THE LOST RACE

CHAPTER 5: His Place among the Ranks

              Everything has gone so fast. It seemed only yesterday when Terumi was still the beloved lady doctor of Koshien, staged her own murder. Now she presents herself as a man, Seiji, a member of the first squad of Shinsengumi. “Byakuran, did you see all of this happening? I wonder how you feel now?” Seiji thought to himself, one night.

            It was a dark, starless night, with only the moon shining faintly in the sky. “The atmosphere is rather gloomy” Seiji sighed as he looked out of the small window by her bed, in the barracks of the first squad. As he gazed at the darkness, a black owl caught his attention. The owl was perched on a tree branch a few yards away from his window. The bird was staring straight at her. Upon eye contact, the owl flapped its wings, as if beckoning Seiji to come closer. “Akira?” he thought.

            Seiji ran to the door of the barracks. When he opened it, there stood Soji. “What are you doing in there…uhm…sir?” he whimpered. Soji did not answer; rather, he only looked at him sternly and curled his lips. Seiji just shrugged his shoulders and dashed out. But before he got too far out, Soji called up to him and said, “Seiji, you have been in my squad for more than a week now, and you should be well aware by now that I am implementing curfew. It’s already late, so you should be in bed. There will be training really early tomorrow.”

            “Sure…I’ll be on time tomorrow.” Seiji replied, then, continued out. She went into where the owl was waiting. “Terumi, what is the meaning of this?” asked the owl. Seiji hushed the owl and whispered, “Not too loud, Araki. They’ll hear you.” she replied, “Well, you see, I got caught up with the Shinsengumi. They know me here as some guy named Seiji. For all they know, Terumi, the doctor, Kenshin’s fiancée is dead.”

            “Yeah, I heard about that. That was rather…well…flashy.” the owl said, as it transformed into a man with wispy jet black hair, pushed back messily with a silk bandana. Araki was a member of the Shadow, the protectors of Terumi (the lost princess of the Light Elves, Seiji’s real identity). He and the other members of the Shadows took care of Terumi as if they were real family. He’s an animagus, a person gifted with the ability to turn himself into any animal, and to control animals and make them do as he says. “My real concern is, are you sure about associating yourself with these guys? They are going after the Oniwaban and the Hokage, groups directly controlled by Night Elves. You are actually putting yourself even closer to the Night Elves.”

            Seiji was going to talk some more to Araki when Soji suddenly showed up. “Who are you talking to?” he asked, “That bird?” pointing at a silver owl that was then perched on Seiji’s arm. The other just flaunted a corky smile, beckoned the owl to fly off, and then marched back to the barracks.

            The next morning, the members Shinsengumi’s First Squad reported to Captain Soji’s suite. It was a big room designed as a dojo. Captain Soji was there already. Prior to entering, the swordsmen bowed by the door and took off their sandals. Upon entering, they lined themselves up, pull their swords out of their belts, transferred their swords from their left to their right hands, bowed again and then attached their swords again into their belts. Seiji, not having a sword of his own, stayed at the very back of the group and merely bowed.

            “Every one, enough courtesy. For today’s patrol, I will be entrusting the squad to Yukinojo, Mitsui  and Kenta. Divide the squad into three subgroups, with the three of you as leaders. I shall not be accompanying you today.” their captain announced, “Pull out.”

            Seiji was going along with the others when he felt something pull the back of his shinsengumi uniform. “Not so fast neophyte. You can’t go on patrol duties yet. You still have no sword and are not good enough.” Soji said, “Let’s start.” as he threw a wooden sword for Seiji to catch.