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. |
Irresistible
Chapter 4: Intrigues and Intimidations
June 4th, 1865.
Two guards opened the massive, richly decorated door of the small audience room, leaving way to Kondo and Saitoh. Matsudaira Katamori was installed at the end of it, in front of a golden panel, two other guards on each side of him, hands on their swords. He was a very small man, of plain appearance, a thin moustache stressing the line of his small lips. He would have looked inoffensive, especially considering his clothes, indicating a shallow liking for outrageous sophistication, if not for his eyes, of deep hazel color, as alert and menacing as a hawk’s.
There was another man in the room, already kneeled formally, facing the Daimyo. He turned to the newcomers, with an imperceptible nod of recognition to the Shinsengumi leader. Handsome, he inspired both trust and respect at first sight. He had an impressive presence, which wasn’t without reminding Saitoh of Kondo’s, though in a most sophisticated, and less authoritative way. The straight gaze of his large gray eyes was open and frank, sign of directness, and unless Saitoh was very wrong, honesty. The Shinsengumi captain had seen enough dissimulating or guilty men to know that this one had a clear conscience. The color of the man’s eyes and what he had learnt from Okita gave him the identity of the man: he was surely Takagi Kojuuro.
Following Kondo, he kneeled and bowed, head hitting the tatami, in front of their lord.
After a satisfied smile, Matsudaira’s slightly feminine voice raised.
“I summoned you here to express my gratefulness, after the report I received about your mission. My vassals and I are extremely satisfied with the Shinsengumi.”
“Serving you is our goal, Matsudaira-sama,” Saitoh and Kondo answered mechanically, bowing once more.
Takagi gave a rapid glance to the Daimyo, before shifting to face them. His pleasant warm voice filled the room.
“As a father, please accept the expression of my gratitude.”
It was a normal part of the usual ceremonial, yet the official didn’t use the disincarnated tone usually employed in such. He had let feelings modulating the inflexions of his speech.
“You can leave us,” Matsudaira indicated then to the guards, and he added, turning to his guests: “I’m surely safe with two of my finest warriors in this room.”
Once they were out, the attitude of the three other men shifted, the atmosphere turning more intimate. Saitoh recalled Okita’s words. They were childhood friends. He was puzzled that they showed it in front of him, yet, he had himself personal links with Matsudaira. The latter having sponsored his entry in the Shinsengumi, Kondo knew that, and probably Takagi was also in the confidence. He nevertheless began to wonder what he was doing there, exactly.
“Kondo-kun, I knew that I could count on you,” Matsudaira began. “Your capacity of reaction avoided a tragedy for sure.”
“I have complete trust in the men I charged of the ladies’ safety. And I charged my best men to investigate the perpetrators.”
“I am sure that you will bring their head to us, Kondo-kun,” Takagi stated, anger blurring briefly his gray eyes.
Saitoh was too much of an observer to ignore the extremely subtle reaction that the official’s words provoked in the two others.
“Choshu is definitely an annoyance,” Matsudaira stressed. “I want you to get rid of these agitators, here in Kyoto. Edo isn’t pleased with these internal troubles. They make resisting to the barbarians’ pressure more complicated. The American and the British ambassadors asked again for the right to punish the Japanese guilty of attacks against them, by themselves. What do you think of it, Captain Saitoh?”
“That Japanese have to rule their territory, Matsudaira-sama,” he answered, coolly. “Foreigners shouldn’t be allowed to intervene.”
Saitoh knew that stating his opinion so directly wasn’t exactly polite, yet, he had been asked, and the atmosphere allowed it. Not that he would have made a secret of his thoughts anyway. He had the odd feeling of being tested, though.
“There is unfortunately some bad news, Matsudaira-sama,” Kondo went on. “The attackers might have gotten their information from one of my underlings.”
The Daimyo stayed silent for a minute.
“It had to be expected. This era is encouraging the ambitious to forget their duties for their personal interest. And any of your Captains would be a remarkable asset for the enemy.”
He took a look at Saitoh. “We will then request your talents again.”
Saitoh raised a brow, as Takagi nodded knowingly. So he was in *this* confidence, too? Nobody but Kondo, Hijikata and Matsudaira were supposed to. The latter had stressed that no one else should. Saitoh started to really estimate the degree of closeness between these men. He himself had never had close friends, except for Okita, since a few months ago. Did common, old memories of a faraway past link people so completely? He didn’t know the official, but neither Kondo nor Matsudaira were sentimental fools, to discuss such an important matter with an outsider, without serious reasons.
“I already asked him to,” the Shinsengumi leader confirmed. “As well as finding who is behind the attempt against your vassals’ daughters, as I reported to you.”
Saitoh bowed, as the formal ritual was demanding, respecting the distance of rank between him and the others. Stating his opinions was one thing; order was another one. He demanded it from his underlings: it wasn’t not to apply it himself. Discipline had to come first.
“Captain Saitoh, there is hence a confidential information that will be helping your investigation. Takagi-kun?”
“You are aware of the attacks that the Aizu officials are currently victims of. If, officially, none of us is giving in, and ready to sign this declaration of support to the Bakufu, the actual situation is far less simple. Some have emitted objections, privately, about the propriety of exciting the rebels’ wrath against us, considering that we are already their favorite targets.”
Saitoh began to understand the reasons of the Kyoto gathering, and why the trip of the girls hadn’t been cancelled.
“Meaning that they have no idea of the real point of their stay here?”
“Only Takagi-kun knows,” confirmed the Daimyo. “He is actively promoting the idea, and I officially ignore all about this. He will “propose” it to me as soon as he’ll get their unanimous support.”
Being here at Matsudaira’s request, aware or not of the trick, the officials had no way to refuse, and wouldn’t be able to avoid the discussion. Well done. Another implication came to Saitoh’s mind.
“Should I assume that the reluctant party is formed by Kawashita-san, Imada-san, Fujiki-san, and Kojima-san?”
The ladies’ names which weren’t on the list.
“Exactly, Saitoh-san,” Takagi answered, with again an approving light in his eyes. “I hope that it will give you a new light on the goals of the conspirators.”
“It does, Takagi-sama.”
It was crystal clear to him now. The traitors wanted to set an example, by killing the ardent Bakufu supporters’ daughters, and deter the others to imitate them. They would have surely given the four other girls back….against a juicy ransom. The Ishinshishi were even more desperate for money than the Shinsengumi. If the execution of their offensive had been hasty, and the attackers low class fighters, the plan itself had been masterfully thought.
“It seems that the traitors have infiltrated not only the Shinsengumi, but my court also,” Matsudaira mused, fateful.
Saitoh understood now why they had insisted that he and some of the other captains took part into the upcoming festivities. And he didn’t bother it anymore: it would be no wasted time. It would be hunting.
“We won’t let integrity and loyalty being punished as if they were sins,” Kondo asserted with quiet, but iron determination.
“I know, Kondo-kun,” the small man assured. “Takagi-kun and I have now to discuss about the diplomacy line to adopt with my vassals. I will see you tonight at dinner.”
***
Once the two Shinsengumi were gone, Matsudaira turned to his old friend.
“So, what do you think of him, Kojuuro?”
Takagi waited a while before answering.
“I like what I saw of him. Thank you for letting me meet him before going any further. Of course, I trusted you judgment on him.”
“I understand. When will you talk to Isami about it?”
“Tonight. I am grateful for your attention.”
“I owe it to you, my friend, if not to your family. And I owe it to her, above all.”
They exchanged a look, the past lingering in the room, weighting them with sorrow, regrets, and bittersweet memories.
***
Going out of the residence with his leader, Saitoh was analyzing the useful information that Takagi and Matsudaira had given to him. The puzzle started to order in his head. He was nevertheless still wondering why they had told Takagi of his previous secret mission. It could be that he was the closest counselor to the Daimyo, but, to Saitoh’s knowledge, he had never been involved in other delicate matters concerning the Shinsengumi.
He gave a sideway glance at Kondo, who seemed lost in his thoughts. Maybe he had rather ask Hijikata.
They were walking to their horses, when they heard the gallop of another one. They blinked, trying to figure out the identity of the newcomer, spotting immediately the light blue haori of the Shinsengumi uniform.
“Ikeda-kun,” Kondo greeted, identifying one of Nagakura’s underlings.
The boy, sweaty after riding under the scorching heat of the late morning sun, announced, out of breath: “Kondo-sama, Captain Saitoh, your presence is requested immediately at the headquarters. They found the man.”
***
Tokio nodded to a retiring Aiko with a warm smile, noticing the satisfied smug one of Torimi with growing contrariety.
She was already in a rather bad mood. Her father had arrived this morning, and she had had to explain to him about her wounded hand. She gave a look at it. The cut wasn’t wide, and was cicatrizing well enough, she wouldn’t need a wrapping tonight and could have concealed it. Yet, the idiotic Shinsengumi captain had blabbed about her intervention, and though at least, he hadn’t explained exactly how she had been involved, it had spoilt her reunion with her father. Not that he had scolded her, obviously only Kondo knew and she had hence been spared a lecture about her reputation, but he had looked so worried that she had been wandering alone. It had made her feel awfully guilty, and she hated that. She had also been expecting very impatiently the dinner, because she was hoping for an occasion to talk with Kondo-sama, and now, she knew that she *would*….and that he wouldn’t be as indulgent as her father had been.
She had calmed down, thinking that she could retaliate with stressing the miss that Saitoh had made. It didn’t take a lot for her to realize that he had ignored the number of attackers that she had provided, and his reaction to her little bait had confirmed her deductions. If he didn’t explain the circumstances, it was to save his own situation, of course. Kondo-sama would certainly be more furious at him than at her, then, and she could get out of it without damages. The arrogant man deserved a little lesson, and the idea was utterly satisfying.
Yet, she had to spend the afternoon preparing ikebana to ornate the dining room, with the other girls of the court, one of Michiko’s ideas to get them busy, and it bothered her to no end. Of course, it couldn’t come to the woman’s pea-pod mind that some of them would actually want to spend some time alone, studying or reading.
Tokio liked to be on her own, or more precisely she preferred that than wasting her time in the company of dimwits. She chose her friends very carefully. When she entered the court, most of the girls had been looking for her friendship, though she couldn’t explain why herself. She had discouraged them subtly, and although they were welcoming her whenever she felt inclined to mingle, they respected the distance that she imposed. The only ones whom she authorized in her privacy were Reiko and Miyu. They were younger, but they thought before they talked, whereas the others showed no such signs of brain activity. They had also other centers of interest than the last fashionable color of obi, or the assets of the eligible bachelors. Though they were too nice for their own good, and quite naïve thanks to an absolutely sheltered life, Tokio genuinely liked them.
“What a sadist,” Reiko breathed with a disapproving look at Torimi. “Can’t she leave Aiko alone? She knows that she is unhappy, already.”
“And I’m sure that she talks about her wedding all the time just to hurt her,” Miyu answered. “She enjoys seeing her upset. I’m going to give her a little piece of my mind, this time.”
“Leave it alone,” Tokio advised, putting her hand on her impulsive friend’s arm. “She will just turn her wrath on you.”
“But…”
“I’m sure that she will be less triumphant tonight,” she assured again, finishing the disposal of the sunflowers, center of her arrangement. “Michiko-san should be back soon, you’d better hurry to complete your task.”
The two girls exchanged a knowing look after observing Tokio’s little smile and, reassured, followed her indications.
***
Leaning on the old stony wall, Saitoh gave a scornful look to the bruised face of the traitor. To his credit, he didn’t confess anything before getting a little of Harada’s persuasion method.
Saitoh lit a cigarette. The volutes of smoke, evident in the ray of light passing through the small opening, just below the ceiling, disappeared then in the humid obscurity of the Shinsengumi compound’s interrogation room. The Choshu man was tied up to a chair, in the middle of the room, Harada facing him, making his knuckles crack once more. Okita and Nagakura were standing in front of the door, opposite to Saitoh.
“Denying is making you no good, Makimura,” Soushi said pleasantly. “We know that you ordered the killing of the ladies, on their way to Kyoto. We have a description fitting you.”
“There are lots of men looking like me….”he said, in another pitiful attempt of denial.
Another punch interrupted him. Saitoh’s eyes followed the loop of one tooth, ejected from the man’s jaw to fall on the floor. Harada was a moron, but he knew his job.
“Yes, it would have been quite helpful if you have had a scar or something, but don’t take us for idiots. We have cross examined our information, and you have been up to something lately.”
After only a few investigations, Nagakura and Okita had figured out his name, and his location, thanks to the 2nd Captain’s contacts, who had indicated that the cell Makimura was working for was suspiciously calm, considering the current general agitation in the Choshu clan.
Everything had run smoothly, except for the denials of the man, which were almost convincing. He wasn’t a samurai, and Saitoh knowing by experience that the low class members usually talked more easily, he gave him a mental bow for his attitude. It was really taking too long, though, and Saitoh had no time to waste.
“We should use other ways,” he let out, glancing at his sword. “More efficient ones.”
They could feel the man’s fear growing, his already pained breathing getting heavier.
“Wait a minute, Saitoh-kun,” Okita proposed. “I am willing to believe him. Maybe it was a mistake…and if you tell us what is that business you are working on, Makimura, we could clear this misunderstanding. And let you go, then…”
Saitoh contained a smirk. He wasn’t very fond of teamwork, yet Okita was extremely useful, during interrogations, giving the prisoners a light of hope after they had been weakened. They were always giving in, rushing to the first open door, and this time wasn’t to be an exception, if he trusted the hesitation in the man’s voice.
“I can’t, they’ll look for me and kill me.”
Here they were.
“Moron. What do you think will happen to you if you shut up?”
“You’ll have a chance to escape before….do you see one, now?” Nagakura added, deadpan.
Makimura hesitated again. “You’ll let me go alive?”
“After verification of your information, of course,” Okita smiled.
Saitoh gave the traitor a few seconds, then started to unsheathe his katana, not hiding his contentment, this time, as the man turned to Okita, speaking in a precipitated voice.
“There is a reunion tomorrow, at an inn, in Kyoto. The Ikedaya…”
***
Tokio carefully disposed the last vase on one of the carved, precious boxes punctuating each shoji in the official dining room of the Daimyo’s residence, paying attention not to spill water on her formal kimono. She had volunteered to help with the task, after Torimi had proposed her services to Michiko. It had allowed her to spend the minimum of time getting dressed with all the others, as she didn’t want to get a squealing-induced headache before the party, and it gave her a perfect occasion to talk to the girl.
She gave a look around. The small tables were already set with delicate, precious china, with the sandalwood chopsticks, wrapped into silk paper, waiting for the guests. She crossed Torimi’s eyes, trying to contain a triumphing smile, waiting for the verbal attack that she knew the other girl would send to her.
Torimi liked to be the center of attention, and did anything she could to get it, from speaking loudly and wearing ridiculously flashy clothes, to sucking up to Michiko, and trying to pass as the little queen. She had hated Tokio since the day they met. Tokio wouldn’t have cared about her, if Torimi had been only stupid. The problem was that she was enjoying using her influence over the other nitwits to humiliate any girl who was threatening her position, or simply too weak to retaliate.
Tokio knew that she wasn’t what people could call sweet, though she was offering a perfect imitation of it in public. She didn’t hesitate to manipulate people, and she enjoyed it immensely. It was a pleasure to witness them acting like puppets whose ropes she was holding. She hated the social obligations of her position, having to put up with vain people, and when she realized that she was more intelligent than all of them united, she had found this way out of her boredom and frustration. Nevertheless, she had her limits, and wasn’t trying to hurt them: the knowledge that she had tricked them, the feeling of her own and secret superiority, were enough for her.
She would never have attacked Aiko, for example. Aiko was a very simple girl, not in the way that poor Kana was, of course, but she needed few to be happy. Having been engaged to her childhood friend, a relatively poor samurai, all she had wanted was to be a fitting wife for him. She wasn’t very smart, but she wasn’t trying to pass for it. Since Aiko had lost her fiancé, and was hence particularly vulnerable, Torimi took a sadistic pleasure into bullying her. Though they were very different, Tokio quite liked the quiet Aiko, with whom she had been acquainted since they were very young, and even more since she knew her better. She had then supported her, waiting that she stood for herself.
Yet, that wasn’t going to happen, obviously. She would then assure that her new friend got some respite. And indefinitely, considering what she had in her hand.
“How rare to see you participate in our activities, Tokio-chan,” Torimi began. “I thought that you would have spent more time preparing yourself for the dinner. You are still not engaged, and one might have an interest in you, tonight.”
Torimi’s version of a witty comment. Missing the point.
First, Tokio couldn’t care less about a husband, and certainly not one amongst the men whom she knew. What would she do with an embarrassing lapdog? Then, she was beautiful, she knew it, and adding to it her father’s wealth and his political influence, as the closest friend of Matsudaira’s, she had more trouble trying to avoid marriage than the opposite.
“Is my case looking that desperate?” she nevertheless answered, the most innocently she could. “Maybe I should have then considered the offer of your future husband….though, thinking about it, I was wise to refuse.”
“Nobody would, considering his rank and wealth. Don’t be ridiculous,” the other girl smiled dirtily.
Tokio sighed inwardly. It was too easy, and it wouldn’t be funny. She would take the fast, evident road. She wouldn’t lose time on this moron.
“You’re right, and I would have accepted,” she lied through her teeth, before crushing her with the truth. “Except for his very, very close relation to Imada-san’s son….I don’t think that I could reasonably marry a man who doesn’t like women. But you and I have always been very different.”
Torimi paled, and her expression told Tokio that she had known. Of course, she didn’t love her husband to be, and it had been obvious for everybody that her and her family had tried to strike it rich. Yet, if this kind of relation was tolerated socially, it was a complete humiliation for the wife, if it came to public knowledge, at the court at least.
“Don’t worry, I don’t feel like sharing this with anybody. Unless I’m upset…. and Aiko’s condition upsets me very much,” Tokio added.
Having said what she wanted to, she walked to the door.
“You’ll be sorry for this, Tokio.”
The gray-eyed girl turned around, and gave Torimi her sweetest smile. “I’m so afraid of you.”
***
Night was falling. Okita, Nagakura, Saitoh and Harada were again reunited in Kondo’s office. Their leader and his second were wearing a formal outfit, black hakama and haori.
Hijikata’s eyes were filled with a cold fire, sign of his utter exultation.
“This is an occasion that we cannot miss. We can crush Choshu, once for all. We have to set an example, signify to all these rebels that they will eventually pay the price for their treason, and show the real strength of the Shinsengumi.”
Harada was hardly containing his enthusiasm. “We have been on the defensive for too long. Now, we can attack, at last, and give it to them.”
“We have to be very discreet. We don’t want the birds to fly away from the nest before we arrive. Are you sure that this man told the truth?”
“Oh, yes, Kondo-sama,” Okita smiled. “He knows that we keep him here until after the reunion, and that if he lied, or if they escape us, he’ll have to regret it.”
“It’s coherent with some information that I have stumbled upon during my investigation on the shadow hitokiri,” Saitoh said, aloof. He had put a little stress on the possessive, just to remind his leaders that he considered Takeda as a temporary replacement only.
“How do you want us to process, Kondo-sama?”
“I will lead this offensive myself, with you, Hijikata-kun, Okita-kun and the first division. Saitoh-kun, your unit will as planned serve at the Daimyo’s residence tomorrow, but you will join us on the way. You and Nagakura-kun will leave some men there, though, and Harada-kun, part of your division will guard the compound.”
“We have to keep the complete secret. Kondo-sama and I will finalize a strategy tomorrow, and we will reunite all the men just before the operation starts. We can’t risk the enemy to be aware of our plan,” Hijikata stated.
“Thank you, Hijikata-kun. And about the attack on the ladies?”
“He denies, Kondo-sama, and he seems sincere. That’s why I think he was just asked to hire the thugs and knows nothing else,” Nagakura proposed. “He still hopes that we release him afterwards, and knows we wouldn’t if he admitted this.”
“Whatever, the heads of the Choshu-clan fall, and this problem is also solved,” Harada dismissed.
Saitoh said nothing. That would be only part of the problem, but none of them had to know this. He had his secret mission to complete. He would observe the court tonight, and participate in the eradication of the traitors tomorrow. Taking a drag of his cigarette, a smirk quirking his lips, he appreciated the moment.
***
Getting back to her room for a last check on her outfit, Tokio had the surprise to find her father waiting for her. Her genuine, happy smile froze as she saw the flick of sadness in his eyes when he turned to her. It changed rapidly into the usual, affectionate expression that he had just for her.
Yet she knew that, as always, he had for a second seen another person in her place.
“You look beautiful, Tokio,” he said gently, his voice full of fatherly pride.
“Thank you, father.”
She had managed to hide her feelings. She had always wondered how her father, who was a fine diplomat and politician, could be so clueless when it came to her. They were, well, they had been close, and she had been surprised that she could conceal her thoughts so easily from him. Maybe he didn’t want to know, either. She kneeled in front of the mirror, to make the last touch on her make-up, taking the very small brush and the lacquered box, which had the form of a shell, containing a red paste, and applied it on her lips, careful to avoid her own eyes in the mirror.
Her father waited until she was done, before kneeling, too, in front of the small table. She joined him, and served him some green tea.
His expression was so serious and sad, that she started to feel worried. He braced himself, her worry changed into inner panic. Did something happen to….? No, she would know already, she had her own way to. Calm down.
“Tokio, we have to have a serious talk. It has been a while that I wanted to, but I was delaying it. Nevertheless, your attitude during the travel made it more pressing.”
After a few words, she understood what the point of the conversation was. The moment he explained clearly, she felt betrayed. When he stopped talking, she still managed to master her emotions. He didn’t know her at all.
She put on a smile. Arguing wouldn’t lead her anywhere. She had to temporize, and find a way out of it.
TBC…
Author’s notes:
The basis of the conspiracy plot is settled, now, but there are other elements to appear later….though they are hinted already (^-^).
I chose that date (June 1865) to involve the Ikedaya affair, originally. It was the moment that marked the beginning of the Shinsengumi’s fame, and if the story had begun afterwards, some of the elements (like the attack of chapter 2) couldn’t have happened this way. Nevertheless, it isn’t –far from it- the center of the plot, just a little side aspect. Ikedaya is featured in the OVA, the manga and many stories, hence I won’t focus on the event itself, especially as there is already a very good fic about it (Ikedaya, by Mir) neither on the Saitoh/Kenshin aspect of it, as Mara has done it in her excellent fic “The hunt”. You’ll understand in two chapters (^-^).
My deepest gratitude to Firuze, L.Sith and Mary-Ann, for their comments, support, and encouragements. (^-^)
Next chapter: Find the traitor’s Cluedo game for Saitoh….who evens the score with Tokio. Or does he?
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