Koishii Chapter 5
Note: May not be suitable for younger readers.
Summer 1878, Outside Kyoto
Voices raised in argument woke Hide from where she had nodded off over her embroidery, as often happened on these hot, quiet days. She stepped out into the courtyard, where Hiro, head of the household servant stood, arguing with a strange man.
For a moment she was stunned, the face, the shape… Harada-san?
I must either be truly haunted or going mad…
However, a closer look… he was too young to be the man she had heard died in Ueno. The past was too much on her mind, if she thought that this stranger was Harada-san… or the man in the forest had been Hajime.
"Hiro-san, is there a problem?"
"Ohide-san, please do not trouble yourself over a vagrant-"
"I am NOT some vagrant. I'm lost!" The man insisted. He noticed Hide and grinned, "Hey, lady, can you tell me the best way to get to Mt. Hiei?"
Under his breath, Hiro muttered, "what insolence." Louder, he added, "the mountain is right in front of you, how can you get lost?"
Shrugging the man ignored Hiro and asked, "You haven't seen a cop around by any chance? Tall, with a sword and a bad attitude?
Maybe he knows if… "The other night-"Hide began.
Hiro spoke over his mistress, "We've seen no such person. There have been a number of shady-looking men such as yourself trespassing as of late but we chase them off. Now you move along."
"Sure," he turned, the back of his gi emblazoned with the character for… bad? "Thanks anyway," he looked back over his shoulder and winkled broadly at Hide, "and you too, ma'am. Next time you can make me lunch." He laughed to himself as he walked away, that his intention of making the old man even more red-faced and sputtering as well worked.
"Hmph. The Master and the Lady won't like to hear about this." Hide looked down, steeling herself for the inevitable visits or at least letter that would probably come about because of the strangers. But before then -
It was later in the afternoon before she took one of the maids out to the stand of pine trees. I must know…
-o-o-o-
Spring 1863, Kyoto
It was as if nothing had ever happened, and Hide didn't know if she should be relieved… or disappointed. The morning after the wrestling match, it was back to the usual. Saitou-san was standing there waiting for her as usual. "You're late," he had scowled before setting her on her usual round of training.
He had gone to see Aioi last night, only to learn that she would be "unavailable" for a few days. Tch… when he still had his other duties to finish up, she was "unavailable". And now the crossdresser was acting like a skittish rabbit, almost running across the courtyard if he came within a foot of her. But she had no idea how fast he was and was right behind her. Standing behind her, Saitou reached around her and corrected her grip on her sword.
"It's hard to do this properly when you keep running away," he said, smirking in her ear as he leaned in close. "Are you afraid of me, Hidejiro?"
"No," she said, turning her face away from his, away from those golden eyes that seemed to go right through her, away from thinking too much about that kiss, away from the feeling that urged her to see if it would be that breathtaking again.
He made a low noise and then chuckled, letting her go. "You should trust your teacher, Hidejiro-kun."
Saitou looked her over, again trying to see any feminine curves. No… she did pass as a boy, as long as she kept her mouth shut and didn't move. Again, he wondered why the others didn't see right through Hidejiro.
Then a thought came to him and he grinned. Perfect.
"Hidejiro!" He called over to her. "That's enough… for today." Saitou chuckled to himself as he left.
---
Saitou waited until after the patrol left for the night before sneaking back on to the Yagi property. It was too easy to get onto the roof, and he counted off the windows. That's hers…
Tap. Tap. Tap-tap. Hide stirred, heard nothing and rolled back over. Tap. Tap.
Her heart stopped. Who was at her window?
How many more was this going to take? Saitou stayed crouched down close to the roof, but her room remained dark and the window closed. Another pebble… he only brought so many with him, if this didn't work he was going to have to wrench open her window and deal with it later.
Slowly Hide went to the window, pulling it open an inch to peer out before a hand shot through the opening and slid the screen.
"Sa-Saitou-san?" Hide whispered, clutching the neck of her sleeping yukata and taking a step back.
"I don't have time for your modesty." He looked at her in the low light. The surprise of this amused him, he thought he might finally catch her – but the figure in the yukata was as undefined as always. "Throw something over that, you won't be in it long anyway."
Her eyes flew open wide. "Tell me – what is going on?" She still made no move to get dressed, and he wasn't going to drag her around in just that, no matter how late it was.
"Didn't I tell you earlier – you should trust your sensei? Dressed. Now." Saitou ordered, sighing as he turned around, but he did hear the rustle of fabric and shortly, "I'm ready."
He picked her up and at her protest he smirked down at her. "Can you climb down this roof yourself?" Hide shook her head and her hands clinched the material at the front of his kimono.
It was slightly more difficult to get down with her, but she was at least light. Once they were on the streets of Kyoto he finally spoke. "Aren't you wondering why I came for you in the middle of the night?"
"I can walk for myself now," she answered, and he finally put her down. "Unless we're going to be scaling more walls." Looking around… she recognized that they were near Shimabara. "Saitou-san, why did you bring me out here?"
"Aioi was unavailable." He started walking while he let that sink in.
Hide stood in the middle of the street, her mouth hanging open. As she realized just what he meant - "That is not part of being a page!" Her faced flushed red, and her mind flashed back to the other afternoon.
Saitou was enjoying this but for a moment wondered why she always thought the worst of him. Enough playtime. "It's not that." It was bad enough that he was involving her but he didn't want to take his chances on some unknown companion tonight. "It's work. For the Miburoshi." He knew the Yagi family supported Kondou's faction from the way they acted but it was still better to remain vague. The less she knew the better.
He lead her back to a teahouse, around to the back entrance, and into a small room that barely had space for a futon. Laid out across it was a kimono of bright silk. "Put that on. You do remember how?"
"Yours?" Hide murmured, hiding a grin as she knelt down to finger the material and assess if everything that went with a kimono was there. It wasn't but she could improvise.
"I borrowed it." He didn't elaborate, but it was Aioi's. Saitou wondered how the crossdresser would make something that the more voluptuous woman wore fit, but that was something women knew. Smirking, he thought of how his usual interest was not the dressing part…
"This is for… the Miburoshi?"
"For once, Hidejiro…" he looked down at her, she had already freed her hair from its tie and it lay around his shoulder. Blinking to break the spell of distraction, Saitou continued, "trust me."
"When you're dressed, come out to the front. Look like you know what you're doing and bring some sake. I'll be out there, come sit with me a follow my lead." With one last glance, he said, "Yamaguchi. That's my name tonight. But to filling your role correctly, it should be 'Hajime-han'."
Hide dressed quickly, delighting in the familiar feeling of dressing like a woman again… of putting her hair up. She didn't remove the bindings on her chest, simply for time. Taking one last tern around the small room – the long sleeves of the furisode, the weight of the obi bow in back… she sighed happily. Even if it was a much brighter color and bolder pattern than she would normally wear, at least she felt right in it.
Following the hall to the voices, she was stopped by an old woman. "You're Yamaguchi's woman?" She gave Hide a sharp look. "Tie in the front, missy. This is Shimabara. I don't know where he brought you in from, but wait-" Before Hide could protest the stout woman was behind her, then in front, replacing the elaborate arrangement with a simpler tie in the front. Hide tried not to look embarrassed. That's how… courtesans wear them. "Better. Tsk." She handed Hide a small tray with sake and two cups. "Remind him that he owes me."
"Yes ma'am. Thank you." Hide now looked out into the larger room, letting her eyes adjust to the low light. It was full of men, and women dressed like her, and the sound of feminine laughter could be heard with the loud conversation. Looking around… there he is.
And he isn't alone!
Clutching the tray tightly, she made her way over to the alcove where Saitou-san was sitting, two women giggling next to him. "Hajime-han, Aioi is ill tonight. Will you have time for Kayami or Riko?" The other one giggled more and smiled in a knowing manner. "Or both, if you're up for it, Hajime-han?"
Saitou looked up at Hidejiro, and smirked at the annoyance that was plain on her face… or is she jealous? She is so easy to read. "I'm sorry, ladies… but she's the one I want." He caught his page's eyes and they held his gaze, she didn't look away but only nodded slightly. "Hajime-han, I've brought you refreshment," she said, using her own voice. Hide stumbled slightly, calling him other than Saitou-san. Hajime.
"Mou, Hajime-han…" the other woman protested but got up, leaving them alone.
"So you bring me sake…" he looked her over once again. The kimono… so there was no spectacular figure hiding under her disguise. Pity, but it was a better look on her. "Sit down," he said in a low voice.
Hide did, and poured the sake for him on his instructions. "Talk, but not too loud. Just prattle on about something, that's what they all do," Saitou told her in a quiet whisper, pulling her close. She didn't protest and after a moment, he felt her relax against him. But his mind was focused on the events in the booth next to them, and he shut the soft woman next to him out of his mind. "And keep any of the other women away. They can be persistent."
The talk… it wasn't Serizawa this time. Saitou noticed that he had taken a liking to the one girl Oume and they spent most of their time alone recently. However, it was a group of his men, and they had were ahead of him on drinking. Saitou narrowed his eyes as they bragged to the girls that attended them of how they would be running the Miburoshi, and keeping their own brand of "peace" in Kyoto.
Fools… obvious fools. This was just more to what he had already told Hijikata about; the same talk but with the drinking making them more bold in announcing their intentions.
"Hush!" One of them suddenly said, and Saitou heard the sound of a sake cup slamming down on the table. "That demon could be sending spies after us."
"I thought I saw that one – Saitou whoever – here earlier. He's tall, and has that hair…"
There were sounds as one of them left his seat, and Saitou reached for the closest distraction he could find, the one wrapped in yellow silk that was cozied up to his side. "Play along," he murmured, shifting her around so that her hair blocked the view of his face, and he settled his lips on Hidejiro's. Keeping his eyes slightly open, he tilted her head to the side, so he could see past her. The man who spoke of him stood in the middle of the room, peering around.
"I thought that could have been him at the table next to us, but it's some drunk pawing up a woman." This was met with a chorus of laughter. "And how is that different from the rest of this place?"
"So it's not him?" Saitou recognized the voice as the other co-commander, Niimi.
"No… besides, the one I was thinking of is always going around with the Yagi boy. I don't think that it's ladies he –" There was more laughter, but Saitou only smirked as he continued with Hidejiro, her lips finally parting as he let his tongue dart inside, tasting her sweetness. His page indeed… but ah, what they didn't know about the 'Yagi boy'…
Play along… but it was hard to think about anything but Saitou-san. He tasted like sake and something else she couldn't describe, like… heat. Was it the alcohol on his lips or him that was making her feel slightly dizzy and light-headed? As he deepened the kiss, it was all she could do to hold on.
Finally Saitou released her and broke away, liking what he saw, her cheeks flushed as she clung to him, her blinking her eyes slowly as if dazed. "You did well," he chuckled quietly, and was unable to resist nibbling on her earlobe. This was very wrong… something within him reminded himself, but like the other day, she hadn't pushed him away.
"They're leaving," she whispered, looking back up at him, after catching her breath. Indeed, Niimi and his men were settling their tabs and leaving, some taking ladies with them.
I want to… Saitou was surprised when it was Hidejiro who initiated the next kiss, and he let his hand drift down to rest on the small of her back. This time he took it further, playing a little more rough as he took from those lips, but she followed back, taking to this tutorial faster than her kendo lessons.
But the skin of her neck called to him, and returning her ears he trailed kisses from her ears and moved down, sampling the her taste and being rewarded with little gasps and as he nibbled along her exposed collarbone…
"Hajime…" it came out as a soft sound, caught in a sigh.
Saitou moved back, releasing his grip on her to look at her with blazing eyes. Hide looked back, stunned for a moment that it had stopped again, and her cheeks flushed at the look he was giving her. Did I do something wrong? Or… did I do something –right-? She felt exhilarated, but not scared as she met his eyes. This was so new, and she was surprised that it was indeed as addicting as her older cousins had said it was.
Her eyes… He remembered the other day, at the wresting match. This was the same look
Enough playtime…
"So…" he started, looking down at the opening of her kimono… and the obi, knotted in front. He toyed with the ends of the tie. Now it was her turn to look at her with burning eyes. "Should we take this back to the room?"
Outside, two of the men lingered by the entrance to the teahouse.
"That was him. I'm certain of it."
"So was he spying or was this just a coincidence?"
"Hmph. What do you think? One of Hijikata's wolves, just happens to be at the same place we are? Niimi is right, they are spying on us!"
"But you know…" he laughed as he looked over at his comrade, "that man has ties beyond those people. If you ever drank outside of Shimabara – you would find out that the spy Saitou made some enemies already."
"So we can have the spy taken care of without blood on our hands?" Not that they cared, but in this battle of factions… it was best to keep such things in the shadows.
"We'll take care of this tonight." Two men turned back to enter teahouse, hands on their swords.
-o-o-o-
Author's Note: Hmmm… stay tuned for the next chapter. grins
As always, I do not own any of these characters, they belong to the people who originally made them up – primarily Watsuki-sensei and the producers of NHK's Shinsengumi. Thanks as always to those who keep me inspired. :D