Chihiro is Chizuru's older sister by exactly one year. Though she is older she retains no memory of the Yukimura clan, whether due to her young age or suppressing the trauma of the eradication of the clan. As the older sister she feels very protective of her younger sibling. As a result Chihiro is more outgoing, outspoken, and tomboyish than her sister. When Chizuru left to Kyoto her sister followed her though she had few day delay and ultimately ended up with the Shinsengumi, but does not know anything of the furies.
Chihiro secured her long black hair back into a tight bun, securing it with a black silken cord. Behind her Chizuru sighed. "How much longer are they going to keep us in here?" She stared out of the window.
"Why don't we go ask?" Chihiro said as she turned to her sibling.
"We can't do that! They might be busy!" Chizuru blushed.
"Excuse me!" Chihiro shouted, blatantly ignoring her sister's statement. A few moments passed before the door slide open. Harada and Heisuke came into the room.
"Good morning." Harada said with his usual laid back smile.
Heisuke scratched his head. "What are you yelling about?" He seemed uninterested in the older sister.
"We want to know when you're going to let us go search for our father." Chihiro stated. "The only thing you've done is keeping us locked up in this room." Her brown eyes narrowed.
Harada rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose we could ask Hijikata if we could take you two out on patrol this afternoon."
"I guess we could…" Heisuke nodded along then came to a realization. "Wait a minute that's my patrol!" He exclaimed.
"I suppose it is." Harada smiled playfully.
He pointed at Chihiro. "I don't want to take that unpleasant girl along with my men!"
"Maybe if you were a bit more civil then I wouldn't have to be so unpleasant!" She shot back.
"Well maybe if you showed some respect to your elders then I would be!" He argued.
Chizuru let a small laugh escape. Heisuke and Chihiro always seemed to be at each other's throats. Arguments broke out almost as soon as the two of them entered the room, much to everyone else's amusement. Yet she saw a glimmer of excitement in her sister's eyes which made her smile.
"I'll go ask Hijikata if it's alright for you to tag along." Harada gave a small smile to Heisuke. "Just remember to be a proper escort to these lovely ladies." He patted him on the back.
"Wait! Harada!" He chased after the older Captain. Once they were down the hallway he caught up with him. "Please don't make me take Chihiro with me, Chizuru is fine but not her sister."
He raised an eyebrow. "I doubt Chihiro would cause any problems, while she might not look like it I think she's pretty worried about her father." He glanced back towards the room. "Chihiro probably feels that she has to be her sister's protector, since they're all they have left right now in a new place. It's a lot of pressure for a young girl, so she probably acts tough so her sister won't worry." From what he saw of the two girls relationship the sisters were close but Chizuru heavily relied on her older sister and Chihiro answered that need regardless. Her selfless character was something he admired about her.
Heisuke looked back at the door. Maybe he had been a little harsh on the young girl. Letting out a sigh he admitted defeat. "Fine, if Hijikata says it's okay then I'll take them."
"Thank you, Heisuke." His fellow captain gave him an approving smile.
"Whoa, Kyoto is so big!" Chihiro commented. She hadn't gotten much of a view of the city when she arrived because she was too worked up about searching for her family. Now that she confirmed that her sister was all right she could allow herself to relax and enjoy the city more.
"The weather is nice today." Chizuru commented. Her expression had softened as warm sunlight struck her pale skin.
Heisuke walked behind the two girls with his blue jacket flowing in the wind. "Just be careful not to get too distracted, the ronin have been getting restless lately." He warned.
Chizuru glanced down at the sword at her waist with uncertainty. A hand was placed on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll be right here with you." Her sister assured her.
She nodded at her sister's disguise. She wore a blue shirt with gray pants. Chihiro had the confidence to convince anyone that she was a man and that she was meant to be there. Her features were strong and eyes sparkling whereas Chizuru felt that hers were dull. She could not help but feel a hint of envy towards her sibling.
"I'll be with you two as well. If you need anything just yell." Heisuke interrupted. His right hand rested lazily on his sword.
Chihiro gave him a sideways glance. "Come to think of it I could use a nice cup of tea." She crossed her arms.
His face twitched. "Do I look like a servant?" His voice grew louder as she began their playful argument.
She shrugged with the hints of a smile. "You're right, a servant would have better hair." With that said she walked into a teashop to start the search for her father.
"My hair is just fine!" He shouted after her. His cheeks grew red. "Damn it, I'm a captain of the Shinsengumi." He muttered.
Chizuru gave him a small laugh. "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy." She smiled when she saw his expression. Her eyes followed her sister. "It's just good to see Chihiro back to her usual self. Ever since Father left, she seems to have gotten more and more distant from me. She would try and smile for my sake but it always seemed forced." She turned to him. "Thank you for making her smile again."
Heisuke blushed. "Um, glad I could help."
"Oh, and she doesn't hate your hair. She said it was cute when she was back in our room." The younger sister admitted before leaving to join her sister.
The last statement left him awestruck so he turned back to his men to give them some instructions. He continued his patrol making sure that the girls were always in his sight. However he found himself looking about a Chihiro more and more often. "Thank you for making her smile." Echoed in his head. "Damn it, stop getting distracted." He shook his head.
The two sisters were talking about something and they both burst out laughing. A beautiful, radiant smile spread across Chihiro's face, like a sun breaking through on a cloudy day. He felt his cheeks grow red as if he saw something that he shouldn't have. "She's still an unpleasant girl." He thought quickly as he focused on his work.
"I think I saw a man matching that description over at the tea house yesterday." One shopkeeper told them.
"Thank you!" Chizuru took off running in her excitement.
"Wait! Chizuru!" The crowd of people made it difficult for her to catch up with her younger sibling. "Damn it!" She pushed her way through the people.
Chizuru arrived at the little teashop that was surrounded by several sake places. "Finally I might be able to get some answers." She thought to herself, as she was about to enter the teashop.
"Hey kid!" A ruffled voice shouted at her and sent a chill down her spine. When she turned around she saw an intoxicated ronin emerging from the sake place. "That's a pretty nice sword you've got there, little expensive for a kid don't you think?" He took a staggered step towards her. At his hip was a katana that had his right hand resting on it, ready to draw.
Though she had taken classes on how to use her short sword she hesitated in using it because she feared hurting others. "I don't mean any trouble." She tried to make her voice sound bigger than it was with the hope it would get him to back off.
"Then how about you hand over that short sword and there won't be any." He towered over her. Taking a step back she felt the wall cutting off any chance of escape. As the man reached for the sword she screamed.
A rock struck the man in the back of the head. "Ow!" He exclaimed as her turned to see who threw it.
The drunkard turned just in time to see Chihiro's foot collide with his chest. From the force of the kick he stumbled and fell into the dirt with a thump. Chihiro turned to her sister. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" She questioned with her eyes searching her sibling for any signs of trauma.
Shaken she shook her head. "I'm fine, I just got careless." She admitted.
Behind them the drunkard stumbled to his feet. "You brats." He drew his sword. In response Chihiro drew her short sword. The growing commotion drew the attention of the renin's intoxicated friends in the sake house. Three men saw their comrade on the ground and immediately drew their swords. When asked what happened the man pointed at the two girls. "These brats need to be taught to respect patriots." He instructed.
Chihiro took a deep breath. "Chizuru get ready to run." She instructed, still keeping herself between the men and her sister. "Heisuke and his men should be back on the main road, I'll buy you time."
"Chihiro!" She grabbed her sister's arm.
The older girl gave a confident smile. "Don't worry about me, we both know I'm pretty tough." She referred to the secret her and her sister shared. "Now hurry, before you're caught up in this."
Before the younger sister could answer the man on the right ran out them with sword raised. Luckily his intoxicated state made his movements slower and Chihiro was able to block the blade. "Run! Chizuru!" She yelled.
She took off running as fast as she could, not daring to look back. Chihiro parried the blade aside then struck the man in the stomach with the hilt of the blade. As two of the men shifted to go after her sister she raced to the alleyway to cut off their escape. "You'll just need to play with me right now." She taunted with a grin.
Yet beneath the surface she was uncertain. That last attack she was only able to block because the man hadn't put his full strength behind it. If the other three men had similar strength then she would not be able to block many of their attacks. All she had to do was make an opening for herself and escape to rejoin the Shinsengumi.
Heisuke saw Chizuru rush out of an alley looking panicked. "Where have you been?" He asked. "Where's Chihiro?" He could not spot the other girl.
She grabbed him by the jacket with desperate eyes. "You have to help her! She's in serious trouble!" She pointed down the alley.
He followed her finger then nodded. "Watch after her!" He instructed his men then sprinted down the alley. "Shit! Why couldn't she just stay put?" He thought to himself. Then he heard the sound of blades clashing, telling him that he was heading in the right direction.
He saw two men down with the young woman fending off the third. Her breath was labored but her eyes brimmed with determination. He also saw the fourth man ready to attack her from her unprotected left side.
"Chihiro!" He shouted her name. His blade intercepted the attacker's as he covered her. In one swift struck he disarmed his foe with ease.
"Heisuke!" She exclaimed, surprised that he had arrived so quickly. However the moment of her distraction allowed the last man to knock her to the ground. He readied to stab her but once again Heisuke saved her. He disarmed the man and knocked him aside with ease.
She stared at him in awe. True the men had been intoxicated but they were still strong. She had managed to defeat two with effort but Toudou did it in a single stroke. It reminded her why he was a Captain of the Shinsengumi at such a young age.
He sheathed his sword as his men arrived to arrest the ronin. His usually playful eyes flashed with anger. "What were you thinking?" He demanded from Chihiro as she got to her feet.
"What?" She questioned.
"You heard me! What were you thinking challenging four armed men like that!?" He reprimanded.
She picked her sword off the ground and sheathed it. "I couldn't just stand there and do nothing! If I did that," She stopped because she did not want to get her sister in trouble. "I just wanted to prove that I could take care of myself." Her eyes could not meet his.
To release his frustration he let out a sigh. "Next time just call me. It's better than you risking your life so carelessly." He said while fixing his jacket.
She was surprised at his reaction. "Were you worried about me, Toudou?" She asked.
His cheeks went red. "Of course not! Not having to deal with your horrible personality would be a welcomed relief!" He objected. Then his eyes softened. "But, Chizuru would be upset if something happened to you, after all you're all she has left right now." He recalled the younger sister's panicked expression.
At the mention of her sister her face fell. "Ah, you're right…" She spoke softly.
Chizuru rushed to her sister's side. "Are you alright?" She hugged her sister tightly. "I was so worried about you!" Tears welded up in the corners of her eyes.
The older sister froze for a second then returned the hug. "I'm sorry." She whispered.
Heisuke watched the scene then looked back up at the sky. "My patrol is almost over and I'll take you two back." He stated.
"Are you going to report this to Hijikata?" Chizuru asked. He hesitated as he scratched his chin. "Please! This wasn't Chihiro's fault! She was only protecting me!" She gave a pleading glance towards him.
"Be quiet Chizuru!" Chihiro cut her off. The older sister recomposed herself and held his gaze. "I choose to put myself in this situation therefor I must accept responsibility for my actions. Toudou, I won't ask you to lie for my sake. I was the one who challenged the ronin instead of calling for help after all." There was no a hint of doubt in her eyes.
Heisuke sighed again. "For now let's just head back." He did not have an answer for the girls. On one hand he did not want to lie to Hijikata but if he told him what happened then the girls would not be allowed to leave the compound for some time. He also could not really blame Chihiro for her choice of action for he probably would have done the same thing. "Today was supposed to be a great day too." He thought as they walked back to the compound.
Back in their shared room Chizuru sat across from her sister, watching her writing on a scroll. "Why did you lie for me? If you told Heisuke what happened then he wouldn't have gotten so angry with you!" She objected.
The other girl did not look up from her writing. "One of us has to be able to go and search for Father, we can't do that if we're both confined here." She gave her sister a reassuring smile. "Everything will be okay."
"How can you say that so easily?" She asked. This made Chihiro turn around to see her sister's troubled expression. "You always just brush these things off, but you could have been seriously injured or killed! Do you not value your life?" She accused.
Before she could answer the door slide open and Okita entered. "Dinner is ready." He announced. Then he noted the girls' expressions. "Did I interrupt something?"
Chizuru shook her head and gave what was the closest she could come to a scold at her sister. "Everything is fine. Dinner sounds good right now." She left the room.
With a sigh Chihiro followed suit but stopped at Okita. "How much of that did you hear?" She asked softly.
"Enough." He replied. "I don't plan on saying anything, it would make the compound dull if you and Heisuke weren't arguing all the time." He teased.
Her expression softened at the mention of the Captain's name. "I suppose." She recalled how cool he looked when he saved her that afternoon.
"That's a cute expression." Okita commented. "You should show that more often, otherwise we might forget you're a girl."
The sweet expression faded. "Perhaps it would be easier if I was a boy." She sighed. Then she wouldn't have to be scolded by Chizuru or Heisuke about her recklessness.
"Easier maybe but an easy life isn't interesting." He teased. She could not argue with that.
Dinner passed by peacefully, well as peacefully as dinner at the Shinsengumi could. Shinpachi stole Heisuke's food as usual. A loud argument echoed off the wooden walls causing Chizuru to laugh and Chihiro to smile. Yet when Heisuke's eyes met Chihiro's he looked away quickly. She did the same, focusing on her food.
This did not go unnoticed. "Is everything alright?" Harada asked in concern. She gave a small nod. "I just don't have much of an appetite tonight." She set her chopsticks down after a few bites of rice.
"That's not good, you need to keep up your strength to search for your father." Shinpachi insisted. "What you need is more meat!" He snatched the fish off of Heisuke's plate and set it on hers.
"Hey! I'm a growing man and I need meat too!" He tried to snatch it back but was intercepted by Shinpachi's chopsticks.
The door slid open as Hijikata entered the room. Silence fell over everyone while he took his seat. "Chihiro," He spoke her name sharply.
She met those sharp eyes with no hesitation and placed a hand on her sister's knee to stop her from shouting. "Yes Hijikata." She kept her voice level and composed.
"Heisuke told me that he saw you practicing swordsmanship this morning in the back of the courtyard." He spoke calmly. Her eyes gave a quick glance towards Heisuke who swallowed uncomfortably. Then returning her gaze to Hijikata she nodded. He continued speaking. "If you wish to improve your swordsmanship to useful levels then I will allow you to train with the Shinsengumi, assuming the Captains allow it."
She was taken aback by the offer. Heisuke must have lied for her after all and he was still helping her. She smiled at all of them. "Thank you, I promise I will do my best." She bowed her head.
"Since it might be risky to have her train with the other soldiers she'll have to do private lessons with someone." Sanen pointed out. "Do we have any volunteers?"
"How about Heisuke since he was the one who suggested it in the first place?" Okita offered with a sadistic smile.
Heisuke almost choked on his rice. "Why would I want to be with that unpleasant girl?!" He demanded. Yet his cheeks were growing warm.
"I concur, Heisuke will make an excellent instructor." Harada smiled.
"You two are of similar build so it would probably best to learn from him first." Sanen replied.
Shinpachi then spoke up. "I'll train her if Heisuke won't." He grinned. "It might be nice to train with a girl for a change."
"No I'll do it!" Heisuke answered quickly. All eyes were back on him. "It was my suggestion, so I need to take responsibility." He remembered how Chihiro answered him earlier. "But don't think that just because you're a girl means I'll go easy on you!" He insisted.
Chizuru watched as her sister's expression softened. "Thank you, Toudou." She got to her feet. "I'll take my leave for the night." She bowed to everyone and before she left she set the fish down on Heisuke's plate. "Take care, Sensei." She then disappeared behind the door.
Heisuke stared at the fish, surprised at her act of kindness. Chizuru watched his expression soften as he took a bite of the fish. She wondered why he had lied for Chihiro but she was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Harada took a sip of tea. "Heisuke and Chihiro have been acting strangely today." He kept his voice low.
Chizuru shuddered. "I think maybe they're both just tired from the patrol." She answered quickly.
He nodded slowly. "Patrol can be stressful sometimes." He continued to eat. The rest of the dinner proceeded rather peacefully with Shinpachi only occasionally teasing Heisuke.
Chizuru returned to her room to find Chihiro brushing her long black hair. Her sister's hair was even longer than hers, coming down to her waist. She used an old wooden comb to work the tangles out of the rich black hair. "Welcome back Chizuru." She smiled.
The younger sister closed the door behind her. "Heisuke really saved us today. He helped stop those thugs and covered for us." She let out a sigh of relief. "We really owe him one."
"Yes, that was very kind of him." She commented with her gaze focused on the window.
Chizuru came over to join her sister. "He's a really nice person, he treated me well when I first came here." She commented. "I don't know why you argue so much with him." She rested her head on her sister's shoulder.
The girl set the brush down then patted her sister's head. "Perhaps because I enjoy watching his reactions." She whispered softly.
Chizuru saw the relaxed expression the older girl seldom showed. "Do you like Heisuke?" She asked bluntly.
This caught her sister off guard. "Do I like Toudou?" She thought about it for a moment. "He seems like a good Captain and a good man, so I guess so." She answered. But from the way she was answering it was not in a romantic manner.
"Now you'll be training with him." She had to admit that she was a little envious of the opportunity her sister had been presented with.
"Yes. I wonder how that will go." She kept her gaze focused on the window. Her eyes seemed to be miles away. She knew that when Chihiro got like this it would be best to leave her alone for a while.
"Goodnight." She left her sister at the window.
"Goodnight." She whispered softly but did not break her gaze.
Heisuke left the common room not long after Chizuru. He had enough of everyone's teasing and decided to go to sleep. Yet he thought that maybe he should go explain everything to Chihiro, just so there wouldn't be any confusion between them. She would probably tease him for volunteering to teach her. "She can be so difficult." He sighed.
But he had been impressed with how she handled herself against those ronin. There was no hesitation in her blade work. Each stroke she made with precision. With a little bit of polishing she could be a good swordsman. "I guess she would be a swordswoman." He corrected himself.
Walking into the courtyard he decided to man up and go talk to her. She had been nice to him at dinner and given him the extra fish. It would only be polite to tell her about the training and thank her for dinner.
Approaching the girls' room he saw the door open and Chihiro sitting outside on the walkway. Her long black hair fell around her like a veil with the moonlight giving her a soft glow. That tough confident expression she normally wore was gone, instead replaced buy uncertainty and sorrow. Her gaze was focused on the full moon. In the silver light he saw the reflection of tears trickling down her cheeks.
He knew he shouldn't be there but at the same time he couldn't look away. His stomach sank when he saw her so upset but he could not understand why. They always fought with each other and she never showed him the same respect she showed the other captains. Yet seeing her behaving like a girl, a lonely girl at that, really changed his perspective on her.
"Should I say something?" He thought to himself. But he was not the best with words like some of the other captains. The other captains were not here right now, they would not know about her distress. "Alright, time to be a man." He made his decision.
Stepping out from the shadows he approached the crying girl. "Chihiro," He called her name softly.
His voice yanked her from her thoughts. "Toudou!" She exclaimed as her face paled. Immediately she tried to wipe her tears and hide behind her long hair. "What are you doing here?" She asked, shyly glancing up from behind her hair.
He took another step closer to me. "I wanted to talk to you about… the training." He started off unsure which is not the best start.
"Ah, yes." She forced a smile that pained him even more. "When did you want to start?"
"Chihiro," He sat down next to her. "I know you're going to say that everything is okay, but we've been worried about you. You don't let others know what's wrong or allow them to help you." He started. "I know Chizuru in particular was upset today. She was desperate for me to come help you."
The girl grew quiet while he spoke. His words echoed what her sister said earlier. "Chizuru asked me earlier, if I valued my life." She looked down at her lap. "The more I thought about it the less of an answer I have. My life is full of wrong choices that I can never correct and I know that the path that I'm on will only harm those I care about. So perhaps I don't value this life that much," She closed her eyes. "But as long as I can use it to give Chizuru a happy one, then maybe I can find happiness as well."
Anger took hold of him. "How can you think that?" He demanded. She stared at him in surprise. "How can you believe that your life is worthless? What happened to that confident girl who is always sure of what she wants or teases me!?" His eyes held hers. "You are Chihiro Yukimura and there is not one else that can replace you! Maybe you don't know if right now but I'm sure there's a reason you're here, that you came to the Shinsengumi." His eyes then softened.
"I know what it's like to regret your decisions and I know nothing I say will make you feel better. But I want you to know that I'm here for you and if you ever need anything you can come to me, you can rely on me." His hand brushed hers by accident or intention is uncertain.
She looked into his blue-green eyes and fresh tears started to fall while she smiled. "I didn't mean to make you cry!" He started feeling worse than when the conversation had first started. "I thought my speech was pretty good too…"
Chihiro shook her head. "I'm just really happy right now." Her brown eyes were warm and shimmering with tears. "Thank you, Toudou." She smiled.
He felt his cheeks grown warm. "You know, you can call me Heisuke… everyone else does. Toudou, it just makes me sound old…" He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.
She cocked her head to look at him better. "Alright, Heisuke." She spoke his name for the first time.
His expression lightened as her voice made his name sound like a holy bell. "See? Isn't that easier?" He asked.
"Heisuke." She repeated it then smiled. "I suppose it has a certain charm to it." The tears had stopped as her smile grew more earnest.
They sat outside together for a few more minutes just watching the moon. "I should get back, it might look bad if the other captains see me here." She nodded and got to her feet. "I will see you in the morning." He promised.
"Of course. And could you not mention this to Chizuru." She asked.
"My lips are sealed." He promised.
"Thank you." She gave him another soft smile. As she stood in the doorway she turned back to him. "Goodnight, Heisuke."
"Goodnight, Chihiro." He smiled back at her.
With that said they departed and both of them returned to their rooms with newfound happiness.