Flower Spelling - Chapter 21
Chapter 21 – Fight
Frosty and cold, on a day in the site of Dozo Sagami.
After hearing the story of Kanagawa from Sogetsu, Hanabishi widened her big eyes.
“Such a terrible thing has struck… Oh, yes, for half a month or so there have been gatherings here, discussing matters with complicated looks on their faces. However, I had no idea that they were planning something so daring. So, is Master Takasugi and the others all right? Any blame…?”
“Mr. Takasugi and the others were given only a mild suspension. In fact, he was even given a consolation prize. But Mr. Sufu, though…” Sogetsu poked senselessly at the ash in the brazier.
Yamauchi Yodo was not willing to tolerate being insulted by a clan member. In response to Yodo’s insistence that Sufu be handed over to him, Seishi Sadahiro apologized profusely and defended him, saying that he would kill Sufu himself if he had to.
Nevertheless, nothing was left without blame. It was arranged that Sufu was to be dismissed from his post and sent back to Japan under house arrest, thus leaving Edo. In Sufu’s stead, Katsura, summoned back from Kyo at short notice, succeeded in his duties.
“Sorry to hear about Master Sufu. But there must be another reason why Sou’s face is not cheerful.”
“… Am I making such a face? Me?”
“Yeah.”
Sogetsu nodded confidently and laughed, saying that she was no match for her. “… Well, this is about Mr. Takasugi and his friends…”
Upon being lifted from house arrest, Takasugi and his friends had been working strenuously even more than before for the expulsion of the barbarians.
But this was tantamount to a growing detachment from Sogetsu.
For Sogetsu, the idea of exerting force to expel the barbarians is something she cannot agree with. That said, she found herself at a loss for words when confronted with the question of what else to do other than displaying force.
“I wonder if it’s a dream come true to have friendly relations with each other, not as a dominating country subjugating a weaker one, but as a mutual recognition of each other’s merits.”
“Well, yeah…” Hanabishi kept her mouth shut as if thinking for a moment, eventually beginning to speak slowly. “I was terrified of foreigners, too, until I learned about them from Sou. Even looking at them from a distance was enough to give me the creeps and cause me to run away. Now I don’t feel that way as much and I enjoy listening to stories about other countries. But you know what?”
Hanabishi stood at the window and gently opened the shoji.
Along with the chilly air, the sight of the picturesque Gotenyama (Mt. Goten) with its beautiful maple leaves came into view.
Among these, only one stood out for spoiling the landscape. An exceptional Western-style building, obscuring amidst the trees. The British Consulate is nearing its final stages of completion.
“Gotenyama has often served as a recreational area for the people of Edo. In the springtime, the cherry blossoms are a beauty, and I love it. I hate to see it being taken away like that. So a part of me wishes to support what Master Takasugi and the others are doing.”
“I see…”
“Sorry, Sou.”
“No, you don’t have to apologize, Ohana. I understand what you mean.”
But, even so.
Even so, what Mr. Takasugi and the others are attempting to do is kill people, right?
If not for the intervention of the Tosa clan at that time, they would have seriously intended to kill a person. This was inconceivable in the context of where Sogetsu was.
Although the era is different, so to speak.
It was as if they had been exposed to a rift beyond their capacity for interaction and it made her irresistibly saddened.
?
Was it an unconscious accumulation of such frustration? She and Takasugi had a fight over a trivial matter.
It happened during Takasugi, Kusaka, and Sogetsu gathering in a room at the clan residence following supper to converse for the first time in a long time.
Kusaka apparently was concerned about Sogetsu’s recent downward spiral. However, all that came out of her mouth were words of repulsion.
This is just taking it out on them. I have to stop, I have to stop.
In her head, she thought so, but her words were unstoppable.
“If you insist on questioning the Tosa clan’s change of heart, the same applies to Mr. Takasugi. You said that the expulsion of barbarians was reckless… and now was the time to save your strength. So why are you bringing up the subject of killing foreigners?”
“Because I have to!”
Takasugi’s tone was equally firm as Sogetsu’s.
“In Shanghai, when I was there, there was a clan that was frequently mentioned by foreigners. Do you have a clue as to which one it was? —Mito was the one. They feared Mito as the strongest. Only the Mito clan had exemplified the spirit of the Japanese people by slaughtering the barbarians rather than succumbing to them. It was this spirit that enabled the Mito clan to defeat the barbarians. Recently, Satsuma also killed a foreigner. Choshu cannot afford to fall behind. We must show to the world that Choshu also has the spirit to kill the foreigners, and we must build up our forces and take on the whole country while the foreigners are too afraid to make a move!”
“That’s nothing more than a pipe dream! Do you expect that country to stand idly by while innocent people are killed? It would only provide an excuse for a foreign country to resort to force. What would be the consequences if they were to launch an invasion before you have the necessary armaments?”
“Success or failure is not the issue. Implementation is the key. Besides, should the situation deteriorate to such an extent, the shogunate and the opportunistic clans would be more inclined to take the matter into account. Are you aware of what people are saying about Choshu now? They say that we are ‘a clan that goes from advocating opening up the country to advocating the expulsion of the barbarians’. A single Choshu clan may be divided and armed, but that won’t do any good if it’s isolated from the rest of the clans!”
“In the end, you’re counting on others. You constantly talk about how other clans are unreliable, yet you can’t do anything on your own!”
“You, on the other hand, seem to have acted rashly when called upon by Jubei!”
Caught in a sore spot, Sogetsu fell silent.
Kusaka stepped in to intervene, but Takasugi grew more arrogant than ever.
“You say naively that you desire to be friends with him, but you perceive nothing of his heart. Even if you have no intention of doing so, the other side is sure to be keen to discover what’s going on in Choshu.”
“??That, that is…!”
“Oh, you look like you have an idea of what I’m talking about. You see, that’s all there is to it, friendship with a foreigner.”
Wrong, he didn’t. Perhaps he was once, but this time he was purely inviting as a friend.
“… Despite differences in nationality and position, we can relate to each other. Even Mr. Takasugi befriended the Qing people in Shanghai, right? If you want to get rid of the stigma of your clan, it is more short-sighted and naive to adopt the use of force simply because you don’t want to be outdone by other clans or to clear your name. In fact, aren’t you ashamed that you have to purchase warships and weapons from the other side in order to engage in battle?”
Then Takasugi’s complexion flushed scarlet.
“??If you don’t like the Choshu approach that much, why not simply leave? You seem to prefer to stand on the shoulders of foreign nations. You don’t have to force yourself to stick around!”
Right at that precise moment, within Sogetsu, something burst forth.
“??What’s with you!”
Before she was aware of it, she was screaming. All the things that had been suppressed until now overflowed like a dam.
“Like I want to come here either! If I could go home, I would do it in a heartbeat! I have a family, I go to university regularly, I enjoy movies and karaoke with friends, I eat burgers and chips full of additives, I relax and watch TV… That’s how things were supposed to be!”
“Empty, tub? A print?… What the hell are you talking about?”
The look on Takasugi’s face was one of incomprehension.
“You don’t understand, do you? Even though I speak the same language, this place is as foreign to me as any other. If you call them foreigners, then so am I. Wherever am I, it’s the same!”
No sooner had she said this did Sogetsu storm out of the room.
“??Sogetsu!”
Disregarding Kusaka’s voice to stop her, she ran in the dark through the streets at night. Only continuing to run and run, eventually, she wandered into the precincts of a deserted shrine.
On the cold stone steps of the temple, she sat down and buried her face in her knees. The piercing north wind crept through the cracks of her kimono. A flood of regret and self-loathing overwhelmed her, threatening to shatter her.
For how long did this maintain?
From afar there sounded a rough clattering of geta, which once passed the shrine, returned and hesitantly entered the precincts. At length, the hesitating footsteps gave way to a sure gait and came straight to a halt in front of Sogetsu.
Even not needing to see the face, the sound of footsteps made it clear to Sougetsu who the person was.
Both sides remained silent.
In the silence of the precinct, all that was audible was the raspy breathing of the owner of the geta.
Unable to bear the silence, Sogetsu looked up loosely.
He must have been running all the way from the clan residence. Breathing on his shoulder, Takasugi stared down at her as if in fury.
No, rather than saying as if in fury, he was actually furious.
She was inconsolable and turned her head away. “I am sorry for what I said earlier. You don’t know what I am talking about and I didn’t mean to… I apologize. I’ll be back at the residence later… Will you leave me alone for now, please?”
But Takasugi did not reply.
When the man did not move a muscle, she began to get suspicious.
“??It’s my bad!” Unexpectedly, Takasugi bowed his head.
“Eh?”
She stared at the man in front of her in amazement. His left cheek appeared to be swollen.
“Kusaka hit me.” Noticing Sogetsu’s gaze, Takasugi stroked his cheek uncomfortably. “It was the worst thing I ever said to anyone. I’m sorry…”
Once again, he lowered his head deeply.
“Oh, no, please don’t!” Sogetsu stood up in a hurry. “It is natural for Mr. Takasugi to be upset. I’m the one who’s being naive. Also, I am the one taking it out on you… On top of that, after all the hospitality you’ve given me, I was the one being a jerk.”
“What are you saying? You say it’s my fault, so why don’t you simply accept it?”
“No, I was the one who poked at you first.”
They got into another fight.
Neither of them could bring themselves to speak, so together they sat down on the stone steps.
“You seem rather outspoken, yet you don’t talk much about yourself.”
Out of the blue, Takasugi spoke up. His tone was sultry.
“For you, is here a foreign country?”
Sogetsu’s shoulders shook with a twitch. That indicated her answer.
“… I truly, gratefully appreciate it.” Sogetsu opened her mouth reluctantly. “To the landlady, to Mr. Takasugi, to Mr. Kusaka… to all the people who have helped me. Otherwise, I would have died in the street or been sold off somewhere. I’m very lucky. Therefore, I know that thinking like this is a punishment. Still, I feel terribly lonely sometimes. I miss where I was, I want to go back.”
“It is a matter of fact that you miss your home. I can’t say that I understand all your feelings.. but I do know a little about the apprehension of being in a strange country. So, from now on, you can talk more about your country. That… empty tub you were talking about? Or whatever it is. If there is even one person who knows about your country, this place will be a little less foreign to you.”
His tone was blunt, but his words showed great compassion, and Sogetsu felt a warmth deep in his eyes.
Sogetsu blinked and tried to cover it up, but Takasugi held out a vermilion gourd to her. The gourd was his favorite sake gourd, which he normally kept hanging from his waist.
“Drink it. Hand-made wine.”
“…”
Taking a sip, she did as she was told, her stomach churning from the intensity of the drink. She tried to take a deep breath and choked instantly.
“What, just only a small amount? Pathetic.”
While Sogetsu was coughing, Takasugi took up the gourd and at once sucked all of it.
“Because… this… isn’t it several degrees stronger than usual?”
“That’s because it’s Kurushima’s secret brew.”
“Mr. Kurushima’s!?”
“Yes, the one I took respectfully from before.”
“Respectfully… You couldn’t have secretly taken it from him, do you?”
“You are an accomplice yourself for drinking it.” Takasugi smiled convincingly. “We are all in this together, even when we are angry.”
“??Mr. Takasugi!”
“Haha, your usual form is kicking in.”
“… You really are!”
Takasugi stood up, exaggerating his fear when he mimicked a fist bump. “We’d better get back. Kusaka’s been anxiously awaiting you.”
“Yes.”
Following Takasugi, she started to move.
Full of stars in the sky.
The wind was chilly.
She was no longer feeling isolated.
T/N:
Empty, tub? A print? – These are all spoken in modern Japanese words that did not exist in Edo era so he misheard the words