The characters in this tale belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki. This tale continues in A Tale of Sanosuke - 2: Aizu, A Tale of Sanosuke - 3: Tokyo and concludes in A Tale of Sanosuke - 4: Shinshu. It can be read as a follow-up to the Tale of Soujirou - 4: Answer.
This tale is dedicated to Aredhel.
A tale of Sanosuke: Niigata
By Daniel Lam
HE WAITED until almost all the fellow passengers had disembarked before he swung his travel bag onto his shoulder and approached the ramp. The captain had been waiting for him by the ramp, and thanked him for a good, mostly uneventful, journey.
After bidding each other farewell, the man took his turn on the ramp. He did so slowly, savouring every step, his eyes taking in everything.
Once off the vessel that had been home for many weeks, his feet finally on the ground, the man stood still with his eyes closed.
He could smell the seaside air and taste slight saltiness. The sounds of women chattering were audible to his ears, as were the arguments of men and the wailing of children unwilling to board a ship, or too impatient to wait much longer. He felt the pleasant warmth of the late morning sun.
He could even make out the smell of rice wine from a nearby tavern, the fragrance of freshly cooked rice, and the smell of a hot bowl of miso soup.
He was home.
"Welcome back, Sagara Sanosuke!" he declared loudly, running his fingers through the mass of untamed hair that crowned his head, and scratching his chin, which was rough with week-old stubble.
Better remember to get a proper bath before I meet the old gang ... once I get to Tokyo, Sanosuke thought. And a shave. Maybe even a change of clothes. The matter of his unruly hair did not figure in his plans.
But first, he grinned at the thought, ... a real Japanese meal!
Sanosuke peered into his money pouch. He noted a few silver dollars, a number of sterling notes, even some shell money. No yen. Because he worked to pay for his passage from the mainland, he hadn't earned any money.
When I left a few years ago, I was practically broke! he thought. Just like me, to return the same way. Looks like I'll have to make use of my fists!
He made his way to the marketplace, guided by mainly by his nose and a fair amount of luck. Sanosuke picked up a plank and used it like a sledge; as he walked he picked up bits and pieces of stone and wood, putting them on it.
Once at the marketplace, he found himself a nice spot recently vacated by an early morning peddler. Then he took out a horn from his bag - a souvenir from his travels, made of fused seashells - and blew it. The sound he made was not very loud, but was shrill enough to rise above the din and attract attention.
People stopped what they were doing and turned to look. Children gestured excitedly. Sanosuke could hear less-than-polite comments about his appearance. He didn't mind. He was used to this.
He did, after all, look somewhat out of place. Worn over his usual - formerly-white but now very yellowed - shirt and pants was a leather and light chain hauberk.
Around his neck were teeth from various animals, each tooth with a tale to tell as to how Sanosuke came about it.
His woolen cloak had its origins in the land of nomads and sand dunes, the intricate patterns on the garment now much-faded but no less exotic.
Sanosuke's boots were made of walrus pelt, a souvenir from one of the tribes of the frozen lands to the west.
He picked up a boulder the size of his head and held it so that all could see that it was real, and dropped it a number of times to show that it wasn't brittle. Then, he threw it high in the air.
The onlookers gasped as the stone descended on his head. With a smile Sanosuke thrust his right forefinger upwards. Years ago Sanosuke would have needed to see his intended target in order to use the Futae no Kiwami technique. Now he merely needed to feel the contact.
The boulder disintegrated, spewing dust all over him and the closest spectators. Many clapped, the children especially.
Let the show begin! Sanosuke thought.
Some time - and many disintegrated bricks, rocks and wooden blocks - later, he made his way to the nearest restaurant.
Along the way he stopped to drop a handful of his newly-earned coins into the hands of a few men lying by the roadside. Sanosuke could tell from their scars, and from the way they were maimed, that they were war veterans.
"Bless you, young man!" the men chorused. Sanosuke smiled and went on his way.
The patrons of the restaurant became very quiet when he strode in. Some glared. Other saw the dust on his clothes and made snide remarks.
Sanosuke didn't really care.
Now, how do I do this? he wondered after having found himself a table in a corner. He took out his money pouch and fished out a few coins.
"Proprietor, I'm hungry!" he called out. Sanosuke was glad he hadn't forgotten how to speak Japanese. "Rice and miso soup for me. Big bowls! And grilled fish!"
That broke the tension, for everyone returned to their food, discussion or their wine.
"Where are you from, sir?" the waitress asked after assembling his order. She had brought him a spoon for the soup, but no chopsticks. There was no container of chopsticks on the table either.
"I am Japanese, can't you tell, miss?" Sanosuke replied, not unkindly, holding up the spoon. "And give me chopsticks."
She went red. "Immediately!" she said and ran off. When she came back she also brought a small saucer of pickled vegetables.
"Compliments of the proprietor," she said. "I'm sorry ... I didn't know."
"That's okay," Sanosuke assured. "I've been around so much I probably won't recognise myself any more." He took a sip of the soup. "Hey, this is very good!"
"T-thank you!" she stammered.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Sakura," she told him and left.
He took his time with the food. He kept his eyes on the other patrons as he ate, and noted how fast they were eating.
My ... Sano, you have almost become a gentleman now! he thought, somewhat amused.
"Well, we can't have that, eh?" he said aloud, and proceeded to wolf down the food. Even so, he soon fell into the habit of eating slowly, something he learnt not very long ago.
This is going to take some time. The guys will just have to accept this 'new' me! he decided.
By the time he was finished, it was nearly evening. There were very few patrons in the restaurant, as the dinner crowd had not come in.
Sakura came to clear away the dishes and Sanosuke ordered some rice wine. She returned promptly with the wine and made to run off.
"Hey, wait!" Sanosuke called out after her. "Stay. I have been away so long, you know ... I could do with a chat with someone Japanese for once."
She hesitated. Her eyes were on his necklace of teeth.
"Come on, I don't bite," he stated. Touching the necklace, he flashed what he believed to be his cutest grin. "These are just souvenirs from places I've been."
"Okay," she relented, but did not take the offered seat.
"Where did you get those?" Sakura asked finally.
Sanosuke held the necklace up. "Well, I got these off a shark in the sea. I dove in after some poor kid fell overboard. It was about to eat him, so I punched it on the nose."
Her eyes opened wide. "And?"
"I killed it with that one punch," Sanosuke declared. "Not an ordinary punch, of course."
Sakura didn't look like she was convinced, but she smiled politely. She gestured at another tooth.
"This? It's from a bear. Not the kind of bear we get here in the mountains, though," Sanosuke explained. "Much bigger, easily half-again my height."
He stood up to show her - Sanosuke was taller than most Japanese men. "It was what the white people call a 'grizzly'. Strong beast, too, with paws that can rip a man open."
Sakura looked impressed. "And how did you get its tooth?" She added: "With one good punch too?"
Sanosuke didn't get the jibe. "Oh no ... it got to my horse first, throwing me off."
He pointed to the upper left part of his mail shirt, where the chain links were torn. "See this? The bear did this with one swipe. I probably be in worse shape if I wasn't wearing this."
"I had to hit it once in the belly to bring it down to my height, and once in the jaw, and this-" he fingered the tooth "-fell out. That makes two punches."
A few people entered the establishment. Sakura took her leave to attend to them.
Sanosuke poured himself some wine. He sniffed it first, then downed it in one gulp.
Ahhh ... nothing like good old sake! he thought to himself.
Then, he sensed something different. What's this?
At first he thought it was the effect of the wine. But the sensation got stronger even though he didn't drink any more of the wine.
Warrior's ki, he realised. And a very strong one at that!
He turned towards the doorway. There was an old man sitting in one corner, a trio sitting together, and another couple just by the entrance.
It was the couple that caught his eye. It was a man and a girl, perhaps in her early teens. The man was looking straight at Sanosuke.
There was a look of recognition in that man's eyes. Try as he did, Sanosuke couldn't place that man's face immediately. That boyish face. That big smile.
That smile!
He remembered who that man was. The man said something to the girl, and got up. And now walked towards Sanosuke's corner.
Sanosuke tensed. While he had improved a lot over the years, experiencing much in his travels, he knew where his limits were. He could handle a fight with practically anyone, and likely emerge victorious. He had bested a shark, fought off a grizzly, and even stared down a lion in the fortress of an Arab prince.
But this man - now within ten feet of him, and getting closer - was a different class of warrior. Sanosuke could see that the man was unarmed, but that knowledge brought him little comfort.
Oh, hell! Sanosuke thought. If he wants a fight, I'll give him a good one!
He got to his feet just as the man stopped and bowed, catching Sanosuke by surprise.
"Good evening, Mr Sagara!" the man greeted. "I am pleased to meet you!"
"Seta ... Soujirou," Sanosuke mumbled. "I am pleased to meet you, too."
If Soujirou knew of his discomfort, he didn't show it. He gestured at the girl.
"May we join you?" he asked.
Sanosuke could do naught else but nod. Soujirou bowed again and went to the girl, giving Sanosuke some much-needed time.
The problem with Soujirou is that nobody can tell what's going on in his head. I don't even know if he's planning something, Sanosuke thought grimly.
The last time Sanosuke met Soujirou, the 18-year-old prodigy had proven just how deadly and impossibly fast he could be. That was over six years ago.
The girl looked woefully skinny. Sanosuke noted that if not for her thinness, she might even be considered pretty. He made a mental note to ask Soujirou about her later.
Sakura came soon after Soujirou and the girl were seated, and she took down their orders.
After she had gone off, Soujirou introduced the two: "Mr Sagara, this is Miss Yuki. Miss Yuki, this is Mr Sagara Sanosuke. He is ... an acquaintance of the man I was telling you about earlier."
"You mean Kenshin?" Sanosuke asked.
Soujirou nodded. "Yes, Mr Himura."
"How is the red-head?"
"I met him a number of months ago. He was doing well," Soujirou said. "He and Miss Kaoru have a son by the name of Kenji."
About time, too! Sanosuke thought. He remembered how oblivious Himura Kenshin seemed to be with Kamiya Kaoru's sorry attempts to convey her feelings.
Sakura came just then with some bread buns and soup enough for three. Sanosuke found this odd until he saw how much the girl, Yuki, could eat. By the time Soujirou had finished his first bun, she had finished her sixth.
Soujirou merely smiled in response to his questioning look. Sanosuke engaged him in some pretty mundane talk after that, mainly about his adventures.
By the time Sanosuke was about to recount his dalliance with a certain native American princess, it was late evening and Yuki was asleep, her head resting on her arms on the table.
"Hmmm ... and I was getting to the best part too. Did I bore her that much?" Sanosuke had to ask. "I thought my stories were exciting enough."
Soujirou smiled. "Oh, your stories are very interesting, Mr Sagara. It makes me feel like going on an adventure as well."
Sanosuke leaned close. "So how goes your own journey, your quest for answers? Have you found them?"
The younger man did not respond straight away. "I think I may have found my answer. A smile."
"A smile?" Sanosuke repeated, surprised. The last time he heard that, it was uttered during a duel to the death between two men who were linked to a woman who perished during the Bakumatsu.
Soujirou regarded Yuki with eyes - I don't believe this, Sanosuke thought - full of feeling.
The emotionless Tenken Soujirou ... having feelings?
He sidled close and nudged Soujirou, winking as he did. "She seems a little young, but ... you two are ... ahem?"
Soujirou looked up. Sanosuke wondered if he had said something wrong. But eyes that were once slow to read signs, now saw immediately that Soujirou was sad. The face remained largely expressionless, but the eyes betrayed the extent of his sadness.
"Miss Yuki is not feeling well," Soujirou said. "She hasn't been for quite some time."
"Oh?"
"We have travelled much the past few months, but all the physicians we have seen have been unable to help. That's why we are here in Niigata," Soujirou explained.
"You're leaving Japan," Sanosuke stated in a serious voice after a moment. "You are taking a ship out."
The younger man nodded. "I have heard that there is a physician in China who may be able to help."
Sanosuke looked at Yuki. She does look sickly, he noted. "Is it serious?"
Soujirou shook his head. "I do not know. The physicians here ... some say it is. Others opine otherwise."
"Is that why she is so quiet?'
"Oh, no ... well, yes," Soujirou said, scratching his head in a manner that reminded Sanosuke just how young the Tenken really was. "Mostly, she's just shy. She can speak if she wants to, but nowadays she only speaks with me. Her past haunts her, as mine had haunted me."
Sanosuke knew how strongly the past could influence the present and the future. Six years ago he was an angry 19-year-old lashing out at the authorities for their betrayal of the people he cared about the most.
Meeting Kenshin changed everything. He remained an angry youth, but his anger was better focused. And now, after years of wandering about the world ... having seen things and been to places that most people can only dream of, Sanosuke was a little bit wiser.
The sadness and caring he had seen Soujirou display was still a bit of a shock, though.
Can a man truly change so much in a few short years? he wondered. Tenken Soujirou, whose speed is unmatched by any, now bears no sword. He now travels with a girl ... anyone with eyes can see how much he cares for her.
Some things do not change, however. Sanosuke stated the obvious: "You have changed a lot over the years, Soujirou."
The smile returned. "As have you, Mr Sagara. All for the better, yes?"
There was a long silence after that, broken only when a weary-looking Sakura came to their table.
"Is there anything else you'd like?" she asked, looking at Sanosuke, then Soujirou.
The men signalled the negative and asked for the bill. Soujirou settled it after some argument with Sanosuke.
In the end the younger man stated: "We are leaving on a steamboat tomorrow morning. This may be the last time I ever get to buy a friend a meal."
He gently woke Yuki up and together they left the restaurant.
Once outside, Sanosuke spoke first: "I'll be making a move now, Soujirou. I have a bit of a walk ahead of me."
"You will be visiting Mr Himura and his family?"
"Well, I'm headed for Aizu first. Then, I have to visit my godson some time. And make sure Kaoru treats Kenshin right and all," Sanosuke said with a naughty look.
"And if I feel like it, I might teach Kenshin some of the things I have learnt ... he could do with a trick or two that has nothing to do with his sakabatou."
Yuki went red straight away - precocious kid, Sanosuke thought - but not a peep came from her. Soujirou simply smiled.
Sanosuke looked up at the sky. The moon was almost directly overhead.
"It has been a pleasure, Mr Sagara," Soujirou said. Both he and Yuki bowed.
"No," Sanosuke said, shaking his head. "The pleasure is mine." He extended his right hand, and Soujirou took it. They shook in the manner of the Westerners.
"Farewell, Soujirou. Goodbye to you, Yuki," he said finally. "Take care of him, will you?" he added as an afterthought, and she nodded. Sanosuke turned to go.
"Mr Sagara..." Soujirou called out.
He stopped. "Hmmm?"
"Do you still have the character for 'Evil' on your back?" Soujirou asked.
"Yeah, it's still there," he said, adding with a grin: "But like most old things, it is fading."
"That is good," Soujirou replied. "Farewell, Mr Sagara. Swift journey."
"You, too." Then, soft as a whisper: "You, too."