Sorry for the delay, I've had a bit of a rough week. My poor 17 year old kitty, nearly had to be put down...he still might be if the present procedure he's going through at this moment, doesn't succeed. To a lot of people, it's just a cat but this cat has been with me since I was 10 and means the worlds to me. I've probably gained some grey hairs over this last week! Anyways enjoy this new chapter!
Two weeks after her meeting with Itou, Kaiya once again sat in the clinic cleaning things up getting ready to call it a night. She would be on call for the next while, Yamazaki had been re-assigned to other duties. Officially it was said that he was watching a group of men who had been acting suspiciously near the city limits and though Kaiya had never been told the truth, she suspected that he'd been assigned to watch Itou full time from a distance.
Kaiya wondered if Yamazaki had been approached as well. While he didn't have her level of knowledge, but he had become quite formidable over the last few years and Itou would also benefit from having medical practioners. Who else would he approach? Chizuru had told her that Shinpachi had been approached but had turned him down. Kaiya sighed as she stood up, there was no point worrying about it. Whatever was going to happen, would happen.
Finally done for the night, she left the clinic and headed back to her room. When she opened the door she found Hajime waiting for her. He stood up as she entered and closed the door behind her, he walked up to her and gave her a passionate kiss.
"I finally have a night off." He said as he took her hand, then kissed the inside of wrist. "It seems like it's been forever since we've had some time alone."
She smiled, "Yes it's been forever." She took her hand back than wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself up against time. "We've hardly had time to even have a civil discussion."
Not much later the two of them lay together. Kaiya happily traced lines along the muscles of Hajime's chest while they lay there quietly. While she ran her fingers over his chest, she noticed that he seemed a little tense and he wasn't rubbing his back like he normally did. He just lay there quietly, she finally lifted her head and looked him in the face.
"Is something wrong Hajime? You seem a little tense for a man who just got laid." She got up enough to kiss him on the chin.
He didn't even smirk just looked at her. "I'm sorry Kaiya, I've just had a lot on my mind lately."
Kaiya frowned and sat up fully. He was like this to her only when there were others around, he'd become very relaxed with her when they were alone. He smiled and laughed and even teased her. Ever since he'd discovered that she was ticklish, he liked to torcher with that weakness.
"Hajime…" Kaiya started but Hajime sat up and put a finger up to her lips.
"You know I love you, right?" He looked so serious.
"Of course, Hajime talk to me." She worriedly stroked his cheek.
He looked away and was silent, then got his feet and grabbed his clothing and started to dress. "I have to go."
"Hajime!" Kaiya was becoming extremely worried now.
"I have to leave before I say something I shouldn't. You have an intoxicating effect on me. Please don't take my sudden departure the wrong way…" He bowed his head. "Please wait for me." He turned and headed for the door.
"Wait for you? What does that mean?" Kaiya had stood up bringing the blanket with her but he had quickly exited the room.
Kaiya stared blankly at the door, this was definitely not how she wanted her night to end. She finally sighed and lied back down in her bed. She could decide whether she was worried or angry with him with how he had just acted around her. After she got some sleep she would approach him and try to see if she could get more information out of him.
The next morning, after a sleepless night, Kaiya got up and went straight to Hajime's door. He was an early riser so he was likely awake, whether he was in his room that was a different story. After settling herself down, for she had become very irritated with him, she knocked on his door. She waited for several moments but she heard nothing coming from within. She finally threw the door open and found the room empty, like really empty. Hajime had never had too many things decorating his room but he did have a few things, namely a collection of swords along one wall which was no longer sitting there.
After staring confused for several minutes she finally closed the door and went outside. In the main court yard several men stood together holding their belongings which for most men was just a small bag. They were all looking in the direction of the meeting room, so she decided to see what was going on over there. On her way, she passed by the well and heard Souji call out to her.
"Oi, Kai! Come here!" He hollered.
Kaiya noticed a group gathered around the well. Sanosuke, Shinpachi, Souji and Gen were all gathered there and she saw Chizuru also heading towards the well.
"What's going on?" Kaiya asked as she frown at Chizuru who had her arm up in a sling. "And what happened to you?" She asked her getting distracted.
Chizuru just looked off to the side. It was Souji that responded. "We had a bit of a…incident last night. I'll just say we had an escapee, he got into Chizuru-chan's room. She got hurt but we were there quick enough that nothing serious happened but Sannan-san showed up to deal with it and Itou-san suddenly should up as well. The bastard was all confused about what's going on."
"Did he see anything?" Kaiya started walking towards Chizuru.
"No but that hasn't stopped that bastard for snapping up the chance to give an excuse to leave." Shinpachi looked extremely pissed. "Stupid Heisuke!"
"What do you mean? He's leaving?" Kaiya looked at them but the guys just looked down except Souji who just nodded.
"Heisuke-kun's leaving?" Chizuru sounded both shocked and depressed.
"Yah and Saitou too." Grumbled Shinpachi.
Kaiya felt like she'd just been stabbed in the chest. Now last night made sense, he'd wanted to see her one last time before they'd left. He felt the desire to tell her something but his code wouldn't allow him to do so, so he left. He had also asked her to wait for him…so did that mean he was planning on coming back?
"Saitou's one thing but damn Heisuke! Why didn't he come to us for advice?" Shinpachi threw down his towel. "This is no joke!" He stormed off.
Souji grabbed Kaiya by the hand. "Come on lets go get breakfast."
He led her into the kitchen and they silently made breakfast together, when it was prepared he led her back to his room. They sat down on together and for a while they ate silently. Finally Souji couldn't take the silence any more.
"What's going through your head?" He asked
She looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean with Hajime-kun leaving. I know you're probably happy to see Itou-san finally leave but I know the two of you have been seeing each other, so there's no point denying it. Although how the two of you find the time is beyond me." He studied her face.
Kaiya sighed. "Fine, I'll admit to it and we don't generally spend a lot of time together."
"It must be very upsetting, him leaving. You seemed quite shocked when Shinpachi said that he was leaving, so I'm assuming he never discussed it with you."
"Like I said we don't get a lot of time together, I haven't been able to tell him about Itou-san approaching me either. Are they leaving today?" She avoided looking him in the eye.
"Yeah should be gone by the end of the day they're just collecting their stuff and finishing up their business."
"I see." Kaiya picked up her now empty tray. "I have to go now Souji. Thank you for talking to me but I have things to do."
Souji didn't stop her when she left. As she did every day she headed straight to the clinic to find Hijikata sitting by her desk waiting for her. He smiled at her tiredly when he saw her come in. He motioned her to take a seat.
"Good morning, Kaiya-chan." He greeted when she took a seat.
"Good morning, Hijikata-kun. It's not often I find you here in the clinic! I find it hard to believe that you can here for health reasons." She smiled at him warmly.
He laughed, "No thankfully I'm quite healthy. I'm sure you've heard by now that Itou-san is now parting ways. We are losing Saitou and Heisuke to him, so we will be short not only men but Captain's as well. I know you already have a lot on your plate Kaiya-chan but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to join daily rounds."
"Me?" She responded in shock.
"Yes I'm afraid so, just temporarily though, until we can recruit more men to replace the ones we've lost." He closely studied her face.
"I don't have a problem with that, I just didn't see that coming." Kaiya laughed a bit embarrassed by her reaction.
Hijikata's face relaxed into a smile. "You are a really skilled swordswoman, you can do it."
"So do I now have an assigned unit?" She was curious whom he would assign her to. Some of the men did have a problem with a woman in their ranks as their equal so they couldn't put her in just any unit.
"Not a particular unit but you'll be patrolling with Souji, Harada, Shinpachi and myself. You'll be patrolling in the afternoon, so you'll have time to get things ready here and Yamazaki will more likely to be available. I'm afraid you'll be starting today." Hijikata let out a tired sigh.
"Alright, I'll be prepared. Who will I be going out with?" Kaiya half expected him to say Souji.
"Shinpachi." He said as he got to his feet. "I'll leave you now to your duties."
"Wait!" Kaiya jumped to her feet and disappeared into her small room of remedies. When she reappeared, she had a jar in hand. "Make this into a tea before you go to bed. It's not as potent as the stuff you gave me what seems like an eternity ago, but it will do you some good."
Hijikata gave her a fond smile. "I don't need a sleep remedy, I'm fine."
"Don't tell me your fine, you forget I'm trainned to spot signs of failing health. While I don't think your health is failing, it might start if you don't start taking care of yourself." Kaiya forced the jar into his hands.
Hijikata's smile turned into a frown. "Has Chizuru been talking to you?"
"No, she didn't have to. Please just give it a try. It won't knock you out, you'd wake up just as easily as before. It just helps your body relax." She gave him a pleading look.
Hijikata let out a huff. "I won't promise you anything but I'll think about it. Now I have my own duties to see too."
Kaiya gave a polite bow as he turned and left. Kaiya saw to her duties and when the time came she went to her room to gather her haori and katana. When she grabbed her katana, she looked at it sadly. She desperately hoped she was right about Hajime leaving temporarily. She wanted to go speak with him but didn't know if she should.
Kaiya sighed and left her room and made a quick pit stop in the kitchen to make herself a quick meal. She found Chizuru and Sanosuke there preparing the meal. She smiled and greeted them both and headed straight for the rice pot.
"Are you going out today?" Asked Sanosuke indicating the haori over her arm.
Kaiya quickly formed herself a couple onigiri. "Yes. Apparently since we are now short a few men, Hijikata-kun wants me to join the daily rounds until they can recruit more men."
"What!?" Chizuru and Sanosuke said in unison.
Kaiya laughed at their expressions. "Yup, I'm not being assigned to a particular unit just this shift so I can continue my duties in the morning."
"So you'll be patrolling with me too?" Asked Sanosuke.
"Yes as well as Souji and Hijikata-kun. I'm sorry but I have to go meet Shinpachi-kun." Kaiya turned and left, onigiri in hand.
She ate as she walked to the gate. By the time she'd reached the gate only a few men had gathered. One of the men who'd been around since near the beginning spotted her walking in their direction and greeted her happily.
"Good afternoon, Ishikawa-sensei! Harada-sama said you'll be joining us occasionally for rounds!" Two of the younger men gave him a mortified look. Kaiya wasn't sure if it was because she was tagging a long or because he was being so friendly with her.
"Yes. Speaking of which, where is your Captain?" Kaiya looked around to see if he was approaching but only saw two other men approaching.
"Probably looking for you, Sensei. Probably thought you'd forget. He says you seem to forget to eat sometimes because we keep you so busy. With all due respect, Sensei but he's your Captain now too." He continued to be very friendly despite the looks he was receiving.
After a few more minutes of waiting, Shinpachi hollered from a far. "There you are!" He jogged up to her and ruffled her hair. "I thought for sure you'd forget."
Kaiya ducked under his hand and gave him a swat. "I'm not absent minded, it was only a few hours ago that Hijikata-kun told me!"
Shinpachi chuckled then looked at his unit. "Alright men let's get going!"
They all formed rank and marched out of the compound. Apparently this was a busy time of day for petty theft. They thwarted several attempts to steal from various vendors as well as several Ronin trying to hustle people and shop keepers a like. Throughout the rounds Kaiya heard Shinpachi grumble "stupid Heisuke" multiple times and make an irritated face.
By the time they returned to the compound, the sun had started to set. As they approached the front get a large group of men exited with Itou in the lead. Shinpachi instructed his unit to stand to the side as they all walked by. As Heisuke walked by, he diverted his eyes when he saw Shinpachi and Kaiya standing together while Hajime seemed to not register their existence.
At the gate Kaiya noticed Chizuru and Inoue watching sadly as the group departed. By the time they were at the gate Inoue had disappeared but Chizuru still remained looking utterly depressed. "Welcome back." She greeted sadly.
Kaiya looked up at Shinpachi as they passed her and he gave her the nod so she stopped in front of Chizuru while the others continued on. Kaiya put a hand on Chizuru's shoulder and looked her in the face.
"Are you ok?" Kaiya asked.
Chizuru looked down and sighed. "I don't get why Heisuke-kun and Saitou-san had to leave! It seemed like nothing was wrong yesterday!'
"Just like men have a hard time understanding women, women have a hard time understanding men. Whatever their intentions, I'm sure it's for good. Of that I am sure. They are both great men." Kaiya sighed. "Now why don't we go back to the clinic and take a look at that arm, Shinpachi-kun said it looked quite deep."
Chizuru suddenly looked panicked. "No, no that's okay. I looked after it myself! Besides I should go start making supper." Chizuru turned and quickly walked away. What could she be scared of? Thought Kaiya to herself. After a moment she shrugged and headed off in the direction of the clinic.
As she approached the clinic a man came running up to her. "Oh Sensei! There you are!"
She studied the man's pained expression. "Are you alright?"
"No, I think I broke something in my hand." He held up the hand that he had been cupping.
"Alright, let's go inside." The man followed her in side and took a seat. Kaiya went and got some ointment to help with the pain while she set it. After a few minutes, she had the man's bone set but as it was in an awkward location she could not split it. So she told him to take some time off and she would personally tell Hijikata of the man's condition. The man seemed greatly relieved when Kaiya told him that she'd tell Hijikata herself. Probably terrified of Hijikata's current mood.
When she was satisfied that there was nothing else requiring her attention in the clinic, she made a quick stop to her room to drop off her haori and katana then went to gather with the others for supper. When she entered the room it was noticeably gloomy. Kaiya decided to take a seat between Souji and Sano.
Everyone ate in silence except for Shinpachi's constant "Heisuke that bastard!" while he shoveled the rice into his mouth. Kaiya noticed Souji watching her from the corner of his eye, so she looked at him and glared. He focused on his food like he hadn't been caught.
Finally Kondou forced a smile. "Come on. You're the same "expel the foreigners" ideology. You'll meet again."
Suddenly Shimada opened the door. "Commander, there is a female visitor here."
"A female visitor?" Kondou asked in a shocked voice.
"She said she's come to see Yukimura-kun, but also wants to meet with you and the others." Shimada replied.
Everyone turned and looked at Chizuru. "Me?" She asked confused.
"Let her in." Kondou replied.
Kaiya and Chizuru quickly cleared the food. When they were finally done they all gathered in a loose circle while two women were ushered in. Kaiya immediately recognized the taller woman from Shimbara but said nothing as they took a seat in front of Kondou, Hijikata and Sannan.
"Sen-chan!" Chizuru said shocked.
"I've come for you Chizuru-chan." The woman Chizuru called Sen replied.
"What do you mean?" Chizuru still seemed quite confused.
"There's no more time. Please prepare to leave at once." This time the woman beside Sen replied.
"You can't just same something like that…" Said Chizuru.
"That's right." Said Shinpachi. "Can't you explain it so we can understand it too?"
"You know of Kazama Chikage, don't you?" Asked Sen.
"Kazama?" Asked Chizuru.
"That ally of Satsuma, right?" Said Souji somewhat bitterly.
"He and his pals Amagiri and Shinarui." Said Shinpachi. "Have gone up against us several times."
"And you know that they're after this girl?" Asked the other woman.
"We are aware of it." Responded Kondou. "Apparently they refer to themselves as devils."
"They're certainly incredibly skilled," Said Shinpachi "But devil is kinda…"
"I, too, am a devil." Said Sen interrupting Shinpachi causing everyone to look at her shocked.
"This is Princess Sen, descendent of the Suzuka Gozen of the ancient demonic bloodline." Said the other woman proudly. "And I am Princess Sen's Shinobi that has served her for generations."
It was finally Sanosuke who put together what Kaiya had already noticed. "Huh? Come to think of it, you were at Shimbara."
"Kimigiku-san!" Said Shinpachi a little too happily.
"Now I get it." Hijikata said with a sigh. "I thought you overly friendly, but your goal was Shinsengumi information."
Kimigiku laughed while Sen held a serious face. "Since antiquity," She said "the powerful of each era have set their eyes on the devils power and come seeking to use it."
"One band of devils that never cared for combat" Kimigiku continued "grew to hate being drawn into the wars of men and in time they scattered, living in secret."
"Their interaction with human grew," Said Sen "and now there are few devils of pure bloodline."
"Such as you and Kazama, you mean?" Asked Kondou.
"Yes." Sen replied. "In the Western realms, the Kazama clan and in the east, the Yukimura clans are the largest devil families." Chizuru gasped in shock as Sen turned her head to look at her. "I'd heard that the Yukimura family was extinct, but..."
"H-hang on a second! So, you're saying, what?" Asked Sanosuke still have troubles accepting what he was hearing. "That Chizuru's a devil?!"
Sen studied Chizuru for a moment before she spoke again. "It seems that you've perhaps thought of something…"
Chizuru was still for a moment then pulled up the sleeve where her arm had been injured.
"Her wound." Shinpachi said shocked. "It looked pretty deep, but…"
"It's because I'm a devil." Chizuru said quietly.
"If devils descended from good, pure bloodlines were join together, they could produce powerful devils indeed."
"So that's what Kazama's after." Said Hijikata
"Yes." Sen confirmed. "If Kazama attacked in earnest, you would all be powerless."
"Say, Princess Sen ain't 'powerless' goin' a little too far?" Shinpachi asked a little irritated.
"We are the Shinsengumi called the Wolves of Mibu." Hijikata put in also irritated. "Going up against a devil or two gives us no pause at all."
"You should know Kazama's power full well." Said Kimigiku. "We, however, may be able to protect Chizuru."
"Meaning that you may NOT be able to protect her, right?" Hijikata was starting to sound even more irritated. Sen seemed surprised by Hijikata's statement.
"Yukimura-kun, what about you?" Asked Kondou. "You should decide: Will you go with these two or remain here?"
"Kondou-san, that ain't right!" Griped Shinpachi.
"Be quiet, Shinpachi." Said Hijikata with a frustrated sigh.
Chizuru looked down at her hands, "I…" she started. After another moment of silence she finally said. "I'll stay here."
Kaiya was relieved to hear that, she'd already lost too many friends today.
Afterwards, when Sen and Kimigiku had left, Kondou pulled Kaiya to the side. "Kaiya-chan I know it's late but I'd like to talk to you for a moment?"
Kaiya gave him a bit of a confused look but nodded her head. She followed Kondou back to his rooms and indicated for her to take a seat in front of the small table in the centre of the room.
Once they were both seated Kaiya asked. "Is there something bothering you Kondou-san?"
"Yes, I've been meaning to talk to you about this for a while now but with all that's been going on lately, I just haven't had the chance. I know you must be exhausted by the events of today but I couldn't wait any longer." Kondou looked very serious.
"Well, whatever it is. I'm listening."
"It's about Souji." Kaiya instantly knew where he was going with this. "He told me a while ago that he's quite seriously sick. He said that he was sick even before you returned to us and that you have been managing his illness ever since you got back. He also said that he made you promise not to tell me about it. I know he did it because he didn't want to worry me and quite frankly I would have probably done the same."
"Did he tell you what it was that he had?" Kaiya could see that he was deeply trouble.
Kondou shook his head. "No, he said if I really wanted to know that I'd have to ask you."
"And do you want to know?" Kaiya watched his face carefully.
"Yes of course I do!"
Kaiya sighed "Its tuberculosis."
Kondou looked so shocked. "T-tuberculosis! That's fatal, isn't it?"
Kaiya nodded. "In most cases, yes. But quite frankly I thought Souji would've been dead two years ago. Most people die within a year of contracting it, it took Souji's sister Mitsu-chan less than six months. There have been cases where it's taken years but Souji is doing much better than most people who've had the disease for three years."
"So is he recovering?" Kondou asked hopefully.
"I would like to think so but I can't afford to. Doctors have their own little wars they have to fight with each patient. You make the best plan possible for the patient and make him believe it's going to work while in the back of your head you're planning for the worst. Souji's balancing on dangerous edge, one slip and he could be headed down a hill I can't save him from. For now, at the least, he doesn't seem to be getting any worse."
"Is there anything I should do? Maybe remove him from duty for a while?" Kondou suggested.
Kaiya shook her head. "At this point that wouldn't help. There's more than one way to kill a man. Serving you and the Shinsengumi is his life's purpose, if you remove that purpose from his life he won't have anything to fight for. Souji's been mostly cooperative, so for now I think we should continue as before."
Kondou sighed tiredly. "Alright that's enough for now. I'm exhausted and I need to get some rest, so do you. If I have any more questions, I'll come find you."
Kaiya nodded her head and as she stood up, Shimada burst into Kondou's room. He bowed quickly, "Pardon the intrusion but they're here!"
Kondou frowned. "Who's here?"
"The devils!" Shimada exclaimed. "Hijikata-san and the others are fighting with them. They're trying to take Yukimura-kun away!" Kaiya noticed blood coming from Shimada's head but before she could say anything, Shimada and Kondou had run out of the door, so Kaiya followed.
By the time the three of them had reached the area where the devils had been last seen, they had only found several men dead or severely injured laying on the ground. Kaiya was shocked, they all wore the Shinsengumi blues but they all had white hair and she recognized none of them. Close to the gate stood Hijikata, Shinpachi, Souji and Sanosuke who stood looking down worriedly at Chizuru.
"Check the wounded!" A voice commanded from a different direction. Kaiya started and looked to the other side and saw Sannan ordering the other warriors to look after their comrades.
When he noticed the three of them he walked over to them. "Kondou-san, if Kaiya-chan wants nothing to do with the furies, she should leave now."
Kaiya glanced down at the nearest corpse on the ground. "Is that why they look like that?"
Now Hijikata and the other captains join them. "Sannan-kun might be right, Kaiya-chan. You didn't want anything to do with the furies, maybe you should leave." Said Kondou.
Kaiya hesitated. "But some are injured…"
Hijikata put a hand on her shoulder. "Yamazaki will take care of all the injuries. Go get some rest Kaiya-chan."
Kaiya sighed and nodded her head. "Alright."
Like always, R&R! I love hearing what you all think! Feel free to PM me also with any advice or ideas! I may eventually make another Hakuoki story with Sano and an OC but that may be a long way down the line! We'll see!