~ Yagi House, Kyoto, August 1864 ~
The next few days were uneventful as far as Chizuru knew. Choshu supporters were once again spotted in Kyoto, causing the members of the Shinsengumi to become restless and alert. Will there be an attack soon? Chizuru wondered as she rinsed and dried the dishes. Beside her, Ai was washing dishes while quietly humming a cheerful tune to herself. Chizuru observed the small, peaceful smile on the older girl's face, and wondered if she also worried about the upcoming attack.
"Chizuru-chan, just because I can't see you doesn't mean you should stare." Ai's voice broke the her out of her reverie as the girl in western male clothing turned to face her, her blindfold crinkled as her smile widened.
Chizuru recalled the morning after the new girl's arrival, when she found out about her condition. She was beside herself with worry until Ai had forced her to sit down and told her it wasn't a big deal. She had calmly told Chizuru and the few captains who stopped by to check out the noise, that she had an incurable illness that caused her eyes to be overly sensitive to the sunlight. The illness was the cause behind her tendency to sleep during the day and be more active during the night. She also assured them that she has adapted to it well and was able to do most everyday activities even without being able to see.
"You know there's a saying that if you lose one of your senses, the other ones will become stronger to compensate." She had laughed, tapping her blindfold, "Well, I can smell that breakfast is ready and I'm starving!"
Chizuru couldn't bring herself to accept Ai's assurance right away, and continued to try to help the older girl with everyday tasks. Ai had smiled and accepted her help, knowing that it would make her feel better, until this morning, when she insisted on helping Chizuru out with dishes.
"You can't expect me to cook a delicious meal, but at least I can help with the dishes!" Despite the young girl's protests, she rolled up her sleeves and snatched the cloth from Chizuru's hands. After seeing that Ai could very well do the dishes by herself, Chizuru had backed down and offered to help rinsing and drying so they could finish the chore faster.
Chizuru blushed at being caught staring. She looked down and went back to her own work as she apologized.
"No need to apologize, dear. It doesn't bother me at all." Ai picked up another dirty bowl.
"How did Ai-san know I was staring?" Chizuru couldn't help but wonder out loud, her mind refused to come up with any plausible explanation.
"Well I could hear that you stopped moving. And judging by your unwillingness to let me help with chores, I'd say you were worried about my blindness STILL." Ai sighed, turning back to the shorter girl. "Chizuru, how did you think I was able to travel all over the world if I can't ever do the most basic things during the day? Sure the eyesight comes in handy, but I prefer to leave most of my reading and writing to the evening anyways."
Chizuru mulled over this, and looked back at the woman beside her. Hands moved with practiced ease as the blind woman felt for the plates and scrubbed them clean. Her neck straight, shoulders still slightly dropped back. There was no way anyone could have looked so refined while doing dishes, Chizuru realized, unless they don't have to look down at the task!
She relaxed as she felt her admiration for the older girl grow. If Ai-san can still travel and fulfill her dream even with such an enormous setback, then Chizuru shouldn't let a little thing such as the rebel attacks bring her down. "I will find Father!" Chizuru thought, "I will be strong like Ai-neesan!"
"Let's do our best, Ai-san!" the young girl declared, full of confidence. Ai smiled back at her warmly and nodded encouragingly.
Outside the kitchen, Saito leaned against the wall as he stood guard. His eyes snapped up as Hijikata rounded the corner and nodded towards the indigo-haired captain in acknowledgement. Saito stood up straight and motioned with his head towards inside the kitchen. The men observed the pair of woman for a short moment before Hijikata addressed Saito quietly.
"They're getting along well. Anything suspicious?" He wore his usual frown and his sharp gaze.
"No. Yukimura defends her." Saito observed. "She hasn't tried to escape nor has she asked too many questions about us."
"Good, we don't have enough people to spare right now." Hijikata returned Saito's question gaze with a serious and thoughtful one. "We'll discuss the details later in the official meeting, but long story short, we've been called to the front lines."
The next day, most of the Shinsengumi departed on Aizu domain's orders to fight against Choshu forces gathered outside of the city. Shimada Kai was send to lead the undercover patrol at the locations provided by Ai, prepared to arrest anyone suspicious and stop rebel's plan to set the city on fire. Only a handful of new and injured members were left behind to guard the quiet headquarters.
Chizuru had been unsure whether to go with them or not at first. She had desperately wanted to help out, but it meant that she would have to leave Ai alone back in the compound. A couple of surprised glances flickered her way when she brought out this concern during the meeting. Ai had laughed and placed her hand on the young girl's shoulder, promising to not get into trouble. Sanan had questioned Chizuru's ability to help. To the young girl's surprise, Saito had vouched for her, pointing out that she had proven herself to be useful at the Ikeda Inn Incident.
Souji sighed, Hijikata is being a worrywart again, and he will not be able to participate in battle this time. He watched on as everyone talked among themselves excitedly, noticing that the foreign girl seemed to be more quiet than usual. She sat still in her place, ignoring everyone's banter and only turning once in a while to answer Chizuru's questions. He was about to ask her if there's anything wrong when Hijikata kicked them out of the common room.
The Yagi house was usually quiet after everyone had left. Souji sat under a tree in the courtyard, enjoying the occasional cool breeze outside. His eyes opened when he heard sound of footsteps approaching from behind. What is she doing out here? He thought as he turned around and was interrupted again before he could question her.
Thump! Ai had crashed right into his chest. Losing her balance, she fell backwards. Souji caught her by the arm and held her up. She still seemed dazed.
"Ah… I'm terribly sorry, Okita-san." She mumbled as she turned up to face him. "I'm feeling a bit under the weather today so I thought I should come out for a breath of fresh air."
"... And you came to the exact spot I'm standing." He deadpanned, curiosity and amusement danced in his green eyes.
"Well there is only one tree in this courtyard, and I'm not too… fond of the sun." She touched her blindfolded eyes, reminding him of her predicament.
"... You should say inside, we wouldn't want you to trip over your toes and crash into every poor soul on the compound, now would we?" He teased.
"... Okay..." The black-haired girl did not even bother to retort as she turned to walk away. His eyes widened. Now this is unlike what he knew of her so far. Souji remembered Ai's response to Heisuke's mistake and she hadn't stopped calling him Heisuke-chan since.
"... That's not the way back to your room." He didn't let go of her arm and steered her towards the aforementioned room.
"... Oh. Thanks, Okita-san." She replied softly, showing none of her usually spirit and wit.
Ai didn't leave her room for the rest of the day. Heisuke showed up to dinner, informing Souji and Sanan that Ai was already asleep in her room. They had sent a rank-and-file soldier to stand guard over her instead of one of the captains since they were still recovering from injuries.
Hours after everyone had retired for bed, Ai quietly slipped out of her room and walked out into the courtyard. She waited until the guard had nodded off and the sound of his breathing had evened, indicating deep sleep. With most of the soldier out, the security of the night watch had loosened considerably. Her opportunity had come. She reached the other side of the courtyard, next to the wall, and jumped soundlessly over the wall, disappearing into the night.
She leapt from roof to roof, her movement barely visible and making no sound to the humans below. Red eyes glowed in the moonlight as the shadow of a woman scanned the dark streets of Kyoto. To her, it might as well have been broad daylight as she combed the narrow alleys in her path.
Within moments, she had found her prey. Nose turning up to test the scent, her eyes glowed with satisfaction as she descended upon the lone man on the street. A foolish young man no doubt, to walk the street of Kyoto alone this late at night. He seemed to be returning home after a night out in Shimabara judging by the overpowering scent of sake from his breath. Then again, she wasn't feeling particularly picky today.
A quick strike to the neck had knocked him out cold. The women in black carried him swiftly and silently into the shadows of an alley, her fangs extended in preparation. After double checking for any unwanted interruptions, she bit down at the jugular. The hungry predator drank just enough to leave him a little bit dizzier than he should have been from the alcohol he had consumed, before drawing her fangs back out and licked the puncture wound clean. In minutes, the wound had healed, leaving a faint, white scar in its place.
Goodness, it's been a while since the last drink. She thought as she propped the unconscious male again a wall. She felt her own blood coursing less sluggishly through her veins, reinvigorated by the drink. With one last check to make sure the man would wake up in the morning having no idea what happened, the shadow disappeared once again into the night.