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A Road to Aizu: Chapter 2 - Wandering, Masterless Swordsman

by ShoshanaFlower

When Soujiro first opened his eyes, he had to think about where he was. The last place he could remember sleeping in had been an unlocked storage shed. It only took his drowsy mind a moment to remember the clinic, the doctor, and the room he was in. He recalled the doctor setting up a bed for him in a small room in the Takani's house, which stood several yards from the clinic.

Soujiro sat up, letting the light blanket fall off of his shoulders and chest. By the angle of the light shining through the shades, he judged it to be late morning. The house was silent. No children running around, or adults standing around. He'd met the rest of the Takani family the previous night at dinner. Naoko's wife, Yuri, had cooked for the family, which consisted of Naoko, their children, Megumi, and Naoko's old father. Soujiro had eaten with them as well. They'd all been kind to him. Naoko had been little more attentive to Sou than he had been in the clinic, and his wife had been silent through dinner. The children, Soujiro'd noticed, hardly took their eyes off the newcomer. Megumi had been quiet, and the old man had seemed friendly enough when he'd spoken.

Soujiro had slept in his clothes, so he had only to fold his futon and smooth his hair down with his fingers before leaving the room. Passing one room, he heard someone (the old father, he decided) moving around within. Soujiro continued through the house and out the front door.

The sun was out, though scarce, gray clouds showed the possibility of rain later on. Soujiro hardly noticed the weather, but he was made well aware of the presence of Naoko's two children.

"Stop it!" one of them screamed at the top of his lungs. Soujiro ran around to the back of the clinic to see what was going on.

"Stop it, Haru. I mean it. I'm going to tell on you!"

Soujiro saw the two boys arguing. The seven-year-old, Haru, was harassing his five-year-old brother, Arata, by jabbing him with a stick. Within a moment of Soujiro's arrival on the scene, Megumi stepped out of the back door of the clinic.

"Haru," she said shortly. The older boy turned around to face his second cousin.

"Yes, Saijuukei?" the boy said politely.

"What are you doing?"

"What?"

"What are you doing, Haru?" the doctor's voice had an increasing edge to it.

The boy looked at his brother, then back to Megumi. "We were playing, Saijuukei."

"Liar," the younger one yelled. "He was hitting me with the stick, Megumi."

"We were playing, idiot," Haru retorted.

"No we weren't!"

"That's enough from both of you," Megumi silenced them. "Haru, give me the stick and don't let me catch you doing that again. You have been raised to know better than to treat your little brother that way."

Haru grudgingly handed her his stick with a mumbled, "Yes Saijuukei." Megumi stood in the doorway watching the older boy firmly until he trudged out of her sight. When he had, she turned to Soujiro with a softer expression.

"Good morning, Soujiro."

"Oh, good morning, Megumi-sensei," Soujiro smiled. "I guess I'm the last to rise."

"How do you feel today?"

Sou shrugged. "Better, I suppose. Whatever you gave me last night helped. I slept through the night."

Megumi stepped closer to him and laid a hand on his forehead.

"Good. You can't fight off an illness without getting proper rest. Come inside." The doctor turned and walked back to the clinic. Soujiro followed. Once inside, Megumi laid Haru's stick on a low table in the back room.

"I'm afraid there isn't much to do around here during the day. Naoko usually spends the mornings teaching Haru and Arata, and he works at the clinic in the afternoon. Yuri is already out shopping. You're welcomed to stay here if you want."

"Okay," Soujiro said, satisfied to know what to expect during the course of the day. Megumi looked him over one more time and walked through the curtain that divided the back and front rooms. Soujiro looked around. The back room of the clinic was hardly more exciting than the room he was placed in the day before. Well, this room had Haru's stick in it. That counted for something. After another moment of watching the grain of the table, Soujiro followed Megumi through the curtain.

"Can I help you with anything, Megumi-sensei?"

Megumi turned around. "I suppose." She took a look at the room she was standing in, and then continued, "There should be a pile of cleaned bandages in the other room. Will you go roll them?"

"Yes, sensei." Soujiro went to the room that Megumi put him in the other day. There was a pile of newly washed and dried bandages in a heap in a corner. Preferring to stay in his current room than to sit with the doctor, Soujiro sat down before the pile and found a bandage end. Rolling the long, thin sheets was monotonous, but Soujiro was thankful for the break from the hard labor he was accustomed to. On top of that, it gave his hands something to do.

After about twenty minutes, he was finished. Seven small rolls stood up straight on the floor in front of him. Lumpy, misshapen rolls, perhaps, but he justified himself by the fact that he'd never done it before. 'Which is rather ironic, having lived with Shishio-san for ten years.'

Megumi watched Soujiro through the front window of the clinic. The boy was acting as a judge for one of Haru and Arata's games. He could run without coughing now, she noted. In fact, the relentless cough he'd arrived with a week ago was nothing more than an occasional irritation now. Her patient was well again, her job was done. Time to send him on his homeless way.

She looked away. Soujiro hadn't made any indication that he was anxious to leave. It didn't seem like he had anywhere to go. 'He's old enough to take care of himself,' Megumi reasoned. 'He certainly doesn't seem like he can take care of himself,' she contradicted herself. It was true. The young man didn't seem to lack intelligence, but he also didn't seem to have a clue. At least when Megumi was orphaned, she'd had some form of wit to keep her alive. Her young patient seemed to have been raised away from the real world. Like the son of a rich family, whose only contacts were servants and private teachers. It didn't seem right to send him out like that.

Outside, Soujiro excused himself from the boys' game and headed towards the clinic. "Megumi-sensei?" he called as he stepped inside. "I'm a little late today. Can I still help you?" Sou paused and looked around the room. The doctor wasn't there.

"Naoko?" Megumi entered the Takani house. Naoko and Yuri looked up from their tea when she entered.

"I'm sorry I've intruded," she continued. "I'd like to speak with you, Naoko."

"All right, sit down, then. What is it?"

Megumi remained standing. "I have to ask you something about Soujiro."

Naoko waited for her to go on.

"I want to ask him to stay here."

"What?"

"He doesn't have any family or anywhere to go -"

"Megumi," Naoko interrupted. "You can't keep every stray dog you take in and patch up."

"He's not a stray dog. He's a b- a young man without any ties. And he -"

"He can take care of himself, Megumi," Naoko continued calmly. "He's not a child. And we really don't have the means to keep an extra mouth right now."

"He's earned his keep thus far; he's not just an empty mouth. Besides, he could be an apprentice."

"Come on, now. He hardly has the brains to be an apprentice."

Megumi released an irritated sigh. "I just can't see sending him out like this. He -"

"You send all your other patients home when they're well."

"He doesn't have a home to go to, Naoko. Listen - "

"Megumi,"

"Please stop interrupting me, Naoko. I'd like to finish my sentences."

Naoko nodded, willing to patronize his little cousin.

"Let him stay for a while. He earns his keep. You've seen how he works around here. He hasn't caused any trouble. How hard would it be to keep another hand? At least for a while."

Naoko sighed, noticeably, and sat still for several moments. "Fine, Megumi. You can keep him. I'll tell Otousan."

'Thanks for the sacrifice,' Megumi thought sarcastically. "Thank you, Naoko." Megumi stood and bowed to Yuri. "I'm sorry I've interrupted."

"Oh, there you are, Megumi-sensei." Soujiro sat in the grass behind the clinic, leaning over a bucket. He smiled at Megumi as she approached. "I didn't think you'd mind, so I washed your scissors and things."

"No, Soujiro, I don't mind." Megumi carefully watched his face for a response as she said, "You're well enough to leave now."

The young man's smile disappeared for a moment, but returned quickly. "Okay. I'll just finish this up before I go."

"But you don't have to."

The smile vanished again, and a puzzled look took over. Soujiro looked at the metal tools submerged in the water. "You don't want me to finish?"

"No. I mean, you don't have to leave. You're welcomed to stay with us if you want to."

Soujiro sat still, as though trying to comprehend.

"You're not obligated to, but you can stay if you'd like to. You could work as my assistant."

Soujiro looked back to the water. Then he looked at Megumi again. "Permanently?" he asked.

Megumi hadn't expected that question. Nor did she know the answer. "Well …"

"As long as it's not permanent," the smile returned once more, "I'd love to stay here. For a while. But I'll have to leave again, you know."

"Why?"

Soujiro smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Because." He lifted the scissors from the bucket and dried them carefully on a rag.