February 1866
It's been 4 months now that Toudou and Chizuru were stationed as undercover maiko. I spoke to Hijikata-san about the incident in the back alley but the only thing i could manage to obtain was the right for both of them to wear secret kaiken, a little knife, in their obi. I had no further informations but since i was still doing night rounds, i always made sure i was going through Gion and near the okiya twice a night. I stayed in the shadows most of the times but i could sometimes witness them and their new guard, walking to or from the okiya. That was one of my rituals, just to be sure they were safe. Sannan didn't talk about it to anyone and i was grateful for it. When he was human, Sannan had this capacity of reading hearts, or pretending he could. He always had a lot of empathy. Now he was a Rasetsu, he wasn't showing it anymore but his behavior with me was proof enough that the old Sannan was still in there.
I was walking in the Nishi-hongwanji when i noticed Souji, Harada and Nagakura all round up in front of Hijikata-san's office, not making a noise. They were all spying the conversation behind the shoji. That behavior was unworthy of samurais. I walked in their direction to tell them to go away but Souji put his finger on his mouth.
« Hajime ! » he whispered « please don't make a noise ! »
As i was ready to answer, Harada explained to me the reason of their presence.
« The okiya's master is here ! She's talking about mizuage ! »
I felt like the ground fell off under my feet. Mizuage ?! For Chizuru ?! As unworthy as it could be, i joined them to listen to the conversation in the office.
« I will not allow this ! » i heard Hijikata-san say with a voice vibrant with anger and autority.
« My okiya is taking a lot of risks by permitting your two spies to pretend to be maikos ! By the way, one of them is lacking all the refinement you expect from a geiko but the other, Chiyoko, she's a good listener and she learns quickly. She already has a lot of potential clients and one of them offered a large amount of money to be the one to take her virginity. How do you think us okiya live ?! We have to make money to take care of our girls ! »
« Chiyoko isn't going to sell her virginity to anyone ! »
« You are dramatizing things, Hijikata-san ! It's only one time... It's not that much of a big deal ! The man will not be allowed to see her ever again, according to the mizuage ceremony. »
« She's not a virgin ! » he yelled in response.
I furrowed my brows and bit my lip. How could it be possible ? When she arrived, she was probably too young, or she started very early but if that's the case, she wouldn't be acting so innocent. So that means that it happened during her stay here. I looked at Souji, Harada and Nagakura in the eyes and they all shook their head to deny... It couldn't be Kondou-san or Inoue... Nor Miki, Ito or Takeda... Toudou... Not sure he would have dared. If Hijikata-san was the only one to know then... Did he do it ? Did he make Chizuru a woman ?
« Great. » answered the woman with assurance as if it didn't matter to her « then it's even easier then. Nothing to worry about ! »
« What do you mean ? » said Hijikata-san in a furious but confused voice « if she's not a virgin, there can't be any mizuage ! »
« You really are a man to be so naive ! » she chuckled « mizuage is only sacred in the eyes of men who pay to be the first ! They think it makes them special... When i was a maiko, my virginity had been sold four times ! Mizuage is more profitable than anything else we could offer. I don't care if that girl is truly a virgin or not ! »
I had no idea an okiya could act with so much dishonesty. But again, they are allowing spies in their ranks so it shouldn't be a very honorable house.
« The okiya will give twenty percent of the mizuage price to the Shinsengumi as a reparation. » said the woman to convince Hijikata-san.
« I do not care about your money. I am the commander and i choose what to do with my men ! » he shouted.
« Vice-commander... » i heard Souji muter, followed by shhhhhhh from the others.
« And i am responsible of my okiya. And i choose what to do with my maiko. » she replied, using the same tone than Hijikata-san.
The shoji opened violently and we all saw the shocked face of the vice-commander, frowning.
« What are you all doing here ?! »
« So this is the discipline of men of the Shinsengumi... » said the woman « impressive. »
Nagakura couldn't let her get away with it.
« Hey ! You touch one hair out of Chi...yoko's head and i'm coming for you ! »
« I'm sure you are, big boy... » she said with a small laugh « but don't worry, it's not her hair we are after. »
And she went away with a sonor laugh while we all had daggers in our eyes. Harada had one hand on Nagakura's chest to prevent him from jumping on the woman. When she was gone, we turned to Hijikata-san.
« Toshi ! Tell me you're not gonna let it happen ?! » yelled Souji, grabbing Hijikata-san's kimono.
« Of course not ! » he shouted, trying to get rid on Souji's grip « we agreed to try to get intel only if Yukimura wasn't in danger ! I'm gonna have Shimada send a message to Heisuke. I'll tell him to never leave her side and be ready to fight if necessary. »
« Yosh ! Let's plan a Chizuru-chan rescue team ! » said Nagakura but Hijikata-san frowned.
« No. The Shinsengumi cannot act in the open for this mission. We can't do this. »
« So what's it gonna be ?! We just wait and see ?! »
« As i said. We count on Heisuke. He's gonna be perfectly capable of handling the situation. »
Yeah sure. Just like he was perfectly handling the situation last time in that alley.
I turned away and got to my room. I removed my katana and wakizashi and grabbed my tanto that i passed in my obi before i exited the compound. I knew exactly where i had to go.