Chapter 7: A reunion after many years doesn't always mean laughter and sharing stupid stories
The morning following the fourth failed raid on Katsura's Joui faction, Hijikata found it appropriate to remind everybody of the Shinsengumi code of conduct, which should be followed day and night, with the utmost dedication. He did not stress any particular clause and he did not look at anybody in particular. And Alma did not flinch as he read out angrily:
'Clause 21: secret communication with the enemy will be punished.'
'I don't want to be the one they will find out to be the informant,' Hikari whispered to Alma, making sure be quiet enough to not attract Hijikata's attention. Alma nodded, unwillingly remembering the finer points of the previous night. She has been placed in what Hijikata called the second line, there to take over if the escaping terrorists, and Katsura in particular, managed to break through the first line, which was Hijikata himself. Waiting on standby, she had the front row seat to the fight between the terrorist leader and the vice-commander, including the very timely, or unfortunate depending on the point of view, interruption by one of Katsura's men.
Seconds later Katsura was running her way and Hijikata was shouting her name and she knew what she had to do. She had prepared for this but before she managed to put any of her plans into motion, Katsura was there, katana raised to strike. All she could do was defend before being pushed away like a doll. Admittedly, she hadn't tried to resist, knowing that he was weaker than her: all humans were.
Afterwards she managed to trip on purpose but in such a way that she completely lost control of her fall, which resulted in what probably was a very convincing show of landing face first on the concrete. Of course, the scratches and bruises on her cheek were long since healed and it was only due to the situation, she supposed, that nobody noticed them in the first place. All the same, she was playing with fire. And in more ways than one, she thought, remembering the intense look in Katsura's eyes when she saw him in the dark passage between two, low houses.
She forced the memories to the back of her head and listened as Hijikata continued with the clauses of the Shinsengumi code of conduct, the breaking of which resulted in punishment. What the punishment was went unsaid, not that they all didn't know, until Hijikata finished the list of clauses and growled that breaking any of them was punishable by a seppuku. Some of the recent recruits shivered, probably just from the blazing fury in Hijikata's eyes. Hikari winced.
Well, it wasn't like she couldn't grow back a head, Alma thought darkly. Of course that would be the end of her life in Edo. There was no way she could explain how she has managed to survive a beheading, at least not in such a way that she thought would make people want to stick around. Therefore, she wanted to avoid any situation where her head might be in danger of being detached from the rest of her body.
'The commander has some things to say. Anybody caught spacing out will commit seppuku,' Hijikata finished and for once it didn't sound like a joke. Alma made sure to have her most attentive expression plastered on her face.
'As you know, last night we have conducted a fourth raid according to the instructions of our informant,' the commander started without any preamble. Automatically, Alma straightened, genuinely wanting to know what her superiors made out of the results. 'Although our informant has managed to correctly predict the time and place of the meeting and Kotarou Katsura has indeed been sighed at the location, we have reasons to believe that we have been set up.'
Gasps and exclamations erupted at the announcement. Alma felt her eyes widen despite her best attempts at remaining neutral. Then again, perhaps it was good, she thought, when Kondo didn't spare her a second glance. Sitting on his side, Hijikata had his arms crossed and eyes closed, while Okita, on Kondo's other side, looked bored. Of course, Alma knew better than to believe in appearances: the previous night Okita was even more furious than Hijikata. Coming back to report that Katsura was nowhere to be seen, she has been afraid of the man for the first time.
At least, Alma thought, there were no casualties on the Shinsengumi's side. Of Katsura's men, one has been killed, sacrificing his life so that his leader could escape. She has seen him do it and wondered what exactly has inspired him to it: was it the cause or the man he has died protecting? Two others have been captured but they refused to say anything except how their comrades, how Kotarou Katsura, would come to save them and Daiki Ito from the paws of the Bakufu dogs. And there, Alma knew, was the core of the problem.
'While most of our forces have been deployed to capture Katsura, a small unit of his people has infiltrated our headquarters and nearly broke out our informant. It is only thanks to Yamazaki's quick actions that they have failed,' Kondo continued with pretended calm. 'We believe that our informant has given us information he has obtained from his comrades in the sole purpose of emptying the headquarters to allow himself to be rescued.'
Daiki apparently denied this vehemently and the Shinsengumi didn't know any more if they should trust him. They wanted to, because his information has been correct to a large degree and by far the most precise the Shinsengumi has ever had on Katsura's moves. However, it would mean that they had a leak somewhere else or that Katsura was just that awesome. Alma wasn't sure which of the excuses her superiors preferred. In any case, Kondo wanted Alma to figure Daiki out. It was for this that she found herself in the interrogation room, moments after the debriefing was dismissed and with no time to consider what she would say. As a security and to observe, Okita was casually leaning against the wall in the dark corner.
She looked up when the door opened to let her brother in. He stopped in the doorway, confused, until the guard prodded him and ordered to sit down at the table, opposite from Alma. He looked no less confused but complied silently. She watched how he moved. She noted how much he changed, both surprised and not. After all, it has been more than ten years since he has left. After all, he has been to war in the meantime.
Perhaps it was normal that his eyes have lost their shine.
Having sat down, he looked at her with a small frown, but she couldn't detect recognition in his expression. Has she changed so much that he didn't recognize her or has he forgotten he had a family? It hurt to think about it, so she pushed away the thoughts and cleared her throat. She wanted to have that meeting done and over with.
'Hello brother,' she said, wishing she has managed to sound a bit less like a little girl. All the same, her words had the expected effect. For a split of a second, Daiki's frown deepened, before shifting into surprise. Then he looked at her uniform again and his eyes widened more.
'Alma?' he asked finally, unsure. She nodded once. Anger flashed in his eyes for a moment and the hands he had on the table, handcuffed together, curled into fists. 'Is this some kind of joke? What are you doing in Edo? In Shinsengumi's detention facility of all the places,' he spat the name as though it was an insult. Interesting for somebody who wanted to make a deal with them, thought an emotionless, remote part of her. She was sure that Okita noted the sentiment behind his tone. At the same time, she looked at him in surprise. 'Did you leave our mother alone?' Daiki growled before Alma figured out how to reply to his previous statement and she felt her own anger ignite.
'Mother has died years ago. She wasn't able to cope with the idea of her firstborn dead in a pointless war,' she lied, although surely with Daiki home nothing bad would have happened. Not like it had. Daiki flinched, paling. 'With father gone as well, what was there for me in the village?' she asked.
'Hashirou-' he started.
'Left two days after you, unable to take it that his best friend would become a hero and he would not,' she said flatly, coldly even though she has long since come to terms with the past. 'He hasn't returned either. But I'm not here to talk about ancient history.'
Daiki flinched again. The look he gave her then was thoughtful, almost calculating. She didn't like it. It didn't fit with her idea that Daiki was honestly helping the Shinsengumi, like he said he was.
'We're on the same side here, Alma. For all that it's worth, I apologize for not coming back, it was wrong of me, but back then I saw no other option. Takasugi, you see, can be very persuasive. All of the Joui leaders have been, despite being more less my age. It took me years to see reason,' he said calmly.
'And now that you did you deserted to buy your life against another's life?' she asked, unable to keep contempt out of her voice despite her own situation, despite what she was there to do.
'You wound me, little sister,' he replied after the briefest pause and she couldn't guess whether he was mocking her or not. 'You don't know what I know, you haven't seen the war. I don't want to live through war again and Katsura wants to provoke one. Now that I know you're in Edo, I have one more reason to remove the threat that he is.'
It was funny how old tics could survive through years. Alma distinctly remembered Daiki's left eye twitching when he lied about not eating her birthday cake. She remembered seeing it when he said he was just going to sleep over at his friend's place the evening before he disappeared. She remembered thinking he was going to see a girl and not mentioning anything to their parents. Seeing it now she couldn't quite believe her eyes. And some of her shock must have shown on her face because he spoke again.
'I'm sorry for telling you such things. But war is awful and unforgiving and I want to prevent it,' Daiki said, misunderstanding the reason for her reaction. His left eye twitched again and Alma swallowed thickly. His tone was even and his expression honest. It was only that tiny twitch that betrayed him. To somebody who didn't know her adopted brother well, it would be almost imperceptible and easily explained away by general nervousness.
Has Daiki really been acting as Katsura's man and her tip-offs haven't been necessary? No, she was fairly sure that Katsura would have been better prepared the previous night if he had known about the raid, if he had arranged it. Was Daiki lying to her now because he was ashamed to admit that he has deserted and was trying to get out of a sentence? She pursed her lips, focusing on Daiki's words for the moment. All her observations pointed to the fact that it was Takasugi more than Katsura who wanted to start a war, but she didn't want to say it out loud. Instead, she formulated a different question, one that was a logical reply to his claim:
'Why haven't you started with Takasugi? Weren't you in the Kiheitai?'
'Kiheitai is too strong,' he replied without hesitation. Perhaps it was not the first time he has faced that question. 'Takasugi is too strong for me. But I have told the Shinsengumi all I knew about the organization. You don't need to worry.'
'Who were you in the Kiheitai?' she asked, ignoring his reassurance. He wasn't lying about the Kiheitai, but his tone was not that of a scared deserter.
'Are you seriously interrogating me, little sister? It's a joke, right?' he laughed shortly. 'You're married to one of the officers and they want to try another tactic to see if I'm lying, right? Tell Hijikata that I have not lied to them once. I don't know how Katsura managed to escape for the third time and I sure as hell have not asked to be rescued.'
'Insulting an officer will not get you far,' she replied stiffly. She could see that he wanted to laugh again but in the last moment changed his mind and apologized.
'I'm sorry, Alma, it was a joke. I know it was a bad one, sorry,' he said but it didn't sound sincere. He was obviously preoccupied with other issues. 'I'm just stressed because the longer I stay here the more chance that Katsura starts to suspect something and I don't need to tell you what he does with traitors.'
'Did you really not betray the Shinsengumi, Daiki? You need to tell me the truth. If you do, I'm sure I can negotiate something with the commander,' she promised. She hoped he couldn't tell she was lying because she would do her best to keep him in custody. She had no desire to have to choose between his and Katsura's life, knowing even in that moment whom she would choose.
'The truth, my little sister,' Daiki hesitated for a moment, looking at her thoughtfully. 'The truth is that even if I could bring down the Kiheitai, even if I could choose between them and Katsura, I would still have done what I'm doing now,' he said in a cold tone. Nervous, Alma licked her lips before opening her mouth to ask why, but Daiki continued without prompting. 'I almost died in war when Katsura ordered withdrawal. My friend has died then. Being the tactical genius he was, perhaps still is, I'm sure Katsura knew the cost that withdrawal would have. This is why I'd rather see Katsura dead than Takasugi.'
He was lying again. Which part was a lie: the battle that nearly took his life or the reason why he wanted Katsura dead? Or was all that story a lie?
'Where was that?' she asked instead of voicing her real question. There were ways of finding out where the lie was. For example, if he couldn't immediately name the battle that must have been the most traumatic experience for him. Daiki looked at her surprised. After a few seconds, he blinked.
'What?' he asked when she said nothing more.
'When you nearly died, where was that battle?' she rephrased her question. Daiki kept his gaze on her and she dared not look away for fear of missing a hint. Thus she saw it when a flash of understanding crossed his face, immediately followed by the expression of irritation. Alma couldn't decide whether she was happy his story about Katsura was a lie or sad to have a confirmation that Daiki was lying. Because if he was lying it meant he needed to hide something.
'Is this really the most important in-' he started.
'An officer asked you a question,' said Okita suddenly, voice sharp like a whip. He must have caught on her line of thinking. Daiki literally jumped, most obviously having not noticed the captain. Even Alma twitched in surprise. 'Don't make a mistake Ito, this is not a social call.'
'I have told you already, Katsura is trying to make it seem like I'm on their side to discredit me as an informant,' Daiki growled, looking behind Alma. She chose to not turn around, observing. She knew, of course, that Daiki hasn't betrayed the Shinsengumi. Well, she wasn't so sure anymore, because a man with nothing to hide had no reason to lie. But he was surely not on Katsura's side and if he was not on the side of Shinsengumi then who was left?
'News flash, Ito, you've been discredited since you sent us into a bomb-rigged, abandoned house,' Okita growled back. 'Last night was your last chance and it coincided amazingly with Katsura's attempt to profit from minimal security to bust you out.'
'That is not what has happened,' Daiki yelled. Alma ignored them both for the moment.
Her brother has gone to the Shinsengumi on his own, free will, claiming he wanted Katsura dead, lying about his reasons. Why would he? He wasn't working for Katsura to get the Shinsengumi. Alma was fairly sure he wasn't or none of Katsura's men would be captured or killed the previous night. It didn't make sense unless there was a completely different reason why he was helping the Shinsengumi get Katsura. Alma really wished she was wrong, or that she could ignore it, but she needed to know. They needed to know.
'Were you sent here by Takasugi?' she asked almost against her will. Even though she wasn't trying, she managed to surprise him.
The look Daiki shot her was that of a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding car. It was brief and full of surprise and the understanding of danger. It was all she needed. It was all Okita needed, probably. Her eyes widened as she understood that she might have just given the Shinsegumi a solid reason to sentence her own brother to death.