Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Snow ❯ Sanosuke ( Chapter 5 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Serenitychan13 
Sanosuke makes his appearance after a normal day with Souzou's family.
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.13.2004 | Updated On: 10.12.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 288 | Status: Completed
Sanosuke makes his appearance after a normal day with Souzou's family.
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.13.2004 | Updated On: 10.12.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 288 | Status: Completed
(Three weeks later)
The morning dawned cold and rainy. The constant drizzling rain started to melt the snow, turning the streets to muddy slush. The snow that had been so beautiful a just few weeks ago was now nothing but one more problem. Everything outside seemed to be a cold shade of black, brown or grey.
Midori woke up late to find that Souzou wasn't with her. She rolled her eyes and pushed herself up off their futon. Throwing on a robe over her lilac yukata, she stalked out of the bedroom, intending to find him and remind him about fixing the front door.
'Not like he'll listen anyway,' she thought sourly. 'He'll just take one look at it and say there's nothing wrong with it... If it isn't the door, then I want to know why I found a mouse in the kitchen last week!'
Not that Midori minded mice. Quite the opposite - they were perfectly welcome wherever it was that mice were supposed to be. She just didn't want them in the kitchen - or in the house, for that matter. Mice were cute and deserved to live and all, but they belonged OUTSIDE. She had made it perfectly clear that she did NOT want VERMIN in the house, as pets or as freeloaders.
She heard Toshio laughing and sighed, not really feeling so annoyed anymore. He was probably just telling her another one of his crazy stories. Some were partially true, some were all truth and some were so blatantly untrue that it was hilarious to the little girl.
She just hoped he wasn't teaching her any more of those annoying songs he learned when he was a boy. Especially since some of them were... less than appropriate. The last time he taught her one of those, it had come into the light at a dinner with Nanaka and her family. Midori shuddered at the memory. Souzou had at least had the decency to look guilty when she rounded on him, about to tell him off for teaching that kind of thing to their daughter.
'Well, Kaede seemed to think it was funny,' she thought. 'And it looked like Nanaka was trying not to laugh too...'
At least they weren't doing anything that ran the risk of his wound opening again. And it seemed to be keeping both of them happy and occupied for the moment. All the same, she felt the need to check on them.
The shoji door of Toshio's room stood half-open. Trying to be as quiet as possible, Midori carefully slid it the rest of the way open with her foot and looked in. Souzou was sitting cross-legged on a cushion beside Toshio's futon, his daughter in his lap. Toshio was laughing, trying to keep quiet, and so was he.
Midori had no idea what was so funny to the two of them, but she knew that it certainly was adorable. Neither one noticed her in the doorway, so she turned and silently headed for her bedroom. There was something she needed to find, and fast, before the moment was lost. She looked in the closet and found her bridal furisode kimono. Carefully, she reached into the long sleeve and pulled out a leather-bound book and a little silk bag.
After sliding the beautiful kimono back into the closet, she went back and settled in the doorway of Toshio's room. She opened the small silk bag and found a few sticks of charcoal. Resting the open book on her knees and watching her husband and daughter carefully, she began to sketch. She wanted to be able to remember this moment for the rest of her life. And when Toshio was no longer a child, Souzou would always have a tangible image of his little girl.
Completing this drawing from life was no problem. The two of them were content to stay that way for a long time. Though Midori couldn't hear what either of them was saying, she knew it must have been funny, at least to them. Occasionally, Toshio would cover her mouth with her hands, still trying to keep her laughter inside. Once, she leaned up to whisper in her father's ear. Souzou looked shocked and the expression on his face was absolutely adorable.
When it was finished, Midori blew the loose charcoal dust off the paper, leaving clean lines that captured a tender moment between father and daughter. Without a sound, she rose to her feet and sneaked back to her bedroom. With her sketchbook and charcoal safely tucked away, she went back to Toshio's room to see what was really going on.
"What are you two doing in here?" she asked lightly, one hand on her hip and pretending to be serious. "What was so funny?"
Immediately, Souzou's face paled a little. Toshio just laughed harder. Midori rolled her eyes at both of them; now she knew exactly what was going on. She was going to have a little talk with her husband. And he knew he was in for one hell of a time.
"Daddy taught me a new song!" said Toshio happily, getting up from her father's lap and looking at her mother expectantly. "Do you want to hear it?"
Midori glared at Souzou over Toshio's head. He swallowed hard as he pushed himself up off the cushion and succeeded in looking like a man who was trying not to look guilty. Gently, he put a hand on Toshio's shoulder. She looked up at him, her big violet eyes still glowing with happy laughter.
"We'll hear it a little later," he said quietly, hoping to goodness that she would forget about it or lose interest. "Right now, we should see what's for breakfast."
'I'll be lucky if I live long enough to eat,' he thought grimly, knowing full well that he had been caught. 'I've really done it now...'
Midori turned and headed for the kitchen to make breakfast. She didn't trust herself to look at her husband. She knew she would either blow up yelling at him for teaching Toshio those irritating songs or just break down, laughing till she cried. She didn't like admitting it, but they really were funny.
'He thinks he's really in for it this time,' she thought, smiling to herself. 'Let him think.'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------< br />
Breakfast passed without incident... or very much conversation for that matter. The rest of the morning went on with a very tense atmosphere in the house. Lunch passed in about the same way as breakfast. Afternoon passed and evening came, as the tension in the house grew. Toshio seemed to be the only one in the house who didn't appear to be nervous about something. Dinner as well was uneventful and for the most part silent.
Nothing much happened until about two hours after dinner.
"Souzou?" Midori asked her husband, her voice feigning a sweet tone. "Can we talk for just a minute, sweetheart?"
Souzou Sagara froze in his tracks, his blood running cold.
"What is it, honey?" he replied, trying not to show how nervous he really was. "Is something wrong?"
"Just set Toshio down in her room and come with me," she said, just loud enough for him to hear.
Swallowing hard, Souzou picked up his daughter and headed for her room. He set her down and handed her the stuffed rabbit Midori had made before she was born. The rabbit looked well loved.
"You hold on to Usa-chan, alright sweetie?" he said, smiling at her and tapping her nose lightly. "Mama and Daddy need to talk for a minute."
"Alright Daddy," she said, her voice sweet and soft as she held her bunny close.
As he slid the shoji closed, he felt his heart sink. Midori only did this kind of thing when she was royally pissed off. The last thing he wanted right now was to have her upset with him. It was not nervousness or guilt that darkened his face as he stepped into the bedroom. The only emotion visible in his face was sadness.
"Midori, I---" he started, but she cut him off.
"So what do you have to say for yourself?" she asked, her voice level.
However, Souzou's hopes rose when he got a look at her eyes. Could that have been laughter he saw in the violet depths? As reality returned to him, his shoulders fell in defeat and he looked at the floor.
"Honey, I really didn't mean for it to cause so much trouble." he said softly. "It's just, I wanted her to enjoy being a child as I did, before she loses the chance to... You know, there's still fighting going on out there."
He looked up a little to find Midori smiling at him. His eyes went wide; he was totally stunned. And here he had expected her to really read him the riot act...
'His expression is PRICELESS!' thought Midori, laughing inside.
Midori wasn't just smiling; she was laughing as she reached up to tug on a lock of silky black hair. Her fingers slipped from his hair to rest on his temple as she cupped his cheek in her hand.
"I just let you think I was angry at you all day," she said between giggles. "After that incident at Nanaka's, I swore I wouldn't let you teach Toshio any more of those... songs... Actually, I find them extremely funny... You are SO easy to fool!"
Souzou's jaw dropped and he just blinked at her a few times. Was she serious? She wasn't going to do anything? She actually thought those songs were FUNNY!?
'Ooh, she is NOT getting away with that!' he thought, grinning evilly inside. 'And I think I know how to get her back for this one...'
Quickly, he wrapped his arms around her, pinning her body against his own. She squeaked as she lost her balance for a second and fell against him. Closing his eyes to make his expression unreadable, he leaned down so that his breath tickled her ear.
"I might be a fool -" he growled. Leaning down a little more, he pressed a hot kiss to her throat, eliciting a low moan from her. Slowly, he lifted his head, opened his eyes and looked down into hers. His gleamed dangerously in the fading light in their room. "- But only for you."
"Souzou..." she breathed.
He tilted her face up toward his and leaned down again. His lips hovered inches above hers. He pressed her body closer to his own.
"And that's why you love me, right?" he crooned softly, his voice making it more of a statement than a question.
Instead of coming down on her mouth, he lifted her off the floor, so that her mouth rose to meet his. She gasped a little and wrapped her arms tightly around him. As their lips touched, their bodies pressed closer together, if that was possible at the moment. Both gave soft groans as their tongues twined together, stroking and caressing each other. Their movements became more and more heated until finally the lack of air made both of them slightly dizzy.
Gently, Souzou set Midori back on the floor. Her face was flushed and her braid had small strands that had slipped out of it. He was sure that his own face was as red as hers and that his hair was sticking out all over. Tenderly, he brushed a small strand of hair away from her face, then kissed her forehead.
Before either of them could say or do anything else, the sound of a young child screaming in fear filled their ears. Midori immediately ran from the room to protect her daughter. Snapping back to reality in a fraction of an instant, Souzou followed, not having to run.
Toshio didn't seem to be in any kind of trouble, but still she looked terrified. Souzou knelt down beside his daughter, who threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder. Before he could say anything, she began to cry. He rocked her back and forth, trying to calm her down. Midori stroked the tiny girl's hair, her face full of concern.
"Shh... shh... you're alright," Souzou whispered comfortingly. "Mama and Daddy are right here... Everything's fine..."
After a while, Toshio's cries died down to soft whimpers, occasionally punctuated by loud sniffles. Tears still soaked into Souzou's shirt. Toshio felt safe in her father's arms and in a few minutes, her tears stopped altogether.
Gently, Souzou drew her a little bit away from his shoulder so she would look at him. Her little face still looked pale in terror, though she obviously felt safe. A light kiss on her forehead helped her relax.
"Toshio, what scared you?" he asked, his voice low and soothing.
"There's... There was something outside..." said the little girl, hiccups cutting some of her words short. "I heard it... And saw it in the window..."
Midori looked at her husband, concern becoming worry in her expression. Placing a hand on his arm and looking at him just so, she silently asked if there really could be something out there. Souzou bit his lip; he honestly didn't know. Kissing his daughter's forehead one more time, he gently placed her in her mother's arms. Then he turned and left the room to get his katana, just in case.
When he first opened the door, all he could see was half-melted grey snow. He checked along the front of the house and found nothing. He was about to go back inside, figuring Toshio just had a bad dream, when he heard something around the back of the house. Trying to move as quietly as he could, he sneaked around to the back.
Again, at first he saw nothing. But then a crash followed by swear words being yelled by a young voice sounded from the direction of the wood pile. His shoulders relaxed and he guessed it was just some little thief stealing firewood to try and stay warm. If they really needed it, he would usually let it go. He heard frantic movement and figured he should at least try to get a look at the kid. He never expected it to be who it was.
"Sanosuke?" he asked, shocked. "Is that you?"
"Captain Sagara!" cried the boy. "I have to tell you something important! They've---"
"Hush, Sanosuke," said Souzou firmly, helping him stand up. "Come with me."
Quickly and quietly, he led the boy around to the front door and helped him out of his half-frozen coat and shoes in the stairwell.
"Sanosuke, follow me and stay right outside the door I go into," he said, his voice still firm.
"Yes sir," said the boy quietly, obviously thinking he was really in trouble now.
Souzou went back into Toshio's room and slid the door closed behind him. Sanosuke sat down beside the door and pulled his knees up to his chest, still feeling the cold.
"Midori, I need to talk to you," Souzou said quietly, his voice telling her how urgent the situation was.
Midori laid Toshio, now asleep and perfectly fine, on her little futon and tucked Usa under her arm. Her expression still worried, she turned to follow Souzou out of Toshio's room.
"Midori, this is Sanosuke," he said quietly, looking down at the small boy who sat curled up by the door.
When Sanosuke heard his name, he looked up at his captain and scrambled to his feet. When she saw the condition the boy was in, Midori almost fainted. Souzou got a good look at the boy for the first time and was stunned for a moment by what he saw.
"Dear LORD, Sanosuke," he choked out. "What in God's name happened to you!?"
The boy's shirt was covered in blood, some of it obviously not his own. He was wounded pretty badly, but not enough for it to look this bad by itself. His brown eyes were wide in terror and he was shaking. Souzou and Midori couldn't tell if it was cold, fear or a combination of the two.
"That's what I was trying to tell you, Captain," said Sanosuke, his voice almost toneless. "The Sekihoutai... they're gone..."
The boy reeled for a second before his wide brown eyes rolled up in his head and he fainted dead away. Souzou caught him before he hit the floor, picked him up and carried him to the spare bedroom. Midori took off at top speed for the medicine chest to find that alcohol and a clean cotton towel. She remembered the process quite clearly, having done it for so many days, sunrise and sunset.
"How bad is it, Souzou?" she asked softly, settling beside her husband and the unconscious boy.
Souzou scratched the back of his head and gave her an uncertain expression.
"He's pretty beat up," he said grimly. "But I think he'll be alright. We should call a doctor just to be sure..."
She soaked the towel with alcohol and started wiping fresh and dried blood from the boy's skin. It would be easier when he couldn't feel it as much or put up a fight (That is, if he was at all like Souzou). His breathing seemed to be fine and he wasn't too pale, so he must have fainted from stress from the look of it. She removed the torn-up red bandanna from the boy's head and smoothed his hair back.
'He can't be more than ten years old,' she thought, more concern rising in her. 'What does he have to do with the Sekihoutai?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The morning dawned cold and rainy. The constant drizzling rain started to melt the snow, turning the streets to muddy slush. The snow that had been so beautiful a just few weeks ago was now nothing but one more problem. Everything outside seemed to be a cold shade of black, brown or grey.
Midori woke up late to find that Souzou wasn't with her. She rolled her eyes and pushed herself up off their futon. Throwing on a robe over her lilac yukata, she stalked out of the bedroom, intending to find him and remind him about fixing the front door.
'Not like he'll listen anyway,' she thought sourly. 'He'll just take one look at it and say there's nothing wrong with it... If it isn't the door, then I want to know why I found a mouse in the kitchen last week!'
Not that Midori minded mice. Quite the opposite - they were perfectly welcome wherever it was that mice were supposed to be. She just didn't want them in the kitchen - or in the house, for that matter. Mice were cute and deserved to live and all, but they belonged OUTSIDE. She had made it perfectly clear that she did NOT want VERMIN in the house, as pets or as freeloaders.
She heard Toshio laughing and sighed, not really feeling so annoyed anymore. He was probably just telling her another one of his crazy stories. Some were partially true, some were all truth and some were so blatantly untrue that it was hilarious to the little girl.
She just hoped he wasn't teaching her any more of those annoying songs he learned when he was a boy. Especially since some of them were... less than appropriate. The last time he taught her one of those, it had come into the light at a dinner with Nanaka and her family. Midori shuddered at the memory. Souzou had at least had the decency to look guilty when she rounded on him, about to tell him off for teaching that kind of thing to their daughter.
'Well, Kaede seemed to think it was funny,' she thought. 'And it looked like Nanaka was trying not to laugh too...'
At least they weren't doing anything that ran the risk of his wound opening again. And it seemed to be keeping both of them happy and occupied for the moment. All the same, she felt the need to check on them.
The shoji door of Toshio's room stood half-open. Trying to be as quiet as possible, Midori carefully slid it the rest of the way open with her foot and looked in. Souzou was sitting cross-legged on a cushion beside Toshio's futon, his daughter in his lap. Toshio was laughing, trying to keep quiet, and so was he.
Midori had no idea what was so funny to the two of them, but she knew that it certainly was adorable. Neither one noticed her in the doorway, so she turned and silently headed for her bedroom. There was something she needed to find, and fast, before the moment was lost. She looked in the closet and found her bridal furisode kimono. Carefully, she reached into the long sleeve and pulled out a leather-bound book and a little silk bag.
After sliding the beautiful kimono back into the closet, she went back and settled in the doorway of Toshio's room. She opened the small silk bag and found a few sticks of charcoal. Resting the open book on her knees and watching her husband and daughter carefully, she began to sketch. She wanted to be able to remember this moment for the rest of her life. And when Toshio was no longer a child, Souzou would always have a tangible image of his little girl.
Completing this drawing from life was no problem. The two of them were content to stay that way for a long time. Though Midori couldn't hear what either of them was saying, she knew it must have been funny, at least to them. Occasionally, Toshio would cover her mouth with her hands, still trying to keep her laughter inside. Once, she leaned up to whisper in her father's ear. Souzou looked shocked and the expression on his face was absolutely adorable.
When it was finished, Midori blew the loose charcoal dust off the paper, leaving clean lines that captured a tender moment between father and daughter. Without a sound, she rose to her feet and sneaked back to her bedroom. With her sketchbook and charcoal safely tucked away, she went back to Toshio's room to see what was really going on.
"What are you two doing in here?" she asked lightly, one hand on her hip and pretending to be serious. "What was so funny?"
Immediately, Souzou's face paled a little. Toshio just laughed harder. Midori rolled her eyes at both of them; now she knew exactly what was going on. She was going to have a little talk with her husband. And he knew he was in for one hell of a time.
"Daddy taught me a new song!" said Toshio happily, getting up from her father's lap and looking at her mother expectantly. "Do you want to hear it?"
Midori glared at Souzou over Toshio's head. He swallowed hard as he pushed himself up off the cushion and succeeded in looking like a man who was trying not to look guilty. Gently, he put a hand on Toshio's shoulder. She looked up at him, her big violet eyes still glowing with happy laughter.
"We'll hear it a little later," he said quietly, hoping to goodness that she would forget about it or lose interest. "Right now, we should see what's for breakfast."
'I'll be lucky if I live long enough to eat,' he thought grimly, knowing full well that he had been caught. 'I've really done it now...'
Midori turned and headed for the kitchen to make breakfast. She didn't trust herself to look at her husband. She knew she would either blow up yelling at him for teaching Toshio those irritating songs or just break down, laughing till she cried. She didn't like admitting it, but they really were funny.
'He thinks he's really in for it this time,' she thought, smiling to herself. 'Let him think.'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------< br />
Breakfast passed without incident... or very much conversation for that matter. The rest of the morning went on with a very tense atmosphere in the house. Lunch passed in about the same way as breakfast. Afternoon passed and evening came, as the tension in the house grew. Toshio seemed to be the only one in the house who didn't appear to be nervous about something. Dinner as well was uneventful and for the most part silent.
Nothing much happened until about two hours after dinner.
"Souzou?" Midori asked her husband, her voice feigning a sweet tone. "Can we talk for just a minute, sweetheart?"
Souzou Sagara froze in his tracks, his blood running cold.
"What is it, honey?" he replied, trying not to show how nervous he really was. "Is something wrong?"
"Just set Toshio down in her room and come with me," she said, just loud enough for him to hear.
Swallowing hard, Souzou picked up his daughter and headed for her room. He set her down and handed her the stuffed rabbit Midori had made before she was born. The rabbit looked well loved.
"You hold on to Usa-chan, alright sweetie?" he said, smiling at her and tapping her nose lightly. "Mama and Daddy need to talk for a minute."
"Alright Daddy," she said, her voice sweet and soft as she held her bunny close.
As he slid the shoji closed, he felt his heart sink. Midori only did this kind of thing when she was royally pissed off. The last thing he wanted right now was to have her upset with him. It was not nervousness or guilt that darkened his face as he stepped into the bedroom. The only emotion visible in his face was sadness.
"Midori, I---" he started, but she cut him off.
"So what do you have to say for yourself?" she asked, her voice level.
However, Souzou's hopes rose when he got a look at her eyes. Could that have been laughter he saw in the violet depths? As reality returned to him, his shoulders fell in defeat and he looked at the floor.
"Honey, I really didn't mean for it to cause so much trouble." he said softly. "It's just, I wanted her to enjoy being a child as I did, before she loses the chance to... You know, there's still fighting going on out there."
He looked up a little to find Midori smiling at him. His eyes went wide; he was totally stunned. And here he had expected her to really read him the riot act...
'His expression is PRICELESS!' thought Midori, laughing inside.
Midori wasn't just smiling; she was laughing as she reached up to tug on a lock of silky black hair. Her fingers slipped from his hair to rest on his temple as she cupped his cheek in her hand.
"I just let you think I was angry at you all day," she said between giggles. "After that incident at Nanaka's, I swore I wouldn't let you teach Toshio any more of those... songs... Actually, I find them extremely funny... You are SO easy to fool!"
Souzou's jaw dropped and he just blinked at her a few times. Was she serious? She wasn't going to do anything? She actually thought those songs were FUNNY!?
'Ooh, she is NOT getting away with that!' he thought, grinning evilly inside. 'And I think I know how to get her back for this one...'
Quickly, he wrapped his arms around her, pinning her body against his own. She squeaked as she lost her balance for a second and fell against him. Closing his eyes to make his expression unreadable, he leaned down so that his breath tickled her ear.
"I might be a fool -" he growled. Leaning down a little more, he pressed a hot kiss to her throat, eliciting a low moan from her. Slowly, he lifted his head, opened his eyes and looked down into hers. His gleamed dangerously in the fading light in their room. "- But only for you."
"Souzou..." she breathed.
He tilted her face up toward his and leaned down again. His lips hovered inches above hers. He pressed her body closer to his own.
"And that's why you love me, right?" he crooned softly, his voice making it more of a statement than a question.
Instead of coming down on her mouth, he lifted her off the floor, so that her mouth rose to meet his. She gasped a little and wrapped her arms tightly around him. As their lips touched, their bodies pressed closer together, if that was possible at the moment. Both gave soft groans as their tongues twined together, stroking and caressing each other. Their movements became more and more heated until finally the lack of air made both of them slightly dizzy.
Gently, Souzou set Midori back on the floor. Her face was flushed and her braid had small strands that had slipped out of it. He was sure that his own face was as red as hers and that his hair was sticking out all over. Tenderly, he brushed a small strand of hair away from her face, then kissed her forehead.
Before either of them could say or do anything else, the sound of a young child screaming in fear filled their ears. Midori immediately ran from the room to protect her daughter. Snapping back to reality in a fraction of an instant, Souzou followed, not having to run.
Toshio didn't seem to be in any kind of trouble, but still she looked terrified. Souzou knelt down beside his daughter, who threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder. Before he could say anything, she began to cry. He rocked her back and forth, trying to calm her down. Midori stroked the tiny girl's hair, her face full of concern.
"Shh... shh... you're alright," Souzou whispered comfortingly. "Mama and Daddy are right here... Everything's fine..."
After a while, Toshio's cries died down to soft whimpers, occasionally punctuated by loud sniffles. Tears still soaked into Souzou's shirt. Toshio felt safe in her father's arms and in a few minutes, her tears stopped altogether.
Gently, Souzou drew her a little bit away from his shoulder so she would look at him. Her little face still looked pale in terror, though she obviously felt safe. A light kiss on her forehead helped her relax.
"Toshio, what scared you?" he asked, his voice low and soothing.
"There's... There was something outside..." said the little girl, hiccups cutting some of her words short. "I heard it... And saw it in the window..."
Midori looked at her husband, concern becoming worry in her expression. Placing a hand on his arm and looking at him just so, she silently asked if there really could be something out there. Souzou bit his lip; he honestly didn't know. Kissing his daughter's forehead one more time, he gently placed her in her mother's arms. Then he turned and left the room to get his katana, just in case.
When he first opened the door, all he could see was half-melted grey snow. He checked along the front of the house and found nothing. He was about to go back inside, figuring Toshio just had a bad dream, when he heard something around the back of the house. Trying to move as quietly as he could, he sneaked around to the back.
Again, at first he saw nothing. But then a crash followed by swear words being yelled by a young voice sounded from the direction of the wood pile. His shoulders relaxed and he guessed it was just some little thief stealing firewood to try and stay warm. If they really needed it, he would usually let it go. He heard frantic movement and figured he should at least try to get a look at the kid. He never expected it to be who it was.
"Sanosuke?" he asked, shocked. "Is that you?"
"Captain Sagara!" cried the boy. "I have to tell you something important! They've---"
"Hush, Sanosuke," said Souzou firmly, helping him stand up. "Come with me."
Quickly and quietly, he led the boy around to the front door and helped him out of his half-frozen coat and shoes in the stairwell.
"Sanosuke, follow me and stay right outside the door I go into," he said, his voice still firm.
"Yes sir," said the boy quietly, obviously thinking he was really in trouble now.
Souzou went back into Toshio's room and slid the door closed behind him. Sanosuke sat down beside the door and pulled his knees up to his chest, still feeling the cold.
"Midori, I need to talk to you," Souzou said quietly, his voice telling her how urgent the situation was.
Midori laid Toshio, now asleep and perfectly fine, on her little futon and tucked Usa under her arm. Her expression still worried, she turned to follow Souzou out of Toshio's room.
"Midori, this is Sanosuke," he said quietly, looking down at the small boy who sat curled up by the door.
When Sanosuke heard his name, he looked up at his captain and scrambled to his feet. When she saw the condition the boy was in, Midori almost fainted. Souzou got a good look at the boy for the first time and was stunned for a moment by what he saw.
"Dear LORD, Sanosuke," he choked out. "What in God's name happened to you!?"
The boy's shirt was covered in blood, some of it obviously not his own. He was wounded pretty badly, but not enough for it to look this bad by itself. His brown eyes were wide in terror and he was shaking. Souzou and Midori couldn't tell if it was cold, fear or a combination of the two.
"That's what I was trying to tell you, Captain," said Sanosuke, his voice almost toneless. "The Sekihoutai... they're gone..."
The boy reeled for a second before his wide brown eyes rolled up in his head and he fainted dead away. Souzou caught him before he hit the floor, picked him up and carried him to the spare bedroom. Midori took off at top speed for the medicine chest to find that alcohol and a clean cotton towel. She remembered the process quite clearly, having done it for so many days, sunrise and sunset.
"How bad is it, Souzou?" she asked softly, settling beside her husband and the unconscious boy.
Souzou scratched the back of his head and gave her an uncertain expression.
"He's pretty beat up," he said grimly. "But I think he'll be alright. We should call a doctor just to be sure..."
She soaked the towel with alcohol and started wiping fresh and dried blood from the boy's skin. It would be easier when he couldn't feel it as much or put up a fight (That is, if he was at all like Souzou). His breathing seemed to be fine and he wasn't too pale, so he must have fainted from stress from the look of it. She removed the torn-up red bandanna from the boy's head and smoothed his hair back.
'He can't be more than ten years old,' she thought, more concern rising in her. 'What does he have to do with the Sekihoutai?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~