As Blaise dressed herself and Bella, she couldn't help but think about how close her secret had come to being discovered so many times, and in only one day. She needed to figure out a better way to keep her secret, and she needed to decide if she was willing to risk their lives on the kindness of strangers rather than risking their lives trying to escape.

Soon.

But Blaise knew that she didn't have the time to consider all of the possible consequences of her decisions, so she didn't bother trying. Instead, she quickly put on her hakama and then reached for her swords.

Once she picked them up, she wondered how she should put her swords on. The only reason that she had been wearing them on her left side was because so many people in Japan were biased against those who were left handed. She had assumed that the members of the Shinsengumi would be the same, so she had continued to wear her swords on her left side so as to avoid any added prejudice against her.

But Saito had worn his swords on his right side and had even been made a high ranking member of the Shinsengumi. Blaise hadn't been lying earlier. She did prefer to fight using her left hand, and it would seem that she might be able to do so here without facing any penalties. But should she try it?

For all Blaise knew, these men allowed Saito to fight left handed because he was one of them. They could react violently to an outsider doing the same. On the other hand, wearing her swords on her right side would allow Blaise to fight with much more ease and skill.

After a few moments, Blaise decided to wear her swords on her right side, figuring that if it should become a problem, she would be able to protect herself and Bella better by being able to fight with her preferred hand.

When the two sisters finally exited the bathhouse, Sano was waiting for them just outside the door. They didn't say anything as the two elders followed behind Bella, who had, typically, run on ahead of them.

Blaise had never minded silence, but at this moment she would have preferred it if Sano had started talking. Earlier, Blaise had told him one of her deepest fears, and, while it had made her feel better, she couldn't help but feel shy now that this stranger knew more about the inner workings of her mind than anyone else.

It didn't help that a man whose name she might not even know had also heard those same fears. Yeah, Blaise was definitely going to need to figure out a way to talk to her watcher, if only to convince him to forget about what he had heard.

When Blaise and Sano finally got to the meeting room, Bella was seated in Sannan's lap. This wouldn't have bother Blaise if the light hadn't reminded her that she had been so distracted that she had forgotten to comb Bella's hair.

Both of the sisters had such thick hair that brushing it while it was dry was very nearly impossible. Normally, Blaise made sure to brush Bella's hair as soon as they were out of the bath so that it wouldn't have the chance to dry.

Blaise could handle ripping her own hair out with a brush, but Bella always put up a huge fight about it. In the light of the room, Blaise could tell that if she didn't come Bella's hair soon, she would have a nightmare trying to do so in the morning.

With that thought in mind, Blaise called Bella to sit in front of her and took a comb out from a pocket of her hakama. She was so absorbed in the task of untangling the little girl's hair before it dried that she didn't notice all of the other captains staring at her as they walked into the room.

She probably wouldn't have noticed them staring until she was finished if Heisuke and Shinpachi hadn't come in carrying everyone's food.

"What the-? What are you doing over there, Blaise?" Heisuke asked, confused.

Blaise looked up and said, "I'm combing Bella's hair. Why do you sound so shocked?" As she said this, Blaise looked around the room and saw all of the attention was on her. "What?"

"Nothing's wrong, exactly," Sano was quick to assure her. "We're just a little surprised to see a man combing a child's hair."

Shit, that's right. Men in this era normally leave everything about children to women. Well, I guess the most reasonable excuse is the truth, in this case anyway.

"Well, our mother died years ago, and Bella is too young to really comb her own hair. I mean, she'll try, but then she'll just end up ripping the snarls out and cry. So, I do it for her, so that she doesn't end up bald or with dreadlocks."

"We didn't mean any offense, Abe-kun," Sannan said. "We were simply surprised that you would be willing to comb Bella's hair. Do you always do this?"

Blaise nodded. "I'm the only one who is willing to comb Bella's hair. I usually do it before we leave the bathhouse, but I didn't want to keep all of you waiting. If it bothers you to watch, I can comb her hair in our room."

"Not at all," Kondou was quick to say. "We were simply surprised. It's not often that you see a young man who cares so much for his siblings."

"She's my baby sister, it's normal for me to care about her," Blaise said while blushing. Then, she noticed Sannan looking at her hand, or, more specifically, the comb in her hand. Deciding that it would be easier to explain rather than let him come to his own conclusions, like it being stolen, Blaise said, "This comb was given to me by Ai-san. I told you about her earlier, she and her husband took us in."

"They must care about you rather deeply," Sannan said suspiciously. "That comb looks to be good quality and has hand carved designs. It wouldn't have been cheap."

Blaise bristled. "It probably wasn't, but she hadn't used it in years. It belonged to their daughter and she left it behind when she got married. Apparently the comb's designs were too simple for her, she wanted something more ornate. Ai-san told me that she didn't want it either, so she gave it to me," she explained as calmly as she could. After all, in their position, Blaise would have been suspicious too. Then, Blaise realized that this conversation gave her the opportunity to explain away another possession that could cast suspicion on her, and quickly said, "Ai-san was always telling me how expensive it is to buy everything that a girl needs, so she gave me some things that she knew that Bella would need, like this comb. She also gave a kimono that her daughter left behind. It's a little old, but she said that Bella could wear it when she got older and it doesn't really weigh anything, so I took it with us."

The captains looked surprised at this statement. Huh, maybe they didn't search my bag already. Or they just thought that I wouldn't volunteer that information.

Shortly after that, everyone began to eat their food. Blaise was mildly amazed that less than five minutes into the meal, Heisuke and Shinpachi had already started fighting. Looking at them she shook her head and couldn't help but pray that Bella wasn't absorbing any of this behavior.

She probably would have been a bit more worried, but she was more preoccupied with Bella. Blaise figured that she wouldn't always be able to get a spoon for Bella while living with a bunch of samurai, so she had decided to teach Bella how to use chopsticks. After all, most children Bella's age could at least eat larger bits of food with them, and Blaise would rather have Bella learn sooner rather than later in case anyone else questioned their nationality.

Blaise knew that eating with chopsticks wouldn't prove anything, but it would hopefully discourage it. It wasn't like there were Asian fusions restaurants in this era, so most foreigners had never used chopsticks prior to their arrival. As a result, most people assumed that anyone who could eat with them was Japanese. Of course, that would all be ruined the second they heard Bella's accent, but it was still a start.

Eventually, Sano even leaned over to help her teach Bella. Even though Blaise tried to fight it, she couldn't deny the warmth that blossomed in her chest as she was surrounded by the laughter and smiles of the captains who had welcomed the sisters into their lives.

Thanks to Guest 2 for doing some research for me for this chapter. I had no idea that kids could learn how to use chopsticks at younger ages, so thanks for letting me know about that. I'm glad that you gave that to me since it seemed like a good way for me to show how Blaise and Bella are starting to find a place with the Shinsengumi. Yeah, they've got a long way to go, but they're getting there.

Also, I'm sorry for the long wait, especially for such a short chapter. This was actually going to be a part of much longer chapter, but I just didn't have the time. Unfortunately, this is probably going to be a pretty frequent occurrence over the next couple of months. I have to take the SATs next month and then I have to take two AP exams in May. None of those are fun, and the AP exams are going to weigh pretty heavily on whether or not I get into college. So, I'm going to get the pleasure (note the sarcasm) of studying for them for the next few months. So, I'll probably only be able to update every couple of weeks until mid to late May, since, after that, I'll still be in school, but I won't have to take finals, since, in my school, you can get exempted from them. So, after my AP exams, I'm going to have a lot more time and I'll get back to my multi-chapter posts, but until then, updates are going to be pretty sporadic. Hopefully, I'll see you all again soon.