Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin characters belong to all copyright holders of the Rurouni Kenshin manga and anime. The characters of Sagara's wife and daughters are mine.
Michi no Yume --- Introduction
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Two daughters. Two boys.
The ragged blade of grass settled Sagara's thoughts as he brushed it along his lower lip. He knew it was a bad habit, this unconscious game he played at making music on any available and sympathetic piece of vegetation whenever his mind was plagued with worries. He had done it for as long as he could remember, ever since the days from before there were memories when childish curiosity had made the discovery and delighted in it. His mother had found it amusing. His father had not.
Very little amused his father. Certainly not a somewhat extraneous fourth son who was more philosopher than businessman, who was given more to navigating the seas of ideas than to bending his neck to account ledgers, who had his own notion of how things should be. Sometimes Sagara felt like a book on a shelf, forced to stand upright by Koshima Hyoma on one side and Hirazawa Fuyuko on the other.
Had the old man hoped to change his son by wedding him to a woman more suited to the father?
He held no grudges against his father. Koshima Hyoma was a man of his times, caring in his own way. As head of an ancient family and the mastermind keeping order to a morass of business deals adding up to unfathomable sums of money and trade potential in an age of great upheaval, he could not be blamed for not having the time to understand. Occupied as he was, he had still found time to remember his last child and provide him with as good as he gave his first-born. Somewhere amid the figures and tabulations, Koshima loved his dark horse son.
As for Fuyuko, Sagara knew propriety demanded that he respect his wife. Custom expected him to respect her if for no other reason than she came from a family as wealthy and powerful as his own --- a woman of means and social position appropriate to a son of the Koshima house. Emotions like love, even simple liking, did not come into it. It was a business arrangement meant only to further the good fortunes of both houses. It was a waste to wish it had been otherwise.
Whether fate had written her name in the stars or she had grown into it, Hirazawa Fuyuko was about as appealing as a swamp and as cold as the season she was named for. It still amazed him that any life could grow within her.
It assured him that his daughters were hearty; that they stood a good chance of surviving Fuyuko's book-learned maternal behavior on their behalf. Akiko was clearly her mother's favorite --- like her mother in many ways --- but her autumn nature gave away her paternity with warmth of spirit that kept the winter iciness at bay. Kioko had been unquestioningly his from the moment she had made her entry into this world, greeting her father with a smile that had earned her her name. She was the sun that warmed the island standing alone amidst the marsh, sending her happiness into the darkest shadows.
Sagara sighed and tossed aside the wilted grass blade. His only regret was in having to leave Kioko behind.
He shivered as a chilling wind blew across, too cold for being so close to spring. The clouds overhead were dark and heavy. Back home, in Edo, it would be raining. Here in the mountains surrounding Shimosuwa, they would drop snow on the green just beginning to reclaim the forest floor.
Nature was mocking him as surely as the Government General, promising new life only to revoke it just as hope was dawning with the spring.
Looking out to the grassy knoll beyond, Sagara watched as the Sekihoutai's two youngest members frolicked like spring colts freed from the confines of the stable. His own future was certain, but it didn't have to be the same for them. It was important that it not be the same, that they had the chance to grow up into men and continue the fight to free their land and people from the yoke of old ways. If his life was forfeit, it was important that the sacrifice had meaning --- for them, for his daughters, for a father he loved, but who never understood him.
Katsuhiro's laugh rang like music as he fell under the weight of his friend, reminding Sagara of the days of laughter shared with his brothers. He was never safe, his books and scrolls no sanctuary against their antics, but neither had he been in any danger. They had treated their strange little brother like a pet created just for their amusement and he had reveled in their attention. The responsibilities of adulthood had not altered their affection for him, but gone were the times when they could be as carefree. It hurt to think he would never see them again.
With melancholy, he continued to watch Katsuhiro and Sanosuke push and chase each other. Two boys, both showing all the signs of becoming fine men. Two daughters, beautiful and strong… his love for them wanting to see them married to men of character and compassion above wealth and pedigree.
He had taken Tsukioka Katsuhiro, the son of a samurai, into his care with an idea of adopting him in the time-honored tradition of a man with no sons of his own. To him, Akiko would be given in marriage to seal the filial association. But Sanosuke… Sanosuke had been an unexpected treasure tugging on his sleeve, full of heart and spirit and a smile as warm as summer sunshine, making for himself a place at Sagara's side. What the boy lacked in education and social standing, he more than made up for in courage and determination.
While Katsuhiro would come to accept his father-in-law's name with honored humility, Sanosuke was ready to claim the surname of Sagara out of simple pride and love. It really didn't matter to Sanosuke if his mentor teased him about the combination sounding weird. Already, the boy denied the right of a family name thought of himself as Sagara Sanosuke.
He felt a wistful smile touch his lips. If only in his heart, Sagara had placed his cherished Kioka's hand into Sanosuke's.
Lowering his head, he felt uncharacteristic tears build and closed his eyes to them. They slipped away to fall on hands clasped between his knees. He had left it too late… trusted too much. Soon, the Imperial Army would catch up to them.
The dream would be lost.
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Notes ---
Michi no Yume means Unknown Dreams
It is all made up. I do not know anything about Sagara Souzou's personal life except that he had a wife and two daughters (but I have no names) and even then I am taking someone else's word for it. The idea that he had three older brothers is because his birth name, Shirou, means fourth son. I also do not know what Katsu's background was, if Watsuki ever established where he came from.
Koshima Hyoma was apparently the name of his father, but those of his wife and daughters are made up to reflect the personalities I wanted them to have in the story. Hopefully the meanings of the names come through in the telling.
setsubou