Chapter 2 - Disruptive influence.

It was about a month ago, that everything had started. Winter had not finished covering Edo and its surroundings with its cold whiteness. Falling in large flakes, the snow covered everything, causing slips and sneezes. And on this white and foggy day, not a soul was working out outside the Shinsengumi buildings, blaming the cold and wind that prevented anyone from stepping outside...

"What a bunch of lazy asses... I'll teach them to skip training..." Said a serious voice full of reproach.

"Now, now. Take it easy, Toshi. Anyway, it's true that we can't do anything in this weather." Said Kondo Isao, also nicknamed Gorilla.

"They'll see... No training 'because it's too cold', 'because the snow is too deep'... They'll see, I'll force them all to do seppuk-AATTCHAAAAAAUUUUM!"

Hijikata Toshiro, the Vice Commander of the Shinsengumi dreaded by all and feared by his enemies and allies alike, had just sneezed very loudly and grotesquely in the middle of his sentence.

"See Toshi! By getting upset like that, you're going to get even sicker!" Said Kondo.

He, Hijikata Toshiro, the demonic Vice-Commander of the Shinsengumi known for his tenacity and seriousness in his work; had just sneezed like a kid, and was stuck in bed with a forty degree fever. He had caught a huge cold - or was it the flu? - caused by his stubbornness in trying to train outside despite the unfavorable weather. He had tried to force the entire Shinsengumi outside, but had finally been brought in by Yamazaki, as cold as an icicle, frozen snot hanging from his nose.

And now, he was confined to bed and isolated in a separate room; to avoid contaminating the rest of the men, in case it was something transmissible, covered with a blanket... Made of bags of Anpans?

"What the hell is this!?" Toshi yelled, right before he started a sneezing and coughing fit again.

If Sougo had been there, he would have mocked his superior mercilessly, saying that all the mayo he had eaten was finally coming out of his body through his nostrils. But he had fortunately been sent away by Kondo-san.

"Take it easy Toshi. Yamazaki said it was good for you, that it would help you heal!" Kondo Gorilla smiled.

"How is a blanket made of Anpans going to help me! What would help me is to kill that Yamazaki moron! ATCHHHAAAA!"

Exhausted after shouting for nothing, the sick vice commander fell back heavily on his futon while breathing heavily, his head burning.

"Hold still, I've sent Sougo to buy some medicine, and he should be here any minute. The doctor said you'll need rest for a few days."

At that moment, the door opened, and Anpan-man (1) entered.

"Commander, someone is asking for you!" Yamazaki announced.

"I'll be right there. Tell them to enter the meeting room."

With that, the sliding door closed, leaving Kondo and Hijikata alone again.

"Well, don't go anywhere Toshi. We're having someone over today, I'll introduce you to him when you're in better shape."

The gorilla got up, and taking care to close the door of the room in which one of his officers was, headed towards the large room where someone important was obviously waiting for him. Toshiro heard his footsteps going away in the corridor; the parquet floor creaking under his weight in some places.

'Someone he's going to introduce to me, right?' he thought. 'If he's going to do that, then that person isn't going to leave anytime soon...'

His thoughts blurred, and finally, he closed his eyes. A little rest wasn't so bad after all.

And at the same time, a certain sadist was coming back from the commission he had been given. He could have gone to buy poison instead of medicine, but seeing that Kondo-san had insisted, he had gone to buy the medicine prescribed by the doctor.

He had crossed paths once again with the Yorozuya girl with whom he was almost always fighting.

She was walking in the park of the Kabuki district, despite the bad weather. But for once, he let it go. China didn't even seem to notice him, staring at the sky covered with thick grey clouds while the snow was still falling heavily. She seemed relatively happy. Maybe this was the first time she had seen snow? Oh no, he had remembered something. It's true, she did this all the time when it snowed. And when it rained, she was one of the few people still walking around outside, even if it was a typhoon. And she certainly looked radiant today. Quite the opposite of her usual monstrous attitude.

Sougo let out a cloud of mist from the thick scarf around his neck, not letting on the smile he must have had at that moment, and continued on his way. After all, Hijikata could die!

So he went on his way, and after several minutes, finally arrived in front of the massive wooden doors of the headquarters; and as he was about to push one of the doors, two agents of the Shinsengumi standing guard hurriedly opened the two doors, and stood on the sides with a formal salute. The captain decided to step aside too, and then saw a black government vehicle passing by, similar to those used by the old Matsudaira.

It seemed like that old ass had come to see Kondo-san today, and he hadn't been told about it... He was surprised that the commander had done so. Well, not really, when he thought about it. Commander Kondo Isao sometimes had the habit of forgetting to communicate information to his subordinates: he was too busy harassing the older Shimura sister.

The Captain of the First Division walked through the heavy doors that were still open, leaving the two officers standing guard to close behind him. He heard Yamazaki shouting something in the distance, and decided as usual not to pay attention. This Anpan-eater still hadn't understood that he was overeating which made him sick. It was really the 'Yamazaki syndrome' (2) …

After passing the path near the garden and courtyard where the troops usually trained - but which was currently deserted and buried under thirty centimeters of snow - he rushed down a wooden corridor connecting the different parts of the complex together. He was naturally suspicious and more than a little curious. So it was not strange that he wanted to know what had been said during his absence; and especially, who had he opened the door of the meeting room, and found himself in front of a heavy atmosphere. There was no noise, no words. Kondo-san was sweating profusely, without saying anything, sitting with his legs bent; and apparently, he had been like that for a long time. This was what Sougo had deduced from the pleading look his superior was giving him. Even worse, Commander Kondo didn't even dare to move a millimeter.

"Kondo-san, what are you doing? There was no official visit scheduled for today..." Sougo asked.

The captain glanced at the one and only person facing his superior, who seemed to terrify him to the point that he would have pooped his pants. Unless that was already the case…

It was an individual about as tall as Hijikata, who himself was slightly taller than Sougo. And someone taller was someone annoying. Well, according to Sougo's twisted mind.

Dressed in a Shinsengumi uniform barely visible under a long dark blue cloak folded under the individual's legs, it was very difficult to discern anything from the newcomer. Moreover, his face was totally hidden by bandages, and by a large and broad hat made of straw. Normally, anyone would have removed such a hat inside a building, or Kondo-san would have had to point it out. But the gorilla in question was on the verge of a heart attack. And since Sougo had entered, the stranger had not made a single move, which began to seriously stress the sadistic Captain; although his face did not show anything. He then sat down next to his superior, who gradually regained his composure, and said:

"ah, Sou-Sou-Sougo! You-You're here!" He stammered, despite his tense face. "H-h-h-here's a new m-m-member joining us today! The o-o-o-old Matsudaira sent him to us!"

"Ah, I see." Said Sougo calmly; although the fact that the stranger standing in front of him was less than 5 meters away from the Commander, with a katana lying at grasping distance from his hands.

Sougo would have to be on his guard. This was not a setting he liked.

"And so, why do we have this new member? Aren't there enough of us already?" Continued the Captain.

"W-well, it's an ex-express request from the old man, so there's nothing w-w-we can do!" Kondo rushed to answer.

Undoubtedly, the gorilla was about to shit himself, the time bomb in his stomach soon to be triggered. But while the situation still did not seem to advance an inch, the stranger facing them took out from under his cloak an arm also full of bandages; and a hand holding a sheet of paper carefully folded moved forward; before being placed carefully on the tatami. Then, making his bandaged arm disappear again under his cloak, the figure bowed respectfully in silence, before resuming his initial position, straight as an 'i'.

"Sou-Sou-Sougo..." Kondo managed to say.

The interested party turned his gaze towards his superior, and believed that he had a hallucination. His superior seemed to be gushing a torrent of sweat, like a waterfall; the liquid flowing uninterruptedly all over his body.

'You gotta be kidding me'...thought the sadistic Captain.

Finally, Sougo lost his patience, and stepped forward to retrieve the piece of paper.

"S-so? What's this?" Kondo asked fearfully.

"It's a letter... From the Old Man."

'Hi everrrybodyyyyy,

I entrrrrrrust youuuu with this piece of my perrsonal guarrrrd, and I hope you will take good caaaaaarre of it. It's a prrrrrecious iteeeeem, so I hope you will underrrrrstand that you are faaaaaarrr less valuable thaaaaan him. So I'll let you hooost hiiiiim as a Deputy Vice Commanderrrrr until I get him baaaaaaaack. Yoroshikuuuuuuu ~~~~

Matsudaira Katakuriko

Ps: His name is 'Kemono', but you can call him 'the white beast'.

PPs: He doesn't talk much.'

"I see... But wait!? Why are his 'PS' spelled normally!? Huh? Why!? And why a Post Post Scriptum? Couldn't he have said everything into one!?" Kondo-san shouted, who was obviously back to normal... Well, almost...

"Hey, Sougo, how dangerous is someone with that nickname?" Kondo-san asked, while starting to panic again.

But Sougo was rather upset. A Deputy Vice Commander. It seems he would have one more asshole to blow up in order to become the next commander.

"No idea. But I'm not going to be easily swayed for so few," the sadist said with a malicious glint in his eye; and staring at the new Vice Commander of the base.

"Ah, yes, you're right!" Hastened to say the gorilla, regaining all his courage. He took the opportunity to take Sougo's paper bag from the pharmacy. "I'll take his medicine to Toshi then! I'll let you show him his room!"

"What room? We don't have any more rooms, since Hijibaka is dying in his and the dormitory is full!" Retorted the sadist, with an evil look.

"Well, either he goes with Toshi, risking getting sick, or he goes with you."

"Well, I'll just put him with Hijibaka, so I can kill two birds with one stone." Sougo smiled.

"Don't say that Sougo!" Kondo scolded him with concern.

The gorilla was about to say something else, but was interrupted by a piece of paper held up to his face by a bandaged hand. Vice Commander Kemono had stood up without making a sound, and slipped as stealthily as the best Oniwabanshu ninja to his new superior.

'It doesn't matter. Anything will do. Even sleeping in the same room as a sick person.' Said the piece of paper.

"Ah, uh, okay..." Apologized Kondo, while handing back to Sougo the bag of medicine that he had practically snatched from his hands seconds before.

The commander then suddenly slipped away, while throwing a 'I'll leave you to it!" to his captain, before disappearing around the corner of the hallway.

"Tch." Sougo said. "Hey, you! Follow me!"

He expected to be reprimanded for speaking to a superior like that, but he wasn't. Vice-Commander Kemono followed him without a sound, one hand on his katana attached to his belt, which renewed Sougo's stress and suspicion. He himself wondered if this man could cut him before he had even taken his sword out of its sheath. He would have to test the power of this new element sooner or later.

Tense, the sadist opened the door to the room where Toshi was, the latter opening his eyes with difficulty.

"Damn, can't I have some peace and quiet in here?" Mayora complained.

"Oh, Hijibaka, sorry, but you're going to have a new roommate, and for an indefinite period of time." Replied the sadist as he threw the bag of medicine to the Vice Commander's side.

The demonic vice commander was about to complain about almost getting hit by said bag, when his eyes caught the dark and ominous figure standing behind his subordinate.

"Sou-Sougo, there's something behind you..."

"Ah, this? It's Deputy Vice Commander Kemono, nicknamed the white beast. He's a real monster by the looks of it, who's stronger than anyone else here, and who's going to have to stay put until the old Matsudaira decides to come and take him back." Said Sougo, knowing that the full description would put pressure on his regular superior. "From the sound of it, he's already killed several of his teammates, so I'd avoid falling asleep before him if I were you, Hijibaka."

A little lie here and there wouldn't hurt anyone. Except Hijikata, of course.

"Ah... Don't tell me... Here, huh?" Hijikata panicked. "But he might be contaminated if he stays here. If what I have is deadly..."

"Huhu," Sougo sneered through his teeth, a death glare fixed on his superior.

"You bastard, you don't care if we both die or if he kills me during the night, right?!" Hijikata shouted at the casual attitude of the sadist.

But to his surprise, a piece of paper, unreadable from where he stood, protruded from the stranger's cloak.

'That's fine with me.'

"He says it suits him. Good night, Hijibaka! Sleep... Of an eternal sleep!" Swung Sougo before abruptly closing the sliding wooden door behind him; nearly knocking it off its rails.

'You bastard Sougo, you're gonna pay for this! This guy is creepy! What's with all the bandages?! Damn, this guy really looks like a killer!' thought the mayonnaise addict, still lying in bed.

He watched in horror as the new Vice-Commander went to the closet, opened the door, took out a futon, unrolled it on the floor, and put his katana next to it (one less threat), then took off his hat...

'Iiiiiiiiiiiiiii!'

Toshiro thought he was in a horror movie, holding his breath. This guy, Kemono, had his face completely bandaged, with a few bits of cloth sticking out in places. All that remained visible of the stranger, were two midnight-blue eyes reflecting the little daylight that penetrated the room, and a long snow-white hair sticking out of the back of his head and falling down to his shoulder blades.

He then took off his cloak, revealing an ordinary Shinsengumi uniform, but with hands and feet as bandaged as his head and neck. However, an area at the back of his neck was slightly exposed, and when Kemono stood from behind to put his cloak away near his futon, Hijikata could see an impressive burn mark.

'Nope. I didn't see anything. No-no-no-no-nope. It's a shady guy with a burn like that on his neck. And he's still alive. So he's a very strong person. He's probably... A... A... A murderer! A guy that shady can only be a murderer! SOUGOOOO!' Hijikata began to panic mentally.

He was now in the same state of mind as Kondo was a few minutes earlier. And he really started to panic when Kemono came towards him.

'Hey! Don't come at me! Somebody! Somebody help me! Oiiii!' Hijikata screamed internally.

Kemono then sat down right in front of Hijikata's futon.

'He's going to kill me! He's really going to kill me!' Hijikata panicked even more, a pair of glowing eyes intensely focused on him.

A bandaged hand reached out... And grabbed the bag of medicine Sougo had carelessly thrown away.

Hijikata calmed down a little. He had obviously been mistaken about the intentions of this stranger who had just arrived.

Kemono took some medicine boxes out of the bag, and started to grind some pills into powder, then put them into a small sheet of paper. He then got up abruptly and hurried out of the room, leaving Toshiro alone. A few minutes later, he re-entered the room with a pitcher of water in his hands.

Another sheet of paper appeared before Mayora's eyes.

'Can you straighten up a bit?'

Still tense from this situation, Toshiro complied as best he could; his head still spinning. Kemono then handed him the powdered medicine, and grabbed the wet cloth that was dripping from his new colleague's forehead in return. In one swift move, having just taken the powder, Toshiro found himself with a glass of water in his hand, instead of the piece of paper he had previously held. Surprised by the quick and precise gesture, he was taken by a coughing fit, and hastened to empty his glass.

Another piece of paper slipped under his nose.

'Are you okay?'

"Y-Yes." Toshiro hesitantly replied.

He was then suddenly pinned against his futon by an iron hand, and terror instantly took over.

'A trap! It was a fucking trap! Now that I let my guard down, he's going to kill me!' Toshiro mentally panicked.

But instead, he heard the sound of running water. He turned a deadpan, impassive gaze to Kemono, who had dipped the cloth in the water jug and was now wringing it out.

'What is he going to do with it? Choke me?! Strangle me!?' Toshiro panicked mentally.

But to his greatest surprise, the wet cloth ended up on his burning forehead, no more and no less.

He then realized that he had been a huge idiot for several minutes. He had just been given a demonstration of honesty and kindness by a person he barely knew, while he had been abandoned by all the other members of the Shinsengumi. And he had behaved like an ungrateful fool. He could almost have cried about it if he hadn't been so sick.

"Thank you... A lot," he said.

'You're welcome,' said a new piece of paper.

Kemono then stood up, and went to sit in his futon, still in his Shinsengumi uniform.

"Uh, maybe you should put on something more practical for sleeping. Otherwise, your uniform will be all wrinkled tomorrow..." Remarked the sick man.

But suddenly, a huge snore could be heard in the whole room.

"Oh, don't tell me... You' re already asleep?"

An even louder snore sounded.

"Hey! You bastard! Don't snore so loud! I'll never be able to fall asleep!" Hijikata shouted.

But his screams were in vain. The snoring intensified until it reached its peak, and it is said that on that night, the entire population of the Shinsengumi changed rooms to get as far away as possible from the source of the nocturnal noise nuisance.

To Be Continued…

Comprehension notes:

(1) Anpan-man: reference to Kinnikuman/Muscle man, a manga by Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada. It has been adapted into anime several times.

(2) Yamazaki syndrome: describes the pa(npan)thology a(npan)ccording to which a(npan)n individua(npan)l will ea(npan)t something to ma(npan)ke himself sick; without stopping to do it a(npan)fterwa(npan)rds, even though he knows very well what will ha(npan)ppen to him. The subject usua(npan)lly becomes obsessed with the food in question.