___chapter one point five [[afterwards…]]
That dark, rainy night, Battousai trudged down the alleys with a restless feeling. He had never felt this before… it startled him. When he reached his house, he set Tomoe down in the very last room at the end of the hall. It was the only room he never entered, he never bothered too.
She deserves to be in a room that hasn't been tainted by a killer… He thought as he laid her down on the futon with more gentleness than he had been meaning to use. Still carrying the corpse of her fiance over his shoulder, a grave, bitter expression crossed his face as he turned and shut the door.
Walking outside, the cold wind after a storm whipped his face. The soil was still damp, wet from the rain. He walked over to the edge of the yard, and bent over, putting Kiyosato's corpse down. He let his slender fingers feel the cool earth, and scooped up a handful of dirt. He repeated his action many times, pawing through the dirt, slowly making a hole big enough to bury Kiyosato in.
Looking at the corpse, Battousai's feeling of restlessness only increased. He never buried his victims, Iizuka told him to leave it for the people to find. But him…
Is it because… he's her fiance? He wondered, before shutting his eyelids and putting the dirt on top of him. He was someone to her… he had a bit of her heart… He mused while patting the dirt on top of his body. Looking around his unkept yard, he easily found two sticks from a tree that had been struck by lightening. Tying them together in a cross, he bound it together and stuck it into the mound of dirt.
Standing up, dusting himself off, he eyed the grave warily. Looking to the east, where the sky had already grown red with hues of the rising sun, he bowed at the foot of the mound and returned to his room without bothering to shower the blood and dirt from his body.
And he dreamed he killed that woman.
"Himura. You're actually late." The amused voice of Iizuka echoed throughout the empty room. I turned to him, ready to meet his teasing face with my infamous death glare, but instead I was met with a surprised face.
"You had a hard time?" He mused, nodding towards my cut.
"He was nothing." I muttered, the glare that woman gave me still engraved in my mind.
"Uh huh." Iizuka nodded, obviously not believing me. "Well, since you slept in so much, you missed the whole meeting. Katsura has something important to talk to you about. He wants you to meet him. Since you weren't here, he assumed you were at home, so he's going over there now."
"What?!" I exclaimed.
"That's three firsts today!" Iizuka mused. "Himura is late, Himura is injured, and Himura is surprised! What an interesting day…" He stopped talking when he realized I had already stomped out.
Why they fuck would Katsura go to my house?! I fumed, before realizing exactly what I was fuming about. What am I afraid is going to happen? He's going to meet that woman and she'll tell him what a horrible person I am?! I stopped walking in the midst of a busy street, standing there, staring at my feet for a couple seconds.
Looking up again, I let my surroundings soak into me. The people, laughing, crying, talking, enjoying each other's company. So many people, so many hearts, all capable of love.
"Why do I…" Why do I feel so lonely? I wondered, another wave of restlessness washing over me as I looked up at the cloudy sky.
"Ah, Himura-san, you're here." Katsura said in a voice that sounded more relieved than angry. "Tomoe-san told me that you had left, and I thought I had just missed you."
"Iizuka told me you came here." I murmered, removing my sandals and sitting opposite to him at a table. "Tomoe?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, Tomoe. She's your woman, isn't she?" I nearly exploded. Katsura had an asked a perfectly innocent question, but I was enraged. I… I killed her fiance! How could he think that she was my woman?! After all, it was just courtesy, burying her fiance and taking her somewhere, I couldn't just leave her in the alley-
"Himura?" Katsura brought me back to reality. "You look dazed."
"Tired." I mumbled. "What brings you here, Katsura-san?"
"I have to talk to you about something."
"So I know." Get to the point already! I mentally slapped myself. What was going on with me?! First these strange emotions washing upon me, now the impatience, how easily I am being disturbed…
"Would you like some tea?" Her voice. I whipped my head around to find myself staring straight into her face. I waited briefly, expecting her to slap me, yell at me, threaten me, but she did nothing. Her face was such a void of emotion…
"Well, you should at least answer her, Himura-san." Katsura noted from behind me.
"Ah… um, no, it's alright…" I said quietly, in almost a whisper. I bowed my head down, so she couldn't see my face. She didn't react to it at all.
"And Katsura-san?"
"No thank you, Tomoe-san." He responded courteously, and she bowed and left.
"Tomoe-san was here when I came," Katsura said. "She was walking around the house, as if she wasn't familiar with it. She seems to know the kitchen pretty well. Is she from a brothel?" He mused.
"No!" I spat out indignantly.
"Oh?" Katsura arched his eyebrows.
"Please, Katsura-san, the point?!" I said in an exasperated voice. Katsura chuckled.
"You don't seem quite yourself this morning, Himura-san." After laughing, he put his hands on the table and a serious expression crossed his face. "You attended the meeting with Saikai-san as I requested, correct?"
"Why would you send all your hitokiri to a meeting about politics? I haven't even seen him around; I question his reliability…" I asked coldly.
"I trust him. Saikai used to be independent, but he recently decided to join us. He contacted me, informing me about Yukishiro. I was impressed, I was currently also harboring suspicions to Yukishiro. All the information he provided me appeared to be true." He began.
"I followed that."
"Yes, well, there's more. Takeda Kanryuu, who's been an underground drug dealer for a long time, has always had ties with Yukishiro. They seemed to be growing in the past few weeks. While Yukishiro is skilled with things such as martial arts and using the weapons he had managed to procure, there is no way he can use them effectively without the help of Kanryuu. No matter how much trash as a person, Kanyuu is pure gold when it comes to an entrepreneur. Meanwhile, more and more groups are turning against the Ishin Shinshi. We also hold a big part in the ruling of how the war will turn out. Anybody who gets their hands on those weapons Yukishiro has. We are just a big target. No matter how skilled you are all with the sword, if we are faced with a dozen cannons or a group armed with Gatling guns, our survival chances are pretty slim. Nearly all of the populace are beginning to turn against us." Katsura said bitterly.
I raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a job for me then?"
"Actually… Takasugi had an interesting proposal. He asked that I pass it on to you, he isn't in the condition to travel too far from his home." Katsura slid a piece of paper across the table. "It's all here. There's another meeting tonight... just the usual procedures." He stood up, dusted himself off, and turned. "Tell Tomoe-san goodbye for me." He hid a smirk as he exited.
I eyed the piece of folded up paper. Slowly, I opened the crinkled page and began to read it's content.
"WHAT?!?!"
[a/n: This is a half chapter (thus the point five). I don't know why I made it a "point five", it could've been a whole chapter, I guess, except that it's pretty short, choppy, and has no real literary greatness. (but then again none of the chapters do… -_-") Well… chapter two's coming soon.]