Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Life the Saitoh Fujita Way ❯ The Disagreement ( Chapter 34 )

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

By: anreg

30 Romances Theme: Take a Hint

"Mothers should not interfere."

The Disagreement

“Tokioko, have the good sense to just leave the girl alone,” I let out with a bit of exasperation in my voice. My wife rarely manages to rankle me, but this time her prodding has gone too far.

Luckily for the two of us, her persistent actions have not been directed towards me, but towards one of the poor girls under her supervision at the Normal School dormitory. I know as well as she does that our oldest, Tsutomu, needs to take a wife, but this is not the way to handle it.

“But Hajime,” I blurt out before realizing that I had better let the matter drop for now. The warning in his tone of voice did not escape me. I turn away from him, frowning. Midori would be a perfect match for Tsutomu. The only problem is, that she does not know that yet, and all my attempts to convince her have been fruitless. I have tried all of the approaches from subtle to telling her outright that I think she should marry my son.

Having known her during her years at school, I can tell that her temperament would not only tolerate my oldest, but also gain his cooperation and respect. In addition to that, she is well educated in literature, the sciences, mathematics, and home arts. She will be an efficient household manager, and an excellent teacher for her children. I also think that the compassionate nature she shows her schoolmates will serve her well when she is a mother.

Nothing seems to work. She will not even agree to a supervised meeting with him. I even suggested having dinner at one of the better restaurants with her parents, Hajime, and me in attendance. It would have been just a simple dinner; she would not have even had to sit by him. Hajime and her father could have engaged him in conversation. All she would have had to do was sit and listen. That would have been all that was necessary for her to evaluate him.

She has a stubborn streak as wide as my son's, which is one of the reasons that I think they would make a good match. He needs a wife who can hold her own and not be pushed around, not that my son is a bully, because he is not, but he does have a mind of his own much like his father. I guess that is why I want her for his wife, because she is so like I was when I was her age.

I am sure that Tokio turned away from me, so I would not see the expression on her face. She has no desire to further provoke me with one of those `looks' of hers. “Midori is a smart girl. She can decide on her own if she wants to meet Tsutomu,” I emphasize. I do not need to repeat what I said to her at the beginning of this discussion; I know she was listening to me the first time I said it.

I suspect that my wife's continual prodding is the actual obstacle in the way of this match. People like to make their own decisions. She of all people should remember that. Closing the distance between us with a step, I slip my arms around her waist, as I lean down to whisper in her ear, “Give her time. She will come around.”

I let out a sigh, and then relax at my husband's touch. “You are right, Hajime,” as you always are, but I am not going to voice that last sentiment out loud. I do not have to. He knows.

Author's Notes: The real-life Fujita Tokio was a dorm mother at Tokyo Women's Normal School. She very probably taught classes in the home arts. According to the Shinsengumi-no-makoto website, Nashino Midori studied science at the Tokyo Women's Higher Normal School while she boarded with the Fujitas. It is said that Tokio liked her at once and made repeated requests to Midori's family to have her marry Tsutomu, the Fujita's oldest son.

Midori and Tsutomu married after she graduated. They had seven children, one of whom died young. She took care of her father-in-law, Fujita Goro, when he was dying in 1915. Before Tsutomu died in 1956 she wrote down the Fujita family history. Since their first child was born in 1909, Midori and Tsutomu were likely married for almost 50 years.

As you can see, my piece of fiction departs from history in that it has Midori living in a dormitory, and not at the Fujita home, where she would have met Tsutomu as soon as she arrived.

In her later life Tokio was known as Tokioko.