[ Watashi ]

[ Tomodachi ]

[ Saint Seiya ]

[ Clamp ]

[ Fanfiction ]

"Sumeragi-san, what are you doing?"

Slowly, I stood up, ignoring the serving girl's attempt to force me to lie down, and mumbled between clenched teeth, "I'm getting up, is what I'm doing. I feel as if I'd been asleep for ten years in a row." For a short, frightening moment, the ground swam beneath my feet, then I managed to gain a more or less steady balance. Focusing on my surroundings was hard; it required an effort to will the fog clogging my brain to lift. I shook my head in a slow movement in an attempt to clear it, asking in the same time, "Damn it, I feel so drowsy. What have I been given?"

"Sleeping herbs." The girl bowed. "The doctor said it was necessary to make the pain bearable."

With a weary sigh, I replied, "I see." I could still feel said pain radiating in my back like a half-dead fire which would flare up to life again with the smallest breeze. I made a tentative step forward, and nodded, finding myself to be satisfied, all things considered. I could walk, even if that required concentration both to coordinate the movements of my legs and to ignore the pain the action entailed. Turning carefully towards the serving girl, I asked her, "Can you help me? I need to dress up."

I was fortunate that the physician who had treated me knew how to make tight bandages which relieved the wounds from stress but didn't render all movement impossible. While the young woman was adjusting the jacket over my shoulders, she told me in a quiet voice, "Saitou-san wanted to see you as soon as you'd be strong enough to stand. He's here at this moment, in the restaurant's main room."

"Thank you." I smiled at the serving girl, and asked her in an afterthought, "How long have I been in this bed?"

"Oh, not much. It's been eight days since the night when Saitou-san brought you here."

Eight days.

Curse it, that was an eternity! So much could have happened during that time. I sketched a bow at the serving girl, and then slowly stepped out of the bedroom, focusing on one of the mental exercises which were the core of the Onmyoujutsu discipline. Eventually, the pain bowed to my will and slowly receded to the back of my mind.

When I stepped into the Aoiya's main room, there was only one customer sitting half-hidden in a corner. As I approached him, I saw what was filling his bowl, and grinned. Plain soba, as usual. You'll never change. Sitting down in front of him, I asked, "You wanted to see me?"

Unhurriedly, he looked up from his bowl of soba without the slightest expression of surprise on his face. The Wolf's amber eyes searched my face for a while, and I let silence reclaim dominion over the room, content to wait until he'd be done with his examination. Eventually, he said, "The physician assured us you wouldn't be strong enough to stand and fully wake for another two days at least."

Perfectly aware of the indirect reproach there had been in his words, I snorted. "Since when do you listen to physicians?" With a small, careful shrug, I added, "There's still pain, but I can manage."

"Yes." The amber eyes met mine and held them. "You seem whole. I thought that events would have affected you badly."

A humorless smile came to my lips, and I refrained the bitter laughter that I could feel rising inside me. "They have."

All of a sudden, a hand reached out and covered mine on the table. He nodded saying in a whisper, "I know." His fingers squeezed mine, gently, and I blinked back tears which had almost won over me. He released me, and said in a quiet voice, "You were lucky, no sinews were touched. The cuts were rather deep, but they were all clean."

I nodded in silence, busy focusing on calm, on the steady rhythm of my breathing to master the sudden rise of emotions within me. The silence between us stretched on, until at last I managed to get a sure grip over myself. Then I asked him, "What happened while I was out?"

"Nothing much." A mocking smirk came to his lips. "Shinomori sulked and felt guilty over your wounds, the weasel girl regained her strength and proceeded to make a pain of herself as usual, and I gathered some bits of information." He quickly sobered up, and added, "There's much to discuss, but it'll have to wait until *he* gets here."

I raised an eyebrow questioningly, surprised at the strange mixture of sarcasm, eagerness and contempt which had suddenly come into the tone of his voice, but my Wolf of a husband didn't volunteer any more information. I knew better than to insist, so I let him be and sipped at a cup of tea which had been set before me while he finished his bowl of soba.

Just as I was about to wonder aloud at the lack of customers in the restaurant, Makimachi Misao burst into the wide room, exclaiming happily, "He's here! He's here!" Stopping beside me, she tugged at my left sleeve, as if she had still been a little girl. "Come, Sumeragi-san, you have to meet him!"

A bit taken aback by the young woman's childish enthusiasm, I yielded and slowly followed her lead.

Damn it. Silently, I cursed as the pain in my back blinded me for a fraction of a second. Clenching my teeth, I willed it *away*, and it reluctantly obeyed. Before me, young and over-energetic Makimachi Misao had started running I smiled despite myself; watching her being so cheerful and carefree brought joy to my heart. Be happy, Makimachi-san. I only hope my son will be given a chance to be like you.

The young woman skidded to an abrupt halt, barely avoiding a collision with someone who had just entered the narrow corridor we were in.

A man, young and rather small in height.

His long hair gathered in a low pony tail.

Fiery red hair.

"Himura! Watch where you walk, you stupid, you almost bumped into me!" Makimachi Misao's teasing words reached my ears, but didn't register in my brain.

"Oro?" The look of utter incomprehension in the young man's eyes would have been very comical if my mind had been able to process the information, but it wasn't.

My mind was stuck in memories of the past. A past in which those beautiful violet eyes had been shadowed with pain, guilt and grief too heavy for a human heart to bear.

A fallen angel, doomed by the gentleness and generosity of his heart. That was how I had seen him at the time. Now the shadow was still there, but weaker. A second scar had joined the first on his left cheek, shaping a cross of sorts. There was balance in his aura, a feeling of peace and acceptance which was radiating from him and was enough to warm the heart. The spirits truly enjoy playing with human destiny.

I had expected never to see him again. I had thought him dead at the end of the Boshin war. "Himura-san...." My faint whisper resounded in the corridor.

He looked up at me in a sharp movement, and for the tome of a heartbeat I got a glimpse of the harsh, merciless light flashing in his eyes, the light that I had known, all those years ago and had marked him to me as being a hitokiri. For a few seconds, he stared at me numbly, and then his eyes widened in recognition. A strange expression passed like a cloud over his face as he likely remembered the past as well.

As he remembered the insanity at the end of the Bakumatsu.

Then a beautiful, luminous smile came to his lips, and he nodded. "Tokio-dono, ohisashiburi degozaru."

"Eeeeh?! Tokio?!" Makimachi Misao was staring at me with her mouth agape like a fish out of water. Shaking her head wildly, she exclaimed, "Impossible! Sumeragi-san and that sadistic bastard--"

She was interrupted by a cough coming from right behind me. I couldn't help chuckling, which the pain in my back proceeded to remind me was a mistake when one had fresh wounds in certain areas of one's body. A sadistic bastard.... I didn't need to turn to know which expression there was on my Wolf's face.

"Saitou." Himura Kenshin's eyes had narrowed, as if he had suddenly felt threatened. Then, shock flashed in his eyes and he froze. "Tokio-dono...." If his lower jaw could have dropped to the floor, it would have. "You're the Tokio who is Saitou's wife?!"

"She is." Hajime came at my side, and coughed again. Unbidden, a wide grin came to my face when I saw his expression, a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. The Wolf's cheeks were flushed, almost imperceptibly so, which I couldn't help finding extremely cute while I fought to refrain from grinning. The Wolf coughed again, while Makimachi Misao literally rolled on the floor laughing.

"Ororo...." For a moment, I feared that Himura Kenshin had gone into shock. Beside me, the wolf of Mibu heaved a long suffering sigh, and I felt laughter bubbling up inside me. I reached out to my husband and briefly rested a hand against his right arm. He turned towards me and smiled, a bit helplessly. I wished that I could freely laugh without reviving the pain in my back, for he truly was a hilarious sight.

Eventually, he stepped towards the smaller man, and snorted. "I didn't ask you to come here to gape at my wife, Battousai. We must talk now." That said, he turned on his heels and headed back towards the Aoiya's inner garden.

In front of me, Himura Kenshin sobered up in the blink of an eye, and I felt cold suddenly seeping into my body when I saw the warrior's mask descending over his face.

"Tokio-dono," I turned towards Himura Kenshin as we entered one of the quieter rooms of the Aoiya, and he said with a small, polite bow, "I didn't think I'd ever have the possibility to ask, but can you tell me what happened with young Eiji after Saitou brought him to you?"

Taken aback, I blinked. Did everyone know about details of my and the Wolf's lives while I didn't know anything about theirs? This unexpected question clearly meant that the red-haired samurai and my husband had met not so long ago, and met as allies, which came somewhat as a surprise when I thought about their respective histories, as well as Himura Kenshin's reaction to the sight of the Wolf just a few minutes ago. Eventually, I discarded the questions jostling in my mind with an inward shrug. Answers would come in their own time.

Focusing on the young man standing beside me, who didn't look much older than when I had met him more than fourteen years ago, I told him with a warm smile, "Eiji is faring well. He's healing; it's a slow process, but little by little his heart is healing. He's staying with me at the Sumeragi mansion: he's a part of the family now, I've adopted him into the Sumeragi clan, with his agreement."

Himura Kenshin's face lit up with a beautiful smile. "I'm very happy to hear this, Tokio-dono."

"Do you intend to stand there chatting all day?"

The red-haired samurai heaved a loud sigh while I grinned at the Wolf, who was looking down on us with no small amount of frustration showing on his face. In a sweet, obedient voice, I replied, "Not at all, *anata*. We were just finished." Was it the beginning of a blush that I saw coming to my husband's cheeks? Beside me, Himura Kenshin didn't completely manage to stifle laughter. More seriously, I added, "Speaking of Eiji, I suppose that you sent word back tot he Sumeragi mansion, so that the boy won't start worrying and decide to look for me. I don't want him involved, and I don't want anyone else of my clan involved. It's bad enough that I was forced to step into this matter myself."

Saitou Hajime greeted my words with a derisive snort. "Of course." Shrugging, he turned to enter the room, and added as he stepped inside, "I have a brain to think and I know how to use it, contrary to some people that I know." I decided to let the heavy sarcasm pass, and the Wolf went on, quietly this time, "I don't want to see the brat meddling into this mess anymore than you do. Don't worry, neither the boy nor any of the Sumeragi, not even your foul-tempered elders will wonder about you for a while."

"Good," I nodded at him, adding with a mischievous wink, "so let's go in, I thought we weren't supposed to stand here chatting all day?"

Just as I stepped past him, I heard the Wolf mumbling darkly, "Women!" And I laughed up my sleeve, rather happy with myself.

After we all knelt down, tea was brought and silence fell over the room while we sipped at the steaming hot drink. Holding my own cup between my hands, I concentrated on the heat radiating from it, and studied the people present. Shinomori Aoshi was his usual taciturn self, he might as well have been absent from the room. The feeling of utter detachment that I could pick up from him was like a blanket masking his presence. The Okina was unusually serious and silent, and on his right Himura Kenshin was waiting, patient.

When I turned my attention towards Makimachi Misao, the young woman set her cup down and asked the red-haired samurai, "Didn't Kaoru-san accompany you, Himura?"

Shaking his head in denial, the young man replied, "No, there are too many students at the Kamiya dojo. She has too much work to be able to afford leaving the dojo unattended."

Noticing the undertones in his voice as well as the luminous smile on his lips, I wondered, Kaoru? What had happened to beautiful, quiet and almost unearthly strange Tomoe?

"That's a good thing. I wouldn't want the raccoon girl to be a source of distraction for you, Battousai."

"Ano...Saitou...." Himura Kenshin sighed again, shaking his head in helplessness. As I looked at my husband's face, I saw the light shining in the amber eyes. The Wolf was playing and enjoying a bit of fun, but beyond that he was deadly serious. Just as Makimachi Misao looked about to intervene in the two men's harmless sparring match of words, Himura Kenshin's face became serious once again, and he asked quietly, "Will you explain now why my presence here is absolutely necessary?"

Sobering up as well, my husband nodded. "Yes, but first there's a bit of a tale to be told." He turned towards the Oniwabanshu leader and said, in deadly earnest, "You can no longer hide behind stupid excuses like 'it's a personal matter', so out with it, Shinomori."

A long, heavy silence followed the Wolf's words. Once again, Shinomori Aoshi had walled himself away, the warrior's mask firmly set over his face.

But the aura radiating from him was tainted with darkness.

"It happened shortly after the matter with Kanryu." The toneless whisper startled me, and I abruptly realized that the Oniwabanshu leader had lifted his head up and was staring into emptiness as he spoke, his eyes veiled with the ghosts of painful memories. "I was wandering through a deep forest somewhere between Tokyo and Kofu, when I lost my way. I was attacked by four bandits, and I killed them. Then I saw before me an immense sakura tree. It was in full bloom, even though it was far too early in the season for it to be. Between its roots, a young woman was sitting, watching me. I'll never forget her. She was...." Shinomori Aoshi shook his head. "To me she looked like a spirit suddenly come into being in front of me. She knew me." His gaze turned inwards, and softly, he added, "She knew the darkness inhabiting my heart, and she mocked it. She mocked me." Beside him, Makimachi Misao bowed her head. Sadness and compassion were shining in Himura Kenshin's beautiful violet eyes. Oblivious to all this, the Oniwabanshu leader continued his tale. "She called me a fool for wanting to go after the Battousai, because I was hunting for an empty title." Taking a deep breath, he said, "Because she told me that she was *the* Hitokiri, the assassin. And she said that I would one day come back to her if I lived, either in search of the title of the strongest, or because we would one day be opposed. She also said that I was lying to myself, pretending to feel nothing when I grieved even for the lives of the worthless bandits I had killed. Anger blinded me, and I almost struck at her...but then the wind rose, answering her call and I stopped, just in time."

Shinomori Aoshi interrupted himself to sip at his tea, and I listened to the echoes of his words, feeling cold all over. If this tale led where I thought it would, the Oniwabanshu leader had truly danced with death...and come out alive, but....

In so doing, he had attracted the Sakurazukamori's interest, and I knew, I knew that the hunter never forgot about a prey that struck his fancy.

"She spared me, both because she had found me amusing, and because I had paid tribute in killing four men and spilling their blood before the great sakura tree." The calm in Shinomori Aoshi's voice was frightening. It was toneless, lifeless even. It felt almost as if he had withdrawn from the world of the living, cast away into the night by the darkness of his tale. "I tried to forget about this, after you and I finished our fight, Battousai. I even thought that I had been freed from that nightmare in the same time, but..." he paused for a few seconds, as if hesitating to say more, and then went on, reluctance seeping into his voice, "recently, I heard of murders committed in Shimabara. I didn't pay much attention to them, until one night when a man was killed almost right under my nose. Not only didn't I feel any sign of danger, but what's more the wind deposited a lonely sakura petal in my hand when I was done examining the corpse. Then I knew who must be behind the murders, and I knew she hadn't forgotten about me. Why she decided to reveal herself to me after all this time, challenging me that way, I don't know, but...." Once again, the Oniwabanshu leader shook his head, and suddenly a light shone in his eyes. The flame of an emotion I understood all too well.

"I'm not frightened easily, but that woman...she's not human, she doesn't *feel* entirely human anymore. There's something to her, something alien and mad.... So I decided to ignore her challenge. I decided not to enter the game she had set for me."

Makimachi Misao bowed her head deeply, and then whispered, guilt plain in her voice, "Forgive me, Aoshi-sama. If only I hadn't tried to know more on my own...."

An unexpected smile came to the Oniwabanshu leader's lips, and he gently told the young woman, "You did what you thought was right, Misao. I am at fault as well, for having remained silent and for not expecting you to pick up that something was wrong." With a heavy sigh, he added, "This brings back too many dark memories, that I wanted to forget."

Because he was afraid of who he had been at the time. He was afraid because he knew that his past-self was still a part of him, he didn't want to fall into the night again...and the presence of the Sakurazukamori was bringing out the darkness in him. I bowed my head in understanding. Meeting with the assassin had imprinted a dark stain on Shinomori Aoshi's spirit, and he couldn't free himself from it, not on his own.

Now I understood the unbalance that I had felt in him.

Oh how I understood.... Closing my eyes tightly shut, I took a deep breath, then stared steadily at the Oniwabanshu leader and told him in a calm voice, "The person that you met is known to my clan, or rather, "I felt a bitter smile coming to my lips, "what she is is known to us, but I don't understand why she decided to set out after you. It's not the Shadow's way to start hunts on its own, or only for marked preys. And you aren't marked."

"You forget one thing, Tokio-dono." Himura Kenshin's soft, quiet voice filled the room as I turned towards him. "Your clan's Shadow sells his talent for murder, and dispatches the targets which are pointed out to him. He's an assassin, a hitokiri who kills those he's told to kill, with the only difference that he uses Onmyoujutsu to achieve his aims." Himura Kenshin's voice didn't falter while he said this, the light in his eyes remained clear, as if he had come to terms with his own past and accepted it.

As if he had forgiven himself.

"How do you know so much about what's supposed to be a well-guarded secret of the Sumeragi clan?" With a derisive snort, the Wolf supplied his own answer to the question. "Don't bother. Now at last, I understand how my wife got her information on where to find the assassin hired by the extremist faction of the Ishin at the end of the Bakumatsu." He glanced at me, a humorless smile on his lips, and I stared back at him with a grin, not about to let myself be intimidated.

Then, all of a sudden, my husband's smile left his face, and he said, "Anyway, you're right. I wouldn't have told you to come all the way from Tokyo for some random murders." Reaching into one of his jacket's pockets, the Wolf took out a cigarette and lit it, drawing slowly on it before continuing, "I've been aware of the murders in Shimabara for more than a year now. I've watched them as well as the deliberate pattern set around them to lure out yet another target, to finally discover that this target was you, Shinomori. What I didn't know was why." He paused for another, long draw on his cigarette, and then went on, as quietly as if he was talking about the weather, "Then I was lucky enough to come into brief contact with the esteemed assassin, and the words she used struck me, forcing me to push my investigations further on all the victims she has made. It so happens that all of them were either members of the staff of a politician, or minor politicians themselves, all of them tied in some way with Okuma Shigenobu and the liberal, moderate factions. The small, separate groups that those people form often oppose themselves to the Oligarchs, but they have no real power to back them. So they use the press to let their opinions be known and to spread them among people. Weak as they are, what I see when I assemble all the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle is a slow but certain eradication of an opposing political faction. Now, add to that the fact that the same assassin who has dispatched those men seems to be after a list of people among whom are Shinomori and now myself, and tell me what you see, Battousai."

There was a long moment of silence, during which my husband and Himura Kenshin faced each other. Eventually, the red-haired samurai shook his head, and said with a sigh, "Neither you nor Aoshi have a political color anymore. It's well known that in your own way, you each stand for the welfare of Japan and the people, for what you feel is right. It's also well-known that you'd never meddle into politics."

"Just like you, Battousai." Saitou Hajime was now wholly set on Himura Kenshin, the Wolf's amber eyes intent. "You can bet your name is somewhere on that assassin's list as well. So what do you see?"

Himura Kenshin's violet eyes narrowed in thought, and eventually he said, perplexity plain in his voice, "What I see makes no sense. The picture you paint is that of a shadowy power out to annihilate anything that could stand in its way at one point or other in the future...but given that neither of us would react to political shifts in the government, it's absurd."

"Is it?" The Wolf countered. "What if this unknown faction's plans included essential changes which would go against the ideal you fought for, the ideals Shinomori and I are responsible for as the losing side of the end of the Bakumatsu?"

Himura Kenshin heaved a weary sigh, shrugging. "You'd rise against something like that, Saitou, you're still Shinsengumi, even now. Perhaps we might also move against it, but I can't see who'd set such a plan into motion. Shishio Makoto is dead, and the Oligarchs--"

"The years will rot a person, I thought you knew that, Battousai." My husband's grin was both ironic and cruel. "Look at what became of most of the so noble hearts who fought against the established order of things to start a new, enlightened era."

Makimachi Misao slammed a hand on the floor, and protested vehemently, "You can't mean to say that those who led a revolution to establish freedom and happiness for the people would turn against their own ideals and betray those who fought along with them?!"

With a mocking snort, Hajime waved the young woman's words aside. "I don't put anything past anyone, weasel girl. They're human, all of them, and I know enough of the human heart to expect anything from them. However, I'm not claiming that the Oligarchs are behind the assassinations. They might be, or some of them might be...them, or anyone with enough power who thought that his grand vision was worth a few necessary sacrifices for the greater good of all." Sighing, he added, "Unfortunately, I don't have enough information and I have no idea of who's behind this mess or why." In a deadly quiet voice, he concluded, "All I am sure of, is that things are moving, and that Shinomori, the Battousai and I are on an Onmyouji assassin's target list."

Cold.

Slowly, my right arm reached up, as if of its own volition, and my hand closed over my other arms as I hugged myself.

I'm so cold.

In front of my eyes, the great Sakura tree was spreading its branches so high that they were covering the sky. The delicate perfume of its blossoms was everywhere, filling my being, intoxicating, and the beautiful laughter of the woman who was the current Sakurazukamori was echoing endlessly, all around me.

Dear spirits, what can I do?

"Tokio-dono?"

What can I do?

"Tokio-dono?!" All f a sudden, I felt fingers pressing on my right shoulder, gently, and I blinked, tearing myself away from the nightmarish trance with difficulty. My surroundings came back into focus, and I saw Himura Kenshin bent over me with worry shining in his eyes.

Forcing a smile to my lips, I told him with a short bow of the head, "I'm all right, Himura-san. I was simply lost in thoughts." I drew a deep breath, and focused on the harsh Onmyoujutsu discipline, as well as that of kenjutsu. Firmly, I Closed the warrior's mask over my face, and then said in a carefully neutral voice, "No matter what you decide to do or what plans you make, you don't stand a chance against the Sakurazukamori. She's an assassin who wields Onmyoujutsu, and your swords are powerless against that. You, Himura-san, and you, my husband, should know that." Facing each of them in turn, I said tonelessly, "And I won't intervene, I won't move against my clan's Shadow. It's not the Sumeragi's way. The assassin may take what lives she wants, we may not stop her, as long as she doesn't endanger the spiritual balance of the land. At the end of the Bakumatsu, Keisuke started destroying the seals protecting Kyoto, and that allowed me to stand against him...but even that was a mistake. Here," I looked into the Wolf's eyes, and went on, "I don't even have that excuse. What the current Sakurazukamori does affects only the mundane side of the world, and that's not my concern."

"What?!"

I didn't even hear Makimachi Misao's protestation, and continued, mercilessly. "All that I have done until now, I have done because my help was requested, and because I granted it, unaware of what was going on. Now that I am aware of the Sakurazukamori's involvement in this, I won't let myself be pulled into it any further. I refuse to break again the balance between her and my clan. However, one thing I'll do for you: I'll use my family's resources and old ties with the Imperial Palace to try and give you more information. Perhaps things can still be altered, I don't know." Deeply, I bowed, unheeding of the pain which flared up again in my back. "In the meantime, I am extending to all of you a formal invitation to stay at my house here in Kyoto. I hope you will accept it, and forgive me."

"Sasuga wa, Sumeragi-san!" The old man, whose presence I had once again all but forgotten, cackled happily to himself. "That's brilliant." With an impish grin and a wink, he added, "Of course, it's pure chance that while staying at the Sumeragi mansion, your guests will be under the protection of all the wards and shields your clan must have established there, generation after generation...not to mention that you're honor-bound to defend guests of your clan while they're under your roof."

A faint smile came to my lips, and I nodded. "I'm glad my proposition is pleasing to you, Okina-san."

Beside me, Himura Kenshin bowed, and said with a gentle, reassuring smile, "Thank you, Tokio-dono. Don't worry, we all understand how hard this is on you." In echo to his words, Makimachi Misao bowed deeply, stammering an apology which elicited a rare smile from Shinomori Aoshi.

"Then I suppose this discussion is at an end, temporarily at least. We'd better make preparations, and honor the Sumeragi's invitation." Hajime stood up as he said that, and we all imitated him. While the others moved to exit the room, he came at my side ad reached out to me. Pushing back a rebel lock of hair which had managed to win free of my pony tail, he whispered softly, "Trust the Sumeragi to bind themselves with twisted rules, and to have equally twisted minds to maneuver around them." In a swift movement, too quick for me to react, he bent over me and laid a gentle kiss on my hair, adding, "Thank you, Tokio. I know what this all means to you."

On impulse, I turned to face him and stole a kiss from him before he could move away. Staring right into the Wolf's amber eyes, I told him quietly, "I won't allow the Sakurazukamori to harm those I love. Even if I have to damn myself, I'll never allow that again."

"Hajime!" I gave the signal, and both Eiji and Makimachi Misao flung themselves at each other. This was nothing more than a training match, and Eiji wasn't using the wooden sword, since the young woman's fighting style involved either her sharp-edged kunai or kempou. She had been willing to let Eiji use his sword, apparently very much certain of her superiority, but the outraged adolescent would have had none of it. A fair match, or no match at all. I smiled to myself, thinking that Eiji still had much to learn.

The walls of the dojo resounded with the sound of running feet over wood and with the short, rapid breathing of the two opponents. It was good to feel the place come alive like this. As both adversaries came within reach of each other, Eiji lunged a fist at Makimachi Misao, aiming for her stomach, but a smile flashed on the young woman's face and she danced aside, avoiding the blow. Unconcerned with his failure, the teenager deliberately skidded on the polished wood under his feet, using the floor to his advantage and turning to go back at his opponent. Beside me, Hajime blinked, surprised at Eiji's intelligent use of the battlefield. Himura Kenshin smiled, nodding in appreciation as the adolescent used his momentum to jump into the air and deliver a kick at the older girl.

Makimachi Misao was still turning to face Eiji when she saw the blow come. I thought that she'd be unable to escape it, but with incredible speed and reflexes which seemed to fast to be human, she twisted her body and let herself fall to the floor. Eiji's kick brushed past her left flank, and in the same time she slammed the palm of her right hand on the floor, pushing herself back up and lunging towards her opponent in a single, fluid movement.

This time, it was Eiji who wasn't ready for her attack, but he didn't have the young ninja's lightning quick reflexes and incredible flexibility. That came with years of practice and experience in combat. Before the young man could react, he was struck right in the middle of the back with the side edge of Makimachi Misao's left forearm. The blow finished to make him lose his balance, and he fell, rolling on the floor to soften the shock as I had taught him.

For a few seconds, silence reclaimed dominion over the dojo, then the young woman walked up to her fallen opponent and held out a hand towards him, saying appreciatively, "Wow, you sure made lots of progress since I last saw you, Eiji."

A rare smile lit the adolescent's face and he took the offered hand as he stood up. "Thanks."

"Progress?" The Wolf beside me snorted. "True progress would have meant you having the brains to take the weasel girl's offer and use your training sword instead of sticking to this absurd notion of fair fight." With a feral grin, he added, "There's no such thing as fairness in battle. You watch your opponent, find his weak point, and then you strike at it with all your strength." Turning back towards me, he sighed in mock desperation. "Didn't you teach that brat anything?"

"Nobody asked for your opinion." The sulking mask was once more firmly set on Eiji's face. The adolescent stepped towards me and mumbled darkly, "It's well and good that you invited all those people to stay here, Tokio-san, but did *he* really have to come as well?" A withering glance towards Hajime accompanied Eiji's question, but the Wolf merely smiled, indifferent to others' dislike of him as usual.

With a little sigh of resignation and a helpless smile, Himura Kenshin left his watching post against the wall and stepped towards us. "You did very well, Eiji. You need to learn and practice a lot, but you'll make a fine man one day, who'll be able to use his talent and strength to defend and protect those you care for." Nodding, he added, "I'm glad to see you again, and to see you happy here in Tokio-dono's house."

I had the surprise to se the adolescent bow at the red-haired samurai, and reply quietly, "Thank you, and thank you for what did back in Shingetsu village."

"Enough with the sugar, boy." Hajime's left hand ruffled Eiji's hair, not ungently, the smile on his face belying the reproach and sarcasm there had been in his words. Of course the adolescent didn't see any of it, and wildly moved away.

Himura Kenshin shook his head slowly, sighing again. "Saitou...."

With a sudden thud, Makimachi Misao sat down against the wall of the dojo, and complained, "Aoshi-sama didn't even come to watch me fight! Where has he gone to?"

An amused smile came to my lips, unbidden, and I replied gently, "I'm afraid this house is to blame. It has shrines and gardens which unfailingly invite to calm and meditation--"

"He's drowning himself in tea, as always." The Wolf grinned widely. "You'd think tea is an addictive substance, judging by the quantities he gets down his throat."

An indignant flame lit up in Makimachi Misao's deep blue eyes, and she stood, exclaiming, "Why you--"

She was stopped in the middle of her furious tirade by Himura Kenshin, who held back the struggling girl gently, but firmly, saying in a soothing voice, "Now now, Misao-dono. I told you before, don't try attacking Saitou, he's not the nice kind."

A derisive snort came from my left, and I elbowed the Wolf in silence. Of course, the rascal merely grinned at me, obviously proud of himself, and I rolled my eyes heavenward in mock despair.

"I don't care, he's been insulting my Aoshi-sama again, and I'm not tolerating his attitude any longer!" Blinking, I watched in disbelief as the girl fought against Himura Kenshin's hold, enraged, while the red-haired samurai was vainly trying to calm her. The apparently ritual aggravation game between my husband and the young ninja had started within a few hours of everyone's settling in the Sumeragi mansion, and was still continuing, despite several moments of lesser activity. Laughing despite myself, I wondered if I hadn't made a mistake in inviting all these strangers under my roof.

Eventually, I turned my attention away from the ongoing cat fight and stepped out of the dojo. I stretched and tilted my head backwards, drinking in the ate morning sun and relishing my renewed freedom of movement: in the ten days since we had been here, the wounds in my back had healed enough for the pain to fade into a distant ache that I could easily dismiss from my mind.

Ten days...it was both a short and along time. Waiting wasn't easy on either of us, but the gathering of information was a tricky and subtle game which demanded patience. Suddenly, a shadow joined mine, and I turned to see Hiroko bowing to me.

"Excuse me, Tokio-san, but Yuta-san sent me to find you, he requests your presence as soon as possible." Disapproval was plain in the maid's voice. She didn't like my brother's attitude towards me, she had been a my side since the days when I had been a little girl, and she and I were rather close.

I nodded at her, and replied with a knowing smile, "Very well. I don't have anything better to do at this moment anyway." She snorted at this, shrugging, and I inwardly chuckled. I knew what she'd have wanted me to say: that I was unavoidably detained, but that I'd send for him as soon as it suited me...but I had no wish to disrupt the atmosphere of the house, if only by sparking discontentment in my younger brother's heart. Besides, he might have interesting information for me. So I went back into the dojo and excused myself before accompanying Hiroko back to the house's main building, flanked by Hajime.

The sight of my husband would anger Yuta, who had never accepted him as a part of the family, but in this at least I wouldn't accommodate my brother. What was more, the Wolf wouldn't have missed an occasion to infuriate Yuta.

He wouldn't have missed it for the world.

"Ane-ue," Yuta bowed shortly when I stepped into the secondary office room, "Thank you for coming so quickly."

I nodded back at him, and knelt on the other side of the low table that he used as a desk. He made a show of gathering papers here and there while Hajime imitated me, which allowed him to avoid wishing my husband welcome. Once the pile was assembled on his right, I asked him in a quiet voice, "What can I do for you, Yuta? Do you have news for me?"

His was the task of managing the clan's relationship with the Imperial Palace. It was a position of power, but unpleasant. He came into contact with low-ranking officials and priests all the time, and he had to swim between the rivalries and the personal grudges of each. He was living in a realm of hypocrisy, and that taint was slowly poisoning his spirit.

"News?" He snorted. Then, in a reproachful voice, he said, "Do you know how hard it is to get information from all those tight-lipped officials at the palace? They want to know who asks and why, and then they tell you that they have no idea and can't help you. Then they use your own questions against you and strike you in the back when you least expect it." He spat, "They're worse than a nest of snakes." With a sigh, he waved his own words away, then said, "To get usual information from them is already more taxing than playing shougi, but what you want to know is just outrageous."

"Is it?" There was a thin, dangerous smile on Hajime's face as he countered in a pleasant voice, "The Imperial court has been familiar with the assassination business for centuries, and its members have been forced to acquire means of information concerning the identities of targets for sheer survival purposes, if nothing else."

"Enough." I interrupted my husband in a gentle voice. With a steady stare at my younger brother, I told him, in earnest, "I know how unpleasant they can be, Yuta, just as I know how good a player of shougi you are. I need the information I requested, I need it badly, or I wouldn't have asked."

"Why?"

I blinked, taken aback by the harshness in the tone of his voice, and then shrugged. "It's none of your business, Yuta. It doesn't concern you. It should be enough that I asked for it."

He bowed his head at that, then faced me again. "It should be enough, yes, but it's not." I saw resentment in his eyes, then, and at the same time I felt anger rising in the Wolf at my side. In silence, I reached out and rested my right hand over Hajime's left, indicating mutely that he must not react. Oblivious to our exchange, Yuta went on, "You're the head of our clan, ane-ue, and I must follow your will, but strangers aren't bound by the same rule. The palace officials whom I have approached were surprised and immediately suspicious. The Sumeragi's domain is the spiritual, and your information request raised questions instead of answers. People were wondering why the Sumeragi are suddenly interested in rumors of political shifts and assassination. I'm not sure you want the palace to be filled with questions about our weird behavior."

So righteous, Yuta. The smile which came to my lips when I heard my brother's words never reached my eyes. Yuta was an exceptional player of shougi, and he had just demonstrated his mastery again. Instead of refusing to help me, he had managed to turn his denial into an impossibility dictated by the absolute rule of preserving the clan's safety and status. And to crown it all, he had even managed to lecture me on my unorthodox behavior. I shouldn't have been interested in anything that wasn't strictly the Sumeragi's domain, I shouldn't have used my position within the clan for something that wasn't a part of it, that was his message to me. He could have used his cunning and intelligence to help me, and instead he had used it to thwart me. He had me checkmate, and he knew that I fully understood what he had done.

At last, I heaved a weary sigh, and told him softly, "I didn't use the clan for my personal interest, Yuta. I didn't order anyone to do anything for my personal gain. I asked you, my younger brother, to help me. I asked you, who're closest to me, because I needed you, and because I thought my request wouldn't place an unreasonable burden on your shoulders. I see now that I was mistaken. I'm sorry."

Silence, heavy, fell back over the room, while Yuta and I faced each other. Eventually, he was the one who looked away, saying in a whisper, "I can't do anything for you, ane-ue. None of my contacts know anything. You'd have to reach someone in a higher position, someone of trust, and I can't do that."

You don't *want* to do that, Yuta.

You don't want to run that single risk, small though it is.

"Ask the elders, their arms have a longer reach than mine."

Ask the elders.... A chuckle escaped through my lips and I nodded, telling my brother with a pleasant smile, "Yes, I think I'll do exactly that. My thanks for your help and your advice, Yuta."

That said, I stood up and exited the secondary office, with Hajime on my heels. Once we were safely out of hearing, he said in a deceptively quiet voice, "Your brother needs a lesson or two to teach him proper respect and loyalty."

Aware of the cold anger that was filling my husband, I shook my head and said sadly, "Yuta's loyalty is for the clan, not for me, as it should be. He's an unhappy young man, Hajime. The elders wanted him to lead the clan instead of me, but he was born too late. They've never allowed him to forget that, and they've never forgiven either of us. Add to that the fact that he had barely enough talent to pass the trials...." I let my voice trail off into silence, and then waved the painful subject of my brother aside. Turning towards Hajime, I told him, "We won't find any information here." With a grin, I added, "It's been too long since you've last seen your son. We're going to Ise, all of us. You to visit your son, and the others as bodyguards. As for me," I let my grin uncover my teeth as I said, "I'll wrestle what we need to know from the elders."

The Wolf raised an eyebrow at that, and said, "Your plan sounds amusing, which is more than I can say for having to stay here and refrain from killing your brother every time he tries to aggravate me."

"Hajime...." I shook my head helplessly. The sooner we'd leave for Ise, the better it would be.

End of Part 5.

Notes

Soba: noodles made from buckwheat.
The Boshin War: civil war which lasted form 1868 to 1869 and ended with the fall of the last Tokugawa shogun and with the Meiji Restoration.
Ohisashiburi: it's been a long time.
Okuma Shigenobu: an important political figure in Japan during the Meiji era. He would among other things create the Shimpo-to party, a progressive political force which would be opposed to Ito Hirobumi.
The Oligarchs: after the Meiji Restoration, a government was formed, but it was years before a constitution was written and a parliament created. In the meantime, a close group of a few men formed a private council which guided the Emperor's decisions. They were the Meiji Oligarchs, those who had in their hands the destiny of Japan, those who directed Japan's policy in many domains. Those men were from the clans which had borne and won the Meiji Restoration. Among them were Okubo Toshimichi (before his death), and Ito Hirobumi.
Sasuga wa, Sumeragi-san: Just as I expected from you, Sumeragi-san.
Hajime: Start. Command usually given to give the signal for a match to start, not to be mistaken with Saitou's first name. *grin*
Shougi: Japanese chess.

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