Title: The Tale of The Fallen Sakura 2.0
Synopsis: Sanosuke Harada had brought his wife back home to his village, Ishigaki. He then settled down as the Village Chief, succeeding his father. Little did he know that his mysterious wife played an important role in the early production of Ochimizu long, long ago. And that his life and hers was intertwined in this life for a reason; cursed love.
Disclaimer: The author never own Hakuoki except for the OC and the plot.
(Few months before their encounter with Chizuru)
Screams of agony hovered over the black clouded night. The townspeople were running away from the flame gulping their homes. The bright color of the flame floodlight the dark night, yielding a heavy large of black thick smoke into the air.
At the very center of the aflame province, few men armed with swords on their waist and one who wield a spear in his hand had gathered for a breakneck meeting. "Save as many people as you can. We will meet back again at the temple by the river at the morning." Kondou, the Commander of the lordless samurai ordered his men to help the villagers that were still trap in the burning houses. They nodded in assent before scattered away throughout the blazing province. Toshimi quickly approached one of the collapsing house to lend a hand, but then a sudden occurrence inside her head made her stop. Without a second thought, she turned back and make haste for their burning compound.
Sanosuke whirled to her direction when he caught her running back to their aflame residence. "Toshi-" But his scream was thwarted when he heard an old woman crying for help near him. He rushed for her aid and carried the old woman to the safe place.
By the time he was done, to his panic, she was no longer there, even her tracks were heavily covered with layers of black ashes.
The morning ray striked upon them on the yard of the temple, despite the serene atmosphere of the holy place, the hustle and bustle of the injured had not ceased since last night.
In the middle of the chaos, Hijikata Toshizou was searching for someone among the human flood, his moves frantic as if desperate. Angry.
"Where the hell is Toshimi?!" His voice thundered, clearly disturbing the people resting on the hallway.
One of his young captains, Heisuke, stepped out from the crowd, looking as worried as his Vice-Commander.
"Sano-san said he will be back to fetch her." He said, feeling increasingly nervous as the older man glared right back to him. "To fetch her? Where the hell is she?!"
Heisuke showed the direction Sanosuke went to, and it took no time at all for Hijikata to stormed off with big strides, followed by Heisuke after fetching his sword from nearby post.
Sanosuke stood there immobilized. His breath caught on his throat. Toshimi, their physician was standing with her back facing him. Her violet kimono turned a shade darker by the splash of blood staining the fabric.
His unbelieving eyes shifted to the trembling sword in her right hand extended to her side. The handle was dark and slippery, as if a flood of blood had deluged her from head to toes.
He ran to her, but before he did so, she spoke, her voice whistled in her throat, as if in pain. As if in deep sadness.
"You betrayed me."
"Toshimi. It's me." He tried to take the sword from her hand but to his surprise, she swinged it full force, nearly cutting him if not for his agile reflexes.
"Toshimi!" This time he don't hold back. He knocked the sword off her hand in one swift movement, and kicked it far away from them.
"You betrayed me..."
It was then he realized she wasn't the Toshimi he knew. Her eyes were looking straight at him, but there were no lights in them. Empty. And then there were tears coursing down her cheeks.
Her knees started to give away, like a marionette whose strings had just been cut, but he managed to caught her in time. The cold trickle of blood on his cheek forgotten as he hold her in his laps. He didn't even realize the hands holding her was shaking terribly that it shook her a little.
What the hell has happened here?
He saw her breath shallow, as she was in no condition to talk right now. He gathered her in his arms but as he stood, something fall down onto the ground.
A scroll, and not even a fleck of blood had touched the paper as if she had defended it with her life.
He dashed off of the place, carrying her to safety with the scroll tightly gripped in one hand.
"Matsumoto-sensei! Please treat her immediately!" Sanosuke's white kataginu was stained heavily with blood from the limp body in his arms as he called the doctor from outside of his door.
"What's wrong-" The old physician opened the door. His face froze for a while seeing their state but he welcomed them all the same, quickly laying a mattress as he instructed him to put her down, carefully. "Wait, is this.. Toshimi?" The shock in him returned yet intensified. She was one of his disciple whom graduated in young age.
He made no delay of inspecting the pulse on her wrist. Weak pulse. The furrowed on his old face deepened. In turn, Sanosuke couldn't stop himself from asking questions while running his hand messily in his hair, which the doctor didn't have the answers himself. Matsumoto tore her outer garment, revealing her inner clothes stained with blood. He tugged open the hem of her last dress, stopping its way just above her chest just to find a deep wound on her left shoulder. He used a white, thick fabric to stop the flow of the blood but unfortunately it failed to tend her. The ball of fabric has dyed in deep red in no time at all.
Just then the sliding door threw open so wildly that it jumped. There stood Hijikata with his eyes wide before he immediately stepped in and sat on her other side.
"She has lost enough blood and she couldn't afford to lose more. Please hold her tight, I need to cauterize the wound." He explained her current situation as briefly and calmly despite Hijikata's pale profile.
As soon as the hot metal rod touched her wound, the small consciousness in her had her whimpered, weakly, trying to evade from the torturing hot rod that was searing her damaged tissues but to no avail. Both her hands were held tight by strong hands, keeping her in place.
"Toshimi, hang in there!"
"Don't let her fall asleep! Keep talking to her."
"*Imouto, look at me!"
"Her pulse's getting weaker!"
The voices of the men hovered in the metallic scent atmosphere, trying their best to encourage her in the only way they can. The fate began to spin against her, unfortunately placing her in the worst of situation; her eyes became blurry, the exclaims from the men gradually dissipating from her reach.
Not when the desperate face of that one man whom had always secretly looking at her when she was not, how she hope she would return that gaze for once, and say that she likes him too.
End of chapter 1
*imouto-little sister
AN: Due to a certain request, I've decided to rewrite this story and the old version has thus been deleted. Do review! Thanks!