The quarrel was going to turn white-hot but someone stopped them in time.
"Shut up!"
Sitting abreast of Hijikata was a gorgeous man with spectacles. He smiled and said to Jiziru Yukimura, "They are sharp-tongued. Please don"t take their words to heart... Don"t be afraid. Come on! Close the door and have a seat."
"Okay," Jiziru responded with a low voice. She turned around to close the door and then sat on her knees.
The man who had stopped Shinpachi, Sanosuke and Heisuke from continuing quarreling with one another, said, "My name is Isami Kondou. I"m the head of Shinsengumi." He fixed his eyes on the bespectacled man and introduced, "This is Keisuke Yamanami. He"s Minister of Shinsengumi." Then he turned his head, stared at Hijikata next to him and continued, "This is Toshizo... er, Toshizo Hijikata. He is Vice Minister of Shinsengumi."
Toshizo Hijikata couldn"t help but ask, "Chief Kondou, why are you telling him so much about us?"
Kondou was a little bit puzzled. "Shouldn"t I do that?"
Shinpachi Nagakura also questioned, "He"s just a captive. Why did you introduce us to him?"
Sanosuke smiled, "Chief Kondou is such an over-serious man. That is his style..."
Kondou gave a warning cough and said, "Well, let"s come straight to the point... Saitou, can you tell me in detail what happened last night?"
Saitou with purple hair answered calmly, "Last night the "failed" warriors met some vagrant samurais. When they were fighting, we arrived and killed they... And this guy saw it." With that he let his eyes settle upon Jiziru Yukimura"s face.
Jiziru Yukimura immediately said, "No! I saw nothing." In order to protect herself, she knew that she should pretend to have seen nothing last night.
"Really?" Heisuke Toudou asked in disbelief. Jiziru Yukimura instantly looked at him and replied, "Yes. I saw nothing."
"Okay... Souji told me that you saved the warriors. Is that true?" Shinpachi asked with a skeptical expression on his face.
Jiziru Yukimura nervously shook her head and answered, "No. Last night I tried to avoid the vagrant samurais. Then the members of Shinsengumi arrived... So I was saved in time."
Souji Okita looked at Jiziru Yukimura, as a faint smile curved his lips.
"So, when the warriors killed the vagrant samurais, you were close by and saw it all, right?" Shinpachi asked.
The question hit the nail on the head. Jiziru Yukimura knew that something bad would happen to her if they knew that she had seen things she hadn"t been supposed to. She began to tremble with fear.
"You are too frank and open with people. There"s nothing wrong with being a simple boy..." Sanosuke said.
Souji Okita, who watched the play up close, suddenly smiled, "Let"s kill him. Only in this way can we make sure that we will have no future trouble…"
On hearing this Jiziru Yukimura got anxious. "You can"t do that to me!"
Isami Kondou scolded, "Don"t talk nonsense! We can"t kill civilians at will."
Souji wore a smile and said slowly, "Don"t be angry. I was just kidding..."
Saitou muttered, "You are really... How could you joke about the child"s life?"
Realizing that they would possibly let her off, Jiziru Yukimura immediately prostrated on the floor and implored, "Please let me go. I won"t tell anyone about what happened last night."
All the people in the room lapsed into silence and couldn"t dope out a solution to the problem. Toshizo Hijikata said calmly, "That"s enough. Now take him out."
Jiziru Yukimura couldn"t understand what he meant by "take him out". She couldn"t help but wonder if they were going to take her out and kill her...
Hajime Saitou stood up, caught Jiziru Yukimura by the wrist and pulled her out of the room.
"I"m sorry. Please don"t kill me! I won"t tell anyone what happened last night. Please believe me!" Jiziru Yukimura looked at Toshizo Hijikata who remained speechless with his eyes closed, hoping that he would save her. "Trust me. I really won"t tell anyone..."
However sincere she sounded, all of them ignored her. she was led by the arm to the room where she had slept in last night. Then Hajime Saitou pushed her down on the floor and said coldly, "You"d better prepare for the worst. I"m afraid that you won"t come to a good end."
Jiziru Yukimura was very frightened as tears welled up in her eyes. She watched Hajime Saitou walk away and thought, "I"m going to be killed..."
"What?! You are not prepared to punish him?" Shinpachi asked in disbelief. Sanosuke also looked up at Hijikata.
"Are you sure, Vice Minister Hijikata?" Sanosuke asked. "The child saw the "failed" fellows..."
Hijikata kept his eyes shut and said casually, "Last night we weeded out the "failed" warriors who violated j.a.panese Bushido. That guy just happened to be present..."
T/N note:
Bushido: the system of honour and morals of the j.a.panese samurai.
Minister Yamanami asked with a smile, "So, you think that he chanced to be there, but no more than that, right?"
"In the eyes of that child, that"s what happened. Don"t you think so?" Toshizo Hijikata opened his eyes and answered his question with another question, a trifle angrily.
Isami Kondou said, "Okay. Since Toshizo said that--"
Before Kondou could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Yamanami who looked at Toshizo Hijikata with strange eyes. "You have never intended to kill him from the beginning, right? Otherwise, you wouldn"t have kept him alive and taken him back to our camp. Anyhow, we must keep the secret from outsiders. You can"t release him so easily."
With that, Keisuke Yamanami looked at Isami Kondou with inquiring eyes.
Toshizo Hijikata sprang to his feet and said, "Oh, I see what you"re saying. There"s another thing I have to do..."
Then he walked out of the room, leaving the others gazing blankly at one another.