I'm going to be breaking a lot of rules, so those who
are sticklers for the conventional, please, for your sakes and mine, do not go
on. The contents of this fic will be serious and is meant to get the noggin' going.
If, while reading this fic, you get a sudden urge to laugh…ehehe, it would have
been intentional on my part, but then, this isn't supposed to be a comedy. Not
my usual stuff, but change ought to be a good thing, ne? Major OOCiness here
for a particular character. It is INCREDIBLY essential to the story, so this
ought to be a fair warning.
I would just like to say that although I will be mentioning a lot of people who
actually existed in Meiji Japan, my account of their lives and personalities
are all fictional, except for what I say is true and actual in my closing
Author's Notes. Please, no one sue me for libel.
Now…let's get it on!
THE SPY
I frowned at the tacked-on article on the newspaper I held.
Great…just great! Yasushige bought the farm, like Miyori and Taka did.
In case you haven't figured it out, I'm not exactly talking about purchasing
real estate here. I'm talking about biting the dust; throwing in the towel;
getting on the one-way express…
Okay, I'll say it plainly! Anenokoji Yasushige is dead.
Apparently, somebody had broken into his house in Tango. A robber, they said.
The article reports that all things indicate he had caught them stealing his
things. A struggle ensued and he, along with his wife, was killed trying to
preserve his property. "Anenokoji, a Japanese family known to be strong
supporters of the restoration, were apparently not immune to the evils of
society," said a line in the article.
Shit.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
I should have known someone was trying to kill all of us off one by one. I
should have known it when they got Taka. Granted, Miyori's and Taka's deaths
were a considerable length apart, like a year apart, but I still should have
known. And now with Yasushige, his murder being only three months from Taka's…
Nagakura Miyori had died of a disease. That much information I gathered from
the local paper's obituary some time back. I knew she lived somewhere in Edo,
but I had no intention of making contact with her before or even after she
died. Besides, diseases were supposed to be a fact of life, so I did indeed
brush it off as nothing more than a natural passing. Taka's death was more
sensational, but not very alarming either. The report of his murder had been
tacked on, having occurred somewhere in Yanaizu where several gang-related
crimes have been occurring. Still, I insisted that there was no big conspiracy
going on.
I suppose too much peace has dulled my instincts, or else distorted my sense of
reality.
Damn it! Who could blame me for wanting to live a normal life? I mean, hell!
What do they want me to do? Go the rest of my life looking over my shoulder?
Besides, I never entertained the thought that they even knew we existed.
The Ishinshishi Shinobi Kei Gaikotsu's best feature was its inherent
improbability to exist. As far as most people were concerned, including
Ishinshishi members themselves, we were just a rumor: A figment of paranoid
imaginations.
I was so sure that our tracks were covered so well. Apparently, I was wrong.
Not only did someone know the Ishin-SHIKEIGAI existed, they, whoever they are,
know who composed it. Now they've killed three out of the six of us. Feh! I
don't even know if Kyosuke and Banshio are still alive as I sit here!
Should have I expected this?
My inward groan answered my own question.
Yes, I should have expected this. The enemy in general had never been stupid,
which was why the war was a long and hard battle. I found many proofs of this
in great degrees during the Bakumatsu. Especially with those damn Shinsengumi.
They were the worse bunch of wily wolves ever to crawl out of the mud.
I remember getting the scare of my life when I had been assigned to infiltrate
a particular Shinsengumi platoon.
"Oi! Little boy! What are you doing here?"
I froze, the voice behind me striking lightning into my heart. I had my hand
resting on a particularly vital document, and to be caught handling it could
mean the end of me.
I cursed silently to myself. I should have known that stepping on that dog-doo
this morning was a bad omen. I should have taken it as a warning that this
would not be my day.
Sweat broke out of my forehead, but I put on my acting face just before I
turned to look at the adult standing in the frame of the door.
"Umm…I was just looking for some paper," I said in my best innocent,
pleading voice. "I want to write to my mother. I miss my mother."
The cheeks of the adult, whom I now knew was Okena, platoon messenger, turned
red in irritation. "Ikiro, you little brat. I don't need a kid missing his
mommy right now. There will be no letters."
I started to cry. An act, of course. I was thankful that he had presented an
issue that would provide the perfect distraction. "But…but I want to tell
her I'm alright! She hasn't heard from me in months! I miss my mother!"
More crying. I can go on like this forever, and they wouldn't really think the
worse of me. I was a five-year-old, for goodness sake. Children my age always
cried about their mommies.
Okena approached me and grabbed my arm, yanking me with him and out of the
room. "Idiot! How can you think of sending letters at a time like this?
Something as stupid as that could give away our position. Do you want to get
the whole platoon killed?"
"I want my mommy!" I screamed, bawling loudly.
"Shut-up!" Okena shouted sternly, dragging me to my room, which was
really just a closet with a ratty futon and a small compartment for my things.
"Damn! If you don't quit your squalling, I'll have you deposited to the
next town and we'll get another serving boy."
I pretended to simmer down and control my sobbing. "Please…don't. I'll
*hiccup* stop. Just…"
"Don't make me beat you, boy," Okena warned, pushing me into my room.
I stumbled clumsily to the floor, giving out a rather genuine howl of pain as
my knees bumped on the hard floor.
"You said you wanted to help the Shinsengumi, didn't you?"
"Y-Yes, Okena-sama," I said pitifully.
"Well then quit being the little boy that you are and be useful!"
Okena yelled, hands to his waist in disdain. "It's going to be dinner in
three hours. Be ready in one for kitchen duty. Tenaga is out so you're the only
one who's going to cook for all of us."
Feh! I hated cooking for the platoon. Serves me right for letting them know I
can do it so well. I just had to show off, didn't I? Well, it was better than
being executed at sunset for sneaking out important information. "Yes,
Okena-sama." I said respectfully.
Satisfied with my answer, he turned from the door. "Writing to mommy…the
idea!" He muttered before leaving me in my closet.
I gave a sigh of relief and wiped the tears from my cheeks with the sleeve of
my gi. That damn Okena just loved to power trip. Picking on a kid like me. If
he only knew the women laughed at him…apparently, he was terrible in bed.
Two-minute Okena, they called him.
One thing about being a kid is that adults talk in my presence
indiscriminately, thinking I couldn't understand. This is mainly the reason why
I'm such an effective spy. Five others share my fate. Child spies for the
Ishinshishi…
And now three of them are dead.
Somebody screwed up big time.
F it!
I threw the newspaper away from me forcefully in my irritation. The draft
caught it and sent it flying back to me. I snatched it from the air before it
hit my face and crumpled it wildly in my fists, beating it to a pulp.
"Shit!" I cursed again, thumping the mangled paper to the floor. What
a farce! I couldn't believe that all those times I had to stand being with
those Shinsengumi bastards, contributing my skills to the cause of the
restoration, asking only to be kept a secret once the war was over…I even
pretended to be a boy for them for crying out loud--!
"Kaoru-dono?"
I froze.