Shinsengumi

Eien Akagawa

Extli opened his mouth wide and I swear that I saw his canines lengthen. He took in a deep breath of air and roared. My muscles tensed and I froze for a long moment. Extli wasn’t standing there, instead it was a predator with a yellow coat and black spots. I blinked and Extli was back as he stalked over to the fight between his warriors and the Shinsengumi.

His men had responded to his roar by disengaging from the Shinsengumi. Both sides bore little wounds, a testament to both sides skill and neither doing much to truly kill. The Shinsengumi backed off but kept their weapons trained on the Aztecs.

The Shinsengumi were a police force that had employed brutal tactics in their past to keep the Shogunate in power. In fact, their harsh tactics alienated them from the common citizens at the time. Ultimately their ferocity couldn’t save the Shogunate and they were nearly wiped out by the would-be Emperor Meiji.

The Demon Vice-Commander Hijikata had managed to keep the Shinsengumi alive after their commander Kondo died. Due to the timely assassination of Meiji, the Shinsengumi managed to survive and find a new home in Edo after years of fighting and turbulence. They resolved to be a police force that wouldn’t take sides of the clans and would protect the people.

Somehow against all odds, they held their own against the clans, despite them being merely human. Their fangs held the clans in check from abusing their power against the common people. There wasn’t a concentrated effort to remove them as their presence stabilized the small-scale conflicts in the region. But most of all they treated all sides equally, no matter who they were

The Shinsengumi separated for a single man to come forward. Each step he took towards the Aztec warriors seemed to hold a great weight. His light blue haori and tail of his headband fluttered in the soft wind. He stared down the Aztec warriors without putting a hand on his sheathed sword. This was the captain of the fifth unit, Sanehisa. The man said to be the second coming of the Demon Vice-Commander.

Extli walked through a path his warriors had opened up in between themselves. He stood before Sanehisa and put his hands on his hips. “What can I do for you today officer?”

“Extli!” Sanehisa said loudly. “You have caused a public disturbance with this display. You may be a foreign ambassador but your arrogance can only take you so far!”

“I have done no harm to the citizenry of the city.” Extli calmly said. “I merely had my men clear out a space so that we might air out our grievances with each other.”

I slid my jitte into its holster at my back and picked up my katana. I inspected it for nicks before cleaning it with a rag from my pocket. Then I slide it back into its scabbard.

“Regardless, doing so in the middle of the day in the market is inexcusable.” His eyes glanced towards me before focusing back on Extli. “Your time here in the nation is as a guest and I will revoke those rights if I must.”

“You can, but then the clans would allow me back into the city again.” Extli shrugged. "You'd maybe inconvenience me for a day, maybe two.”

“Get your men off the street,” Sanehisa growled. “Your ‘disagreement’ is over.”

“Maybe for now.” Extli waved his hand and his men formed ranks. He turned back to look at me. “We’re not done yet, Eien.”

“For now, we are done.”

He huffed out a laugh before leaving with his men. Sanehisa directed a few of his men to ‘guide’ Extli and his men back to their embassy. And he sent the rest to put the citizenry at rest. I turned to go back into the waiting room of the seers building but Sanehisa began walking towards me. I inwardly cursed and waited for him.

“Eien,” he said by way of greeting.

“Sanehisa.”

“What did you get yourself into?” he said bluntly.

“I can’t tell you that. I’m on a job.”

“You can either tell me while I’m asking as your acquaintance or I can ask you under my position in the Shinsengumi.” He stared me down with a glare that made ordinary men quake in their shoes. I had dealt with divine beings like Extli, bearing his disapproval was just another thing on the list. I wasn’t one of his men to just fall into line either.

Then the door to the seer’s place opened and Kizuna and Iroha ran out. They saw me and Iroha tried to stop Kizuna by wrapping her arms around her waist. But she easily dragged Iroha behind her. Sanehisa looked at them with his piercing gaze. Kizuna was wearing her hat again but he dealt with the clans on a daily basis. This wasn’t good.

“Eien, are you okay?” Kizuna said while inspecting me. “How bad is it?”

I shrugged my wounded shoulder and winced. “I’ll be fine. Some rest will do me good. The Shinsengumi came to my rescue.”

“Eien,” Sanehisa said, turning back to me with a threat in his voice. I put a hand on my sword. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”

“I don’t believe that’s any of your business,”

“It will be when it becomes a threat to Edo.” He stepped towards me, getting into my personal space. I didn’t move because if I showed weakness, he’d walk all over me. “A lot of things suddenly make sense now.”

“And what’s that?” I had to look up at him since he was a little taller than I was.

“There’s been talk of a clanswoman running around town and the Kirin clan’s been in a frenzy since the battle earlier today.” He placed two fingers against my wounded shoulder and I did my best to keep a straight face. “They have yet to ask us for help, but I know the first place that I’ll be checking when they do.”

“But they haven’t.” I grabbed his fingers and pulled them away from my shoulder. “Which means you have to let us go.”

“I don’t have to do anything. If you were a normal citizen I’d have locked you up already or slain you on the spot.” He gritted his teeth tightly.

“And why haven’t you?” I let go of his fingers.

“If it wasn’t for Saito wanting you to join us, I would have already.” He stepped back. “Keep this mess contained Eien.” He turned away with a swish of his haori and began shouting orders to his men. I took my hand off the pommel of my sword.

“Eien, who was that?” Kizuna asked me.

“That was Sanehisa, the captain of the fifth unit of the Shinsengumi.” I turned and glared at her. “Next time, listen to Iroha when she’s trying to stop you.”

“I couldn’t.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I know the best path for the future.”