To the chapter: Shim-machi in Osaka was really famous :)). The red-light district. I had the idea of Okita's death when remembering "The Seven Samurai" by Kurosawa Akira. AND I LOVE THE IDEA! Starting in the third part of the chap! The idea for the stitching scene I got by reading Gypsy-chan's "After the rain". PLEASE read my comment at the end of the chapter to understand the idea behind! Reading it before knowing the chapter would give everything away! ON WITH THE STORY: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All things move toward their end I knew before I met her that I would lose her I swear I made every effort to be good to her I swear I made every effort not to abuse her Crazy bracelets on her wrists and her ankles And the bells from the chapel went jingle-jangle By Nick Cave ("Do you love me?") ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER8: NINJA AND TALK WARNING: as usual: OOC. Hope my English is still understandable and readable. Why I had to meet him here? He stepped out of the shadows that had hidden him. He was as handsome as I remembered him. Tall, well-trained, always aware of his surroundings, always ready to fight, a face that revealed no emotion. "Tokio-san?" I felt the world fainting, it can't be! ***FLASHBACK*** In the afternoon of my 16th birthday. I was enjoying the sun in the backyard of our house and started to read in my new book. "Tokio-chan?" "Aa, Masahiro-san! Hello!" I knew that my father worked for his group in Shimmachi. It was practical, my father was dishonoured and could move in the district without attracting attention and we could afford to live comfortable from the money. Yoshinori Masahiro on the other hand got first- hand information about the things going on in the district for the Daimyo. A profitable agreement for both sides. "Hello and a happy birthday!" He hold me tight, before he released me. "I have a present for you, here!" He handed me a small package, what could it be? I opened it, five shurikens, belonging to his ninja-group! I'd recognise these typical tooth everywhere. "Thank you very much, Masahiro-san!" I hugged him back, what a nice present! "You can handle them quite well by now, I thought, they might be useful." "It is wonderful, thank you." I smiled wide at him, he would never forget my birthday he always cared for me, sometimes too much for my taste. Yoshinori hold me back, looking deep into my eyes "Have you considered my offer?" I didn't want to answer! He was a big brother for me, a good comrade from the first day of my life and of course I made some experiences with him. I was quite shocked when he asked me if I wanted to be his wife, I was promised to another one and he knew that. "Masahiro-san?" The hope in his eyes was nearly killing me. "You have always been a good friend for me." Now he looked a bit frightened, I didn't want to hurt him! "Give me some more time." "How much more, Tokio? I can't stand this any longer! I want an answer right now!" "Then, I'm afraid, my answer is no." "But I have influence enough to break off this stupid bond your father and his friend arranged when you were born. If I would know, you love me, I would be able to solve this problem." "It is a given promise, Masahiro-san, there is no honourable way to break it. In addition to that, I don't love you. You are nothing more than a big brother and a good friend for me." Now he was definitely hurt, his eyes showed his emotions clearly. But he had asked for the hard way by being so persistent. I felt uncomfortable in his company from that day on. One week after that my parents were killed, he arrived in time to save my butt, but everything had a strange taste. I found shelter by a family close to my father, they lived in Shim-machi and owned a brothel there. Yoshinori dropped by nearly everyday to comfort me, I asked him to investigate the 'incident', but he wasn't able to gather one information. I got suspicious. Three months later, he had to leave for Kyushu, an important case occurred in Nagasaki, he told me good-bye and left. Trying to persuade me again to marry him, saying with the death of my parents the bond would be invalid. I had a VERY strange feeling about the affair by now. There was no clue about my parents death, and he wasn't able to find out a little information. He was the leader of one of the most powerful ninja-groups of Japan! I, having to fend for myself, had no chance to solve the case. When he was in Kyushu this marriage thing came up. The setting of events occurred suspicious to me from the first day. I wasn't able to refuse the offer taking part and it seemed to be the best solution, I set off for Kyoto. I feared Yoshinori by now. ***End Flashback*** "Masahiro-san?" Here he was, Yoshinori Masahiro. Leader of the Ninja-group in Osaka, the one that trained me with the shuriken, the one who had helped me out after the killing of my parents. Yoshinori, one of the most famous and powerful families AND ninja-groups throughout Japan. "Surprised to see me here?" I noticed the hurt look in his eye, I knew him better than anyone else, I bet no one else was able to see through his disguise. "Do you have new informations for me?" I already knew the answer, but it was the only thing I was able to ask. He lowered his head "I'm afraid, no." He raised his head, looking at me again. "You are a much more beautiful woman then I recall, Tokio. You are a breath-taking beauty now." This would be tough to stand. I smiled and prepared for the following conversation. Show no emotion! Focus! Mask your ki! "Thank you very much, Masahiro-san." "You are so much more a woman now." "Don't be silly, it's only half a year past." "I heard you are married now, Tokio." He was joking, wasn't he? 'heard'? He gathered every information he was able to get, especially about me. "You heard right, Masahiro-san." There was a short time of silence before he continued. "Why did you do this to me, Tokio?" "Did what?" "You left without saying good-bye when I was in Kyushu! There was no way for me to be back in time in Osaka!" Exactly that had been my intention. "Why should I care? I told you once and I 'll say it again: You are not THAT important for me. We had a nice time together, but that's over! Realise that!" "You even left the shurikens in Osaka that I gave you!" "There was no reason to take them with me. They'll always remind me of the killing of my parents and of you. It was quite a shock when I pulled it out of my shoulder and realised it was from your group." "They acted without my permission, believe me, Tokio. As I heard of it, I ran to your house as fast as I could, but I was to late. The traitors got what they deserved." "You already told me a hundred times, Masahiro-san. But I'm still looking for an answer. Who was the one behind this? The control of a ninja-group is absolute, why didn't they follow your orders? The family of my father had no reason to kill them, this was cleared years ago. Who would have a reason to that?" No need to show him that I was distrusting him, maybe he knew already. "I don't know, I am still investigating." I didn't believe it! "You are investigating for over one year now and you still know nothing? I'm disappointed!" He changed the subject, be on guard! "Why did you agree to this stupid marriage meeting?" "Why not? They asked me to take part and I agreed. Was there another possibility? I don't think so. I didn't wanted to get sold in their brothel." "I can't accept that! You are married to a third class samurai, Tokio! You deserved better!" I felt anger rising, Saitou was maybe a second class samurai, but NOT a third class samurai. 'Calm, Tokio. He wants to provoke you!' "Better? You mean someone like you? Don't be silly, Masahiro-san." "Yes, I mean me. Why didn't you wait for me?" "I didn't want to. There was no reason to wait." Masahiro took a intense look at me "Don't tell me you let that weakling touch you. I always thought I would be the one, the first man for you." That moron was as stubborn as I remembered him. Be careful, Tokio! "How often do I have to say that, before you realise it? I DON'T LOVE YOU! There was no reason to wait for you." "Do you really love THAT man, Tokio?" "I'm married to him, there was no reason to reject him." No need to tell him what happened, he would not be amused. "DO YOU LOVE HIM?" "That's none of your business!" He seemed to give in, obviously he wasn't seriously dropping the subject "I wanted to see you because I need a translation of this." He handed me a paper in French, it seemed important, official, it was quite long. I didn't want to see him again! "I'll need some time for that. It seems to be difficult stuff." "Is one month enough?" Damn, no way he would give up. I judged the paper once more, there was no good reason to reject the paper. "Might be enough, yes." "I'll see you then, I'll visit your house. Make sure Saitou is not around!" NO WAY! I didn't want to meet him alone. "D'accord." He turned and vanished into the shadows that had revealed him earlier. The demons of my past had came back to hunt me again. I walked around the corner of the house, what was that? I sniffed, cigarette-smoke! Saitou had been here? I'd recognise his smell everywhere by now, I was sure I was right. He must have heard everything if he had been here. I smiled evilly inside, these cigarettes would always betray him. There they were, Saitou and Soushi were waiting for me at the front gate, the others must have left already. It seemed as if they had been there all the time. If they wanted to pretend this, I would play along with them. We set off for our walk home, it would be our last walk with Soushi through Kyoto. *** It was a typical hot, stifling heat, Kyoto summer night and I was reading in one of my books, 'The Three Musketeers'. I started reading because it was so muggy, I hadn't been able to fall asleep. I dressed in the lightest kimono I was able to find, without hakama, too warm. Even a yukata was too warm to wear. Saitou was on a round through the city with Soushi, who was looking more and more diseased. I had lightened a lantern and was so absorbed in the book, that I didn't perceived my surroundings. In my subconscious I noticed someone opening and closing the shouji, I nodded my head, to indicate that I registered the presence of someone, he said something I didn't realise exactly what, it was Saitou. Now he spoke again, louder, and forced me to listen. "Ne, I said someone cut my kimono on the shoulder, you have to stitch it." Damn, I lost the row I was reading! What was that? Stitching? Not yet, this part of the book was so suspenseful! "Needle and threat are over there." Where was the last sentence I read? Aa, there it was. "WHAT?" Couldn't he be quiet? I lost the place again. "I said, stitching utensils are over there in the box!" Found the sentence again, beginning to read, absorbed in a romantic scene with D'Artagnac. "I said YOU have to stitch it." AAAAA! Lost the concentration again. "Why me? That's your kimono and I didn't cut it. When you let someone cut it, it is your fault" I WANTED TO READ! Concentrating back on this romance in the book. Suddenly I had a kimono over my head. ENOUGH! I slammed the book closed, turned around, snatched the kimono of my head and threw the book at him. He easily evaded it, it flew through the shouji across the floor. There he goes again, smiling self-confident and superior about my stupid attempt. It was so hot and muggy! No weather to lose temper, be annoyed and fight. Mmm, he was only dressed in his hakama, I was only wearing a light kimono. It became sensuous. We were circling round each other, the sexual tension was tangible, but first there would be some fun with fighting. I was sure, he knew what I was up to as I started my attack, kicking out my leg with full speed. Mmm, he would catch me, we would roll over the floor,... "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" HEARTATTACK! I wasn't able to react and break off my attack, I hit Saitou on his chest, he was distracted only for a second, my impact sent us both through the shouji down on the streets of Kyoto. This time I didn't have a hard hit, I clinched to Saitou who hit the ground with his back. Resume: Two shouji's damaged, one ruined, we both lying half-naked on the street. In addition to that, Hijikata had a big bump on his head from my book. We had our third talk with Kondou. *** "We apologise, Kondou-sensei." We both bowing deep, Kondou sighing, this time a fuming Hijikata by his side. "Tokio-san?" Kondou seemed to be at the end of his tether. It was early in the morning, Hijikata had his head bandaged, the situation was bad for me, this time it seemed to be completely my fault. Bowing, saying "I'm sorry, Kondou-sensei, Hijikata-sensei. It was my fault. Saitou-san came home and wanted me to stitch his kimono, interrupting me while reading a book. I got mad at him and threw the book at him. He stepped aside, it flew through the two shouji's into Hijikata-sensei's room, hitting his head." Saitou swallowed, Kondou's eyes nearly bulged of their sockets, Hijikata was fuming mad at me now. I have three men against me, no chance to succeed. Kondou regained control, raising an eyebrow at Saitou. "Saitou-kun?" "I just wanted her to stitch my kimono. There was no need to threw the book at me." "Tokio-san, apologise." I was expecting that. "But if Saitou-san hadn't stepped aside, this all wouldn't have happened. I supposed him to block the book." Perhaps there was a small light at the end of this long, dark tunnel. "APOLOGISE!" HUH, how he managed to look so threatening? "I'm sorry, Saitou-san." "Second point: How did you two managed to sit half-naked in the street. Tokio-san?" "I attacked him as Hijikata-sensei came into our room, yelling at us and he didn't block the attack." "Saitou-kun?" "We had a small brawl and I was distracted by Hijikata-sensei who was suddenly standing in our room. Her attack put me off balance and we went through the shouji down on the street." Kondou sighing, shaking his head, Hijikata fuming mad. "Apologise, you two!" "Why? It was her fault!" Saitou didn't understand, I didn't too. "Don't question me again, Saitou-kun. I can expect from my men, that they aren't distracted by someone entering the room." We both bowing deep "I'm sorry, Tokio-san." "I'm sorry, Saitou-san." We both bowing deeper "We apologise, Hijikata-sensei." Kondou seemed a bit relieved "Hijikata-san?" He was fuming and annoyed "We want another room! My wife is not very pleased. A room far away from these two." Kondou sighing "I'll see what is possible. You two can leave." *** Some days later Saitou come back supporting Soushi who wasn't able to walk alone anymore. We laid him down on his futon, he didn't stop coughing and spitting blood. His end was near. We looked after him the next days, his condition was getting worse with incredible speed. He had pulled himself together for so long time, that his strength for this fight was wasted. Saitou had to look around Kyoto to maintain 'law and order', most times I was alone with Soushi. We didn't speak much, he was too weak and we had talked so much in the past, that it wasn't neccesary to exchange many words. But there was still something I wanted to know, this seemed to be a perfect moment. "I always wanted to know, why did you start to train me?" He was very weak, his voice barely a whisper, but he smiled saying "I wanted to be sure, you can help that idiot out when he is in trouble." "Don't make bad jokes, Soushi! He is better than me, I'll be the one in trouble." "I thought you deserved it. You love fighting, I could tell from the way you were using the swords." "Thank you, Soushi." I changed the cold cloth on his forehead and handed him some tea. He fell asleep, he looked deathly pale by now. I watched over him for some hours, changing the clothes, helping him to spit out the blood, that he didn't suffocated from his own blood, when the shouji opened. Saitou was back, coming towards us, kneeling down, laying his hand on my shoulder. "How is he?" "It is getting worse with every hour, he is vanishing more and more. He spent all his energy to pretend he is well" I caressed Soushi's cheek, there was only a mere shadow of his former self left, of the wolf. But somehow he was still able to smile as he opened his eyes and looked at us, Saitou pressed my shoulder. "It is good that you both are here now." He paused, he was too weak to speak much between his coughs, he paid a tribute to his tremendous loss of blood. "You are my best friends, I want you to have my swords when I'm dead. Promise me to take them. It would be a waste to bury them with me. Tokio, you can use your and mine wakizashi as we trained." That was a long speech for him, he was exhausted, but he wasn't finished yet. I squeezed his hand "We'll promise to take the swords." "I want to ask a favour of you two." He was very serious now, I got alarmed and waited till he continued between his coughs, he looked deadly pale. "Please, help me out to the woods." My eyes widened in shock, he can't be serious! Saitou placed his other hand on my shoulder to calm me down and Soushi explained. "I can't die like this, understand me. Lying on a futon, suffering of a disease. This is no ending for a Samurai like me." "But Matsudaira owns your life! You can't do that, you can't define by yourself when your life ends." He couldn't be serious, the Daimyo would't be pleased. "I talked with Kondou-sensei. He will cover us and tell nobody of this. I don't have to tell you that this a secret that this isn't for the public, do I?" I bowed, defeated. It was already cleared and Saitou seemed to know already. If I would be in his situation, I would properly do the same. "But you are already too weak, to handle the sword." Soushi looked even more serious now "That's why I need your help out there. You both." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Author's comment The brothel was a idea I got in the course about background studies of Japan, too. One lesson was about prostitutes and geishas, BTW something completely different. Anyhow, girls started to learn their 'business' very early (5 years) by watching other prostitutes serving their clients and men paid a lot of money to get a young girl for the first night ( with 13/14 years). Sex with children was nothing unusual in Japan, don't flame me for that! Prostitutes had ranks, meaning: higher rank, more money, less clients. There are special names for the ranks, I don't recall them. Anyhow, the highest ranked only served the important persons. The men had to invest a lot of work before a high-ranked prostitute would 'serve' one (e. g. writing poems). These women had a better education than a 'normal' Japanese wife! A Japanese wife is usually stupid and had to get children for her husband, nothing more! She had to serve three men: first her father, than her husband, than her son. You need no education for that! When they were too old to work in the brothel anymore, the contract ended with 27. They often married or lived as a lover of one of their former clients. They were quite popular, because of their skills. I considered this quite interesting (I'm a bit insane, I know) and that's were I got the idea. I hope you got the point and I was not too confusing. ;) Please correct me, when I'm wrong. There is more about it in the next chaps.