The deep silence in the room kept locked upon its doors. The
springtime cheers were lost at that moment. The moment where the nightmares
of the past come alive...
THE WANDERER'S EYES
(Chapter 4: Haunting Memories)
Sai stared into space and Soujiro was terrified. He thought he had said something that reminded her of the tragedy. The tragedy that was written on the note... It WAS her! It was her who did write the note after all.
Sai broke her own silence, "My friend... She said those words at the funeral on the 6th... I-I can't remember when that was..."
"You mean October?" Soujiro said, remembering the torn piece of a journal he read.
"October," she echoed "I guess it was then. The funeral had so many visitors. I was only fourteen then. I was sure it can't be because of tuberculosis but, I can't remain confused for so long..."
Soujiro wanted to avoid having her remember such a dreadful event, "Does that mean you know Taro?" He couldn't help it. He was too curious at that point.
"Yes. He was an old friend... I still remember everything... The poison... The soup..."
She clenched her hands in horror that she can still see brightly her past. Soujiro reached for her hand, but she tugged it away when he had. She clawed her hair with her cold hands. She talked beneath her breath, "If I can cry, I'd cry but I know it is my curse to be so miserable. It is difficult denying everything that happened."
She clawed her hair tighter and thunder roared outside. The storm was going back. Noise surrounded their area. The thunder was bad enough. However, everything that can make a sound also commenced to the dreaded music. There, she let out a scream, "STOP IT!!! SILENCE!!! ALL OF YOU!!!"
Within that moment, she collapsed onto his chest, because she was weary. She was weary and miserable. If only he never reminded her of the trauma...
He lay her beside her brother, who seems to have heard what she had sad. Tears streamed from his two delicate eyes. Ever since Soujiro had been there(which was not too long yet), he had always wanted to embrace Soushi because of his awful predicament. There was so much to admire in the strength that the two siblings carry. He left the room for them to regain their strength, and even perhaps their health.
He saw Dr.Kirashime carry his last admission into the last room. He wasn't busy now, and Soujiro rather, wanted to talk to him about the mysteries that roam within the dojo. He also wanted to talk to him about Shishio's connection with him.
"Ohaiyoo gozaimasu, sensei..."(Good morning, doctor...)
He nodded back without turning to look at him. Soujiro tried again, "Good morning, doctor. I see you are tending to you patients..."
"Yes, yes," he replied awkwardly. He walked out, but he stated with much enthusiasm, "I've had many patients already. Some had very strange names."
Soujiro looked at him while he followed. His expression had definitely changed, and it seems as if he was in the mood to talk very much. He continued, "I've had one named Kaiken and another named Sai,-" Soujiro chuckled at this point."-weapons. I've had Kitsune, Suzaku and Cho. I've also had a Busu, Baka and an Onna here. Don't you find that so weird?"
"Very weird..." Soujiro agreed.
"It's just sad that I have to see them all suffer; but I think it is better this way..."
Soujiro saw a different man again in Dr.Kirashime's eyes. He turned cold and inside was all-rotten. Contemplating the past was an absolute horror, having to remember all the blood and deaths that happened. Dr.Kirashime bowed his head as they entered his room and he sat down. When Soujiro had also sat down, Dr.Kirashime was already holding a wooden box, "Out on the fields during the Bakumatsu no Douran, my wife abandoned me and our four children because she didn't want to be around a man that worked for the Shinsengumi. She was a woman who changes her mind whenever she had a chance. My eldest son worked in the Shinsengumi too and my second child, a girl, married a Shinsengumi captain. My third one, Doukuu, was the rebel. He traveled all over Japan to find his mother. He would wander alone on the streets though it was dangerous. He was never afraid..."
He pry open the box and inside were sketches that were amazingly detailed and precise. He handed a few over to Soujiro for him to look at. He pointed out his sons and his wife and the old house where they lived in. Soujiro was impressed with such beautiful and excellent drawings.
Dr.Kirashime continued, "My youngest son drew those just before his mother left. Just before he died of pneumonia..."
The last picture that Soujiro saw was that of a few scribbles and a lonely face. It had signs that blood had dripped on the page and a scent of smoke was with it.
"Shishio Makoto examined this sketch when I first met him. I was a friend of his then because I saved his life once. It was by the fire..."
Soujiro still checked the picture and didn't bother to know how Shishio got burned. The pencil shading on the picture was massive. It was dark and deep that you can feel the other side bearing every mark it had. Suddenly, he felt the face on the drawing moved. He saw the eyes of the picture blink. Dr.Kirashime noticed his eyes were terrified, more like the ones that happened the other night.
"I see you were also drawn to it. That happened to me before when I was wounded on battle. The marks there were that of mine when I confronted an enemy, Reikou Tomochi. Eventually, he admitted his two offspring here because they were too ill to handle. His wife, when she entered them here, was rumored to have changed the two's last name so that nobody would recognize the dishonored family name of the children. Funny, I seem to have forgotten which child that was..."
He laughed softly. Soujiro took a closer look at it again. It was alive to him alright, as he saw the face open its mouth and told him something without any sound at all. The face, from what he saw, lifted itself out of the paper and nearly swallowed Soujiro's head if he never dodged it. He put back the drawings in the receptacle and noticed the box had Latin characters on it.
"Those... Reikou engraved them there for a reason. He wanted me to accept this box so that he knows I will not disrespect his children. Doukuu taught me a little Latin and a whole lot of German. I just don't know about this one."
Soujiro's eyes circled the room. He scanned the place and there, he saw his sword. It was a worn sword by then because of his many confrontations with thieves(as you may recall from the first chapter). He was given that sword by a Juppon Gatana member Chou who had a great fascination with swords. He didn't use it much while he was part of the Juppon Gatana, because he had a Kikuichi Norimure, a sword he favored so much. He desired that Dr.Kirashime would give it back to him. He had no intentions really, but he wanted to feel its power even if it had only been out of his reach for a day or so.
"I know what you want. That sword, one from his henchmen I'm sure. I was tending to his wounds when he brought up the subject about creating a group that will create a new order for Japan. I never said anything about it because I was afraid about getting involved too much..."
Dr.Kirashime pinched Soujiro's cheek without any apparent reason that he should. Soujiro thought him queer to do that to a 19 year old swordsman.
"He came back to me a few years after with a woman and a child. His companion, Yumi Kamogata, was devoted to him like the way we worship our gods. He meant more to her than anything. The child was adorable yet introverted. The child, from my perspective, was malnourished and carries pain that shall haunt him until his grave comes to pass. Maybe even then he'll remember the horrors. He told me to mend him for awhile while he would gather accomplices and underlings. I took the risk and spent my time with the boy. Everything I thought he would turn out to be never happened..."
Soujiro saw the shimmering in his eyes.
"I shared my philosophies and he his. He was nothing like Shishio and I thought it would last like that until he got married young. Nope, not a single precognition was correct. I recall the time I even told him a story of a thousand million blos-"
"Blossoms that grew in the fields where the kappa roamed," Soujiro entered in his passage "Where the butterflies flutter as if there would be no sunshine left to wander in, and to the boy that shed no bitter tears and hid it all in a box made of gold... I remember that..."
Dr.Kirashime grimaced, "Do you remember that? Do you remember the day that-"
"You mean that day where I fell onto the waterfall and you had to save me. Then when I was out of the water, I swallowed a fish and-"
"You said there was nothing from where you lived that was as delicious as the fish you ate that day... Yes, well... Now I suppose there is nothing to talk about anymore."
He stood up and apearred normal as he usually was. He let Soujiro out of the room but allowed him to take the box with the pictures inside of it. Dr.Kirashime was left to his thoughts in peace.
He murmured softly like a deep whisper, "I wish that I could have saved him then..."
THE WANDERER'S EYES
(Chapter 4: Haunting Memories)
Sai stared into space and Soujiro was terrified. He thought he had said something that reminded her of the tragedy. The tragedy that was written on the note... It WAS her! It was her who did write the note after all.
Sai broke her own silence, "My friend... She said those words at the funeral on the 6th... I-I can't remember when that was..."
"You mean October?" Soujiro said, remembering the torn piece of a journal he read.
"October," she echoed "I guess it was then. The funeral had so many visitors. I was only fourteen then. I was sure it can't be because of tuberculosis but, I can't remain confused for so long..."
Soujiro wanted to avoid having her remember such a dreadful event, "Does that mean you know Taro?" He couldn't help it. He was too curious at that point.
"Yes. He was an old friend... I still remember everything... The poison... The soup..."
She clenched her hands in horror that she can still see brightly her past. Soujiro reached for her hand, but she tugged it away when he had. She clawed her hair with her cold hands. She talked beneath her breath, "If I can cry, I'd cry but I know it is my curse to be so miserable. It is difficult denying everything that happened."
She clawed her hair tighter and thunder roared outside. The storm was going back. Noise surrounded their area. The thunder was bad enough. However, everything that can make a sound also commenced to the dreaded music. There, she let out a scream, "STOP IT!!! SILENCE!!! ALL OF YOU!!!"
Within that moment, she collapsed onto his chest, because she was weary. She was weary and miserable. If only he never reminded her of the trauma...
He lay her beside her brother, who seems to have heard what she had sad. Tears streamed from his two delicate eyes. Ever since Soujiro had been there(which was not too long yet), he had always wanted to embrace Soushi because of his awful predicament. There was so much to admire in the strength that the two siblings carry. He left the room for them to regain their strength, and even perhaps their health.
He saw Dr.Kirashime carry his last admission into the last room. He wasn't busy now, and Soujiro rather, wanted to talk to him about the mysteries that roam within the dojo. He also wanted to talk to him about Shishio's connection with him.
"Ohaiyoo gozaimasu, sensei..."(Good morning, doctor...)
He nodded back without turning to look at him. Soujiro tried again, "Good morning, doctor. I see you are tending to you patients..."
"Yes, yes," he replied awkwardly. He walked out, but he stated with much enthusiasm, "I've had many patients already. Some had very strange names."
Soujiro looked at him while he followed. His expression had definitely changed, and it seems as if he was in the mood to talk very much. He continued, "I've had one named Kaiken and another named Sai,-" Soujiro chuckled at this point."-weapons. I've had Kitsune, Suzaku and Cho. I've also had a Busu, Baka and an Onna here. Don't you find that so weird?"
"Very weird..." Soujiro agreed.
"It's just sad that I have to see them all suffer; but I think it is better this way..."
Soujiro saw a different man again in Dr.Kirashime's eyes. He turned cold and inside was all-rotten. Contemplating the past was an absolute horror, having to remember all the blood and deaths that happened. Dr.Kirashime bowed his head as they entered his room and he sat down. When Soujiro had also sat down, Dr.Kirashime was already holding a wooden box, "Out on the fields during the Bakumatsu no Douran, my wife abandoned me and our four children because she didn't want to be around a man that worked for the Shinsengumi. She was a woman who changes her mind whenever she had a chance. My eldest son worked in the Shinsengumi too and my second child, a girl, married a Shinsengumi captain. My third one, Doukuu, was the rebel. He traveled all over Japan to find his mother. He would wander alone on the streets though it was dangerous. He was never afraid..."
He pry open the box and inside were sketches that were amazingly detailed and precise. He handed a few over to Soujiro for him to look at. He pointed out his sons and his wife and the old house where they lived in. Soujiro was impressed with such beautiful and excellent drawings.
Dr.Kirashime continued, "My youngest son drew those just before his mother left. Just before he died of pneumonia..."
The last picture that Soujiro saw was that of a few scribbles and a lonely face. It had signs that blood had dripped on the page and a scent of smoke was with it.
"Shishio Makoto examined this sketch when I first met him. I was a friend of his then because I saved his life once. It was by the fire..."
Soujiro still checked the picture and didn't bother to know how Shishio got burned. The pencil shading on the picture was massive. It was dark and deep that you can feel the other side bearing every mark it had. Suddenly, he felt the face on the drawing moved. He saw the eyes of the picture blink. Dr.Kirashime noticed his eyes were terrified, more like the ones that happened the other night.
"I see you were also drawn to it. That happened to me before when I was wounded on battle. The marks there were that of mine when I confronted an enemy, Reikou Tomochi. Eventually, he admitted his two offspring here because they were too ill to handle. His wife, when she entered them here, was rumored to have changed the two's last name so that nobody would recognize the dishonored family name of the children. Funny, I seem to have forgotten which child that was..."
He laughed softly. Soujiro took a closer look at it again. It was alive to him alright, as he saw the face open its mouth and told him something without any sound at all. The face, from what he saw, lifted itself out of the paper and nearly swallowed Soujiro's head if he never dodged it. He put back the drawings in the receptacle and noticed the box had Latin characters on it.
"Those... Reikou engraved them there for a reason. He wanted me to accept this box so that he knows I will not disrespect his children. Doukuu taught me a little Latin and a whole lot of German. I just don't know about this one."
Soujiro's eyes circled the room. He scanned the place and there, he saw his sword. It was a worn sword by then because of his many confrontations with thieves(as you may recall from the first chapter). He was given that sword by a Juppon Gatana member Chou who had a great fascination with swords. He didn't use it much while he was part of the Juppon Gatana, because he had a Kikuichi Norimure, a sword he favored so much. He desired that Dr.Kirashime would give it back to him. He had no intentions really, but he wanted to feel its power even if it had only been out of his reach for a day or so.
"I know what you want. That sword, one from his henchmen I'm sure. I was tending to his wounds when he brought up the subject about creating a group that will create a new order for Japan. I never said anything about it because I was afraid about getting involved too much..."
Dr.Kirashime pinched Soujiro's cheek without any apparent reason that he should. Soujiro thought him queer to do that to a 19 year old swordsman.
"He came back to me a few years after with a woman and a child. His companion, Yumi Kamogata, was devoted to him like the way we worship our gods. He meant more to her than anything. The child was adorable yet introverted. The child, from my perspective, was malnourished and carries pain that shall haunt him until his grave comes to pass. Maybe even then he'll remember the horrors. He told me to mend him for awhile while he would gather accomplices and underlings. I took the risk and spent my time with the boy. Everything I thought he would turn out to be never happened..."
Soujiro saw the shimmering in his eyes.
"I shared my philosophies and he his. He was nothing like Shishio and I thought it would last like that until he got married young. Nope, not a single precognition was correct. I recall the time I even told him a story of a thousand million blos-"
"Blossoms that grew in the fields where the kappa roamed," Soujiro entered in his passage "Where the butterflies flutter as if there would be no sunshine left to wander in, and to the boy that shed no bitter tears and hid it all in a box made of gold... I remember that..."
Dr.Kirashime grimaced, "Do you remember that? Do you remember the day that-"
"You mean that day where I fell onto the waterfall and you had to save me. Then when I was out of the water, I swallowed a fish and-"
"You said there was nothing from where you lived that was as delicious as the fish you ate that day... Yes, well... Now I suppose there is nothing to talk about anymore."
He stood up and apearred normal as he usually was. He let Soujiro out of the room but allowed him to take the box with the pictures inside of it. Dr.Kirashime was left to his thoughts in peace.
He murmured softly like a deep whisper, "I wish that I could have saved him then..."