A/N:

The following would be a translation of a translation of the Moeyo Ken alias The Burning Sword by the wonderful Shiba Sensei. Having hunted all these years for an english translation (there isn't ANY), I have decided to do a translation from a Chinese edition I have hunted down.

Why a translation of Moeyo Ken in PMK fandom? Well, as we know, PMK is mostly based on this semi-historical book. While it is mostly Hijikata-centric, it is brimming with Hijikata/Okita. Most of what we know of the H/O relationships in all the anime/manga would most likely be based off this book. This is the root of all H/O fanons. This is the ultimate Shinsengumi Fan fiction by the ultimate (H/O) fan.

As this promises to be a humongous and probably thankless task, I am putting up a short preview of the first chapter. Let me know if you would like me to continue.

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Moeyo Ken

Chapter 01 The Festival of Darkness

"Toshi".

This is what Shinsengumi Commander Kondou Isami calls Vice-Commander Hijikata Toshizou when no one else is around.

"How should that rascal be settled?"

When no one else is around, they fall back very naturally into the slang of their hometown Bushu-Tama when discussing what to do with the captured criminals.

Kondou Isami is a native of Kami-Ishihara, Hijikata Toshizou is from Ishida village; these two lands border the Koshu Highway, and are less than three miles apart. Both lands are also farming villages, with vipers weaving in and out of the grasses when summer comes.

So what is the man whom the Shinsengumi Commander Kondou Isami calls Toshi really like?

Toshi's given name is Toshizou, youngest brother of Ishida villager Kiroku. The turning point in his life happened in the early summer of the fourth year of Ansei, eighty-eight days after the first day of spring, the season when the vipers begin their activity.

This year, the warm season started unseasonably early.

.

One evening, Toshi was out of the village, on the Koshu Highway, hurrying to Musashi Province two miles away.

The hem of his kimono was rolled up.

He is a tall guy, broad-shouldered, well-muscled, sure-footed. From the back, he looks exactly like a well-versed swordsman.

On his head was tied a navy blue headcloth, one corner of which draped elegantly over his chest.

The get-up was really becoming.

This is a man who will take the time to painstakingly arrange even his headcloth.

The first thing one notices about his appearance would be the uniqueness of his hairstyle. As a member of the farming community, his hairstyle should be simple like those of his brethren. However, this man tried to be different, he had designed a special hairstyle, one similar to that of a warrior.

"Do you have any idea what you are!"

The village chief Sato Hikogorou on seeing his weird hairstyle, reminded him numerous times to watch his image, but Toshi disagreed; he would reply while lowering his eye with a smile on his lips:

"And what about that? It is only a matter of time before I become a warrior."

Despite the opinion of others, he refused to change his unique hairstyle after that. The only concession he made was to add on a navy blue headcloth. The villagers had a field day. They said about Toshi:

"This Toshi fellow is a hopeless cause."

Because Sato and Toshizou were related through marriage, he chose to ignore Toshizou's unconventional get-up thereafter.

The most fascinating thing about Toshizou, however, is not his headcloth, instead it is the flashing eyes underneath the headcloth that draw the most attention. He has a pair of beautiful eyes which curve up slightly towards the ends. All the women he met described his eyes as "very cool", while the men of the village had this to say:

"Look at this Toshi fellow's eyes, you never know what deeds he might get up to."

Indeed, it is very hard for most people to know exactly what this man is thinking, much less know what he might do.

Right now, walking on the Koshu Highway, he seemed to be wearing only a kimono, however, you would never have guessed that underneath that kimono was yet another judo suit.

He was almost out of the town, when he met an acquaintance returning from the fields.

"Toshi, where are you heading?"

Toshizou heard his greeting but ignored it, hurrying on his way.

After all, he could never tell him that he is on his way to find women to sleep with.

Tonight, there will be a festival held at the Rokusha Shrine known as the Festival of Darkness.

This time, Toshizou came prepared. He will be looking out for a lady to his liking, and when the festival is in full swing, he will take advantage of the darkness, pin her down and have his way with her for a night. Then, he will take off his kimono, lay it on the ground, and let the lady lie on it to prevent the night dew from dampening her skin. He wore the judo suit as a precaution. In case a fight broke out between him and a potential rival over the lady, the judo suit will come in handy.

We should not, however, conclude that Toshizou is a villain.

The true evil lay in the nature of the festival.

On this night, among the attendees of the festival were those who came from the province and the neighbouring Santama villages, there were even those who came from faraway Edo. All of them came solely for the festival.

Once the festival has started, all the lights will be put out and the surroundings will be shrouded in darkness. At this moment, everyone will revert to their primeval selves and a man can have sexual intercourse with any woman he fancies.

After passing through Yaho, the number of people carrying lanterns and heading towards Rokusha Shrine steadily increased.

In the direction of Edo, the moon had risen silently in the sky.

Under the moonlight, everyone held a lantern in their left hand and a bamboo pole in their right, beating the ground with the pole as they progressed. This was the season when vipers were rampant and the beating pole was split at one end to scare them away.

Toshizou had a bamboo pole in his hand too, however, his pole was different. He had modified the pole before setting out, emptying the core and filling it with lead. As a result, his pole was unusually heavy, almost like a metal rod.

Instead of scaring vipers, one could say that such a pole would be more suited for frightening humans.

"The thorn of Ishida village".

This is what the fellow villagers thought of Toshizou. He is not someone to be messed with, a thorn that wounded when touched. Being compared to a thorn meant the person is grumpy and prone to violence. Even now in the Kobe region, people still use this word to describe rebellious teenagers, so one can assume that it was in widespread use then.

It was almost eight when Toshizou reached the province.

Numerous dark red paper lanterns hung under the roofs of the townhouses and on the branches of the trees growing by the road leading to the shrine, illuminating the scene as if it were day.

.

It could be said to be a night for the ladies.

As Toshizou walked he kept an eye out for a pretty lady. On the way, he met a few fellow villagers who had come to attend the festivities with their daughters or wives. They tugged on his sleeves, calling out to him as they greeted him warmly. Toshizou would then fix them with a fierce gaze, shrugging them off while saying:

"Get away!"

When it comes to his private life, Toshizou is inexplicably shy. He never had any physical relationship with a woman from his village, simply because he did not want others to be aware of his romantic dealings.

"This Toshi is too inflexible."

This is what others think of his relationship with women. Toshizou is terrified of gossips.

There is no reason.

It is only a personality quirk.

"Toshi is a cat!"

This is yet another description of him. Indeed, dogs are relatively immodest, brazen creatures whereas cats usually go about their business in a secretive manner. As can be seen, when it comes to private matters, Toshizou is very definitely different, almost resembling a solitary nocturnal wild beast.

In fact, there is another more important reason for his unwillingness to court the ladies of his village: women from the countryside arouse no passion in him.

"For a woman, the most important thing is her status!"

This is his view of women. Looks does not matter to him. He is adamant about this.

He is attracted to women of high station. In truth, it is not uncommon for men to have such sexual preference.

Last winter, Toshizou had gone to extremes for a virgin, and all because of her status.

The lady was the daughter of an abbot at one of the large Shingon Buddhist monasteries in Hachioji, she was known as the Lady among the disciples, as dictated by monastic etiquette.

Toshizou had never seen her. However, when he heard them addressing her as the Lady, he was irresistibly drawn to her. He was determined to have her one way or other.

For that express purpose, he journeyed to Hachioji where he stayed a few days.

As he was also involved in the medicine business, the residents of Hachioji knew him as the medicine dealer.

Though Toshizou is from a farming family, his family is of considerable wealth. He would have been able to live comfortably enough even if he had decided not to work. His medicine business was based on a family formula used to manufacture Ishida Sanyaku which worked miraculously well for fractures and sprains.

The main ingredient in the medication is a herb that resembles the morning glory with spiked leaves; it can be gathered from the stream that flowed outside the village. Every year around the beginning of summer or winter, the Hijikata family will organise a group of villagers to gather, wash, sun and finally bake the herbs til it is charred. This is then pounded into a fine powder which will be sold as Sanyaku and taken together with warm wine. During the Ikedaya Incident, Toshizou gave the medication to the Shinsengumi members injured during the battle; in a space of two days, the scars from wounds had faded and the fractures healed without deformation.

While selling the Ishida Sanyaku, Toshizou had covered all of Musashi, sometimes even venturing to Edo, Koshu and Aishu. The experience gained from wandering at a young age thus informed the bulk of Toshizou's unique fighting style.