Summary: AU from Episode 7. Instead of staying with the Shinsengumi as their Captains have requested that she do, Yukimura Chizuru takes to the streets of Kyoto to find her father…
Disclaimer: Houtori does not own Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan, no matter how much the desire to own all these bishounens is present…
Tracking A Trail
Chapter One: She Who Recalls Her Purpose
The air was cool, the atmosphere calm. The moon was full and illuminated further the small garden she could view from her window. The entire scene reminded her of the time she had first decided to leave her own home for the capital, in the hope that she would somehow be able to find the only family she had left: her beloved father.
Small wonder, then, that Yukimura Chizuru found some measure of irony in the fact that she was essentially deciding the same thing tonight. The only difference was her places of departure and arrival; the former would now be Shinsengumi Headquarters, Nishi-Hongan-ji in Kyoto, while the latter was… was…
'… Now that I think again about it, where should I start looking?' the girl sighed, practicality warring with idealism in her mind. One side of her head was calmly informing her that it was more logical to stay, to wait in Shinsengumi grounds until more information came in ('Hijikata-san did say that the inspectors have joined the search too') before acting. Conversely, the other side was all for leaving, seek for herself the whole truth – whether Kazama Chikage was really being honest that afternoon when he stated, in a matter-of-fact manner, that her father had joined their side and thus had "turned his back on the Bakufu", as he had put it.
"What were you doing here in the first place? You should think long and hard on that."
It wasn't helping matters any that the blonde Oni's words kept replaying in her head as well; Chizuru couldn't deny that they had partially strengthened her resolve to leave, because her primary goal all this while was still to find her father.
'And I haven't forgotten it… but it's being buried under the memories of living here, with everyone.'
Ah, the Shinsengumi and their leaders. Chizuru smiled fondly; they had become somewhat like friends and surrogate brothers to her. For a girl who was not only an only child but was also kept busy enough to make only acquaintances and casual friends, her initial meeting with all these men had been both intimidating and overwhelming at first, and those feelings had persisted for the next few weeks. Gradually, though, she was allowed to see the warmer, human side of the so-called 'battle-hungry, bloodthirsty Wolves of Mibu': how Heisuke-kun and Shinpachi-san would gleefully steal food from each other at mealtimes; how Harada-san would casually flirt with women he considered worthy of his attention, including her ('… Uh…'); how Okita-san always threatened to kill her but never followed through ('Whew.'); how Saitou-san maintained a professional air all the time even when doing menial tasks such as cooking and cleaning; how Kondou-san rarely had time to read, but when he did, drained tea like no tomorrow; how Hijikata-san was often irritated from having to constantly ensure that everyone fulfilled their duties and tasks well.
And how everyone had worried in their way about Sannan-san, when he was injured, and had defended him against Itou-san.
Sannan-san, who was so desperate to find a cure for his arm that he had tested the ochimizu on himself – and consequently joined the ranks of the undead as a Rasetsu.
The young crossdresser shivered involuntarily as she recalled the horrible events that had occurred nights ago…
Chizuru knew she had a terribly inquisitive nature; once she was really curious about something, she rarely let it go. It had driven her to Kyoto to search for her father; it had also granted her knowledge of the disease that would eventually claim Okita Souji's life.
Never in all her wildest dreams, though, would she have expected to find this: that her father had spearheaded research on a tonic which was basically turning mere humans into Oni, the demon-folk. Sure, it gave those who drank it inhuman strength and speed, but the advantage came with the hefty price-tags of bloodlust, time limitations and a one-way ticket into insanity.
Oh, and the fact that Sannan-san would later take over the project in secret to continue making improvements, then consume it as an experiment and then do his utter best to strangle the life out of Chizuru was yet another unwanted surprise on her part.
'Damn my curiosity!'
She'd been fortunate that the Shinsengumi strategist retained enough willpower to regain some control over his abrupt descent into madness, but his subsequent attempts at suicide hadn't been an improvement either.
Luckily for all concerned, the other Captains had heard her pleas for help and intervened, knocking the kodachi from her rigid hands, restraining Sannan-san and guarding their surroundings cautiously and fiercely to ensure no interference and complete secrecy on the matter. Shortly afterwards, she had fainted, the night's events finally taking its toll on her physical and mental states.
The brown-haired female had woken up hours later from her faint, wondering if it was all just one long, torturous nightmare, and that Sannan-san was alright and hadn't been desperate enough to do such a stupid (to her, at least) thing…
And then Hijikata-san came in, and explained everything, and all illusions of it being just a nightmare faded away, leaving her to face the horrible reality: that one of theirs was now no longer human…
Chizuru sighed. That incident had been an eye-opener for her, and its repercussions and results were still evident to those who knew where and what to look for.
Nowadays, as part of the group in the know, she was occasionally assigned to deliver meals to Sannan-san, and at other times (especially when Itou-san was out) to call him to join the other captains for a meal or so. So far, each time she'd met him, she had unfailingly seen a vision of him with white hair – not the typical hair colour that comes naturally with age, but the peculiar silvery-white sheen that clearly denoted one's race as either Oni or Rasetsu – and experienced a faint, but alarmingly increasing sense of wrongness about him. It as hard to describe the sensation, but Chizuru felt as if Sannan-san's time was slowly, but surely running out… and that the day when the malady would reduce him to nothing for than a mere beast wasn't as far off as everyone wished.
And the brown-haired Oni hated this. She hated that she was likely the only one who could see this, and still could not do a single thing to prevent it. She hated knowing that it had been her father ('her beloved father, the only blood family she had left') who had created such a double-edged blade, all because he could not refuse the order to do so from the government, whom in turn she hated for issuing such an order in the first place.
(And perhaps, in a dark place deep within her own heart, an unacknowledged part of her hated the captains for desiring power, and thus willingly submit themselves to becoming experimental subjects for her father's research.)
Whether it was due to extraordinary timing, incredible skill, or sheer pure luck (or a combination of all three), Yukimura Chizuru had done what she held impossible: escaping successfully from the Nishi Hongan-ji Temple, current residence to whom some styled the Wolves of Mibu.
There had however been some narrow misses; twice she had nearly rounded a corner only to bump into soldiers, and she counted at least one time where she just improvised and flung herself into the nearby greenery instead, pausing only long enough afterwards to check herself for bleeding cuts before moving on. Fortunately, she had lucked out at her choice of gate, for the young guards there had grown impatient waiting for their very late replacements and had hurried off for their next shift. The crossdresser then seized the opportunity to promptly shot to and out the gate, before the approaching guards took over.
It was strange, though that she had so far not even caught a glimpse of any of the Shinsengumi captains…
(Chizuru couldn't have known, considering the lateness of the hour, but an emergency meeting had been called by Hijikata Toshizou to discuss the attack upon Harada Sanosuke's squad that had occurred a mere few hours prior. As such, it was no wonder that there were zero captains around to prevent her escape.)
The brown-haired girl only stopped once after crossing through the exit to wear a straw hat, effectively casting a shadow on and hiding the upper part of her face. As soon as her hat was secure, she threw one last, lingering glance at the place she'd called home for the last few months, before letting a regretful sigh pass her lips.
'I'll miss you all… but it's time to me to go.'
Then Yukimura Chizuru took off, and soon disappeared into the darkness of Kyoto's streets…
A/N: … Blame this on the plot bunny I finally exterminated yesterday…
Anyway, nothing much to comment on, so let's move on to the next part!
Sneak Peek Section:
"Hey, anybody seen Chizuru?"
"I was going to assign her to your patrol today, Souji."
"Ano, would this be enough to rent a room here?"
"Oh, you look familiar… Have we met before, somewhere? For I swear that I would have remembered the presence of an angel such as yourself~"
"Yukimura? … Hold on, by any chance are you Sen-san's Yukimura Chizuru?"
"SHE'S GONE?"