Chapter 2
A gentle knock on the door woke Chizuru from her slumber. Despite having been bedridden for the last couple of days, her fever had yet to go down. She looked towards the door as it opened and struggled to sit up when Saito and Hijikata walked in.
"No," Hijikata gently stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder, "please, don't get up."
"Sir," she laid back down again, thankful for the bandages that were tied so tightly around her chest that she looked like a man, "Forgive me, firstly I come and ask for lodgings here without forewarning, and now, I haven't been able to earn my keep."
"There will be plenty of time for you to do so once you are healed. For now, just focus on recovering," a kind smile lit up Hijikata's face as he rearranged her blanket to keep her warm.
"Chizuru," Saito began, looking down at her with sad eyes, "Forgive me for not noticing how bad your injury was before I tested you. I..." She stopped him with a ghost of a touch on his hand and smiled up at him.
"If I had thought my injury was serious enough to impede my movements, I would have asked you to forego the test until a later time. I am the one at fault," Chizuru spoke in a tone that Saito couldn't argue back at and he relaxed.
"We'll leave you to get some rest," the Vice Commander got to his feet and walked out of the room with Saito following, shutting the door silently behind them. A few minutes later, Shironosuke walked in with a bowl of rice porridge and she sat herself down next to the injured woman.
"Heh, seems as though the rumour of me liking men has been spread about," Chizuru sniggered, "I think the only man to come in here on his own is Yamazaki." She laughed dryly before pulling a hand through her hair; she hadn't bothered to tie it up. Shironosuke saw the tell tale twitch of Chizuru's eyebrows and knew that someone was, once again, eavesdropping on them.
"Tell me Shironosuke, what are the guys like here?" Chizuru asked, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"What do you mean?" Shironosuke blushed, understanding her completely.
"Come on, don't even try to tell me that you have lived here for over a year and no one has piqued your interest," she laughed, an eyebrow raised as Shironosuke shook her head in embarrassment.
Well, if you're not going to tell me, then I'll guess," Shironosuke sighed and sat Chizuru up slowly, trying not to reopen her wound. The blue haired woman bit back a snarl, she knew that Shironosuke had to change her bandages but that didn't make the pain any less. Once she was sat, the pain faded slightly and she was able to think again.
"Right, I think we can eliminate Kondou-san off the list of guys you like. Whilst he is kind and gentle, the occasions you come into contact with him are either formal or structured. It reminds me of the times I tried to meet my father when I was young," Shironosuke nodded, "next to take off the list would be Sannan-san." Shironosuke gasped, everyone was meant to believe that Sannan-san was dead, since that was the easiest way to hide his condition as a fury. "Though you care for him, there is something about the former Vice Commander that terrifies you," Shironosuke shuddered and Chizuru could feel tension rolling off the eavesdropper on waves.
"Moving onto Sanosuke," Shironosuke looked away, her hands paused as she removed Chizuru's bandages, "you like him, that's clear as day. His nice to look at but I just can't get on with his personality," Shironosuke opened her mouth to argue but Chizuru raised a hand to silence her, "you've lived with him a lot longer than I have so you have probably seen more sides of him than I have, next ...hmmm Heisuke and Shinpachi. I get the feeling that you see them as brothers more than anything," Shironosuke looked guilty and nodded.
"Now Okita, he's gorgeous, has a great personality and is sensitive to other people's emotions. I might even try to make him mine," she stuck her tongue out teasingly, making Shironosuke giggle.
"What impressions do you get from Saito-san?" Shironosuke asked as she washed down Chizuru's back. The injured woman's eyes smouldered as she thought about her response.
"Shironosuke," her voice was serious, "I have heard many stories about Saito-dono from my father. Even before I met him, I knew that he was a remarkable man, Now that I have met him and crossed swords with him, I realise that the tales my father told me were not exaggerated, in fact they don't do his skill justice," she tilted her head back onto Shironosuke's shoulder who was sat behind her, "I'm afraid that if you say that he is the one you like then I would have to challenge you to a duel," whilst Chizuru's voice was serious she was smiling sadly. Shironosuke laughed softly as she finished wrapping Chizuru's breast, making her as flat-chested as a ma, she was about to move lower to wrap the bottom half of the wound when she heard Chizuru start to speak again.
"From your reaction, it's not Saito-dono. That leaves the demon Vice Commander of the Shinsengumi, Toshizo Hijikata," Shironosuke flinched away embarrassed, on instinct Chizuru sat up and twisted to look round at the other girl, however, she moved too fast for her body's condition. Her world exploded into white light and her senses shut down.
Chizuru didn't know how long it had taken to regain consciousness but she was on all fours, her nails tearing into the futon below her. An icy sweat covered her numb body as she shivered and panted heavily as the aftershocks of the agony she had just felt washed over her. She could hear numerous running footsteps hurrying towards her. She swallowed and winced, it felt like her throat had been torn apart. The door slammed open, revealing all the Captains, their weapons ready in their hands.
"Shironosuke!" Heisuke ran in and grabbed the younger girl who was sat trembling in the corner, as far away from Chizuru as she could get. He pulled her past the woman, who built up enough strength to look at her.
"Chi...Shironosuke," her sore throat making her voice animalistic; Shironosuke started and fled, not once looking back at her. Chizuru frowned in hurt before looking up at the men around her, whose expressions ranged from fury to understanding. Okita sighed and walked in, laying his spear next to her futon. HE sat behind her and gently pulled her backwards so that she was sat comfortably, her legs splayed uselessly in front of her. Her head bowed under its own weight, she no longer had the strength to raise it.
"Souji, how can you just sit there and help him after he just attacked Shironosuke completely unprovoked," Shinpachi shouted, making Chizuru flinch.
"Shinpachi, I know that you heard that roar and felt the explosion of his chi, what was the main feeling that filled them both?" Okita picked up the roll of bandage that Shironosuke had dropped and continued to wrap Chizuru's wound; he had to hold her shoulder to steady her, else she would have just fallen to the ground in her exhausted state.
"Agony," Hijikata answered before Shinpachi, who tutted and turned away. Okita let go of her hand for a second as he needed two hands to tie off the end of the bandage. As soon as he did so, she started to fall backwards; he gently caught her and carefully lowered her onto her side so that she didn't put pressure on her back.
"Thank you," her hoarse whisper slipped into his ears as her eyes flickered shut and her breathing evened out.
"I don't think he was aware of his loss of control," Okita started.
"What do you mean?" Hijikata walked in and sat beside Okita, their voices no more than whispers.
"Thinking about the size and intensity of the blast of chi and the depth of the emotion conveyed within it, I think it's highly unlikely that he was conscious when it happened," he looked over at Saito, "If you think back to your fight, when he lost control, his chi was not as strong as it was just now. That must mean that he has a subconscious limiter on his power," Okita gently pushed a lock of hair out of Chizuru's face, Sanosuke noticed the gesture and smirked.
"Just like how a master will limit his chi unless he is in a fight," Hijikata mused, before starting when an idea hit him; he looked to see Okita nodding knowingly.
"That means that... Saito, he was only using a fraction of his power to fight you." Saito's eyes narrowed.
"I admit that it's insulting to think that he was going easy on my, however, we cannot forget that he was already badly injured. His body may have limited his power to a level it could handle in the weakened state he was in," they went silent for a moment, staring at the sleeping brunette.
"Yamazaki, I want you to take over his care. I don't want Shironosuke near him for a bit," Hijikata stood and went to find Heisuke and Shironosuke.
"Yes Sir," a voice came from outside the room and Yamazaki walked into view.
"Seems like we should leave him to rest," Okita rose to his feet and walked out of the room, everyone, expect for Yamazaki, followed him.
"That was too close," Yamazaki sighed.
