CHAPTER NINETEEN
More out of boredom than hope, he began trying to feel with his fingers for anything he might use to escape. He was not tied to anything, as far as he could tell; he could roll and squirm his way around, for all the good it would do him. Still, he had to do something, and there was no other sensory input available.
He had not gotten very far when he heard footsteps approaching. Good, he thought – at least something was happening.
He was tempted to take that thought back, however, when the first thing that happened was a gigantically painful kick to his wounded shoulder that very nearly made him pass out again.
“I hope that hurt,” a voice said near his ear; he had no idea to whom it belonged, but hoped he would have a chance to share his feelings at some point in the near future.
The next thing that happened was the ropes binding his legs were untied and a pole was thrust lengthwise under his arms at his back, pulling viciously at the wound on his shoulder; he was yanked up to a standing position by two people – one on either end of the pole, which they used to propel him forward. They went outside, judging by the changes in acoustics and the fresher air on his skin, as well as the brighter light diffused through the blindfold.
Then the blindfold and gag were removed, and he stood blinking and squinting until his eyes adjusted to the brightness of daylight.
Sekiguchi was there, of course, observing him with the perpetual expression of vague amusement that characterized him, his eye cool and calculating. The only real variation in this expression came about during punctuated moments of insanity that usually ended with blood on the floor.
“Harada Tetsuya, I imagine you are mightily displeased to still be alive. Your noble ambition is to die in battle, like all true samurai; sadly, that is not your fate. You were far kinder to the traitor I used in your midst than I will be to you,” Sekiguchi said in his languid voice.
Harada knew he referred to Date, the Shinsengumi officer whom Sekiguchi had used to divide the Shinsengumi and make an assassination attempt on Chief Kato. In the end, Harada dueled with him and killed him.
He refused to react to Sekiguchi’s taunts; a reaction would be entertainment to these people, nothing more.
“I believe in singular function,” Sekiguchi continued, “I find things formed or used for one purpose alone to be most beautiful, simple in their purity. The function of a Fury, for instance, is to destroy; there is nothing on earth more beautiful than that red-haired vengeance deity of yours.”
It made Harada’s skin crawl to hear him talk about her, but again he stayed outwardly calm. “And you, too, Demon Vice-Commander, have a single purpose to fulfill: you might just be the trigger I need to control her. Some sources believe there is more between you than a similarity of temper.”
Harada began to shake with horrified rage as he comprehended what was happening. The ‘why’ of the equation finally added up; they wanted him alive in order to use him as a way to control Thalia. Strategically, it was sound – he knew she would do anything she could to protect him, no matter what it cost her. This was the most dishonorable, ignominious end possible for him.
Sekiguchi laughed gently, seeing through his increasing struggle to appear unmoved, then continued: “If it turns out my sources are wrong, and she does not care for you, you’ll be of no more use to me, and will end your life as food for marine life. I may die as well, if she confronts me while I lack the trigger by which to control her, but life is all about taking calculated risks.”
“You never learn, do you, Sekiguchi?” Harada finally said, his voice hoarse. “Your obsession with singular purpose is misguided, so whatever you build on it will fail every time. It’s what made you a terrorist when your classmates learned to adapt. Balance is what the universe teaches us; mutualism between darkness and light, night and day, death and life.
“Simple as this is, you can’t understand it, and that will be your downfall in dealing with Thalia. Fury is only half of what she is, and that’s not the half that holds her trigger.” With that, he smiled down at his captor.
“What do you mean?” Sekiguchi asked.
Harada refused to even acknowledge the question, simply gazing into the clear, vast distance of the sky.
One of Sekiguchi’s minions punched him in the mouth. “Don’t disrespect Sekiguchi-sama! Answer him!”
Harada looked coolly at his assailant, then spat a mouthful of blood in his face. That was the only answer he intended to give.
Sekiguchi shrugged. “Take him on deck, and someone give him water every hour or so.” He turned back briefly to his prisoner. “You’ll be where she can find you easily, perhaps as wind or water; but she won’t be able to release you without taking physical form; that’s what I look forward to.”
He walked away, turning back only to say to Furutani Aimi, “Gag him. We must not allow him to speak to her.”
But the Demon Vice-Commander did not intend to go so easily. Using his one good leg as leverage, he wrenched the pole that was stuck between his back and his bound arms away from those holding it, then used it as a weapon, driving one end into the face of the man on the left, then swinging it around to crack against the throat of the one on the right, crushing his windpipe.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
He might be denied an honorable warrior’s death in battle, but he would damned well not go willingly to be bait to trap the woman he loved; death was far preferable. He cursed his wounded leg for slowing him down as he tried to reach the side of the ship in order to throw himself into the sea. He had nearly gotten there when something fell on him from above, knocking him onto the deck rather than into the ocean.
He cursed his luck bitterly, but quietly; he did not want them to have the satisfaction of knowing how revolted he was by their use of him.
Someone had landed on top of him, and now leaned on the pole with all their weight, crushing him; he began to see stars punctuating an encroaching darkness.
***
When Harada hung up on her after saying, finally, that he loved her, Thalia stared in front of her blindly, nostrils distended, pulse skyrocketing. She was furious and half-crazed with worry, knowing he had only confessed his love because he expected – even planned – to die.
Seizo asked her what was wrong and was eyeing her with concern when his phone rang. “It’s Harada-san,” he said.
“Answer it!” she hissed, coming to life.
Her tears started when Seizo agreed to protect her, and added that together they would protect Harada too, like it or not. A moment later Seizo winced, holding the phone away from his ear.
“What?” Thalia demanded, her eyes wide and dilated with fear.
“I think he threw the phone off a building,” Seizo said. He looked very grim. “We had a traitor in our ranks again,” he said, eyes glinting red as he grabbed his katana and jacket. Thalia was not about to be left behind, and grabbed her gear too. Her uniform had been designed to allow her to carry her pair of long knives either crossed over her back or on her hips; by instinct she preferred them on her back.
“A traitor’s presence would explain how Hellfire Rising knows about me,” Thalia said as they ran to the car after directing the men to follow.
Seizo nodded in grim agreement. “Precisely.”
“Kaa-chan,” Seizo said when they arrived at the specified warehouse, “you should stay here until I tell you it’s fine to come.”
“Fuck that,” Thalia replied, and stormed into the warehouse, leaving the rest of them to follow her. So it was that she found a note Sekiguchi had left for her, which she and Seizo perused together.
‘Thalia-sama,’ it said, ‘I do not yet have the pleasure of knowing you, so I am not certain what you value; as a result, I must make an educated guess, and also make use of the tools that come to my hand. We have therefore taken the Vice-Commander to be our guest, in hopes that you value his company enough to join us. If you come, come alone, or he dies. If you do not come within a week’s time, I will realize I was mistaken in my estimation of what you value, and he will die. If you are indeed all I have heard, you will not have trouble finding us without the luxury of directions. I look forward to making your acquaintance; there’s so much I’d like to discuss with you.’
Seizo glared at Thalia before she had even looked up from the letter. “Don’t you dare; and don’t think I’m about to leave you alone for a single moment when you have that look in your eye.”
“Seizo,” she said in an argumentative tone.
“No!” he said, so loudly his whole troop froze for a moment and looked over at them. He lowered his voice, but still spoke vehemently. “You and that asshole have the same way of doing whatever the hell you feel like, never considering the fact that there are people who will be devastated if anything happens to you. That’s not courage or love, it’s reckless selfishness. Harada-san at least does it in ignorance, because he doesn’t understand that anyone truly cares for him. You have no excuse.”
Thalia looked shocked, then miserable. Her eyes began to brim with tears. “You have to let me go,” she said. “I can’t let this happen again. I can’t.”
“What?” Seizo asked, gentler because of her distress.
“This is what happened before; an enemy came out of nowhere and I could not save him. I can’t bear this, Seizo.”
“You’re not alone this time,” he said.
“I wasn’t alone then, either,” she replied, not comforted. Thalia’s cell phone gave a raucous buzz; text message marked ‘urgent’. She was pale as she opened it; Seizo linked his arm through hers, partly to comfort her and partly to be sure she didn’t run off on her own.
“It’s Yamamoto,” Seizo said, reading the small screen over her shoulder.
“He’s on Hellfire Rising's ship, undercover. How did he manage that?” Thalia exclaimed.
“No one ever knows how Yamamoto manages anything. It’s why he’s so damn good,” Seizo said, vastly relieved despite the gravity of the situation.
“He says Sekiguchi has an exaggerated idea of my power,” Thalia said, her brow furrowing. “He thinks I can become just about anything, even the elements themselves. What the hell?”
“It makes sense he’s so desperate to have you, then. It still makes sense just with the power you do have, but if he thinks you can control the elements, then it’s no wonder he’ll do anything to get his hooks into you.”
Thalia continued reading aloud. “He hasn’t been able to get near Harada-san, but knows he’s alive. They’re keeping him tied to a crossbeam on the starboard deck; he almost made it overboard once, but his leg is wounded and slowed him down enough so they could stop him. They’re not taking any more chances.” Thalia looked at Seizo, appalled. “Why the hell was he trying to jump overboard?”
“Kaa-chan, why do you think?” Seizo said gently. “He doesn’t want to be used as bait for you; he would rather die on his own terms. I don’t blame him at all – I would feel the same way.”
“Now who’s failing to consider those left behind?” Thalia demanded, wiping away angry, frightened tears.
“Riiiight, because you wouldn’t find it unbearable to be used that way against us?”
Thalia had no answer to this. “I need to go to him, Seizo,” was all she said, not looking up to face him.
He nodded. “I know. You’re just not doing it by your damn self.”
“Then we need to figure out what we’re doing and do it,” she replied. “Yamamoto said sooner is better, and I get the feeling he doesn’t want to say how bad it is. Also, he gave us coordinates, but they’re moving, so we have a limited window of knowing their approximate location.”
Seizo nodded. “We need to make it look like you’re following Sekiguchi’s instructions and going in alone, while actually we’re right behind you. Once you’re there, I don’t think you’ll have trouble protecting Harada-san and yourself; that will be your job. The rest is on us.”
“Why do I feel like it won’t be that simple?” she said.
“It never is; but you can’t plan ahead for all the variables, you have to choose a simple plan and innovate as you go along,” Seizo replied.