FIRST! I
don't own Rurouni Kenshin nor Saitou Hajime (although I wish)... RK is owned by Nobuhiro Watsuki.
It's time for me to write again! Yey! This time,
it'll be a fic about Saitou's life before Kyoto and the Shinsengumi. This will be a romanticised
tale of what he was before joining the Shinsengumi
and why he left Tokyo (Edo). There will be times
when Saitou will be OOC, I intend to keep most of his
personality just twisting it now and then. But the OOC will be very apparent
when it comes to his fighting abilities, I don't think
Saitou became a great swordsman overnight. Agree? :O)
Oh by the way as most of the readers know.. In this fic
both Saitou's parents are already dead. In case you wanted to know what their
names are. It's Yusuke Yamaguchi and Masu Yamaguchi.
Okay here comes some of the Shinsengumi members.. Note this is not the Shinsengumi,
I think the Shinsengumi was formed after this group
led by Kondou-san left Tama for Kyoto.
*denotes sound/music/etc
Thoughts are in italics
CHAPTER XVIII – A Tangle of Lies
The boy did not leave the young lady's side. He relied on Hijikata to administer the treatment to her bruises and wounds. It's been a few hours and she still has not shown signs of coming back to consciousness, the boy was to simply put, perturbed.
"That should do it." Hijikata closed the bandages on the young lady's hand. "Why don't you get some breakfast."
"I'm not hungry." The boy frowned.
Hijikata stared at the youth, perplexed at why the boy was being upset. The boy was used to death, which was worse, but this was only a case of bad injury. "She'll wake up soon. Get breakfast ready for her and me, if you are not hungry."
The boy left and minutes later Hijikata followed.
I've got to get ready for that meeting… This will be interesting. I wonder if he knows.
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Saitou Hajime did not have time to prepare himself. He was usually very neat, but this morning was an exception. He arrived at the dojo looking haggard, like he just got out of bed. If he was not wearing his kimono and hakama, they would've mistaken the gesture as offensive and would've turned him away.
Hijikata knew too well what had happened, but was surprised that Kondou-san took the young man to the dojo a second time looking like THAT. No one has told Kondou that the young lady associated with this man was in Okita's quarters. There was no reason for Kondou to be so "lenient". Or was there?
"We will not test your skills." Kondou began calmly, he could almost imagine Hijikata's face turning red but he dismissed the thought. "THAT we can build in time or you can just quit if you feel that you cannot be on par with the members of this dojo."
Hijikata sighed. At least he's not lost his mind completely.
"Have you gone over what I asked yesterday?"
Saitou sighed. He found it hard to concentrate. "Yes."
"Well?"
"I'm afraid I was not able to finish my answer yesterday. I wanted to say in ADDITION, the purpose of my quest for strength, is to protect."
Kondou half-smiled. "Sou ka… What do you intend to protect?"
Saitou hesitated again. He cleared his throat for the lie he was about to perform. He met Kondou eye to eye, straightened his back and half yelled "TO PROTECT JAPAN".
Kondou's smile widened. I was not wrong. I knew you would come around. "Very go…"
The head of the dojo was interrupted by a grunt from behind. Half-turning, he saw Hijikata shot him a stern and painful look. The man obviously wanted to say something. Yare yare… Looks like things will get a little complicated.
"Ahem… Ahem…" Hijikata now stepped in front of Kondou. "Why protect Japan? You don't strike me as someone who does something for free."
Eventhough he had no confidence in his answer, Saitou kept his voice calm at the answer he never thought would come out from his mouth. "There are things…. And certain people… we hold important… If the country is kept safe, so can we preserve what is precious to us." He almost choked.
"HAHAHAHA!" Hijikata laughed sarcastically. "Then tell me, what are you still doing here? Don't you have someone to protect?" He scrutinized Saitou more. For a brief moment he was taken aback by a gold glint that flashed in his eyes.
Saitou stepped up to Hijikata. Hijikata was a little taller than he was, but that did not faze him one bit. From the start he had been annoyed at the man and since he seemed to have failed entering the dojo, he thought he might as well press for answers.
He laid his hand on the hilt of his katana, a gesture of a challenge back then. "If you know something, why don't you just go ahead and say it."
He had always liked the calm type… But what he liked better was the dormant type. A man who was calm on the inside but exploded when provoked. The young man was exactly that, choosing the wrong battle because of inexperience. He had no doubt that he or Okita could easily beat him in a match. But he was curious, the man had a certain stubbornness and attitude about him that if curbed can be put to good use.
"I have no quarrel with you so put that hand down." Hijikata looked at Saitou's ready arm. "I doubt the sincerity of your answer and I have proof."
"What is it then?" the amber eyes was still giving off it's deathly look at Hijikata.
"I heard of a young lady…."
Kondou shot Hijikata a puzzled look, while the latter saw Saitou swallowed hard.
"Can you give her up? We will accept and train you here in the Sheietan, provided that you do not leave the dojo for the duration of your training." Hijikata almost smiled, he got the young man cornered.
Without a moments notice, Saitou turned his back and started to leave. "I have a more important matter to attend to."
"Kondou-san. I think we have our answer."
Hijikata turned to Kondou and smirked, while Kondou slowly shook his head.
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"Yukatta! You're finally awake!" Okita smiled his warmest smile for Midori.
Trying to adjust her vision, she vaguely saw the boy's face. "Okita-kun?"
"Just Okita please! Here you must be hungry, I've made some fried tamago (egg)."
The young man gave her a bowl of rice too and eagerly watched her eat.
"Arigatou Okita… How? Why am I here?"
The boy smiled again. "I saw you lying on the road unconscious. So I brought you back here. Are you feeling okay? What happened?" He didn't like playing the innocent game but there was no need to tell her everything.
"Hajime and I… Well we got into a little fight. So I left, but there were some men who went after me…" She relayed the experience to Okita in a monologue-like manner, not knowing that there really was no need to, as Okita saw everything.
"So do you know what happened to those men?" Asked Midori.
"Iie. They must've run off after taking your money."
Midori shot Okita a puzzled look. "I didn't have any money."
The boy smiled sheepishly again… "Really? Well then I dunno…"
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Kondou proceeded to Hijikata's room. He was still fuming at him. He and Hijikata had always seen things eye to eye, but in this case, he was furious that Hijikata blatantly and manipulatively schemed to remove the young man.
"Hijikata! What the hell happened in there? I find it preposterous that you went over my head and schemed to get him out."
Hijikata was surprised. Kondou was usually pleasant even when pissed.
"You already know Kondou that he was not fit to join our ranks." Hijikata dragged on his pipe. "You never did tell me why you feel he is a necessary addition to this dojo."
Kondou sighed, yes he did not inform Hijikata. Maybe if I'd have told him… Maybe it wouldn't have turned out like this.
"We need a lot of men Hijikata. Good men at that."
"You are leaving out something. I respect you Kondou-san but there must be trust between us if you expect my cooperation." He laid his pipe aside and looked at the man.
"We will be going to Kyoto soon. I have received word from the Tokugawa shogun that the rebel forces are growing in numbers. They pose a formidable threat."
Yare yare… When were you going to tell me this?
"So when do we leave?" he said calmly.
"In four to five months."
"Sou ka. You want all the hands you can get?"
"Yes… but aside from that…"
"Please Kondou-san go on…"
"Saitou Hajime as you heard is the son of the ronin Yuusuke. I know first hand that Yuusuke is an tenshi and it would be no surprise if that young man is equally good as his father."
"You should've told me that." Bullseye.
"Yes… But now you have completely ruined our chances of getting that young man to our fold." Kondou said annoyed.
Hijikata smirked at Kondou. "Why don't you come with me. I will introduce someone to you and maybe you will understand."
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Saitou did not go back to the inn, instead he took that day to ask the homes at the edge of town if they saw a young lady walking alone that night. His search was fruitless though, for each house he inquired none had any answers. His heart sank as the day went by. He sat himself by the tree where he found her sandals. He was exhausted and although he fought to keep calm, he teetered at the borderline of insanity. It vaguely reminded him of the time he lost his father and then his mother a year later. He could not do anything for both of them, just like he could not do anything for her.
Would all be lost if I lose her too?
At that moment, he knew that she was an important person in his life, enough to justify protecting Japan, even if it was a selfish motive.
Is this what she meant?
Somehow he knew it wasn't. Something was still wrong in his thinking, but for now it will have to suffice. He mustered the strength to stand up again. It will be a long walk back to Edo, but he must find out if she is safe.
TO REVIEWER:
MissBehavin – Yey! Someone's still reading my fic. I'm so happy! I got you on that Saitou coming to the rescue did I? HAHAHA! Yeah I know, but I wanted Okita all along... How else can Hijikata display his "demon-ness" to Saitou… Not to offend Hijikata in anyway, but I'm just basing it off what I saw in PMK and I have this weird notion that it's very much possible that Saitou got part of his personality from Hijikata… Anyway, I think Hijikata is a very interesting and cool character, possibly my second favorite from the Shinsengumi. Poor Saitou-sama, I know… It's just going to get worse and worse and then better… Yeah I know, we all know Saitou ends up with Tokio, so Midori's going to go bye bye soon. Not until she teaches Saitou a couple of lessons though. ;)
BTW, when are you going to update "To Hazard a Guest"? I need my fix, so I'm going to put pressure on you! HAHAHA! It's probably one of the reasons why I'm not updating my other fic coz I don't have any new stuff to read on SaitouxMisao… UPDATE!!! HAHAHAHA! IS THAT ENOUGH PRESSURE NOW? :O)
Ooka-chan – Couldn't help but put your nick in there "Ookami"… HEHEHE ;)
Saitou-sama would kill me if I put more cutey chapters of him as a kid (but who knows?). See right now he's muttering AKU SOKU ZAN at me! I wonder how I'll get rid of Midori though? *coughs* coughs* (Oh geez, Saitou-sama is showing his zero shiki gatotsu stance.. Could it be you don't want me to get rid of Midori, Saitou-sama?)
Oh yeah.. I updated just for you so you didn't have to wait… I'll see if I can sneak in another chapter before I leave for vacation this Friday. Just like you don't have a computer the next days or so, I might not have internet access to post chapters. But rest assured I'll be writing on the plane and post once I get a connection running next week.