Hello everyone! I apologize for the late chapter. My weekend was very busy and I wasn't in an area with internet access. I will try to upload chapters once every week but I don't know how well that will go so without further ado, may I present chapter 4 of Song of the Seraph.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hakuoki or any of its characters. Only the OC's are mine.
Chapter 4: Encounter
Rin was flying around in the twilight sky, circling the perimeter of Nirvana. The young seraph always found that flying helped clear her thoughts when something was bothering her. She was still uneasy about the student council and her thoughts roamed back to her conversation with Umi and Chizuru in the kitchens.
"Are you really feeling alright?" Chizuru asked for the umpteenth time. The girls were sitting on some stools around a countertop. Rin was holding a glass of water but not drinking any of its contents. Concern was apparent on Chizuru's face but Umi looked like she was ready to hunt down anybody who would dare hurt her friend.
"I'm fine. Just not feeling well." Rin answered back, looking down at her glass.
Umi frowned. "I know you well enough to know when you're hiding something, Rintoki" the rouge chided. Umi always used Rin's full name when she was mad, greatly concerned or wanted to get a serious point across. "So hurry up and spit it out".
Rin remained quiet for a few more moments before speaking. "I feel uneasy about some of the students from Shieikan" she answered truthfully. "Some of them have been watching me since I went to the ships and just now, when they were entering the school grounds. Sorry if I sound conceded but I feel like they want something out of me" Rin explained, looking up from her glass to meet Umi and Chizuru's gazes.
Her friends nodded before Umi spoke up, "Don't worry about a thing, Rin. We will help you take care of it! I'll be on the lookout for anybody who seems to have something out for you" the girl promised, a determined look on her face. "This could be a lot of fun. Right, Chizuru?"
The Oni looked up, slightly startled. "U-um, y-yeah" she answered back, a little uncertain. The rouge took no mind to this and nodded her head, satisfied with the answer. There was no doubt in Rin's mind that Umi was planning to do something any rouge would do: Sneak around for answers.
"Well, for tonight to work, I need a drink. Earlier, I saw some sake stashed in that cabinet over there. You guys want some?" Umi offered. Chizuru shook her head no and Rin politely declined.
"Sorry, not tonight. Don't drink and fly" Rin told her. Umi shrugged and went to fetch the sake and Rin finished her water, got up and headed toward the back door. Chizuru looked up after her.
"Where are you going, Rin?" Chizuru asked. "Don't you want to join us for the banquette?".
Rin shook her head, "Sorry, I'm not hungry so I'll be headed back to my room to change. Thanks for everything you guys" She called back. After the girls bid each other 'good night', Rin went out the back doors of the kitchen and walked to the east dormitory to her room. She changed out of her beautiful dress and into the same clothes she wore earlier. Looking around her room, Rin noticed that her swords were leaned up against her wall where she left them earlier and decided to strap them on to her belt. The seraph always felt naked without them.
After that, Rin walked to her balcony and looked to the sky. The moon was still full and there were hardly any clouds, the wind was gentle and warm. 'What a perfect night to be in the gardens'. Without a second thought, Rin jumped up to her balcony railing and leaped outwards to take to the sky and fly around to the front of the school. Her destination, the giant cherry blossom tree.
Rin quietly swooped down and landed on her favorite branch. She learned long ago how to avoid the many branches and could now land on just about any tree without hassle. Rin sat there alone for a few minutes, admiring the sky and how quiet it was. Of course, she could still hear all of the commotion that was happening inside of the building but the school walls did fairly well to block the sound. Her sanctum was disturbed after a few more moments when the girl heard a set of quiet footsteps making their way to her tree. Looking down, Rin saw a young man sit down on the bench positioned right underneath her, roughly 30 feet down.
From what the moonlight illuminated and with her sharp vision, Rin could see that the young man had black hair and a white scarf wrapped around his neck. He wore his hair in a tie that slightly drooped down his shoulder. The girl noticed with delight that the man wore his swords on his right side, meaning that he was one of the few swordsmen who were left handed, just like herself. As Rin admired the mystery man from her perch, he looked around, as if sensing another's presence and after a couple of seconds of scanning the gardens with a sharp gaze, he finally looked up to meet her eyes. They were deep blue, almost icy. 'What beautiful eyes' was the only thought that went threw her head.
Rin noticed that the man had a certain look in his face, as if he was concentrating or thinking. Anyone else would miss it but the slight way the man's eyes were narrowed were enough to tell Rin this. 'He must be one of those silent types' she concluded. Rin watched as the man quickly evaluated the tree she was sitting in and knew exactly what he was thinking. The young seraph knew from experience that this thousand year old cherry blossom tree was difficult to climb if you solely relied on the branches to lift yourself up. Thinking back to a time when Umi wanted to sit beside Rin on the same branch she was now on, the seraph watched as the rouge backed up and ran straight to the trunk of the tree. The girl had used the momentum to run vertically up the tree and leap from branch to branch and successfully sit next to her.
"Hello, nice night for a walk in the gardens, isn't it?" Rin called down, wanting to be polite and break the awkward silence. She saw that the man had given a slight nod to answer.
The girl continued to look at the man until the silence was broken by a question almost too quiet to hear. "How did you get up there?" he asked, more to himself than Rin. His voice was deep and quiet and Rin was surprised to know that she enjoyed the sound of it.
She noticed that she surprised him slightly by answering nonchalantly, "I flew up here. It's not that hard'. Rin took this moment to ruffle her feathers, catching his attention. The two students continued to evaluate each other for a while more until Rin noticed that the man's eyes widened and from what little light the moon gave, the girl noticed that he had a slight blush on his cheeks. He turned his head and averted his gaze. 'What is he blushing about? Having been caught staring at a girl?'
The man spoke up again, "Please excuse me. I had not known that this spot was already taken". He stood up to leave. Rin found this odd. The mystery man had not bothered her in any way and Rin saw no reason for the man to leave.
She quickly called down from her branch, "You don't need to leave. There is plenty of space here and you won't find another bench under a different tree." This wasn't entirely true. The gardens were vast and there were plenty of other benches under less grand trees. Rin was trying to be considerate to her guest and let him stay and enjoy the view. No other bench in the gardens had a better view of the sky and gardens. View aside, all of the other spots were quite a distance away and although Rin had no doubt that the man could find his way back, she didn't want the guest to be hassled. "Besides, I was about to leave anyways". She saw that the man had nodded his head and sat back down.
After a few more moments of silence, Rin had enough of sky gazing and leaped down from her perch. The slight rustle of the branches was enough to catch the attention of the man on her way down. The seraph didn't even need to use her wings to break the fall. To Rin, jumping down from great heights was nothing. Once down, Rin looked at the man and asked him rather bluntly, "What's your name?". After all, it was considered a rude practice to not introduce yourself to someone you just met.
The man answered back, "...Saitou Hajime".
Rin nodded, thinking that the name suited him. She took this as a perfect opportunity to introduce herself, "Well Saitou, my name is Tsubasa Rintoki. You can call me Rin, everybody does. I hope you enjoy your stay on Nirvana". With that, Rin had nothing else to say so she turned and walked a short distance into the gardens before she flew away. Walking outwards was more out of consideration than necessity. The draft her wings would cause would buffer him for a few moments and she considered it a little rude.
Rin thought back to her last encounter with a student from Shieikan and chucked to herself. 'Saitou Hajime, huh. What an interesting man' Rin made one last loop around the island before finally flying back down to her balcony, landing gracefully. She stood there for a few moments, listening quietly. All of the noise from the banquette was gone and replaced with silence. 'Dinner's over' she thought. Like all of the other girls at Nirvana knew, the students from Shieikan Military Academy were staying in the West Dormitory while the girls stayed in the East. They were mostly used to house guests, be it the occasional visiting teacher or merchants whom the residents got their supplies from. The rooms in the West Dormitory were a little bigger than those of the East, so the students would have to share rooms with each other.
With the school slightly curved inwards, Rin could see lights still in use in some rooms and others, pitch black. But after a while, they all went off until the entire West side of the school was dormant, leaving a few lights still in use on the east side. Rin's room was dark, having never been lit in the first place and she soon decided to retire for the night and prepare for tomorrows festivities.
After his encounter with Rin, Saitou went back to the banquette after a few minutes in the gardens. He joined his friends who hadn't moved since he last saw them. The baka trio were still stuffing their faces and Okita was annoying Hijikata as usual. Yamazaki was eating quietly but was the first person to notice his friend's return.
"Saitou, you're back" Yamazaki greeted. The others looked up.
"What took you so long? Were you with a girl?" Okita teased. This caught the attention of everyone for a split second before they vetoed the thought. There was no reason for Saitou to be with a member of the opposite gender, even if he was at a school full of them. He held no interest in girls and devoted his time to practice his swordsmanship.
Saitou surprised everyone by answering, "Yes". He sat down on his seat and refilled his glass calmly, as if what he said wasn't of any significance. Okita, Heisuke, Sano and Shinpatchi all shared a look of shock, their mouths gaping, while Hijikata and Yamazaki had their eyebrows raised.
"Heh, for a moment there, I thought Saitou just made a joke" Sano said after a moment, surprisingly recovering from the shock first, before Okita. Saitou remained quiet and went back to eating, sparing no reaction to what his friend had said. That was all this friends needed to know that the stoic man was being completely serious.
"Oh? My young Hajime-kun is growing up into a man?" Okita said with a smirk, an eye raised. "And here I thought that even Heisuke would beat you to the punch".
"HEY!" Heisuke shouted while Shinpatchi and Sano erupted in laughter. The commotion caught the attention of quite a few people. Namely, the student council and some of the other students, both from Shieikan and Nirvana.
Saitou took this moment to look at the one empty seat at one of the girl's table. Rintoki Tsubasa's seat. He noticed that her friends were still seated next to the empty seat and saw that the girl with the sake, Umi, was stealing suspicious glances toward his table. 'She must be suspicious of us for asking about Tsubasa' Saitou thought. He turned his head to look at the front of the room and to his dismay, saw that Kazama Chikage was leering at the empty seat. 'What does he want with her' the man thought. He knew that it wasn't something good and his concern for the young winged girl grew.
Saitou, being a very observational, scanned the room one last time to try to pick up something that he may have missed. He saw that at the girl's tables, they were all chatting excitedly and stealing glances at the boy's tables, like all foolish girls do, and that at his table's, some of the students were doing the exact same thing the girls were doing, only more obvious.
The man then looked at the teacher's table. He saw that his headmaster was talking merrily with his staff and some of the staff of Nirvana but noticed something off. Headmistress Osen was looking down from where she sat and toward a table that Shieikan's students sat. Saitou followed her gaze and was somewhat surprised that the woman was looking at Kazama, who was in turn, still leering at the empty seat. As if sensing that someone was watching her, Madame Osen turned to look directly at Saitou, making eye contact. Saitou was about to look away when something stopped him, a feminine voice in his head.
"You seem to be a very observative, and trustful young man" it said. Saitou realized with a slight jolt that the person speaking was the headmistress herself. The voice droned out every other sound in the room so the stoic man could hear anything she said with clarity. "I see that you have met one of our students, Rintoki Tsubasa" Headmistress continued. "I would like you to do me a favor and keep an eye out for her and your student council, although, I can see that you're doing that already" Osen chucked. Saitou sat very still. He had turned back to face his table to remain inconspicuous but was paying full attention to the woman. He had no idea how the Madame knew of this but suspected that she had been watching them for quite awhile. From what Saitou knew or heard of the headmistress, she was a master in the magic arts so it didn't surprise him too much.
The voice disappeared and Saitou took one last look at the teacher's table and noticed that the headmistress was talking with his headmaster, striking up a conversation. The only staff member that was looking at him was whom Saitou suspected to be Osen's aid. She gave him one last knowing look and turned away, breaking the eye contact. 'They are hiding something' Saitou looked at his friends who continued to jest and give each other a hard time, oblivious to what had just happened.
Yamazaki glanced at him and noticed that Saitou's face was deep in thought. Usually, the stoic man was relaxed during their meals so his facial expression struck him as odd. Yamazaki did have a keen sense to notice when something was off and suspected that whomever Saitou encountered outside was the source of his stress.
After the banquette, Headmistress Osen stood up to make the final announcement of the night. "Students, please go straight to your dormitories and retire for the night. We will have more time to interact with each other later. Men, you will be staying in the West Dormitory. Your teachers will lead you there. Rest well and enjoy the rest of your stay". With that, everyone from Shieikan gradually stood up and followed their teachers to their dorms.
It turned out that a total of four people were to occupy a room due to their larger size. Hijikata, Okita, Saitou and Yamazaki occupied one room while the baka trio and their mutual friend Shimada Kai occupied another. Luckily, the rooms were besides each other so the friends could occupy each other's company for awhile longer.
Once in their room, the friends looked around. It was spacious and not cramped at all. There were two bunk beds, leaving a total of four beds, and a large window. So large, in fact, that Saitou suspected that someone could easily walk through it. There was a small ledge with a few flower pots carefully positioned on it. The room was furnished with cupboards, closets, a mirror, some wash basins, a large carpet and some shelves. Saitou walked on the wooden floors to a closet, putting his luggage away.
Okita whistled, "Nice place. Dibs on top bunk!" He quickly placed his belongings on a bed, claiming it.
Hijikata shook his head in exasperation, "Honestly, Souji... Yamazaki, you can have the other one. I would prefer not have a hassle in trying to get to bed".
Yamazaki agreed, "Of course" and quickly and nimbly leaped to the other top bunk.
The group quickly got ready for bed and relaxed. The room was quiet and dimmed of light. Unfortunately, the silence didn't last long when they heard a muffled scuffle on the other side of a wall. It was the wall that blocked their room from the baka trio's room.
THUMP "Ouch! Hey! I wanted the top bunk, Shinpat!" a voice that the group didn't doubt was Heisuke's. They heard what sounded like someone wrestling and a different voice answering the younger teen.
"You're too small to be able to reach the top, Heisuke. Besides, I can climb better than you" the voice, Shinpatchi's, irrationally reasoned. The rest of the argument was soon cut off by what sounded like a rather painful set of punches to the head.
"Knock it off, both of you" Sano chided, a little exasperated. "Heisuke, you take the top bunk and Shin, take the bottom. I don't want to hear a word from anyone of you".
The room was once more engulfed in silence, and this time, lasted the rest of the night. Only this time, Saitou did not, no, could not fall asleep quickly. He laid there, under Okita's bed and listened to his friends soft breathing. The man turned his head to look out of the large window to look at the sky for a last time. He admired the bright stars and what light the moon gave off when a flash of movement caught his eyes. A shape that blotted out the light of a couple of stars for a moment. It was gone, but soon returned after a few moments. Concentrating, Saitou looked closely, trying to decipher a silhouette of the object when he saw an almost white reflection of something. Instantaneously knowing what it was, the man laid back down and closed his eyes. 'She is still awake and flying this late at night, huh' The man drifted off into slumber.
And that is chapter 4! So now you know why Umi was suspicious of the men in the last chapter.
What does Kazama want with Rin? And what does Osen and Kimigiku know about it? Find out later in the next couple of instalments of Song of the Seraph!
Please leave a review. It really helps a lot! Have a great day everybody~-Yoronoko
