Hijikata could not sleep, and found himself wandering around the ship, and made his way to the stern. It was much warmer in the south-west of Japan, much warmer than the climate in Edo or Kyoto, and much more humid. Could that kid even get used to such a weather, living in such a hot summer, what more near a volcano?

They would reach the harbor at Kagoshima Bay in the morning, and their quest would almost be complete. But for some reason, he could not help but feel like there was something at bay, a deep, foreboding feeling that settled in his gut. That feeling had been there ever since they, the idiotic bunch of kenjutsu fanatics from the Shieikan in Edo had become the Mibu Roshigumi, and following the assassination… no, the passing of Serizawa Kamo, being renamed the Shinsen-Gumi, and ever since finding that kid and bringing her into their ranks, had increased greatly. For a time, that feeling was dulled, following the successes of their little organization, but it somehow returned.

"Hijikata-san, what's bothering you?" Souji asked him as he emerged from the shadows. "You don't have to stay up late with all that useless paper work anymore, so there's no reason for you to be up so late, is there?"

"Oh, it's you, Souji," Hijikata said, quickly coming out of the burrows of his thoughts.

"Hijikata-san, you didn't hear a word of what I said, didn't you?" Souji asked him teasingly, chuckling when Hijikata tried to dispel his claims. "You know, everyone here knows that the Oni Fukuchou is actually an act you put on to have us toe the line."

"You didn't come here to tell me this, didn't you, Souji?" Hijikata asked him in return. If it went without saying that Souji had looked upon Kondou as a cross between an older brother, father and close uncle in one, then Hijikata would be his strict, brother who cared too much about him although he refused to show it. The countless fights and arguments between them, all made in Souji's humor, were a testament to their strange, but close relationship. "Speak your mind."

Souji sighed. "Always direct to the point, aren't you?" he commented, looking towards the stars. "Ne… Hijikata-san, what did you want to gain coming on this… adventure?"

Hijikata knew that the answer to this question was not simple at all. Just to get Chizuru back from Kazama was not enough, it had been their common goal, but it was a weak one. That point had been established the very moment they stepped away from Edo, with enough time to turn back on their quest. But they still continued. "Perhaps, I wanted to see if that I wasn't too late," he said after a long pause. He loved her, that miraculous girl. She was already gone when he realized how much she had needed her, when he realized that ever since she came into their lives, she had been supporting him, and the rest of them with that small frame of hers. He had made the greatest mistake in his life, and he feared that he would reap the payments of his mistake soon enough.

"You were a blind fool," Souji told him bluntly. "But I'm glad that you can see again. As for me… I don't think that even if she came back with us, she'd end up with me…" He raised his hand forwards, as if he was reaching for the wind. "I'm fine now, but who knows, what would happen in the future? I don't have the heart to make her a young widow. She's too adorable, and too lonely as it is."

"Souji…" Hijikata admonished Souji for saying such blatantly pessimistic and inauspicious words. Souji acted as if his tuberculosis had been a weird flu, and thus he and Kondou put it to the way he wanted it to be. Kondou had been moved to tears to know that Souji was cleared of the sickness, and he had been elated, but still… if Souji himself thought it to be this way, then, there was no way around it. Souji was a warrior, a damned good one at that, and he knew the limitations of his own body better than anyone. He was not even surprised when Matsumoto told him that he had contracted the life-threatening disease, taking it as a fact, and not a curse. "Then why did you come along?"

Souji chuckled. "I wanted to make sure that she's happy," he replied in his usual manner. "I'd shred that bastard into meat-strips and feed them to the rest of his clan for dinner if I see a frown on her face when we get there." More than anything, he knew that Chizuru deserved some measure of happiness after all that she had been through, all that she had weathered with them. He wanted to tease her one last time, with one of his bad jokes, and see her honey-colored eyes widen with untold anger, although she had been too socialized as a demure Japanese girl to act on her frustration. "Frankly, I'd rather you than anyone to win her heart, if I couldn't do it."

Hijikata let out a bitter chuckle. "You always say the strangest things, Souji," Hijikata said, looking at Souji. There was once upon a time when he relied on Souji to do what he could not in the name of the Shinsen-Gumi, and now, Souji was returning the favor. That gesture in and of itself was enough to cripple a man with honor and a happiness that only brothers in arms could realize.

"That's because you always expect the impossible," Souji returned. "Not only from us, but from yourself. If she wasn't here in those years when we just started to get busy… you would've burned out from exhaustion."

"Shut up, Souji," Hijikata exclaimed, a typical reaction whenever Souji said something particularly poignant. "Go on, have some rest. I'll be coming behind you." As he shooed Souji away, he could not help but to turn to look across the horizon. It was still pitch dark, but he could already make out the lines that was Sakurajima, the volcano which they had suspected sheltered the Kazama clan. In a small voice, he sent a prayer to her. "We are already close to you, Chizuru, wait for us."

Tears streamed down Chizuru's eyes when she removed herself from her vision. She had thought to check the progress of the Shinsen-Gumi, because Amagiri had joined them during dinner and told them that they had already crossed the borders of the Satsuma-han, and had already revealed all of the Oni villages along their path.

Kazama was silent, and Hana looked strangely pleased. She quickly finished dinner and retired to her room with Sayo, saying nothing. Kazama made no effort to follow her, knowing that she needed the moment to herself, but stood outside her door in case she needed him.

She did not imagine that she could see Hijikata and Souji so clearly, the both of them bathed in moonlight and crowned like the stars, like they had been when she first met them. They talked to one another, and from Hijikata… she now knew that his love for her had existed for a long, long time… She was not crying because of the lost time between them. There was no longer any need for her to look towards the past when she had an infinite future before her. She was crying because it was only until then did she realize how much she missed them, just being around with them. She even missed Souji's terrible jokes, because it had been all she had.

The door opened and Sayo admitted Kazama in. She remained at the doorway, behind the silken screen that separated the entrance and the rest of the room. A great sakura tree was embroidered onto the screen at her request, with white and pink flowers, just like the one at the Nishi Hongan-ji, and under it, a red rose, so red that it seemed to be burning. At the corner of her eye, Chizuru could see Kazama, because of his fair coloring, and she turned towards him when he sat next to her.

"You are a strange woman indeed, my future wife," he told her, bringing an arm around her shoulders. He realized that it was how she liked him to hold her best, because she could rest her head on his shoulders, a gesture that brought her great comfort. "Your ennobled peasants and your brother are coming. This should be a reunion that would make you so happy that you cannot sleep, and yet, your tears are not of joy."

She did not respond, but continued to sob silently. Her strength was reserved for the world, for those around her, but it had never been for herself. "Chikage…" she murmured, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as well, continuing to cry. His yukata was now soaked, and he could feel her hot tears on his skin, as they had seeped through the fabrics of thin silk. "I'm so sorry…"

"There is no need to apologize, Chizuru," he told her, kissing her forehead lightly. "Not all tears are evil." This would not be the only time that he would allow her to borrow his strength. He would do so for all eternity if need be. Gently, he cradled her, and until her tears had dried, not because she was feeling better, but because she had no more of them to cry with. Moving towards the basin of water that was always kept in her room, he dipped the cotton cloth laid next to the basin into the water and wrung it until it was only slightly damp. When he returned, he gently wiped her tear-stained face. "Your eyes are swollen, my future wife."

It was now hard for Chizuru to even blink. She let Kazama carry her onto her futon, watched by Sayo. As he pulled her blanket over her, she put her hand on his. "Stay with me, please," she pleaded, holding onto him for dear life.

He nodded. "I'll stay until you fall asleep," he told her softly. She closed her eyes, and soon enough, she was already sleeping. Gently, he put down her hand and went on his way. There were many preparations to be done, for the arrival of the leader of another clan was to be celebrated with a decent amount of pomp, even if he had not announced his arrival. If the Shinsen-Gumi would be there at the same time, then… it would do his clan no good to forget to provide them the hospitality they deserved as his guests.

He was met his grandmother at the hallway once all the arrangements for the coming morning had been made. "She loves you more than she herself knows," Hana told her grandson, gesturing towards Chizuru's room. "You have done well, Chikage."

"She is the only woman I allow to reveal her fears and pain to me," Kazama replied. "There will be no other." His words made his grandmother smile. Deep down, he knew that Hana had never expected him to secure a wife so that their clan would have a new heir, she had wanted him to marry to have someone to love him. She was more than happy for Chizuru and her grandson to have found one another.

"But a storm is coming," Hana continued. "I feel it in my old bones, Chikage. That Nagumo boy, he seeks to do great evil…"

"I will kill him if he dares to do anything to us," Kazama swore. "He will not be allowed to touch any one of you."

Hana nodded, and squeezed her grandson's shoulder. "While Chizuru carries only the light in her heart, her twin carries hatred and malice. It is beyond my power to know his designs, but I fear for you and our people. Chikage, promise me that you will not do anything too foolish." She knew that her grandson would have already sensed it, that foreboding shadow that seemed to be nearing their lands. The Yukimura clan was indeed a wondrous family, able to produce a pair of twins on the opposite ends of every single variable. Perhaps the only similarity that Kaoru and Chizuru had, was that they shared almost the same face.

"I swear," Chikage reassured his grandmother. The promise of an Oni was final. He would see it done, no matter what. "Nothing will happen to us, not to our family or Chizuru."

"Then go and see to it that you are well-rested," Hana told him with a smile. "You cannot run on borrowed energy. You are far too grumpy when you lack sleep."

The port of Kagoshima Bay was nothing like the men of the Shinsen-Gumi had ever seen before. Where Edo Bay and Osaka Bay were filled with a mixture of Japanese and Western ships, all armed and dangerous, with a few trading and fishing ships between them, Kagoshima Bay was the exact opposite. There were a mixture of Japanese and ships from China and Korea, sometimes even the lands further south. There, there were more trading and fishing ships than there were armed naval vessels, and the iron-clad Western vessels were rarely seen.

It was said that the Satsuma-han, although not the richest domain, but still one of the richest, had secretly traded with foreign merchants even when the gates of trade had been closed before the arrival of the Black Ships. It was so far away from the control of the Shogun in Edo, that its Daimyo could do everything they wanted to unnoticed. Now, the supposed smuggling was now open and legal trade, and business went about as usual.

When they disembarked their ferry, Heiskue gave himself a long, long stretch. "It's good to have a nice, open space to walk on!" he announced.

"Heisuke, you've only just been cooped on that ferry for two days," Shinpachi said, giving Heisuke a good, hard smack on the back to throw him off balance. "You're such a wimp."

"Shinpat-san, that was too evil of you!" Heisuke shouted.

"Will you please be quiet?" Hijikata shouted louder, actually garnering the attention of the passersby around them. He cleared his throat and said, "We're attracting far too much attention to ourselves."

Having sobered up from their previous antics, Heisuke and Shinpachi drooped their shoulders and hung their heads low, walking as if they were criminals ready to be executed. Harada and Souji could not help but laugh inwardly, while Saito shook his head.

"This season's daikon sure are expensive, aren't they?" they heard a woman complain to the vegetable seller. "I'm sure that they cost two mon less last year."

The vegetable seller smiled sheepishly. "We don't really have a choice, madam, not since the plantations of the Kazama clan were moved."

"I wonder where they went, really," the woman replied. "They provided such good produce, it's impossible that they went out of business with the war going on…"

Another woman then whispered to the two of them, "I heard that the young master of the Kazama clan was involved in the war," she said in a low voice, but not low enough to be undetected. "He wasn't seen around here much since the war started, wasn't he?"

"Could the Bakufu have eradicated the Kazama family?" the first woman asked, but the vegetable seller disagreed with her.

"Can't be that. Didn't the Emperor announced that there would be a pardon for everyone involved in the war?" the vegetable-seller corrected. "But it's not only the daikon plantations that were gone. It seems like the entire clan disappeared like a cloud of smoke!"

"Ah, yes, yes! My cousin passed by the beach their manor used to be in, and he told me that everything's gone!"

The Shinsen-Gumi soon got too far from the conversation to glean anything, but what seemed to be market-place gossip actually brought a wealth of information to them. They decided to split up. Saito and Souji would go forwards to look for an inn for them to stay and act as a temporary base, while the rest of them prowled the market place.

They met up again in an hour and a half, at an inn right beside a tea-shop that sold sweets as well.

"Looks like that bastard's family is quite influential here," Souji commented, looking out the window, towards the market place.

"It is a surprise that they actually dictate the prices of vegetables," Saito added. "The inflation at Kagoshima must have risen then."

"We're not here to discuss economics," Hijikata instructed. "Shinpachi, Sanosuke, tell them what we've found."

They had bought a recently updated map, one without the Kazama manor and its surrounding estates. "Well, people used to go up Sakurajima for little day trips, but since somewhere in winter, everything disappeared," Harada reported, bringing a magnifying glass to the image of Sakurajima. "There used to be inns with onsen, and walking trails and shrines, but they're all gone."

"People who go there now only say that they see the volcano and nothing else," Shinpachi added.

"That's strange," Heisuke said. "When we went into those crazy villages, we could see everything except the houses and the people in them." The Oni villages, although well-hidden, could not be wholly erased from any area. There would always be something, a magical Oni object that placed some sort of net around the area, making it invisible to outsiders.

Harada sighed. "There's more," he continued. "That bastard's family is actually quite popular with the people. They don't really know that they're Oni, but they've been in Kagoshima long enough to have an alliance with the Shimazu clan." The Shimazu clan were the family of the daimyo that ruled the Satsuma-han. It was interesting news indeed. "The daimyo granted the bastard the volcano and its surrounding lands just before we set out from Edo, but at that time, no one knew why."

"Should we pay a visit to the daimyo then?" Saito suggested.

"It's safer if we keep a low profile," Hijikata stressed. Although they were the agents of the Bakufu, the Shinsen-Gumi were widely celebrated following the ending of the war, for their deeds of bravery and courage. "We don't want to make more enemies than we should."

"Understood," Saito replied, and focused on the map. "Sano, Shinpachi, is there anyone that will carry us towards the volcano?"

Shinapchi nodded. "We can just hop onto any fishing boat since it's quite near," he answered. "But, finding anything there, and the defenses of the village would be near impossible if no one can see anything there."

"Isn't this a little too much of a bother?" Souji commented, shaking his head. "Hijikata-san, what brilliant ideas do you have to share with us?"

"I think that the defenses of that bastard's village aren't like that of the other crazy villages," Hijikata answered. "The rest of them were based around this magical… er… thing, so we could easily find them, and the villagers would have no choice to reveal themselves to us. What if… and I know that this is a wild guess even for me… that the bastard somehow uses Ki itself to hide the village?"

Harada raised an eyebrow. "Didn't the fist-fighter's brother use his own Ki to power that ofuda in his village?" he asked Hijikata. "That bastard isn't really that powerful is he?" By then, they had already learned that the difference between Oni and humans without accounting for lifespan, was that they could apply their Ki in numerous ways out of combat, which somehow contributed to their speedy healing. "Hiding a whole village must've sucked him dry!"

"Or rather… he uses other people to do it for him," Souji continued Hijikata's speculation. "A whole team of cousins employed just to cast the illusion…"

"So how do we break it?" Heisuke asked. "We can't really break the illusion if we can't find the people casting it in the first place…"

A silence dawned upon the men of the Shinsen-Gumi. They did not realize how close they were from the truth, but at the same time, it was the truth that they could not achieve one half of the task without completing the other. They needed a miracle to reveal the Kazama village, and they needed it in the shortest time-frame possible.

Knowing that there was nothing more they could do, they decided to retire until it was dinner time. They needed their rest from a long day navigating through a new city. Hijikata, on the other hand, decided to take a break at the inn's courtyard.

In that moment, Hijikata could not help but feel that something, or rather, someone was watching them. A presence, a gust of Ki that was explosively powerful, but at the same time, one that could not have belonged to warriors like them. It was a presence he knew. He looked around him, and found nothing. He must be tired from their long journey, he deemed.

"Hijikata-san…"

Chizuru… It was Chizuru! He was sure that he had heard her voice, but when he turned around, there was nothing, only the rustle of the leaves of the nearby tree in the wind. She was not there at all, she never was.

In the Kazama manor, Chizuru once again found herself looking at the men of the Shinsen-Gumi. For some unknown reason, she called out to Hijikata, she never knew that he would turn around. For that briefest second, it seemed like they were truly meeting one another face to face.

She was glad that they made it to Kagoshima safely, and would await the day they would arrive at the Kazama village. She missed them too much, and she had a great many things to tell them all, especially Hijikata.

HAN: Naaaaw, that is what I call an excellent form of bromance between our boys in the Shinsen-Gumi. Please do tell me if you liked how I showed how the characters' relations to one another. ^.^ I personally rather enjoyed this chapter. Am running out of fluffy, sappy things to write. HAH HAH.

Divine Rosa: EEEKS Thanks for the reminder! I've corrected it now heh heh ^.^ I guess she did what Kazama wanted because she wanted him to be happy about it heh heh. I think it would be in a separate fic, something like a sequel heh heh.

Lilly-chan: Noted~

Guest: Noted! Oh in the game you can choose whoever she ends up with as you'll be provided choices at several points at the plot, which will affect our boys' feelings towards her. ^.^