This is a side story to my 'Life the Saitoh/Fujita Way' collection. In the timeline of that universe it falls after Chapter 13, which is titled, 'Then There Were Three'.
Another Battle for the Wolf – The Departure
May 1877
As the ship pulls away, carried by the evening tide, I keep my eyes focused on my wife who stands on the dock bidding me farewell, holding our young son close to her. She insisted on coming regardless of my objections. Secretly, it does please me that she wanted to see me off, not to mention that I have learned not to fight with her when she has her mind set on a certain course of action.
I don't know when I'll see her again, but I'm confident that I will. I do regret leaving her, because the burdens of our household will now rest entirely on her shoulders. Tsutomu is only five months old, and taking care of him is a full time job as it is. But she is strong, and she is a survivor. We've been married almost three years. She knew that protecting Japan would play a large role in my life, and in hers also, once she consented to be my wife.
This morning, as soon as we arrived in Yokohama, I settled my family into a hotel for the night. They'll return home to Tokyo tomorrow. At least the train between Tokyo and Yokohama makes travelling a little easier these days. This day is quickly coming to an end; it will soon be dark. I flick the glowing embers off of my cigarette before I place it back between my lips and take a long, slow drag. My view of Tokio has faded, and the lapping of the water against the hull harkens of things to come.
I refuse to worry about her, or Tsutomu. She is a well-trained daughter of a samurai family, and it's not like we are still in the middle of a civil conflict, or trying to survive a Tonami winter. It's far safer in Tokyo now, than it was just eight or nine years ago, during the Boshin War. However, she has become such an important part of my life that I cannot consciously erase all thoughts of her from my mind, and only focus on the battles that lie ahead. No, those days of single mindedness are far behind me. Now, not only do I have a job to do for the government, but I have a pack to care for as well. I smirk to myself. Who would have thought that one of Mibu's wolves could be influenced in such a way by his mate?
In February, not long after this conflict began, I enlisted in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. It seems I can't keep away from applying my sense of justice. Undoubtedly, it was this very same state of mind that drew me into the Shinsengumi many years ago. This new rebellion has to be stopped.
In addition to the regular army the central government decided to use the Tokyo police in its struggle against Satsuma. That's why I'm currently on a ship bound for Kyushu. It will take almost two weeks to reach our destination, as we will be stopping at a few ports along the way, giving the group I'm with, the Bungo Police Unit, plenty of time to prepare and fine tune our strategy. I'm serving as the captain of the second troop, a contingent of over 100 men. Hagiwara Sadamoto from the Tokyo police is our commander.
Saigō Takamori is an idiot. The course he's charted is not the way to deal with the government's growing political corruption. This grudge match of his, trying to pit one region of the country against another, can only have a very unpleasant ending for him, and get a lot of others killed unnecessarily. I can feel it. A better way would be to go after those officials, who are actually causing the problems, and not involve the rest of the citizenry, most of whom are only innocent bystanders, trying to survive in this new age of Meiji. That's how we took care of internal problems in my Shinsengumi days; we just discretely eliminated the source of the evil.
This is not the first time I've been called to battle, and I doubt it will be the last, not with my sense of duty. Perhaps someday my fights won't involve the whole of Japan. Perhaps someday the only battles I'll fight will be to keep the peace in the streets of Tokyo where we live. That is my hope, because the older I get, the more I desire to spend my nights at home in a warm bed in the arms of my wife. I shake my head, almost in disgust, loathe to admit even to myself what a really good woman can do to a man. Flicking the spent end of my smoke to the water below, I head down to my quarters, anticipating with relish the hunt that lies ahead. The sooner it's over, the sooner I'll return to my wife and son.
Author's Notes:
The Satsuma Rebellion (,Seinan Sensō/Southwestern War) was a revolt of Satsuma ex-samurai, lead by Saigō Takamori, against the Meiji government. It lasted from January 29, 1877 to September 24, 1877. It was the last and the most serious of the armed uprisings against the new Meiji government.
While a member of the Tokyo Police Department, the historical Fujita Goro fought in the Seinen War.
The first railroad in Japan opened in September 1872, running from Shimbashi, west of Tokyo, to Yokohama.
I used the detailed timeline of Saitoh Hajime's life which is posted on the hajimenokizu dot com website, and information from the shinsengumi-no-makoto dot net backslash saito underscore hajime dot htm website as the basis for the events in this story.
Standard disclaimers apply. In my opinion the historical Fujita family should only be owned by their descendents. The events described above do not accurately reflect real-life history.
