Chapter 20

A life borrowed

The sky continued to pour its lazy grey drizzle on the Yorkshire countryside for another week. This allowed Kenji and Sanosuke to get used to life on the estate. Under the guidance of the children, the newcomers were shown every interesting corners of the mansion – including Icarus and Kenneth's favourite spot: the closet where mice pooped. Kenji soon discovered that the great hall was the perfect place to practice kenjutsu indoors and Sanosuke had soon befriended everyone downstairs, despite barely being able to exchange a full sentence with them. Emily proved to be a much more reserved girl than expected and soon turned into Kenji's quiet companion whenever she was done with her tutoring. She shadowed him as he practiced (instinctively, he made sure that she only witnessed his mother's style,) and they took long walks in the mansion during which she asked him everything about his life in Japan and her grandfather. He found himself redacting and embellishing his answers, the irony of which did not escape him. As for the boys, they seemed to prefer the rambunctious company of Sanosuke and chased the tall man across the house to the despair of their nanny.

After a few nights he spent in Yumiko's house, the woman requested that Kenji's trunk be moved to her residence. It was obvious that the young man, just like his father before him, had a marked preference for traditional Japanese everything. She enjoyed his company as he reminder her both of Kenshin and of Hikaru, or at least, of what her son could have grown up to be. Sanosuke remained in the mansion, taking to this rich foreign life quite with ease, now rarely wearing his Japanese clothes. Ai and Fersen went about the business of the house, spending most of their evenings in their own spaces, she in the drawing room with her lady's maid, and the children for a while, and him in the library in the company of Sanosuke. Cigars and scotch became their little routine. Kenji took turns spending time with them all but inevitably gravitated towards Yumiko's house, with whom he could spend quiet evenings.

On one such night, the rain having finally ceased and the moon peeking through the clouds, Yumiko opened the shoji and they both sat on the engawa, wrapping themselves in thick woolen blankets. By the irori, Emily had fallen asleep in Kenji's futon, he little hands clutching a ragged doll to her chest.

"I wish I'd known about the children. We could have brought them presents," said Kenji.

He took a sip of tea. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the beverage irradiating through his body.

"They have more than anyone could ever want or need. Your presence is the best gift," Yumiko replied.

He stared in the distance. He thought he saw lights over the hill. A farmer's homestead maybe? He would have to explore the grounds when the sun finally showed up. He sighed with contentment. This was good. Relaxed, he decided to probe Yumiko.

"How long have the children known about me?" he asked.

"Their entire life. We never hid your or your father's existence. However I don't think they truly understood until you finally appeared here. Especially the boys."

"My father…" started Kenji.

She turned to him, patient.

"He knew of them, too. That's why he took money out of the trust fund twice. Once for Emily, and double that amount for Icarus and Kenneth," he said.

Yumiko nodded.

"That's correct. He sent it when they were born. We haven't touched it. Obviously, they don't need it right now. Hopefully they can make good use of it when they get older," she said with a quick glance to her granddaughter.

"He left Ai some money as well," added Kenji.

"Yes. I figured he would. To be transferred with your agreement, I suppose?"

Kenji gave her a small account of his encounter with Kenshin's lawyer.

"I agree completely to the transfer. Even without meeting her, I would have agreed. I have all the paperwork with me," he ended.

He made to get up to fetch it but she put her hand on his arm.

"We can deal with this later. The night is too beautiful to talk about money."

He settled back down. She looked at him for a moment and smiled.

"I'm sure you have many questions. You've been very polite so far, not asking anyone about your father. Why don't I tell you about him? We both know this the real reason you came halfway across the earth. Or, at least, I know this is one of the reasons why I wanted to see you in person."

Kenji took a sip of tea. His hand trembled. He swallowed hard.

"Didn't he ask you to keep all of this secret?" he asked.

She leaned back and looked at the sky.

"I don't think he thought we would ever meet. And if he did, he knew better than tell me what to do or not to do."

She winked at him.

His body tensed. His heart beat faster. She patted his hand.

"Don't look so worried. I doubt I'll give you anything to give another fever," she gave him a sly smile.

He laughed nervously.

"Before we start however, let me just sit back against the wall. My leg doesn't like this change in temperature."

She shifted and leaned against the house, legs outstretched in front of her. He had noticed that she never sat in seiza for very long. She rearranged her blanket.

"There. Now come and put your head on my lap."

He stared at her. What?

"Come on, don't look at me like that. You've seen the kids do it. It's the perfect storytime setup."

Storytime…? He stared at her, unsure. She was dead serious. He hadn't lain in his mother's lap (or anyone else's for that matter) in years. He hesitated for a moment then shrugged; there was no harm in in. He settled his head on her leg and covered himself with the blanket with her help.

"There were are."

Feeling awkward, he closed his eyes.

"What I know, I know because your father told me. As to how I came to know I will get to that later."

She cleared her throat.

"Your father was born in a small farming village outside Kyoto. He couldn't remember the name and chances are it doesn't exist anymore. Those years were rough for farmers. While the important folks were busy quarrelling, criminals flourished. People never knew when bands of bandits or slavers might drop by and kill, rape, and pillage everything in sight. For Kenshin, however, famine and typhus were the deciding factors. Your grandparents died in an epidemic that followed a very bad harvest, or so he assumed. Because he had no relatives, your father was entrusted to the village chief. Chances are that man was in no better position. Whether he did it for selfish reasons, or whether he did it to save his own family, we'll never know, but your father was sold to slavers."

As she spoke, her right hand found his head and she started to stroke it distractedly. He flinched then relaxed. Her hands were warm and soft.

"I was also sold during this same period. Except my parents didn't die; they simply just had too many mouths to feed. My okiya purchased me when I was five. They also took one of my older sisters, Mayuko. She was a real beauty. Sadly, she ran away three years in her training, presumably with some young rich noble who made himself believe he was in love. I don't know where she ended up. Shimabara is my guess, but I never really looked for her; I knew it was futile. But I digress…"

He opened his eyes. Yumiko stared ahead, lost in memories. She sighed softly.

"So off your father went with the slavers. He was by far the youngest of the group. Some girls took pity and cared for him. He had very fond memories of them. Sadly, they were attacked by a band of bandits the very next day and they were all killed. Had it not been for your Shisho chancing upon the scene, neither of us would be here tonight."

She paused. Kenji shivered at the thought that his very existence had held in the balance years before he had even been born.

"Seijuro told your father to go to a temple nearby to seek help. He thought that would be the end of it. After all, there were many an orphan roaming the roads during the Bakumatsu. But your father had a kind soul, and so when Seijuro came by again the next day, Kenshin had dug graves for all the deceased, friends and foes. That made a great impression on your Shisho. And so he decided to take your father on as a pupil. Kenshin believed he had originally intended to let the style die out with him, which did nothing to alleviate your father's conscience. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Which makes me think; I keep calling him Kenshin, but your father was born Himura Shinta. Seijuro is the one who changed his name."

Kenji opened his eyes. Shinta.

"My mother called me Shinta the day before she died," he blurted out.

Yumiko nodded.

"From what I understand, Kamiya-san wanted to name you after him. But Kenshin refused. He told me your mother got very upset. I don't think she could understand the suffering associated with that name."

She took her cup with her free hand and sipped some tea. Kenji's mind raced. He had known absolutely nothing about this. In all honesty, he had never even bothered thinking about his dad's past before the war. He had been completely obsessed by his father's role within the Ishin Shishi. This was awful, yes, but it still didn't explain anything or justify the way his father had refused to tell him anything. At the same time, another part of his brain tugged at him, trying to imagine a life as someone called Shinta. He couldn't; it felt too weak.

"So your father learned Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu for ten years or so. He told me that at first, it was simply Hell. He was in constant pain and his body ached in ways he hadn't thought possible. But it was all he had. In his short life, he had seen enough of the horrors of the world to know that he would not survive on his own. So he kept going. He took the blows until he fainted, he practiced until he bled, he attacked until he collapsed. And it wasn't all bad. Seijuro isn't a cruel man. He cared for his pupil like a father for his son, albeit with tough love. And for a while, this was all Kenshin needed. But as he grew up, the world shrunk. News of the suffering outside his safe haven eventually reached him. Naive and with that good heart of his, he simply couldn't let people die when he knew he could do something about it. Or thought he could. I think Seijuro didn't realise that already, his pupil had a sense that he had a debt to pay back. From an early age, your father told me he felt like he lived on borrowed time, a feeling he would carry long after the end of the war..."

Kenji remembered his first sessions with Seijuro. He had had to prove himself to the man. He had attacked at him until he had been near collapse. Just like your father. No. Better. Is what his Shisho had said with a smirk. But things had been different for the young man. He had already had the agility of a skilled kenkaku by then, thanks to his mother's style. He tried to imagine a child, like Kenneth or Icarus, starting with no knowledge of the sword. It would have been grueling indeed.

"Unable to convince Seijuro of the importance of this mission, Kenshin ran away. He must have heard of one of those meets where the Ishin recruited abled bodied men for different tasks because that is where he headed. Your father stood out immediately with his superior fighting skills. He joined the kiheitai and was soon noticed by Katsura Kogoro who immediately plucked him from the ranks of the volunteer army to work for him directly."

Despite being new, this information made so much sense that it didn't come as a surprise. He knew of his father's constant yearning to save the world. It was one of the things Kenji hated the most about him. It also made sense because he knew first hand, despite never having killed, that anyone with a knowledge Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu would be a deadly weapon. The Ishin must have thought they had been blessed by the gods.

"Was he a bodyguard to Katsura?" asked Kenji.

She shook her head and looked down at him.

"That would have been a waste of his talents. No, your father was hired for something much more important. He became the youngest assassins of the Ishin. Your father became the Hitokiri Battosai."

NOTE

Skip to 4th paragraph for tl:dr

Until the end of WWII (and for a short period after, to alleviate the fear that the GI would rape Japanese women – a well used wartime Japanese propaganda trope,) prostitution was legal and state run in Japan. This system started under the Tokugawa's highly bureaucratic government who saw an opportunity to monetise a practice that would happen whether it was state sanctioned or not.

Shimabara was the designated red light district of Kyoto. Any prostitution deals done outside its walls were punishable by law. Geisha would have worked alongside prostitutes but their profession was strictly regulated to avoid competition, which explains why sex was not their main service. The division of labour was so strict that by the end of the Edo period, most prostitutes had no artistic knowledge to speak of.

The Tokyo equivalent of Shimabara was called Yoshiwara (Shin-Yoshiwara, to be exact, as the Moto-Yoshiwara burnt down.) If Yoshiwara has completely disappeared, it is still possible to visit Sumiya, one of the rare Edo period secular building still standing in Kyoto. Of interest to the story at hand, it was a very popular meet up location for the Shinsengumi, until they eventually got banned for running high bills and trashing the place.

All this to say that Yumiko believes her sister ended up as a prostitute, which would have been a common fate for a young female runaway; it is likely that neither her parents or her okiya would have taken her back. That being said, she would have been lucky to end up in the "system." Unlicensed prostitution would have been a much worse fate.

(Please forgive the long note, the Japanese floating world was my field of study in university. I tend to geek out hard about it.)