Author note : Thanks to the ones who gave me support. Guest and Gome, happy to see you're still there ! Thanks Kaylin15 for your super kind comment and welcome Tory Ah ! Glad you just discovered the fic and you read it so quickly ! Thank you to all of you ! Guest, I totally understand about getting caught up by real life, do not worry ! I hope you'll all enjoy this chapter.
We were the first to join Edo back. Not that it was surprising, a small group like ours moved a lot quicker than armies. As soon as we arrived back at the inn, I led Keisuke to an empty room.
« Accept my apologies for treating you as a foe, Keisuke » I said « but until Hijikata-san and Kondou-san make a decision on your case, I have to keep you in custody. »
« I understand, Kumichô » he replied with a smile and a bow. « I will await their judgment. »
I nodded and turned away, locking the room, before getting to the Rasetsu quarters where Chizuru was already working. She went there as soon as we got in the building, to check on Sannan's condition. When I entered the room, I sensed the atmosphere drop several degrees. I wasn't welcome there. Sannan still didn't know my Rasetsu nature but he knew I was hostile both to Rasetsu and his experiments. Chizuru looked very concerned about something and she faked a smile to address me, as if I couldn't decipher the turmoil in her.
« Hajime, would you mind taking me back to Matsumoto-sensei's clinic ? » she asked.
« No. I'll take you. » I answered, knowing that if I refused, she'd go anyway, alone or with Sannan or Toudou « There is a need for more medecine ? »
« Saito-kun, even if our opinions are very different, I think you should know something... » sighed Sannan « I think we have an unregistered Rasetsu... »
Good. I already figured that out with the crime wave and the missing vial of Ochimizu but I was relieved that Sannan could speak to me about it. Maybe he wasn't trying to cover something up in the end.
« How so ? » I asked.
« I already told you I had a missing vial... » he continued, brows furrowed, and now, nearly half our stock of medicine has disappeared, stolen. Apart from a Rasetsu, no one can have any use for this medecine. »
« I see. » I nodded. That was indeed concerning.
« We are getting low on supplies and need Saito-sensei to help us again... » he continued « plus, apparently, she wants to make an experiment with daily doses of medicine instead of only taking them during bloodlust episodes. Toudou-kun will be the subject of an experiment. We are going to need higher quantities of her blood. »
« Sannan-san » objected Chizuru « I think you should be the priority subject. You're unwell. »
« I've been a Rasetsu for a long time, Saito-sensei » he smiled kindly « I know how to cope with it. Toudou seems a better choice. »
« But... » she started.
« There is no but. Toudou-kun is starting to suffer more frequently. Don't you want to help him, Saito-sensei ? »
« I do... »
« Then it's settled. » he cut « to keep you in good condition, we have to try on one subject to be sure it's effective before generalizing the treatment. If the doses are daily, maybe we could dilute it more... »
« Yeah but dilution doesn't seem to be a very effective method. Maybe a mix of... »
I wasn't really listening. They went into their scientific studies and debates and that was a lot too foreign to me. The only thing that I understood clearly was that Chizuru was still going to be used as a milking cow for all these Rasetsu... but who was I to oppose ? I was drinking directly from her...
« Sannan » I asked « Is there some work for me here ? Shinsengumi work. »
« Not really... I don't know if you heard but Edo castle has been surrendered. »
I froze in place. They dared ? I knew that making us leave town for Kofu or whatever was a way for the higher ranked loyalists to get us out of the way but this ? Hijikata-san and Kondou-san spent hours and days meeting with officials in order to protect the Bakufu only for the shogunate to stab them in the back and send them to death while they surrender ?
« What about Lord Tokugawa Yoshinobu ? »
« Prisoner. » he replied « under house arrest in Kan'ei temple in Ueno. »
« Prisoner... » I repeated.
The shogun. Prisoner. The Choshu and Satsuma in Edo castle...
« They haven't started to hunt down loyalists yet, they have an agreement with Katsu-sama but my guess is that we're all going to be hunted down soon. Well you are. Us Rasetsu are already dead to them. They're not going to look for us. »
« Alright. » I nodded, getting my composure back « Chizuru, inform me when you want to go. I'll be in our room. »
« Okay ! » she smiled.
I stormed out and went to the room where I locked Keisuke. Doomed for doomed, I had to make an attempt at warning Hijikata-san of the danger of coming back to Edo and I had only one man under my command.
« Keisuke » I ordered « change of plan. If you want to prove your worth, it's now. »
« I'm ready, Kumichô ! » he bowed.
He followed me to my room and waited patiently for me to write a message to Hijikata-san. I wrote it in code to be sure that it'd be alright even if Keisuke decided to betray me, and sealed it, drawing my kamon on it. Hijikata-san would know that this information is correct even if an imperialist soldier is carrying them.
« You keep your uniform. » I told him, handing him the letter « it'll be easier to pass through enemy controls. »
« Thank you for your trust, Kumichô. » he bowed « I'll deliver the message. »
I nodded and he went off. I hoped I wasn't making any mistake by giving this task to him. I quitted my desk, hoping to rest a little before getting to the Matsumoto clinic with Chizuru but Toudou interrupted me.
« Saito » he asked « would you mind if I speak with you for a second ? »
« No. » I replied « come in. »
Toudou got in and sat in front of me on the tatami.
« I'm sorry to bother you when you just came back but since you are the only high ranked here apart from the Rasetsu, I think I really needed to talk to you even if you are not the commander. »
« What is it, Toudou ? » I asked.
« It's Sannan-san. » he said « I think he's the one killing people. »