A/N: So, I've been absolutely smitten with Hakuouki, and Saito happens to be one of my favorite characters~! Which is apparently reason enough for me to procrastinate on my studies to write this fic. I really should set my priorities straight. :x Anyway, I hope that you will find this story enjoyable~! :)

(Content rating may be subjected to change.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Hakuouki or any of it's characters. (I'll only post this once)

Near the back door of the Ikedaya inn, Harada's breath was coming out in short puffs and sweat streaked his neck. His muscle tensed and his face was one of concentration as he shoved a Choshu spy off the end of his spear before spinning around and knocking another unconscious with the blunt side of his weapon.

The captains may have the skills and stamina that rival tens of men, and they do enjoy the occasional fight from time to time, but against such odds, Harada thought that this was one day he would rather have passed peacefully.

"Are these all there is?"

Beside Harada, a man crumpled to the ground, a large gash on his neck as Saito sheathed his katana. "It would appear so."

Saito looked around with grim satisfaction. The people left standing were all men wearing the white and blue haori. The spies were either lying on the ground, bloodied and lifeless, or cowering in a group, having chose to surrender instead.

His eyes shifted to the wooden floor of the inn, the color now ominous and dark, drenched in the blood of many men.

A few of the bodies littering the stained floor donned a similar attire as he.

Saito reached out to close the eyes of a soldier.

While Shinsengumi may have been victorious, it is not without casualties. But, the efforts of their fallen comrades will be honored and not left in vain. Saito's lips thinned as he stood up. That, he will make sure of.

Following the retreating back of Harada, they both made their towards the collective group of Shinsengumi soldiers gathering outside the inn.

~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~

Chizuru watched as the men slowly trickled out. Even from outside the inn, the metallic stink and smell of blood still reached her, and she could not help but feel a twinge of sorrow.

Those injured were supported by their friends, the casualties who died in line of work were carried out on stretchers and the spies, they were shoved into a group.

The air was somber and heavy, as is her heart. They had won, but there was little to rejoice for as two of the captains lay on stretchers, their immobility a testament to the extent of the dreadful injuries.

Standing a little further from the group, Chizuru could sense, could almost see the tension in the air. Everyone was still tense and ready for action as some went to scout the inn for any possible Choshu survivors.

Then, it happened.

A movement in the shadows in the outskirts of the Ikedaya inn, one that caught Chizuru's eye.

It was by the shop house beside the inn, situated a small distance away, but with everyone still tense from battle and with the threat of some remainders of the spies still present, the nearest soldier did not think twice.

But those aren't the spies, they aren't the enemy, Chizuru thought, her eyes widening in horror as the soldier swung his blade, sword arcing through the air even as Chizuru screamed for him to stop.

By then, red had already stained his blade a darker crimson, the sickening sound of the slicing of flesh and splattering of blood reverberating in her ears.

Two bodies fell onto the ground with a thud, life lost from their eyes even before they hit the ground.

The man and woman were dressed in civilian garb, frightened expression still etched on their faced. A bundle rolled from the man's hand and some of the contents spilled out as the knot came undone.

Three identification passes for one man and two woman. Some change of clothes. A couple of strings of coins.

Chizuru heard Shinpachi utter a low curse.

Commoners. They were commoners.

She looked to Saito, eyes silently pleading, and when he gave Chizuru a nod, the girl rushed to their side instantly.

Her deft hands pulled back their sleeves, fingers checking for their pulse.

But there were none.

Tears fell from her eyes, hands balling into small fists as Chizuru could not hold them back. So many life, all gone so quickly.

As she sobbed quietly, a hand squeezed her shoulder, as if in comfort.

She looked up to see Saito, and she would have thanked him too, except that he was not looking at her.

"Stand back," Saito murmured to her as he rested his hand on the hilt of his katana.

"Show yourself." He addressed the shadows.

From the darkness, a girl of around Chizuru's age stepped forward hesitantly, her green eyes wide with fear, hands clutching a small bundle. Her hair was pulled up into a common hair bun, a few loose strands of hair framing her face.

"I was just looking for my parents." She stammered as her legs visibly quaked, gaze darting from the face of soldier to soldier, before coming to rest on Saito's katana. "P- Please don't kill me. I didn't see anything, really. I swear, my parents told me that they would be waiting he-"

She stopped short when she saw the bodies beside Chizuru. Her hands flew to her mouth, the bundle falling to the ground, but even that was not able to muffle her gasp.

"M- Mother..? Father?" The soldiers parted hastily as she made her way towards the bodies, her slow and unsure gait giving way to a hurried rush as she threw herself on to her knees beside the couple.

Chizuru watched as the girl hesitantly reached out to the dark patch staining the clothes of her parents, watched as she saw a myriad of emotions -fear, sorrow, anger- flash in the eyes of the girl looking at the red staining her own trembling fingers. The puddle of blood on the ground spread, and they seeped through the girl's kimono from where she was kneeling. The cloth soaked in the blood, a dark stain spreading and spreading, but the girl seemed far too gone to notice.

On Saito's whispered command, someone picked up the identification passes that had fallen out from the man's bundle. The soldier inspected it, before giving Saito a nod.

Standing beside the indigo-haired man, Shinpachi grimaced.

Chizuru shared the same sentiment. It would have been much better if she were not a match.

"Hey, young lady, you may want to calm down for-" Shipachi's voice was gentle as he approached her, but that did not stop the fierce interruption he received.

Something seem to snap within her as the girl whipped her head around to pin Shinpachi with a glare.

"Calm down? You want me to calm down?!" Angry tears were streaking down her face, fear forgotten as the girl made no effort to 'calm down', as Shinpachi suggested. "You guys killed my parents! How do you expect me to calm down?!"

Her hands clenched at her sides. "They were not even a threat. They were just waiting for me, and they deserve to die because of that?!"

"Hey now. No one said that they deserved to die," Shinpachi said uneasily. "It was just an accident-"

A mirthless laugh -bordering on hysterical- escape her lips. "An accident? Is that what the Shinshengumi do, write things off as an accident?"

As she continued, an expression of scorn crossed her face. "If that is so, then you guys do not deserve, nor do you have the honor fitting to wear the haori that rest on your shoulders."

Anger sparked in Shinpachi's eyes at the insult, the tiredness he felt from the fight before doing nothing to aid the situation, but just as he was about to retort, Saito stepped in between them.

"Shinpachi, stop. And you, young lady, hard as it is, I would like you to compose yourself."

She looked as if she was about to argue but thought better of it, settling for glaring darkly at the ground, even as tears still fell from her eyes.

Saito told the rest of the soldiers to return to their positions, before turning back to her.

"Are you ready to answer some questions?" His voice was cool and neutral, neither kind nor angry.

She gave a short nod.

"What is your name?"

"Hayashi Mio."

"Why would a family of three be out so late?"

"We-" Mio's voice wavered a little at the mention of her parents. She brought up her sleeve, dabbing some tears away, before taking a deep breath and continuing. "We were supposed to leave for Kobe. Father had gotten a good price for a house there, and we had planned to move over today. But we took too long closing Father's shop. The landlord would not allow us another night, saying that our lease have already expired, so we had to move out, even though it was already so late in the night."

"You were not there with your parents, why?"

"On our way here, I realized that I forgot to take my possessions before we left the shop, so I had to retrieve the keys from the landlord. My parents were supposed to meet me here, but when I returned...they were...they-" Mio hiccuped a little as she could not bring herself to continue.

"Hayashi-san?" Chizuru stepped forward. "Do you have any relatives or friends?"

Mio sniffed, as she shook her head.

A look of contemplation crossed Chizuru's face, before she turned to Shinpachi. "Umm...would it be too much to ask if we let her stay on the compound?"

"What?" A look of incredulity crossed his expression.

Chizuru pressed on. "But she has no place to stay! And her only family is now gone because of us! Please, at least let her stay the night."

Shinpachi scratched his head. "Well, when you put it that way..."

"That is a possible solution." Chizuru eyes lit up as Satiou continued. "Shinpachi and I will report to Hijikata. Chizuru, stay with the girl."

Chizuru nodded earnestly, giving them a bow. "Yes, I will. Thank you!"

Without another word, Saito turned and walked towards the streets where Hijikata was holding off Aizu's ill-prepared soldier, with Shinpachi trailing behind him.

~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~

Hijikata frowned as he thought over what Saito had just told him. "Did she have any identification? Choshu must have known that we would turn up, I'd not be surprised if they had laid a trap in case they failed. She may be a spy."

Shinpachi gave an apologetic smile. "No chance, that dead man had her identification. She is his daughter alright."

The vice-commander sighed. It was already a risk to have Chizuru in their headquarters, and to add one more girl...

"Isn't there anybody we can send the girl off to? Friends? Relatives?"

Saito shook his head. "She did mention that there were none. Furthermore, the reputation that Shinsengumi have among the people is not exactly good. I do not see why she have reason to lie, unless of course, she is a spy. But there is lack of evidence to decide that."

Hijikata's brow creased as he thought for a while. "We will let her stay the night. I believe you mentioned that Okita and Heisuke was seriously injured? Until they are well enough to attend a meeting with the rest of the captains, the girl gets to stay. "

He shot the Aizu's clan captain a nasty look, as he further instructed Saito and Shinpachi. "If that is all, return and clear out. I don't want Aizu to get suspicious about anything."

"Understood." Saito murmured.

~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~

"What?!" Mio's cry of outrage cut clearly through the still air. "No, I absolutely refuse! Why should I return with you?"

Shinpachi scowled at her. "Be grateful that we are offering you this much hospitality. We could simply close the matter with a slice of my sword."

Mio paled and she backed away instantly, a look of pure terror crossing her face.

"Shinpachi." Disapproval of his comrade's insensitive remark was evident in Saito's tone.

Harada, who had been watching from the sidelines let out a sigh of frustration. They had screwed up. Big time. "Well," he said, drawing attention to himself. "Why don't we table this discussion for tomorrow? And Shinpachi, just because you are tired and cranky from the fight does not mean you can bully a lady."

Ignoring the soft grumblings of his friend, Harada looked to Mio and gave her a soft apologetic smile. "I cannot emphasize how sorry we are that something like this had to happen. It was truly an accident. Our men were on edge from the fight, and your parents were just...in a rather unfortunate position."

He stooped down, taking up the girl's bundle of possession that was left forgotten on the ground, knotting it close before handing it back to her.

"Since we are all tired and you have no place to stay, I think it would be best if you return with us to our headquarters. It would not do well to leave a pretty lady such as yourself wandering the streets alone at night."

Beside him, Chizuru smiled warmly. "Don't worry, you can share a room with me."

Grasping Mio's hand, she gave her a soft, reassuring squeeze.

"It'll be fine," Chizuru whispered.

"That's what they all say, isn't it?"

Chizuru looked away uneasily, before Mio gave a short, sad laugh. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you in a spot. It was not your fault."

There was a slight pause, before she spoke again. "I don't believe I've asked your name."

"Yukimura Chizuru. But you can just call me Chizuru."

Mio returned the squeeze, a small smile on her lips. "Chizuru...that's a beautiful name. Thanks, Chizuru."

Soon, both girls followed the soldiers as the men moved out of the Ikedaya Inn to head back to the headquarters, giving way for Aizu clan to do the necessary clean up.

In the dark cover of the early dawn, no one caught the small smirk playing on Mio's face.

She leapt, hands reaching to grasp the overhanging roof before pulling herself up and over the wall separating the Araki clan's compound from the outside world.

Her wooden clogs landed with a soft tap, the elaborate kimono she was wearing rustling slightly as they stiffly fell back into place. There was a slight pause as she controlled her breathing, the only indication that she was not part of the wall being the small puffs of breath in the cold, made visible by the moon.

The air was still and undisturbed, all except for the call of the night insects, as they should be.

Metal glinted silver in the moonlight as something hissed through the air the moment she made to move away from the wall, and that was all the warning she got of the sudden attack..

Dodging the blade swiftly, she drew her own short dagger from within the folds of her kimono and parried the next strike, not giving the attacker any moment of rest as she followed up with a vicious elbow to the face.

Her attacker backed away clumsily, barely avoiding her blow.

"Wait wait wait!" A familiar voice called out, ending with a shout as Mio swept his feet from under him.

"Crap, you knew it was me, why did you have to go all out?" Yataro groaned as he picked himself off the ground, massaging his sore bottom.

"All out?" Mio's unaffected look was only betrayed by the amusement within her eyes. "If I did, you'd be dead by now."

"Oh? I don't think so."

"Care to try?"

"Well, I'd rather try your services as a geiko. I hear that you have been making quite the name for yourself haven't you, Umeha? The 'wandering willow of the flower towns'. You should hear the rumors going on about the mysterious willow at the inns I've been to. There is quite the number of your suitors out there."

Mio sighed. "Stop that. You know I only use that name when I'm in need of the geiko facade."

Yataro laughed. "Father told you to keep to a low profile, but both your alias ended up being famous, or infamous as you see it. So, which poor man did Umeha swindle information from tonight?"

"Nakao Hiroji. Araki had found his recent actions suspicious, and he wanted me to find out what he was up to."

"And?"

"Nakao is considering defecting to Tokugawa's side, apparently," Mio said as she made her way towards the dark corridors leading to the training hall.

Yataro gave a low whistle as he fell in step beside her. "Father isn't going to like this."

And Araki would not like it indeed, Mio mused.

From the time he took her in when she was six years old, she had learned that the man had been nothing but manipulative and cunning. Everyone served a purpose. All soldiers are pawns on his chessboard where he reigned king. And she, he'd told her once, was his knight. A spare one that no one knew of, a wild card to change the tides should the need arise.

Because, no one would expect a girl to be able to fight.

"Perhaps Father may ask you to assassinate him," Yataro grinned. "Looks like the Phantom is going to strike soon, hey?"

Mio chuckled. "Is that what they have been calling me these days? My last kill was quite some while ago, surely the commotion must have died down."

"After you killed that high-ranking Choshu officer, people started to notice that the modus operandi of the assassin was rather similar to a few other unsolved murders. That was around the time that the feudal lords started to get their samurais to compile a file of possible related incidents, and they decided to dub you as Phantom." Yataro stopped as they reached the sliding doors of the training hall.

"What can I say? Acting as a geiko and my job as a hired assassin, a girl's got to earn her keep around here." Mio replied as she straighten her kimono.

Turning towards the doors, she raised her voice slightly. "It's Mio. I've returned."

"Come in." A rough voice called out from within and both Yataro and Mio complied.

Araki was standing in the middle of the dimly lit hall, a few dying candles flickering as they slid the door close. He reached for a cloth, wiping his sweat down before nodding to Mio. "Report."

Sinking to one knee, Mio bowed as Yataro stood to the side of Araki. "Araki-sama. Nakao Hiroji have mentioned that he is considering the possibility of allying himself with the Tokugawa. He has cited the growing power of the Shogunate as the reason, and have plans to offer the provision of funds to the Shogunate to ease his switching of sides and as a display of loyalty."

A small crease formed on Araki's brow. "It is impossible for him to be so brash without any prompting. There is something that must have convinced him reasonably. Did he mention anything else?"

Mio paused. Nakao was rather tipsy when she subtly angled their conversation in her preferred direction, so his words were rather slurred. But she remembered that he was going on rather incoherently about something...

'...Umeha dear, you really should leave with me. Even the stray curs are asking me over...'

'... you don't need to worry your pretty little head anymore. We can stay safe from the war under the wings of the Shogun. Those damn mibu wolves may be low in intellect, but they are quite a force to be reckoned with...'

"He mentioned that some people were seeking his assistance. The 'mibu wolves', he had said."

Araki's frown deepened.

Mio glanced in askance towards Yataro, and the man scowled. "The wolves of mibu. They are a fraction of the Tokugawa's force that governs over Kyoto, going by the name of Shinsengumi. We've encountered some trouble from them previously. Word of mouth has it that the Shinsengumi's captains are undefeated, and this would not be the first time that we have had trouble caused by them. It seems that our plans for Nakao to fund the Araki clan in preparation for a clash against the Choshu is for naught."

"Irrelevant." Araki interrupted Yataro. "His part in my plans are but one of minor issue. I can easily find another person to take his role. But it would be foolish to let the Shinsengumi go unchecked..."

He turned his piercing grey eyes on her, and Mio had to make an effort not to look away, even as a shiver crawled down her spine. She never really did like her benefactor, not even after she took up his family name and been in his service ever since he took her in.

"Hijikata Toshiro. Have you heard of this name?"

"I do not believe so."

"The vice-captain of the Shinsengumi. He is the stronghold of the group, together with his fellow captains. It would only be a matter of time before they pose to be more than a mild problem."

There was a pause as he considered something, his eyes looking out of the windows, the gears in his mind working away.

"Mio, I have a mission for you. Infiltrate the Shinsengumi. I want a routine report of their plans and operations. You can figure out with Yataro on how to send me the information."

Mio's eyes widened. Surely not! She may know her way with the sword, but sitting among seasoned samurais with so much more raw power than her did not settle well with Mio.

Just one wrong move, and she'd be dead.

"Araki-sama, with all due respect, this is a mission that I am unsuited for. A fraction of the Tokugawa forces like Shinsengumi would most definitely only admit recruits, and would have no use of a female within their walls. Furthermore, my forte does not lie with a long drawn out mission like this."

"Then create a reason for them to take you in. All the soldiers that I can trust with this mission have too high a probability of slipping up. Only you are most suited for this."

"But-"

Araki's eyes hardened. "There will be no more discussion of this matter! It's final. Scout out the place before you make your move. Go over with Yataro on what you require and see that you have everything you need. I hear that they are stepping up on patrols and checks. Ensure that your false identification pass is made and have it with you at all times. I don't take kindly to failures."

"Also, before you leave, clear up the mess of Nakao. You know what to do."

Nakao have shown doubts in his relation between the clan. Mio knew that Araki would want to make sure that he would not spill any of their plans.

After all, the dead do not speak.

Gritting her teeth in anger, she barely managed keep the bite out of her voice. "I understand."

With that, Araki turned his back on her and walked away. But just as he was about to exit, he looked over his shoulders at Mio. "When the time comes that the Shinsengumi poses too much of a hindrance to my clan or our current allies, the Satsuma clan, I'll send a messenger. Then, you can complete the final phase of this mission, one that is of your forte."

"Which is?" Mio asked, although she could already guess the answer.

"To assassinate them."

So, how was it? Did you guys like Mio? LOL, not that there is much to say so early in the story. Well, if there are any parts you find lacking, please feel free to tell me! :)

Reviews and comments are love~! :D