Hello lovelies! Grae here again (and not even hoped up on cold medicine this time! Le Gasp!).

Okay, so...this is kind of a new thing for me. The idea of this story pretty much hit me the day after I posted "The Lovers" (which I might continue, though I'm not certain just yet) and could potentially be viewed as a sequel to that story though you don't have to look at my other story at all to understand what's going on in this one. Actually, I can't promise you'll know what's going on in this one since I've kind of tried experimenting with this story's timeline a little and I'm not sure how it will read for someone who doesn't have the whole mad plot running through their head (aka know the madness of my mind). After this chapter the story should run along in a fairly linear way (with some small exceptions) and I will be more than happy to fix things if it becomes to confusing for people to follow.

This story should be fairly short all in all, I can't say with certainty any particular length but I'm hoping to keep it pretty brief so I can get some of my other work finished up. Usually I try and take my time with my stories and try not to work on anything else until I've finished whatever project I'm working on but in this case I'm going to try for a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants approach to see if I can maybe avoid my usual agonizing. I'm going to try and get as many chapters completed and published as quickly as I can with the intention of going back and fixing up whatever I feel needs cleaning up after the story is complete. Whether that actually happens will remain to be seen, but here's to hoping!

I absolutely and completely adore reviews and those kind enough to take the time and write them, as well as those wonderful souls who favorite and follow this piece. And I am more thankful then I can ever say for anyone who takes the time to even glance over my work.

All my love and devotion,

- Grae


. . .

A Traitorous Storm

. . .


The shriek of one blade striking another rose and fell in the air like the cries of mystical beast in battle, punctuated by the occasional grunt of pain or shout of rage. Shinpachi was unconscious, his large body splayed as if he and the other two members of the Idiot Trio had wasted the night drinking their combined weight in Sake, though the bloody split upon his forehead and the stark discoloration along his jaw spoke of an altogether different story. Sanosuke wasn't much better off where he was clinging to the splintered and scored pillar of the temple. His left hand was a mess of blood and dislocated digits, his spear even worse shape as it lay scattered around him in pieces barely recognizable as the weapon at all, while a bruise so deeply purple as to look black crept up around his torso and constricted his breathing to nothing more than pained wheezes.

Monks were running about in a flurry simple robs, serious faces and pales of sloshing water as one of the buildings of the Temple came alive with dancing flames. Shouts filled the air, solemn chants and furious howls that were almost familiar save for the horrendous things they sang to the moon. Toshi followed Okita over to the wounded red head, the later helping to ease their friend and comrade down to the ground as Hijikata took stock of the chaotic world around them. Hajime and Heisuke both were still standing, swords drawn and faces tense, though both men held their blades with the blunt edge of their swords facing out. Wounding blows only, perhaps not even those considering the intense cast to Saito's face and the sickly paleness that was consuming the youngest captain. The figure they battled was a mere shadow, flitting in and out of existence as leapt impossibly over the grounds.

"It...It got Chizuru. It took her..." Harada hissed through clenched teeth, amber eyes dull and flat as the pain threatened to overwhelm him. A cold, painful rock settled in Souji's stomach, his green eyes widening in shock at his friend's words. Sanosuke cursed under his breath, hands clenching tingly around the green eyes captain's arm as he looked up between Toshi and the other captain. "The monks were right – fuck that hurts – it just...it took her...she's not..." Sanosuke's hand shook as it slipped from Souji's arm, the spear wielder's form slumping down from the weight of his injured ribs. "She's not her anymore."

A shrieking groan and the roar of collapsing wood announced the fall of the temple building that had been set aflame, pulling their attention to the battle still raging on in the courtyard. The flames soared, leaping in a high, manic arch towards the twinkling stars above and illuminating the Temple grounds with the brilliant reds and oranges of the madly dancing blaze. Saito looked little better than a shadowed wraith in the near blinding light of the burning temple, his body sliding fluidly from kata to kata as he dodged and blocked the attacking figure's savage rain of blows. The left handed swordsmen never attacked though, never once took the openings in his opponent's form to deliver a killing blow and with the sudden brilliance of the fire illuminating the courtyard Toshi could make sense of the strange decision of the quiet captain. "She's not heranymore." Sanosuke's words hadn't sunk in when the red head had first uttered them, hadn't quite made sense. "It took her."

"No…" Souji's voice was low and pained as it escaped him in a rasp; an agonized denial of what they saw with their own eyes. "No, not her…" The green eyed man shook his head against the thought, his face pulled into a look of horror at the small figure attacking Heisuke and Saito in sweeping, mad attacks. It was surprising to see the mercurial man look so openly distraught, so painfully striped of his many masks. At any other time Toshi might have paused to consider Souji's strange reaction, analyzed it from every angle until he thought he understood the reasons behind such break in character, but it was not another time and it was – as Souji feared – her.

Chizuru.

Though, there wasn't much left of anything that he knew of as Chizuru. She grinned cruelly, eyes a swirl of ravenous hunger and twisted fury as she assailed both Hajime and Heisuke with harsh blows. Her hair – once warm chestnut before it had been shifted into an Oni's silver – flickered red and yellow in the firelight while her golden eyes burned with a madness that was honestly terrifying to see in her once sweet face. Blood had splatted upon her face – Yamazaki's or Harada's or Shinpachi's or someone else's entirely he couldn't be sure – the deep red a heart stopping sight as it dotted her pale face and stained the delicately curved horns that adorned her forehead. Her movements were fluid and graceful, the blade she held glittering as she handled it with vicious, striking precision. Her pretty face, the face he had always seen glowing with innocence and gentleness and shy, sweet smiles, had been twisted into a mask so spiteful and pitiless that it was nearly unrecognizable as ever belonging to Chizuru at all.

She moved with the feral grace of a half-mad predator, her strikes so quick he could barely see them as she reined blows upon the two captains, her mouth warped into a sinister grin, fangs he never thought she had glinting in the blood red light of the blaze that raged behind her. A manic, savage laugh echoed out from her throat as she kicked Hajime away from her, her hair fanning out around her like a mock halo as she used his hesitation to harm her – harm Chizuru – against him. Saito was thought as the most heartless warrior amongst the Shinsengumi, the one to kill someone without a single thought, and it was true to a point. The quiet man had no qualms with ending the life of an enemy with cool, calculated efficiency, but he was also a loyal man. For the people who had earned his loyalty, he would unquestioningly lay down his life and die, and for Chizuru…

Hajime would never be able to hurt Chizuru, not even if she was determined to end his life. None of them would.

And she knew that.

Her speed was almost past their ability to see, the Oni blood drawn to the surface pushing her limits far beyond anything they could hope to achieve – even with the Ochimizu. With a furious strike to Saito's reversed sword, she had him sliding backwards, his heels digging into the charred dirt of the Temple grounds as she gave him a twisted grin. Another fast blow to his side and he was thrown sideways like he was nothing more than a ragged doll some ill-tempered child had become bored with. She gave a howl of laughter as his dark form slammed against the side one of the Temple buildings that had yet to go up in flames, her eyes bright and glowing with a sinister cast as she watched the violet haired samurai crumple. Heisuke – when she turned her malicious gaze upon him – didn't have a chance. From their place beside the fading Sanosuke, Toshi and Okita stood frozen in place, stunned into place by the horrible impossibility of the scene unfolding before them.

"Hajime-kun!" Okita's voice rose sudden and stark, his call for his fallen friend but his eyes locked upon the waifish creature that danced and dipped over the shadowed, strangely lit grounds like a wraith. Toshi saw the other man's hands shaking, clenched so tightly upon themselves that the knuckles were presses white against the skin, bones creaking beneath the pressure of his stressed muscles. She had been mid turn towards Heisuke, hips swaying in a tantalizing way she never allowed her body to move, hair swishing prettily with each step before Souji's call caught her attention. She turned, a casual movement, almost as if it was any other day, a moment of normalcy, her small frame burdened with baskets of laundry or trays of freshly made food, one of them calling out to catch her attention to talk, to help her with her load…but it was not normal. It was not Chizuru, not really, not anymore. Her slim, delicate looking Oni horns glimmered in the firelight, pale against the fall of silver of her hair and the sultry spark of light that sparkled in her golden eyes. She was beautiful, beautiful and…and so very terrible.

She gave them an inviting smile, so strange and wrong on a face that blushed a vibrant red at even the smallest of compliments, the small bow of her mouth curving into a small pout as she looked them over. The tie of her yukata had loosened during her fight with the others and the one sleeve had slipped down to expose delicate, pale flesh along the gentle slope of her breast in response. She didn't bother to pull the cloth back up, to cover herself from their view, instead her smile pulled into a slow, predatory smile as her eyes slide back towards where Heisuke stood shaken and unsure. "Oh, look little pup, they've come to see me kill you…" Her voice was pitched low and sensual, a bedroom whisper that carried over the roar of the burning fire and the shouting monks and slipping inside their minds, tormenting them. She turned to face the youngest captain, hips swaying in an inviting rhythm as she padded silently over to Heisuke on dirty, bare feet, raising her Kodachi so that it lay level with the brown haired boy's heart. He lifted his own sword in defense, making no move against her oncoming figure.

A sudden gust of wind rushed past the roaring blaze, catching snatches of ash and flame and smoke with it as it shrieked its way across the courtyard. The gale whipped up the dusty, dry ground, curling around her lithe form as easily as a second, unseen skin and in a heartbeat she had disappeared. It was like battling Kazama, a single step, a blink of an eye, and gone. Whisked away by the wind only to reappear a moment later as if nothing had happened at all, in her case to appear grinning and wicked, a hairsbreadth away from Heisuke. The young captain jerked back in surprise, blue eyes wide and confused as he attempted to scramble back and away from her only for her to bring a sharp blow down across his face with the hilt of her sword. His lean body tumbled sideways, his tight grip upon his sword ripped away as she wretched the hilt out of his hands forcibly and hurling the blade across the grounds. It buried itself hilt deep into the wall, nearly slicing a frantic monk in two as it hurtled through the air. With her chosen foe disarmed, she delivered a sharp kick to his abdomen, knocking him roughly to the charred, dusty ground with a gleeful cackle.

She was going to kill him, Heisuke, Hijikata could feel it deep in his bones. The woman that had once been Chizuru – once, not anymore, Chizuru was gone, gone like all the others It had taken in the city, maybe forever – would kill him for the twisted, sadistic joy of making them watch her kill him. Her eyes flicked up to him and Okita, Harada barely conscious as the wind he tried so desperately to grasp slipped escaped him, the gold twinkling dark and dangerous in the light of the raging fire that blazed on beyond them. He was frozen in place, the shock of what he was witnessing freezing the blood in his veins and locking his joints into place. She was going to kill Heisuke, kill him, and Hijikata found himself unable to do anything but stare in horror as it happened.

Heisuke scrambled backwards, feet kicking and slipping upon the dusty dry earth as he attempted to escape the dark creature that had replaced the girl they all knew and cared for so dearly. She grinned down upon him, calmly walking forward with a promising slowness as she leveled her blade before her. She gave the Kodachi she held a contemplative look, her face pinched into an expression of mock wonderment as she gave a cursory glance between her intended victim and her horrified audience. "This weapon is old, you know. As old as the Yukimura clan itself, passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years. A weapon that has been stained with the blood of countless enemies of the Yukimura Clan." She twisted the blade about absently, catching the burnt orange light of the fire in the shining blade and allowing it to dance from hilt to tip. She turned a low, snarling smile upon Heisuke, his wide blue eyes seeming to delight some crazed part of her. "And now it will be stained with your blood little pup." She slide her gaze over to he and Souji, fangs gleaming viciously as she gave them a hungry grin. "Watch carefully now, a girl only ever gets one first kill. I'd hate for you boys to miss it now."

Heisuke's fingers tore into the dry earth, his last attempts to escape her murderous intention stalled by her one bare foot coming down in a vicious arch upon his midsection, knocking the wind out of him and sending him into a gasping, coughing fit. She laughed as he wheezed, his eyes wide and terrified as she lifted her short sword high above her head. The sight of the impending blow seemed to have broken the spell upon Souji, the cat-eyed captain jerking awkwardly back to his feet as he rushed to try and stop her. Hijikata jolted, following quickly as he finally got ahold of himself and realized with sudden clarity just what was about to transpire. They both rushed forward, intent on stopping the blow, on saving Heisuke and – if they could – Chizuru, but already knowing the truth of the matter.

She grinned with haunting madness, golden eyes flashing with blood-thirsty glee as she brought her arm down in a graceful arch. The ancient, flawless metal of the blade shone like a star captured from the sky had been contained within the weapon as she brought it down in a single, fatal arch. A precise, powerful death blow that they had no chance to stop. The blade fell.

They were too late.