Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Life the Saitoh Fujita Way ❯ Memories ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: anreg
Saitoh remembers a training incident that happened before he and Tokio were married.

"To Underestimate a Woman’s Strength of Character is a Mistake."

Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.30.2008 | Pages: 1 | Words: 968 | Visits: 267 | Status: Work In Progress

Saitoh remembers a training incident that happened before he and Tokio were married.
"To Underestimate a Woman's Strength of Character is a Mistake."
(30 Romances Theme: Memories)
 
Memories
 

Taking one last drag on my cigarette, I crush it out in the dish on my desk before I look beyond the pile of files and out the window. The sun is setting on this winter afternoon, and I will never finish this paperwork before I need to return home to my wife and children.
 
Ah, my wife. She is a strong-willed woman. She had to be to marry me. I was mildly attracted to her even when I first became acquainted with her during the spring before the siege on Aizu castle. I always knew I would marry, but I did not expect to find a woman who was my equal, at least in intellect and will. I only discovered that about Tokio, when I insulted her ability and judged her unfairly.
 
Most women would have cowered, not questioning what I said. But not her. She only got the best of me the next day, because I deemed her to be like the rest of her kind. The fact, that she could even strike a lucky blow, caused me to take intense notice of her.
 
Here was a woman who would not stand for being belittled, or underestimated. She wanted my respect. Now I just laugh and shake my head when I think of that day. Oh how my ribs hurt to remind me of my foolish indiscretion towards her. That was the day that I learned my first lesson about her. Never tell her that she is not capable of doing something she wants to do. She will prove you wrong every time.
 
She knows she lacks physical strength and she only bested me that day, because I underestimated her will and determination. During life's hardships in Tonami, those qualities served her well. In that environment it was a matter of survival. Only those with a strong character were able to scratch out a living in that cold, barren place. But Tonami was the place where we came to really know and appreciate each other.
 
She had to be strong of heart to wait for me all those years. How could she know my intention towards her when I married another, even though that marriage was born out of a sense of debt to my patrons and their family?
 
Glancing back to the window, I see that darkness spread over the city while I was lost in my memories. Cold has settled in my office. This stack of papers will be here tomorrow. When I was young, my job and my duty to my country came before all else. Now my family occupies more than an equal place. There are others who can defend Japan, granted not as well as I, but I am the only one who can defend and care for my pack, in the manner that they deserve.
 
Pushing back my chair, I stand and take my jacket off the hook by the door, slipping my cigarette pack in the pocket. The click of the lock signals the end of this part of my daily life, and the beginning of the rest, the part that is most valuable to me. It is not only a warm bowl of soba that waits for me at home, but the devotion of a family, my family.