When I get to the train station, I see that the Muriyama?EUR(TM)s men was able to stop the trains from leaving. There seems to be quite a number of people, but I can?EUR(TM)t tell very well with my vision going in and out doubling.
?EURoeFujita-san..?EUR? He looks away and I know at once.
?EURoeShe?EUR(TM)s dead??EUR? I ask.
?EURoeNo we could not find them. We were able to stop the outgoing trains and searched every inch but came out empty handed.?EUR? Muriyama waves his hand and dismisses his men. Looking down, I want to kick the dirt but the exhaustion is finally catching up with me and I could only manage a grim smirk. Tanaka was not an idiot of course, he probably never intended to let me catch them easily. I close my eyes and groan, more from annoyance than pain to be honest.
?EURoeAre you alright sir??EUR? He looks at me and I realize I was gripping my side so much, he noticed my injury..
?EURoeNever mind that!?EUR? I sneer and take a step forward. ?EURoeDo not dismiss your men, search the perimeter in circles.?EUR?
Muriyama looks at the picture and I take it from him and headed to the crowd at the waiting shed.
?EURoeAnyone seen this woman??EUR? I should not be doing this but there is a downside to Country Police, it?EUR(TM)s that they dismiss things too easily. I pass the picture around and look at the crowd, their faces are hard to discern but once in a while my vision focuses and Muriyama is right. They are not here. One man seems takes the picture again and furrows his brows. I go over to him.
?EURoeAnything at all? Think harder.?EUR? I press him for information. ?EURoeIf we can?EUR(TM)t find this woman, you?EUR(TM)ll be detained here longer.?EUR?
He looks me over and shakes his head, ?EURoeI?EUR(TM)m not sure but some people earlier left.?EUR?
I shoot Muriyama a glare.
?EURoeAnd??EUR?
?EURoeI thought it was curious, the man said this person was sick and headed to that clearing over there.?EUR? He points to a rough road bordered by large trees.
?EURoeHow long??EUR?
?EURoeTen minutes at least..?EUR?
I make a sudden turn to Muriyama and his men, my head bobs and I blink. ?EURoeConcentrate on that area.?EUR? I point to the clearing, ?EURoeI?EUR(TM)m going to search the southern part.?EUR?
?EURoeMou Fujita-san maybe you should sit down and let us handle this??EUR? He looks at me and I scowl.
?EURoeDon?EUR(TM)t make me say what I think Muriyama-san.?EUR?
Ten minutes?EUR? They?EUR(TM)re probably gone by now but I won?EUR(TM)t let anyone leave Ito, all the trains will be sequestered if we have to. I run into the southern side of the clearing occasionally stopping for a breath of air. I use my katana to cut through the bushes. There is no way Kyo would take the rough road. He and Saya has got to be here ?EUR“somewhere-. Pushing my way through, I trip on root and fall down. Damn it! I get on one knee trying to stand up but they wobble and I use my nippontou for support. Pathetic. PATHETIC. I close my eyes catching my breath. I need just a little time to recuperate.
A Desperate Search
10 thoughts on “A Desperate Search”
Comments are closed.
They seem to be searching for something and I stay back in the shadows, watching. They’re inspecting the train’s passengers. Then I see Fujita-san… Saitou-san. Shishio-sama always called him that. He said that he had a lot of names.
Oh that’s him all right, and he’s just like Chou-san said he was, but the cool edge that I remember isn’t there. A woman… I hear it in the crowd. He’s looking for a woman.
Some of the police head off in one direction, Saitou-san in another, alone.
He’s holding his side, and I think of that woman sitting in that cell. I run after him, easily catching up. He’s not moving like I recall, either, and suddenly I see him go down and I go to where he is.
“Saitou-san, who are you looking for?” He’s fallen down, and I offer him one hand as I pull out my sword, slashing through the brush, keeping to the direction he had started. Looking around, keeping alert. It’s been a while…
Souji…
I look up and wonder if his ghost has finally come to take me to the after-life.
No… It can’t be.
Shaking my head, I stand up only to fall back on the bark of a tree for support. I try to focus my eyes on this man but the darkness do not help my blurred gaze.
Raising my sword I point it at him and gruffly say, “If you’re here to be a hindrance…”
“Saitou-san, who are you looking for?”
“Huh?” I look up and see Souji’s face again. Is he back from the dead? I groan a bit, even standing up is getting difficult. If he is a ghost… It doesn’t matter. I reach into my pocket and toss the picture. “You don’t know her Souji,” I gasp for air, “that’s Saya.” I slump down to the ground cursing, “abducted by our own men.”
Kyo will have to commit seppuku… He’s violated the Hatto. I will make sure Hijikata-san knows this.
I did what I could right? It’s fine to stay… Souji can handle the rest…
If you’re here to be a hindrance…
“No, Saitou-san. Yagi-san told me about you and to help you.” He looks -bad-, leaning back against that tree.
He calls me Souji as well, he knows who I am and I’m puzzled. I pick up the picture anyway, but I can’t see much of the woman in the dark.
Then I notice the bushes in the distance rustling and the sound of a woman, a sound of pain, followed by lower tones, angry and frantic. “Fujita-san,” I don’t know what name to call him but he can’t seem to remember my name either. My voice low, I keep my eyes to where I saw the movement, “I see something.”
What was it Houji told me about him and the Battosai? That they kept on fighting, no matter how many times they had been knocked back. “Shishio-sama gave you worse and you didn’t stop -then-,” I remind him, frowning, seeing the two move further away into the darkness of the woods. “Come -on-.” These may not even be the right people and I don’t know how I am with a sword anymore, if I get started I may not be able to tell if they are friend or foe.
“I see something.”
I turn my head and hone my ears. All I can hear are damn chicadas… Souji can… If anyone can get Kyo…
“Shishio-sama gave you worse and you didn’t stop -then-,”
What the hell is he? Shishio? Slowly I look up and realize for the first time that the man in front of me… was Seta Soujirou. A wanted man who killed Okubo, the only Meiji official whom I trusted after Kawaji. I realize I’ve made a mistake and grit my teeth as I get up. There is no way this man will help Saya and if he did, his mind is about as straight as gordian knot that leaving her in his hands will be another mistake of mine.
“Come -on-.”
“Dokke!” I scowl and push him roughly to the side. I have to get there first before the idiot get any other lunatic ideas. The Shukuchi for one… I chuckle grimly at the thought, even if I were at full strength there is no way I could match his speed.
I punch her in the stomach again. The effects of the chloroform is wearing off and getting her to keep still is becoming a hassle. I can hear the police at the other end of the forest and I smirk. Those idiots will never find us here. If I can find a place to stay for the night, I’ll just kill the bitch and catch the first train out. Heh… Tanaka never did say what I can and -cannot- do.
Her nails dig at my skin and I elbow her forehead, knocking the bitch out. I need to get her tied up so I stop and start to remove her obi. This should be enough to gag and bind her.
He pushes me aside, so he -does- remember me but it gets him moving.
But the smile falls from my face as in the darkness I see the man strike the woman, a dull sound in this forest. A sound I know too well. Of strong on the weak.
You know what to do, right, Soujirou?
Eyes glinting in the darkness. I know what to do. He’s always right.
My hand grips the hilt of my borrowed sword… it’s too small. Not mine. This is not -my- sword. I am here of my own will. And I know there are other truths out there.
This is not then.
I pull out the sword, and charge at the man. Swift as the darkness, I glide through the forest, passing Saitou-san as I go. The man is so intent in his cruelty that he doesn’t sense us. I smile. I know -that- type. I know just what to do.
Nor does he sense my blade as it slashes across his torso and he cries out in pain. He was foolish… standing there above the woman, unguarded, made him a perfect target. It’s then he sees me, his breath comes out in a gasp, but then he must see Fujita-san behind me, and he snarls, “Fujita…”
Before I can blink an eye Soujirou has drawn his sword and almost cuts Kyo in half. Such a clean cut and no hesitation, typical of the Tenken. How that move reminds me of Souji is unsettling. The man gasps my name and I reach them just in time before his eyes lost it’s life. Such a life is no waste to the Keishikan and I will not grieve his lost no matter how much I’ve trusted him.
I drop to my knees and shake Saya. She’s out cold. I should’ve stayed more by her side.
“Soujirou,” I call but do not look at him, “Help me bring her out to the open.”
Taking one arm I sling it on my shoulder. I cough slightly, an iron like taste sweeping my mouth.
“Come on boy. For -tonight- I guarantee no one will go after you.” I swallow, trying to stifle the coughs. This man after all, was Shishio’s best student. Anymore weakness shown in front of him would have dire results.
I leave the sword in that man. I was just as accurate as I had always been, and how many years has it been since I’d last sliced a man in half?
I put one of the woman’s arms over my shoulder, and tuck the ends of her obi back in. Yumi-san would have asked me to, had this been her.
Come on boy. For -tonight- I guarantee no one will go after you.
I’m glad he says that, I’d hate to go back to jail and -wait- some more. I look over at him as we walk out. “Yagi-san asked for a doctor to come to the precinct, we should bring her there.” The woman is out cold and Saitou-san still looks bad, but I don’t tell him that. His thoughts are obviously on the woman.
Then I can show Yagi-san that I did do as I told her I would, and I can leave Ito. This quiet resort town really isn’t, and I have many places to be.
“Yagi-san asked for a doctor to come to the precinct, we should bring her there.”
I nod but there’s no way I can walk back to the Precinct like this. We walk some more and finally we’re by the platform. Muriyama comes running over to us and stops pointing at Soujirou. I shake my head at him and muster enough to say, “He’s with me.”
At least Muriyama had enough wits about him to not pursue it any further and call for a wagon. No carriage this time of course, I wonder if they thought they’d be bringing in dead bodies. Ah yes… There were a few.
“Come with us Muriyama.” I say weakly and he gets on. “I have a few instructions for you.”
?EURoeAre you alright sir??EUR? He looks at me and I realize I was gripping my side so much, he noticed my injury. “Let me help you on..”
?EURoeYes sir. Let me help you to the ward.?EUR? He comes close and I push his hand away. ?EURoeListen Muriyama…”
?EURoeI can manage.?EUR? I tell him. I no longer want that feeling of helplessness. ?EURoeI need you to escort Yagi Hide and her child to this place.?EUR? I hand him the address of the Ryokan that I had planned to take Hide for a few days. I close my eyes and lean by the wall of the wagon, my arms feel like they?EUR(TM)re lead. ?EURoeThen I need you to call this man in tomorrow.?EUR? Handing him Yuunosuke?EUR(TM)s address I continue, ?EURoeUse only your most trusted man Captain, keep it confidential.?EUR?
He looks me over. I feel like an idiot, he?EUR(TM)s probably thinking how weak and foolish I was. ?EURoeYes I?EUR(TM)ll make sure they are fine.?EUR?
I grin slightly. It seems he understood, not bad for a country cop. That?EUR(TM)s one saving grace of these men far from the center, they tend to remain purer. My eyelids suddenly close in on themselves and the wall seems to make a perfect place to rest my head.
?EURoeFujita-san? Fujita-san??EUR?
I blink twice, maybe more. I tilt my head towards Saya and Soujirou.
“Get the girl -first- to the doctor. Souji… Should be able to help you, then get him on the first train out of Ito.”
Gripping my sword, I laugh at mentally at myself. To let Soujirou the Tenken go, who would’ve thought? I narrow my eyes at him, this will be the only break he will get from me. If I could capture him tonight… But my hand slips to my side and I close my eyes.
?EURoeOi! Drive faster!?EUR? That was the last I heard. I think it was Muriyama-san?