Disclaimer: I do not own PMK.
Chapter 1: Taishi?
The restaurant was quiet at this time of the day. Okita stared at his cousin, who was digging into an egg custard. He was younger by three years. They haven't seen each other since he was nine. A pair of saucer-innocent eyes peered at him over a spoon of custard. A pair of delicate lips smiled at him.
"Tokio-san, what were you doing at the HQ?" Tokio batted her eyelashes. "Nothing, Souji-chan, thought I'd drop in on you." He winced. Tokio was dressed as a young samurai. Her figure was boyish and her long hair was tied up in a style Okita himself favored when he was sparring or on patrol.
It was an old trick of hers. She had used it in the past to gain entry to the dojo as a student. In fact, her deception was so successful that Souji had trained alongside her for weeks before discovering the truth after a sparring match. Afterwards, he was so traumatized he had gone crying to Toshi. Imagine getting trashed by your girl cousin!
"I want to join the Shinsengumi." She said quietly, her long eyelashes fluttering. "Gee, I didn't know you could cook," Okita tucked into his custard. They do need another cook to deal with the meals.
"No, I want to join as a taishi." Okita choked on his custard. There's no way they'd accept a woman! Even if she passes herself off as a man, what about the communal baths and sleeping quarters? Okita cringed as he recalled his early experiences. By the way, deceiving your senior officer's a seppuku-able offence...Of all the harebrained schemes ever to be hatched...
"No. Look, Tokio, this isn't a game. The Shinsengumi isn't some club you can simply join. It's serious, and dangerous... You are going straight back to marry..." Okita stopped. Saitou's in Kyoto. Tokio's in Kyoto. "You want to join the Third Patrol and get close to you-know-who?" Tokio blushed furiously as she nodded.
"He's been searching for you since you ran off. Listen, you go dress up nicely and I'll get him to take you out for dinner..."
"That's the point! I don't want him behaving proper because his fiancée's watching. I want to know what he really is like inside. He's polite, handsome and maybe a little too serious... I really want to know him better." She pleaded.
"Marry him then seeing you like him...Oww!" Okita yelped as Tokio kicked his shin under the table. "I'm serious. I want to know if we're really...well, meant to be! I don't want him to marry me because of some sense of duty. Neither will I marry him if I find that I don't love him!"
Okita mustered his most withering stare on his cousin. Tokio had always been willful. The whole marriage had been arranged by the Takagi clan and Saitou's family when she was still a toddler. That was the way things were and always will be done.
"If you wouldn't help me, fine!" She stood up, grabbed her swords and stormed off. "Tokio-san!" He ran after her but lost her in the crowd. Okita kept his silence about the meeting. However, he did send a letter to the Takagi household to reassure her father about his daughter's well-being so far. Okita prayed that his wayward cousin will stay out of trouble.
It was about a week later on a warm day that his fears were realized. He was sitting in his room admiring the leaves with his pet pig Saizou, recovering from a recent attack, when a commotion sounded outside. A large group of taishi ran past his open door.
"Did you see the new recruit? He looks so beautiful, if he were a gal, I'll marry her!" "Moron! You lust after every pretty face, male or female!" "Hee-hee, poor Okita-san's got some competition!" Okita sweatdropped at the last remark.
"It's the newbie, Fujita Goro," a breathless man explained when Okita asked him. "The boy's real good with a sword. Saitou recommended him." If his illness fails to do him in soon, his reckless cousin will...Okita had a really bad feeling...
"Souji! You're just in time!" Kondo beamed as Okita entered the hall. "Meet Fujita-san." Okita gave "Fujita-san" an icy smile. Tokio smiled as she bowed politely to her cousin. Saitou was blissfully unaware of the wicked grin his new recruit gave the first captain. "His basic technique's flawless. He just needs a bit more polish..."
"Excuse me," Okita grabbed Fujita Goro's arm and pulled him aside. "I've got something to ask the boy...alone."
They were outside the hall and away from prying eyes and ears when he finally let go. "Do you have the faintest idea what it means to be Miburo? Have you ever killed a man? Do you know what it is like to have blood all over you?"
Tokio stared wide-eyed back at him. Souji-chan had never been so angry... Okita took a deep breath to steady himself. "We're all a pack of demons, Tokio-san. Cold-blooded killers. All of us, including Hajime. I'm sorry I have to say this to you. I'll tell them you changed your mind..."
"But Souji-chan's not a demon..." Tokio stretched her hand out to touch his cheek. Her eyes brimmed with compassion. Don't look at me like that...
"I'm the child of a demon, nothing can change that..." he turned and strode away quickly. "Tokio, please leave!"
Notes:
Tokugawa Japan banned women from their armed forces. This was a very serious offence warranting a death sentence. Naturally Okita doesn't want to be an accomplice. Strangely, in feudal Japan, samurai women trained in spear-fighting b'cos they may need to fight in their husband's absence.
This plot is inspired by Mulan and the Yang Lady Warriors. Just play along with senbi (meow!)