Chapter 9: You misunderstood

Everyone was trying on their new outfits, specifically western clothing, "Sure is tough to wear some if these," Souji whined as he turned to Saitou who didn't buttoned his coat well, "Hajime-kun that-"

"I'll fix it later," his cheeks turned red a bit.

"Sure, sure," Souji turned to Reo. She managed to hide her breasts with her new clothes and she tied her hair, "You're a man now?"

"…"

"How about a spar? I heard you dropped guns and turned into a dual-swordsman."

"…"

"Ah! Hajime-kun is here too, what do you say?"

"… I said NO!" she ran off somewhere.

"Heeey~ you forgot your swords. Oops… there she goes."

He picked up her swords and hid it. He started messing with her again ever since she did certain things to him. Hmmm… she might find these here… don't have to go far… he hid the swords under the patio.

xXx

"Stop staring at me, why are you even here?" she glared at his mischievous expression. The kimono doesn't seem to keep her comfortable and so does his stare.

"But Hijikata-san said I'd be your partner," he took a sip of sake then returned to watch her reaction.

"I hate you…"

"Ahahahaha! Well, since the signal isn't given yet, I suppose I should hang out with you here," he winked at her, she twitched, quite creep out. He sat her on his lap, "Don't ignore me…" she wouldn't look at him, to keep her reddish cheeks, "I know you think I'm handsome."

"Shame on people who call themselves beautiful… you're drunk…" she took out a small knife and made some small cuts on his chest. Souji didn't seem to notice what she was doing, so she continued.

He leaned his head on her back as he fell asleep, but she immediately pulled away from him, making him collapse on the floor.

xXx

Reo finally noticed, after sulking, her swords weren't on her belt. On the way to look for it, she met Saitou, and he had her swords in hand. "Souji hid these. It is unthinkable to leave your weapons carelessly." For the first time she thought of thanking him, she never would have realized that he could be thoughtful, at least to her. Somehow she felt guilty for thinking of bad things about him, especially when he always had defeated her.

"I uh…" she gulped, "T-T-Thank you…" he nodded as response to her. They had a normal conversation, which was a bit unusual for the two, "How did you make friends with a person like him?"

"… We shared bonds… not just with him, but with everyone else…" he turned to look at her. She thought of another question.I guess I can never understand men's friendship.

"Isn't he creepy? He finds joy in killing, in short a…"

"…" he said nothing, "…!" they heard rustling sounds by the bushes. Haru appeared with his tail wagging as he jumped towards them.

"Haru!" Reo hugged her big dog. She turned to Saitou who was blushing the whole time. What? He likes dogs too? She giggled at his appearance. Wait… why am I laughing? They were both blushing, "Stop looking at me…" they turned their backs on each other to hide their faces, "Y-You can pet him if you want…"

Saitou nodded and approached the dog, "Arf!"

"Ah!" he stepped back a bit and turned redder.

"Just touch him already…"

"I know…" he gave Haru a pat on the head, the dog lied down, "…?"

"He wants you to rub his belly…"

"I see…"

xXx

San'nan had readied himself for his meeting with Kodou and his army of furies, "Reo-kun, no matter what happens you must never let anyone interfere. Is that clear?" she nodded, "Good, now go guard my route."

"Understood."

xXx

"Hijikata-san, you called for us?" asked Shinpachi, he wondered along with the other captains.

"Sit down all of you."

"Sounds like bad news," Sano commented with a shrug.

"I'll get straight to the point. San'nan-san and his men are meeting with Kodou-san."

"Kodou-san?!" everyone nearly jumped from their seat. San'nan had been acting quite strange lately and so did Reo, who had been idolizing him.

"Yeah, and Reo will escort him to night. I had Heisuke to spy on them, but unfortunately that's all the information he'd collected." Hijikata shrugged.

"Reo-chan huh?" Souji said to himself.

"She's like San'nan-san's shadow…" Sano added.

"Ah! That's right! We can have Souji and Saitou stop them." Kondou thought.

"That's a good idea Kondou-san. All right, you two track her down. Kill her if you have to."

The two nodded, killing a comrade was never new to them. Their swords were drenched in blood the moment they laid their hands on it, it was an inevitable job and they can't hesitate now. Death was always meant for traitors.

xXx

The ruby-moonlight lit up Kodou's army as they embarked San'nan's given route as Reo guarded them from the shadows. She was very sure that she was going to die, knowing Hijikata; he would definitely send Saitou and Souji to track her down, she thought. The two were always given orders to assassinate their own comrades.

She took a peak from the bushes; the army of furies had passed safely so she'll need to report back to San'nan without getting caught by Souji or Saitou. Her movements were as slow and as quiet as possible, if not she'll be caught at sight. There were already some Shinsengumi soldiers guarding her hiding spot. No escape for me huh…? Reo was hesitant, she couldn't decide whether to kill the men or just get injured while running.

Reo sighed and went to charge at the men, "Sorry guys…" she drew her sword as she sprinted and swung it high in the air, but her attack was blocked, she had expected who it was. She backed a few feet away from the man.

"Okita-san!" the men cheered.

"Just leave her to me," he shooed away the other soldiers and gave a smirk at Reo; she'd been gritting her teeth the whole time he appeared, "That's quite a face you got there, this won't be considered a spar anymore though, so might as well think of your last words," he winked.

"Be quiet!" she started to lose composure as Saitou appeared in the scene, ready to kill her as well. As expected… the duo for my death wish…

"Souji, don't plan on playing around," Saitou warned.

"Right, right. So how do we kill her? Cut off her head? Hide her body par-" he was cut off. Reo gulped, her death was being planned on the spot.

"Just taking her life would be enough," he shrugged.

"…" she took a few more step backwards, she felt like running. Her resolve was shaking like her whole body.

She wasted no time and ran, but her path was blocked off by Saitou, his hair was purely white and his eyes were red. And standing behind her was no other than Souji, like Saitou they turned into a fury. Killing her as quickly as possible was their motive.

"Where are you going?" his tone was playful, but his actions weren't. While he laughed, he swung his sword and made a cut on her back, she grunted from pain.

"Tsk!" Saitou kept on blocking any possible places she can run to. Souji signaled him not to attack yet. Her blood shed on the ground, she had no choice but to turn into a fury. She wailed and then her hair turned white as her eyes had glowed in red.

The wounds on her back had healed quickly, but it doesn't give her an advantage even in her fury state. Souji's smile remained; her heart went unsteady because of it and only caused her to be uneasy. Cold sweat ran down from her cheeks, she wiped it away and drew another sword. The brunette smirked and thought of it as amusing.

"Don't feel nervous, Hajime-kun is just standing there."

"Shut up!" before she could assault him, Souji already made his first move, she blocked the attack. His grin widened, "Ugh!" he already gave the signal to his partner. Saitou's sword went through her shoulder, making her whole arm immovable.

"You can take out the sword now Hajime-kun, don't worry, she couldn't even last a minute in a spar," Saitou nodded and went back from where he was standing.

"…" Souji doubled the force on his next attack, their blades chimed, Reo was sent a few feet away from the impact, "…! Damn it…" the wound on her shoulder healed. I don't want to know what happens when I attack…

"Hey~ your face is pale," he teased, "Sparing your life won't be possible you know? And you can give up right now."

Reo still hadn't gave up from the little chance she might survive, but her instincts was telling her to run, but where to? She gasped as Souji ran to her, full speed. She managed to block his attack again, though this time it was fatal. He cut her sword in half then stabbed her on the stomach. Blood made its way to the ground, she screamed while he buried the sharp metal deeper in the wound.

He laughed twistedly. Saitou stared at him with disgust, "Likewise, you would enjoy this," he commented.

"Just report back to Hijikata-san, tell him I got it covered," he waved goodbye at his partner. Reo turned to normal suddenly.

"Enough chatting, kill me already!" she pleaded since she knew that Souji was planning on torturing her. He tugged her down and then sat on her stomach. Still with his sword in place deep into her cut, she groaned weakly. Souji prodded the blade to hear her gasp; she glared at him, "Get off…"

He chuckled, "No way I like the authority. Now… guess what I'm gonna do next," he smiled. He stirred his blade, she got all teary.

"…" she knew that was coming.

Souji took out the sword and then he aimed it at her heart this time, "Farewell," she shut her eyes, but to her surprise he heard him sigh instead.

Once she opened her eyes, San'nan came into sight smiling at her, "They say that in order to fool your enemy, you must fool your comrades."

xXx

The whole misconception about San'nan betraying the Shinsengumi had been cleared. The other captains were very happy to hear it.

xXx

The Shinsengumi was surrounded by enemy forces and had no choice but to escape, their numbers couldn't go against war. The chief thought of an idea, an idea that will shock everyone, "I'll buy us some time, while all of you escape," his smile was radiant, but it wasn't good news.

"Kondou-san! I won't accept that! I'll be the one staying while you escape with Shimada!" Hijikata raised his voice to his superior.

"THIS IS AN ORDER TOSHI! As vice-chief you must abide by it!" he gave him a pat on the shoulder, "Come on, let me be at peace…"

xXx

Souji and Reo found out Kondou's execution and they were not stupid to tell Hijikata to plan on stopping it. No words were needed, they sprang into action.

The execution grounds were guarded, "You go on," he said to her. She nodded in response, so she ran and jumped over the wall to rescue Kondou.

After a few minutes, Reo came back, there was no one rescued by her. She couldn't look at him, she was unscathed but the man they were after wasn't at sight too.

"… I couldn't save Kondou-san…" she was about to cry, but she held onto it firmly. Souji froze from her statement and then he grabbed her by the collars, yelling at her.

"Why couldn't you save him?! You got in safely right?! So how the hell could you let him die?!" she got silent for a while then had the right words to tell him.

"I'm only a woman… I have limits! If I were a man… then… use me however you like!" Use…? "I can never be as powerful as you! Never!"

"Worthless…" she gasped and shoved him away. His words had hurt her a lot. And then she ran passed him, crying. What was I expecting out of her anyway…?

He thought for a while of what just happened, of what he said to her. Reo loved Kondou as much as he did, she tried her best, but she was right, a woman can't bear the true responsibility of yielding a sword.

xXx

The next morning, the whole Shinsengumi were talking about their chief's death, but the most affected one was Souji. He didn't bother to greet the captains and went straight to the meeting room.

"…"

Heisuke couldn't take the awkward silence in the room, so he started a conversation, "Hey, I saw Reo this morning, she looked like she cried her eyes out," he caught Souji's attention there.

He felt a bit off, like he needed to talk to her, without another word, he stood up and went to her room.

Reo wasn't in her room, so he went to Haru's where he would most likely find her.

"Arf!" the dog jumped on Souji.

"Calm down boy…" he rubbed its head. He was being fed by Reo. She turned her back on Souji and sulked, "I want to talk to you…"

She was sniffing and still crying, "..." to his surprised, he found himself around her arms, her face hidden on his chest, "Idiot…"

"Sorry though…" he returned her embrace, "Didn't expect you to hug me Reo-chan…"

"Can I sleep at your room?" she asked out of the blue.

"E-Eh…? Have you finally lost it…?" he was surprised, "Or are you joking…?"

"No…" she started to remember his illness, she didn't know what she was saying as well, "I'm afraid that someday… I'll wake up and you'd be gone…"


Sorry for the late update *bows down* hope you enjoyed.

Thank you for reading!