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All This Noise

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Sano lunged at the monster, ramming the spear's blade into its left shoulder, only to gape slightly when it instead hauled him up with sheer force and tossed him away.

"Harada!" Ibuki exclaimed, freezing when the stark-white creature rounded on him when hearing his voice, before a head of black hair barreled into it and knocked them both away from him.

Kawa scrambled away in time to block the creature's reckless swing for her head, her katana clashing with its short sword, teeth bared as she glared up at its blazing red eyes. "Ibuki, go!" She ordered, breaking away for a half-second only to swing her blade on its head, narrowly swerving to avoid getting her right arm cut off, perking up when the creature's short sword grazed her upper arm and caused it to freeze. "Shit."

"G-give me blood…!" The creature snarled as it threw itself at her, barely stopping when she slashed at its belly, grinning at the flash of fear in her grey eyes. It tried to snatch her again before a snarl sounded from nearby as two katana blades halted it in its tracks, one through its forehead and the other through its heart.

"Souji!" Kawa breathed as she had stepped aside when he rushed forward to intervene, looking at the owner of the second sword as the beast dropped and smiling elatedly, "Toshi."

"You're all right, Yasakawa?" Toshi asked, minding the crimson that had traveled down her right forearm, searching her grey eyes and taking heart that she looked fine otherwise.

"Yeah, it's just a scratch," Kawa shrugged before being pulled tight to Souji's chest by his arm that had found her back, giving a slight squeak at his abruptness. "S-Souji…"

"Dummy, your arm's leaking…" Souji scolded, normally-cocky voice quiet and rough at her nonchalance, letting her draw back a bit to look on her with relief. He ignored her flustered look as he pulled away with reluctance to withdraw a handkerchief from his haori and press it on her injury to keep it from bleeding further.

Kawa blushed at his worry, considering poking at how much of a worry-wart he was acting but she decided against it and instead smiled fondly. "You're cute when you worry." She mused more to him than anyone present.

Souji pouted at her comment and sighed slightly, "Shut up." He sniffed, cheeks pink at knowing they were the center of attention. Normally he didn't mind that, considering Kawa was more than a prize to be shown off, but he had acted impulsively and reality had that nagging way of dragging him out of his proverbial bubble.

"Hijikata-san, what about the monster?" Sano asked to bring everyone's attention to the felled party.

"Supposedly you can kill it by stabbing it in the head or the heart," San'nan-san said as he and Kondou came forward to check on them.

"Lucky shot, then," Souji mused to lone woman he had his arm around, earning a nod.

Kondou looked at them as he asked, "Is everyone all right?" He earned nods from the eight gathered, minding the look his prodigy shot the swordswoman with that she ignored.

Toshi smiled ruefully at her stubbornness, smile faltering when he sheathed his katana and scowled over at the shaky Ibuki, "If you lack any resolve, don't waltz into a battle like that."

Kawa shot a look at her look-a-like, shaking her head even as Souji's arm around her waist gave a squeeze.

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Regarding the small vial holding a syrup-looking red liquid inside, she frowned.

"The Bakufu obtained this through foreign trade," Yukimura Kodou, a bald man that looked near Kondou's age with slate grey eyes, said to those gathered, continuing, "this medicine is called Ochimizu. If taken, one's abilities in combat will increase substantially and they'll obtain remarkable healing abilities. The only drawback is that one's sanity will be lost in the process."

Serizawa commented with a huff, "then it's not completely full of perks."

Yukimura nodded, "Yes; another thing is they can only use those powers under cover of night. We've dubbed those who take this medicine as 'Rasetsu'."

Sounds worse than I thought
, Kawa mused as a grim quiet settled in the hall.

"Wait a sec, I remember that guy, that was Iesato!" Sano spoke up then, looking between Shinpachi and Toshi.

Heisuke gaped at that as he added, "he came with us from Edo!"

"You used that horseshit medicine on one of ours?" Shinpachi demanded with a hard look at Serizawa and Yukimura.

Niimi reasoned calmly, "he was supposed to commit seppuku for breaking the code; it's the same difference."

"That's horseshit too," Souji commented.

"Better than seppuku!" Serizawa cut in, gauging the hardened stares from both Shinpachi and Souji.

"Bullshit, seppuku is a reprieve in comparison to that witch's brew!" Kawa snapped with a flippant gesture at the vial.

"Yasakawa." Toshi snapped her name, meeting her frustrated gaze and holding it before watching her back down with her glare fixed on the floor. "Serizawa-san, I don't agree with using that medicine; Iesato took it and he barely recognized us!" Never mind that what Iesato had turned into tried to kill the stewing woman present.

Kondou agreed as he looked to the named man, "I must agree with Toshi on this."

"But according to Yukimura-dono, there's still room for improvement," Niimi put in again.

"And to do so you'll need another test subject!" Toshi snapped as he turned his irritation on the weasel spokesperson.

Niimi valiantly resisted cowering when caught by the other's glare, "The Bakufu ordered this, if you recall, Hijikata-kun!"

Toshi stated tersely, "there's no need to heed an unreasonable order!"

"Generally a warrior considers an order from the Bakufu to be a blessing, unreasonable or not." Serizawa cut in before the argument could escalate, minding the livid flash in Toshi's hardened gaze, smirking grimly as he finished, "though it makes sense you don't understand it, considerin' you weren't born into a warrior family."

Inhaling as the mad idea of gutting him like she promised entered her mind, Kawa stood from her seat with Souji to leave the hall. If she stayed she would rip him a new one for insulting Toshi…

"Did I say something wrong, Hijikata-kun?" Serizawa called at seeing her leave, watching the woman stop before exiting the hall.

Closing her eyes tight as her fisted hands at her sides trembled in her anger, Kawa answered over her shoulder, "I am tired, that's all." Heavens knew she dared not look at him unless it was to throw her sword at his smug face.

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A yawn escaped her as she drew her arm back, and she looked up from under her brow at the dummy.

It was one of the tall straw dummies they used when training, but she had doodled a crude image of a certain old dog and stuck it to the front of the dummy. Flexing her fingers on the handle of her katana, she exhaled and minded the dummy's face as that man's smug words the other night replayed in her mind; lip curling, she rushed the dummy with a growl and lashed out.

Lowering the sword to her side, she looked back at the dummy as the top half hit the ground with the doodle still attached. Grinning wryly at her success, she returned her blade to its scabbard at her hip and sighed aloud.

"Ya shouldn't be moving your arm so much, babe." A familiar voice said from the walkway nearby, earning a cocked brow from her as she glanced his way, and the owner added knowingly, "It's only been a day or so but ya can't go off killin' people with a bum arm."

Rolling her eyes, she remarked as he toed his sandals on and approached her, "I thought you'd be catty that I left without telling you." The night in question he had gone to her room to see if she was all right, and he had spent the night with her doing the thing it seemed they both had been putting off. He had hardly left her side since.

He paused for a second and pouted playfully, "Kinda was, but I figured ya hadn't left me for good. Considerin' everything, anyway." He added with a tilt of his head, green eyes brightening when her cheeks turned pink.

Kawa smiled up at him, stepping away to pick up the doodle from the dummy's severed head. "Considering that too, you already know I won't leave you." She said as she dusted the doodle of dirt, pouting slightly when he took the paper from her hands.

Souji looked on the portrait and laughed, handing it back to her, "I'd say it's a spittin' image of him! Ya really captured his 'dead eyes of a fish' look, babe," he chuckled as she grinned cheerily.

"Never took one art class, either," Kawa giggled, leaning up to kiss him, her smile returning when he reciprocated all-too-happily, drawing away with reluctance and a hand on his chest. "Thanks, Souji."

"For what?" Souji wondered, pouting a bit at being forced away from her lips, holding her hand to his chest on reflex.

Smiling fondly at his affection, Kawa shrugged, "for staying with me. I'd have prolly done the unthinkable by now, if you hadn't been with me for the last couple of days."

Souji bit back a wince at the thought of the consequences of her breaking the code, knowing without a doubt that the sentence would be worse on her because she was a woman, squeezing her hand in his grip. "Doubt that, princess. If you'd gutted that asshole right then, I'd grab you and we'd run away like we talked about doin'… Ya already know I don't wanna see you die." He promised with a confident smirk.

Kawa quieted at the reminder and she nodded, smirking back albeit wryly, "I know that, too… we'd have to run anyway, considering Toshi would yell my ears off if otherwise." She mused.

They both winced at that.

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"Why can't I go…?"

Exhaling shortly at the whiny tone in her voice, Toshi looked at his 'sister' as they paused in going to say farewell to their friends, "because your arm's still on the mend. 'Sides, Kondou-san felt it would be easier on Souji's behalf if you stayed home. Don't blame me like I know you're about to, either, it was Kondou-san who was picking names." Never mind that Souji and Kawa with Serizawa on the same trip didn't sit well with him.

Kawa might actually succeed in killing that man if she were to go to Osaka.

Cheeks rosy, Kawa rubbed her bum arm gingerly and looked elsewhere, "You both knew about that, didn't you?" She asked in a quiet tone.

Toshi shook his head and ruffled her hair, smirking when she shooed his hand off, "Neither of you are very subtle." He offered innocently, his smirk lingering as she scowled up at him before storming ahead to where their friends were.

Souji minded the disgruntled frown on her pretty face when she strode up to them, looking briefly past her at her 'brother' and he coughed to cover up a laugh at how cute she looked. "Sure ya gonna be all right with me gone, princess…?" He wondered before trailing off when she grabbed his haori's collar and leaned up to kiss him firmly.

Kawa smiled despite the heat in her ears and cheeks as she knew they had eyes on them, gently pushing away when Souji started to return the possessive lip-lock, looking up at his strangely-soft and perplexed green gaze. "You're gonna behave over there, aren't you?" She breathed, tilting her head slightly.

Souji pouted at her teasing, face softening as his arm around her waist tightened, "Can't promise the moon, but I'll try. You owe me when I get back, too." He reluctantly let go of her and playfully cocked a brow.

Kawa laughed at that and nodded, returning the playful look, "deal!"

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an: if yall are wondering why i'm bulk-updating this, i already have the chaps written out and am just proof-reading and polishing them when i post them. just an FYI
* "Castle" - Halsey