Rin woke up to a quiet and serene morning. The sun light softly lit up her room, diffused by the paper doors. She sat up on her futon, groaned, and flopped down again with the covers over her face. If only the conversation with Sen had been a dream.

It had been two days since Rin had talked to Sen about her condition and it still seemed surreal. She had snuck back into headquarters and had made a beeline to her room. And since then, she hadn't stepped a foot outside, except twice during nighttime to use the restroom. She hadn't joined in meal time, nor had helped with the chores and hadn't permitted anyone to enter her room.

Her stomach growled and she curled up into a tighter ball. Maybe if she scrunched her stomach to be smaller, she wouldn't feel the hunger as much. She knew this was ridiculous and that she would eventually have to leave her room. Kondou-san had already stood outside her room multiple times trying to convince her to come out and eat, and there was only so many times that she could refuse.

But she was scared. What if she reacted again? To Hijikata, or Souji, or anyone else? She would surely get found out, and….be properly dealt with. Most likely killed…

The thought made her roll across the floor and back, and she kicked at the air in frustration. Why was her life so complicated?! Her sudden movements made her dizzy and her vision went white with hunger. She pressed her palms against her eyes to help with the dizziness and laid down still on her back. She had to save her calories.

Rin lifted her arms and looked closely at the veins on her wrists. They were rather a strange color, but Rin thought it wasn't so noticeable as to give her away. She had lived with it all her life without anyone pointing it out, it would surely be okay if they were somehow seen in the future.

The main problem, though, were the Shinsengumi captains. Even Rin, who was so far from world of romance that other girls her age seemed to be immersed in, knew that the captains were exceptionally good looking and attractive. It had never mattered to her before, as she wasn't interested, but now it was her biggest obstacle. Especially that Hijikata-san…

Blood rose to her cheeks again and she covered her face with her hands.

She froze when she heard voices approaching her door.

"Rin-chan?" The voice was unmistakably Heisuke. "Are you still feeling unwell?"

Rin bit her lip and tried to rake up an answer. "Eh…well….yes? I…that is…"

A higher pitched voice interrupted her. "Rin-chan, no matter how sick you feel, you still have to eat. I can bring you something if you want to eat in your room."

A huge grin spread across Rin's face. How could she have forgotten about Chizuru? If it were her, Rin would feel safe to enough.

"Chizuru-chan, I think I feel better enough to eat. Can you bring me something? If it's from you, I think I can eat."

"Yes! Of course! I'll make you something right away."

Rin felt tears spring up as she heard Chizuru and Heisuke run to the kitchen. She would be able to eat today. She pinched herself for being so dumb as to forget that there was another girl in headquarters. She could have eaten the last two days without a problem if she had just used her brain. Rin sighed and decided to blame it on psychological shock.

She got up and brushed her hair with her comb and put on a light yukata. She tied and pinned her hair up and folded her futon and blankets. She didn't want to look like a mess when Chizuru came to give her food.

The thought of food made her excited and she stood up and stretched. She also hopped around a little and swung her arms in circles. She hadn't felt this excited in sometime. Her situation was strangely amusing, and she muffled a laugh.

She heard the door slide open and she turned around, smiling.

"Chizuru-chan, thank you so-"

Rin's face dropped and she quickly turned away from the door. What was Souji doing here? Why was he carrying food? Hadn't she said that she wanted Chizuru to bring food?

She heard him put the food tray down and the smell of food was overwhelming. She heard her stomach growling, and she pretended to clear her throat in order to hide the embarrassing sound.

"Rin-chan, I thought you were so sick you were bedridden, but you look perfectly fine. Reeallllly healthy."

Rin felt panic rising in her chest and she told herself to just breathe. It was likely that nothing would happen. She slowly turned around and looked up at Souji.

She felt her chest constrict. The sunlight was illuminating him from behind and his green eyes were sparkling with light. This was bad. This was a very bad situation. She covered her face with her hands and closed her eyes. Was she reacting to him? Was her hair color changing? She peeked through her fingers at a strand of hair and was relieved to find it still black.

"What are you doing?" Souji asked. "You don't wanna see me that much?"

Rin shook her head and replied in a small voice. "It's not that, it's just… you don't know what I might do to you…."

She heard him start laughing and looked at him through her fingers. He was bent over in half laughing and she felt herself getting slightly annoyed. What was so funny? This was a serious situation.

Souji gathered his breath and grinned at her. "Stop talking nonsense and eat breakfast. I woke up late again so I missed breakfast and when I heard you were going to eat, I thought I would join you. I hate eating by myself."

Rin stared at him for a little longer and assessed her body. Her heartbeat was normal, she was in control of her limbs, and her mind wasn't foggy. Maybe it would be okay, and besides, the smell of food was driving her crazy. She cleared her throat, and looked at him with a serious face.

"If you insist, I suppose I could eat."

Rin had never eaten that fast in her life. Even when she was scrounging for food in the streets, she had never eaten this fast. She stared down sheepishly at her empty bowls and Souji's still half-full ones.

"Um….Do you want me to bring you seconds?"

Rin blushed. "No, I'm full, thank you."

Souji put down his chopsticks and leaned towards her across the table. Without warning, he lifted his hand and placed it on her forehead. Rin flinched back. She could feel her heartrate go up and she dug her nails into her palms, willing herself to stay calm.

"Hmmm," Souji said as he leaned back. "It doesn't look like you have a fever. Let's go for a walk."

"Wh-wh-what? A walk? I-I'm still not feeling that well, so I think I'm going to have to refuse…"

Souji was giving her such an intense stare that Rin couldn't help but swallow her words. She wondered how a human could have such intense colored eyes. Plenty of oni had jewel-colored eyes but she knew it was rare for humans.

He suddenly smirked. "Why are you looking at me like that Rin-chan? Do you like me or something?"

Rin shook herself out her reverie. "No, of course not! I mean, I do like you, as a friend…or acquaintance….but… I was just looking because, for a human-"

Rin clasped her hands over her mouth. 'For a human…..' Those were words that could get her killed. She looked up at him in alarm but was relieved to see that he had not caught her mistake. But Souji was clever, and she couldn't trust him to forget the words that she had spoken. If he were to remember those words later, and come to the conclusion that she wasn't human, it would be disastrous. She had to diffuse the situation somehow.

"Ahahahaha! Souji-kun! What a great idea! Let's go for a walk, right now!" exclaimed Rin as she pushed him out the door. "It's such a beautiful day outside, we need to go a walk. And thank you for breakfast! You're such a good friend! Hahahahahaha!"

She pushed him out of her room into the hall and then out into the courtyard. She looked around the yard, trying to find something that would help her distract him. To her dismay, all she could find was a broom leaning against the side shed. But this was an emergency situation and anything would have to do.

She ran towards the broom and picked it up. "It's a perfect day for sweeping, isn't it? And what a beautiful broom! Do you think it was expensive?"

Rin bit her lip. Souji was staring silently at her from across the courtyard with his arms crossed. The panic was starting to rise and Rin inwardly chastised herself. Since when had she become so weak to pressure?

Rin gulped and clutched the broom tighter to her chest. Souji was walking towards her with an unreadable face. Her eyes darted towards his waist where his katana hung menacingly. He walked ight up to her and peered down closely at her face.

"Maybe you do have a fever. Or maybe it was the food. I knew I shouldn't have let Heisuke help with the cooking."

He leaned back and crossed his arms again, this time looking at her with an amused grin. "Good thing I didn't finish my food, eh?"

He suddenly looked over her head. "Look, it's Hijikata-san. I heard he wanted to talk to you."

Rin looked up at him with her eyes wide open. "It's who?"

"…Hijikata-san… Look, Rin, if you really don't feel that well, I can just take you back to your room and you can talk to Hijikata-san there."

Rin could hear Hijikata's footstep's approaching behind her. She leaned in and whispered to Souji, "Does he look angry? Why does he want to talk to me?"

Souji started laughing. "You sound like a kid who's avoiding their mom after doing something wrong. And yes, he looks angry. But doesn't he always?"

Shit, thought Rin. Souji just said that he looked angry. All there was left to do now, was to make a run for it, before he could catch up to her. She gave Souji an apologetic nod and then pushed him aside to run towards the gate. She would just walk around town for a little bit until later in the day and then sneak back it to her room.

The last thing she heard before darkness came over her were the sound of two voices yelling at her to watch out. Then, a sharp pain to her forehead and everything faded….

END OF CHAPTER 10

Author's Notes:

Hi everyone ^^

I hope you enjoyed the chapter :) My goal is try to get a chapter out around once a week or more, but no later than that. All of your reviews are so inspiring and they help me keep up the motivation to write :3 There's no epilogue this time, because it's kind of late, and I have work tomorrow morning, but I really do hope that you enjoyed reading a little more about Rin's life.

Please please please follow, favorite and leave reviews. I love hearing from all of you!

Thank you so so much for reading and I hope you guys all have a fun-filled rest of the week. Until next time~~

xoxoSorina