching his fancy.
-“I’m technically a newbie and the SHS has a system for training new operatives. The idea is they’re partnered with one or two senpai to ease them into how things work and to make sure the new arrivals have a certain level of battle ability. So I’ll be paired with a 'more experienced' Awakened, even if I more or less know everything there is to know at this level”
-“I see. That way they know what sort of skills can be fostered within their ranks and weed out those that cannot perform. Perhaps they’ll pair you with a physically-inclined warrior”
-“That’d make sense… heh, they’ll be in for a surprise if they think I’m just a frail spellcaster” Shizune’s mood is already making her expect things going her way, imagining a scene of her showing off to her supposed senpai and receiving impressed accolades.
-“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter much. I’m already above the average for Awakened, so I’ll probably be on their regular payroll by next week. It’s just a matter of not messing up” After a minute of silence, Shizune lets out a short chuckle.
“I feel sorry for whoever gets paired with Ito”
After that little laugh comes a yawn, prompting the mage to settle for her well-deserved rest.

-------------------------------------------------

Saturday is a free day for Shizune, as Nantoka High only has classes five days a week and she doesn’t belong to any of the terribly meager clubs that usually meet on this day. The mage has the chance to sleep to her heart’s content and get herself ready for her meeting. Before midday, she diligently waits at the agreed meeting point -an unassuming local café- before even Hibana Atsuko arrives. When the recruiter does arrive, she is carrying a brown binder filled with all sorts of records and necessary papers.

Atsuko seems polite, if detached, when she introduces herself properly to Shizune, who simply tries to project a confident and content aura. All things considered, she was grateful with Atsuko and wanted to make sure to leave a good impression. To Shizune, being as early as possible only made sense, but secretly Atsuko wished she had been late, as it would have given her more time to nurse the hangover she was experiencing after a night out with some of her coworkers.

Once they find somewhere to sit that is more-or-less private and can be seen from the entrance, the agreed time of the meeting begins, and Atsuko makes the first comment after checking her watch.
-“It appears that your partner is slightly late”
-“I’m not fussed, I’m sure it’s just some accidental delay” Shizune says, with a friendly nod.
Atsuko doesn’t respond to that, and instead pulls out a rather stacked record that reads ‘Mitsumori Seika’, which Shizune can see, alongside a second, less stacked one that Shizune can't identify.
-“Mitsuki Shizune, yes?” the woman in a suit asks, raising one eyebrow at the high schooler.
“Yes, that’s me” Shizune responds, quite firmly.
Atsuko looks at her for a moment, saying nothing, and then puts the stacked folder on the table between her and Shizune, which was already ominous for the mage.

-“What’s the story, Shizune?” The girl with the glasses shifts on her seat, and her reluctance to touch the topic is visible, but her willingness to be cooperative with the people she wanted to get in contact with ultimately triumphs.
“My birth name is Seika, I legally changed it since I got… disowned by the Mitsushima. Might as well change my family name too, no? ”
-“You must have done something quite notable to earn that”
-“I didn’t do anything”
Atsuko raises her eyebrow, and beckons Shizune to continue talking.

Shizune’s frustrated face is extremely easy to read, but she had already prepared herself for such a question from the Soul Hunter Society.
-“It was my parents fault… See, my father was the family's head… I imagine I don’t need to explain how much power and responsibility the head of one of the Twelve Clans holds”
Shizune speaks to a knowing recipient, and while she tries to measure her words, there’s a tint of venom coming from her words during the explanation.
“In addition to that, the head family is the one that’s supposed to safeguard all the magic artifacts that the family passed down through generations. And I don’t know if you know this, Atsuko-san, but the Mitsushima are known as the relic keepers among the Twelve Clans. To give you an idea, during the war we… they were tasked with safeguarding the three imperial treasures, even.”

-"They ruined everything" Shizune says, closing her fist and looking down.
-"As in...?" Atsuko only gives Shizune the shortest of pauses, but needs to hear more after that. 
-"My parents lost it all..."
She looks right at Atsuko’s face, in way that said more to the scout than what words say.
-"...Because of gambling"
The former noble finds a sick humor in that explanation. Her life of renown and magic was ended by such a mundane vice, grounded and scattered. To her, that was an outstanding joke, just that it was at her expense.
-"Nothing amazing, just… gambling. They were draining from the family's fortune for years and I had no idea... It got to the point where they sold some of the relics just to fuel that habit" She shakes her head and gives herself pause, letting Atsuko know that was what truly 'ruined everything'. "By the time the rest of the family found out the damage was done so the other branches had to fix that mess"
-"And did they?" Atsuko asks, now that she sees how Shizune's disposition was stabilizing again.
-"Of course not. Aside from losing all their money and accumulating debt, when you add selling magical artifacts to the black market into the equation, it becomes a mess you just can't solve. The point is that this was far past the point of saving face..."
Shizune breathes out.
"So, they got expelled from the clan. And I ended up disowned because of that. I lost everything just because I was born" she looks down and mutters under her breath "Sacks of trash..."

Atsuko gives Shizune a second to herself, but has to speak up to continue.
-“Do you want me to tell you what’s on our records?” Atsuko asks, which Shizune responds to shaking her head.
“Very well. Regarding these artifacts…” Atsuko asks, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.
-“Oh I have no idea what happened to them. Most of them should still be missing... Honestly, I would gladly share that information but the best I have is that one found its way back to me”
-“How so?”
-"One of them had a Kishin-degree demon named Jagasaki that was sealed within five centuries ago... well, the seal was broken and he escaped. He appeared at my doorstep some time ago and... I'm sort of taking care of him now. Making sure he doesn't cause trouble or anything like that. He is a handful sometimes but as far as demons go... "
Shizune fails to smile.
-"Could do without the total disregard for human life but other than that he’s fine"

-"And where is this kishin right now?"
-"In my apartment…” Shizune looks at the window, and then half-smiles at Atsuko, who can detect Shizune herself has her doubts. “I told him to stay at my apartment until I’m back. He’s most definitely there! He listens when we make deals”
-“A deal in…?”
-“Chocolate, this time. He was really amazed by it yesterday and he sounded cooperative so I think I can trust him”
-“Do you trust him because he’s trustworthy or do you trust him because you have no better way to make him comply?”
Shizune mindfully avoids mentioning that Jagasaki can teleport, and how now she had no way of telling if he had done so in the past.
-“… Well he definitely has a sweet tooth, I know I can count on that”
The high-schooler nods stiffly, while twirling her thumbs

-“I see”
Atsuko writes something on Shizune’s record and fiddles with a phone application for a moment, before returning to the mage
-“You know you are responsible for any damage this ‘Jagasaki’ causes, yes? Even if nothing has happened yet, I need to make sure you understand”
-“Certainly”
Shizune catches that Atsuko clearly is not aware the demon already destroyed an art gallery, and she is perfectly fine with keeping that a secret.
“I swear he won’t cause trouble. I am as responsible as I can be with him”
Shizune sighs.
“And when all is said and done… it’s not his fault that he’s unsealed. The magic that bound him was disrespected so it broke and he doesn’t understand the world we live in now… Besides, even if he’s a demon, that doesn’t make him irredeemable, right? Everyone can be better if they try”
She tries to project some optimism.
“So really, it’s just a matter of waiting for him to understand that”
Despite the fact she’s directing her words at Atsuko’s general direction, Shizune is truly talking to herself.

The recruiter takes a note of the important details mentioned and continues with what is now clearly an interview that Shizune has to go through.
-“From what I gather you were already contacted by the Soul Hunter Society’s Tokyo Branch A, on account of your status” Atsuko says, squinting and skillfully altering her gesture with an almost imperceptible smirk so that the younger woman understands her disregard for said status, without outright mocking her.

-“When I was 15, that is correct… I was young and I didn’t understand how the world worked” Shizune winces, as she knows exactly what Atsuko refers to. She instantly recalls herself rudely dismissing the Soul Hunter Society scout even as he very kindly explained to her everything she needed to know and tried to be as accommodating as possible. To the girl she was at that time such an offer was below her status, and she took pleasure in dashing the hopes of the scout that thought was going to make a great contribution to his faction. That day was a memory she had buried for years but that resurfaced weeks ago and had been haunting her since. The constant replays in her head forcing her to think on how things might have gone differently if she had been a better person, or if she at least had kept her pride in check.
“But now I see that I was wrong, and I swear I’m serious. I don’t expect any sort of special treatment or anything, I just need this job and I can put my skills to good use. All I want is to build my life back.”
Shizune looks at the scout with the most humility she’s felt in her entire life, both hands on the table.

-“I suppose that’s all I needed clarified” Atsuko merely continues filing some additional details, seemingly satisfied, leaving the two in silence for some moments. For some reason, the scout had stopped looking impenetrable, and Shizune understands that she can rest easy on the topic of her personal history.
-“So, what’s my senpai like, Atsuko-san?” Shizune asks, trying to redirect the mood into something more palatable
-“Your partner is a perfect fit for you” the older woman responds, looking behind Shizune, and seeing Ito entering the place, beckoning him to approach her table.
-“Yo, recruiting lady … and the dusty Ghost Glasses Girl” the joking tone of Ito reciting that nickname is more than groan-inducing, it’s outright painful.
-“Please don’t tell me that stupid nickname is catching on” Shizune says between breaths, then looking at Ito with annoyance. He gives the annoyed look back at her before sitting and putting both legs on the table.
Shizune tries to make as much distance as possible from him, and an uncomfortable silence follows until Shizune takes a small jab at her classmate
-"If we’re meeting our partners together I can at least warn your senpai about how much of a pain you are" Ito guffaws at Shizune's attempt to provoke him and points at himself with his thumb.
-“Heh, my partner is gonna stand back while I kick all the ass. Number One only needs Number One"

-“You are both each other’s partner”
Ito and Shizune take a moment to let that sink in, before they both slam the table groaning ‘EEHHH?!?’ loudly.
Shizune in particular looks wrecked by the announcement, putting her glasses back in place as she tries to negotiate an explanation.
-“S-surely there’s a mistake?!”
And for the first time it looks like she and Ito are in agreement.
-“Hell yeah there is, this bitch is gonna cramp my style”
-“From Mitsuki-san’s records and verifiable experience, I can tell she wouldn’t need any basic training, and you two already know each other. It’s only natural to make you team up. Ito-san was an Innocent until a couple of days ago, so you can introduce him to everything he needs to know” Atsuko calmly explains, then looks directly at Shizune.
“That’s my condition to hire you… if it’s too much for you, we can just cancel your contract, Mitsuki-san”
The mage’s body tenses immobile under what’s clearly a threat.

-“Oi, does that mean I gotta listen to Mitsuki?” Ito loudly demands to know, but Atsuko seems unaffected by his bluster.
-“You’re still trainees, so neither of you is above the other. What matters to the SHS is your results as a team”
-“So if I kick all the ass by myself then Mitsuki gotta stay quiet in the corner and say how awesome I am?”
-“That would potentially be a valid way to carry out some missions, yes” Ito likes what he’s hearing from Atsuko, so he concludes it’s better to just say what’s on his mind.
-“So the other day I stuck my sword up that monster’s ass, how many points does that give?”
-“We do not have a points system” Atsuko explains with absolute naturality.
-“Lame, I’m making my own. Lets see, was worth like... 1000 points” Ito smiles satisfied at having his queries answered and already thinking on how to have fun with this internship, putting his legs on the table once more.

Shizune’s legs by contrast lose all strength and make her fall onto her seat, defeated by this undesirable outcome and now trying to find some footing, feeling almost dumb for not expecting this twist of fate. Now she and Ito listen to Atsuko’s explanations in silence.
-“You’re designated as intern team Ka-3 GKR, and your performance will be graded by your results, taking into consideration your speed, resource management, efficiency, battle power, discretion with Innocents, interaction with other Awakened factions, willingness to fulfill requests and your judgement for application of force. It doesn’t need to be said that the less destruction you cause, the better you’ll be graded” she clarifies the last point lowering her sunglasses and looking at both recruits.
“If you don’t perform over a certain minimum you’ll be considered unfit and you’ll be released from this internship. To give you an example, let’s say you destroy an entire parking lot in pursuit of an escaped Yokai you could have just talked to- that is reason enough to be considered unfit, and you’ll have to pay for all the damages”

Shizune listens but also considers that she could perhaps still escape being paired with Ito, recovering a little after a deep breath.
-“Is it really okay that I have this responsibility? I don’t mean that I don't want to do it but does this mean I don’t need an introduction myself? About rules and… any administrative concerns? If I have prior training myself for this role I can help my assigned companion better, I believe ” The bespectacled mage negotiates with the tone of a convict hoping for a shorter sentence.
-“Just download the app from the repository we’ve sent to your email. Then study that. All the answers are there.”
Shizune is left cold at this simple solution to her setup but she still tries to claw out of this predicament by using logic.

-“...the Soul Hunter Society has a phone app? Isn’t that unsafe? Because of Innocents?”
-“It detects your Inheritor Code when you start the app, it’ll just show a photo editor for anyone else” Atsuko demonstrates with her phone, showing that the app has several functions to communicate with the Soul Hunter Society, contract terms, a list of contacts and the photo editor she previously mentioned, as well as some smaller utilities, like a crude messenger function. It mostly looks like a social media app and it grants an acceptable level of plausible deniability with the way it’s set up.
-“Damn this magic shit is up to date huh? ” Ito says, impressed, checking his email with the new phone that he bought yesterday and already has some malware installed.
-“It’s an interesting development. Western Awakened have been using this kind of system for almost a decade, and we changed systems less than a year ago here. Using technology makes everyone’s jobs easier.”

Shizune smiles uncomfortably and looks to the side before unpocketing her phone, and flips it open. Despite being in perfect condition, it’s evidently a very outdated model even by japanese flip phone standards, and it clearly dates from before the term ‘smartphone’ entered the common vocabulary.
-“This is what I have so... maybe the SHS can provide a new…” Shizune can’t finish asking because she sees Atsuko’s completely impenetrable gaze, and the mage pockets her anachronistic piece of tech and simply accepts she’ll need to adjust. “Maybe I can stop by the SHS office and ask for the documents on paper?”

-“I suppose you could. I’ll send a message informing them you’ll be going... Here’s the location”
Atsuko one-handedly gives Shizune a small business card written with spirit ink, revealing a secondary message by angling it right towards sunlight.
“Normally I’d give you this once your internship is finished but it’s more practical to give it now” Shizune feels oddly optimistic at this gesture.
-“You think we’ll finish it soon, then?”
-“No”
Hibana Atsuko stands up and leaves, leaving Shizune trying to piece together what she meant by that, and Ito looking back at Atsuko leaving, confirming the suit pants really fit her figure.

-“Well… I guess this is it”
Shizune exhales, then Ito stands up.
“This is fine” she utters for a moment before standing up. Now that she has prepared herself mentally, she begins following Ito outside, trying to keep herself as professional as possible.
-“Are you going to download the app?”
-“Eh, I’ll get around it later” the delinquent exits the café and seems ready to leave for somewhere else. Shizune insists, and decides to just be straightforward with him.
-“Wait, wait. Okay. Look, I don’t like this situation either but we have to work together”
-“I’ll be fine, you just sit back and let the real man handle everything” Ito says, confidently.

Shizune squints and shakes her head.
-“Yeah, I don’t think so. We’re going to be graded as a team, which means my performance will depend on yours and vice-versa. We really have to get it together if we want to make it. We’ll have to fight side by side from now on you know?” She makes sure to sound as convincing as possible, trying to get Ito’s attention as much as she can, gesturing with her hands for emphasis even.
-“Yeah yeah yeah, it can’t be that hard” Ito’s nonchalant attitude is partially to annoy Shizune, but it’s mainly genuine confidence in his newly-discovered power and both things irk her.
-“Well, considering you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed and that I have a lot more experience surviving as an Awakened, I think yes, it can be that hard. So you should at least hear what I have to say”
-“Oi, don’t get ahead of yourself, Mitsuki. I’ll want your advice when I want it. And if I don’t you zip it. You heard the lady, I don’t have to listen to you”
-“Just like you didn’t listen to me the other day and almost got your friends killed?”

Snapping like a whip and with the impetus of a bullet train, Ito immediately turns to punch Shizune without warning or even thought, and his fist is stopped by the girl’s open hand, but this time their awakened power clashes and sends a shockwave around them that even Innocents could feel, were any of them close enough.
Shizune’s hand starts to tremble as she is forced to enhance her strength to its limit in an instant, but every decisecond after that has Ito’s force continuing to grow. The moment Shizune notices her hand moved and her leg slides back to support her standing, she exerts herself one last time and moves out of the way of the punch, shifting aside and making the unstoppable strike continue its trajectory due to pure inertia. Ito ends up hitting the sidewalk, breaking the concrete, but not even scratching his skin.
-“Shut the fuck up, Mitsuki”
He gives her one silent look of vitriol before starting to conclusively walk away.

Shizune spends one moment of anger directed at herself and her own lack of restraint that made her take two steps back with someone she didn’t even know how to take a step forward with. She starts following Ito, catching up as soon as she thinks of something to say and trying to sound as diplomatic as possible despite her own frustration.
-“Look, what else can I say? This is really important to me… and for you too, you know?”
-“Talking a lot for someone that just got told to shut up” Ito doesn’t even look at her, which makes Shizune speed up and make herself as visible and convincing as she can, but the slight desperation of the moment is starting to gain on her.
-“I’m serious! This could make you rich really quick! It’s worth putting effort in! Or... if you fight a lot you’ll get super strong… in fact, you’re awakened now, too! See? How about that, I beat you that other time because I was Awakened and you weren’t. So now it’s an even playing field! How about we forget all that stuff and start over? It doesn’t matter who’s stronger or whatnot”

-“Heh… you don’t get it” Ito smirks and suddenly stops with a turn, facing Shizune and forcing her to abruptly halt, and immediately take a step back. Then he puts one foot forward.
-“This isn’t about strength, it’s about respect. So if you wanna show me respect after everything, get on the ground and beg Ito-sama for forgiveness. But since you wanted to be a bitch you gotta say pretty please with barks and all”
-“Eat dirt”
-“See? I ain’t stopping until you know I’m so high above you that sounds reasonable. That’s what being Number One means”
-“You’re a real piece of shit, you know?”
-“A piece of shit that just landed you a job, don’t you fucking forget that” he says, grinning and flipping the bird at Shizune, who responds with the same hand gesture.
-“Fuck you”

Ito turns around and leaves laughing soundly. He knows that she knows he just won with that and there’s nothing else she can say.
Shizune is left standing there, both hands contorted into rigid fists at her side as she fights with herself to not impotently lash out. That same frustration reaches a boiling point minutes after Ito has completely left the area, but that insurmountable ire turns into resolve. 

-“I’ll make this work”
The opportunity she wanted has been given in the worst possible way, but it was given in the end.
“No matter what… I’ll make this work”

== End ==