There was a man on the path. He looked to be a bit older than Chizuru, but was moderately handsome, with tanned skin and wavy hair, and she was quite sure she'd never seen him before in her life. He was nicely dressed, with fine looking swords on his hip, but there was dirt on his face and the edge of his kimono was ragged. What was he doing here? This path was the only way down the mountain, surrounded on either side by high cliffs and sharp rocks, and there were only a few hours of daylight left in which to safely navigate it.

Chizuru felt her heart speed up and had to hold onto the cliff next to her stop her knees from buckling. Was he an intruder? Should she warn someone? She felt a wave of resentment at the idea of losing her one chance of escape because of her own soft heartedness, and for a moment enjoyed the idea of the villagers being stabbed in their beds, cheerfully imagining the look of horror on Lord Nagumo's face as this stranger's sword went for his heart. But she wasn't sure she actually had it in her to stand by and do nothing if this man was a real threat to the village. He certainly looked like he could be dangerous, watching the road with narrowed and wary eyes. She stepped back a little further behind the cliff and tried not to hyperventilate.

"You might as well come out," said the man, with a voice that managed to be be both quiet and commanding. "I won't hurt you."

She'd heard that before. But between a strange man who might hurt her, and a 'family' who definitely would, he was the less risky proposition. So she stepped forward, hand trembling on the hilt of her sword.

The moment the man saw Chizuru his expression changed, slipping into a friendly, flirtatious smile that might have come across as natural if she hadn't seen his wary expression moments before. "Good evening," he said. "What's a young girl like you doing out alone at night?"

"I...I live here," she said, voice weak. "What are you doing here? Who are you?"

"You may call me Saitani Umetaro," he said, bowing his head and staying seated. "I am merely a passing traveler who became injured on the road. I don't suppose you could offer me some assistance?" He shifted his kimono to reveal his leg and she saw that his calf was wrapped in a rough bandage and dotted with dark splotches of blood. That didn't explain why he was lurking around the village, it was deliberately out of the way of any common travel routes, but still made her feel much less nervous. Even she could handle an injured human. Unless he was only pretending to be injured so she'd let her guard down?

"I'm sorry, I don't have any medical knowledge," she said. "And I, um. Don't think the other people in the village would be very helpful. They're not friendly to outsiders. But I'll help you if I can."

His smile grew a little wider, and felt more sincere. "That would explain why they shot at me," he said. "I'm glad you've chosen to be more welcoming than your friends." The fact he was still alive must mean that whoever shot him hadn't realised he was an intruder, but had just loosed an arrow at noises in the forest. The Nagumo had a "kill first, ask questions later" attitude to humans.

"They're not my friends," she muttered under her breath. "I'm sorry they shot you. What can I do to help?" If he was not a friend to the Nagumo, did that mean he could be an ally to her?

"I've already bandaged the wound," he said, "But a crutch would be useful, some sort of long stick I can lean on." He flashed her a smile. "Or you could help me walk down the mountain, if you have no other plans."

The sensible thing to do would be to just leave him here. He was a liability, and a possible danger. But he was also the first person who'd been nice to her in a very long time, and she could hardly leave him to die. And if this Saitani could really be an ally...the thought of having someone she could rely on to actually help her was so enticing it made her heart ache. She reminded herself to be cautious.

"My plan for the afternoon was to walk down the mountain," she said. "You can lean on me if you like."

"Saved by a pretty mountain girl! This day is going better than I expected," said Saitani. She blushed. She wasn't feeling very pretty, having dressed simply and not put on any makeup. She reminded herself that he was probably just trying to make sure she kept helping him. But it was hard not feel a little flattered by the way he smiled at her.

She helped him up, and he rested his hand on her shoulder, though she suspected he wasn't putting his whole weight on her out of a misguided sense of chivalry. Now that Saitani was standing, he towered over her, and it belatedly occurred to Chizuru that helping him walk would require extended close proximity to a strange man. What if he tried to harass her? She could probably overpower him but it would still be awful, and what would she do after that? Leave him to be found by whoever walks this way next, she thought to herself, and felt better for having a plan, harsh as it was.

"What's your name, rescuing maiden?" asked Saitani. His tone was light, and while mildly flirtatious, didn't have that pressuring sliminess she had learned to be afraid of. Hopefully they could both make it down the mountain untroubled.

"Nagumo Chizuru," said Chizuru. "Why were you visiting Nagumo village?"

"I got lost trying to make my way across the mountains," he said, "And thought this path might lead somewhere useful. And it led me to you, so I suppose it did."

"I suppose," she said.

"Are we likely to bump into any of the other villagers?" he asked. "If we do you can say I threatened you with my gun." He patted his kimono, implying that was where he kept it hidden.

"You have a gun?" She felt a wave of anxiety come over her. An injured leg wouldn't stop him from shooting her, even if she ran away.

"I do," he said smoothly, "but I don't want to hurt anyone with it. Especially not you."

Then why do you have a gun, she thought. What kind of man was this Saitani Umetaro, exactly? She'd never even seen a gun, but everything she'd heard made them sound terrifying. It was normal for men to carry swords, even those who had no intention of using them, but she knew of no reason to carry a gun unless you intended on killing people with it.

"I'm sorry," he said, in soothing tone. "I didn't mean to make you nervous. I promise I'm not going to hurt you." Was her fear that obvious? She tried to calm herself down.

"We're not likely to bump into anyone," she said. "Most of the village is at a festival today."

"I see," he said. He looked at her consideringly, eyes flicking over the large pack on her back. "Chizuru," he said, "are you leaving home?"

That was a happy way of putting it. Like she was an adult being waved off by loving parents as she started a new life. Her first instinct was to deny it, but why not be honest? This human was obviously not going to tell on her.

"I'm escaping," she said. "I'm not really a Nagumo, I was...taken from my family. From my sister. And now I'm going to find her again."

"Taken! These Nagumo aren't the nicest people, are they? Do you know where she is?"

"Edo," said Chizuru. "At least...that's where she lived when we were children."

"I see! Well, I'm going up to Kyoto, which is on the way. And I have contacts in in Edo I can hook you up with. You help me down the mountain, and I'll help you find your sister."

"Really?"

"You've saved my life," he said. "It's the least I can do."

For just a moment, Kaoru thought the white haired men were here to save him.

They were unstoppably powerful, bringing down the ronin who'd tried to rob Kaoru with ease, and Kaoru envied their strength. But he soon realised that they were mindless in their violence, slashing at dead bodies with as much energy as they did at live ones, laughing frenetically at every spurt of blood, even from their own bodies. One of them turned to Kaoru with a demented grin, his wide red eyes filled with malice. Were these men even human? Kaoru drew his sword, trying to keep his hands steady, knowing he could never hope to defeat such a foe but unwilling to go down without a fight.

But then he was once again rescued by a stranger, a dark haired warrior slicing through the white haired men's bodies with cool, practiced strikes. Like the white haired men, he was wearing a pale blue haori edged with white, as if in mourning. And he too turned to Kaoru, and while his expression was calm he didn't put down his sword. The man gave off an aura of controlled violence on the verge of bubbling over, and Kaoru tightened his grip on his sword. His terror threatened to engulf him but his only hope of survival was to keep his senses sharp.

People said Kyoto was dangerous but this was something else. Kaoru had lived in Edo for over a decade without a single violent encounter, and now he'd seen two deadly fights in a single night. Would some new man appear now, to strike down this warrior in turn?

And then another man did appear, in the same ominous uniform, but he just smiled and quipped at the other warrior before both turned to glare at Kaoru, swords drawn. Kaoru remembered now that he'd heard people talking about a band of blue-coated thugs who walked the Kyoto streets. But he hadn't heard that they were literal monsters. Was the white hair a sign they were related to demons in some way? He hadn't heard of any such thing, but there was a lot about demons he didn't know.

And he'd never find out if he died here. Since there was no way he could beat these two in a fight, Kaoru let his hands tremble, and his voice get weak. "Th-thank you for saving me from those men," he said, bowing deeply.

Kaoru was well aware that he made a pathetic looking figure, holding nothing but a short sword and wearing ill-fitting clothes he'd scrounged from Kodo's room. He'd deliberately tried to look poorer than he really was to reduce the odds of being robbed, for all the good that had done him. Maybe he should have dressed richly to better intimidate people into leaving him alone. But for now he'd work with what he had. These were samurai right? Samurai were supposed to take pity on the weak. Kaoru hated feeling weak, but not as much as he hated the idea of dying.

"I wouldn't thank us just yet," said the more cheerful of the two men, with a very unfriendly smile. He moved his sword a little closer to Kaoru's neck.

"P-please don't kill me," he said. "I'll give you all my money."

The man laughed. "Your money! Did you hear that, Hajime-kun? Our days of poverty are over."

"We are not thieves," said Hajime.

"Good point," said the smiling one. His grin grew sharper. "Guess we'll have to just kill him then."

Chizuru found herself glad for Saitani's presence, even though he slowed her down. He was pleasant company, asking her what she knew about the local area and chatting about trivialities like favourite foods and the shapes of passing clouds. Without him she'd have had no company but her own worries. And she'd had plenty to worry about: within a few hours they'd walked further from the Nagumo village than she'd been allowed to travel during her entire time there as a prisoner, and it wasn't long before they started seeing signs of human habitation. Saitani was the first human she'd spoken to in over ten years, and she was painfully aware of her ignorance about his people. The people she was about to try and live amongst, passing as one of them.

"I, um, don't have any money," she said. "But I have some gold jewellery, do you think you could help me sell it?"

"Hmm," he said. "We're only going to be finding small villages for a while, they won't have much use for gold jewellery. How about you just let me pay for everything?" He winked.

"Oh, no, I couldn't!" she said. Saitani was in her debt, but relying on him too much seemed like a bad idea. Especially since he was suspiciously careful never to reveal too much about himself, or why he'd been trying to cross the mountains so far from the main road. He seemed like a good man, but that didn't mean he wasn't hiding something.

"Then how about I pay for everything with my money, and you pay me with some of that jewellery," he said. "We can work it out once we find an inn. And a doctor." He winced. It must be terrible, being human, having wounds just stay there, not healing.

"Of course."

"You know, Chizuru, you're lucky I came along," he said, after she'd been helping him walk for a few hours, and had insisted they stop and rest. Though obviously fatigued by his injury, Saitani refused to ever admit to being in serious pain, and it was only by pretending to need a rest herself that Chizuru had gotten him to sit down. "A woman travelling alone is easy prey. Perhaps we should pretend to be a married couple." She tensed- was he expecting her to sleep with him? She liked Saitani, and wanted him to like her, but the idea of letting him touch her like that made her want to curl into a ball of terror. Seeing her expression he gave a small laugh. "Or you could dress as a man, though you're a little short."

"I, um, actually have some men's clothes," she said. "I just didn't want anyone to notice me dressing unusually while I was still near the village."

"You've though this through, haven't you?" he said with a smile. "Smart girl. Do you want to get changed now, then, before anyone else sees you? I promise not to peek." He winked.

"Uh," she said. Could she trust him not to peek? If he did that would be...bad. Maybe it was time to come clean, while he was still reliant on her. She took a few deep breaths to try and steady her nerves.

"I've made you nervous again, huh?" he said, gently. "I don't take it personally, I know it's tough being a woman alone with a strange man."

"It's not that," she said. "I...um. Saitani-san, if I tell you something, can you promise not to, uh...I suppose I can't ask you to promise not to be angry. But please try to understand. I didn't like lying to you, but I. Um." She looked at her feet and tried to keep her voice steady. "This is very difficult..."

"It's alright," he said, soothingly. He patted her gently on the back. "I have a few secrets myself, whatever you have to say probably won't shock me."

"I'm a man," she said.

Saitani pulled away his hand and and stared at her in shock for a moment, and then laughed for half a second before the seriousness of her expression convinced him. He looked her up and down. "Well that's a hell of a trick," he said, his voice dry and a little cold. "I'm normally good at picking that sort of thing. How old are you?"

"Seventeen," she said.

"Huh," said Saitani. He didn't seem angry, which was a relief, but he did seem displeased. "So what's with the kabuki act, Nagumo-kun?" It was hardly the worst thing he could could have called her, but it was still a little jarring after an afternoon of Chizurus.

"It's complicated," she said. "But the Nagumo wanted me to be a girl, so they made me live as one, to impress other...other people. I had to dress like this not to attract notice when I was escaping, and then when I met you it was too hard to explain."

"So these Nagumo...they stole you from your family and then made you live as a woman?" said Saitani. "That's a pretty wild story."

"I know," said Chizuru. "If you don't believe me I..."

"No, I believe you," he said. "Provisionally, at least. You don't seem like you'd be any good at lying, and I can't see why you'd make up a story like that."

"Thank you," she said. "I'm glad you're not angry."

"Angry? Nah. Crossdressing is a bit weird, but there's worse things. And you've got a pretty good excuse." He shook his head. "No wonder you wanted to escape. Forced to dress as a woman! I'm surprised you didn't set the whole village on fire!"

"They're not all bad," she said. Because they weren't, there had been plenty of moments of kindness in amongst the cruelty, plenty of people in the village who'd never been especially cruel to her at all, even if she'd never really felt wanted or loved. And Saitani might think she was honest, but she felt like a liar, making it out like she was some normal boy who'd been forced into this life entirely against his will. But she didn't think Saitani would understand if she tried to explain the whole truth.

"Well, I bet you'll be glad to be able to get back into normal clothes, huh? I still promise not to peek." He grinned and gave her a slap on the back.

"Right," she said.

She felt self conscious as she took off her outer layer of clothing, even though she had nothing to hide any more. She wondered if Saitani was looking, just to try and double check that she was telling the truth, but with her back turned there was no way to tell, and she decided she didn't really care. For once her body was exactly what it was supposed to be, and nothing more.

It felt sad to take off her kimono and know she would probably never wear one like it again. She was glad to be free of the Nagumo, but it was going to be very strange living as a man again. For the first time, really- she could barely remember her life as a boy, and the expectations on men were different.

"Let's have a look at you, then," said Saitani when she was done, his voice still friendly but a little gruff. She shuffled her feet self consciously as she stood in front of him. "Not bad," he said. "Definitely a little short, but still manly." She hoped he was just being polite, she didn't really want to look manly. "I know you've been living as a woman for a while, kid," said Saitani, "But you can't go around looking at your feet like that or people will take you for a wimp. Stand straight!"

"Sorry," she said, standing straighter, and looking up at his ear to avoid having to make eye contact. "I mean...sorry." She let her voice sink a little lower. Lord Nagumo had always been complaining that her natural voice was too deep, though she'd thought it was perfectly fine. At least she wouldn't have to worry about that any more.

"Ready to get going again?"

She nodded, and he stood up and leaned on her shoulder again. She noticed that he was leaning harder now, letting her carry more of his weight. She wondered if he'd be more willing to admit when he was in pain, too, or if his bravado would still keep him quiet. Men! And now she had to be one of them!

Finally the road led them to a village, with both a doctor and an inn. The doctor seemed to believe Saitani's story about having accidentally surprised a hunter in the forest. Chizuru noticed how smoothly Saitani told the lie, and wondered how many of the smooth things he'd said to her had been lies too. When they got to the room, the Innkeeper laid out the futons and Saitani flopped onto one with a groan of relief. "Hey kid, how about I give you some money and you get us some dinner?"

"Ok," she said. She could do that, right? Money couldn't be that hard.

She somehow managed to navigate the complexity of purchasing food from the Innkeeper, and they sat in the candlelight eating hotpot that tasted exactly like the sort she'd eaten in Nagumo village. Perhaps humans and demons weren't so different after all.

"Can I do anything to help you?" she asked, once they were done.

He shook his head. "Nah, you've helped me plenty. If you hadn't come along I'd probably be dead by now."

"I'm...I'm glad you came along too," she said. "I don't know much about...anything, really. I had no real idea how to get to Edo."

"That's the fun of an adventure!" he said. "You start out knowing where you want to get to, and figure out the how as you go. And if you're lucky, you bump into people who help you get there. You and me, we're a team now."

To her embarrassment, she felt her eyes tear up. "Sorry," she said. "I just...thank you."

"Hey, none of that!" said Saitani. "Tears are for women! Men...punch each other in the arm when they're happy with each other." She nodded and wiped her eyes. He sat up and looked at her expectantly. "Come on then!"

She laughed and punched him in the arm lightly.

"You can do better than that, kid," said Saitani. "Give it all you've got!"

So she punched a little harder, still keeping back most of her strength. Saitani made a cry of pain and fell back to the ground, clutching his arm. For a moment she thought he was joking but...no, she really seemed to have hurt him.

"Oh no, Saitani, I'm so sorry," she said. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," he said, though gritted teeth. "Got quite an arm there, haven't you kid? That'll teach me to underestimate a man just because he's a little spindly looking." He sat back up and rubbed the spot where she'd punched him. She wondered if he'd get a bruise, and how long it would take to heal. Humans were so delicate. "So I guess that sword isn't just for show, then?"

"Actually, I'm not very good with it," she said. "All the...the women and me got a little training, but mostly I'm just...a little stronger than the average person, I guess." Even amongst the Nagumo she'd been considered strong, thanks to the pure demon blood that would have made her such a valuable asset if she'd been a woman. She'd forgotten how much stronger still that made her than humans. She made a mental note not to let Saitani see how strong she really was. She'd have to be careful about getting injured in front of him, too, since the speed with which she healed would also strike him as strange.

"So why were you so nervous around me, then?" asked Saitani. "You could totally kick my ass." He winked, implying that he didn't really believe it. After all, he did have a gun, and probably real combat training as well. That and he seemed like the kind of man who wouldn't want to admit he was weaker than someone else if he thought it was actually true.

"Well I mean...you do have a gun. And even if I'm not really a woman, you thought I was."

"Are you saying you thought I might not have been a perfect gentleman?" said Saitani, with an offended expression. "I'll have you know, I was fully intending on getting us seperate rooms. I might be a flirt, but I'm not going to take advantage of some young girl on her own, especially when I owe her my life."

"Sorry," said Chizuru. "I did think...do think you're a good man. But you can never be sure."

"Ahhh, that's very true. It's a dangerous world out there for women. Lucky for them they have us men to take care of them, eh?"

"Mmm," said Chizuru, who had mixed feelings on the subject. She sighed.

"Thinking about your sister, huh?" said Saitani. She hadn't been, but she was now. "I'm sure she's fine. And she'll be overjoyed to see her brother at last. What's her name? How old is she?"

"Kaoru," said Chizuru. "Yukimura Kaoru." She could barely remember what Kaoru had been like, but she was sure of her name. Because whenever Chizuru had felt down about her situation she'd thought at least I saved Kaoru. "And we're twins, so she's seventeen as well."

"Yukimura...so that was your name before, huh? Speaking of which, what's your real given name? I'm assuming it's not Chizuru."

"I...I don't remember," she said, lying. "And I'm used to Chizuru, now. Couldn't it be a man's name?"

"Not really," said Saitani. "You should pick something else."

"I like Chizuru," said Chizuru, firmly.

Saitani raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you insist. I'm not going to tell you what your name is. How about your surname, should I use Nagumo or Yukimura?"

"Oh," said Chizuru. "I could be a Yukimura again, couldn't I? Then that, please."

"Ok, Yukimura," said Saitani, smiling. "Now how about we both get some sleep. It's a long way to Kyoto."

Sometimes Kaoru regretted letting the Shinsengumi know his sex so quickly. It had probably saved his life, and would have been impossible to hide indefinitely. But it would have been nice to feel like an equal for a little while. He'd only started living as a man out a desire for safety, but had found it surprisingly satisfying, free of the ridiculous expectations that had restricted him as a woman. Thinking of himself as a man had become so natural it felt jarring every time he was reminded that it was just a role he was playing. So it was frustrating that the people Kaoru spent the most time around still all saw him as a girl.

But at least some of them were willing to treat him something like a man, even if their reasons weren't always very noble.

Kaoru picked himself up off the ground to the sound of laughter.

"You almost had me there, Kaoru-chan," said Okita, tapping him gently on the head with his wooden sword. This was a lie and they both knew it.

"You flatter me, Okita-san," said Kaoru. "An inexperienced girl like me could never best a great captain of the Shinsengumi." If he was going to lose, he could at least make it unsatisfying for the victor.

And while he still lost every round against Okita, he wasn't losing them as decisively as he had at first. He might not ever be able to beat Okita's techniques but he had at least begun to recognise them, and no longer flinched when a sword came towards him. He almost welcomed it, what was a little pain when it meant getting stronger? Okita didn't care about Kaoru getting stronger, he just wanted to make Kaoru hurt, but that just made it more satisfying to know that he was helping Kaoru regardless.

"I guess you are a girl," said Okita. "I forget sometimes, you're not very cute." He intended it as an insult but Kaoru took it as a compliment. Cute was the last thing he wanted to be. "Especially in that outfit, you look like a little boy with your spindly child legs in those ugly trousers. Why would you dress like that? Unless...I guess it's kind of similar to what Hajime-kun wears. Do you have a crush on him?"

As if Kaoru was some silly teenage girl with nothing on her mind but boys. Saito was attractive enough, and Kaoru didn't dislike him, but Kaoru wore dark colours for the same practical reason Saito did: to hide any signs of blood. In Kaoru's case, his own.

Humans were weak, delicate creatures, and Kaoru had to pretend to be just as weak. If they saw him get injured, and then saw that injury heal in seconds, it would be awkward. So he made sure they never noticed him get injured in the first place.

"You've done your hair like Kondou," said Kaoru, "do you have a crush on him?"

Okita growled like the pathetic puppy he was. Kaoru was a lot better at finding his sore points than Okita was at finding Kaoru's. "I'm not the one always sucking up to him," said Okita, darkly. And here we came to the reason Okita resented Kaoru so much: his increasing closeness with Kondou.

But was it Kaoru's fault that Kondou was the only leader of the Shinsengumi willing to give Kaoru the time of day? Kaoru was hardly going to sit back and do nothing when these people had the power of life or death over him. Kaoru's parents had been killed, his brother had been stolen, his adopted father had vanished without a trace. What child, left alone, will not seek out a protector?

Unfortunately, Hijikata refused to find Kaoru charming, and Sanan refused to talk much to anyone since his injury. So Kaoru flattered Kondou and Kondou did favours for Kaoru and everyone benefited. If Okita was jealous that being rude all the time made people dislike him that was his problem. The worse Okita treated Kaoru, the more Kondou told him off and was protective of Kaoru. It was great.

Since his insults weren't landing, Okita had to rely on brute strength, and unfortunately there he had Kaoru at a disadvantage. Kaoru managed to dodge the first swing of Okita's attack but was caught by the second, a vicious strike using all of Okita's strength. There was a loud crack and Kaoru's arm exploded with agony.

Had Okita broken it? Kaoru grunted in pain and clutched his arm, checking the shape of it. Ok, not broken, but possibly fractured. What a heartless bastard Okita was, to do this to what he thought was a human woman. Even with Kaoru's demon healing it still hurt.

"Okita-kun! What are you doing?"

"Helping Kaoru-chan learn to defend herself," said Okita, cheerfully.

"You mean you're venting your frustrations on a someone weaker than you," said Sanan, angrily. "You know better than that."

"Don't tell me she's got you fooled too, Sanan-san," said Okita, glaring at Kaoru. "She's not the sweet innocent little girl she pretends to be."

"I would say I have a fair grasp of Yukimura-kun's character," said Sanan. "And I am quite sure she is not pretending to be a weaker swordsman than you. There is no need for you to hit so heavily. Keep your ferocity for our enemies." He turned to Kaoru. "Let me see your arm. That sounded like it could have caused you a serious injury."

"Thank you for your concern, Sanan-san," said Kaoru, "But I'm fine, see?" He casually wiped the fabric of his sleeve against his arm to capture any blood, then pulled back his sleeve to reveal his smooth, uninjured arm. Sanan reached out his long pale fingers, and Kaoru let him gently feel along the bone.

Sanan was being very chivalrous, was he attracted to Kaoru? That could be useful. Sanan was kind of old, but most powerful men were, and he wasn't bad looking in a weedy sort of way. Anyway, it wasn't as if Kaoru wanted to properly seduce him, just lean on any preference a little. Sanan seemed convinced that becoming injured meant he was in danger of losing his place amongst the Shinsengumi, which meant he was emotionally vulnerable. Kaoru should probably pretend to still be in pain, to appear more vulnerable himself, but he was getting too much of a kick out of looking like an untouchable badass despite Okita's best efforts to cause an injury. Humans were fun.

"I don't feel any swelling," said Sanan, his fingers cool against Kaoru's skin. "But you could still have been badly injured. If Okita-kun can't hold himself in check, you should train with someone else. If you wish for a challenge, Saito-kun is generally considered a stronger swordsman."

"That hurts, Sanan-san" said Okita.

"Good," said Sanan, coldly.

"Okita-san would never hurt me," said Kaoru. "After all, he hasn't yet." He smiled at Okita. Fuck you, human. Okita's lips twisted into a sneer and Kaoru giggled.

"Yukimura-kun," said Sanan, considering Kaoru with an expression of cool curiosity. "You are a very strange young woman."

"Am I?" said Kaoru, eyes wide, laughing to himself. Sanan, he thought, you have no idea.