Chizuru Yukimura:
"Then..."
Ask Inoue.
Chizuru Yukimura:
"Then Inoue, if you don’t mind."
Genzaburou Inoue:
"Me? Of course I don't mind."
Hachiro Iba:
"I see... So you choose Inoue..."
Souji Okita:
"Hold up, Iba. Why are you so depressed?"
Hachiro Iba:
"What are you talking about?! I'm not..."
Genzaburou Inoue:
"Don’t worry, you two. I'm just trying to keep Tani away."
Hachiro Iba:
"Well, that's certainly true."
Souji Okita:
"Well then, I’ll be off. Come on, Iba, you should be off too."
Hachiro Iba:
"Please be careful. If something happens, please call us immediately!"
Chizuru Yukimura:
"I’ll be staying here at the headquarters, so I’ll probably be okay, I think..."
"But thank you for worrying about me."
Okita dragged Iba along, who still seemed to be trying to say something.
Genzaburou Inoue:
"Now then, let's do something that Tani won't be alarmed by."
Chizuru Yukimura:
"Ah… right!"
~NEXT SCENE~
After that, Inoue and I decided to do the laundry together.
Genzaburou Inoue:
“The weather is really nice today. It looks like the laundry will dry in no time.”
Chizuru Yukimura:
“......”
Genzaburou Inoue:
"Yukimura? What the matter?
Inoue called out to me and I snapped out of my thoughts.
Chizuru Yukimura:
"Ah...! I'm sorry, I was lost in thought..."
I hurriedly started to hang the laundry.
However, there were still some things weighing heavily on my mind, and I ended up not watching what I was doing.
Tani wasn’t the only one on my mind…
Chizuru Yukimura:
“... Why is it that Okita doesn't want to succeed Kondo? ”
Genzaburou Inoue:
"I’m not sure... Souji has always had a lot of respect for Isami."
"Yabusaka isn’t supposed to be the one to succeed him, but... I guess he has something to think about."
Chizuru Yukimura:
"To think about, huh..."
Genzaburou Inoue:
“Souji's older sister's husband, Rintaro, is actually a relative of mine."
Chizuru Yukimura:
"Is that so… I had no idea."
Genzaburou Inoue:
"Right. When Souji’s parents died, he was still very young and couldn’t take over the family."
“Inevitably, his sister got married and his brother-in-law inherited the Okita family.”
"At that time, I hoped they could pave the way for Souji to succeed the Okita family..."
“…But before that could happen, Mitsu and his brother-in-law had a child.”
“There is a big chance that that child will inherit the Okita family in the future.”
“Souji is aware of this as well, so he won’t even say that he will succeed the Okita family.”
Chizuru Yukimura:
"That’s..."
Genzaburou Inoue:
"...Yes, as you can see, Souji is in a complicated position."
"Maybe this has something to do with why Souji doesn't want to be adopted by Isamu."
Chizuru Yukimura:
“......”
Hijikata and others seem to think that if Okita becomes Kondo's adopted child, all of this will be resolved.
However it appears that things aren't going to go so easily.
Those thoughts were swirling around in my mind.
Shinpachi Nagakura:
"Hey, you two! Nice weather we’re having today, perfect for doing the laundry!"
Chizuru Yukimura:
"Nagakura, Saito!"
Genzaburou Inoue:
"You came at just the right moment. I have something I wanted to ask you two."
Hajime Saito:
"What is it you want to ask?"
Inoue explained the situation to Nagakura and Saito.
Hajime Saito:
“…I see. Tani did that, huh."
Shinpachi Nagakura:
"So you want us to keep an eye on him so that he doesn't do anything unnecessary."
Genzaburou Inoue:
"And if you could, keep an eye on Souji as well. Who knows what he might do."
Hajime Saito:
"Understood. We'll keep an eye out for you."
Genzaburou Inoue:
"That's reassuring to hear. I’m counting on you two."
I really hope this matter will be resolved soon...
~NEXT SCENE~
The following day, the sky looked rather dreary.
In the meantime... All the captains who were aware of the Shinsengumi’s secret, were gathered in the common room.
Chizuru Yukimura:
"I brought you some tea."
The soldiers who were gathered all had a tense look on their faces.
Chizuru Yukimura:
“There’s your tea.”
I quickly distributed the tea so as not to disturb their discussion.
It seems that everybody has already been made aware of Tani's actions.
Everyone kept quiet and had grim looks on their faces.
Hachiro Iba:
"... Thank you, Chizuru."
Souji Okita:
“Why are you here so early in the morning, Iba?”
"Can’t you keep your nose out of our business?"
Hachiro Iba:
"I'm here as a representative of the shogunate, so..."
"So I can't return to Edo until Tani's case is resolved."
"... Besides, she is involved in this as well."
Toshizo Hijikata:
"Souji, Hachiro, save the conversation for your own time."
Hachiro Iba:
"Right, I'm sorry."
Toshizo Hijikata:
“First up… Saito and Shinpachi, you guys were watching Tani yesterday.”
"Please tell us your report."
Hajime Saito:
"During my investigation, I discovered that Tani has indeed been keeping an eye on Yukimura."
"He also seemed to be trying to investigate what was going on inside the garrison."
"When I called out to him, he dodged the question and ran away."
Shinpachi Nagakura:
"I saw Tani go to Itou's room in the middle of the night."
Toshizo Hijikata:
"... I see. Did you see anyone else enter the room?"
Shinpachi Nagakura:
"It was just him."
"He and Itou were in there for quite some time... I think they were talking for about half an hour."
Toshizo Hijikata:
"Itou, huh... It would be troublesome if he were to investigate what’s in the depths of the garrison."
Sanosuke Harada:
"Before he starts sniffing around any further, wouldn't it be better if we tried to explain the dinner tray to Tani?"
Toshizo Hijikata:
"That may not be a bad idea... But what explanation would satisfy Tani and stop him from sneaking around?"
Heisuke Toudou:
“Wouldn’t it be fine if we told him she was just carrying food for the sick and resting soldiers?”
Souji Okita:
"It would be nice if he were to believe that."
Sanosuke Harada:
"How about we tell em Shinpachi has secretly been eating two servings in order to grow his muscles?"
Shinpachi Nagakura:
"There's no way Tani is gonna believe that."
"But if you wanna let me eat for two, I won’t complain."
Souji Okita:
“… By the way Chizuru, when Tani confronted you, wasn’t that near Hijikata’s room?”
Chizuru Yukimura:
"That right, his room wasn't that far away."
Souji Okita:
“Then why don’t we tell him that Hijikata has been having extra meals?”
Chizuru Yukimura:
“What!?”
Hachiro Iba:
"Wait a minute, Okita. I don’t think–"
Toshizo Hijikata:
"Tani isn’t stupid enough to believe that. Start thinking about this more seriously."
Souji Okita:
"Aww, but I really like that idea, so please push through."
Shinpachi Nagakura:
"Well, Hijikata is the Commander. It wouldn't be too strange if he were to have two meals."
Toshizo Hijikata:
"You assholes, saying whatever you want..."
...... I wonder, would Tani really believe such an odd explanation?
Even I was starting to grow anxious.
Hachiro Iba:
“… Are you really okay with using that excuse?”
"If it comes to light that you were having two servings behind everybody else's backs"
“Wouldn’t your reputation suffer greatly among the soldiers?”
Souji Okita:
“Hijikata already has a pretty crappy reputation, so this wouldn’t really change much.”
"It would be a trivial matter compared to if the truth were to come to light."
Hijikata looked unconvinced and folded his arms, but…
Toshizo Hijikata:
"... I guess it can't be helped. Let’s go with that form now."
“But you guys better try and come up with a proper excuse!”
"... Harada. Can you call Tani here?"
Sanosuke Harada:
“You got it.”
Harada then left the common room.
Will Tani believe the excuse that we had come up with?
My anxiety didn’t subside…
After a while, the shoji door opened again.
Sanosuke Harada:
"It seems that Tani is out at the moment."
Toshizo Hijikata:
"He’s not off-duty today... Do you know where he went?"
Sanosuke Harada:
"I haven’t a clue. I tried to ask the members of the 7th Division, but he didn't tell them where he was going."
Shinpachi Nagakura:
“Maybe he ran away because he heard Souji is out to kill him?”
Souji Okita:
"If that were true, it would make things pretty boring. I was just thinking of how I would cut him."
Toshizo Hijikata:
"... Harada, when Tani returns, tell him to come to see me."
Sanosuke Harada:
"Got it, I’ll let him know."
After that, they disbanded and everyone returned to their respective duties.
~NEXT SCENE~
However that night, things were moving in an unexpected direction.
I was clearing up after dinner.
Hachiro Iba:
"Chizuru, let me lend you a hand."
“Should I take this try and put it over there?”
Chizuru Yukimura:
"I-It’s fine...! I couldn’t possibly let you help me..."
Hachiro Iba:
"Please don't worry about it. It’s my way of thanking you for the delicious dinner."
Chizuru Yukimura:
“But…”
Hachiro Iba:
"When in Rome, you do as the Romans do, so please let me help out."
-Iba seems to be in a good mood today…
-Is he that happy to be able to eat with the others?
Souji Okita:
"... Oh, it seems you’ve already had dinner."
Chizuru Yukimura:
"Okita..."
"Have you ever been out? Where did you go…?"
I'm pretty sure I saw Okita heading out somewhere during the day.
Souji Okita:
"Well, I'm off duty today, so I just went out for a walk."
Chizuru Yukimura:
"If you're hungry, I can prepare you something."
Souji Okita:
"No need, I’m not really hungry."
Chizuru Yukimura:
"Alright…"
Sanosuke Harada:
"... I wonder what happened to Tani. It's almost time for curfew."
Ever since the meeting ended, Harada has been waiting for Tani to return…
But it seems that in the end, he still hadn’t returned to the headquarters.
I'm sure Tani is well aware that breaking curfew could end in honorable suicide…
At that moment, the shoji door opened…
Susumu Yamazaki:
"... Saito, Harada, Nagakura. Please follow me to the commander's room."
Sanosuke Harada:
"Why? Did something happen?"
Hajime Saito:
“I’m sure the commander will give us the details when we get there.”
Susumu Yamazaki:
“Okita, please join us as well.”
Souji Okita:
"... It looks like something pretty serious has happened."
"I hope I can finally get permission to kill Tani."
But Yamazaki didn't respond to Okita's joke.
And just like that, they left the room.
Hachiro Iba:
"... I wonder what happened."
“Judging by the look of things, it seems that something rather serious has happened.”
Chizuru Yukimura:
"I hope nothing bad has happened..."
Just as I finished saying that.
Susumu Yamazaki:
“Iba, could you please follow me as well?”
“And you too, Yukimura.”
Hachiro Iba:
“So you want us to join too. ……Alright, I understand.”
Maybe this has something to do with Tani…
We headed for Hijikata's room with a bad feeling in our hearts.
~NEXT SCENE~
Toshizo Hijikata:
"I'm sorry for calling you all out here so out of the blue."
"... Tani has been killed. It seems to have happened a little earlier today."
-The moment Hijikata uttered the words, it felt like the entire room froze over.
-Then, everyone's gaze turned to Okita.
Toshizo Hijikata:
"Souji, is this your doing? Didn’t I tell you to restrain yourself?"
Souji Okita:
"It wasn’t me."
"Where the hell did you find him? How was he killed?"
Susumu Yamazaki:
“He appears to have been cut down by someone as he was leaving the Yasaka Shrine.”
"His corpse smelled of alcohol... So he was probably on his way back from Gion."
"The people who found his body contacted the guard, and the members of the Itou faction were the first to investigate the scene."
Toshizo Hijikata:
"Yamazaki, were you able to check Tani's body?"
Susumu Yamazaki:
"Yes, I received a report from the corpsman. I decided that I should inform you first."
“It appears that the autopsy of the corpse was performed by members of the Itou faction.”
Sanosuke Harada:
“It’s hard to believe that Tani was killed… His opponent must have been very skilled.”
Susumu Yamazaki:
“It may have been because he was drunk, but considering his position, Tani should have been prepared for a surprise attack.”
"Okita, where were you and what have you been doing until this evening?"
Souji Okita:
"... Don't know, I don't remember."
Susumu Yamazaki:
“Okita!”
Sanosuke Harada:
"Stop fooling around, don't you get that this isn't the time for jokes?"
Souji Okita:
"I am fully aware. I'm not joking."
“If I’d done it, don’t ya think I would’ve just told you guys I killed him?”
Shinpachi Nagakura:
"... Don't say that. What if others heard you? People might misunderstand."
Souji Okita:
"But I really didn't kill him. Look. I’m clean, I don’t got any blood on me."
"If you still have doubts, you can even check my sword."
Susumu Yamazaki:
"... The presence of your sword or the absence of blood cannot prove your innocence."
"You could have used a different sword, you could even have changed your kimono on your way back."
Souji Okita:
"... So in other words, you think that I killed Tani?"
Toshizo Hijikata:
"Stop twistin’ other people's words. Yamazaki is just asking for confirmation."
Shinpachi Nagakura:
“Hey, Hijikata, the fact that the members of the Itou faction were the only ones to inspect the corpse…”
Toshizo Hijikata:
“If they are the culprits, there is a possibility that they fabricated evidence that is convenient for them.”
Souji Okita:
"... Itou and his lackeys might be trying to make me out to be the culprit."
"If that's the case, I'd rather kill Itou."
"I'll probably be forced to commit seppuku anyway if I’m declared to be Tani’s killer."
Hajime Saito:
"... Souji, watch what you're saying."
Shinpachi Nagakura:
"Yeah, calm down. If you start acting rashly, you’ll be playing in their hands."
Hachiro Iba:
“Toshi…”
Toshizo Hijikata:
"Damn it… I've completely fallen behind."
“Considering that a captain was killed, I should have been the first person they should have notified.”
Susumu Yamazaki:
“It would have been understandable if the commander was out, but he was at the base all day today.”
Everyone seemed to be in serious thought.
Hachiro Iba:
"...Toshi. Do you know what Itou was up to today?"
Toshizo Hijikata:
"He seemed to have gone out somewhere. ... Why do you ask?”
Hachiro Iba:
“It’s nothing…”
Chizuru Yukimura:
“...?”
What was that about?
Iba appeared to be bothered by something...
Hijikata didn't pursue it any further, and turned to face the others.
Toshizo Hijikata:
"Alright then. I’ll go talk to Itou directly."
"You guys, don't do anything unnecessary, give priority to your usual duties."
"For those of you who are off-duty, try to stay in your rooms."
Shinpachi Nagakura:
"I think it’s better if we avoid being alone as much as possible."
"Who knows what they’ll accuse us of if we act even a little suspicious."
Susumu Yamazaki:
"Indeed. So please be careful."
Toshizo Hijikata:
"... I’m sure you already know this, but don't tell the other members that Tani is dead yet. Got it?"
Hajime Saito:
"Understood."
Before long, the group was disbanded, and I watched the others leave the room one by one.
Hachiro Iba:
"Chizuru, it's time for us to leave the room..."
Chizuru Yukimura:
"Ah... Right!"
I think I should just go back to my room…
However there’s one thing that has been really bothers me. That's …
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