Accepted Challenge

The next day Shiro found herself waking to the smell of food. She was hungry, since she hadn't properly eaten the previous day.

Now that I think about it… I still have to try figure out what's going on with Souji because something wasn't right. Too much spices in his food when he cooks. Either he's insane or his sense of taste is failing him.

Shiro deduced in her mind thoughtfully as she got herself ready for the day without much thought - tying her hair in a ponytail to hide her ears, putting on her red kimono. She was about to put on her hoodie but noted how nice it felt outside and decided against it. Her mind stayed on Souji and his scent as she walked to the room where they usually dined in. A new scent filled her nose as she neared the door, which put her in high alert. She had completely forgotten that the visitor was supposed to be coming that day, but neither she hadn't anticipated that he would be there from early morning.

Shit! I was hoping to avoid this guy.

Shiro grudgingly neared the open door and entered the room. As soon as she came into view the newcomer turned to see her and let his eyes roam far longer than what was appropriate. Souji tensed has he watched Itou observe Shiro. This woman was definitely a sight to behold especially with her face and hair in full view.

Shiro nodded in acknowledgement and made her way over next to Souij so that she could sit the farthest possible from the man. The man was effeminate and reeked of a creepiness that made the hair on her neck stand. He really was like a fox. Souji felt a sort of pride when the young woman sat next to him. It made him feel like her sitting by his side meant that she felt safest next to him though in the back of his mind he knew that she sat there because it was the farthest from the fox-like samurai.

Itou ripped his eyes from the exotic looking woman and smiled at Isami. "Kondou-san, I didn't know that you had exotic flowers here in a den full of wolves. Who is this maiden?"

Isami smiled oblivious to the lust in Kashitarou's crafty eyes. "Oh! This is Akayuki Shiro. She has been with us for a few weeks already! She didn't have anywhere to go so we took her in. She's - she's a foreigner!"

Shiro nearly scoffed since she was actually the wolf amongst a bunch of human men.

Isami added sheepishly. He didn't want Itou knowing that Shiro was a youkai especially since he was quite the nosey and gossipy person. Itou rose an eyebrow noting the slight hesitation but said nothing on it. He turned to Shiro and smiled coyly at her.

"Akayuki-san this is Kashitarou Itou. He's a samurai that tutored me once!" Heisuke introduced with a boyish smile that Shiro couldn't relate with.

Shiro bowed her head only slightly and said lowly, "Nice to make your acquaintance."

Souji almost scoffed out loud since he knew perfectly well that the young woman next to him already wanted nothing to do with the samurai.

"The pleasure it all mine, little shiroi hana." Itou slyly said making the woman feel utterly grossed out. Souji nearly snarled at the man. Shinpachi and Sano also felt their tempers rise at the shameless way Itou was flirting with Shiro, after all she was like a little sister to them. Even Heisuke frowned slightly at his previous sensei's interest on his crush.

After that Itou turned to Isami and Toshizo so that they could talk business, though he would through flirtatious looks at Shiro that were far from subtle.

"Hey Souij?" Shiro whispered man next to her, who she found to the oddly more agitated than the others. Souji quirked an eyebrow at the softness of the feminine voice next to him. He looked over at her with the corner of his eye and noticed how tensed she looked. She knew that this man was someone to be weary of.

"What is it?" Souji whispered into his cup as he brought it up to his lips knowing that Shiro would hear him anyways because of her extraordinary sense of hearing.

"After I finish eating I'm leaving and going to Sen's place." Shiro whispered again, leaning a bit closer to the handsome man so that she could speak softer. Souji felt relief wash over him and let his shoulders sag with a sigh. He was glad that she wasn't going to be there all day.

"Look at you coming up with a good idea." Souji said again with a smirk. Shiro shook her head at him at his sarcasm but let a small smile grace her lips. It was faint but Souij caught her ghost of a smile in the corner of his eye and felt his breath leave him just as it had done for maybe the millionth time since the moment they met.

Shiro quickly ate her food and politely excused herself from the room. This made Heisuke and Isami frown, but made Sano, Shinpachi, and Souji loosen up. With that they were able to actually pay attention to what Itou was saying.

When Shiro returned it was dark outside and about time for dinner. She had a good time with Sen and Kimigiku, though she would never admit to it. She was ready to eat and go to sleep. As she walked through one of the courtyards though she felt a presence that irked seemingly waiting on her.

Shit.

Shiro cursed to herself as Kashitarou Itou came into her view. He was standing observing a large bush with pink flowers on it. Just as Shiro tried to back up an take another route to the dining room, Itou looked up making eye contact with her. Shiro had no choice but to try to go around the creep. She had grown soft and negligent, and she knew it was because she had become too comfortable being there with the Shinsengumi. She let her guard down too much and it was beginning to become problematic.

Just as she neared wearily, he spoke up to her in his coy, fox-like voice, "I wonder. What is a lovely and exotic flower of yourself doing at the Shinsengumi compound with all these… rough men?"

Is it me or do I get the feeling this bastard insinuating that I'm here to sleep around with this lot of idiotic humans!

Shiro felt herself seethe at the thought. She wanted to slam this guy so badly but stopped herself by clenching her fists until they her knuckles turned white and she drew some blood from her palms. This man was apparently a distinguished samurai so if she bashed his head in then she would end up putting the Shinsengumi in a bad spot. That was not how you show gratitude to the people that took you in, even Shiro knew that much. Just as Shiro became lost in thought, Itou had neared her enough to try to reach for her. Her head snapped up and she was about to jump back, but the sound of air being cut and bushes rustling stopped her.

Souji had bared his katana at Itou, a snarl threatening to appear on his face that, for some strange reason, made Shiro feel giddy inside.

Itou looked at the end of Souji's katana to see a pink flower resting on it perfectly.

"Such a barbaric way to treat a flower." Itou observed slyly.

Souji moved the katana so that the flower and tip of his blade was right in front of Itou's face as he spoke. "Even flowers have their thorns, Itou-san."

As Itou picked up the flower Souji looked past him at Shiro who seemed untouched. "You know they're waiting on you to start dinner."

That was enough of a prompt for Shiro to walk pass the two men in a hurry to the others. Just as she passed Souji she whispered her thanks with a nod. Souji would have smiled at that, but he continued to frown deeply as he watched Itou stare at the young woman as she walked away.

"Even though she acts cordial, I can see that she has quite the feisty personality." Itou smirked as he reported his observations to Souji.

The bastard is insinuating that she's here to sleep around! I can't believe he can be this perverse of a creep.

"Good then. It means that she's not an easy girl." Souji gritted out as he put his blade back in its sheath.

"You seem rather protective of her, Okita-san. I wonder why." Itou continued as he twirled the flower in his hand languidly. He noted how Souji's eyes widened slightly before narrowing at him dangerously.

"We all are. She's like a younger sister to us all." Souji said matter-of-factly as he turned his back on the other samurai hoping to look as disinterested as possible and walked towards the dinning room. "We should go. Kondou-san must be waiting on us."

Itou smiled at how Souji had evaded looking at him and redirected the conversation to something else.

Hm. How very interesting.

With that he followed the agitated samurai to the dining hall. Once the meal was served where conversation began, though the air around Souji and Shiro was still tense. Each were frowning at their meal as they ate, until suddenly there was an uproar from Shinpachi.

"What the hell do you think you're saying?!" Shinpachi yelled as he stood up to full height. He glared harshly at Itou when Toshizo harshly scolded him. Even Hajime was frowning and glaring at the man. Souji cursed under his breath for missing whatever the lecher had said.

"Kashitarou-san even if this is beneficial to the Shinsengumi I don't think such a thing is a good idea for Shiro. She doesn't want to bring attention to herself being a foreigner, and neither do we." Isami explained calmly though his eyes shone with some discontent.

"What's going on?" Shiro spoke up after hearing her name coming up in the conversation. The men all seemed agitated, but whatever it was it would help them. They all seemed to shift uncomfortably and looked at each other with uncertainty. Souji nodded mentally at his fellow captains urging someone to speak as well since he had also missed it and the mention of Shiro's name coming up in their discussion already agitated him.

"Akayuki-san would you be willing to go undercover at a tea house to get information from the Rebels on where they are stay?" Toshizo asked Shiro gravely repeating Itou's idea with distaste. Although the girl was defiant and irritated him, Toshizo felt some respect for her brave personality and cared for her as one of his own comrades. He did not want to see harm come to her.

The air seemed to still as they waited for Shiro's response. Souji internally pleaded that the idiot would not agree to it. He knew that the last thing any of them wanted was to get her mixed in their missions and danger. Shiro thought about it hard. Lately she had been feeling as if she had been mooching off the Shinsengumi, and it didn't sit right with her. Shiro had already devising a plan in her head so that she would not bring attention to herself if she helped them. She knew that Sen and Kimigiku would have a ball giving her a make over, plus she could temporarily dye her hair so that she wouldn't stand out.

There's no way in hell that I'll shy away from danger.

"Fine. You're on. I can take care of myself." Shiro said resolutely with determination shining in her eyes, which caused another uproar amongst the captains. Souji felt his heart drop into his stomach.

"Silence you fools!" Toshizo yelled effectively silencing the group.

"Shiro are you sure about this?" Isami inquired silently hoping that she would reconsider. There were other ways for them to get the information they needed.

"Yes. I've been here too long without doing something to help. I'm not weak. You'll find out soon enough. All I have to do is ask a favor and I'll be somewhat unrecognizable." Shiro confirmed with a sure nod of her head. Toshizo sighed. She was clever and at the moment it was help, but against everyone's personal wishes.

"This will happen sometime soon so you should be ready and sure of yourself, shiroi hana." Itou purred at the girl hoping to see her determination waver like a blade of grass in the wind. Shiro looked over at Itou who smirked smugly before shooting him a venomous glare that made him frown making him stand up with a sniff and leave the room with a stout good night.

I'll show these guys what I'm made of! They're probably going to fear me after my match with Sen though.

A pang of sadness went through Shiro's heart as she tried to imagine the guys looking at her with fear, but shook her head to try to get rid of the mere thought. It would be difficult, but even if she needed to she could go back to the days when she was surrounded by people who feared and rejected her, she would just have to get used to it again.