Chapter 6: You are not paranoid if they're really out to get you
Sitting with his arms crossed and lips pressed in a thin line, Katsura listened gloomily to what the people in front of him were saying. He waited for them to vent the most of their anger, or at least some of it, so that he didn't end up with a mob on his hands. He understood their anger and, to some degree, felt it, but, mainly, he felt disappointed. It wasn't, by far, the first time he has been betrayed and most likely wouldn't be the last one, but a part of him, the part that believed people were intrinsically good, still hadn't gotten used to it.
Times like that, he longed to be an unimportant part of an insignificant organization, like he has been right after the war, or well, as soon as he has pulled himself together enough to be anything at all. Back then they were not important enough to be targeted by the government that was too drunk on their victory to notice that not all the Joui have given up. Back then, with the comrades he could trust unconditionally, he has started making changes in the organization and before he realized it was the same as during the war: he was a leader revered nearly like a god by the people who were once his comrades. Except this time he didn't have his friends by his side.
And eventually the authorities got interested by their organization. Eventually they decided that capturing and killing Katsura was worth the effort of sending in undercover agents. Then, as Katsura's ideas slowly changed and as he led his people in the new direction, he accumulated other enemies. Joui spies added onto Bakufu spies, although the former were often sent to convince people to change camps rather than harm anybody. Their success hurt double.
It was much easier and far less painful to identify spies and traitors before he got to know them, which was why he has set up that idiotic "entrance exam" to use whenever he suspected the new recruit was a spy. Usually it worked splendidly: the spies ran away screaming about insane terrorists or they failed spectacularly, especially when sent by the government. An added bonus was that it provided unending entertainment for his people.
He could count on the fingers of one hand how many spies have slipped through since he has established the "entrance exams" for those whose background couldn't be verified, who were not known to anybody in the organization or who have appeared too suddenly. More importantly, all those who have been spies and have slipped through haven't progressed far in the organization's ranks before they have done something to attract unnecessary attention and were removed.
This particular time, Katsura has been completely fooled. He didn't want to admit it even to himself, but he has been too proud at finally managing to chip away at the Kiheitai, the most violent and dedicated group among the Joui, to listen to warnings. He would remember his lesson for a long while, he thought, looking at the men gathered in the room, noting that none of those introduced into the organization by Ito were invited to join.
As things were, they couldn't be too careful.
They were meeting in a new place, far from their usual hideouts. Elizabeth has had everybody frisked upon entering. Twice. By two, different teams who haven't known the other team existed. Katsura hasn't asked for the results of the search yet. He didn't want to know how many people Ito has managed to convince to the Kiheitai's ideals, even if he was painfully aware that eventually he was going to have to face it. All he knew for the moment was that Elizabeth has found things and, as he looked at the gathered people, he couldn't help wondering on whom.
Of course, being who they were, they couldn't forbid people from entering the meeting with a katana. Indeed, every single of the meeting's attendants had a blade at their belt, but Katsura knew he could handle any of them in a single fight or even two on one. He knew also that he could count on Elizabeth's help, so it was other kinds of weapons, and especially anything even remotely explosive that posed problems.
'It's an insult we cannot let slide,' one of the men shouted for the fifth time. For the fifth time, the men around him agreed readily and for the fifth time, Katsura ignored the statement. Predictably, another person suggested sneaking into the Shinsengumi detention facility to kill the traitor before he told the police all their secrets.
Except, Katsura thought, it was too late, at least according to officer Karma.
Internally, he laughed bitterly at himself. The woman who has apparently given him a couple of tip-offs could very well be one of Ito's people. She was, after all, Ito's adopted sister and had all the logical reasons to help him rather than Katsura. The fact that the tip-offs proved true could be just a ploy to gain his trust, very much like the fact that she has, apparently, not betrayed his presence in Odd Jobs. Yet. The worry that she would was the second reason, right after Gintoki's obvious annoyance, why he left. Despite his outward insistence that Gintoki should join him, the last thing he wanted was to cause trouble to his friend.
He hasn't told anybody, except for Elizabeth of course, about the last tip-off. They all thought he has managed to escape and blow the Shinsengumi up with no preparation whatsoever. It only increased their admiration, but he would have to live with that. He hasn't told anybody about the source of the previous two tip-offs and, in a rare example of caution, he planned to keep it secret for the moment. If Karma truly was on his side, it would be stupid to endanger her position should there be any spies present.
'Killing Ito while he is in the Shinsengumi custody will send a message to everybody, loud and clear,' Kiyoshi, one of those who badly dealt with Katsura's new ways, announced and he was not mistaken. 'We should-'
'Enough,' Katsura interrupted him in a firm tone, speaking for the first time since he entered the building. Immediately, the room fell completely silent, all eyes turning to him. 'Killing Ito would only confirm to the Shinsengumi that all they know about our organization is true,' he pointed out. It would also possibly discourage Karma from helping and, if honest, she could be very useful, but that was another issue.
'Are you saying we should leave such betrayal unpunished?' Kiyoshi asked angrily. Katsura knew that, if they were alone, they man would have more to say. He would probably point out that Katsura has been warned and not only by him against trusting a Kiheitai, former or not.
'Daiki Ito's betrayal has been possible due to my poor judgement, for which I apologize,' Katsura said with a sigh. A wave of protests whispered across the room, but they all silenced when he spoke again. 'As far as punishment goes, you don't need to worry. Everything has been taken care of. Even as we are speaking-' he paused, blinking at the suddenly open door to the room.
Everybody followed his gaze to see the first captain of the Shinsengumi.
In the ensuing silence, Katsura could hear his heartbeat, ticking away the time. Who was missing on the meeting? Who sent-
Okita smiled, bracing the bazooka on his shoulder.
Katsura's mind kicked into auto-function more or less at the same moment as Elizabeth grabbed his arm to pull him up and away. Together, they jumped to the side as Okita pulled the trigger and then, profiting from the sudden hole in the building's wall and the dust limiting visibility, they ran out.
Straight into the awaiting hands of the vice-commander and a small unit of officers, who were quickly moving into formation.
Nothing a good smoke-screen couldn't take care of. Without needing to think about it, Katsura moved to take one of the smoke-screens. He didn't need to say anything to Elizabeth for her to do the same.
'Go right,' he said, almost inaudible over Hijikata's shouted orders to regroup. Elizabeth produced a sign that said "we'll meet before the dawn" and left. Katsura turned left and ran as quietly as he could, knowing that if he got caught, Elizabeth would organize rescue.
He was unlucky: Hijikata surged out from the smoke and charged straight at him. Then again, he preferred that than seeing Elizabeth sliced into ribbons. His katana was out before he had the time to think about drawing, blocking Hijikata's blow with no need for conscious thought. The vice-commander snarled in anger, jumped back two steps and attacked again, just as Katsura was making the move to get around him, cutting off the easy escape route.
'You're not getting away this time, Katsura,' Hijikata promised him in a low growl.
We will see, Katsura thought, not wasting his breath to reply. Instead he blocked two more attacks and finally got the opening he needed to turn their positions around. With his back to the escape route but nobody behind him all he needed was to distract Hijikata for long enough to make a run for it. Which was easier said than done.
The demonic vice-commander of the Shinsengumi matched him attack for attack, giving him no time to retrieve a smoke-screen from his haori. And the damn guy was probably aware of this, judging from the small smirk that didn't leave Hijikata's face.
The smoke from the first screen was rapidly clearing with the wind. Already, Katsura could see his men escaping, which meant the enemy could see them as well. Shinsengumi reinforcements were surely not far behind.
He heard his and Hijikata's names shouted.
Ducking rather than blocking the sharp swing of katana, Katsura reached for the smoke-screen and immediately after pirouetted away from the following blow. He was no longer in the clear for the escape and Hijikata's triumphal expression was grating at his nerves. He blocked the third attack and held his enemy for just long enough to throw the smoke-screen behind, to cover the retreat of his men.
Hijikata faltered for just a split of a second, surprised. It was all Katsura needed to attack. He pushed Hijikata's katana to the side and in the same move executed a perfect upwards, diagonal swing.
The vice-commander managed to duck somewhat clumsily and only get a shallow cut on his cheek, but Katsura could see that he has pulled himself together after the moment of shock. He had one more chance, but just as he was mid-move, an officer jumped out of the smoke which ironically gave him a perfect cover.
In the last second, Katsura managed to block the blow of the new opponent and twist away from Hijikata's attack. The tip of Hijikata's katana sliced his side, but the wound was inconsequential.
The two Shinsengumi attacked. Katsura parried both blows automatically and a thought that he needed to get serious flitted across his mind. There was no escaping without seriously harming anybody.
Gritting his teeth, he focused on the weakest opponent. The officer whose name he didn't know was no challenge to him and they both knew it. Katsura could see the panic in the man's eyes when he turned to face him.
Hijikata, however, also knew what it meant. With a growl of protest, he forced Katsura to defend himself. They could go at it for ages, Katsura thought. All they needed was to wait for more officers to show up. He could no longer wait.
No later than he made up his mind, Kiyoshi surged forward from the smoke, a feral yell on his lips, running into Hijikata more than attacking him. In the second that he could see his face, Katsura saw it covered with blood and an unpleasant certainty that Kiyoshi was beyond help made him falter.
'Run,' the other yelled, even as his momentum made Hijikata stumble backwards, unable to do anything to stop the course of events. Katsura's instincts kicked in again. Before he had the time to process all the happenings and what it meant to retreat now he was already running.
'Karma,' he heard Hijikata yell, a hint of desperation in his tone. She was there, alright, blocking his escape route but, operating on autopilot, Katsura neither flinched nor hesitated. She barely had the time to block his blow. He spared her a glance, subconsciously registering her surprised expression, numbly glad that she has managed to defend herself, before pushing her hard to the side, and running away, into a poorly lit alley she has been blocking.
Shouts and footsteps followed, at least five sets.
Katsura jumped over some trash and continued running. Mind going a mile a minute, he discarded most of the escape routes. Nothing that brought him out in the open would work, not at this distance from the pursuers. The crowd would just slow him down and there was always a risk of some civilian wanting to claim the reward for his head.
A short shout of surprise he has easily identified as made by Karma, closely followed by the sound of a person falling to the ground and a katana clattering came from behind but he had no time to look. In any case, he heard the most important: the rapid footsteps following him stopped.
'Don't stop for me, get him,' Karma yelled shrilly. Katsura smirked: whether intentional or accidental, she helped him get a head start. He wasn't going to waste it: he ducked into an even smaller alley, which he knew was simply a link that would take him closer to areas where he knew his way around better.
'Vice-commander, at the station-' started a new voice just as the footsteps restarted.
He didn't hear anymore, too far away, the pounding of his own feet and his racing heartbeat too loud. With any luck it was news of the staged "rescue" of Ito and would distract the Shinsengumi. Or not.
'I'll show you how it's done, you mayo idiot,' he heard Okita proclaim, far but still too close for comfort, especially considering Okita's usual weapon choices.
Katsura ducked into a perpendicular alley, not the one he was aiming for, to avoid a shot from the bazooka he expected the moment he heard the first captain, but he was too late. The bullet grazed his arm. The searing pain told him that it was serious, but he had no breath to waste on screaming and barely gasped.
Without slowing down, he ducked into the first perpendicular alley, crossed a courtyard without hesitation and emerged into another street. The sounds of pursuit got quieter, but he knew better than to relax. He slowed down all the same, putting more effort in remaining silent and glancing around. The houses were only one or two floors here and there were trash cans on the ground, in the narrow passages between the houses.
He could work with that place, he thought.
'We're not letting him go this time. Spread out and search every nook and cranny,' Okita ordered furiously somewhere else, barely audible in the distance. A small chorus of "yes sir" was his reply and Katsura pursed his lips. Did he have enough time to climb up onto the roof and hide before somebody came? If it was Okita, would he manage to fend the man off one-handed?
He got the answer to the first question much faster than he would have liked and it came in the form of careful though not fully silent footsteps.
Stifling a curse, Katsura ducked into the first passage and pressed himself against the wall behind the trash cans. It has worked in the past, but he had a distinct feeling that the Shinsengumi were more enthusiastic recently. Still, it was his best bet and he did keep his katana out and ready to strike.
He heard two sets of footsteps progress down the street slowly. Every once in a while they would pause and then one set went alone, even slower, and he could hear sounds as though somebody was opening trash cans. He glanced towards the back of the passage, but it was a dead end.
There was small chance they would miss him, he thought. What was better: trying to get up on the roof despite the wounded arm or facing them here? If only he knew who was searching this street, he-
'He's probably far by now,' muttered a voice that was, thankfully, not Okita's.
'We don't know,' replied none other than Karma. It seemed that he would be able to put her loyalty to immediate test, Katsura thought grimly. 'Shall I take the right again?' she asked. It seemed he was lucky, Katsura thought. Then the image of Kiyoshi's bloodied face came to his mind and he gritted his teeth.
'Yeah, I think left is my lucky side today,' Karma's partner replied. Indeed, Katsura thought wryly, it is your lucky side today.
Waiting for Karma to step into the passage where he was hiding was stressful, he would not lie if asked. So many things could go wrong he didn't even want to think about them, but he did keep a firm grip on his katana and, when the footsteps finally neared his hiding place, it took a conscious effort to not lash out.
Much to her credit, Karma barely flinched when their gazes met. She looked him up and down, wincing with what might have been worry when she noticed the wound on his arm. At the same time, she neared a trash can and lifted the lid, looking inside. Then she passed by him to check the other trash can and turned around. She didn't even look his way when she left the passage.
Footsteps on the street resumed, but it was still too early to relax. Katsura listened until they were away and, when nobody else came close, he sheathed his katana and, as quickly as he could, climbed onto the roof.
Above the ground, he felt marginally safer and quietly picked his way towards Kabuki-cho. He knew of a flat roof there, where he could spend the night, hopefully undisturbed.