I'm back. Yay, my AP exams are almost over, and I'm at the point where if I study anymore, my brains are going to come out in a puddle of goo. So I'm going to try to update all of my stories with decently long chapters. And then I'll figure out how I'm going to be updating from here on out and post it on my profile and in an author's note.

First is to respond to a comment I got from a Guest, but which might interest the rest of you. So first off, you might have a little misunderstanding about Blaise's prowess. You see, her father originally intended to only teach her a little self-defense, but she took it farther than that because she wanted to learn, so she pushed herself for years. Then, when her parents died, she had to use those fighting skills to survive, so in that aspect, she had mostly the same background as the captains since she had to fight to survive for years and train to kill, like them.

Secondly, you are right that Blaise was fairly quick to start to trust them, and let me explain why. First off, you've already seen that Blaise and Bella have both gone into vastly different circumstances and adapted. First when their parents died, and later when they ended up in the past in a country neither of them has ever been in. So they're both pretty adaptable, and when they were caught by the Shinsengumi, it's not like Blaise would be able to fight her way out of their. She's strong, but not Superwoman. Or is it Wonderwoman? I always get those two messed up. Anyway (focus, Ash) the reason that Blaise began to trust them is because her instincts told her that they aren't quite as cold-blooded as she originally thought. And since Okita was the only one to threaten Bella, she's willing to give the others a chance since she doesn't really have any choice but to live with them. So while she doesn't trust them completely, she's willing to go out on a limb if it's the only option that she has that can keep both her and her sister safe. But yeah, there's going to be a little back and forth with that as Blaise questions that herself, because, in my mine, levels of trust can change based on circumstances and necessities.

Lastly, I haven't done a good job of showing the flaws that I planned for Blaise to have, so that part is true. But hopefully this chapter will help to shed some light on those, and begin to make them more apparent. But some of her flaws, or those that I have planned, is that she isn't always going to think first, act later, especially when her sister is involved. And that's going to get her into some trouble later. Other are trusting, and understanding emotion, as well as one that you guys may have started to pick up on. It's subtle but you might have noticed some signs of it. If not, it's going to become a lot more obvious later on. So that's that. And thank you for letting me know what you thought. I always love praise, but criticism like this is always welcome. I hadn't even realized that I'd somehow morphed Blaise into a Mary Sue until I got your review. Sorry for the late reply, but I didn't want to make a chapter just to reply to it. So thank you for that, and I hope that I manage to live up to your expectations.

So that Bible is done, and now here is the chapter. And I'm putting this in now. This chapter is going to piss people off. And I suppose it could have a trigger, maybe? So I'm saying this now. this chapter has nongraphic mentions of torture and violence. That part will be the first italicized segment so if you really don't want to read it, you can skip that part. And finally, on with the chapter.

Blaise closed her eyes as she leaned against the tree and tried to figure out her conflicting feelings. All of her instincts told her that she was safe here, that she finally didn't have to watch her back every minute of the day. But then her mind would butt in and remind her of all the times that she's been betrayed by someone or betrayed someone herself.

After a few moments, Blaise found herself dozing off. She tried to keep her eyes open, but with her lack of sleep these last few nights, she eventually gave in to sleeps seductive pull after she saw that Bella was still with Susumu.

Her relief at finally sleeping was short lived as she was immediately pulled into a familiar nightmare.

Her client stood in front of the man who had just attacked him. The man had had a gun, but Blaise had managed to easily take it from him and throw him on the ground. She had expected that to be the end of it.

But then her client called her forward. "Get him to talk."

"Excuse me, sir?" Blaise asked in confusion. "He doesn't seem like he'll talk to me either."

Her client's face contorted in anger. "And here I thought that the agency had given me someone smart, but I suppose not. Beat him until he talks, girl," he barked out.

Blaise's body began to shake. She tried to refuse, but then-

"Blaise-san!"

"Onii-chan!"

Blaise jolted upright and nearly headbutted Susumu. Looking around, she realised that both he and Bella were crouching over her with concerned expressions.

"What are you two doing?"

Hearing her voice, they both seemed to calm down slightly. Susumu told her, "You seemed to be having a nightmare while sleeping under this tree."

Bella nodded and said, "You were sweating a lot and making noises."

As they spoke, Blaise began to remember her dream and felt sick. Quickly, she leaned to the side and began to empty what little was in her stomach.

After a moment, she managed to gasp out, "Get Bella out of here."

"Okay," she heard Heisuke's voice reply. When did he get here?

When she finally finished, Blaise began to pull herself up and away from the puddle of vomit only to feel Susumu's arm wrap around her waist and help her into a sitting position, leaning against the tree.

Uncertain about what she should say, Blaise could only stare at him until Susumu handed her a handkerchief. Looking awkward, he murmured, "You have a little-"

Blaise quickly snatched the cloth and wiped her face. When she finished, she took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry about that. Heisuke probably came here to get us for dinner. You should go eat. I won't try to escape."

Ignoring her, Susumu took a seat against the tree as well, on the side opposite of where Blaise had vomited. "Blaise-san, I know that you don't quite trust us, and I am aware that we haven't given you very much reason to. So, I do understand that I don't have much credibility when I say this, but you can talk to me."

Despite herself, Blaise felt touched by his concern. But how could she tell him about her dream.

That dream. Blaise shuddered as she thought about it, but her stomach was mercifully empty.

That had been one of Blaise's first jobs, and the first time that she had ever tortured a man for money. But not the last time, she forced herself to remember.

Over the years, Blaise had become apathetic towards the pleas of the people she was ordered to torture or kill, focusing only on doing what she had to. But the first time always haunted her, maybe because it had been so unexpected or because she hadn't been prepared for his pleas as she split open his flesh.

Blaise couldn't tell anyone about it, especially not a group of men she still wasn't sure if she could trust.

Finally, Blaise forced herself to say, "I'm fine, Susumu. It was just a bad memory."

Susumu continued to stare at Blaise, clearly unconvinced. Seeing that she wouldn't be able to talk him out of fussing over her, Blaise began to stand up, forcing Susumu to do the same.

Unfortunately, Blaise quickly found out that she wasn't in the best shape to be walking around as she had to cling to the trunk of the tree in order to stay up. Seeing Susumu approaching to offer her an arm, she forced her legs to function and said, "I should go find Bella. Otherwise, who knows what those guys will end up teaching her. If Shinpachi ends up passing on his eating habits to her, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to reverse the damage."

Ignoring her attempt to weasel out of the conversation, Susumu said, "Blaise-san, very few members of the Shinsengumi are innocent. I won't judge you for your past."

Forcing herself to ignore the hope that sprang up in her chest at the thought of finally being able to tell someone her secrets without facing any scorn, Blaise smiled and said, "Then it's a good thing that there is nothing for you to judge."

Both knowing that they had come to a stalemate, for now, the two began to walk towards the dining area, where, true to Blaise's prediction, they heard all of the captains settling down to eat. Before Blaise opened the door, Susumu leaned down to her height and whispered, "Whatever secrets you are hiding, they are obviously poisonous. If you don't face them, and soon, you won't be able to survive in our unit," before disappearing, presumably to eat his own meal.

Feeling rattled, Blaise leaned against the pillar next to the door for a moment, trying to calm her heart. Blaise had never really gotten over what she had done for the last few years, but she had avoided it, to the point that she rarely thought about it anymore. And now, here was someone telling her that that wasn't enough. That she had to do more than just ignore it, but to actually accept it.

And how the hell do I do that? Maybe I should go to confession and tell the priest all my sins. Blaise snorted at the thought.

Even if there were such a thing here, what would he say anyway? "Don't worry, my child, everyone carries some darkness in their soul, but the Lord will forgive you if you follow his teachings faithfully from now on."

Yeah, right. Or actually, that would probably be exactly what he would say, while backing away from me in terror, hoping that I wouldn't kill him too.

Shaking her head, Blaise forced herself to focus. What the hell is this all of a sudden? I already know that I'm a monster. I made my peace with it years ago. So why on earth is just a few days spent with these people making me into a fool? Snap out of it, Blaise. You chose this path, and you have to stick to it, now more than ever, if you want Bella to survive.

Holding that last thought in her mind, Blaise was able to suppress all of the uneasy feelings in her heart and finally entered the dining room.

As soon as she opened the door, she was immediately assaulted by an overeager Bella and several voices asking if she was alright. Saying that she was alright while carefully prying Bella off of her, Blaise finally got to her seat. As she began to try eating, she was cut off by Bella.

"You're lying, Onii-chan." Too shocked by that statement to even try to form a retort, Blaise could only listen as she continued on. "Your eyes are all red like you were crying and you got sick too. Stop lying, Onii-chan."

Before she could come up with an excuse, Heisuke piped up, "Yeah, you looked pretty bad back there, Blaise. Kinda freaked us both out."

That's right, he was there too, Blaise thought in irritation. "It's fine. I probably just got sick because I'm not used to the routine here. Give me a couple days and I'll be perfect. Now can we start eating already, please?"

The captains all glanced at each other, as though trying to figure out which of them should try to get the young boy to talk. As Kondou began to say something, Sano cut him off, saying, "If the boy really refuses to talk, then forcing him will only make things worse. Besides, I'm hungry."

Surprisingly enough, Hijikata actually agreed, murmuring, "We have another way to find out what happened anyway."

As the captains all sighed in resignation, the meal finally began, though no one could breach the dark aura surrounding Blaise, not even her sister.

As the Abe siblings went to bathe with Shimada standing guard for them, the captains stayed in the dining room, with Yamazaki joining them.

Once they were all settled, Hijikata asked him, "What on earth happened this afternoon, Yamazaki-kun?"

Yamazaki bowed his head slightly and said, "I am not entirely certain. Blaise-san refused to tell me as well. However, from what I saw, I believe that it was a nightmare that started the whole event."

Sannan was quick to jump on his choice of words. "What do you mean by 'what you saw'? You were supposed to watch him from the shadows at all times."

Susumu quickly explained, "That was my assignment, however, it would appear that Blaise-san is quite skilled at observing his surroundings. Last night, he called to me when he left to get tea during dinner. Despite only having met me once, he was able to accurately identify me as the one who was following him. I had no choice but to show myself to him."

Kondou asked, "But what about this afternoon? Abe-kun seemed quite troubled by it."

"As I was saying sir, Blaise-san knew that I was following but agreed to allow it in exchange for my talking to him at times. This afternoon, I was entertaining his sister as he fell asleep while leaning against the sakura tree in the yard. After some time passed, I heard him moaning and found him in the throes of a nightmare.

"I was concerned that it might adversely affect the child to see her brother in such a situation, so I asked Toudou-san to take her away. After that, Blaise-san refused to say anything other than that he had been reliving a bad memory."

As all of the captains absorbed this new information, they tried to figure out how this might affect their organisation and their secret. After several minutes of deliberation, Hijikata finally ordered, "Yamazaki-kun, continue to watch Abe. If he makes any dangerous moves, inform us immediately. Until then, continue to try to figure out what secrets he is hiding and report back to us."

"Yes, sir."