Chapter 5

Locked away

The sun was at its zenith in a clear blue sky. The cicadas were singing in the shadows of the trees. There wasn't the slightest breeze to cool down the scorching earth. Kenji was lying on his back on the wooden floor of the souko, naked but for his loin cloth. With its earthen wall, the place was the coolest of the entire house. True it ranked of dust but at least the place was dark and quiet. The closed doors muffled the sound of his "family" busily cleaning up the house.

Seven days. It had been seven days since she had died. Unexpectedly, Kenji had not felt violent emotions. Sadness had brushed him, yes, and he had spilled a few tears, but not the torrents he had expected. He had been relieved. At last, this chapter of his life was over. Not that he did not still resent his father, on the contrary, but with both of his parents dead, he felt like he had really become a man.

Kenji had overseen everything concerning his mother's funeral and her succession. He had approved the transfer of the dojo to Yahiko. He had taken care of every detail. Even though he had known nothing of the procedures, he had acted like the head of the family, which he was now. Anyway, Yahiko had been too devastated to be entrusted anything. Then again, everyone had seemed greatly affected by his mother's passing, maybe more than they had seemed by his father's death. Maybe it had been the shock of losing them one after another. Then again, Kenji had been absent had the moment of his father's death, so he had not been able to see everyone's reaction.

Kenji sighed and turned on his side. As he did, he felt a flash of numb pain when his sweaty back was pulled away from the floor. He stretched his right hand, trying to blindly reach the painful skin but hit something in the cramped space. An avalanche of documents, dust, and scrolls crashed loudly on top of him. The young man immediately sat up, instinctively protecting his head. After a short moment, the peace and quiet returned, leaving Kenji coughing and sneezing. Swearing, he got up and looked about. Better clean this up, he thought between two sneeze.

He sighed and crouched, gingerly touching this and that, not too sure where to start. He grabbed a scroll and untied the string to look at it. Nothing but an old Chinese ink panting. He rolled it up again and put it away with other scrolls. Then he started to pile up the numerous documents in a neat pile. He looked distractedly at them; most were old newspaper clippings or old legal documents pertaining to the dojo. One of the clippings mentioned the murder of Prime Minister Okubo, another, from Kyoto, the destruction of an important mountain complex. To the boy, it just looked totally random. He stopped cleaning for a moment, thinking that he should just burn most of these things.

Piling up the scrolls on top of the documents, he was about to put them back on top of the crate they had been on when he noticed a strange box behind it. Setting the papers on a chest nearby, he crouched to look at his new discovery. He pushed the crate aside. The box was made of pale wood and was lacquered, although it was unlike any Japanese lacquered good he had ever seen. It was more sturdy and bulky than its Nipponese counterparts. It definitely looked foreign. Kenji blew on the cover to discover a faded flower motif. Cautiously, he pulled the box towards him, awaiting another avalanche. Nothing happened.

He ran his fingers on the soft surface, trying to find a way to open it He could see hinges on his side of the box but no matter how he pulled, the cover didn't bulge. Leaning over it, he finally discovered a lock. Luckily, the key was in. Slowly, he rotated the chest, cringing at the idea that this massive thing was making deep scratches in the wooden floor. If Tsubame found out, she would strangle him.

Kenji pulled out the key. It was beautiful and delicately forged , definitely foreign. He insert it back in the keyhole and turned it. A muffled click was heard and the lid slightly moved upwards. The young man looked behind him then opened the chest, his heart beating fast.

He was utterly disappointed. It only contained more documents. Kenji had secretly been expecting gold coins, like in those foreign stories about pirates he had heard. He shuffled the contents around with no great interest and was about to close the lid when he saw something that caught his eyes: a picture. But not any picture. Even in the dimly lit souko, Kenji could tell that the person on the picture had fiery red hair. He stood up and walked closer to the only beam of sunshine that lit the souko through a high window.

The person on the picture looked just like his father. Yet, he could tell that it wasn't him. He had never seen Kenshin sport such a high ponytail plus the eyes were different. Softer and filled with joy. He looked closer and discovered that although she was wearing men's clothes the person was a woman. Trembling and unable to understand what this was all about, he flipped the pictured to see if there was an inscription on the back. Luckily there was.

To Mr Himura.

Thank you for visiting us today. It was a real pleasure to meet you. Do not be sad for you will always be in our hearts.

Ai

18th year of Meiji

Kenji was confused. Who was this Ai? A distant relative? No, it was impossible, for they had just met. Then who? Hoping to find more, Kenji started to empty the chest systematically. He found three more pictures. One was of another Japanese woman dressed in foreign clothes. She was about the same age as his father, judging by the date on the back of the picture. She looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite say why. The last picture was a whole lot older than the previous ones. It was pasted on a thick yellowed paper and appeared to have been ripped in half in the middle at one point. Two little kids were portrayed in what appeared to be shichigosan kimonos. The boy and the girl's resemblance was striking. Twins. Kenji picked up the first picture again. The tall woman and the little girl were indubitably the same person however there seemed to be something different. He couldn't quite say what. He scrutinized it closely but in the dark of the souko, it was hard to tell. Without even thinking about what he was about to do, he put back on his yukata and walked outside pictures in hand.

As soon as he stepped outside the heat hit him like a ton of bricks. He was about to turn heels and go back inside the souko when the person her had been avoiding spotted him.

"Kenji!"

Yahiko waved. The boy was tempted to pretend he hadn't heard him but decided not to. He was, after all, the man of the family now. He went down the three wooden steps that led to the souko and crossed the courtyard. Yahiko was but a shadow of what he had once been. He had lost so much weight that he seemed to be wearing clothes of a person twice his size. There were deep circles under his eyes and he always appeared to be on the verge of tears. Regardless, he kept trying to cheer everyone up and had an annoying fake smile plastered to his face. He had liked him better when he had spent his time crying and vomiting on the ship.

"Kenji, this just arrived."

He handed him a letter. It was stamped with the seal of the police department.

"I thought it was another letter of condolences so I opened it. I'm sorry."

Kenji unfolded the thick paper and read the succinct message.

Himura Kenji,

Come to the Asakusa police station. I have something of your father's to give you.

Fujita Goro

Kenji was astonished that the rudeness of the message. It was written in casual language and followed none of the established rules. Who was this man and what made him think he could address him in such a manner.

"The cheek of this man! If that Fujita believes I can be summoned like a manservant, he's wrong!"

Before Yahiko had time to respond Kenji's exclamation a low voice coming from behind them said:

"Baka. When this man calls, you go. Even your father knew that."

Kenji turned around to find himself face to face with that tall man called Sanosuke. Apparently, he'd met him in the past but couldn't remember. Even with his beard shaved and his hair trimmed he still looked like the scum he most likely was. That he had been his father's closest friend only made him worse in the young man's eyes. He glared at him.

"And what makes you think you can eavesdrop on private conversation."

A gleam of anger glowed in the man's eyes for a short moment before he shook his head and just started chuckling.

"You may look like him but on the inside you're just like your mother!"

Yahiko couldn't help but smile, for real for once. This only contributed to anger the Kenji furthermore. Seeing that, he put his hand on his arm.

"Kenji. Fujita Goro is Saito Hajime's rehabilitated name. He was one of the Shinsengumi Captains that…"

Before Yahiko could finish his sentence, Sanosuke cover his mouth with his huge hand.

"That knew your father. Now if I were you I would go. He's the man that came to Kenshin's funeral after you turned everything upside down."

Kenji felt a chill running up his back.

What did the wolf want with him?