I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I know it was pretty short because it was the intro, but the story will progress. Just a heads-ups, it will take me some time to upload future chapters, there is a lot going on right now, but I will try to do the best I can.

Chapter 2: The Meeting

The sun rose bright and early, causing Souji to get out of bed. After he got dressed and made his futon, he walked into the dining room where he could smell breakfast being made. He sat down next to Saito just as Harada Sanosuke and Toudou Heisuke brought out everyone's tray of food. Breakfast was normal with the usual conversations about patrols, and soon enough Shinpachi Nagakura started to steal Heisuke's food, which led on to them completely forgetting their table manners. Eventually, there was nothing else to talk about, except last night's events, which everyone avoided to discuss.

Finally, Kondo Isami spoke up and asked, "What happened after the furies got out?". Hijikata stiffened, but he stood up, everyone's eyes were trained on him.

"Let's discuss this in the meeting room", and with that, Hijikata departed from the dining room and started to walk towards the meeting room. Everyone else followed Hijikata and took their usual spots in the meeting room. It was a small room, but it was big enough for all the captains to gather around, and it gave them the privacy they needed away from the rest of the Shinsengumi.

"Well then Hijikata-san, what happened?", asked Harada.

"We were able to find the furies and kill them, but they killed three ronin last night", replied Hijikata in a stale voice.

"So if you guys took care of them there's nothing to worry about, right?", Shinpachi asked.

"Not quite", interjected Souji in his teasing voice.

"A kid saw everything that happened and passed out as soon as we got there", Souji continued.

The others were processing all the information they just heard, while Hijikata turned to Inoue Genzaburo.

"Go get the child", ordered Hijikata, then Inoue took his leave.

"What! You brought the kid here?", questioned Heisuke.

"We still have to interrogate her, it was necessary", stated Hijikata

"I thought it would've been a better idea to just kill the brat", Souji teased. Everyone either frowned or rolled their eyes at Souji's constant sarcasm, but their attention shifted to the door when it slid open to reveal the young girl from last night, who walked in along with Inoue. She looked around at everyone nervously as she made her way in.

"Good morning!", Souji greeted her with a smirk. Her eyes widened a little when she met his gaze, immediately recognizing him.

"Looks like you slept well, considering that you have tatami marks on your face", Souji teased her, while giving her a mischievous grin.

"W-What!?", the girl stuttered, her face already turning red in embarrassment while attempting to cover it with her tied hands.

"He's only joking, you don't have any tatami patterns on your face", Saito told the girl, immediately putting an end to Souji's amusement.

"Hmph. You're no fun at all, Hajime-kun", Souji pretended to pout.

"That's enough", Yamanami Keisuke, better known as Sannan-san, interjected.

"Hello! Please come in", Kondo welcomed the girl warmly. She closed the door and took a seat in front of the men. As she adjusted to her spot, the men observed her. Heisuke commented on the fact that she was only a kid, then Harada and Shinpachi started to make fun of him for being a kid too. Soon afterwards, Kondo started to introduce everyone to the girl. Hijikata interrupted him, stating that there was no reason to introduce themselves to a prisoner. Souji almost laughed at Kondo's ill-placed kindness, but it was one of the reasons that made Kondo the respectable commander of the Shinsengumi. After Kondo apologized for his careless mistake, he cleared his throat.

"Souji told me what you saw last night, is it true?", Kondo asked, a little more serious now. The girl stiffened at the accusation against her.

"No! That's not true! I didn't see anything at all last night!", the girl immediately defended herself.

"Really? So you weren't with the other ronin?", Souji asked this time. Before she could answer, Souji cut her off.

"Let's just kill her already", Souji suggested in his playful tone, to which the girl could not tell if he was joking or not. Panic started to seep through the girl.

"I wasn't with the ronin at all! They were chasing me, so I hid in the alley, and that's when those monsters appeared and started killing the ronin. They were about to kill me too, but then you guys showed up and stopped them, so in a way I was saved by all of you", the girl spoke quickly, but she wasn't lying. Souji chuckled at the girl's honesty. He noticed that the girl had just contradicted what she had said earlier before.

"Wow, you really are honest, aren't you?", he questioned playfully. The girl's eyes widened with fear as she realized her mistake, then Saito got up and walked towards her. He began to drag her out of the room when the girl pleaded for her life.

"Wait! I can't die yet! There are things that I still must do!", the girl cried out in desperation, almost sobbing while she was squirming under Saito's firm grip.

"If you have strong reasons to live, then please, don't hesitate to share them", Hijikata advised sternly, giving the girl one more chance. Saito released his grip on the girl and returned to his original spot on the floor.

"You can start by telling us your name", Sannan-san instructed in a nice tone. The girl sat down again, while the rest of the room stood silent to listen to her response. The girl inhaled deeply to steady her breathing. Finally, she worked up the nerve and spoke.

"My name is Yukimura Chizuru"

I know this chapter was kind of short because it's also part of the intro (plus I don't want to bore you with a long intro that most of you already know), but it's all story development. I think next chapter I'll start characterizing Okita and Chizuru more as the story progresses. Please review or comment, and tell me what you guys think so far. Have a nice day!