Dark Side of the Sun
:Chapter One:

The Vice-Commander Hijikata Toshizou stared grimly at the wan body of former Captain Okita Souji. Okita-san’s grey eyes were glassy and, to anyone else, appeared unfocused. They chilled Hijikata-san, though. He knew his assistant was staring straight into his soul. Commander Kondou Isami sat on the other side of the bed roll, and he tried not to notice the exchange between the two men. Kondou-san had been their superior for long enough that it pained him to see them like this. Unfortunately, this bloodletting was necessary. Okita-san had become too dangerous since Ikedaya.

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The year was 1864, and there was much civil unrest in Japan. The Shinsengumi was a special police force of elite samurai who were charged with the protection of the Shogunate. Their enemy was the Choshuu, a group whose goal was to reclaim power for the Emperor. The militaristic Shinsengumi patrolled the streets of Kyoto, and earned themselves the less-than-flattering nickname “Wolves of Mibu” from the Choshuu clansmen. They were a force to be reckoned with. During the battle at Ikedaya on the fifth of June, perhaps the most famous battle of the Japanese civil war, Captain Okita of the first unit was grievously injured. Vice-Commander Hijikata took him away from the battle, but not to die. The help of a certain man, Saitou Hajime, was needed.

“Saitou-san…” Hijikata addressed the sleepy-looking man solemnly. Saitou held up a hand for silence. “I already know what’s happened. And you want me to save Souji, don’t you?” The dying man was slung crudely over Hijikata’s shoulder, and was already unconscious due to blood loss. “What if I told you that I refuse to make any more like me?” Saitou’s even tone was maddening, but Hijikata set Okita’s body gently to the side before drawing his still-bloody katana from its sheath. “Death threats won’t work on me, Hijikata-san,” the man responded. He didn’t even draw his own sword. Filled with angry futility, the Vice-Commander thrust his sword into the wooden floor beneath his feet and looked away from Saitou. “Please, just…I can’t watch him die. He’s so young. Saitou-san, you’re the only one that can help him. You’re the only one of your kind in the Shinsengumi.”

After a long pause, Saitou closed his eyes and sighed. “You stay out here. Souji doesn’t have much time, and I can’t have you interfering.” Hijikata nodded and stepped to the side, pulled his sword out of the floor, and sheathed it. Saitou shuffled past the Vice-Commander, and slung the fallen samurai over his shoulder to carry him to the adjacent room. The image made Hijikata shiver; Saitou Hajime looked like some sort of pale and sickly demon carrying the first meal he’d found in centuries. That wasn’t too far from the truth, and that made the Vice-Commander shiver as well.

He watched Souji’s limp form and Saitou’s back disappear into the next room, then a lamp flared to life and their silhouettes were visible through the thin rice screens. He had never witnessed Saitou Hajime’s practice, but he was aware of it, aware of the demon he had just handed his best swordsman over to. Hijikata sat on the floor and sighed. On the other side of the screen, he saw the taller figure remove the armor of the limp figure and cast it aside. For a moment, there was just motion. Perhaps he was arranging Souji in some way that would make his task easier? After a second of still shadows, he saw the shape of Souji’s thin arm brought close to Saitou’s face. Those shadows were connected for the longest time, it seemed. He did not completely understand what it was that Saitou Hajime was doing, but he was confident that it would save Okita Souji.

A little over an hour later, Souji was dropped rather unceremoniously into Hijikata’s lap. Saitou didn’t look amused, but then he never really did. For several moments, the Vice-Commander stared at his Captain’s face. “You did it then? He’s saved?” The thin man grimaced and turned his back to Hijikata. “He is breathing and will continue to do so, if that is what you mean by ‘saved,’ but he is like me now.” The Vice-Commander rose with Souji in his arms, and nodded his thanks to Saitou, though his back was still turned. “You’ve done me a great favor, Kyuuketsuki-sama.”

“Be gone. It is almost daylight.”

Outiside the rice paper-paneled façade, the orange fingers of dawn were spreading across the dark blue sky, and the pinpoint stars were rapidly fading. In Hijikata’s arms, Souji made a small noise of protest and tried to turn his face away from the light. Though Hijikata’s knowledge of the thing that his assistant had become was limited, he had learned enough from Saitou that he attempted to cover Souji’s face with the loose cloth of his shirt as he carried him, and quickened his steps. He hated to think it, but the only place he would be safe during the day was a closet.

Once he arrived at the Shinsengumi compound, Hijikata took Souji to his room and set him on the floor of the closet, after pushing a bed roll inside for him to lie on. It was less likely that anyone would be intruding into the less-than-personable Vice-Commander’s room, rather than the fairly social Captain’s room. He was safer there. Confident that Souji would not be discovered for the time being, Hijikata left to speak to Commander Kondou.

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<sup>Notes on Factual Content:

1. “Wolves of Mibu” – This nickname originates from the word “Miburo,” which was the original name of the group that became the Shinsengumi. They were originally ronin, masterless samurai, from a town called Mibu.
2. Shinsengumi – As mentioned in the story, the Shinsengumi was a kind of police force in Kyoto during the 19th century, which supported the Shogunate.
3. Ikedaya, June 5, 1864 – This was a real battle in the Japanese civil war between the Shinsengumi and the Choshuu.
4. All of the names mentioned in story were the names of real people in Japan’s history. Kondou Isami was the Commander of a branch of the Shinsengumi. Hijikata Toshizou was one of two Vice-Commanders. Okita Souji was the Captain of the first unit, and there were several other units. Okita Souji was also Hijikata Toshizou’s assistant. They had a very close relationship. Saitou Hajime became a medicine seller after the war.
5. “Kyuuketsuki-sama” – ‘Kyuuketsuki’ is the Japanese word for vampire, and –sama is simply an honorific, a polite suffix to put after someone’s name to denote great respect. Other honorifics include –dono, -san, -kun, and –chan.
6. All names listed are in the order family name/last name, first name.</sup>

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Go to Dark Side of the Sun Ch. 2

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Dark Side of the Sun Ch. 3
Dark Side of the Sun Ch. 4
Dark Side of the Sun Ch. 5
Dark Side of the Sun Ch. 6