#probably to see nishi honganji

[daeva-agas]

Also spoiler again.

The modern!Kennyo is from Dramatic route. 

[bm-asian-art]

Teppozu and Tsukiji Honganji Temple, No. 78 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, Utagawa Hiroshige, 7th month of 1858, Brooklyn Museum: Asian Art

Along the Teppozu shore are stone jetties, built to protect the area from storms, and in the foreground are fishermen. The large temple in the distance is Nishi Hongagi, originally built in 1617 in Hama-cho but moved to the present location following the Meireki fire of 1657 and given a ten-acre lot in the newly reclaimed area of Tsukiji ("built-up land"). The main hall of the temple was one of the largest buildings in Edo and its location here became a familiar landmark (see prints 2, 21, and 80 of the series), it was known under a number of popular honorific names, such as Tsukiji Gobo or Tsukiji Monzeki. The building was destroyed in a violent storm in 1854 and rebuilding was not completed until 1860. It was probably under construction when this print was published. There is good detail in the fabric printing on the two sails at the bottom of the print. Size: Sheet: 14 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (36 x 23.5 cm) Image: 13 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. (34 x 22.2 cm) Medium: Woodblock print

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/121692

[shinsengumi-archives]

Harada Sanosuke's wife, Masa

Many Shinsengumi executives had a "resting place" in Kyoto, where they were surrounded by their concubines. It is a so-called "local wife". However, rare among such executives, there was one who officially had a wife who welcomed him home, without making her a concubine. That would be Harada Sanosuke, the tenth squad captain. It’s said that Harada's personality, based on what was left behind, was very impatient, rough, and did not think deeply about things, but from this story, you can see Harada's surprisingly sincere and compassionate side.

Harada Sanosuke—surprisingly sincere?!!

Harada Sanosuke's wife's name was Masa. It’s said that Masa-san married Harada in the spring of the first year of Keio (1865), shortly after the Shinsengumi moved from Mibu to Nishi Honganji. Masa-san came from a venerable family with surname Sugawara, and it may be because of this that she was officially welcomed as Harada's wife, not just a woman (concubine) in a resting place.

The two started a family on Shichijo street near Honganji Temple, and the year after they got married, their eldest son, Shigeru, was born. He was living picture-perfect days of happiness.

Harada loved Shigeru very much and was enthusiastic that he would grow up to be a good samurai in the future. Harada, who was an ideal father who cherishes his wife and shows generous affection for his child, was a very good husband.

At that time, the amount of money he gave to Masa-san for her daily life was not fixed, but it was 10 to 15 ryo a month, which was enough to live in luxury. In addition, it was said that the Shinsengumi provided them three meals a day. I think it was quite a comfortable life.

A life that was born, a life that was about to end. The sad feelings of a wife who saw off her husband as he headed towards death

Two and a half years after they got married, it was time for the couple to say goodbye. The Shinsengumi decided to leave the headquarters in Fudodo Village and set up camp in Fushimi. It was just before the famous Battle of Toba-Fushimi.

The day before departure, Harada hurriedly returned home with a large sum of 200 ryo and handed it to Masa-san, saying "It's money for your current life."  And handed it to Masa-san.

"In the unlikely event that anything happens to me, make sure Shigeru becomes a good samurai. And most of all, take care of your body" It is said that he returned to the corps in a hurry after repeating this over and over again.

At this time, Harada's second child was in Masa-san's tummy close to birth. Masa-san was about 20 years old at that time. With a baby in her body, her dependable husband leaves for death. How uneasy she must have felt!

This would be their final farewell in this life.

After leaving Toba-Fushimi, Harada et al. will participate in the battle of Koshu Katsunuma with the Koyo Chinbutai. However, this was also a defeat. The difference in equipment and strength between the Shogunate army and the new government army was already clear.

In March of the first year of the Meiji era, Harada split up with Kondo and left the Shinsengumi. After the departure, he formed the Seikyotai (or Seiheitai) with Nagakura Shinpachi, but for some reason he left again and returned to Edo alone. The reason for this, Nagakura says “He probably returned to Edo with an excuse because he missed with his wife and children.”, but apparently that was not the case, and in the end, Harada joined Shogitai in Edo. On the 17th day of the 5th month, that year, he was killed in action by an enemy bullet.

On the other hand, after Masa-san separated with Harada, she was in a difficult situation, having been subject to rigorous interrogation by the new government army led by Satsuma.

However, the most painful thing for her was that her second son, who she gave to birth only five days after parting from Harada, died shortly after birth. This baby, who was called by god soon after birth, was given the Buddhist name "禅雪童子", and Masa-san tried her best to tell Harada about this, but it seemed that she didn't even know where he was anymore.

And it was in the 2nd or 3rd year of the Meiji era that Masa-san learned of Harada's death.

[writingwithcolor]

LA's Asian Locations

Hello! I’m Kore, I’m Korean, Thai, and Chinese, and live in LA. I’m going to be sending some other things in, in a seperate POC Profile, but this was getting long. But if anyone ever is writing about Asians in LA(since there are… you know… a lot of Asians in LA), or just LA in generally and want to have their character visit one of parts of the city where more Asian people live, here is a small guide to most of them. 

Westside

Asian-Americans in LA have a shit ton of places you can go. To begin with is the Westside. This is the area near the Ocean, but isn’t directly on it generally. It’s called the Westside, because it’s almost the western most part of LA. On the Westside there’s Little Persia, with a lot of Persian food, and UCLA. This is specifically called Westwood, but we also call it the Westside. So hah. But because of UCLA there ends up being more East Asians around here because of UCLA, because of this, there’s a super strong East Asian presence around here with a lot of restaurants and stuff. In Mar Vista around here, there’s also a Chinese School that’s super big and popular.

Little Osaka

Then there’s Little Osaka, technically still part of the Westside, also technically called Sawtelle because it’s like three, maybe four, blocks of Sawtelle Blvd. But Little Osaka deserves a special mention of it’s own. This is the first of two Japanese areas in LA, however, Little Osaka also has a lot of Korean things, with many Korean people running Japanese stores. Little Osaka, is super popular to just mostly get food. There’s nothing actually to do here? But hey, food.

Koreatown

Next is Koreatown. So this place is almost in the heart of LA, it’s about 30 min to an hour from the Westside in terms of driving. This is half residential and half not. It’s 100% lit at night. In the heart of Koreatown we’ve got a lot of night clubs, and places to drink. On the peripherals, it’s dead at night. But there’s good food, and a lot of supermarkets. Around 60k Koreans live here alone. There are a lot more than that in LA. Around here is also Little Bangledesh. I’ve never actually been, but that’s also mostly made up of Korean people. Recently Little Bangledesh tried to take over half of Koreatown and make it into little Bangledesh, but was defeated in a vote, as Korean people really didn’t appreciate that. 

Right outside of here is Wilshire Korean School, which is a bilingual private school that has Korean School on Saturdays. This is one of maybe… three? Proper Korean schools in LA, most people just home teach their kids Korean. There are two supermarkets here. Galleria and HMart, both of them in Plaza sort of places. Galleria’s has better food, and probably better shopping. But HMart is the OG Asian supermarket and is near two really awesome desert places. One of them you can get a sweet bread, shaped like a fish, filled with ice cream and either red bean, custard, or nutella, and the other one you can get patbingsoo at, or Korean shaved ice.

Little Tokyo

There’s also Little Tokyo. Which I don’t think I’ve ever been to, odd, since I’ve lived in LA my whole life. But I mostly keep to Koreatown and the Westside too.

Chinatown(s)

Okay now for the Chinatowns. So there’s technically one, and that’s in the middle of LA. But let me tell you, that’s not Chinatown. It was, once upon a time, however, a lot of Chinese people moved out of there and to either Alhambra, or Montery Park. So we’ve got Old Chinatown, New Chinatown, and Chinatown. Now I can’t remember whether Montery Park or Alhambra is Old or New, but these are both out a bit a ways from the Chinatown in the middle of LA. 

In that Chinatown, all the festivals are thrown. It’s also tiny. Alhambra is a lot more laid out than Montery, which is super laid out. But Montery Park, and Alhambra, have got great food. Also no social lives, but great great food. There’s a supermarket here, when you leave the heart of Chinatown, and walk for maybe 10 minutes, that’s probably the biggest Thai supermarket I’ve ever seen. I mean… You can buy so much coconut sugar here. It's insane.

Thaitown

There’s also Thaitown!! Which is closer to Koreatown than both Old and New Chinatown. This is where you can get a lot of Thai Food, and products. There’s not a lot to do here, and it’s mostly disappearing. But food. Really though, this place is super duper duper boring.

Little India

There’s Little India as well. It’s maybe three streets at most.

Little Saigon

Little Saigon is the heart and soul of the Vietnamese diaspora in LA. It’s beautiful, and actually really awesome. Unlike Thaitown though, you can get good Vietnamese food outside of it. They’ve got streetfood (illegal in LA technically), and a super duper ginourmous market that’s bigger than the biggest HMart that I’ve ever see. It’s so… big.

Everything else isn’t of much note, I’m not going to lie. I hope you’ve enjoyed this guide! I enjoyed writing it for sure.

More PoC Profiles here

Commentary

I’m assuming much of the above is confined to Los Angeles (City) proper. Because much of the Asian population in LA moves pretty fluidly between cities, here are my additions for LA County as a whole (including some key LA landmarks that were left out).

Torrance, Gardena and parts of Culver City: Home to the largest Nikkei and Japanese expat population in LA. This used to be the homebase for Toyota America until they moved their HQ close to their factories in Texas. However, many other Japanese companies still use this region for their American homebases, and as such the biggest Japanese grocery chains (Nijiya, Tokyo Central and Mitsuwa) all operate their largest Californian stores here. This region also has sizable Korean, SE Asian and S. Asian communities. One of LA’s more popular Indian grocers (Samosa House) is based in Culver City. Asahi Gakuen, a Japanese Saturday language school designed to help Japanese American kids keep up with the Japanese national curriculum, is also based here.

San Gabriel Valley aka 626: This includes not only Alhambra, Montebello and Monterey Park, but also Arcadia, Covina, West Covina, San Gabriel, Duarte, El Monte, Commerce, Asuza and Chino). It’s a pretty big, diverse place home to a large number of diaspora in various waves from Taiwan, mainland China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and South Asia. The annual 626 Night Market (a street food fair) is held near the Santa Anita racetracks. When I was a kid, most of my lion dance jobs for the Lunar New Year were in Old Chinatown, but they have all since moved here. The diversity in cuisine is incredible. To get a sense of just how many different types of food there are out here, I recommend reading old reviews by the late, great Jonathan Gold from the LA Times.

Glendale and Pasadena: Large Armenian and Persian communities. Lots of very good bakeries, restaurants and also Armenian evangelical churches.

Artesia and Norwalk: Little India, basically, but there are also large Vietnamese and Filipino communities. Pioneer Blvd. in Artesia in particular has many Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi grocers, restaurants and clothing shops.

All of the cities I have mentioned have things like language schools, religion and culture centers, grocers, restaurants, etc. specific to the communities I’ve described above.

Religion (Major landmarks):

Hinduism: Venkateswara Temple - Malibu; Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Temple - Chino Hills;

Buddhism: Zen Center Los Angeles - Koreatown; Koyasan Betsuin - Little Tokyo; Nishi Honganji - Little Tokyo; Higashi Honganji - Little Tokyo; Zenshuji Soto Mission - Little Tokyo; Guan Di temple - Old Chinatown

Taoism: Thien Hau Temple - Old Chinatown

Shintoism: Konko Church - Boyle Heights, Gardena, Whittier

There are also many gurdwaras and mosques spread out throughout LA County (North Hollywood in particular for LA proper), but I’m not saying where they are because humanity is terrible.

Addendums for Little Tokyo:

Japanese American Museum: Covers the history of Japanese Americans in the US, internment during WWII and Little Tokyo. Also provides assistance to families looking to review historical, declassified records about interned relatives.

Nihonmura Plaza: main setting for festivals for Tanabata, Obon and New Years. Has a nifty looking traditional Japanese fire tower

Kinokuniya: LA branch of a major Japanese bookstore chain

Addendums for Koreatown:

Dawooljung/ Korean Pavilion: A gazebo and open space across the street from the Seoul International Park and the Koreatown Community Center

Schools for Eastern Medicine/ Acupuncture: There are at least 2 schools in Koreatown for Eastern/ Chinese/ Alternative medicine that quite a few Asian Americans who run their own clinics have trained at.

LA is so big and so diverse that there’s no one way to really capture how much of Asia is represented here. I know our county registrar and DMV offers information in Armenian, Chinese, Cambodian/Khmer, Farsi, Korean, Tagalog/Filipino, Vietnamese, Hindi/ Urdu, and Japanese because at least 5% of the voting population speaks each of those languages. I’d love to see further additions from other Asian Los Angelenos.

- Marika.

[hakuyamazakisensei]

Hurt - A What-if Story for OkiSai week....

Thank you, @okisaiweek for hosting this!!!

This story is a what-if...so does not follow canon, but keeps it...close-ish? Nope probably not.  What if Saito got found out while investigating Ito and his group?!

 Day 1: Weapon or Warrior....Which IS he??

I hope you enjoy! 

Souji ran through the darkened backstreets, his anger as sharp and deadly as the sword that hung from his hip. Behind him, he could hear the shouts of whichever men Kondo-san had sent to give chase, but he ignored them. He had to reach Hajime-kun!

He had known from the beginning that something was amiss. Hajime-kun would never join Ito’s faction of his own volition. And to make matters worse he, as the first unit captain, had been kept in the dark while that damned shinobi knew everything. And Hijikata-san...this whole fiasco was his fault. Souji was certain that it was Hijikata-san’s suggestion that kept Kondo-san quiet about the ‘plan’ they had laid out for Ito and his cronies.

But none of that mattered now. Yamazaki—the bastard—had brought word that Hajime might have been found out. Of course, he hadn’t bothered staying to see if Hajime needed help. No, he had run back to headquarters, to Hijikata-san. While the Hijikata-san laid out plans and took far too long to decide on how best to deal with situation, Souji had taken it upon himself to bring the third unit captain back home.

As he neared Gesshin-In Temple, he heard the shouts of many men. Fear stabbed through his heart and he pushed himself to move faster, rounding a corner in time to see Hajime stumble.  Several men swarmed around him, and in the middle of the chaos, Heisuke came running from the inner yard with his sword swinging wildly into the fray.

“Souji!” Heisuke shouted.

“Get to Hajime-kun!”

Both men fell silent as their weapons carved a path through the combatants who had once been Shinsengumi members but were now the enemy. Souji kept his eyes trained on the place where Saito had fallen, fury and fear swirling in his stomach. He inched forward, sweat filling his eyes, the smell of blood acrid in the evening air.

“Hajime-kun!” he heard Heisuke call out as he leapt from place to place, his katana a blur of motion.

From behind, Souji could hear the footfalls of more men joining the battle and he cursed under his breath. Surging forward, he slid past the last wall of men that blocked his way to Hajime, who knelt on one knee before him, his sword held above his head, holding off blow after blow. Blood trickled from a slice on his shoulder, but other than that, he looked to be holding his own.

Burning fury exhumed Souji’s thoughts at the sight. He stormed forward with blade swinging, knocking two men down in his haste to reach Hajime’s side. When he reached him, he took up an aggressive stance, allowing the younger man to get to his feet at last.

“Hajime-kun, why is it that you have all the fun, ne?”

Souji heard a small puff of air behind him and chuckled. That was as much of a laugh as he could expect from Saito Hajime. The man did not relinquish control of his emotions at all. Still, the relief he felt on hearing such a small thing almost made him lose focus on the task at hand. Luckily, Heisuke was there to bring him back.

“Oi, Souji! What the hell is going on?”                                    

The youngest Shinsengumi captain worked on his way toward them, Souji fighting back to back with Hajime, who staggered more than once.

“Get over here, Heisuke! We can’t hold them off forever, you know!”

“You might have had a better chance if you’d waited on us,” a voice shouted from the left, and Souji spun to face the new menace.

“Shinpat-san! Sano-san!” Heisuke shouted, relief filling his voice at the appearance of the two men.

“Hey, squirt! Looks like you’ve caused enough trouble here, don’t you think?”

“It wasn’t me this time!” Heisuke shouted with a grin, dashing toward his friends, slashing at the enemy as he went.

“I’m getting Hajime-kun out of here. You can handle the rest, right?” Souji asked, pulling Saito’s arm over his shoulder.

“We got it...Go!” Harada shouted as he brought his spear up to deflect another blade.

Not waiting for a response from the other two men, Souji hefted most of Saito’s weight onto himself and began the slow walk back toward Nishi Honganji. It was a grueling journey for both men, and Saito worked to keep both feet moving as the blood dripped from the wounds he received.

“Just a little further, Hajime-kun,” Souji murmured, shifting the younger man’s weight slightly.

“Aa,” came the strained reply, but he kept in step with Souji.

They reached the gates of the temple, and Saito stumbled as they crossed the courtyard. Souji pulled him closer, carrying most of the injured man’s weight himself. From the corner of his eye, he saw a blur of purple, and anger flooded him.

“You did this,” he snarled, wrapping a protective arm around Saito’s shoulder.

“Souji...” Saito reprimanded weakly.

Hijikata stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening and then narrowing at the accusation. He moved his gaze to Saito, and scowled. “Damn it,” he muttered, striding forward once again. “Sai...”

“Don’t,” Souji interrupted, his glare pinning Hijikata to the spot. “He was there because you sent him. He’s just a tool for you to use. Try and deny it!”

“Now isn’t the time! He needs....”

“Then get out of my way!” Souji pushed passed him, wincing when he saw Kondo step out onto the engawa.

“Is that...Saito-kun?” he asked, hastening forward. “Souji, are you hurt?” In his worry, he didn't wait before firing off his next question. “Toshi, is Yamazaki-kun nearby?”

Pressing his lips together, Hijikata looked from Souji to Kondo and back again. Finally letting out a frustrated sigh, he turned to the commander. “I’ll fetch him.”

Kondo nodded and moved to assist Souji. “Let me take some of the weight. Are you hurt, Souji?”

“No, just Hajime-kun...this is his blood, Kondo-san.”

Kondo frowned and lifted Saito’s free arm to place over his shoulder. Together, he and Souji adjusted their hold on him and walked him to his old room. When they crossed the threshold, Kondo kept a tight grip on him as Souji laid out the futon and prepped the space. They settled Saito onto the thin mattress, and waited in silence until Yamazaki arrived with water and bandages.

“About damn time,” Souji muttered, but Kondo placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s give him some room, ne, Souji?”

Reluctantly, Souji backed away, but kept his eyes on Saito. Yamazaki knelt down and peeled away the layers of cloth covering the wound and then turned to Kondo.

“There is substantial blood loss, Kyokuchō, but it is not a fatal wound. He will need time to heal, but should do so completely. I will need to suture the wound.”

“Will you need someone to hold him steady?”

“I have him, Kondo-san,” Souji said, looking to Yamazaki for instruction.

“What of the others, Souji? Were there any other injuries?” Kondo asked, worry evident in his voice.

“Not when I left. I think Sano-san and Shinpachi-san have everything under control. Oh...and Heisuke, too,” he added, looking quickly up at Kondo.

Beaming at the news, Kondo smiled and squeezed Souji’s shoulder. “Well that is a relief!  I’m sure the boys will bring Heisuke-kun back where he belongs. Yamazaki-kun, once you’ve seen to Saito’s wounds, come to the common room. If any of the others have been hurt, I want them looked at as soon as possible.”

“Hai, kyokuchō!”

Turning his attention to his protégé, he added, “Souji, I’ll leave you to watch over Saito.”

Souji crossed the floor and sat next to the futon, with Yamazaki sitting on the opposite side. They both looked to Kondo when he spoke again.

“I want word the moment anything changes. Saito-kun, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, but make sure and do exactly as Yamazaki-kun says.”

He left the room, leaving all three men in silence. Souji refused to look at Yamazaki; the shinobi had known of Saito’s mission all along and that irritated the first unit captain no end. Still, the medic was good at what he did, and his quick action would help Hajime-kun, so for now, he was granted leniency. So long as Hajime-kun was alright.....

[once-a-turncoat]

Shinsenvember 14 - Kids in Kyoto

Prompt list here.

Boys’ play, by Hiroshige, circa 1830

“Hey, Yukimura-senpai, there are a bunch of kids here looking for Captain Okita.”

Chizuru, who had been cutting vegetables for dinner, looked towards the door where Souma Kazue was standing. He looked flustered.

“I’m not a kid, I’m fifteen!” she heard a young voice protest.

”Sorry, a bunch of kids and . . . errr . . .  a young man.”

Putting down her knife, Chizuru went to the door. She was already quite certain who these children would be, but when she stepped outside, her jaw dropped.

“Tamesaburo!” she greeted the tallest of the group. Yagi Tamesaburo, the oldest of the Yagi family’s children, was exactly the person she was expecting, but that he would be so tall . . . It shouldn’t be strange that kids grew but . . . “You’re taller than me!”

“Yukimura-san!” the boy was similarly staring at her. “You haven’t grown at all?”

“Hey, show some respect,” growled Souma.

“It’s okay,” Chizuru said quickly. “Souma, this is Yagi Tamesaburo. We stayed at his family’s house in Mibu our first couple years in Kyoto.”

Tamesaburo nodded. “I’ve brought the whole neighbourhood.” He motioned around to the group of about fifteen girls and boys, ranging from children nearly his age to babies on their sisters’ backs.

“That’s very nice of you,” began Chizuru uncertainly. “You came to see Captain Okita?”

“Souji hasn’t come seen us since forever,” a younger boy complained.

Back in Mibu village, Okita had always been playing with the neighbourhood kids. He was a great favourite there, and the Yagi children especially had been devastated when the Shinsengumi moved its Headquarters to Nishi-Honganji. It wasn’t very far from Mibu to the temple, though. On a regular basis the kids would march over to find their playmate or Okita would go to them.

Yet, as Okita’s health deteriorated, the visits slowed. They’d diplomatically told the children Okita was busy. It’d now been more than a year since Chizuru saw any of this bunch. As far as she knew, this was the first time they’d come out to their new headquarters in Fududo Village, a mile and a half away from Mibu.

“I thought maybe it’d be easier for us to visit now you have your own place?” Tamesaburo began in a pleading tone. “I know the monks didn’t like you being there. They probably didn’t want kids all over the place either, right?”

Chizuru sighed. “It’s nice you kids came out but Captain Okita has a really bad cold today. He’s got to stay inside and sleep it off.”

“Just tell him we’re here!” demanded another boy, whom she thought might be the Yagi’s younger son.

“SOU-JI! SOU-JI! “ one child began it and the rest joined in. “SOU-JI. SOU-JI.” They stamped their feet in time to their chant. Souma’s attempts to hush them were completely useless.

Tamesaburo, however, stood aside from the group. “I’m sorry,” he said to Chizuru in a hushed tone. “It’s true then . . .”

“What’s true?” she asked.

“People say Souji’s really sick. I didn’t want to believe that.”

Of course the rumours would be spreading through Kyoto. The Shinsengumi’s First Captain was never seen on patrol now. So Tamesaburo had come to prove to himself that Souji was the same happy friend from their Mibu days.

“Okita-san is not feeling well right now, but you should know he’s fighting to get better,” she told Tamesaburo.

“And those kids yelling are probably giving him a head-ache,” Souma added.

Tamesaburo jumped into action. “YOU KIDS, SHUT UP. SOUJI’S TRYING TO SLEEP!”

The kids shut up immediately.

“We’ll come back when Souji’s feeling better,” he told his band of followers.

“But-“ one girl complained, but Tamesaburo shut her up. “The Shinsengumi will cut off your heads if you give Souji a headache.”

The eyes of the smaller children widened in fear at this pronouncement. “No we won’t,” Chizuru assured them.

“Are you sure?” a familiar, high-pitched voice replied behind her. “I heard I might have to chop off some heads here.”

She turned around and saw Okita. He was pale as snow, and still in his thin sleeping yukata, though he’d slipped geta on his feet and thrown on his haori.

The kids roared his name and rushed towards him, but he held out his hand for them to stop. They knew him well enough to obey.  “Come a step closer and I really will kill you,” he told the kids, smiling broadly.

“But Souji, where’s your sword?” one of the boys demanded.

“You think I can’t kill you without a sword, brat?” He turned now to Tamesaburo. “Hmmm. . . you think you’re all grown up now, don’t you?”

Tamesaburo’s cheeks flushed deep crimson. “I know I’m not an adult . . . But I’m almost as old as Yukimura was when he joined the Shinsengumi, right?”

Okita began to laugh, but straightaway his laughter turned to coughing, and Souma rushed to support him. When he’d finished his coughing fit, he looked back at Tamesaburo with a more serious expression. “Your mom and dad need you. The Shinsengumi doesn’t.”

“That’s what you think,” said Tamesaburo stubbornly.

“That’s what Kondou-san thinks. And if you really must ask, Hijikata will yell at you a bit before he sends you packing. We’re grateful to your family for taking us in, we’re not going to repay them by stealing away their oldest son.”

“But I just want to be with all of you,” Tamesaburo pleaded.

Okita shook his head. “Not your choice, kid. Do you think we all have parents like yours? Parents who love you and can give you everything you need? Don’t mess that up.”

Tamesaburo stared at Okita. Realization at last, Chizuru thought. Tamesaburo had doubtless never imagined that the young samurai whose life he envied could envy Tamesaburo’s life in turn. Chizuru knew little about Okita’s family, but she knew his parents were dead, that he had an older sister in Edo, and that he had lived at Kondou’s dojo for many years.

“If you just come by yourself, don’t bring this whole gang, I wouldn’t mind if you dropped by to chat sometimes,” Okita continued in a softer voice.

Tamesaburo’s voice cracked, “Yes, Souji, I’ll come!”

Okita nodded, then turned his attention back to the crowd of waiting children. “What a pain. Chizuru, you’ll get them some treats, right?”

“Uh. . . I’ll have to look what we have.”

“You’ll manage. Hey kids!” he called them to attention. “You heard me coughing, I have a cold and I’m going right back to bed. But this guy here, this is Souma-kun. He’s my deputy and he’s going to organize a game of tag.”

Souma looked surprised, but he immediately took up his role. “All right, we’re going to play tag! Who’s going to be the oni?”

“Yukimura,” Okita answered promptly. His eyes were dancing with mischief. Chizuru glared at him, but she could say nothing In front of the kids.

“Yukimura-senpai’s getting the snacks ready,” Souma replied, coming to her rescue as he always did.

“All right. Have fun. See you later, Tamesaburo.” Okita nodded to the teenager. He turned and slowly walked off towards his room. Tamesaburo stood still watching him leave, while around him, the other children threw themselves into a frenzied game of tag.

“You’re the oni now!” a kid shrieked as he tagged Tamesaburo on the back. Tamesaburo whirled around. He was grinning as he began to give chase.

Notes: About sixty years later, Yagi Tamesaburo fondly remembered his days living with the Shinsengumi, particularly playing with Okita Souji. He was twelve the year of the Ikedaya. 

The role of “it” in Japanese tag is called the oni. So I couldn’t resist trolilng poor Chizuru via Souji. 

[once-a-turncoat]

Shinsenvember 4 : Pigs and Pork

Prompt list here.

In the end, it was fighting with oni in the middle of the night that got the Shinsengumi kicked out of Nishi-Honganji. But the pigs certainly didn’t help. The smell of roast pork wafting through the temple was enough to drive the poor monks mad with disgust (according to the more reverent), or salivating hunger (according to Shinpachi).

“It’s not really fair to them, though,” said Heisuke thoughtfully, after an angry delegation of the monks had departed a meeting with the Shinsengumi executives. “This is their place, and we’re their guests.” 

It was very like him to try to see the situation from the other side’s point of view. And on this point he probably spoke for plenty of the Shinsengumi members who were silently uneasy about making enemies of holy men. (As well as a few people who were just revolted by the taste and smell of pork.)

Shinpachi was having nothing of it. “They start by taking in Choshu rebels and end up having to share the place with pigs, seems fair to me.”

“Speak for yourself, Shinpatsuan, we’re not all pigs here!”

“Nah, Heisuke, you’re a piglet.”