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Chapter 2

Ten years later:

Yukiko leaned against the side of a shop, hiding in the darkness of an alley. She crossed her arms over her chest and peeked out at the main street from around the corner of the store. Sighing, she dragged her head back.

"Expecting something?"

She jumped at the sound. "Shit!" She cursed. "You're going to give me a heart attack! Jeez, can't you show up like a normal person for once?" Yukiko glared angrily at the man lounging against the side of the shop in front of her.

He smirked. "Have you been waiting long, honey?" He asked, ignoring her question. Shrugging off the wall, he closed the small distance between them. The tall man placed his left hand against the wall next to her head and leaned down until their faces were inches apart. The ends of his shoulder-length, curly black hair caressed her face.

"I'm not waiting for you, Takumi." She responded sourly, trying to push him away.

"Is that so?" Takumi reached into his kimono and pulled out a small drawstring purse. "I got you a little present. You'll like it." He dropped the purse into the sleeve of her dark-blue kimono.

"Who did you steal it from?"

"Some rich, old lady." He snickered. "I wonder if she's noticed that it's gone by now." Accidentally - or maybe it was purposefully - his fingers brushed against the skin of her forearm as he pulled his hand out of her sleeve.

Yukiko yanked her arm away. "Don't touch my arm." She hissed, her gaze turning steely.

Takumi chuckled. "Paranoid as ever. You should loosen up a bit. What's with you and your arm?"

She glared at him.

Takumi arched a slender eyebrow. "I still don't get why you wear men's clothing. You'd look so much better dressed as a girl." He caught a lock of her long hair in his hand. It was so black there seemed to be a blue sheen to it.

Yukiko brushed his arm away. "It's my business what to do with myself."

Takumi scoffed and dropped the hair. "Well whatever." He straightened up. "I hear the others coming. We'll save this for later." His amber eyes sparkled as he gazed down at her. He ran a large hand through his unruly hair, messing it up even more.

Five panting men poured into the alley. Hearing several shouts of anger coming from nearby, they scooted deeper into the shadows. Two furious men ran by. "Where are they? One of them stole my fabric!" One of them ejaculated furiously.

"I lost them!" The other one spat out. "Let's check this way!"

The group hiding in the alley held their breaths until the sound of footsteps had faded. Then they released it with a relieved sigh.

"That was way too close!" One of the five men exclaimed.

"Hey boss," the large, bald one smiled.

"What is it, Kimura?" Yukiko asked.

He reached into his tan kimono and pulled out a long, folded length of bright red cloth. "Look, I nicked this from that fabric store down the street. Isn't it pretty!"

Yukiko stared at the brightly colored cloth, her stomach churning. Her mind felt unsettled, as if something was trying to rise to its surface. She scowled fiercely at the fabric. "Get that thing out of my sight!" She spat with as much venom as she could muster.

Kimura blinked and his mouth hung open stupidly. "But boss..."

"I said to get it out of my sight!"

"Alright..." He quickly stored it back in his kimono, looking crestfallen at her reaction.

Yukiko sighed and pressed her fingers against her temples. "You guys go on ahead first. Takumi and I are going to do some shopping."

"Yes boss." They muttered cautiously. With wary backward glances, they scurried off, clutching their riches close to their chests.

She groaned and exited the alley. "I didn't mean to be that harsh. My mouth just sort of slipped."

"Did you hate the fabric so much? It looked like pretty high quality material to me." Takumi raised his eyebrows at her as they walked down the street together.

"It's not the fabric. It's the color of the fabric. I hate red. I can't stand it."

"Why? Red isn't a bad color or anything. I think it can look pretty sexy." He grinned and tossed his head, his long bangs flopping over his eyes.

Yukiko shot him a withering look. "Lecherous man." Her lips curled in disgust.

His hearty laugh received several curious glances from the bystanders. A few of the girls quickly looked away and whispered and giggled to each other behind the long sleeves of their elaborate kimonos. Yukiko peeked at the man from under her eyelashes. There was no doubt he was handsome. Even she herself found him to be attractive - not that she would ever say it to his face. His ego was large enough as it is.

"Why do you hate red so much?" She was forced back from her contemplation.

"What?"

"Is there any specific reason why you hate red so much?" He reiterated.

"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders. "I've always hated it for as long as I can remember."

"And how long is that?" Takumi tried to suppress a smile.

"You know! You were the one who found me when I was seven years old. You've always known that I can't remember anything before that!"

"Yeah, you're right. I do." He held back a laugh.

"Then why did you ask me?"

"I just wanted to hear you say it."

Yukiko gaped. "Arrogant bastard! Don't talk anymore. I should just sew your mouth shut!"

"So what color do you like?"

"I thought I told you not to talk!"

"If you don't like red, then what color do you like?"

Yukiko sighed and pondered the question for a moment. All of a sudden, a nostalgic feeling came over her. She smiled. "Green. I like green."

Their conversation was halted by muttering. The people around them stepped to the side to allow a group of men, cladded in blue, to pass. They citizens shot them hateful looks.

"So this is the infamous Shinsengumi, huh?" Yukiko observed them. "I've heard about them, but I've never really met them up close like this before."

"They're a shady, self-satisfying group." Takumi snorted with contempt.

"Sounds like someone I know."

He ignored the comment. "They say they're protecting the peace here in Kyoto, but they're just ass-kissing suck ups."

Yukiko's eyebrows shot up at the comment. Takumi was a pretty condescending person, but she had never heard him voice his opinions this vehemently before. "Did you get in a bad scrape with them before or something? Is that why you hate them so much?" She snickered.

He glowered. "I don't want to talk about it. Come on, let's go finish up the shopping." He urged her forward.

Yukiko turned her gaze back to the Shinsengumi, and as she passed them, her eyes locked with the man standing at the head of the group. She took in his sandy hair and the pretentious way in which he carried himself. But these things did not attract her attention the most. What did, was the pair of bright, forest-green eyes that were riveted on her. He shot her a surreptitious smile and she blinked in surprise. Yukiko quickly turned her head away, only to crash into a hard body.

"Ow!" She cried.

"Hey, you okay?" Takumi grabbed her waist to prevent her from falling.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry." She muttered to the man she had run into.

"Little kid." He growled, "I don't think an 'I'm sorry' can make things better here." He rubbed the place Yukiko had smacked. "It hurts!"

"Look," Takumi stepped forward. "We already apologized okay? Just accept it like a man!"

"I don't think so!" He hissed back. Reaching out a calloused hand, he grabbed Yukiko's arm.

She let out a cry, and her body began to tremble. Something about the situation felt familiar. With a shout, she kicked at the man and wrenched her arm away. She pressed her arms close to her body, fear controlling her mind.

"Little brat!" The man rushed forward and Takumi pushed Yukiko out of the way.

But before any of them could do anything, another man with light-brown hair, the one leading the Shinsengumi, stepped between them. The ends of his light-blue haori flapped with the movement. "That's enough." He drawled. "Keep this up and we'll have to drag all three of you back to headquarters and cite you for disturbing the public peace. And I really don't want to do all that work."

"You Shinsengumi bastard! Mind your own business!" Takumi seethed with rage.

The sandy-haired man drew his katana in one swift motion and pointed the tip at Takumi. He smirked. "You want a go with me? I thought you looked stupid. I guess I wasn't mistaken."

Takumi glanced down at the sword, and then back up at the green-eyes monster. His auburn eyes were burning with fury and he whirled around. "Let's go, Yukiko."

She took a step forward, then hesitated. "Wait." She glanced back over her shoulder at the man whose sword was resting in its sheath once again. "What's your name?"

The man looked at her, amusement coloring his face. His lips curved up in a smirk. "The Shinsengumi's first division captain, Okita. Okita Souji."