This is a fic that takes place in ancient Japan around the 1600s. For once I want to do a mystery story like a detective story in ancient Japan so here it is! I'm no expert on this period, but I tried to keep it fit for the settings as well as keep the characters as in-character as possible.
DISCLAIMER: I'd get DVD player software for my laptop right now so I can make music videos without the darn PC if I owned PoT
WARNING: OOC, AU (Historical Fiction)
PAIRINGS: Haven't thought about it. There might be some RyoSaku, but don't get your hopes up too high seeing as that I end up doing no pairings
Chapter 1In the crowds of a busy street was a brown mare slowly making its way through an endless crowd bearing a rider. The rider saw from atop his mound people carrying goods to and from the market place; water bearers carrying buckets of water on their backs; shoppers and tradesmen bent low under the burdens they carried. This wasn't making the man's progress except merely raising him up from the crowd.
This man, in particular, was no ordinary man. He was newly appointed senior commander Echizen Ryoma. He was a yoriki, somewhat of a detective. He bore a katana and a short sword, which marked his samurai status. Unlike most samurai, though, his greenish hair was cut short and he never wore hair oil hating the stench it brought. Yes, this samurai was quite unique if somewhat strange.
Ryoma used to give private lessons on sword fighting for a small fee. However, due to the financial problems going on with his family he was forced to work as a yoriki. He didn't miss teaching others how to fight with a sword, in fact he thoroughly despised it, but he missed sparring at the small dojo that he frequented often. He was highly skilled for someone his age and everyone he faced often left as the losers. He had trained with Chinese martial artists learning many forms of martial arts and weaponry. Martial arts were only another thing that the Japanese adapted from China.
The yoriki turned right on the corner of the street ignoring the heads turned to stare at his back or his swords. Ryoma kept passing shops of all sorts including a sword's shop and a painting shop containing poor quality paintings. All of which did not interest the man at all. He turned another corner.
And came upon the three blocks that leveled a whole row of houses from yesterday's fire. The smell of burnt wood filled the air and former residents were scraping through what was left of houses for scraps. Ryoma scrunched up his nose from either the stench or from pure disgust. Two years before he was born the Great Fire erupted killing hundreds of people and even now the fires kept erupting. Some were innocent mistakes like putting a candle too near a paper door, but arson wasn't uncommon either, though Ryoma found burning down a whole row of houses for revenge quite idiotic and utterly stupid. Every night the people laid on their futons in fright waiting for the firewatchers from their rickety towers to ring the bells if a fire broke out.
Ryoma decided that maybe he should handle this. First he'd have to question the former residents to see if they caught a glimpse at the arsonist. He approached an elderly man who was digging through a burned lacquer box.
"Sumimasen, did you see the fire start?" asked Ryoma trying to be as polite as possible even though he hated formalities.
He never heard an answer because of a scream that covered it up. Ryoma turned in the direction the scream was coming from. Running in his direction was a simple peasant running for his life with ten men with clubs running after him. The poor man in rags slipped in the mud and the men surrounded him beating him with the sticks they had. The ragged man flailed up his hands to shield himself from the blows.
Ryoma sighed. Idiots who did that frequently never learned no matter how many times they land flat on their bums. The yoriki walked over and using a front sweep swept one of the attackers off the ground and right on his behind. The rest stopped their assault on the man and began to advance on Ryoma.
"You know people like you never learn no matter how many spankings they get from their superiors," said Ryoma with a bored look on his face. "People of higher class who pick on the lower ones look even more degrading than people of the lowest class."
"Who's talking?" All heads turned to see a brute-looking man strutting towards them. Ryoma instantly recognized what the man was from the weapon near his side. The weapon was a jitte, the standard weapon for the law enforcement officers or doshin.
"Who are you?" asked the doshin in a gruff tone.
"Yoriki Echizen Ryoma desu," replied the yoriki. "Now explain why your men are beating the crap out of a citizen while they're on duty." He had a stern face with a tinge of annoyance by how his eyebrows were knitted. The doshin and their civilian assistants were so useless sometimes that he didn't know what to do with them.
The doshin gasped and his mouth hung open for a second before he bowed hastily.
"Yoriki Echizen-san, didn't recognized you," muttered the doshin. He jerked his head at his men and they got down on their knees and bowed. "I sincerely apologize." Yoriki Ryoma could easily tell that the doshin didn't truly meant what he said. Those narrow eyes were glaring at his striped haori and newly washed black hakama as well as his swords. It wasn't surprising at all to Ryoma. The yoriki had quite a reputation in vanity. He himself didn't pay much attention to fashion, but his superior consecutively stressed on the proper dress and appearance, all of which Ryoma never paid attention to no matter how many times it was told to him such as shave his crown or grow his greenish hair out.
"Forget the formality crap," said Ryoma. "I want to know why your men were beating an innocent citizen."
The doshin's face now had a bewildered. Yoriki rarely ventured out on the streets preferring to stay away from everyday police work. Normally yoriki came only in serious situations and dressed in full armor. Logics told Ryoma that he was the first yoriki yet to investigate a common fire.
"He did it!" said the doshin angrily pointing at the man quivering in the dirt. "Set off the fire. Killed 20 people."
"And how do you know it's him?" asked Ryoma quirking an eyebrow.
"The townspeople saw a man running away from here just after the fire started. We found this insolent insect. And he confessed."
Ryoma walked past the assistants and knelt next to the quivering man.
"Tachinasai," said Ryoma as gentle as he could though in his mind that didn't sound too gentle. The man slowly raised his wrinkled face…and suddenly a bright toothless smile broke out among the wrinkles.
"Yes master," said the man. Ryoma was slightly surprised. For a man who was older than he was he sure acted more like a nine-year-old. Obviously this man had something wrong with his mind.
"Anata no namae wa nan desu ka?" asked Ryoma.
"Yes master." Ryoma quirked an eyebrow and repeated his question. Once again he got the same answer. He decided to ask something else.
"Where do you live?"
"Yes master."
"Did you start the fire?"
"Yes master, yes master," said the man. Ryoma glared first at the man then at the doshin who captured the so-called 'arsonist'. Obviously the men were slacking off on duty…again. Upon seeing Ryoma's glare the elderly man started quivering.
"No master, please don't hurt me master!" pleaded the man.
"This man is the arsonist?" asked Ryoma to the doshin quirking an eyebrow. "He can't even understand what I'm saying." The doshin's face turned red from embarrassment trying his best to hide it.
"I asked him and he said yes. How was I suppose to know he was an idiot?" said the doshin his jitte quivering in his clenched fist. A moment later shouts were heard from the small crowd that had gathered.
"He's a beggar!"
"He didn't start the fire!"
"Yakamashi!" shouted the doshin who was starting to lose his temper, which instantly silenced any protests coming from the crowd. "Arson is a serious crime. Someone must pay!" Ryoma had heard from rumors that the doshin only wanted to catch a scapegoat instead of investigating to find the real criminal. From what he saw in front of his face it was true. Ryoma's quick eye caught the doshin's hand straying toward the jitte clenched in a sweating fist. Ryoma knew that the man was only holding back because of his status and as seeing from what he did to the assistants he could humiliate him in front of a crowd and his assistants. And on the first day of duty, Yoriki Echizen Ryoma had made an enemy.
In order to keep the peace he resolved the matter quickly being as content and calm as possible.
"Then let's find the real criminal. We will question the townspeople to get a detailed description on the real arsonist," said Ryoma. "Aa, demo, let the man go first." The doshin hesitated for a moment before muttering a 'Hai' and nodded to his men who turned the beggar loose.
As he went around asking men and women for a description of the arsonist Ryoma couldn't help but think about what he did moments ago. He had resolved a matter and saved an innocent man's life. This job was better than he had presumed.
-X-
It was early afternoon by the time Ryoma came back to the administrative district. Here the city's high officials had their office-mansions where they lived and worked. Messengers bearing rolled documents raced up and down the corridors. Other yoriki talked in small groups about the latest political gossip. Servants carrying trays piled high with food hustled only as fast as they could without tipping the lacquer lunchboxes off the trays in their arms. Upon smelling the delicious delicacies coming from the lunchboxes Ryoma had a tinge of regret that he ate the greasy soba at a small restaurant, but the fire investigation had taken more than he thought it would and he was hungry. Turning a corner his destination was the police headquarters.
"Yoriki Echizen-san!" shouted a messenger who slowed his running and hastily bowed taking in deep breaths. "Please, sir, Magistrate Mizuki wants to see you at once. In the Court of Justice." He raised his at Ryoma.
"Very well, you're dismissed," said Ryoma and upon hearing those words the messenger ran through the narrow corridor to deliver the scroll in his hand. Ryoma sighed and changed his destination to the Court of Justice wondering why his superior wanted him there, but a summon from the magistrate couldn't be ignored no matter how much he wanted to.
Magistrate Mizuki's mansion was one of the largest in the district. At the roofed gates of the large mansion Ryoma identified himself to a pair of guards dressed in leather armor and helmets. He left his horse with them and walked onto the mansion grounds maneuvering through a small crowd. Some were here to give their disputes to the magistrate, others- accompanied by doshin and their hands bound by rope- were prisoners probably awaiting trial.
Ryoma hesitated at the main entrance of the long low building in front of him. The building on the outside didn't look at all welcoming casting deep shadows everywhere. This was the first time Ryoma had been to the Court of Justice and the descriptions he heard all fit. The garden outside of the building where harsh sentences were declared inside reminded him of a graveyard with the ugly trees and unlit lanterns.
Tearing his eyes away from the horrid sight he climbed the wooden steps and with permission from the guards stationed there he pushed open the massive doors and entered.
"Farmer Nomura." Magistrate Mizuki's voice echoed across the vast room as Ryoma hesitated at the entryway. "I have considered all the evidence brought before me as of the crime which you are charged."
Ryoma walked to the back away from the dimly lit area. Toward the front sat Magistrate Mizuki who was wearing, to Ryoma's dismay, purple robes. A man only two years older than he was Magistrate Mizuki had on that same evil smirk that Ryoma hated ever since he first saw it. Two lit candles stood on either side of the desk in front of him giving him somewhat of a tyrannous aura. The rest of the room was dark save for small specks of light coming from the rice paper doors. Directly before the desk was the shirasu where the criminal was bound between two doshin standing on either side of him. In the back was a small audience- the accused man's family members, witnesses, and the headman of his neighborhood- formed a row in the back.
"The evidence points out that you are guilty of the murder of twenty people," Mizuki continued.
"No!" screamed the accused man. In the back several of the spectators cried out, but most remained silent.
"I sentence you to death," said Mizuki his voice raised. "Your family is also banished from the province." He nodded to the doshin who dragged the screaming prisoner away. Some attendants came and took the prisoner's family away. One woman had to be dragged out but otherwise the rest left without a struggle.
"Echizen Ryoma," said Mizuki. Ryoma walked forward and knelt behind the shirasu trying his best to hide his fear. Mizuki had but a moment ago had sent a man to his death and banished his family from the province. Mizuki had been working as one of Edo's two magistrates for ten years. He'd handled so many trials that sometimes he was a bit unjust in punishing the criminal. Ryoma bowed to Mizuki.
"Hai?"
Mizuki's fingers toyed with his seal, a symbol that showed his rank and office. The kanji of his last name and rank were engraved on it.
"Arson is a serious crime," said Mizuki. "Though not an uncommon one."
"Hai," said Ryoma though he didn't know why his superior needed him. If his superior going to ramble about his looks then he wouldn't pay attention. Mizuki was too much of a stylist.
"You should leave those low-class matters to the low-class. And what you did made you seem lower than you are as well as others."
Then Ryoma understood what the magistrate was saying. Spies and informers of the shogun in Edo; they were a part of an intelligent network that helped the Tokugawa shogun maintain his unmatched power over Japan. Obviously one of them must have reported this to Mizuki. Ryoma kept a straight face, but inwardly sighed. Haven't people the term known as privacy? Plus, the magistrate said that he shamed the government all the way up to the shogun for doing the doshin's work. To him, that was insulting.
"Excuse me, Mizuki-san," said Ryoma adding a great amount of emphasis on the suffix 'excuse me' and 'san'. "Those baka doshin were going to arrest a man that couldn't understand a word-"
Mizuki smirked and calmly held up a finger silencing the cocky yoriki. If Mizuki wasn't his boss Ryoma would have leapt up and knocked that evil smirk off the purple-robed man's face. Instead of talking about the arson Mizuki changed the subject.
"I had the pleasure of having tea with Sakaki-san yesterday," said Mizuki who once again went back to toying with his seal again. The word 'Sakaki-san' instantly stopped any further protests coming from the yoriki. Sakaki was Ryoma's patron, the one who got him the job as yoriki.
The Sakaki family had quite a relationship with the Echizen family. It was an old family thing that happened during the Heian Period. Ryoma's ancestor, a soldier in the Genji army saved a fellow soldier from an incoming Heike general. The Sakaki family's fortune increased while the Echizen family's wealth, on the other hand, decreased, but it bound the two families inextricably.
Two months ago Ryoma's father, Echizen Nanjirou, went to see Sakaki asking him if he could find his son a job seeing as the family was suffering severe financial problems and despite the fact that Nanjirou was still young enough to work he was abnormally lazy hanging out with geisha and getting drunk constantly. Sakaki said that he couldn't guarantee anything but he'll see what he could do.
"I trust we understand each other," said Mizuki still turning the seal over with his fingers bring Ryoma back to the scene in front of him.
"Hai," replied Ryoma heavily. Even though he was an independent man he still had to follow the way of the bushido even if he had to take orders from a man that he find rather annoying. He hoped that the magistrate was finished, but unfortunately, he wasn't.
"A small matter has come to my attention," said Mizuki. "You will do exactly what I say." The straightforwardness in Mizuki's voice piped up Ryoma's curiosity.
"A servant found a man dead in a room. Next to him was a woman alive, but her kimono was messed up and had blood on it. The servant told the doshin that the woman's name was Sakuno and she was married to that man," said Mizuki. "From the looks of the circumstances the woman had an affair." At this his eyebrows frowned in disgust.
At this Ryoma's curiosity grew. Most marriages were arranged and divorcing your spouse meant death no matter what the circumstances. If the husband had an affair than it was okay and life went on, but if the wife had an affair than the husband has every right to kill her. Why did Mizuki want him to handle a petty murder after a wife's affair?
As if the magistrate read his mind he spoke. "The man is the first son of the daimyo Atobe according to the Lady Atobe and the woman Sakuno is indeed the son's wife. The woman constantly denied that she had an affair and that the man wasn't her husband, but she was sent to Edo Jail."
Now Ryoma understood why Mizuki wanted him to handle this. The victim was, if he heard correctly, was the son of a powerful daimyo, lord of the Satsuma and Osumi Provinces, and one of the wealthiest most powerful daimyo.
"I can see that you understand," said Mizuki. "You will act quickly. You will have the man's body returned to his family and inform your staff to censor the media about his death or otherwise. The woman Sakuno, on the other hand, will be sentenced to death. Have her execution scheduled for next month. That will be all, Yoriki Echizen-kun."
Conflicted emotions filled Ryoma. That was it? Have the man's body returned and censored the media and the woman executed? To Ryoma, who wanted a real adventure for once, this case was boring. Then again, he had made a pledge to play by the rules.
"Hai."
-X-
Ryoma gained admittance to the police guards at the police headquarters and turned his horse over to a stableboy. Crossing a yard he entered the loud building. In the hallway, chaos ensured. Four clerks at four desks dispatched messengers and dealt with the man visitors lined up. Doshin ran in and out checking in and checking out or to give their reports. Servants scuffled around carrying trays with cups and other delicacies.
Ryoma turned a corner and found another Yoriki. This Yoriki seemed to like style judging from the blue and light blue haori and white hakama.
"Wakato," said Ryoma nodding his head. Wakato Hiroshi was two years older than him and had quite an ego.
"Hello, newcomer," said Wakato with a weird smirk. "I trust that your work is going as well as could be expected from a man not born with the responsibility."
Ryoma resisted the urge to punch his lights out as he walked away. His level of sword fighting was much higher than his. Ryoma wasn't like his other 49 colleagues. Unlike him, the others inherited their positions from their fathers. To them, with Ryoma getting the position so easily was a disgrace. It made Ryoma shiver, but he easily hid it. Nodding to the clerks he entered his own office. What greeted him was another source of unhappiness.
Momoshiro Takeshi, his secretary, was sleeping on the floor snoring quite loudly. The report of the case was laid on the desk next to a charcoal brazier. Next to him was an empty lacquer lunchbox obviously Ryoma's. Momoshiro was only a year older than him yet he was lazier. He had black hair that was definitely defying gravity and was wearing a yukata. When he saw Ryoma he immediately sat up.
"Echizen!" he said quickly shoving the lunchbox under the desk. "Hi!" Ryoma didn't like the man much. He was acting too cheerful even though there wasn't much to be cheerful about. Momo's father wanted him to get a job so Mizuki had assigned him to Ryoma. He was pretty much lousy. Still, Ryoma couldn't help but enjoy hanging around with him since he knew how to make jokes and was also as left out as he was.
"All right, Momo," said Ryoma looking at the report. "Take this report." He sat near the desk while Momo got the writing supplies. After he had grounded the ink and settled at his own smaller desk Ryoma began.
"The sixteenth day of the twelve month, Genroku year one. Regarding the matters of the murder of-"
Ryoma paused while Momo gasped in dismay at what he wrote. He crumpled the paper and sheepishly went back to the cabinet again for more paper. Ryoma sighed. Despite his fairly good skills with a sword, Momo's calligraphy was as good as a child's. Ryoma would have preferred to write his own reports, but he had to follow the rules even if he did have to use his somewhat useless secretary. Besides, the violet-eyed secretary insisted. After Momo got another sheet of paper the two men tediously worked together to complete the report. Finally, on the fourth draft, the report had no mistakes. Sighing with relief Ryoma affixed his seal to it.
"Take this to the chief clerk and have him send word to the departments involved," he told Momo.
"Hai!" Momo took the report, rolled it up, and tied a silk ribbon around it. Getting up, he slid open the door. Outside Ryoma could hear laughter in the corridor. He could hear Wakato and another Yoriki talking in loud voices. He picked up snips of their conversation about going to Yoshiwara tonight and hanging out with the geisha. He had, unfortunately, picked up too much and ended up hearing more than what he had wanted to hear.
All at once a picture of the future snapped in Ryoma's mind. If he kept obeying his superior who had a disturbing addiction to purple he would end up like those two Yoriki who walked past his office. His principles would mean nothing to him and he would let his men do the work and care more about fashion and hanging out with prostitutes. The thought made him shudder.
"Matte!" he ordered Momo. Snatching the report from the startled secretary he tore it up. Quickly he wrote another report classifying the murder as suspicious and requires further investigation. He affixed his seal to it and handed it to Momo. No more orders for him to obey. This time he was going to look deeper into this case and figure it out. He was going to bend a few more rules to figure out this case.
Something wasn't right about this so-called affair.
TBC…Should I continue? Please review and tell me! Flames should be reduced to only polite criticisms otherwise I might break down or get a fire extinguisher before it melts my laptop. Sorry if I'm picking on a few characters. DON'T WORRY ATOBE FANS THE GUY MURDERED WASN'T ATOBE KEIGO! I need 'ore-sama' for something. Here's a list of things that readers might not understand and what they are. Until then, ja ne!
Yoriki- Yoriki are kind of like detectives
Doshin- Doshin are somewhat like policeman ranking below yoriki
Jitte- I believe jitte are sai because from the description I found they are
Seal- Seals were only for the high ranks and samurai. They affix it to things like reports and paintings. For those below those ranks they had to cut their finger and smear the blood on the paper to show that's theirs
Calligraphy- At that time samurai were required to know calligraphy (kanji a.k.a. Chinese writing)
Geisha- Geisha were women who entertained men. They had skills such as dancing and playing instruments. Most were also prostitutes
Affairs- There was a law about affairs. If a man had an affair than that was fine. However, if a married woman had an affair than her husband had every right to kill