Chapter 8
The Show.
Enclosed within the crowd, shuffling, squeezing, uproarious, he was still. Watching the world move around him, a mass of men. Their voices alit with a dangerous kind of passion, an edge of anger laced in their ki. Anger for the wrong reasons, or for the right. Except nobody knew which was what. They shuffled, shoving intently into the crowd, calling to make themselves heard over everyone else, the hundreds of them—screaming. And amid the rolling sea of people, he was still. His amber eyes dimmed under a scruffy straw hat: red hair barely recognisable. Struggling to stay afloat. His left cheek, asymmetrical to his right, was botched with a bandage pasted over. A wanderer no one would see in a crowd like this. Here, he was invisible.
And he was pushed back suddenly, so he pushed forward, not joining in the commotion but caught up in its momentum. And the men in the centre bloomed into view. His insides became still. The one in the middle, adorned in an armoured long coat, black hair framing his face, stood proudly, sternly. Afraid, but not not scared. Angry, but not regretful. He was young and fierce. He stood proudly next to the banner: Enemy of the state.
The wanderer stood, unmoving, watching the guardsman grip his hair and haul him to his knees. And the screaming became shrill, deafening him momentarily, forcing him to stand his ground as the crowd writhed around him. Another swordsman stepped forward, taking his time to unsheathe his katana. Letting the sound of metal ring above the crowd.
"Last words? Traitor."
The Captain looked up, and all of a sudden, out of the hundreds of milling people, he sought out a tinge of red hair. Amber eyes. The wanderer looked at him, unfazed. The Captain smiled back.
"The Seikihoutai… are not at fault."
The moment flit by, and he turned away. The wanderer stared on, seeing the Captain's eyes fall on another, softening.
"Know this—and live."
The executioner walked forward purposefully, both hands clutching the katana; bringing it over his head. And the wanderer didn't blink, as the blade came down, and the Captain was in two. From the deafening disarray of voices bloomed one other, more grievous, and in mourning than the rest. He stiffened, picking the high voice out. Hearing the world's end for one, small boy, somewhere. He didn't see him. And he died away with the crowd.
Notes
The alternate titles for this are: 'A quiet man in a noisy crowd.' and the translation of Seikihoutai-'The Red Vanguard'
The Seikihoutai is an army made up of peasants and civilians, who aided the Ishin Shishi when they came into power. The story is, that the Shishi promised to lower taxes to gain the support of the people. The Seikihoutai went around spreading this. However, the government was new and short of finance. So, they ofc blamed the Seikihoutai for spreading these lies and creating unrest. They were executed.
Story-wise, this is Kenshin perhaps 2 or 3 years after Toba Fushimi (I can't find any dates regarding the Seikihoutai...) He's a wanderer who has come across this 'show.' Of course, the Captain is Sagara Sōzō. You can guess who that little boy is at the end :(
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