Finally, I get my chance to get out of Kyoto and accompany Hijikata and Kondou to Osaka with Saito, Shinpachi and Souji. And after some walking around, Kondou decides to split up the group, addressing Serizawa outside the geisha house. "Well then, Serizawa-san, we have other errands to attend to, so if you'll pardon us."

"Of course, that's fine." Serizawa looks completely unfazed by this, probably because he intends to drink himself half into a stupor by evening. Though I hate being around Serizawa, and I pity Ryunosuke and Shinpachi, who end up having to accompany Serizawa. I end up going on errands with Hijikata and the rest, which definitely beats going stir-crazy in Kyoto.

Saito and I go looking around for some supplies in the market, since that's just one of the many errands on the list today. So after splitting off from the group, we head into the main market street.

I look around happily, fascinated by some of the pieces for sale. "Wow, they've really got a lot of ornaments for women's hair."

"Indeed." Saito's eyes follow the direction of my own eyes. "Most women here put their hair up with such ornaments. You seem to be a rare exception."

"Yeah, well that's probably because I barely have time to brush and tie up my hair, let alone put it up the way they do."But suddenly I spot what I'm looking for. "Ah, that looks like a medicine shop. We should be able to find what Yamazaki needs there."

Saito follows me into the store silently. And I do most of the looking around, since he's not well-versed in medicine. The owner of the shop approaches me hesitantly. "May I help you, Miss?"

I turn to him and nod. "Yes, I'm looking for all of the items listed here." I take a note out of my pocket and hand it to him. "And if you have half a dozen small jars, those would also be something I'm interested in purchasing."

He nods, and begins pulling small packages and bottles off shelves. "Are you here with your retainer, Miss?"

The question surprises me, and I glance back at Saito, who nods almost imperceptibly. "You could say that. We're trying to keep a low profile as we run errands. It's best not to draw undue attention. Wouldn't you say so?"

The shopkeeper nods. "Prudent indeed." He finishes gathering up the items and places them on the counter in front of me. "Here is everything you requested."

I nod to him and place the money for the medicines and herbs on the counter. Then I turn to Saito. "Will you help me carry it? I doubt that I could carry it by myself." We both know that's a lie, but it's best not to make the shopkeeper suspicious.

He nods silently and picks up the larger of the baskets. I pick up the smaller one, and the shopkeeper bows as we leave the shop. With our particular errand now finished, we head back towards the inn, whee we're to meet up with the others once all of the errands are complete.

Long after everyone has returned, Ryunosuke bursts in on us while we're all having dinner. "Kondou-san! Hijikata-san! Come quickly! Serizawa-san is going crazy in the red-light district!"

Immediately, Hijikata and Kondou jump to their feet. And they aren't the only ones, because I'm on my feet in a flash as well. "I'm coming too!"

Hijikata shakes his head and frowns. "No, stay here. We can handle this."

I growl in my anger. "If he's terrorizing women again, then I'm not going to just sit back and let him do as he pleases!" I turn to Ryunosuke. "Lead the way!"

I ignore any further protests, and I follow Ryunosuke out of the inn and back towards the red-light district, followed closely by Hijikata and Kondou.

We arrive at the establishment and find Serizawa inside one of the rooms. Shinpachi looks relieved to see us "Hijikata-san!"

But Serizawa is more focused on his prey than on us. "If they were men, I would have their heads. But since they are women, I will settle for their hair instead."

"You'll what?" Ryunosuke sounds shocked, and I can see his hands shaking, probably from anger.

That pisses me off royally, but Hijikata beats me to the exclamation. "Serizawa-san!"

The geisha start crying, and one of them raises her head."If you do that, we wouldn't be able to entertain our customers from tomorrow, forward."

"You have but your own foolishness for insulting a warrior to blame."

Ryunosuke decides to run interference. "Hold it, Serizawa-san! You're the one who insulted them first by telling them to strip."

Serizawa, clearly drunk out of his mind, punches Ryunosuke across the room and through a paper screen. "Silence!"

That makes me even angrier, and I try to push past Hijikata to get at Serizawa, but Kondou holds me back. "Wait, Ciara. You might only make the situation worse." Then he turns to Serizawa. "Serizawa-san! Wasn't this supposed to be a party? There is no need to get so livid."

But Serizawa just won't listen. "Mongrel, you will do it." He's ordering Ryunosuke to do the dirty work and torment the geisha for him. "That shall be your punishment for opposing your master."

But Ryunosuke won't get up. "To hell with that, there's no way I would ever do that."

"Is that right? Then I'll do it for you." Serizawa turns back to the geisha. "But since I'm drunk, I might inadvertently cut off their heads instead of their hair since my hand is not steady."

I finally lose my temper, and it's not a pretty sight. I push past Hijikata and Kondou and enter the room, my eyes blazing with rage. "Oi! Stop being such an ass to the geisha! They've done nothing wrong, and here you are, acting like you can order them about as you please, no matter how indecent the request! You're a pig and you make me sick! How someone like you ever became a warrior is beyond me!"

Kondou holds me back by the arm. "Ciara, please calm yourself." He turns to Serizawa apologetically. "Please forgive her outburst, she can become very outspoken at times."

Serizawa turns to me with a smirk. "Outspoken indeed. In that case, would you offer yourself to me in their place? It might do you some good to finally be taught discipline. A woman who fights is nothing more than an eyesore."

I am going to kill this man. I am going to fucking kill him. I reach for one of my knives, more than willing to follow through on that murderous thought, and to be fair, I'm actually rather eager to kill this man for his gall and impudence. He has no idea who he's talking to. If he did, he might not be so quick to resort to insults.

But Hijikata intervenes, pulling me backwards and muttering to me under his breath. "Ciara, if you allow him to goad you, you will only undermine everything that I did to fight for your place in the Roshigumi. You will cause more problems than you will solve if you spill his blood here. Stay out of this." And he turns to Serizawa sternly. "You'll be satisfied if we sever their chignons, Serizawa-san?"He glances sternly at Ryunosuke, clenching his fist in frustration. "I'll do it."

Ryunosuke exclaims, and Shinpachi looks horrified. "Hijikata-san!" And Kondou is just as shocked. "Toshi!"

Serizawa is simply amused. "Very well, this should make for some nice entertainment."

The first of the geisha cries and pleads with Hijikata. "Please, forgive me. I truly regret what I said, so please…please forgive me, please forgive me." And her cries and pleading continue until Hijikata finishes cutting off her long hair.

It's not anger I feel, or even fury. I am well past that, I am livid. And I watch in disgust and rage as the second geisha loses her long hair as well. I don't blame Hijikata much, but I turn my gaze on Serizawa in my fury. "You had best watch your back from now on. I cannot promise that you will not find a dagger buried in it!" I spit out the words like snake venom, and I look away from him, too angry to continue looking at the monster.

"Hm…what murderous eyes, an unfit expression for a little girl. I wonder how many men have seen those and lived to tell about it." His sneer is obvious as I turn away. "Will I be the first?"

I clench my fists and slide my knife back into its sheath. "Indeed you are. Before you, no man had survived my fury. Be thankful that I have respect for Hijikata and Kondou. Without that, you would now be lying on the floor in a spreading pool of your own cursed blood. If you want to see how murderous I can be, do this again. Do something, anything that sends me into a rage, and you will live just long enough to see me pull out your entrails and make them into a necklace for you."

I storm out, and head back to Kyoto before everyone else. When I get back to the headquarters, the guys immediately know to steer clear of me. My expression must be pretty scary, because none of them even make an attempt to ask me what happened. But before I go to my room, I turn to them with eyes full of rage. "If you want to know what happened, ask Shinpachi. If I have to retell it, I'm liable to kill someone."

The guys look at me like they don't even recognize me. And while most days, that might hurt my feelings, today I don't care. This is part of who I am, my anger is a part of me. All I can do is shut myself in my room and try to spare them the hassle of having to deal with me while I'm like this.