RK: Hiya! I'm not used to adding author's notes before the actual story but, eh, why not? Like what's in my bio, I'm initially a writer from fictionpress (you can search me under the same name; I have an ongoing work there!) but I'm a huge fan of Hakuouki and I'm saddened by the fact that there aren't a lot of KazaSen fics here in ff. (forgive me, Chizuru-fans, but I don't really like her paired with any of the guys except Hijikata T_T Sen-hime all the way~) And so, I decided to make one to end this bugbear.

Night had fallen and the red-light district of Kyoto was busy with its patrons going in and out of the tea-houses or pleasure houses. *Geikos were obviously flaunting their beautiful kimonos as they walked the crowded streets accompanied by either a chaperone or a servant. Inside one of the well-known establishments in Shimabara, Kazama Chikage was alone, one leg propped up as he sat and stared blankly at the shouji doors in front of him.

Quietly sipping a cup of sake, the blond oni had his thoughts plagued by the pitiful war transpiring in the country. Foolish humans. If it wasn't for his duty as the head of the Kazama clan, he would, without a doubt, stay in the Western lands. The Oni had no business with human affairs; and it was only due to the fact that during the end of the Sengoku era, the Daimyo of Satsuma became a surrogate father to his ancestor, Kazama Chitose. As a result, his clan was bound by allegiance to Satsuma's government, and he had no choice but to honor it.

His thoughts went to the dilemma he had even before he arrived in Kyoto: the burden of getting a suitable wife for the sole purpose of producing an heir. It wasn't as if he would die anytime soon, but the elders of the Kazama clan wanted to ensure that they would have a future no matter what happens in Japan as the humans continue with their folly.

Yukimura Chizuru. She was the perfect match for him. Definitely not in terms of strength and power, but she was a pure-blood like himself—the last remaining female oni of the once proud Yukimura clan in the East.

He first met her in Ikedaya Inn and was surprised to know that she was with the Shinsengumi. Those fools who call themselves samurai thought that they can protect the capital with nothing but sheer determination and willpower. The only thing that they had was talent in wielding a blade, even though he wouldn't outwardly say it and his pride was trying to deny it. Nevertheless, Chizuru is better off living with her own kind.

It wasn't as if he had feelings for her; but the very fact that she was living with the Wolves of Mibu was enough to make him feel utterly disgusted. The way she clung onto that fool Hijikata Toshizo when he tried to snatch her away from the Shinsengumi one fateful night was simply unbecoming of a pure-blooded oni—and one with noble blood coursing through her veins no less. To be honest, he didn't give a damn if the girl held any affection for anyone in that ragtag group of ambitious warriors. His concern lies only with how he would persuade her to come with him and be his wife. And if she wouldn't accept his request, he would have no choice but to change her mind or better yet, steal her away from the Shinsengumi; and he definitely preferred the second option.

Chikage was not known to possess a long thread of patience. For him, whatever needs to be done must be acted upon immediately. This is all for the benefit of everyone back home. Every single thing that he did was for his family; and now, he had more responsibilities on his shoulders as the clan leader. Technically, he wasn't supposed to acquire the position at such a young age. Yes, he was still young; because unlike humans who age and die quickly, the Oni could live for many centuries or more if they were fortunate enough—and he was barely in his first while the elders of the clan have survived for more than seven centuries already.

"If only she hadn't disappeared," he growled, unable to suppress his frustration.

Suddenly, he was pulled out of his reverie when he felt a familiar aura near the shouji doors. The blond oni did not change his sitting position as the princess of Yase entered the dimly-lit room.

"I knew you were here," she stated, situating herself in front of him.

"What business do you want with me, Sen-hime?" he needed to be alone to plan his next move and evaluate what he had accomplished in the past few months; the last thing he wanted was to have a conversation with the Yase princess.

"Nothing. I was just going to ask your progress with Chizuru."

He dismissed her query and gestured for her to fill his cup with sake. Sen gracefully obliged but proceeded to unnecessarily lecture him, much to his dismay.

"I've told you this before, Kazama, if you wanted a girl to like you, then you should at least consider her feelings and try to understand her depths. Forcing someone to be your wife is insane as it is...but if you look for ways to sweep the girl off of her feet, then you'd kill two birds with one stone. You get yourself a wife and then you can go back to the West."

Responding with a nonsensical retort wouldn't help him escape this situation in any way (plus, he might get another hit on the head if he did just like last time). On second thought, he could just ignore her again; but Sen's countenance was surprisingly screaming with concern. For whom, exactly? For him? He inwardly snorted at the thought. Of course, her worries were for Chizuru, no doubts about that.

For some reason however, he couldn't stop himself from making a smart-ass comment about her expression: eyebrows knitted and lips formed into a pout. A conversation with Princess Sen is taxing indeed (even more than that carefree Shiranui) and he wasn't one to talk about a lot of things. He did listen to the words of the clan elders back in the West and also regarded whatever Amagiri says whenever his intuition about something seemed accurate; but talking with her is a complete waste of his precious time and energy.

"I didn't know you were worried about me," the words rolled on his tongue before he even realized that he did make a nonsensical retort. He was already expecting her to raise her fan but instead, the faintest hints of a blush crept up her cheeks.

Hmph. Seems like I hit the mark. Even so, that was completely a bolt out of the blue and...quite suspicious of the female oni. A smirk graced his emotionless visage as his orbs of ruby met her magenta ones.

"I-I'm not!"

If this was the usual Sen, she would immediately shrug it off and continue lecturing him about how to properly court women, or yet again, he might've suffered another hit on the head. Chikage was certain that something's definitely not right. So when he heard her mumble "at least it wasn't me," his decision of avoiding a conversation with the princess of Yase was thrown to the furthest ends of his mind.

"Is that so? Then I suppose it's Chizuru?" he asked again, taking another sip of sake.

"No, it's—"

Sen pursed her lips. Good, she knew that she got caught. Kazama would find out whatever it was that she's hiding. He was fully aware that the Yase princess also didn't like indulging herself in chatting with him even though she frequently tarried in the Sumiya; and her bodyguard, Kimigiku, who's working there as a geiko, was not with her as well. Furthemore, it was obvious that she was looking for him when she suddenly barged inside the room.

"Tell me. Who's worried about me?"

The female oni let out a sigh of defeat. However, his anticipation was shattered when Sen answered him.

"It's Kyouko."

She's here in Kyoto? He never expected that fate would be this cruel to throw another boulder at him. Nevertheless, he'd always find a solution to whatever problem he faced. He had exhausted himself and worked endlessly for it. The results were fruitful and all his hard work had paid off; his clan was living in peace and safe from the clutches of the humans. He was able to fortify their village and now, all he needed to do was to pay the debt his clan had with the Satsuma-han and take a befitting wife.

...But the knowledge that he would once again see Kyouko was painfully sinking in his mind.

And so, for the first time in his life, Chikage found himself weak and he couldn't do anything about it. He wanted to kill someone, anyone, to rid himself of this pathetic state of not knowing what to do or how to act with the matter at hand. It was obvious that Sen was expecting him to be rattled with the information she had given him; the Yase princess didn't even flinch when Chikage's sharp eyes widened after she told him about his younger sister.

Gathering his sanity, Chikage managed to speak; his deep, baritone voice an octave lower than usual. "Where is she?"

Sen stood from her kneeling position on the floor and turned to leave him alone once again. But before she closed the shouji doors, she answered his query as if he was simply asking about something so trivial.

"She's with the Shinsengumi."

*Geiko - term for geisha or Japanese female entertainers in Kyoto.

RK: Kazama Chikage is a very interesting character to write. He's a bit of our beloved men from the Shinsengumi if you would notice: ill-tempered and merciless like the oni no fukucho Hijikata; can be annoying as hell when he opens his mouth like Souji; somewhat egotistical like Shinpachi; reckless and brash like Heisuke; and a kuudere like Saito.

...But deep down, I think he's similar to Sanosuke when it comes to family and stuff. You know, the overprotective, I-won't-let-anyone-hurt-you type of guy. Not that I'm saying that Sano is the only one to think that way. He is simply more open to outright expressing it (accompanied by affectionate words) unlike the others. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please leave a review~