After providing morning refreshments to Kinosuke and the workers outside, I go back inside the house waiting for Yagi-san. I want to try to see if there is anything I can do. I arrange the cups carefully in the cupboard and line up the utensils neatly.
Should I really speak to Eiji? Is it the right thing to do?
I take the sack full of rice and place it in an earthen jar. Then I go out to the well and take two bucketful of water. Yagi-san will need it for later. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone. I don’t know which to take out though, whether the fish, the poultry or the tofu. I notice we don’t have any beef. Odd I thought Uncle likes those but beef is expensive. Maybe I can ask Kinosuke later and while I’m at it, perhaps some eggs.
(OOC: Yukiko is waiting on Hide)
Interpersonal Relationships
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There’s been good progress on the addition, even with some of the rain we’ve been having. The foreman said maybe two more weeks, since I’ve scaled back Kinosuke-san on some of the -embellishments- he was interested in. We’re ordinary people…
“Yukiko-san, you’ve been busy!”
“It’s not much.” I say quietly to Yagi-san, “I thought I’d get things together before I leave for the day.” I smile at her.
“Yagi-san, would you happen to know where Eiji might be staying?” If she can give me an address, I can -try- to look for it. I’ve not been around Tokyo much but I -can- read a map or street signs. “I’d like to speak to him as soon as possible.” I add, hoping that my voice doesn’t sound too concerned.
Leave for the day? Are they being sent back out on another errand for the builders?
Yagi-san, would you happen to know where Eiji might be staying? I’d like to speak to him as soon as possible.”
I think – do I? Yes, “I’ll have to get it for her.” Would it be to terrible if I copy it for her instead of giving her the original? Even though it’s not on a love note, I am becoming possessive of anything that he gave me.
But she sounds… it seems more serious than visit between cousins. “Yukiko-san, is everything alright?”
Yagi-san seems to hesitate but it seems she does know where Eiji lives. “Please Yagi-san.” I implore her. “It’s important.”
“Yukiko-san, is everything alright?”
I’ve never been one to lie. I was raised to be as truthful as I can be. “It’s…” I look down, “A -family- problem. That I am hoping Eiji can help with.”
Or not. I’m not really sure. I don’t even want to speak to Kinosuke about it.
It’s… A -family- problem. That I am hoping Eiji can help with.”
I’m quiet for a minute, then swallow my hurt. “Yukiko-san, I…” I smile a little, “as Makoto’s mother, at least, that makes me family, even if the other ties have yet to be made.” Those two boys are precious to me, even if one isn’t here and the other pushes against me at every step.
Seeing as I don’t recall anything amiss between her and Kinosuke-san, I think of the next most obvious person. “Is it Tsutomu-kun?”
“Something happened yesterday. He warned me against someone – someone that I don’t think he knows or who -looks- like a threat. Another parent at their school.” I wish Hajime – no, stop. I’m here. I have to handle it, best that I can. I can’t pull my proud and hurting stepson-to-be to me, I can only leave doors open for when he needs it.
And now, the doors lead to the two people he may have some trust in.
“And then Makoto asked me what ‘ki’ was this morning.” I shook my head. “I know, of course, one meaning, but I know also among those who … have certain gifts, it means something else.”
“as Makoto’s mother, at least, that makes me family, even if the other ties have yet to be made.”
I look down. It wasn’t that I didn’t think of her as family. I just never really thought of a woman ever being part of the family aside from my Aunt Katsu who died early. Uncle never took Tokio-san to the house and after that my world has only been made up of a few men.
“I’m sorry Yagi-san,” I bow to her, “I didn’t mean to offend you. I didn’t want to burden you, after all there’s already so much you do for us.” And although I hate to say it, our stay here has been more trouble to her than I think its worth. I wish Uncle didn’t leave so suddenly.
“Is it Tsutomu-kun?” “Something happened yesterday. He warned me against someone – someone that I don’t think he knows or who -looks- like a threat. Another parent at their school.”
She cuts right to the heart of the matter but there’s not really a lot of people here. If I deny it to her, would she be offended again? What would father do?
Then she asks about Ki. “I’ve only heard tall tales about “ki” Yagi-san. Mostly from men who shared sake. That it is some sort of spirit or “intention” reading between those who handle a weapon.”
I look away, “Whatever “ki” is, I suppose it depends on how a reader would interpret it.”
I sigh, “Tomu did tell me about Himura-san but that’s not what concerns me, although I have no reason to believe Himura-san is dangerous.” I look at her straight, “What concerns me is that just like Himura, Tomu believes his father is a murderer.”
Whatever Uncle is -now-, I know my father would never allow him to be that of a murderer.
“My father was always so proud of his brother, even after they lost the war or even years later when they would -fight- because father would insist he quit the police.” It wasn’t to keep him from murder, but it was to let him finally live a life he deserved. ThoughI know my father never told him that himself, such is the curse sometimes with tightly lipped men.
“If I can only speak to Eiji. I feel that he may understand and tell me why Tokio-san would…” I stop, I’ve said too much.
Even I am surprised at how this has unsettled me, but it’s only because I know my father would not rest easy knowing this. He always looked so down when Uncle left having not listened to him. How many times did I witness that happen?
“I’m sorry Yagi-san, I didn’t mean to offend you. I didn’t want to burden you, after all there’s already so much you do for us.
I shake my head, “Yukiko-san there is no offense. I only want you to know that I am here, as family, to help you. And it is I who thanks you and Kinosuke-san for being here.” I look out the window, out at our garden. “I miss your uncle. I think he’s going to be gone for some time, and he knows… well, that Makoto and I won’t be so lonely.” Or isolated. I look back to her, and bow “so please, I am the one in your debt.”
What concerns me is that just like Himura, Tomu believes his father is a murderer
“I am from Kyoto, and was there for the revolution. The Shinsengumi boarded with my family for a time, and later, moved only next door to Mibu temple.”
“The streets ran with blood, and those men – who treated me as a friend – were the ones shedding it. Night after night. But I wouldn’t have called it murder, then. It was a war.” I’m quiet, remembering the glory of the day after Ikedaya, but I saw the end of the night before – the wounds, the stains on the bright blue haori… “I could not walk those streets, even in the day.”
My father was always so proud of his brother, even after they lost the war or even years later when they would -fight- because father would insist he quit the police
“The work your uncle does is hard, and keeps him away from his family, and he has suffered injuries, and has come close to death,” I look at her, and think of those scars, the marks of the inner strength that keeps him going. “But that is what he accepts to be able to follow a… sense of justice. It’s the same one that drove him during the war. Cities may no longer be in flame but evil is -always- there and it wouldn’t take much to have it all burn again. To call it ‘murder’ or him a ‘murderer’ is to misunderstand why he does what he must. I don’t know if that would have made your father proud, but I am. For what he does, the price he pays, our country is a better place – and his children will live in it.” And maybe there will be fewer children like Eiji-san, who saw their entire family murdered.
“It’s complicated; it’s a lot for a child to understand, and if he knows little of his father…” I shake my head. Hajime is not the sort of man, like so many others, to tell tales of his -glory-. He didn’t as a young man and he certainly doesn’t now.
I’ve never spoken of Hajime like this to anyone… I take a deep breath. But I see it her, in Tsutomo-kun – that same strength, even if it makes them all very hard to get to sometimes.
I feel that he may understand and tell me why Tokio-san would…
She stops, and I realize she’s ventured into taboo territory. “I have never met her, but I have heard of what they endured in Aizu – in her youth she saw her home devastated – held under siege, its men lost to battle, and then, for some, a hardscabble and punitive exile, even for women and children. The turbulent era we all lived through – it shaped us. But you’re right, Eiji-san was in that house and would know more.”
I reach over and pat her hand before standing, “I’m glad Tsutomu-kun has a cousin like you. I’ll get Eiji-san’s address for you.”
“so please, I am the one in your debt.”
I highly doubt that, however I sense arguing the point I would lose to Yagi-san.
“I am from Kyoto, and was there for the revolution. The Shinsengumi boarded with my family for a time, and later, moved only next door to Mibu temple.”
“Our family kept Uncle’s secret. My father did let me know that he had heard he joined the Shinsengumi. He’s kept tabs on him over the years.” Yagi-san tells me of those days, although we are from Edo, word did reach us of the carnage in Kyoto until the fighting came directly here. Though thankfully the withdrawal of the Tokugawa force and their peaceful handover of Edo spared us in comparison to the heavy fighting in Kyoto and the Northern regions of Aizu and Hokkaido. I listen to Yagi-san recount what she saw in Kyoto. My father never did tell me details to the stories but I saw his face grow dimmer as the Bakufu waged war.
“The work your uncle does is hard, and keeps him away from his family, and he has suffered injuries, and has come close to death,” “But that is what he accepts to be able to follow a… sense of justice.To call it ‘murder’ or him a ‘murderer’ is to misunderstand why he does what he must. I don’t know if that would have made your father proud, but I am.
“I understand Yagi-san.” I bow, “But also understand, though my father never said it to him directly, I feel that I must tell you…” If she is truly family now, I must tell her this… “His brother’s wish was for him to start living a life he deserved, after all the fighting.” I tell her this more for my father’s sake but also for hers, “It is a different era that we live in after all. Even if this era is fragile, protecting it is not just a problem that should be shouldered by a few.”
“It’s complicated; it’s a lot for a child to understand, and if he knows little of his father…” “I have never met her, but I have heard of what they endured in Aizu – in her youth she saw her home devastated – held under siege, its men lost to battle, and then, for some, a hardscabble and punitive exile, even for women and children. The turbulent era we all lived through – it shaped us.
“I know. That’s why I have to speak to Eiji. I believe he can reach Tsutomu.” And I need to understand what’s happened to the woman who I only hear of by name. But I am familiar with the injustices and atrocities against the Aizu domain, after all the Yamaguchi’s is still part of the clan but I don’t remind Yagi-san of this. My grandfather Yusuke died for Aizu after all, leaving my father head of the house as Uncle ran away to Kyoto.
I’ll get Eiji-san’s address for you.”
“Thank you.” I say simply. “If you can please keep this between us.”
(OOC: Yukiko will leave as soon as she gets the address. You may close)
It is a different era that we live in after all. Even if this era is fragile, protecting it is not just a problem that should be shouldered by a few.
“Ah but if there were only more than a few. It seems… that being given the power to wield a weapon of death corrupts many men.” I saw that so many times in the days of the war, “There are indeed few who have the strength to remain on the side of justice. Would I prefer him to live a quiet life? Not at the cost of who he is.” Japan comes first – I understood that early on, and living it now.
I know Yukiko-san won’t see it that way, she bears her father’s wishes – good wishes, to be sure – but that’s not the reality of who his brother his.
Thank you. If you can please keep this between us.
I bow again. “Of course.”
I go upstairs, and unlock the cabinet where I store precious things. It’s only a scrap, left on a basis to be used for emergencies, but I feel that soothing Tsutomu’s mind counts as one. He’s only a child and should take the guidance of those he will accept it from to understand that the world is complicated.
I return and hand over the paper to Yukiko-san.
(OOC: close)