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The Courtship of Lady Tokio

by Misaki Toyodome

Chapter 12 - The Eye of The Storm

11th July 1864 –

Kyoto was in turmoil after the events of the Ikedaya. Rumours had started to circulate about how the Ishinshishi had conspired to set fire to the city and kidnap the Emperor during the festivities of Gion. At the same time, people who had seen the Shinsengumi return from the Ikedaya were skeptical as to whether this wasn't a phony excuse to justify the continuing suppression of Choushuu – since that night, more and more men of Choushuu origins were being arrested, and executed.

"The Miburo are not to be trusted, bloodthirsty, sinister outsiders with no class or distinction." That was the popular sentiment in Kyoto regarding the Shinsengumi.

Still, what seemed to be true was that an army from Choushuu was headed towards Kyoto. News of the Ikedaya Affair had reached Choushuu, greatly exaggerated and with many gaps in the story. All that Choushuu knew was that "a great number of Choushuu men had been killed at an inn called the Ikedaya". They tried to get in touch with their men stationed in the capital, but to no avail, as most men from Choushuu were lying low or gone into hiding – including Katsura Kogorou. With Katsura missing, the regional headquarters was in a terrible state of disarray and confusion. And all the while, the army from Choushuu was advancing on the city, seeking retribution for the blood of their kinsmen. The eye of the storm was rapidly approaching.

Not that Choushuu had been completely defanged: Sakuma Shouzan, the esteemed Bakufu advisor on foreign relations was killed in broad daylight. A ripple ran through the city. If such high ranking personages were being targeted, then perhaps Choushuu was seriously thinking about wresting control of Kyoto from the Shogunate. Douran – a focal point of history. Three centuries ago, Japan had been torn to pieces by civil war, fiefdom battling with fiefdom, warlord against warlord. Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Shogun, had managed to unite all the lands under his rule, but not without years of turmoil and mayhem. And now, after nearly three hundred years of Tokugawa rule, civil war was threatening on the horizon. In fact, argued some academics, it had already arrived.

14th June 1864 –

The palanquin carriage made its way from Koumyouji, borne on the shoulders of six men, and with two guards. Evening had just fallen, and the sky was showing the last lingering traces of the light, the night and the half-light of sunset. They went quietly through the streets, trying to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. But to those who knew what they were looking at, it was obvious that some important dignitary was within. Saitou watched them pass with mild curiosity as they reached the bridge. Okita stood beside him, in an unusually subdued mood. They were out that evening as Saitou had been under orders to escort Okita to a doctor of good repute; Okita had stubbornly refused to go of his own volition.

"I'm fine," he had protested vehemently, "and if anything, everybody making a fuss is going to drive me nuts and make me sick!" It was at this point that Hijikata had smacked Okita, and dumped Saitou with the responsibility to see that Okita received professional medical attention.

Saitou looked down at the shorter man. He had been quiet since they had left the doctor's surgery, but Saitou had not pressed for details. Okita looked up at Saitou, smiled a little and then sighed.

"Saitou-san," he said in a forlorn voice. "The doctor told me that I ate too many sweet things, and that's why I passed out. He said that I had to stop eating so much youkan." He sighed again. "Oh, woe is me, that I am bursting with sweetness in my veins."

"Ahou." Saitou knew that Okita was not telling the truth, or at least the whole truth (it was true that Okita did eat a disgusting amount of sweets), but did not press for details. If he wasn't ready to discuss it, Saitou was not one to force him.

"But Saitou-san, I wonder what the Aizu-kou is doing, leaving Koumyouji at this time in the evening." Saitou raised an eyebrow in question. "I mean, I'm sure that it was the Aizu-kou in that carriage just there. I recognised the men, and also... Hehehe... This is a secret but, I accidentally scratched it the last time I was at Koumyouji, and this carriage had the same long scar on one of the poles."

"You damaged the Aizu-kou's personal carriage?" Saitou raised a brow.

"Sssshhh!" Okita hissed. "Saitou-san, not so loud. And anyway, I was only taking a look. I mean, I wanted to see whether those things were as great as all that."

Saitou snorted. Still, the carriage did have Aizu markings...

"Okita-kun, you heard that Sakuma Shouzan was murdered the other day."

"Oh yes, they say it was by a guy called Kawakami, but I'd say it was probably the Hitokiri Battousai."

"The streets of Kyoto are not safe for Bakufu officials to be out with so small an escort, are they?" Saitou said with a sly look in his eye. Okita was smiling merrily.

"So what would the Lord of Aizu be doing out of his compound? And trying to pass unnoticed at that?"

The palanquin halted abruptly as a man stepped out of the shadows. The two guards tensed.

"Who goes there?"

"... Matsudaira Katamori-kou, I have no personal quarrel with you, but for the future of Japan, I seek to end your life ," said the slight, red-haired figure.

"Burei-mono!"

"Choushuu-ha Ishinshishi, Himura Battousai."

"Hitokiri Battousai!" The guards drew their swords. The men who had been carrying the carriage also lowered it to the ground gently and pulled their swords from their sheaths. "Protect the Lord! Don't let the enemy near!"

"... I will spare your lives if you withdraw, and leave the carriage."

"Dog of Choushuu! What honour would we claim if we disgraced ourselves thus!" The men looked furious and apprehensive.

Himura Battousai lowered his gaze to the ground.

'If they wish to die defending their liege, I will grant it for them.'

This was necessary. Choushuu was trying to create a new Japan. Choushuu needed to gain control of Kyoto. And in order to do this, they needed to defeat Aizu. After the recent events of the Ikedaya, the Ishinshishi had been thrown into utter confusion, Katsura-sensei was in hiding. For Kyoto to be ready for the arrival of the Choushuu army, then the Aizu-kou needed to be eliminated.

"They're right, you know, Battousai. If they were to run away, they would be damned. At least if they fight, they have the chance of an honourable death."

The man, or boy rather, feared as Hitokiri Battousai grimaced at the sound of that sardonic voice. He cursed inwardly – he had known that Okita and Saitou were in the vicinity, but he had hoped that they wouldn't come this way. This was, he knew, his only chance to attack Matsudaira.

He roared and lunged at the carriage.

'Damn!'

Saitou growled furiously – Himura was faster than he had previously thought. Three guards fell in one swoop as Himura moved nearly faster than the eye could see. Okita and Saitou rushed to intercept, but barely managed to deflect Himura's sword from piercing the carriage through. It all happened so quickly - blink and you would have missed it. Okita's sword had caught Himura's just in time to stop it skewering the carriage, and whoever was inside. The next instant, Saitou had lunged at Himura. Himura let out a muffled gasp as Saitou's blade struck his left arm and slit it open. Himura was exceedingly fast though – anyone else would have lost a limb. In one fluid movement, Himura jumped and tried to bring his sword down upon the carriage and hew it open. Saitou and Okita moved to block it, but too late... The carriage smashed open, and the wood splintered, and shards went flying. All three men held up their hands in front of their faces to prevent getting fragments in their eyes. And as the wood clattered to the ground around them, they saw that in the carriage sat not the Lord of Aizu, nor any man, but a woman.

Seemingly unperturbed and with a serene expression on her face, for all appearances, Takagi Tokio could have been meditating.

Himura took in a sharp breath in surprise. A vision of purple shawls, the scent of haku baikou, the splatter of warmth and red; these thoughts crossed his mind in that instant. 'A woman! ... Tomoe!'

Okita called out in surprise:

"You're not Matsudaira-sama!"

"Ahou. Didn't we agree before that it is the prerogative of fools to point out the obvious, Okita-kun?" Saitou could not hide his surprise entirely either. 'Fool of a woman, she was very nearly killed.' In fact, he was more than surprised, he was furious.

'Of course, of course it's not Tomoe... Tomoe is back at the Hagiya anyway.' Himura took a deep breath. He focused on the girl.

"Are the men of Aizu so cowardly as to allow women to die in their stead?" He asked in a cool voice.

"It is a simple fact that the women of Aizu would do just as much for their Lord as the men." She replied in a collected tone. There were some fragments of wood in her hair as she rose to her feet, and her face gave away nothing. "Hitokiri Battousai, you will not murder my Lord." She studied him. "How old are you? Fourteen? Fifteen at most? No more than a mere boy. Are the men of Choushuu so desperate that they would sully the innocence of a child in order to carry out their foul deeds?"

"Don't speak of what you know not," Himura's voice was deadly and deathly cold. "The Ishinshishi are fighting for a better Japan, where all can live in peace and harmony. They are fighting for the future."

"Peace? Harmony? When an army is advancing and threatening the city? When your comrades were planning to raze Kyoto with fire and burn it to the ground? This is for a better Japan?"

"... What are you talking about?" There was a dangerous glint in his eye. And Himura hadn't taken his eyes off the two Shinsengumi captains, who were waiting for an opening to strike.

"Am I to take it that the feared assassin of the Ishinshishi is not privy to the plans of his cohorts?" Her voice, although mild, carried in it a sharp taunt. Himura narrowed his eyes. He did not understand what she had meant by 'planning to raze Kyoto to the ground'. The situation was not what he had anticipated when he had set out tonight – according to his information, the Aizu-kou had been summoned to a secret meeting at the imperial palace, and his orders were to kill him before he arrived. Instead, there was this woman here, lecturing him, mocking him, her impassive face unsettling him. To complicate matters, he was involuntarily associating her with another woman who had recently chanced across his path. To make things worse, Okita and Saitou of the Shinsengumi had happened on the scene. It would not do for him to be compromised, not with the current state of affairs. The better option was to retreat. He would not be able to complete the mission. He had not planned for this. He would retreat.

"Aah!" Okita cried out as Himura once again made his escape over the rooftops. "Is he a swordsman or a ninja? Damn it!" He turned to Saitou, in mock childish disappointment. "Saitou-saaaannnn, he's escaped us again!"

"... There'll be a next time, Okita-kun." Saitou turned around to survey the site. The three men that Himura had struck down were bleeding heavily but not yet dead, and were being tended to by their colleagues. "Okita, help these men bring the injured to the doctor. I will see to it that Takagi-san is escorted safely back to Koumyouji." Tokio looked at him, the same unfathomable expression in her eyes, and bowed. Saitou nodded curtly at her, and she started to walk.

"But! Wait! Saitou-san! Hey, it's not faaaaiiiiirrr!" Okita's voice rang out into the darkened streets.

He was, and it was obvious, furious. He stalked through the streets, Tokio at his side, who seemed to be trying to gauge his mood. She realised soon enough that he would not be the one to break the ice tonight, glanced up at him, and sighed.

"Saitou-sama, I owe you my life, that I had the good fortune of your presence tonight."

He glared down at her – she would not be let off so easily.

"What the hell do you think you were doing, playing decoy for Matsudaira-kou!" He growled.

"Playing decoy for my Lord." He gritted his teeth. She hastily added, "Saitou-sama, please, forgive me. My Lord was summoned to the Imperial palace to a meeting about the recent developments regarding Choushuu. However, it is not safe for my Lord to be out without a large escort, but this was a private summons. It was imperative that it be kept discreet." She looked up at him, her deep brown eyes wide with worry. "But as the recent murder of Sakuma-sensei attests, my Lord would be a prime target for the Ishinshishi. And there is no way that they would have let such an opportunity pass, especially not with the present situation in Kyoto." She chewed her lip slightly.

"That's no reason why you of all people had to travel in his carriage."

Of all the people that had to be there, it had to be her. He was vexed beyond words.

"But Aizu cannot spare any of its men... I offered to go in his palanquin as a subterfuge, because no one else can be spared. My Lord left Koumyouji by a different way." She sighed again. "I am sorry if I have upset you. Please forgive me for causing you trouble yet again. Please."

Saitou snorted, his nostrils slightly flared in anger.

"I suppose it's all very well for your Lord but you nearly died tonight." His tone of voice was scathing, and she winced slightly. "In fact, if it wasn't for the pure coincidence that Okita in his curiosity wanted to follow your carriage, you would have died. None of your men were a match for the Hitokiri Battousai."

"... I know, Saitou-sama... I owe you my life, and I am grateful." Her intonation was hushed and gentle, and all the more wistful for the strange look in her eye. Such a strange look...

"Takagi-san, am I to understand that you were prepared to die tonight?" He asked her harshly. He would not let this go.

"I was fully aware that there was a certain element of risk involved in my role." He did not take his eyes off her, but she would not meet his gaze.

"Takagi-san, answer me honestly. Did you want to die tonight?"

She froze in her tracks, blinked once, blinked twice, and inhaled deeply.

"Why do you ask such a horrid question, Saitou-sama?" She sounded slightly affronted in a drained, delicate way.

"Well, you don't seem too glad to be alive."

"Please, Saitou-sama, that's quite enough..." She started walking again. They continued in silence for a while, Saitou still trying to determine what was causing the hollow look in her eye tonight. There was something different about her. Of course, she had nearly been killed, but that wasn't it. There was something else...

Presently, she spoke up again.

"Saitou-sama, you have such a clear path. You know the answers to questions that torment me. And I envy you..." Saitou did not reply. "Tell me then, how do I live my life with honour and be happy at the same time?"

"Are you saying that you are not happy with the honourable life that is yours?"

"... It is different for you. You think that to lead an honourable life is to be happy. You are the son of samurai... I used to think that too, that because I was a daughter of the Takagi family, that to live honorably was a happy life..."

She was struggling to keep the bitterness out of her voice, and it echoed faintly in his ears.

"Maybe you are right, Saitou-sama. Maybe I did want to die tonight. Then, I would have been able to say I led a good life, and not had to live out my days in unhappiness either."

Saitou stopped walking, turned to face her, a look of something that was part anger, part fear and part passion on his angular face.

"Tokio-san..."

"Saitou-sama, I do not want to have to move to Satsuma!" She gave a small cry. "I do not want to have to leave my land, I do not want to live so far removed from everything I care for... And I do not want to marry a man I do not love!"

She turned her face, it was obscured by the shadows and he could not see her eyes. He couldn't answer. What could he say? What should he say? Nothing. He did not have the right. It was not his place, to tell her that she should not marry. He could not tell her that she should not fulfill her perceived duty to her family, her lord and her country. He could hardly tell her that he wished her not to marry for his own personal reasons...

So, he started to talk of something else.

"You think I have the answers to something you don't. You say that my path is clear." He paused, searching for the words. "Someone who kills with the intent to kill, no matter for what reason, is a murderer. That is what the people of Kyoto think of us, anyhow. And so, what am I but a murderer?"

"No! You are protecting the peace! This is different, this is-" Tokio protested vehemently, but was cut off.

"Is it different? Is it justifiable?" Tokio bowed her head, looking at her feet. "And for all that we murder, we still eat, we still drink, we sing and we dance and we smile. How do we keep smiling after all the lives we take, for better or for worse?" He paused.

"I killed a man when I was nineteen, you might have heard. He was a hatamoto who had recently assumed his title. We used to train at the same dojo. He took a severe...dislike to me. Probably because I didn't treat him with the respect that he thought I owed him." Saitou exhaled deeply – if he was going to talk about such things, he would rather do it over a bottle of sake. Tokio listened without interrupting, looking up at him, wisps of hair framing her face.

"So, one day, he challenged me to shinkenshoubu. You may have realized," he smiled wryly, "but I'm not the most astute person when it comes to etiquettes of rank and social standing." Her lips rose slightly at the corners.

"I was told later that I should have refused, apologized to him for heaven knows what. But I didn't. I accepted his duel. And I killed him. That instant when I felt his blood spray my face, I started preparing for the inevitable order to commit seppuku for my actions. My father had other plans though. He arranged for me to come to Kyoto, through your father, as you know."

She was no longer looking at him.

"Your father was most gracious to me. He talked with me for a while before I left Edo. He told me, 'you are the son of a samurai family, you must find reason in your death only in the service of your country, in your loyalty, not for some petty small thing as a personal grudge'. He said to me before I left, 'remember, you must never draw your sword for personal reasons again, remember you must live an honourable life'. Your father taught me in that short space of time that people only become true bushi when they draw their sword to protect..."

"Your father is someone I respect very much, Tokio-san. What would he say if you were to speak with him as you just did with me? You say that I have a clear path, but it is only in the last year that I have become able to see it, and believe in it." He looked at her. "And I can eat and drink and be merry without regret for my deeds as I believe that I will do whatever it takes to protect what I have chosen to protect."

"... You are keeping the peace." Peace – it was her ideal. Although he had understood it in theory before, he had not fully grasped its practical implications before he had met her. "Saitou-sama, thank you so much for everything today. My Lord will be most relieved that all the men are alive..."

They resumed walking. Tokio seemed absorbed in her thoughts although she did not seem as despondent as before. Saitou was engrossed in his own thoughts. She did not want to marry. She would be unhappy with Saigou. He glanced at her. After all that he had said, he had not been able to tell her how she could fulfill her obligations of honour, and still lead a happy life. He turned away from her and looked straight ahead. She was engaged to be married to someone else, and conventions, being conventions, would not have allowed for them to be walking together tonight. Even so, even though he was furious at her rash deeds that night, even though he felt that it might have been better not to have seen her again, he felt as he always did in her presence – that things were the way things should be. Too soon, so it seemed to him, they reached the main gates of Koumyouji. The guards saluted Tokio.

"Ojou-sama! You're safe! Thank goodness, we were so worried."

Tokio hesitated a moment, and he almost thought that she would stay a while longer, and suggest taking another turn around the corner. Stay a while longer and walk with him a while, perhaps. But she didn’t. She had hesitated for a fleeting instant, but had quickly returned the greeting.

"Otsukare sama desu. The mission was successful, and we have the Shinsengumi to thank for that." She bowed to Saitou, and the guards copied suit. "The others are alive too. Is my Lord returned yet?"

"No, but we had word that he arrived safely at his destination."

"If you please, I'll take my leave now." Saitou turned to go. Tokio would be busy now with reports and details and arrangements, he assumed. There was no need for him to stay any longer. He did not want to stay any longer than he had to, not now, not with her, not with the way he felt cheated of something that was not his in the first place.

"Saitou-sama," Tokio called out, and he looked back. "Thank you, for tonight." She was smiling her first smile of the evening.

And all the men present understood why she was called the Flower of Aizu.

"...Anytime, Takagi Tokio, anytime..." He replied over his shoulder as he disappeared into the gloom of night.