Chapter 1

It was midday when a man walked up to a ramen shop called Hokuto Shinken. The place was known to serve the best ramen this side of Edo. The man had little interest in ramen, he had always been a soba man, but he did enjoy conversing with the proprietress, Ikumatsu. Still young, Ikumatsu had lost her husband a few years back. She decided to carry on their shop in his memory.

The man wore a blue kimono tied with a yellow sash. His long black hair was covered with a straw hat that served to keep the sun off his face as well as to keep his features from public view. At his hip he wore a katana and from the way he walked it was obvious that it belonged there.

Ignoring the sign on the door, he tried to open it only to find it locked. Noticing the sign at last he read it quickly. It read, Attention Customer: Sorry for the inconvenience, but Hokuto Shinken will be closed until further notice.

Worried that something may have happened to the owner, the man effortlessly climbed the building up to the balcony of the second floor. Interestingly enough, this was where he and the owner had first met. At that time he had been running from the Shinsengumi, wounded, and she took him in and treated his injuries. Because of this and more, if the worst had happened here, he would do everything in his power to make it right.

Looking through the window into her bedroom he saw the place was a mess. Drawers were ripped from the dresser, clothes were strewn about everywhere and there was even some broken glass with some blood on it lying on the floor. Worried the man opened the window and entered the building.

He hurried from room to room looking for any sign of Ikumatsu. She was nowhere to be found. When he made it to the bar downstairs he saw that the burner to the stove was still on and there was tape on the counter that could have been used to tie her up. He also found a note next to the tape. All it said was Edo Bus Station 5PM.

He took the note and turned off the burner to the stove. Who could have kidnapped her, he wondered. It wasn't like she had much money. All of it was tied up in ramen. Maybe it was a ramen shop yakuza who didn't like her cutting into their profits, or maybe it was an enemy from his past who was trying to get revenge on him through her.

This was serious; shampoo serious. It was just after noon now so that gave him a little under five hours to rendezvous at the bus station. The first thing he would need to do would be to go to the Shinsengumi headquarters and report that she was missing. He would also have to get in touch with Elizabeth to let him know what was going on, maybe Gintoki also. He was always useful in a pinch.

He heard a loud banging on the front door. "Open up! It's the Shinsengumi!" a familiar voice yelled.

Thinking quickly the man decided that reporting a missing person to the Shinsengumi could wait until they happened to be in a better mood. He rushed up the stairs to find three Shinsengumi in her bedroom already. It seemed that they had anticipated his escape onto the roof. Before they knew that he was even there he has passed them onto the balcony.

"Katsura!"

Down below he saw Sougo Okita armed with a bazooka. He didn't want her shop destroyed because of him. He would have to do the only thing that made sense, give himself up.

Taking out a new bomb he codenamed 'himself' from his inside his haori sleeve, he tossed it down at the offensive Shinsengumi officer before the man could fire at him. The bomb had the desired effect of making everyone run for cover. When it went off the area was covered in a dense smoke to assist in his escape. His new smoke bomb had worked perfectly.

He quickly moved from rooftop to rooftop and before the smoke had finally settled he was long gone and had evaded the Shinsengumi pursuit. He figured that now would be a good time to report a missing person to the proper authorities with the most rabid of them away from the base looking for him, but first he would need a disguise.

As luck would have it there was a Joui hideout not too far from his current location. There, he could find a costume to wear and it would be an easy to make up a new name.

Once inside he took his hat off. He saw Elizabeth going over some plans for an attack on the Shinsengumi with some of the Joui. The plan was simple and brilliant. Katsura had come up with it one day at a local diner when he accidently put salt in his coffee instead of sugar. He had thrown down the coffee in disgust and the rest of the day he was sluggish and tired. If they could switch their sugar and salt, in one fell swoop, he will have sapped the will and energy of the Shinsengumi.

Elizabeth had just finished going over step forty eight of the plan when Katsura signaled for him to stop. Elizabeth put down the sign he was holding up and stood there quietly waiting for their leader to speak. The other twelve men in the room all turned to listen to him.

"My fellow patriots, today is a sad and dark day. We must put aside our plans to take down the Shinsengumi. Ikumatsu-domo as been kidnapped and I shall not rest until she is safely returned and ramen and soba, once again, can be enjoyed by all," he told the assembled men.

"What can we do to help?" one of the men called out to him.

"I need you all to stay here, and focus on our goal to take down the bakufu. I can not risk the other members of the Joui for this. It would be one thing if it was for a mission in the name of the Joui, but this is something personal. So must I ask that you carry on with your duties as normal and wait for my return."

Katsura took the scattered yeses and ayes around the room as a general acceptance. He went to a side room and opened it to rummage for a costume. He had a few to choose from. Thinking that a woman may get more sympathy than a man he decided to wear the uniform he had to put on when he worked at the club called Kamakko.

"You can't come with me," Katsura told Elizabeth without turning around.

Elizabeth held up a sign. I'm coming with you.

Still looking away Katsura replied, "I need you to lead the men. The cause is greater than me."

Elizabeth held up another sign. You better come back safely. Katsura could only nod in reply.

In almost no time Katsura was ready to go. From his time at Kamakko he had gotten very good at putting on makeup and the weird clothing that woman wore. His long black hair complimented the blue female kimono decorated with orange lotus blossoms. It was a nice kimono and it fit him well.

With his disguise complete, Katsura was ready to face the Shinsengumi. He would use whatever means necessary to get Ikumatsu back from whoever had abducted her, even his most hated enemy. With a great resolve he exited the secret base and easily hailed down a taxi.

"Where to beautiful?" the driver asked.

"The Shinsengumi headquarters please and it is not beautiful, it is Katsura."