Falling
by L. Sith
Chapter
5: Judgment Day
Saitoh
could sense the tension in the air before he even got within a
half-mile radius of the Shinsengumi headquarters. Absent from the
streets were its regular peddlers and casual loiters. Instead, an odd
pall hung over the area. The Shinsengumi patrols must had been out in
force to have frightened off the profit minded vendors.
This state of affairs did not bode well.
"Captain Saitoh," One of Yamazaki's man intercepted him, "Hijikata-sama
has requested that you report to him at once."
And
although the man couched his words in casual nonchalance, Saitoh
noticed a grim undertone, which betrayed an undeniable urgency.
"And please do bring the lady with you." Yamazaki's man added after a
brief bow.
Saitoh
nodded, and the man left without another word. Perhaps Shinsengumi
Intelligence had uncovered the Ishin plot after all. He tightened his
grip around Tokio's waist and hurried his steps. The guard posted
outside Hijikata's office opened the door before he even reached it.
He stepped past its threshold, and immediately, all four pairs of eyes
in the room zoomed in on him.
As if his presence had been anxiously awaited.
The door closed behind him.
"Welcome back, Captain Saitoh." Hijikata greeted, sounding almost
cheerful.
But
like the messenger, Hijikata had the same taut undertones. Saitoh
immediately reassessed the situation. Besides Hijikata and Yamazaki,
two more civilians sat around the low table in middle of the room. Of
the two, Saitoh only recognized the girl, whom he identified as Tokio's
employer. And next to girl sat an older man dressed in expensive silks,
carrying all the trappings of a rich merchant - most likely the girl's
father. Had Yamazaki summoned them to uncover the extent of Tokio's
espionage?
Strange, he could see no family resemblance between the girl and the
older man.
"My lady," The girl cried out upon Saitoh's entrance and tried to stand
up, almost knocking over the table in her haste.
But at the last moment, the older man pulled her back down.
Saitoh
didn't need sixth sense to tell him something about those two didn't
add up. The girl acted extremely out of turn, behaving not at all like
the daughter of a prominent merchant house - the whole situation
smelled of a setup. Perhaps Tokio's 'employers' were really Ishin
agents as well.
Saitoh quietly shifted Tokio's weight further down his right shoulder
for better balance in case of combat.
"Please
allow me to make introductions." Hijikata interjected. "This is
Takagi-san, the owner of Takagi Textiles." Hijikata pointed to the
older man. "And this is Lady Takagi's maid." Hijikata pointed to the
girl that Saitoh had thought was Tokio's employer.
And suddenly,
Saitoh felt like his missing piece of the puzzle had crash-landed on
top of him. He didn't like the sensation. Not at all. He couldn't
believe he had just wasted an afternoon interrogating an idiot who had
switched identities with her maid. Was it all just a game for those
two? Lying about one's identity and profession to a Shinsengumi was a
capital crime according to Kyoto laws. Were the two delinquents hoping
to escape their punishment through Takagi's wealth? If so, they should
think again. 'Aku soku zan', the Shinsengumi allowed no exceptions.
"Thank
you Saitoh-sama for returning my daughter." The older man bowed until
his forehead touched the tatami mats. "Please rest assured that Tokio
will be severely punished for her foolishness and nothing like this
will ever happen again."
Saitoh laughed, and he could see
Takagi stiffening at the sound. He had no need for pointless assurances
from a merchant, he planned to personally cut Tokio's criminal career
short, by the length of a head.
"Falsifying one's identity is
punishable by death for all involved." He casually quoted the law to
Takagi. "The only question left is: did you know your daughter's scheme
in advance - "
But before he could even finish his
interrogation, all hell broke loose - the two delinquents turned the
room into a freaking circus.
"Leave them alone, you monster!"
Tokio started screaming, nonstop, at the top of her lungs. And while
being restrained, half folded over his shoulder, she proceeded to punch
and kick him.
Not that she had enough strength or leverage to
do any damage. But Saitoh was getting fed up with her behavior - the
girl badly needed a lesson in deference, and he was of the mind to
teach it to her. "Stop it right now or I'll break your pretty little
neck!"
Which not only didn't shut Tokio up, but caused the maid
to launch a crusade at the top of her own lungs. Given a choice, Saitoh
would rather listen to someone running nails across a blackboard
instead.
He raised his free hand to his ear, hoping to prevent
it from exploding. But before he noticed any measure of success, the
maid latched herself onto him, scratching and biting.
He
aborted his previous strategy. Instead, he swung his arm outwards with
enough force to fend off the new pest and send her flying across the
room. However, before his blow could connect, Yamazaki grabbed his arm.
And that moron started yelling too, about what, Saitoh could not hear.
The racket could have woken the dead.
"Enough! You WILL release the girl at once, Saitoh-kun." Hijikata
bellowed.
But Saitoh had no intention of liberating his prisoner.
"NOW, Captain Saitoh!"
And
the steel in Hijikata's voice shredded through all surrounding clamor.
The room plunged into a dead silence. Saitoh could smell the
adrenaline-induced anticipation in the air.
He tightened his hold on Tokio.
But
the Shinsengumi part of him knew better than to challenge his
commanding officer in front of outsiders. And out of a lifetime of
military discipline, Saitoh forced his grip to loosen.
Tokio
tumbled out of his grasp and landed on the tatami mats in a pile. It
didn't take any effort, thereafter, for Hijikata to convince the
Takagis to leave.
Saitoh narrowed his eyes as he watched his prey escape from his
clutches.
"With
all due respect sir," Saitoh bit out before the door to the room even
closed, "you should not have allowed Takagi's wealth to influence your
judgment. The girl should be executed."
"For what? Our own incompetence?" Hijikata sighed.
Saitoh
balled his right hand into a fist. "For committing a capital crime. The
Takagi girl knew the consequences, that's why she went to such lengths
to cover it up. We can't let her get away with it."
"The law
you quoted is only used against the Ishin Shishi, it has never been
applied to a civilian before. Besides, we can't afford to kill her, it
will put undue pressure on the other families to attend the mixers and
to accept marriage proposals from us. The last thing we need is to end
up with a bunch of vengeful brides. Or even worse, to let this incident
be known and become a public laughingstock."
"Slay evil swiftly. We can still go after her."
Hijikata
turned and flatly stared. Saitoh had not felt such scrutiny from his
commander since his initial application to enter the Shinsengumi.
"Why are you so eager to kill her?" Hijikata asked.
Saitoh gritted his teeth. "Because she lied."
To him.
And
Yamazaki chose that precise moment to rub more salt onto the wound.
"Did the Takagi girl ever actually SAY that she is a servant?"
Saitoh
almost snapped Yamazaki's head off. But at the last moment, Saitoh
stopped himself. No, he couldn't recall any verbal statement to that
effect. Ever. She had lied about so many other things, but all of them
legal - she had somehow managed to entangle him inside her webs without
officially committing a crime. She even taunted him with her real name
knowing that Yamazaki would have dismissed it out of hand.
He had been such a fool!
Yamazaki
exchanged a look with Hijikata. "Maybe we should recruit her. With a
little training, that girl would make a wonderful spy."
Saitoh
fumed at Yamazaki's words. Why was everyone defending her? Had she
somehow worked her witchcraft on the others? He couldn't believe that
Yamazaki praised the girl on her stupid scheme. Ploys like that made
for wonderful courtroom dramas but worked not at all in real life.
After one look at the way she dressed, no one would believe anything
she said. Heck, Tokio didn't even act like she had faith in her own
scheme.
Yet, she somehow got away with it all.
Saitoh berated himself. He had just officially been outwitted: by a
girl, who had less expertise than a houseplant.
What kind of a moron did that make him?
"We
are not recruiting the Takagi girl for anything." Hijikata said. "I
don't know about her ability to ferret secrets from an Ishin. But with
a face like that, my own men would fall over themselves trying to tell
her Shinsengumi secrets!" Hijikata cast an aggravated glance towards
Saitoh. "Look at the damage she had already done!"
Yamazaki
shrugged. "You don't have to give me an answer now. Just think about
it. I realize that her scheme could use a little work. But she is only
eighteen and has lived a very sheltered life. Books and plays are all
she knows. Give her some real experience -"
Hijikata held up a hand. "We can talk about that later. For now, we
need to clean up this mess."
And as if on cue, Hijikata and Yamazaki swerved their heads towards
Saitoh.
Saitoh suppressed the urge to pommel someone's face in. "I am not
sending her roses after what she -"
"I
don't care how you do it, just do it." Saitoh could feel the tendrils
of command creeping back into Hijikata's voice. "You will smooth things
over and make sure that this doesn't becomes public. And if you shall
take the wrong type of initiative again, like killing the girl, I will
have your head handed to me in a bento box. Am I making myself clear?"
Saitoh had to count to ten, very slowly, before he could force himself
to acknowledge his new orders.
And
with that as the final note, Hijikata left Yamazaki and Saitoh to work
out the details. Yamazaki, probably all too aware that Saitoh owed him
for not revealing their little conversation from the night before,
immediately dictated the terms, and this time, Yamazaki markedly
declared that he spoke for Hijikata.
Saitoh soon found himself ordered into visiting the girl at her
residence 'first thing next morning'.
Which left him with very little time to devise a suitable plan to
'smooth things over'.
Nevertheless, Tokio would not get away with what she did - Saitoh
planned to personally see to that.
So, the girl liked games.
Fine. Two could play, but he would emerge victorious.
He always did.
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