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Rosa Canina in Autumn	By : hajimenokizu Category: Rurouni Kenshin > General Views: 1507 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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
- 3
- 4
- 5
Disclaimer:
Nothing is mine. This is just fanfiction. No money involved just plain hard
work and sleepless nights. Also this is not a Saitou x Tokio fic. Alternate
pairings involved! Rating will be changed for later chapters.
Chapter 4: Hot
and Cold Nights at Gion
I look over
the reports again as I smoked a cigarette. So it has been confirmed that
Fukukago, the Kyoto Police Chief is indeed involved in the smuggling of
firearms. Sucking on my cigarette my head races as to what motives could be
behind this and who else is involved. It is quite unfortunate that although I
have been employed in the Keishikan now for almost two years, I have not kept
up with what has been happening in Kyoto, mainly because I did not expect to
find myself back to where it all started and Kyoto is supposed to be the
-past-.
Shaking my
head slightly, I tap the ashes of the cigarette and leaned on the wooden wall.
As Kawaji's letter indicated, I have free reign on how to pursue this matter
and Okubo himself will provide support that will be needed information wise and
also in the courts. All I have to do is find hard evidence to land Fukukago in
contempt. Simple enough indeed but my nose tells me that there is something else
behind this and it is not uncommon for the likes of him to have found allies in
the local Yakuza even if the intelligence makes no mention of it.
The Meiji
government has been in existence for quite a few years, much has changed since
then. Mostly in the way the public offices were run. I smirk slightly, I am not
an avid supporter of the Meiji however working in a public capacity I have seen
quite a few changes being instituted. I believe that they are pushing for a
more transparent system, it was only three years ago in June that they
publicized government revenue and expenditure. Something unheard of in the days
of the Bakufu. Murder for revenge were also deemed illegal, something that we
the Shinsengumi learned early on... Embodied by the hatto, that it is not
allowed to have private fights. And most importantly a year ago the judicial
system had allowed the public to attend and witness civilian related hearings
on the court.
I shake my
head amused at all the thoughts running in my head. Definitely reform was well
under way and yet... There are cases like this one, where I know they will use
my skills as a manslayer to save the public face of the Meiji government. I do
not care for appearances, but I do care for order and if a government's
strength will benefit in the long run this country instead of another uprising,
then I will assist as long as it is not necessary to overthrow the current
system.
Standing up, I
flick the cigarette butt out the window and looked towards the red lanterns
that lined the streets. My eyes narrow slightly as I watched the crowds of
people go up north where most of Kyoto's residents are enjoying a night of
music and good street food. Perhaps I shall join them tonight and re-acquaint
myself with memories of the past. After all, I was a manslayer back then... And
the mere fact that Okubo himself sent me here to be judge and executioner at
the same time, strengthens the fact that Japan still needs people like us back
then, people like the Shinsengumi.
At this
moment, there is no point in wondering what Okubo Toshimichi has in his mind.
Why he would chose me to come here. All that matters is, I am -here- and this
is a perfect opportunity to remind the Meiji that an old wolf still has it's
fangs. That this era was formed not only through the hands of those who won but
also of those who lost and those who have survived like myself.
Why is it that
I do not like to roam the streets unarmed, I still cannot fathom well.
Somewhere in my head I feel more at ease when I have a sword hidden at my back
so I take one fastening it securely before heading out. Perhaps the reason is,
it is easier to get rid of an opponent armed with a blade or perhaps the cold
steel is like my other arm, an extension of myself. One cannot be at ease
missing one of his body parts after all. I smirk at this, that must be the
reason for definitely I fear nothing for it is I who kills intentionally. I am
always certain of my prey.
"Would
you like some sake sir?" A man from a booth calls out to me and I nod my
head. I'm not on duty after all and am feeling rather good.
"Would
you like some yakitori with that?" He adds and I nod once again, smirking
this time. Street food and especially here, reminds me of the time we the
Shinsengumi would convene around stalls drinking beer and eating grilled squid
or chicken. The Kyokuchou though always preferred yakitori for some reason and
sweetened egg scramble whenever he could find one. Paying the man I decide to
sit on one of the benches intended for his customers and my mind drifts...
FLASHBACK
"Saitou-kun...
Try this!" Kondou Isami shoves a few sticks in front of my face and I try
not to scowl... Why were we wasting our time in the festival when there are
Choshu to be hunted down.
"No.
I'm not hungry." I try to be amiable so I add a brief "Thanks".
I could not move well after all in the ranks as the Daimyo's spy if I get on
Kondou's bad graces.
"Maa...
Stop worrying so much." He looks at me as if he could see right through
me. I wonder what it is he is thinking?
"I'm
not worried."
He smiles
and shakes his head, taking the grilled chicken and started munching on it.
"I've
sent the first, fifth and seventh squad to patrol the area." He says while
taking the beer. Of course he says this to re-assure myself. I wonder what he
is getting at?
"When
will they be relieved?"
"In an
hour, I expect you and your men to join the other squads. Patrol the eastern
section."
"Alright..."
I eye his sake... Of all the things he can offer, that sake should've been the
first. He knows I am fond of it. But he makes no motion to offer it to me, so I
get up and started to order one for myself.
"Saitou-kun..."
"Yes
Kyokuchou?" I tilt my head just slightly annoyed.
"I
thought I just gave you -instructions-?"
"Yes
and I understood them." Why the hell is he frowning?
"I
need you sober by the time they get back."
I can't
help but scowl. He knows I hold my liquor well. "Understood..." I
wave the food vendor aside and told him to scratch the sake and give me some
yakisoba instead. From the corner of my eye, I see Kondou Isami grin. I'm glad
he finds this amusing... At least one of us should. By the time I get back to
my seat with the others the Kyokuchou is already in conversation with
Hijikata-san so I confine myself and started eating.
"Ahou...
Is Okita-san here?" A familiar voice asks Inoue Genzaburou.
"Sorry
Yagi-san, his shift doesn't end until the hour is over."
"Is
that so?"
"Yes..."
She sighs
and looks around before finally our eyes meet and she gives me polite smile. I
acknowledge her presence and turn back to eating my noodles. If I don't the
cold air will render it less satisfying. But she pulls up a chair and sits
across from myself.
"If
you don't mind... I'd like to sit here."
"Tell
me, why aren't you going around seeing the floats?"
She smiles,
"I live here so I've seen them all already."
Of course
she has... That was a stupid question to ask. Once again she looks around, I
wonder if she is uncomfortable in my presence? I'd ask her why she won't sit
with the others but the men of the Shinsengumi likes to huddle around and
perhaps a young woman like her feels intimidated by that... Thus she chose to
sit with myself, away from all the ruckus.
"What
time will Okita-san arrive?"
"It
should be soon." I answer back and place a string of noodles in my mouth.
She pulls a
package from her lap and smiles at it gingerly that I start to get curious as
to what's inside but I keep my mouth shut about it.
"Ne
Saitou-san since Souji talks so much about you... Do you know what types of
sweets he likes?"
I almost
choke at her question. Souji talks about myself? Since when did I ever tell him
things? Yes we patrol together a lot and I do spend quite a bit more time with
Souji than I chose to socialize with the others... But I am a very private
individual and do not just blurt out things, it is the first requirement of
being a spy after all. So with this I let the comment about Souji talking
slide, there's no point... And I don't want Yagi-san babbling about tonight
either, since there's really nothing to babble about.
"Maa.
Mochi with red beans I guess." I shrug.
"Just
as I thought..." She mutters and looks down, a trace of red evident on her
cheek. For a moment, I wonder if I had given her the correct answer but she
looks up once again and smiles. "Anou..."
"Yes
what is it?" I ask my eyes staring back.
"Can
you give this to him?" She blushes and her face for a moment seemed to
radiate at the same time. An innocent face, soft and smooth... That I had to
shake my head slightly. At that gesture she frowned. "I suppose I should
give it myself..."
Ah... She
misunderstood, but I cannot tell her what I am thinking right now. Why I even
think it, escapes me. It must be because I'm supposed to be drinking right now.
"Leave it." I mutter, my voice is low and my eyes are staring at the
table unsure.
"Really?"
She gets up and hands me the package and I can feel the smoothness of the back
of her hands. I'm almost tempted to grab it and examine it closely. "Thank
you so much Saitou-san... I'll cook you something tomorrow, since it's rather
late, I should go home before Haha ue looks for me."
She takes
her hands away and I'm left with a white box tied with a pink ribbon. How
utterly horrible... Both the box and just what happened. Souji owes me.
(NOTE: 1.
Flashback here is earlier than the flashback in Chapter 3 / 2. End Flashback)
I wipe the
bead of sweat that formed on my forehead and looked up. A hot night, unlike
that time the Kyokuchou wouldn't let me drink. I pour myself some sake and
stare at the clear liquor. It was an old superstitious belief in Kyoto that to pour for
oneself was like drenching oneself in bad luck. I narrow my eyes and with one
clean motion drown the sake. Old wives tales are moronic, we lost the war
that's true but it wasn't because some of us liked to drink and pour for
ourselves...
"Fujita-san!"
A man's voice calls out from behind and I frown. Of all the people to meet at
the Gion festival... I plaster on a fake smile at this infiltrator.
"Nagaoka-san...
Good evening." I turn my head and bowed it slightly. Hide comes into view
and an even more wry look crosses my face. "To you as well Hide-san."
Why I can't seem to call her by her husband's name is truly pathetic.
Todou eyes my
sake and at once, I knew he was a man fond of drink. The way he leered at it,
reminds me of myself a long time ago. It takes one to know one I guess, so I
raise my cup to him. "Some sake Nagaoka-san?"
"Indeed!"
He smiles and immediately seats himself while Hide follows from behind sitting
beside her husband. "Ah sumanai... We don't have any cups..."
I start to
rise, but he waves me aside. "No worries." He looks at my one sake
bottle, "I'll get a cup. Hide does not drink... But it will be a man's out
tonight Fujita-san..." He bows in hurry and leaves us. I follow him with
my eyes as he snaked his way through the crowd leading up to the vendor. There
are quite a number of customers so I made no motion to wait for him and instead
poured myself another.
"So you
still drink..." Came her voice, low, observant but somehow biting to my ears.
I raise my
head to look back at her. "Yes and as you saw I smoke now as well." I
smirk.
She looks back
at her husband. How utterly sweet. "You should go help him."
"I
will." She looks back at me, "By asking you to please do not
encourage him to drink too much tonight."
Raising my
eyebrows I consider her request. Perhaps I'm just a bastard for I found myself
shrugging her off. "If you can't tell your husband what to do... What
makes you think I can tell him? And it's his choice not mine nor yours..."
She sighs and
I think I can almost read her mind. That time when she told me I was a
difficult man, of the worst lot. That time when she was so smitten with someone
else. Ah but those are old times and there's no sense dwelling on them.
"Will you
stay here and keep your husband company?" I ask.
"That's
the duty of a wife."
"I
see." I chuckle a bit, "Even if you see him slobber all over
himself?"
"I will
not tolerate those remarks from you Saitou-san."
I smile at
this and at her husband as he came back with four sake bottles, probably all
for himself. I grin a triumphant one at Hide. She knows I'm right.
The night
passed by with him imbibbing most of the sake and my smoke filling the air. I'm
surprised she's still here, had it been a long time ago she'd be running away
at the first sign of these vices. Souji was always so pristine and immaculate
that they were perfect for each other... Innocent and sweet. I shake my head
slightly as I take a very long drag on my cigarette half listening to the
nit-wit Nagaoka talk about his massive property and the fortune his father had
left him. I feel slightly on edge as his words pour out.
"So you
see Fujita-san, in this new age in Japan everything has a
price." He hiccups and continues, "Us merchants have gone a long way
and the value of being in the samurai class has diminished."
I bite my
tongue and nod slowly while reaching for the sake bottle, "Here Todou...
Drink some more." And hopefully you'll fall flat on your face, hit a stone
on the road, shatter your throat and not say a word ever again.
Hide shakes
her head at me but it only served to push me a bit more making sure Todou's cup
was filled everytime he emptied it.
"But tell
me Todou... It's quite -impressive- what you've done for yourself. Surely I
can't attribute it all to your father's legacy." I grin slyly. If I'm so
irritated by him, I might as well know everything I can. And if he is to speak
let it not be of the past... But to be completely honest, I'm just waiting for
the words... The words that will prove true that he is a just the bottom of the
barrel and really knows nothing of business. That he is one of those people who
leeches of their posterities good fortune.
He smiles and
looks at Hide and as I inhaled the smoke, part of it goes straight to my throat
and I had to fight of a hard cough.
"Well you
see Fujita-san... My father's legacy is only half the story." He nods his
head and I try not to roll my eyes. "You can ask Hide, she's seen how I
doubled his fortune in only a matter of a few years."
At this, my
ears pricked up. So is he saying he's not as useless as I thought he was? I
chastise myself in silence. I do not wish to hear this man praise himself
more... Especially if the credit was by his own hard work.
"I've
started an import business a year and a half ago." He hiccups again, while
I keep to pouring his sake. I've not poured myself any as the sake tasted very
bitter tonight. "Who would've known importing silk would be so
lucrative?" Todou chuckles and traces his hand over Hide's. Reaching for
it, he brings it up to his lips. "Hide here has a fine head for practical
matters and numbers, so she's had her hand in it too."
He looks at
her and for a moment I think his glazed eyes, cleared. It has always escaped me
how a woman can do certain things to a man. Just like now, when all I want to
do is pummel Todou to the ground... But she puts his hand down and takes the
sake I had prepared for Todou.
"Anata,
it's getting late." She tells him. I wonder if she saw? I wonder if my
face shows too much? Perhaps it is oblivious to a drunk but perhaps not so to
her, the only one really sober tonight.
"Nah..."
Todou grins and withdraws his hand. "There's still one sake bottle left.
Wait a while will you?" He brushes her aside and opens the last bottle,
offering me a cup which I gladly accepted.
The
conversation drifts off again, this time to the western frivolities that he
wants to acquire. A western style sofa, a rug from Persia, some paintings from France... I sigh a bit and
light up another cigarette not really adding anything more, watching his eyes
droop from time to time. There's nothing wrong with being interested in foreign
goods, but there is something wrong with being disinterested in local products.
For a moment, I wonder if this is because he -is- an importer but I throw it
all for a lack of regard of Japan. Perhaps I'm being
biased but no matter how I twist things around, the only saving grace I found
in Todou was that he could give his wife everything that she could want, unlike
myself who took Tokio almost penniless. Taking Tokio from her affluent family
to a commoner's life... Scratch that, an almost imporverished one, all for the
sake of pride. I will never let a woman carry a weight that is supposed to be
her husbands...
Engrossed in
my own thoughts, I did not notice that time had actually passed. The long night
finally ended with Todou on the table and Hide looking at me as if for the
first time in many years, as if she was interested in what I was thinking. But
there is a sour look on her face and she tries to pull up her husband from the
table. Scoffing, I rise and help her get Todou up.
"Where do
you live? I shall accompany you." I tell her as I drape Todou's left arm
over my shoulder.
"Not too
far from here." She replies to me, avoiding my line of sight. I sigh
slightly, "I did not come to distress you." -Again-... "This is
not like with Souji before where I took a chance."
"I know.
After all you are married now as well." She answers as I follow her down
the street, wondering if there was any point in dwelling upon her words any
deeper.
Catching up to
her while hauling the small Todou, I notice that her face is now glistening
slightly from sweat. To say that tonight was warmer than usual is an
understatement, to myself it felt more like a blistering heat in the dog days
of summer. Reaching my free hand into my pocket, I pull out a handkerchief.
"Use
this." I tell her and she stops looking at the handkerchief for a long
moment. I scowl once more, "It's -clean-."
She smiles
slightly, the first time tonight. "I know that as well."
- 3
- 4
- 5
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Rosa Canina in Autumn