About the Alternate Universe: This story follows (up to a certain point) the timeline of the game and the anime, so if you're a diehard fan of the series (like me!), you'll be able to pinpoint which parts are taken directly from the game/anime and which ones are purposely created for this story.

About the Protagonist: The story technically uses Chizuru, but as you'll soon come to see, the 'Chizuru' I've come up with is so far removed from the game/anime's original character that she is almost an entirely different character altogether, but I still want to use her name since this characterization is a headcannon which I let bounce around my mind for a while now.

Author's ramblings: I don't know how far I plan to take this story, but this specific fanfic (More than enough) will end once it's that point in the game where we're forced to leave the Shinsengumi and go with our chosen man. I plan to write several fanfics which will stem from this main story, but at this point in time, I'll limit it to Okita, Saitō, and Harada first (since they're my favorites) so as not to overly pressure myself into writing for all Shinsengumi members that I'd end up compromising the quality of my stories due to stress.

[Shinsengumi x Chizuru – Slightly AU]

Chapter One:

Blood-soaked snow

It has only been a couple of days since I arrived at Kyoto, but my first impressions of the city did not disappoint. The city itself was bustling with merchants selling their wares and people going about their own errands. Even the simple hellos between people passing in the street seemed warm and friendly, nodding and smiling at each other almost as if they were family and not just some random strangers.

Still, there was something else as well. Something that made the city feel strangely cold. Almost as though there is an invisible wall, shutting out anyone who wandered in from the countryside. "Guess these people wouldn't be so welcoming to country bumpkins like me, huh?" I thought bitterly. It wasn't particularly comforting, but then again, I didn't come here expecting to be received warmly.

"Now, where do I start searching for that 4th generation master of the Shieikan dojo? It's not like I can just go up to people and ask them where I could possibly find Isami Kondō…" I mumbled to myself.

Still, there really was no way to it other than asking shop owners and some nice-looking passersby if they knew a person named Kondō-san. Today was my third day to ask around Kyoto for Isami Kondō, and the fruits of my search had been in vain so far. My search took up the rest of the afternoon, and before I realized it, it was almost the Hour of the Rooster.

"Oh crap, I didn't realize the time. Oba-chan will scold me again for staying out too long."

Her concern was not misplaced; they say that Kyoto is full of ronin, thereby making the city unsafe especially during nighttime. Ronin with no masters to serve often rob people in order to make ends meet. They are nothing more than violent criminals who hide behind the image of the samurai.

It's not like I was afraid of such people. I had decided early on that Kyoto was far too dangerous for a girl to explore alone; therefore, would be wise for me to dress like a man. Being clad in men's clothing hid my true gender, and having received training in a couple of dojos around the country, I was confident in my skills as a swordsman, well, swordswoman, if you wanted to be precise about it.

My disguise had proven successful, and I was able to roam around freely without being molested. Perhaps that success had gone to my head, and let me believe a girl disguised as a man could explore Kyoto anytime she wished.

But the city was not safe; I should have remembered that. Instead, I had somehow convinced myself that whatever dangers the city held didn't apply to me. I was about to discover otherwise.

In the street in front of me were three men. Ronin, from the looks of it.

I knew I should have just ignored them and went on my way, but somehow, I couldn't just let these men continue to have their way with innocent people any longer. If I turned tail and left, then they will just continue to harass and pillage the next person they will come across.

I drew myself up, and in the most dignified manner I could manage, I asked, "What is it you want?"

They all looked at each other, and with a nasty grin, the man in the middle spoke. "Pretty nice blade you got there, kid," he said, smirking.

"Looks a bit too much for a kid like this one to handle, am I right?" the man to his left asked his companions, who nodded in unison.

"Give it here, okay? We'll use it to defend our country," the man in the middle said.

My Daitsuren and Shotsuren aren't just some swords I picked up. It had been passed down through my family for generations, and even though I took these without permission from my father, being the next head of our clan meant that these will soon be mine in the future as soon as the leadership of our clan is turned over to me. Not that I'm sure the current head of the family will relinquish his power over to me anytime soon.

Setting aside my family's politics for the meantime, there was no way I could it give it to these ronin. Unfortunately, I had a feeling they wouldn't understand. Without having much options that don't lead to bloodshed, I decide to retreat to a nearby dark alley to have this conflict resolved quietly.

"Oi, quit yer running, you little bastard!" one of the men, presumably their ringleader, shouted after me.

I came to a halt when I saw the alley I chose is a dead end. "Good, better to have this settled where the possibility of having witnesses is low," I muttered quietly.

Turning around, I expected to see the three hooligans with their swords drawn and ready to battle. Instead, I turned in time to see a flash of silver, an arc of blood trailing after it, and a blood-curdling scream emanating from the man who was struck down. Confused, I looked from the man lying still on the pavement to the person holding the katana which was still dripping with blood.

This man had snow white hair and gleaming red eyes, a grotesque grin marring his face as he shook with an almost animal-like exhilaration. But what really caught my attention was the haori that he wore; a light-blue material with white cords crossed in front.

Even I had heard rumors of men clad in asagiiro haori who patrol the streets of Kyoto and enforce the law with ruthless vigilance. This man is a member of the Shinsengumi

Perhaps this man had secretly observed our exchange earlier and had decided to execute the ronin right then and there before he added more victims to his roster. I was about to open my mouth to thank him when he raised his sword and began slashing at the fallen ronin, despite the obvious fact that the man was already dead. I sensed nothing but madness from this man, his only apparent desire was raw, animal violence. Whatever he was, it clearly wasn't human.

"Help! HELP ME!" one of the ronin screamed, his sword arm bleeding profusely. He swung his sword wildly, hoping to hit his opponent at least once. The other man wearing the Shinsengumi haori flicked his katana almost lazily before plunging it into the ronin's throat, laughing maniacally. I couldn't see the third ronin, but I could hear his guttural screams for help before it was suddenly silenced.

I could not believe what I was seeing – the police force of Kyoto brutally murdering the three men as though they were mere animals. It's not like I wasn't planning on killing them myself, had it come down to that; but these men killed them in cold blood, going so far as to continue slashing at the fallen bodies as if they take pleasuring in hacking away at the flesh. If the Shinsengumi were the designated protection of this city, I can now see why people whisper rumors about how dangerous Kyoto was.

Unsheathing my Daitsuren slowly, I turned to face the three white-haired men of the Shinsengumi. "If this is how the Shinsengumi operates, under the façade of protecting the citizens of Kyoto, only to go about and kill indiscriminately as you see fit, then your organization should just cease to exist!" I yelled, katana poised to deliver a deadly blow.

Metal meeting metal, our swords clanged loudly as the man I was aiming to hit managed to parry my blow. I could sense inhumane strength from my opponent, muscles bristling with raw energy as he slid his sword upward towards my throat. I sidestepped, ducking low to avoid the slash meant to claim my life.

As I saw the two other men closing in on me, I knew I couldn't win this battle by my mere human strength. "And here, I thought I could try and win my own battles without using these powers you so unwillingly bequeathed, Otō-san," I said, laughing bitterly.

I came to Kyoto to escape that life, and yet here I was, about to use the strength handed down from a whole generation of pureblooded oni from the East. The only reply I heard was maniacal laughter from my quarry.

"Heh, figures. You guys got the same laugh as my old man. This makes for an easy target practice, then." I said as I concentrated on unleashing the powers I worked hard for years to suppress. But before I could fully give a free rein to my oni side, there was a sudden flash of light, and warm blood splattered on my face and neck. Before I could raise my hand to wipe the sticky substance off me, I heard a voice.

"Aa, that's too bad." The words suggested disappointment, but the voice sounded happy. "Here I was, planning to take care of them all on my own. Couldn't you have picked another day to work so fast, Saitō-kun?"

As he spoke, the strange man smiled, almost as if he were enjoying himself. The man he called Saitō spoke curtly. "I only did my job. Unlike you, I take no pleasure in battle."

"Well, that's not a very nice thing to say," the first man said, grinning lazily.

The second man was expressionless, but if I were to say so myself, he seemed vaguely disgusted at his companion. "You don't even bother to deny it…" he muttered. The man called Saitō sighed with the air of long-suffering, and looked over at me.

"Maybe, but if you just sat back and let them kill this kid, you could have saved us some trouble," the first man told his companion, his voice full of mirth.

"Perhaps. However, that decision is not ours to make," Saitō said flatly.

I shook my head out of its stupor; these men had the same asagiiro haori as the men they just executed, which meant that these two were part of the Shinsengumi. The question is, why did they kill their companions? Didn't they have the same sense of justice?

What was even more worrisome was the words that the brown-haired man spoke. He was willing to let their rogue warriors slay me just to 'save them some trouble'?

I bristled at the spoken and insinuated repercussions their conversation held. But before I could even say or do anything about it, another person appeared in my field of vision, his katana pointed threateningly at me.

"Luck is not your friend tonight," he said, his voice cold and quiet.

His long, black hair swayed gently with the wind, and the unexpected snowflakes falling down made me think of sakura scattering about during a quiet, spring evening. Moonlight illuminated his slender face and shone from the blade he held pointed at my chest. But it wasn't the sword that made my breath catch in my throat; it was his eyes. They were fierce and hard, but somewhere behind them, I could catch a glimpse of something else. There was no doubt that he was prepared to kill me, and yet, he looked troubled. Not kindness, but perhaps… mercy?

"Run, and I will kill you. Do you understand?" the man spoke in a low but menacing tone.

It was not his words, nor the tone of his voice and that of his companions which caused me to flare up; it was their overall attitude towards a supposed citizen of the city they were meant to protect. They slay their comrades without giving them a chance to explain themselves, and they were willing to slay innocent townsfolk without even batting an eyelash.

Raising my Daitsuren to the same level as his katana, I held his gaze without blinking. "Rest assured, I have no intention of running. I will not leave this place until you explain why you just killed your comrades without hearing them out."

The man's eyes widened a fraction. Clearly, he wasn't used to being spoken to in this manner. I could also hear the surprised huff of one of the men near him.

"Heh~ How interesting…" the brown-haired man said in an amused manner. Several seconds passed by as we stared at each other, neither one of us moving an inch.

To my surprise, (as well as his companions, based on the reactions they had) he lowered his sword and sighed audibly. With his left hand, he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, kid. I don't know who you are, or where you're from, but outsiders are not privy to the rules and decisions of the Shinsengumi, so I don't fucking owe you an explanation."

Despite his harsh words, I refused to brook my assent over the matter and was about to say so when he suddenly raised his sword again. "In fact, I think you need to explain yourself. Why is a fucking kid like you out at night, and why were you about to fight off our men?" he almost snarled at me. I tightened my grip on my katana, readying myself should he or his companions come at me.

"And not just any men, mind you, but these are the Corps…" the brown-haired man began, but was cut off by Saitō. "Sōji, hold your tongue!"

The black-haired man spared the man called Sōji a stank eye before returning his gaze at me.

"I don't think I owe you an explanation either! My business is my own." I said levelly.

Sōji whistled as the black-haired man's glare turned a few degrees colder. "Maybe I shouldn't have said that…?" I thought to myself, a figurative sweat dropping off my brow

Ever since I was a child, it was my quick temper and snarky mouth that always got me into trouble, whether it be with my father, my kendo teachers, and even my fellow kenjutsu learners.

Without warning, the man apparently had had enough of my ill manners and attacked first. I was able to block his strike, but barely. He was about to continue his assault when Saitō suddenly spoke.

"Fukuchō, if we continue to stay in this area, we are likely to be seen again. It would be to our best interests if we prioritize these bodies first, then deal with the kid later." he said with quiet confidence. He glanced around, possibly looking for other witnesses. Then he looked down at the men he'd killed, almost as though he'd forgotten the whole ordeal. "If they have this sort of reaction to blood, then they don't seem like they'll be very practical," he murmured, almost as if to himself.

It was like an off switch had been flipped; the man stopped his assault and slid his katana back into its sheath. He peered down at the aforementioned corpse, his face an emotionless mask. "Damn. I didn't think they'd gotten this bad," he said in a low voice, almost as if he's trying to tuned me out.

"What shall we do to the bodies, then? There doesn't seem to be any physical signs, but…" Saitō asked the black-haired man he'd called fukuchō. "Just take their haori. Yamazaki can deal with the rest." he said by way of an order.

My temper was reaching its boiling point; this evening had been one disaster after another, and it was all caused by these men from the Shinsengumi. I could hardly begin to count the number of times I was almost killed by their men, and now here I was, being ignored and dismissed as though I were an unworthy opponent. My father's derisive words echoed in my head. "You'll never amount to anything! You are just a woman, so you should just shut up and listen to whatever a man is telling you!"

I was about to give them a piece of my mind when the man called Sōji suddenly appeared beside me, his left hand clamped over my mouth and his right holding my sword arm.

"Ne, we're dealing with something reallllly important here, so it would help if you just kept quiet for a bit," he whispered in my ear, his grin somehow managing to look both sarcastic and admiring at the same time.

The nerve! I struggled to free myself out of his vice-like grip, to no avail.

"Aa. I didn't want to have to do this, but you give me no choice, kid." he said, his tone a bit sad. What I didn't realize was that he had a piece of cloth on the hand he had over my mouth and nose. As I began to feel the effects of the substance that was putting me to sleep, the last thing I heard was a raised voice.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Okita?" the voice yelled vaguely in the distance, and I saw and felt no more.

to be continued...

Author's end notes: Hiya~ milcahwaygalaxy here… It's been a really long time since I've decided to start writing fanfics again. How'd you like the first person perspective and my take on Chizuru's first encounter with the Shinsengumi? The idea for this story (as well as the 'new and improved' Chizuru) came to me one night as I was taking a stroll. I was also partly inspired by TK Grimm's "Dynasty Girl", which incidentally is one of my favorite Hakuōki fanfics (too bad it's still incomplete).

I found the notion of a Chizuru Yukimura who's learned in kenjutsu and has a strong personality so compelling, I was practically bouncing in excitement by the time I got home from my walk. We're all used to her being demure, ditzy, afraid of swords, and unable to express her thoughts and feelings, (until she's in a guy's route, lol) which is why some Hakuōki fans dislike her.

Also, I plan to use a couple of Japanese terms, words, and phrases from time to time, so I will be dedicating a sort of mini glossary at the end of every chapter for its definition/translation. I myself am still learning Nihongo, so please bear with any inaccuracies you may encounter.

If you even remotely enjoyed reading this story, please take a short time to leave a review because the reason why I (or any writer, for that matter) choose to take the time from my busy schedule to write this thing is that I believe, somewhere out there, someone will truly enjoy these ideas I have in my head. And that's all that matters. We write for our own enjoyment and for the pleasure of our fellow fans.

Word List:

Hour of the Rooster- approximately 6pm, according to the traditional Japanese time system

Shieikan dojo- a dojo in Edo (aka Tokyo) that taught the Tennen Rishin style

oba-chan- grandmother; technically it's oba-san, but since Chizuru is close with this person, she can use the –chan as a term of endearment

ronin- samurai who have left their master, or have been stripped of their privileges; also refers to a samurai who doesn't have a master to serve

oni- demon; in the game/anime, Chizuru is unaware of her oni pureblood status, but for this story, I chose to let her know what she is (more on that later, as you can guess from some of the bits and pieces in this chapter)

Daitsuren/Shotsuren- these swords are mentioned in the game, the Shotsuren being in Chizuru's possession while the Daitsuren in Kaoru's; the Shotsuren is a kodachi (a short sword) while the Daitsuren is a katana (a long sword); for the purpose of this story, I decided to let Chizuru have both in her possession from the get-go

haori- a traditional kind of hip/thigh length kimono-like jacket worn over a kosode (a basic robe worn by both women and men as an undergarment and overgarment); it doesn't close like a yukata, but is worn open or kept closed by a string that connect the lapels

asagiiro haori- a light-blue colored haori which is always associated as the Shinsengumi's uniform as they patrolled Kyoto

kenjutsu- the umbrella term for all schools of Japanese swordsmanship, particularly those that predate the Meiji Restoration

fukuchō- Vice-Commander (c'mon, if you didn't know this term, how can you call yourself a Hakuōki fan?)

ne- hey (doesn't Okita love to use this word though? neee~)