Chapter 2: Vice Minister Hijikata (1/2)

The next morning, the heavy snow stopped and Kyoto was bathed in warm suns.h.i.+ne. The temple-like camp was covered with pure white snow. Houses in the camp were clean and of primitive simplicity.

Jiziru Yukimura lay on a tatami in a room, with a piece of cloth stuffed in her mouth, her limbs tied. She woke up and tried to sit up but couldn't move because she was tied up tightly. Jiziru composed herself and looked around the room which was very clean and simple. The morning sun slanted through the half-open sliding door, bathing the room in warmth. There were only one bed and one table in the room.

'Where am I?'

Jiziru Yukimura wore a puzzled look.

Suddenly, the sliding door was totally opened and a middle-aged man in a light-yellow samurai suit walked in, his hair tied back, revealing his broad forehead. He looked kind in face.

”You are awake.”

He walked up to Jiziru Yukimura, squatted down and said in a concerned voice, ”I'm sorry we have treated you so roughly...” With that he reached out to untie the ropes binding Jiziru Yukimura's limbs.

”I will untie the ropes straight away. Wait a minute... Why did Souji tie your hands and feet so tightly? You must feel pain. Now you're all right. Can you get up from the tatami?” He helped Jiziru Yukimura up and pulled out the cloth from her mouth. ”Now you can talk to me.”

With the ropes binding her limbs untied, Jiziru Yukimura felt relaxed. She coughed and asked, ”May I ask where I am and who you are?”

The middle-aged man smiled, ”My name is Genzaburou Inoue. This is the camp of s.h.i.+nsengumi.”

T/N note:

s.h.i.+nsengumi: an organization of samurai who supported the shogunate.

”s.h.i.+nsengumi?!” Jiziru Yukimura was wide-eyed with astonishment.

Inoue smiled, ”Please calm down and follow me.” With that he led Jiziru Yukimura out of the room. The glorious suns.h.i.+ne shone on her face and hair. Jiziru felt as if she had been cut off from the outside world for ages but now, she once more saw the light of day.

Before long, Genzaburou Inoue took her to another big house and then reached out to open the sliding door.

As soon as the door was opened, Jiziru heard a familiar voice--”Good morning! Did you sleep well last night?”

The speaker knelt in the middle of the room. He was the mauve-haired man, Saitou whom Jiziru had seen last night. Jiziru Yukimura was a bit surprised. Just then, the brown-haired man sitting on the far left smiled, ”He must have had a sound sleep. Look at his face. The tatami has left a mark on his cheeks.” Obviously, he mistakenly believed that Jiziru Yukimura was a boy.