Title: The Art of Stain Removal
Fandom: Suikoden II
Rating: PG
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Length: 700ish words
Author's notes: A minor character, but I was always struck by this quote in the context of the game - "It's funny, but I love to do laundry. It makes me feel good to make something dirty clean again." Thanks to this community, I finally have an excuse to do something with it. ;)
Summary: Yoshino's devotion to the laundry has nothing to do with obedient domesticity.



Yoshino's skill with the naginata is formidable, but not the most renowned of her abilities. Freed first witnessed her talent after he had come to her home late one night during their courtship, after a diplomatic dinner which had turned coarse. The next day she returned his shirt, bereft of what had seemed like an inevitable red wine stain; he called her a miracle worker.

His companions make jokes about his wardrobe. Sometimes Yoshino has overheard them asking just how many pairs of white trousers he's ruined, wearing them from the meetings at town hall right out onto the nightly patrol. They thought he was returning the joke when he told them none at all, thanks to his wife.

The political situation had begun to worsen. More and more often, Freed was returning to their home with grass stains and mud and a somber countenance. Every morning, Yoshino made certain to send him off with a contented look, if not cheerful, and spotless clothes.

One day he had returned home in borrowed clothing, his own in a bundle on his back. "Don't worry, it's not mine," he murmured. She set the jacket to soak, poured him some sake and put him to bed, then began scrubbing. There was no trace of blood by the time the sun rose the next morning.

Sometimes it is his. Sometimes it's the blood of monsters, sometimes the blood of bandits, sometimes the blood of those who are likely only pretending to be no more than bandits. Sometimes it's the blood of his friends and allies, but it doesn't matter to Yoshino. She knows how to remove blood, and so she does.

Word spreads of her talents when she follows him to war. Soon the sister of the young head of their army, dragging her embarrassed brother with her, is asking if it's true Yoshino knows how to get soy sauce out of leather. Yes, there's a trick she learned from her mother's maid regarding soy sauce.

Freed tells her she doesn't need to do any of this - it's not her responsibility. She tells him honestly that she enjoys it, having so many people bring her their clothes for laundering, and he dubiously concedes.

Soy sauce, dirt, grass, liquor - there are any number of substances she can remove from clothing. Her skills are put to the test when Freed returns from Two River smelling like human waste and refuse, but the air by the cliff is fresh and clear coming off the lake. After a few rounds of good washing and deodorizing, plus some time hanging on the line, even her own nose can't tell which clothes he and his companions had been wearing that day.

Even Viktor is impressed, and Flik claims Viktor smells better than he's ever smelled before. She smiles, and takes care with the large man's old, threadbare clothes. They've obviously been through multiple battles with their owner; another might have asked why he still wears them when they're nearly rags, but she can guess that that is exactly why. She hopes he doesn't mind that she's faded the old markings of beer and blood.

In return for cleaning the soil and manure and sweat from Tony's clothes, she asks him to maintain a small plot of lavender and mint and other soothing herbs near the crops, and she uses them to scent her soaps. It is a small comfort she can provide to every soldier - a relaxing aroma for those who have little occasion to relax. The army has fighters enough that her naginata isn't always needed, while her more subtle skill is always in demand; she spends most of her days washing and mending, emptying the washbasins when the water becomes tinted or cloudy, filling them with clean water once again.

She spends a lot of time washing blood from fabric. It is unfortunate that she has learned how to wash the blood from cotton and linen and leather, but not yet hearts and souls and memories.

She may not be able to offer such a service to the army - but perhaps, Yoshino thinks, when the war is over and they are settled in Radat, she will find a way to do this for her husband.