Chapter: 30
After he left, I stood alone in the courtyard. It was the first time Okita had thanked me for anything. By all rights, I should have been happy, ecstatic, but instead I felt miserable. My heart felt as though a knife had pierced it and dragged to my stomach.
"Okita..."
A stray breeze crossed the courtyard to caress my cheek. It felt cold.
From then on, Matsumoto visited the compound regularly to check up on the men of the Shinsengumi. The Corps was renamed as the Rasetsu Corps, but remained secret. I sometimes wonder if it really is alright to continue to the research of the Ochimizu. It wasn't long before I bgan to wish I'd had never heard of the Ochimizu, or rasetsus.
September 1866
After the dust cleared, following Hamaguri rebellion, the shogun set about cleaning house. The Choshu Domain were declared enemies of the court, and the shogun gathered domains and launched a military campaign known as the Choshu Expedition. It was the intention of the shogunate to completely demolish the Choshu Domain, but intervene on the part of Satsuma and some of the other domains lead to an early end for the Expedition with no actual battles fought.
Perhaps feeling they'd dodged a bullet, the Choshu Domain fell silent for a time. Their obedience was short lived, however, and before long their disrespect for the shogun became impossible to ignore. Kondou was asked to accompany an envoy sent to the Choshu to investigate their behavior, but they refused to even meet with the envoy.
Fed up with their insubordination, the shogun ordered the Second Choshu Expedition.
"Hey! Guys! Listen up!
"What is it, Nagakura? Is something wrong?" Chizuru asked.
I still felt guilty about keeping what I knew about her father a secret. She had every right to know but it just doesn't feel right coming from my mouth.
"What, you run into some outlaw ronin out there?"
"No it's way worse than that, Sano. I heard that Lord Iemochi's dead!"
"What?!" cried Chizuru.
"Are you sure? Man, this has gotta be the worst time for something like this to happen... What's gonna happen to the Choshu Expedition? Have they decided a new shogun yet?"
"I don't really know any details..."
"There's now way we can go to war without a leader... It'd destroy morale."
"I know. I've got a real bad feeling about this. The Choshu got off easy. I'm hoping they'll get the pounding they deserve this time, but..."
The time I was dreading was coming near. The Shinesengumi would go off to war and the majority of the captains would die.
Soon afterward, the shogunate lead a massive army against the Choshu, but the expense of war weighed heavily on the coffers of other domains and they fielded fewer troops than the shogunate had hoped for. The death of Iemochi was another blow to army morale, and some domains withdrew from the war entirely. So it was that the Second Choshu Expedition ended in a shocking defeat for the shogunate army. That was the moment when the shogunate goverement, stable for 260 years, began to waver.
"Where's air conditioning when you need it?" I fanned my face with my hand and with the other, wiped a few beads of sweat. I wish I never took air conditioning for granted. It is difficult to get used to.
"Oh, I meant that it's hot lately."
"...Indeed."
Beneath Saito's usual calm there was a hint of alertness and carefully restrained violence, and for a good reason. The Choshu had been declared enemies of the court after the Hamaguri Rebellion and driven out of Kyoto, but some feared remnants of their forces had remained behind, in hiding. Now ore than ever, Saito and the rest of the Shinsengumi had to be alert and focused when on patrol.
"Okay."
He gave me a short nod of conformation, and stepped into the shop with his men. He didn't have to make me sound like dead weight though...but I guess I am. I have no skills to be of use for the Shinsengumi. I sighed and waited.
"I'm useless."
"I'm from the Shinsengumi. I have come to to inspect your store."
"Y-Yes, sir. Of course."
I had been waiting for Saito and his division for a few minutes when I noticed a commotion nearby.