The Rurouni Years
Chapter 3: SHINSENGUMI!!!
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---------INT: A tavern on the other side of Kyoto---------
At first glance, he looked like any other of the men at the Kiei Tavern. An inky black gi, a fading white hakama. Raven-black hair, shadowed eyes. Rough, calloused hands.
But then you backed up a bit, back to the eyes, and you got a good look at them, and you realized that he was not normal. This man was blind. His eyes were unfocused, and he had a bamboo walking pole on the seat beside him.
What was a blind man doing in a rough place like the Kiei, drinking sake and brooding about?
That was exactly what Takamori Saigo thought as he slid into the empty seat across from the mysterious figure.
"Oyasumi!" he sighed, leaning back in the seat. "And how are you doing tonight, stranger?"
"Takamori." The man uttered, his voice low and rough.
Saigo stared, then laughed. "My reputation precedes me!"
"No. I know everything." The man muttered in a voice barely above a whisper. "Everything."
Saigo's smile vanished and his lips twisted into an almost sleazy grin.
"Then, my good man, you must be my contact." He theorized. "Are you?"
The man nodded, eyes blank and expressionless.
"Well then, let's get down to business." Saigo smiled, hand already reaching for his pocket, and for the little black envelope concealed within.
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"Ken-chan…"
The voice. 'I know that voice…'
"Ken-chan…"
Panicking. Panicking! 'But she's dead!'
"Ken-chan…onegai…listen…"
No. No. I saw. Saw her die. 'You're-dead…' She's gone. I killed her. I killed her.
"Kenshin-chan…why?"
No. No. I don't know. Don't know. 'I KILLED YOU!!!'
Scream. Flinch at her touch. Scream.
Why? Why? Why?
I don't know. Don't know. Can't answer. Accident. No. Lies. I know. But I can't.
No.
No.
No…
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Kenshin woke, gasping for air and clutching at his head. He let his arms fall, breathing heavily, body drenched in cold sweat.
"Tomoe…" he whispered.
His breathing slowed and he slowly relaxed again. Kenshin untangled himself from the sheets of his futon, sitting up straight in his bed.
'I thought I was over her…' he thought desperately. 'Why…?'
The young rurouni stood up, heart uneasy. He took his sakabatou and stood up, sliding the door aside and stepping out into the open hall of the Sasaki Dojo.
He leaned against one of the supports, watching the moon in the star-studded sky. There was much to think about tonight.
'I thought I cast off my old hitokiri ways…' he thought. 'I never thought about the memories that remain.'
He thought at his post for a few minutes, unable to come up with a course of action. He moaned, sliding down to sit at the base of his column, leaning his head on his hand.
'What's the matter with me?' he griped. 'Can't think…'
"Aah…Kenshin-san?"
Kenshin's sword hand instinctively reached for the grip of his sakabatou, face assuming his battle expression, teeth clenching, whirling around to face his opponent, who turned out to be…
"Midori-dono?"
The young girl was standing in the doorway of her room farther down the hall, staring at Kenshin and the sword he held in his hand. She backed away a bit, hand reaching for her own sword, eyes doe-like and scared.
"G-gomen, Midori-dono, I didn't mean to scare you." Kenshin apologized, battle expression fading into one of worry. He'd just threatened Midori-dono. He'd almost reverted to Battousai.
He sheathed his sakabatou and bit his lip, watching the girl's reaction.
Midori put her own sword back on the shelf in her room, then turned back out the door and watched Kenshin. Time passed, and an eon happened in a minute as they read each other, watching the tide of emotion visible in one another's eyes.
"Kenshin-kun…"
The frightened, ashamed boy thought frantically as Midori spoke. 'Will they evict me? Or worse yet, will they turn me out and keep my belongings?' Kenshin worried, fear lacing at his heart.
He squeezed his eyes shut and turned away from Midori, hoping to delay the inevitable.
Instead, he felt the slight brush of Midori's fingers on his, and heard her light whisper in the night.
"I know you have secrets, Ken-kun." She breathed. Kenshin could just imagine the clever, crafty grin on her face. "I know you're not just a traveling swordsman."
Kenshin's eyes opened in surprise. Did she…know?
"I did a bit of looking on my own." She continued. "And guess what?"
Kenshin's heart rate sped up. He choked out a tight, terrified "What?"
"I met a few people who say you went to a certain inn on the west side of town." She turned around and looked Kenshin straight in the eye. "And I also happen to know that you met a few Ishinshishi officials there."
Kenshin's throat was tight. He opened his mouth to speak, every word feeling like molasses on his tongue. "I don't know what…what you're talking about."
"And," Midori continued, "I also learned that you were around the Kiei Tavern that night." Her gaze bore into his head. "The night of May 22. The night two units of the Shinsengumi were killed by a band of Ishinshishi hitokiri."
She leaned closer to him, whispering in his ear. Kenshin could feel her breath on his cheek. His heart soared.
"You're a puzzling one, Ken-kun. I can't figure you out." She whispered. "But I like you. I like puzzling things. And you know what? I think you're special."
She closed her fingers over his wrist, turning it over and placing her hand on his.
"You're the most exciting thing I've come across in a long time, Ken-kun. So I won't tell Satsuya-neechan. You have my word."
She let go of Kenshin's wrist, turned around, winked at the still shocked boy, and disappeared to her room.
Kenshin blinked a few times, still trying to process this new information. His brain started working again as he backed into the support behind him and slumped down, eyes still doe-like.
'That…was…all too familiar…'
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The next morning, Kenshin woke to the acrid smell of burning wood. He jumped up, sakabatou in hand, and heard a soft giggle in the courtyard.
Midori poked her head into his room, grinning. "Ohayo, Ken-kun! Did you sleep well?"
"Hai." Kenshin replied, eyes falling on the flames in the middle of the yard. "Eh…Midori-dono…what are you doing?"
The flames were burning in front of a memorial tablet, with a picture of a stern-looking man with graying hair beside it. Midori was humming a strangely mournful tune and tossing yellow paper into the fire.
"Paying reverence to my uncle." She sang, tossing the last paper into the flames. She straightened up and put her hands together, praying for a brief moment. Then she took a bowl of tomatoes and placed them in front of the fire.
Kenshin felt like laughing out loud. Tomatoes! Paying reverence to a relative with tomatoes.
"Sa-sa-wa-ki-tooo…mo-ru-ko-bi-naaa…" Satsuya came into the yard, carrying another bowl of tomatoes. He grinned at Kenshin in greeting, then continued chanting and approaching the memorial tablet with his tomatoes.
As much as Kenshin tried, he could not suppress his grin.
"Ah! Satsuya-neechan! Arigato, now I can rest." Midori bowed at the tablet and stepped away, pulling off the rag over her hair. She grabbed Kenshin by the sleeve and led him inside the dojo.
They entered Midori's room and the girl let go of Kenshin's sleeve. She smiled at him and started combing her hair as Kenshin sat down.
"I suppose you want to know about our uncle." Midori said, tugging a vicious tangle out.
"Hai." Kenshin looked up at her, a question in his eyes. "Why does Midori-dono rise so early to revere an uncle?"
Midori set her brush down and sighed. She looked down at her clenched hands and opened her mouth to begin.
"Satsuya-neechan and I grew up orphans." She recounted. "We were at the Koishikawa orphanage on the southern side of town."
Her eyes got a misty look and she was sucked into the past, recalling forgotten memories.
"The only thing I remember from that orphanage is the cruel manager. We called him Satoma-sama, I remember. He had a big, ugly, black wart on his nose, and he would always have a sneer on his ugly face." Midori's face broke out into a grin. "Many a time did Satsuya-neechan and I play a joke on him…"
For what felt like hours Kenshin listened to Midori recount the tales of her past. At first, they were merely trifles, ignorant little acts that brought mere smiles to his face. But as Midori got caught up in her storytelling, they became memories, almost his own. He gasped with Midori when she caught Satsuya and another orphan girl kissing in the girl's bathroom. He laughed with her when Satoma-sama picked his nose all through the lesson, only to turn around and see the superintendent at the door.
When she was done, and her tales were told, Kenshin found himself oddly wanting, as if he was missing something. But how could he be missing something he'd never had?
Midori was still laughing at her latest tale, of the feather duster that scared the pants off one of the maids (literally), and did not notice Kenshin's lack of laughter until her own had subsided.
"What's wrong?" she asked, childish grin spreading across her face.
"Iie, nothing is wrong." He smiled back at her. "It's just…you seem…different from when I was bandaging your arm yesterday." His face grew serious. "And how is your arm?"
He leaned forward, and despite Midori's protest, unwrapped the bandage around the wound. It was healing nicely, and the bandage had even been changed.
"Did Satsuya-kun do that for you?"
Midori grinned. "Hai. We Sasaki children are not all runny-nosed brats without a clue. Satsuya served as a messenger during the Bakumatsu."
Kenshin went very still.
"What side was he on?" he asked softly, surprised he could get the words out at all.
Midori gave him a quizzical look. "The rebels, of course. That's why we're still alive." She laughed airily. "The Hitokiri Battousai would have slain us long ago if we were on the Shinsengumi's side." Her eyebrows arched. "But then again, Ken-kun, you probably know that."
Kenshin could do nothing but nod dumbly. His mind raced. She was figuring him out…
Well, Hiko-sama had always said that he was a great liar, especially when river duties came up. So it was time to test his talent.
"My parents were killed by the Shinsengumi in an attack when I was twelve." He said evenly, surprised by his skill. "A friend of theirs took me in. Taught me ken-jutsu. Then, when I was old enough, signed me up for the rebels."
Midori smiled. Her smile said, 'There's it, you've been found out, now tell me all the juicy little details.'
"What did you do for them?" she asked craftily.
Kenshin forced a shrug. "Nothing much. Like your brother, I was just a messenger. Occasionally I got to assist a few people on their assignments, but I was always ordered away before I could…kill."
Midori's expression was clearly one of disappointment. But she could be faking, Battousai-Kenshin said. She could probably know.
Sometimes Battousai was smart.
"That's it, huh?" she asked, feigning nonchalance. "OK, then, I didn't miss anything. I would've just been a messenger if women were allowed to join."
She was clearly trying to goad him into letting something slip. But even though he liked the Sasakis, he couldn't risk it. He didn't trust them just yet.
Kenshin's mouth opened, ready to apologize-his pitying smile was already in place-when suddenly the sliding door behind him burst open in an explosion of wood splinters and broken timber, and through Midori's screams he could hear Satsuya yelling.
"SHINSENGUMI!!!"
---------END OF CHAPTER---------
A/N: Well, I just gave you a cliffie. - Have fun with it…
So. Kenshin is warming up to Midori, mainly because she reminds him of the sister that will never be. She caught him at a vulnerable moment, right after his very tormented dream about Tomoe, and as a result he trusts her a little more.
The quip about the honoring of the uncle and the Sasaki history was just to shed some light on the eccentricity of the Sasaki orphans…they're kind of the major characters in Kenshin's life at the moment, at least they're going to be.
Thank you for reading The Rurouni Years! -
-Misao7