Sano didn't plan to take a detour, but after realizing the full implications of being wanted by the government, it became necessary.
It's midnight at the harbor, an unusually subdued hour because of all the police running about. Looking for him, of course, although he's made good distance from Tokyo. The warrant for his arrest has spread across the coastline. He's a little proud.
He adjusts the large hat he's wearing, a ragged old thing 'borrowed' from a fellow passenger. He keeps a fast pace in the shadows, steering clear of a rowdy group of staggering drunkards returning to their homes and a pair of patrolling officers. He walks carefully, and the silence is disconcerting.
The postal office is dark and empty, which is perfect. He fingers the envelope in his hand and considers how to enter the building.
Maybe, I can punch through the window…no, that'll just make too much noise and I'd get my hand broken again. No fox lady to fix it this time.
He wrote the letter on the ship, and the constant rocking made his handwriting nearly as bad as Kenshin's. He's said his goodbyes to Kenshin and Jou-chan and Yahiko, but there are three other important people who need to know about his departure.
He slides the envelope beneath the door, and with that, he hurries back the way he came. To the harbor, to the ship that'll carry him away from his birth country, to limitless freedom.
To Dad, Uki, and Ota:
The government's out for my arrest since the incident with the Ishin-shishi. Those bastards. Figures, huh? But it'll be best if you all lay low too and maybe leave the village for a couple months until things die down.
You can settle down somewhere near Tokyo. Jou-chan's back, so she can teach Kamiya Kasshin directly. Just don't eat anything she cooks. You'd like her though, and my best friend Kenshin. Yahiko's a brat but a good kid. And I know they'd all welcome you with open arms.
So…it looks like I won't be seeing any of you for a while. By the time you read this, I'll be on my way to the mainland. I'll have a hell of a time there and I'll send another letter once I land. Wish me luck!
Sagara Sanosuke (also known as Higashidani Sanosuke)
