To put it in a simple word, this Fuji Shuusuke person was intriguing.

He was slender almost to the point of looked effeminate Tezuka could hardly believe that someone like him was present amongst the bunch of men called wolves. His eyes, half hidden behind long, tawny eyelashes, were as blue as cerulean sea, and not even in his previous journey around Japan Tezuka had ever met any Japanese who had that kind of eyes. Something nudged him in his mind that this Fuji Shuusuke might have a bit blood of foreign—Buddha helped him if it was true since here was a headquarter belonged to the Shinsengumi, a loyal, if not xenophobic, guardian of the shogun.

“Sensei?”

“Ah—yes?”

“Could I excuse myself now?”

“Fuji-san, you’re in good health, but you should take care of your right arm.”

Fuji stared at his right hand for a while, then, “Ah. You know?”

“Your body tells me so.”

The brunette half smiled at Tezuka’s words. “What does my body tell you?”

“That you’re a right-handed sword player,” Tezuka said, “and that you’re more aware than I am about your body.” A martial artist always knew his body better than anyone else did, he remembered it was once said.

The brunette chuckled lightly, his laughter rang a bell inside Tezuka’s mind. “Matsumoto-hougen is a very good teacher that his student is this good, isn’t he?”

“I’m not my mentor.”

Sighing once, Tezuka let Fuji go away with that. “I’ll give you some balm later, Fuji-san. Maybe after the health inspection this evening.”

“Yes, Sensei. Thank you very much.”

Tezuka thought he would never forget Fuji’s eyes and the already fading ugly-looking bruises on his right arms.

.-.-.-.

Okita Souji.

Tezuka had known that name since he was still in the Sakura Medical School (1). Some title-tattles said that he was a demonic killer from the Ikedaya calamity; some others said he was the demon itself even compared the members of Shinsengumi. Demon of all demons was Okita.

Yet, the only thing Tezuka was able to think of the moment he saw Okita was that somehow, the way he talked reminded Tezuka of a certain soldier he had checked previously.

Matsumoto-hougen seemed irritated to hear Okita say that he was perfectly fine, and Tezuka wondered why his mentor just gladly accepted such an answer.

“It’s the spirit, Tezuka,” Matsumoto-hougen answered when he asked about it. “A bushi will just show up biting a toothpick as if he’s just finished eating big party even though in truth he’s starving. (2)”

“That’s ridiculous,” Tezuka commented. “Pride doesn’t have anything to do with health. We’re sick when we’re sick, and we’re healthy when we’re healthy. It’s as simple as that.”

“Since when is life ever simple,” knowing his disciple’s way of thinking, Matsumoto-hougen argued back, “especially for these people here who want to reach the bushido with their sword?”

“I—”

“Tezuka-sensei!”

Matsumoto-hougen looked behind his disciple to see a young man run in their direction. “You are—”

Coming to a halt, Fuji bowed in respect to Matsumoto-hougen. “I apologize for my rudeness, Sensei. I’m Fuji Shuusuke.”

“Have we ever met before?”

“Ah, unfortunately no, Sensei. I’m from Itou-sensei’s group. Tezuka-sensei was very kind take care of our health examination just ago.”

Flashing his infamous grin, Matsumoto-hougen elbowed Tezuka’s arm. “You didn’t say anything about meeting such a fine young man, Tezuka.”

“I forgot, Sensei. I’m sorry.”

“Ah... man of efficient words as usual, I see...” Matsumoto-hougen turned his attention back to Fuji. “And Fuji-kun here must have something important to do with Tezuka, ne?”

Fuji nodded and smiled. “Tezuka-sensei asked me to come for my—”

“—special treatment,” cutting short, Tezuka finished for Fuji. “Matsumoto-sensei, I also forgot to tell you Hijikata-san’s looking for you. He wanted to discuss about the arrangement for baths or something like that.”

Knowing that Tezuka did not desire to let him know about his deal with this Fuji person, Matsumoto-hougen’s grin grew even wider. “I’ll look for him. Please excuse me, Tezuka, Fuji-kun.”

Tezuka watched the back of his mentor until Matsumoto-hougen disappeared in a corner.

“Your mentor is really great, Sensei.”

“He is.”

“So, Sensei, about the balm you’ve promised me before...”

“I don’t have it with me today,” Tezuka admitted.

“Then why did you ask me to meet you?”

“I’ve got several questions to ask, and the examination room back then was not a proper place to talk.”

Fuji tilted his head—almost childishly, Tezuka thought. “Please ask me, Sensei.”

“Why are you here?”

For a mere second, the soldier tensed, but he naturally returned to his smile. “What kind of question is that, Sensei?”

“You. Brown hair. Blue eyes. You don’t look Japanese enough to me.”

Smiling at the blunt statement, Fuji answered calmly. “I’m a native. I’m a Tama-born (3). Itou-sensei brought me here along with the newly requited members. You must have known that after the Ikedaya calamity, Kondou-sensei asked Itou-sensei to join Shinsengumi.”

Tama, Tezuka repeated in his mind. Wonder if it’s just a coincidence... “Would you answer if I ask you about the bruises on your right arm?”

“Ah. These?” Fuji pulled the sleeve of his kimono up, exposing his bruises again. “It isn’t something serious, Sensei. It happens frequently.”

Somehow, Fuji’s last word made Tezuka sick to the stomach.

His head bowed, Fuji’s eyes were hidden from Tezuka. “It’s unusual, but it’s not uncommon here. I’m sorry if you feel uncomfortable with that idea, Tezuka-sensei.”

“I’m a doctor, Fuji-san, not a monk. I won’t preach around about anyone’s sex life, but I have the right to tell my patients to take care of their own bodies.”

This time, Fuji lifted his face. “Personal fight among members is not allowed, Sensei. It’s one of Shinsengumi’s rules.”

Tezuka gritted his teeth, irritated. “Fine then. I’ll ask Nanbu to give you some balm. Now, I really need to go before I may say impolite things.”

“Thank you, Sensei.”

Not knowing why he as irritated, Tezuka did not care to bow back at Fuji before he left.

.-.-.-.

Comparing to Tezuka, Nanbu seemed to have been dealing with a greater problem of temper. He ranted about how a doctor could stand the sight of bruised bodies caused not only by sword fighting. Matsumoto-hougen just laughed at his antics, and Tezuka’s mind wandered far from their conversation.

“Gods, they’ll sleep with anyone as long as it doesn’t pick a fight. That’s just so sick, don’t you think so, Tezuka?”

“Nanbu,” Matsumoto-hougen reprimanded gently. “You want to lose your head or what?”

Despite his drunkenness, Nanbu still could scowl. After ranting here and there, he finally fell asleep with his bald head on the table, snoring lightly.

“It’ll be a trouble if he catches cold from sleeping here,” Matsumoto-hougen sighed. “Believe me, I won’t ask him again to come to the Nishihonganji.”

Tezuka kept silent, writing the character of makoto (4) on the surface of the table with his fingertip.

“Tezuka, you’re from Tama, right?”

“Yes.”

“What do they say about rice in Tama?”

“If a bushi eats rice before he goes to war, he will not be defeated.”

“That’s the pride of a Tama farmer, Tezuka! You can understand that, why can’t you understand the pride of a bushi?”

Tezuka rewrote the character of makoto in his mind over and over again. To hell with the pride of a bushi, with fidelity and obedience, and else. Medical terms were more understandable that them. Nanbu was right. Fake loyalty sucked a big time. What was the meaning of obeying some rules if it meant sacrificing something one should treasure greatly, after all?

“I don’t understand them, Sensei. I don’t understand the people who will gladly throw their life away just because of a sick sense of fidelity.”

.-.-.-.

Notes:
(1) The Matsumoto clan was a notable doctor family at that time, and Matsumoto-hougen’s foster father opened a western-styled medical school in Sakura (here I explain out of my memory). I forget the name, but I promise I’ll write more about the school Tezuka had attended.
(2) This is an old Japanese saying.
(3) Shinsengumi’s kyoukuchou (commander), Kondou Isami, was actually born in a farmer family from Tama.
(4) Makoto is the character written on the flag of Shinsengumi. It literally means fidelity, but some people say it also can be read as truth or honesty.

NEXT

“You once had suffered from rougai, hadn’t you, Hijikata?”

“You haven’t changed a bit since those days in Tama, have you? Didn’t I tell you that a martial artist always knew his body better than anyone else did? Ne, Tezuka?”

“Hijikata-san places me in the first group—Okita-san’s group. My sword will fight more frequent, and more bruises will appear on my bodies.”

“Matsumoto-sensei, please ask me to stay near the Shinsengumi as a doctor.”

“Hereby I announce Tezuka Kunimitsu-sensei as a temporal doctor for us.”