Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Watsuki-sama does. I'm only borrowing his characters for a while.

Special thanks to EEevee, who kindly beta-read this chapter.

Chapter 8 – Blackmail

Tokio was staring at the ceiling, lying on her futon. It was time to get up, yet she didn't felt like it. She just kept looking and looking while crazy thoughts ran through her mind. Today. It would be over today.

It was like if a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Tomorrow another life would began; a life that would certainly be better than this one. It could not possibly get worse. No, it simply couldn't.

She finally got up and walked to her mirror. She contemplated her reflection. She stared intently into her eyes, surprised to find a strange blend of happiness and sadness in them.

Doubts again. Had she really done the right thing? Yes… Well… A little voice inside her head was rhythmically whispering "murderer, murderer!". It made her feel uneasy. Suddenly she couldn't sustain her own stare. She retreated from the mirror, taking a step back.

Was it… Was it true? Was she a murderer? She took a deep breath and reminded herself why she was doing this. It was for honour, for justice. She was doing the right thing. She slowly opened her eyes, took a step forward and stubbornly stared at her reflection in the mirror until the little voice inside her head stopped.

Everything was all right. It was normal to be nervous. It was not over yet. Tomorrow, she would feel better.

However, her fragile peace of mind was disrupted by the sound of Masako yelling. She couldn't really make out the words, but she sure that it was a bad omen. Masako was angry. Something had apparently gone wrong.

To say that Tokio rushed to Masako's side would be an understatement: She almost broke her neck on her way there. She had to make sure that everything was okay. If… if Masako ever changed her mind… they were doomed. And being doomed was definitively not an option.

When she entered the room, seeing the scene, her worst fears came true. Masako was shouting at Yumi, and she didn't like the sound of it.

"Oh, there you are!" exclaimed Masako as she spotted her coming in. "And for a moment, I thought that you would stay hidden, letting your subordinate handle all the dirty work…" she added, waving toward Yumi.

"I'm sorry… Could someone explain what this is all about?" asked Tokio, faking innocence. Maybe it was not too late.

"You know very well what this is about, Tokio."

Tokio observed Masako closely and then turned toward Yumi. Her rival, for the first time in her life, looked miserable. And then, she understood that it was definitively too late.

Somehow, Masako had learnt about their plan. And she wasn't happy about it. She was… She was different from last night. It was as if the outrage had awoken her personality. Now, she would put up a fight and she would do it with all of her heart. Tokio hadn't expected that. She had overlooked a few things in her quest for revenge, or her so called justice.

Yes, Masako knew. But maybe… Maybe they could at least minimise the damage. However, before Tokio could come up with a plan, Masako went on, accusingly:

"How could two bright girls like you thought that you would get away with this? How could you gamble on my death?"

"I…" started Tokio.

"No, listen to me!" The violence of the words stunned Tokio. "I've work all my life for this okiya. And before me, my predecessor did. And so did her predecessor. We have all worked hard to ensure that this establishment was one of the finest of Gion. With the best geishas. With the best kimono collection. And with the best reputation."

Masako paused, searching for her breath. Yes, she would put up quite a fight, but it still was a lot of emotion for an old lady like her. She felt like she didn't deserve any of this. She wasn't aware of the fact that her own attitude had in fact, a lot to do with the way the two girls view the world now.

"I admit that we had a few tough years lately. We ran from bad luck to bad luck. Business has been quiet, but we still have our reputation. And because it's still there, we will get back on our feet as soon as we have more than two qualified geishas. In fact, that reputation is the only thing we have left. We must cherish it. You think that you can come here and blow it like that?"

"We…"

"No, I said listen!" Masako exclaimed, once again. She had enough of this. "Weren't your not-so-secret love affairs enough for you? Where will you stop? Oh yes, there was foolish girls in this house before, but never have we gave shelter to murderers. This is no place for people like you."

This last accusation, those last sentences, reminded something to Tokio. Her doubts. The little accusing voice in her head. Was it true then? Was she a murderer? Would it be how people view her from now on? But she had done this for justice! For honour! It was supposed to be okay.

"By chance, some people in this house have more brains than you and warned me. If not I would have fallen right into your trap."

Other…other people? Yumi couldn't possibly have…? No, she certainly hadn't, Masako was blaming her as well. There must be a simple explanation, there must be…

That's when she spotted her in a corner of the room. Aki. She had dismissed her presence again, like she always did. Yes, she had dismissed it.

Memories came rushing through her mind. Aki lurking in the corridor. Aki assisting in some of their conversations. Aki deliberately hurting her skull with a hairpin. A mean spark briefly flashing through Aki's eyes. Aki lying with her face hidden behind a curtain of black messy hair.

She had overlooked all of these facts. Tokio's eyes widened under the shock of her discovery. Yes, she had overlooked them, and it had been a terrible mistake. She had been so stupid. She slowly closed her eyelids as if to allow the reality to sink in.

When she opened her eyes, she could see clearer. Yes, she had been wrong. Aki was not as stupid as she had thought. She hadn't really realised how important the okiya's reputation was to Masako. But the rest…? It couldn't be all wrong. No, it couldn't.

"Tokio, you are wasting my time, standing there like that, gaping." Masako said slowly. Her victorious tone indicating that it was a rather enjoyable waste of time. "In fact, you are both wasting my time. I still cannot believe I put this much energy into your education. The only reason I'll keep you around, is to allow you to finish reimbursing all of your debt. But as soon as you're done, you are out of here."

"And… and the okiya…?" mumbled Yumi.

"You really think you'll have it after all of this? In your dreams! No, I think someone else deserve a reward for her loyal services." Replied Masako, waving toward Aki. "Now, just both get out of this room; I have seen enough of you for a while."

Yumi slowly followed Tokio out of the room, head bent forward as if she carried the weight of the whole world on her young shoulders. Not looking where she was going, she almost bumped into Tokio. Her elder had halted.

Tokio turned around to face her. She seemed older, worries altering the perfection of her traits.

"There is certainly something we can do."

"No." replied Yumi, shaking her head. "You heard her as well as I did. Stop living in a world of illusions. She won't change her mind. She won't forgive us. We won't have the okiya no matter what we do. And soon, we'll be thrown out of this house. It's as simple as that. So accept it."

"Oh, look who's talking! I wonder who between us is having the hardest time accepting this new reality. You look plainly miserable!"

"Well my dream of becoming the Atatori has just been crushed, mind you!" harshly replied Yumi, raising the tone, finding her composure back under the attack. "And should I remind you whose fault this is? Yours, of course."

"Mine? No one forced you to accept the deal. And without the deal, there was not a single chance you could have taken the Atatori title back!"

"Really? I'm a much better geisha than you are and you know it! I've always been more popular and more gifted. And it's the truth."

"And who caused that ruckus with her love affairs? Not me. Who has been the constant source of gossip of the district lately? Not me. And who have been called off a few times as a result? Not me. I'm clean."

"You call this whole mess being clean? I sometimes wonder what is going on in your head. Care to explain?"

Tokio suddenly backed off. She had needed the energy the cat fight brought, and apparently so did Yumi. But Yumi had stepped too far. She didn't have to explain her reasons, and she didn't even want to explain them. It was personal. And besides, she was so confused that she wasn't even sure if she could explain. So, she simply answered, on a calmer tone.

"That concerns only me. And besides, this whole conversation is beside the point. You misunderstood me in the first place. I had meant that there must be something we can do about the deal we've made."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that we've asked your boyfriend to kill someone in exchange of the okiya. But we do not have the okiya anymore."

"And, how does this concern…" slowly started Yumi, before being cut of by Tokio.

"Don't you see? We have nothing to pay him! We have a problem!"

"Oh, no. There is something you don't quite understand here. 'We', as an entity, do not exist anymore. It's not 'our' problem, it is your problem."

"How…?"

"You are the one who proposed the deal. Not me. You are the one who offered the okiya in exchange of your father's life. Not me. In fact, I didn't even take part in the discussions. You'll have a debt toward us. Big debt. So before it's too late, I suppose you start searching for my boyfriend to call the whole thing off."

"Won't you help?" asked Tokio, miserably.

"No." simply answered Yumi, with a sadistic smile. She had lost the house and regretted it, but she would make sure other would lose more than she did…

Tokio could never precisely recall what happen next. It was all a big blur. Her head was spinning, her heartbeat was ecstatic. She couldn't remember how she got to her Shamimasen lesson, but she knew for sure that her sweaty fingers didn't help her play the instrument correctly. It had resulted in her teacher throwing an artistic tantrum, saying that she wouldn't go on teaching to such a poorly gifted student.

Even now, as she walked back to the okiya in the crowded Gion streets, she had great difficulties focusing. She was still under the shock. She knew she should try to do something, try to fight her way back. She had no time to lose if she wanted to stop Shishio. Her father might be killed any minute now. But her mind just refused to cooperate.

She just kept walking. Dizzy, she proceeded slowly. One step at a time, careful not to stumble on the way. Breathe in, breathe out. But it didn't help.

The buildings… It was like if they were slowly closing down on her, trapping her. She was suffocating. There were too many people around. She would end up being swept along by the crowd. They were already all looking at her, laughing under their grotesque masks of white powder rice. They knew. They all knew. If they could just stop staring, if they could just leave her alone.

She swiftly pulled both her hands to her face, hiding. Shivering. She was getting crazy. They couldn't know. No one knew. She needed to control herself. Breathe in, breathe out. It was easy, she could do it.

As she pulled her hands back, she looked around. The buildings didn't look so menacing anymore. No one was looking at her. No one, but him. She felt somewhat… reassured. He would know what to do. He was strong and resourceful. Shishio was his enemy and he loathed her father. He could help her. He…

And then he smirked at her.

Insufferable smirk. He was happy to see her crumble. He was happy to see that the proud geisha was having trouble. That apparently, her plan had gone wrong. That for once she didn't even try to get the upper hand. That instead, her eyes were begging for his help. Oh he apparently enjoyed being proven right.

That stern and severe look.

She somehow understood. She understood that he wouldn't understand. That he wouldn't help. That trying to ask for his help would be a bad idea. She understood that he wouldn't approve of her actions. Shishio might be the enemy and he might despise her father, but he would declare her guilty. He wouldn't approve that she had interfere in the Shinsengumi business. It was not her place. She would end up in more trouble than she already was. He wouldn't approve. That was all there was to say.

His presence now made her feel uneasy. She resumed walking, diverting her gaze as to not meet his piercing eyes again. They were searching her soul, uncovering her darkest secrets and she didn't like it. She walked and walked, but she knew that he was still there. Following from afar. Checking. Evaluating the situation.

He was no fool. A four year old could do the math. Her distressed look certainly indicated that she had done something stupid. Something stupid meant that she had crossed a line. Crossing a line meant that she had disrupted Kyoto's fragile peace. And disrupting Kyoto's fragile peace was a punishable crime. And he happened to be a man of justice.

To sum up, the fact that he followed her only meant more trouble.

"I'll be watching you", he had said. He was watching. But what did he knew exactly?

What if he knew she had gathered her father's exact whereabouts for today? She had tried to be discrete, but people always talk. And what if he knew that Shishio was a regular at the okiya? The whole district knew, so why not him?

No, it couldn't be. He couldn't know everything. The rumour said that Yumi was seeing a questionable man, not that she was seeing the Ishinshishi's favourite hitokiri. So even if he had learnt that she had gathered her father's exact whereabouts, he didn't know what she intended to do with it. Yet.

But even then… Tonight… when he would learn of her father's death, he would know that somehow it was her doing. He would understand. Again, a four year old could do the math, so why not him?

She had not seen that coming. He knew and there would be clear evidences. This was the end of life as she knew it.

Oh yes, her father would be dead, exactly like she wished. But instead of exulting, she would be miserable. And it would be her fault. She would be forever indebted to Shishio, and it would be her fault. Soon, she would be thrown out of the okiya, and it would be her fault. And realising that her father was missing, Saito would accuse her and it would be her fault.

What was better? Being hunted down by Shishio or by the Shinsengumi? She didn't want to find out. No, she definitively didn't want to experiment it first hand. There had to be something she could still do.

Entering the okiya, she looked over her shoulder. Saito was still following her. She had to find Shishio. Fast.

To be continued…
À la prochaine!
Mary-Ann