Hai hai~ I found my copy of Reimeiroku last week while cleaning out my room and since I was never really happy with the anime adaption ... and since I'd like to try doing it from another viewpoint (Chikage's 'side' aka the Ishin Shishi or anti-Bakufu) it might be less cliched~
I'll be focusing on Sano-chan's route with a bit of Haji-kun's since Ryu-chan is the best in them (Shizu X Ryu forever!), Chizurun isn't really central to the plot but I'm pairing her up with Hijikata because they are cute together.
Disclaimer: (not really needed since it's fanfiction but hey!) Otomate owns everything!
A/n: Higanbana- red spider lily/lycoris flower which can mean 'longing/never being able to meet. Just a sort of spoiler teeehee~
aaand the title (I changed it again XD. Final time promise!) means ' Bound by Higanbana' :P
UPDATE 1/3/15: Also! I'm including some of Urakata's storyline since the WHOLE game is focused on the anti Bakufu side (mainly Choshu and Tosa XD) so I'm sort going along with Izo and Katsura's routes! And! The official pairings are : Sakamoto Yugiri (OC) X Harada Sanosuke X OC , Kosuzu (Shizu) X Ibuki Ryunosuke, Yukimura Chizuru X Hjikata Toshizo, Niou'u Setsura/ Yukimi-no-miya (OC) X Kazama Chikage.
~Prologue: The pinwheels spin...~
"...you sure you don't want it?" I push the plate of onigiri across the table and watch the dismal looking young man sitting opposite me. He doesn't respond and instead continues dabbing his paintbrush into the inkpot and smearing it on the paper in front of him. At least, that's what it looks like he's doing from this angle. Ibuki Ryunosuke-san is a rather quiet and withdrawn excuse of a man who looks more like the type to be training as a scholar instead of serving within the Roshigumi. Firstly, he has an intense fear of swords and just seeing blood when I cut my finger was enough to reduce him to tears. Truly, he was one pathetic wimp. His only merit was his talent for painting, with one stroke of the brush he could transform a sheet of white paper into a window of beauty, a glance into a battlefield..in short he was a genius with the paintbrush.
"...How's Serizawa treating you these days?" I turn my attention to the bubbling kettle on the stove and lower the flame while checking the steaming pot on the right. From the bits and pieces I had heard, Ibuki had been rescued by Serizawa and ended up becoming indebted to him, in effect becoming Serizawa's dog. "Ibuki-kun?" I glance over at the long haired boy who hunches over and trembles "...Kasamori-san. You don't need to get involved. I'm not...in any need of your help." He quietly pushes the plate back to me, but I stop it with a finger and click my tongue "Ibuki-kun. Eat. I'm not going to let you leave until you do so."
"I don't have any money to repay you." He bites his lip and hides his eyes underneath his messy dark blue fringe with a sad sigh. I wave a hand dismissively and point towards the half completed painting on the table. It's of a white haired oni like creature in the midst of slashing an enemy with a sword. "Then I'll take that painting as payment instead. Does that sound fair to you?"
"..." His hands grab the onigiri and he nods eagerly with his mouth full. Huh, he's also incredibly easy to read. Just like a poor little kicked puppy. I laugh softly to myself as he hands me the finished painting and mumbles a thank you.
~x~x~x~
The late hours when the sun starts to go down and the Shimabara next door begins to get rowdy with the sounds of laughter and music is my cue to start packing up and begin my 'real' work. Closing the wooden front securely and ramming the bolts in as deep as they can go, I head towards the small room at the back and get changed. I switch my bright red and yellow kimono for a plain grey one, folding it gently and placing it into the chest of drawers at the foot of my room. My black jika-tabi lie exactly where I left them last night and I slowly kick off my sandals and squeeze my feet into them. "..and for the final touch" I lift up the tatami and withdraw a pair of Apache revolvers, tucking them safely in the space between my obi and of course my jitte. Since I'm a woman, I was never allowed to learn the sword, but was taught the naginata instead. Thankfully, my Onii-sama, Sakamoto Ryoma is a progressive thinking man and secretly taught me how to master the jitte whenever we had the chance to sneak off away from the paranoid and overprotective eyes of our eldest sister, Otome.
My shadow stretches menacingly in front of me, like a yokai reaching from the darkness, reminding me of how I used to cling tightly to Onii-sama whenever Onee-sama sent us out on errands at night. Ever since the black ships began coming into the country, the situation has become worse by the day, the Shogunate do nothing to assist the people and are determined to keep the Emperor powerless. To make things worse, the dogs of the Bakufu, the Roshigumi patrol the streets of Kyoto each day, using 'protecting the peace' as an excuse for ruthlessly murdering anyone who happens to fall under their suspicion of being a member of the Ishin shishi.
Sounds of males yelling angrily and thuds as things fall heavily onto the ground stop me in my tracks. The houses surrounding me all have their shutters pulled down and a young woman gives me a brief warning glance before pulling her shutter down quickly. The atmosphere is tense and I can tell something isn't right, heading towards the direction of the commotion, I tentatively place a ready hand on the hilt of my jitte, and slowly walk. I have been trained as a long distance fighter, much like the samurai of the past who followed Kyuba no Michi'. Now, that way of living has long died and Bushido is now the norm, swords are commonplace among most people. Even so, as long as I am within a safe distance, no sword can ever touch me. Firearms are one of the few benefits the black ships brought us, I grudging accept that and sigh to myself when I hear the sounds of swords clashing.
No way, what the hell were the Roshigumi doing? Just yesterday they had damaged half of Numata-san's store claiming that some drunkards were destroying order. Nobody had dared to stop them and to make things worse, Serizawa had threatened to silence Numata-san if he spoke out against them. Poor Ibuki-kun, having the misfortune to be indebted to a man like Serizawa.
"Argh! please stop!" A loud yell cuts through my musings , bringing me back to reality. If I can stop another senseless murder, then I'll do whatever I can.
~x~x~x~
The first thing I notice is the light blue haori with the white bordered edge flapping in the wind. The Roshigumi. Wolves of Mibu. Bakufu. Supporters of the Shogunate. Blood thirsty killers. Whatever other names there were for them, all I knew was that they were the enemies of the Emperor and the Ishin Shishi, which Onii-sama and myself are a part of. I've put myself in a very dangerous position, yet I can't quell the curiosity that has built up inside of me. Who are they fighting against? One of the Shishi? A bandit ? I mentally slap myself for being an idiot and press my body closer to the wall and the shadows peeking around the corner to get a better look.
"Spill it! What the hell do you think you're going to gain from coming here to Kyoto eh?"
"Don't tell me...Sano, this guy's gotta be a member of the Shishi right? Those damn criminals!"
Hiding safely in the shadows, I bite my lip with anger , the Roshigumi are the criminals not us. We never killed innocent people without any reason nor patrolled the streets with swords flashing in the open and causing unrest among the people.
"S-stop! Please! What are you doing? You've got the wrong man!" The person being cornered is begging, and I still can't shake the feeling I know the owner of that voice. The Roshigumi with a purple ponytail steps in front and from the flash of silvery light, I can tell he has drawn his sword. "I-I only came here to visit my sister! I don't see any reason for you to be suspecting me of anything." The man yells loudly and backs away from Ponytail as he gets stabbed in the arm. "Guh!" They shift formation slightly, allowing me to finally catch a glimpse of the man's face.
"Kazunari-san.." his name escapes my lips before I can stop myself. We make eye contact and his eyes widen with horror.
The Roshigumi all turn to face me and brown haired man with a topknot walks over to me with a sadistic smile on his cursed good looking face. Blood flecks are splattered on his cheek making him look more and more dangerous. Kuso. I tense and bend my knees, ready to leap onto the roof and run for my life when he frowns and looks me up and down. On reflex, I hug myself to shield my body from being scrutinised. He smirks and lowers his hands from the hilt at his side. "Ah? it's just a girl. Hey, you shouldn't be wandering the streets on your own at this time of the day, oujo-chan." His green eyes gleam brightly in the dimming sunlight as he smiles sneakily at me and reaches for my cheek. "So, why don't you tell onii-chan what you're doing all alone out here?"
I instinctively flinch from his reach and look up to see the rest of the Roshigumi fanning themselves out so the man they were confronting is obscured from my view. This really isn't good. I'm certain that the man there is Mimegumi Kazunari, one of the Shishi samurai who I was supposed to meet and escort to the current headquarters and...my best friend.
The situation right now isn't good, Kazunari is injured and there are 4 Roshigumi members. Think Sakamoto Yugiri, what can you do in this situation?
"A woman's smile and tears are her greatest weapons." Otome Onee-sama had told me that once, back when I had complained about how much I hated being ladylike."*sniffle* uuhuu..." I jab my fingernails tightly in the web between my thumb and tears spring from my eyes. "I-I'm so sorry! "
"hmph." The top-knot guy continued smiling and draws his sword, looking over his shoulder at the rest of the Roshigumi "Say, she might have seen something she shouldn't have... maybe I'll just kill her to make sure."
I lower my head and cross my arms so that my right hand is deep inside my left sleeve and vice versa. "Hey, hey." This time the tall redhead with a ponytail walks over to me, shielding Kazunari from view "No need to be so drastic Souji, she doesn't look like she knows what's going on. Just let her go."
"Hah?" The topknot guy I now learn is Souji scoffs and keeps his sword raised. "Geez, always the ladies man huh Sano? Whatever, I bet you'll regret it one day. heh...should I kill you now?" he smirks at me and I take that moment to slide the Apache onto my palms and fire directly at him.
"SHIT!" He curse loudly and clutches his side, losing his grip on his sword and fumbling to the ground. Dammit, I missed, before I can attempt to fire again, a whooshing sound forces me to step back, just in time to dodge a punch to the face.
"Explain yourself." The redhead spearman points the tip of his spear towards me, pinning me to the wall and pressing a hand against my forehead so I can't move. "What's a woman like you doing with firearms?...tell me! Are you with the Ishin Shishi?" I remain silent, glaring back at him with defiance. "*cough* Sano, just kill the bitch already" Souji coughs and leans heavily against the youngest looking boy with a brown ponytail. His green eyes flash with pure hatred as he clutches his sides tightly.
"Daaaah!" The young ponytailed boy easily blocks Kazu's clumsy blow with his sword and laughs "Geez, you're weak!" He grunts under the weight of Souji and keeps his katana pointed at Kazu who pants and walks slowly up to where I am trapped. "Hey! Don't ignore me!" The young ponytail boy yells at him but is stopped by the remaining Roshigumi. The silent man with a purple ponytail .
"..." The purple ponytail guy walks slowly up to Kazu, his left hand leaning on his hilt. "..." Kazu sidesteps around his slowly, his sword trembling as he tries to find an opening. Wait...left hand...sword still unsheathed... no way! "KAZU!" I remain frozen in place and pray that he can act in time. This man..without a doubt was Saito Hajime, the master of 'iai'. One successful strike and Kazu was a goner.
*SCHWING* The sound of a sword scraping against the sheathe pierces through the night.
"...*cough*" A silvery beam arcs through the air and a spray of red blossoms everywhere. "*plurt*" a thick stream of blood dribbles from Kazu's mouth and then a violent hacking sound as the person behind him pulls out the sword."KAZU!" As he crumples to the ground, his sword clattering and rolling towards another corpse, I headbutt Sano as hard as I can, bringing him to the ground, and fire at Saito; managing to hit his blade and deflecting the bullet harmlessly into the wall.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" I scream as loudly as I can, sounds of footsteps being coming closer as passerbys overhear. Panic spreads among the Roshigumi as they glance at Kazu's dead body and weigh out the consequences.
"Shit, we better go before word gets out. Just tell Hijikata that there was a suspicious man."
"I'll report to him."
They start to run off as I stagger to my feet "I swear...I'll personally hunt you down and get revenge..." Even though they might not hear me, I yell as loudly as I can"...don't think...for a second.. that I'll ever forget!... I'll kill you all!...I'll bring you down along with the cursed Bakufu!"
"Yugiri!" A loud male yells out my name. A small group rushes up to where we are and stops, two men walk through the crowd and stand in front of me. One is an unnaturally beautiful man with golden hair and piercing red eyes, the other has a worn look on his handsome face and his short brown ponytail is messed up from running.
"C-chikage-dono.. Onii-sama." I point helplessly at Kazu's cold body and slowly drop my pistols to the ground in defeat.
"The Roshigumi. They just murdered Kazu."
Thank you for reading~ Reviews would be much appreciated ^W^
oh! and yes, yes the Apache revolver wasn't around in Japan at that point in time but shh, its fiction :)