34. Yohei's Shop

"Hijikata Toshizou must be killed."

This was a serious topic of discussion for the Itou group around the time -- the time, that is, when details about the promotion of the Shinsengumi from being overseen by the Kyoto Office of Protection to direct patrons of the Tokugawa family began to actualize. This autumn of Keiou 2 (1865) would be their fourth in the capital.

In early fall, the Military Advisor Itou Kashitarou announced to the squad that "we will be holding a memorial service for our Edo comrades." With that, all the main members of the Itou group were assembled at Kaikou Temple, a mountainous sub-temple of Sennyuu Temple on the outskirts of the east.

The men who gathered aside from the two big men, Itou's younger brother, 9th Division Captain Suzuki Mikisaburou, and a member of the Spy Division, Shinohara Tainoshin, included one of Itou's swordsmanship pupils, Utsumi Jirou, his other allies from Edo: Kanou Washio, Hattori Takeo, and another spy, Arai Tadao.

There was one other man present who wasn't from the Shinsengumi.

He was sitting among them silently, like a massive pillar.

They were using the priest's chamber at Kaikou Temple as a secret meeting room. A lush green garden was visible, its bushes cascading the cliffs of the eastern hills.

Despite being early autumn, the rays of the sun still burned.

Wind was blowing from the tips of the cliffs down through the yellowed leaves of ancient trees.

"Itou-san, we're deserting. That's all there is to it. I don't see the need for any detailed discussions or plans here," said Shinohara Tainoshin.

After the Restoration, he took on the name Hatashige Chika and received a position in the government, where he lived a comfortable life and died of old age during his 84th year, just at the end of the Meiji Period. This masterless samurai from Kurume had a carefree aura about him, and disliked complicated strategy.

"You know, Itou-san..." Shinohara began. He had been a companion of Itou since the man's days in Edo, but was seven or eight years older. "You're too stubborn. You're still thinking of taking over the Shinsengumi and turning it into a righteous army for the Emperor, aren't you?"

"Yes,I am."

"Always the planner. And it's true, the Shinsengumi is in a state of flux. First it was created by Kiyokawa Hachirou, then Serizawa Kamo was overthrown andKondou Isami's group took the reins. And now you're thinking the fourth leader will be Itou Kashitarou." Shinohara fluttered an iron fan around his neck. "I bet you thought it'd just be like buying out any old store, huh? Unfortunately, the Shinsengumi has a barrel-maker in their midst."

"Barrel-maker?"

"Hijikata. The bastard may have been a pharmacist in his Bushuu days, but he's a barrel-maker at heart. He knows how to shave down planks and bind them together with iron so tight that no sort of throwing stone will be able to puncture them, no matter how big."

"You have sharp eyes, Shinohara-kun," Itou Kashitarou smiled. "But that barrel-maker..."

"Gonna kill him?"

"Yes," Itou nodded. "Once we kill Hijikata, all that's left is the idiot Kondou. He'll become an advocate of the Imperial will in no time. All it will take is a few more trips down to the south. The man has a rather cute love of politics and ideologies, you see...but I'll be sure to whip him into shape."

"So our only problem is the barrel-maker, then?" Shinohara snickered. "He's no weakling, you know." With a smack, he struck his neck with the iron fan. An autumn fly floated down onto his lap.

"Shinohara-kun, I'm not asking you to do the deed," Itou explained.

"You're planning to gang up on him?"

"Well, that's what I was hoping to discuss with you."

"Whoever kills him should do it alone." Shinohara picked up the fly, walked over to the garden, and threw it out. "Itou-san, unless you're planning to do this yourself, someone will find out. And if it does, that's it. Kondou's an idiot, so he'll immediately try to seek revenge...and then you can say goodbye to all your Imperial wills."

"I've been thinking about that," Itou peered over to a pillar by the garden.

That's where the aforementioned man was sitting. He was smoking. Half of the light brown skin on his face was illuminated by the green light of the garden, appearing as if he was growing moss.

His lips were thin, and there was a single wrinkle from his right nostril trickling down to his mouth.

Six years.

This man had aged.

He was once the head teacher of the Kougen Ittou style doujou in Hachiouji, Bushuu: Shichiri Kennosuke.

He had been working at the Satsuma and Choushuu estates, but was now an influential member of the Kyoto Imperialist party. Itou Kashitarou joining hands with Nakamura Hanjirou (Kirino Toshiaki) was his doing.

"To tell you the truth, Shichiri-san here..." Itou stated, "has mentioned that he wants to gather up a group of warriors and kill the man. According to Shichiri-san, if any of us do it, the truth will be found out. Accepting this may result in us appearing powerless and shameful, but I feel that allowing our friend here to take care of this little matter will make everything afterwards go much smoother. Leading Kondou to turn his squad into a righteous Imperial army, that is."

"But Shichiri-san...just how do you intend to lure that wary barrel-maker out, anyway?" Shinohara stared into the garden.

In the backlight sat Shichiri Kennosuke. With a thump, he took a flyswatter to his large neck, and then began speaking in a low voice.

"I know how he thinks. We go back a long way, you see."

"So you bear a grudge against him."

"No, this is for the Empire. If it will allow the Shinsengumi to become a righteous army, then I feel no hesitation toward carrying out a dangerous task like this. If that barrel-maker you speak of disappears, then the bindings of the squad will all come apart."

The next day, Itou Kashitarou took one of his confidants Arai Tadao with him to Nagoya, Oshuu.

"The attitudes of the Tokugawa family in Oshuu are questionable." Itou used this as a reason to bring Kondou along with him and check out the situation. His real reason for going, of course, was to engage in discussions with the Oshuu clan Imperial party. There was also one other secret reason.

During his absence, Shichiri would kill Hijikata Toshizou. It would no doubt cause a great uproar within the squad, so this was a cautionary measure to ensure Itou would not get caught up in anything.

"Shichiri-san, I should return after the twentieth day of the ninth month. Please take care of things by then," he emphasized to the assassin.

Toshizou, of course, knew nothing.

Luckily, Kondou had recently been calm and relaxed in the headquarters, so Toshizou had been leaving things to him there and going out on more patrols around the city.

He would always take at least one division out with him.

Whenever Toshizou walked through the streets of the capital, they would always suddenly become so quiet, so much that you could hear a pin drop. On this occasion, he brought Okita Souji's 1st Division with him, and left the headquarters in the evening.

The Vice-Captain watched the sun set in front of Sannou Shrine at Taka Crossing. Upon turning around, he could see the red light dripping down from the clouds over the western mountains beyond the large ginkgo trees within the compound.

"Think up any new poems, Master Hougyoku?" Okita teased.

"I'm no good at autumn poems."

"Which season do you prefer, then?"

"Spring."

"Hmmm..." Okita made a surprised face. "Hijikata-san and spring, huh?"

"What, you got a problem with that?"

"No, not particularly."

"I'm a man of spring."

Now that he thought about it, Okita could recall that the majority of the poems within the "Hougyoku Poem Book" dealt with spring. Personally, though, Souji felt the bone-chilling cold of winter would fit the Vice-Captain's personality a little better.

"They say people who like spring always have hope for tomorrow."

"Oh really?" They walked north toward Higashinotou Temple.

Within the six blocks to the location were a number of estates, such as the Minaguchi, Geshuu Hiroshima, Satsuma, Oshi,and Ise Matsuyama clans'. The warriors who lived at the estates in this area would always avoid the Shinsengumi whenever they patrolled by.

When they got to the corner of Takoyakushi Road, the squad lit their lanterns.

"Souji, I'm getting a strange premonition here. I'm going to go wander around a little bit on my own over there, so let's split up now."

"Where are you going?" Okita would never ask such a thing, for he always kept a vague watch over where Toshizou went. "Well then, take care."

"Yeah." Toshizou walked east along Takoyakushi Road.

He was heading to her house -- Oyuki's.

She was there. And, as if she had been waiting especially for him to come, her face was powdered lightly with makeup.

"I just happened to be in the neighborhood," Toshizou said, looking away from the woman's face as he spoke. This man rarely showed such embarrassment. "Am I bothering you?"

"No. Please come inside. I'll put on some tea."

He had already come to visit her seven or eight times already, so she was quite gentle-mannered toward him.

Toshizou would not grasp Oyuki's hand, though. However unlike him it seemed, for some reason, he treated this woman with special care.

He would always simply come for a visit, discuss mundane topics with her, and then leave. They would talk about things like Edo, their childhoods, gidayuu ballad drama, and life in Kyoto.

Toshizou became quite the loquacious man in front of Oyuki. If Kondou or Okita had ever seen him in like this, they probably would have thought it was a different person.

He told story after story about his childhood, sparing not a single detail.

Oyuki was a smart listener. She would nod to everything, laugh in a soft fashion that was pleasant to the ears, and sometimes humbly joke about the topic at hand.

Toshizou spoke with a strange zeal. Especially when he got into his own memories, the Vice-Captain seethed with passion. It was as if he was trying to pass on all the information about his life to Oyuki.

"My mother passed away when I was three," he explained, something he would scoff at if questioned by anyone. "Oyuki-san. Do you know about Takahata Fudou in Bushuu?"

"Yes, I've heard of it."

"My mother came from that village. Despite being a woman, she apparently loved her sake. That blood was passed on to my elder sister Onobu, who goes through at least one or two decanters a night."

"Seems like your mother's legacy was passed on to Onobu-sama, then."

"I'm sure that's her intention, too. I was closer to my sister's husband, Satou Hikigorou, than I was to her, and spent much of my childhood at their house in Hinojuku rather than my actual home in Ishida Village. He was the village chief of Hino, and the protector of the Tennen Rishin style since my father's generation. Brother Hikigorou is also an instructor-class swordsman."

"And Onobu-sama?" Oyuki seemed to have more interest in Toshizou's sister. "She must resemble your mother?"

"Only with alcohol. From what I hear, her face and attitude don't. Obviously, I don't remember much about my mother, but from what I heard from my brothers and sister, sake--" Suddenly, Toshizou's mouth snapped shut.

It was unbelievable how he hadn't made this small discovery until now, but all of a sudden, it snapped at his heartstrings, filling his breast with shock.

'This woman resembles her...'

Finally, Toshizou realized why he had kept coming back time and time again to this house.

Oyuki didn't quite fit into the mould Toshizou had created in his mind of his ideal woman. If it had to be one or the other, then technically, Oyuki shouldn't have even sparked any lust from the noble-seeking heart of the man. And yet, he was captivated. He hadn't understood the reason himself.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, why...?" Toshizou picked up the shallow Kyoto teacup from his lap.

He casually changed the topic. "I wanted to become a warrior."

"Eh?"

"Yeah, that's why I planted arrow bamboo in the garden at home when I was a child. I heard that the house of every warrior during the Warring States Period had a grove of arrow bamboo in their gardens, so I decided to do the same."

They never ran out of things to talk about.

Despite the endless talkativity Toshizou displayed, Oyuki always nodded to whatever he said as if it was priceless information.

'This man isn't coming here merely to talk,' she thought. 'He's coming here to become a different person.'

It was like Toshizou wasn't visiting to talk with her, but rather to inspect the innermost crevices of his own soul.

And yet, in his own mind, one thought continued to ring out: "Oyuki is amazing. Someday...I'll embrace her."

But as he thought this, every time he came to her house, he would merely descend into a string of tales, shaving off his own limited time.

That night, he left Oyuki's house a little after nine in the evening. As he stomped over the boards covering the house's drain, the sounds of insects ceased.

Stars filled the night sky.

Toshizou walked down Aburano Lane, turning at the corner of Echigoyamachi.

All the stores on this street had already closed their doors. Toshizou, however, knew of a place that sold sake run by a man named Yohei that would still be open.

He walked into the store.

There was already a customer there.

Toshizou ordered some sweet sake.

"Sweet sake, huh?" The one who laughed and said this was not the old shopkeeper, Yohei, but the other customer, who was sitting in a dark corner of the store. As he continued to laugh, the figure thumbed up the hilt of his sword.

Toshizou sat down on a stool away from the man. "Shichiri, huh?" He was calm.

This persistent Kougen Ittou swordsman must have heard somewhere that Toshizou often came up this way to visit Oyuki. In fact, Shichiri had most likely sent a spy out to track Toshizou this very night.

Shichiri himself then had probably gone on ahead to wait in Yohei's shop while he kept an eye on the road.

"Sweet sake...that's rather tender of you." Shichiri stood up from his seat, moving toward Toshizou.

"Looking for a fight?" Toshizou asked.

"Nope," Shichiri sat down across from the Vice-Captain. He continued to speak as he laid out his own trays, cups, and fish plates on the table. "Despite our fates being so intertwined, this is the first time we've had the chance to sit down and talk together, isn't it?"

Toshizou was silent.

"Hijikata, let's relax and enjoy each other's company tonight."

"I decline," Toshizou raised his head. The sweet sake was brought out.

"Don't wanna talk? We've had our share of differences in the past, so I figured it might have been a useless gesture...and hearing you now makes me guess I've really got no choice. You're one stubborn bastard, you know that?"

"You're the stubborn bastard that keeps insisting on cursing me. I almost lost my life at Hori River."

"Hijikata, I dunno who was nice enough to bestow their grace on you when you dropped down into this world, but I must say, you've got one hell of a providential protector. Seriously though, I want you to listen to me on this one. Carrying around grudges and bad blood with a fellow like this doesn't exactly fit me either, so what do you say we begin the ceremony to cut the cord here once and for all?"

"And I assume this ceremony only requires two people?"

"Hey, you're Hijikata Toshizou, aren't you? He should know that a ceremony to cut ties between men doesn't call for any helpers or reinforcements."

"What about you, though?"

"What about me? I'm Shichiri Kennosuke. It may seem old-fashioned, but I'll be willing to pen a written oath for you. Let's face it, Hijikata, between the two of us, you're the one who can't be relied on here."

"I'm a warrior," Toshizou said shortly. And warriors were to face each other one-on-one, no exceptions.

Shichiri Kennosuke nodded, as if he was expecting the man to answer that way. "Then I'll believe in your credibility as a warrior. Things will get weird if we agree to do this tomorrow or something, so how about right now?"

"Where?" Toshizou's defenses went up as soon as he asked this.

"You're gonna leave that to me? Isn't it fairer for the recipient to decide the location?" Shichiri most likely assumed that Toshizou would suspect a trap if he was the designator.

"I doubt anyone will come around the riverbed at Nijou."

"Fine," Shichiri said, calling into the back. "Hey pops! Two palanquins, on the double."

Next: Duel on Nijou Bank

END OF VOLUME I (575p)