Chapter Text
Katsu would have known, before he asked Tae to read the letter aloud, what the reactions to it must be; and Sano thought he saw his friend smiling ironically before she reached the end and everyone spoke at once.
"The Sadojima company..."
"Five thousand azu?"
"'National and historic import' indeed."
"What does it all mean?"
"Wait, Katsu, you're from a house?"
When these simultaneous questions and comments were finished, some mouths reopened for more. But Hajime stood abruptly so the table shifted and his bench ground an inch or two backward.
When they'd all taken their seats, Sano, in trying to find a place beside or across from Hajime without looking like he was trying to, had been defeated by the family combination of knight, sister, and nephew. He'd been forced to the cut-off spot at the table next to, practically against, the man that had damaged it; so he couldn't even still busy hands by placing them on the wood, as some of the others had done in a gesture of quiescence, while Hajime addressed them all in a tone that overrode any further potential chaos:
"This will affect our plans. We have no time to act like fools; we need to discuss it rationally. Tae, may I have the letter?"
She handed it to Tokio beside her, who passed it to Hajime over Eiji's head. The knight had managed to silence the room, though Chou was grumbling about 'this fucking guy' under his breath. Hajime ignored this, glanced at the letter, and began to interpret it as if giving a lecture. "Your father, Katsu, was certain you would be part of some resistance effort. He gave Tae specific directions to you in order to get her in touch with and involved in that resistance effort.
"It's implied that not all of the Merchants' Guild Council approves of this. However, since Souzou used non-incriminating language, and sent this under cover of a routine shipment--?" He glanced at Tae, who nodded. "It seems unlikely the rest of the Council will learn about it immediately and try to hinder our plans. We can discount them for now, and consider Tae the Guild representative in the struggle against Soujirou."
There was some nodding and murmuring in concurrence. Sano would have asked about the money, or at least marveled again at what an astonishing amount it was, but Hajime held up a hand and silence resumed. What a force of personality he had! Sano double-checked his expression to be sure he wasn't making some dopey adoring face (though admittedly that might bring the issue of his feelings to Hajime's waking attention, which might be to his benefit).
"Tae, can you confirm that the Sadojima company deals in cosmetics?"
"Cosmetics, dyes, chemicals," she said. "Some of their work is experimental, but I don't know the details."
"Then is it safe to assume that the specific mention of cosmetics companies, coupled with that of the Sadojima shipment, suggests some or all of the money came from the Sadojima company?"
"Or directly from Prince Houji himself? It would make sense."
Hajime nodded. "That won't help us in the immediate conflict, but if we fail at the festival, at least afterward we may be able to consider him an ally."
"Whatever 'we' is left," said Tokio darkly.
Hajime nodded again. "The letter also suggests the shipment guards are on our side. Tae, how many of them are there?"
"Four. And I agree."
"Four is no remarkable addition to our forces, but we should keep them in mind."
"So what do we do with all that money?" Sano asked, unable to contain himself.
"I think that is the main question," Katsu agreed.
"And one we need to answer carefully." Hajime had resumed his seat now it appeared he no longer felt the need to keep so tight a grip on the discussion. "That much money would have been especially useful earlier in our planning, but now we don't have much time. We need to decide on how to make quick and efficient use of it."
Immediately Chou said, "Swords."
Hajime turned a withering look on him. "Yes, we know what you would spend it on."
Tokio, who had chuckled at Chou's remark, said, "He may be right, though. We've yet to come up with any good way to arm our people for the day of the festival."
"Yeah, see?" Chou demanded. Sano noticed Tae looking at the collector skeptically.
Katsu, on Chou's other side, elbowed him in the ribs. He spoke seriously, however. "There are multiple parts to this problem. We need to obtain weapons, yes, but we also need to figure out a way to arrive armed to the festival's opening ceremony without alerting the guards."
Chou elbowed right back. "Well, master Katsu of house Sagara, you gotta be armed before you can show up anywhere armed."
"Yes, I just said that," said Katsu somewhat irritably.
"So gimme the money and lemme go buy swords with it!"
Sano would have asked if that was all Chou could think about, if he hadn't already known the answer.
"If we had weapons," Tae said thoughtfully, "I might be able to arrange some way to get them distributed. All the weapons we could possibly need won't represent the entire sum; the remainder I can use for renting spaces or..."
Tokio shook her head. "Rented spaces may be all very well for meeting in secret, but they won't be accessible to people in need of weapons under the noses of the city guard."
"Concealed weapons?" Sano suggested. "Small keonblades?"
"Not everyone is a keonmaster," Hajime reminded him. "And we can't buy a load of concealed weapons without arousing suspicion."
"I can buy a load of weapons without arousing suspicion," Chou insisted. "I've been out browsing weapons every single day I've been here, almost. If I pretended I won money gambling or something, they'd expect me to actually buy shit for once."
Hajime looked at him assessingly. "That may be true, though I doubt it applies to weapons designed to be concealed. In any case, it doesn't solve the other problem."
"If we all dressed up as Kaoru devoted," Sano suggested, "it would be natural for us to..." But before the word 'idiot' could even halfway form on Hajime's lips, he recalled all the reasons this would be impracticable. "No, that wouldn't work."
Suddenly Eiji broke his long silence. "The merchants' stalls." He looked up at the adults with the light of inspiration in his eyes. "The stalls they're going to set up around the plaza!"
"Hey, smart kid!"
Ignoring Chou, Tokio took up the inspiration. "If those merchants could be bribed to conceal weapons in their stalls, then when the signal is given, it would be easy enough for the resistance forces to retrieve those weapons while the merchants ducked out of sight."
"Yes, that's an excellent idea!" said Tae. "I've already spoken to many of the merchants in town... I was primarily waiting on the king's approval to start work on a new branch of the Guild. Merchants shouldn't be bribable, but if I frame it as a payment from the Guild, I believe I could sway any of them. I'll just need to know which merchants will be on the plaza."
"I can give you a list," Katsu said immediately.
"I'll come to the printmaker's shop tomorrow. I've already been there to visit you, so it shouldn't be too suspicious."
"Very good," Hajime declared. "Next..." He turned his eyes upon Chou, brows drawing together and mouth tightening.
Chou raised both gloved hands in an Isn't it obvious? gesture, and said, "See? I'm the only one who can buy a bunch of swords and nobody'll think it's suspicious!"
"Nobody but us," Tokio murmured.
"What? Why?!"
It looked as if Hajime couldn't resist. "Because you're a moron."
At the same moment, Tokio said more reasonably, "Because your motives aren't the same as ours. We can't be sure you wouldn't take the money and disappear."
"Hey, I'm in this thing now! You know sticking with you guys is the only way to get my motive!"
"Yeah, but," Sano put in, "what if you found some other way? You could probably get the king's sheath by bribery with that much money." There were nods around the table.
"I guess that's right..." Chou looked and sounded as if this truly hadn't occurred to him -- which, in a person so open with his feelings, was a good indication he meant what he said. Still, he seemed to be struggling internally now that 'other way' had been suggested. Finally, though, he pounded a fist down on the table and said in an almost pained tone, "Oh, fuck it. I owe Katsu for taking care of me all this time. I'm on your side. Let's get the king back."
Everyone stared at him, then seemed at the same moment to break away and exchange glances.
Reluctantly Sano had to say, "I'm satisfied with that."
"He could have betrayed us any time before this," Katsu added in a murmuring tone of agreement. "He might have won himself a place in the new government and all the swords he could ask for."
From the far-off corner of the table, Hajime met Sano's eyes -- an action that had made Sano shiver prior to this and which now had an especially intense effect. The knight searched his face, and said at last, "You know him better than I do. I'll rely on your judgment."
In something like a panic, Sano considered that this meant he would be responsible if Chou double-crossed them. Simultaneously, to have Hajime -- the undisputed leader of this cause and the man he loved -- say he relied on Sano's judgment made his heart swell until it seemed to assault the boundaries of his chest. Was he blushing? Did it matter anymore if he was?
Tokio looked as if she might want to protest, but with her own dart of eyes toward Sano's face she shut her mouth. Sano wondered how to interpret that.
"Well," Tae said, suddenly all business and piercing gaze, "the money is at the Sadojima company warehouse on the fourth street in the green district. Chou, meet me there tomorrow around ninth bell. We can store the weapons there until I make arrangements. How many do we need?" This last question was directed at Katsu.
"We're expecting between 25 and 30 people to join us."
"And the fighters in this room are already armed," said Hajime. Narrowing his eyes with a disdainful glance at Chou, he added, "Some of them to excess."
"And, Chou," Tae went on, "what's the current market value on swords?"
"25 to 50 azu," he replied promptly, with an eager light in his face. "Maybe 18-20 for really shitty ones."
Tae tapped her chin thoughtfully. "If we estimate high and take an average, you'll need thirteen or fourteen hundred azu. Let's estimate even higher and say 2,000, since we have no shortage of funds. Tomorrow we'll have six days until the festival, but it would be best to have everything in place the day before. Can you buy at least eight decent swords a day?"
Chou had been eying her with an almost disbelieving impressed look (and he wasn't the only one), but now gave a scoffing snort.
"Yeah, you don't know this guy," Sano muttered.
"I think it would be unwise to carry 400 azu around with you, even in pieces of ten."
"And to carry even more swords for longer than you can help," Hajime put in.
"If I give you 100 azu at a time, and you bring the swords back to me at the warehouse and get the next 100, that may be the safest way."
"Yeah, that'd work," Chou said.
Everyone seemed to consider for a moment. Sano didn't think anyone was questioning Tae's math, or even lingering on Chou's trustworthiness. Finally Katsu said slowly, "I don't think it's a good idea to store the weapons at the Sadojima warehouse."
Tae nodded for him to explain.
"Since we're holding the meeting there--" Katsu looked a little awkward as he said this, and Sano shared his embarrassment-- "that would seem to be keeping only one granary. If anyone betrays the location, the weapons would be confiscated."
With a hmm, Tae gave this some consideration. "I was thinking of storing them in crates with the Sadojima company seal on them. That would hopefully deter anyone opening them who didn't want to offend the senior prince of Gontamei."
"But we can't count on that." Hajime gestured to Katsu. "He's right, though I don't know what about the point embarrasses him and Sano so much."
Tae laughed. "It seems a couple of rebels had already fixed on the location for the meeting before they talked to me in private. It came as some surprise to me that they were planning to use a warehouse I was overseeing as the meeting place."
"You didn't have to tell them that," Sano grumbled, blushing for a new and different reason this time.
In a similar tone Katsu said, "We understood that the Sadojima shipment wouldn't be here for three more days, and that the warehouse would be entirely unused until then. It was pure coincidence my father moved up the delivery and got you involved."
Chou snorted with laughter. Tokio covered her mouth to hide hers. Even Hajime grinned. That last, at least, Sano was pleased to see, despite its being at his expense.
"Well," Tae said again, also grinning, "I have access to a number of warehouses. I'll decide on a different one, or more than one, and let Chou know tomorrow."
"Aw, I hate getting up early," Chou said, as if reacting belatedly to the time she'd mentioned before. "I'm going to bed." And with no further ceremony, he stood up and stepped over the bench (half-kicking Katsu with one black boot in the process), and left the room.
"And I should go," Tae added. There was a feeling now of breaking up the party, and everyone was suddenly stirring. "Unless there's anything more I should know before the meeting?"
"Nothing comes to mind," Hajime said, to murmurs of agreement.
"Good luck," Katsu bade her. He stood as Tae did the same and moved toward the entry. "I also won't see you all until the meeting. I've taken too many chances already; I need to be seen doing innocuous things around town. Yukir'no will bring you food, and any news there is to tell, tomorrow and the next day."
Gripping Katsu's wrist as he walked past, Sano locked gazes with him when he glanced down. "Stay safe."
Katsu, Sano had noted since their reunion, didn't smile much. Now the one he gave his friend had a kind of fatality to it, as if he had no comfort to offer. But he said, "You too." Then he and Tae disappeared into the dark opening and up the ladder, and Sano was left with Hajime's family in the flickering candlelight. The only thing left to plan for tonight was bed.
Though Hajime, the longer established and most admired Hero Of The People, gained more acclaim in this struggle -- and rightly so! -- Sano too had been making a name for himself with his superhuman abilities and unflagging efforts. What their admiring public didn't know, however, was that both of these Heroes came from another world.
The colors of this place struck the eyes strangely; everything here was sharper, brighter, more dangerous. Only the highest of passions seemed to fit, and Sano used his to right the wrongs of the kingdom and save whomever he could from danger or unhappiness. No matter it hadn't originally been his mission and they hadn't originally been his people -- the responsibility for them had seeped into him over time, saturating him as the colors did the world around him.
How they'd first come here Sano had never been able to figure out, nor whether they were capable of getting home. But their continued residence worried him, because somehow, through whatever unearthly magic had summoned them, Sano's family had been dragged alongside -- his father and mother, his 16-year-old sister Tokio and 11-year-old brother Yahiko. These were in constant peril from the system of destruction and oppression Sano and Hajime fought against. The enemies that knew Sano's connection to them used his concern against him.
After one particular battle, in which both Heroes Of The People had performed spectacular feats of valor and conquered legions of their foes, the latter saw fit to release the Destruction upon the city and surrounding area. Sano's anxiety increased to a pitch he almost couldn't handle as he found himself torn between protecting his family and meeting the enemy head-to-head. The Destruction ripped its way through the streets, tearing up the pavement and trees and lamps, devouring the buildings and banishing the people to oblivion. Sano didn't know what to do.
At least not until Hajime gripped his arm. "Let's go back," he said. "Let's go back to our own world and take your family to safety."
Sano gaped at him. "You've had that power all along?"
Hajime's only reply was to land beside Sano's parents and take a hand of each. Sano flew down to join him, and did the same for his brother and sister. Then Hajime took to the air again, bringing the two adults at his sides with him effortlessly. And he flew forward into the distance so quickly it was like a flash of light in the sky. Sano had only to follow him.
At home, in the comfortable rooms of their house in Encoutia, the familiarity of the scene was so striking as to be simultaneously surreal and painful. They'd reached their true home, but it no longer felt like home. Adjusting to the original world and its subdued colors and emotions proved every bit as difficult as the previous realignment of outlook had been. At least Sano's family would be safe here, for which he would be eternally grateful to Hajime.
They met upstairs in Sano's closet, a separate small room in this richly appointed building, and Sano knew what was coming. He'd foreseen this ever since they'd met in that other world.
"Sano," Hajime said, drawing him close, "I love you." And he kissed him deeply and desperately. Sano felt his heart throbbing so hard it made him shudder and struggle to breathe. When they finally separated but remained standing against each other, their foreheads touching, Hajime said, "I can't go back. I have a duty to this world. But you became a Hero Of The People, and they need you there."
"I know," replied Sano miserably. "You have to send me back." He felt he could drown in this tragedy, in the tears running down his face. "But let me," he requested finally, "wear your shiiya. When people see me in it, it'll be like we've both come back."
He awoke sluggishly, trying to hold onto the sensations like trying to hold onto wind or rain. When he finally recognized the transition from sleep to reality, he sat up and looked around wildly. Hajime had kissed him. He'd said he loved him. It was real; it had to be real; Sano had felt it. But finding himself sitting in the dark with only a stretching Chou for company, with the background idea that it was far earlier than usual, all he could feel was the pain of his bruises and a sort of ripping wound in his chest.
"That fucking knight sure likes you a lot," Chou grumbled on observing Sano awake. "Won't let me share that blanket, but he puts it on you when he gets up." And with that, apparently finished with his stretches, he left the room, blocking for a moment the light from the other.
Sano gathered the blanket he hadn't realized had fallen from his chest when he'd sat up, and buried his face in it. Did that fucking knight like him a lot? Did even that dream confirm it?
He would never forget the sound of those words, never forget how it felt to have them spoken, nor the sense of Hajime's love that had suffused the dream at that moment, almost to the eclipse of Sano's own. But he also viscerally remembered the deep attachment to Soujirou a previous dream had fabricated, which he recalled even now with sadness at the thought of the subsequent betrayal. In the dream the feeling had been completely real, but in reality...
And even if Hajime did love him, and perhaps had merely been restraining himself in every previous instance, didn't that little story Sano had just taken part in speak of impossibility, of sacrifice? Hajime had confessed, had kissed him... and had sent him off into another world in the name of duty. Did that mean there was a chance, once they'd overthrown Soujirou and reinstated Kenshin, fulfilling the immediate duty, of their being together? Or did it mean Hajime felt that, in light of his duties as a royal knight, love was something he could never enjoy?
Sano's sense of duty did not ride on Hajime's. As the dream had also indicated, Sano had adopted this purpose -- the rights of rulership, the good of the kingdom and its people -- and made it as much his own as it ever had been Hajime's. But if that sense of duty entailed different ways of life for each of them...
Or had the dream been a sort of prophecy, a forewarning that Hajime would soon join Sano's family in the 'other world' -- in death, that is? Not believing in prophecy, Sano dismissed this theory offhand.
Every little detail in a dream didn't have to mean something momentous! Sending Sano off to another world could simply represent sending him into Elotica to seek information, which had already happened. Then, Hajime worried about his sister as a less proficient warrior than himself, and Sano always associated Yahiko with his brother simply because of their ages. Totally normal circumstances accounted for everything in that dream... except the declaration of love.
Unless that fit right in too?
One thing Sano knew: Hajime could not ignore this one. It had gone too far for that the moment their lips met. And if he tried, Sano was five times damned if he didn't say something. A resolution must be reached, instigated by one or the other of them.
Hajime's raised voice from the next room pierced Sano's intense reverie and, simply with its sound, shocked him so hard he wanted to cry out. "Idiot, this other idiot is going to eat your share if you don't get in here."
Sano drew a deep, trembling breath, pushed the blanket entirely from him, and gathered up his courage in its place. He stood and moved to the door, trying for his usual tone as he replied, "Which other idiot?"
Hajime, who had evidently just risen from the table, looked around at the group, and shrugged as if to say it could be any of them. Sano burst out with a laugh that, while genuine, might have been a little too loud. Then, observing the knight planned to sit on the floor and read by the light of the candle he'd appropriated, Sano hastened to take his place at the table. Perhaps if he occupied the same space Hajime had, he might be able to get into the same mysterious frame of mind.