When Sakura Blossoms Fall
Chapter 13: Prisoner
Sanosuke yawned widely and rubbed absent-mindedly at his heavy eyes as consciousness once again began to grab hold of him. The sun was barely rising, filtering through the leaves of the trees overhead with a thousand separate golden beams. High-pitched notes from a variety of birds permeated the air. Uki and Outa probably would have found the scene beautiful and picturesque, Sano just thought being woken up this early was annoying.
He found himself grumbling as he realized he was still atop the wall surrounding the village. He had fallen asleep on duty. He easily shrugged the mistake off, however, and turned his eyes to observe the horizon as they adjusted to the new light. At first everything seemed normal. Nothing out of the ordinary was visible in the vast expanse, and he almost slipped backwards off the wall to return home, but at the last moment, his eyes caught an odd and out-of-place blur of blue.
He squinted, then jumped from his post to get a closer look. It didn't take him long to get near enough to recognize the muddled color. His blood ran chill at what he saw.
His fears had been affirmed. The muffled noise of hundreds of murmuring voices invaded his ears, all speaking in a language he understood clearly. Just a number of yards away, and slowly trekking toward him and the village, was a large section of the Japanese Imperial Army.
His first reaction was to think of Kenji. As a runaway soldier, this certainly jeopardized his safety. Or were they after him? Or perhaps Beijing hadn't been enough for their avarice, and they were here to seize even more wealth that didn't belong to them. Sanosuke took a deep breath, willing himself to remain calm. The army was headed at such an angle that they would probably pass the village, and their were enough trees that they likely wouldn't even see it. With any luck, they wouldn't change course, and Kenji and the others would be safe from discovery.In his self-reassurances, Sanosuke forgot to keep his guard up. When he looked back up to observe the army, he noticed more than one staring straight at him. He ducked behind a tree and turned to run, but stopped dead in his tracks.
"Commander! To the left!"
Sanosuke slowly turned back around, and saw several of the men at the front of the column, the most prominent of which were on horses, squinting in his direction and raising their hands to shadow their eyes. And although he didn't hear the command, Sanosuke knew that several of the soldiers had been ordered to retrieve him, as they were now advancing hastily toward him.
Sano sighed as they grew closer, seeing any attempt at resistance as futile. They would probably just shoot him down if he tried to run, and even if they didn't, it was likely that they would follow him straight to the town he was supposed to be protecting. Perhaps he could come up with an elaborate story and convince them that he was just a passing traveler or something.
He just stood there as the soldiers reached him, smirking as their eyes widened upon beholding his vast height. But they weren't deterred, and he soon found himself being roughly escorted to the mounted man at the very front of the company.
Apparently the commander didn't recognize Sano's nationality be appearance only, for as Sanosuke came within a few feet of him he muttered derogatorily toward him, unaware of the fact that Sano understood every word.
Sano smiled in reply. "It's nice to meet you too," he said with a touch of sarcasm, taking delight in the commander's flustered look. Deciding to at least attempt a good first impression, he extended his right hand up toward the man, nodding as a pristine white glove was slipped into his own in a rather feeble shake. He tried not to acknowledge the way the man unconsciously wiped his glove on his pant leg after withdrawing his hand.
"Sir," he started, trying to sound as humble as he could manage (though out of habit he mostly failed), "I didn't mean to disturb your troops here," he jerked his head toward the body of men, "I was only—"
And he was off, into some convoluted and fabricated tale, animatedly waving his arms to illustrate his points. He didn't really know what he was saying anymore after awhile, only that the closest soldiers were eyeing him strangely, as if he was mad.
The commander watched him patiently and appraisingly the whole time, although Sanosuke's words seemed to flow right past him with no effect.
"You're Japanese, aren't you?"
Sano successfully bit off the sarcastic remark that arose to his mouth out of instinct after such a stupid question, but didn't manage to hide the amused grin. The commander frowned as he answered.
"Yes, sir," he said, with perhaps too much gusto.
"What's your name?" he questioned curiously.
Sanosuke gulped, but didn't refuse answering. Later, however, he wondered what in the world had possessed him to start telling the truth at that point.
"Sagara Sanosuke."
"Sagara? Sagara . . ." The commander contemplated for a few moments, searching his brain for a face, a story, anything to match with that oddly familiar name. Then it hit him.
"Sagara, of course!" He grinned wickedly, turning his black eyes on the confused Sanosuke. "You're that traitor, aren't you? The one that the government has been looking for for over twenty years." His voice held a touch of awed surprise and joy as he watched his future prisoner. Sanosuke's eyes widened, and he reflexively backed up a step. He hadn't expected to be recognized here, especially after this long.
"Men," the now elated commander said, his eyes narrowing maliciously on helpless Sano, "arrest him."
"Time to get up . . . Kenji lazily drawled, poking Uki in the side with his toe. The middle-aged woman ignored him, rolling away from him and running a limp hand through her disheveled black hair.
"Go away . . ."
Kenji smiled. "But the sun's been up for hours, Uki. What were you doing last night?" She turned to glare at him with sharp eyes, then finally sat up and stretched.
"What do you want, idiot?"
Kenji crouched next to her and replied cheerfully, "I'm ever so sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if you know where Outa and Sanosuke are."
"Outa's getting some food. The last time I saw Sano was when he was going to relieve you of your duties last night."
"You mean he hasn't come back yet?"
"Why does it matter? When should he have come back?"
"Two hours ago."
Uki dropped her hand from where it had been rubbing at her sleepy eyes into her lap. "That long?"
Kenji nodded in the affirmative, sighing. "You think I should go after him?"
"Oh, I'm sure he's fine," Uki quickly said, trying to assure both him and herself that there was a reasonable explanation. Then her bright smile faded slightly as she thought of her older brother. "Maybe you should."
Kenji patted her on the shoulder in reassurance and smiled, rising. "I'll be back soon."
Kenji's sweating hand twitched next to the hilt of his sword as he caught sight of the army. Luckily he had had the foresight to bring the weapon. It would be needed if he was spotted.
He swore under his breath and crouched down lower as he picked out Sanosuke amid the mass of blue. He was towering over the other soldiers, his hands tied, trudging slowly along with the column.
"That idiot."
He watched hundreds and hundreds of men march by for a few moments before an idea hit him. His pursed lips turned upward in a clever smile, and he darted back toward the forest, sprinting swiftly and silently and suddenly feeling grateful for Hiko's training for the first time in years.
He covered the distance home in record time, and didn't even pause to ask for the gates to be opened when he reached the high wooden walls of the village. Instead he just jumped as high as he could and pulled himself up and over the wall with nothing but his bare hands and feet, slipping silently to the ground on the other side.
Several of the villagers turned to greet him with a smile, watching in slight surprise as he darted past them with no sign of acknowledgment. His chest was heaving by the time he reached the Higashidani home.
"Uki! Outa!"
Uki immediately appeared in the doorway, a sheathed knife clutched between her white fingers. Kenji slowed to a halt in front of her, glancing apprehensively at the weapon.
"I was worried," she quickly explained, noticing the expression on his face. "Where's Sano?"
"He's not here," Kenji answered ambiguously, pushing past her into the house in search of her younger brother. "Where's Outa?"
When she failed to respond, Kenji whirled back around.
"Uki, don't play around! Where's—"
He stopped.
Uki's dark eyes were fixed on him in a steely glare, but shimmering with tears at the same time.
"Kenji, tell me where Sanosuke is."
Kenji sighed heavily. He had hoped to avoid this. He knew Uki would overreact.
"He's been captured by the Japanese army, Uki."
Surprisingly, Uki just nodded, dropping her head and biting her lip. Kenji thought he saw a few salty tear drops fall down her face, but his thoughts were interrupted when Outa burst through the door.
"Kenji! What happened?" he got out, immediately seeing the condition of his sister.
"Outa, the Japanese have your brother."
"What?"
"The Japanese army has captured Sanosuke," Kenji repeated patiently, waiting for it to sink in for them both.
Outa ran an agitated hand through his black hair. "What are we going to do?"
"Let me go after him."
"Kenji, you're a runaway soldier. Are you stupid?"
"Oh, then are you going to rescue him, Uki?" Kenji replied scathingly.
"Just let me go," Outa proposed.
"No. I'm not going to let my little brother risk that."
"You know Uki, I'm not a little kid anymore."
"I don't care. You're not going, and that's final."
"So you're willing to let Kenji risk his life, but not me?"
"No, Kenji's not going either—"
"Then what are we going to do, Uki?" Kenji demanded, "just sit here and hope Sanosuke finds some miraculous opportunity to escape?"
"I . . . I don't know—"
Kenji sighed in disgust. "Well, while you're sitting here trying to decide what to do, I'm going to go rescue your brother."
"But Kenji—"
"Uki." She stopped, watching Kenji silently as he turned around. Both eyebrows raised.
He was smiling weakly at her, but his usually bright and cheerful glow was gone, replaced by a haggard and exhausted attempt to appear positive. Then she glanced down, and her heart skipped a beat. For the first time she realized that his sword was fastened securely at his side.
She looked back up at him, concern etched in her features. "Do you promise everything's going to be okay?"
"Yes," Kenji said, relieved that she was relenting, "everything will be fine. I swear. Now I just need one more little favor."
"What's that?"
"We need to wash my uniform. Fast."
Uki clutched Kenji's shen-i tightly between her pale fingers as Outa placed an arm around her shoulders and the two watched Kenji disappear down the street, clothed in his now crisp blue uniform. She frowned. He had become like another brother to her in the time he had spent here, and thinking about what could happen to him on this mission nearly made her sick. But the fact remained: he was the only hope for her true brother.
Author's note: I don't really know why this story has suddenly become wildly unpopular. If you just don't like this little side-adventure, don't worry, Kenji and Chizuru will be reunited soon. Anyway, some feedback would be fabulous. Next Chapter: Rescue