7.
Being the larger city that it was, Kyoto's metropolitan police department was normally a pretty busy place. There seemed to be a constant hubbub of noise occurring at any given time. Between the officers, the general public, lowlife riff-raff and the more serious criminals, they all contributed to the ebb and flow of the daily work. Noise levels included.
Policing generally wasn't boring work, something was happening all the time and none of it was the same. For certain officers however, especially the higher ranking ones, the countless interviews, the paperwork and reports could get very boring indeed. One's even higher up, especially when they were being rather seriously put upon, it wasn't just tedious, it became seriously irritating.
Especially when it wasn't even for their jurisdiction to begin with. One in particular decided he'd had enough of the paper shuffling routine to take a smoke break.
He was an exceptionally tall, whip thin, officer. Notable in that he legally carried a katana instead of a sabre from the sword belt around his narrow hips. He presented enough of a menace, simply by standing there, that most everybody avoided him like the plague. This was a good thing, he wasn't in the mood to deal with people, especially in Kyoto. He should be home in Tokyo!
Inspector Fujita Goro, on loan from Tokyo's MPD, glared sourly out the sliding door of an office given to him temporarily. It opened on to a dusty compound where the staff trainers had been working out a bunch of enlistees in an attempt to weed out the weaker applicants. Fujita had been sent to help clear up why a series of thefts over several districts couldn't get solved. He'd been sent to get it wrapped up in a nice neat little bow, and settled, once and for all.
If there was one thing that got under Fujita Goro's skin faster it was dealing with other people's incompetence. Goro had risen to Assistant Inspector for the Tokyo Criminal Division. He worked internal affairs. He also worked as a government spy on occasion. He was a wolf of Mibu! He'd been sent to babysit a botched theft investigation that shouldn't even have been given to him to deal with in the first place!
Needless to say, Fujita Goro, aka Saito Hajime, a feared former captain of the infamous Shinsengumi, was not a very happy man.
Snatching his little box of wooden matches from off the desk, he strolled out of the office and headed out for the main street entrance to indulge his habit. The cigarette, unlit, was already hanging from his lips by the time he reached the main room of the station building.
In there his day abruptly became less boring...
He couldn't help but hear the commotion as he approached. The noise level had risen, people were shouting, things crashing. Above the din an indignant woman's voice could be heard. He discerned the sound of policemen protesting vehemently about someone carrying a sword illegally, demanding to know what was going on, and who did they think they were anyway?
Who? Saito pondered as he came upon a scene that smacked of utter chaos with a healthy dose of the ridiculous.
The Sergeant in charge of the front station operations looked apoplectic. Several other regular officers stood over a large, overweight man in bloody robes. He lay, groaning, on the floor, his hands to his face and looking like something had run over him. Standing nearby in a kimono that had been thoroughly roughed up, was an arguing woman, her arm held in the vice grip of a third person.
Saito's gaze settled on that man.
He managed to keep his own astonishment well hidden. The man could easily look Saito in the eye. They were of identical height. Saito Hajime was one of the tallest men in the country. He couldn't even count on one hand how many people could match his gaze. His beer coloured eyes, usually so narrow no one could read his thoughts, intensified as he studied the man holding the woman's arm.
Not only could he match Saito in height, he also had very powerful strong build. Saito knew in an instant the man was somebody to be reckoned with. No matter that there was a katana... strike that, an o-katana, hanging from the man's sash. The guy's hair was long and tied back loosely, and he literally exuded power. Saito made no mistake about it, from the man's boots to his leather arm bracers, he could definitely wield that sword at his hip.
The man also scowled in distaste and irritation. The entire scene would have been utterly alarming, if is wasn't for the fact that the stranger had a five or six year old b...
Saito squinted his amber eyes even more, his mind quickly reassessing. No... the stranger had a young girl perched on his hip! The child's head was turned away from him, looking over the man's shoulder and away from the woman. She held onto his arm, hands clutching his robes, like her life depended on it.
"Who the hell is in charge here?" the stranger demanded, shoving the woman forward, releasing her.
She spun around like an angry cat, hand flying out to slap him across the face.
Saito watched as the stranger simply leaned away from the blow, turned right ever so slightly and took a menacing step forward. He glared at the woman. In Saito's eyes the move was very familiar. A swordsman's move, proving that the highly illegal sword hanging from the man's sash wasn't a decoration. Saito's eyes gained a predatory gleam. The katana looked rather odd. When was the last time he'd seen a sword with a plain round wrapped samé hilt with embedded menuki?
"How dare you manhandle me!" The woman spat. She began spouting off her lineage, her status above everyone else, and demanding respect. She also wanted the arrest of the uncouth, unwashed peasant who had kidnapped her from a certain village, grabbed her in the most inappropriate places, and dragged her to Kyoto.
"Shut the hell up," the man simply replied, causing the woman to gasp in consternation and indignation. He looked around the room for whoever ran the station. "I'm trying to find our missing, incompetent, village policemen," he announced, sarcastically. "Anyone care to tell me where they might be hiding?"
Saito bristled a little. Incompetent might be close to accurate but it was still their police force being maligned.
"And why would you want them?" he asked casually as he leaned back against a fusuma panel and extracted a wooden match from the box he held. The man's eyes finally shifted and settled on him.
Saito watched as he was expertly assessed. A very slow smirk appeared on the man's face. Saito hid his frown. He narrowed his eyes to mere slits as he studied the stranger across from him. His thumb struck the sulphur tip of the match, igniting it and he calmly lit his cigarette, idly shaking the little flame out. That first satisfying draw hid most of his scrutiny as he let the smoke trickle out, obscuring his features.
"Well..." the stranger said, lip lifting in a smirk, "Someone with an ounce of intelligence."
Saito's scrutiny abruptly shifted to ire, his eyes widening at the audacity of the stranger in front of him. The smirk on the man's face grew more pronounced. Both knew the stranger's remark had hit its intended target.
"Intelligence notwithstanding, what brings this about?" Saito replied, reaching up to pull the cigarette off his lips and flick the ash off.
"You can't just come walking in here, throwing people around and carrying that on your hip!" The Sergeant in charge protested as a few of the other policemen surrounded the three people, adding their voices to the din. Several of the police had their hands on their sabres.
"Arrest this wretched cretin," the woman protested. "He's kidnapped us both and hauled us all the way down here!"
The large man on the floor only groaned, gagging and coughing. His hands fell away from a rather bloody and bruised, swollen face. Something apparently had been done to his throat as well.
"He's assaulted both of us," she added, looking defiantly at the man holding the child. "I demand this gods forsaken police force do their job like they are supposed to!"
Saito's gaze flicked towards the woman, his face still passive. "Hauled you all the way from where?" he asked.
The woman rounded on him, stiffening in righteous fury, trying to get the upper hand. She spat out the name of the village, glaring at Saito. "Who is in charge of this place?!" She snapped.
"That would be him," Saito replied dryly, looking at the indignant Sergeant. A flicker of movement caught his eye and he looked back at the stranger.
He murmured something to the child, shifting his hands to set her back onto the floor. As he did, she turned her head, facing him. Saito felt an icy hand clutch his heart. The entire right side of the child's face was purple and blue from deep bruises, the right eye swollen shut along with a fat lip where he could just make out a cut.
She silently nodded her head as the man freed her from where she was wedged between him and the o-katana and he set her on the floor. She promptly dashed outside, dodging two surprised police offers who suddenly reacted and started to go after her.
"Oh, relax!" the stranger snapped in irritation, his gaze shifting back to Saito. "She's just getting something out of the cart." He dropped his left wrist casually in the crux where the saya met his hip.
"What is the meaning of all this!?" the Sergeant exploded again as the woman started her screeching protests.
"Enough!" Saito barked. "You..." he looked at the woman. "Shut up!"
"How dare..."
"He said, shut up," Hiko added. "I'm sick of listening to you!"
"I don't care if you are sick of me or not..."
"Shut your trap now or face spending an evening in the holding cells." Saito growled, looking at her. His amber eyes glared into her face.
"And just who do you think you are? He's supposed to be in charge here, according to you." The woman spat at Saito, she turned to face the Sergeant. "What are you going to do about that man?" she pointed a hand at Hiko.
"I..." Saito cut back in, "am Assistant Inspector Fujita, of Criminal Investigations." He looked at Hiko. "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm the guy who's solving your theft case for you." The stranger remarked dryly. "Since the rest of these incompetents can't seem to find their backsides much less a ring of wanna be thieves," There appeared the faintest of smirks on his lips. "You can thank me for doing your job later."
"His name is Ni'itsu Kakunoshi," the woman spat. "He's detained us for absolutely no reason and assaulted my lord, look at him!"
"Ni'itsu Kakunoshi?" Saitro drawled, taking another drag off his cigarette. "Seems I've heard that name somewhere before..."
"You should." Hiko replied, still smirking. "I'm the best Kintsurugi master in several prefectures." He nodded his head at the groaning man. ''This piece of dung on the floor is Shouta. He and this creature..." Hiko's gaze flicked to the affronted woman. "I've caught red-handed stealing my gold supply for my work."
The woman promptly began protesting again. "I have done no such thing! He has assaulted us! And he's now throwing around baseless accusations!"
"Shut up!" Saito and Hiko both roared. Saito drew another deep drag off his cigarette. He had to stop this farce and fast.
"You..." Saito glanced at one of the police officers in the room. "You're from that village correct?"
"Sir!" the man affirmed.
"Who is he?" Saito nodded at Hiko.
"That is Ni'itsu-san, sir. He's a potter in our district," the policeman replied, then he paused. He glanced at Hiko, almost apologetically. Hiko didn't say anything.
Saito saw the glance. "And?" he prompted.
"He is also Hiko Seijuro XIII. He's a swords master," the policeman replied.
"A swords master?" Saito asked. A bell of recognition began metaphorically clanging in his head as he looked at Hiko, the somewhat familiar name rising to the surface of his thoughts. It couldn't be...
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, and I am the Master." Hiko confirmed.
Saito nearly stopped breathing. He had frozen in place. Worse, he knew that Hiko knew, he had recognized his sword style. He slowly let the smoke trickle out of his mouth before drawing in another.
"So which is it? Hiko-sama or Ni'itsu-sama?"
"Whichever you want." Hiko replied, the smirk on his face curling in mischievous delight. "And you? Is it really Inspector Fujita or a wolf in sheep's clothing?"
A long pause enveloped the room.
Saito suddenly barked out a laugh. Oh now this whole situation suddenly upped itself to a wholly different, much more interesting, level.
"Are you going to do something about this wretched man!?" The woman protested again.
At that moment, the two policeman who had scrambled after the girl, suddenly reappeared, but not before she had dashed back inside, carrying a weighty, burlap sack with a drawstring neck. She ran up to Hiko, holding up the bulging sack.
Hiko plucked it out of the child's hands and tossed it at the feet of the offended Sergeant. The child, meanwhile, slipped around behind Hiko and grabbed a double fistful of his mantle, hiding herself.
"That is full of stolen items. Jewellery, idols, knives, anything very small and very valuable." Hiko said. "It was in her possession." He looked at Saito as he nodded his head at the woman. "And stolen by him." He indicated Shouta.
"They were stolen by that wretched little Momo!" the woman snapped indignantly, she pointed at the child.
Saito suddenly reached up and pulled the cigarette from his lips, letting it dangle between two fingers. He pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head at the futility of it all. It was time to stop the circus.
"You just admitted that bag is full of stolen goods." He said to the woman cuttingly. "Not a bright move on your part, but I shouldn't expect anything less." Saito said dryly, eliciting a huff of amusement from Hiko. "Sergeant, arrest them both. If I'm not mistaken these are the heads of the theft ring that has been a seriously pain in my ass."
"How dare you!" the woman screeched. "That worthless child is the one who's been sent into people's home to get that stuff..."
"Keep digging that grave..." Saito replied fixing her with a predatory glare. He looked at Hiko who had turned to pick the girl back up.
"Who is this child?" Saito asked.
"She's Momo! Shouta-sama's slave!" the woman snapped before Hiko could answer.
"You got proof of that?" Saito asked.
A sour sneer appeared on the woman's lips and she stepped over to the groaning Shouta. Her hand slipped under his robe and she extracted the flat leather pouch he carried on him. "Ownership papers are in here!" she said, shooting a triumphant look at Hiko as she handed the pouch to Saito.
Saito stuck the cigarette back between his lips and took the pouch, glancing at Hiko. He had his attention on the child. She gingerly rubbed the palm of her hand over her swollen eye. He watched as Hiko shook his head, reaching up to pull her hand away. The girl sighed, turned away and laid her head on his shoulder. She clutched the lapel of the mantle he was wearing.
Saito tugged the drawstring open as he watched the interaction between the man and the child. He looked inside then glanced at the woman.
"Well?" she sniped.
Saito tossed it at her, smirking as she fumbled for it. "It's empty," he stated.
She froze, then looked down at the pouch, in horror.
"Sergeant, arrest these two and start processing whatever is in that sack. These two..." he glanced at Hiko and the child. "I'll interview them in my office." He stood up straight, pinching the cigarette between thumb and forefinger as he took a quick drag. "Care to step this way?" He asked Hiko.
Hiko, looking a tad disgruntled, dropped his hand in the crook of the o-katana. He sniffed his disdain of the entire situation before he smirked at the woman. The police began crowding around her and the stricken Shouta. Her protesting began in earnest. He resettled the girl on his hip then stepped through the doorway leading to the inner engawa of the station.
Saito flicked ash, then fell in, sliding the fusuma shut, before he led the way through the compound. He said nothing as he lazily smoked his cigarette. He reached a partially opening shoji panel and slid it open the rest of the way, allowing Hiko to enter first.
Decorum demanded that Hiko remove his sword, which he did, clutching it in his left.
"I suppose, I should thank you for removing a particularly irritating thorn in my side." Saito stated as he stepped into the room and past the low table he had been working at earlier. He indicated Hiko could sit before lowering himself to the floor.
"Somebody had to clean up that mess up there." Hiko replied, setting the child on the floor. He pulled his mantle off. Folding it loosely, he set it on the floor next to him before he settled in seiza. Hiko patted the folded cloth. The child, whom Saito couldn't help but notice looked very tired, promptly dropped onto it, curling into a little ball, and looked over at him through her one good eye.
"I hear that's what you do," Saito said dryly as he settled across the chabudai from Hiko. "Clean up messes..."
Hiko let out a snort of amusement.
"Am I right in my assessment that you are Himura the Battosai's master?" Saito asked, scrounging up his ashtray.
"That baka?" Hiko asked, sliding his o-katana between himself and the child, still in fast reach. "He certainly gets around." He added dryly. "And would I be right in saying you are one of Kondo-sama's Mibu Roshigumi?" Hiko asked.
That stopped Saito in his tracks. He stared at Hiko, his amber eyes reflecting his surprise. Hiko's grasp of past history was impressive indeed. "That would be correct..." he said slowly. His brain urged him, never, ever, underestimate this man!
"That poor, unfortunate fool tried to recruit me, way back then." Hiko said and saw the look of indignation start to rise in Saito's piercing gaze. He held a hand to stop him. "I mean no offence to Kondo-sama. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He also knew what he was getting into but that doesn't mean he shouldn't have been treated with the respect and honour due him."
Saito slowly scrutinised Hiko. "You remained neutral?" he asked.
"My sword style demands it. I can't be defeated. In the wrong hands, on the wrong side, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu can be devastating. Look at the results. That baka of mine proved that. And they say his side won..." Hiko let that hang as he smirked at Saito.
Saito just snorted and shook his head, taking one last drag on his cigarette before stubbing the end out in the ashtray.
"Kind of risky, letting a Shinsengumi wolf loose amongst the Meiji police force, isn't it?" Hiko asked. "You've got to be Saito Hajime. I've heard of you. I would think the new Meiji government would want to do to you what they did to Kondo Isami."
Saito let out another bark of sardonic laughter. "For someone who's been holed up in that mountain of yours making pottery," Saito replied dryly, he let his humour glint in his eyes. "You certainly have an impressive amount of information about people."
Hiko huffed with amusement. "I have my own networks providing me with relative news and information. Besides, I agreed with what the shogunate was trying to do, coming up with a way to reign in and control of the chaos on the streets. I'd heard of the Mibu wolves exploits following Kenshin's activities."
Saito smirked. "The government officially knows me as Fujita Goro, and they are desperate for experienced officers. A lot of them just looked the other way." He gazed speculatively at Hiko. "So you're the one responsible for the Manslayer?"
"I am not responsible for his actions. I trained him. He was my apprentice. He went off on his own. Against my direct orders. He paid the price for his foolishness." Hiko said flatly, the smirk gone and his black eyes bored into Saito's.
"Still, your sword style created an assassin no one has been able to defeat. Although I've come damned close..."
"He still defeated you," Hiko replied. "and that madman Shishio."
Saito smirked at him. "My Gatotsu and his Hiten Mitusrugi, both times we've fought, has ended in a draw. Mostly because of his hypocritical vow and that ridiculous sword he carries."
"Are we here to discuss my idiot of an apprentice or would you rather clear up this theft mess you haven't been able to solve?" Hiko needled.
"I was only just sent down here to mop up the mess they've been making," Saito growled. "With any governmental transition, there are bound to be many hitches in the process of getting things to work smoothly." He studied Hiko again. "It will work out and this nation will gain a properly functioning police force."
"But until then, people like me are stuck doing your job!"
"You could get handsomely paid for the efforts if you'd break that stubborn neutrality you have." Saito commented, his eyes narrowing as the two continued mutually irritating the other.
Hiko suddenly laughed. "I've no need be paid handsomely. I earn quite a tidy profit with my pottery and Kintsuki work. That very Kintsuki just solved that theft case for you." Hiko steered the conversation back to the subject at hand.
Saito let him, for the moment, "Kintsurugi eh?"
"The best one for several prefectures. They all come to me. Its no secret I have gold up there to work with. I was just one fat tempting target for that dungheap Shouta and the ice queen."
"So who is this child? Momo is her name?" Saito asked raising an eyebrow, glancing at the child.
Hiko rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "As you can see," his hand unconsciously dropped onto the child's shoulder. "Fate hasn't been kind. At the moment she can't even speak. I caught her stealing food from my home. She'd been ill used and abandoned. Spent three weeks nursing her back to health when Shouta and his crew turned up in the village claiming her. I had to let her return. He promptly sent her back up to my place to steal my gold. She looked like this when she got there."
"So she is his slave?" Saito asked.
"Can I have a match?" Hiko suddenly asked.
Saito frowned at the odd request. Then he picked up his little box and tossed them at Hiko.
He fisted it out of the air, and pulled one out, before leaning forward and setting the box on the low table.
"On'nanoko?" Hiko murmured, looking down at the child.
Her good eye looked up at him, then she reached into her sleeve and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
Saito watched Hiko smirk at the child as he took the paper from her fingers. He suddenly ran the wooden match up the fabric of his hakama, the friction causing the tip to ignite before he set the corner of the paper on fire. He shook the match out, leaning forward to drop it into the ashtray between himself and Saito. He gently turned and twisted the paper about letting it become fully engulfed before he finally dropped it amongst the stubbed out cigarette butts and spent matches.
Saito hadn't moved, just watching what was occurring. "You still didn't answer my question. Was she his slave and did she steal those items?"
"She isn't a slave." Hiko murmured, a glint of mischief in his black eyes.
"Then who is she?"
"This..." Hiko glanced down at her, then back up at Saito. "This is Emiko."
"Blessed child?" Saito asked, his eye's widening.
"Of course. I've recently taken her on as my apprentice, now haven't I? I'd say she's blessed and damned lucky."
Saito didn't move. He just looked at Hiko and blinked.
Once.
"Apprentice..?"
Hiko shot an aggrieved look his way, before rolling his eyes. "Must I repeat myself?"
"She's your apprentice?" Saito asked, carefully controlling the astonishment he felt. Much less at the blatantly audacious lying Hiko had just committed. Saito's amber eyes hardened and ire started to build in his chest. He growled, "You're not going to...
"Pottery, idiot. Pottery." Hiko cut him off, shaking his head at him. "I am not teaching a girl Hiten Mitsurugi!" He sat back, and looked down at the child. "Besides, she's broken a shelf load of greenware and needs to work at replacing them. I'm going to show her how."
Saito sat back on his heels and stared at the pair. Hiko just sat there, arrogant and damned sure of himself. The child just looked between Hiko and himself. He finally shook his head. "The Battosai's never going to believe this..."
"That idiot doesn't need to know anything about it," Hiko grumbled.
Saito suddenly smirked at him. He let the hard glitter of sadistic mischief gleam in his eyes. There was no way he wasn't going to tell Himura-san this news. Hiko saw his resolve and shook his head with a sigh.
"During that three weeks I discovered this little creature has a natural talent at minimalism in carving. And since I'm a master potter, and some pots are carved, I decided she needed a Master to guide her."
"Taking her on as your apprentice." Saito stated. He shook his head. "Have you any idea how to raise a child?" He looked at the girl, who was drowsing off.
Hiko looked affronted. "Kenshin survived to adulthood didn't he?"
Saito could only stare at the man across from him. The man had raised and trained the most notorious assassin in all of Japan.
Hiko sighed, shaking his head. "For your information," he replied. "Not that its any of your business, but I was the middle child of seven siblings."
"And that is relevant how in the raising of a child? Particularly a girl?" Saito shot back. "You've led a hermit's existence in the mountains for decades!"
"I was the only boy."
Saito stopped and stared. He then began fumbling for his cigarettes, appalled at how suddenly and desperately he needed one.
"Besides, its not like I'm adopting a child. I've raised one apprentice, I can raise another. Somehow I don't see this one becoming a killer with pottery."
"With you anything is possible," Saito growled, popping the cigarette between his lips and snatching up the matchbox.
"Well it's satisfying someone recognizes a genius at work." Hiko promptly fired back watching him light the match and then the cigarette.
"What do you plan on doing with Emiko now?" Saito asked.
"Probably should find a physician in town. Get her throat looked at. That brute did everything he could to silence her for whatever reason's he saw fit. Maybe check and see if her fractured skull has been aggravated."
"Oh dear gods!" Saito muttered, drawing in a deep drag on the cigarette. He thought long and hard for a moment. "I'll see to it he gets put amongst the offenders who despise child abusers." He let the smoke trickle out slowly and smirked at Hiko.
"What a shame that would be..." Hiko replied dryly, smirking. He reached down, setting his hand on the girl's shoulder. "On'nanoko," he said as he shook her gently. She struggled to wake up as both men got to their feet.
Saito took another long drag on his cigarette while Hiko slipped both his o-katana and his mantle back on. He held his hand down and the child took it. When he got her onto her feet she latched onto a fistful of his hakama and looking blearily at Saito.
Hiko picked her back up as she rubbed at her good eye. Settling her on his hip, he looked at her and lifted his lip up in a snarl.
For the first time since the whole farce in the station had began, Saito saw the girl smile. Her nose crinkled, eyes nearly shut, as she reached up and set a hand on Hiko's jaw. He just shook his head, glancing at Saito ruefully, as he laid her head back down on his shoulder.
"Emiko..." Saito murmured, shaking his head, watching her relax, sigh, and close her eyes. Blessed child indeed. His own eyes could see that a connection had been forged between Hiko and the girl. Anything would be better than leaving her in the hands of a pair that would beat and send in a child to steal for them. A satisfied smirk slipped into place on Saito's lips.
He began to chuckle softly.
Besides, the Battousai sure as hell wasn't going to believe any of this!
