Disclaimed: Hakuoki is not mine ^^
Last chapter: Chizuru finally back to her homeland. She quietly went to where her father was when Kazama and his companions were busy talking.
*Chapter 10*
"Father!" I ran toward him for a hug.
"Ch-Chizuru. Why are you in a place like this?" He asked with his soft calm voice that I was used to hearing.
"Please come back with me to Edo and stop turning humans into demons, Father."
There was a pause before he spoke.
"That's impossible. I already decided that you and I will live here and revive the Yukimura clan, bring your clan back to life with the power of my newest rasetsu. Now that you're here, it saves me the trouble of bringing you back."
"So you are saying that you really are going to use the power of rasetsu to revive the Yukimura clan?"
He smiled calmly as he gandered at me.
"Of course, that's why I have been researching all this time for strong rasetsu. Now I have completed my research and you are here too, Chizuru, plan to revive the Yukimura clan is complete. Come; lend us your hand, Chizuru. We need you to be our leader so that we can pay the humans back for what they've done to us." He said as he extended his hand toward me.
"Father, please stop it! That's not what I want! Please Father, change your mind! Come back to be the father that I respect!"
Then his face changed suddenly.
"It seems that you have been living with the humans for so long that they have poisoned you, haven't they? It can't be helped then; I'll have to get rough with you."
As he said this, I saw horns grow from his forehead and his eyes were red.
"It can't be that Father...that you...you drank the ochimizu?!" I took a step back.
"Now then, Chizuru, come along and drink this and become a rasetsu too." He took out the small bottle with red liquid.
"N-no! Please, stop Father!" I slapped his hand aside. This person is not father. He is not my father anymore, he has changed.
"It can't be helped then." At that split moment, he forced the thick red liquid into my mouth as he said he would.
I was so shocked that I forgot to breathe as he forced the thick red liquid into my mouth. It was so sudden and the bottle of red liquid snapped out of the blue. I slid to the floor coughing hard, some red liquid spraying out of my mouth.
"Kodo, what do you think you're doing to someone that belongs to me? Research of rasetsu ought to be halted. Why are you still continuing?"
There was bitterness in his voice as he appeared in the still open doorway with cold eyes.
"Ka-Kazama-sama? Why-what brings you here?"
He was so shocked to know that Kazama-san was also here; he swallowed his own sweat.
"Answer." He ignored him and rolled his eyes to me and then back at him.
"Th-that is..."
As he hesitated to give Kazama-san a response, he slowly took out some small knives from his sleeves and threw them at Kazama-san and made his way out of the still open door. Kazama-san dodged his knives, but didn't chase after him, instead he walked toward me and bent down on his knee and snatched my arm.
"Mhm...!" Shocked, my eyes went wide with the sudden kiss.
Kazama-san, what are you doing?! Stop! I still have some ochimizu left inside my mouth! You don't want to get effect, do you?! I was clenching hard onto his yukata with my hands as I said that.
I felt his hot tongue enter my mouth, tracing every single place. He sucked my tongue hard and licked every corner inside my mouth. I felt his tongue brush against the back of my white teeth. My heart started jumping bit by bit and my body was heating up.
"Mm..nn!"
No! Kazama-san, if you keep on doing this to me and making my heart race all the time, then I won't be able to stop my feelings for you. Please, stop Kazama-san! I don't want to have any more feelings for you more than I already have!
A couple of moments passed and he slowly drew his mouth away.
"Ka-Kazama-san?" I said as my head was stupefied while gandering at him a little lost.
He didn't say anything. He spat some red liquid to the floor. He turned and eyed me.
"I believe this is all there is. You should be okay now. You didn't swallow anything did you?" He asked as he stood up.
"Eh, n-no. I didn't..." As I told him that, he turned around and walked toward the door turning his back on me, he scowled angrily. "W-wait, Kazama-san!"
He didn't seem to stop, so I rushed out to the bright sunlight, he was nowhere to be found. He had already disappeared.
"Kazama-san?" I scanned around, searching for him.
Where did he go? Don't tell me that he is planning to catch up with Father?! No, this isn't good! I need to find him—
I saw Shiranui-san and Amagiri-san and I rushed to them. It seemed they had already finished with all the rasetsu out there.
"Oh woman, what are you still doing here?" Shiranui-san asked as he saw me.
"Kazama-san. Where is Kazama-san?" I asked as I stopped in front of them.
"Kazama? Isn't he with you?" Asked Amagiri-san.
"That's right. He ran his ass out on us without helping here. What are you talking about?" Shiranui-san said and narrowed his eyes.
"Kazama-san and Father are gone! I don't know where they went! Kazama-san must have go after him. Please, help me find them, Amagiri-san and Shiranui-san!" I bowed to them.
They both took me with them to where Kazama-san was. When we get there, he had already ready to finish Father with his katana in hand. Father on the other hand seemed to have run out of his knives and was sweating a lot already. Father had made great mistake, but even so he was still my father and the only family I had.
"Kazama-san! Please wait!" I yelled while running toward them.
He looked at me from the corner of his eyes as he walked slowly forward, toward Father. I knew what he meant. He meant that I had failed my mission, so now he had to kill Father. I came to a stop as his katana pierced right into father's chest. Father slowly fall to the white ground and lay still. Kazama-san swung the blood on his katana away and put it back on its sheath. I ran to Father's side.
"Father..."
Tears plummeted down my face as I looked down at him as he got paler and paler, like the snow. Then his body suddenly changed, all that was left was a pile of white ash. Father was gone now, forever and ever.
My legs begin to shake, but before I crumpled to the ground, I felt Kazama-san's strong arm wrap itself around me and hold me against his chest. I felt so weak that I couldn't even raise my head, I just rested myself on his chest as I sobbed weakly.
"Kodo had lost his pride as a demon when he drank the ochimizu. Even if he had managed to use the rasetsu to revive your clan, nothing would really have changed. Rasetsu had no future and he knew it. He probably couldn't bring himself to stop for the sake of reviving your clan." His voice was quiet but not quite gentle.
"...I'm just sad. I couldn't even do anything."
The tears refused to stop, and he gripped me a little tighter.
After some time passed, I buried Father in the ground of my family's homeland. I went back to the house and searched to see if he had left anything behind. As I surveyed around the house, something caught my eye. It was a piece of paper. I opened the paper.
"Chizuru, I am sorry for not being a good father to you until the end. I knew about the limit of the rasetsu, but I just couldn't bring myself to stop. There wasn't a single day that I would forget about the tragedy of our history. I wanted to pay the humans back for what they had done to our clan, but it seems I have failed. I am truly sorry, Chizuru. Will you forgive me?"
Father...Father! You're the only family I have, how can I not forgive you! I'm sorry Father, I'm so sorry for not sharing your sorrow! Will you forgive me too, Father? You're the only family I have and now that you're gone, how am I supposed to live my life? I don't have anyone to trust or rely on anymore.
I heard footsteps from behind after I finished Father's letter, my eyes still damp from the crying. I wiped the tears from the back of my hand and turned around.
"What do you intend to do from now on?"
Huh? That's strange. Why does he care what I'm going to do?
"I... I still haven't decided, but I'm going to wait..." I turned my face to the side without looking at him.
I'm not sure if they will want me back. Now the Shinsengumi were the only people that were close to me. When the war is over, I'll wait till then...
Kazama-san contemplated down at me then sighed.
"Are you really that stupid? You think you can stay with humans forever? Once they discover you're a demon, that's the end. Remember what happened to your clan."
The sound of his voice sounded like boiled water.
"...But there are humans who aren't really that bad. Even when they knew that I wasn't human, they still treated me like a friend."
He was keeping mum as he looked down at me, then spoke.
"The Shinsengumi huh. You know what they are in right now, don't you? The war will be over with the victory of the Imperial Army. I doubt the Shinsengumi will survive." He said while eyeing down at me with his cold stare.
I wanted to believe that what Kazama-san said was not true, but he was right and I was well aware of it, but...
"Even so...I want to stay with them...because if I stay with you then I... I'll just..." My voice was shaking, but I swallowed the tears. "Thank you so much for everything...Kazama-san." I bowed to him with my eyes closed.
This is the best way for both of us. You don't have feelings for me. If I fall for you more than this, it would hurt just as much.
He took a step forward, toward me and suddenly...
End of chapter 10
(Just so you readers know, while writing this fanfic, I was listening to the game ost ^^ it actually gives me some feelings. You should prob do the same ^^ Choose the ost to match the chapter or the part u think it's good to go with….)
^^ she loves him, but also scared. So she wants to end thing between them? But then he suddenly does what to her? Huhuhuhu….
Look forward to chapter 11 if you want to know ^^