It is like a small sword, slipping into Machiko's midsection. The question has always been there, throughout her whole life. Never really considered in a serious way, but never entirely dismissed or forgotten. It is impossible not to see the similarity between "Machiko" and the name, "machi-yakko," for the ancient warriors, ancestor of the Honjowara- gumi , who defended the common peoples against unruly bands of ronin samurai. It is just as impossible not to see the implied connection between the name and Honjowara -sama's New Way, the condemnation of gangster methods and hatred against metahumans, the campaign to return the clans to the honorable path of their ancestors.