Azure: Alright guys... Promise is back! :D I'll try my absolute hardest to update as quickly as possible. My goal is to write one chapter daily; I mean, since I'm on summer break, I've got the time. But my bottom-line goal is to publish a chapter at least once a week. I really, really need your help on this! Bombard me with complaints and "hurry up!" as motivation!

Saitou: ...Finally.

Azure: Wow. I didn't peg you as the impatient type.

Saitou: No, I was referring to your motivation and your will to write the stories.

Azure: ...Oh.

Heisuke: A bit harsh, don't you think, Saitou...?

Shinpachi: Naw, Azure deserves it. Still, I'm glad she's finally bucking up and doing her job!

Azure: I honestly can't tell if you guys like me or are annoyed with me. Well, whatever. Right now, you guys are just a part of my imagination in how you would speak and correspond with me and each other. For all I know, this could be completely inaccurate.

Chizuru: This got really deep all of a sudden...

Azure: Woah, I also just noticed that my grammar could really use some work...

Hijikata: Then go work on it.

Azure: But I'm too lazy :(

Souji: And whose fault is that?

Azure: I'm not complaining about it though. I'm just pointing it out.

Sano: At the rate things are going right now, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we end up feeling more annoyed with you than liking you.

Azure: Hmm... Well, I obviously have to work harder then! And people say that anime and their characters can't be a source of motivation...

It is said that when you meet someone, if your knees shake, your heart pounds, and you can't feel your hands, that person is not the one for you. When you meet the true one, your soulmate, you'll feel no anxiousness. You'll feel calm, collected, and at peace.

That was how I felt when I first met her. Granted, I didn't know that this serene feeling was the first sign of love blooming. I always thought that it was just how I was. I was always like that: a man of little words, quiet, serious, a workaholic, and completely loyal to the Shinsengumi. Nothing more than a tool for their convenience and ambitions. And I didn't mind.

They had accepted me when I thought that all was lost. They didn't even care that I was left-handed. Instead, they praised me for my skill and decided to add me into their ranks. I had never felt more grateful to anyone or anything in my life. I finally had a place that I belonged to. A place that I could really call... home. I swore from that moment on, I would serve the Shinsengumi, and only the Shinsengumi. If they told me to follow them, I would follow them. If they told me to kill an enemy, I would do just that. Even if they told me to torture a prisoner, or slaughter a friend... I would do it.

With such a responsibility on my hands, I thought little of anything else. Personal feelings and emotions... they didn't matter. Nothing really mattered to me, except serving the Shinsengumi. If anything else really mattered, it was the way of the samurai, and my swords.

The bonds and friendships I had formed with the captains, commanders, and even the men under my division was one thing. We were on the same team, we fought for the same thing, we supported each other on the battlefield when we needed it. We were bound to tolerate each other at the very least.

But love... I found it trivial. Even if I wanted a wife, who would love someone who devoted his life to murder, war, and blood? During patrols, I was not blind to the wary glances and the terrified faces of the citizens as we patrolled the streets. I had created many rivers of blood... probably enough to turn the rain to that of warm, red showers. I have heard the screams, the howls, and the pleads of those I had cut down. What woman in their right mind would want to stick with me? No one.

That is, until I met Chizuru. She had proved me wrong.

She was a curious one; very different from many women and girls her age. When I had killed the rasetsu that had put her in danger, she did not look at me in fear, the way one normally would upon witnessing a man being impaled right in front of you. No, she didn't look at me like that.

Chizuru stared at me in wonder, as if I had enchanted her. Her chocolate brown eyes held no panic; she was genuinely mystified by me. I didn't know why. Someone had just died in front of her. Any person who was not used to death should have screamed, or started trembling. But she did neither. She just sat in her hiding place, gazing at me even after her immediate threat was gone. She was still a witness; the Shinsengumi now held her life in their palms.

I had not even known her for any more than a few minutes, but she immediately captured my interest. Who was this girl, disguised as a boy, wandering the streets of Kyoto in the dead of night? What was she doing here?

Eventually, this unusual bravery vanished once Souji and the Vice Commander appeared. After Hijikata had threatened her, she then realized that she wasn't quite safe. She dodged one bullet, but now she faced a force that was not in her power to control.

I pitied her. When we confronted her in that lone alley, she never spoke of her reasons for being here - well, she didn't really speak at all - but her eyes said everything. It all seemed to truly be an accident, a very unfortunate one at that. The gods obviously had not favored her that night, and I genuinely felt that it was a shame for her to die. We knew nothing about why she was here and what she saw, but her chances of living were awfully slim.

Fear or exhaustion had eventually gotten the better of her, as she fainted soon after being confronted by the Vice Commander. That made it easier for us to take her back to the compound. As Souji slung the girl's petite form over his shoulder, I mentally sent her my condolences as we made our way back to the Shinsengumi headquarters.

I truly thought she was going to die that night, but it seemed like the gods actually sympathized with her.

She was brought to the room after she had woken up by Inuoe, looking worried and drained. Souji and the baka trio had teased her some, but were quieted quickly by the Vice Commander, and then the discussion began.

Chizuru claimed to have saw nothing, but the plan had backfired. She couldn't even retort back to what Nagakura and Harada had told her. I was told to take her away, and almost felt bad as she begged and pleaded for her life. But I had only just met her; I didn't even know her name. I couldn't show any weakness or sympathy towards her, as I had to follow orders. After all, the Shinsengumi came first. Although I slightly regretted it, I had acted coldly and cruelly told her to prepare for the worst as she lay on the tatami, frightened of the unknown.

A meeting was held later after the Vice Commander caught her trying to escape, saying that she had reasons so important that she would risk her life to complete them.

It was at that meeting that I learned that her name was Yukimura Chizuru. She spilled everything after the shock of her being a woman had passed. She told the captains and the commanders about her father, before we learned the shocking truth that she was Koudou-san's daughter. I had decided to tell her what had happened, and at this point, we all had agreed that we couldn't really kill her.

The Vice Commander announced that she would be allowed to live and stay with the Shinsengumi under Hijikata-san's care. I actually felt a bit glad for her, and happy that she wouldn't have to die by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Someone with a personality as pure, innocent, and brave as hers was rare.

Ever since that day, even I had began to notice that we were growing more and more close as the months flew by. I didn't even need the other captains to point out that we really stuck to each other.

For whatever reason, she always found some excuse to be with me, whether it was chores or helping with dinner before she was allowed to prepare meals on her own. She always brought me tea when I needed it, and offered her support and concern when she seemed to believe that I was overworking myself. Eventually, it got to the point where I had completely gotten used to her being nearby, trying to offer her assistance.

I had actually appreciated her company, but also felt confused and annoyed by her desire to be with me. Harada treated her well, and Heisuke clearly had feelings for her. So, why did she choose me over them? What did she see in me? After thinking about it over and over to myself, I had come to the conclusion that it was because I was the one who saved her that night. I was the first person she saw after the terrors she had experienced, and therefore, felt the need to be with me since she was the most familiar with me. Perhaps she even felt safer around me, since I did protect her that night.

With this new thought in mind, her presence became much more tolerable, and I even started to enjoy it.

I began to feel grateful for her company, and how she had managed to make herself a place in this den of warriors. I enjoyed seeing her emotions and the different sides to her. As she grew more comfortable to her surroundings and the people in it, she almost began to act like a mother. She did most of the cooking and cleaning in the compound, and it was fascinating to see her working so hard with no complaints.

She also worried and fretted for everyone's health and well being, and eventually Yamazaki decided to teach her more about medicine. Later, she was trusted as being one of the Shinsengumi's medicinal experts. I was amazed at how she became someone important in the life of the Shinsengumi, and was very happy for her when everyone began to recognize her as an official member.

It got to the point where Chizuru's company was something I wanted and desired. It felt weird if she wasn't with me on patrols, or if she was somewhere else in the compound. I had just thought that her attachment had grown on me, until it hit me randomly one evening.

I woke up with a start with the words fresh on my lips as I whispered them to no one in particular. "I love Chizuru". I don't even know how I came to that conclusion, but once I did, everything clicked. How I unconsciously sought her out, how her presence soothed me and made the atmosphere feel calm and tranquil, how her actions and attitude always surprised me.

Yes, Chizuru had indeed carved a place in my heart, my confusion now completely gone. Even with this new information, I didn't feel scared or worried. I didn't even feel like it would be a hindrance on my duties. She had become a member of the Shinsengumi, and I already was one. For some reason, I just didn't seem to see the problem. Then, I recalled a saying I had heard on my rounds.

...I had made up my mind. I rose early that morning, and rushed to find her. I had hoped that she had woken up to do her chores, like she sometimes does when she couldn't seem to sleep. Thankfully, it happened to be one of those mornings I found her in the courtyard doing laundry. The sun had just began to rise above the mountains, decorating the courtyard with pastel hues.

Noting someone's arrival, she turned to face me and I didn't even hesitate to tell her.

"I love you."

Whatever she was expecting to hear from me, that was not even close. The cloth she had held in her hands fell to the ground, but neither of us paid attention to it. The silence between actually began to frighten me a little until she began to cry. From joy or sadness, I couldn't tell which, and that was uncommon for me. Hesitantly, I reached out to her until something had collided with me.

I was stunned, unable to do anything, until I realized that it was Chizuru that had ran into me, clinging to my clothing desperately as I felt my shoulder grow wet with her tears. Having no idea what to do, I circled my right arm around her small body, as my left hand began to stroke her hair. Thankfully her crying into my shoulder muffled her sobs, as it would raise suspicion among the captains, or anyone nearby for that matter.

We stood there for a few minutes that seemed like hours before Chizuru had fallen silent, her crying gone. She looked up at me with red, puffy eyes before giving me a smile I had never seen from her. She didn't say anything herself, but her eyes were the window to her soul.

"I love you too, Saitou-san." They seemed to say, and that was enough of an answer for me.

There was no other way to explain it. Ever since Chizuru and I had officially become a thing, life just felt... better. It did not take long for everyone to notice a significant change in me, even the rank-and-file soldiers noticed something unusual about my behavior.

According to everyone, I had become kinder and softer. I spoke a bit more, and only Souji and Harada had really noticed how protective I had become of Chizuru.

They were the only ones who put two and two together to figure out our new relationship. Actually, Souji had witnessed the whole thing, and teased me mercilessly about it while Chizuru had tried to defend me. Chizuru and I were both very thankful for the fact that Harada and Souji decided to keep our relationship a secret, but told us that they wouldn't come up with an excuse to defend us if one of the other officers figured it out. That had seemed fair, so we both agreed with their terms.

But we couldn't fool everyone for that long. Now, all the men had known our secret. We were terrified of what they would think, what they would do. Chizuru and I were both surprised when we learned that everyone actually supported it, saying that they "couldn't control fate" or that I "really needed someone to warm up that black hole of a heart" (courtesy of Souji).

We were allowed to stay as a couple as long as the regular soldiers didn't know of it. We accepted their kindness immediately; we weren't about to take this chance lightly. If it was even possible, life seemed to have gotten better.

Until that hope shattered like glass when Chizuru died.

Azure: As I was writing about the part where Chizuru kind of seemed like a mother, I couldn't help but feel like Chizuru would be a team mom XD

Chizuru: A... team mom? Really?

Azure: Yes, I can totally see! Oh my gosh this is great...

Shinpachi: This chapter is awfully short. Is this a prologue or something?

Azure: Yeah, I guess it is. I'll explain the whole backstory behind Chizuru's death in the next chapter :)

Souji: This is going to be one heck of a roller coaster.

Harada: How do you know what roller coasters are?

Souji: I've been playing with Azure's phone... maybe...

Azure: WHAT?! YOU'VE BEEN DOING WHAT?! Oh goodness, my browser history...!

Azure: *sigh* Anyway, I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammatical errors that you see, and also in case any of the characters appear OOC. My main goal for this chapter was to give a summary of how Saitou and Chizuru fell in love, and then there's going to be the whole death thing with Chizuru in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Heisuke: Oh yeah! Uh... What am I suppose to say again?

Hijikata: Good grief, I'll do it. Azure does not own Hakuouki or any of its characters, and I'm glad she doesn't. It would also help her a lot for everyone to at least review, whether it's advice or even constructive criticism. Your kindness is appreciated- you know what, screw this I'm out of here.

Azure: HEY! That was important!