Disclaimer: Hakuouki is a visual novel game by Idea Factory. (They make a bunch of cute guys! Drools. So I always look up new series just so I can stare at them~) Hakuouki then was adapted into an Anime by Studio DEEN. And today, the Anime series is licensed by Sentai Filmworks in North America. (I got this information from Wikipedia and I believe the information is accurate. I wouldn't know though!)

"Forever" will not keep us connected

Chapter 5

In a remote place, Ayumu walked on a pathless road alone. He was not far from the others and hoped no one followed him. His eyes were now set on a small graveyard just ahead of him. Directly heading to certain grave in the middle of the others, he stared at the wooden tablet that engraved someone's name: Fujimoto Akiko.

"…Ba-Kanon finally is learning, Aunt Akiko," Ayumu murmured, his eyes softening slowly. The name on the tablet stood quietly and the wind was heard. "We'll be gone for a while. But we'll be back for a visit."

He got on one knee and touched the name softly with his fingertips. The birds chirped nearby and flew above him quickly. Ayumu closed his eyes and listened to the rustle of the grass. Something pecked on the tree and the sounds of the faint animals were close by. Other than that, no one followed him here. That was a relief.

"I'll take care of onee-san," he stood up and brushed his long brown hair behind him. He smiled faintly and added, "Like I promised."

[…^…]

"Holy, Souji, you smell like shit!" Kanon grabbed the back of his shirt and sniffed. He looked back to her and used his elbow to get her away. The two of them were in the shed since she was preparing to pack a few blankets for their trip and also packing extra clothes for Souji to carry himself.

He gave her a weird look, "What kind of girl would go up and sniff another man's scent like that? Not very attractive, are you?"

"Go take a bath first," she pointed out the door with a childish pout. It was not about being attractive or not. She was not letting him get away with the bad smell. "Saburo should have already prepared hot water next door."

Souji moved to face her. "Didn't he say he was using that room to bathe just a moment ago?" he asked, putting one hand on his hip.

She walked around to his back and pushed him forward to the door. "You can go and use it," she told him, snickering. "The injured always go first! I'll kick Saburo out of there for you."

"Hey, wait—"

"I am not traveling with someone as stinky as you!" she shouted just as they walked out of the shed. At a table with seats, Kyou and Yumeko were just a few ways in front of them, watching them rather curiously. Kanon stopped pushing Souji by the house next to them and she punched the window open. "Saburo!"

"GAHH!" he lowered his body from the view of the window. Apparently he already undressed himself. The wooden square tub was in the center of the room and it was steaming with hot water. With watery eyes, he cried, "Kanon-hime, do you mind?!"

She frowned, "Let Souji use it first!"

Saburo did not argue. "Aw man…"

"There," Kanon turned and patted on Souji's shoulder. "Go take a good quick bath. I'll pack everything else while bringing you a new set of clothes."

With a nosy face, Souji watched her walk off back into the shed. "…How bold are you?" he wondered out loud.

"Oh," she poked her head out from the door of the shed. "You were wearing those westerner clothes before… I don't have any of those, so is a man's short kimono with pants fine with you?" Or whatever she had.

He nodded as Saburo walked out of the house with his layer of clothes on. "Yeah," he said. He paused when Kanon went back into the house. Souji felt weird when he thought, 'What is she like, a mother?'

"Okay, Okita-san," Saburo waved to him. "The bath's all yours."

Souji smirked to him and said, "Sorry, Saburo-kun."

"Nah, I'm fine. Really."

Yumeko's face was as still as ever and watched Souji going into the house while Saburo went to close the window for him. "We're becoming a lovely family already," Yumeko talked to herself, softly clapping her hands.

Snickering, Kyou asked, "You think so? Don't lump me into your fantasy now."

She glanced to him and combed her short black hair. "Why not?" she asked quietly. "Sanosuke will be my husband, Ayumu and you will be my brothers, Saburo can be my son, and Kanon can be my daughter, who is married off to Souji's household…"

"Hah, you have quite the imagination," Kyou smirked to her. He had a short pause as she blinked at him. "…Tell me something, can Ayumu and Kanon bring back a dead body that had rotten away?"

His voice seemed softer than usual and Yumeko easily understood what he was thinking about. "You have a friend you wanted to bring back alive?" she tapped her chin when she inquired.

Kyou sneered and averted his eyes away. "…Maybe," he replied rather quietly.

"Hmm," she leaned forward to him to get a good look at his face. He slightly stared back and she tilted her head. "Sorry to disappoint, but if the body had already been dead after four or five days, there's nothing they can do to help your friend."

Her words hurt, but at least he did not bring his hopes up. "I see," he nodded away.

Yumeko leaned back and folded her arms to her chest. "Or so I would like to think," she shrugged. "Ayumu never told me much… You can go and ask him more about it if you're still interested."

Kyou chuckled, "…I guess I will."

"You followed us all the way here because you wanted to revive a friend, huh?" she thought out loud and nodded to herself. "Do you not have a home to return to?"

In his hand, Kyou touched his gun that no longer had bullets. His eyes sparked and he grinned. "It's a war out there," he said, looking at her. "There's nowhere to return to. Not until it's all over."

Just then, Saburo had walked up to them and took a seat with a sigh. "I really want a bath right now," he complained. There was silence and he blinked to Kyou and to Yumeko. "…Did I interrupt something? Why are you guys quiet all of the sudden?"

Kyou had no comment, but Yumeko gladly said with an awkward wink, "It's our secret, my dear beloved son."

"Huh?" Saburo stared at her with a puzzled face.

With a snicker, Kyou decided to play along. "But we can tell you this…" he grinned, putting his first finger to his lips. "We're going to marry your sister to Okita very soon."

"…Ha?" Saburo looked even more confused than before.

[…^…]

From another house, which was just as close by, Sanosuke walked out as he fixed his red hand strips. He was out of his westerner clothes and was now wearing a dark gray kimono with black dusty pants. "Thanks for loaning these clothes, Ayumu," he smiled to the right. He fixed the kimono to reveal his collarbone.

Ayumu was leaning back against the house and let out a sigh. "Yumeko wouldn't shut up about it anyway," he said. Leaning forward, he turned and walked around the house. Sanosuke followed him closely and the two soon reached to where Kyou and Yumeko were.

"Are the others ready?" Sanosuke asked as he looked around.

"Saburo went to the river to take a quick bath because he couldn't wait for Souji anymore," Yumeko replied flatly. "And Souji should be about done soon. He's been in there for a while now."

His eyes looked over to the house and watched Kanon was just knocking on the door. "Souji, are you done yet?" Kanon frowned, holding a change of clothes in her arms.

The door opened and Souji's head peeked out. "Yeah," he said, giving her a tired face. She handed him the clothes and he took them, closing the door shut right after.

Afterwards, Kanon hurried off into the shed and soon walked out with a medium large black bag around her shoulder. She smiled when everyone was staring at her. "I'm all packed," she waved.

"Yo, Ayumu," Kyou looked to him, standing up from the chair. When Ayumu looked at him to acknowledge him, Kyou questioned, "Will you answer me this? I was wondering even if a dead body had rotted away, could you still revive the person?"

Ayumu slowly looked away and he was quiet. "…Never tried," he replied coldly. "And I won't try it either. Our power is not for your convenience."

"Huh," Kyou chuckled softly. Ayumu was right. He should not be asking them about it for his own personal gain. What was the point to even stick with them so long? He felt he made a fool of himself in front of these humans in hopes to revive a dead human friend. "…Then I'm done here," he said, taking his leave.

Standing up, Yumeko asked, "You're not going to at least go at the same time as us?" Kyou kept walking and did not answer her. She blinked, "You mad, Kyou-nii?"

Sanosuke gave her a strange look while Ayumu seemed annoyed right away.

"Keh," Kyou glanced back and looked at them. "I'm not mad. And just so I don't leave with an bad impression, it's not like I wanted information from you guys to do anything ruthless… Sorry for disturbing all of you." Before Yumeko could think of a sarcastic remark, Kyou took a high jump and disappeared into the forest.

"…I wonder if we'll meet again," Sanosuke chuckled with a soft smile.

Saburo shortly arrived in a rush and tied his hair up. "Oh, good," he sighed in relief. "No one left without me."

"We wouldn't leave you behind," Yumeko assured him. "But Kyou did leave a few seconds ago."

"Huh?" Saburo blinked at her. "Why? We were just starting to know each other too."

"He looked mad," Yumeko flatly said with a nod.

Saburo gasped, "What happened?!"

"Nothing happened," Ayumu told him, annoyed with Yumeko's lies.

In the house Souji was in, he just finished dressing up. He wore a brown kimono with dull brown pants. Quietly touching his stomach, he could still recall the pain from that time when the men who were after Hijikata Toshizo stabbed him. 'I wonder how they're doing,' Souji thought. He was staring into the distance until the door was kicked open.

"Hey, I was calling you," Kanon walked in.

Having his thoughts interrupted, he gave her a frown. "Who told you to come in?" he turned to face her.

Pulling out a strap of brown fabric with her right hand, Kanon flatly looked at him, "Close your eyes." There seemed to be a hint embarrassment in her tone.

Souji crossed his arms to his chest and stared at her rather suspiciously. "…What are you up to now?" he demanded. "We're in a rush, remember?"

She walked to him and took his arm. Dragging him backwards, he surprisingly fell back and landed on a chair close to the wall. "Shut up and close your eyes," she covered his eyes with her left hand, nearly just slapping him.

He grunted, removing her hand away. Closing his eyes as told, he heard her she going behind him and used the strap of fabric to cover his eyes up. "Seriously, what are you up to?" he inquired, even more suspicious of her sneaking around. "If you're going to kiss me, I rather have my eyes opened."

Shooting a glare behind his head, she ignored him and used force to tie a knot hard. He grunted and gently touched the blindfold. "Ahem… keep your head up," she walked back to face in front of him. "Don't move, okay?"

Lifting up his head, Souji sighed at her and waited. Slowly, he felt her long hair touching his thighs and arms. And then her forehead softly touched his forehead. Completely silent, feeling her breathe, he felt something warm that seemed to flow from her body. Through the blindfold and behind his eyelids, there was a definite light that was glowing. But from where? Her forehead? He wanted to see it for himself.

With her eyes being closed, Kanon felt him quietly moving around. "Hey, I thought I told you not to…" she peeked with one eye opened. Souji had lightly lowered the strap of fabric and they both looked into each other eyes. She pouted and as soon as she moved back, the light disappeared between them. "Souji!" she angrily made a fist.

He touched his forehead curiously. "What… are you doing?" he asked rather slowly. While she cursed and mumbled a bunch of words, Souji's muscles felt better than before. Or at least, back to his old strength. He stood up and stretched his arms. "Hey," he smirked to himself. His strength was back! He lightly laughed and his hand clenched into a fist. And then he looked Kanon with a somewhat hungry grin.

Pointing at him accusingly, she yelled, "How dare you remove the—"

Charging towards her, Souji was snickering. Kanon snapped and rushed back, but then she went back too hard and knocked down the unstable wall behind her. Slightly falling backwards, she glared as Souji's incoming punch almost had her face. He smirked, "Aw, I missed."

"What the hell?" Kanon cursed at him while still falling back. Her right palm landed on the ground first and she quickly kicked her feet up, striking Souji's chin. Underneath her kimono, she was wearing black tight shorts. Losing his balance with his head thrown back, he nearly tripped backwards while her feet swung in the air and then landed on the ground. "Why are you picking a fight?" she glared annoyingly. "Didn't you say you were in a hurry? Besides, your hand-to-hand combat is not your thing!"

Ayumu flattened his eyes as he just saw them breaking through the wall. "What in the world…?" he mumbled as the other three with him looked to witness the scene.

The dust of the fallen wall made Souji cough when he got himself to balance. He smiled and wiped his mouth. "Thanks for completely healing me, but," he laughed a little, enjoying himself. "I still want to teach you a lesson from those other times we fought." It was time to get his dignity back.

Kanon groaned with regret, "Oohhh, you asshole."

At his feet, there was a broken wooden stick that was with the fallen wall. It seemed the perfect size and he went to pick it up. His eyes were still on her and she dashed forward when he lowered his body to get the wood.

"Just try it then!" she exclaimed.

Making it in time, his hand gripped on the stick. Just when he swung it to her, he felt he would have had her, but then she immediately stopped. Her feet slide on the ground and she forced herself to jump away. "Haha," Souji got up, running after her.

He chased her, swinging the wooden stick from right to left. She dodged each time and they went all over the area. He thrust out and she quickly jumped to the left. His eyes watched her as his 'weapon' followed her. She kept jumping to the left to avoid him. 'Is she trying to get my blind spot?' he smirked.

Kanon moved back when the stick almost hit her hair. "Yikes!" she rushed backwards, still able to hold her ground.

He had thought he would have gotten her there just now. "Your movements remind me of water," Souji chuckled. No matter how much he swung, she slipped away on time. And when he could have swore he had got her, no matter how much strength he used, it was not working the way he wanted. 'Maybe I got rusty from getting sick too long,' he wondered.

"Okay, we're setting off now!" Sanosuke called over to them. He hoped to have caught their attention, but they were still at. Ayumu and Yumeko headed to the exit of the village together without worries. Sanosuke could only smile and shake his head.

Saburo sighed and blinked when Sanosuke went along with the others out of the village. "Geez," Saburo turned to look back at the duo. Souji was still trying to hit her and she was still dodging like a leaping bug. "…Kanon-hime? …Okita-san?"

The two of them ignored Saburo and stubbornly focused only on each other.

[…^…]

Time went by and the sun was setting in the horizon. Yumeko was cooking again, watching the flames steady or it would set the forest on fire. She looked to Ayumu, who was sitting across from her. They both sighed at the same time when Saburo ran pass them and going around while shouting.

"Stop it already!" Saburo begun whining. He was chasing after Kanon and Souji who ran down a small path.

Sanosuke, who was sitting next to Ayumu, smirked. "I wonder how long those two are going to flirt?" he sneered.

"They're not flirting," Ayumu rubbed his face. "They're just acting like kids."

Kanon jumped up to the tree branch and wheezed. Her eyes stared down as Souji slowly walked to the tree and his palm leaned against it. "Are you done yet?" she frowned tiredly, wiping the sweats from her forehead. They have been doing this nonstop now.

Souji panted with his eyes glaring at her, "I… don't believe… that I can never… hit you."

She laughed weakly and went to lean back against the trunk. "This is so stupid…" she said and could not stop smiling. While resting, she then realized the bag of blankets she had forgotten were back at the village. Even the extra clothes for Souji. 'Great,' she thought with a heavy sigh.

Saburo was still running and when he was close enough, his body bumped into Souji's back. "Finally!" he let out a relief sigh. He rested his chin on Souji's shoulder. "Now, let's head back! Yumeko's food smells delicious!"

Shrugging his chin off, Souji turned around and threw the wooden stick away. "Another day then," he said, walking towards the firelight. The moon was in the sky so he could see a little on his way back.

"Wait, is that really our fire camp?" Saburo squinted his eyes. Souji stopped right in his tracks and felt the murder intent coming from the shadows. And then the sound of an arrow was released, going right towards Souji. "Watch out!" Saburo cried, tackling Souji forward to the ground.

Kanon stood up on the tree branch and leaned back on it to hide herself. Her eyes searched the dark area. 'Who did that?' she glared, biting her lower lip.

"Ah~ahh," a young, laid back male's voice was heard from where the arrow was shot. "I missed. That's why I only use a sword."

On the ground, Souji and Saburo both looked up and remained to stay low. "Who's there?!" Souji demanded.

"Shhh!" Saburo sweat dropped.

"Souji? Is that you?" another male's voice called out.

There was complete silence and Souji recognized the tone of the voice. He got up quickly when the bushes in the front rustled. A man walked out from the shadows and his dark purple hair revealed in the moonlight. "Hajime-kun?" Souji smiled as their eyes met. But in that moment, Souji noticed something wrong in those blue eyes. They were not as sharp and relaxed as they used to be.

Within a blink, Hajime had swiftly moved forward with his katana in his left hand. Aiming the sharp blade toward Souji's heart, Souji reacted a little too late as his mind was still frozen from Hajime's soulless stare.

"Souji!" Kanon shouted angrily.

He snapped his eyes open as Kanon fell from above. Her right foot hit the back of Hajime's katana and the tip of it directly hit the ground instead of Souji's heart. Hajime's grip was still on his katana, but his body was forced to lower down along with the katana. He looked up at to Kanon emotionlessly, who just jumped in midair and kicked Hajime's head. His hand parted with the katana and his body flew off and hit the tree a few years away.

Kanon landed on her feet and looked at Souji. He shook his head and she glared, "Get yourself together!"

With a grunt, Souji looked over to Hajime, who had stood up. Before asking a question, Kanon had grabbed the katana from the ground and she charged with a thrust over to the motionless Hajime. "WAIT, KANON!" Souji ran after her with his hand reaching out.

Thanks for reading!