¡°I¡¯m soooo tired¡± I yawned, my hand politely covering my mouth at my father¡¯s stern stare.
¡°Tokio san¡± Hiriko took my shopping basket and stared at it.
¡°What?¡± I asked at her stunned look.
¡°Y-you didn¡¯t buy anything¡± Hiriko stated, tapping on the hollow basket, ¡°You¡¯ve been out all day!¡±
¡°Oh¡±
¡°Tokio- we need to talk¡± my father interrupted, his eyes raised expectantly at Hiriko.
Blushing lightly, Hiriko bowed and exited the main room.
¡°Father?¡±
I hesitantly watched my father pace back and forth, his hands at his back, his eyes filled with hard concentration.
He stopped. The angry lines on his face disappeared. His face softened.
¡°H-How do you feel Tokio?¡±
¡°Eh¡± I stammered, ¡°I feel fine?¡±
¡°Good good¡±
I stared.
¡°Well a young man came up to me- asking your hand in marriage¡± my father cautiously worded, ¡°So what do you say?¡±
My jaws dropped.
So Hiriko had heard correctly.
Even so-
¡°Who¡¯s the man?¡± I stuttered, heat coming to my face.
¡°Son of a rich noble man- named Arugun¡± father replied.
Living a life as a rich wife of a great noble man¡¦..
I never imagined my life like that.
I never wished to live like that¡¦¡¦
Besides- I hated-
Behind father, the door opened slightly after a few knocks.
¡°Come in¡±
¡°Takagi sir!¡± a young man dressed as a fighter entered the room.
Something flashed through my father¡¯s eyes.
Was it anger?
Or was it fear?
¡°What is it?¡± my father glanced apologetically at me, ¡°Tokio- if you will excuse us?¡±
¡°Of course father¡± with one last glance at the young man I walked out slowly closing the door.
Who was he?
Unable to fight my curiosity, I silently crept back to the door and pressed my ear against it.
¡°Takagi sir, there is an emergency¡¦..¡±
¡°What emergency?¡±
¡°It¡¯s been reported that an assassin is searching for you-¡±
My father¡¯s icy voice dropped into a low whisper, ¡°Tell me something I do not know¡±
¡°We need to make an alliance with these threats Takagi- we need to join troops with the Ishinshishi¡¦¡¦and only then may we get peace and safety for you and your family¡±
¡°I will not be threatened into the Ishinshishi¡± my father¡¯s voice was steadily rising, ¡°We are no threat- we are neutral in this war¡±
¡°That is why you are being damaged!¡± the young man¡¯s voice matched my father¡¯s volume, ¡°You have followers- a decent number of young men under your control- you must do something with them to help this war!¡±
¡°Fool!¡± my father hissed
Silence.
The young man started again, ¡°Your assassin are from the Ishinshishi- they think you are with the Shinsengumi and the-¡±
A chuckle, ¡°Fools¡±
¡°Please Takagi san- please end these deaths. You must go to war to end war¡±
¡°Bah! Do not irritate me Yanoke! I know the real reason that have caused the deaths of my sons¡±
A surprised cry came from the young man, ¡°Nonsense¡±
¡°And besides- I owe the Shinsengumi- they saved my daughter from the hands of that assassin¡±
My eyes widened.
I always thought my father was a great legendary samurai, now an old veteran. Never did I think he had access to soldiers and-
¡°Then it¡¯s settled, the Takagi are not neutral- they will fight against the Ishinshishi¡±
A dry laugh, ¡°No Yanoke, we will remain neutral¡±
¡°If you do- you will die, your daughter will die, and they invade your lands, wealth, soldiers, and more¡± a frustrated sigh, ¡°Do something about it Takagi san! I beg of you¡±
¡°You are a young soldier- under my orders Yanoke¡± my father suddenly coughed, ¡°It is not your turn to fight yet.¡±
¡°Yes sir¡± a tired reply,
I quickly backed away from the opening door, and faced the red faced man.
¡°Excuse me¡± the man grunted walking away.
I sighed.
¡°Tokio san¡± Hiriko¡¯s voice called.
¡°Eh?¡±
¡°Dinner¡¯s ready Tokio san- please call your father¡±
¡°Hai¡±
¡°I¡¯ve already heard¡± my father appeared behind me with a forced smile, ¡°Come let¡¯s eat¡±
I could feel something.
A dark presence.
A wave of evil
I turned and twisted in sleep. My constant ominous feelings were keeping me awake.
It must be midnight or later¡¦..I¡¯ve already woken twenty times.
Unable to take it anymore, I threw off my blanket and stood up.
Maybe because of these recent events I can¡¯t-
I rubbed my eyes.
I was tired
My ears perked up.
Shouting?
Was someone shouting outside?
I cautiously looked out the window- squinting under the moonlight.
Three figures right outside- no wait a fourth was appearing.
I looked closely¡¦¡¦ two of them were men¡¦..swords¡¦¡¦the Shinsengumi!
My mouth dried, as my eyes recognized the third figure, that assassin¡¦..
The assassin that killed Ijaou- Choruke! And-
Frozen, I finally made out the fourth shadow.
A middle aged man- with his katana out- familiar¡¦..
¡°Father¡±
Shit
My father was out there!
I forced my legs to obey, as I clumsily walked the frozen legs to grab my katana.
Father
You crazy fool
He¡¯s going to kill you.
I opened the window quickly¡¦¡¦
I had to go
I needed to protect him
He was my only family
He-
I jumped outside, landing lightly on my toes, creeping between trees of our outside garden; I made my way out through the gates.
¡°Die old fool¡± a throaty cry ripped through the air.
Father!
I pushed the heavy gates.
¡°Tokio!¡± my father¡¯s eyes widened as he saw me.
¡°Look out!¡±
I couldn¡¯t shout, horrified at the assassin leaping up at the sky and downward to- me¡¦¡¦
¡°No!¡± I gaped in horror as my father pushed me away.
What are you doing father?
I couldn¡¯t move.
Frozen.
My legs made of ice.
The katana in my hand dropped.
A sudden splash of red spurting from my father¡¯s chest¡¦¡¦
No
I backed away reflexively avoiding the blood that sprayed from the body.
The body of my father.
He¡¯s dead.
NO.
I ran to the fallen body and touched his face.
No, not again- please.
Don¡¯t make me cry
I don¡¯t want to.
Father- Otousan
Blood seeping through my fingers.
My god, how could one have so much blood? So much-
My father¡¯s blank eyes studied my face, ¡°Tokio¡± his mouth silently moved and quickly stopped.
No please.
I felt fire again.
Pain.
Heat.
The shock were like waves of pain hitting me over and over and over¡¦..
¡°Tokio san¡± a soft voice murmured.
A sudden different voice, ¡°Get up¡±, a forceful hand led me away from the body.
No- I can¡¯t leave him!
I recklessly turned to slap him.
As quick as the wind, he grabbed my hand.
Déjà vu?
My eyes widened
Saitou Hajime.
My eyes traveled to his companion-
Of course- Souji-
The assassin, Choruke, running to me- his sword out, already dark red with blood.
Quickly, Okita sped past me his face grim and set.
I watched dully, as he drew his katana and slashed at the assassin.
The assassin quickly rolled away, but Okita managed to cut his leg.
¡°Choruke¡± Okita managed to say, ¡°You deserve to be killed¡±
Unable to respond Choruke instead snarled, Okita quickly whirled, his katana swiftly decapitating Choruke¡¯s head.
¡°Looks like you had the honor this time¡± Saitou besides me frowned.
My eyes locked on his.
Saitou¡¯s cold face- all a blur.
Blurry.
No-
I¡¯m crying
No- I hate feeling- feeling this hot fire- pain¡¦¡¦
Not in front of the Shinsengumi-
No.
A cascade of tears ran down my face.
All of them¡¦¡¦ I saw the bodies of all my family after death.
I have seen each of my brothers¡¯ fallen body- and now-
I turned away from the wolf¡¯s piercing stare.
I shook my head fiercely, this was not my fault.
No not my fault
You could have done something-
But I didn¡¯t
Because- because I was afraid to die.
Selfish
You deserve to die.
The voices in my head were growing louder.
I suddenly turned back to that damned Shinsengumi, the contempt and accusation in my eyes clear.
My hands tightened to fists, ¡°Curse you- why didn¡¯t you do anything?¡±
The wolf¡¯s eyes flashed.
No- he could see me cry- why was I so weak?
Why am I crying?
¡°Why did you let him kill my father? Why?¡± I struck at him.
He quickly got a hold of both of my hands. My fists.
¡°Let go of me!¡± I choked, ¡°Let go! Damn you-¡±
I suddenly felt him loosen his grip, I freed one of my fists and weakly pounded his chest.
¡°Curse the Shinsengumi! Curse them!¡± I wildly cried, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you save them? Why didn¡¯t you save them?¡±
Energy draining from my fist- my body, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you let me die like him?¡±
I exhaustedly leaned on that wretched Shinsengumi for support; the pain was engulfing my ki.
My soul.
I buried myself into the Shinsengumi¡¯s jacket and cried.
Faintly, I felt a protective arm around my trembling back.
I inhaled deeply. A scent of masculine smell, the sole scent of Saitou Hajime.
A deep voice of Saitou Hajime whispering in my ear, ¡°There¡¯s always pain in war Tokio san¡±
Tears splashing at the Shinsengumi¡¯s jacket.
I hope it ruins it.
The tears fell faster.
Let my pain ease.
A light hand in my shoulder, Okita¡¯s voice, ¡°Shhhh Tokio san, it¡¯s over¡±
It may be over Okita san
But the aching of my heart will never be over.
¡°Let me be¡± I slowly pushed Saitou and staggered backwards, ¡°I need to bury him¡±
I turned to my father¡¯s body-
Blood- blood
Red
Crimson
Beautifully sickening¡¦¡¦
Disgusted and nauseated by the smell of blood I fell heavily on the ground, my vision blurring and slowly blacking out.
AN: xP