Here's the second chapter ! I remind you that I'm not English so my sentences might sound weird (I'm French, that's why you can find most of my fics both in English and in French^^). Hope it will be easy to understand though.

But I should stop chatting. Enjoy!

When he opened his eyes, Sougo had an horrible headache and felt sick. He wondered for a few minutes if he was pregnant… Then he remembered it was impossible: he made sure to protect himself last time he went to Yoshiwara. It was probably just because the day before, while he was chasing after a crying Hijikata in every single room, dressed as a bloody vengeful spirit, a badminton racket smacked into his lower abdomen.

"Captain Okita! I know your great pleasure in life is to frighten the Vice-Commander, but please do it at an appropriate time, not in the middle of the night!"

Knocked out by Zaki's hit, Okita crawled to his room to fall asleep.

But weird things started to begin. When he opened his eyes, despite his headache, he knew there was a problem. First, he wasn't wearing his ghost costume anymore; he never took it off, he was sure of that. Then, he wasn't even in his room. He was in a bedroom, indeed, but definitely not the one in the Shinsengumi mansion. Still, it felt like this room was familiar to him. He could see an altar with his sister picture on it.

And, finally…

"When exactly did my hair…?"

His hair had grown down to his back. And he never, ever heard of hair growing that fast (well, he did, but only when the Yorozuya were involved and doing stupid stuff).

Groggy, he got up and stumbled to reach clothes laying down on the floor. Were those his? He supposed so and got dressed. A bright red gi, a grey hakama. He liked this set of colors. He didn't get everything, but he was thinking it could be the kind of clothes he could wear.

He tied his hair into a high ponytail and started to have a look around. He didn't really know why, but the first thing he did was to light some incense on the altar. He prayed for his sister then went back to his exploration. There was a wardrobe. He opened it: clothes carefully folded, and his Shinsengumi uniform, which looked like he didn't wear it for ages.

On the left of the wardrobe was a full-height mirror. He grew older, that was obvious. The room was quite empty, but a flower bouquet in a vase on a chest of drawers. He raised an eyebrow: he wasn't exactly the type of guy to buy flowers. He was surprised not to see any stuffed animal or anything gloomy.

He left the bedroom for the kitchen. It was quite a classic room, nothing peculiar but two rice cookers, one of them being abnormally huge. He shrugged, there was no time for such details.

The living-room was way more interesting, because it was messier. Newspaper were covering the floor (he checked the date : to see that he made a 5 year time leap didn't shock him much, as he almost figured it out by himself) and there were several books on the table. What surprised him was that it wasn't his type of lecture: a bunch of shoujo manga.

He then noticed the huge dresser against the wall and had a nostalgic smile: it came from his home, from when he lived with his sister, he was sure of it. He opened the drawers one by one: it was full of random stuff. Scissors, bullets, keys, change, trump, batteries, and then a tiny object, sized like a coin. Sougo took it and examined it, shocked. How this kind of thing could possibly have arrived there?

He went on exploring the dresser when, suddenly, he noticed a picture in a frame, hidden by another bouquet. It had been taken in a purikura (note: Japanese photo booth where you can personalize your pictures) and two persons were on the picture. One of them was actually him, looking with a fake annoyed look at the other person while doing her bunny ears. The other person was poking his cheek with an amused face. A heart had been drawn on the lower part of the pic. Sougo blinked a few times, believing he was still dreaming. Because that girl on the picture was no other than…

"China?!"

He slowly put the frame back. He couldn't deny it anymore: the heart, the look they exchanged, the umbrella against the wall next to the door, the rice cookers, the two toothbrush in the bathroom, the brush with both sandy and red hair…

He was quite in shock. He never thought of her as a women, not even as a girl. She was more like a rival to him, someone he could non-stop fighting, all-day long. He never thought of her in any other way.

He noticed that, on the table, a light on his phone was blinking. He feverishly pressed a button to unlock it and saw he had a vocal message. Sent by: China. He smiled. At least some things remained, such as this nickname. He listened to the message.

"Sougo? It's me."

She paused. Sougo understood right away that something was wrong. She was speaking with a very small voice, as if she was frightened, and he was sure he heard a sob. He unintentionally clenched his fists.

"I think they found me. The erasers. I had to leave as soon as possible, sorry about that… Don't do anything silly. They might spare you : I mean, they probably don't know our connection… f you can hear this message, it means you can remember me. Sougo, I… I don't want to be erased. But since I've got no other option, please promise me something: don't get caught. I beg of you. If you need anything, just go to see Gin-chan. He'll know what to do. He always does."

She stopped abruptly and suddenly added:

"They're coming. I have to go. Make sure to stay alive long enough so I can meet with you again!"

The message stopped here. He noticed his hand was bleeding: he clenched his fists that strong that his nails cut through his flesh. Maybe she was no more than a rival to him, but he couldn't accept what was going on. To ask Danna if he had any problem? Well, he had one, he had one hell of a problem. Checking his phone book on the mobile, he found the right phone number. He didn't have to wait long before being answered.

"Danna, I think we're in trouble."

Gin stayed quiet for a while before talking.

"You don't say, Souichirou-kun. I don't know what's going on, but I'm sure I'm having a worse day than you."

"Really? Worse than a 5 year time leap?"

Gin stopped talking once more.

"Okita-kun, I think it's about time we meet. I'm with Pattsuan and Hijikata-kun, they will be glad to answer a few questions… But first: If I'm telling you "Kagura", what comes through your mind?"

"A stupid, spoiled Chinese girl having big troubles?"

"Okita-kun, let's meet NOW. In five minutes, at the pastry shop at the corner of the theatre."

Sougo grabbed his sword, put it through his belt and hung up. He opened the door and rushed towards the meeting place.

Gin was here, eating his traditional parfait. He didn't change at all. Same deadpan look, same perm hair, even his clothes remained the same, not to mention the parfait. Sitting next to him, Shinpachi was throwing nervous looks all over the place. He looked like a bodyguard. Facing them, eating a something-with-too-many-mayonnaise-on-top-of-it, Hijikata had barely changed. When he saw Sougo, he moved to leave him a seat.

"Sougo! I was looking for you, we would need you to get us rid of…"

"Danna," interrupted Sougo, "What the hell is going on?"

Gin looked at him, a look full of distress and worry.

"They all forgot Kagura. I think you also came from this past where you fought with her two days ago because you stole her dangos?"

Sougo silently nodded.

"Question is, why is it only the two of us? Is there anyone else who can remember? Did you learn anything?"

"Learnt a few things I would have rather ignore… China called me yesterday, got the message when I woke up. She was scared, saying she was about to get caught. Hijikata-san, what exactly is an eraser?"

The shop turned into a deep silence. Some people stared at them. Hijikata gave them a cold glare and whispered.

"Have you lost it or something? Did you really need to evoke this here and now? Let's go somewhere less… Crowded. Oi, we're going back to your office. I paid your parfait, so you don't have any right to refuse."

They left the pastry shop. Shinpachi and Hijikata were walking ahead of them, so Gin resumed what happened to him. When he asked Sougo to do the same, the latter talked in a low voice.

"She told me no one should know… But she also told me you were trustworthy. Furthermore, your memories fit mines, so things are a bit easier… I don't know how on Earth this could have possibly happened, but it looks like in this world, she and I are… dating."

"Beg your pardon?"

"Yeah, I would probably not believe it myself if she hadn't called me by my first name through the phone, there are many proofs in my apartment that she happened to live here some days, not to mention the picture of the two of us with a heart on it."

"Now that you mention it… I didn't see any picture of her, anywhere. On my desk, I have a picture of Shinpachi, Kagura and me taken around a month after we became a trio. I don't think I would ever remove that picture, but to put another more recent. But there was nothing. It's like she never lived behind that roof. Why is your place intact?"

"She told me nobody knew for us. That could be the reason, maybe? There was no bound found between her and me, so they didn't 'clean' my place."

Gin slowly nodded. It was getting more and more complicated. Who sent them in the future? Was that Kagura's last action before disappearing? When he enter his home, he knew his headache would last.

"Erasers, uh? Nobody really likes to talk 'bout them. Even I have Goosebumps when I think of them."

They were seating on the two sofas, time-travelers on one, people of this world on the other one.

"What I understood", started Sougo "is that they are people in charge of making someone disappear, by taking anything linked to that person. Am I right?"

Hijikata smiled.

"Not bad. You're pretty close. Since the Amanto did their coup d'état and imprisoned the Shogun, Shinsengumi has been disbanded. Basically, we couldn't bear those orders becoming more and more unfair, like arresting people for treason because they sold bread or whatever to a Joui guy. And now it looks like we're also Joui activists, in a way… They then created two police force who are their puppets. The first one is charged to take care of minor crimes such as robbery or stuff like that. But the second one…"

He shivered.

"People call them the erasers. Actually, only a few people witnessed their existence, or at least, only a few of them are still able to talk about them. All we know are just rumors, but… In short, erasers are Amanto who make people disappear. Not to kill them, no, to erase them. Every single memory of this person vanishes from everyone's memory. Anything linked to him, pictures, drawings, even hair fallen on the floor, everything vanishes, just as if this person never existed. Of course, they don't act too often. They're in charge of finding the terrorists that tried something against the government. They're taking care of the rebellion leaders, not of hoodlums."

"If they erase every memory, how were those rumors born?"

"Sometimes, someone remembers. Some of them have never been affected, their belongings weren't gone. And some other, just by seeing some objects, remember. Just like this, they remember, because they saw a similar coat, a kid looking like him, even a movie they watched together."

Gin was really pale, his fists clenched.

"Stop fooling around! Terrorist leaders? Kagura was maybe a kid who had an opinion on every single thing, but she would never have become a terrorist! Whatever she did, she would never deserve that! What about you, Shinpachi? How could you forget her? We were spending all our time together? What kind of a monster have you become to forget her? What are they doing of people they erase?"

Shinpachi hunched his shoulders. Gin was furious, but Shinpachi couldn't feel guilty. How could he? He didn't remembered that Kagura. He didn't have a single memory, whether it was a good or a bad one, of her. How could you miss a stranger?

"Gin-san, please calm down. Yelling at me won't change anything, but being that noisy can put us all in danger. And about your last question… Nobody knows what they do of people they erase. Are they going back in time to kill them? Do they kill them in this present, before using extraterrestrial abilities to brainwash everyone? Are they keeping prisoners somewhere? Nobody knows."

"Hijikata-san, I know how dangerous it might be. But, in memory of our old Shinsengumi principles, would you accept to help us discovering what is really going on?"

Hijikata barely thought about this.

"I don't have any family anymore. So, even if knowing that my comrades makes me mad, I don't have much to lose. Of course I'll lend a hand."

"Zaki might be useful as well. He's good at shadowing people. Having him with us would be a great advantage."

Silence. Then:

"Zaki?"

This time, Sougo was the one to clench his fists, ready to hit Hijikata.

"Yamazaki. Yamazaki Sagaru. One the most faithful and trustworthy man working for the Shinsengumi."

Hijikata slowly moved his head from right to left.

"I… I don't know him."

Sougo grinded his teeth before grabbing Hijikata by the collar.

"Some people remember thanks to objects, right? Believe me, I'm going to harass you, to show you every single object on Earth until you remember him. What kind of Vice-Captain can forget his own men?"

Hijikata squinted. The name of Yamazaki did evoke something to him… To know he may have forgotten one of his men made him sick.

"Danna, I suggest we try to gather as much information as we can. Hijikata works for the Joui, they might know something. And Glasses's sister knows a lot of things due to her hostess job, that could help. Maybe there is someone over there remembering China. Let's meet here tomorrow morning."

Gin nodded, and they split up.

All night long, Gin questioned people in the street, the hostesses in the bars. Otae didn't remember Kagura, but some hostesses, some inhabitants remembered a young lady with a huge dog, even though Gin noticed it was only people who never had any true contact with her, as Sougo and Gin thought: if one wouldn't notice the erased disappearance, then that person would be spared.

Sougo was taking Hijikata in a sport equipment shop. Seeing the badminton rackets gave him a headache, but nothing really came to his mind.

Sougo was about to give up. He was telling every memory he had about Zaki, and, as he went on talking, he realized Zaki was a friend to him, and he couldn't accept to be the only one remembering him. He gave a last try. It was his last chance to return Hijikata to senses.

"And so… Why this shitty pastry shop?"

"It was his favorite place in all Edo. Half of his wage was spent here every month."

Hijikata looked at the shop, but he couldn't remember anything. He probably never came here before. Suddenly, while he was looking at the pastries in the window display, everything came back. Memories didn't came back one by one, but all in the same time. Zaki, how good he was to take his badminton racket instead of his sword in the middle of a fight, his creepy passion for Anpan… Because it was the sight of those little breads, filled with red bean paste, which revived his memories. He stumbled for a few seconds, and Sougo came to help him standing up. For at least two minutes, memories flew to his mind, breathtakingly. More than ten years of memories coming back to their place.

Once he could think clearly again, Hijikata hit the wall with all his strength, in front of the scared clerk.

"Fuck! How could I forget him?! How could I ACCEPT to forget him?! Sougo?"

"Hijikata-san?"

"Let's find those bastards and beat the hell out of them."

None of them talked about the tears running down his cheeks. It was like meeting a friend you thought dead. They bought an Anpan and promised they would offer it to Zaki the minute they found him. They left the shop, an evil aura surrounding them. Foes were going to pay for that.

They spent the night seeking information from the Joui, from informants, about the erasers.

When the sun rose, four tired faces, yet with a willful look, were facing each other on those sofa they left 24 hours ago.

They gathered their information. Gin and Shinpachi confirming why some people juste didn't have their memories erased, Sougo and Hijikata telling how to bring someone's memories back. They also learnt how to recognize an eraser. Witnesses were rare, but they all saw the same thing: human beings, or at least human-looking beings, wearing a long grey cloak. Furthermore, they only kidnapped their victims by surprise, to make them passing out, more or less abruptly, but did nothing else than taking him/her away. They weren't coming back to the victim's home. Yet, the next day, people had forgotten.

"If they knock them out instead of killing them," commented Sougo "then there's a great possibility they're keeping them captive somewhere. But where?"

While they were all silent, deep in thoughts, a sparkle of hope in the eyes, Sougo's phone rang. His heart missed a beat: China.

Is Kagura's fine ? You'll find out next week! Updating every monday 3