Disclaimer: I do not own Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan, if I did things would have gone differently...
Taking care
The first snow of the season was sailing in silent flakes through the dark night sky. Soon winter would come and the already cold days would turn to really freezing nights.
Chizuru had finished washing the dishes and taking care of the kitchen after supper and was making her way back to her rooms on the veranda, when she stopped, admiring the view. The always busy household was quite because the loud soldiers of the Shinsengumi had all retired to their quarters for the night. The garden laid in hazy shadows, only the snow flakes dancing through the air like the Sakura blossoms in spring. It was freezing and not long after the girl started her reflection, she turned back to continue on her way to bed.
„It's cold," Chizuru whispered into the dark and tried to warm her hands with her breath. „Winter is approaching fast this year."
She was passing the rooms of the captains of the warrior squad, when suddenly she heard a faint noise. The brunet stopped in her tracks. There it was again, a faint mumbling or more like a winning. A dreadful feeling run through the young woman. She knew that sound and she didn't like it one bit. Careful not to disturb the night more than necessary, the girl started to creep along the wall of the building, listening into each room, to see if she could find the source of the painful whimpers.
Quite snoring came from the first and no sound at all from the second door she listened at. When she reached the third, the rustle of clothes and the scraping of nails on wood told her she was on the right track. She opened the door and made her way to the prone figure on the futon. Long, white hair spilled over the bedding, the face turned down, the naked back of Chizurus personal monster for this night, heaving with rustling and unsteady breathing.
„Shhhhhh," she tried her best to be as non threatening as possible. „It's all right. Everything will be over soon."
Chizuru knelled on the side of the man and tried to touch him reassuringly. In that moment wild, red eyes fixed her with a predatory look from under the white strands. No reason was left in them, as they looked the girl up and a painful grin spread on the contorted face of her friend.
Because all the members of the Shinsengumi were her friends, no matter the circumstances. But the man before her was lost to his own demons, to a blood lust so deep, she was not sure she could bring him back.
Chizuru shivered. Horror crawling up her spine, faith and courage leaving her by the second. The cruel faces of the blood lusting monsters that attacked her on the first night she was in this town, the ones that had brought her to the tutelage of her wonderful companions, reflected in her inner eye and paralysed her with fear.
Growling bought her back from her nightmare of over two years ago and into the one before her now.
„It will be ok..." her voice trembled to much to be reassuring now. „I'm here for you." She tried again, her hand outstretched to the lost soul in front of her.
And he reacted at once. Not the way she was expecting, not the way the possessed by the water of life normally attack. He grabbed her forcefully, pulled her close searching for an opening in her kimono. But when he had found it, he did not attack the obvious presented neck. His hands went deeper, trying to reach the rest of her flesh.
Bewildered Chizuru tried to struggle. „What...? Please no..." the girl offered her attacker her neck. „Here," she breathed. „Take my blood and you will feel better."
She had never been so scared of one of her companions. None had ever been so gone, so crazed that they would not reacted to her, that they would not take her offering and turn back to their normal selves. They always regretted hurting her afterwards, but she offered willingly. Her friends, her family was precious enough to her, to make such a sacrifice.
This time it was dangerous. Nothing seemed to be left of the man she so much cared for.
His hands had loosened her clothing and his body was accosting her in a way completely foreign.
„Why?... Please stop..."
Chizurus pleads went unheard in the deep of the night, growling overlapping them and her sobs drowning them out.
Half an eternity seemed to have passed before the creature above her sank his teeth into her neck. Mouths-full of her blood went down his throat and then, the white of his hair started fading back into black and the red of his eyes turned slowly into their normal deep colour. Still he seemed not to be conscious.
The girl had stopped pleading, had stopped sobbing all together a while back. She stared at the man in her arms who had done unspeakable things to her and finally could recognize her beloved captain again. If she was lucky, he would not remember this night.
He fell to the side and Chizuru did her best to wrap him up in the blankets lying around the futon.
The young woman, because now she would never be a girl again, made sure the warrior would not get cold that night. She left the rooms to at least find some peace and solace in her own empty and cold bed.
The next day stared out like any other.
The brunet housekeeper of the Shinsengumi rose before sunrise, went into the kitchen and did the wonders she always did to create a suitable breakfast for the men.
The first meal went by, the morning training was done with, in which the girl decided that she would apply herself much more from now on, patrol duty and lunch went on and even dinner passed like any other day.
If it wasn't for Hijikata stopping behind her that afternoon and murmuring a very shy „thank you" to her, Chizuru would have sworn that nothing special had happened there the night before. She could not be sure how much the demon commander of the troupe knew about the events that took place, but if she had to judge by the trembling of his voice, she was sure he knew more than what she wanted this brave man to know.
Ok, so some dictionary work before any language questions start:
Shinsengumi: group of not upper-class samurai who established themselves as such in the revolutionary period around ~1860 in Japan, protecting the city and working for the shogunate.
In the anime they are all bishonen (very yummi ^^) and have "adopted" a female member (Chizuru) into their group.
Shogun/Shogunate: General, rule of the general
Ronin: wandering samurai/warrior.
Water of Life/ ochimizu: the blood of Oni (demons) used in the anime by the members of the troupe to be able to heal their wounds faster. It has some ugly side effects: red eyes, white hair (still very yummi ^^), craziness, blood lust, very dark turn of character, complete loss of original personality...
Rasetsu: human-demon hybrid created by the blood of life. Not the best of companions... see above.
Sakura: Japanese cherry
Hakama: traditional japanese, wide trousers, made basically for horse back riding, worn by men.
Kimono: traditional japanese dress, normally worn by females
Geihsa: traditionally a woman for polite and interesting company. They excel at arts, know about politics and social rituals.
Kamis: pl. of kami, japanese for god.
Katana: japanese sword.
Soji doors: sliding doors made out of rice paper.
Hime: japanese princess.
Shogi: japanese chess.
Go: japanese strategy game
Dojo: japanese training hall
Futon: traditional japanese bed, extended on the floor for the night and rolled up at day time.