Disclaimer: It equals not being mine.
Chapter Eight
He couldn't quite put his finger on it, whatever IT was. He had woken up that morning still feeling like someone had packed his head in cotton, still cold, throat a little sore, body achy from the still healing injuries and was greeted with the sight of a very cheery house keeper mixing up a cup of that rat tea the doctor had prescribed and humming to herself under her breath. She had smiled when she noticed that he was awake, asked him how he felt, checked his wounds, changed the bandages, applied that cold cream that numbed the ache in his side a little, fed him the tea and soup and by that time he was feeling tired enough to close his eyes and go back to sleep for a few hours.
When he next woke up, it was to Tatsu quietly doing the book keeping beside him and Mr. Okita sitting outside playing with Saizo. Feeling like he shouldn't disturb the two, he took another nap. Waking in the evening he was again fed tea and soup, the bandages were changed and just as he was lying back down and fighting off another wave of sleep that he was sure the tea caused, the door slid open and admitted Mr. Kondo, Mr. Hijikata, Susumu and Mr. Okita. Tatsu helped him back up and let him lean back against him so that he could see them all but didn't say anything, which was very strange.
"How are you feeling today, Tetsu?" Mr. Okita asked, kind smile in place as usual and Saizo absent.
"Ok," he replied softly, raising a fist to rub the sleep from his eyes. Mr. Kondo reached over and pressed a sword calloused palm against his forehead, nodding a few moments later and meeting his curious gaze.
"We think we've found the men responsible for those who hurt you, Tetsu," he said. Tetsu blinked up at him, suddenly alert.
"You mean the ones who--"
"Yes, those," Hijikata interrupted and Tetsu got the distinct impression that exactly what those men were up to was not what they wanted to hear at the moment.
"If Yamazaki were to take you to where we think they are would you be able to identify the building?"
"Is he well enough for that?" Tatsu asked, making Hijikata and Kondo turn to him.
"He's going to have to be," Hijikata started. "We can't afford to lose any more time," The tension in the room seemed to climb a notch with that statement and Tatsu's reluctant grumble of agreement. Hijikata turned back to him and checked his temperature himself.
"They're moving on to somewhere else in four days. Yamazaki will take you with him tonight when he goes to the building in question. If you identify it as the one you escaped from then
when you return, I'll leave here and report it. We've already sent word that there have been rumors of suspicious activity roaming the streets and with your confirmation and Souji's testimony, we'll be able to raid the building and stop them before they can get away," Kondo explained, glancing at Susumu who nodded in some signal or another.
"Are you feeling up to it, Tetsu?" Mr. Okita asked. His brow had furrowed at the mention of the building, pieces of conversations he had had before the fever had set in and robbed him of conscious thought floating back to him. On the tail end of those conversations he suddenly caught glimpses of his fever dreams, the bare week he had spent there, stuffed in a small room under ground with other half starved, trembling children of various ages and sizes. He heard from a very long way off the faint voices of the adults there, shouting, joking, prodding, grabbing, beating him when he refused to do what they wanted. The remembered pain brought back his escape and his hand moved to the healing gash on his side as he remembered. He had fought his way out of there, his small frame allowing him to move quickly and shimmy out of the basement, taking to the winding path of alleys in an attempt to get the hell away from that hell hole as quickly as he possibly could and making his way back towards head quarters. Yes, he knew what building they were talking about now.
"Tetsu?" Tatsu asked, drawing him from his thoughts. Blinking he raised his eyes and met Mr. Hijikata's gaze squarely.
"I can do it," he said, resolve firming his nerves and voice. Mr. Hijikata examined him for a long moment, even as he turned his gaze to Mr. Kondo and repeated the affirmation that he was feeling well enough to venture out with Susumu and confirm the building they were investigating. After a moment, Kondo smiled, eyes serious, and nodded once. Standing, he looked over to Yamazaki.
"Leave at the usual time and try to retrace Tetsu's path, just so he'll be sure,"
"Yes, sir,"
"Tetsu, rest until you and Yamazaki leave. Don't overdo it when you go out and be as quiet as possible,"
"Yes, sir,"
"I'll tell two of the men to prepare yours and Okita's horses," Mr. Hijikata said, standing as well. Mr. Kondo nodded, passed another reassuring smile to him and left, Hijikata pausing at the door to look over his shoulder again.
"Be careful," he said and then he was gone.
Clouds drifted slowly across the black velvet blanket of sky, lending deeper depth to the shadows they flitted through. Tetsu, legs crossed firmly around Susumu's waist, arms securely wrapped around the broad shoulders, poked Susumu's shoulder in accordance to whichever direction they needed to head in. Susumu moved slowly, carefully, as smoothly as possible so as not to jar the boy on his back and to give him enough time to think and remember which direction to go in. At every intersection he paused, letting Tetsu raise his head and look around and every intersection he wished the boy hadn't been hit on the head so hard so that they could move faster. An irritating realization had him nearly growling in annoyance. Typical, the boy had doubled back a few times to avoid his pursuers thus making them take a longer route to where he was hoping they were headed.
Another poke to his shoulder and they were moving again, winding from shadow to shadow down a long alley way, longer then all the others, taking the only turn at the end and passing a few more, Tetsu not signaling turns now until he nearly passed one. He turned left and came upon the back of a building. Glancing around, he waited for Tetsu's signal but the boy was still, arms tightening about his shoulders and legs winding more securely around his waist. Looking up at the building he felt a smirk begin to curl his lips, cold as a sword's edge and moved quickly to the shadow the large building cast as the clouds moved slowly away from the thin sliver of moon. Reaching back, he pulled the shroud lower over Tetsu, making sure the boy was completely hidden before moving slowly along the back of the building, pausing when Tetsu pointed to some spot along the bottom. Kneeling, he ran a hand lightly over the wood and felt what must have been a loose section.
"Got out here," Tetsu said, lips moving against his ear and voice just low enough that he could hear him perfectly but anyone else would have to strain to make out the words.
"There's a basement under here where they kept others," he continued. Leaning closer to the loose boards, Susumu focused all of his attention to his hearing, listening for some sign that the boy was right. They were still for a long few breaths before he heard it, the unmistakable sound of someone crying out in pain and someone laughing about it. The crying was distinctly that of a younger person, male or female he couldn't tell but as the laughing and crying grew louder he knew that Tetsu was right. There was something under this building that he had not thought of to check. Susumu nodded to himself, straightening in a crouch and moved quickly away from the loose boards, leaping lightly to a roof top facing the back of the building. Tetsu remained silent for a moment before he nodded quickly.
"You're sure?" he asked. Tetsu nodded again, a faint tremble entering his arms as he held on tighter. Susumu nodded once and they were moving through the shadowed alleys again, retracing Tetsu's path once more back to the grounds. Slipping over the back wall of the grounds, he slipped over to the waiting Kondo and Okita, catching Kondo's eye and nodding once. Kondo nodded in return and quickly mounted his horse, Okita following quickly. The two men holding the horses' reigns let go and stepped back and Susumu heard the shuffle of the horses' hooves upon the unpaved ground as they moved at a leisurely walk out of the grounds and out of the village. Moving quickly, Susumu took the boy back to his room, left him in the hands of his brother and the house keeper and went to make his report to Hijikata. He could feel the anticipation and lingering rage of the Vice-commander the closer he ventured towards the training room and felt his own wave of it sweep down his spine. Slipping into the darkest corner of the room, he watched the Vice-commander finish his form and straighten, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"The building has been confirmed, sir," he said. "Commander Kondo and Captain Okita have already left for the Bakufu and Tetsu is back in his room," Hijikata nodded slowly before walking over to where the wooden practice swords were held and set his with the others.
"Get some sleep, Yamazaki," said the Vice-commander. "You'll need it for tomorrow," Bowing, Susumu slipped from the room and back down the hall to his room, changing and settling in for bed. The hum remained in his veins as he stared up at the ceiling, going through the plan for tomorrow. He could see the looks on the men's faces when they realized what was to happen that night and felt an echo of their emotions within him. Not imagining that he would get any sleep that night with visions of tomorrow's plans and the approaching raid dancing circles through his mind, he lay on his back going over everything mentally until the beginning fingers of dawn touched his eyelids. Opening his eyes slowly, he let out a long breath and sat up. The countdown had begun.
A/N: I liiiiiiive!! I'm so, so sorry, guys, for taking so long with this chapter! I couldn't get my self motivated enough to work on it but here it is and I hope it's worth the wait. If not, I hope the next chapter will be up soon and it'll be awesome! Please tell me what you think and don't hold back ok? Whatever you want to tell me, tell me. I'll work harder and get the next chapter up as soon as I can ok? I promise!
