Chapter 44- Shingen POV – Missing Person

Kyoto, present day…

"Much better, Mr. Takeda. Your FVC and FEV readings are in the normal range for your age and build." Endo Minori, the respiratory therapist Shingen had been working with for the past few months, examined the spirometer. "I wish all my clients were as faithful with their exercises as you."

Though Shingen nodded in response – why go to therapy if you weren't going to do everything in your power to ensure its success – he also acknowledged that restlessness had driven him to it. Learning about the modern world through books and film had been his main activities in the early weeks of his recovery, however as soon as he was feeling more energetic, he'd needed exercise. With Minori's permission and guidance, he'd added to the assigned rehab activities by taking walks around the city and swimming laps in the University's pool.

Still, there was only so much he could find to do with his time, especially after Sasuke stopped him from dissecting the furniture and appliances. Shingen had thought that was rather harsh, given that not only had he repaired a too-short leg on the coffee table, but he'd gotten the toilet to work better (once he finally managed to put it back together). It wasn't as if Sasuke wasn't used to a lack of running water, given that he'd lived in Kasugayama for four years.

Of course, as soon as Sasuke had left on a trip back to the Sengoku era, Shingen had disassembled and reassembled the toaster, the electric tea kettle, and the shower without any problem. Any leftover hardware… probably was unnecessary. Everything still worked. What Sasuke didn't know, wouldn't harm him.

"Mr. Takeda…?" Minori cleared his throat to catch his attention. "I've uploaded the next series of exercises to the therapy app – but to be honest, they're mostly for maintenance at this point."

"Which means?" His phone chimed, alerting him to the successful upload.

"Your follow-up is complete. Continue these exercises daily… but I see no need for additional outpatient visits. The pulmonologist will want to review your chart, but I expect he'll concur with my assessment. There's still some scarring left from the surgery, but no reason to expect you won't have a long and happy life." He bowed to Shingen. "Er, at least as long as you look both ways before you cross the street."

Later, after stopping at the Nishiki Market to pick up dinner, and indeed, looking both ways before he crossed the street, Shingen let himself into Sasuke's high rise apartment. Three months ago, Sasuke had returned to the Sengoku era via the Togakushi wormhole as planned, intending to meet up with Katsuko and Yukimura. At that time, Shingen had only been out of the hospital a few weeks – he'd been told that in order to recover completely, he would need several months of therapy in the Kyoto rehabilitation clinic.

He toed off his boots, then opened the shoe cupboard and – Sasuke's shoes were in there. He was back. Shingen stared into the cupboard, looking for - and not finding -shoes that would belong to Katsuko. Shingen had hoped that Sasuke would have found a way to bring her back with him, especially since Sasuke's route had been through Togakushi.

Maybe… she didn't want to come?

"Sasuke?" Shingen saw the younger man's shadow behind the frosted glass bedroom door.

Sasuke slid the door open and peered out. He wore one of those absorbent yukatas and was towel drying his hair. "Lord Shingen. You're looking… I'm pleased that you're looking well."

Though he knew he ought to say welcome home or ask how the treks through the wormhole had gone, Shingen went straight to the one question on his mind. "How's Katsuko?"

Sasuke gazed at him steadily, but as usual, without any expression to hint at what was going on in his head. "Er… we should sit down. I'm told that is the best way to relay… unwanted information."

[Togakushi Shrine Area: Eight months later]

Another wormhole had materialized, then closed, and still no Katsu. Shingen glanced up at the clearing sky, and wondered, for the thousandth time, if she was in another year, or if Iekane had killed her when they'd tumbled into the wormhole together. Next to him, Sasuke straightened from the tense crouch he'd been holding, and Shingen sensed an apologetic platitude was on the way. To prevent hearing another one, he said, "She'll figure it out. Or you will. I have faith in both of you."

Sasuke had been apologizing, and theorizing, for months. The apologies never got any better, although they'd never been worse than the first one… the night when Sasuke had explained that Katsuko had disappeared into the wormhole, and apparently not reappeared anywhere. "I was hoping she and I had unknowingly crossed paths in the wormhole," his friend had said, "and that she would be here with you. But clearly… that isn't the case. I'm sorry. Theoretically, she-."

Shingen had been unable to listen any longer and retreated to the balcony of the apartment. Resting his forearms on the metal railing, he looked at the horizon, wondering if the sky had any answers for him. Sasuke always found answers in the cosmos. But Shingen preferred to simply look for beauty in the night sky and find answers in text. Words had a pattern for him that, in spite of all of Sasuke's impassioned explanations, the sky didn't contain.

It's been over a year…

They hiked back to the parking lot, feet splashing in the puddles left by the storm that accompanied the wormhole. "I'll go back to the observatory in Nodeyama – maybe there's something I missed." Sasuke's voice broke the silence.

"Sounds good." But Sasuke never missed anything. Though Shingen didn't want to give up… wouldn't give up… he was starting to wonder if they'd be better off going back through to the past at the next opportunity. It was possible that Katsuko had found her way back to the Sengoku era. But what if that simply started them on a cycle of endlessly going back and forth and continuously missing each other?

"I will see you at the hotel tomorrow morning," Sasuke said, as he climbed into the SUV that he used to haul his astronomy equipment around between Kyoto, Nodeyama, and Nagano.

Shingen nodded. He'd rented a motorcycle to get from Kyoto to Nagano. The experience wasn't at all like riding a horse, and yet he preferred it to being trapped in a four wheeled box… especially if Sasuke was behind the wheel. The ninja-scientist had many many skills… but driving was not one of them.

Once Sasuke drove away, Shingen was in no hurry to leave, especially not to return to the impersonal hotel suite. He wandered over to a soba restaurant that popped up on his phone mapping app – how quickly he'd become used to these modern shortcuts – and ordered a light snack. He'd timed his entry into the restaurant well – managing to avoid a short rain shower that ended just as he left the restaurant with a takeout order of cold noodles.

He made his way to bench that was sheltered under enough tree cover to have escaped the worst of the recent rain and swiped the rest of the wet off with his hand. After finishing off the noodles and washing the snack down with a cup of tea, he reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out the puzzle box that he carried with him everywhere. He'd long since solved it, but it made him feel closer to Katsuko to keep it within reach. The rote sequence of slides and levers was soothing to him, and he occupied himself by running through the series to open it.

Inside, a length of her hair (by way of Yoshimoto who'd saved it after he'd given Katsu a haircut) and a letter that she'd sent via Sasuke. He didn't need to open the box to re-read the letter. At this point, he had it memorized. She'd obviously been feeling emotional when she composed the letter, it had a rushed quality to it, as if she'd blurted everything out on the page without taking time to craft something poetic. Somehow, that made the contents feel even more intimate.

Dear Shingen, I hope you are reading this, but I wouldn't blame you if you threw it away unopened. In which case you are not reading this. Maybe Sasuke will fish it out of the trash and you will read it someday. I know that sending you to the future with Sasuke is against your wishes, and if Sasuke would let me, I would go with you. I guess have gone, because if you are reading this, you're reading it in the future. I want to be there when you speak with the doctor, be with you whether it is good news or bad, and be by your side while you were treated. I know that was how you wished it too… but I'm scared to wait. No, that's not exactly true. I once watched someone I loved choose to die a little day by day, and no matter what I did, I could not keep her alive. What I'm afraid of is not being able to keep you alive long enough to get you to a hospital. And you need to live. I can't tell you what I know exactly, because it might be some kind of time paradox if I do (ask Sasuke, he will explain time paradox), but you do amazing things in your lifetime, things that saved a lot of people's lives. I don't know if I'll ever have the courage to tell you in person, or if I'll get the chance to, so I'm writing it down here. You are the smartest, kindest, person I know. You made me feel like I mattered, even when I was just Katsu, the "boy" who delivered your messages. You matter to me too. When I'm with you, or even when I'm not with you, you inspire feelings that I never imagined feeling. I love you.

What she hadn't said in the letter, was that sending him to the future against his wishes had not been her idea, but Yukimura's. Sasuke had told him that Yuki had initially gone to Kenshin and cooked up this scheme. Only then had they brought it to Sasuke and Katsuko. "She was really torn about the idea… we both were, because in our time, the wishes of the patient are honored. And she was willing to risk coming with us, but I told her that if something happened to her in the wormhole, it could make things worse for you."

In truth, he had been furious. At her. At Sasuke. At Yuki and Kenshin. The anger hadn't lasted. Not after a discussion with the doctor who had immediately admitted him to a hospital following a series of tests. "While often we watch and wait benign tumors such as these, yours has already obstructed seventy-five percent of your airway. This in turn is putting stress on your heart and could lead to heart or multi-organ failure." He didn't have to understand modern medical terminology to get the gist of that. Though he disagreed with their methods, his lover and friends had likely saved his life.

By the time he had been released from the hospital, all he'd wanted was to see her again. That feeling had only been magnified once he learned she had vanished. These days, there wasn't much left except love and hope. Katsuko was resourceful. If other timelines existed, and she was in one, she'd find that timeline's Sasuke, and he would help get her back to where she belonged. And if history had simply erased her? He'd go to another timeline and find her in that when.

It was a plan that Sasuke likely wouldn't approve of, but at least Shingen would be doing something more than waiting for the sky.