A/N: Hey guys! This is my first fanfiction, I really hope you all enjoy it. It's a Saito X OC pairing, and it starts about a year before Chizuru joins the Shinsengumi. Reviews are much appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hakuouki or any of its characters, but if I did, well, I could die a happy person!

Chapter 1

The full moon hanging high in the sky provided just enough light for the young girl, disguised as a man, to find her way in the darkness. The streets, devoid of life made the night feel even more suffocating. Through the silence, she could hear not only her own breathing and footsteps, but also those of her two pursuers. She risked a glance back behind her. There was no mistaking that those monsters with red eyes and white hair were gaining on her. They were almost inhumanly fast. She sighed. There wasn't any other choice. She rounded a corner into an alley and pulled out her katana. The white snow fell gently around her, like sorrowful tears, as she waited for the two beasts to find her. She closed her light blue eyes and took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was about to happen. When she opened her eyes, the two beasts were standing a few yards away from her at the opening of the alley, blocking the moon light. Their blue and white haoris were flapping in the breeze; their red eyes were glowing as bright as the stars in the night sky; their white hair was the same color as the snow falling around them. No, they were most definitely not humans.

One of the monsters let out a terrifying cackle and his mouth widened into a disgusting leer. The other one drew his katana and let out a blood-curdling shriek as he charged at the girl. The girl dodged the attack and slashed at his open body, his blood stained her black hakama and her dark green kimono. The blood turned all the ethereal whiteness around them red. But even with the deep cut and the amount of blood loss, the monster did not fall as she had expected him to. The girl took a step back in surprise and confusion, but soon enough, she found the answer to the question she was asking herself.

"Maybe they won't die unless I stab them directly through the heart…" she quietly muttered to herself.

While she had been distracted, the other monster had drawn his katana as well. The young girl quickly composed herself and charged swiftly at the monster closest to her. She parried an attack and neatly pierced him through his heart. As she pulled her katana out, the monster collapsed onto the ground, the blood from his wound pooling around the body. The girl leapt over the corpse and embedded her katana deep inside the other monster's heart. Her long black hair, which had been pulled back into a topknot, fluttered to rest against her slim back. After she was absolutely sure the monster wouldn't rise up and attack her again, she pulled her katana out of the body, flicked the blood off, and sheathed it. Then she knelt down in the blood-stained snow and inspected the light blue haoris with white, jagged stripes. They seemed oddly familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had heard about them.

The sound of footsteps tore her attention away from the haoris. She leapt to her feet, ready for another attack. Two young men, both wearing the same blue and white haoris, entered her line of sight. The taller one had light brown hair, tied in a reverse topknot in the back. His emerald-green eyes sparkled, and he wore a mischievous smile on his face. The other one stood about a head shorter than his companion. His long purple hair was tied and draped over his right shoulder, and his deep blue eyes were as cold as the snow falling from the sky.

"Hey little kid, did you do all of this yourself?" The taller one with green eyes called out.

"Yes…" the girl replied, her right hand moving slowly to the hilt of her katana. She didn't want to fight the two men, but she would if she had to.

"That's pretty impressive, but I think you've seen just a bit too much. We might have to kill you!" The man's sparkling green eyes narrowed and his mischievous smile widened. He moved to draw his katana.

"Wait, Souji." The stoic one with purple hair commanded. Then he turned to the girl. "How did you manage to kill them?" His dark blue eyes bore into her lighter ones.

"They wouldn't die from a slash to the chest, so I assumed they would only die if I stabbed them through the heart, or made them unable to function otherwise." She responded still alert and ready to fight.

The man's blue eyes narrowed. "What is your name?" He questioned.

"Tsukahara Aoi…" She muttered quietly.

"Come on Hajime-kun," the one named Souji whined, "can't I kill him already? It's the easiest solution!"

"No," the other one, Hajime, responded, "we will bring him back with us and let Hijikata-san and Kondou-san determine his fate."

Hajime stepped forward and bent to strip the blue and white haoris off the corpses. Souji called to the girl, "if you try to run away, we'll kill you!"

Aoi turned to Souji and asked, "Where are you taking me back to?"

He laughed. "Where? Why, the headquarters of the Shinsengumi of course!"