A/N: Oops, sorry I was on vacay and I totally forgot about uploading hahah
Acting Is Something Everyone Learns as They Grow Up
Shigeshige loosed a breath he hadn't known he had been holding, allowing only his eyes to slide to the side where his scheming uncle was seated.
Tokugawa Sadasada's little finger twitched—the only reaction that he would ever show—but it was not in surprise. They had been waiting for this appeal to pop up the past few Morning Courts, and it was finally here. The Court had no semblance of order as the officials made their own opinions known through loud chattering, some at the farthest end even breaking etiquette as they raised themselves from their kneeling positions to peer over the restless crowd.
Shigeshige raised a hand to silence the blabbing officials, then nodded at Lord Matsudaira to continue.
"Lord Aikake may be young, but he has met the requirements, even exceeded some of them." Matsudaira's voice was strained, anger seeping through the mask he had put up, but he continued, "He has the qualities for a good roju. I believethat we are not blind to a talent like him, Shogun-sama. His record of merits are in the scroll for your examination." Lord Matsudaira couldn't help but let satire seep through as well.
Shigeshige kept his expression distant. He was the ruler of this court, he cannot betray any emotions for his friend in front of the greedy goblins that will snatch up and use every single detail against himself. Without a word, the Shogun reached for the scroll, unrolling the long list. He scanned it unfocusedly, none of the words making it into his brain.
"Shogun-sama," Sadasada started, his voice low enough for only Shigeshige and the servants in the closest proximity could hear, "You know that the Court is mostly behind Lord Aikake's back, do you not?" It was a warning that Shigeshige himself knew by heart as well. His Court—no—the Court had divided into three factions, all after their own interests; the Hitotsubashi, Matsudaira, and the rapidly rising power, the Aikake. Matsudaira faction was and always will be loyal to the Shogun, but none can be said for the other two factions, even though the Hitotsubashi faction has served the Shogun as long as the Matsudaira faction. It was always obvious that the Hitotsubashi had some other plans of putting their own family's child up on this accursed seat. However, Sadasada was not just any old man—and he kept the Hitotsubashi leashed under his tight control.
Unable to gain a upper hand in this internal 'war' for the Shogunate seat, Hitotsubashi allied themselves with another faction, the Aikake, who has the same ambition as them. The three large factions have many other smaller officials and factions under their wing, and excluding the reluctant Matsudaira faction, at least two-thirds of the Court was in favour of throwing Tokugawa Shigeshige off the 'throne'.
It was quite a predicament for our dear gentle Shigeshige-sama.
These blabbering officials may seem surprised, but a majority of them were well-aware of what was going to happen. Obviously, not showing an astonished reaction was just as good as telling the world that you are either a Aikake or Hitotsubashi supporter (which again, they obviously received some form of benefit from them), and that is not what conniving officials do in front of their 'beloved' Shogun, which they had 'sworn loyalty' to.
Lord Matsudaira was still kneeling, head bowed, as if he were ashamed of those words that poured out of his mouth.
"You may rise, Lord Matsudaira."
The Court paid a hundred and twenty percent of their attention to the next words of the Shogun. It will decide the success of their 'mission'.
Everyone was tense with anticipation as Matsudaira raised his head, but he made no further moves to stand. It was as if he was asking for forgivesness for his sins by continuing kneeling.
Shigeshige wanted to reach out and pull his friend up personally , but circumstances forbade him from doing so. "I will consider it. Indeed, Lord Aikake has completed many meritorious deeds for the Bakufu, it is time consider a higher position for him which reflects all the contribution he has done."
Not a single official with a shred of intelligence dared to reveal their relieved expressions. That sentence was iron-clad evidence that Aikake will definitely be promoted to a roju. However...
"Lord Aikake, are you unharmed? I have received news that your estate manor was attacked by some rather bold Jouishishi last night." Shigeshige smiled. Nobume was a quick gatherer of information. She reported to him early this morning that Sakata-san and his companions had sacked the entire estate manor, bathing the white walls with blood just to rescue their friend. Or rather, a friend which was a slave. Shigeshige for the first time, had lost his composure, his teacup slipping from his fingers after hearing the news. He had tasked Nobume on finding out every single detail on the situation—he wasn't stupid, even he could see that Hijikata/Tenko did not explain everything—probably because of the constraints of time. Finding out that Aikake had hundreds of illegal slaves under him was no small shock.
Meanwhile, that dazzling, concerned smile of a ruler to his subordinate, dazed Aikake for a few seconds.
How did he find out so quickly? Aikake morphed his face into a customary polite smile, curtly replying to the Shogun with a clipped 'Yes'. Aikake made sure that little information had made its way out of his estate grounds about the attack last night, but even so, the speed at which it reached the Shogun's ear was abnormally fast.
It was like flipping on a switch and the officials went off tweetering again. This was a huge scoop, they haven't heard about it at all. Beside Shigeshige, his uncle coughed a little at the unexpected news. While further down from Shigeshige, a thoughtful frown set into Matsudaira's features. He had a feeling that his cute little Shinsengumi subordinates was definitely involved in it somehow.
Indeed, his cute little subordinates were also right behind the backdrop, listening in on the happenings of the Morning Court.
Aikake blanched as the Daimyo of the Echizen Province leaned in with his garlic breath to question Aikake about the attack.
The Shogun continued, "Lord Aikake, if you need any assistance in investigating the Jouishishi whom wrecked your house, feel free to request for my help. It is a great injustice to you after all. No matter, you musn't be lax with security—it won't happen the second time, will it?" Shigeshige's second meaning was hidden expertly under the folds of 'care and concern', yet the wily old officials could tell what the Shogun was hinting about.
It was a statement of showing who was still in dominion, for Aikake "to request for" the Shogun's help, because the power of a Daimyo was still smaller and lacking in many ways compared to a Shogun's, as shown by the news of the attack which Shigeshige found out before the rest of his Court did. Moreover, Shigeshige was also hinting at the inability of Aikake to protect his estate home from the attack of a few Jouishishi, even to the point of getting his house "wrecked". It was a well hidden satirical comment, to fan the doubts of the officials supporting Aikake—if Aikake couldn't even protect his own house, how would he be able to protect the country if he became the Shogun?
Tokugawa Shigeshige was not the 14th Great Shogun for nothing, even he had learnt a few tricks or two to play the game well enough with his unloyal subjects.
Sadasada coughed once more, not in surprise, but as a reminder to Shigeshige to shut his mouth before he fanned not only the doubts, but also the displeasure towards the Shogun himself for nitpicking at their Lord.
Aikake pinched a tiny bit of cloth in his hands to restrain his anger at the condescension of the Shogun's words, keeping his mask serene. "No it will not, Shogun-sama."
The twists and turns of the words muddled the straightforward mind of Kagura, and she frowned at the whole conversation going on. "Man, my head hurts. Can't they just say it out clearly?" She could get at least half of the meanings thanks to the training she received from magazines on "How To Hint To Your Old Man That You Want A Christmas Present".
Shinpachi was a little slower than the Shinsengumi in understanding the convoluted messages, but he still did his best to help fill in the gaps in Kagura's knowledge.
"Dumbasses will always be dumbasses." Okita muttered under his breath. Without saying, it was directed at Kagura. Kagura didn't want another of their explosive fights to happen and get them all discovered, so she swallowed her anger and carved this moment of insult and hatred down in her long 'revenge-to-be-taken' list.
Soyo-hime had grown up in a political family. These kinds of confusing banters were common occurrences around her household, and so she egged on her brother silently, pumping her fist into the air. "1 for Onii-sama! A big fat egg for Uncle Aikake!" She whispered triumphantly.
"You mean a zero, Hime-sama." Shinpachi corrected her.
"Zeroes look like eggs. Eggs are zeroes. It doesn't matter."
"Shhhhhh..." Hijikata shushed the noisy kids, gesticulating to Sadasada who was whispering to his nephew.
"Lord Aikake's promotion to a roju will be discussed with my Advisor. Are there any more reports?" The Shogun turned to his silent courtiers.
"Shogun-sama, I do think that there is no need for any more consideration. The roju position has been left vacant for some time, it is unacceptable to continue leaving—"
"Lord Panasonic." Shigeshige rose an eyebrow, cutting off the Daimyo of the Inama Province.
"Oi, he totally called him 'Panasonic' right? I didn't hear wrongly right? He called him the electrical appliance brand right?" Kagura nudged Shinpachi in the ribs. Shinpachi for once held back his tsukkomi tendencies and told Kagura to keep quiet.
The other officials of the Court wanted to facepalm right there and then. Hitotsubashi Nodenode glowered silently at the floor as Lord Panasonic stopped short, a little flustered under the cool gaze of the Shogun. Being too impatient might bring about the opposite effect, but apparently Lord Panasonic did not consider that when his eager desire brought him up there.
"Are you questioning my decision?" Are you questioning my authority? While I'm still in this seat?
The weight of his mistake slammed into him. Blood drained from Lord Panasonic's face, and he stammered an apology before returning to his seat. The wave of oppressive authority swept across the Court, dragging down the atmosphere with it.
"Wow. That was cool." Shinpachi breathed out. He had never seen Shigeshige look and sound so suave at that moment, compared to all the times when all he showed was his tighty whities or his little soldier down there. "I guess Shogun-sama is really the Shogun after all."
"What do you take Onii-sama for? He's the coolest Shogun in all of history." Soyo came to her brother's defense.
"Court is dismissed." Shigeshige stood up, his servants and Nobume flanking him immediately as he turned and exited the Court Hall through a backdoor. Sadasada followed moments later.
The mutters and shuffling of feet increased in volume as each official took their leave. Matsudaira was still kneeling in front of the Shogun's seat.
A final rustle of silk—and Matsudaira was alone. The vast Hall stretched behind him.
"I'm sorry." Matsudaira spoke to the empty hall.
Hijikata never saw Pops being sorry ever in his life. 'Sorry' did not exist in Matsudaira's dictionary. He never heard the old man apologise to anyone.
Matsudaira suddenly seemed to have aged, his wrinkles deepening, his gray hair getting whiter every second. His sunglasses hid his eyes, but his voice couldn't hide the guilt and anger at himself for siding with the enemy, helpless as he may when his beloved family was being held hostage.
A servant stepped up front into the field of Hijikata's vision, padding over to Matsudaira. "Matsudaira-sama." The servant called out softly. "You are going to miss the visiting time for Kuriko-sama if we do not leave soon."
"Mm." With the help of his servant, Lord Matsudaira straightened, rubbing his sore kneecaps as he walked towards the entrance.
Hijikata sighed. Looks like the invincible God of Destruction was just another old man after all.