Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Life the Saitoh Fujita Way ❯ Disappointment ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: anreg

This is Tokio's side of an encounter she had with the third captain a month or so after first meeting him in Aizu.

"Being Condemned Without Cause is Unacceptable."

(30R Theme: Flame)

Disappointment

How dare he talk to me like that! I was well trained by my father in the naganata arts, and I do not appreciate his remarks. I can feel that my face is a burning flame, and it is not from embarrassment. No, it is from anger. Narrowing my eyes in response, I imagine that I have a most unpleasant look on my face, one not becoming the lady that I am.

I am quite aware of exactly who he is. Shinsengumi captain or not, he has no cause to say those things to me. Right now he is acting like an arrogant male. For some reason, that disappoints me. I thought he might be different. Reality hits me when I admit to myself that all men are still men at their core, regardless of how they may act at times, and most men resent a woman of strong conviction and ability.

He does not know me, and he has not given me a chance to prove myself, yet he insinuates that I am incompetent. Why did he say that to me? How can he make that assumption based only on what little he knows about me? Not only did my father train me, but all of us had instruction from Teru-hime's personal sensei, Akaoka Dainosuke.

Before today, our encounters had been nothing but pleasant, even a bit enjoyable. But now I wonder why I even gave him a second glance or thought. But the fact is, I did give him an extra thought, a lot of extra thoughts, ever since the first day I saw him at court.

Now I am disgusted with myself for being so...So what? So trusting, so hopeful? What did I really expect from a Wolf of Mibu during a time of war? Certainly not romance. I bite my lip at that thought and stand a little straighter and taller.

I am just a foolish young woman. I have never let my life revolve around a man, and this is no time to change that attitude. I just stand a little taller and straighter, eyes focused to the front, listening to him drone on about safety and defense techniques, talking as if this was the first time that we had ever heard the information he was telling us. Of course, it wasn't.