Hey guys, I know I have other stories to finish but I had this really awesome idea and I would like some feedback! This is a hakuouki fanfiction and if you guys don't mind giving it a read and leave a review, it would be much appreciated!
*late at night*
The streets of Edo remained silent as it is way past any normal human being's bedtime. There were no one out in the streets, from main roads to back alleys, with the exception of a few: Shinsengumi patrols. Normally patrols don't run this late, but with some of their secret 'experiments' on the loose, they must do anything and everything to get them back.
Standing outside the main entrance of their headquarters, Hijikata Toshizo stood with evident irritation on his face.
"What's taking them so damn long?!"
"Vice commander would you like for me to join in as well?" Unable to stay put, the ninja Yamazaki spoke up. He would rather be jumping around rooftops than to see the terrifying face of their demon commander.
"Sigh... That would be much appreciated, Yamazaki."
And with that, Yamazaki disappeared. Hijikata looked up to the moon that's slowly being eaten up by the clouds around and sighed.
"This can't get out... No matter what. They have to find them at all costs." Hijikata can't say he's not worried. Although he believe in him comrades, he can't afford to stand still and wait. Clutching on to his katana, he went off to join the hunt.
...
Yukimura Chizuru ran. Looking back every once in a while, she continued to run for her life.
"How did this happen?!" She cursed as she panted. Stopping briefly because she was out of breath, she hid in a random alley.
"Quick, he went this way!"
"Don't let him escape!"
Chizuru cursed at her pursuers.
"Why won't they give up already?!"
She resumed running.
Her legs are starting to give out. Chizuru really regret not exercising regularly. She took this chance to hide behind some barrels in the alley.
Just when she breathed in relief, she saw the shadows of her pursuers.
"Come out little boy~ if you do then maybe we won't kill you..."
"You sure he ran this way?"
"Yeah, that lad couldn't have gone far!"
Chizuru was terrified. They're going to find me!
Just then...
"Wait wha- GAAAAAH!"
Slash. Splatter.
"What the- W-waaah! Stay away!"
"Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeh! Blooooooooood!"
Chizuru couldn't move. "What's going on...?" It wasn't until she saw one of her pursuers with their katana drawn, backing away in front of her. And before she knew it, someone out there killed him. She paled. He's being... Eaten?!
That's when she saw it. Silver hair, blood red eyes. Her body was frozen in place from fear, and it was as if that... Person could detect it, he turned and looked her right in the eye.
"Blooooood... Give me blooooood!"
And he launched himself towards her.
Chizuru put her hands in front of her. As if that's going to do anything. She shit her eyes tightly.
I-I'm going to die!
...
At the other end of the city...
"I might've gone too far."
Yamazaki crouched on a random rooftop. He glanced around at his surroundings, and he noticed he's all the way at the forest that holds the path out of the city.
"Might as well give this area a good look...who's there?!"
Suddenly detecting 2 presence beneath him, he drew out his weapons.
"Oh Yamazaki-kun you're here too!"
"Huh?"
And there they are, Harada Sanosuke and Nakagura Shinpachi, two other division leaders from the shinsengumi, playing checkers on the ground with rocks while sitting by the same forest Yamazaki saw.
"...what are you two doing?"
Nakagura laughed. "Hijikata-san told us to patrol the edge of the city so we did!"
Harada sighed after him, however. "Except we had no luck after 4 rounds of patrol, so we're taking a break and keeping an eye out on the path."
Yamazaki nodded. "Doesn't sound like there's anything worth to report here then?"
"Nope. Pretend you didn't see us slacking!" Nakagura grinned from ear to ear, and Yamazaki could only sigh.
"Well then I'll be on my way to report back to Hijikata-sa-"
Just as Yamazaki was about to leave...
BOOOOOOOM!
"What the?!"
"The hell was that?!"
The three men jumped out of their seats as they looked around for the source of commotion. There it is, one of the houses by the forest exploded, and the flames were so big it's extending rapidly into the forest. Harada cursed.
"Shit! We gotta find those experiments before the whole town gets up to look at this!"
"Nakagura-kun, Harada-kun, I will report this to Hijikata-san immediately, you two stay here to assess the situation and intervene if neccessary!" With that Yamazaki was off like lightning, disappearing from their sights.
"Ahhhhhh man! Sano maybe the gods know we were slacking!" Nakagura whined, earning a smack on the back.
"Let's go. It couldn't have been an accident. Someone must have instigated this to happen!"
As they made their way quietly to the scene from an alley, they hear footsteps.
"Hurry, find that bitch! We can't let her escape with the cargo!"
"Dammit how did she know we were up her ass from that distance?!"
"Did she even make it out of the explosion?!"
"Of course she did she didn't even look surprised when the house blew up! She totally saw it coming that woman!"
As they run past Harada, he signaled Nakagura to go to the scene.
"Shinpachi go ahead of me. I'm going after them. Seems like they're the ones who caused this."
"Got it! Be safe!"
"Hahaha who the hell do you think you're talking to huh?"
And then they split. Harada ran after them quickly but quietly. If he gets discovered he'll have to take them all on himself. 5 against 1, normally Harada would be pretty confident, but from the way these men are dressed he's not sure what their abilities are. He has to try to avoid any confrontations.
"What the... They're running into the flames?!"
Just then, he noticed there were civilians.
Shit why are they here now of all times?!
It looked like a family, and the woman was holding what seems to be a child in her arms while they frantically run from the fire. Of course they ran into the men dressed in black.
"What the, why's there people here?"
"Whatever just get rid of them, they saw us!"
Shit no! Oh how much did Harada want to run out to save them. But even if he did it's too late.
"N-no don't kill us- AHHHH!"
"Noo!"
The woman ran. She immediately hid the sack she's been holding in the bush and ran the opposite direction. She didn't make it far before the men caught up to her and brutally killed her. Harada was fuming. How can they just do that? As if they would even do anything! But he understood why they did it. As much as he hate to admit, if he was in their position he probably would've done the same.
"That's it."
Harada ran after them. He waved his spear in the air and went after the men.
"As long as I keep one alive it should be fine!"
"Huh?"
"Wa- there's someone else?!"
"Gaaaah!"
"Who the hell is this?!"
Giving them no time to panic, Harada began his attack.
...
"What did you say?!" Hijikata stood up in shock.
"There was a sudden explosion by the forest. I've met up with Nakagura-kun and Harada-kun and one of the houses near us suddenly exploded. The two of the are on their way to access the situation."
Hijikata say down again while massaging his temples. The commander of the shinsengumi, Kondo Isami frowned.
"What a timing... Thank goodness we were able to deal with our situation before it got worse."
Hijikata was silent. He had just got back from the hunt and things went a little unexpected. "Except we had a witness."
"...what?!"
"The kid passed out, was probably to scared so we brought him back."
"Should we..."
"I wanted to wait for Nakagura and Harada to come back before we question the kid."
At that moment Nakagura came in.
"I'm baaack! Nothing out of the ordinary, except people are gathering to put out the flames now. I asked around a bit, turns out that house was used as a storage for one of the tea houses down the street. Something must've accidentally caught on fire or something. There wasn't anyone suspicious around either... Oh wait!"
"Did you remember something Shinpachi-san?" Toudo Heisuke asked. He looked around and noticed his red head friend is not around. "Where's Sank-san?"
"That's what I was about to say, after splitting up with Yamazaki we saw some men in black run by, talking about chasing a woman who stole the 'cargo'. He went after them in the forest."
Hijikata and Saito looked at each other. Saito looked at Nakagura. "Did you guys see the woman and what she looks like?"
Nakagura sighed. "We didn't. Hope she's a hottie though!"
"..."
"S-shut up Shinpachi-san can't you read the mood?!" Heisuke was embarrassed for his friend.
"...it's probably not the same person."
"What do you mean same person?"
"We brought back a witness after dealing with the experiments."
"Wha- witness?! But there's no way they could be the same person... We were on opposite ends of town!"
At that moment Harada walked in with blood on his clothes and face. And in his arms was a little bundle. He did not look happy but there's something else... He looked so shocked.
"Harada you're back. We have a w-"
"Hijikata-san... I brought back a man who started the fire... And killed the rest."
"Wha-!" Everyone noticed how Harada seemed a little shocked still at what hapened. Heisuke was the first to ask about the bundle. "W-what's that you're holding?"
Harada looked at the bundle. Nakagura almost immediately knew.
"You saw the woman they've been chasing, haven't you?"
"Yeah..."
.
.
Back to the forest...
"Haa...haa... You guys sure are persistant!" Harada smirked as he swung his spear once more, taking out a man who planned on attacking him from the back.
Only 2 more... But these two are a pain... They coordinate their attacks come time to time!
Just as he was about to attack one of the men who was off guard, from the corner of his eyes he noticed someone was walking towards the bush that hid the baby.
No!
That second of distraction was a mistake. The two men attacked at the same time, and although Harada was able to dodge one he wasn't able to dodge the other. One of the katanas scratched his exposed chest.
"Che-" He grunted in pain and fell on one knee. Before he could get up a sword was pointed to his neck.
"Kekeke there's no where to run!"
Harada cursed his luck. With his weapon still in hand, he could easily defeat them now that they are a little over themselves for capturing him, but he needed to know if the infant was alright. Just then...
"Waaaaaaaaaah!" A baby cry was heard.
"What the... Whys there a baby here?"
"That woman you got probably hid the kid... Omigosh look who's holding the kid!"
"! You're-"
"Shhhhh, you'll wake the poor child who's parents you murdered."
Harada turned around at the sound of a woman. And there she is. Standing by that bush is a woman dressed in a red kimono, with long black hair and gently caressing the scared infant. She had on a gentle yet eerie smile that screams trouble. Harada can tell this woman is bad news, but he couldn't help but to be sucked into her golden eyes.
She's so... Beautiful.
While he's so absorbed in the woman he forgot the pain on his chest. Looking at his attackers, this seems to be the first time where they saw her face as well. Seeing it as a chance, he quickly took down one and knocked the other unconscious. Taking off the bandanas from the dead men, he quickly tied up the one that's passed out and stuffed a cloth in his mouth so he can't bite his tongue to commit suicide.
The woman saw what he's doing and laughed.
"So you really think he'll speak up when you bring him back to wherever?"
"..."
"Are you going to ignore me?"
"..."
"How rude... Wait you're injured."
"Huh?"
"Did those men slash you? Good job me for stating the obvious."
"...why do you care? It's nothing."
"Now isn't the time to be manly. They're known to poison their swords. A wound that size shouldn't be a problem for you, but have you noticed any irregular pains?"
Harada thought for a moment. She's right. The wound shouldn't hurt this much. It's got a burning sensation that makes him weak.
"...it does hurt more that it should. So it is poisoned huh..." He cursed.
"What's with this bad luck today?"
The woman jogged over with the infant still in hand. As she got closer Harada noticed there's something off with her. She has an aura but I can't say what kind it is... But it's dangerous.
She noticed he was on guard. As if she knows why, she smiled at him.
"I don't bite. They've been chasing me for quite some time now I've developed an antidote for their poison. They're really bad at it, you know?"
"Wha- why would you save me anyways? Its not like we know each other."
"You got rid of them. That's enough for me to thank you. Although at the cost of a couple's life and an injury to your chest..." She looked at him with regret. Harada knew he was good with women from experience at the brothel, but right now he wasn't sure what to do with her. As he was frozen in shock, she took out a small bottle and poured out some concoction on her fingers and began to apply it on his wound.
"What are you doing?!"
"Don't move, I'm applying the antidote. Don't worry I'm not one to poison people like this. I have morals too."
"...anks."
"Excuse me?"
"...thank you."
Harada hid a blush. He hate to admit, but the coldness of the cream and the touch of her fingers feel pretty damn good. He sighed. What am I doing...
She moved on to his face. Grabbing his chin, she gently turned his face to the side.
"One here too... You were careless."
"I-I don't need you to tell me!" Now he's really embarrassed. He can't help but look at her golden eyes and the long lashes on her. He's not denying it, she is really beautiful.
"Who are you?"
She giggled at that. Turning to him again, she gave him a mischievous smile. "Its a secret!"
Harada frowned at that. "So you're not good news huh, if you can't tell me."
She frowned as well. "Wrong. Just because I was being pursued doesn't make me bad. You don't even know the whole story."
"Them what's the whole story?"
"That's secret too!" She winked, his frown deepened.
"Then how could I trust you? If you won't tell me anything. What's the 'cargo' they're talking about?"
At the mention of cargo, her face darkened. "They said that?"
Harada wasn't so blind he noticed the change. He just nodded but he didn't press on. The woman puts away the bottle when she finished. When she's done packing everything, she turned to him
"If we meet again by chance, I will tell you my name and why I was here. But in exchange you can't search for me. Because you won't be able to." She gave him a cheeky grin.
"Oh and, tonight, you didn't see me, okay?"
Harada was at a loss. How can someone like her be bad news? But there's people who wear crazy disguises so he still can't let his guard down.
"You really expect me to keep quiet about this huh."
"I'm hoping. I would very much like to live in peace too, you know." She looked at the infant who's now sleeping in her arms.
"... I can't return to the city right now. If you could... Can you bring this poor child to an orphanage or find someone to take care of him? He was never suppose to suffer like this." She looked so solemn, and Harada also regret not being able to save his parents. He nodded.
"I will. I am partly to blame for this mess. If I see you again... I'll let you know."
She smiled at him. "You're too kind. Well then, I hope we meet again."
With the blink of an eye, she was gone. Holding on to the baby, he frantically looked around.
Where did she go?! How the hell did she just disappear out of nowhere?! I cant even sense her anymore...
...
"So that's how you got this baby..."
Heisuke still can't believe what happened.
Nakagura was mad because Harada was able to meet a cute lady.
Kondo was playing with the baby in his arms.
Saito didn't know what to say. He really didn't know what to say.
Hijikata was beyond irritated.
Harada could tell. "I'll bring the baby to an orphanage tomorrow morning. I never planned on keeping it, I just feel guilty for what happened." He looked so solemn, and Hijikata almost felt bad for frowning. The infant started crying. It was getting too loud in the room.
And since it was a room full of men...
Everyone panicked.
...
It took almost an hour to calm the baby down, and the room became a mess. But luckily for them, the child is now asleep in the room next door with Yamazaki keeping an eye on him.
"Ahem... Back to where we were..." Kondo brought everyone's attention back to business.
"Right. Harada, long story short, while you were out we dealt with the experiments. However, we have a witness. We wanted to wait for you before bringing the kid in, so I just had Gen-san bring the kid over. I also want you to double check to see if the kid we caught is the women you saw."
Now Harada was alert. He thought deeply. Could it be the same person? But there's no way. Both things happened at the same time.
"Got it."
Coincidentally Gen brought the kid.
Harada could tell from presence alone that they're not the same person. A part of him sighed in relief. Wait what?
The kid looked scared, confused, and tired. It made everyone wonder what happened.
Hijikata coughed.
"Well then lets get started, shall we?"
Here's the intro! What do you think?
I don't have much planned for this story yet so if you have any comments and/or suggestions make sure to leave a review!
Happy New Year!