The Sweet Taste of Adventure
The city of Kyoto, located in the middle of the Honshu Island, was a place with extreme contrasts, where the tranquility of the ancient shrines fought the frenzy of the countless hordes of people streaming past the pavements while being bombarded with a bewildering variety of aromas coming out of the many shops.
Young women were stopping abruptly in front of shop windows to gaze with wide-open eyes at the mixing textures and splashing colors of materials dancing in front of their eyes.
Young men were passing by when their eyes fell upon gleaming silver blades of stunning Bizen katanas, done by the best masters, indeed works of art. Their eyes glowed at the thought of ever holding one in their hand, feeling its coldness and the reflections on its surface.
Not far from the chaotic city center lied parks with cool streams and old trees spreading their branches protectively over the crowds of children running everywhere embroided in the sound of chirping birds.
The cool of the morning turned quickly into scorching heat as the sun began to beat down relentlessly over the dusty streets of Kyoto. At the Shinsengumi headquarters, everyone was as busy as a bee: many were training diligently, others were washing consciously and some were sweeping the courtyard while their companions were taking care of other chores.
Roars of innocent laughter echoed around the vast garden. "You'll never catch me "yelled a small girl with long brown hair running around with her almond shaped eyes glowing with joy. Her lavender kimono fitted her perfectly while the dark purple obi tied in a butterfly ribbon surrounded her waist tightly.
A small boy was chasing her .His rusty hair tied in a high ponytail and his bangs framing his face made him look handsome while his sparkling green eyes where giving of the air of a quick tempered and bright child.
Suddenly, seeing the sea of white sheets lying in the sun caressed by the gentle summer breeze waiting to be dried up and the collected by the hardworking members, he stopped. The small girl turned her head towards him and cried "Come on Soushi" before dashing straight into the freshly washed sheets and making them all fall down enveloping her in a tight ghost like attire.
"Meiyo!" said the boy rushing toward the girl peeling of each layer of whiteness. Looking around you could see the vast amount of disaster they had produced, long hours of hard work were now lying on the ground covered in a thin layer of mud and dried dust.
Looking into each other's eyes and confessing to the feeling of guilt, the two children gave a sigh of disappointment, knowing that they will most certainly get grounded. But soon they brushed off imagining how the vice captain of Shinsengumi will react, a thought that filled their minds with satisfaction embodied in a purple eyed man screaming and gouging his eyes out furiously
Nevertheless, what emerged under their eyes was by far more attractive than the funny image of a furious vice captain have ever seen before. A small building, evicted in an old architectural style with peeled off paint, and with a huge thatched roof that seemed to fall down at any moment, appeared out of nowhere. Probably its most distinctive feature was the huge shabby wooden door that sends of a direct invitation towards the curious minds of Soushi and Meiyo.
"What is this? I have never seen it before!"Said Meiyo
An evil, playful smirk was sketched on the boys face and his grass green eyes shrunken naughtily. He turned towards his companion, looked her in the eyes and said bravely "What are we waiting for? Let's check it out!"
The small girl shook her head in disbelief and rose quickly to follow her companion.
"If you say so…but you know Soushi …don't you think we'll get in trouble?"
"Com' on Meiyo you are not scared are you?"Said the boy grinning at her with a superior eye smile.
"Me? Never! What are you waiting for? Move!"
Therefore, the two run until they reached the front door of the strange looking building .Soushi looked at Meiyo, she nodded in agreement, and therefore the boy pushed the large door with all his strength. The door opened with a strange crick, hearing it the small girl run behind, grabbed the boy's shoulders, and hid her small face under his long hair.
"Are you ok?"he asked "Yup..It's just that it is really dark in here" said Meiyo shaking lightly.
"Don't worry you'll get used to it soon "pointed out the small boy taking her hand gently into his and patting her on the head.
"Shall we go now?" asked the boy smiling widely. They started walking slowly along the dark hallways, until they reached something that appeared to be some stairs .With their hearts pounding they took each step down, Meiyo hand squeezed his as they entered a dark dusty room.
They gazed in amazement at the sight of a large hall full with bottles and barrels of different shapes and sizes. They dashed into the full room with childish happiness and grabbed one of the bottles.
"It says "Sake"… I wonder what is that?" Said Meiyo, lifting the bottle and bringing it closer to her nose in order to sniff its aroma.
"It smells like appeals and melons," she whispered softly.
"Sake…sake isn't it that drink that Nagakura-san drinks all the time when he goes out?"asked Soushi
"So you drink it?"
" Yep…that's pretty much all I know …I never tasted any…" replied the boy with a shrug.
"I wonder how does it taste like. Do you think we should try?" murmured the small girl now that all her fear faded away.
"Well…I don't know …,"mumbled Soushi
"You scared?" wondered the little girl and in a moment, she raised the bottle up and took a serious sip. Immediately her chubby cheeks were covered in a cherry red flush and she tripped down on the dusty floor. Soushi starred at her with wide opened eyes. Meiyo was feeling the sweet taste deep in her throat and an uncanny warmth filled her body from head to toes, every cell of her tiny body was enveloped in a pleasant dizziness that concluded with a burning feeling in her stomach, a feeling that just desired more and more.
"It is sweet Soushi!" she exclaimed glancing at him with her glittering almond shaped brown eyes.
Hearing the magical word "sweet" Soushi's mind turned white and grabbed rapidly a bottle, he opened it with a quick move and drank boldly out of it. In an instant, he adored the sweetness of the liquid and the warmth that spread all over his tiny body.
"It's so sweet, now I know why Nakagura-san drinks it all the time!" he exclaimed turning to Meiyo and looking at her with grass green glittering eyes and a smirk under his chubby child cheeks covered in a strawberry redness . He sat down near his companion and took another sip with an extreme boldness. Looking at Soushi how he enjoyed the liquid, she gave a wide smile and lifted the bottle to her mouth and then sipped with sheer joy.
The room filled with roars of laughter just in a few minutes ,however, after a couple of hours, as their long eyelashes felt heavier and heavier, the two small children felt under the effects of sake in a delightful sleep. Hours passed . Everyone in the Shinsengumi headquarters was doing its job with seriousness, the sun hid behind the clouds, rain felt heavily on the dusty alleys of Kyoto . The sun set down and now the town was lighted by delicate paper lamps and many were out admiring the full moon , while other were resting after a busy day waiting for tomorrow to come forth .
In a certain part of Kyoto everyone was running around filled with worry at the thought that the first unit captain' son, Okita Soushi, had gone missing, and so did the third's unit captain daughter, Hajime Meiyo. What everyone feared the most was the thought that one of Shinsengumi many enemies had caught the two children and was going to hurt them. Nevertheless, who would be so crazy to do such a thing, as many knew it was not a pleasant sight to see the captains angry especially when their children were involved. Right now, everyone gathered and started searching around the city. Meanwhile, Soushi and Meiyo were still sleeping peacefully in that old house surrounded by small sake bottles.
"Oii…Toshi … do you think they are ok? Nobody has seen them since this morning and I heard they didn't come for lunch either…I think something really bad has happened …you must go and search for them" a tall, solid man said with a worried face.
"Kondo-san I don't understand what is wrong with you guys. Why don't you understand that they are fine somewhere around." Said a purple-eyed man sipping his tea with elegant moves.
"Toshi! How can you be so cold? They are young and fragile who knows what could have happened to them…everyone have been searching for hours and still they don't have a clue…" said the man known as Kondo-san"
"Trust me Kondo-san they are here, somewhere around the headquarters, I know" said Hijikata-san, the vice captain of Shinsengumi and undoubtedly the major victim of Soushi and Meiyo pranks and mischiefs. "I can feel their presence "he added to himself emitting the famous demon aura that made him feared by everyone in the organization. He enjoyed the tranquility, but as soon as he closed his eyes, the deafening sound of people screaming and running up and down made him to stand up. He gave Kondo-san an ice-cold look and raised his voice "I'll go searching for them too".
Although, he hated the two little brats in the back of his made, he did not want the two of them to get hurt, more for the sake of their parents rather for children's. It was one of his theories that they needed a good scare to settle down and mature, to stop running up and down and more precisely to stop bugging him. The night breeze was cool and comforting. The moon was shining on the velvet sky, sending its cool silver beams over the garden. He was walking slowly asking himself"If I was an evil spoiled brat where would I go". Suddenly a chill run down his spine as he turned around and saw a vast see of pure once white sheets now covered in dust and dried mud.
"How lucky of me "he murmured sarcastically.
As he walked towards the direction of the disaster, he noticed a strange building. "That's the place where we hold the sake bottles, they can't have gotten there." He said to himself and the turned around, but a strange feeling gripped him, it was as if a familiar scent of danger and evilness was surrounding the place. He moved closer to the old house and when his eyes fell upon the large opened door he had an idea of what he was about to discover. He entered the building without any trace of joy or curiosity, as he knew the only feeling he was about to experience was that of sheer anger. The two little brats have made everyone go wild and search frenetically; the thought of them getting away was an insult to his consumed time to get there. He took a deep breath and looked around for the shape of the stairs; as soon as he discovered them he went down to meet the two little children. He stepped into the room, the light coming from the two small windows revealed the bodies of Soushi and Meiyo, sleeping peacefully. The two of them were surrounded by many empty bottles of sake and had no idea about the alarm they have caused.
"Brats … sleep time is over!" he yelled. However, he got no answer, impatient he dashed to the two children and grabbed each one of its kimono collar, none of them opposed , it seemed as if they left themselves carried by him.
"If I catch the one that took them I'll kill him slowly "said Okita-san with his grass green eyes beaming with anger and gripping his sword tightly, and biting his finger nail.
Saitou-san bursted into the room, panting heavily. "Any news yet" he asked. He had just returned from the city hoping that the two children were safe and sound at home, but his thoughts remained nothing but vain hopes. He turned to his wife Seea, but her too didn't not hold any answers.
"I will personally take care of the one who had the guts to take my little children, I'll make sure that he receives a slow and painful death that he will remember even after he leaves this world " she said shaking her fists.
"I bet you guys were worried to death a familiar voice cried. "Hijikata-san slide opened the door and tossed the still sleeping children into the room. Woken up by the sudden move and blinded by the powerful light they rubbed their eyes gently . Soushi tried to stand up but his legs were just to numb to offer him the right support and he fell right back. He opened his eyes slowly and looked around
"Where are we?" he wondered looking at the familiar faces that stared at him with disbelief. Before he even knew what was going on , he found himself in his father's arms wrapped in a tight embrace.
Meiyo raised her head like a spoiled kid to lazy, or more exactly unable to stand up. Her brown sleepy eyes met her mothers and Seea rushed over to help her small daughter stand up ,quickly checking for any wound she grabbed the small girl and hold her into her arms gently patting her head. Meiyo laid her head over her mother' shoulder and closed her eyes.
"Thank God you two are fine, we were worried to death " Seea said.
Not before long, the two troublemakers were asleep in their parents arms.
"So everything is just fine," said Kondo-san breaking the silence as he smiled towards the reunited families.
"Fine!" yelled Hijikata-san "the whole Shinsengumi was after this two brats and all you say is 'fine' , they were in the back yard building drinking sake while our men were wondering Kyoto when they were supposed to be resting, not to mention how they ruined every training and how the teared down all our sheets!"
"Toshi …calm down is not like they did it on purpose, I mean look at them they are so innocent sleeping without worries, we were once just like them…"
"Were not…I didn't do all the things they did" said Hijikata-san furiously.
"You must have been a sad child neh…Hijikata-san?"Replied Okita-san
"Now, now the children are fine so let's all go to sleep " said Kondo-san
"How about the punishment?" asked Hijikata-san reviling his dark demon aura.
"We will leave that for later, now good night Toshi."
The vice captain of Shinsengumi stared as everyone was leaving the room going to the rest."Evil! They are evil! I know it," he whispered to himself giving off the dark aura.
"As expected of Vice Captain …he is so reliable …he even succeeded to find Soushi and Meiyo," said Heisuke smiling at him "you should listen to Kondo-san and go get some sleep; after all you are such a workaholic person." He added waving.
In a few seconds he found himself alone in that room with the bitter taste of defeat."One day you will pay me back you little brats" he said "One day…"