Chapter X
I don't own Ruroni Kenshin characters nor the song rights, ok?
Written while "The Ninth Gate Theme" form the Ninth Gate Movie Soundtrack was playing.
OBS: The sentences into quotation marks refer to the characters speech.
From darkness, a bright light came. He felt a sharp pain on his neck. He opened his eyes and passed the hand around his nape.
"What about the battle? Where am I?"
He looked around. He was into a cave. He saw some cups; his belongings were there too. He heard voices...
"Okashira!!! You're awake!"
A smiley young man was looking at him. He was wearing the army clothes.
"How nice you're ok!"
"You..."
"Oh, I am one of your troopers, Misaki Yusuke, under your orders for one month and twenty one days, Shinomori-sama."
"What am I doing here?"
"Shinomori-sama, Okashira, all survivors from yester battle are here into these caves."
"I should not be here..."
"You wanted to fight, I know... but an iron pot was thrown against your neck, so you fainted, and I brought you here."
"Why?"
"You're our commandeer! You could not die"
Aoshi said nothing. He was too angry to say something. He was not running from battle. He never did.
The young man approached once more.
"Have this, Okashira, please. You must be hungry."
"I don't want... by the way, why do you call me Okashira?"
"Because I know you are the Okashira. I had a painting of yours and others there in my old house in Aizu."
Aoshi shut. Aizu... Megumi...the others... "I am the Okashira"...
"If you need something, let this servant be useful for you, Shinomori-sama."
The boy went out smiling.
"He looked like Seta Soujiro...not so cold inside, but smiley and happy all the time... he used Himura's words 'this servant'... and he's from Aizu. He knows me from a paiting...Okashira... Oniwabanshuu... in a glance, all my past seemed to be brought back to me."
................................................
Aoshi left the cave. Some men were around. It looked like a campsite.
"Oh, Shinomori-sama! You're awake!!!" some men said.
Aoshi had a hard face, a shade on his blue eyes.
The sub-commandeer came running.
"Aoshi-sama!!!! Mr. Fujita is coming only now. We have 106 dead man and 37 are missing"
"Aa".
He left without saying anything else. The sub-commandeer froze.
Aoshi didn't want to see Saitou's face. The police didn't show up last night. Why? Now, they had less then 360 men. Aoshi was roaming...
"Worried, Shinomori?"
Aoshi looked behind and saw Saitou.
"Saitou..."
"I heard of you losses..."
"Men were retreating... I was hit... I don't know how everything happened. You your policemen didn't come..."
Saitou approached.
"We had many problems in the city. Some men tried to run away from prison..."
"It doesn't matter anymore..."
Aoshi turned his back once more to Saitou and disappeared on the snowy field.
"What the hell is Shinomori thinking of?"
Saitou was sure Aoshi was a strange man.
Aoshi spent the rest of the day all alone. He didn't want to eat, he just sat and watched the white meadow. When night came, he took his things and called his men.
"Tonight is the second and decisive night of this battle. It had to be solved yesterday. But... now, you'll have to give everything you have. I don't want to command cowards. Those who fear shouldn't have come..."
The men were shut in respect.
"Then, let's go!"-Aoshi said and went on. The men followed.
Soon, they arrived at the battle field. The battle would begin.
"My last battle..."
The troopers this time seemed to be stronger. They seemed to be fighting for real. But the enemies were not that easy. They had many weapons, many guns, much more than they, the government, could have guessed. Many men were falling for the guns power.
Aoshi was fighting bravely. He didn't want any gun. He was an Onmitsu. His only weapons were his two swords. And he knew he was good. It was the battle that he didn't fight at Bakumatsu. He felt for his comrades who didn't have the chance to fight along with him, as they always did.
Everything was so confusing. He didn't know exactly where things were coming from. The snow helped blindfolding people's eyes. But he had his swords and he was courageous.
"AOSHI-SAMA!!!"
STUMP!
Aoshi saw a body falling in front of him...Misaki...
Misaki Yusuke protected him once more. The young man grabbed his own wrist. Aoshi could see he had been shot on the chest. But that bullet was not for Misaki; it was for him.
"Aoshi-sama... you can't die... I know someone who'd suffer a lot if you died. That person loves you too much to know you're dead. I am sorry, but it was me who hit your nape with that iron pot yesterday."
The boy was shaking and tears were coming to his eyes.
"I couldn't let the Okashira go on... Okashira must live!"
The young man handed Aoshi a ribbon strand he took from his wrist.
"I get happy this bullet hit me, not you. I helped her... I could... help... her. Please give... it... back... to... my... friend... Meguu...mmm" the boy died smiling.
Aoshi took the strand. It was Megumi's...
The boy died to protect him... Megumi's friend... He kept the strand. He stood up and kept on fighting. Now, he had to fight more... more people were counting on him to win... the same of his friends' death at Kanryu's mansion some years ago... people who wanted to die to protect him... was he fortunate or was he just weak?
He fought bravely, till his enemies had perished.
Life seemed to be sparkling into his being again. Once more, at least.
The morning came and Aoshi could see the corpses on the field. The soldiers were gathering them, burying them. Aoshi saw Misaki's... the boy was bloodied...smiling... that disturbed him.
The men came to bury him.
"No. Don't bury him here." Aoshi said.
"He had no family, Shinomori-sama. There's no one to care for his funeral."
"Let it be. I'll take care myself"
The men nodded. Then, they involved Yusuke's body in a blue fabric and took it away to the city. Aoshi followed.
The battle was over then.
"Congratulations, Mr. Shinomori" Saitou said in a deep voice. "Your troops fought bravely."
Aoshi had his back turned to Saitou. He mumbled a distant "thanks".
"So now, you can go back to Kyoto, to your normal life as the Okashira."
"Yes... what about you, Saitou? Will you be back to Tokyo?"
"I am a wolf. I may just wander around."
Saitou lit a cigarette.
They were at the Inn. The Government congratulations had just arrived. It was over. Everything was over.
"Himura asks me about you, Saitou."
"Feh... Battousai. Sometimes I miss those times, Shinomori. But I have no will of going back. He can't fight anymore, he's very injured. I'd rather think of Battousai Himura than Himura Kenshin."
Aoshi was quiet.
The two men eyed each other.
"Well, Shinomori. I have to go. I am staying in Hokkaido for a while. Police need to stay around to certificate things won't turn bad once the Imperial troops leave. Maybe one day our missions can meet again. You're a strong man."
He lifted his hand as if he were supposed to wave.
Saitou left the room walking patiently. Aoshi didn't know what to think that exact moment.
Saitou had his own manners.
What about himself? Shinomori Aoshi.
He intended to die in that battle. But he recovered his pride once more. He couldn't quail. He was taken as a very cold person, but he couldn't deny his will of coming back home for a while. He knew he wouldn't stay too much. His job in the government makes him travel a lot. He rarely has time for the ones he likes.
He packed his things. He decided to take Misaki's belonging with him too. Two months and so many losses. Maybe it was a lifetime and greater losses he could not see at its time. He was really thoughtful. But a feeling that seemed almost anxiety was into him now. He could feel. He was not a demon indeed. Emptiness and anxiety were into him. And there was so much love, many feelings kept away in a pure young heart, something he could not try. A pure young heart.
He walked to the train station. Many troopers were there too. He wanted to take Misaki's body to Tokyo. Misaki cared for Megumi. He didn't know why he was doing that, but that boy would be buried in Tokyo.
Aoshi glanced the city for the last time. He was coming back alive.
To be continued.