Chapter 5: The Ones Who Followed
I slow down a bit in my step, still holding my robe to me as I get closer to the door. I hear it more now, almost like men in the distance conversing with each other. I see the faintest light through the cracks of the thin door. My hand reaches out to it, and ever so slowly I move it, peering out to see what was going on...
I see two eyes peering back.
I gasp and fling myself backwards, the front door bursting open, the wood and paper busting and tearing from the front man's blow. Several of these men, dressed in black, stand at the front door, a look of pure evil on each of their faces. One in the back holds a single torch for light, the ones in the front have long, wooden staffs, each armed with a silver blade at its top.
I take another step back, and it signals for them to charge. Before I know it, the flood of these men is racing at me, their weapons pointing towards me as if I were game for them to hunt. I turn around as quickly as I can, and run.
"SAITOU!!!" I scream, trying to get away from these intruders, my covered feet slipping against the wooden floorboards. "SAITOU!!!"
My hands collide with the wall as I push myself into the hallway, the step of the men behind me. Tears rush from my eyes and my heart races. I shove open the door to my room and run in. He's standing there, alerted from my screams. I don't stop, but collide into his chest, clutching onto him from protection as I look back at the door. There are five men standing there, their countenances illuminated by the single torch.
Saitou's arm wraps around my waist as he pulls me behind him.
"Saitou Hajime... "The front man says, smiling at his own, sick humor. That's all he says. No explanation, no reasoning. He just lunges forward, that horrible weapon pointed at my husband's throat.
His tight grip surrounds my arm and I'm thrown towards the back of the room, landing hard on the ground near my futon. I lift my head to see a different man collide in with my husband, Saitou's hands holding back the knife threatening him. In one swift motion he grabs another part of the spear, twisting it free from the other man's hands, the blunt end coming in sharp contact with his forehead. Two more men come at him, and I cover my eyes with my hands, shaking and sobbing in that dark corner. I get the courage to peek, and I see Saitou's fist hit a tall man in the stomach, then his elbow hit his face, the force throwing the man into the hallway, breaking off a piece of the bedroom door as well. The man with the torch still stands there, his face the most visible to me. He looks terrified, and he winces as the last man in struck in the shoulder with the spearhead and thrown out too. I want to close my eyes again, but I can't. The men, from what I can see, scramble quickly to their feet. The man drops the torch onto the floor and runs with them, their voices yelling through the living room and out of the house.
Without hesitation, Saitou grabs the blanket off of his futon and throws it over the torch, putting the fire out before its given chance to expand. He stomps on it to be sure.
I sit there, my breath so quick that I can barely feel any oxygen enter into my lungs. My hands are shaking against the floor, and my cheeks are wet from my tears. What had just happened? Who were those men?
"What's going on?!" I hear Eiji yell from the stairs. Kari's crying can be heard as well.
Saitou comes over to me, kneeling before me. "Tokio, are you all right?" He asks, extremely serious.
I just look at him, frightened, and nod my head the best I can. I fling myself into him again and instantly feel his arms surround me to comfort me.
Eiji appears in the doorway. "Tokio! Saitou! Are you okay?!" He shouts. "What happened?!"
Saitou pulls away from me and stands up. "Eiji, run to the police station, now." He says firmly.
Eiji grips his sword and turns on his heel, running through the hallway.
With support from the wall, I manage to stand up as well. "Who... who were those men?" I ask, my voice shaking too.
"What happened?" Saitou asks me.
I shake my head, more tears coming. "I don't... I don't know! I heard a noise, I got up and went to the door... and..."
Saitou moves into the hallway, disappearing out of sight for a moment, probably to scan for any more intruders. There weren't any, since he came back. To my relief, he's unscathed. I notice two spears lying on the floor, and Kari's wailing continues from upstairs.
~
The morning is so early that only an ounce of the sun's aura can be seen over the distant mountains, a cold, blue feel about the air and sky. I sit in the far corner of the living room, Kari's torso resting in my arms, her head on my shoulder. She hiccups every now and then from her cry, but other than that she is silent and still. I don't think she's sleeping, but she's tired. I've sat with her for two hours now, watching the police investigate our house, reassure neighbors that everything is fine. Kawaji-san and Muraki-san are both here as well, and Muraki was kind enough to sit with me for a moment and try to explain what they knew. There were only five men, and the police were out looking for them. They had the two spears as evidence, and I imagine they cleaned up any blood that may have fallen in my room. The men were government rebels, and by the looks of the weapons they used and how we described them, they were probably ex soldiers from Shishio Makoto's army, ones who didn't conform to Meiji rule--ones who had comes for my husband. I can only thank god that they were ill prepared.
I take a deep breath to calm myself again. I don't see Saitou fight very much. I start to wonder what would have happened if he had had time to pick up his katana, and for a second's time I'm glad that he didn't. As I glance towards the front door, I can just barely make out Eiji's shadow. He's been sitting out there for a while. Normally I'd have him come in, but with the start of the summer months, there's really no need to.
"Miss, may I see your daughter?"
I look up to see another policeman standing over me. I don't recognize him, but I know he wants to see Kari for injuries.
"H-hai." I answer. I carefully stir Kari and stand up, bringing her to her feet as well. She blinks her tired eyes and yawns.
"There there." The policeman squatted down to her level. "What's your name?"
"Kari." I answer for her, seeing how out of it she was.
"That's a pretty name." He tells her, looking at her arms.
"She wasn't involved." I inform him. "She and the boy were upstairs."
The man nods and stands up to his full height, which is a few inches taller than me. "Forgive me, my name is Shiba Keichirou." He steps towards me. "If it is all right, I'd like to check you for injuries as well."
I gesture my consent. He has me hold out my arms to him, which aren't hurt at all. There's a small bruise forming on my elbow though from where I hit the ground when Saitou pushed me out of the way.
"Is Goro-san all right?" I ask as he begins to turn me around.
"Hai, he is. It would take more than this to hurt him..." He stops talking. "Miss, you should get that treated."
Confused, I look back at him, and feel one of his fingers touch my back.
"It's not deep. Please, wait right here, I'll be back." Shiba leaves Kari and me for a moment and heads out to the porch.
Confused, I reach my hands behind me and feel my robe. A quick stinging pain makes me pull my hand away, and I examine it. My first two fingers have blood on them. I'm surprised, to say the least. I must have been in too much shock to feel it... it must have happened when I was running for Saitou, one of those spears must have glided across my back.
Much more carefully now I feel back again. It's hard to tell with my robe on, but the cut seems to be about six inches long, but like Shiba-san said, it's not very deep. I guess I got lucky.
He returns with a small bag, one I recognize as a doctor's. He asks me to kneel down so he can see the wound. I wonder if he's actually going to make me undress or cut the robe, but instead I feel him press a cloth to my back. It hurts for a moment, but it dulls down a bit. I can feel my pulse on the wound now. I imagine he's trying to stop any more bleeding.
I hear more footsteps coming towards me, and I look up to see Saitou, a fairly shocked look on his features.
"Is she all right?" He asks.
Shiba nods. "Just a small cut on her back, Fujita-san. It's nothing serious."
~
The police leave after the sun has come up, still in the cool hours of the morning. I've changed into a kimono, and under its fabric I have some light bandaging that wraps over my shoulder and above my navel a few times. I can take it off in four to seven days, after the wound has closed completely. I watch the police leave through the broken door. It's something I'll be sure to fix before I leave for preschool this afternoon. I know I'll have time to, because I know none of us are planning on going back to bed.
I wonder if any more men like that will come...
I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn around to see Saitou next to me. He's watching the police leave too, but eventually he looks down to me.
"I will stay home this morning to clean up, but I'm on duty this afternoon." He tells me.
"Hai." I answer. We stand in an eerie silence, watching the street even after the officials had left.
"Tokio,"
"Saitou," I interrupt, though I really shouldn't. "Arigatou gozaimasu." I say a bit quieter.
He looks at me for a moment and acknowledges my gratitude before looking back at the empty street, and I am glad to feel his hand still resting on me.
~
"Sit in a circle children!" I announce later that afternoon. Despite the scare of the night before, I refuse to cancel a class with these gifted youngsters. The small tables in the bright room have all been pushed aside and were lined up against the walls, and the children sat in a large circle, their legs all crossed in front of them. A good number of them bounced giddily, excited for the activity.
I hand a coin to three of the children in the circle and tell them to pass it around after they look at it. "This is one yen." I announce, watching the silver coins pass under the awe of the children. "How much is it?"
"One yen!" The children shout back.
"Very good!" I exclaim. Once each child has gotten a chance to hold the coins, I collect them. I place them in my palm and walk around the outside of the circle. "How many yen do I have?"
About four children shout out the answer of three, and upon hearing it the rest follow suit. I place the coins inside my sleeve to search for more.
"Very good." I announce again. I hold up a gold coin with a hole in the middle of it. "This is 5 yen, even though it's only one coin." In my other hand, I hold up the silver piece again. "It takes five of these to make this."
I get varied responses from the kids, everything from gasps to giggles.
"Okay," I begin again, "I'm going to hold up some coins, and I want you to show me on your fingers how many yen I have." I fish a hand into my red sleeve again to grab the rest of the coins that I've kept free from my purse. I hold up two silver pieces.
Most of the children hold up two fingers, and those who didn't quickly changed their answer after looking around. I palm the coins in my other hand and hold up two fingers, and the children all smile.
I hold up the gold coin. The hands go up again, though Yoru accidentally yells out "five!" Then I take out five of the silver coins and hold them out so everyone can see, and I'm please to see they haven't changed their answer. I do this a few times over, repeating many of the same numbers to help the children remember them. Finally, I put the money away and clap my hands.
"You are all very smart!" I declare. "Very good job. Did you like this?" I'm always sure to ask when we do something new. If the children don't approve of it, they won't want to learn it.
"Hai!" The youthful voices sing.
I smile. "Okay, lets fold our arms and get in a straight line for water, okay?"
The children all hop to their feet and line up in front of me, folding their arms in a single file line. A few of them switch places or step out of line to run to the back, but I wait patiently until they're all ready. They know that if they push or try to cut in front of another student, all of them will have to sit back down so we can try again. I do this every day so that the children don't get thirsty. There are several small paper cups and a large glass pitcher in the back of the room, and I give each boy and girl a small drink, and they return their cup to the table when they're done.
~
Eiji of course comes at the same time he comes everyday, a little after the preschool gets out. He knows I can't leave until all the parents have come, so he usually doesn't arrive early. Today I was glad to see that Mamo's mother was one of the first to arrive. She lives a bit further away, and often Mamo is left here with Kari until Makoto gets here. I wave to the last father and take Kari's hand, Eiji leading the way in front of us as we go down the street.
"When is Saitou getting home?" Eiji asks, walking with his hands behind his head.
"I imagine much later tonight. Both of you will probably be in bed. Eiji, you have class tomorrow, correct?" Eiji's schooling is only a few days a week, unlike Kari's preschool.
"Yeah." He doesn't mumble it or groan like usual though.
"Well, if you bring me back two good marks, I suppose we can look at dojo's next week." I tell him.
He turns around on the spot. "Really? You mean it Tokio?!"
"Just to look." I repeated, emphasizing "look." "There aren't as many schools like that around anymore, so we'll have a lot of walking to do."
"There's one only about a mile from here." Eiji points out.
I know the one he speaks of. "Yes, that's true, but I don't favor it. It seems a little... crude."
Eiji shrugs. "But we will look, right Tokio?"
I nod. "Only if I see two good marks though, Eiji."
He waves his hands at me. "I know, I know! I bet I'll bring home one of them tomorrow too, Tokio!" He faces forward again and is almost skipping the rest of the way to the house. I sigh and shake my head. I'm sure that any decent dojo wouldn't allow him to use his brother's sword, though I wouldn't want him to enroll at a place where they use real ones. I don't know a lot about the art of kendo, but I'm pretty sure they start with wooden ones, or bamboo staffs.
"So Kari," I turn my attention back to my daughter, "What would you like for dinner?"
I slow down a bit in my step, still holding my robe to me as I get closer to the door. I hear it more now, almost like men in the distance conversing with each other. I see the faintest light through the cracks of the thin door. My hand reaches out to it, and ever so slowly I move it, peering out to see what was going on...
I see two eyes peering back.
I gasp and fling myself backwards, the front door bursting open, the wood and paper busting and tearing from the front man's blow. Several of these men, dressed in black, stand at the front door, a look of pure evil on each of their faces. One in the back holds a single torch for light, the ones in the front have long, wooden staffs, each armed with a silver blade at its top.
I take another step back, and it signals for them to charge. Before I know it, the flood of these men is racing at me, their weapons pointing towards me as if I were game for them to hunt. I turn around as quickly as I can, and run.
"SAITOU!!!" I scream, trying to get away from these intruders, my covered feet slipping against the wooden floorboards. "SAITOU!!!"
My hands collide with the wall as I push myself into the hallway, the step of the men behind me. Tears rush from my eyes and my heart races. I shove open the door to my room and run in. He's standing there, alerted from my screams. I don't stop, but collide into his chest, clutching onto him from protection as I look back at the door. There are five men standing there, their countenances illuminated by the single torch.
Saitou's arm wraps around my waist as he pulls me behind him.
"Saitou Hajime... "The front man says, smiling at his own, sick humor. That's all he says. No explanation, no reasoning. He just lunges forward, that horrible weapon pointed at my husband's throat.
His tight grip surrounds my arm and I'm thrown towards the back of the room, landing hard on the ground near my futon. I lift my head to see a different man collide in with my husband, Saitou's hands holding back the knife threatening him. In one swift motion he grabs another part of the spear, twisting it free from the other man's hands, the blunt end coming in sharp contact with his forehead. Two more men come at him, and I cover my eyes with my hands, shaking and sobbing in that dark corner. I get the courage to peek, and I see Saitou's fist hit a tall man in the stomach, then his elbow hit his face, the force throwing the man into the hallway, breaking off a piece of the bedroom door as well. The man with the torch still stands there, his face the most visible to me. He looks terrified, and he winces as the last man in struck in the shoulder with the spearhead and thrown out too. I want to close my eyes again, but I can't. The men, from what I can see, scramble quickly to their feet. The man drops the torch onto the floor and runs with them, their voices yelling through the living room and out of the house.
Without hesitation, Saitou grabs the blanket off of his futon and throws it over the torch, putting the fire out before its given chance to expand. He stomps on it to be sure.
I sit there, my breath so quick that I can barely feel any oxygen enter into my lungs. My hands are shaking against the floor, and my cheeks are wet from my tears. What had just happened? Who were those men?
"What's going on?!" I hear Eiji yell from the stairs. Kari's crying can be heard as well.
Saitou comes over to me, kneeling before me. "Tokio, are you all right?" He asks, extremely serious.
I just look at him, frightened, and nod my head the best I can. I fling myself into him again and instantly feel his arms surround me to comfort me.
Eiji appears in the doorway. "Tokio! Saitou! Are you okay?!" He shouts. "What happened?!"
Saitou pulls away from me and stands up. "Eiji, run to the police station, now." He says firmly.
Eiji grips his sword and turns on his heel, running through the hallway.
With support from the wall, I manage to stand up as well. "Who... who were those men?" I ask, my voice shaking too.
"What happened?" Saitou asks me.
I shake my head, more tears coming. "I don't... I don't know! I heard a noise, I got up and went to the door... and..."
Saitou moves into the hallway, disappearing out of sight for a moment, probably to scan for any more intruders. There weren't any, since he came back. To my relief, he's unscathed. I notice two spears lying on the floor, and Kari's wailing continues from upstairs.
~
The morning is so early that only an ounce of the sun's aura can be seen over the distant mountains, a cold, blue feel about the air and sky. I sit in the far corner of the living room, Kari's torso resting in my arms, her head on my shoulder. She hiccups every now and then from her cry, but other than that she is silent and still. I don't think she's sleeping, but she's tired. I've sat with her for two hours now, watching the police investigate our house, reassure neighbors that everything is fine. Kawaji-san and Muraki-san are both here as well, and Muraki was kind enough to sit with me for a moment and try to explain what they knew. There were only five men, and the police were out looking for them. They had the two spears as evidence, and I imagine they cleaned up any blood that may have fallen in my room. The men were government rebels, and by the looks of the weapons they used and how we described them, they were probably ex soldiers from Shishio Makoto's army, ones who didn't conform to Meiji rule--ones who had comes for my husband. I can only thank god that they were ill prepared.
I take a deep breath to calm myself again. I don't see Saitou fight very much. I start to wonder what would have happened if he had had time to pick up his katana, and for a second's time I'm glad that he didn't. As I glance towards the front door, I can just barely make out Eiji's shadow. He's been sitting out there for a while. Normally I'd have him come in, but with the start of the summer months, there's really no need to.
"Miss, may I see your daughter?"
I look up to see another policeman standing over me. I don't recognize him, but I know he wants to see Kari for injuries.
"H-hai." I answer. I carefully stir Kari and stand up, bringing her to her feet as well. She blinks her tired eyes and yawns.
"There there." The policeman squatted down to her level. "What's your name?"
"Kari." I answer for her, seeing how out of it she was.
"That's a pretty name." He tells her, looking at her arms.
"She wasn't involved." I inform him. "She and the boy were upstairs."
The man nods and stands up to his full height, which is a few inches taller than me. "Forgive me, my name is Shiba Keichirou." He steps towards me. "If it is all right, I'd like to check you for injuries as well."
I gesture my consent. He has me hold out my arms to him, which aren't hurt at all. There's a small bruise forming on my elbow though from where I hit the ground when Saitou pushed me out of the way.
"Is Goro-san all right?" I ask as he begins to turn me around.
"Hai, he is. It would take more than this to hurt him..." He stops talking. "Miss, you should get that treated."
Confused, I look back at him, and feel one of his fingers touch my back.
"It's not deep. Please, wait right here, I'll be back." Shiba leaves Kari and me for a moment and heads out to the porch.
Confused, I reach my hands behind me and feel my robe. A quick stinging pain makes me pull my hand away, and I examine it. My first two fingers have blood on them. I'm surprised, to say the least. I must have been in too much shock to feel it... it must have happened when I was running for Saitou, one of those spears must have glided across my back.
Much more carefully now I feel back again. It's hard to tell with my robe on, but the cut seems to be about six inches long, but like Shiba-san said, it's not very deep. I guess I got lucky.
He returns with a small bag, one I recognize as a doctor's. He asks me to kneel down so he can see the wound. I wonder if he's actually going to make me undress or cut the robe, but instead I feel him press a cloth to my back. It hurts for a moment, but it dulls down a bit. I can feel my pulse on the wound now. I imagine he's trying to stop any more bleeding.
I hear more footsteps coming towards me, and I look up to see Saitou, a fairly shocked look on his features.
"Is she all right?" He asks.
Shiba nods. "Just a small cut on her back, Fujita-san. It's nothing serious."
~
The police leave after the sun has come up, still in the cool hours of the morning. I've changed into a kimono, and under its fabric I have some light bandaging that wraps over my shoulder and above my navel a few times. I can take it off in four to seven days, after the wound has closed completely. I watch the police leave through the broken door. It's something I'll be sure to fix before I leave for preschool this afternoon. I know I'll have time to, because I know none of us are planning on going back to bed.
I wonder if any more men like that will come...
I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn around to see Saitou next to me. He's watching the police leave too, but eventually he looks down to me.
"I will stay home this morning to clean up, but I'm on duty this afternoon." He tells me.
"Hai." I answer. We stand in an eerie silence, watching the street even after the officials had left.
"Tokio,"
"Saitou," I interrupt, though I really shouldn't. "Arigatou gozaimasu." I say a bit quieter.
He looks at me for a moment and acknowledges my gratitude before looking back at the empty street, and I am glad to feel his hand still resting on me.
~
"Sit in a circle children!" I announce later that afternoon. Despite the scare of the night before, I refuse to cancel a class with these gifted youngsters. The small tables in the bright room have all been pushed aside and were lined up against the walls, and the children sat in a large circle, their legs all crossed in front of them. A good number of them bounced giddily, excited for the activity.
I hand a coin to three of the children in the circle and tell them to pass it around after they look at it. "This is one yen." I announce, watching the silver coins pass under the awe of the children. "How much is it?"
"One yen!" The children shout back.
"Very good!" I exclaim. Once each child has gotten a chance to hold the coins, I collect them. I place them in my palm and walk around the outside of the circle. "How many yen do I have?"
About four children shout out the answer of three, and upon hearing it the rest follow suit. I place the coins inside my sleeve to search for more.
"Very good." I announce again. I hold up a gold coin with a hole in the middle of it. "This is 5 yen, even though it's only one coin." In my other hand, I hold up the silver piece again. "It takes five of these to make this."
I get varied responses from the kids, everything from gasps to giggles.
"Okay," I begin again, "I'm going to hold up some coins, and I want you to show me on your fingers how many yen I have." I fish a hand into my red sleeve again to grab the rest of the coins that I've kept free from my purse. I hold up two silver pieces.
Most of the children hold up two fingers, and those who didn't quickly changed their answer after looking around. I palm the coins in my other hand and hold up two fingers, and the children all smile.
I hold up the gold coin. The hands go up again, though Yoru accidentally yells out "five!" Then I take out five of the silver coins and hold them out so everyone can see, and I'm please to see they haven't changed their answer. I do this a few times over, repeating many of the same numbers to help the children remember them. Finally, I put the money away and clap my hands.
"You are all very smart!" I declare. "Very good job. Did you like this?" I'm always sure to ask when we do something new. If the children don't approve of it, they won't want to learn it.
"Hai!" The youthful voices sing.
I smile. "Okay, lets fold our arms and get in a straight line for water, okay?"
The children all hop to their feet and line up in front of me, folding their arms in a single file line. A few of them switch places or step out of line to run to the back, but I wait patiently until they're all ready. They know that if they push or try to cut in front of another student, all of them will have to sit back down so we can try again. I do this every day so that the children don't get thirsty. There are several small paper cups and a large glass pitcher in the back of the room, and I give each boy and girl a small drink, and they return their cup to the table when they're done.
~
Eiji of course comes at the same time he comes everyday, a little after the preschool gets out. He knows I can't leave until all the parents have come, so he usually doesn't arrive early. Today I was glad to see that Mamo's mother was one of the first to arrive. She lives a bit further away, and often Mamo is left here with Kari until Makoto gets here. I wave to the last father and take Kari's hand, Eiji leading the way in front of us as we go down the street.
"When is Saitou getting home?" Eiji asks, walking with his hands behind his head.
"I imagine much later tonight. Both of you will probably be in bed. Eiji, you have class tomorrow, correct?" Eiji's schooling is only a few days a week, unlike Kari's preschool.
"Yeah." He doesn't mumble it or groan like usual though.
"Well, if you bring me back two good marks, I suppose we can look at dojo's next week." I tell him.
He turns around on the spot. "Really? You mean it Tokio?!"
"Just to look." I repeated, emphasizing "look." "There aren't as many schools like that around anymore, so we'll have a lot of walking to do."
"There's one only about a mile from here." Eiji points out.
I know the one he speaks of. "Yes, that's true, but I don't favor it. It seems a little... crude."
Eiji shrugs. "But we will look, right Tokio?"
I nod. "Only if I see two good marks though, Eiji."
He waves his hands at me. "I know, I know! I bet I'll bring home one of them tomorrow too, Tokio!" He faces forward again and is almost skipping the rest of the way to the house. I sigh and shake my head. I'm sure that any decent dojo wouldn't allow him to use his brother's sword, though I wouldn't want him to enroll at a place where they use real ones. I don't know a lot about the art of kendo, but I'm pretty sure they start with wooden ones, or bamboo staffs.
"So Kari," I turn my attention back to my daughter, "What would you like for dinner?"