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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
- 16
- 17
- 18
Disclaimer: standard disclaimers apply. RK belongs to Watsuki, but the ideas, text and OCs are mine.
Irresistible

Chapter 17: The little house near the river

Mariko descended the stairs and Tokio, seated on the small chair and her feet playing nervously on the wooden floor, observed her. Hieratic, she thought. She had more poise than many of her companions at the court and few people could guess what she thought beyond her black opaque eyes.
�She is still feverish, yet there�s no more risk of coma. My father went for another birth this afternoon but he�ll come to check on her on his way back, tomorrow morning,� Mariko announced. �Of course, Kikue can come to me in case of emergency, but it shouldn�t be necessary.�
�Thank you, I was so worried,� Tokio answered with a sincere smile. �Will you have a cup of tea?�
Mariko acquiesced, smiling too, and sat in the other chair. She quite liked the young aristocrat and she was feeling sorry for her. Her father was her only family and she wouldn�t stand to be in the same situation as Tokio, who had certain arrogance and a good opinion of herself; yet none of the haughtiness of some Kyoto officials that her father treated.
�How is that you could come? After what happened at the court, I thought that you were closely looked after.�
The young doctor shook her head but was in a way reassured as for the first time that day Tokio had her little self-assured grin. She took the cup of cold tea, sipping it.
�I always manage.�
�It was very risky, though. I heard that you were attacked yesterday�near here.�
Tokio�s smile faded. �I know, but when I got this message telling me that she was so sick�We�re going back to Aizu tomorrow or the day after at best, and it was my only chance.�
�Kikue hesitated to tell Hatsue. We knew that you would try. Do you have somebody to escort you back? The sun is setting��
�I will be fine. I did this dozens of times.�
�I must say that for having almost been slain this afternoon, I�m near to admire you to be so foolishly careless��
�Slain?� Tokio arched a brow.
�I wanted to talk to you about this. The girl who poisoned herself�was she one of your friends?�
Tokio nodded. �I know better than anyone that you can keep a secret. I think that she was murdered, it was no suicide.�
�Yes, the Shinsengumi Captains talked about this possibility,� Mariko said serenely, oblivious of the stunned face of her interlocutor.
***
Kondo and Okita were still on the scene where Miyu had been aggressed. The former had sent Nagakura to check on the doctor and to accompany Michiko, adamant that she received care.
�Nobody noticed anything,� Okita mused. �They are still in conference?�
�Yes, but dinnertime is soon. We�ll have to tell them.�
�If only we could give them the perpetrator�s name�all is jeopardized again.�
�Not necessarily, Soushi. The signature is tomorrow morning, and this is where all will be decided. Kojuuro plays well: the Tokugawa messenger was satisfied, that weighted in the balance. Moreover, Miyu-san is not dead, and that fits his plan to get their approval beyond the attempts that they can be victim of. Finally, knowing that one of their daughters is guilty might push them to approve of�not to be suspected to work with her and lose their position.�
�We can agree on this. I don�t know how the girl got out�we had placed Ikeda on the engawa near the bathhouse way; but I can sure figure out how she came back.�
They had started to walk towards the building and Okita went on: �She stayed hidden until Nagakura and the guards arrived, and she could sneak back into her room while they were all in the garden. It was already too late when they went to check on the ladies� presence.�
Kondo nodded. �This is the easiest possibility. There is another, though.�
The first Captain frowned. �Meaning?�
�Maybe she never left the garden�Aren�t you struck by the fact that Michiko-sama didn�t see Miyu-san before she was hit? The girl�s wound is in her shoulder, she could have done it herself��
�Why?�
�If the rebels who attacked you this afternoon where erasing the traces, the traitor here might know by now�especially if �our� felon is linked to this mutiny that Saitoh and Hijikata suspect, it would have been easy for one of the guards to transmit the information�and even to let Miyu-san or whoever is the mole out of her room. Diverting the suspicions is a classic maneuver.�
�I have problems to imagine Miyu-san in that role. But your theory makes sense, the rebels responsible for these assassinations must know that we have arrested Ishikuni�erasing the traces is a logical step. I should have thought about it.�
�Soushi, we are so overwhelmed these days, attacked from everywhere and on every front; we can�t think about everything. We�re human.�
�Yes, Toshizo didn�t manage to change this yet�though he�s very unsatisfied at our unpractical humanity.�
Kondo cracked a smile and waved to Nagakura, who was exiting Miyu�s room.
�The doctor is closing the wound; it�s been less than 30 minutes since it was inflicted, he says. And I have a clue,� he added triumphantly.
He opened his palm, extending it towards them.
�She had this in her hands. I think that she could have taken it from her aggressor.�
Kondo went pale as he recognized the hairpin, with a ruby shining on its head. He took it, making it roll between his fingers.
�Nagakura-kun, please stay near Miyu-san�s side and try to get her testimony as soon as you can.�
�Kondo-sama�what�s wrong?� Okita whispered, after the second Captain had obeyed.
The older man didn�t answer and opened Tokio�s shoji. Okita was as flabbergasted as the maid, who muffled a panicked exclamation.
She was wearing a kimono and a wig of her mistress� and installed in her futon. There was nobody else in the room.
Was Tokio-san�no, impossible.
�Where is she?� Kondo asked sternly, though his voice was low.
�She�she�� the maid stuttered, before confessing tearfully. �She went to Gyon��
�A long time ago?�
�Three hours�maybe more�Kondo-sama, she said she had to��
�Whatever she ordered you to do, go on playing your role. If her father looks for her, tell him that I took her with me at the compound. Clear?�
The shaken girl nodded, her lips quivering, and Kondo closed the shoji calmly.
�Soushi, come with me,� he intimated, still not raising his voice.
Okita couldn�t react much more than Yuka and followed the long strides of his mentor.
***
Tokio was staring at her teacup, thoughtfully, after Mariko had explained her that she had met Okita and the events of the afternoon.
�I prefer to tell you�for some reason, we were ordered to never let the Shinsengumi know, apart from Kondo-sama. I would understand if you�re bothered that I know one of them.�
�I�m worried,� Tokio confessed, �but I know that Okita-san has the complete trust of Kondo-sama. What he doesn�t know�is like what you don�t know: a measure of protection for your own sake. Yet, you see that some Shinsengumi are corrupted, like the one who bought that poison. This is why we can�t let any of them know.�
She finally shook her head. �I�m sorry to have asked you to come back here. You must be shocked, you needed to rest.�
Mariko shrugged. �I don�t fully realize. It happened so fast. And anyway, the best way to overcome such an event is to get back to normal activities�and to get busy.�
�Indeed�� Tokio had a smile that she hoped didn�t show her melancholy.
�It�s late, Tokio-san. You should think about going back.�
�I will wait for Kikue and go. I need to stay a while more. I don�t know when I will be back here�if I ever can.�
Mariko stared intently at the girl. She had seemed to realize it only saying the sentence.
�Kyoto is getting more and more dangerous�and she improves when you�re here. See how she is after those months without seeing you. My father will try to convince yours to let her back to Aizu.�
Tokio gazed at her, a grateful and determined expression spreading on her face. �I will contact you before I leave. He won�t be furious at you if he learns that I�ve been here, and if that can weight in the balance�if I see that there is a chance for him to change his mind, I will tell him.�
***
Saitoh saw the doctor�s daughter leaving after more than one hour. He had still not recovered from his stupefaction yet, and couldn�t even think of the beginning of a logical explanation. He had discarded the idea of a twin or a look alike�way too late for sensibility.
What was *she* doing here?
How come she knew Honda Mariko?
These were the more urgent questions to answer. He walked towards the house, sliding between the buildings, and saw a small garden. He managed to get a look inside, bending his body over the fence. She was walking the stairs up and the place seemed deserted except for her.
Morons. He had noticed the two forms lurking in the shadows and apparently protecting the house. When they jumped on him, he didn�t need more than one punch and one kick to rend them unconscious. Approaching to check on his attackers/victims, he had the feeling to drown into more and more insanity.
Kids, or almost, what the hell did it mean? Even though he didn�t wear his Shinsengumi uniform, what were these babies protecting, to attack a grown man whose sword was visible?
There was only one way to know, he decided finally. Tokio had a secret, this thing that she didn�t want to be known. Maybe it was why she had been so upset when he met her in the morning, maybe both, or maybe it was the way for him to avoid the marriage if she was involved in dishonorable activities.
He went back to the alley and knocked at the door.
***
Once Mariko gone, Tokio went upstairs and sitting next to the futon, she let her mind wander to what she had just learnt�and what she had realized.
Would she be authorized to leave Aizu if she couldn�t avoid marrying Saitoh? Now, it depended on her father, but then�oh, she would never be able to bear it. She nevertheless got a bit soothed at the idea that the ambitious man wouldn�t contradict her father if he asked that she accompanied him.
She took the little hand in hers, more confident, and contemplated Tami�s face. The best was to get her sister back to Aizu, indeed, and she would manage it whatever it cost her.
It broke her heart to leave her again, having spent so little time with her and after all those months apart. Tami had been barely conscious because of the fever. Would she even remember that Tokio had been there? Kikue didn�t tell, but she knew that her sister missed her when she wasn�t by her side. Mariko had said that she was making progresses or regressing depending on her presence.
Yes, her father would be furious at her if he knew that she had discovered the place and that she had visited her. He had given up on any chance to see Tami heal; but if she could convince him that there was one he would be sensible. She had realized during the attack, yesterday, that her father wasn�t only grieving, that he wasn�t resigned, but that he was afraid. He was afraid to lose them, and he preferred to think that Tami was lost to them than to be disappointed again. Indeed, he was so different in politics and in his private life: he would never have given up so easily otherwise. Maybe it was why he had begun to talk about sending Goro-chan to Edo and that he was so keen on marrying her. He wanted to protect them while sparing himself. That gave her a solid argumentation, especially as she couldn�t give the most pressing to him without proof.
Saitoh. He was a problem and she would be relieved only when Tami would be hidden in their estate, out of reach from the man. If he learnt the truth, that would be a disaster. She had to prove his duplicity.
There was a knock on the door, Kikue must have had bought half of the market place again, she thought distractedly, going downstairs while trying to find a lead in what she knew that could compromise him. There was something that Mariko had told her which was making her uncomfortable.
The Shinsengumi haori, yes, but she had already concluded that the Choshu mole at the court might have an accomplice in Kondo�s organization. Too bad that the apothecary had been killed before revealing the name�Because Okita and Saitoh had been overwhelmed.
That was it. She had seen Saitoh fighting 10 men in the woods. And he would have been overwhelmed by 3? Okita had saved Mariko, so his situation was clear, but�
She stopped on her way to the main door, cold sweat running down her back. The Shinsengumi came and went freely in the residence. Killing Reiko was also easier for them than for any Aizu man or woman because it had been committed outside.
The mole was a Shinsengumi man.
The information that she had obtained from Hatsue and Yuka hadn�t allowed her to conclude anything, but she had focused on the underlings. She had paid less attention to the Captains, and less to Saitoh, because he had stopped the first attempt in the woods. But if she reviewed what she had�
The image of him, arriving on the engawa on the day that Torimi had been killed, struck her. Nobody knew where he had been.
The morning at the Kyomizudera. Hatsue didn�t know where he had been before, either.
His questions about somebody in Aiko�s room. She began to understand, cold filling her. *He* had had the latitude to go to her room to interrogate her. He could have poisoned her. He had �found� that letter, but he could have produced it himself. Aiko had been near the bathhouse, she could have witnessed something. He had ordered that they didn�t talk to each other�oh, that made perfect sense. He had killed Aiko to silence her. He had killed Torimi and very certainly, Reiko.
He was a traitor and a murderer.
As for the Otsu woods�she bit her lip not to laugh bitterly. Of course. She had witnessed him twice making show of honor and bravery, and it had all been for the show, indeed. That was the same kind of act. In this case, it had been to divert the suspicions and it had worked perfectly, including with her.
She repressed an impatient gesture as there was a second knock on the door, stronger, and sounding impatient too. Still trying to make all the elements of the puzzle coincide, she hurried to the entrance, and opened the panel rapidly.
***
She wasn�t looking at him when she opened the door and he could discern a frown on her face, as if she had been deeply concentrated. Then she lifted her head, and the view was worth it.
He wondered whether she was going to faint or have a massive stroke. She stilled, color draining from her face, her hands falling limply as if any energy had left her; and panic, no, more than that, fear, a fear so deep and absolute that her pupils dilated and her irises tarnished, spread into her eyes. Even her lips colored ashen, she was the incarnation of doom. She had lost, and she knew it.
�Tokio-san, what a surprise to find you here,� he smirked, giving her a head to toe look, detailing the servant�s kimono that she was wearing. �And what an original outfit.�
She didn�t move: she seemed to have blacked out.
�May I come in?� he asked, suavely mocking. �We need to have a little conversation. It seems that I was right, and that you had little secrets that you didn�t want to get known.�
His last words seemed to strike her. She blinked and dropped her head, taking a deep breath. When she raised her face to him again she had retrieved her usual composure: sweet and a tad haughty. It wasn�t natural: her voice was slightly mechanical and her eyes had a kind of fixity, but he was near to admire her self-control. She didn�t plea or beg or try to play him, and she wouldn�t, that was clear.
�Please come in, Captain Saitoh,� she bowed respectfully.
He took his shoes off and followed, taking in the surroundings that he didn�t have the time to detail from outside. The fa�ade was as poor as the rest of the neighborhood, but the interior was rather richly furnished. There were two bamboo chairs and a table near the window, silk cushions decorated them, and the boxes were of expensive wood, as well as the floor.
In a corner, his eyes were attracted on a peculiar, out of place object: a small kokeshi. At the same moment, his trained ear registered some slight noises coming from the second floor, some little sighs and moans�a kid. There was a kid in that house.
He pretended not to pay attention, but she had followed his stare and she had gone paler, if it were possible.
Was that her secret? She had a bastard child�she was seventeen, so it was possible, if the kid were one or two�maybe three, he thought, while sitting on the chair at her invitation.
She was behind him, taking sake from a wooden closet, and he let her, enjoying toying with his prey.
�It seems that I was going to enter a family with more members than I had thought,� he said, sarcastic.
He could feel her tensing. He attributed it to fear for a second, yet he immediately felt the change in her and the menace towards him. She had gone closer, just behind him, and he sensed her arm hovering over his head.
Saitoh had just the time to whirl towards her, the dagger that was aiming at his nape ripping on his right arm, cutting the haori and penetrating shallowly his skin. The shot of adrenalin prevented him from feeling the pain and so it did for her: he had grabbed her wrist and was twisting it behind her back in an iron grip, yet she lifted her other hand again, the sharp end of the weapon directed towards his sternum.
Her expression was striking: not a trace of the fear that had animated her earlier, but the tarnish of steely, absolute determination and glimmers of pure hatred were fighting in her focused gaze. He managed to catch her before she reached him again, almost breaking her wrist so she would drop her tanto, crying out in pain.
�Stop it,� he hissed. �Are you crazy?�
That was the only possible explanation to her actions, in spite of the absence of mad bloodlust in her eyes. She writhed and kicked him in the limbs, her despair tangible, giving her enough strength to make them lose their balance. They fell on the floor, him on her, and only his gripping her shoulders, holding her back, avoided that her head hit the wood first.
Her face lost color and her eyes blurred as his weight on her emptied her lungs, but that lasted a mere moment and the following one she was extending her arm, her fingers like clutches, focused on retrieving her weapon, letting out a whimper of frustration as it was a few inches too far. He tightened his hold on her shoulders, yet she wouldn�t stop, and he had to shake her harshly.
�Stop it now!�
He had used his deadliest tone, trapping her to the ground, weighting on her with his whole body until he felt energy leaving her. His face was a mere inch from hers, and he used his physical domination to intimidate her. The lack of air finally made her still and she calmed down, her eyes widening, her shallow breath brushing around his mouth. Her hair had spilled around on the floor around her face, tangling with his, which had escaped the ponytail during the struggle.
�No foolish move or you�ll regret it,� he snarled, as a warning.
He released slightly his hold, allowing her to ease her respiration. She was at loss, her eyes scanning his face and around like a prisoner looking for an escape. Her features took for a second a fixity that stunned him, because he had seen this expression before, that combination of utter despair and resignation: on the face of wounded adversaries knowing that death was close.
Why the hell did she think that he was going to kill her? She had attacked him; he was acting in self-defense only. He could have killed her already if he had wanted to, if she had been a regular adversary.
Her clear eyes came in focus within a second and he was too dumbstruck at the discovery to prevent her moves. Her right hand slid between them, reaching for him beyond the parted lapels of his haori, and he winced as he felt her claws tracing deep scars on the sensitive skin of his collarbone, down his chest. He saw that she put all of her strength into the move, before the stinging made him roar and seize both her hands, pinning them on each side of her head. He hit her wrists to the ground twice, to signify her that the limits of his patience were reached.
�Do you really want to die?� he snarled.
He thought that he was the one losing his mind when instead of seeing the fear that his very serious threat should have provoked penetrating her, she laughed.
Tossing her head back, her body arching beneath his, she was shuddering with sobs of bitter and triumphant laughter. No. She had to be insane.
�You surely want me to,� she eventually mocked, her hysteria stopping as abruptly as it had started. The gray eyes were soaring in dark triumph yet her smile was sweet and innocent, as always when she was attacking with words. �Will you break my neck like you did with Reiko? Or will you stab me to death, like Torimi? Or will you poison me, like Aiko?�
He took a figurative punch in the stomach as the meaning entered his brain.
�Oh, you think that you had been so smart, and that no one had noticed?� she added, sweet tones unwavering. �You can do whatever you want, traitor. You can hurt me and kill me and maybe you�ll manage to make me give you the satisfaction of showing you that I suffer. You can try to pass my death as a suicide and try to frame anybody you want. But I still win in the end.�
He had understood the nonsense that she was saying but he was unable to make a move. There was something fascinating in her, the will of steel when she talked of her death and the dark joy as she triumphed. Brave and ruthless and proud, and something wild, too, and yet the lady was still there. Saitoh wasn�t easily impressed but he was just transfixed.
�I marked you,� she finished, suavely. �You can invent whatever you want, they will know. So, whatever happens to me, you still can�t beat me. Kondo-sama will kill you to avenge me, and the Shinsengumi will have gotten rid of a traitor, and soon of your rebel friends. This is a cause worth dying for. But�I won�t make it easy��
His astonishment had provoked a lapse of attention again and she managed to free one hand, to shift her upper body on the floor and to get her weapon again, hatred winning over the rest as she tried once more to stab him. He had difficulties to control her, despair making her fighting with more strength.
�Stop it,� he hissed. �You�re mistaking, you, imbecile!�
She didn�t listen, and they were engaged in that last struggle when an almost inhuman scream froze them. He lifted his head, and she tossed hers back, to discover a little girl standing in the middle of the stairs. She was yelling and yelling, her face red, her clear green gaze absent and terrified, almost transparent, and her long hair falling in disorder around her body. If not for her costly yukata, she would have been the incarnation of these children lost in the forests and becoming almost wild beasts themselves.
�Tami�oh no�� Tokio breathed, abyssal despair resounding in her voice.
Looking down at her, Saitoh discerned panicked fear in her eyes, the same as she had shown briefly when she had seen him standing at the door.
It was in a perfect timing with his thoughts that the door opened and that Kondo and Okita flew in. If the first Captain was stunned, going immobile with astonishment at the view, Kondo�s face showed one and only emotion: murderous feeling.
Saitoh let go of Tokio as he saw the leader of the Shinsengumi drawing his katana and taking a step towards him. The young woman rushed to the girl and scooped her into her arms, caressing her hair, trying to calm her down.
Okita seemed to realize Kondo�s intention and exclaimed: �Isami! You�re not going to��
The older man didn�t listen and Saitoh began to think that he would have to fight his superior for a stupid misunderstanding.
�Kondo-sama! He�s the traitor! He killed Reiko! He��
Kondo stilled and Saitoh sighed. He had just been dwelling on the chances that he would have had to be forced to seppuku if he had wounded Kondo, even if in his good right. The commander of the Shinsengumi turned towards her, slowly.
�How do you know?�
�He has no alibi for Reiko�s murder, neither for Torimi�s, and�Kondo-sama?� she yelped, as he re-sheathed his sword, shaking his head, with an apologetic look at the third captain.
�Tokio-san, you�re making a terrible mistake. Saitoh-kun was with Matsudaira-sama and with your father, at both times,� Kondo said, gently.
She stared at him, blinking. �But��
Tami�s sobs left place to silence, but it was only because she had collapsed, unconscious, and worry prevented Tokio from pursuing the subject. She was softly shaking her sister, pleading her to wake up.
�Okita-kun, go and look for your friend Mariko-san or her father,� Saitoh said flatly, nodding to Kondo to indicate him that he had understood his gesture. �They�ll know what to do.�
***
Saitoh gave a look inside the room on the second floor. Tokio was knelt next to her sister�s futon, wiping some sweat off her forehead with a white, humid cloth. The little form seemed that smaller and fragile, in the white and large bedding. Her face was pale except for her cheeks still slightly pink with fever. It was an improvement, the fever had gone down, and Honda Mariko had said that her unconsciousness was due to the shock she had received. The girl would recover, she had assured.
As for the little witch, she had nothing wicked right now. She was gazing at Tami, talking to her softly, pressing her hand, her expression loving and devoted. It was disturbing, and Saitoh retired silently to the first floor.
�Everybody is gone?� he asked to Kondo, who was sitting outside, on the engawa.
�Yes. I sent Okita to reassure Kojuuro. Mariko-san and Kikue will help the two poor boys that you knocked out back to their place.�
�Who are they? We have to investigate on this.�
�Mariko-san�s acquaintances�she was worried about Tokio�s going alone in the streets, and she asked people from the neighborhood to keep an eye on her. I won�t ask further, and nobody will,� he said, before adding, less sternly. �I have some explanations to give you. Would you?�
Saitoh nodded, sitting next to him, and noticed a flask of sake and two cups on the wooden floor. He took one at his commander�s invitation and they drank in silence at first, gazing at the moonlight reflecting on the Kamo river, visible beyond the small garden�s fence.
�I know that Kojuuro had decided to talk to you about all this. Katamori and I were more reserved�more because what I have no choice but telling you now is a secret, and a burdening one.�
�I keep many secrets.�
�Yes�and you will, paradoxically, get answers to some questions that I know have been frustrating you.�
Saitoh lifted a brow, but let his commander talk.
�I have to go back way in the past to give you a complete view of the situation, to the time when I met Takagi Kojuuro and Kishibe Ryoko.�
�You were a disciple of Kishibe Kazuemon.�
�Yes, and Katamori also. The Kishibe were a powerful family in Aizu, distant parents with the Matsudaira, and the men of the Daimyo�s family were sent to learn the basics of kenjutsu there. Takagi�s family was also influent, though less prestigious. I had been sent by my parents, for a few years, as a favor that my father had earned. Ryoko was the Kishibe�s youngest daughter. She was��
Kondo paused, taking another cup of alcohol. �She was beautiful, what you heard at the court was no exaggeration. Tokio is her spitting image...except for her eyes, which were as black as the night. Ryoko was kindness itself, she was innocent and sweet, and she had that way to make you feel worthy when she talked to you. I fell in love with her�of course, I had never thought that it could go beyond platonic devotion, I was a peasant. And anyway, she and Kojuuro�s feelings for each other were for all to see,� he sighed. �They got married when we turned 15 and I went back to Edo, to take over my father�s dojo, with no regrets.�
Saitoh frowned, wondering where the man was going and why he talked about such intimate matters. He had understood now Kondo�s relation to Tokio, reflection and daughter of the woman he had loved, and that he considered her as his own daughter. His expression when he had entered the house a couple of hours before had been one of a father.
�Ryoko didn�t have at all the same temper as her daughter. She was of fragile health, delicate, and she didn�t like kenjutsu. Violence made her sick. This is why Kojuuro, though he could have been a good fighter, chose the way of administration and politics. He is excellent at this so I don�t know if this is a loss. The thing that I have always regretted, on the other hand, is Ryoko�s insistence that Tokio wasn�t initiated to kenjutsu. Maybe you know that Aizu women are usually very educated in that matter, and ironically, the Kishibe dojo used to train them. Tokio�s aunts and cousins could beat several of our underlings. But Ryoko wouldn�t change her mind: she accepted that her son had to, purely by duty, but she wanted to preserve her daughters.�
That was absolutely idiotic, thought Saitoh, but he said nothing, having the feeling that his blunt opinion wouldn�t be welcomed.
�The years passed and I was more than happy when we found ourselves under the responsibility of Katamori. It�s easier to serve one that you respect and that you know won�t be corrupted. That gave me the occasion to go more often to Aizu. I was always stopping at the Takagi estate, when I was there�and I was that day, one year and some months ago, when Kikue arrived to Tsuruga-jo in complete panic to tell Kojuuro that Tokio had found her mother and Tami, bathing in their blood, in the little pavilion of the residence where Ryoko used to spend part of her days.�
Saitoh turned slowly towards him. �It wasn�t a horse accident?�
�No. It was an assassination. Ryoko was dead, her crane broken, but Tami was still alive, and Takagi�s doctor, Takani, managed to save her life. She had received a shock on the head too, and a wound in her abdomen. She stayed for long weeks in a coma, but since we had no clue on the perpetrator, we decided to keep it a secret. She was only 4 but she could identify the man or the men guilty of this. We pretended that it had been an accident. All that Tokio could tell us was that she had heard a horse galloping away, which gave us the idea of that lie. Tami took time to be able to talk, and she was of course traumatized. Yet she could finally say that a man had attacked her mother and that she had interposed herself, which we knew already from the wound she had received. She couldn�t tell us his name or describe him. Tokio took care of her constantly; as she was in mourning, her lack of presence at the court was easy to explain. She also had to administrate the estate, and was helping Kojuuro in the redaction of reports in replacement of her mother. One day, she was arranging a document for him, and Tami went hysterical seeing the symbol of a family. This is when I learnt that I was responsible for what had happened.�
Saitoh sipped his sake, waiting.
�I had brought the devil with me. Tami had reacted seeing the arms of Serizawa Kamo.�
Kondo had tightened his fists, spitting the name. Saitoh began to understand.
�He was losing control when it came to women.�
�We should have predicted that from the start. Since the moment he laid eyes on Ryoko I knew that he wanted her. What I was wrong to assume is that he had enough sense not to try anything. I don�t know how he thought of getting away with this�maybe he counted that Ryoko wouldn�t resist and would be too ashamed to say, or maybe he didn�t know that Tami was there, she doesn�t have clear memories. But he attacked Ryoko, and she fought back, as Takani stated that her death might as well have been accidental�he left them for dead, though. I will always feel guilty not to have done anything�and it�s nothing comparing to what Katamori feels. Hijikata and I had already warned him about our �associate�s� suspected corruption but he had wanted to be fair and had asked for proofs��
�My investigation.�
Kondo nodded. �I had charged you of it two weeks before Ryoko died. If Matsudaira had ordered an arrest before we had proof�That�s what he thinks. We wanted revenge, and Katamori authorized me to kill him. There was a problem, though.�
�The Tokugawa.�
Kondo nodded, and accepted another cup of sake. �Serizawa was from a faraway branch, and not very wealthy or powerful, but when it comes to status or revenge, family is family. Katamori negotiated directly with the Shogun. We would never reveal the bottom of the story neither Serizawa�s corruption, so that their honor wouldn�t be tainted, and in exchange there wouldn�t be retaliations for our executing him�which I did, with great pleasure on my part.�
�Okita and Hijikata were gloating, too�do they know?�
The Shinsengumi leader shook his head. �They don�t have the slightest idea. I will tell part of it to Soushi, I guess, as I involved him today. Toshizo isn�t pleased not to know, but he understands better the necessity to shut up sometimes, and that it isn�t a question of trust. He told me that you went to him, after I ordered you to stop the investigations�I guess that now, you get why.�
�That�s an understatement.� Although he couldn�t say whether he approved of it or not, duty towards family was important, and they had gotten rid of Serizawa Kamo, still� �Is this also why you are still hiding the girl�s survival?�
�Yes. If the Tokugawa heard that there is a witness, and especially now that their leadership is challenged by the Emperor�s court, and that it could be used politically against them�they would eliminate her. Takani, the doctor, very devoted to the Takagi family, has asked one of his friends, Honda-sensei, to find this house and treat Tami in secret; though Honda doesn�t know what the secret is. It would have been too dangerous to keep her in Aizu.�
�It�s also dangerous to let her sister wandering alone in Kyoto�s streets, notwithstanding that she could be followed and the truth disco�I see. You had no idea?�
Kondo had had a disabused smile, and Saitoh understood that Tokio had been hiding her little escapades. Damn woman.
�Kikue, Tami�s nanny, went with her so that she would have a familiar presence. Tokio was heart-broken�and thinks that she failed to her duty, very probably. I should have seen it coming, too��
�She shouldn�t have known about this place, in order to avoid this.�
�She didn�t. I guess that Hatsue told her.�
Saitoh was puzzled. �What has Hatsue to do with it?�
�Hatsue was Tokio�s nanny�and I take that you didn�t give a good look at Kikue�s face, because the two sisters are quite alike.� He had a small smile at Saitoh�s dismay. �Hatsue was already at the compound when all this happened. We thought that it was a plus: I could inform Kojuuro on Tami�s state, in all discretion. Two women meeting is never suspect.�
�I see�and today, she was alerted somehow about her sister.� Saitoh pictured the image of the sweet basket in Tokio�s room. That had been an odd detail. He�d have a conversation with Hatsue. �She lost it and rushed here?�
That would be very unlike her. She had been ready to kill him to protect her sister, so it was surely not for being careless enough to lead people to her.
�Not exactly. She had a plan�but the events at the court allowed me to discover her absence.�
�Events? What events?�
Kondo refilled their cups. They still had a lot to talk about.
To be continued�
Ah, evil, evil Serizawa Kamo�again, he was not that close to the Shogun family. What is accurate, on the other hand, is that in the traditional Japanese society you had no justice in the western sense of this concept. All by the book, good reasons or not, justified or not, if you went against the rules you died, period. Serizawa also brought troubles to the Shinsengumi because of his corruption and his violent ways (especially when he was drunk) and Matsudaira ordered his elimination.
I added a bit of imaginary family drama which unfolded here, now you know Tokio�s secret and the reasons for her paranoid attitude and her eagerness to get rid of Saitoh or anybody lurking around little sis�. She�s a future Wolf mommy, she has to defend the cubs and to have it in the genes, LOL.
I alluded to Tami already�and I�m afraid that I spoiled part of her future in the authors� notes of another fic. I very often wait that my stories are completely written to post them and since I write a lot (I have usually around 5 fics in construction at the same time), when I update I tend to forget the general chronology, oops, sorry.
But�let�s not forget our little situation here, we just had another assassination attempt, traitors and nutcases on the loose, and no more misunderstanding between our lovewolves (Saitoh threatened to gatotsu me if I compared him to a bird again*cough*).
Next chapter: Saitoh and Tokio confront their views�it will lead to the truth. Well, yes, �that� too *wink*.
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Irresistible