We're almost there...
CHAPTER 3-3
November 1867
A gust of wind stripped some of the last, stubborn leaves from the trees, and sent them skittering across the Kyoto street.
It was cold, and bit into me through my clothes. i shivered.
"…It's almost winter, isn't it?"
"Yeah," said Harada. "The wind's gotten pretty cold lately. Still, we don't have it too bad during the day. I can't imagine how cold it gets for the night guys…"
It was November, and the temperature was definitely dropping, although it had yet to get cold enough to see our breath during patrol.
"Haaah…"
Harada smiled at me.
"Are your hands cold? …Would you like me to hold them?"
I smirked at him.
"I'm not that cold! I'll be fine! …Oh?"
I'd noticed someone walking toward us…
"Hey, Chizuru. Sano, what do you think you're doing? You're supposed to be working, not screwing off and hitting on poor, defenseless girls on the street."
Harada scowled at him.
"Hey, not everybody's a gigolo like you. She looked cold. I'm just trying to be a gentleman."
"Oh… He he… Hello, Nagakura."
Nagakura's patrol took him on a different route than others: It was only luck that we'd happened to meet in one of the few places they overlapped.
Their bickering might have looked odd to a passerby, but I knew it for a sign of deep friendship that it was.
"Hm? What's up? Why're you grinning like that…?"
Harada laughed.
"Probably thinks your face is funny, Shinpachi. You really oughta do something about that thing."
"No!" I snapped. "It's just…um… Well, I was just remembering when we met up like this before… Like the time I met Kaoru… I was with Okita and Heisuke then, though-"
I stopped.
"Oh…"
More than six months had passed since Saito and Heisuke had left to join the Guardians of the Imperial Tomb. Harada and Shinpachi's faces turned grim as I trailed off.
I shook my head, hoping vainly cast off unpleasant thoughts.
"I just mean there's been so much going on lately… It make me nostalgic…"
"The Shinsengumi has changed… Hell, so has the rest of the world."
"Yes… Like the shogunate handing power over to the Imperial Court."
Nagakura nodded as I spoke, with the air of a pleased teacher encouraging a student.
"Yes, yes, very good. Now, do you know how the loss of Itou and his followers affected the Shinsengumi?"
"Um… Well, we have fewer member now…"
"You're half right. True, we have lost some of our men. Those who were staunch imperialists were the first to leave."
Harada nodded and glanced at me.
"That meant that most of the guys who stayed were loyalists. Not all of them, though…"
"Yeah," said Nagakura. "You remember when Kondou got promoted into direct service to the shogun, and we all became shogunate vassals? Not everybody was happy about that."
"That was right around the time we moved to Fudodo Village…"
Several more men had wanted to leave. Some of them had been given permission to go, but others were told that wasn't an option and were forced into the Fury Corps.
Kondou's promotion had changed the Shinsengumi's relationship with the shogun. Where before, we'd only been philosophically aligned with the shogun, now we answered directly to him.
For some people, that had been a serious problem.
"How do you guys feel about being vassals of the shogun?"
Harada arched a brow and gave an unsure smile.
"…I'm not really a fan."
Nagakura seemed annoyed.
"Yeah, I didn't do all this work just so I could be a retainer for the shogun."
Neither of them was very happy with it, then-Nagakura especially.
We kept walking for a few blocks, talking about this and that, before Harada yawned quietly.
"Your droning is putting me to sleep, Shinpachi. You can tell him to shut up too, if he's boring you, you know."
I smiled and laughed.
"Oh, no, I'm fine. I like listening to Nagakura talk about things."
"You see, Sano? She's a good girl. Unlike you. Now, shall we continue?"
He turned back to me as we continued forward.
"What do you know about the Meiji Emperor's ascension two months ago, and the Restoration of Imperial Rule last month?"
"Well, the Restoration was when the Tokugawa shogunate returned power over the government to the emperor…right? I don't' really know much about it…"
He grinned.
"Well, you know enough; that's pretty much it. A man named Ryoma Sakamoto, from the Tosa Domain, was the one who figured out a way for the emperor to regain power without destroying the shogunate."
Unfortunately, Nagakura continued, in doing so he managed to anger both the loyalist and imperialist factions, and earned enmity of both.
"At any rate, the Restoration means that Tokugawa has lost all real authority. …At least, that's the official story."
"In reality, he's keeping a lot fo his power;" said Harada, "the government just can't function without someone to hold the reins. The Satsuma are up to something too, but we don't know what. Still, the world's not going to change overnight."
"I see…"
As I looked around the city, it seemed like he had a point.
Nothing much seemed to have changed… Inns were still bustling with travelers; tea shops were still smelling delicious…
Life continued just as it always had, regardless of what the shogun was or wasn't doing.
"Hmm…"
The city might look the same as it always had, but time flowed on, regardless, and a great wave was coming that would carry all of us away.
I looked up at Nagakura, and something occurred to me that I hadn't though of before. Before I realized what I was doing, I'd already opened my mouth.
"I didn't realize you were so smart, Nagakura. You know a lot about politics."
He stopped and blinked.
"…Didn't realize…? Wait, just what did you think of me?"
…
There was a man named Ryoma Sakamoto.
He was a ronin from the Tosa Domain, and had allied himself with the Satsuma and Choshu Domains as well.
For a time, the Kyoto Judiciary Commissioner, Mimawarigumi, and even the Shinsengumi were desperate to find him.
After his orchestration of the Restoration of Imperial Rule, however, orders were passed down to leave him alone.
I only had a general idea of who he was and what he'd done, but even I had figured out that he was an important person, so when I heard Inoue mention him, I listened.
"Ryoma Sakamoto has been assassinated."
Harada's eyes went wide.
"You serious, Gen? …Do they know who did it?"
"Sakamoto had a lot of enemies," said Nagakura, folding his arms. "Could have been imperialist or loyalists. Hell, it could have just been personal, in which case my money's on Miura of Kishu."
Okita laughed at this.
"Ha. You think maybe they're looking at us for it? Damn… If the bastard was gonna get killed anyway, I should've done 'im."
Nagakura scowled at him.
"That's, uh, not very funny coming from you… In fact, weren't we specifically told to leave him alone?"
I'd never met Sakamoto-I barely knew who he was-but I felt somehow that his death would shake the country to its core.
Inoue frowned.
"As you all know, there was a decision made far above us, and Kondou was ordered to leave Ryoma Sakamoto alone. Unfortunately, the rest of the country is unlikely to see it that way."
He turned to Harada and Nagakura as he continued.
"A scabbard belonging to a member of the Shinsengumi was found at the scene of his death. There has been a request for an official inquiry."
"A scabbard? Is that really enough evidence?"
Harada sighed.
"If it isn't, I'm sure they'll just fabricate more. It's obviously a ruse. Who are they saying it belonged to anyway?"
Inoue's frown deepened.
"Actually…they say it was yours, Harada."
Harada's eyes snapped wide.
"What?!"
Of all the people to try and frame for murder...Harada?!
Okita smirked.
"Really, Sano? Damn. Wish you'd brought me with you…"
Harada glared at him.
"Knock it off, Okita. Besides, my Scabbard's right here. This is idiotic."
He threw up his hands in exasperation.
Inoue smiled faintly and nodded.
"I don't suspect you, and neither does anyone else here. Unfortunately, I doubt the rest of the nation will extend you the same courtesy. I imagine they're having trouble determining the real culprit. There was talk that Kyutaro Miura from Kishu asked the Shinsengumi to kill Ryoma."
Miura… That was the man Nagakura had mentioned. He had some sort of personal quarrel with Sakamoto, which made him a suspect.
"I'm sure there's plenty of people who'd love to pin this on of the Shinsengumi," said Nagakura, "but unless someone did it and lied about it, there's not way it was us."
Okita's eyes darkened.
"Unless Sanan decided to go do a little work off the books."
The room fell silent.
Harada suddenly seemed concerned.
"How…is Sanan these days? Our reputation is grisly enough, but the rumors I've been hearing about the night patrol are ever worse."
It was true that Sanan had been acting stranger and stranger. Although I didn't want to believe it, I had to admit it wasn't that difficult to imagine him doing something like that.
When I passed him on occasion in the hallways, his eyes were dry and thirsty, as if he was always, always hungry for blood.
"We'll have to be careful, then," said Nagakura, folding his arms. "We can't let people learn about the furies."
"About that…"
"Oh, hey, Kondou. Hijikata-whoa," stammered Harada.
His eyes widened.
As did Nagakura's.
"Saito?! What the hell are you doing here?!"
I rubbed vigorously at my eyes, looked, then did it again.
But there was no doubt. The man who'd followed Kondou and Hijikata into the room was the man who'd left to join the Guardians of the Imperial Tomb, Saito himself.
Inoue however seemed more relieved that shocked.
"Oh, hello Saito. It's been a while. What happened to the Guard?"
This confused me.
"What are you talking about, Inoue?! There's no way Hijikata would allow anyone from the Guard here! We're prohibited from even talking to them-"
"Ugh. Just…shut up, all right? Starting today, Saito's back in the Shinsengumi."
Hijikata's eyes narrowed at me.
…What?
Thankfully I wasn't the only one out of the loop.
"What? Hold on a second there, Hijikata," said Harada. "We're glad he's back, don't get me wrong, but… What happened with the Guard? And Itou?"
It was Saito who answered.
"You're mistaken, but understandably. I was never one of Itou's supporters."
Kondou nodded.
"In fact, Saito joined Itou and his men as a spy, under Toshi's direct orders."
And with that, everything suddenly made sense.
They say that to fool your enemy, you must first fool your allies, and Saito had been doing just that!
Okita frowned at Saito.
"What? C'mon Saito. It's not fair for you to go off and have fun without letting me in on it."
Nagakura glanced at Kondou in irritation.
"Man, you just about scared the pants off me… Not cool, Kondou."
"This was all top secret. I'm sorry I had to keep it from all of you."
It was a surprise, to be sure, but I was glad we'd have Saito back with us again.
I gave him a tentative smile, but he only sighed and shook his head.
"It's too early to feel relieved. The last six months in the Guard have made it clear: Itou and his followers are going to take action against the Shinsengumi."
Inoue frowned.
"What sort of action?"
It was Hijikata who answered.
"Itou is going to expose the Fury Corps to discredit the shogunate. There's even talk that he's working with Satsuma to that end."
If the existence and creation of the monstrous furies was to become public knowledge…
The shogunate's reputation would be irreparably damaged, and the Shinsengumi would undoubtedly suffer as well. Even I could predict that.
"There's more," started Saito. "Itou plans to assassinate the Chief of the Shinsengumi."
"You…you mean Kondou?!"
I felt sick.
Kondou's face was stern and tense, but he kept silent.
He glanced over at Hijikata.
"The Guard is moving to destroy the Shinsengumi. …You've already heard about Sakamoto, right?"
Harada nodded.
"Yeah, some crap about me being the killer."
Hijikata's eyes narrowed.
"Right. Well, you have the Guardians of the Imperial Tomb to thank. They've been spreading the rumor that Kyotaro Miura of Kishu hired the Shinsengumi, and that Harada put the sword in him."
Hijikata explained that Miura insisted that he didn't do it, but is sure that someone's going to take a stab at him eventually.
"So, Saito's going to be guarding Miura for now. if it looks like he just left and then came back, it won't be to hard for Itou to put two and two together."
Saito nodded.
"I understand. Until this matter is settled, it is better that I'm not seen here."
Here Hijikata paused for a moment.
The room was utterly silent. Every one of us could sense that what came next would be very, very important.
"Kashitaro Itou… It's not enough for you to expose the Fury Corps… You have to try to kill Kondou too, huh…"
He spoke quietly, almost to himself, as if sharing a final moment with a former comrade.
Then he looked up, and when he spoke his voice was like cold steel. The voice of the Demon.
"It's too bad it has to be this way, but we don't have a choice. Itou dies."
Kondou frowned, clearly troubled by this decision.
"Hm. I suppose you're right. It can't be helped."
He nodded, and that was that. The Shinsengumi would kill Kashitaro Itou.
Hijikata folded his arms and started to lay out the plan.
"First, we'll invite Itou to Kondou's second home. I'll be there too. Once he'd dead, we can use Itou's corpse to lure out the rest of the Guard and kill them."
He glanced at Shinpachi and Sano.
"Nagakura, Harada, I'm assigning you and your divisions to this. Take care of it."
Okita glanced at Hijikata expectantly.
"Hey, Hijikata. Who do you want me to kill?"
Hijikata's expression softened a bit.
"No one. You're staying here, in bed. You've still got that cough, don't you? You're sick. Saito'll be here for a few days, so you'll have someone to play with."
Okita folded his arms and looked away.
"You're a real bastard, Hijikata."
It all seemed very calculated, for murder.
I hadn't realized I'd been sitting still, dumbfounded, until I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder.
"…Saito?"
"This will be the end of the Guardians of the Imperial Tomb. If we are going to return Heisuke to the ford, it must be now or never."
"*Gasp*"
He was right.
If they meant to kill Guard, that included Heisuke!
"Um, Hijikata? What are you going to do with Heisuke? He's part of the Guard now…"
Nagakura grinned.
"Isn't that obvious? We'll save him, of course."
Hijikata's face hardened.
"No. He fights us, he dies."
"…Wh-What? No! You can't mean that! That's wrong!"
Hijikata showed no sign that he'd even heard me.
I watched his back disappear out the door.
I turned to Kondou, anger and panic welling up inside me.
"You're actually going to order them to kill Heisuke?! Don't you care what happens to him?!"
"Of course we care!" he snapped. "I know that, deep down, Toshi wants to save him too… I'll…I'll talk to him later."
The last few words he mumbled to himself, and then coughed nervously, as if embarrassed that he'd raised his voice.
It was only then that I realized how much Kondou was suffering. How much they were all suffering, even Hijikata…
"I'm sorry for…for saying that."
"No, no, no need to apologize. It makes me happy, quite honestly. I'm glad people care for Heisuke."
Kondou let out a slow breath, then looked up at me and smiled.
He turned to Nagakura and Harada, and spoke in a low voice.
"I'm asking you this not as your chief, but as Isami Kondou. …Let Heisuke live. And…if you can, try to convince him to come back."
Nagakura grinned and nodded.
"…Got it."
Harada placed a hand on Kondou's shoulder.
"Leave it to us, Chief."
As they discussed the details of their orders, I sat and wondered what I should do. What could I do?
"…I trust everything clear? If you have questions, now is the time."
"…Wait."
I heard myself begin to speak, my voice surprisingly calm and dignified.
"I haven't been given any orders. I would like to help."
Kondou frowned.
"This is a…dirty job. You really shouldn't be involved."
It was true; this wasn't a patrol, or even a guarding mission. This was the assassination of a former comrade, and an attack on men who'd split from the Shinsengumi.
Still, I wanted to do what I could. It might be my last chance to see Heisuke.
"Please, let me go. I won't get in the way."
Nagakura glanced at me with mixed concern and frustration.
"…This isn't like anything you've done before, Chizuru. You understand that, right?"
Harada narrowed his eyes at me.
"We're killing someone who used to be one of us. …Much as we don't want to, we might even have to kill Heisuke."
"…I know. It's not something to be taken lightly."
I knew that the Shinsengumi had carried out these sorts of black operations before.
There was no way I could have stayed with them as long as I had and not known, but that was why I couldn't simply stand by and let them shoulder all the responsibility.
I'd spent enough time looking away until the deed was done. Now more.
"Perhaps it's presumptuous of me to say so, but…I consider myself a member of the Shinsengumi."
Kondou sighed.
"Then you're determined to do this, I see."
His face had lost its usual warmth. It wasn't anger, or cruelty that it showed now, but the gravity of a general addressing his men.
"Tell me then. How do you intend to help?"
I had already decided.
I would help lure Itou into the trap the Shinsengumi had planned for him.
He was quite cautious at first, but after some prompting to talk about issues he was familiar with and the liberal application of alcohol, he loosened up significantly.
His high spirits provided an almost sickening contrast to the fate that awaited him.
…
"Nationalism is very nearly a taboo term these days, you know."
I said nothing.
His laughter echoed hollowly through my skull. In his smile I could already see the rictus grin of a corpse.
We were entertaining Itou at Kondou's second home, and all night the alcohol had flown easily.
"Even the Satsuma and Choshu have finally realized they cannot rival foreign technology and influence, and have begun to adopt outside culture."
Kondou chuckled softly.
"I see. Such as…?"
"Ah, let me think… Yes! For example, the gun. Firearms! They've managed to import a great many guns, and have been training their man in Western warfare and tactics."
He nodded sagely, and gestured somewhat awkwardly with his cup.
Kondou nodded solemnly in agreement.
Hijikata smiled.
"Interesting. Maybe we should start thinking about training the Shinsengumi in Western tactics."
"Yes!" said Itou happily. "You agree! You must be able to see the big picture these days!"
Hijikata nodded.
"Yeah. We might be on different paths, but we're all headed for the same destination. …Another drink, Itou?"
"Here you are…" I said pouring him another cup.
It was perfectly normal alcohol: no poison or drugs, but we were making him drunk in order to murder him. How was that any different then me pouring poison straight into his cup?
"Ah…"
Itou frowned at me.
"My goodness dear, you're shaking. Are you all right? Are you feeling ill?"
Kondou laughed.
"You needn't worry about her, Itou. She's just nervous about speaking to you."
Itou smiled at me.
"Oh my, am I so terribly intriguing? What a bad girl you are."
Hijikata gave a sad smile.
"Yeah, she gives herself away too easily. Kid needs a little self-control."
The subtle message was clear: hide your emotions, Chizuru.
I swallowed and nodded.
It had been my choice to help with Itou's…assassination. The least I could do now was not get in the way.
"Yes… I'm sorry."
Itou turned to me and smiled.
"Oh rubbish. This is a party! We needn't be so stiff!"
Kondou laughed again.
"Ha ha! Itou, you truly are a man worthy of distinction.
…
Time passed, and Alcohol was drunk.
"Well, it was nice to enjoy a meaningful conversation. And now, farewell."
After spending all night expounding on his theories for the advancement of Japanese society, Itou finally stumbled off into the darkness, more than a little drunk.
I watched him disappear. It would be the last time I would see him alive.
"…This feels wrong, Toshi." sighed Kondou.
"It's the path we chose," replied Hijikata quietly. "It's our duty to do this, but that doesn't mean we have to be proud of it. Sometimes the job's dirty."
"I…I…"
I couldn't get the words out, but they weren't listening anyway.
Hijikata turned to Kondou.
"Look, Chief… This one's not on your head, all right? i mad the plan. I gave the orders."
Hijikata let out a long sigh, his eyes staring off into the darkness where Itou had gone.
What happened afterward was…not something I cared to remember. Itou, too drunk to fight back, was quickly and easily killed by the men waiting for him.
...But the night was far from over.
Battle and bloodshed waited at Aburano Koji for Nagakura and the men sent to ambush the Guardians of the Imperial tomb.
Fate waited for Okita, convalescing at the headquarters in Fudodo Village.
For them-for all of us-waited a night after which nothing would be the same.
…
The assassination of Itou and the destruction of the Guardians of the Imperial Tomb was later known as the Aburano Koji Incident.
Both the Shinsengumi and Guard were surprised by the sudden appearance of Satsuma troops, and by the demons who accompanied them.
Both parties had fallen for the Satsuma trap, and the battlefield was thrown into confusion.
During the fight, Heisuke was mortally wounded, and had no choice but to drink the Water of Life and become a fury, or die.
As the battle of Aburano Koji was taking place, the headquarters of the Shinsengumi came under attack from Chikage Kazama.
The monstrous thing my father had made was slowly devouring the Shinsengumi.
How long before the Water of Life swallowed them whole?