(Disclaimer: I do not own PeaceMaker Kurogane or any of the characters, I own the plot and any OCs used within it.)
Lost and Found – PeaceMaker Kurogane
Chapter One – Holding on for Hope
Lightening flashed and thunder rolled. It was the worst storm they'd had in years.
The farmers in the area were raging that morning about the weather ruining their yield this year. First a drought that left few crops that were weak and open to disease, and now this, so much rain it would kill them, wash them away, and leave the people with nothing.
Hurrying through the rain that night was a covered carriage of European design, it contained just one passenger, a young woman, who was also European. Her father was trying to send her away from the house he'd acquired when he'd done some trading in this land.
The woman believed he must have come across the house by ill means, and that was why it had been attacked by rouge samurai from the Choshu clan, and burnt to the ground.
Her father did the only kind thing for her, and pushed her into the carriage and sent her away.
Now she had no idea where she was, only that they had left the city of Kyoto behind them, and were travelling in the country somewhere.
The road was uneven and the four wheels couldn't take the strain much longer, the wooden axels cracked and split, the back was tossed to the ground, the horses knocked clear and left to run on into the storm with out anyone to guide them, the driver was thrown into the air, and when he crashed down to the earth again, it snapped his spine and killed him instantly.
All was silent once more; save for the constant patter of rain on the roof of the broken carriage.
~O.O~
Soji Okita woke early after the rain, and smiled at the clear blue of the sky. It was like everything had been washed clean and fresh. A new start.
He walked out to the yard where the pigs were kept, and petted them whilst looking for some food for them. He knew it was Tetsu's job, but that boy worked so hard to keep everyone happy, and deserved some time to himself.
Unable to locate the bag of feed, Soji headed to the storerooms to see if there was anything in there.
He encountered Kondo-san just leaving the room, looking rather grave.
"Kondo-san! Good morning!"
"I'm afraid there's nothing good about this morning. The Choshu have been burning again. Gather the first, second and tenth units and meet me at the training hall."
Soji bowed and ran to wake the other Shinsengumi. They weren't too happy about it, but when they heard the name Choshu, they were ready in a second and racing to the hall.
They gathered there quietly, waiting anxiously to hear the news.
When Kondo-san walked in with Hijikata-san in tow, they bristled uncomfortably. He was always giving them an air of distaste, like he was never happy with them.
Kondo-san stood before them all, and raised a hand in silence before beginning.
"Men, I have asked you to be gathered here to tell you of events that occurred last night. A European merchant was murdered last night, his mansion burned down, and his young daughter is still missing. We have good reason to believe this was an act of revenge by some Choshu clan's men."
He paused to allow the chatter and curses against that hated clan's acts, but raised his hand to stop them after a few moments.
"Your task is simple. We must find the culprits and bring them to justice, the Europeans know nothing of this yet, as news is slow to travel across the sea, but when they do find out about this, they may take action against the whole nation in retaliation. Time is of the essence here men!"
Someone raised a hand, to ask a question. Tetsunosuke stepped out of the crowd and bit his lip, as if he knew Hijikata's shout was coming.
"What are you doing here boy? Get back to your chores; you're not part of this."
"But-"
"Get out."
"Now, now, Hijikata. Let the boy ask his question, he'll be one of us someday, it's good experience for him."
Hijikata let out a little disgruntled noise but fell quiet.
"You said this merchant's daughter was missing. Shouldn't we find her so she can tell us who killed her dad?"
"A good point Tetsu! Yes, men listen up. Should you come across the girl, I want you to bring her back here straight away. Not just for information, but for her own protection. If the Choshu discover she's still alive, they'll be sure to come after her."
A few more points were made, some clarifications cleared up, and the three units set off to get ready for the day. They would head into Kyoto dressed as ronin so as not to attract attention to the Shinsengumi, and search for the Choshu, the girl and any other information they could find.
Tetsu went with them, he had some shopping to do anyway, so it was a fine opportunity for him to accompany the samurai into the city.
~O.O~
Along the dusty road, riddled with pot-holes filled with the remnants of last nights rain, they came across large splinters of wood. Upon further investigation they discovered an overturned carriage and the body of a man with a broken spine.
"He was the driver." Stated Saitou Hajime calmly.
They looked inside the carriage and found nothing. There was a little blood on the broken glass of the window, like someone had crawled out of it in a hurry, but other than that there was no trace of life.
Saitou looked around and held out his hand, like he was searching for something.
"Over here."
The men stayed back from him, his strange powers scaring them.
Instead they looked around at the carnage and generally at their own feet.
A twig snapped in the trees above them.
They all froze, but when nothing happened they relaxed a little though some kept their hands on their weapons. Saitou looked up into the trees after circling one a few times.
"Up there." He whispered to Soji.
After a minute hand signal, five of the men, including Soji took to the trees to search for whoever was hiding there. A startled scream came down and someone fell from above towards the men below.
It was a woman.
Sanosuke held out his arms and caught her, but she wriggled free of his grasp and started to run away from them. They chased after her. She was crying, running blind and as such she tripped and fell to the ground.
She lay there, waiting for them, too exhausted to do anything but wait.
They formed a loose circle around her and Soji appeared then, sword drawn, eyes dark.
The woman raised her head and peered through her messy, waist length, brunette hair up at him. Her eyes, reddened with tears, lingered on the long slim blade that she was sure had tasted human blood before, but when she looked into Soji's face, she paused and frowned. She looked round at the other men gathered there and slowly sat up, her hair still covering most of her face.
"Y-you're not the men… from last night… are you?"
Her voice was soft, low and had a strange lilting accent to it, like she was not used to speaking.
Soji sheathed his sword and stepped to stand right in front of her, she flinched. He knelt before her and raised one hand to brush her hair away from her face, she flinched again, but allowed the contact.
Soji's face softened, and he smiled.
"Don't worry, you're safe now. We're the Shinsengumi, and we're going to find who killed your father, and exact justice."
"My… my father's dead…?"
"You didn't know? I-I'm sorry. I thought you knew…"
"Those bastards…!"
The woman's cursing soon turned to sobbing and Soji put one hand on her shoulder, and then pulled her into a hug.
"Send word to the other units. We've found the girl, and tell Kondo-san to make arrangements for her arrival."
"Yes sir!" Called a few of the men, dashing off to complete their orders.
Soji picked up the slight woman, surprised at her lightness, and began to walk back to the base with a few men in tow, for protection.
Tetsu went with the rest of the unit into the city to complete hi shopping, and resolved to get it done as quickly as possible so he could get back to see the woman.
~O.O~
Night fell quickly, a sign of the closing of days, and the closing in of winter.
Tetsu was helping Ayumu in the kitchen, doing the dishes after dinner. He hadn't been able to see the strange woman since they'd discovered her that morning and he was feeling left out.
Hijikata's voice filtered through to him, calling for him, he dropped his wash rag, apologised to Ayu and dashed out to his master.
"Where have you been brat, I've been calling you for ten minutes now?"
"I'm sorry, I was helping Ayu in the kitchen like you said and-"
"Enough of that. I have a new job for you. I need you to go into the city and buy some new clothes."
"Clothes? For who?"
"For our guest you idiot, honestly why do I waste my time on you? Here's the money, get something simple, and don't buy anything else brat."
Hijikata pressed a small pouch into Tetsu's palm and turned to go.
"Oh, you might want to take one of the men with you, the Choshu are getting more daring by the day."
Tetsu smiled, the old goat cared about him after all.
The boy dashed off to find his favourite person and ran into him near the guest rooms.
Soji was just leaving a room quietly, the low voices of Kondo-san and Yamanami-san filtering out.
Soji saw him and smiled.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry Tetsu?" the young man grinned.
"I, um, wanted to know if you would go with me into the city. Hijikata-san said I should take someone with me, and I thought…"
"I'd love to go with you Tetsu, I'll just get my sword and we'll be off okay."
Tetsu waited eagerly at the front entrance for the young captain, and when he arrived, they set off at a quick pace, so as to get into the city before all the shops closed.
They found that only one woman's clothes shop was still open, but it was a rather expensive shop, and Tetsu didn't know what to buy.
Soji ended up choosing a simple pale pink kimono with a red obi and even picked out some geta to match.
Tetsu handed over Hijikata's money and took the wrapped package from the happy man behind the counter, happy to make a nice sale at the end of the night.
They walked home in relative silence, neither wanting to spoil the quiet lit by golden fireflies and the nearly full moon.
They reached the base and Tetsu thanked Soji for going with him and then rushed off to find Hijikata and give him the clothes.
Unable to locate him, the boy went to the room he'd heard Kondo-san in before, and was rewarded by finding the man he needed just leaving the room.
"Hijikata-san! I got the clothes you wanted!"
"Well? Don't just stand there. Go give them to the woman."
Hijikata left, brushing past the child, a frown still stuck to his face.
Tetsu knocked on the panel carefully and waited for it to be opened for him. The only other woman in the Shinsengumi was Ayu, and he'd never been in her room before, so he wasn't sure what to expect.
It was Ayu who opened the door and let him in. It was dimly lit by just a few candles and a damp smell lingered with a hint of soap.
Someone sneezed quietly, a high pitched cute noise, like a pixie.
And there she was, the woman who'd been crying about her father's death earlier, and who was eerily silent now.
She looked hollow, empty, and just… sad. It was like the life had been sucked out of her and all that was left behind was this shell.
Tetsu placed the package in front of her and turned to go but stopped and looked back at her.
He remembered his own father being killed by the Choshu, and sat next to her and reached for her hand.
She didn't react to his touch; she was like a statue, frozen in grief.
"I lost my dad to the Choshu… I'll avenge your dad for you too…"
His words were whispered, and once said, he left, going back to his room to sleep, dark thoughts weighing on his mind.
Ayumu watched as the woman seemed to come back to life.
"Thank you." She whispered to the long gone child.
(AN: First Chapter! Woop! I've been meaning to write a PMK fic for a long time, and here is my idea finally, woo! R&R please)