Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Life the Saitoh Fujita Way ❯ Tale in Tonami - Life Will Take a Twist ( Chapter 17 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: anreg

Tales in Tonami - Life Will Take a Twist

Early July 1871

It seems that a couple of months before I arrived here in Tonami, Kurasawa Hiejieumon's adoptive parents, the Uenos, took in a refuge. Her name is Shinoda Yaso, the daughter of a mid-ranking samurai. Except for an uncle, the younger brother of her father, she is now alone in this world, having lost the rest of her family during the Bakumatsu.

As it was explained to me, in order to inherit the estate of her father, she must marry and stay married for at least three years. If she doesn't, her father's assets and real property will be transferred to her uncle.

It is puzzling that she must be married for that length of time, but perhaps that is to insure that she will have some heirs to take care of her, if something were to happen to her husband. Hiejieumon-san first told me of this woman on the day we journeyed to Tonami. At the time I wondered why he was telling me. The situation made me feel uneasy.

Now I know why. From the very beginning he saw me as a possible match for this woman. There are really no other men her age in the vicinity. Most unattached men are quite old, and the remaining are merely young boys. I am loathe to fill the role of a husband for this woman. I have my own agenda in life. I know who I want for a wife and Shinoda Yaso is not the one.

Matsudaira Katamori, Daimyo of Aziu, and Hiejieumon-san literally kept my head attached to my body and prevented me from being an example of what happens to people who refuse to buckle under to the Meiji dogs. Those of us who fought on after the Battle of Toba Fushima were all targets for their revenge. I was just luckier than most, because the right people knew me.

I am a friend of Katamori's; Katamori is a friend of Hiejieumon; Hiejieumon had curried enough favor with the local authorities that he could ask a favor without any of them even giving it a second thought. The particular favor was to relocate me to Tonami, rather than to send me to the great beyond. Politics and many politicians stink like rotten fish. Instead of dispensing justice and fairness, they dispense rewards to a chosen few, and corruption that affects many innocents. I get nothing but severely irritated when I think of these things, even though I was a beneficiary, this time.

So the way I see it, I owe Hiejieumon Kurasawa and by extension his family, the Uenos, a life debt. They saved mine and I need to repay them in some way. Marrying Yaso is the repayment they desire from me. The problem is Tokio. I finally admitted to myself, what I refused to believe for much of the time that I have known her. I want her for my wife.

She is fair minded, industrious, and kind, but firm with children. She also takes no crap from me, insisting that I treat her in a respectful way. I give her respect, because she has earned respect. Who would have thought that I, the ruthless captain of the third unit, would wax poetic about a mere woman. I smirk to myself. She is no mere woman. Her spirit is generous, but her determination is as hard as nails, putting most men to shame.

But my future with her will need to wait until I am free of what I feel is an obligation that I cannot refuse to fulfill.