Meeting

Akayuki Shiro walked along the side walk briskly only hoping to get to her bed as quickly as possible since it had gotten so late. It was the end of January and a light mass of snow fell, but many who passed the teen forgot about the white flurry of snow. Shiro sped up her pace when a couple, who were waiting for a cab, stared at her as if she was a sort of exotic animal. She hated it, she despised that she stood out and became the center of negative attention. She was incapable of masking her pure white hair and crimson red eyes. No matter who they were, those around here always reeled back from looking at her crimson eyes and called her a freak or a monster, especially during the day when her pupils would shrink into thin slits. But she much preferred looks of disgust to the some of the disgusting leering looks she would get from depraved men.

I'm not some zoo animal for you stupid humans to stare at.

Shiro thought to herself with a huff. Once out of the couple's sight, heaving an annoyed sigh, she pulled the hoodie she wore under her school uniform jacket closer her head to try to hide her face. She had always thought of dying her hair black, but the thought of conforming to those disgusting rude humans that discriminated her for being different irked her. The only thing she could do though to divert most of the attention she got was to put her hair in a ponytail so that her wolf-like ears would stay hidden. High school had not been kind to her especially after she lost something important to her, but at least becoming the Kendo's club best fighter made a name for herself keeping the bullies away and most everyone else too. She was satisfied with the thought that she had graduated that day and it would be the last time she would have to wear her school uniform Shiro had been bullied all her life after she came from the Research Center especially as she had been living in an orphanage since the age of ten. There had always only been one human that had stood by her side and cared for her like an equal, only him.

The slightest thought of the Research Center left her with chills and dark memories that she'd rather forget. She'd been there since she was since she could remember, and for five long years she lived in a hellish nightmare that she could not wake up from. And the thought of him was heart wretching enough.

Shiro was brought out of her thoughts has she neared a crosswalk. Readjusting her katana, which was wrapped in a silky red cloth and was the only valuable she had since she was young, Shiro made her way to cross the street. Half way across and a sudden high pitch screeching noise resounded through the air. Shiro turned around in time to see a large truck speed towards her. She could smell amongst the scent of burning tires the smell of alcohol.

The bastard's drunk driving!

Just as she was about to jump to safety, her katana pulsed with energy and a pale light engulfed her. Shiro glued her eyes shut waiting for the impact of the truck since she never jumped out of the way, but it never came. An uneasy feeling washed over her, it was way too quiet to still be the city. The smell of gas and pollution seemed to just disappear, the busy sounds of the city unnervingly went mute. So with all of her courage Shiro slowly opened her eyes only to slump onto a dirt floor in surprise dropping her school bag.

"Wh-what the hell?"

The scene that laid in front of her was a Japan that she did not recognize to be her era. It seemed to be like the feudal Japan that she saw in textbooks in History class or in the historical TV shows sometimes came on during breakfast. She sat limply in a alley way only illuminated with the light of the moon that reflected on falling snowflakes and a breeze that sent chills running down her back. Shiro's already sensitive senses went into a sort of overdrive in the new, unknown environment. She could smell the different scents of unhealthy humans around, hear the drunken babble of men in far off bars and moaning giggles of geishas, see the tiniest of stars illuminated in the unobstructed sky, taste the freshness of the air around her. This couldn't be a bluff because, no matter how hard she wished it at this moment, her nose and ears did not betray her.

A sense of isolation overcame Shiro as she sat there on the cold hard ground. She was alienated in Tokyo, but now she felt lost and alone here, wherever here was. Suddenly snapping out of her daze Shiro could sense something dangerous making its way toward her. She was in no condition or mood to fight with whatever was staggering in her direction. Making her way to stand, a sharp pain shot through her body causing her to double over and cough up a large amount of blood. The sides of her vision became black for a minute as the pain lingered. Grasping her chest Shiro felt like she was receiving a sensation equivalent to that of having your heart ripped from your chest. It reminded her of her first memories.

"Oh god, because this day couldn't get worse," Shiro mocked dizzily for a moment, clenching her chest until her knuckles became white, before she finally forced herself to balance properly on her own two feet and wipe the blood from her mouth. With one hand reaching for her katana and the other pulling her hood even closer to her face, Shiro forced herself to hone her senses to concentrate on the malicious scent coming her way all the while ignoring the slight pain that still assaulted her. One - no - two men were making their way to her location. They were human, but something was terribly off with how they smelled, which was like that of a demon's yet also like a rotting human corpse and got stronger the nearer they came. Now that Shiro was certain that she was in no condition to fight two full grown men, human or not, she deemed it more reasonable to just hide and hope they wouldn't find her knowing that she had no idea where to go if she tried to run; though she would make sure that she was ready if a fight was necessary. Swiftly ducking being some nearby barrels and freeing her katana from its silky garb, Shiro waited patiently as the two men finally walked past her. She had to stifle a gasp as she noted that the two men, that seemed to be samurai clad in blue haori, had white hair and red eyes just as herself. Did she look this scary to all of those humans that would cringe from her? Shiro shook her head; no... these men seemed crazed and full of bloodlust. They wore snarls on their faces like ravenous dogs looking for trouble.

"Smells nice 'round 'ere," one of the men slurred with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"'M eatin' it first," the second man bit out as if they were wolves fighting over some meat.

A shiver trembled through their intended prey as she watched them from the shadows lick their lips and push each other around. They were repulsive beings. Shiro silently placed a hand on the hilt of her sword, emerald green decorating it. She didn't want to fight these... things, but if push came to shove then she would have no choice. The young demon noticed even though they had heightened senses, these men were only human and they're senses were not exceptional like hers so they could not perfectly pinpoint her. Devising a plan to escape the two so that she could later find out where she was, Shiro failed to notice how the two men neared her hiding spot. When she finally noticed that the two men had ceased to speak, Shiro looked up to be greeted by four dilated red eyes staring at her hungrily and the bright glint of two swords. Slowly raising his blade above his head, the man standing closest to her let a sneer form on his lips.

"Shit," Shiro breathed out as she jumped back in time to miss the blade which destroyed the barrel she was once hiding behind. "Me and my big mouth. It did get worse, damn it!"

Another dizzy spell hit Shiro as she slumped to her knees and coughed up another large amount of blood. This was starting to feel ridiculous as she narrowly dodged another swing. She was not weak damn it! The Gods must've been out to get her that night. Her senses that were once in overdrive were starting to weaken due to the pain starting to assault the youkai. Now she was wishing that she was back in Tokyo so that she could get to the orphanage late and have the Head yell at and beat her. She wanted to wake up in her shaggy bed in her tiny room and find out that this was all a dream. She wanted to give up, but the adrenaline that coursed through her veins screamed at her to fight back and survive.

"I wanna bite outta 'er first!" The first white-haired man screeched manically.

"Quit yer movin' tasty!" The other lashed out as another swing missed his prey. Shiro was starting to feel tired and thoroughly sick of the rotting smell of the two unstable freaks but the intense aching in her chest stopped her from fighting back, or even fleeing, properly; she hadn't even been able to take her katana out of its sheath.

Just as another swing of a katana was about to get whirled at Shiro causing her to jump back, two figures in blue emerged from the main alley way and cut down the crazed demon-like humans with such speed and agility for humans that she was left speechless. Seeing as the blood of the two things splattered across the floor and walls signaled their demise, Shiro slid down to her knees, released her still sheathed katana, and placed her hands on the ground in front of her to stabilize herself. She tiredly wiped the thin line of sweat from her face before letting her hand fall unceremoniously back down to the floor.

"Ne Saito-san, that's no fair that you got to take out the stronger one!" An abnormally playful but deep, rich voice reached Shiro's ears that would have made her look up at the man had she not been so fatigued. For the most part humans weren't mesmerizing creatures anyways she reasoned with herself.

"I was only doing my job, Okita-san. Now what do we do with her?" The cold, severe voice of the other man named Saito pointedly replied.

"Hai, hai. Don't be so mean to me. Alright then. I'll deal with her." The man by the name Okita walked up to Shiro so that all she saw of him was his feet. Taking in a deep breath to steady her racing heart for what was to become of her next, his scent assaulted her nose with a masculine, firewood scent that almost put her at ease.

He actually smells… kinda nice.

She was too tired to look up at the man though; she was too resigned with life and how she'd always been treated; she didn't even care at this moment if she died. Now that she thought of it; why did she dodge those crazed mens' attacks when she was going to die anyways? "Oi, I can't kill you properly if I don't at least see your scared face alive once! Look up!"

His cheerful and playful voice masked a sort of coldness and apathy that sent a shiver down Shiro's back. Fear. Not even the other man's stoic voice made her feel this way; not in a long time had she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand like this before.

When Shiro didn't move, she could hear the man huff before squatting down in front of her. A large, calloused, warm, open hand grabbed her entire chin and lifted her head with authority: neither too gently nor too harshly, but now his scent so intoxicatingly close. They both sucked in some air quickly as crimson red eyes met with emerald green eyes. He was handsome, he had the visage of a young man who may be a few years older than herself, soft-looking chestnut hair tied in the back, unblemished skin that laid over a sharp jawline down a lean neck and strong visible toned chest, but the feature that made her unable to look away was his deep and piercing emerald green eyes.

"Y-you.." From his voice, it was obvious that he was in shock as most people were, but there was not fear or disgust coming from him. He seemed... awestruck. No one had ever had that expression on their face meeting her for the first time.

"Ah, Hijikata-san..." The man, Saito, must have had spotted someone else and they spoke to each other, but their voices seemed too far away for Shiro to catch any of it. Suddenly the sides of her vision began to blur and go black. A large amount of weight seemed to be on Shiro's eyelids and back as she slumped forward onto the mysterious man, Okita, with the enchanting green eyes while closing her own eyes. Taking another deep breath, she let his warm scent surround her as her head rested on his hard warm chest. It basically invited her to do so with those toned muscles visible to her, not that she wanted to rest her head on this human's chest of course.

I wonder if he tastes as good as he smells? How would it feel to wrap myself around those strong shoulders and sink my teeth into that nice looking skin. Ugh! Shut up Shiro! That's silly of me, I can't mark him; he's human of all damn things. And either way what's the point? I'm probably going to die anyways.

Then there was nothing.

Darkness.


It felt like the air was sucked right out of his lungs when he lifted the chin of the strangely dressed girl sitting on the floor before him. She seemed around the same age as Heisuke but he couldn't tell for sure with her hood obstructing him of a proper view. The top part of her face was pretty much shaded, but her crimson red eyes seemed to illuminate, her face and neck were slender, her skin was pale and smooth and soft and warm, her light pink lips were parted just slightly; she was strangely beautiful from what he could tell. Never had he been so thrown off in his entire life than when he locked eyes with her, especially since her eyes were the same as a Rasetsu though she seemed in complete control of her consciousness and her pupils her large so that they could let in as much light as possible but not dialated. Something was off about her though. She seemed tired, resigned to life like she didn't care if he took it right there and then. She was supposed to look scared for her life, not indifferent to it. He felt a little put off at her for not caring for her life a little more, but that wasn't supposed to be the issue here that was something he was supposed to even care about. He was supposed to dispose of her since she saw them getting rid of the Rasetsu. He was capable of killing without remorse and one pretty girl was not going to change that!

"Y-you…" Damn it. Okita Souji cursed to himself for stuttering in front of a girl he was supposed to intimidate and let go of her face. He was not a boy hitting puberty anymore! He was a cold-blooded killer damn it! He had met plenty of beautiful women before, this girl should be a pale comparison to the extravagance and seduction of geishas. Some of who he had to kill for various reasons.

"Ah, Hijikata-kun. We have taken care of the Rasetsu, but that girl seemed to have survived being attacked. What should we do about her?" Saito Hajime reported coolly to their Vice-Commander. But Souji paid no mind to them as the girl's brows knitted painfully and she slowly closed her eyes, her head lulling forward and landing in his chest. His heartbeat accelerated slightly. She was so close; he could feel her soft breath tickling his bare chest. There was suddenly a tingle that went from the skin her breath teased, down his spine and into the pit of his stomach. It was the feeling many men in the Shinsengumi before him had talked about in their drunken stupor when they had bed a truly enchanting woman. Souji had never felt it before and he himself was no stranger to the female body; he had not even bed the strange woman and he had felt what they called the 'spark.' But then a dreary thought entered his mind pushing his less honorable thoughts away: what if she dies? He couldn't believe he was thinking such an absurd thought, but he found her interesting and reasoned that he worried only because it would be impossible to learn more about her if she was dead. He held her slender shoulders to his chest and looked over his shoulder at the other two men. Masking his face with his usual nonchalant, mischievous grin, he directed to Toshizo, "So, Hijikata-san? What do you want us to do with this girl? Ne?"

Hijikata Toshizo sighed at the First Division Captain's playfulness and massaged his temples. "First take the haoris off these Rasetsu. Then, we'll have no choice but to bring the girl since we can't just kill her without knowing who she is and what exactly she was doing here."

Turning around on his heels, Toshizo left ahead of them, while Saito retrieved the blue Shinsengumi haoris along with the girl's possessions and Souji let out his breath. He didn't have to kill her... not right away anyways and he had decided to omit the fact that her eyes were red since he wanted to see how everyone would react when they learned that fact about her. Picking up the unconscious girl in his arms he mentally marveled about how light she weighed as he was not accustomed with carrying a women in such a tending manner - he had bedded women before plenty of times but just to get information out of them and he had never been exactly gentle with them. There was attraction but never true emotion or desire for any of them. After snaking his arm under her knees, he realized that the skin of her thighs were showing and immediately looked up as if he did not want to offend her. Shaking his head, after realizing that the girl was unconscious and would not yell at him for carrying her, he made his way following Hajime back to headquarters.

I'm acting like a teenage boy. I need to stop. I've been with women before. Okay Souji - it's just her eyes that intrigue you. Just her eyes... And maybe her skin. Maybe it's soft. Maybe. I shouldn't get ahead of myself... just in case I have to kill her.

That last thought made Souji frown. He was always the quickest to kill, yet somehow, in this moment, he felt reluctant at the thought. There was something more to her, he just knew it. There had to be because he did not stutter to women's looks so easily; he had killed many beautiful women who had turned out to be assassins before. He could not shake off the sight of her striking crimson eyes that seemed to pierce through him though. She was different... she had to be.