* * * * * *
Katsura's Location
* * *
Several eyebrows rose as Reiji rushed toward the rear entrance of the Shinsengumi compound, her shoes creating little clouds of dust as she hurried by. How could she have forgotten?
Reiji found the new girl standing meekly next to the back door. "Gomenasai," Reiji called out the slight figure as she hurried up next to her, "It's not like me to be this forgetful." Reiji quickly scanned the tense-looking girl. "My name is Okado Reiji, in charge of the serving girls at the Shinsengumi compound. Kuroshiro Ayumi is it?"
"Hai," Ayumi answered, bowing nervously and glancing apprehensively at the walls now surrounding her.
"Don't be afraid," Reiji smiled softly, studying Ayumi. "You can still walk away."
"N-no, I can't do that," Ayumi collected her courage and straightened herself.
"I understand," Reiji replied, with a hint of sadness in her soft smile. "Well, you've passed the background checks, and the paperwork is all done, so let me show you around," she said, and lead Ayumi away.
Ayumi followed Reiji into the maze of buildings. She watched quietly as Reiji showed her the room for the serving girls, the kitchen, the closet, the courtyard for laundry, and so on. The other girls were introduced to Ayumi, but the men... well, they disconcerted her.
Ayumi tried avoid the mens' looks, but she could feel their eyes on her face. She felt humiliated. What was she doing here?! Ayumi looked to the ground. No, no, she had to stay, stay for them. She must stay--
"Everything will be all right," Reiji spoke gently to Ayumi, breaking her out of her trance. "Just remember to stay away from the men when they are drunk, but besides that they won't do anything to you. If you would like, I could assign you chores that--"
"Oi! There's the pretty new face that my men were talking about!" someone from behind the two girls called out.
The startled Ayumi turned to find a tall grinning man with spiky hair and a Shinsengumi uniform walking up to them. He was chewing - a fish skeleton? "She's a little one!" the man called out. Was he mocking her? At a loss for words, Ayumi bowed meekly, tears welling up in her eyes. This was too much...
"Harada Sanosuke-san!" The usually polite and calm Reiji exclaimed, forgetting to bow. She took hold of the sobbing Ayumi by the shoulders, steadying her and bringing Ayumi to her shoulder to try and calm the disconsolate girl. "It's all right, it's all right," she was saying.
Harada was taken aback by the new girl's outburst. Such a delicate thing... Harada tried to think of something to say. "Someone just told me that one of the potential recruits is destroying the others in the kendo recruiting match." He wanted to make an apology, but taking another look at the weeping girl, he decided against it and left to find the battle. "I think I'm going to take a look," he said as he left.
Reiji was still trying to console Ayumi. "Ayumi-chan, don't cry," she whispered soothingly. "Harada-san is just teasing. He's just like that." But Reiji was also shaking her head to herself.
How could such a delicate thing survive here?
And why was she here in the first place?
* * *
Found them.
Saitoh Hajime's hand flew over the papers. One of the two new recruits following him had, for some ridiculous reason or another, opened an old ragged umbrella when he asked them to search for loose tiles in the closet.
Hn. At least those imbeciles were useful for something.
The papers contained nothing pertaining to the matter of the Shinsengumi informant who claimed to be ex-Ishin Shishi, nor did it have any information about the spy within them that the informant had claimed to have knowledge of. Nothing...
Then, a small slip fell out. An address on the outskirts of Kyoto was scribbled on it. A word was scrawled above the address: 'Ikeda-ya's Absence.' Saitoh narrowed his eyes. The Ikeda-ya Inn was in an entirely different district of Kyoto. It must be a code.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard behind Saitoh.
Saitoh thought fast. His quick hands silently placed the papers back into the open umbrella. He then swiftly closed the dusty parasol and placed it inside the closet.
A man peeked inside the room, scanning around the area. His eyes widened at the sight of the blue uniforms, and was about to step back, but it was too late.
"Name yourself!" Saitoh commanded. The gaze of the wild wolf of Mibu would have frozen anyone's blood.
To the surprise of the new recruits, the man n question seemed very collected despite his situation. "It's Hondo," the man's voice flowed evenly. "I rent the room next door." His upright bearing and steady eyes would have deceived anyone, seemingly entirely at ease and innocent of any incriminating knowledge. But his nearly imperceptibly quivering knees betrayed him to Saitoh's wolf eyes.
Saitoh Hajime strode up to Hondo and glared downwards at the shorter man. "Tell me everything you know about his neighbor."
Hondo hesitated. He wanted to pull out the katana at his waist to defend himself, but the action would be a sure admission of guilt. He stared at this tall, calculating Shinsengumi who had a cold demeanor that meant business. No. Drawing the katana would be futile. This man was good, and he knew it.
Saitoh asked again, this time grabbing the man by his collar. "Tell me."
"Let him go." A steady voice drifted from the doorway.
Saitoh turned and let go of Hondo in his surprise. A small red-haired man with a cross scar on his cheek was standing undetected beforehand by Saitoh. A katana and washizaki hung at the man's waist, and for some reason, looked especially deadly possessed by this man with the scarred yet emotionless face.
"We have nothing to do with whatever you are thinking of," the red-haired man spoke quietly, yet forcefully. "Please leave."
Telling a Shinsengumi to get up and leave? This man seemed serious.
Saitoh's eyes narrowed. "You smell of blood."
The shorter man paused, as if surprised by the comment, but replied just as unemotionally, "You are smelling Kyoto."
Saitoh gave the red-haired man a hard look, but suddenly began walking out the door. "You may be correct. Very well," he called behind him. The two recruits scurried to follow his leaving, glad that there would be no more bloodshed for the day.
After Saitoh had left, Hondo breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness they didn't find anything." He turned to his red-haired companion. "Arigatou for saving me."
The small serious did not reply directly, but stared at the doorway were Saitoh had just left. "I do not believe it is over..."
Outside on the streets, the one of the baffled recruits finally collected his courage to ask Saitoh something. "Um, Saitoh-san, why did you let them go? They didn't seem like they were hiding anything, but we did find something-"
"Exactly," Saitoh interrupted them, cutting off the conversation.
Ikeda-ya's Absence. The major Ishin Shishi player who was absent from Ikeda-ya: Katsura Kogoro. And now the Shinsengumi had his address.
Whether the two men truly were Ishin Shishi, that did not matter. If they truly were rebels and Saitoh had drawn his katana against them, then it would be quickly reported directly to Katsura, who would be immediately and discreetly moved to another location. No, he wouldn't want that.
Saitoh gave a small smile. He almost hoped that the men were Ishin Shishi. He could tell that that red-haired man had something special about him, something that demanded even the third captain of the Shinsengumi's respect. The man was a swordsman, and Saitoh knew that he would be a match.
But tonight, the Shinsengumi had bigger fish to catch.
Tonight, they would have Katsura Kogoro.
And tonight, no hitokiri or spy would get in their way.
* * *
Yup, that's all: the never awaited 6th chapter. I had planned to just push this aside, but hitokiri-san personally asked me to update (arigatou gozamasu^_^) so I suppose I'm being the obedient child that I am ^_^
R&R, because I don't really feel up to updating now that school has started ^_; but reviews help the motivation!
Thank you SO much, hitokiri-san (please update!), Agenda23 (I'm waiting for your next chappie, too!), and Quist (with some of the cutest and most hilarious rk humor).
Katsura's Location
* * *
Several eyebrows rose as Reiji rushed toward the rear entrance of the Shinsengumi compound, her shoes creating little clouds of dust as she hurried by. How could she have forgotten?
Reiji found the new girl standing meekly next to the back door. "Gomenasai," Reiji called out the slight figure as she hurried up next to her, "It's not like me to be this forgetful." Reiji quickly scanned the tense-looking girl. "My name is Okado Reiji, in charge of the serving girls at the Shinsengumi compound. Kuroshiro Ayumi is it?"
"Hai," Ayumi answered, bowing nervously and glancing apprehensively at the walls now surrounding her.
"Don't be afraid," Reiji smiled softly, studying Ayumi. "You can still walk away."
"N-no, I can't do that," Ayumi collected her courage and straightened herself.
"I understand," Reiji replied, with a hint of sadness in her soft smile. "Well, you've passed the background checks, and the paperwork is all done, so let me show you around," she said, and lead Ayumi away.
Ayumi followed Reiji into the maze of buildings. She watched quietly as Reiji showed her the room for the serving girls, the kitchen, the closet, the courtyard for laundry, and so on. The other girls were introduced to Ayumi, but the men... well, they disconcerted her.
Ayumi tried avoid the mens' looks, but she could feel their eyes on her face. She felt humiliated. What was she doing here?! Ayumi looked to the ground. No, no, she had to stay, stay for them. She must stay--
"Everything will be all right," Reiji spoke gently to Ayumi, breaking her out of her trance. "Just remember to stay away from the men when they are drunk, but besides that they won't do anything to you. If you would like, I could assign you chores that--"
"Oi! There's the pretty new face that my men were talking about!" someone from behind the two girls called out.
The startled Ayumi turned to find a tall grinning man with spiky hair and a Shinsengumi uniform walking up to them. He was chewing - a fish skeleton? "She's a little one!" the man called out. Was he mocking her? At a loss for words, Ayumi bowed meekly, tears welling up in her eyes. This was too much...
"Harada Sanosuke-san!" The usually polite and calm Reiji exclaimed, forgetting to bow. She took hold of the sobbing Ayumi by the shoulders, steadying her and bringing Ayumi to her shoulder to try and calm the disconsolate girl. "It's all right, it's all right," she was saying.
Harada was taken aback by the new girl's outburst. Such a delicate thing... Harada tried to think of something to say. "Someone just told me that one of the potential recruits is destroying the others in the kendo recruiting match." He wanted to make an apology, but taking another look at the weeping girl, he decided against it and left to find the battle. "I think I'm going to take a look," he said as he left.
Reiji was still trying to console Ayumi. "Ayumi-chan, don't cry," she whispered soothingly. "Harada-san is just teasing. He's just like that." But Reiji was also shaking her head to herself.
How could such a delicate thing survive here?
And why was she here in the first place?
* * *
Found them.
Saitoh Hajime's hand flew over the papers. One of the two new recruits following him had, for some ridiculous reason or another, opened an old ragged umbrella when he asked them to search for loose tiles in the closet.
Hn. At least those imbeciles were useful for something.
The papers contained nothing pertaining to the matter of the Shinsengumi informant who claimed to be ex-Ishin Shishi, nor did it have any information about the spy within them that the informant had claimed to have knowledge of. Nothing...
Then, a small slip fell out. An address on the outskirts of Kyoto was scribbled on it. A word was scrawled above the address: 'Ikeda-ya's Absence.' Saitoh narrowed his eyes. The Ikeda-ya Inn was in an entirely different district of Kyoto. It must be a code.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard behind Saitoh.
Saitoh thought fast. His quick hands silently placed the papers back into the open umbrella. He then swiftly closed the dusty parasol and placed it inside the closet.
A man peeked inside the room, scanning around the area. His eyes widened at the sight of the blue uniforms, and was about to step back, but it was too late.
"Name yourself!" Saitoh commanded. The gaze of the wild wolf of Mibu would have frozen anyone's blood.
To the surprise of the new recruits, the man n question seemed very collected despite his situation. "It's Hondo," the man's voice flowed evenly. "I rent the room next door." His upright bearing and steady eyes would have deceived anyone, seemingly entirely at ease and innocent of any incriminating knowledge. But his nearly imperceptibly quivering knees betrayed him to Saitoh's wolf eyes.
Saitoh Hajime strode up to Hondo and glared downwards at the shorter man. "Tell me everything you know about his neighbor."
Hondo hesitated. He wanted to pull out the katana at his waist to defend himself, but the action would be a sure admission of guilt. He stared at this tall, calculating Shinsengumi who had a cold demeanor that meant business. No. Drawing the katana would be futile. This man was good, and he knew it.
Saitoh asked again, this time grabbing the man by his collar. "Tell me."
"Let him go." A steady voice drifted from the doorway.
Saitoh turned and let go of Hondo in his surprise. A small red-haired man with a cross scar on his cheek was standing undetected beforehand by Saitoh. A katana and washizaki hung at the man's waist, and for some reason, looked especially deadly possessed by this man with the scarred yet emotionless face.
"We have nothing to do with whatever you are thinking of," the red-haired man spoke quietly, yet forcefully. "Please leave."
Telling a Shinsengumi to get up and leave? This man seemed serious.
Saitoh's eyes narrowed. "You smell of blood."
The shorter man paused, as if surprised by the comment, but replied just as unemotionally, "You are smelling Kyoto."
Saitoh gave the red-haired man a hard look, but suddenly began walking out the door. "You may be correct. Very well," he called behind him. The two recruits scurried to follow his leaving, glad that there would be no more bloodshed for the day.
After Saitoh had left, Hondo breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness they didn't find anything." He turned to his red-haired companion. "Arigatou for saving me."
The small serious did not reply directly, but stared at the doorway were Saitoh had just left. "I do not believe it is over..."
Outside on the streets, the one of the baffled recruits finally collected his courage to ask Saitoh something. "Um, Saitoh-san, why did you let them go? They didn't seem like they were hiding anything, but we did find something-"
"Exactly," Saitoh interrupted them, cutting off the conversation.
Ikeda-ya's Absence. The major Ishin Shishi player who was absent from Ikeda-ya: Katsura Kogoro. And now the Shinsengumi had his address.
Whether the two men truly were Ishin Shishi, that did not matter. If they truly were rebels and Saitoh had drawn his katana against them, then it would be quickly reported directly to Katsura, who would be immediately and discreetly moved to another location. No, he wouldn't want that.
Saitoh gave a small smile. He almost hoped that the men were Ishin Shishi. He could tell that that red-haired man had something special about him, something that demanded even the third captain of the Shinsengumi's respect. The man was a swordsman, and Saitoh knew that he would be a match.
But tonight, the Shinsengumi had bigger fish to catch.
Tonight, they would have Katsura Kogoro.
And tonight, no hitokiri or spy would get in their way.
* * *
Yup, that's all: the never awaited 6th chapter. I had planned to just push this aside, but hitokiri-san personally asked me to update (arigatou gozamasu^_^) so I suppose I'm being the obedient child that I am ^_^
R&R, because I don't really feel up to updating now that school has started ^_; but reviews help the motivation!
Thank you SO much, hitokiri-san (please update!), Agenda23 (I'm waiting for your next chappie, too!), and Quist (with some of the cutest and most hilarious rk humor).