November 1866
Kondou-san was back from the Choshu expedition with some glum news. The shogunate was having a hard time calming the rebels. Although the bakufu's army was larger, the Choshu was better equipped with advanced guns and western tactics. Satsuma, one of the largest domain, joined the Choshu and the neighbor domains weren't making any effort to help the shogunate actually win this war. The Bakufu sent envoy to western countries, asking for help and support but only the French answered its plea. The french mission was leaving Marseille on a Black Ship to come train our soldiers to modern weapons and tactics.
I was sitting on the wooden floor outside my room with a hot cup of tea, focused on the scene before me. Since Chizuru realized that Toudou and the others were going easy on her and that she wouldn't stand a chance in a real conflict, she asked Tairô to help her train. She didn't held any grudge against him for the bokken hit and instead, she was coming back for more. She didn't ask me for help. Tairô, contrarily to the captains, didn't know she was a girl and had no reason to spare her, fighting as if he was really defending his life.
She was panting while dodging his blows, one after the other, and never complaining when the bokken was landing on her. Her force of character never stopped to amaze me. Where anybody would have quit, humiliated, she stood up and picked her sword again to show me what she was made of. And i knew now that she was made of steel, like me. Even if shy in her everyday interactions, she would stand for what she believed in, no matter the odds. I was falling more deeply in love with her everyday.
Her movements were improving a lot, she was getting a bit farther from the theory and was starting to find her own style, a mix from the Hokushin Itto Ryû she learned from Toudou, my iai and Tairô's style of fighting which was reflecting a lot his previous life as gang member. There was no honor in the way Tairô was fighting, he was aiming for the vital parts all the time, using trickery to lure his enemies. His style became more academic with my teaching but his previous experiences forged him well and it was the perfect adversary for Chizuru to learn how to fight against dishonorable men.
They finished their duel and bowed to each other with respect before Tairô got away to get my haori and Chizuru came sitting next to me, still panting and sweaty.
« You're improving. » i said to her.
« You think so ? » she replied with a smile.
I nodded before i passed a finger on her sweaty face. The scent of spice, so strong, caught my noze. I wanted to see if she tasted spices as well... but i threw that thought away.
« You should go and wash yourself before you catch a cold from the wetness of your sweat. » i said.
« Aren't you going on a round ? If you do, i'd prefer to go with you. » she objected.
« I'll wait for you. Go. »
She flashed me a giant smile and took the direction of the bathroom. Before, we only had the public bath and the well in the courtyard to wash ourselves but since Matsumoto-sensei came visiting us, he scolded Kondou-san because that wasn't sanitary enough and we dedicated a room for the baths. It was really an improvement, especially for Chizuru who couldn't go with us to public baths nor use the well.
I began walking to the entrance of the compound where i found my men already dressed and ready. As the usual ritual, Tairô handed me my haori and i put it on.
« We'll wait for Yukimura. » i told them and they waited, disciplined.
She arrived, running, and took her place by my side when we started walking for the last patrol of the day, before the Rasetsu take the night shift. It was starting to get dark already and Sannan was probably waking up. I was a bit disappointed that i couldn't see him very often since he became a Rasetsu. With Souji, Sannan was probably the one i was the closest.
We walked quietly in the streets of Kyoto and insisted in the neighborhoods of Gion and Shimabara where usually there's drunk ronins at this hour harassing some innocents. But no events of importance occured. The night was already installed when we took the direction of the Nishi-Hongwanji to get back to the headquarters. That's when i heard it coming from behind, at the rear guard.
« SONNÔ JÔI ! Revere the emperor and expel the barbarians ! »
We fell in a trap from imperialists coming from all around us, yelling the same battlecry and attacking my men. In a swift movement, i positionned myself in front of Chizuru and with a glare, i provoked the opponents to attack me and solely me. From the corner of my eye, i saw her put her hand on her kodachi but she didn't unsheathe it, according to her promise.
« Stay behind me. » i ordered her as four ronins ran at me. I unsheathed my blade and cut them open before turning to the two who were trying to get to Chizuru from behind me. She turned at the same time i did, as if we were one, to stay in my back and my sword swung mercilessly against the enemy. They weren't very good swordsmen but they were outnumbering us and i saw that some of my men were wounded already. I sliced everything coming at my range, still moving at the same time than Chizuru, protecting her with all my strength. The altercation only lasted a few seconds but it was intense with violence. When the last corpse collapsed on the ground, i stayed alert to any noise or movement before sheathing back my sword and turning to my men, finding them drenched with blood, and not only the one of their enemies.
« Anyone badly hurt ? » i asked, wiping my face with my haori's sleeve.
Most of them shook their head before Keisuke opened his mouth.
« They came from the rear guard... Tairô is wounded. » he said and the tone of his voice made me understand that there wasn't much hope.
I walked to the back of the column quickly to find the young Tairô on the ground, grunting in pain with his hands on his stomach. Chizuru near me didn't hesitate. She opened his haori and kimono to look at the wound. It was large and deep. His guts were getting out a little and i saw hope leave Chizuru's gaze when she opened her mouth.
« We can't move him. I'll have to treat him here. » she told me and i nodded before she turned to Keisuke « find some clean, hot water. »
He ran and Chizuru applied both her hands on Tairô's wound to stop the bleeding.
« Kumichô... » he called to me.
« Don't speak. » i ordered but i knew already he wouldn't listen.
« Serving under your command has been the greatest honor of my life. » he continued with difficulty.
Chizuru was crying, her hands drenched in the blood that wouldn't stop pouring from his guts and we all knew there was nothing we could do.
« Being your captain had been an honor for me too, Tairô. » i said gently « we will tell that you died a samurai. »
Chizuru lift her gaze towards me, probably mad that i pronounced the word « die » but if there was nothing left to save him, i had to give him at least this consolation. I handed Tairô his sword, lying next to him, and he grabbed it to hold it against his chest.
« I haven't always lived with honor. But at least, i'm dying with it. » he whispered and that were his last words.
Tairô, the youngest of my team, drew his last breath between Chizuru and me and under the crying faces of his comrades. We waited a moment, honoring his sacrifice and his memory before i stood up.
« We're taking him back to the compound. » i ordered and two members of my unit came to lift Tairô's corpse. He will have the funeral he deserves.
We walked quietly until we reached the headquarters and my men brought Tairô to the infirmary and covered his body with a cloak.
« Go wash yourself. » i ordered them.
They took the direction of the bathroom to bath and get rid of the blood that splattered on all of them. I took Chizuru to the well and cleaned her hands and face with mines. She was in shock. She had seen corpses before but it was probably the first time that she really knew the fallen man. Tairô and her grew closer these past months with all the training. And he was seventeen, like her. Too young to die.
« He didn't deserve this... » she said, crying « he was a good man... »
« Death doesn't deliver justice. » i told her « she takes anyone. »
« You sound like you don't care. »
« I do. »
« You never cry. »
« I've shed enough tears for the rest of my life when i was younger. » i said softly, caressing her now immaculate cheek with my hand.
I saw my unit getting out of the bathroom and i led Chizuru to it. Bath could help her clean her body and mind from what happened tonight. I knew she was considering her responsible for what happened. She was the one usually taking care of wounds but for Tairô, her friend, she had been helpless. Arrived to the bathroom, i entered with her before turning away to leave her some privacy. I'd bath later. But her little hand grabbed my sleeve.
« Don't go. » she told me and i turned back to her.
« Alright. »