What makes history (Hijikata x OC)

Of friendship and calendars

Have you ever tried to understand the japanese calendar compared to the occidental one ? It is an extraordinary thing.

Heisuke and Shinpachi were fighting for food, again! Chizuru sported an uneasy smile upon her face, trapped between Harada and Okita at the back of the room. None of the three commanders reacted to the loud – insanely loud! – cries of the young captain, struggling with a ruthless opponent.

This raised my hackles, but I knew not to intervene to preserve Heisuke's honour. My past dealings with the guy's code had already trampled his mercilessly; it was no use adding insult by stating he couldn't defend himself.

Sanan, Hijikata and Kondō sat in silence, eating fried fish as if it was ash, a dejected look upon their faces. I'd not seen them so depressed since Itō's assassination, but their world had just been rocked again. On 9th of November, the 15th Shōgun resigned from his post in favour of the emperor; they already called it the Meiji restoration.

The Kyōto commisionary, aka Mastudaira Dono's post, was abolished. Aizu's Daimyō had been sacked, orphaning the Shinsengumi of their founder and main support in the capital.

Albeit Chōshū and Satsuma clans protested that The Shōgun still had far too much power, and wanted to dismantle his organisation brick by brick, including Daimyōs – the equivalent of our feudal lords – the Shinsengumi was now uncertain about its path. For two hundred years, the Togukawa's Shōgunate had ruled Japan with an iron fist; they were the steel that allowed the system to linger. Today, though, their supreme chief had just relinquished his power to another authority. And even though Emperor Meiji was but a teenager, they now bowed to him and his supremacy.

Unsettling, right? And none of this fixed the problem of foreign intrusions in the country. The imperialists were like Itō; they wanted Japan free of western influence. Hence the modernisation of the army, and the creating of Rasetsu. A mad dash for power, when they knew that the arsenal coming at them would crush them without mercy.

For a moment, I wondered if the war I felt coming would oppose us to westerners, on behalf of the empire. Would I fight my own countrymen? My own culture ? It would be ironic, but not unheard of. I had faced Frenchmen – corsairs – during the last war, and didn't care one bit. My loyalty was to the Shinsengumi now, as it had been to the Surprise's crew and its captain at the time.

Politics was so complicated, so out of my grasp that I didn't make head or tails of it. Fortunately, Kondō-san and, surprisingly, Nagakura-san were always ready to explain some of it. I felt like a cat trying to find the end of a woollen ball.

For a moment, I watched Heisuke and Shinpachi struggle, and a smile lifted the corner of my lips. They reminded me of the knights of the round table after a boozy night. Damn, politics had been much easier in Arthurian times. Kick the Saxons' ass, flip the bird to the Romans, and make an alliance between Picts and Britons. There, a Kingdom had popped. All hail to the King.

"I'm gonna kill you for that!"

Heisuke held his chopsticks in the air, ready to battle the bigger man. I snorted in my bowl.

"You really need to be more creative with death threats," I scolded the young captain. This got their attention, and I prayed it would keep them sane for a moment. A quote from Buffy came to my mind.

"You could suggest to rip his ribcage and make a hat out of it..."

Several pairs of rounded eyes greeted my proposal, and I cringed; those guys probably had very few notions of anatomy ... not enough to picture what a full skeleton looked like, maybe?

"All right, maybe too scientific. Pluck your eyes out with a spoon? How about make a canoe out of your skin?"

Heisuke addressed me a large smile, but it was Okita who broke the snickers with his usual drawl.