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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
- 12
- 13
- 14
Disclaimer: standard disclaimers apply. RK belongs to Watsuki but the plot, ideasm OCs and test are *mine*.
Irresistible
Chapter 13: Targets

�My old friend, we are in deep trouble,� Takagi finished, his agreeable voice filled with pessimism, his stare fixed on the message that he had just received from Matsudaira.
He had barely touched the meal that Hatsue had brought in Kondo�s office.
�Do the others know about it?� Kondo asked. His brows were furrowed and his gaze somber.
�They don�t know why�but the Tokugawa�s messenger wasn�t actually discreet. The servants will talk. And we can�t lie on this one.�
�It was a warning, Kojuuro. Bothering, I grant you this, alarming if you want�but Katamori hasn�t been stripped off his charge of protector of Kyoto yet.�
�Nevertheless, it�s an official mark that he is in disgrace. Nobody wanted to assume the responsibility, but the honors were a researched prize. His enemies at the court want to see his fall�and you know why some Tokugawa aren�t prone to support him too warmly.�
Takagi�s fists had tightened.
�The Shogun trusts him and knows his worth. That is a lot.�
�Not enough. The counselors have more and more influence�See their ridiculous idea of blaming the openings of our ports to the foreigners on the Emperor. It was a stupid idea, which expectedly backfired, and yet he went with them. Katamori doesn�t have many allies��
�Kojuuro, we crushed Choshu in one night. We will stop these attacks from Satsuma. This is what the Shogun wants, and if he gets this, Kamatori�s detractors will just have to shut up. Nagakura is on their tracks. As for your colleagues, the absence of any incident has convinced them that the traitor has been discovered.�
�This is why any disapproval from Edo is likely to ruin the effect of my diplomacy. Kojima is agreeing again�but Matsumori has joined the reluctant party. He refuses to believe that his daughter was a traitor, in spite of the evidences. Fujiki is now openly against the idea, and he might use it as an argumentation, pretending to agree with him�and if something were to happen��
Kondo stared at his old friend, trying to figure out his undertone, to finally ask. �Is that why you insist that Tokio comes with you? Do you think that he might try something against her, to prove his point and create doubts about the traitor�s identity?�
Takagi nodded silently. �I might be wrong. I�m not sure that he�d go as far as this. But this is a risk that I�m not willing to take.�
�Here she comes,� Kondo remarked, looking outside. �Is she still upset?�
�Yes. She doesn�t believe in Aiko�s guiltiness either�though she says nothing about it anymore.�
�This is why, though I think that it�s dangerous to let her leave the residence, I believe that you are right to keep a close eye on her. It�s better that she doesn�t get involved into this�you know her.�
�Yes, here at least I am sure that she isn�t risking her life by searching into dangerous matters. I think that it�s better, until she accepts the truth.�
Kondo didn�t answer, his gaze eloquently conveying his opinion. Tokio had never accepted anything, and they both knew it. He scrutinized the face of his friend.
�Kojuuro, did you have any sleep lately?�
Takagi answered with a disabused smile. �No more than you did, surely.�
�I don�t have to spend my energy and time playing political mind games�and keeping my doubts for myself.�
�That would explain my pitiful show of pessimism?�
�I didn�t say �pitiful�.�
�Don�t worry: I indeed keep my uncertainties locked. That would be too damageable for our cause, if I didn�t seem absolutely sure of myself. It�s the best way to convince them,� he finished rapidly, as Tokio entered the office, and he announced: �It is time for us to go back to the residence.�
***
Here he was. Okita opened the entrance shoji of the small house in Shijo. He was surprised that it wasn�t spacious. According to what he had gathered, Honda-sensei was a very reputed doctor of Kyoto, and he had expected the clinic to reflect this status. Yet, the place offered nothing that caught the eye, the simple wooden plank near the entrance only indicating the nature of the business.
�Gomen kudasai!� he called, as he penetrated into the deserted lobby.
The shoji on his right slid open, offering to his view the clinic�s room. Mariko-san was finishing treating a young man�s wounds, wrapping bandages around his torso, and�
�Okita-san!�
The little girl had rushed to him, her smile bright but her eyes worried.
�Hello, Misao-chan,� he smiled back, kneeling to be at her level and poking her nose lightly with a finger, earning a delighted laugh. �I hope that you aren�t sick.�
�No, I�m fine,� she shook her head frantically, �but Aoshi-sama has been hurt by the villains the other night��
�Misao.�
Okita lifted his eyes. The young man�s voice was low and serious, very different from the boyish one that the Shinsengumi had expected. He gave a good look at the infamous Aoshi-sama. He was no more than 16, Okita estimated, and guessed that his perfect features were a good reason for a little girl�s infatuation. Nevertheless, there was only a word to describe him: cold. Cold in the immobility of the features, cold in the icy blue eyes, cold in the distant composure�Cold, control, restraint. His calling Misao had been utterly disincarnated, yet there had been a warning into it.
If the boy was a simple cook, Okita was a geisha.
Misao had run back to him as soon as he had called her name.
�This is it, Aoshi-kun,� Mariko said with the calm authority that Okita had already witnessed when she had treated him. �You�ll just have to keep the bandages for two days, and you�ll be fine. Next time, you�ll stay out of trouble, and leave the fight to fighters,� she added, deadpan.
The quip sent Misao on the verge of explosion. �He defended the Aoiya !! And��
�I�ll keep this in mind, Mariko-san,� Aoshi cut off calmly, standing up and closing his haori. He winced at the move.
�Aoshi-sama! Are you all right?�
The little girl had forgotten her anger to tug on the young man�s hakama, like a little overexcited bug. �Aoshi-sama, are you all right? Mariko-chan, are you sure that he�s all right?�
�I�m fine, Misao-chan,� Aoshi reassured, lifting the girl in his arms.
�Hello, Okita-sama,� Mariko bowed at the same time, walking towards him after she had placed her devices aside on the desk.
He bowed back, smiling, sure that she wanted to distract his attention. The boy had pretended to wince to shut up the talkative girl; and as Okita gave them a rapid glance, he caught a warmer, yet slightly guilty light in the otherwise cold gaze.
�I had a favor to ask you,� Okita went on, �yet if you are busy��
�Thank you, Mariko-san. Say goodbye, Misao, we�re leaving.�
Aoshi had gone out of the examination room, Misao still in his arms. He bowed to Okita, their eyes meeting briefly.
�Bye!� the girl said cheerfully before she noticed the exchange. �He�s Mariko-chan�s lover, I think��
She had taken a conspiratorial tone, talking into his ear, yet she had been loud enough for everybody to hear. Okita bolted and Mariko sighed, shaking her head.
�Is he, Misao-chan?� Aoshi answered, unmoved, yet Okita would have sworn that he was bemused. �You�ll tell me about it on the way back home�maybe we can stop at that dango place��
He carried her outside while she was squealing happily. Okita�s gaze followed them before he reported it on the young woman. The clinic was empty now, and he was feeling a bit�shy, he realized with puzzlement. That didn�t happen to him in years, and he didn�t know what to say, what was the matter with him?
�You had something to ask me,� Mariko reminded him, sensible as always. �Is it your condition? Did you have fever again?�
�No�No, it�s absolutely different.�
She turned on her heels and he followed her into the examination room, having retrieved his assurance.
�Your friend got wounded during the Ishin attacks?�
�Is that what you came to ask me?�
Her tone was ironic; yet her eyes weren�t, only speculative. His stare hardened slightly.
�No. But I am surprised that a *cook* took part into the fights of these days.�
She sighed. �Aoshi is a cook�he�s also a young man, protective of his friends. When the Ishin tried to get the Aoiya for their attack, 4 days ago, he reacted as one and helped to prevent them from killing everybody there. You saw the result.�
Okita smiled, putting on his boyish mask again. No lie was more believable than when it was close to the truth. The young man was no cook. But he wasn�t an Ishin, considering that Misao had referred to them as �villains�. Maybe he was into some illegal business�though Okita�s intuition told him otherwise. He reminded the man who had been with Mariko in the streets, near Ikedaya. Commercial activity, he was from the Aoiya, surely�and he acted as a link between her and the patients. Old Kyoto was full of neighboring associations, groups of men assuring privately the defense of an area, inheritance of the old tradition of solidarity. Okita knew that some were skilled in the art of fighting. The calm assurance of Mariko told him that she had no weight on her conscience�and also that she wouldn�t answer to further questions. This association had her loyalty, her behavior while Aoshi had been there was telltale.
He saw no advantage in not respecting this, for now at least, and that trend of temper was reassuring for what he wanted to ask�if he could win it. He took the little flask out of his haori.
�You make potions, Mariko-san. Do you know anything about poisons?�
She glanced at the flask, then at him.
�You have to know poisons, to prepare antidotes,� she finally said, noncommittal.
�I already know that this one is no ordinary. I gathered some information about you, and...�
He felt slightly uncomfortable again as she lifted a brow. He didn�t intend to sound menacing neither�neither interested or anything. Nobody had ever made him feel confused, not even Saitoh, yet under the black gaze he was feeling as if he did all wrong.
�Your father is renowned, but many think that your preparations are for much into his efficiency. This is why I wanted to ask you if you could tell me what it is, and possibly, who is likely to have made this one. Now, I see that you know many people��
She lifted the other brow. �I treat many people, indeed,� she mused absently, her eyes on the flask.
�Will you help me, then?� he asked, with a smile that he knew people qualified as charming.
�Do I have the choice? You are a Shinsengumi captain, you can order me to.�
�I wouldn�t menace you,� he protested. Yes, he really did it all wrong.
�Yes, you would. I saw you killing that man,� she reminded him with a joyless smile. �You�d never let anything come between your goal and you�It was written on your face.�
�This is my duty. I protect people. Do you disapprove of it?�
He couldn�t help to ask her. He was curious of her, and of her opinion. She didn�t think much of him, that was obvious, yet he needed to know if it were personal. He wasn�t used to people not liking him and he was ticked off.
�This isn�t a problem of approval.� She had turned away to clean and rearrange the tray which contained some bloody wrappings. �This world will never cease to puzzle me. There are many natural ways to die for a human being, Okita-sama. I am confronted to many of them, and to more new diseases, since the Foreigners� arrival. I can�t understand why men need to add violent death to these instead of considering life as a precious gift�Don�t you wonder to yourself, especially with your condition?�
She was staring at him again. He went still. He had never considered things under this angle. He thought about it for a moment, but he didn�t need much time to find his answer.
�No. Real samurai know the price of a life, because we are familiar with death. But a life can be used for good or for evil�And we make the difference here between the precious and the dangerous. Eliminating the latter is protecting the former.�
She stayed silent for a while too. �I had never thought of this perspective.�
�So both of us had a new insight, today,� he smiled, and more as she genuinely smiled back. He hadn�t answered to her about her allusion to his health, and could see in her eyes that she had realized it. Yet she didn�t push the matter further.
She extended her hand to seize the little flask. �I�ll see what I can do. May you describe the symptoms to me, so that I can have a first idea?�
�You�ll have to be discreet. Just tell me the poison�s name, and if you have any idea of the origin, but don�t try anything by yourself. And I�m afraid that I can�t answer other questions than on the effects of the poison itself.�
�I�ll be discreet. And I never ask questions.�
Her eyes told clearly that she expected the same from him. Still smiling, he nodded.
�We have a deal.�
***
The shack�s floor was covered in blood. Saitoh cleaned his katana, lifting his head as the thundering noise informed him that the last adversary of Nagakura�s was rolling down the stairs.
Takeda went out of the second room on the first floor, grimacing as he walked on the arm of a corpse. �Nobody there, just food and clothes...there must be more than 30 people gathering here.�
Nagakura called them from the second floor. �You�d better come here.�
Saitoh tripped the stairs up, to see the Second Captain finishing tying up a passed out Ishin man. �I�m surprised that we didn�t have to meet stronger adversaries. They must be gone for the day. I know this one,� Nagakura explained. �He�s the informer who gave me Makimura.�
�The man who told you about Ikedaya,� Takeda reminded. �He��
Saitoh turned around to discover the Fifth Captain frowning and getting pale.
�These are guts, Takeda. After all this time, you should be used to it. What�s this?�
The lifeless body of the other Ishin having occupied the room was half collapsed on a small table covered in papers. In two strides Saitoh got near and after a minute of observation, he grabbed two sheets of paper. There were many others, but those he could read, maps of Kyoto and propaganda pamphlets. His impossibility to decipher the ones having attracted his attention didn�t prevent the meaning from being glaring.
�Takeda, go and call Nagakura�s underling at the door. You and him will bring Nagakura�s prisoner to the compound,� he said, dryly.
�I have no orders to take from you,� Takeda answered disdainfully.
Nagakura observed Saitoh, his cold stare fixed on the paper and his clenching jaw.
�Takeda-kun, I�m responsible for this operation and can give you orders. Please do as Saitoh-kun said.� He ignored Takeda�s snort to walk closer to Saitoh, and murmured, after the other was gone:
�What is it, Saitoh-kun?
�Those signs. They are the same as the undecipherable ones on Matsumori Aiko�s letter. And this�� he showed the other sheet, a small, hand-drawn map, ��is the itinerary of Takagi�by what time does he go back to the residence, usually?�
�They should be on their way�� Nagakura�s face took an alarmed expression. �Saitoh-kun, there were only 7 men here, and they were��
��lousy fighters. Damn it, the others are gone to assassinate him.
***
Alone in the examination room and sitting near the wooden desk of her father, Mariko was making the flask roll into her hands, her thoughtful gaze focused on it.
�What did the Shinsengumi want?�
She had heard the shoji opening and didn�t stand up. The young man came to her, qnd sat on the edge of the desk near her. Intimidation method number one of the Okashira: towering over one�s interlocutor gave a psychological advantage. She contained a smile. Aoshi towered over people to start with, but she saw there again his strict application of the Oniwabanshu�s codes and traditions. The boy was too serious for his own good.
�He wanted some information about a poison. I guess that Misao told you how I met him, Aoshi-sama.�
�So did Okina. Have you met him on other occasions?�
�No, Aoshi-sama.�
�I don�t question your loyalty,� Aoshi said less severely. �You tried�too bad that he didn�t buy it. I don�t want the Shinsengumi knowing about us, unless I get orders to collaborate from Edo.�
�He won�t ask,� Mariko assured. �We reached a kind of agreement.�
Aoshi�s icy stare fell upon the flask. �The suicide at the court?�
�I think so�� she answered absently.
�Isn�t that going to be a problem?� As she lifted her head to him, a bemused light crossed his eyes. �You�re in the middle of many conflicting interests, Mariko-san. Us, the Shinsengumi, and this house near Gion, which I don�t ask about either��
�You�re right, Aoshi-sama, except that none of these interests is in conflict with the others. You and the Shinsengumi are on the same side. There will be no problem. As for the house, Makimachi-sama gave us his promise.�
�Nothing rattles you, Mariko-san. Nobody would dare remind me that I am tied up.�
�My mouth is sealed, and not only concerning the Oniwabanshu. Trust can be won with loyalty. Loyalty is much about silence. You know it better than anyone.�
Aoshi stood up. �Indeed. Did the Shinsengumi man offer you protection? I have two new recruits, Kuro and Shiro�you saw them at the Aoiya. They can look after you.�
She shook her head. �I don�t think that it�s a good idea. Okita-sama would notice, and it�s better not to awake his curiosity more than it is already. I�ll pay attention�and also ensure that Misao-chan doesn�t have to deplore another loss amongst the people she is attached to,� she finished, with a little knowing smile.
Aoshi observed her for a moment, his features relaxing finally. �This wasn�t my only reason.�
�This is why I said �also�. Thank you for your concern, Aoshi-sama.�
***
Tokio grew more frustrated as she recognized the calls of the dango seller, near Shijo bridge, resounding in the streets from beyond the kago�s walls. How she resented her situation. She was close, so close, and she couldn�t move, whereas she would have had to make only a 10 minutes walk to�
She grasped the wall as she heard shouts and yelling outside, and cried out in surprise when the kago was dropped. She didn�t recover from her shock yet when the door opened and she was yanked outside. She tried to resist, but she stopped recognizing her father�s familiar presence and scent.
�Stay behind me, Tokio, and don�t get away from one step!� he ordered to her, his voice filled with uncommon urgency.
She was still blinking with the difference of light level, and when she could distinguish the scene, she froze in horror.
The animated streets had been suddenly deserted, except for a troop of 20 men fighting with Matsudaira�s guards. Ishin, she understood, and the meaning came clear: their guards were overwhelmed and two of the warriors, the leaders, made their bloody path towards her and her father, who had gotten rid of one attacker already.
These men had been sent to kill them.
She looked around, ready to call for help; and she could see people peeping from behind their doors. None would come, she realized, the panels closing whenever she was managing an eye contact. She felt panic taking over her, punctuated by each of the cries of pain that their guards let out as they died one by one under the enemy�s assault.
Her father was standing in front of her, his sword drawn, ready to fight, but he wasn�t in that league, she could say it. The first Ishin leader had arrived to them, and the first engagement made Tokio search desperately for a way to help. Her father couldn�t even fight properly because he was trying to protect her.
�I�ll kill her too,� the assassin announced, opening a shallow wound, as if by game, on Takagi�s shoulder.
Kneeling as the shock emptied her lungs, she watched the red drops fall on the ground and mix with the dust, hypnotized. She barely heard her father roar that he would not let this happen, and the rumor of the fight gaining strength since their guards were galvanized by the wound inflicted to her father. Soon there was no sound reaching her, just colors, red blood, sandy ground, blue sky; and sensations, heat of the sun striking her head and cold sweat running down her spine. There were just the desperate feelings and the terrifying thoughts.
Her father was going to die, and it would be her fault. She couldn�t fight, why didn�t they let her learn to fight?
Anger won over panic, as the other Ishin joined the first to attack her father from behind, sending him away from her with a powerful kick in the limbs. He lost his sword and was down on the ground, at their mercy. The treachery changed her anger into a cold furor, that she didn�t know herself capable of, and in a second state she reached for her dagger. Her mind was blank, her past rancor and hate enhqnced by the qbsence of noise and getting over her, and she stood up. They were lost, but she wanted to kill at least one before she died.
She was lunging towards the Ishin when somebody seized her waist and sent her back roughly to the ground. Her scream died in her throat as the man went past her, rushing towards her father, and she recognized a Shinsengumi haori.
The Ishin had lifted his sword to slay Takagi, but he stood still, his features deforming when the Shinsengumi�s katana pierced his throat, only to fall on his knees and then face down.
Saitoh.
He was already fighting the other Ishin leader, managing, with a rapid kick, to send to her father the sword that he had lost. Another Shinsengumi came out of a narrow street, Nagakura-san, and he threw himself into the battle, helping the remaining guards to get rid of their enemies. She saw one or two trying to run into her direction, but they couldn�t get past Saitoh, and soon their blood was forming a dirty river, coursing on the dusty soil and flowing towards her.
She watched them, locked into her bundle of silence, the powerful blows of Nagakura, the fluid and deadly moves of Saitoh, and her father standing between her and the enemies, ready to confront those who might escape.
Soon it was over, heat and death only lingering, and a bitter triumph along with them as the surviving guards were picking up the bodies of their fallen companions. Her father was talking with Saitoh and Nakagura, bowing to them, and then he turned to her; her vision blurred, the present replaced by the image of him at the mercy of the Ishin, and suddenly she could see the sword fall and�
�Tokio-san?�
She lifted her face to the shadow hiding the sun.
�Are you hurt?�
There was worry in the familiar voice. That sent her back to the present and she blinked, trying to gather her thoughts. Her gaze took in the red stains tainting the precious fabric of the haori, and she felt her lips trembling and tears welling to her eyes.
�Takagi-sama, is Tokio-sama wounded?�
Nagakura-san. He was approaching.
�They didn�t get to her.�
Saitoh.
�She is fine,� Takagi assured. �Tokio-san?�
She caught her father�s gaze and she froze again. The past was there, and the same fears that she had, but the tone was imperative and distant now.
She wanted to share the joy of them being safe and alive. She wanted the protective presence and the warmth. She wanted to cry with him and tell him that she had been so afraid to lose him, too. To tell him how it hurt to be reminded that they could experience that loss again. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and hold him close, like when she was a little child.
But she wasn�t a little child anymore. She was the daughter of an official, in the middle of Kyoto, and they had to stand their rank. He held her hand, helping her to stand up, and she felt his fingers comfortingly pressing around her palm; but his eyes avoided hers and he let go of her rapidly. He still hurt too much to confront the past with her.
�I�m fine, thank you, Father,� she said on a disincarnated tone.
She was trying to suppress the trembling in her legs and managed to answer to the friendly nod and reassuring smile that Nagakura gave her, before he addressed her father.
�We will interrogate Ishikuni, the prisoner that I talked to you about, and uncover the ramifications of this conspiracy.�
�I will discuss with Matsudaira-sama about the way that we can use this attempt at our advantage. I have an idea already��
Toki let her gaze wander around, the guards were now fetching the discarded kago. She would be locked into the little box and then into her room at the court again. She just couldn�t bear it, and her breathing grew heavy. Oh, she had to control it, but she was deprived of strength�
Feeling observed, she turned her head, and her eyes met Saitoh�s. He was watching her closely, and his expression stunned her. It wasn�t contemptuous or mocking. It was noncommittal, no, it seemed noncommittal, because there was something in the intense amber gaze that disturbed her deeply. He had looked at her like this, in the woods, after she had gotten rid of the enemy. She found herself unable to break the contact, and felt let down when he did, to focus on her father and Nagakura�s conversation.
She realized then that she wasn�t trembling anymore.
***
Bowing to Takagi, who was departing towards Matsudaira�s office, Saitoh couldn�t decide whether he was truly annoyed or not.
What kind of stupid reflex had made him propose to escort the official and his daughter back to the residence? It had been a logical idea considering that one of them had to, and that Nagakura knowing their prisoner he would be more efficient if he were the one to start interrogating him. Yet, Saitoh would usually have said nothing, until he would be assigned to the chore, his closed face being sometimes enough to discourage his interlocutor to ask him and therefore allowing him to have his way. The signs that they had found on the letter were part of his investigation, a lead to Matsumori Aiko�s contacts, and he would have had all the reasons to insist. He was not happy about the delay.
Yet he was not as furious as he would normally be, not even at the young woman walking next to him and whom he had to escort to her room before he could go back to the compound. He glanced at her furtively. He could say that she was still in shock, though it was difficult to notice except for her slightly pale face and the fixity of her usually lively gray eyes.
She was finally the portrayal of the upset lady, so different from those past days, when she had repeatedly been confronted to violence�but she was still no ordinary one. When he had arrived on the battle scene, she was about to attack the man menacing her father. This was uncommon already, as any other woman would have been overwhelmed by fear, running, crying, or fainting, and would have only ended up making more of a target of herself. It wasn�t making her reaction any less idiotic, but he had seen in her eyes a determination that classified her gesture beyond a simple hotheaded reaction. She had been aware that she was going to die, and still she had gone to kill. Saitoh killed almost everyday of his life and he could make the difference. Now she was indeed shaken, but she didn�t lose her mind when it counted. She didn�t in the Otsu woods, she didn�t when her friend was murdered, she didn�t when the other committed suicide. He had to admit that she had a backbone and that her previous reactions had been no coincidence, nor unconsciousness from her part.
Nevertheless, even a strong backbone had a limit weight that it could carry, and hers was reached for sure. It wasn�t that she had been a target, or she would have had that kind of attitude in the woods. Was it the accumulation or the fact that her father had been wounded in front of her?
She stopped briefly in front of the engawa; and he realized that she was trying to steady herself in order to take the step. Without thinking, he seized her trembling hand and helped her up the wooden corridor. She stiffened but didn�t resist, and seeming to acknowledge his presence, she turned her face to him. Her absent expression annoyed him.
He took his gaze away from her, noticing a figure leaving the aisle by the other extremity of the engawa. It was a woman, and she stopped to observe them.
�Tokio-chan? Is there a problem?�
That took her out of her kind of trance and her features shifted to noncommittal and calm.
�No, Sarina-chan. My father insisted that Captain Saitoh escorted me to my room.�
�Where is *your* escort?� Saitoh asked dryly.
�Oh�I just went to pick up my fan, I didn�t think��
He bet that she didn�t.
�Michiko-sama authorized me,� Sarina finished, a bit arrogantly. �Tokio-chan, should I tell her that you�ll join us now?�
Saitoh could feel Tokio�s reluctance through her hand pressing his tighter, even though her expression gave up nothing.
�Takagi-sama isn�t feeling well. She will be resting in her room,� he asserted on a tone that pleasantly made the other birdwit forget her haughtiness. She mumbled something and went away without trying her luck.
He reported his gaze on the little witch who looked more like a lost, innocent sheep at the moment. She was gaping at him, lips half parted, her eyes incredulous�and somewhat grateful. This was quite nice, too. Had she been hysterical or whining, he wouldn�t have bothered intervening on her favor, but he had thought that she deserved a break, for once. She had more qualities than�
His anger flared anew, suddenly. The last time he had met her, she had insulted him, and that was how he made her pay for it? She was even more dangerous than what he had thought. She was no innocent sheep, but a manipulative and feisty brat, who just had a deserved reality check on what the world was about. His moronic weakness was just unforgivable.
�It was idiotic,� he said coldly.
�What?� she asked, blatantly at loss.
�You. Getting out of this residence is dangerous, don�t you know it? And what did you think you could do against that man, with a mere dagger and no fighting skills? Except getting killed, of course.�
He saw with satisfaction that stubborn flame in her eyes awakening, and waited for her to retort that she would have been killed anyway. When she didn�t, he added:
�Your father could have been killed because of your presence. I told you once already to stay out of trouble. Don�t you ever learn?�
He was unfair, this time. He wanted her to antagonize him, to insult him, and to remind his moronic self clearly what she was really about. If he began to fall for her tricks he would find himself in trouble. He contained a grin, expecting the outburst, yet he was in for a surprise. He watched the blood leave her face. She turned as pale as death itself, before bending her head in shame.
�I�m sorry,� she uttered, in a little voice.
He wondered briefly whether she was going to cry. He was bothered, though not in the usual way. He hated women crying in general, and particularly those resorting to tears to get what they wanted, but he had been the one to cross the limits of unfairness and didn�t feel as detached as he should be. But she lifted her chin again, her gaze cleared, and she said with unmistakable sincerity:
�I�m really sorry for my stupid behavior.�
She seemed to be waiting for more reproaches, and ready to listen to them without flinching.
The devil; that was what she had to be, because he heard himself say with disgusting indulgence: �You weren�t the only one at fault. Just stay out of trouble from now on. Is that clear?�
She nodded, the shadows of bewildered relief playing in her gray eyes. He turned on his heels, already berating himself for his stupidity, when she held his hand back, slender fingers pressing lightly his palm.
�Thank you for saving my father,� she whispered, her soft and penetrated voice lingering in his ears.
He turned towards her again, but she had let go of his hand and was already entering her room.
To be continued.
Aww. Saitoh to the rescue, he�s the hero after all, LOL. As for Tokio, that began to make a respectable bunch of cadavers of people close to her and assassination attempts, the poor girl has the right to take a break from time to time. Strong heroine doesn�t mean strong 24/7 or we would be lurking in the dangerous Mary Sue swamp. She�ll find her feisty side back though, don�t worry. And I need that damn romance to progress, so they can�t hate each other�s guts 24/7 either.
I use the terms �Shogun� and �Emperor�, but to refer to the former the Japanese at the time would have used Ue-sama (literally: the honorable one above) and for the latter the consecrated title would be Tenno-heika (his Majesty the Emperor) or Mikado. I try to avoid Japanese terms unless they have no equivalent in our cultures (like engawa, sama, etc.). I don�t use too much of the samurai way of speaking either (dono, way to refer to women by o-san etc.).
Phew, that made lots of actions since a few chapters, so we�ll have a pause and a plot twist in the next chapter instead�take a deep breath, we�ll settle things before the last ark starting just after, which is rather eventful: secrets, dramas, fights (lemons too, yes)...and some little come back. Hehehe.
Next chapter: The prisoner talks, the Shinsengumi is NOT happy, Tokio has nightmares, Nagakura mellows, and everybody is in for a deception in the lies and truths game.
- 12
- 13
- 14
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Irresistible