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Yin and Yang: Chapter 1 - Two Sides

by Author-chan ::: 29.Aug.2004

It wasn’t a big mystery. In fact, nearly everyone knew about it. They heard the rumors. Some people even witnessed it first hand. With all the evidence that had been collected, there was absolutely no doubt in anyone’s mind.

The killers of the Bakumastu were all insane.

We aren’t talking about the regular foot soldiers though. We’re talking about the big killers of the Bakumastu, the hitokiri, the ninja…

…the captains of the Shinsengumi.

Yes, all of them were off their rockers, all of them bloodthirsty killers.

But the big mystery wasn’t if they were insane, but how they were insane.

After all, there are different ways of being crazy.

###

The comb ran through the fine black hair, making sure that none of the rippling mass went astray. Each long glossy lock was pampered and brushed to perfection.

Stroke. Stroke. Stroke.

A sigh vibrated throughout the room. Fujita Tokio did love to have her hair brushed. It was always so soothing, and it made her hair all shiny and healthy.

And it was a plus that she didn’t have to do it herself.

Behind her, combing her hair, was her personal slave (ahem, husband), Fujita Goro.

"Mmmm, that’s nice," Tokio murmured, leaning back to cuddle up to her husband more easily.

"Would you like me pin it up for you, darling?" Goro asked, giving her a gentle peck on the cheek. Tokio looked up at her smiling husband. She smiled back. She absolutely loved his smile, even though he smiled often. She could never get tired of his smile, it was so warm.

"Hai," Tokio answered, "Use the hairpin over there, the one with made of ebony with the cherry blossom ornament." Her husband smiled wider when he heard her choice.

"You mean the one I gave you for our anniversary?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yes, it will match my new kimono," Tokio said, as she handed him the hairpin. Goro frowned at her words, his warm smile disappearing.

"I hope you’re not talking about the kimono he gave you," Goro half-growled.

"What other kimono would I be talking about?" Tokio asked, as she threaded the pin into her hair when she realized that her husband wasn’t going to do it for her, "I think it’s beautiful."

"It’s too black," Goro murmured, "You look better wearing bright colors. Like red or green."

"He says I look good in black," Tokio sniffed.

"He has bad taste."

"Goro!" Tokio cried out, horrified, "You shouldn’t say such things! Especially about him! And he has excellent taste, for your information! Did you even take a good look at the kimono he gave me? No? Well, it’s black, with a silver cherry blossom pattern. The obi is white, contrasting beautifully with the kimono. And the whole outfit is silk. Anyone would look good in an outfit like that! And you know how he doesn’t like to express his emotions often. It must have taken a lot of courage for him to give that to me. You know that better than anyone."

"I know," Goro sighed, looking away from his bristling wife, "I wish I didn’t know him at all, but I do."

"You can’t change it, anata," Tokio said quietly as she began slipping into her outfit, "It’s just how things are. And he isn’t that bad."

"Yes he is!" her husband protested, "He’s cold, cruel, and utterly heartless!"

"He cares about me," Tokio pointed out.

"He’s still evil," Goro muttered, "He should have committed seppuku long ago following that code of his."

"And where would you be if he did?" Tokio asked, "If I recall, if he dies, so do you."

"Better death than being stuck with a homicidal killer," Goro stated. Tokio sighed. He could be so stubborn sometimes.

"Anata, if you would be so kind, would you let him out now?" Tokio asked, "I want his opinion on how I look."

"Now?" Goro asked, surprised, "But I’m going to work at the police station soon!"

"Yes now," Tokio huffed, "Relax, anata, it will only be for a few minutes. You’ll have plenty of time to get to work."

"But…" her husband began to protest. Suddenly, the man known as Fujita Goro froze, his entire face going ridged. Then he heard it, the voice that he hated oh so much…

‘Let me out,’ a dark voice hissed in the cop’s ear, a hint of a howl vibrating within Goro’s mind, ‘She wants me, Fujita. Let me out, now!’

"S-Shimatta," Goro gasped out as he felt something push at his mind. One of Goro’s white-gloved hands came up to clutch his aching head. When the hand finally lowered, the face that was uncovered had changed…drastically.

Gone was the cheerful smile with almost closed eyes and warm aura. Instead, a cold smirk graced his features and narrow, feral amber eyes glowed with a cold light causing the angles of his face to be more pronounced and menacing. "Fujita Goro" eyed his immaculately dressed wife with the critical eye of a hunter, of a wolf.

Normal women would have been frightened (or at least disturbed) by the sudden change in their husbands. But not Tokio. To her this was the norm.

"Good morning, Hajime," Tokio greeted her husband politely as if they had only just seen each other, "Did Goro give you a hard time again letting you out again?" Her husband snorted.

"Goro’s resistance is futile," answered he, "I would be ashamed of myself if I couldn’t defeat even my other half."

"Hajime," Tokio sighed, "You and Goro always act like such children towards each other. When are you two going to accept the fact that you are both different personas of the same man?"

"Until one of us dies," he answered.

Tokio sighed again. That was the problem with being married to Fujita Goro…or should she say Saito Hajime?

"Men," Tokio scoffed.

###

Tokio was not an unhappy woman. Quite the opposite really. She had everything that she could wish for. Well there was that problem with her husband…

…Or should she say husbands?

She had known the dangers when she married a veteran of the Bakumastu. She had known that nearly all the great killers of the war were insane. She had been fully prepared to encounter a bloodthirsty killer when she had learned of her arranged marriage with the former 3rd captain of the Shinsengumi, Saito Hajime.

However, she had not expected that her new husband’s madness manifested itself in the form of an alternate personality.

She had learned, to her surprise, that locked within her spouse’s mind were two vastly different men. One was Saito Hajime, the 3rd captain of the Shinsengumi. Hajime was proud, strong, and aloof. He had a strong sense of justice and bowed to no one. Hajime was like a wild wolf, unpredictable, powerful, but fiercely loyal to his beliefs, his country, and his mate. Tokio had no doubt that Hajime would slaughter an entire troop just to keep her safe. In fact, he had nearly done that once.

Her husband’s second personality was Fujita Goro. Goro was the yang to Hajime yin. While Hajime was a relic from the bloody wartime of the Bakumastu, Goro represented the peaceful new future of the Meiji Era. Goro was gentle, patient, and cheerful. He laughed and showed his feelings more easily than Hajime ever could. Goro was also much more merciful than Hajime, whose code of Aku Soku Zan offered no exceptions and no second chances. That was why it was Goro, not Hajime, who trained the new recruits at the police station. There was absolutely no way that those young men would be able to survive under a former Shinsengumi captain’s tutelage.

At first, Tokio had been horrified when she discovered her husband’s condition. But over time, she had gotten used to it. She had quickly fallen in love with her husband, both sides of him. To her, Goro and Hajime where like pieces of a whole. One simply could not have one without the other.

Sadly, Goro and Hajime did not see it the same way.

Despite the fact that their wife loved them both equally, the two halves hated one another. Hajime despised the fact that there was such a "weak" side to him. And Goro was constantly horrified that he shared brain space with someone who killed as easily as Saito Hajime did.

Tokio thought that her husband was the most idiotic, foolish man she had ever met. If only she could knock some sense into him…

…But how?