Hello everyone~! I know I'm not much of a writer, but I recently watched this anime about an hour ago, and I refuse to let it end like this! I stayed up all night; no pee breaks, no snack breaks, no nothing! Ask my witness! *points to Gaara plushie* I was glued to my computer and watched episode after episode until it was done, and I DON'T WANT IT TO END WITH EVERYONE DEAD! Though it's what actually happened in real history, I still can't accept it.

That's why I propose this story. Where everyone can come back and we can squeal over bishies again, instead of crying while watching re-runs (Guilty ^_^').

V So details are at the bottom (below the chapter XD). V

Ready minna-san?

Cast: OSU~!

Bitenshi(me): Heroine Chizuru as our star!

Chizuru: *salutes* Hai!

Bitenshi: Toshizo, Hajime, Souji, Shinpachi, Sanosuke, and Heisuke as our main guys~!

SSSHHT(Lol): Ryoukai!/…

Bitenshi: Kaoru and Chikage too IF the readers want.

CK: 'IF'?

Bitenshi: I actually kinda see Isami and Keisuke as more of teacher/parent figures… so…

Isami: WAKARIMASU! *pumps fist in the air*

Sannan(Keisuke): …

Bitenshi: Unfortunately, Kimigiku will be unable to last 'til the modern era like the others, but can be reincarnated if you want her to be. If not she'll be replaced by some successor of her role.

Kimigiku: Gomenasai, Sen-hime. *bows*

Sen: It's okay. You can keep the author company ^_^

Kimigiku: *nods*

Disclaimer: I don't own manga artists, not animators, nor this anime. But I do however own a cat!... Well I will eventually.

Now without further a due, let's start~!


The war raged on, but in the end, defeat was inevitable. About 120,000 troops were mobilized altogether with roughly 3,500 known casualties.

After the Boshin War, The emperor's residence was effectively transferred from Kyoto to Tokyo at the end of 1868. The military and political power of the domains was progressively eliminated, and the domains themselves were soon transformed into prefectures, whose governors were appointed by the emperor. A major reform was the effective expropriation and abolition of the samurai class, allowing many samurai to change into administrative or entrepreneurial positions, but forcing many others into poverty.

The Imperial side did not pursue its objective to expel foreign interests from Japan, but instead shifted to a more progressive policy aiming at the continued modernization of the country and the renegotiation of unequal treaties with foreign powers, later under the "rich country, strong army" (富国強兵 fukoku kyōhei?) motto. The shift in stance towards the foreigners came during the early days of the civil war: on April 8, 1868, new signboards were erected in Kyoto (and later throughout the country) that specifically repudiated violence against foreigners.

Increased opportunities for the common people were promised, abolishing the "evil customs of the past," and seeking knowledge throughout the world "to strengthen the foundations of imperial rule." Compulsory schooling was introduced, and the abolition of Confucian class distinctions.

Former samurai in Satsuma who had left government over foreign policy differences, started the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877. Fighting for the maintenance of the samurai class and a more virtuous government, their slogan was "new government, high morality" (新政厚徳 shinsei kōtoku?). It ended with a heroic but total defeat at the Battle of Shiroyama.

Japan continued to modernize itself, and today I continue to live; as is the life of an oni. My name is Yukimura Chizuru, and I am the last known main member of my clan.


~1868: The Outskirts of Aizu~

His eyes slowly opened, his view of the world still fuzzy until it cleared to reveal the face of a blue eyed woman. Her long, raven colored hair draped over her shoulders, her beautiful purple kimono secured neatly around her torso. They were in some kind of clearing beside a river, shaded by tall trees. He laid on a travel-size futon, half covered by a blanket. The woman was stroking his hand until she noticed him awake from his silent slumber; her face brightened with a smile.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Immediately alarmed, the male sat up and felt his chest for the wound that was no longer there. Checking the rest of his body for wounds, he found that there were none. Without another word, he clutched onto her collar with both hands threateningly.

"Who are you?" he snarled dangerously. The woman only chuckled in reply.

"Is that any way to treat your savior? After I dragged you here all on my own and tended to you, one would think you should at least show some gratitude. I even fixed that western costume of yours." She gave a pointed look to wear his gear and shirt lay from which he could see with the corner of his eye; he was left only clad in his pants. Releasing her, he relaxed into a seated position.

"…My apologies." He bowed his head slightly.

Smiling, the woman patted him on the head like a child who had realized what they did wrong and stood up, dusting off her Kimono. "Well right now we are on the outskirts of Aizu, just so you know. The battle is done and over. Now then; how do you feel? I think the change went rather well. You really are a strong guy."

Change? He immediately looked himself over again, and saw no physical change. Except for some of the scars he had before that were now gone, there was no significant change. He pondered calmly until he thought of the worst. "Did you… administer ochimizu?"

Cheekily, her smile grew bigger as his eyes widened. "Well, I guess you could say you are an oni now." His hands tightened into fists at the remark. "But relax," she reassured him, "I used a different method."

He looked at her questioningly as she pointed to her neck, then at him. Carefully, he raised his hand to his neck to feel two little puncture holes on his neck. This caused him to become even more confused; was she a rasetsu? Did she think that he would become one if she bit him? Surely not. But then how can all of the healed wounds be explained? She abruptly laughed as if she knew what he were thinking and put her hands on her hips amused.

"I'm not some kind of blood sucker, if that's what you're thinking. I'm an oni, and I saved you by mating with you. Therefore, I transferred some of my power over to you." Giving him a moment to let this fact sink in, she continued before he could retort angrily, "don't worry, I'm not expecting anything big from you. You just interested me, so I figured, why not?"

Looking up at her carefree posture, he gave her a serious stare. "What is it you want from me?"

"Heh. Straight to the point, aren't ya?" He gave no answer, so she sighed. "Well it may not look like it but I'm actually pretty old! I top you by many years!" On that note, a shiver ran up his spine. "And for all of these years, I have never found someone as interesting as you. You're pretty skilled, and handsome to boot. If you accompany me for a little while before I pass away, then you're free to pursue that cute little oni of yours~! And yes if your're wondering, you can mate with her after I pass away. No biggie. =3"

As soon as she mentioned the 'cute little oni', a picture of Chizuru suddenly flashed in his mind. It startled him to say the least, but he pushed his thoughts away to ponder later. "How do you know so much about me?"

She innocently looked towards the trees and put a finger on her chin. "Well, a little birdie told me about this interesting group of ronin, and came by often to tell me about them. To tell you the truth, how they ended up was really unfortunate, but when the bird told me that as she was watching a battle near here, she noticed that one of those interesting ronin still had a chance at life. I figured that because you people entertain me, that I'd be okay helping one of you. Besides, I know my life is to expire soon, so why not do something with it~? So I snuck through the battlegrounds and brought you here to give you another chance at life, with a price of course."

"Do you know the whereabouts of the others?"

"Hmph. Quick to care for your comrades. I like that~!" After he gave her another hard stare, she pouted. "You're so cold. Why so serious?" Once again, he didn't respond and gave her the signal to keep going. "As you have heard, you're old commander was beheaded. The vice commander you refer to as… sannan-san I think? He and the younger boy perished because of the ochimizu potion. The alcoholic womanizer actually survived a bit longer after that battle he jumped into, but soon after passed from his injuries.

The one with the spear? He died fighting a whole load of those fakes. Though I tell you, my birdie says he died with a smile on his face. And that one with tuberculosis; he passed peacefully protecting the other vice commander. The other vice commander though… I'm actually not too sure what became of him…? I think she said that a grave was made for him or something." Sitting down, the woman sat to ponder. At that moment, a small blue bird chose to perch itself upon her shoulder. She began to silently converse with it, as if she had gone senile.

Bowing his head in remorse, Hajime shed silent tears, praying for the departure of his companions. Minna…Chizuru…! "What about the girl?"

Jumping from surprise at his sudden outburst, she scratched the back of her head cheekily. "Yukimura Chizuru? I don't know much about her either. After the war she kinda just… disappeared? But she's probably around somewhere, 'cause you know our aging dies down around mid-adult years so we appear younger then we look! We live for a long time; you may find her eventually along the way. Because you're still so young, you might even get to see you're friends' reincarnations!"

Sighing as if a large weight was lifted off his back, he relaxed. At least he may see them again… see her again. Backtracking on his thoughts, he blushed in embarrassment realizing exactly what it is he thought.

"Ehehe… You must be thinking something dirty!" He scowled at her, and it only made her more amused. "Well then, new friend, I am known as Kazehaya Kirika, but you may call me Kiri-sama. I'll teach ya what you need to know to survive as an oni, i.e. blending in properly. Before I die, entertain me 'til the end!"


~1868: Outskirts of Benten Daiba ~

Cold. If feels cold. Dirt. I can feel it between my fingers. I'm… alive? But… where? I… I need… AIR!

Suddenly, his hand burst out of the ground, following another, which was soon after followed by a raven haired head. Pulling himself out of the ground, the violet eyed man dusted off the dirt from his worn outfit, still crusted by the dried up patches of blood. He first looked at his hands, and checked himself over; his injuries seemed to disappear as if they were never there. Glancing around the area, he spotted two graves below the shade of the large tree he stood under. The one he just came out of… and another one beside it to the right. His eyes widened.

"CHIZURU!" He dropped to his knees in pain, the possibilities rushing through his mind; did she die? Was that her grave? Could she have killed herself? No, then how would she have been buried too?

Calming down to rationalize, he tried to recall his last memories, and they rushed back in a blaze…

Flashback

"Hijikata-san." Carefully, Chizuru placed Toshizo's head upon her lap lovingly. His clothes were drenched in both his own and Chikage's blood. The battle with Kazuma Chikage had ended, with Toshizo as the victor. Even so, he could feel his life force slipping away.

Tears ran down her cheeks, and she wiped away a lone tear off his cheek where it had dropped from her face. The cherry blossoms blew around them gently; the sun's beams illuminated the clearing. Their hair swayed in the wind.

Looking up to the sky, she cooed, "Hijikata-san, do you see it?" Brushing a stray strand of hair away from his face as she looked down at him, she smiled. "Everyone… Everyone is raising the banner of Sincerity."

Cupping his face in her hand, she stroked his cheek with her thumb. "Aishiteru, Hijikata Toshizo-kun." Leaning down slowly, Chizuru placed a delicate kiss on his forehead, and then one directly unto his lips. Faintly, she whispered her sweet good bye against his now cold lips.

"Sayonara, watashi no ai."

End of Flashback

"Chizuru…" Unconsciously, he raised a hand to his lips where his love had tenderly laid her own. His lips were still cold, but slightly warmer than before.

Standing up on his feet, he looked up towards the sky. He could still feel that she was alive, he just knew it.

Where are you now?


I'm gonna give some translations if you need them, but I'm sure you probably know them all.

Minna – everyone

Hai – yes

Ryoukai – understood

Wakarimasu – I understand.

Gomenasai – I'm sorry

Hime – princess (suffix)

Oni – Demon

Ochimizu – 'The Ending Water' – The drink that was used in the anime to turn one's self into a 'vampire', or 'fake demon'

-sama – suffix used for royalty, or basically people with higher status

Aishiteru – I love you

Sayonara, watashi no ai – Goodbye, my love

Yeah, so that was the beginning. Sound good so far? I wanted to make it a bit mysterious as to whom the first two I chose were, but it was too obvious, right? Constructive criticism is welcome. Make sure to read the important notice below marked with bolds.

I can't wait to hear some ideas of how you want the modern day Hakuouki to continue on. I'm welcome to all ideas, though some may clash and might not be used so I apologize if they aren't.

Oh, and if anyone wants to correct my Japanese, DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU'RE JAPANESE PLEASE! I will use it rarely in this fic I think. I am currently taking Japanese classes that are taught by my teacher who lives in Japan that comes to Canada to teach every school year, and hopefully I'll stay at the top of my class. I take pride in my understanding of the language. I usually ask her if I don't understand something or need translations. So unless you feel that I'm ABSOLUTELY 100% WRONG cuz YOUR FOB JAPANESE FRIEND WHO HAS TROUBLE SPEAKING ENGLISH BUT CAN SPEAK JAPANESE VERY WELL SAYS IT'S WRONG, then please feel free to share =3 (It's a sensitive topic to me cuz someone insulted my Japanese before, insisting that because they heard it in an anime that I was typing it wrong. The Japanese language has a different format, and some don't understand that. I have evolved from the NOOB JAPANESE WANNA BE into someone who knows a bit more Japanese then before =D XD).

!*IMPORTANT NOTICE*!

NOTICE THE FOLLOWING

RIGHT BELOW THIS SENTENCE PLEASE (XD)

So here I am, writing a fanfiction because I want to change it, but with YOUR help! I'm gonna need suggestions or else this story goes no further. I need people to vote for the pairing they want, though I'll probably make multiple endings tailored with the outlines suggested by reviews.

Just so you know, I'm keeping two of our beloved bishies as oni, but the rest will be reincarnated~! I'm keeping Hajime and Hijikata with the same haircuts, but most likely an outfit change is in order. I'll need some ideas as to how the others will be reincarnated, like maybe Heisuke should keep his short hair and be a basketball player? Or maybe Souji can be a popular idol? I need job suggestions!

I WANT EVERYONE IN HIGHSCHOOL~! Cuz I don't know much about college or university yet… (still in highschool =P)

I'm making the time set in the present, since it's that time that I know best! I'm gonna start off with our two oni, but work along as I receive your suggestions.

I will not update until I get some good suggestions that can be used!

Also, I probably won't update very fast as I take a lot of extra-curriculars… But I will try my best to get out a new chapter after I get some feedback =3

*END OF NOTICE*

I LOVE YOU GUYS~! XOXO

Especially those who review~!

Kimigiku: *bows respectively*