Note from the Author: When writing this fic, I'd intended to use much of the historical facts of the lives of the real Saito Hajime and Takagi Tokio. However, it was shortly before I began this chapter that I realized their son, Tsutomu, had been born in the 9th year of the Meiji – two years before this story takes place. Even though it seems like a small detail, I didn't feel comfortable adding him in at this point (which is a real pity because I think a babysitting sequence with Chou could get quite interesting). As RK Saito never once mentions his son, I think this is an acceptable omission. For the sake of the story, Saito and Tokio have no children of their own. I might write an alternative story later which includes Tsutomu. We'll see. Happy reading!
Saito Hajime was a hard man. He'd joined the police force at a rather young age, and had quickly impressed his superiors with his prowess and ruthlessness in battle. As a Shinsengumi leader, he had established for himself a reputation which extended all over the country. His quarry trembled when they learned that he was on their trail, and men had done desperate things to escape him, but had always failed in the end. He was easily one of the most feared men in Japan for both his military power and his exceptional skill with the sword.
Why, then, had he always had one opponent who had managed to just barely slip from him, who bore the mark of his sword but did not tremble under his gaze? He's brought dozens if not hundreds of men to justice; why could a single woman elude his control?
He'd been standing in the doorway for nearly half an hour, watching her. She hummed as she worked around the room that had been nearly empty the day before. She was perfectly aware of his presence and they both knew it, but she'd carefully avoided having to pass through the doorway, instead choosing to arrange and rearrange all of the new furnishings in the hopes that he would give up and eventually leave. Saito kept his eyes on her. It took several more minutes but she finally did turn around, acknowledging him with an annoyed glare.
"Are you going to help me or just stand there, Hajime?" she snapped, breaking the silence that had settled between them since their argument the night before.
"This was your idea in the first place, woman," Saito snapped back, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't know what goes on in that head of yours sometimes."
Tokio had been laying out a futon, but at this she whirled around, facing her husband.
"The man needs a place to stay, Hajime," she growled, trying to keep her temper down.
"He has a place to stay, Tokio."
"That's hardly a home, Hajime! You know how I hate it when you stay in town and have to stay in one of those rooms. That's no place for a man to live. And he can't very well make the trip back and forth between here and Osaka every day. Besides, we have the extra space."
"Extra space meant for our family, Tokio, not to take in some stray mongrel from off the streets, and a former criminal at that."
Tokio tried to leave the room, but Saito's frame filled the doorway, blocking her exit. She sent him another glare, all the anger from their argument the night before filling her again. She knew that it hadn't been right of her to invite Chou to live with them without talking to her husband about it first. Even though it had been her father who had given them the house to live in after they'd been married, Saito was the head of the household, and it was his money that kept them on the property. Still, for security reasons, he'd had the house transferred under her name, and even after they'd changed their legal names, she retained ownership of the estate. She'd used this fact in her favor once or twice during their marriage when they got in arguments. No matter who the house technically belonged to, they both had to live there with one another. Tokio finally gave a resignated sigh, taking the cloth covering that had protected her hair off.
"You're right, Hajime-sama. I shouldn't have offered the house without asking you first. I just thought it would be nice to have a bit more life in the house like I used to have before we were married…"
Saito sighed, assessing his wife. He was quite accustomed to men making false, desperate offers to sway him, but the manipulations of a woman were considerably more challenging to stand against. Especially with Tokio, five years his wife, who knew him better than he often liked to admit. He knew that she had come from a proud family, with siblings and her parents. He knew that she felt lonely in their matrimonial home, with room enough to shelter many children that her parents had bade them to bear on their wedding day. He knew it every time he came home and saw the look in her eyes, a certain happiness to simply see another person. He knew it when he brought Eiji to her, when he'd explained that the boy would only be there temporarily until they found more of his real family to stay with. He had warned the boy not to get too comfortable even as Tokio bustled about preparing a room for the child to stay in, arranging to have it painted his favorite shade of green. Tokio's excitement had been obvious, and when Saito had immediately set out for Kyoto again, the lonely look in her eyes was not there. Saito sighed, looking at his wife whose mood had been deflated. He scowled a bit even as he reached out to touch her cheek.
"Another mouth to feed… you'd better make him help out around the house. I will not shelter a band of freeloaders like that Kamiya dojo does."
Tokio burst into a smile, leaning up to give her husband a kiss. She didn't seem surprised at all by his consent, and this made him scowl deeper. Once again, he'd been played by her.
"Thank you, Hajime-sama," she said sweetly. "And don't worry. I'll make sure he does his part. But it'll only be temporary anyway."
Saito frowned and looked around the room. Tokio had been working on setting the room into perfect order for the better part of the day, airing it out and sweeping every corner. He pulled a cigarette out of one of his pockets, lighting it absently.
"Seems you're going through quite a lot of trouble for a temporary lodging, Tokio-san," he said evenly, trying not to let his suspicion show.
"Well, I expect he'll find himself a wife soon enough around here and settle down in his own place. And take that outside, I just aired this out!"
Tokio shoved Saito out of the doorway. He took another draw from his cigarette as he watched her bustle down the hall, calling for Eiji to bring some water in for supper.
"Oh, gods, Tokio… don't tell me you intend to play matchmaker," he said, following her into the kitchen. She didn't bother to look at him, only pulling out a few pots as she began dinner.
"And why not? My father did it and look at how well that turned out."
Saito knew he couldn't very well object to that one without getting himself into some trouble. He merely "hmph"ed and took another puff of his cigarette as Tokio continued.
"Besides, I have plenty of perfectly kind friends who could use a good husband. I really think he'd be good for Saya especially, or perhaps Rika. They'd both be ide---"
"Saya has a husband," Saito interjected. Tokio passed him, waving her hand to disperse the smoke cloud that was beginning to fill the kitchen.
"One that beats her regularly… I'm sure that if Chou takes a liking to her, he'll take care of that. I'm surprised you haven't gone over there yourself by now. You know how he abuses her…"
Saito snorted, but didn't answer. He wasn't about to let on that he had been to the house at least twice now and had the man arrested, but his wife had taken him back both times. As much as he despised a man whose only means of power was through abusing his wife, he couldn't very well help someone who refused to do anything to get herself out of that situation. He finished the last few draws of his cigarette as Tokio chattered on.
"Besides, I think it will be good for you, Hajime. You two work so closely together, it will be good for you to get to know one another in a setting aside from the station. Maybe you'll make a friend of him."