June 1866
« Saito. There's a meeting in Kondou's office. » said Harada behind the shoji.
« Ha. I shall be on my way. » i answered before joining him outside.
It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was heating my skin but not burning it yet. As usual, the hard months will be July, August and September with the unbearable heat and humidity. The cherry flowers all had fallen now and Chizuru was sweeping them away with a broom in the courtyard when i passed her.
« Good morning, Saito. » she told me politely.
« Good morning, Yukimura. » i answered formally.
I hesitated on continuing my walk but i stopped to ask her to make some tea for the meeting. She nodded and got to it immediately. I entered Hijikata-san's office and sat in senzai. The vice-commander was facing all the captains with a frowned face and i could easily decipher already that the news weren't good ones.
Kondou-san joined us, apologizing for his lateness and took place near Hijikata-san, face frowned too.
« Thank you for all coming here. » started Kondou-san, bowing at us, and we all bowed in return. « We have some news from the Bakufu. »
At this moment, Chizuru entered the office with the tea, giving some to every man in the room and we thanked her, taking the hot cups in our hands. Kondou-san waited for her to finish silently but when she was ready to get out the room, he stopped her.
« Yukimura. You may stay, this may concern you too. »
« Hai, Kondou-san. » she bowed before taking place in senzai with the rest of us and we all waited for Kondou-san to speak again.
« The second Choshu expedition of the Bakufu started this morning. » he said.
We knew it was coming. It had been decided months ago, not long after the first Choshu expedition which was an immediate response to the Hamaguri gate incident in august 1864. We all kept silent.
« Suo-Oshima, in the Yamaguchi prefecture had been bombed by the navy of the Bakufu. We have a lot of hope that this will calm the Choshu and the rest of the opposition domains. » said Kondou-san with a smile and we all felt light hearted at this idea.
Maybe the most delighted with these news was myself. I could already picture it, the Bakufu stable again, the Choshu bowing to the shogun and me, being finally able to marry Chizuru and be with her all days and nights of the rest of my life, living an honorable existence.
Ito and Miki, even if they were supposed to be allied with us and therefore, with the bakufu despite being imperialists, frowned at the news. I had a feeling that these two would prefer the Choshu to win this war.
Harada and Nagakura, especially Nagakura, didn't loose this occasion to suggest that a party was necessary and were followed immediately by Souji and Toudou but Hijikata-san raised his hand to ask for silence.
« We're not finished yet. » he said and silence came back in the room « Kondou-san, please continue. »
« Thank you, Toshi. » replied Kondou-san with a small smile directed to Hijikata-san. « Yukimura. We have some news about your father. »
« Really ? » yelled Chizuru and i turned to her to see her gaze full of hope directed to the commander.
« Yes. » nodded Kondou-san « although i do not know if you will be pleased with it. » he sighed.
We were all quiet in anticipation. Chizuru wasn't the only one wondering where Kodo could be. We have worked with him, he was the responsible for the presence of the Rasetsu in our compound since he was the one developing the Ochimizu under shogunate's orders. Therefore, his vanishing was rather unsettling. And he was the reason why Chizuru stayed with us in the first place. If he hadn't been her father, maybe we would have killed her that day. Maybe i would have been the one ordered to... And i would have done it without a second thought. If the commanders asked me to jump, i wouldn't waste time asking how high. What if Hijikata-san or Kondou-san asked me now ? Would i kill Chizuru ?
« We know for sure that Kodo has been working with imperialists in the Choshu, Satsuma and Tosa domain for the past year. »
« That ! That's impossible ! » cried Chizuru in disbelief.
That could explain why we couldn't find Kodo in Kyoto. He simply wasn't there. Still i was sorry for Chizuru, spending two years looking for her father only to find out that he joined the enemy. A shiver crawled down my spine. Will Chizuru betray too ? Will she decide to join her father among the ranks of the imperialists ?
« I... i know my father... he would have never betrayed the shogunate... » i heard her say with a lump in her throat.
« We can't exclude that he's there as a spy of the bakufu but we have no intels pointing towards this. » Kondou-san said to reassure her without giving her hope.
« Al... alright... » she said.
« Now, we don't have anymore news for you so you can all dismiss. » said Kondou-san and we all bowed before getting up.
Chizuru had already exited the office and i went outside to talk to her.
« Out of my way ! » i heard Miki say and i saw Chizuru falling on the ground.
Harada was quicker than me and helped Chizuru get up.
« What's your problem ?! » he asked Miki, throwing daggers through his eyes.
« Why does anyone care about this kid anyway ? He's not swordman, he's only doing chores and he's the son of a traitor. » he shrugged. « He should keep a low profile if he doesn't want this kind of thing happening. »
I clenched my fists while Ito chuckled. He then put his hand on Miki's shoulder and adressed him.
« Come on Miki, don't waste your time on him. »
Miki shrugged again and they both got away. Harada was brushing Chizuru's palms to get rid of the dirt and blood on them.
« Don't worry, it'll heal in no time... » he said gently.
« I... I know... » she nodded trying to get her hands back.
He let them go and she brushed them against her hakama. He then kneeled to look at her with always this gentle gaze he had and brushed a finger against her cheek to catch a tear.
« They're idiots. Probably pissed that the Choshu is actually loosing. Do not let them see that you're hurt, all right. »
She nodded and washed away the small tears ornamenting her eyes.
« Now held your head high. » continued Harada, still with his gentle smile.
He took Chizuru's chin and lifted it and she smiled in return.
« Thanks, Harada. » she said.
He stood up again and walked away, leaving me alone with her and i watched him until he was out of sight.
« Show me your hands. » i asked her and she panicked.
« N... No... They're fine ! » she stuttered.
« Show me. » i repeated.
« I... I'm sorry !!! » she said before running away, leaving me puzzled about what happened.