Chapter Three
It had been a fortnight since Kazeryu's loss of control and she had recovered some of her lost strength. The cut on her back was still raw but no longer gave her so much grief. Chizuru still avoided coming near her room and Kazeryu couldn't help but feel lonely. She sat, propped up against the wall, cleaning her sword when she felt Yamazaki's presence approaching.
"Yo," she said as he opened the door silently.
"Sensed me, huh?" he smiled; it had become a game for him to try and sneak into the room without her knowledge. She smirked at him and sheathed her sword with a click. She was about to lean it against the wall when she froze, a familiar presence brushing against hers.
"What's wrong?" Yamazaki approached her. She closed her eyes for a moment and spread out her senses to see why that man was here. Feeling him approach Chizuru made her nervous and she managed to tune into Heisuke's, Hijikata's and Sanosuke's chi and pushed them towards Chizuru's position.
"Chizuru is in danger!" She slowly climbed to her feet, only to have Yamazaki block her path.
"My Father is on your side?!" she heard Chizuru's voice, the girl sounded so confused.
"Yamazaki, get out of my way or Chizuru will be taken," the air around her darkened and he jumped back on instinct.
"Run or you'll get hurt," she whispered, her canines growing long and sharp. He shook his head, unable to flee from his duty. She sighed, walked to the door and slowly opened it; as she did so she removed her power limiters, allowing the full force of her chi to leak out. She sent it out to swirl around Chizuru in a warm, comforting embrace; the girl gasped and looked round, only to see Kazeryu standing tall and proud in the doorway, her kimono only being loosely held together by an obi.
"Tell me Kazuma, what makes you think that you can approach Yukimura-hime without permission," Kazeryu spoke with a voice that was an octave lower than normal, and once again Heisuke had to double take to make sure that it wasn't Ryunosuke in front of him.
"Ibuki-sama, I did not know you were here," the blond devil bowed, not looking up at her.
"Chizuru-chan, are you okay?" the girl nodded, "you should come here and see to Yamazaki, I was unable to hold back my power and, as a human, he has been affected by it." Chizuru ran up and managed to pull Yamazaki onto her back and walked onto the walkway before Kazuma looked up. His eyes widened in shock as he took in Kazeryu's appearance, a snarl curled his lips.
"Pretending to be your father, huh?!" he unsheathed his sword, "I wonder what Kirinosuke would say if he heard about this." Kazeryu's eyes instantly turned red, she unsheathed her sword and threw away the sheath.
"Has that child hit adulthood yet or is he still a disgrace to the Ibuki clan? And yet, you are still friendly with him? You should give more thought to your reputation, Boy!" Kazuma slammed off the rock he was stood on and clashed swords with Kazeryu. With the strike of metal drowning their words out, Kazuma sighed.
"What do you have them call you?" he asked, dodging her lunge.
"Kazeryu, they think I'm a man," she blocked his swing, bringing them close together.
"Why are you so weak, your chi is as formidable as ever but your body has no strength?" a frown clouded his features.
"My brother's parting gift was full of his displeasure. The thing closest to hand was Oni Kamitsuki, father's sword," Kazeryu saw Kazuma's frown turn into a look of horror.
"Have you taken Yukimura-hime's blood?"
"She's scared enough as it is, I can't go asking to drink her blood. That would definitely get me kicked out of this place, once and for all."
"Then I must insist that you take some of mine. Whilst we devils so not need to consume blood, you of the Ibuki clan bloodline can speed up your body's healing process by drinking the blood of others," he barely dodged the thrust of her sword, allowing her to nick and draw blood on his shoulder.
"I can't do that with everyone watching," her eyes flashed around her audience, "I need you to strike me so that I can somehow slump into you. I only need a mouthful of your blood to heal this injury and more." He stared into her eyes and saw the determination that was held within them. He pulled his face into a sneer and clashed swords with her, bringing her in close. In a flash, his foot connected with her stomach and he kicked her into the room she had just come out of. A loud bang sounded as she slammed into the back wall, breath was forced from her. As she slid down the wall, Kazuma thrust his sword into her abdomen. She grunted in pain as she fell limply forward, her head falling onto his shoulder. He felt her canines pierce his skin and heard her gulp down a couple of mouthfuls of blood. Kazuma reached down and grabbed a handful of hair and pulled her off him, he held her up as he withdrew his sword from her body. He watched as her eyes returned to their original colour.
"NO!" Sanosuke ran towards them, his spear ready in his hand; Kazuma threw Kazeryu at the man and he caught her with one hand, pulling her to his chest, his spear still pointed at the enemy devil. The fury on his face made Kazuma stop walking and sigh.
"I won't take Chizuru today, and now that her bodyguard is dead, there will be nothing to stop me from taking her next time," he sneered before fading into thin air.
"Sanosuke," He turned the girl over in his arms so that she was facing him.
"I'm here kid," he whispered as he saw the pain in her eyes, he vaguely registered the other two Captains as they ran over and knelt down next to him. Her hand reached up and grabbed the edge of his shirt.
"He will be back... protect Chizuru for me..." she coughed, a trickle of blood escaping her mouth.
"I would have protected her even if you hadn't asked me, now I'll have to keep both eyes on her," he smiled sadly. A cough wracked her body and a pained gasp split the air before she gritted her teeth against the agony she was feeling. Orange eyes moved from a yellow pair to a purple pair.
"Hijikata-san, it seems that I will never be of use to you or the Shinsengumi, please forgive me," she whispered, tears gathering in her eyes.
"You saved Chizuru from that devil, you have proved yourself completely," his voice was soft as he took her free hand, squeezing it gently at her relieved smile.
"If I survive this, leave me with a local doctor when you move to the new headquarters, I don't want to be a burden anymore." Hijikata was about to argue with her when he saw her eyes start to close.
"No, stay with us," her eyes focused again for a moment before they closed completely, her hand on Sanosuke's shirt went limp and fell onto her stomach and her head rolled onto his chest. Her hair covered part of her face which Sanosuke gently brushed out of her face.
"He's so young, hardly a man yet," he snarled, a single tear escaped and trickled down his cheek. Over the past few weeks he had sat with Kazeryu and helped care for him, though he was never allowed in the room when she was being washed or when her bandages were being changed. He had just thought that it was just Yamazaki being overprotective.
"He's not dead," Hijikata gasped as he felt Kazeryu's pulse on her neck, "Heisuke, go get the doctor." The boy ran off, passing Chizuru who was returning from looking after a very dazed Yamazaki. She rounded the corner and gasped when she saw Kazeryu covered in blood. She ran over and helped the men take care of her, trying to stop the bleeding as well as fighting to keep the woman's identity a secret.
"We will take him with us when we move," Hijikata spoke softly.
"We don't have the resources to have one of our members look after him continually," Sannan-san walked round the corner, just in front of Heisuke and a doctor.
"That may be so but I want to have him close so that he can join us when he has recovered," Sannan began to argue but halted when he saw the look in Hijikata's eyes, "You didn't see him fight. Despite already being injured, he managed to wound that devil."
The doctor fussed over wound, unwinding the lower part of the bandage around her torso, he cast his eyes over the slow healing cut on her back and left it alone, happy with how Chizuru and Yamazaki had been treating it.
...
An hour later, Hijikata and Sanosuke were sat outside Kazeryu's room, waiting for the doctor to finish his examination. They turned when they heard the door slide open and saw the doctor wiping his hands dry on a cloth.
"He's stable but I think his idea of being left with a doctor should be carried out. His body has shut down his consciousness so that it can focus on healing," the man said, Sanosuke gulped.
"So, you mean..." his yellow eyes pierced the doctor's.
"Yes, Kazeryu is in a coma. I've done what I can and Yukimura has enough medical knowledge to look after him. I'll be back tomorrow with fresh bandages," the doctor bowed and walked away.
"We move headquarters in a week, how are we meant to transport a comatose man without our enemies using it as a chance to attack or without him becoming a target," Hijikata growled as his mind flew through different scenarios.
"I'll take him on horseback, Kondou wants someone to go and make contact with a local doctor anyway," Sanosuke said, staring at the unconscious man.
"I can write a letter to introduce you to Matsumoto-sensei, he's an old friend of my father's," Chizuru offered and Hijikata nodded.
"Sanosuke, I want you to take Kazeryu to Matsumoto-sensei after the doctor has visited tomorrow," Hijikata commanded and the red haired man nodded.
...
"Take good care of him, Sano," Heisuke said seriously as he watched Hijikata hand the unconscious Kazeryu, wrapped in a blanket, up to Sanosuke, who was seated on a horse.
"I will, I'll see you when you arrive in Edo," the men around him nodded and he kicked his horse, sending it galloping out of the grounds. The moon was high in the sky by the time he left, so there were hardly any people on the roads to see him pass.
After a few miles out of town, he slowed the horse to a walk and let it set its own pace for the long journey to Edo.
