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Rosa Canina in Autumn	By : hajimenokizu Category: Rurouni Kenshin > General Views: 1506 -:- 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
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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 1:
Then and Now
It's been too
long that I've waited, perhaps that is the reason why I find myself in front of
Matsudaira accepting his proposal. A marriage with a
woman named Takagi Tokio, a woman of Aizu from a prominent samurai clan. Well breed and
educated, there was really nothing I could complain about, even her beauty
surpasses most women I have met. Noting the heart shaped face of the woman in
the picture. I hand it back to Matsudaira.
�I'll arrange
for you to meet her father. There should be no problems since I already told
him in advance that I have every faith in your ability to protect and keep his
daughter happy.�
I watch the
Daimyo of Aizu in indifference. There's nothing to
object to nor anything to be ecstatic about. I merely
nod at his eagerness to marry me off. Apparently he's taken it upon himself to
make sure former Shinsengumi members were taken cared off one way or another.
Perhaps it is because he still feels badly that he was not able to save Kondou-san. To be totally honest I don't want to be used as
a token, but there's nothing else I see in the future except perhaps to commit
seppuku. Taking the cup of sake that just arrived, I listen to him continue.
�Aside of
course from my recommendation, your new job as Police Inspector will prove
favorable to the Takagi's. The Meiji pays well and there are special
privileges.�
My hands stops mid-way. The allure of sake quickly losing it's appeal, I place the cup down preparing my rebuttal.
�I am not
interested in special privileges.� I reply with an edge to my voice. �Especially if it is from the Meiji government.�
The Daimyo
taps my shoulder lightly. Chuckling a bit.
�Well then
don't worry about it. I'm just telling you it's there if ever you should need
it.�
This man is
sometimes incorrigable. So I stand abruptly ready to
leave, not caring if he will be jilted and have me thrown back to prison.
Instead he does not stop me and continues to chuckle.
�Fujita Goro... Do not be late tomorrow.�
Raising my
hand in acknowledgment, I close the door with a definite �thud� at the end.
Sometimes people, even Matsudaira are morons.
I walk out of
the castle, pass the courtyard onto the streets. At
least for an ahou like Matsudaira
he was able to rebuild Aizu. The streets were a bit
barren and dark but there were still some shops open. A few yards down the
street I see a soba stand but I am not hungry at all. So I walk past it, not
really thinking of where my destination will lie.
Tomorrow I
shall meet in person the woman I am to marry and her family too. This moment I
cannot at all care, the only thing important is to shake this weariness that
has been tugging at me since that conversation. Perhaps I do not want to
commit, at least not to that woman.
In Kyoto there was someone I
had been looking at. A woman who disguised herself as a man and who eventually
fell in love with a man whom I deemed as my brother, Okita
Souji... He had always been so open about it with us.
Whether he told her of his feelings himself, I sincerely doubted it. He was shy
about his women and I of course did not encourage his feelings. Being at the
brink of war, one cannot think too much about that at least that's what I told
him. It is true. I had no doubt in my answers everytime he inquired. But for
myself, there was another reason... Because I secretly hoped that his affection
will pass and then maybe I can show myself to her after the war was over.
Perhaps I was being underhanded... Perhaps... But I
never had plans to step in between them. There are after all unspoken codes
shared between men. That no man should covet his friend's
woman. The plan was to be patient and see if Okita
will own her or not. Whether he still wanted her or not.
I will be a bystander until he decided.
Okita of course died in Edo while we were at war in Toba-Fushimi. I had heard she visited him quite often and I
was sincerely glad, for he needed that because we could not be with him at his
last moment. The last letter I received from Hide was a very disturbing one, she seemed distraught as I read between the lines. If I
could be there to help her I would've, but we were pushed back from Toba-Fushimi and the Bakufu forces were almost annihilated.
We sortied in Aizu to make
sure it did not fall into enemy hands. Under the Daimyo we fought and the
letters stopped, rather I do not know if she ever sent one again for I had
heard from Kondou-san himself that Souji succumbed to tuberculosis.
Finally an
interesting shop comes into view. It is decorated rather simply and of foreign
writings on the door. Having nothing better to do, I enter out of curiousity.
�Irrashaimase!�
Bowing in
acknowledgment I scan the small room. There are bottles of what I think is
foreign liquor and on another shelf a most peculiar looking cardboard box.
�What is
that?� I motion to the boxes stacked one over another. There are gold, red,
blue and silver colors. Quite delightful to the eye actually.
�Tobacco
sir... A new type which comes from Europe.�
I tilt my head
still not grasping what she is saying. Tobacco comes in small round containers
and is used with a pipe. I glare back at her for being absurd.
�Oh! You
should try it sir. Here I'll get you a pack.� She reaches down and comes out
with a gold pack, slightly the size of playing cards and some matches.
�Dozo!�
She hands it
to me and I take one look. It's foreign and it's decorated in gold. It must
cost a small fortune.
�Iie. I am not interested.�
I move the foreign object back to her.
�Oh please
take it. We are new here and would really like to establish business.�
�I do not have
enough money for something this frivolous.� I insist.
�Iie! Consider this a
gesture of good business. You can take it for free and I hope you come back
again soon.�
Narrowing my eyes at the stubborn woman. I take the package.
She does not strike me as a person who will take no for an answer. And I do not
want to stay here any longer.
�Alright.�
I leave the
store noting it's location. If this tobacco is any
good I will return. I never was a tobacco smoker.. Much less a �cigarette� smoker. My preference has always
been hot sake for it calmed my nerves during those battles. It even saved me
once in buddha hall.
Smirking I note the inconsistency of that thought... No the sake almost killed
me in battle for I was hot from drinking and I wanted to take off the chainmail. If the chainmail
wouldn't have stuck to my haori, I could've probably
died that night.
Opening the
small package I note the clear wrapping. Interesting... The gold color is
actually embossed on cardboard itself. Taking the �cigarette� out, I try to
figure out which end to place on my lips. Deducing from it's
looks I place the foam end on my lips and lighted the other end which contained
the dried grass.
I had watched Hijikata-san smoke his pipe many times before so I inhale,
making sure it travelled through my throat and lungs
slowly. I feel hazy for an instant and my eyes slightly teary from the smoke
that was inconveniently too close. But after a few more puffs I realize that
the effect is mildly similar to the effect of hot sake. Calming... Walking back
from where I came, I feel slightly more relaxed and my thoughts wandered once
again.
To Kyoto... The
generous household that housed my comrades. To the broom that was always
held upright when we first came. To the old woman who turned it down towards
the earth signaling our welcome. To that girl who unsuccesfully hid herself from me. It was always
puzzling why no one ever noticed... There were times I had wanted to shout at
everyone not to treat her so roughly. But I knew her cover would be broken and
that would not be a good thing for that household so I kept my mouth shut. But
maybe that wasn't such a good idea... For while I leaned on the engawa, Souji showed her kendo thinking she was a man. Perhaps that
is what they call fate and she... She did not notice I watched her quietly from
a distance. That I was watching her not as hidejiro-kun...
But simply as Yagi Hide.
I choke for a
moment... Forgetting I had inhaled rather forcefully. Grinning I crush the
cigarette under my boots and take another one out... This is rather good.
Perhaps it is also fate I chanced upon that small shop.
Note:
Matsudaira Katamori � Daimyo of Aizu who supported the Shinsengumi. He was the protector of
Kyoto
Okita Souji � Captain of the First Troop of
the Shinsengumi
Yagi Hide (Hidejiro) � Sole daughter of the Yagi household who is Okita Souji's love interest. (Hidejiro)
was her name during the time she disguised herself as a man when the
Shinsengumi came to live in Mibu.
The broom when
turned upright means that the household wants the guest to leave quickly. When
the right side is up for the broom it means signifies that the guest is very
much welcome.
To those who
didn't know. Tokio and Saitou were in an arranged
marriage facilitated by the Daimyo himself.
(This fic was inspired by NHK Shinsengumi and a
friend. The Saitou Hajime in this case is a cross between history and Rurouni
Kenshin)
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Rosa Canina in Autumn