AN: I noticed that part of Kenshin's dialog was clipped at the end of Tokio's section, so I had to reload this to fix it. I do apologize for the wait for this. I promise this will be finished, but due to personal problems, things are going to be slow. Thank you for your patience.

Collateral Damage

Chapter 5: Crumbling Apart

Saitou 1879

His shoulder ached. He'd bumped it against the back of the coach on his way to meet with the district commander and now it ached like old, bone-deep memories. He'd tried ignoring it. He'd tried stretching during the few private moments he'd had between rushing from one department to another and one station to another to fulfill the mindless bureaucrats that had decided that he, and he alone, was capable of estimating the strength of Tokyo's defenses if another Shishio raised his bandaged head to peer greedily at the esteemed citizens of the capital city. Now that he was back in his office, he tried rubbing it, trying to remember if that shoulder had received a particularly deep wound that might be resurfacing to haunt him. He usually managed to keep track of these things but lately, with all the mindless drudgery and his ongoing investigation into the officer's death, small things were beginning to blur.

You're going to be the death of me. Okita laughed in the back of his head. I worry about you more than you do.

And look where that worry got you. Saitou shrugged the shoulder one last time and decided to ignore it. Coughing your lungs onto your lap.

Saitou pulled the file containing the information about his investigation from his desk drawer, frowning as he noticed that Chou had been pawing through it. Usually the broomhead had enough sense to leave things in the desk alone, but lately, he'd started frisking through it when he thought he'd be able to get away with it. Mostly, the moron had taken a few pen nubs and an old fashion ink stone that had somehow migrated around the entire office before setting up home in the back of one of his drawers where it had marked up his papers with odd black scratches. Chou's conscripting it as a paperweight had given him the opportunity to make a messy example of his subordinate as well as be rid of the menace to his paperwork.

As he flipped through the file to check to make sure all was where it should be, he contemplated what he'd inflict on Chou to ensure the sanctity of his desk. Since nothing seemed to be missing, only shuffled out of order, he decided that the idiot could patrol the neighborhood the dead officer had once walked, only at night. He glanced out the window at the dark clouds and how the wind was picking up enough dirt and grit off the street to make a few pedestrians wince and cover their eyes. He decided that tonight, which he knew was Chou's gambling night, would be a perfect time for the excursion.

They hadn't found much in the way of who had killed the officer, but the suspects were piling up. First, nearly every storekeeper and inhabitant of the area would have liked to kill the man, Hase Akihito Kanenobu. The officer had placidly walked his beat and collected "gifts" from the people he'd been there to protect. The "gifts" had ranged between nearly crippling money to free food, to an occasional night with a comely daughter or in one case a young wife, who later killed herself in shame. Those that had been so ungenerous as to refuse to give the officer a "gift" had suffered bad luck in the form of muggings, fires, and robberies. Second, many of his fellow officers had more than slight cause to wish a short life on Hase. The man had, in his own quiet way, backstabbed, schemed, and robbed his way up from an awkward recruit into being the lazy, waste of labor that had patrolled a quiet, dull neighborhood that had supplied him with food, women, and money. Third, Hase had taken his "gift" money and went gambling. He had the same luck as Kenshin's dimwitted rooster and regularly lost it in drunken, dice sprees. He'd owed money to numerous people including some Yakuza, which had recently been clamoring for repayment. Lastly, Hase's own family wouldn't have minded his permanent absence from their lives. He'd managed to put one wife in the grave after a highly suspicious accident involving a tumble off a remote road that the woman had no reason to be on. He'd also scandalized the rest by stealing money from his own mother, who had trustingly let her eldest son "put his father's affairs in order" which resulted in all money being removed from her and reinvested in sake, dice, and the occasional geisha. His three younger brothers had to gather their destitute, grieving mother up and move her away from her home, which had been sold by Hase to cover the cost of a vacation to the south. Now, they all considered him a mar on their family's honor and when he had interviewed them they had all looked nearly jubilant at the news of his sudden demise. They had also declined paying any funeral expenses and had suggested that the body just be cremated and dumped into a sewer with the rest of the city's offal, or if that took too much money, just dump him in the sewer and perhaps a few rats would die from indigestion.

With most of Tokyo wanting the man dead, finding who had the opportunity to kill the officer was nearly impossible, and he was still working on how the fool had died and where he had died. That track looked more promising, and it would keep him busy. No matter that the man had been a waste of a good uniform, he had been an officer and it was his duty to make sure that his killer was caught and brought to justice.

Tokio

"You live in this?" Sano stood looking up at the roof of the house. "Hell, my place is better."

"That it is," Kenshin blinked as a piece of tile slid off the roof and landed in the garden with a muffled thud. "Perhaps you should stay in the dojo until the …errr…" The wind blew through the trees and a muffled groaning from the house's timbers moaned through the afternoon air. "…house is…" A stray cat screamed. "…fixed?" The redhead took a step back making a small sign to ward off evil that he hoped Tokio didn't notice.

"You can relax." Tokio pretended she hadn't noticed the motion. "I had a priest out to bless the house before I moved in."

"Did he survive?" Yahiko muttered eyeing the tall, looming trees that swayed dead, skeletal arms in the air.

Tokio shrugged nonchalantly, but her eyes glittered as she turned slightly to check on Tsutomo, "Just be careful to not trip over anything in the backyard."

Karou nodded and forced a cheerful smile on her face and scooped up a can of alabaster that Sano had totted from the market. "It won't get fixed if we don't start. So, who wants to help with the walls?"

"I think," Kenshin glanced out of the corner of his eye trying to signal Sano that they needed to retreat and rethink this plan, "that we should, perhaps, begin with…" Sano stood scratching his head and looking speculatively up at the roof and Karou, his backup plan, was already striding into the yard.

"I think we need to check the foundations first." Sano finally sauntered forward. "Let's see if those are solid."

"When did you become a master builder?" Yahiko held his ground in the street.

Sano ignored him and Kenshin, taking a last deep breath, followed him trying to convince himself that the house was not an attempt of Saitou's to kill him in the most humiliating way possible. He did however, consider that he'd carefully test Saitou just to be sure and if the answer to his inquiry was positive, he'd have to give in and fight the man. At least he wouldn't end up buried in Saitou's back yard that way.

Tokio waddled forward trying to keep her balance on the uneven ground and trying futilely to keep Tsutomo and Eji from racing ahead to show off their home to their sword master. She was getting tired. The last few nights had been hard. The noise in and around the house seemed to have multiplied in the last few days with odd creaks, falling tiles, and snapping branches from the dying foliage. Even after carefully checking to make sure all was well, the noise kept her awake. And once awake, she had little to do but lay in the dark and think.

Sano bravely crawled under the house to investigate any stray mamushi and the foundations. "Not bad…not bad, there's a couple of support timbers towards the back that need replacing, but I don't think that will be too much of a problem. What's back there anyways?" Sano's hand emerged from a large floor crack and waved in one direction."

"That's the bedrooms." Eji scampered over to poke his head down another crack to talk to Sano. "What about the kitchen?" He stuck his arm down too. "It's over there."

"Don't see it." Sano's voice got fainter, "Seems to end just about…" A hand stuck up through the floor near the far wall. "…here."

"That's on the ground." Tsutomo, seeing how much fun it was to put body part through the floor stuck his head down next to Eji. "That's why it's muddy."

Tokio calmly walked up the steps and caught her cub and nudged Eji with her foot. "You two need to start sweeping." She put her little wolf down and pointed towards the back of the house. "Go get the brooms."

Seeing the unique fun of the floor being swallowed up by the gloomy prospect of chores, Tsutomo and Eji frowned in unison. Tokio wondered if finding Eji really was that much of an accident and if Saitou had perhaps had a mistress in the country. She wouldn't mind. She'd even celebrate. It would be a sign that her husband at least had paid enough attention to the people around him to notice that, instead of a generic body that had to only be classified as a threat or as ignorable, there was a woman. It would also be a sign that he paid enough attention to his own being enough to recognize that he desired that woman and furthermore, acted on that desire.

It's sad that Saitou being unfaithful would be a cause to celebrate. It's even sadder that there is no possible chance of it ever happening and I'm upset because of it.

"We need to help Sano!" Eji looked longingly at the hole in the floor.

"Yes, Sano!" Tsutomo nodded firmly to show his unwavering support of Eji's good work ethic.

"Brooms!" Tokio pointed again more firmly and added a glare to emphasize her point.

The boys looked sadly back at the hole and the sounds of Sano muttering to himself about the support timbers, and then with hanging heads trudged to get the brooms. Half way to the brooms they started giggling and pushing each other lightly.

"They really are good boys." Karou came up behind her.

"They try." Tokio rubbed her back. "It's a constant battle for me too, but I figure I can handle Saitou, so how bad could his children be?"

Kenshin, eyeing a particularly suspicious spot of bare ground in the back, turned and looked at Tokio with his lips pressed firmly together and doubt in his eyes.

"He's not that bad." Tokio narrowed her eyes back.

"This one didn't say anything, that I did not." Kenshin turned to look again at the suspicious, grave shaped mound of bare dirt. "I just wanted to ask about the garden."

Tokio shook her head, twisting slightly to ease the ache in her back. "Except for the path to the bathhouse, I don't allow anyone back there."

Kenshin eyed the grave-like patch of dirt. Someone had put a crude marker on it and there were a couple of sticks of incense there. "Errr….about the…." Dark shadows stirred in the underbrush, which, despite his assassin trained senses he could not hear, only see. "…garden. Perhaps while Sano is dealing with the foundation, something could be done about it? It would make cooking much easier when we start to work on the kitchen."

"Good point, Kenshin, but don't worry about food." Karou gave Tokio a cheery smile. "I'll be happy to cook for you at the dojo."

Kenshin gave Tokio an overly cheery smile. "Let's get right on that garden then!"

"Kenshin…" Karou's voice dropped into the imminent whacking zone. "Are you…"

"No, no." Kenshin eyed the backyard. "It is just a shame that such a lovely…" The shadows seemed to grow teeth and snarl at him, "garden is in such a state."

"Well, I still insist that you and the boys eat dinner with us. It's the least I can do." Karou looked bright and determined. "I'll cook you a good fish stew."

Sano, having crawled out from under the house grunted. "She's pregnant. You don't want to kill her do you?"

Karou spun and snarled, but Sano placidly ignored her. "The foundations aren't in bad shape, just a couple of timbers that look like they should be replaced. I can do that tonight and we can work on the walls and roof tomorrow."

"And we can work on the garden while Sanosuke does that." Kenshin, keeping his eyes off both the shadows and the suspicious Karou, bolted toward the back door. "Is there a shed?"

Tokio 1870

"Rice for sale. Rice for sale."

"Sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes."

"Fresh fish from the sea! Eat and be strong!"

Tokio walked through the market keeping her head down and her eyes on the ground. Just by the voices, she could tell that someone from the government was present. She could also tell who was working for them. The fish seller, with his confident boasts and relatively fresh fish worked for them, trading information for money, trade goods, and leniency. The others, with their wilted vegetables and straggly potatoes sounded quavery and frightened. Whoever the government had sent had sent a ripple of fear through their tiny village.

"Fresh eels! Butter fish!"

"Tofu for sale. Tofu."

She slipped quietly to the rice seller, where she exchanged a few hard earned coins for a weeks ration of food, and as merchants' voices started to stutter to a halt, slid into a tiny niche between the blacksmith and the bakers. It wasn't much, but it gave her enough shelter that unless someone was carefully searching for her, she'd remain unnoticed.

More voices pattered into silence. The few people that had ventured into their poor market started hurriedly leaving the area. The merchants, trapped by their wares, cowered, torn between fleeing and staying with their only means of keeping their families alive through the coming winter.

"Come neighbors, fresh fish!"

The man who came into the market would have been considered scum, once, long ago, in another lifetime. His clothes were greasy and stained. His hair was long and unkempt. On his belt he carried a knife and a western style pistol. However, it wasn't long ago. It was now and he was swaggering through the market with a sneer on his face and a superior swagger in his step. As low as he might have ranked on the social scale in a finer place like Kyoto, here he was a prince.

"What, no one buying fish?" The greasy man laughed and grabbed a nearby merchant who had been trying to sell second hand clothes. "You, buy some fish."

"Sir, I…" The man wiggled, looking beseechingly at his captor. "I…I have no money. P..p…please."

"Did I say you had a choice? Buy fish!"

The man was flung over to land in a heap at the fish monger's feet where he cowered. The government man laughed harshly and looked around for more customers. The sweet potato seller with a whimpering cry bolted and ran, leaving his produce. The rice seller glanced around, as if searching for support, and hid behind his bales.

The fish monger grinned at his new customer. "A few shrimp for you, my dear man, just the thing to build strength in your body."

The government man, still looking for his next victim, walked over to the clothing seller's meager pile of ratty clothes and pulled out the man's money pouch. "Forget the shrimp." He tossed the bag lightly in his hand weighing the coins. "He needs tuna."

The fish monger smiled.

"Oh, and look. Someone is giving away potatoes." The thug went over and looked at the few worn baskets that held sweet potatoes. "Bah…" He kicked the baskets sending the produce scattering. "…just junk." He stomped on them and turned looking at his remaining choices.

Tokio stepped back further into the niche. She didn't want to see the rest. It was better to remain hidden and silent. The two would tire of their game soon and move on to other towns where the two would bully more people into buying their fish and if anyone dared to protest too much, would find themselves charged with attacking a government official, treason, or some other charge that would end with dead bodies to be buried.

More cries and more desperate pleas came from the market, along with a few sounds of scuffling, grunts, and feet meeting cringing flesh. Tokio closed her eyes.

Thank the spirits, Saitou was not here. She hated to see her wolf drop his head and bow humbly before such people. Part of her died every time some governmental thug showed up to keep track of the last potential threats to the glory of the Meji and Saitou , dressed in rags and so thin her heart hurt, knelt at their feet in submission.

A young woman's voice suddenly cried out from the market. Tokio cringed.

Thank the spirits it wasn't her this time.

Research

Ink stones: These are a treasure to have and are actually considered one of the four treasures of a scholar in Chinese tradition. Ink was transported easily in stick form and then could be reconstituted with a bit of water. An ink stone gave the user a small reservoir of water and a place to grind the ink into usable form. The density and hue of the ink could therefore be personalized. Saitou, in his westernized office, probably used the more westernized ink pot that we are more familiar with from such chestnuts as Little House on the Prairie, where ink was liquid and set in a small container to dip a pen into. For a quick look at ink stones try: .org/wiki/Chinese_Inkstone.

Mamushi: Are poisonous snakes that are found in a wide variety of places in Japan. They generally will be found where their favorite food is…rodents. They are noted however for their placid disposition though I would personally hesitate to test this for myself. I actually think they are rather pretty, but then again, anything that isn't a Mojave Green Rattlesnake is good in my opinion. .org/wiki/Gloydius_blomhoffii

Cooking in the garden: I have seen Kenshin do this in the first episode of the series and Karou does it in another episode, but I can't find any references to it. If anyone knows of one, please let me know.