What's Wrong With You?!
"C-Captain Sagara," Sanosuke whispered. He knew his mouth was hanging open but he didn't care. For a long, long moment he could only stare at his old mentor and friend, the man he had idolized even more than his own father. "I thought you were dead," Sanosuke said finally, taking deep breaths. "I saw your head on a stake."
"It wasn't mine, obviously," Sozo Sagara smiled. His smile was as cold as his eyes, not the way Sanosuke remembered it being. "I managed to survive- as you did, I see. I wasn't sure if you had or not. I didn't realize it at the time, but throwing you into that river in the middle of the winter should have given you hypothermia and frozen you to death." The smile didn't leave Sozo's face. That bothered Sanosuke more than a little.
"A kind woman saved me," Sanosuke told his old friend. "How did you survive?"
"I struck a deal with the government official who fired the last shot you saw me take," Sozo answered, still looking amused. "We came to an agreement since the Sekihotai was destroyed and since the government knew me to be a good officer."
"You struck a deal with those filthy pigs?" Sanosuke asked incredulously.
"It was make a deal with them or die," Sozo's grin widened. "Those who lose but get away live to fight another day."
Sanosuke could barely contain his shock. Captain Sagara wasn't acting at all how he remembered him. The Captain Sagara that Sanosuke knew would have died before doing anything which would exploit the deaths of his comrades or exploit the weak in any way- as the Imperialist government was so obviously doing.
"What are you doing now that the revolution's over?" Sanosuke wanted to know.
"Traveling from place to place, taking in the sights of every city I come to, killing imperialist government officials when the opportunity presents itself."
Sanosuke choked.
"I was in a city far to the west of this one about a month ago. Someone saw my back and mistook me for you. He started calling your given name, Sanosuke. I didn't pay much attention until he added my surname to it. Sanosuke Sagara is a weird sounding name, and because it is so familiar, it demanded my attention. I'm not mad that you took my last name by the way. In truth, I am honored. You always were like a little brother to me, so I suppose it's only fitting.
"I told the man who knew you that you were my younger brother so he would be more fourthcoming with his information. I hope you don't mind, but even if you do, there's not much we can do about it now," Sagara gave a cold, crazy sounding laugh.
"I don't mind," Sanosuke told his old friend. "It's an honor that you called me your younger brother. You saved my life many times."
Sozo nodded. "The man I spoke to told me that you could be found in Tokyo at the Kamiya Dojo. He was hesitant to tell me even after I said we were brothers. I don't know why- perhaps because we don't look that much alike. His companion seemed very concerned about him telling me where to find you."
"Does this man have a name?" Sanosuke asked, wondering who could have told Sozo where to find him.
"I didn't ask," Sozo answered. "I didn't give a damn about him, past the information he had in reguards to you."
I suppose I should feel flattered, Sanosuke thought, but for some strange reason I'm not. What's happened to Sagara? He's nothing like he was ten years ago!
"You're the only other member of the Sekihotai who lived, you know," Sozo said offhandedly. "All the others were killed. Every last one of them. I had to do the head count so I know. The head count was literal by the way."
Sanosuke closed his eyes and tried to will the horrible images out of his head.
"When I found out that you were indeed alive, I was compelled to come looking for you. I could use some help with the jobs I do, if you're willing to come," Sozo grinned again. Sanosuke found his smile scary.
"I don't know," Sanosuke said, frowning. He was about to ask what kind of jobs Sozo was talking about, but changed his mind. He had the feeling that he already knew, and he wanted no part in any killings.
"Ah," Sozo smirked. "You have reservations about leaving this place, I see. Is that woman hovering by the door your wife? And the young boy her brother? He's too old to be your son."
"She's not my wife," Sanosuke told his old mentor.
"But she's something to you," Sozo remarked.
"You're assuming quite a bit," Sanosuke said, trying not to glower.
"There's nothing wrong with assuming if you assume correctly," Sagara remarked. "Besides, there would be ample time for you to hang around this run down school. You could work half the year and take the other half off. I'd return for you and we could go kill imperialist pigs together again."
"You never taught me to kill imperialists, Sagara," Sanosuke said slowly. "You taught me to protect the weak."
"You cannot protect the weak, Sanosuke. It's a lost cause, that. The weak cannot even protect themselves. They're nothing more than a flock of bleating sheep, incapable of thinking for themselves. They sop up whatever stories they're told. They truly believe that the Sekihotai was an evil faction, and no matter how many weaklings you and I correct, there will always be three more to take each one's place in believing that the imperialist government was just and that we were a bunch of renegades!
"You know what I say is true- you wear the kanji for 'Wicked' on your back as well. What happened to the Sekihotai is something neither of us can ignore, and something neither of us can change! The only thing we can do is seek reveange on the ones responsible for ruining our lives!"
"Was ten years not enough time to kill everyone directly involved in the massacre of our comrades?" Sanosuke asked, clenching his fists tight.
"Only those directly involved and their families," Sozo smirked. "They, however, still have comrades with families who are in positions of power. I've been elliminating them and their corruption ever since I ran out of pigs who were directly responsible- and everyone who stood in my way, of course."
"Whatever happened to creating a world where everyone was equal?" Sanosuke wanted to know.
"That was an ideal I held when I was younger and foolish. I see now that such a world is impossible. There will always be weaklings who don't measure up and there will always be dogs at the top to oppress them!"
"What's wrong with you?! We fought to get rid of the dogs at the top," Sanosuke reminded Sozo.
"That was a long time ago, Sanosuke." The smile melted off Sozo's face and he walked slowly toward Sanosuke, crossing his arms over his chest. "All the people who fought with us to make everyone equal are dead. All of them. I saw each and every one of their bodies. I had to help cut and bag the heads, Sanosuke. All of them are dead and the ideal they fought for is dead as well!"
"Not as long as there's someone to keep fighting for it!" Sanosuke shouted back.
"It's dead! Just like them! There's nothing you can do to change it, Sanosuke! The only thing left for us to do is take reveange! Will you help me, Sanosuke? Will you help me make those imperialist pigs pay for what they did to our friends? Our family?"
"They're all dead too, Sozo," Sanosuke said slowly. "You took care of that, didn't you?"
"I told you, there are three more pigs to take each one's place!" Sozo snarled, grabbing Sanosuke by both shoulders and shaking him. Only the fact that Sozo had once been Sanosuke's greatest idol kept Sanosuke from pummelling him through the wall. "Our quest for reveange may never be complete but if we kill-"
"No," Sanosuke told Sagara, staring into his former friend's crazed eyes. "I'm not going to help you kill innocent people."
"Innocent? Innocent?! Innocent is what the Sekihotai was! Innocent is what our comrades were, what you and I were before those bastards ruined us!" Sozo shouted. "I'm offering you the chance to get reveange for your comrades, Sanosuke! Are you just going to throw it away like the stupid child you were ten years ago?!"
"I don't need reveange," Sanosuke said softly, hoping he could reach his old friend. He opened his mouth to say something else but pain flared in his chest and he gasped instead.
"SANOSUKE!!!" Kaoru and Yahiko shouted fromt the door where they had been trying to eavesdrop.
Sanosuke stared at Sozo and his crazy eyes, then looked down at the short sword Sozo had thrust all the way through the right side of his chest.
"Then I don't need you," Sozo gave Sanosuke a mad smile, braced a hand on Sanosuke's shoulder, and pulled his sword free of Sanosuke.
Sanosuke was paralized. All he could to was stand rooted to the ground and stare at the man who had been like an older brother to him, who'd just put a sword between two of his ribs and driven it all the way out his back.
"Does it hurt? Don't worry. That lung is filling up with blood as we speak. In a little bit you'll start drowning in it, just like if you had lung rot. Pity there's nothing you can do about it," Sozo leered at him.
"Sanosuke!" Kaoru was at his side, clutching his arm.
"You bastard!" Yahiko shouted, putting himself between Sanosuke and Sagara. "What the hell did you do that for?! I'll make you pay!"
"Yahiko don't!" Sanosuke's paralysis passed. He pulled out of Kaoru's hold, picked up Yahiko by the back of his shirt, and tossed the boy back to Kaoru. "Sagara," he addressed his former friend, "You know perfectly well that wound won't kill me."
"Oh?" Sozo's eyes glittered.
Sanosuke grabbed a handful of the bandages he always wore around his lower torso and ripped them off, revealing a tapestry of scar tissue. "I lost that lung already, remember?"
"Oh yes. Now I do. I removed it myself if I remember correctly," Sagara looked more like a lunatic than ever before. "Shall I remove the other one for you as well?"
"You can try," Sanosuke growled, before he realized that he'd just challenged Captain Sagara.
"Sanosuke don't!" Kaoru gasped behind him. "You're hurt! And he's dangerous!"
"Let me get him for you, Sanosuke!" Yahiko ran forward with his kendo stick once more.
"No!" Sanosuke flung out an arm, clothes-lining Yahiko down at the chest. "Stay back, Yahiko."
Sozo watched this exchange with a strange expression on his face. "Our fight need not involve a woman and a child," he said, contemptuosuly.
"Child?!" Yahiko howled.
"Shut up!" Kaoru snapped at her student.
"You'll kill the families of government officials but you won't kill them?" Sanosuke was confused.
"They're not your family," Sozo smirked. "Be glad you haven't gotten her pregnant yet." Sanosuke clenched his fists. "I will meet you tomorrow at dusk. There is a shrine on the road leading west from Tokyo, about five miles outside the city, with a clearing behind it. We will fight there, and you had better show, Sanosuke. You won't like what happens if I have to hunt you down."
Sanosuke didn't answer. He merely stared at Sagara as his ex-captain walked swiftly from the dojo.
"C-Captain Sagara," Sanosuke whispered. He knew his mouth was hanging open but he didn't care. For a long, long moment he could only stare at his old mentor and friend, the man he had idolized even more than his own father. "I thought you were dead," Sanosuke said finally, taking deep breaths. "I saw your head on a stake."
"It wasn't mine, obviously," Sozo Sagara smiled. His smile was as cold as his eyes, not the way Sanosuke remembered it being. "I managed to survive- as you did, I see. I wasn't sure if you had or not. I didn't realize it at the time, but throwing you into that river in the middle of the winter should have given you hypothermia and frozen you to death." The smile didn't leave Sozo's face. That bothered Sanosuke more than a little.
"A kind woman saved me," Sanosuke told his old friend. "How did you survive?"
"I struck a deal with the government official who fired the last shot you saw me take," Sozo answered, still looking amused. "We came to an agreement since the Sekihotai was destroyed and since the government knew me to be a good officer."
"You struck a deal with those filthy pigs?" Sanosuke asked incredulously.
"It was make a deal with them or die," Sozo's grin widened. "Those who lose but get away live to fight another day."
Sanosuke could barely contain his shock. Captain Sagara wasn't acting at all how he remembered him. The Captain Sagara that Sanosuke knew would have died before doing anything which would exploit the deaths of his comrades or exploit the weak in any way- as the Imperialist government was so obviously doing.
"What are you doing now that the revolution's over?" Sanosuke wanted to know.
"Traveling from place to place, taking in the sights of every city I come to, killing imperialist government officials when the opportunity presents itself."
Sanosuke choked.
"I was in a city far to the west of this one about a month ago. Someone saw my back and mistook me for you. He started calling your given name, Sanosuke. I didn't pay much attention until he added my surname to it. Sanosuke Sagara is a weird sounding name, and because it is so familiar, it demanded my attention. I'm not mad that you took my last name by the way. In truth, I am honored. You always were like a little brother to me, so I suppose it's only fitting.
"I told the man who knew you that you were my younger brother so he would be more fourthcoming with his information. I hope you don't mind, but even if you do, there's not much we can do about it now," Sagara gave a cold, crazy sounding laugh.
"I don't mind," Sanosuke told his old friend. "It's an honor that you called me your younger brother. You saved my life many times."
Sozo nodded. "The man I spoke to told me that you could be found in Tokyo at the Kamiya Dojo. He was hesitant to tell me even after I said we were brothers. I don't know why- perhaps because we don't look that much alike. His companion seemed very concerned about him telling me where to find you."
"Does this man have a name?" Sanosuke asked, wondering who could have told Sozo where to find him.
"I didn't ask," Sozo answered. "I didn't give a damn about him, past the information he had in reguards to you."
I suppose I should feel flattered, Sanosuke thought, but for some strange reason I'm not. What's happened to Sagara? He's nothing like he was ten years ago!
"You're the only other member of the Sekihotai who lived, you know," Sozo said offhandedly. "All the others were killed. Every last one of them. I had to do the head count so I know. The head count was literal by the way."
Sanosuke closed his eyes and tried to will the horrible images out of his head.
"When I found out that you were indeed alive, I was compelled to come looking for you. I could use some help with the jobs I do, if you're willing to come," Sozo grinned again. Sanosuke found his smile scary.
"I don't know," Sanosuke said, frowning. He was about to ask what kind of jobs Sozo was talking about, but changed his mind. He had the feeling that he already knew, and he wanted no part in any killings.
"Ah," Sozo smirked. "You have reservations about leaving this place, I see. Is that woman hovering by the door your wife? And the young boy her brother? He's too old to be your son."
"She's not my wife," Sanosuke told his old mentor.
"But she's something to you," Sozo remarked.
"You're assuming quite a bit," Sanosuke said, trying not to glower.
"There's nothing wrong with assuming if you assume correctly," Sagara remarked. "Besides, there would be ample time for you to hang around this run down school. You could work half the year and take the other half off. I'd return for you and we could go kill imperialist pigs together again."
"You never taught me to kill imperialists, Sagara," Sanosuke said slowly. "You taught me to protect the weak."
"You cannot protect the weak, Sanosuke. It's a lost cause, that. The weak cannot even protect themselves. They're nothing more than a flock of bleating sheep, incapable of thinking for themselves. They sop up whatever stories they're told. They truly believe that the Sekihotai was an evil faction, and no matter how many weaklings you and I correct, there will always be three more to take each one's place in believing that the imperialist government was just and that we were a bunch of renegades!
"You know what I say is true- you wear the kanji for 'Wicked' on your back as well. What happened to the Sekihotai is something neither of us can ignore, and something neither of us can change! The only thing we can do is seek reveange on the ones responsible for ruining our lives!"
"Was ten years not enough time to kill everyone directly involved in the massacre of our comrades?" Sanosuke asked, clenching his fists tight.
"Only those directly involved and their families," Sozo smirked. "They, however, still have comrades with families who are in positions of power. I've been elliminating them and their corruption ever since I ran out of pigs who were directly responsible- and everyone who stood in my way, of course."
"Whatever happened to creating a world where everyone was equal?" Sanosuke wanted to know.
"That was an ideal I held when I was younger and foolish. I see now that such a world is impossible. There will always be weaklings who don't measure up and there will always be dogs at the top to oppress them!"
"What's wrong with you?! We fought to get rid of the dogs at the top," Sanosuke reminded Sozo.
"That was a long time ago, Sanosuke." The smile melted off Sozo's face and he walked slowly toward Sanosuke, crossing his arms over his chest. "All the people who fought with us to make everyone equal are dead. All of them. I saw each and every one of their bodies. I had to help cut and bag the heads, Sanosuke. All of them are dead and the ideal they fought for is dead as well!"
"Not as long as there's someone to keep fighting for it!" Sanosuke shouted back.
"It's dead! Just like them! There's nothing you can do to change it, Sanosuke! The only thing left for us to do is take reveange! Will you help me, Sanosuke? Will you help me make those imperialist pigs pay for what they did to our friends? Our family?"
"They're all dead too, Sozo," Sanosuke said slowly. "You took care of that, didn't you?"
"I told you, there are three more pigs to take each one's place!" Sozo snarled, grabbing Sanosuke by both shoulders and shaking him. Only the fact that Sozo had once been Sanosuke's greatest idol kept Sanosuke from pummelling him through the wall. "Our quest for reveange may never be complete but if we kill-"
"No," Sanosuke told Sagara, staring into his former friend's crazed eyes. "I'm not going to help you kill innocent people."
"Innocent? Innocent?! Innocent is what the Sekihotai was! Innocent is what our comrades were, what you and I were before those bastards ruined us!" Sozo shouted. "I'm offering you the chance to get reveange for your comrades, Sanosuke! Are you just going to throw it away like the stupid child you were ten years ago?!"
"I don't need reveange," Sanosuke said softly, hoping he could reach his old friend. He opened his mouth to say something else but pain flared in his chest and he gasped instead.
"SANOSUKE!!!" Kaoru and Yahiko shouted fromt the door where they had been trying to eavesdrop.
Sanosuke stared at Sozo and his crazy eyes, then looked down at the short sword Sozo had thrust all the way through the right side of his chest.
"Then I don't need you," Sozo gave Sanosuke a mad smile, braced a hand on Sanosuke's shoulder, and pulled his sword free of Sanosuke.
Sanosuke was paralized. All he could to was stand rooted to the ground and stare at the man who had been like an older brother to him, who'd just put a sword between two of his ribs and driven it all the way out his back.
"Does it hurt? Don't worry. That lung is filling up with blood as we speak. In a little bit you'll start drowning in it, just like if you had lung rot. Pity there's nothing you can do about it," Sozo leered at him.
"Sanosuke!" Kaoru was at his side, clutching his arm.
"You bastard!" Yahiko shouted, putting himself between Sanosuke and Sagara. "What the hell did you do that for?! I'll make you pay!"
"Yahiko don't!" Sanosuke's paralysis passed. He pulled out of Kaoru's hold, picked up Yahiko by the back of his shirt, and tossed the boy back to Kaoru. "Sagara," he addressed his former friend, "You know perfectly well that wound won't kill me."
"Oh?" Sozo's eyes glittered.
Sanosuke grabbed a handful of the bandages he always wore around his lower torso and ripped them off, revealing a tapestry of scar tissue. "I lost that lung already, remember?"
"Oh yes. Now I do. I removed it myself if I remember correctly," Sagara looked more like a lunatic than ever before. "Shall I remove the other one for you as well?"
"You can try," Sanosuke growled, before he realized that he'd just challenged Captain Sagara.
"Sanosuke don't!" Kaoru gasped behind him. "You're hurt! And he's dangerous!"
"Let me get him for you, Sanosuke!" Yahiko ran forward with his kendo stick once more.
"No!" Sanosuke flung out an arm, clothes-lining Yahiko down at the chest. "Stay back, Yahiko."
Sozo watched this exchange with a strange expression on his face. "Our fight need not involve a woman and a child," he said, contemptuosuly.
"Child?!" Yahiko howled.
"Shut up!" Kaoru snapped at her student.
"You'll kill the families of government officials but you won't kill them?" Sanosuke was confused.
"They're not your family," Sozo smirked. "Be glad you haven't gotten her pregnant yet." Sanosuke clenched his fists. "I will meet you tomorrow at dusk. There is a shrine on the road leading west from Tokyo, about five miles outside the city, with a clearing behind it. We will fight there, and you had better show, Sanosuke. You won't like what happens if I have to hunt you down."
Sanosuke didn't answer. He merely stared at Sagara as his ex-captain walked swiftly from the dojo.