“School will be out shortly,” protests the clerk in the front office. I had hoped to avoid Takimi-san and apparently he’s out this week. “Can’t you deal with it then?”
“Ah, but it’s a family matter of upmost importance. And urgency,” I repeat. “And sensitivity,” I stress.
He sighs. “Fine, fine, you can wait in the small meeting room. I’ll send someone to go get him.”
I wait where I’m told, glad to get off of my feet. This is by far the longest walk I’ve attempted, but… I have to know I can speak to Tsutomu-kun alone, unlike at home. Maybe, just -maybe-…
(OOC – Hide is waiting in the administration building for Tsutomu-kun)
Tsutomu:
I’m called out of class and let to the administration building. For a moment I have this feeling of dread that I’ve been called because of the commotion that happened with Tsurumi or worst, is someone going to tell me that what she said about being engaged true?
So it’s with trepidation that I walk into the room. The teacher’s assistant closes the door and I’m surprised that it’s Yagi-san. I can’t say I’ve been relieved though.
“We weren’t done with class yet Yagi-san.” I tell her. “Also Yukiko-san could’ve gotten us from school and if she didn’t, I’d make sure Makoto and I got home.” From time to time I do go home by myself, I can probably escort Makoto by myself now. Just half a year and I’d be done with this school after all. Standing up, I wait to be dismissed.
Tsutomu-kun comes into the room, and I see at first relief cross his face… of course he’s probably worried that such a summons could be bad news. But as he realizes it’s me… he’s ready to leave. I suppose he doesn’t see me as the bearer of bad news – after all, anything from Aizu wouldn’t come from me… and without being his wife, if something happened to Hajime… news would most likely go from Aizu to this school before I would hear of it.
“Please, sit back down. I need to talk to you, alone, without little ears…. or your father.” I look down at the table, then back up at him. “I’d like to know about Monday night – when he drank with you.” I then bow my head. “Please. It’s more important than you may realize…”
She asks me to sit down. I hesitate but go ahead and do it. Now why doesn’t she want anyone to hear? Well I wouldn’t want him to know about this either.
“I’d like to know about Monday night – when he drank with you.” I“Please. It’s more important than you may realize…”
She bows her head, why? “He just wanted to show me when and how I should pour umeshu.” I’m confused as to what I should tell her. “Otherwise it was the usual.” I shrug, the usual lies and blame he assigns my mother.
Umeshu? But he dismisses it as the usual.
“He had you drink on a school night… -Anything-, Tsutomu-kun. Did he talk about anything changing? Or anything about the past?” Then, I take a gamble. Because of the look I’ve caught in his eyes since we returned from Osaka. He’s inherited -many- things from his father. Observation. The inability to… let go of something, even when it seems strange. “Anything about his death?”
Why… But she seems serious. “He…” I frown, “He was telling me how it was my mother’s fault that he didn’t bring her back.” I click my tongue a little, “That there’s proof in Aizu with Ueda-sama. It’s probably another lie.”
Then she presses me about his death? I stare back at her. Does she know about my dreams? But that’s ridiculous.
I shake my head, “All he said was that he may not had another opportunity to tell me about my mother.”
“He’s always spouting off nonsense Yagi-san.” I sigh, “Ever since Yoshi and I were young.” I could tell her what he told me, that had he found my mother he would’ve probably left her and Makoto. But that would be cruel to say wouldn’t it? Besides he’s never going to die – no matter what my dreams show.
So Hajime spoke of Tokio. Again, trying to make him understand… again. And my heart aches for him, trying to connect to this boy, with his stubborn loyalties. And for this boy…
proof in Aizu with Ueda-sama
I look at him intently. “Did he speak of what this proof could be?” My heart beats faster… and then the way he looks at me when I mention his death. “Tell me, Tsutomu-kun. What you know about his death. Or what you saw.” And Ueda-sama…. maybe the man who cannot see did see more than eyes could, and cannot forget either, for all of my “unwinding” of those terrible futures.
I should have known… all of that would at least leave echoes, somewhere. It must have, in him. In a boy who rejects his father as fiercely as… he probably needs him.
All he said was that he may not had another opportunity to tell me about my mother
Ah… because who is is now, will not. The way he spoke to Tsutomu-kun that night…
Then he speaks of nonsense that Hajime spoke. It was the truth. As he understood it. He tried so hard, with words, but do words counteract what we did to him, what Tsutomu-kun endured? That he lost his home, his -brother-, because of the path his father and I chose?
I lean forward, slightly. “I need you to go to Aizu, this afternoon. Not only because I can’t leave the girls unprotected or that another part of the past has arisen… but because I think you’re a part of this, too..” I reach into my obi and pull out an envelope of money. It’s what I had saved for Makoto-chan’s Shichi-Go-San kimono, the planned feast for Ai-chan’s one hundredth day, and other things they’d need this winter. “Can you go alone? I think I can cover for you with your father easier than I could you -and- Eiji-san… and I’m not certain if he would understand what you may find out, when you meet Ueda-sama.”
Suddenly I grin at her and stand up. “-Lies- Yagi-san. Letters he claimed my mother wrote telling him she didn’t want to be found.”
“Tell me, Tsutomu-kun. What you know about his death. Or what you saw.
Turning away I close my eyes. Why does she want to know? They’re only bad dreams and I don’t -care- to remember them again. “He didn’t come back. A man named Kawaji spoke at his funeral.” I didn’t even know who that Kawaji was until that obaa-san came. It’s all coincidence. There must be many men named Kawaji or maybe it’s something I read off the newspaper.
I turn back to Yagi-san and glare at her “Stop asking me about it. Don’t you see with your -own- eyes that he’s right there very much -alive-.”
And then she does the unthinkable asking me to go to Aizu by myself.
. “Can you go alone? I think I can cover for you with your father easier than I could you -and- Eiji-san… and I’m not certain if he would understand what you may find out, when you meet Ueda-sama.”
I shake my head angrily. How dare she try to force me for her own purposes likely, to prove his point that my mother was -unfit- unlike her.
“I’m -NOT- going.” I half shout. It’s all lies what he said after all. He’s blaming my mother. “And I hardly know that Ueda-sama.”
(OOC: Tsutomu is shouting a bit. Others might hear them)
When he grins, one that’s full of pain, I know it’s not good. He thinks that what Hajime wanted him to have were letters about Tokio? That -that- would be his only legacy? To clear his name?
He didn’t come back. A man named Kawaji spoke at his funeral.
“Kawaji-san is his true boss at the police – and one of the most important men in Japan. He is one of the few who knows what your father has done for this country. It would be… fitting, that he would speak.” I close my eyes. I couldn’t have even imagined the funeral, as I knew that’s when the wife would have stepped in, and neither me or my children would have been permitted. “And yes, he didn’t come back, for a while. It looked like his end. He’d escaped death so many times… and I’m not entirely sure he was able to come back -whole-, after all that.”
The room is so quiet… all I can hear is the ticking of the clock on the wall behind Tsutomu-kun. Clock…. clock… watch? My eyes open wide. “He’s not had his watch, since then. Maybe he left it with Ueda-sama…”
I’m surprised at the anger… Then I stand, only to lower myself to the floor. Slowly, painfully. I kneel on the floor, and lower my head all the way down. “I have so much to apologize for. For what your brother and you endured because of what your father and I started, years ago. For leading a man to break his house, your house. You’ve lost so much already… and you’ve been nothing but a good and loyal son to your mother through it all. If he left letters about your mother… but I think it’s more than that. -Please- go. I don’t know if what has been done can be fixed…” I lift my head. “The other night, when he was drinking – that’s who he is now. And if that’s how he spoke to you, so harshly? Almost cruel? What if he turns that on Makoto-chan next?” I lower my head again. “Ueda-sama is a good man. A wise one. Please, Tsutomu-kun. You’re the last hope there is.”
(MIDORI)
Just because I don’t have anywhere to be in the afternoons, some teachers like to send me on these end-of-day errands so -they- can go home early…. although with Takimi-sensei out, it seems like some of the administration staff ducked out early too. Well, at least there’s Yamaji-sensei, over in the girl’s building, keeping this place running even when the great man himself is off campus….
I drop off the paperwork into the right office, and I’m walking by some of the smaller conference rooms by the main lobby. They’re mostly for parent meetings, or assessing potential students. It’s then I hear Tsutomu-kun shouting…
“I’m NOT going”.
Going where? And who is he yelling at? I pause outside the door, when I hear another voice. A woman’s, low and somehow muffled, but I can’t make out the words through the thick, wooden Western-style door. That can’t be Fujita-sensei’s, can it? Is she taking him back? To prepare him for his marriage? The thought… I find myself -frozen-.
“Stand up Yagi-san. Do you know what he’ll do to me if he saw you lower yourself like that?” After all he’s spent a lot of his time trying to convince me this woman was someone worthy. Of what nor of whom I don’t know. Had she only been the mother of Makoto then she is a good woman but for us Fujita’s?
I don’t have anything to say about him escaping death. That’s his work, to kill people. He chooses that life to live eventhough he knows it puts us in a dire position. He comes back alive -anyway-. Not that I… ever wanted him to…
And she apologizes for what she did… and what he did. I could bask in my house’s righteousness but what good would it do? It won’t return anything. She implores me again to go but it’s not just about him or her or even Makoto. -I- don’t want to go. “No.” I say steadfast. Even if it was the truth, what good would it do? It would only tarnish my mother – exactly what he’d want.
“The other night, when he was drinking – that’s who he is now. And if that’s how he spoke to you, so harshly? Almost cruel? What if he turns that on Makoto-chan next?”
“That’s who he has -always- been Yagi-san.” I tilt my head, “He only shows you his good side then? And if he shows you his deplorable side and it extends to Makoto – maybe you -should- leave him. Like -my- mother did, like he claimed in her letters.”
She keeps imploring. Is she trying to manipulate me? I storm out of the room -quickly-. Throwing the door wide open and almost hitting someone.
“Midori?” I stare at her for a minute. I… I can’t deal with any of them right now.
(OOC: Tsutomu is exiting unless something happens that stops him)
And for all of that… he still rejects my pleas. Seeing his father one way… but I’m not here to take his side anymore.
And then he tells me to leave him. I finally get back up as he leaves. Looking at the envelope on the table… I put it back in my obi.
I’ll have to go, then. But do I bring Makoto and Ai-chan? And what of this threat from Souji? Do I leave that hanging as well? If I go and something happens to him while I’m gone…?
There’s no way out, is there?
But the sound of voices in the hall… I have to go get Makoto. I told the others I’d do it.
I make my way to the gates, seeing no sign of Tsutomu-kun. I see Himura-san at the gates, and go to her – our children are already playing together. In a low voice, I tell her, “my other hope… isn’t going to work. Tell me how I can help you. But you have to promise.. if something happens, your husband knows where my family in Kyoto lives. Promise that my girls will get there if anything should happen.”
Then I look up… and it’s Souji, in the back of the crowd of parents and passerbys. He waves cheerfully.
I look back at Himura-san. “I don’t know what time we have left.” I look back and the crowd and he’s gone again.
(MIDORI)
Tsutomu-kun almost hits me with the door as he rushes out. I only glance inside and see… Yagi-san… getting up off the floor?
“Tsutomu-kun!” I say, walking after him. “Wait!” His face looked like a stormcloud, angry.
(OOC – if either Tsutomu or Kaoru want to interact more, maybe one thread should be split off?)
Ooc reply tom
Tsutomu:
Tsutomu-kun! Wait!
I glance over my shoulder once. It’s Midori of course, I know her voice. But… I can’t… Let her see. So I run as fast as I can. I never wanted him to not come home. And I won’t cry… A man doesn’t cry! Chikuso!
(OOC: Tomu is running away from school. Midori can try to follow him if she wants – if she does she can start a new thread. He eventually will come back to the house.)
Kaoru:
The kids play and it almost seems unreal that these two are friends. Are they really? Would one of them care if they knew their fathers were at odds and now present a threat. Yagi-san said she had a naive hope that Saitou would have too much to live for that he’d never really… But Saitou is willing to throw his life away for the Shinsengumi and his own justice. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. But Kenshin isn’t like that… Kenshin will live for his family and friends. And so I can rely on all of them.
Deep in my mulling I hardly notice Yagi-san until she spoke low my other hope… isn’t going to work. Tell me how I can help you. But you have to promise.. if something happens, your husband knows where my family in Kyoto lives. Promise that my girls will get there if anything should happen.”
“Another hope?” I turn to her. “I promise you that your daughters will be safe.” I smile, “Kenshin is the type of man who will keep everyone within his eyesight protected Yagi-san. And not only that our friends look out for each other.”
Then she seems distracted for a minute scannin the crowd. Did she see something?
“I don’t know what time we have left.”
“One thing you can do Yagi-san is to speak to Saitou-san. A long time ago in the wilderness, there were several murders that happened it was rumored that it was the work of the Shinsengumi. Did he or Okita have a hand in it?” My worst fear is that two Shinsengumi captains gang up on Kenshin but after everything 10 years ago, before the wilderness, would Saitou still?
But can she really ask him and would Saito tell her the truth? “But if that’s not possible Yagi-san, if Okita shows himself to you… Does he hold grudges against you and Saitou? Would choosing Okita instead appease his wrath?” Because for all her talk about Okita Souji settling the fight of his destiny with my husband, something tells me it -is- related to her somehow.
“You said he was willing to kill you per the request of your sister. But he’s chosen to come here without her, which means you likely mean more to him than he lets on.. It’s a lot to ask I know but for the safety of our loved ones and children.” She can influence him in a way I think.
(Midori/Tsutomu thread will open eventually)
(Hide)
And… she’s unfailingly kind to me. Reassuring me that the girls will be safe, if the worst happens. I’m not relieved, because I had to ask such a thing.
Her price? To talk to Hajime. But at least I can answer. “No. It was just Souji’s doing. The night they were supposed to go out… instead he went and sat with an old man, drinking and lamenting his failing marriage.” I sigh. But if he hadn’t? Would he have resisted?
“Grudges… it’s complicated between him and Hajime. Souji’s still upset about that fight. There’s also other things that happened during the Shinsengumi days, decisions made, betrayal…” I close my eyes, remembering what he said about Toudou-san, and his role in it. “As for me… even though our relationship was a failure and had an ending, he’s… he still has my sister, but … I’m not entirely sure how he feels.” After all, my sister was there. And his anger seemed all over the place. Unsettled. And I was reeling, going from seeing the man I love die, and accepting my own death, to have him come in to save me.
“My sister may be here – I don’t know, she won’t talk to me.” I can’t find the shadow, either, and I’m terrified of her as well. “I don’t know what they are to each other… he only said that he was ‘content’ with her.”
“No. It was just Souji’s doing. The night they were supposed to go out… instead he went and sat with an old man, drinking and lamenting his failing marriage.”
“That’s a relief. Kenshin once told me that Saitou was an incorruptible man whose fangs spares no one under his code.” I almost wanted to ask her, why didn’t Saitou lament his marriage to her instead? But that was neither appropriate nor necessary.
And she offers up more explanation about the complicated relationship between the Shinsengumi captains. I don’t know much of the Shinsengumi aside from the little that Kenshin told me many years ago. But she insists she has no contact with her sister.
“I’m sure Okita will appear to you again. Actually I -hope- so, instead of him targeting one of the children -again-.” I look pointedly at my son and Makoto-chan. “If he does, please ask him what he wants or needs to leave us all alone in peace.” I make a sideway glance towards Yagi-san, “He probably resents what Kenshin is today… But fighting Kenshin won’t satisfy him. He’ll want more, maybe he’ll want what Saitou-san has which is you and the life you lead today.”
I go to our playing children and take Kenji’s hand in mine. “Hey Kenji, how about we go home?” I look at Makoto-chan, will she be next? I hope not. “Makoto-chan, enough playing alright? Your mother has been waiting and you two should go home early.”
She seems to believe me, that Hajime didn’t join in on Souji’s spree all of those years ago. And takes his alibi at face value. I seem to recall, of those there in the wilderness, that she was not one of the ones with the hideous double-standards about his marriage.
Himura-san seems to think this is about me and Souji, but why drag in all of these other people? He sometimes had a… flair to him, but I don’t know what to make of this. “He could have that life. She’s… a good woman. She’s taken care of him, cleaned the blood off of him and waited. I don’t know what he doesn’t have that he’d be willing to do this for.” Although how much of the word of either can I trust? She told me years ago he -died- after the wilderness concluded. And I believed her.
But she’s right that it’s time to go. I take Makoto-chan by the hand. “We’ll need to go, too – this is my first time out alone walking and if I’m not back soon Yukiko-san and Eiji-san will come looking.”
I look around. I don’t see Souji here. Maybe I imagined it?
Probably not. I look over at Himura-san and her son, as his smile beams as she talks to him, asking about his day. And then at my own little girl, with eyes that are anxious. Almost nervous. I hold her hand tightly. “Let’s go home.”
(OOC – you may close)
KAORU:
“Don’t hesitate to call on me Yagi-san. For anything.”
Because I won’t hesitate to reach out to her either.
(Ooc end)