Author's Notes:
Nope the hotokiri wasn't Kenshin. It's too early for me to have Kenshin randomly show up. I think he would have began his days as a hotokiri one year from now… not to say that he won't be involved in the story… I fully intend on having him randomly show up!
I think it's far to warn that I don't write short stories I have a bad habit of making everything that I write be normally around 20 + chapters…
Fukuchou- Vice commander
Kyokuchou: chief
Chapter 9: A Night of Secrets
"We can't simply kill Serizawa without a plan or without a successor. The other leader is also in Serizawa's pocket. We need someone capable of leading us both into victory, and someone who won't commit the same atrocities that Serizawa has committed, or the next Kyokuchou may be a thousand times worse!"
"Shimada keeps his eyes on Serizawa but we still can't get close to him, and we don't have the connections to do anything. Everyone that is close to him is loyal and would die for him. There is no one that can give us the kind of information that we need."
"What about that one swordsman… Okita? He's young but he's different from Serizawa he's not greedy like that man is."
"Leave that boy out of this!" Saitoh growled over the table. "Besides he may not be with us for much longer anyway, better not to depend on him."
At least if he had anything to say about things that "Okita" would stay out of this. If he had any part in it that girl would be running home right about now!
Women didn't belong on the battlefield. She should be tending to her husband and her children, not playing samurai. This was not a game for little girls, this was real, and the stakes were permanent.
"Actually the little fellow might indeed prove useful." Yamazaki Susumu, a skilled staff master, sat down beside Saitoh. "Apparently while we've been drinking and making merry that little fellow went and slew the hotokiri that has been killing everyone, and according to Shimada-san the little whelp may hold Serizawa in as much contempt as we do. He wants to watch the boy for a while and make sure where the boy's loyalty truly is."
Ishida listened curiously. He was wise enough not to look a possible gift horse in the mouth. Still Okita was close to Serizawa; it wouldn't be hard for him to get his hands on information. The real question was did they need to use him without him knowing or would he work with them and be their partner.
"Okita did broach me for further lessons this morning. Perhaps I should use our time not only for becoming stronger but also at finding out where his loyalties lie. If the boy will help he could very easily prove the key to Serizawa's downfall."
"Do you really think the boy would betray his master?"
"Serizawa recruited him, that doesn't mean he's his master or that he owes any allegiance to him. By the by, Saitoh why are you so determined to keep Okita away from us? Do you know something that we need to be aware of? If so please tell us. If there is a reason to think he will betray us we need to know."
"Betray? I don't' think so, but if Serizawa recruited him than Serizawa must know his secret." Saitoh hoped that no one else would ever learn the nature of it. That girl had to leave as soon as possible.
"Secret?" Kondo didn't go any farther. He had known Saitoh long enough to know that he would never reveal the nature of this 'secret'. He would just have to be patient. This was all the information that they would get for the time being. "Very well, we will just have to watch and see."
Tokio leaned back against her futon and stared up at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep. The smell of blood still filled her nostrils and the memory of her sword slicing into that man… She had known better than to look at his face, but she had anyway. He was young, very young. He had short black hair, and very normal features… he'd been only a boy…
She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and she let them. She was a swordswoman but before that she was a human being.
She stared at her hands as she held them up to the ceiling and wondered… how many lives had she taken? How many more would she take in the name of her beliefs? She wondered if she was even in the right…
Doubts tore her up inside, and Saitoh's words from that morning were no balm for her wounds.
She was a killer.
There wasn't any nice way to put it… she knew that she had slain that man and knowing that if she hadn't he would have killed her gave her no comfort.
She was a murderer…
She hated herself.
It was as though she was loosing her humanity through completing her duties. She could feel the stress of the evening tearing away at her body. The left side of her chest hurt and the muscles all ached.
What was wrong with her?
Was this too much for her?
She could only hope that she was doing the right thing… She had to trust in her cousin's decisions.
She was a lone blossom in a forest filled with wolves… but worst of all she feared that a flower could become just as deadly and heartless as a wolf.
"Oh come now Serizawa! Ishida-san would make an excellent Fukuchou! The man may only have just become Captain of the 6th squad but he is a natural leader, and with his predecessors murder…"
"You know what I think of him! Is there a man I hate more? I don't think so. I will not stomach his company. He is a fool who knows no respect and an arrogant puppy. You think such a large promotion would serve us well do you? He'll be our down fall!"
"You think to highly of Ishida-san! His loyalty to his country and to the Roushi here are without a doubt. I know that after what happened at the inn you wish you could kill the boy with your own two hands but…"
"There are no buts. I should have killed him for what he did. The insult he gave me that night six months ago. I was more than merciful to him! For his insult he simply didn't get any sleep!"
"Nor did the town for that matter. Serizawa please see reason the boy will be a benefit to us! He's a natural leader, and he has already proven his loyalty to the Shogunate. His talents as a planner are second to none. His presence would only serve to help us. He would sooner commit seppuku than to fail us."
"You know where I stand on this, Niimi-san. The only way we will ever be safe around that man is if he is dead."
Chapter 10: to be continued
