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Irresistible	By : kamorgana Category: Rurouni Kenshin > General Views: 5018 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Disclaimer: Standards disclaimers apply. The RK characters belong to Watsuki, but the plot, ideas, text and OCs are *mine*.
Irresistible
Chapter 11: The court�s traitor

Saitoh could hear the protests and angry shouts coming from Matsudaira�s conference room, as he was striding on the engawa of the right aisle. The sun was setting, it had been two hours since the discovery of the crime, and the residence was in effervescence. It had not taken long for the vassals to prepare an official request to Matsudaira for them to leave immediately Kyoto, and he knew that Takagi was now trying to prevent them from making one to Edo, to protest that their Daimyo was unable to assume their safety and their families�.
He saw Nagakura coming back from the maids� quarter, accompanied by Matsudaira Michiko. He nodded to them, lighting a cigarette, waiting for the result of their investigations. The servants had behaved like chickens after a fox had raided the courtyard: even those who hadn�t been witness of the grim view had run through the building and gardens, hysterical. The governess had put an end to it rapidly, and Matsudaira had asked her to assist Nagakura in the interrogations in order to prevent any other outpouring.
�Any lead, Nagakura-kun?� he asked after bowing politely to Michiko. She was calm and efficient, and he liked this attitude.
�Unfortunately, they saw nothing. Most of the maids were busy with storing the supplies for the week received yesterday; and as most of the ladies were taking a nap, the others were having tea in the kitchen.�
�Torimi-san had ordered to her maids to leave her alone while she bathed. She had asked them to come back after an hour. It was a habit,� Michiko added, guessing the next question. �She was�well, I can say that she didn�t have lots of patience. She liked company, but not her maids�.�
Saitoh lifted a brow, definitely appreciative or her sensibility. �I have interrogated some of your pupils�yet Kawashita Kana is so shocked that she is merely hurling. May I��
Michiko looked concerned. �I will try to calm her down. She was extremely close to Torimi-san, and she is very�impressionable. I will be back in a few minutes.�
The two Shinsengumi looked at the departing woman.
�Luckily, somebody here doesn�t lose her mind,� Saitoh remarked. �The Kawashita girl has completely lost it, as about everybody here.�
�Have you got any result with the other ladies?�
�Fujiki Sarina saw her leaving for the bathhouse one hour before she was found, and Terada confirms. He also saw the maids coming back. All of you are sure that no girl has left the right aisle.�
�I was�discussing on the engawa with Kojima-san and stayed with her all the time, and so did Takagi-san since she was back from the compound. She only left twice, to prepare some tea and she was with her maid�her name is Yuka, I think.�
�Yes, and we know that the girl was dead before she went the second time. Considering the spreading of the blood, she must have been attacked just after entering the bathhouse. I would suspect her maids, but the blood on their kimonos was fresh, and with the time that Terada gave me, they didn�t have time to change clothes. I have another one that I want to clear: Matsumori Aiko came back after the time of the death, you said? Kojima Miyu confirmed that it was almost one hour before I arrived��
�She was with Michiko-sama during the two hours for which I can�t attest of her presence. And she didn�t change clothes, nor had blood on them. You are still sticking to your theory? They all seem out of suspicion. And this time, the wounds show that the attacker was physically strong. You saw their depth as I did�and Niwada was stronger than Takamura Reiko.�
�An outsider crime is unlikely, and frankly, this isn�t the work of an assassin. The wounds were done by a dagger, not a sword, and the violence�the attacker struck to hurt more than to kill, this was personal. I am sure that the criminal had something against Niwada Torimi�all points at a woman. Maybe our mole has taken advantage of the occasion to solve a personal revenge...�
�Saitoh-kun, you don�t consider all the possibilities. These girls can�t��
�Nagakura-kun, I know how to lead an investigation, and I am considering all the suspects. You are the one who is ignoring them. The way to the bathhouse is hidden for most of it; it could have taken a few seconds uncovered only. I can�t rule out the girls who were in their rooms that easily. As that makes obviously your little lady out, you don�t have to worry,� Saitoh retorted, impatiently. �I have the fathers in mind, too. Fujiki is a good candidate. He leads the contestation, and wouldn�t it be for these idiotic political discussions I would be interrogating him right now. I have thought that father and daughter could be working together.�
�Saitoh-kun, I am not in the mood for being lectured,� warned Nagakura, his voice calm, but the tone deadly.
They glared at each other, yet Matsudaira Michiko coming back avoided that the situation degenerated.
�I�m sorry, but I don�t think that she will be able to answer you immediately. I could gather that she has been in her room all the time. Yet, if you want to hear it from her mouth, I would ask you to wait for tomorrow��
�Yes, I will,� Saitoh said. He doubted that such a weak-minded creature could have the sense of observation, less of deduction, but still he wanted to be sure.
�Is there something else that I can do?�
�In fact, I will need your testimony, Michiko-sama.�
�Of course. I have spent the afternoon in my office, as I do twice a week, doing the accounting of the residence. I usually do it alone, yet when we have many guests, I ask for some of my pupils to help me: Tokio-san, who is administrating the Takagi estate and is efficient, or Torimi-san, who is�was responsible and involved. Aiko-san used to be my third choice, and today, the others being unavailable, I asked her. It was a good idea: I could afford to finish the details alone. I sent her back to the main building after maybe an hour�I was alerted by a servant, my office is too far from the bathhouse, I didn�t hear the screams that she talked about.�
�Thank you. Can you give us the precise time when Matsumori-san left?� Saitoh asked with a detachment that he was far from feeling. He had felt Nagakura tensing yet luckily, his colleague�s expression hadn�t altered either. �I have to verify every detail��
Michiko hesitated a second.
�Precise? Oh, I�m afraid that I can�t be. To be completely honest, I *think* that it was an hour, but it could have been later. Accounting asks for concentration, and I have a tendency to lose track of time�but the other testimonies can give you what you need to know, I hope.�
She lied. This woman was too organized, and certainly she knew very well how she employed every single minute of her time. Matsumori Aiko had left her one hour before she had said. That had left her time enough�
He needed to think of it. Two different versions meant two possibilities. The governess was lying�but she was too intelligent to be so bad at it. Matsumori had seemed sincere�yet, again, if the criminal was one of the ladies, it had to be a conniving actress.
�Thank you very much, Michiko-sama,� he said, bowing.
She opened her mouth, closed it, and had a furious expression, looking at something over his shoulder.
�Tokio-san, what are you doing outside? You were told not to move.�
The little witch had stepped out of her room, followed by her maid. Saitoh�s previous exasperation flared. He had had enough of her insubordination, too.
�I wanted to get some food. It is late and we all ate early. Aiko-san is weak, so is Miyu-san, they need a meal or they will faint. I would have called the residence�s maids, but I need your authorization for this, Michiko-san, and you were nowhere to be found,� Tokio answered, bowing but with that nerve-cringing, superior suaveness.
�Tokio-san, this is��
�Tokio!!! Tokio, come here!!! Oh, please!!! No!!!�
Nagakura was the first to react, rushing to Kojima Miyu�s room from where came the desperate screams, and was followed a second later by Saitoh and Michiko.
The girl was standing on the threshold of her room, and the heavy shoji separating it from Matsumori Aiko�s had been slid aside. The shoji on the other side opened, leading way to Tokio and her maid, who fainted as she took the scene in.
Aiko was crouched on the tatami, whimpering in pain, and had started vomiting blood. Tokio ran to her, taking her in her arms.
�I�m calling Mitsuki-sensei,� Michiko said, hurrying out of the room in search of the court�s doctor.
Saitoh heard her calling outside in a dry and imperative voice, before he could tell her not to bother. This was no disease. His eyes crossed Nagakura�s, and he nodded towards a discarded cup of tea, whose content was half-spilled on the tatami. The second captain darkened and acquiesced silently. He was holding Miyu by her shoulders, supporting her while she was talking without being able to stop, her eyes widened and her face as pale as the poisoned girl�s.
�I heard that sound, and then moans, and I asked her if she was fine, and she didn�t answer, and I got worried, and I asked again and we were forbidden to meet and I didn�t know what to do and finally I went and�Oh, my God, Aiko�I didn�t know what to do, what can we do?...Tokio, can we do something?�
Tokio was caressing her friend�s hair, trying to soothe her, yet it was already too late and she knew it, Saitoh could see it in her eyes.
Aiko finally managed to utter: �Poi�son�hurt��
�Aiko�just tell me�� Tokio whispered. �Tell me who��
�I �.sorry�I..�
A new seizure made her body arch so violently that she got out of Tokio�s arms, with a last cry of pain and a new gush of blood, shudders raking through her for a minute before she went boneless. Tokio crawled to her, making her turn around: her gaze was blank, her face frozen.
Miyu cried out, buried her head into Nagakura�s chest. Saitoh walked into the other room, knelt next to the two girls and checked for a pulse.
�She�s dead,� Tokio said slowly, her gray eyes incredulous now.
He nodded, and standing up again he went to pick up the tea cup, saving some of the brewage in it, at the moment when Michiko was back with the doctor.
***
One hour after the poisoning, the residence was upside down. Matsudaira had had to confine his Aizu vassals in the conference room under the surveillance of his guards and of Nagakura. The daughters had been locked with their fathers, but more as a security measure. Only Takagi was authorized to leave the room, and Saitoh just saw him hurrying on the left aisle�s engawa to report to his Daimyo.
The third Captain was leaning on the doorframe of Matsumori Aiko�s room, whose cadaver had already been transported towards one of the separated buildings where the bonzes would perform the first death rituals. They had arrived a few minutes before�Matsudaira Michiko had originally called them for Niwada Torimi.
Talking of the governess, she was strolling in the garden, coming towards him. Perfect, he thought, securing the interesting things that the search of the room had revealed into his haori.
�Captain Saitoh, my cousin is requesting your presence. He wants to know if you have a clue or a theory which Takagi-sama could use.�
�In fact, yes, Michiko-sama. I would like to share it with you first�as I think that you can give me some new perspective on what happened.�
She lifted a brow, her face taking a superior and outraged expression. He didn�t flinch, and they confronted each other silently for a while, yet he was surprised that she finally gave up her pretense.
�I think that we should talk about your precise schedule this afternoon,� he stressed, in case she was looking for another way to divert his suspicions.
�I didn�t have the time to prepare a more convincing lie,� she admitted, her eyes not leaving his. �This is how you guessed?�
�You didn�t strike me as being a ditz,� he asserted.
She gave him a disabused, bitter smile, her features losing some of their hardness, her eyes resentfully appreciative. �I can return the compliment, Captain.�
�She left at the first time that you indicated.�
�Yes. One hour before what she told you. Would you mind if we sat down? I have run around for the last hours�and that might take some time.�
He extended his hand to help her. He had noticed that politeness and respect were the best way to dispose her well�and she would be hence more prone to talk. Not that it asked him much effort: she knew her limits, another proof of her intelligence, and he liked this.
�What do you want to know?�
�What happened this afternoon would be a good start.�
�All happened as I told you. I told her that she could leave, and got absorbed into the paperwork.�
�Why did you suspect her? I didn�t tell you what she had said to us. It�s hard to believe that a fragile girl could be responsible for such a gruesome murder.�
�It wasn�t hard for you, Captain Saitoh,� she retorted. �When you asked me to precise the time, I feared�just what happened. You see, she told me that she was going to take a bath when she left. It was before the time Torimi-san went, for what the maids told to Captain Nagakura�it was only then that I understood her lie�that I suspected the worst. I know these girls,� she went on, with a penetrated expression, �every single one of them, and better than they think. I know their qualities and their flaws. Torimi-san had a cruel streak in her temper. I tried to control it, by according her importance and a special status, so that she would be satisfied enough by her situation not to find more into bullying her peers. Unfortunately, this wasn�t enough.�
�I have observed her behavior with Aiko-san during the trip.�
�Yes, I supposed that your presence didn�t deter her. I don�t know what happened afterwards�though I suspect that Tokio-san has something to do with it, but Torimi left her alone, except for one or two occasions. I was reassured�Aiko-san wasn�t very balanced.�
�Mental disease?�
�After today, I can�t say. I didn�t think so�I didn�t think that she was a danger, except to herself. She was letting herself die since the death of her fianc�,� Michiko sighed.
�Her fianc�?�
�A ronin, Nogami Yuujiro, they knew each other since their childhood. When his father died, 5 years ago, he went back to his mother�s family in Choshu�though he was coming to Aizu regularly. I met him several times: impressionable, and idealist��
Saitoh pretended to be interested in the tragic love story, only to retain the major information. All fitted perfectly.
�He was a Mito partisan, a Joi. He has been manipulated, and finally last year he participated in the killing of that British diplomat in Nagasaki. He got caught with the other terrorists and my cousin, following the rules edited by Tokugawa-sama, ordered that he committed seppuku. Aiko-san didn�t stand it, and she ended up in the state that you know.�
�She lost her mind. But do you have any idea of why she would have gone as far as killing so savagely? You saw the body��
�She changed of behavior, since yesterday. She had morbid ideas, she wanted to die�and all of a sudden, she seemed to embrace life. I think that Reiko-san�s death was the cause. They were friends, and losing another person close to her was too much for her sanity.�
�You think that she met Torimi-san in the bathhouse and that her mind snapped?�
�Torimi was using her wedding to bully Aiko-san...�
Saitoh nodded. �This is a likely trigger.�
�I surprised Torimi insulting her the day after the Ikedaya, and she dared her to report to Tokio-san, which is why I suspect her involvement. Torimi was deprived of this satisfaction most of the time then, but when she could meet Aiko alone��
�I can see it happening. Yes, this is a likely explanation.�
�An impulsive gesture�then, she realized what she did, and�Honestly, I didn�t think that she had the courage to kill herself, when she talked about it. But I was very wrong,� Michiko let out, a slight bitterness in her voice.
�She surely had the intention to, as she had already gotten the poison. Thank you, Michiko-sama; you helped me to see things more clearly.�
He helped her to her feet, and added: �Nevertheless, there is something that still puzzles me.�
The governess arched a brow, looking at loss.
�Why did you protect her? You made me the impression to take your duty seriously.�
�My duty is my life, Captain Saitoh,� she retorted, dryly. Yet, the severe look in the sharp brown eyes clouded when she went on: �I am responsible for these girls. My duty is to lead them on the right path, whether they like it or not. I wasn�t sure that she had done it. I hoped that she could give me an explanation later. I am supposed to protect them from harm, but also from going the wrong way. If I had had the certainty that Aiko-san had committed this murder, I pray you to believe that I would have denounced her without hesitations, whatever it cost me.�
They had exited the room and were walking through the garden. Saitoh gazed intently at the fierce expression on Michiko�s face. Yes, definitely, she was a woman of order and duty. Understanding passed between them, and Michiko�s severe mask achieved to fall. She took a melancholic tone.
�It�s for the best that she chose this way. Some people are weak by nature, and though their weaknesses mustn�t be indulged and won�t be under my guidance, I understand them. I understand that Aiko-san wasn�t strong enough to survive her loss, which is why I wasn�t pushing her as I did with Miyu-san, who has a strong backbone. The same way I understand that Torimi-san�s attitude came from her lack of pity, which wasn�t really her fault. The same way I understand that Tokio-san, despite her rebel temper, is in need of someone to rely on.�
�You are very understanding, indeed,� he couldn�t help to say. So, she had some feelings behind her uptight attitude. She had a vision of education rather close to his. He did the same with his underlings: he didn�t care to be liked, but to have them accomplish their duty and stay alive. The difference being that he didn�t like most of them, when she seemed to care for her pupils more deeply than she showed.
�I guess that she was a handful, during the trip. I can�t say that I dislike her, though she has a gift to infuriate me. But she is assuming all the responsibilities at the Takagi estate, was in charge of the education of her brother until this year, and she couldn�t mourn correctly.�
�Her mother? I heard people talking about her, during the party,� he remarked. He could still employ these few minutes of walking to start some information gathering, since she had chosen that subject.
�And her sister. A horrible, horrible horse accident, one year and�oh, almost two years ago.�
She stayed silent a minute, seeming herself troubled, before shaking energetically her head. �I don�t know what happened to me. Accept my apologies for this personal talk.�
They had arrived in front of the study, and she had said the words stiffly, having retrieved her dignified and haughty composure. Indeed, also she had been affected by the death of her pupils. She wasn�t a woman of emotions, and was now ashamed of her lack of restraint. He had to spare her pride: she had been useful this time, and the conspiracies not lacking at the court, she might be in the future. Better not to make an enemy out of her.
�Thank you for your help. Goodnight, Michiko-sama.�
He bowed, respectfully, and it was he good tactics: he could sense her relief when she gave him a little nod, before leaving.
***
The atmosphere of Matsudaira�s study was more than heavy, the candle lights numbing the room into a gloomy light. A sake decanter was on the table, and the two men were drinking when Saitoh arrived.
�This is a disaster, Saitoh-kun,� announced somberly Takagi, pushing a cup towards him. Saitoh declined politely. �They want to withdraw their support to Matsudaira-sama. Do you have any idea of the perpetrator?�
�Matsumori Aiko,� he said simply.
Even the Daimyo lost his composure. �Are you serious?�
�Very. I have a mobile, an opportunity, and I can prove it.�
�Go ahead, Saitoh-kun.�
He gave them the results of her confrontation with Michiko. The news didn�t please Takagi: he was incredulous.
�I can hardly believe it. She didn�t have a mean bone in her body. Was she that despaired��
�Unfortunately, this doesn�t explain Reiko-san�s murder and doesn�t help our cause,� Matsudaira mused.
Saitoh smirked. �Oh, yes, it explains it. Michiko-sama�s testimony is only the visible part of the facts�considering that she ignores a certain number of details. Like this��
He took out of his haori a diary and a letter, placing them on the table.
�The diary was easy of access, but the letter was hidden in the folders of one of her obis. I can recognize a certain number of signs as a Choshu code, though the others are foreign to me. The same code as on the killing order list that I found on the attackers, during our trip��
This one made Matsudaira drop his cup.
�I would then say that we have our Choshu mole�and that she has already disposed of herself,� he finished, nonchalantly. He could have an ego trip once in a while, after all.
�Nogami Yuujiro?� asked Takagi, his disbelief fading, his mind working fast.
Saitoh nodded. That made two intelligent persons he had spoken to that night, what a welcomed change. �Her diary is full of him, of her wish to die�and of blaming you, Mastudaira-sama. I think that it wouldn�t have been too difficult for his friends from Choshu to take contact with her, and to convince her to be part of their plan.�
�She would have been manipulated?�
�I would agree with your cousin, Mastudaira-sama. She had lost her mind. Niwada Torimi�s murder was the work of a loony. She has been quasi-lacerated. This kind of hate is easily exploitable�and I also agree that she lost it after Takamura Reiko�s death. Only, I think that it�s killing her friend which made her snap��
He lit a cigarette. �She might have faked her state, looking weak and exhausted. A good cover. She didn�t go to the temple with the others�but it takes no more than half an hour to walk there from the backyard of the residence. And she spent that morning supposedly sick in her room, alone...If I add that the murder of Takamura Reiko could have been committed by a woman and that no particular strength was needed��
�And you think that she committed suicide out of remorse, after this?�
�No, Takagi-sama. I think that she realized that she would be caught, time for me to talk with Michiko-sama. I am quite sure that they intended to keep the murders out of the court: she would have had many occasions to strike, otherwise. She hated Niwada Torimi, for personal reasons, and after having killed once, she couldn�t resist her impulses. The girls were locked in their rooms, alone and with interdiction to talk to one another. That gave her time to reflect on what she had done and to feel trapped. It�s a trick that we use with our own prisoners, isolating them to weaken their determination��
�That could be,� Takagi sighed. �We have to verify if nobody has seen her yesterday morning, during the visit of the others at the temple. Then we can be sure.�
�Yes, though I doubt that the result will surprise us. Her last words, in answer to your daughter asking her who had poisoned her, were �I�sorry�. Eloquent.�
�I will order immediately an interrogation of the servants, and�What is this chaos again?�
Saitoh turned around, the shouts coming from outside getting clearer, the sounds of geta hitting the wooden floor indicating a frantic run.
�Saitoh-sama!!!�
The shoji was shoved open and Nagakura�s underling, Ikeda, out of breath and sweating, stormed in.
�Saitoh-sama! The rebels are attacking in Shijo, Sanjo, and Gion!! Harada and Okita�s units are overwhelmed, Kondo-sama needs everybody!�
***
The streets were now deserted, except for a few civilian units, trying to stop the last remains of the fires. Saitoh looked around, at the numerous corpses abandoned on the ground, gritting his teeth each time when he noticed a Shisengumi haori. They had undergone severe damages. Harada�s unit, the first to have been attacked, had been almost decimated, as well as Todo�s. Okita had fared better, but according to the survivors he had had the good idea to retreat immediately to the riverside on Sanjo bridge, preventing the rebels from surprising them by getting out of civilians houses, strategy of the enemy which had cost the lives of many of their soldiers.
Saitoh had been sent to Shijo, his unit having been guarding the bridge, and they had been able to prevent its destruction. He had lost 7 men, though. Looking on the other side of the river, he saw the file of the prisoners, guarded by what he knew being Nagakura�s unit. They were all teahouse and gamble places owners who were suspected of having opened their doors to the rebels. The inhabitants of Sanjo and Shijo�s houses had been murdered by the Satsuma groups. Nagakura had recognized several of their dead opponents, and seven out of nine prisoners were some whom he had suspected of association with the rebels for a long time.
Where did they find all these men? Saitoh thought, bitterly. Satsuma yearned for money: their Daimyo, who changed sides every two months, was currently on the Bakufu side. All the Captains and a few soldiers had identified several known thugs amongst their opponents. They didn�t work for free or out of ideal. They had certainly been greatly paid, to attack the Shinsengumi so soon after Ikedaya.
Nagakura would be in charge of finding the responsible rebel cell, because he was familiar with Satsuma. Luckily, with the mole at the court uncovered, Matsudaira would have his damn declaration signed soon, the vassals would go back to Aizu, and Saitoh could focus on finding the traitor in the Shinsengumi. He still had the loose ends to tie, though. And especially�
�Saitoh-kun?�
Kondo was standing behind him. His haori was covered in blood and his face in ashes. He was holding a paper and nodded towards a horseman, who was galloping away already.
�Matsusaira-sama just sent me this message, with the result of your investigation. He has the confirmation that you wanted: no one saw Matsumori Aiko yesterday, I should say, the day before yesterday�s morning.�
With a sigh, his superior looked up at the moon high in the night�s sky, before going on.
�Hard day for all of us. But we got the better out of it. We prevented them from destroying the bridges�I told the messenger that I would send somebody to report to Matsudaira-sama.�
�I will. I still have something to pick up there.�
***
The room was dark and silent and death was still fresh, lingering around, like it had in the devastated streets of the city. The moonlight was filtering trough the exterior shoji, showing the figure of the Daimyo�s guard posted on the engawa. There was one in front of each room there. Saitoh�s eyes got accustomed to the feeble light and he could distinguish the dark and drying blood stains on the tatami.
He went to the box where he had secured the cup still containing the few of the tea that hadn�t been spilled, and he kneeled to get it. The imperceptible noise of a shoji sliding made him tense, but realizing from where it was coming, he pretended not to notice.
He heard the intake of breath, the light footsteps�she knew how to be discreet, he had to grant that to her. It was only when she was just behind him that he turned around briskly, seizing the hand holding the dagger.
�Getting in trouble again?� he murmured, exasperated. It was easy to deduce that she had heard noises and had come in to surprise the intruder, which would have been fine if she hadn�t been unable to defend herself. Ladies were supposed to call the guard, although in this particular case, he was relieved that she didn�t.
She had finally the reflex, though. Yet, as she opened her mouth to call, he silenced her by twisting her arm so that the weapon would aim to her throat. He was surprised to see the fear to die in her eyes: she had seen him fighting; she should know that she would be already dead if he had seen any serious in his intention.
�Quiet.�
The last thing that he wanted now was another scandal. He had had a long, exhausting day. He had come to get the cup back: he had no other lead to the Shisengumi traitor. He was still convinced that the two had worked together, and the girls� suicide prevented that he could interrogate her; probably another reason why she had suppressed her life. The poison had been gotten from somewhere and there was a chance that somebody had given it to her. It was a trace to her accomplices. This is why he had asked to be to one to report to Matsudaira, but all that he wanted now was to go back to the compound, have a long bath and recuperative sleep, since he had other things to do than ikebana to get his days busy, unlike the little idiot in front of him. And if she screamed or attracted attention, a rapid and calm return to Mibu wouldn�t be a perspective anymore.
She had stilled, so he released the pressure a bit, allowing her to drop the weapon. �Go back to your room. I have no time to play.�
�How dared you�� Tokio hissed. �How dared you accuse Aiko, you, unspeakable��
And he had no time to let her throwing a tantrum either.
�Your friend was guilty. The only choice in the matter is between cold-blooded killer and loony.�
�You don�t know her, she is unable��
�Was. She�s dead,� he stressed. People blinded by their feelings had always gotten on his nerves. �And that�s for the best, because you next bath might have been as interesting as you little friend�s.�
The gray eyes shone with hate. �You are incapable to find the real culprit, that�s so easy to frame an innocent�Oh, they�re very satisfied with you now, you reached your goal, but that won�t last...�
He tried not to lose his calm under the offense. He didn�t care about the delusions of a little girl. He grinned smugly instead. He had noticed that she couldn�t stand it.
�We�ll see,� he let out with a superior tone, letting go of her.
She seemed about to explode, yet to his surprise, she didn�t. She stared at him for a while, her anger vanishing tangibly. She finally sweet smiled at him, her gray eyes mocking now, and she murmured softly:
�You�re right, Saitoh-*sama*. I shouldn�t wait for too long to see the fall of a bastard without honor.�
Saitoh stilled under the insult, doubting of his ears, before cold furor waved through him. She would pay for this one.
To be continued�
Once again, the relations between vassals and lords and the social background are in the realm of the possible, deducted from general readings and watching historical series or movies, yet they are not absolutely accurate. My field of research is not the Edo society, so I would advice to people wanting to write about it to take what is portrayed here with a big grain of salt, and to do their own research if they want to assure the correctness of the background.
Next chapter: Tokio went too far and Saitoh goes even farther�should I mention here a slight change in the rating? And the hunt for traitor isn�t over.
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Irresistible