I OWN NOTHING BUT THE STORY LINE AND THE CHARACTERS THAT YOU DON'T KNOW FROM THE STORY!

Chapter Thirteen

The Okami Rise

"Hey, where's Saito?"

Shimada turned to see Katsumi walking towards him. He gave a grin. "Well, he and the others are in a meeting so I was given his shift. I hope you don't mind."

Katsumi went to make a comment but the shrugged. What did it matter if Saito wasn't going to be with her tonight? Why should she feel…abandoned?

"No, it's all right. Shall we?"

Shimada was a kind man that held it above all us to keep Katsumi entertained while on their route this afternoon. He held the opinion of a smart and gentle man. He instantly made her think of her father and that pulled a smile to her face.

When they returned to the base, Yamazaki was found waiting for them. "How did it go?"

"Not one problem," She answered happily.

"They all seem to have been staying in line lately," Shimada replied.

"That's because they know who we are," Katsumi commented. "They know not to do anything stupid when we're around."

Yamazaki gave her words a soft smiled before his face returned to its stone-like state. "Katsumi, Asami and the others are waiting for you in the courtyard."

"Waiting for me?" She asked. "Is something wrong?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. She said that is was urgent though and that you should hurry."

"Then I will," She moved past him. "Thank you." Her face fell as she moved down the hall.

~Is something wrong? Has something happened? Or…could it be that we've finally been released?~ Katsumi paused in her steps at that thought. Since she had arrived here, she had wanted nothing more than t be able to return to their travels from before, but now…why did she feel like her wants had changed? Why did she feel like she wanted to stay here with the Shinsengumi? To stay here with Saito…

~Wipe that from your mind, Katsumi!~ She growled at herself as she continued to head towards the courtyard. ~that's the last thing that should be on your mind. You need to get out of this damn place before you start thinking about and longing for other stupid things, like Saito wanting you to stay or that you and he could-~

"KATSUMI!" Ryoko's voice came out in a cry.

"Ryoko, don't!" Chika's voice followed.

Katsumi turned to find the younger woman crashing into her stomach, gripping to her tightly. She had reached the courtyard. Ryoko had grabbed her attention and she saw all the women in the courtyard, Saito, Kondou, and Hijikata were there as well. She now knew, that without a doubt, something serious was about to happen. She received an unsettling feeling in her stomach and tried to shove it away with a laugh. "What's gotten you into such a panic, Ryoko?"

"Why?" That's when she noticed that the girl was crying. "Why didn't you ever tell us?"

"Tell you?" She tilted her head.

"About your brothers! Why did you lie to us?!"

Katsumi froze, her smile slowly disappearing from her face. Lifting her gaze to the courtyard, she found the other women there; Saito was there as well. "You…you told them?"

Saito glanced away, as if nervous about what was happening. "I had to."

"You had to?!" Her anger was loud as she ripped away from the younger woman. "I trusted you!"

"You shouldn't be mad at him, Katsumi," Tsukiko's voice was soft. Katsumi almost winced at the pity on her tone.

"Shouldn't be mad? Shouldn't be mad?!" Her voice was beginning to rise.

"Calm down, Katsumi," Asami's voice grabbed her. "Hear what he has to say first."

Katsumi closed her eyes for a moment, turning and taking a few steps away from the others. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, too bad," Yumi's voice was firm. "Either you do it, or we'll make you."

"The Okami Pack was built so that we could reside with eachother, to be there when we needed eachother. It's for reasons in our lives exactly like this that we came together to help one another. Why did you hide it from us?" Fuyu's voice sounded hurt.

"It was my problem to bear. It had nothing to do with the rest of you!" Katsumi growled.

"Did…did you not want to let us in?" Ryoko sounded like she was going to cry. "Are we not…that important to you? Were we just used to replace your brothers?"

"No!" Katsumi turned to the younger woman instantly, shaking her head side to side in a hurried fashion. "Never! I admit, my brothers…they are very dear to me, but I didn't use you just to replace them! You're much more important to me than that! All of you are!" That seemed to be the answer that Ryoko was looking for because the 17-year-old gripped her in a hug again.

Kondou cleared his throat for a moment before taking a step forward. "Katsumi, I would like to have a word with you. If you would, join us in the common room?"

Katsumi took a deep breath, refusing to look at Saito. She could feel his eyes on her, though.

"We'll be right out here," Asami told the other woman.

"But-"

"I'll be fine, Chika," Katsumi told her friend as she softly pushed Ryoko off of her.

"All right," Chika shrugged, taking a seat on the wooden path.

Katsumi took another deep breath as she followed Kondou inside the base, Hijikata and Saito followed them. She closed her eyes as she sat there, waiting for the leader of the Shinsengumi to begin.

"Katsumi, can I ask you to tell me what happened?" Kondo began. "The events may have happened years ago, but still…"

"What is there to really tell?" The woman replied, staring at her hands. "The Bandits killed my brothers and that led me to finding the others."

"But all this time," Hijikata began. "All these travels that you and the rest of the women have been on you have searched for the said bandits, have you not?"

"Of course I have," She growled at him. She calmed her voice. "Everywhere we went, whatever we did, I kept my ears and eyes opened for those bastards but I was never able to find them, never even heard a word about them. It had been like it was my imagination the entire time and then…then I found them here. I could have had my revenge but…but Saito stopped me…" She hung her head again. "I could have finally gotten what I longed for, but I let someone stop me! Me, the Kuro wolf of the Okami Pack!" She squeezed her hands as she spoke, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

Saito stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes. Seeing that his friend wasn't going to say anything, Hijikata decided to speak. "Well, that's not something that you'll have to worry about any longer."

Katsumi was still for a moment before lifting her gaze to the man before her. "What do you mean?"

"You can thank Saito," Hijikata grinned at the man beside him. "I thought he was just being crazy over the last month, but now I understand what he did it for."

"What are you talking about?" She asked him, growing impatient.

"Saito here," Kondo gave a small smile. "Has sent scouts out from his team to track down the whereabouts of the said Orgo Bandits and has asked to lead you across the land to confront them."

Katsumi's mouth moved, but her voice didn't work. The words struck her like lightening, leaving her in a shocked state. Slowing moving her eyes to the silent me, she stared at him as he just sat there, his eyes closed. He was trying his hardest not to open them to glance back at her.

~This man…~

"Why?" She finally asked. "Why would you…"

"Would you like to go after the bandits?" Hijikata asked her.

"Of course I would!" Katsumi's gave turned back to the other man. "There's no doubt in my mind that I'll…"

"What do you plan on doing them when you reach them?" Kondo asked her. She stared at him and he gave a sigh. "Silly question, I know, but still…the choice is yours, Katsumi, but I still have to tell you to think about it before you do it."

"You mean…you're going to let me go?" The woman sounded surprised.
"Yes," Kondo nodded. "Past events in our lives are a large part of what creates us in the future. If we leave them unfinished, then our lives will never be completely finished, either. I just ask you to stay safe and return to us unharmed."

Katsumi felt like she was going to cry. "Where is it that they've gone?"

"To the West," Saito's voice finally sounded. She glanced at him but he still held his eyes shut. "Towards the mountains of Kuju."

"The Kuju mountains…" ~That's right. Those men had said something about being called to the mountains for the winter, instead of going to Edo again.

"I will expect all of you back safe and sound by the time of spring, understand?" Kondo told her.

"All of us?" She raised her head again.

"Well, we're not going to just send you and Saito off on your own," Hijikata told her. "Besides, after learning of this, you didn't think that the others of your little pack would let you leave without them either, did you?"

"But this has nothing to do with any of you!" Katsumi told them. "I refuse to let any of you-"
"Katsumi, accept the help when it is given to you." Kondo told her. "We're not saying that you couldn't handle it on your own. You're too important to those close to you to let you go off on your own on a journey like this. Besides, the company to and from in the winter is a smart idea."

"So…Saito and I…Who else?"

"I'll be sending Inoue and Yamazaki with you as well," Kondo told her. I would send another one of the Captains, but I believe that Saito will be enough, including the other women that will be with you. A group of ten should be enough."

"Yeah…" Katsumi hung her head. This was actually happening, wasn't it? She was finally going to get revenge on the bastards that had destroyed her family. She was finally…

"Go and get some rest," Saito's voice told her. She lifted her head again to finally find that the man was staring at her with those blue eyes of his. "We will leave early tomorrow, so be ready."

She gave a soft smile before standing up and exiting the room. Kondo gave a breath of relief. "Lord, that was intense." He sighed. "I thought she was going to burn a hole in me with her agitation."

"You know, she's going to demand answers from you later," Hijikata smiled at his friend. "I hope you're ready to answer them." Saito stared at him in silence.

"Don't worry," Kondo smiled. "Everything will be just fine. This might be the best chance for you, Saito, but make sure you don't confess to everything in front of the others. Make sure it's in a quiet, empty place and to just her, understand?"

Saito stood up and left. Hijikata shook his head. "This is why I don't like having women around. Too much stress."

"True," Kondo nodded with a smile. "But things will smoothen out eventually. Besides, having the seven of them around here these last eight months hasn't been that bad now, has it? I don't hear you complaining about Fuyu or her aunt that much anymore."

"It was never Asami that I complained about," Hijikata replied. "She's one of, if not the, only one that I don't find myself worried about interfering with my work."

"Yes," Kondo rubbed his chin with a large smile on his face. "Asami is…quite something…"

Katsumi took a deep breath when she slid the door shut behind her. She didn't know what to do, what to think about all this. It all just seemed to be thrown into a bowl together and stirred around. Maybe she needed to go to her room and try to rest and get her mind settled before trying to even think of where to start…

"Katsumi?"

Lifting her head, she found that the six of them had been waiting on her in the courtyard. It had been Ryoko who had called for her.

"So," Tsukiko didn't even glance up from the card game that she, Yumi, and Chika had been playing. "What's the answer?"

"The answer?" She asked them.

"Yeah," Chika nodded. "We going or not?"

"But-"

"We're going with you, whether or not you want us too," Fuyu told her. "So don't even try." Katsumi gave a smile.

"Well?" It was Asami this time, glancing up from the book in her hands.

Katsumi was silent for a moment or two but finally her smile spread out larger and her normal, bold look was back on her face. "Gather your things tonight ladies, because tomorrow the Okami Pack is on the move!"

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