Author's notes:
Obon is the Japanese festival where they honor the spirits of the dead. The spirits are believed to be guided back to earth by lights set out by family. Afterwards, the lights are floated down a river to send the spirits back to the afterlife.
Disclaimer: I do not own RK or the characters portrayed in the following story.
Obon
Katsu bent over his work in the shack where he lived in the slum quarter. He was dog-tired. The damned words swum on the paper as the flame flickered. I need a better lamp, he thought as he shifted his cramped legs.
"Katsu-kun!" His spiky haired friend poked his head in through the open door. "If it is money you want, I haven't any," Katsu grinned. A week without Sanosuke dropping in for a loan was too good to last. Sano never learnt the knack of managing his finances.
"Not this time, Katsu-kun. I'm just asking you out for a drink. The nut-gang at the Kamiya dojo has all gone out tonight."
"I don't mind joining you, old friend." The room was stuffy. It will be good to clear his head with a walk...
"The old bridge, you bring the sake."
Obon. The spirits return to their earthly abode on this night. Sanosuke had chosen a good spot. A slight breeze stirred the leaves on the trees on either side of the bridge. They leant against the bridge railing. A lantern and a jar of sake perched precariously on it. They were childhood friends, comrades-in-arms; two very different and yet very similar young men.
"Katsu-kun, do you still remember that banner?" Sanosuke grinned, an impish gleam in his eye. "Of course, we fought over who was to carry the Seikihou Troop's standard and broke it. You knocked out my tooth, Sano-kun. Taicho punished us by making us do dishes for two months."
"He did not! He made us pull a heavy log up a hill. It took two of us together to move that darn thing." Sano stared up at the starry sky. "Sagara-taicho was trying to teach us something...I forget what." Katsu grinned. Typical Sano. Sano has a knack of blundering through life the best he can with the minimal use of grey matter.
"When you joined, I was so mad at you. I can't figure out why a smart ass like you would join the troop when you could have landed some cushy page job with your fine upbringing. For me, it was the best thing that happened to a kid who don't even know his own family name ...When the Seikihou Troop passed through town, I just kinda followed them..."
"I joined because it was the People's Army. A boy's dream I suppose," Katsu shut his eyes and let the breeze brush his face. "Sagara-taicho taught us a lot. He gave us a goal to strive for. A society where there's peace and the weak are protected...It's more than a boy's dream." It was true. It took them both a good ten years to see that truth. Katsu's newspaper spoke out against injustices in the society. Yes, even in this new era, there's still injustice. And evil. Sano had recently fought a battle to stop a madman from taking over the country.
Katsu's eyes rested on Sano's bandaged right hand. Sano had gone charging in as usual. Goodness knew how badly he was injured. "It doesn't hurt that bad," Sano waved aside Katsu's concerned look.
"You never stop to think don't you?" Katsu shook his head. "Ya," Sano shrugged. "Remember that ambush? You took a bullet for me..."
"And you punched the daylights out of the guy who shot me," Katsu gave a wry smile. He need not mention that timely intervention by fellow troopers saved both boys from further injury.
Sano's weapons of choice are his fists; Katsu's his newspaper. Their weapons are different but the goal is the same. If only Sagara-taicho can see them now...will he be proud?
"Sano-kun, how did you last see Sagara-taicho, alive?" Katsu was not present at the terrible massacre that followed the Seikihou Troop's betrayal by the Royalist forces. He prayed it was too dark for Sano to see the color which burnt his face.
Guilt at not being there. Shame for how they had parted.
"Right," Sano frowned. "You came down with a high fever the night before. Taicho took you to some peasants...That's the last time I saw you till..." Katsu squirmed inwardly. Captain Sagara had carried him to a farmer's hut, paid to get him a doctor. All the while he was angry at Sagara-taicho for leaving him behind. He had called Sagara-taicho some really nasty names to his back as he left. He called him a fraud and liar. And that was only putting it mildly.
The next time he saw his beloved Captain Sagara, it was at the execution ground. He had been executed as a traitor. The troop all but wiped out. Too late for apologies. Too late.
"I remember his back," Sano stopped. The memory still hurt him. "Those bastards tricked us, cut us down with their guns. He was hit real bad...I was with him. We were chased through the forest...At the cliff, he...told me to live..." Sano coughed as his voice caught. "He shoved me into the river...They caught...he stood facing them..."
Katsu put his arm around his friend's shoulders. They stood in silence. Captain Sagara died as he had live, a brave man with a vision he believed in. A vision of a world of justice and equality...
"Hey, Katsu-kun, you're the smart one, right? Do you believe in the afterlife?"
"Why, Sano-kun?" Talk of the supernatural usually spooked Sano as much as modern conveniences like trains and cameras. Young Sano often paled at any strange noises in the night and looked to his fellow troopers for reassurance. Even now, a spooky story still drained the color from his face.
"Something weird happened to me on the way to Kyoto. I was smashing rocks for two days straight...then I saw him...real as life. Can't tell if it were my imagination or not..." Sano nodded off, his head resting on Katsu's shoulder. It was like back then when they had huddled as boys under the same blanket.
The troop lacked blankets and other basic supplies. They relied on the kind support of the common people. Often they went cold and hungry. Sagara-taicho often gave them part of his own meager rations so the boys will not starve. By day they marched together, Sagara-taicho leading the troop with Sano and Katsu trotting on either side to keep up. The image was etched in his mind. His beloved hero, his strong yet gentle Sagara...
Katsu picked up his ears. That unmistakable melody played on a grass blade. He had heard it many times as the Seikihou Troop bunked down for the night. Their captain always played this tune softly as he sat lost in his own thoughts. The lantern flickered and then went out totally.
"Tai-taicho?" Katsu blinked. It was impossible! Yet he stood there before him. A luminous figure with a blade of grass held to his lips, lost in his own thoughts. "Taicho! Is this a dream?"
The phantom figure of Captain Sagara looked up and smiled gently. "So you aren't asleep, Katsu-kun." He has to be dreaming or has the spirit of his taicho returned on this night? "What's the matter, Katsu-kun? Why that face?" Katsu fumbled. He wanted to run forward and embrace him like a child, apologize for those cruel words, how they had parted...yet fearing that any rash move will shatter this fragile illusion.
"I'm sorry I said those things to you!" Katsu let out the years of pent-up guilt as he sobbed like a child. "I was mad at you for leaving me behind even though I knew you meant to come back...I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you like Sano..."
"It was never your fault, Katsu-kun. I know you never meant those words, although they did hurt then. Of course I had a word or two with Musashi-san and Hatori-san for letting you pick up such words from them," Sagara said with a hint of humor.
"But I should have been there! I should have been..."
"Katsu, no one could have seen that coming. It's not your fault, so quit beating yourself up about it. In fact, I was glad at least you were safe. When I shoved Sano into the river, I wasn't sure he could swim to start with. I could've easily drowned him instead." The same humor. Katsu smiled.
"Sano-kun's tough. It'd take more than a soaking in the river to do him in, a lot more."
"That's it, Katsu. Stop blaming yourself for the past. You've got a great future ahead to work for. Don't you ever forget..."
"I won't, Sagara-taicho. I'd live my life fighting for our dream of justice and equality for all...Thank you..." The words failed him as the phantom faded away. Lights. Obon lights were floating in the river below. Till next year, the spirits are returning to their world guided by these lights.
"Sayonara."
"Eh, Katsu..." Sano yawned as he stirred. "You're talking in your sleep. I dreamt we were boys marching with the troop..." He stretched and yawned again. "It seemed so real...Everyone was happy and smiling...Taicho was playing that tune...Er, Katsu?"
Sano stared as Katsu emptied the sake jar into the river. "A toast to Sagara-taicho and our departed friends in the Seikihou Troop." Katsu explained. Sanosuke smiled in approval. The night was almost through.