Happy New Year! Apologies for the delay. I'll make up for it by posting another chapter this week. Thanks for the reviews and favs!
~~ January 1865 ~~
Winter was a slow time for the Shinsengumi. With the dip in temperature came a noticeable drop in criminal activities. Patrols became short and infrequent after the snow had blanketed the city and brought most people off the streets into hibachi-warmed homes. At the headquarters, men spent most of their time training in the dojo to rid themselves of some boredom and rowdiness that came with prolonged leisure.
Chizuru hurried along the hallway as she carried a tray of tea to Hijikata-san's study. Her busy footsteps echoed throughout the compound, having become a familiar sound to most of the residents. Despite the unsuccessful search for hints of her father's mysterious disappearance, she was in a cheerful mood. A few days earlier the foreign girl Ai, having noted her young friend's restlessness and desire to be useful, had dragged Chizuru along to Hijikata's study. There she proceeded to announce to the startled occupant that the two girls will start helping out with paperwork and errands. After immediate refusal from the man in charge, Ai had delightfully let slip that the next time Hijikata fell asleep at his desk after a long night, which is not that uncommon, his face will be much decorated with ink the next day. Very, very difficult to remove ink, she grinned cheekily.
After much stuttering apologies on Chizuru's part and incessant goading on Ai's, Hijikata had finally given in and assigned the girls to handle some internal errands and bookkeeping. Today, some extra paperwork had arrived. So the girls set up their corner in the study and dove right into their routine. At Chizuru's and Ai's insistence, they take occasional tea-breaks, forcing the workaholic demon vice-commander to join them.
Excusing herself, Chizuru stepped in quickly and handed out the tea. Hijikata paused in his work to acknowledge the young woman with a nod. His brows relaxed as he took a sip of the hot tea, and he smiled in appreciation.
"…" Chizuru couldn't help but admire his handsome features softened by a rare smile. Her heart swelled at knowing that her tea was the cause.
"…?" He noticed the admiration in her gaze and raised a brow in question. She immediately looked down and blushed.
"U-um, Hijikata-san, y-you should smile more often." She managed to blurt out, red faced. "I-I mean, you have been working so hard…"
"Eh?!" After a brief stunned silence while he searched for a response, Ai exclaimed loudly from the other side of the room, completely interrupting the moment.
"What?! Hijikata-san SMILED?" She slapped a hand to her forehead dramatically. "Zuru-zuru, are you sure it's NOT scary?"
"No way, I don't believe you. I mean, how could a demon smile look nice anyways?" Ai shuddered, clearly enjoying herself. "It's still scary no matter how I imagine it…"
Her monologue abruptly came to a stop when both girls felt an ominous aura flare up in the room, originating from the man whose peaceful smile from earlier was nowhere to be found. Hijikata's eyes were closed in frustration, his face contorted in an angry frown.
"…Get out." The demon growled.
"But we're not done with th-"
"GET OUT!"
The girls leapt up and ran out the room as fast as their feet could take them. The rage of the demon vice-commander was not to be taken lightly. Hijikata rubbed the bridge of his nose, forehead creased in annoyance, as he heard Ai's rambunctious laughter and Chizuru's light chiding. That woman is a bad influence. He thought sullenly, I don't need another Souji running around, I have enough cause for headaches…
He barely had any time to recompose his thoughts when a hesitant knock on the door broke him out of his musing. He stood up quickly and cleared his throat.
"Come in."
To his great surprise, Yamazaki entered and bowed respectably, still in full shinobi garb.
"Yamazaki! What's going on? Shouldn't you be in Edo with Kondo-san and Heisuke?" his eyes widened, "Did something happen to the mission?"
"No harm has come to the commander and Heisuke-kun." Yamazaki explained in a hushed tone, "Kondo-san has sent me to come back in advance and notify you of the recruitment of Ito Kashitaro and his followers."
Hijikata's shoulder relaxed visibly with the assurance, his worry for Kondo-san evident after the later has been away for so long. He turned to take a sip from his forgotten tea cup and grimaced. It had gone cold.
"So, Ito Kashitaro. What do you think of him?" Hijikata questioned as he swirled the liquid in the cup absent mindedly. The shinobi hesitated before replying.
"It's not my place to judge Ito-san's character, but commander Kondo is planning to name him the deputy commander." Yamazaki lowered his eyes when he saw the familiar frown forming, the leader evidently unhappy with the news. A thought crossed both men's mind, the others won't be pleased.
One evening a few days later, Kondo returned with a handful of new recruits. The relief and happiness for the chief's return was short-lived, however, as the atmosphere became noticeably tense when he introduced to the captains Ito, the new deputy commander. As soon as the two of them left the room, the tension dissipated a little as everyone started voicing their opinions of Ito.
Saito was first to speak up, his expression ever calm and thoughtful. "I've hear Itou is an imperial nationalist. Why would someone such as him join the Shinsengumi?"
"He's like the Choshu, then?" Sano noted, sounding worried. "You really think someone like that can get along with us?"
Chizuru and Ai looked at each other doubtfully. The men don't usually talk about the politics in front of the girls, but even they know supporting the Choshu is a crime right now.
"Kondo's a national loyalist. They might not agree on the shogun and the emperor, but they're both nationalists, through and through." Hijikata's stern voice brought Ai out of her thoughts.
"Now that we're talking about politics, mind explaining the differences to me?" Ai quickly asked, not wanting to miss out on her chance to fully grasp the situation.
"Ai-chan, no doubt you would have already known from your previous trips, that the shogun has been ruling Japan for over two hundred years." Sano explained patiently, catching her eyes. "The Choshu clan wants the shogun out of the government, returning the ruling power to the imperial court. Imperialists sympathize with the Choshu while loyalists want the bakufu, the shogun's court, to continue ruling."
He paused slightly, lowering his gaze uncomfortably. "Nationalists are people who don't want any foreign powers threatening Japan's sovereignty. Most of the people are nationalists, which is why some of us are reluctant to accept your being here."
Ai took this piece of information in stride, her smile a little sad. "Hmm, I hope I managed to convince some of you that I have no interest in helping the Westerners in their quest to conquer. I was once a victim of their conquest after all…"
Chizuru gasped quietly. Her friend never mentioned much of her life back in China. She failed to notice, however, a few pairs of eyes narrowing as others recognised the slip.
"Uh, yea." Ai stumbled as she caught the suspicious looks. "So Ito-san is an imperialist? Won't he be unwilling to follow orders for Shinsengumi from the shogun?"
"He will no doubt try to sway commander Kondo's opinion. He is well-educated and a skilled orator after all." Sanan signed, "With such a gifted deputy commander, I suppose that the Shinsengumi has little need for a colonel…"
An awkward silence followed Sanan's self-deprecating comments. Ai had not seen Sanan before he sustained his crippling injury, but she had noticed the slow decline of his confidence and self-esteem. Souji looked at Sanan wordlessly, and then broke the silence with a flat voice.
"So? I don't like him." His words were cold and there was a lack of the usual mirth that danced in his green irises.
"Y-yea, I dunno how to put it… like he's sort of… uppity, you know? Like he's looking down on you or something…" Shinpachi slapped his thigh as he concluded after finding the right words.
"Sanan-san, you have much more knowledge on modern warfare and tactics than Ito-san. I am confident that you will be a most useful advisor to the Shinsengumi!" Ai smiled brightly at the colonel, hoping that fact will cheer him up.
"You flatter me, Lin-san. You are the one who taught me all that. I am sure you will be more qualified to give advice if we go to war." Sanan nodded to the red-eyed woman, a small smile tugging on his lips.
"I never promised that I would go to war." She whispered to herself, eyes downcast and brows furrowing slightly. No one heard her.
~~ February 1865 ~~
"We're back!"
After a rather uneventful afternoon patrol, Ai stepped through the gate and followed the men into the yard. The sun is just starting to set, casting an orange glow on the leafless branches of the trees. The snow has melted recently, but spring is still far away.
She fingered the hilt of her sword, recalling the events after breakfast. Sanan had left the room a few moments after Ito's jab about his arm. Ai had run after him. She offered to teach him how to use firearms instead, hoping it would raise his spirits. Unexpectedly, the cold and bitter aura around the colonel grew stronger, and she felt restrained anger weaved within. He shook her hand off his arm and stormed off, even more agitated than before.
She signed, running her hand through her hair. I should have thought this through, she thought. These people still distrusted and feared the western weapons, even if they realized the advantage firearms had in combat. The whispers of disgust and loathing as she walked through the streets, she could hear them as if they were being told to her face. Why were they more frequently directed at her twin pistols at her hips, instead of the pair of swords these men carried? Weapons were weapons, to ordinary people, both were equally as deadly. She shook her head.
"Well, I should go apologize." She thought out loud, snapping out of her reverie when she realized the sun had set.
A draft picked up as Ai stood still and carefully tested the air for his scent. Yagi House, common room, she pin-pointed the location as she took off her blindfold. An older scent from Maekawa House, where the breeze had come from, indicated that he was there all day earlier.
Ai froze in her tracks. No… It can't be… Her eyes widened in recognition. This scent… It's-!
In the blink of an eye, she disappeared from the main gate and dashed towards the Maekawa House, towards the familiar scent. In her panic, she missed the presence of a person around the corner and crashed gracelessly head on into the unfortunate individual.
"What the!" Souji almost got knocked back a few meters when Ai had collided with him. He tried to sit up after regaining the air in his lungs, but found that his head spun and his left arm numb.
"Oh no! Are you okay, Okita-san? I'm so sorry!" She seemed to be in a panic, rushing to his side and helping him to sit up.
"It seems that you are destined to crash into me huh?" He groaned, rubbing his shoulder where the infernal woman had forcefully head-butted into him when she turned the corner. "Although I would much prefer what happened last time."
Ai calmed down somewhat, seeing the playful glint back in his apple green eyes. She smiled teasingly back at him. "Well it seems like there's no permanent damage. I would hate for you to lose that wicked sense of humour." She took his uninjured arm and wrapped it around her shoulder as she helped him back up. As soon as he was stable on his feet, she turned away to continue her search.
"Hold on, why are you here? I don't remember Hijikata-san giving you permission to enter the Maekawa House."
When he had blatantly pointed out her violation of rules, Souji had expected panic, guilt or embarrassment from the woman. However, he was abruptly held frozen in place by a pair of blazing red eyes, burning with anger and disapproval.
"You keep a very, very naughty secret here, Okita-san." She drawled, advancing on him slowly. "So, the leaders of the Shinsengumi are not so righteous after all."
