Chapter 3: how about chivalry?
Vice commander Hijikata Toshizou couldn't fall asleep. He had been under a considerable amount of stress lately, and desperately wanted to sleep it off. Laying flat on his back in the darkness of his room, he had tried everything short of meditation to try and clear his mind. Any observer would have thought that he was asleep, because his eyes were closed and his face expressionless, but his mind was practically spinning.
For some reason he found himself remembering all the nights at the Shiei kan that he had stayed up late talking with Kondou. Morning always came too soon, with Okita Mitsu and her scrawny, ever-smiling younger brother laughing and dashing through the halls to get them out of their beds as creatively as possible. Morning people… ugh. Hijikata was vaguely disgusted by them. If it were up to him, waking in a cheerful mood would be a violation of bushido.
But those had been good days at Shiei hall, despite the constant restlessness, the desire to prove himself, the frustration of being powerless in the face of the changing times. And now the happy memories faded quickly, replaced by more urgent concerns. The city was getting bloodier… there were issues with discipline… Choshu… Yamanami. What was Sannan's problem, and why couldn't he get over it? Hijikata frowned, but kept his eyes shut. He was tired of worrying, tired of thinking. He needed to go to sleep. Perhaps he would try meditation after all. Hijikata took a deep breath and let it out slowly, focusing on his surroundings… it was quiet… it was the middle of the night, and it was dark and quiet… peacefully dark and quiet….
And suddenly a wall shattered inward with an explosive crash as a body was hurled through it and into Hijikata's room. Hijikata jumped to his feet, heart pounding. He grabbed his sword and drew the blade, glaring out into the night. Silence. There was no one there-- at least, no one that he could see. A moment passed and still no enemy appeared.
"uhn," moaned the body on the floor. Hijikata glanced down at it and his eyes widened.
"Yamazakikun!" he grunted, dropping to his knees beside the boy. He grabbed the teenaged kansatsu by the shoulder and rolled him onto his back. "Yamazaki!"
The pale-faced boy opened his eyes as blood trickled from his mouth. He looked up at Hijikata with incredible shame and sorrow in his dark eyes. "Hiji-kata-san," he said in a gasping whisper. "I…failed you." With that, the boy's eyes rolled back and he went limp.
Hijikata couldn't believe it. Almost angrily, he shook Susumu's shoulders. "Yamazaki!" he repeated gruffly. "Damn it, hold on!"
"He isn't dead," hissed a sinister voice from no particular direction. Hijikata repressed a shudder and looked around the room, still hunched somewhat protectively over the unconscious watcher.
"Show yourself!" Hijikata commanded. "Who are you and why have you done this?"
A ninja dropped lightly to the ground just beyond the gaping hole from the shattered wall. "I am of the Yaminobu," he or she said in that same sinister hiss. "I have business to discuss with you, Hijikatasan. Your young spy foolishly attempted to interfere."
"Yami-nobu?" Hijikata repeated. "I've never even heard of you! Just what kind of 'business' could you possibly have with me?"
"We are not your enemies," the ninja said. "Currently, we are involved in a rather complex scheme to bring about the downfall of a certain Choshu Ishin-shishi--"
"I don't give a damn about you Yami-nobodies or your schemes!" Hijikata roared.
"That's fine," the ninja replied quickly. "But if you don't give us back our operative, we will take her back by force, and then your pathetic little spy-boy won't be the only casualty of the night."
Hijikata sensed the very real threat behind the ninja's words. "What 'operative'?" he growled. "I don't know what you're talking about."
The ninja made a sound that was almost a sigh and then crossed his arms in a very un-ninja-like pose. "We had a young woman who was supposed to pretend to get drunk at a local restaurant tonight," the ninja explained. "The problem is, she's… inexperienced. She was at the wrong restaurant, and she didn't just 'pretend'."
"Let me guess." Hijikata grumbled. "She ran into some of my men and they decided to 'take care of her' for the evening?"
"Exactly," the ninja said, sounding a little surprised that Hijikata had figured it out so fast. "And now, I've come to retrieve her."
"So where is she?" Hijikata asked, exasperated. "I can't give her back to you if I don't know where she is."
Souji had been asleep for perhaps half an hour when he was woken up for the second time that night. He gazed listlessly at the dark ceiling, unsure of what had awoken him, and even more unsure of why he wasn't sleeping in his bed.
Then his brain registered the faint scent of perfume. Slowly he turned his head, and silently observed the silhouette of the girl sleeping on his futon. He watched her chest rise and fall peacefully under the blanket, and gradually he remembered how she had gotten there. That's right- he was supposed to be protecting her. But why had he woken up? What was wrong?
Suddenly the feeling of imminent danger intensified so forcefully that Souji sat up and automatically grabbed his sword. His eyes narrowed. That was what had woken him- his keen swordsman's instincts were warning him that something with violent intentions was headed his way.
A hulking black shadow holding a drawn sword was stomping its way across the yard. Its gleaming eyes were fixated on one thing: the door to Captain Okita's room. Suddenly that door opened and a slender figure dressed in a white yukata appeared on the porch. It also held a sword, and the blade glinted coldly in the moonlight. Souji shut the door to his room with a firm clap.
"So it has come to this, Hijikatasan." Souji said, his voice oh-so-deadly-soft. An ominous gust of wind rustled his hair.
The hulking black shadow came to a halt. "Souji," it growled. "You know why I'm here?"
Souji took a small, graceful step forward. Hijikata blinked, confused and annoyed. The vice commander could tell from the way the young man was holding his katana that Souji meant business.
"Oh, I know why you're here," Souji answered, his eyes half-closed.
"Then get out of my way!" Hijikata commanded.
"No, Hijikatasan."
"What did you say?"
"I said No." Souji held out his weapon in such a way that it crossed the door to his room in Hijikata's line of sight. "You're not taking that girl."
"I don't have time for this!" Hijikata growled, holding up his own sword. "Give her to me!"
"No," Souji said coolly.
"Soooujiii…"
"I'm sorry, Hijikatasan, but this is one time when I won't allow you to have your way. The poor girl is drunk. Just let her sleep it off, and in the morning, I'll escort her home and we'll pretend this whole thing never happened."
"You 'won't allow' me? 'Allow' me?" Hijikata repeated, aghast. His eyes acquired a feral yellow gleam. "Souji, have you finally lost it? I can not believe that you're defying me over some worthless drunken whore! Now for the last time, get out of my way!"
"I won't let you have her," Souji said softly. "Please return to your own room, Hijikatasan. I don't want to fight you, but if I must, then I promise you I won't hold back."
Something in the young man's voice and stance made Hijikata realized that his life was very possibly at stake. But rather than being discouraged or intimidated, the realization only infuriated the vice commander and made him twice as determined to get his way.
"You don't know what you're doing," Hijikata said threateningly. "Do you intend to disobey a direct order?"
"I intend to let that girl sleep undisturbed until morning," Souji replied.
"Too bad. I'm taking her right now!"
"You're not going to get even one step closer to her," Souji told him.
"Grr! This is ridiculous! She's just some random drunk! Why do you care what happens to her, anyway? What kind of game are you playing?" Hijikata demanded.
"She's defenseless," Souji said quietly.
"Don't tell me you've got feelings for her," Hijikata sneered. "Hah! What nonsense."
Souji looked at him sadly. "I suppose your attitude is forgivable, due to the violence of the times," he said, his voice bitter with regret. "I wasn't exactly surprised that you came over here, but I am… disappointed."
"What?"
"I had hoped that even if you found out about her… you wouldn't come for her."
"Souji, that doesn't make sense! Can you think of a single reason why I wouldn't dash over here the instant I heard about her?"
Souji's expression clouded. "A single reason, Hijikatasan?" he asked. "How about chivalry? How about respect, dignity, compassion, or self control?"
"Damn it, Souji, this has nothing to do with any of those things!" Hijikata sputtered, completely confused.
"How true," Souji replied sadly.
Steeling himself, Hijikata moved one foot forward. Souji's eyes shone with cold fire.
"I said, not another step," Souji warned in a hushed voice.
With both hands gripping his sword, Hijikata slid his foot forward again. Souji's reaction was immediate. With a brief battle cry, he leapt off the porch, sword flashing. He attacked almost too quickly to see, spinning Hijikata's weapon out of his hands, and knocking him solidly in the temple with the haft of his sword. Stunned, Hijikata collapsed. Kneeling quickly, Souji caught the vice commander as he fell, and wordlessly lowered him the rest of the way to the ground. Then Souji stood up, looking down at his unconscious victim with an expression of mixed disapproval and pity. With a depressed sigh, he headed back to his room.
Watching all of this from the shadows, the Yaminobu ninja cursed silently. That had been the most incredible attack he had ever witnessed- the captain of the first squad of the Shinsengumi was obviously as skilled as the hitokiri Battousai!
The ninja leapt away into the night to gather reinforcements. If a swordsman as dangerous as Okita Souji had decided to keep the Yukishiro woman, it might take more than one Yaminobu ninja to reclaim her.
Several hours passed, and in the cold bluish light of early morning, Tomoe opened her eyes. It took her a few minutes to realize that her surroundings were unfamiliar. Where am I? Had she been carried off by Battousai as planned? Was she in the Choshu hideout? She closed her eyes again and winced a little. Her head hurt. Clearly she had overestimated her ability to handle that much alcohol. But she remembered having a wonderful dream. Instead of her mortal enemy, her beloved fiancé had shown up at the tavern and rescued her…
Tomoe sat up stiffly, pressing a hand to her head. What have I done? Had she ruined the plan? She realized that she was still fully dressed- even if she had been carried off by the wrong person, at least she hadn't been molested. She noticed that a blue haori had been laid on top of the blanket for extra warmth. She recognized the white triangles on the sleeves: Shinsengumi.
Tomoe's face remained expressionless, her dark eyes unreadable. Carefully she looked around the room, which was small and a bit cluttered. Her eyes came to rest on the room's other occupant, a young man in a yukata who was sitting up against the door with a sword propped against his shoulder. She studied him silently for a moment, and decided that he was definitely asleep. But who was he, and why was he there? And why was he sleeping with his hand on his sword- was he afraid of something?
He was probably Shinsengumi. Was he a killer, then? Tomoe stared at him, her eyes black as coals. His sleeping face was handsome, smooth-skinned and delicate. Almost feminine, actually. For some reason she wanted to take a closer look at this person, perhaps to find some clue as to his identity. Without making a sound, she stood up and began to creep towards him with natural, cat-like stealth.
About halfway across the room, her foot bumped something and she looked down. It was a book that had somehow fallen open, revealing several round, scribble-y sketches of a… very…cute…piglet. Inexplicapably, she knew that the book and the cute drawings belonged to the young man with the sword on his shoulder. Her motherly instincts evoked, Tomoe looked back at the sleeping Okita-- and saw only a child.
And it was rather chilly in the room, so…
She couldn't help it. She'd cared for her baby brother for years and years, and was forever covering the boy with coats and blankets so he wouldn't catch a cold in his sleep. Silently, Tomoe crept towards Souji, holding out a blanket in both hands. Obviously this young man had been kind enough to give her his futon for the night. The least she could do was make him a bit more comfortable in this cold, predawn hour.
Carefully she bent forward and draped the blanket around the sleeping Shinsengumi captain.
Souji's eyes fluttered opened in surprise.
He was pretty groggy. He glanced up in Tomoe's general direction… and smiled happily.
"Thanks!" he mumbled, and promptly fell back asleep.
Author's note: You know something funny? I've been an RK fan for Forever, and yet I don't know the reason why those people who Tomoe was working with (the yaminobu etc) wanted to kill Battousai! Was it just because he was strong? Arg! If you know, please explain it to me! Anyway, I hope all the parody-scenes in this chapter are obvious. If you feel like you've missed something, don't worry... our favorite troublemakers will spell it out for ya in the next chapter! thanks for reading, and for all the awesome reviews too!
