A/N:
I do not own anything to do with Hakuouki. Just the OCs...well sort of.
Chapter 24
~The One Year Mark; The Answer Is~
"So?" Shukke asked us after the broadcast cut off, "Still wanna do this whole band thing?"
"Wait, they were talking about you?" A very much forgotten Brad asked.
"Why is he still here?" Cat asked, pointing her thumb in my friend's direction.
"I forgot to kick him out," Shukke said with a shrug. "Now that he understands how little of a date he was on he can leave though, right?" She glared at him.
"What band are you talking about?" Brad asked instead of leaving.
"You don't need to know!" I snapped before grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt and dragging him to the door the whole time saying quite bluntly, "It's not you it's me, it wouldn't have worked out," and all sorts of other clichés.
"Hey…wa-wait what about-" And I shut the door in his face.
"You were saying, Shukke?" I asked over the sound of Brad banging on the door.
"I was saying you guys can forget about being in the band now if you want. They apologized and admitted to the world how they truly felt. You could just go back to them and that would be that." Her face was devoid of emotion but her eyes twinkled. I couldn't tell if it was from mischief or joy. Cat sat very still in her seat, her right hand gripping the hilt of Souji's sword so tightly that a vein was starting to show in her forearm.
I said it, but I knew she was thinking it, "They got some balls if they think that is gonna get them free and clear of all this." Cat's head snapped up and Shukke gave a big trickster grin before I spoke again. "I say we do Plan B."
"I really don't want to be some camp following bimbo that just trails after him," Cat agreed with a smirk that would have made Okita proud.
Stacy surprised us by having her own two cents, "Relationships are built between equals with common footing."
"I'll be the one to tell them then." Shukke announced and like they had been waiting for us to decide, the tall girl's phone went off with a text message tone and she dove for it, the grin still on her face.
Umarekawaru:
We will be there.
Shinpachi grinned at the text he got in response to the one he sent Shukke. The little minx could be a trickster and had plans more complex than any strategist during the war had been capable of but that was ok. She had pulled through.
Saito and Okita, who looked like men waiting to commit seppuku on command, caught sight of his grin and seemed to relax. "They will be there?" Saito asked, what looked like a small glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"So the text says." The muscled drummer informed the rest of the band.
The group, who had been huddled together around Shinpachi as he texted his traitorous connection, collectively breathe a sigh of relief; short lived though it was as their manager stormed over. The show was back on the air at this point, DJ White Saille introducing the number three video.
Hijikata, spotting the angry little toad walking towards them with a furious expression, turned to a small girl who looked no older then sixteen. She flipped a switch on the table next to her just as the manager reached them. The DJ was about to play the video when the whole audience as well as the whole nation heard the shouts of the manager, amplified through the microphones still pinned to the Shinsengumi's shirts.
"You're fired!" He shouted. "Disobedient, contract breaking malcontents the lot of you! You can't be in love! You can't have relationships. What will your fans think?"
"I think the cheering proved what the fans think." Hijikata spoke like he was talking to a testy three year old.
The manager gaped at him with the face of a dead fish before screeching, "You're done in this business. Stupid, no talent gimmick band. Without those faces you wouldn't have made it this far." The phones backstage were ringing off the hook and the crowd in front of White Saille was sounding off in distress.
Finally White Saille appeared after getting into the third video with difficulty. "How did the microphones turn back on?" She asked looking to the switch board, which was currently unmanned. "Whatever, everyone heard that so you may as well come back on stage and help me deal with it. You stay there." She commanded of the manager darkly. "I feel they might kill you if you come."
The number three video finished as Saille and the band walked onstage to cheers and crying fans.
"We love you!" A girl in the front row shouted. The band bowed in her direction and Souji winked with a smirk. The girl passed out.
"So," Saille turned to the band and in a very blunt manner pointed, "You're fired… No longer with Amalgamated Records. What now?"
Hijikata stepped forward as the spokesperson. "Well, some of us, which is to say myself, Sannan, Shinpachi and Harada, have been planning for this fallout. The band has been saving capital for this, and with the amount we have saved we can produce our own songs on our own label. We even have a manager and the owner of the company decided." With that two people walked out, both also with swords at their hips and it got the crowd whispering.
A young girl, no older than sixteen shyly stepped up to stand next to Hijikata while an older man with the same hair style as Okita walked more slowly to flank the vice commander.
"This is Chizuru Yukimura and Isami Kondou. Please treat them well." Hijikata said before bowing again. The two new comers bowed beside him.
"More names to fit the gimmick huh?" Saille muttered.
"Call it what you will, Miss." Kondou said with a smile. "All will be made clear in time."
"What is the name of your record company?" The DJ asked to change the subject.
"It's called Shieikan Records," Kondou said proudly.
"We look forward to your work then! Unfortunately I have to announce the number two video or we would talk more. Number two on this daily countdown for video domination is 'Throw Away' By the Oni Complex."
As the video played the band got a bit of a meet and greet going with their fans in the stands. White Saille was trying to get a bit of order before the song ended but was called backstage by a producer. As she came back onstage the video ended and the crowd made an attempt at being quiet.
"Well, due to the excitement brought to us courtesy of the boys of J-born we don't have enough time to play the number one video." The DJ announced to a disappointed crowd. "The number one video was Liar by Umarekawaru though so give it up for them. And look forward to their work with Shieikan Records." After the crowd responded the Shinsengumi bowed and waved till the credits kicked on.
Somewhere in Japan:
It had been a long time since she had left her house and consorted with humans. Almost one hundred years. It wasn't that she thought ill of the species, or thought she was better than them. It was just that she was always so forcibly reminded of her dear friend, who chose humans over her own kind during the Bakumatsu.
There were not many Oni left in the world. They tended to hide from the populations of humans for safety's sake. The fact that she was alone, always, didn't bother her anymore. Though she sometimes thought back to eating Dango on the streets of Kyoto with her dear friend and lamented the way things had turned out. The decline of the Oni population, the modernization of the world, her own loneliness.
But it was the modern technology that brought her the biggest shock she had had since her dear friend vanished without a trace as she skimmed a few blogs in English. Since that day six months ago, after reading of Umarekawaru, a band from the states whose members bore a strong almost uncanny resemblance to the late Shinsengumi, she had saved every blog, newspaper clipping and video track of the band.
It could have been some weird reincarnation or the fates playing tricks on her mind. But then it happened. She saw a clip entitled "TRL Revival: Umarekawaru Goes Independent" and the Oni who had been so alone for so long almost blacked out as she saw the new manager for the band.
"Chizuru!"
The Oni Complex:
"The phone is ringing…" Shiranui announced lazily.
"So answer it." Kazama snapped.
In the end Amagiri answered the phone as the two squabbled about who was being lazier. Kaoru opened the door to his room in their pent house suite to ask them to be quieter, but Shiranui shot a bullet past him into the doorjamb the smallest Oni was leaning against.
"It has been too long," They heard Amagiri say cordially. "Well your right, for us it was a blink of an eye… Kazama? Yes he is right here." And with that the tall red head handed the cordless to the vocalist with a patient smile. Kazama didn't ask who it was and Amagiri didn't give a name. The person on the phone had to be an Oni based off what Amagiri has said, and there were only a handful at best that would call Kazama.
"Ah, Sen-hime," Kazama answered the girl after she greeted him. "It's good to know you're still alive."
"One of the few." She replied shortly.
"What can I do for you? I doubt this is a call to see how I am." Kazama asked, getting straight to the point.
"Chizuru Yukimura. You lied when you said she disappeared after you killed Hijikata Toshizo. Or at least that wasn't all of it was it?"
"How astute of you."
"What happened?"
"It's gonna cost you," Kazama told her with a frown, "But I can think of a price later, there is nothing I want from you currently."
"Fine, just tell me what happened, where did she go, how are the Shinsengumi at her side again, and where did you go for one hundred years?" Sen-hime asked rapid fire.
"She used two Oni abilities at the same time to bring the Shinsengumi back to life and forward to December 2012 the day I killed Hakuouki. I waited a decade and then followed bringing back to life both Nagumo Kaoru and Kondou Isami in order to continue my fight against Hakuouki. But rest assured, music is our medium now." Kazama surprised her with his level of honesty and how forthright he was.
"I need to see her." Sen told him bluntly.
"I suppose you will be leaving Japan then, won't you?"
Shukke's Point of View:
"You know, it doesn't feel like they are coming just to see us if it's the day before the sword competition they won last year. Doesn't at least Saito have to participate as the winner?" Cat complained in the snow the day the guys were set to meet with us. Of course, she wouldn't be going to the park to meet them, as it was my job to tell them the news, but she still felt the need to complain about it.
"They were told not to show at the competition because it would cause a frenzy." I told her with a short sigh.
"Don't you sigh at me, woman!" Cat snapped at me.
"I think they chose this day because it's been a year." Ryane interjected in a casual attempt to stop Cat's rampage before it began. "We can bring in the rest of the groceries without you, so head towards the park, eh?"
I nodded and began to walk. The trip itself was uneventful, the most exciting thing being a dog barking at me from behind a fence but it felt like that walk took decades. I had been fairly sure in what I would say to the boys when I met them, but knowing what I was going to say didn't make me feel less guilty.
We'll be there. I had said. It was a lie to imply that the other girls would be there too, but I felt they would not come if I texted anything else.
Saito and Okita were in sight now, though they must not have recognized me. It was only when Shinpachi ran forward and thwacked them both that they looked over at me, the hope and excitement dying in their eyes. When I reached the band they all looked disappointed.
"They are not coming are they?" Saito asked quietly.
I shook my head. "None of us are interested in being camp followers." I said clearly. "We will become your equals and when we get to that point we will meet you face to face. Until that time, don't get in our way, and judge our efforts honestly and clearly. This is the meaning of our Plan."
They looked struck and as I turned to walk away, Okita found his voice. "Why! Why can't she just come be with me? Why does she care about others thinking she is equal or not, as long as I think she is?"
"Because she won't think she is." I explained, my back still turned. With that I took a step forward only to have Saito grab my arm.
"Will you at least give this back to Ryane?" His hand went to his short sword and I felt bad as I refused.
"She can't be branded as yours if we are to walk the path we chose. Not yet anyway." I knew it was vague and confusing but I couldn't tell him anything of the plan. Not even Shinpachi knew any of this. He was probably angry. He thought I was bringing the girls back. In a way I had used him to ensure my own plan.
"Shukke," Ah there he was, he did sound upset. "What is going on?"
"There are some things I cannot explain. Trust me." I told him.
"You better make it right!" He said forcefully.
"You have my word." I assured him and walked away.
It would be made right.