Flower Spelling - Chapter 42
Chapter 42 – Bunkyu 3rd Year, August 18th
It was the middle of August, and the weather had settled down to a more comfortable morning and evening. Five months had already passed since she arrived in Kyo.
In the meantime, the Choshu clan maintained its unflagging presence, expelling the barbarians and promoting the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate. History was certainly in motion leading up to the Meiji Restoration.
On the contrary, Sogetsu’s search for the folding screen progressed at a slow pace.
??I can work it out once I land in Kyo.
Definitely returning home.
In Edo, without any grounds, she could only innocently believe that. Yet, a couple of months had passed since her arrival in Kyo. Nothing has changed. No clues, no answers.
??I may never be able to return.
The reality that she had been refraining from considering for so long was now taking shape and looming over her. Day by day, Sogetsu’s impatience intensified, overwhelming her heart. Even when she wished there was someone to chat with to distract herself, Takasugi was in Choshu and Ito was far away at sea. Kusaka, Yamada, Shinagawa, and the others who were striving to expel the barbarians from the country proved difficult to converse with, and Sogetsu found herself isolated more often than not.
While Sogetsu was struggling with her situation, Choshu’s momentum swelled and they pushed for the expulsion of the barbarians and the overthrow of the shogunate??Then abruptly it burst forth like a swollen river.
??
18th of August, at the hour of the tiger (4.00 a.m.).
The peaceful sleep of the citizens of Kyo was pierced by the rumbling of cannon as the ground rumbled.
“What’s going on?”
“The sound seems to be coming from the Imperial Palace.”
The Choshu soldiers, entrusted with guarding the Sakai-machi gate, immediately rushed to the palace. However, what awaited them were the soldiers of Satsuma and Aizu who blocked the way to the palace. The two sides engaged in a fierce standoff that threatened to break out into armed conflict. It was not until dawn that the Choshu soldiers received an imperial decree exempting them from protecting the gate.
It was truly out of the blue and no one understood why it had occurred all of a sudden. The retainer, Masuda Uemon, armed several hundred of the clansmen in his residence, ready to engage in battle at any moment, and proceeded to the residence of the Choshu lord, Takatsukasa, to inquire into the reason for the outbreak.
No way, could there really be a battle…
Apprehensive by the atmosphere in the mansion, Sogetsu…
“I will be going out for a bit!”
She stormed out of the clan residence to hear the situation from Naito.
If I recall correctly, the Aizu clan had a camp at a place called Komyoji in Kurodani.
Looking up, the sky was overcast with thick clouds and it seemed ready to pour down rain. Soldiers armed with spears and guns passed through the streets, and the people of the city watched through the closed doors with a sense of foreboding.
“Lord Sogetsu!?”
One of the several Aizu soldiers who had dashed by halted with a startled look on his face.
“Mr. Naito!”
This was the Naito she sought.
Sogetsu, who had rushed out but was wondering how to get Naito to help her, was relieved, hurrying over to him.
Naito urged his comrades to proceed, and when he came to Sogetsu, he remarked, with an unusually stern look upon his face.
“Why are you here? This place is unsafe. Go back to Yoshidaya immediately.”
“I came here for you. What on earth is happening? Why can’t the Choshu soldiers get into the palace?”
“That is…”
“??Sogetsu!”
Naito’s words were interrupted by two familiar faces running towards them.
“Yamada! Mr Shinagawa!”
“??Get down!”
Shinagawa intervened to shield Sogetsu from Naito.
“He’s from Aizu! Hey, you, keep your distance from Sogetsu!”
“You are mistaken, Mr. Shinagawa. This is my acquaintance, Mr. Naito! I was looking for him and I happened to come across him here…”
“What!?”
Shinagawa’s astonished expression gradually faded to one of coldness.
“… It couldn’t be,” Shinagawa said in a low, squeezing voice. “Sogetsu, you’ve been in contact with Aizu? You knew this would happen and you didn’t tell us!”
“No way, you are wrong! I didn’t know anything. I am here to learn what is happening from him??”
“Shut up!”
“Stop it, Yaji!”
When Shinagawa drew his sword, Yamada clasped him from behind.
“Release me! She’s been friends with him for a long time! No doubt she’s been communicating with Aizu and providing them with intelligence on Choshu!”
“I didn’t do that! Even Yamada must be aware of this!?”
“I am…”
However, Yamada was speechless at Sogetsu’s cry of distress.
Gradually, Sogetsu’s face contorted as if she was struggling against the pain.
“Calm down, both of you.” Naito’s quiet voice broke in. “Lord Sogetsu has done nothing to betray you. It was only by chance that we met.”
“Ha! After conspiring with Satsuma to shut out Choshu, how can you expect us to believe such words?”
No words could reach Shinagawa, whose head was seething with blood.
“… I understand. If you insist to that extent, I have no choice??-I’ll take my life as proof of your innocence, Lord Sogetsu!”
??-A moment.
Something red fluttered.
“Mr. Naito!”
Naito fell to his knees as if he were crumpled in front of Sogetsu, whose eyes widened in shock.
There was no time to stop.
Naito had no hesitation in slitting his own neck with his wakizashi.
Blood flowed from his neck, staining the kimono of the clinging Sogetsu.
“Mr. Naito… Mr. Naito!”
Under his struggling breath, Naito frantically tried to speak. “What Lord Sogetsu said… is true. Lord Sogetsu knows nothing… She didn’t reveal anything. Please believe her…”
Shinagawa cowered as though he had been drenched in cold water. “I get it, I was wrong. Alright, get a grip!”
She took out a hand towel and pressed it against the wound.
But the blood refused to cease flowing.
Naito looked at Sogetsu with unfocused eyes. “I am sorry for… the trouble I have caused you.”
“No, not at all!” Sogetsu could barely shake her head.
“I’ll get the doctor!”
When Yamada was about to leave.
From across the street, the Aizu soldiers who had left earlier came back, perhaps worried about Naito. Upon sighting the scene, their faces changed color and they hurried towards them.
“Not good, we have to leave!”
Dragging Sogetsu who remained frozen, Yamada and the others left the area.
Why, why did this happen… I had enough of this place. I want to go home.
??I want to go home…!
In between sobs, a longing plea was squeezed out but was lost in the background noise and fell on deaf ears.
?
Afterward, she could scarcely remember where she had gone. The next thing she knew, Sogetsu was shivering in her room at the clan residence, her body soaked in blood.
In the mansion, the major figures were assembled to discuss the future course of events.
Apparently, this morning’s events were the result of a conspiracy between Aizu and Satsuma to drive Choshu out of the Imperial Court. Despite the fact that there were some who argued for a decisive fight, the majority view was that Choshu could not take a stand against the Imperial Court, and so it was agreed that Choshu should leave Kyo for the time being and seek an opportunity to rise again.
So the Choshu clansmen, including Katsura, Kusaka, Shinagawa, and Yamada, as well as the seven lords of the expulsionist party, left Kyo with only a handful of soldiers. Their appearance in the drizzling rain resembled that of a miserable, vanquished army.
After their departure, the residence was eerily quiet, not even a rustle could be perceived.
Not a single person took any note of it when Sogetsu, who had been holed up in her room for the past two days, wandered out of the gate.
From that day on, nothing more was to be known of Sogetsu.