This one is for Twilight Dusk, who asked if there was any way to get Okita talking to me again. Ask and ye shall receive, I guess. Anyway, he's been talking and I've been listening. As usual, I don't own any of these people/characters; I'm just borrowing them. And as usual, I'm borrowing somewhat from Peacemaker and Rurouni Kenshin while throwing in dollops of history and my own spin on things. It just makes it fun that way.

Loyalties

The Wandering Pen

Chapter 1

Okita Souji wiped his brow with a stained sleeve, doing more to smear the blood than to actually wipe it off. This skirmish with the Ishin Shishi "Patriots" had been unexpected, but not exactly unwelcome. His men had been getting lazy doing nothing but guarding Shinsengumi Headquarters or walking endless uneventful patrols. The Shinsengumi had killed several prominent Patriot leaders at the Ikedaya and, with forces from Aizu and Satsuma, smashed the Choshu forces during Kinmon No Hen. It had driven the Ishin Shishi deep underground or out of Kyoto entirely, and the city was much quieter for it. Unfortunately, that meant the Shinsengumi hadn't had much fighting to do since, and practice with one's friends wasn't the same as a fight to the death with one's enemies. It was a point he constantly tried to bring home during the practice sessions – the number of new recruits had skyrocketed after Kinmon No Hen, though few of them were truly skilled with a sword. Nagakura and Saito seemed well-pleased with their progress, but the men seemed inordinately fumbled-footed with him. He supposed it didn't matter who taught them as long as it got drilled into their heads far enough that it kept them alive in a real fight.

A sudden wave of dizziness had him putting a hand to the rough stone corner of a nearby wall. A moment later, his stomach rumbled audibly. He'd skipped breakfast that morning as usual and had had nothing more than sweets for lunch. He'd been out with Harada and Todo running errands and he just hadn't been capable of passing the sweet shop without stopping in. He hadn't had more than a cup of tea and a rice ball before heading out for patrol, and that certainly hadn't been enough to fuel him for a fight.

"Time to head back." It was Saito at his elbow looking, if possible, more evil than usual with splatters of blood and gore across his face and uniform, and blood dripping from the long black bangs that straggled over his headband. "Are you wounded?"

"No, of course not, Saito-kun," Okita said cheerfully, straightening. "Are you? That's an awful lot of blood coming from your head."

"Feh. Last guy sprayed like a fountain." Saito sounded annoyed. "As if I'd get hit on the head, ahou.

"Let's get the wounded picked up and head back to Mibu. This is the third group we've run into in two days; looks like they're regrouping and filtering back in. Kondo-soucho should know."

Okita nodded and pulled rice paper from his kimono to wipe the remaining blood off his blade. Saito wouldn't appreciate him not taking care of it, even if it was the Third Unit Captain's second-best sword. He sighed, dropping the soiled paper into the street and sheathing the blade. How he missed his own, damaged, Kiyomitsu Kaga, no longer useful since the tip had broken off at the Ikedaya. This was a good enough blade – nameless, because Saito never named his swords – but it just didn't have the same balance and feel as the Kiyomitsu. It made him feel slow and sluggish. Still, he wasn't forced to use one of those embarrassment blades they gave the new recruits to beat up. It was good of Saito to loan him this one, which was a decent blade. He wouldn't be able to purchase a new one of his own until their back pay came in, and even so, it wouldn't be as good as the Kiyomitsu, but it might be as good as this.

He began to organize his troop and see to transporting the wounded.

***

"How does it look for simultaneous raids in Kita-ku and Gion-ku?" Kondo asked.

"Tight." Hijikata handed his commander the list and gestured with his long-stemmed pipe, smoke describing an arc and then curling above his head. "We're loaning three units to the Mimawarigumi for extra security when the Emperor's guests visit, we've got two on regular patrol, we should have four on this, and that leaves us with one on guard duty here. But allowing for reassignments because of illness or injury in last night's skirmish, we really only have half a unit for guard duty. I can put some of the wounded on if they're not too bad, but I can't send them out on patrol."

"Can we only loan two units to the Mimawarigumi?"

"Not unless you want to piss off Sasaki and, by association, the Shoshidai. And then of course, it will go all the way up to the Shogushoku." Hijikata didn't have to elaborate on what a disaster that would be. The Shogushoku was Matsudaira Katamori, Kyoto's highest military commander and Kondo's direct superior.

"Not really…" Kondo was still staring at the list but seeing instead a schematic of authority and power in Kyoto. The Shoshidai was Matsudaira Sadaaki, younger brother of the Shinsengumi's lord, and one had to be careful negotiating around the lines of family. Additionally, this loan of manpower was supposed to build a little solidarity among the Kyoto military forces, who were having trouble working together. The differences in class between the primarily hatamoto and middle samurai of the Mimawarigumi and the lower samurai, ronin, and peasants that made up most of the Shinsengumi seemed insurmountable, and the two groups had clashed on several occasions. Maybe he should set Itou on the problem – he was the military strategist after all. If he couldn't come up with a way to only send two units to the Mimawarigumi, there simply wasn't a solution. His eyes refocused on the paper in his hand.

"So you're taking Suzuki, Tani, Saito, and Harada."

"Yes. I'll go with Suzuki and Tani in Kita-ku. Saito will lead in Gion-ku – I can trust him to keep a level head – and Harada's spearsmen tend to keep the rabble at a distance, which is important if things get too close there."

"Ito with Matsubara and Takeda on patrol… Good, that'll make them happy planning their strategy on the most efficient way to patrol as much of Kyoto as possible. Nagakura, Todo, and…Inoue?...with me? I'd thought to have Souji along. He shows well, like Nagakura and Todo. Not that there's anything wrong with Inoue…"

"Inoue's level-headed and can balance Nagakura's temper. And yours, if you all get into a heated discussion with anyone. I'd rather not have Okita in a position where he's going to faint on anyone."

"Oh? He's sick? He hasn't seemed like it or said anything."

"As if he would," Hijikata snorted, smoke leaking from mouth and nostrils and making him appear to be the demon many of the recruits whispered that he was. "Saito thought it prudent to say something about him looking ready to collapse after the fight last night. I'm not surprised. You know Souji has never eaten properly in his entire life, and he's been looking positively yellow lately."

Kondo sighed. "If only he had a taste for good food the way he does for sweets. Well, we'll have to gang up on him – if he doesn't eat, he doesn't fight."

"My thought exactly. He can sit here and play guard until he regains some weight. And Yamanami will have better success getting him to do it on a regular basis than the rest of us, once we've given Souji the order."

***

"That is so unfair!"

"We can't have captains fainting from lack of food in the middle of a fight," Hijikata said. "You're on guard duty until you build your strength up."

"But I've eaten this way all my life." Okita turned pleading grey eyes onto Kondo. "Kondo-san, you know it's never affected my work…"

"Well, Souji-kun, it's just that…" He cleared his throat. "It's just that…"

"You almost fainted in the Ikedaya, you almost did it again the other night, and your sword work is off," Hijikata cut in. Kondo never could refuse those big kicked-puppy-looking eyes Okita got when he wanted something badly.

"I can't help that Saito-kun loaned me a left-handed sword!"

Hijikata fixed Okita with a stern glare. "That wasn't an excuse I just heard."

"Uh, no. I was making a joke," Okita said sheepishly.

Kondo's puzzled expression cleared.

"This is a joking matter?" Hijikata let smoke flow out through his nostrils. "I wasn't aware you viewed us that way. I wasn't aware you viewed our work in Kyoto that way."

"No, I don't. Honestly, Fukuchou. You know that." Okita looked like he was having a sudden, horrid flashback to his days at the Shieikan dojo around the time that Hijikata had first appeared there. Already a phenomenal swordsman, at ten years old, Souji – Soujirou, then – had had a hard time convincing any of the adults except the Kondos to take him seriously. It had been a source of endless frustration for him. It had only taken one sparring session for Hijikata to realize the boy was worth being taken seriously, and he'd done so, both in training and in guiding the boy into manhood. He certainly knew Souji well, and he knew when not to give in.

"Then eat properly when it's in front of you!" Hijikata thundered. "It's not like we have it to throw away, you know."

"Yes, Sir. I'll do better, Sir."

From somewhere in the compound, a wooden mallet struck a board, sounding a tok! tok! tok! that carried clearly across the compound and signaling the noon meal.

"With your leave, Sir, I'll go eat," Okita said meekly.

"We'll come with you." Hijikata smirked as Okita's expression wavered between disappointment and alarm. "It's lunchtime for us, too."

***

Two evenings later, Okita stifled a yawn as he circled the compound walls, checking his sentries. He felt like he was going to explode. Not only had he eaten three regular meals under Hijikata's watchful eye, Yamanami had invited him in for tea and sweets after all the troops had left for their various duties and Okita had completed the first round of the walls. He'd drunk so much tea that he'd had to stop at the necessary on each trip around the compound and was so stuffed with sweets that he'd have been snoring on the engawa if it wasn't for the fact that he had to make the rounds. With all the regular meals he'd eaten in the last couple days, he didn't think he'd had so much food in any three-day period in his life, but he did feel better. He'd even had an energetic sparring session with Nagakura earlier that had all the recruits watching avidly and Kondo nodding in approval.

'No dizziness, either,' he thought. 'I guess they're on to something but I still feel like I'm going to barf any minute.' He ran a thumb under his hakama ties, knowing that he hadn't tied them too tight but needing to feel as if he was easing the pressure somehow.

"How's it going, Shimada?" he asked, approaching one of his corporals at the gate.

"Quiet, Kumichou. Same as it's been since July. Well, since we really settled here. Nobody raises too much of a fuss around us anymore."

"Yeah, they always make us walk to find them," Okita agreed. "Don't get complacent. They may surprise us someday."

"No, Sir, we're never that."

Okita had just turned away when there was a sound of running feet approaching, the straw sandals slapping frantically at the cobblestones. The ki was just short of panic, and Souji turned back at once.

"Stop now!" Shimada ordered as the light from the paper lanterns revealed a boy of about twelve or thirteen years.

"Sirs, please!" The boy bent over, gasping, and waved a paper. "I have an urgent message from Matsudaira-sama for Kondo-san."

"Kondo-soucho isn't here," Okita said, stepping forward, but not in the way of Shimada or the other men. If it was a trap, they needed room to attack. For that matter, so did he. "I can take it to Yamanami-fukuchou. He is in charge."

"Please. It's very urgent."

"Taikei, take him back and get him some water. Make him drink slow. I'll see to this." Okita turned towards Yamanami's rooms. "Shimada, keep your eyes open…"

***

Yamanami read the note through twice, took his glasses off and polished them, then read it through again. He was aware of the humming curiosity coming off Okita although the first unit captain was sitting decorously in seiza before him. Yamanami hadn't learned to sense ki as well as some of the other members of the troop, but he didn't need it – he knew Okita. The younger man was a genius with katana, bokken, or shinai; a hard, impatient taskmaster when teaching but who joked often outside the dojo. He rarely spoke much otherwise, although he could when he wanted to. Most of the time he merely listened and thought. What he thought, Yamanami had no idea. Trying to get Okita into a serious conversation on anything other than swordsmanship was a near impossibility. But if there was one thing that would eat the younger man alive, it was curiosity.

"Well, it looks like we'll have to send a note up to the castle for Kondo-san," Yamanami said at last. "It's either that or send a runner out looking for Hijikata-san."

"It'll be hard to find Hijikata-fukuchou, even though we know what general area he's in and it might throw the raid. And Kondo-souchou is very conscious of being in or near the Emperor's court. It might look bad to pull him away. Is this something we can handle here?" Okita gestured at the note.

'Tactful,' Yamanami thought. 'He doesn't want to ask me outright what this is all about, but he really does want to know. I suppose I should tell him. I'd like some advice and he can hardly do that if he is unaware.'

"Matsudaira-sama has an adopted son, a boy about nine years old. The boy has been kidnapped in all the confusion with the Emperor's guests and the Shogushoku's party all coming into the city at about the same time. Matsudaira-sama is requesting our help. They think the kidnappers are Choshuu and that they will head west to get the boy into their domain lands. But at this point they're not sure if they've left the city yet."

"They have." The voice came from above their heads, making Yamanami jump. Okita didn't twitch.

"What do you know, Ashiya?" Okita asked.

"Saw a group of farmer-types heading west out of the city with a kid bedded down in a cart like he was sleeping. Only thing is, that kid had a bit of silk showing under the rough blanket over him, it was too late for a group of farmers to be heading out, two of the men are suspected Ishin Shishi, and there wasn't a woman in the bunch even though one of the men was hunched over and bundled in blankets like a granny. I'm thinking he might have been wounded and they were covering."

"Don't miss much, do you?"

"Try not to. Might be missing my head soon if I don't hustle, though. I got info for Saito-kumichou and if I don't deliver, we might lose a few folks we don't want to. I just thought I'd stop on the way and report because it didn't look right."

"How many men total?" Yamanami asked.

"Half dozen, counting the wounded one. Might be five miles out by now, depending on how bad that one is."

"Thank you. Carry on."

Neither man heard the ninja leave, but Yamanami was aware when Okita's attention focused solely on him, a good enough indication that the spy was no longer there.

"What now?" Okita asked.

"We could send a note to Kondo-san…"

"We'll lose time. Those men may not stop for the night; moon's still good."

"…or send a runner for Hijikata-san."

"Even worse. At least we know for sure where Kondo-souchou is."

"We don't have a troop to send after them. Only half of what is here is in fighting form and we can't leave the compound unguarded."

"Don't send a troop; send one. Me."

"Souji…"

"Yamanami-san, those men are going to be twitchier than fresh-killed frog legs. You send a troop or even half a troop after them and there's no telling what they'll do to that boy. But you send one guy, who looks like one of them, and that one guy won't raise any suspicions."

"You don't look like them."

"I can. Pull a kimono through the yard and get it dirty, leave my swords behind, put my hair down…I can look like an underfed farmer."

"No, you can't leave your swords…"

"I'll have to; farmers don't have swords. I'll just cut me a walking stick."

Yamanami studied the intense face across from him. In his gut, he know Okita was right. Those men could be moving steadily away from the city even now, and they could be capable of anything. And if there was anything that could be done without spilling more blood, he was for it. The mess at Ikedaya on top of their regular patrols had turned his stomach. There had been more blood than rainwater in Kyoto's streets since they'd come to the city. At least with most of Choshu out of town and the rest lying low, the body count had decreased. Yamanami knew it wouldn't last long, but he'd take what he could get and do his best to avoid any more bloodletting.

"Yes, go," he sighed. "I'll take over the rounds. Be careful, Souji."

"Of course." Okita gave him a quick bow before heading to his quarters to change. He tucked a worn tanto into his kimono and a few essentials into his sleeves, but nothing too new or too rich.

"Okita-san…" Tetsu was standing next to the door. "I heard…"

"Eavesdropping, Tetsu-kun?" Okita flashed the short, red-haired teen a grin.

"Not on purpose. Hijikata-fukuchou said I was to serve Yamanami-fukuchou while he was gone and I was bringing tea." Tetsu coughed into his sleeve, a wet, congested sound. "I heard you say you needed a stick."

"Yes, something I can use as a walking stick or as a weapon if necessary."

"I have this one." Tetsu picked up a stick that was leaning against a support post outside. "I kinda used it to practice with before I started working here. It might be a little short…"

It wasn't the kind of walking stick Okita had had in mind, but it wasn't bad. It was a reasonably straight peeled branch, about an inch in diameter, and a little over three feet long. Okita had been thinking more like a staff to lean on, but this would function like a cane, and be much more effective as a weapon because it wasn't far off the length or weight of a bokken without looking like one.

"Thank you, Tetsu, it'll work just fine. In fact, if I bandage a foot and limp a little, it'll be perfect. Can you bring a horse around from the stable? I'm going to ride out of town to save some time. I'll also need a rope and a spike to picket it."

"I could go with you and bring it back."

Okita smiled, understanding the longing in the boy's hoarse voice. He hated being left behind and feeling useless.

"Thanks, but I'm going to leave it out there in case we have to come back quickly. You stay here and take care of that cold."

"Yeah," Tetsu snuffled. "I hate being sick. I'll go get the horse. Back gate?"

"Yep, don't want to advertise I'm leaving. Oh, and see if you can find some supplies, like I was either buying necessities or selling stuff here in Kyoto. And some sake."

"The good stuff for the officers or the cheap stuff for the men?" Tetsu asked knowingly.

"Do we have anything middle-ground? I don't want to look too affluent but, kuso, life's too short to drink cheap sake," Okita grinned. "I just want to appear amiable and harmless."

Tetsu gave him a speaking look.

"What? I can look harmless," Okita protested.

"Okay, you, maybe. The Demon Vice-Commander, no," Tetsu muttered under his breath.

"Riding you hard, huh?"

"As usual. I'll never be the page he wants me to be," Tetsu muttered, turning towards the door.

"Tetsu-kun."

The teenager looked back from the edge of the porch.

"If you weren't the page he wanted, you wouldn't be his page."

Tetsu sighed, coughed, and nodded, and then stepped off the boards, crossing the yard towards the stables.

Okita stopped in the kitchens to ask for bandaging and ended up borrowing a hair ornament from one girl and a bracelet made of tiny bells from another, promising to bring them back. The way they were giggling behind their hands made him think that they wouldn't mind losing the trinkets if he brought himself back to them, and it made him wonder what payment they might expect from the loan. It was the same kind of reaction he always seemed to elicit from girls and not one he understood very well. It wasn't knowing that they liked him that made him uncomfortable, it was that they always seemed to expect more than he was willing to give. He just wasn't as casual about these things as most of the rest of the men were. It was Harada, of all of them, who seemed to understand his dilemma best.

"Don't worry, Souji," he'd say with a knowing grin. "When the right one comes along, you'll know what to do." Sano wasn't the only one of the captains who was married, but he seemed to take that, if nothing else, more serious than the rest.

Okita escaped the kitchen and made his own way to the stables. Tetsu had the horse ready, a rough-looking chestnut gelding with a white stripe down the nose, three white socks, and a heart that wouldn't quit. Various bundles hung from the saddle, which could be used for riding or packing, and perched on the horse's rump was a small medicine chest of the kind with which Hijikata had often traveled the countryside.

"This jug's the sake, so don't bang it into anything," Tetsu said, touching the bag on the left of the saddle. "I thought the medicine chest would make you welcome anywhere, and if the one guy is hurt like Ashiya-san said, it could be an excuse to stop."

'So he'd been around longer than just hearing me mention a stick,' the first unit captain thought.

"Good thinking. I'm going to bandage my ankle, like a sprain, to give me an excuse for having your stick at hand." Okita sat on an overturned bucket and wrapped up his left foot and ankle, leaving just enough room to get in and out of his straw sandals without hanging up.

"There's a little bit of food, like you're on an overnight trip in this one, and some extra tea and sweets like you're bringing some home. A blanket, a change of clothes I stole from the laundry…I couldn't scrounge up much else."

"It'll work. Here, stash these with the stuff I'm taking home." He handed over the ornament and bracelet. "It'll look like I'm taking gifts."

Tetsu's eyebrows shot up and he nearly choked while coughing. "Kohana's bracelet? She must really like you."

"Shut up; I get that from the rest of the guys."

Okita finished adjusting the bandaging and vaulted into the saddle while Tetsu snickered. Nothing like having a girlfriend to make even the fifteen year old feel superior. He'd just have to thump Tetsu hard the next time he got into the training hall.

Half an hour later, he was riding out of the city.

------------------

Author notes:

I hope you've enjoyed it thus far – please let me know! I'm surprised to be writing anything for fun since being this busy at work usually raises blisters on my brain that prevent me from being creative. It's a nice feeling to produce something.

Vocabulary:

Ahou – idiot. One of RK Saito's favorite epithets

Bakufu – literally "tent government", run by the Shogun and closely related houses and political partners.

Bokken – wooden training sword

Engawa – the porch that surrounds most Japanese homes

Fukuchou – vice-commander

Gion-ka and Kita-ka – two districts within the city of Kyoto

Hajimemashite – happy to meet you for the first time. You wouldn't use this greeting subsequent times you met that person.

Hakama – the full skirt or wide-legged split trousers used by swordsmen to hide the movement of their legs

Han – a fiefdom, essentially. The domain of a daimyo before the prefecture system was devised.

Hatamoto – high-ranking samurai; the daimyo's right-hand men

Ikedaya – an inn where patriot leaders met to discuss plans to further their cause. The raid by the Shinsengumi set back the Meiji revolution severely.

Ki – life-force

Kinmon No Hen – A retaliatory attack by Choshuu forces against those of Aizu (including the Shinsengumi) and Satsuma because of the events at Ikedaya. The Choshuu forces were heavily outnumbered and paid the price for it.

Kiyomitsu Kaga – Okita's original sword, made by Kiyomitsu in Kaga province. The tip was broken off during the Ikedaya affair.

Kiyosue – a han located next to Choshuu and also part of the insurgency, although rarely mentioned

Kumichou – captain

Kuso - damn

Miburo – a derogatory name for the Shinsengumi

Mimawarigumi – A group similar to the Shinsengumi but under the authority of the Shoshidai.

Miyabe – one of the leaders of the patriots who wanted to set fire to Kyoto, kill Matsudaira, and kidnap the Emperor. He was killed at Ikedaya.

Ronin – masterless people

Seiza – Formal sitting posture – legs folded under, knees together, tops of feet on the floor, and sitting on one's heels

Shieikan - Kondo's dojo in the Tama region of Tokyo before he left for Kyoto

Shinai – bamboo training sword

Shogushoku – Protector of Kyoto – Lord Matsudaira Katamori's official title. This position was created and superimposed over the existing political structure for the purpose of recovering public order in the city, under the influence of the "patriots". What the Soshidai had not been able to accomplish through the police force and courts, the Shogushoku was to achieve through military means.

Shoshidai – Governor-General of Kyoto – Lord Matsudaira Sadaaki's official title. He was Katamori's younger brother, and he was responsible for maintaining good relations and open communication between the shogunate and the imperial court.

Souchou – commander (although I've seen other words used for this position also. I don't speak Japanese, so if this is wrong, someone please correct me).

Tanto – short knife