Chapter Fourteen
A familiar presence brushed up against Kazeryu's chi and her eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
"Kazama," she slid the inn window open to stare down at the blond devil who had just arrived outside the door of the establishment she was staying in, "I told you to return straight away, why have I been waiting here for over a week?!" whilst her voice was calm, a flash of chi escaped her and slammed into him leaving him breathless. It was then that she noticed that Kazama hadn't returned alone and her brow creased in worry.
"What happened?" she jumped from the window and landed silently in front of him.
"We've just received word that Hajime Saito was captured during a raid on a battalion of enemy soldiers. He is scheduled to be executed tomorrow in Aizu, along with the head of the Aizu forces. What do you want to do?"
"We will go to the execution and stop it, I won't give Saito the choice as to whether or not I save him," Kazeryu's eyes burned with determination as she motioned Kazama to lead the way and he opened a portal to a place near the execution ground.
"Spread out, I'll take the lead in the rescue but I might need your assistance in getting them away safely," she allowed Kazama to take charge of the men he had brought with him. They relaxed for the night in their hidden positions waiting for the prisoners to be brought to the prepared execution ground.
...
Chizuru was awake before the sun rose, her sensitive eyes making out movement in the building and saw the enemy lord walked, more like waddled, out towards the execution ground. She sneered at the huge man in disgust, knowing that he would happily send others to their death without the knowledge of how to fight himself.
"Kazama," she whispered and saw slight movement next to her, telling her he was there, "You are still thought of as their ally. Go, I need someone in the midst of the chaos," he walked out of his hiding place and greeted the lord, who looked surprised but pleased that he was there. It was obvious from Kazama's body language that the man had asked him to be his bodyguard and he was not happy at being ordered around by the stinking pig of a man.
"Bring out the prisoners," the call was heard and Saito and lord Aizu were dragged out from the castle, it was clear from the blood on their clothes that they had been brutally tortured, probably for information. They were thrown to their knees in front of the lord and Kazama; daggers were placed in front of them.
"No, take the daggers away. They are traitors and do not deserve an honourable death," the enemy lord shouted and Saito raised his head and glared defiantly, "kill the Meibu dog first!" Kazama felt a flash of furious chi from outside the execution ground as the executioner took his place.
"I would strongly advise against killing them," Kazama stated but was ignored by the lord. The executioner raised his sword and brought it down quickly but before the blade could touch Saito's neck there was a strong gust of wind and a metallic crash. For a moment everyone had their eyes shut, protecting them from the wind, then they opened them and saw a blue haired woman with burning brown eyes which seemed to be made of fire.
"Looks like a Shinigami decided to show up," Kazama smirked and internally laughed when the humans around him shrank away from her. The executioner dropped what was left of his sword and fled. When Chizuruhad stopped her sword, she had managed to cleave the steel in two with her devil strength.
"Kazama, don't just sit there. You are meant to be protecting me, as I am your Master!" the enemy lord squealed like a pig as Chizuru turned her eyes on him. She picked up the broken sword and threw it at the enemy, only to have the weapon caught by Kazama.
"Ah, well done Kaz..." the man's eyes widened in shock when Kazama slammed the broken point into his stomach and ripped it across, allowing the enemy's guts to spill out on the ground.
"I don't have a Master!" the blond devil snarled before kicking the corpse away from him.
"I thought you were going to teach my son to wield a sword with his left hand. I won't let you die until he is a master of the blade," Chizuru growled from behind a shocked Saito.
"I should remember that," Saito smiled as she cut off the ropes tying his hands together.
"Saito-dono, do you know these two?" lord Aizu whispered, all the enemy soldiers had fled at the death of their commander.
"Lady Chizuru is a member of the Shinsengumi," he started but was interrupted by Chizuru who was sniggering.
"I would never have thought you would call me lady," she laughed as she sat on the floor in front of them. Aizu stared at her for a moment before looking back at Saito who was more relaxed than he had ever seen him. Chizuru looked at the confused man for a moment before sighing, she gave a short whistle and her soldiers removed themselves from their hiding places and knelt behind her as she stood.
"Take these men back with you," she spoke gently, surprising the two rescues.
"But my lady! I can understand taking Saito-dono but why do we need to concern ourselves with the human?!" one of the soldiers objected, only to flinch when she turned her furious gaze on him.
"Do you know anything about lord Aizu?" she kept her voice calm despite the anger she was feeling.
"Nothing, I try not to associate with humans," he sneered.
"Then what do you think of Okita? HE was once human," she turned her back on him as he smirked.
"That fake will be dethroned quickly enough! There are a number of us who won't accept him despite being mated to you," the man was a fool for telling her this, it seemed that he didn't realise he had just revealed a conspiracy to her.
"Kazama, take this low life and find out everything he knows. I want an example made out of him and his 'friends'. But don't tell Okita."
"Why, you want to protect your precious human?" the man spat and she grabbed his chin, her nails sharpened into claws, digging into his face.
"I don't want him to know because I want to kill you myself, though it would be more fitting to let a human take your head," she smirked as he paled.
"Go," Kazama grabbed the man by the throat and disappeared. Chizuru took a moment to calm herself before turning to the rest of her men with narrowed eyes.
"Does anyone else share his ideas," they all quaked under her gaze.
"Milady," Kai jumped down from the tree he had been sat in, acting as look out, "we should get going, the enemy is returning."
"Good, I need to work off some of this anger," she span her sword through the air, cutting the partition in half. They could see at least a hundred men running towards them in an ambush. Chizuru kicked off and met them head on, slashing her sword. Death occurred with every graceful movement of her blade. Saito watched her from far away and couldn't help but think that she was dancing; the men around her seemed to be moving in slow motion compared to her.
"She defiantly looks like a Shinigami," Aizu said as he came to stand next to him, Saito couldn't help but nod as he watched her spin in a rain of blood. Chizurus tood panting as she watched the last few enemy soldiers turn tail and run. Her body trembled from the activity and her blood thrummed with excitement. Willing herself calm, she walked back to the two men whom she had saved, only to see Aizu flinch and take a step back in fear. She turned her eyes to him and he fell to his knees and bowed to her, she stared at him confused. She heard a sword unsheathe behind her and turned to see Saito crouched on the floor, the flat of the blade directed to her.
"You defiantly look like a Shinigami at the moment," he used the sword to show her, her reflection. Her fangs and red eyes gave her a demonic appearance and she laughed for a moment, before concentrating on returning back to normal.
"Forgive me, lord Aizu, I lost control of myself for a moment there," she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. He stared at her in disbelief before looking at Saito who smiled at her antics.
"Would you take them to Okita for me?" she asked her soldiers who nodded and jumped to their feet to carry out her request. They didn't want to risk her anger again, once was enough as her violent temper was well known from when she was a child although back then, she had to hide it a lot more to reduce the physical punishment she would get from her brother and his mother. Just before they left, a ninja of the Yukimura clan appeared next to Chizuru and bowed with his head to the ground. She could tell that he brought bad new and prepared herself as much as she could.
"What happened?" she spoke quietly.
"Whilst trying to protect Ibuki-hime, Heisuke-san and Sannan-san used too much of their life force and have faded. They were able to say their last goodbyes; and once Hijikata-dono and Ibuki-hime had gone, their swords were recovered."
Her eyes darkened for a moment as she mourned the loss of the two. She turned to look at Saito who was staring in shock at the floor, she could feel the turmoil of emotions running through his chi; with a shaky breath she turned back to the ninja.
"Give the swords to Okita; he'll know what to do. Your next mission is to find Hijikata-san and Yukimura-hime, as quickly as you can! I can't allow those two to die as well," she ordered the ninja who bowed and vanished instantly.
"Why did you save me?" Saito whispered, for a second Chizuru lost control of herself and the full extent of her chi flashed like a crack of thunder, allowing him to feel everything she was feeling. But with that display of power, she managed to render Aizu and held her soldiers unconscious.
"You dare question me?!" she snarled at the blue haired man who knelt at the pressure of her chi, "I have lost too many I call family, I will not let any more perish!" He stared at her for a moment before understanding that she felt the same way as he did. Just like him, she wanted to be with her fellow Shinsengumi members, but whilst he was thinking about joining them in death, she was thinking about saving everyone she could and living out the rest of her life with them.
"Very well," he whispered, "Take me to my brothers." Chizuru nodded to her conscious soldiers and they and Saito (carrying Lord Aizu) vanished through the portal.
"If I didn't know any better, I would say that your chi keeps getting stronger," Kazama came to stand beside her and she sighed.
"I don't seem to have as much control over my power as I used to. I can't wait until this war is over."