It was time to leave Edo. Time for Chizuru to finally embrace her destiny as the last remaining daughter of the Yukimura clan. Knowing that there was little more that she could do, she followed Kazama as they made their way towards Edo Bay, where a ship would be waiting for them to bring them back to the western regions of Japan.

"My people are based in the lands of the Satsuma-han," Kazama explained to Chizuru, "There, the lands are fertile due to the volcanoes, and sufficient water. We are blessed to have enough land and water to plant our own rice, tea and even cultivate our own silk. It took us many centuries to gain enough gold to buy land from the daimyo of Satsuma, and now, we have a village to ourselves near the coastline, away from the prying eyes of the humans, with our backs against the sea…"

As he said those words, he took Chizuru's hand in his, and at that instant, she realized that the scene before them was not the hustle and bustle of Edo city, but the Kazama village, so large that it could have been a town, nestled in a valley between two volcanic peaks. The surrounding areas of the village were areas where agriculture flourished, and the lands around them were sealed with powerful Oni magic that would conceal the location of the village from human eyes. In the image that Kazama had formed for her, she saw the ancestral hall of the Kazama family, filled with tablets of the long-passed, where a great katana was displayed. She saw a group of elders, all still beautiful and foreboding figures, playing chess, reading and talking amongst themselves, and outside the ancestral hall, a little school for the Oni-children, where some were even dozing off as their teacher droned on and on about their lessons…

When he released her hand, the images ceased. "How did you do that?" Chizuru asked him.

"Different Oni clans have different powers besides the usual healing and agelessness," Kazama elaborated. "My clan's is one of illusion and defense, while yours lied in the art of medicine and regeneration. While our people reach physical maturity at the same pace as humans, our powers develop on a slower level. Hence, the older the Oni, the more powerful he or she is. However, due to various reasons, it is rare for an Oni to live for over thousands of years. We can be killed, after all."

"Then… may I ask how old are you, Kazama-san?" Chizuru asked out of curiosity. She knew that Kazama was no ordinary Oni, because even she could sense that he held more power than Amagiri or Shiranui. Being the clan-leader of his clan further cemented that fact as well.

"I will be eighty come winter," Kazama replied simply. "Does it even matter?"

Chizuru blushed slightly. "No, but I…"

"Have you become curious about me, Chizuru?" he asked her in his sly, teasing tone. The way he placed his face so near her, it had been no different when he had met her at the Sumiya when she was disguised as a geisha… "Would you want to know more about your future husband?"

Chizuru had become so flustered that she turned away from him. "That is not my meaning!" she exclaimed. Her cheeks were red, and it was not due to the winter's cold.

"Suit yourself," Kazama returned, and continued walking, Chizuru following him mere seconds later. They were walking side by side, but her eyes were cast to the ground, clearly taking his wanton teasing to mind, while he held his head up high as always, confident and powerful.

A middle-aged lady and her older husband passed them and regarded them for a good while. "Look, anata, what an adorable young couple!" she commented.

Much to Kazama's chagrin, the husband agreed with the lady. "They're just like us when we were younger!"

This made Chizuru even more embarrassed, and held her head even lower than before. It was not before long when they were joined by Amagiri, who delivered quite the surprising report.

"I have caught sight of Yukimura Koudou," Amagiri told them.

Chizuru's eyes widened at the news. Her father was there in Edo? Unable to believe what she had just heard, she bolted towards the direction they had come from, towards the place where she once called home. She had been searching for her father for nigh three years, and she refused to let the chance to see him again slip past her fingers.

"Chizuru!" Kazama called after her, but he was unheeded. She was already too far gone.

"Shall we pursue her?" Amagiri asked, a question that actually needed no answers. Kazama had already quickened his pace as he traced her footsteps, making his way towards the Yukimura residence behind her. Whoever knew that the girl carried so much speed in her little body?

Not fifteen minutes later, Chizuru arrived at the entrance of her home. The door was ajar, and as she popped her head in to see who was there, she found him. There, standing before her, alive and well, was Yukimura Koudou, her father. "Otou-sama!" she called in utter happiness, for her search for him had finally ended.

"Chizuru, it is good to see you!" Koudou replied. For a second, those words made her heart sink a little. She… had not seen her father in three years, and this was the greeting that he gave her? It was nothing short of warmth, but… still, too curt to be given to the girl that he had raised single-handedly. He had raised her to be a well-mannered, polite woman but his greeting was a little too distant for her liking. "I am glad that you are safe!" His smile broadened, and his eyes started to twinkle, a mannerism that she knew was truly his and his alone. From then on, she was completely sure that the man standing in front of her was a father.

"Otou-sama, what are you doing here back in Edo?" she asked him without wasting any more time. "I've been looking for you in Kyoto for years!"

She had set out for Kyoto immediately following the cessations of the letters that he wrote home, and fate had brought her to the Shinsen-Gumi. She could not find her meeting her father to be more ironic that this…

Koudou frowned slightly as he delivered a sigh. "To tell you the truth, I had been working for the Sat-Chou Alliance since I left the Shinsen-Gumi's services," he told her, a hint of disappointment lacing his voice. "I am still continuing my research on the Rasetsu under their wing."

No… it was impossible. Even if he had been forced to work for the Sat-Chou Alliance, he would have been released from service already, like Kazama. Satusma and Choushu had already proven themselves the victors in the war against the Bakufu, and despite the Bakufu's efforts to reassert its authority over the newly formed government, it was clear that power had already been transferred to they who were first known as rebels…

"What kind of research?" Chizuru asked, her voice already shaking. She had her own fair share of dealing with the Rasetsu, and knew that their creation was wrong on so many different viewpoints. The need to experiment on human subjects was enough for the Shinsen-Gumi to call off any further experimentation of the Rasetsu, augmented by the fact that Rasetsu require the intake of blood to survive, and would go insane if they did not have it… They were also an unpractical weapon in war – they could only be deployed during the night because sunlight weakened them – All in all, the Rasetsu were damned creatures that should not have existed, and Chizuru had hoped that her father would cease in his efforts to create more of them. It seemed at that time that her hope was to bear no fruit. "Otou-sama, the Sat-Chou Alliance already has victory…"

"Yes, but Edo Castle still has not surrendered!" Koudou rationalized. Edo Castle had been the last stronghold of the Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, and it was still a great fortification of the supporters of the Bakufu. It was the very reason why the Shinsen-Gumi had chosen to return to Edo in the first place. "My job now is to use my army of Rasetsu to set fire to this very city!"

She had been mistaken. This man… he was not her father. Her father was kind and gentle, and the man standing before her was nothing short of a war-mongering monster. She took a step back, and realized that Koudou had changed in his likeness. His eyes had turned amber, and two ivory horns protruded in his brow. Was this the true face of an Oni?

"You cannot imagine the power of the Ochimizu!" Koudou continued, oblivious to her shock and anguish. "Would you not join me, Chizuru?" His hand was outstretched, ready to take her hand in his.

Chizuru refused. Out of desperation, she beat her father's hand away from hers and retreated backwards, only to feel a strong grasp stabilizing her as she moved. It was Kazama, and judging by his cold gaze, he was not happy to see Koudou at all.

"What is the meaning of this, Koudou?" he asked Koudou, making it instantly clear that he had heard everything that Koudou had told Chizuru.

Koudou paused. Taking a big gulp and trying to avoid the intense, accusing ruby eyes that Kazama possessed, he asked, "Kazama-sama, what brings you here?"

Kazama was not in the mood for any form of pleasantry. "Answer my question. You were ordered to stop all research on the Rasetsu. Why have you not done so?" There was no answer, but it seemed like Kazama already knew it without needing Koudou to tell him anything. "Let me guess, you used them as a bargaining chip to secure a position with the Imperial Army, did you not?"

Knowing that he would not be able to defeat Kazama in the exchange of physical blows or words, Koudou did the only obvious thing. He bolted through the door, pushing Chizuru towards Kazama to hinder him. Kazama had caught Chizuru in time, but it was enough time for Koudou to seal his escape.

"There is a large group of Rasetsu gathering around the city," Amagiri reported after meeting up with them. "It seems like Koudou intends to send half of them to Koufu Castle, where the Shinsen-Gumi are headed and the other half to burn down Edo city."

Chizuru was shocked beyond belief. "Otou-sama… Otou-sama would not do this…" she murmured almost silently, but it had been clear enough for Kazama to hear.

"Chizuru, he is not your real father," Kazama told her. He had seen the head of the Yukimura clan before, a tall, imposing figure with power and strength enough to equal any one of the Kazama clan's elders. That man had the same soft brown eyes as Chizuru (and by extension, Kaoru) possessed. That man was an Oni that stood to his principles of non-violence even to his last breath, although his clan and their lands were burnt to ashes. "He is from a branch of the Yukimura clan, with Oni blood thin enough that he's practically human."

"No… it couldn't be…" Chizuru argued. "Otou-sama had always loved me…"

Kazama was not in the mood to argue with her. "You can choose whether to believe it or not, but it is the hard truth," he told her coldly. "Your father passed with the rest of your clan. No matter how much he loved you in the past, Yukimura Koudou has gone down a path punishable by death. It is my duty to kill him."

Hoping that Amagiri would be the voice of reason, Chizuru looked towards Amagiri for support. "Yukimura, forgive me, that Kazama is right regarding this matter," Amagiri apologized. "Yukimura Koudou cannot be forgiven."

"If we find him again, please, let me speak to him first," she begged Kazama, staring him down, which she had learnt had been the best method to make her point clear to him. "I'll try to get him to reconsider…"

"Fine, do as you will," Kazama indulged her, knowing that the outcome would be just the same. "You have only once chance. If you fail, your father dies."

It took them nearly a month to discover the location of Koudou and his Rasetsu army, even with the aid of Sen-hime's spies and Kazama and Amagiri's acquaintances in the Satsuma-han scattered around Edo. By that time, the Shinsen-Gumi had already left Edo for Koufu Castle, a stronghold of the Bakufu that must be upheld. If Koufu had fallen, then Edo was open to the Sat-Chou Alliance for the taking. Koudou was sure to aim to burn the city when it was the least defended…

They decided to infiltrate Koudou's hiding place in the dead of the night, and when Chizuru found him, he only regarded her and shook his head. "Chizuru…" he regarded her.

"Otou-sama, please, stop this!" she pleaded. "Edo can be taken by other means… Burning it down will only cause the loss of more innocent lives!" She had witness what a fire in the heart of a city could cause. When the Shinsen-Gumi had their backs turned during the Kinmon no Hen, the Sat-Chou Alliance had set fire to Kyoto city. Hundreds of homes were destroyed while thousands of lives were lost. It was a sight that she swore never to see again.

"I am doing this for the good of our clan!" Koudou rebuked. "I am sure that Kazama-sama had told you what has become of the Yukimura clan… I will wreak vengeance upon the world of humans for destroying what was ours!" In his crazed moment he focused all his attention on her. "You… Chizuru, you have the full blood of our clan running in your veins… would you not join me?"

Chizuru's heart broke upon hearing those words. She had never expected Koudou to say such cruel things, completely ignoring the days that they had spent during her childhood. But through all the pain, she realized that it was just an elaborate part of Koudou's grand design. She had been raised by him, merely because she had the pure blood of the Yukimura clan…

"That is enough," Kazama proclaimed, revealing himself from his hiding place in the shadows. What he has said was meant more for Chizuru than it had been for Koudou. He had judged her attempt to stop him and he found it wanting.

"Kazama-sama, were you not under the employ of the Satsuma-han?" Koudou asked Kazama, clearly defying Kazama with the illusion of calm and control. "Have you not shed blood for the humans in their wars? Are my actions any different from yours?"

"I served the Satsuma-han to repay their protection of my people," Kazama spat, tired of having to explain himself time and again. "They hid and protected my people when the Bakufu wanted to destroy us. I have only settled that debt, nothing more." His hair was now white, his eyes amber. Chizuru then understood that all Oni looked like that when they wished to the true extent of their powers. There seemed to be a variation though… Koudou had two horns, while Kazama had four. Kazama continued to speak, "Your actions do not befit the blood of the Yukimura clan, no matter how thin it is in your veins. You are nothing more than a beast, giving into the false power of the Ochimizu, bowing and scraping to the humans for the promise of power. Where is your pride as an Oni?" He unsheathed his katana and aimed it towards Koudou. "For those crimes, you will die."

Koudou did not move this time, unlike their previous meeting. "Even you have your limits, Kazama-sama," he threatened. "You might be able to kill me, but can you survive fighting against an entire army of Rasetsu?" He snapped his fingers, as though he expected something to happen, but nothing did.

"I wonder where your false abominations have gone," Kazama taunted. As he spoke, Amagiri appeared in the room. His hands were bloodied, and he too, wore his Oni visage.

"The false Oni have all been destroyed," Amagiri said, calm as he always was, and pointed towards Koudou. "You are the only one remaining." It had been their plan all along, for Amagiri to destroy the Rasetsu that Koudou had kept with him while Chizuru and Kazama faced Koudou. It seemed that the act was not a challenge at all for Amagiri, despite the fact that Rasetsu were generally stronger than humans. It once again cemented to Chizuru the extent of the power of the Oni as a race.

Kazama said nothing, and only looked towards Chizuru, conveying to her that he was ready to strike Kondou down. Chizuru… could not find it in her to allow Kazama to just kill the man she had regarded as her father so wantonly, no matter how severe his crimes had been. "Please… wait!" she shouted, moving between Koudou and Kazama. "He is my responsibility. As the sole survivor and head of the Yukimura clan, I will take the responsibilities of his actions!"

"It is a noble gesture, my future wife, but I cannot do as you say," Kazama replied sternly. He gently moved her aside, and continued to attack Koudou. Knowing that there was no escape for him, Koudou did the only thing he could: he himself summoned whatever powers he had in him and charged against Kazama.

He met his end in one single stroke of Kazama's katana, cutting him from the left side of his neck, to the right side of his waist. Blood splattered all across the floor, and as Koudou fell onto the floor a dead man, his corpse started to crumble, and turned into white ash.

Kazama caught Chizuru in his arms and held her tight against him as she started to collapse in the grief of losing her father, even if they had not been related by blood. "What happened?" she asked him, "He had been so kind…"

"He was corrupted by the humans," Kazama sighed, tucking her head underneath his chin. "The humans have always sought to use our people in their wars for power and wealth. Those that opposed them were destroyed… he must have been driven to madness at the thought of vengeance, even siding with the very forces that burned down your clan just to have it. The humans know this, and used him nonetheless." By blaming the humans, he had sought to comfort her, by augmenting the sad truth of Koudou's deviation from the path and pride of the Oni, and his subsequent execution just moments ago, to be blamed by the humans.

Chizuru understood him, but she still could not stop her tears. Kazama held her even tighter, and she basked in his presence, even as the ashes of her father's spent body were blown into the wind from the nearby window. Silently, he held her until her tears had dried, until she had been too tired to continue crying. She did not know how long she remained there in his arms, but she knew that when her eyes had become too dry to open, and her voice had become hoarse, he picked her up in his arms and exited the infernal manor.

"Sleep," he whispered into her ear. "Nothing will harm you now."

HAN: Well... that was a little bit of a short appearance for Yukimura Koudou, but a necessary one, I think. I based this heavily on Chapter 5 of Kazama's route, but gave a few sentences and situations a bit of my own twist. This is fanfiction, after all ^.^ Once again, I would like to thank Divine Rosa for pointing out my oversight of not remembering that Kazama actually killed Koudou in the game. Imagine all the damage control if I would have just gone along with my assumption... Yikes!

x-sosei-x: Thanks for dropping by! ^.^ Yep, no matter what she chooses, it is a very difficult choice indeed. Hope she chooses well!