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Vagabond's Pup

A Peacemaker Kurogane Fanfiction

By Kuroe-chan! The Insomnia Samurai



Disclaimer: ALL PMK characters belong to Nanae Chrono, who you've got to be crazy not to love. All other characters are mine, and remain mine.

NOTE: I think this was my favorite chapter to write so far! REVIEW! =DDD

Chapter Three: Ashes to Ashes

The day was fresh, the morning foggy, and cool, especially for summer. Rain threatened the sky above, and it would be a positively gloomy day, for sure. It was early, much too early to be up. And so trudged Tetsunosuke, grumbling to himself about having to get up so early, and hating Saizou's piglet-guts for making him trip, etcetera, etcetera. Of course, the much taller of the two brothers, Tatsunosuke Ichimura, smacked him out of his foul mood soon after his complaining had started. Tatsu wasn't in the best of moods either, after all, The Demonic Vice Commander and Souji Okita had insisted on him coming to 'chaperone' Tetsunosuke's presence at an 'old acquaintance's funeral. Souji had swiftly corrected Hijikata with 'A friend', and all the older man could grumble was. "Whatever."

Hijikata was in a pretty annoyed mood, Souji was his usual, cheerful self, and Tetsunosuke was still as hyper (maybe a bit less, considering the early morning they were traveling during.), and Tatsunosuke was simply: A nervous wreck. He'd already punished Tetsu for eavesdropping, but it typically had no effect. The older brother tended to wonder why he even tried.

And so the troop of men continued towards the place that the respectable honoring of the ashes would be held. Tetsu's morning attitude beginning to brighten as he chatted and chirped with Souji about one bit of nonsense or another, Tatsu and Hijikata keeping quiet for the most part. They arrived after a tiresome walk, at a small apartment building, the location was exact, this was it.

As they approached the small structure that could be called a home, and in doing so, the sounds of stirring from inside could be heard, and slowly the door slid open, a young woman dressed in a dark gray kimono stepped outside, bowing low. It was evident that she had been crying earlier, face splotched with red, and eyes still somewhat teary from the weeping she had been doing beforehand. "Ah, hello." She wiped a new-found tear from her face. Ebony hair was pulled back in a neat bun, the woman was small-framed, a shorter female, and had a unique feature about her. One eye was a dark caramel brown, the other a light olive green color. She smiled, trying to be as cheerful as possible in her position.

"I'm Shinmyou Kurotake, it is a pleasure to meet you all." Her smile brightened, bowing extremely low. "Please, come in." She gestured for them to follow her inside the small excuse for a home.

"Ah, Hijikata-san, Okita-san, and- company. Welcome." The voice of an older male came, and as soon as they had entered the home, they were welcomed by another grieving friend. He stood at least a foot taller than the woman that had greeted them, and looked about two years older as well, around 26 years of age. It was clear just by looking at the young woman and this man, that they were related. Eyes were a dull olive green, and raven locks were pulled to cover the right side of his face, though casually he pushed them back, showing both of his eyes. "I'm Iwa Kurotake- You've met my younger sister, Myou, already." He also bowed. "Kurea-dono would be very happy to have you here." He also looked grief-stricken.

Hijikata nodded. "I'm sure she would." He said sarcastically.


Souji sighed at this. "Mr. Hijikata!"

Tetsu looked to the two siblings, curious as could be. "Why do you call her Kurea-dono? Was she an important woman, I heard she was just a cross-dressing ronin!" He quipped.

Tatsu sweat dropped. "Tetsunosuke- Don't be rude! APOLOGIZE " He growled.

Iwa smiled, laughing at this.. "It's quite alright. We've always called her that, it would be a much longer story to tell, but I won't waste your time. And no, she was important to us, but not in status. And you're right, she was a cross-dressing ronin."

Myou giggled at this. "Now who may I ask are you two are?" She questioned, quirking a brow.


Tatsu smiled, chuckling slightly. "I apologize, it was rude of me not to introduce myself sooner, I'm Tatsunosuke Ichimura, this is my younger brother-"

"I'M TETSUNOSUKE ICHIMURA! I'm almost sixteen years old! Don't forget it either!" Tetsu jerked a thumb in his own direction, grinning proudly.

"TETSU." Tatsu yelped.

Myou and Iwa exchanged looks. "Remind you of someone?" Iwa asked, Myou nodding.

"Eh?" Tetsu asked, severely confused.

Souji smiled at the two. "So you must be Kurea's friends?" He asked. "It's nice to meet you both, right, Mr. Hijikata?" he turned back, blinking as he found that Hijikata was no longer lingering behind him.

No, instead, the tall fiend-like Vice Commander had stepped away, and now stood looking over a small table dedicated for Kurea, in the usual traditional Japanese style. The table was clothed with a black cloth, the season's flowers placed around it, an urn in the middle. Hijikata's expression was that of a thoughtful one, as though remembering something or another.

"Mr. Hijikata?" Souji asked, leaving the rest of the small group to chat idly, as he walked over. "Is everything-"

"I still can't believe this." Hijikata grumbled, rubbing his head.

Souji gave a saddened smile. "We all have to go sometime..."

________________________________________________________________________________

"Perhaps we should begin." Iwa concluded, finally, walking over to the small table.

"Starting without us, Iwa-kun?" A tall man with chestnut hair walked into the room, sliding the door open as he had to duck inside. He looked exhausted, in the honest truth. Though despite all the things that had happened, he managed a grin.
Iwa sweat dropped. "No, but you two sure take a while. Is Kyoujiro with you?"

"Yeah, brat got me all distracted while we were out." The tall figure responded, blue eyes gazing around the room. "Well, they actually came. Welcome, I suppose I should say."

Hijikata clenched his teeth. This man, he could tell, he didn't like. But yet, the man managed to bite his tongue, and keep insults to a minimum, currently at zero.


Greetings were exchanged, and Takao finally sighed. "Dammit. Kyoujiro!" He hollered out the doorway. "Brat-"


"Takao-san, let him be." Iwa finally said, shaking his head in distaste.

Takao nodded. "Suppose you're right."

As the group finally settled down, Iwa finally spoke, seeing as he was the conductor of the funeral. "Instead of standing up and saying things about Kurea to each other, I thought it might be a bit better-" He glared at Takao for a silent reason. "If, we each took a moment to honor her and speak to her indirectly."

He smiled. "Myou, would you like to go first, we'll leave the room, of course." He gestured for the others to follow him into a smaller room.

As they did so, Myou stayed put, kneeling besides the urn, and speaking softly.

Iwa took the next turn, and finally, he asked for Tetsunosuke and Tatsunosuke to go in, despite not knowing her, and wish her the best in the afterlife.

As the two brothers went in, Tatsu sat down, sighing heavily . "Don't do anything stupid, Tetsu." He hissed.

Tetsu huffed. "I won't, I won't. Stop being so up-tight-WHOA!" He suddenly lost his balance because of his own clumsiness and rush to get somewhere quickly.

CLASH! The sound of the urn falling to the floor sounded, the ashes spilled all over the tatami mats.

"T-T-TETSU!" Tatsu cried out, face turning pure white, as though he'd seen a ghost, or, er- close enough.

"Oh SHIT! OH SHIT! OH SHIT!" Tetsu whimpered, falling to his knees. "Oh shit!" He looked around frantically. Luckily no one had heard them, and luckily, the urn was till intact.


"Tatsu! Tatsu, I can fix it!" He said suddenly, pulling up the table-cloth, and brushing the ashes underneath the table, until finally the floor was clean, and there was no more remains, of the remains.

"TETSUNOSUKE! WHAT ON EARTH DID YOU DO?" Tatsu whispered in pure rage. "YOU LITTLE!-"

He was about to throttle him, before he heard footsteps. He quickly put the urn back on the table, and then stood up, Tetsu as well, dusting his hands off on his pants, a bit perturbed that he'd just touched ashes of a dead person.

Hijikata and Souji entered the room next, passing by a near-nervous-breakdown anxiety ridden Tatsunosuke, and a shuddering, disturbed looking Tetsunosuke.


Neither of the two seemed to notice, and both sat down upon the softer mats provided for sitting on.

Souji sighed. "I hope you're in a better place, Onee-chan Kurea." He muttered, sighing heavily.


"She's probably in hell." Hijikata muttered.

"Hijikata!" Souji pouted. "You shouldn't be so mean, Mr. Hijikata." He sweat dropped. "I hope you rest in peace-"

"She's dead, why are you talking to her?" Hijikata murmured, obviously annoyed.


Souji gave him a dirty look, a rare occurrence coming from Okita. "I think I'll go, let you have a word with her in peace."

Hijikata said something in a gruff tone that sounded either like a curse, or "Whatever."

As soon as Okita had left, Hijikata looked around the room, one way , then the next, and finally sighed. "Rest in peace, Kurea, rest in peace."