As he listened to Guy's concerns, Okita continued to turn the cup in his hands. It was strange to talk to someone about this sort of thing when he knew they had never experienced it themselves. The life of a military man, one who was bound by his orders regardless of how he felt, was a difficult one. The upper echelon was bound to abuse their power and that sort of thing was merely accepted as part of life. The Aizu clan lord had done much good for the ronin in his care, but he also liked to throw his personal army around to make it seem like he was more involved when the Shinsengumi had done all of the hard work. Serizawa Kamo had let his power go to his head and had ruined the group's reputation with his reckless, violent behavior. The Shogun sat safe in his castle while his forces risked their lives for Emperor and Country. It was just how things were.
"It's not the soldiers you need to worry about," Okita said, still smiling to himself as he recalled all the things he'd done over his life so far. "On a day to day basis, as long as they aren't provoked, they shouldn't be able to harm any of us." Or so Okita hoped. Unless this General Aguilar had given free reign to the soldiers to harm whoever they wanted whenever they wanted, disciplinary measures shouldn't be allowed to be taken except in extreme cases.
"Those who are uncomfortable with it..." Okita trailed off, sipping his water as he decided to swallow that phrase where it stood. He was a man of the sword, a killer through and through, so this new regime did little to upset him, but others were not so unkind. For Okita, knowing that the people he would be facing from here on out were a military body meant he could think of them as a concrete enemy. He'd always felt a little guilty when he killed the nurses, but now that the target was other fighters, he felt like the gloves were off and he could point his blade as Hijikata demanded. "What boundaries are you afraid they might overstep?"
It was true that Okita had a point about the soldiers. They all tended to have very strict orders that they were required to follow, and the food fight had been a special case. On a day-to-day basis, chances were that they were going to merely escort them around and break up fights, the same way the nurses had done. There would probably be more physical force used with less needles being jabbed into arms, but...
Despite that making sense, Guy still had to wonder if it would be more totalitarian than that. If was possible they could be treated worse, allowed to do less, and be punished for things that barely counted as rule-breaking. These soldiers didn't exactly seem reasonable from what had had seen thus far. So, while he wanted to hope that Okita was correct, he wasn't going to rely on that being the case either.
As for Okita's question, that was something that he could respond to more easily. Guy paused in eating his dinner and glanced over at his roommate. "Well, I know a lot of people have trouble with authority. The nurses filled that role to a point, but I think that the soldiers are likely to do a lot more ordering around. I think some people are going to resist that and there might be some butting of heads that could lead to violence or a punishment for all of us." The military liked to make examples of people, but they also liked to hold everyone accountable for one person's mistake. There were a lot of variables about the whole issue that made him uneasy.
"It's not the soldiers you need to worry about," Okita said, still smiling to himself as he recalled all the things he'd done over his life so far. "On a day to day basis, as long as they aren't provoked, they shouldn't be able to harm any of us." Or so Okita hoped. Unless this General Aguilar had given free reign to the soldiers to harm whoever they wanted whenever they wanted, disciplinary measures shouldn't be allowed to be taken except in extreme cases.
"Those who are uncomfortable with it..." Okita trailed off, sipping his water as he decided to swallow that phrase where it stood. He was a man of the sword, a killer through and through, so this new regime did little to upset him, but others were not so unkind. For Okita, knowing that the people he would be facing from here on out were a military body meant he could think of them as a concrete enemy. He'd always felt a little guilty when he killed the nurses, but now that the target was other fighters, he felt like the gloves were off and he could point his blade as Hijikata demanded. "What boundaries are you afraid they might overstep?"
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Despite that making sense, Guy still had to wonder if it would be more totalitarian than that. If was possible they could be treated worse, allowed to do less, and be punished for things that barely counted as rule-breaking. These soldiers didn't exactly seem reasonable from what had had seen thus far. So, while he wanted to hope that Okita was correct, he wasn't going to rely on that being the case either.
As for Okita's question, that was something that he could respond to more easily. Guy paused in eating his dinner and glanced over at his roommate. "Well, I know a lot of people have trouble with authority. The nurses filled that role to a point, but I think that the soldiers are likely to do a lot more ordering around. I think some people are going to resist that and there might be some butting of heads that could lead to violence or a punishment for all of us." The military liked to make examples of people, but they also liked to hold everyone accountable for one person's mistake. There were a lot of variables about the whole issue that made him uneasy.
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