This was supposed to be a character study of the relationship between Katsura and Kenshin. However, after rewriting it three times, I believe it is a fail; I am too tired to rewrite it again. Enjoy!
SRAS9, donhisiewen, caseyedith, Jasmine blossom625, kokoronagomu, Althea M, geckohawaii, Emi Violet, and Scarred Sword Heart are the reviewers for the last chapter. Thanks bunches, folks!
I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.
Gerrymander
-verb
The dividing of a state, county, etc., into election districts so as to give one political party a majority in many districts while concentrating the voting strength of the other party into as few districts as possible.
The Kyoto night is warm and quiet, humid in the damp way only a valley can be after a thunderstorm. Kenshin is on high alert as he escorts Katsura-san back to the inn after his latest meeting, because the Shinsengumi have frequented this area lately; he cannot afford to be lax when the lynchpin of the Revolution is under his guardianship.
"Himura-kun," Katsura-san says softly, as the lights of the inn become brighter, "Will you give me a moment of your time?"
"Of course," Kenshin says, pausing in a shallow, dead-ended alleyway. Even this close to Shishi sympathizers, one cannot be too careful.
"A word to the wise," Katsura-san says seriously, face shadowed weirdly by the quarter moon. "There is… dissent, among Choshu and Satsuma. I cannot say more; I am bound by too many secrets." For a moment Kenshin's superior looks old, and frustrated. "Be careful, Himura-kun. I can only do so much."
Kenshin knows that Satsuma wants him dead; the leaders of that proud province make no secret of their disdain for Katsura-san and his hitokiri after too many unsanctioned orders for the deaths of prominent officials, and too many quiet meetings with Shogunate officials of ambiguous loyalty. Political expediency, however, does not allow them the luxury of confronting that kind of wrong-headedness directly.
"I will be careful."
I will do what I must.