Disclaimer: all character rights belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha etc. This is purely fiction based in part on historical facts.
Meiji Keikan Romantan
Chapter 3 – A Hitokiri and A Rurouni
* There are various flashbacks and scene changes in this chapter. The dates and places are labeled at the beginning of each section.
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= Meiji Year 11 (1878), early June – Tokyo, Bunkyo Ward =
"Don't trip on your way home." The tofu seller cautioned Eiji as he handed him the bamboo basket of fresh tofu. "And tell Fujita-san that I put in a little extra for her."
Eiji thanked the man and noted to himself that his foster mother was quite popular among the local shopkeepers. As he stepped out from under the awning and into the bright light of the street, Muku instantly got to her feet and wagged her tail. He could not help but smile – even if he had been gone for only a few minutes, the dog always seemed happy to see him.
It was his second week in Tokyo, and he was beginning to find his way around the neighborhood on his own and to run errands for Tokio. Neighbors were starting to recognize him also, and some people tried to pry about his circumstances; whereas Tokio artfully sidestepped nosy questions, Eiji's reaction was to keep silent. Eiji knew that it was for his sake that Tokio did not indulge the neighbors' curiosity. She did not want him to become the object of morbid attention as the 'tragic orphan child', nor did she wish to garner any sympathy or admiration for having taken him in. For the most part though, the Fujitas were on good terms with the people in their district; Eiji had learned that Fujita Gorō had single-handedly apprehended several thieves and criminals in the area, and Tokio was often consulted on the subjects of children's education and women's fashion.
As he walked back to the house, a few people called out to say hello. He returned their greetings while mentally running through their names. He passed a group of children playing in a temple courtyard, and they paused in their games to watch him as he walked by. He glanced over his shoulder before turning the corner, a mixture of anxiety and anticipation in his heart. While he did not feel ready to make friends just yet (and needed a bit more study before he could start school), he nonetheless felt the pull of childhood at the sound of the gleeful shouts and calls. He was mulling over these thoughts when Muku bounded off down the street.
"Ah!" Startled, Eiji almost dropped the tofu. He hurried after the dog, and watched in surprise as the she yipped excitedly and circled a man he did not recognize.
"Oho!" The man crouched down and ruffled the dog's head affectionately. "Good girl, Muku. Where's your mistress?" He looked around expectantly, but the only person he saw was a lone boy with harsh lines around his eyes. Muku sat down, tongue lolling out of her mouth as she panted. "Ah, is that so?" The man talked to the dog as though they understood each other.
"You must be Mishima Eiji-kun," the stranger now addressed the youth. Eiji's eyes narrowed suspiciously; Muku obviously knew and liked the man, but that did not explain how he knew his name. "Don't be nervous. I've heard about you from Kenjirō and Morinosuke." The man said reassuringly and pulled playfully on Muku's ears. "Where's Tokio-san?"
"She's at home." Eiji relaxed a little at the mention of Takagi Morinosuke and his friend; Morinosuke had visited a couple of times, and Kenjirō had shown him around the University of Tokyo. "She asked me to buy some things for dinner."
"Ah, bossy as usual, always making people do things." the man chuckled.
The boy stiffened again at his words. Tokio was encouraging him to be more independent and responsible, which was why she allowed him to go to the shops on his own, not because she thought of him as an errand boy.
"And who are you?" Eiji demanded somewhat forcefully.
"Me? Yamakawa Hiroshi – I'm Kenjirō's older brother, and an old friend of the family." Yamakawa smiled broadly and straightened up, looking down at Eiji with an appraising look in his eye.
"You're the one in the Imperial Army?" Eiji looked up at the man with interest. He had heard about the older Yamakawa brother, and he recognized the inflections of the Aizu dialect in his voice. He also knew that the Yamakawas had been one of the most prominent families in Aizu, and had a long history with the Fujitas.
"Yes, that's me. I was just on my way to pay a visit. Do you want me to take that for you?" Yamakawa indicated the basket underneath Eiji's arm.
"No, it's fine." Eiji shook his head, and began to walk, Muku trotting along beside him. "But how did you know that it was me and not some other kid?"
"Because Muku wouldn't leave the house with someone who isn't a member of the family." Yamakawa followed, a half step behind. Eiji puffed up a little at the acknowledgement that Muku regarded him as a member of the family. "How do you like Tokyo so far?"
"It's different." Eiji answered guardedly. If Yamakawa knew about his background, then he must know that it was not a matter of choice that he was there. "I've never lived in a city before."
"Yeah, I remember how it was when I first came." Yamakawa nodded. "And how do you like living with the Fujitas?"
"…. They've been very kind to me." Eiji replied after a pause, wary of talking to a stranger, whether he was a family friend or not.
"But they're weird, aren't they?" Yamakawa grinned conspiratorially at Eiji. At that, Eiji tightened his lips and glared. "What is it?" The man seemed amused by his reaction.
"Fujita-san told me not to talk about the family to others." Eiji declared with a frown.
Yamakawa blinked rapidly a few times, and then burst out laughing.
"Ahaha! That's so like him, that man." Yamakawa did not seem put out. "Well, don't worry, you don't need to tell me anything. In fact, I could tell you some funny stories about them…."
An alarmed expression flitted across Eiji's face and he hurried on. He could not decide whether he liked this man with his familiar attitude, but at the very least, he was not in a mood to hear anything that might embarrass the Fujitas.
Muku ran ahead as they approached the house, barking to announce their arrival. Tokio was washing the flagstones of the garden path as they opened the gate (in truth, she had been waiting somewhat anxiously for Eiji to return) and exclaimed as she saw who had come with her young ward.
"Okaerinasai, Eiji-san. My, you picked up an unusual person at the shops!" Tokio smiled warmly as she welcomed the boy home.
"It's been a while," Yamakawa bobbed his head in an informal bow. "You keeping well? And Tsutomu?"
"We're very well, thank you. Tsutomu is taking a nap." She set down the bucket beside the front entrance. "When did you get back to Tokyo?" Tokio had heard from the younger Yamakawa brother that he was away on business, and she knew that her husband had requested his assistance.
"Just yesterday. I told your husband that I'd keep an eye on you, and make sure you're not letting any strange men into the house while he's away."
"In that case, I couldn't possibly let you inside." Tokio arched an eyebrow at her visitor.
"Hey!" Her childhood friend protested. "Fine then, I guess you're not interested in hearing about my work with him, or in this gift from Kobe." He held out a wrapped parcel.
"Hmmm. Well, I guess I could at least serve you tea." Tokio inclined her head to the side with a teasing twinkle in her eye. "Eiji-san, thank you very much for going to the shops. No no, I can take those to the kitchen." She took the purchases from him as he was about to step inside the house. "Could I ask you to show Hiroshi-san to the main room?"
Yamakawa clearly knew his way around the house and did not need to be guided, but Eiji accompanied him as he was told. Finding himself alone with the man again, Eiji studied him in what he thought was a discreet manner. At first, Yamakawa pretended not to notice, but soon opened his mouth – he was not a man to keep quiet for long.
"What is it, Eiji-kun?" The boy's inquisitiveness caused him to remember his own youth, when he too had been full of questions for the grown-ups but rarely allowed to speak his mind.
Eiji hesitated for a moment, but then asked with characteristic directness,
"You said you were working with Fujita-san. Did he mention anything about me?"
Although he tried hard to mask the pain, Eiji was still plagued with dark thoughts about Senkaku and Shishio Makoto; the trauma was not one that would heal in the space of a few weeks. Tokio had promised to keep him apprised of any developments, but news about her husband's covert mission was not something she received every day.
"Well, I helped him out with some personnel management, but I doubt that's what you're interested in. Why, were you waiting to hear something?" Yamakawa cocked his head and looked at the boy intently.
"No, not really…" Eiji's voice dropped to a mumble, tinted by a mix of disappointment and frustration.
'This boy – so he really was involved in Fujita's current assignment,' Yamakawa wondered to himself. He debated whether to ask about it, but was stopped when Tokio entered the room.
"So this is Kameido's famous kawara senbei. Thank you very much, Hiroshi-san." She set down the tray of tea things and the opened the box of snacks that Yamakawa had brought from Kobe.
"Actually, Fujita gave them to me to bring back." Yamakawa grinned. "That man spoils you rotten."
"Nice gifts are one of the perks of having a husband who travels." Tokio chuckled appreciatively. "So, he's in Kobe at the moment?"
Yamakawa was about to answer, but was interrupted by the boy.
"Why is he in Kobe? He's supposed to be going to Kyoto." Eiji furrowed his brow; that was what Shishio had said to them in Shingetsu-mura, that he would be waiting for them in the old capital.
A look passed between Tokio and Eiji, and Eiji turned red due to embarrassment that he had spoken out of turn. Tokio, however, simply smiled at him kindly.
"Kyoto eh?" Yamakawa stroked his chin. "Interesting. So what's in Kyoto that needs to be subjugated?"
"I presume he's in Kobe for some training?" Tokio avoided the question. "He did mention that you were going to help him assemble the necessary forces."
"Let's see, he's taking the best swordsmen in the military and police with him to deal with some unknown element in Kyoto." Yamakawa smacked his knee. "It can't be…. He's going to fight against Himura Battousai?!" He leaned forward, agitated by his deduction. "It makes sense! He's been worked up ever since that damned Hitokiri reappeared! Going to bring him to justice, eh?"
"Himura-san is a good person!" Eiji could not stop himself from blurting out. "You don't know what you're talking about!"
Yamakawa's eyes grew wide with astonishment at Eiji's exclamation.
"Hiroshi-san, I'm afraid you're off the mark." Tokio said in a soft voice, reaching out to place a soothing hand on Eiji's shoulder.
The boy turned a darker shade of red than before, and he was acutely aware that Yamakawa was staring at him as though he had grown another head.
"Em, excuse me – I'm going to check on Tsutomu-kun." Eiji hastily rose to his feet.
"But Tsutomu is still sleeping, it's alright –" Before Tokio could stop him, Eiji dashed out of the room.
Silence hung in the air after the boy's abrupt exit. Yamakawa scratched his head and looked out onto the garden. The hydrangea bushes were beginning to bloom in anticipation of the coming rainy season. It reminded him of the inner courtyard of the old Takagi estate in Wakamatsu; Tokio had designed it in memory of the happy days of a bygone era. Muku dozed in the shade under a small maple tree, ears moving to and fro at the sounds around her.
The water in the kettle had heated up and Tokio filled the teapot.
"I'm sorry that I upset the boy," Yamakawa spoke after she had served the tea. "He seems like a good kid."
"He is a good child," Tokio said with feeling, "but he has been through a terrible experience." She lowered her eyes and sighed.
"So, how does the Hitokiri Battousai fit into the picture?" Yamakawa could not let that subject slide.
"Shame on you, Taizou." She only used his childhood nickname when she wanted to scold him. "If Danna-sama did not tell you, what makes you think I would?" She sniffed, and stoked the charcoal in the hibachi. "And in any case, you should know that he would hardly need to call upon any extra forces if his target was simply Himura Battousai."
"Haha, as proud of him as ever, aren't you?" Yamakawa ribbed.
"I have every right to be," she responded unabashedly.
"Well, there's no denying that he's been restless ever since I told him that the Battousai had resurfaced after all these years." Yamakawa sipped his tea, recalling the conversation from a few months back.
"These kawara senbei are good!" Tokio took a bite and remarked, in an obvious attempt to change the conversation.
"Sada-chan," Yamakawa clicked his tongue in exasperation, using her childhood name in turn. "Come on, what do you think I do for a living? I handle sensitive government information every day. And I know that Minister Yamagata offered Himura Battousai a high-level position at the ministry, but the fool turned it down. I mean, I can't say I was upset about that – I don't think that even I would be comfortable working with the most famous murderer of the Bakumatsu."
Tokio bowed her head slightly; the Ishin Shishi might hold Himura Kenshin in high esteem as a hero of the Meiji Restoration, but it was clear that he did not regard himself as such. And although Yamakawa Hiroshi had never met the man who had played such a bloody part in the downfall of the Bakufu, his reputation among the samurai of Aizu was not flattering.
"I presumed he had a falling out with the government bigwigs – but you're telling me that he's not the one stirring up trouble?" Yamakawa persisted in trying to find out more. Tokio relented a little.
"All I can tell you now is that Himura Battousai is not at odds with the government. He happened to cross paths with Eiji when his life was in danger, and he helped him until Danna-sama arrived." She met Yamakawa's keen eyes. "And no, he is not the enemy."
"Perhaps not." Yamakawa contemplated what she had said for a moment. "But to a Captain of the Shinsengumi, and to the people of Aizu, he could hardly be considered a friend."
They drank their tea in silence, both wrapped in their own thoughts. In the garden, a mejiro bird broke out into song, causing Muku to lift up her head and sniff the air. The bright light of day clouded over and the skies threatened to break. The country would soon be veiled by the dull rains of the monsoon, but the water would replenish the land, bringing forth fresh blooms and the bright green of the rice fields.
= Meiji Year 11 (1878), February – Tokyo, Bunkyo Ward =
The day had enough of winter's bite left that Fujita Gorō almost regretted stepping out for lunch. However, it had been months since he had last seen Yamakawa Hiroshi, and the invitation to soba was a welcome respite from being cooped up at the station all day. He ducked inside the restaurant and was greeted genially by the former Aizu commander.
"Good to see you!"
"Welcome back to Tokyo." Fujita sat down opposite his friend.
"How's the family?"
"They're fine. Tokio sends her regards; she wants you to come by soon."
"And Tsutomu-kun?" By a quirk of fate, Yamakawa had been the one who named the Fujitas' firstborn, and he was as fond of the infant as any man could be of another man's child.
"He's a handful. We haven't had a moment's peace since he learnt to walk." There was a hint of smugness to Fujita's griping that did not escape his friend's notice. "And how's yours?"
"Same old, same old." Yamakawa sighed with mock weariness.
"I'll have the usual," Fujita said to the waitress who was setting down their teas and hot hand towels.
"Do you ever order anything besides kakesoba?" Yamakawa asked rhetorically. "I'll have the daily special please." He wiped his hands on the towel.
"I was surprised to get your note yesterday – thought they would keep you in Kagoshima for longer." Fujita spoke after the woman disappeared into the kitchen.
"Yeah, I just got back a few days ago – I accompanied Minister Yamagata. I'm glad to be away from that chaos at last." It had been less than half a year since the end of the Seinan War, and the country was still reeling from the turmoil. "There's still a tough slog ahead to get the government back on track."
"How much time do you have today?" While Saitou was allowed to set his own schedule for the most part, there was a mountain of work to see to regarding his latest assignment.
"Same as you – not too long. But there was something I wanted to talk to you about as soon as possible." Yamakawa said in a serious tone.
"If it's about Teru Hime's blasted garden party, I already told Tokio that I'm not going." Fujita growled in irritation.
"Oh come on, don't leave me on my own at such a stuffy event! At least we can drink some quality sake at the Dragon Lady's expense." Yamakawa made an expression of supplication.
"It's not nearly enough compensation for putting up with that woman's vanity." Fujita snorted at the suggestion. "In any case, I'm busy with work. You make your own excuses."
"Ah, if I could do that…." Yamakawa was hardly in a position to refuse the princess; unlike Fujita, he was a born and bred retainer of Aizu. "But no, that's not what I wanted to talk about." He glanced around the room to make sure that nobody else was in earshot, and lowered his voice. "The Hitokiri Battousai has reappeared, here in Tokyo."
Fujita narrowed his eyes, and exhaled sharply.
"Did you not get my message that those killings were the work of a fake?"
A couple of months ago, when a man claiming to be the Hitokiri Battousai began attacking people indiscriminately, Fujita had been asked to examine the bodies and crime scenes. He had immediately determined that the murders were not committed by his old nemesis.
"The swordsmanship is extremely crude; there's just no comparison. Unless we're to assume that the Battousai has lost his skills as well as his mind, there's nothing to suggest that he's the perpetrator."
That had been his conclusion in his report to Commissioner Kawaji, and he had handed off the investigation. Afterwards, he heard that Lieutenant Inspector Ujiki had been assigned to the taskforce. 'Let the frog in the well eat the small fry', he had thought at the time. Ujiki openly disliked Fujita (though that in itself was not unusual), at times disparaging his ties to Aizu, and the feeling was mutual. The Satsuma man had previously challenged him to a kendō match; Fujita had obliged, and proven that his special status on the force was indeed merited.
For the moment, however, Fujita was in charge of more pressing issues in his portfolio. Ever since the end of the Seinan War, dark rumors were afoot and he had only recently confirmed a most disturbing piece of information. A different ghost from the past, one that had been shrouded in utmost secrecy, had risen from the dead. Even he had been surprised to learn about Shishio Makoto, the man who took over Himura Battousai's role as an assassin when Himura stepped out from the shadows onto the frontlines. Although he had been aware that another assassin was operating in the later years of the Bakumatsu, to put a name to the deeds after all these years fueled conflicting emotions. Frustration that they had not been able to prevent the assassinations in Kyoto a decade ago. Satisfaction in finding another piece of the puzzle. Irritation that his superiors still tightly guarded intelligence that they only disclosed to him on a need-to-know basis. And not least, anticipation: this was a battle worthy of the Wolf of Mibu.
Having casually dismissed Yamakawa's scoop, he was caught entirely off guard by his friend's next statement.
"It just so happens that the fake lured out the real thing. Yamagata-kyo met with him two days ago. Red hair, cross-shaped scar and all."
Fujita froze as the news sank in. The waitress brought out their food, but he remained still with his eyes fixed on Yamakawa, silent as his mind raced.
"Your soba will get cold." Yamakawa said in an offhand manner, aware of the impact his words were having on the man seated across the table.
"The details," Fujita demanded.
"There was an incident involving a lieutenant inspector of the police force, I think his name was Ujiki–"
"That fool." Fujita snorted at the mention of the name.
"Well, he was throwing his weight around the downtown district, and threatened the Battousai and his companion without realizing who he was. Yamagata-kyo arrived on the scene just as the Battousai took him down." Yamakawa took a bite of his noodles.
Fujita's furrowed his brow and clenched his fists.
"He killed Ujiki?" News like that would normally have spread like wildfire throughout the force, but he had heard nothing.
Yamakawa did not answer straight away, taking the time to swallow his food.
"No, and this is the thing – there were about ten police officers who challenged the Battousai, and they couldn't land a scratch on him. But it seems that he's using a reverse-blade sword so not one of them suffered lasting injury." Yamakawa's tone was incredulous, despite the fact that he was the one telling the tale.
"A sakabatou?" Fujita's voice rose. "Ridiculous." It did not faze him in the least that the Battousai had taken on so many opponents and won, but he could not even begin to imagine the deadly assassin wielding such an impractical weapon.
"I couldn't believe it either. I wouldn't have believed it, except that it came straight from Yamagata-kyo's mouth." Yamakawa shook his head.
"You said this happened two days ago?" Fujita's mind was a whirl as he digested the information.
"I contacted you as soon as I heard." Yamakawa noticed that Fujita had yet to touch his food.
"And what did Minister Yamagata do?" Fujita reached for his cigarettes, something he usually refrained from doing during a meal.
"Apparently, the minister has been looking for Himura Battousai for years. He offered him a high ranking position in the Imperial Army." Yamakawa paused, watching as Fujita struck a match and lit the tobacco. "The Battousai turned it down."
Fujita coughed, having inhaled too quickly. Despite the key role the Hitokiri Battousai had played during the Bakumatsu, it was true that he had never wielded his sword for personal or political gain. However, turning down a position from the Minister of the Army was not something to be done lightly.
"So, any idea what he's been doing all this time?" Fujita exhaled, the smoke drifting in coils towards the ceiling.
"Now, that would be in your purview, wouldn't it?" Yamakawa raised an eyebrow, recognizing that Fujita's eye had a gleam in them that he had not seen since the Boshin War. "But I will say, don't be reckless." Yamakawa lifted up the bowl and took a sip of the soup. "Your wife would never forgive me if she thought I incited you to do something rash."
"I never do anything rash," Fujita answered coolly, although his dining partner was not convinced.
Indeed, this revelation would need to be handled with the utmost care and forethought. Questions crowded into his mind: why was the Battousai wielding a sakabatou; what had he been doing all these years; what business did he have in Tokyo; and what did Fujita himself, both as a lieutenant inspector of the police and as the Third Captain of the Shinsengumi, want to do about it?
For the first time in his life, Fujita Gorō left his soba untouched and growing cold. No matter how many cigarettes he smoked, it did nothing to calm his agitation. As they parted ways, Yamakawa thought that he had never seen the man so distracted from the present and yet incredibly focused at the same time. Even as they promised to drink together another night, Yamakawa knew that the reunion between the two veterans of the Battle of Aizu and the Seinan War was completely overshadowed by news of the Hitokiri Battousai. Despite the large workload currently on his plate, Fujita would no doubt set himself to finding out all that he could about Himura's current situation. He was not considered the best agent in the police force for nothing, and Yamakawa felt a pang of apprehension at the thought of a possible confrontation between the man formerly known as Saitou Hajime and the legendary Hitokiri.
= Meiji Year 11 (1878), early June – Osaka =
Lieutenant Inspector Fujita Gorō was a formidable character, just as the rumors said, thought the agent who had come to deliver the latest report from Kyoto. It was the first time meeting him in person, but as a government operative, one of the prerequisites of doing surveillance work was being an astute judge of character.
"You said your name was Taguchi," Fujita addressed the agent without lifting his eyes from the page. "Did you witness the incident yourself?"
"From a distance," Taguchi answered briefly, trying to keep his nervousness from showing. Taguchi was a spy, not a soldier, and his survival depended on his ability to keep out of trouble, not be a part of it. There was no doubt in his mind: the senior officer was as deadly and as dangerous as any of the targets of his operation.
"This weapon that was used," Fujita narrowed his eyes in displeasure, "Arai Shakkū's final masterpiece. There's no mistake?"
"No mistake, sir. As proof, the criminal Sawagejou Chou is currently recovering from his wounds in police custody." Taguchi was puzzled as to why Fujita appeared dissatisfied; surely he should be glad that the man was alive and therefore able to answer questions?
"Himura Kenshin left the Aoi-ya the following day, whereabouts currently unknown." Reading aloud from the file, the sentence came out as a growl.
"We are currently trying to trace his movements…." Taguchi's voice trailed off as Fujita glared at him.
"He won't be found until he wants to be." Fujita put down the papers and took out a cigarette. "The police will proceed with their own plans."
"So should we stop looking for him?" He immediately regretted the question as soon as it was out of his mouth.
"Ahou." Fujita snorted contemptuously. "A dog who walks around may still find a bone." Taguchi prickled slightly at being compared to a dog, but if Fujita noticed, he obviously did not care.
Arai Shakkū's final masterpiece was a sakabatou, a superior sakabatou to the one Himura Kenshin had carried for a decade. When Fujita had advised him to strengthen his resolve after the confrontation at Shingetsu-mura, this was not what he had meant. He began to smoke, trying to collect his thoughts. 'That fool will continue to walk the path of most resistance,' Fujita said to himself. To face Shishio with half-hearted determination would only result in death, and nothing short of death would stop Shishio. That much was clear from what he had uncovered about the man over the months and confirmed during their encounter at the village. Shishio was a man of unyielding (and twisted) ambition, and Himura's vow of 'korosazu' would only serve to shackle his own self in the coming battle. Whatever he was doing now, hiding somewhere in the mountains around Kyoto, it had better be something better than finding a new sakabatou. At the end, Fujita would have to be the one to deliver the final blow against the enemy; he could not trust a man who would not kill in a battle to the death. It irked him, it galled him more than he cared to admit, how the Hitokiri Battousai had chosen to live his life. The 'rurouni's path" was merely a way for Himura Kenshin to escape his past, and those who could not face the past could not be counted upon to face the future.
= Meiji Year 11 (1878), early March – Tokyo, Bunkyo Ward =
It was a rare day off for her husband, and Tokio was conscious that he was watching her more attentively than usual. She wondered what was on his mind; she knew that he was debating whether to discuss some case with her or not, but in the meantime, she was making a game out of meeting him eye for eye. For the most part, it was he who turned away first, although there were times when she lost her nerve and tried to hide it by pouring tea, or picking up her sewing, or tending to their son who was playing in the garden.
At a particularly intense juncture in this unspoken competition, it was Tsutomu who broke the tension.
"Oniiii! Oniiiii!" He darted forward on his short legs, yelling, and threw some dried beans at his father who was seated on the engawa.
"Tsutomu!" Tokio hurried after him as he ran around the garden, but it was Fujita that caught him first. "Where on earth did you get those beans?" Tokio scolded him as he threw some more at his mother.
"He must have hidden some from Setsubun." Fujita held onto the boy as he tried to squirm away.
"But that was a month ago!" Tokio frowned as she picked up the beans from the ground. "… Though I guess he hasn't seen you in a while. He's certainly very excited today."
In February, their son had thoroughly enjoyed the ceremony that marked the beginning of spring. Their family had celebrated it according to tradition, and Tokio and Morinosuke had almost collapsed from laughter at the sight of Fujita wearing a demon's mask, trying to scare the young boy. Instead of being frightened, however, Tsutomu had been thrilled by this new game with his father, enthusiastically pelting him with the beans and shouting at the demon figure to leave.
"He's got guts," Fujita had been pleased, and when Morinosuke recounted the tale to the Yamakawa brothers, they all made fun of what a doting parent the fearsome Miburo had become.
That was the last time Tsutomu had played with his father, for since then, Fujita had become increasingly busy. Oftentimes, he would not come home until his son was asleep and would leave before he awoke. His wife had been most pleased when he had returned late the previous night and informed her that he would be staying at home the following day.
"Oniiiii….." Tsutomu gurgled, happy to be in his father's arms.
"Oi, you're drooling." Fujita scowled and held the boy at arms length. "Tokio, he's drooling."
"That is what babies tend to do." Tokio said wryly as she held out a handkerchief to wipe her son's chin. "He's happy that you're home."
"Hmph. And what about you?" He looked slyly at his wife. "You've done nothing but stare at me the whole day."
"I've been staring at you?" She raised an eyebrow at his statement.
"Boring holes in my head, practically. So, are you happy that I'm home?" Fujita set Tsutomu down, but Tsutomu clamped onto his father's leg.
Tokio smiled indulgently as the tall, lean man tried to disengage the small bundle of energy, with little success.
"I was just thinking how happy you must be to be at home. After all, you've done nothing but stare at me today." She repeated his words back to him in jest. "I know you find me quite attractive, but it is somewhat embarrassing," she added, although she did not look the least bit embarrassed.
"I know you find me quite attractive," Fujita's mimicked and flicked a bean at her. "I don't know why you'd be embarrassed by that." The bean bounced off her forehead, causing Tsutomu to break into peals of laughter.
Tokio pursed her lips in disapproval, and rubbed her brow.
"You're setting a bad example for our son."
"That's fine – you're all the good influence that he needs." He caught her hand and pulled her towards him as he sat back down on the engawa, his son still clinging to his knees.
"My, how irresponsible of you!" Tokio exhaled exasperatedly, although she was smiling as she sat down next to him. "So, are you going to tell me whatever it is that you've been wanting to tell me?" Despite her husband's taciturn nature, she knew that he was always happier when he could confide in her.
Fujita did not answer for a while, and she added more charcoal to the hibachi as she waited patiently for him to start.
"Hitokiri Battousai." Out of habit, his hand went for the inner pocket where he kept his cigarettes, but he was not in uniform and his cigarettes were not on his person. "We're going to test him." By 'we', he meant the police department and his direct superiors.
"…. How?" She asked after a beat, keeping her voice calm and even.
"We're setting him up against Kurogasa." He glanced at her, and saw that she was biting her lip in surprise.
A couple of months ago, Fujita had investigated the assassination of a former Ishin Shishi in Shizuoka. Close to a hundred men had lost their lives or been injured in that incident. Those that had survived made very similar statements: that when Kurogasa looked into their eyes, they had been paralyzed on the spot. The fact that most of the victims experienced the same condition and the uniformity of the accounts frightened the local police; the whispers that it was due to some kind of supernatural power reached Fujita's ears. He quickly and caustically quashed the rumors; this was not witchcraft, but most likely Kurogasa was using 'Nikaidō Heihō Shin-no-Ippo'. In all his years as a swordsman, he had only ever met one man who could use that technique.
"You really think it could be Udō Jin'e?" Tokio murmured, smoothing the fabric of her kimono over her knees.
"It's a rare technique. The odds of coming across two practitioners in a lifetime would be astronomical." Fujita stared at nothing in particular, focused on an old memory in his mind's eye.
Udō Jin'e had been a member of the Shinsengumi, albeit only for a short time. When he had joined, people had kept their distance; despite his skills, he was an outlier, even in that pack of wolves. "Udō-san always smells of death," Okita had noted distastefully. During his time with the group, his bloodlust grew increasingly unrestrained to the point that it disrupted the organization's operations. Just before Hijikata ordered his execution, Udō fled, killing the men who were sent to pursue him. Capital punishment within the ranks often fell to Saitou Hajime to carry out, but he happened to be away in Osaka at the time. Udō was never seen by the Shinsengumi again, although reports were that he became an assassin-for-hire in the pay of Ishin Shishi. It was one assignment that Saitou regretted leaving unfulfilled.
"I only saw him once, but he disturbed me…." She said quietly. She vaguely remembered seeing Udō as part of a Shinsengumi patrol in Kyoto, and although she could not recall his face, she had not forgotten the chill that his unsettling eyes had sent down her spine. She had inquired about the man, and learned his name, and then learned about his indiscriminate violence and that he had absconded from the group.
Fujita slipped an arm around his wife's shoulders, drawing her closer, and continued.
"Kurogasa's next target is Tani Jūsanrō at the Ministry of the Army."
"Oh, the one that Hiroshi-san is always complaining about." Tokio said with some disdain.
"This way, I figure we kill two birds with one stone." He shrugged nonchalantly.
"Or three – no matter which way it goes, it works out for you, doesn't it?" She lifted her feet and stretched them out in front of her.
If Himura Battousai disposed of Kurogasa, it would be fine by the police: they would not have to jeopardize any more lives against the assassin. It would allow Fujita to concentrate on the bigger and more important mission regarding Shishio Makoto. Fujita could also use the opportunity to gauge Himura's abilities; ten years had passed since their last encounter, and those years were not carried lightly. And if Tani ended up dead in the process, caught between the blades, it was no loss for Fujita – in fact, judging from what Yamakawa had said about the bumptious buffoon, Japan would be better off without him. On the other hand, if Kurogasa killed Himura, it would be an indication that his skills had declined and that he was not worth getting directly involved with. In that case, Fujita rationalized, it would just be a matter of killing Kurogasa himself.
"Do you disapprove?" He tilted his head to look at her.
"On the contrary," Tokio leaned back into him, "I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't relieved. You'll spare yourself one battle at least." Despite her absolute confidence in his abilities, Kurogasa was a madman who reveled in killing frenzies, and it was not unreasonable for her to worry about her husband facing him.
"If I didn't delegate some of my duties, I'd never get a day off," he smirked.
"A hitokiri against a hitokiri…." Tokio murmured with a slight frown. A thought dawned on her, and she pulled away from her husband slightly and fixed him with a meaningful look. "When you said that you're going to test him…." Fujita smirked at her again. "What you really meant was his resolution not to kill." Her voice was low but perfectly clear.
He paused before he responded, appreciating the fact that Tokio always understood the various nuances of a situation.
"His life as a rurouni is the life of a hypocrite." She had a way of making him talk that no other person could; perhaps it was her keen eyes that always seemed to see through to the core of him, or perhaps it was because he trusted her more than anyone else in the world. "And it resolves nothing."
Tokio nodded, although it was not entirely in agreement. Last month, when she was told about Himura Battousai's presence in the city, she had been troubled. Then, when she was told that he had spent the last ten years wandering the country as a rurouni, and that he now wielded a sakabatou, she had been astonished. It was not the life she would have ever expected for the notorious Ishin Shishi – and yet, from what little she knew about him from when they had met, all those years ago in Kyoto, she had felt strangely glad that he had not sought to profit from the Meiji Restoration.
"Do you think he lost faith in his path?" She pictured him traveling all around the land, a solitary figure on the road. The young man had been incredibly idealistic, so much so that disillusionment must have struck him terribly.
"In the past ten years, he's made no ties that I've been able to find out about." Fujita stated coolly, "He's never stayed in one place for long, and he disappears after people discover his identity. If that's not a man trying to escape his past, then it's a man whose self-indulgence is such that he contents himself with a lukewarm existence without trying to make a proper life for himself, or ever putting everything on the line."
Tokio studied her husband as she listened to his words. She understood why he was aggravated; Fujita had never been anything but proud of his past, and he was as committed as ever to his duty. He never hesitated to put everything on the line, not simply to 'help those before his eyes' but for the sake of the country, and also for the family he cherished. Although they might have been alike in some ways, the Hitokiri Battousai and Shinsengumi Captain, at the same time, they were polar opposites.
They sat in silence, and Tsutomu seized the opportunity to clamber onto his father's back. Fujita allowed him up onto his shoulders, his son's favorite vantage point. Tokio watched, her heart full of love for her husband and child, and her mind mulling over what he had said.
"Ten years is a long time…. Times have changed, and so have people." She sighed wistfully. Not everyone was as lucky as they were, to have been able to hold onto what they held most dearly. It had not been easy; they had struggled for every bit of happiness that they now enjoyed, and they were both fiercely protective of it. As a woman of Aizu, she too knew what it was like to have to kill in order to defend what was important; the war had taught her much about the value of life, and she valued the lives of her family above all. Himura Battousai could afford to be a rurouni perhaps because he had no such bonds in life. Or perhaps, as she had said to a grieving young man on a cold winter's day over a decade ago, he should never have become an assassin in the first place.
"Hmph." Fujita's lip curled contemptuously. "People's minds are fickle but their nature stays the same. You expect me to believe that he might have changed, that he is no longer the Hitokiri that he used to be?"
"The world is full of contradictions, Hajime-sama." She smiled at him in a heart wrenching way, the same smile that had won him over all those years ago. "Why, just look at yourself. One of the most terrifying men of the Bakumatsu, and yet a child has the better of you." She chuckled while Fujita scowled, but the fierceness of his glare was made that much more comical by the fact that Tsutomu had grabbed handfuls of his hair and it was now sticking out in all sorts of unnatural directions.
This was Fujita Gorō's sanctuary, this home that his wife made for him – a life that he had hardly dared to imagine, with the woman that he had always wanted to be with and the child that she had borne him. This hard won reality was the reason why he remained so committed to his duty and why he was so resolute in his stand. He would allow nothing to threaten his family, and he never felt guilty about the lengths that he went to in order to protect the peace of their every day lives. She never doubted his determination, her faith in him was unconditional, and she helped him bear the weight of it all. Regret and remorse: perhaps that was the key difference between her husband and Himura Battousai, Tokio reflected.
"Tsutomu, stop drooling on my head." The man lowered his son off his shoulders and held him upside down, as the boy yelled in delight at the rough housing.
"He's overexcited, and you're not helping." Tokio chided her husband. "Perhaps if you take him for a walk, it will tire him out and he'll take a nap."
"A walk?" At the sound of the word 'walk', Muku, who had been lying quietly beneath the engawa, scrambled up and barked eagerly. "Tch! See what you've started now?" The look in his eye belied the grumbling tone of his voice.
"Lunch will be ready when you return," Tokio ran her hands through his hair, trying to restore some semblance of respectability to the disheveled mess.
"Don't think you're getting away that easily." Fujita growled and caught her wrist playfully. "You're coming too."
"I have so much housework to finish, and food to prepare." Tokio shook her head, and it was true that there was no end to a housewife's work.
"Leave it – the house won't fall apart if you take it easy for a day. And we'll eat out for lunch." It was his rare day off after all, and he did not want her to be occupied with chores when they could be spending time together.
The family made preparations to go out, donning their spring jackets and locking up. Tsutomu refused to be carried, as headstrong as toddlers could be.
"Pity we can't put a leash on Tsutomu too, to stop him from running off," Fujita said half-jokingly as he fastened a collar around Muku's neck. Tokio gave a small laugh - she had thought the same thing on occasion.
"Where should we go for lunch?" She asked as she wrapped a shawl around her shoulders.
"There's that new soba place that opened up by the University. Morinosuke said it was good," he suggested.
"I should have guessed," Tokio sighed.
"What's wrong with soba?"
"Oh, nothing. Just that women do appreciate variety in their lives."
"Tokio…. You better not be talking about other men."
"Hajime-sama!" She pushed him out the door.
They both enjoyed it when she called him by his old name, a private moment in a private world, just for the two of them.
It was a crisp spring day, and the peach blossoms swayed in the gentle breeze. The neighbors greeted them as they walked, some remarking that it had been a while since they had seen the family all together. It was the epitome of tranquil domesticity, the only incongruous detail being the sword at the man's side.
The following day, Fujita would be back to work, gathering intelligence and setting things in motion. In a few days time, Himura Kenshin would be asked to act as a bodyguard for Tani Jūsanrō, and he would confront Kurogasa, Udō Jin'e. It would be another couple of months until the fateful encounter between the former Captain of the Shinsengumi and the Hitokiri Battousai took place. It was Meiji Year 11, but there were still fierce battles to be fought, and there were still wounds of the Bakumatsu that had yet to heal.
= Meiji Year 11 (1878), early June – Tokyo, Bunkyo Ward =
"He said for me not to go to Itabashi on my own?" Tokio blinked a few times and sighed. "Well, I'm afraid it's too late. The three of us went just a few days ago."
"Of course you did," Yamakawa sighed too, and continued in a firm voice. "He's quite concerned about your safety this time."
"At the moment, there doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary." Tokio reassured him. "The police check in on us every day, and I dare say nothing would escape the notice of Kobayashi-san around the corner."
Yamakawa grimaced; the woman Tokio referred to was a neighbor of exceedingly curious nature, and a fountain of gossip. (Tokio would describe her tactfully as 'observant', whereas Fujita had less choice words, such as 'a carbuncle of neighborly relations'.) She was quite interested in the comings and goings of the Fujitas ("the wife is too good looking to be left on her own," she had previously stopped Yamakawa on the street in order to tell him, implying that she disapproved of all the male visitors to the house while the husband was away), and could be counted on to provide a running commentary on life in the district.
"Danna-sama says that she's better than some government agents at gathering intelligence," Tokio chuckled. "She kindly informed me that there were rumors going around about Eiji's parentage – and that she had set everybody straight about the fact that he was not in fact my husband's illegitimate child." Yamakawa choked on his tea, and spluttered with laughter. "It was quite hard to keep a straight face," she added mildly.
"That's a classic…." He wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. "So now, everyone's looking at you, wondering whether he brought home his mistress' child for you to raise." Yamakawa guffawed in amusement.
"Which reminds me, I should go check on him." Tokio made to get up.
"No, I'll go." Yamakawa stopped her. "I was the one who upset him, I better make amends."
He found Eiji in a corner of the front garden, where he was keeping himself busy brushing Muku's fur.
"It's obvious why she likes you – you take good care of her, don't you?" Yamakawa could swear that the dog was grinning in contentment. "Or rather, you guys take good care of each other."
Eiji looked up at the man, and the corners of his mouth twitched in the beginnings of a smile.
"Eiji-kun, I'm sorry for upsetting you." Yamakawa apologized sincerely. "Sometimes, I can be a stupid ojisan that doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut."
"No, it's fine. I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have been so rude." Eiji was chastened; Yamakawa Hiroshi was a trusted friend of the Fujitas, and he had not meant to offend him.
"You were standing up for the man who saved your life." Yamakawa crouched down beside him and petted Muku's head. "Tokio-san told me."
"I… I know that I shouldn't talk about him." Eiji flushed again, recalling that it was supposed to be classified information. "But I kind of want to…."
"I've found over the years that it's bad for you to keep things bottled up. If you want to talk about him, you should talk about him. Not to me if you don't feel like it, but maybe to Tokio-san and Fujita." Yamakawa gave a short laugh. "Though I daresay Fujita is not the easiest man to open up to."
"I don't want to upset Tokio-san," Eiji said hesitantly. "Himura-san used to be Aizu's enemy, right?"
In the past couple of weeks, Eiji had learned a lot about the Bakumatsu. While he understood that it was more complicated than a matter of 'the good guys versus the bad guys', he felt a great deal of sympathy for Tokio whenever she talked about the fate of her homeland and people.
"True, he was one of our worst enemies. However, isn't it also true that you think he's a good man?" Yamakawa smiled sympathetically at the boy; to see the world in black and white was the privilege of childhood, and it was the first step into adulthood to begin to see shades of grey. "Tokio-san is not so close-minded or as coldhearted as to dismiss your feelings."
"I couldn't stand it if anybody said anything good about my enemies," Eiji muttered darkly.
Yamakawa paused for a moment, weighing his words.
"You've been through something terrible, I know. And it's not the kind of thing that you can forget, or easily forgive." Yamakawa stood back up and raised his eyes to the sky.
"I will never forgive them! Never!" Eiji almost spat in anger.
"But sooner or later, you must learn to move on." Yamakawa stated quietly. "You know, I work for the Imperial Army now. I work alongside the very men who besieged my homeland, who killed my friends and destroyed our lives. My wife died in that battle…." He was looking far off into the distance as he spoke. "Why do you think I can do that?"
Eiji eyes widened and he opened his mouth, but could not think of an answer.
"Because I came to terms with the fact that they were not evil men. And I want to serve my country." Yamakawa met the boy's gaze. "That's all I've ever wanted to do. And when you're an adult, sometimes you have to swallow your personal feelings in order to do what is right."
"What is right?" Eiji repeated the words. "You mean, protecting the country?"
"Yes." Yamakawa looked kindly at him. "No matter what flag we fought under during the Boshin War, we all hoped for a better future for Japan. And the best way to restore the honor of Aizu is to lead admirable lives in this new era. That's why I do what I do now, that's why Kenjirō teaches at the University, and that's why Fujita is a police officer."
"Himura-san, he really used to be the Hitokiri Battousai…." Eiji ran his hands over Muku's glossy coat. "But he's a rurouni now, and he's vowed never to kill again."
"War makes monsters of men, but if we're lucky, we can go back to being just men." Yamakawa patted the boy on the head. "So don't be afraid to talk to Tokio-san. She understands these things better than most – just look at who she's married to."
Coming to terms with grief and acceptance was something that Eiji struggled with daily, but talking did seem to ease the pain. He was beginning to understand why Tokio prayed in front of the family altar every day, a moment of bittersweet peace. There were many questions that gave him no peace of mind, and a rage that he found hard to suppress at times, but there was also a fresh sense of appreciation. He was not alone, and there were people who wanted to help him.
The young boy looked up at Yamakawa and nodded.
"Thank you, Yamakawa-san." Eiji stood up and bowed. He closed his eyes to push back the small pinpricks of tears; it was a feeling that he experienced often since his arrival, the feeling that other people's kindness almost made him cry.
"Haha, no need to be so formal. You can call me Hiroshi, or 'Ojisan'." Yamakawa was not a man to stand on ceremony, one of the reasons why he managed to get along with Fujita.
"Hiroshi Ojisan –" Eiji sounded surprised to be allowed such familiarity, but was cut short by a small creature launching forth from behind the bushes to attack the legs of the man.
"Oh! Tsutomu-kun!" Yamakawa dodged the greeting. "Were you awake?"
"He woke up a little while ago." Eiji watched the younger boy darting about.
"Is that so? I bet you stink after your nap. Let's get you to your mother to change your diaper." Yamakawa evaded the toddler's grasp.
"I already changed it," Eiji shrugged.
"You did?" Yamakawa looked at him again, and allowed himself to be caught by Tsutomu. The man picked up the little boy and tucked him under his arm. "Tokio-san was right. You really are a good kid."
Just then, it began to rain, and they hurried inside the house. Tokio thanked Eiji for looking after Tsutomu and urged him to have some kawara senbei. Yamakawa Hiroshi stayed for another while, talking to Tokio about this and that, about old memories, and about their friends from Aizu. The rain did not let up for the rest of the day, and he borrowed an umbrella when it was time for him to head home.
"This is for Futaba-san," Tokio handed him a book for his sister. "I promised her that I would lend it to her. Please take care going home."
"Ah, and you make sure to lock up well." He stepped out and put up the umbrella. "Eiji-kun, it was nice to meet you." He smiled warmly at the young boy. "Oh, if anybody asks about your background, you should just tell them the truth: that one day Fujita showed up and told you that you were coming to live with him and his family."
"Hiroshi-san!" Tokio sounded scandalized.
"Alright, see you again soon!" Yamakawa walked off quickly into the gloomy twilight.
"What was he talking about, Tokio-san?" Eiji asked after he had disappeared.
"Never mind," Tokio sighed, and then smiled at the boy. "Now, should we have dinner? You picked up some good tofu today."
"So did he tell you much about Fujita-san?" Eiji inquired as they headed to the kitchen.
"He's been pushing his men hard, it seems." She smiled as she spoke about her husband. "He's always been like that, holding people to the same standards as he holds himself to."
This was life in the new Meiji era. Some old wounds had healed, while others had not, and some wounds were fresh but mending. And although battles still raged in the shadows, and the world was constantly changing, people lived as best as they could, with grace, with honor and with dignity.
= Meiji Year 11 (1878), early June – Osaka =
Fujita Gorō crushed the urgent telegram that he had just received, his teeth bared in anger. The subordinate officer who had brought it in flinched as the lieutenant inspector turned towards him, but his voice was surprisingly cool when he spoke.
"Inform the carriage driver that we will not be proceeding to Kyoto, but I'll be taking a boat back to Kobe."
"Back to Kobe?" The Osaka Chief of Police leaned forward in his chair. "What happened?"
"The specialist unit I created was wiped out." Fujita spoke matter-of-factly, but the cold fury in his eyes sent a shiver through the police chief's body. "I have to return to Kobe before heading to Kyoto."
Fujita had come to Osaka on his way to Kyoto in order to assess the number of reinforcements he could divert to the old capital for the upcoming mission. However, this disturbing development meant that most of the plans that he had laid thus far would need to be revised immediately.
Ōkubo Toshimichi's assassination, the escape from Shingetsu-mura, and now this: Shishio Makoto, it seemed, was always one step ahead of them. To massacre an entire troop of accomplished swordsmen, without there being any witnesses, was no small feat. It was infuriating, and there would be serious reflection on the failures in the operation. However, without the Subjugation Force, he was sorely lacking the necessary manpower to deal with Shishio's organization.
Himura Kenshin had disappeared and was still nowhere to be found. 'Who knows what that damned rurouni is thinking,' the man also known as Saitou Hajime said to himself. Nonetheless, as strange as it was, Saitou had no doubt that Himura would appear in time to face Shishio Makoto. The question was, whether he would face the enemy as the Rurouni and die, or as the Hitokiri Battousai and kill.
As Saitou left Osaka, he thought about his last meeting with Yamakawa. "I can't promise you they'll all come back alive." He had not thought at the time that none of the men assigned to his command would survive, without having even left their quarters. How foolish it was of Himura Kenshin to think that he could fight without staining his hands with blood. This was a battle, a battle for the future of Japan, and all the men who volunteered to serve the country knew what it was that they risked. The best way he could honor their service and their memory was to ensure the successful completion of the mission. Just as it had been when he was with the Shinsengumi, so it was for him now. 'A wolf is a wolf, the Shinsengumi is the Shinsengumi, and a Hitokiri must be a Hitokiri….'
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Author's Notes: To all the people who have sent me messages, left reviews, listed the story as a favorite and followed me, thank you so much as always for all your wonderful support! I am very grateful to everyone who has taken the time to reach out - it's wonderful to talk to fellow fans and spread the love. As always, any comments or criticisms are most welcome - I will do my best to reply and answer questions as best as I can.
Part of my appreciation stems from the fact that I know that my writing is a niche product. After all, despite the number of chapters and words, I think it could win a prize for "least number of appearances by actual Rurouni Kenshin characters". It's also long and finicky, with lots of historical/cultural annotations. So I beg your indulgence once again, and most fervently hope you enjoyed this chapter. It is getting close to the moment when we will actually have members of the Kenshin-gumi appear! (Gasp!) I'm afraid that I won't be able to do them justice, to be honest...
Also, I'm a little worried that readers will be upset that I'm too hard on Kenshin. Saitou's opinions about Kenshin are not my own (I love all of the characters very much!), but I believe that they are in character. There is a reason why Saitou never became 'friends' with the Kenshin-gumi after all. I drew on his own words, as well as on the live action movie for inspiration.
Pictures and Cultural notes available on the MKR Tumblr (see profile page)
Eeni is busy working on Chapter 4 of the CLT Doujinshi! Thank you for all the support you've shown her work!
Language Notes:
Okaerinasai - standard greeting for welcoming someone home
Korosazu - (though most people should recognize this) literally means "not to kill" but it's used like a noun in RK
Oni - demon or ogre
Ojisan - can mean either 'uncle' or any middle-aged man, or both