Play 31: Fear and Loathing On The Shinsengumi Grounds
"I have to go back to help them."
Panting, I glanced at Yamazaki, who didn't look tired after running for so long. The Byakko twins weren't exhausted too; they looked as if they had just did some jogging.
"There aren't very many men here at the moment," He continued, gesturing at the two different directions respectively. "You should go find Okita-san or Toudou-san. They should be able to protect you if something happens." I nodded in response, still trying to catch my breath, and in an instant he ran off to help the rest.
The night was silent except for my panting. I glanced at the twins, who were staring back at me, waiting for me.
"Let's...go to Souji." I managed to say in between my breaths.
Yuri sighed in resignation. "You don't trust us, do you? We can do a fine job protecting you, Jun-chan, compared to a sick man."
I snapped up to glare at her, panting slightly. "He's not sick!" I said defensively.
"You have a crush on him." The way Eri said it wasn't as a question—it was as if he was confident of it. My blood froze, and I felt my heart stopped for a full second.
I have a crush on Okita Souji?
Nononono. It can't be. The one I like has been always Satoshi...
Despite trying to convince myself that, my whole face burnt, and Yuri giggled, a hand to her mouth in a cheeky manner. Eri let out an emotionless "woo", and I quickly turned away from them, trying to hide my face.
"I don't like him! Or...or...Have a crush on him!" I squeaked, my cheeks still red. "I hate him! I hate him so, so much!" I said it with venom dripping from my words.
Yuri rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. But it's a fact that you ignored our warnings. Let's go, Eri."
As they headed off to the other direction, I yelled out them. "Where are you guys going? That's not where Souji is!"
Eri turned his head slightly. "We're not going to be the third party between you two."
My face got even hotter than before, and I screamed in the night as they ran off. "I said, I don't like him!"
"Huh? Jun?"
Souji looked up from cleaning his sword as I entered the hall, avoiding eye contact. I knew he was puzzled though; I was supposed to be at the Nijo Castle.
When I didn't reply him, he smiled. "You get in trouble? I bet Hijikata sent you back here, huh..."
Clearing my throat, I sat on the floor, making sure that I was at least five meters away from him. "Yeah, something like that." I looked at him while my head was still ducked, and saw that his previous grin was replaced by a serious expression.
"All right, you better tell me what happened." I met his green eyes, and blushed, unable to tear my eyes away from him.
I have a crush on Okita Souji.
No, it can't be.
Maybe I should ask Yuri to explain what she meant. Maybe she meant something like crushing him into pieces, or something.
But I definitely, absolutely, do not like him.
"No freaking way!" I yelped suddenly. Souji frowned at me, wondering if I had a screw loosed. I glared at him, my teeth gritting against each other. "What I mean was..."
I explained everything to Souji, while scowling at him the entire time. Once I mentioned Kazama Chikage, I noticed that his hand tightened around the hilt of his sword, knuckles white from the strain.
I lied that I met a couple of orphans while patrolling, and then the three men appeared. I didn't say anything about the exchange between the twins and the others, nor did I say the word 'demon'.
"If only I'd known they were going to show up..." Souji's voice was hard. "No way Kondou-san could've kept me here."
I slammed the floor in anger. "No! You can't go. You're not feeling well!"
"I'm not sick enough to be treated like a damn invalid." Souji's expression looked conflicted. "Hijikata-san's just made a big deal out...of...out of..." He coughed, and I rushed to his side, feeling complicated. Maybe I should have given him the claw instead...
I felt my whole world came to an abrupt stop once I saw that familiar red liquid splattered on both Souji's hand and mouth.
I gasped. "Souji...this...is..." I was breathing heavily. It can't be...Then I recalled in class that the teacher had mentioned that Okita Souji had tuberculosis, and had passed away from that evil disease.
Immediately I ran out of the room, charging towards where Heisuke and the twins were. I burst into the room, and grabbed the twins, dragging them out while cooking up some weak excuse to the stunned boy.
"Give me the claw." I squatted in front of Eri, shaking him. "There's someone who needs that more than Chizuru or me!"'
"Calm down, Jun-chan." Yuri sighed in exhaustion. "You know that my claw can't cure diseases and illnesses."
"You could have reminded me!" I shrieked. I felt like my heart was about to shatter into pieces. Did I really harbor those kind of feelings for Souji? Was that why I was acting this way? "You could have reminded me that Souji is going to die from tuberculosis."
"We told you. We warned you." Yuri's expression turned grave. "And now you regretted it, do you?" Her smirk was mocking me, and I reached out to shake her. Eri stopped me in time before I did the wrong thing.
"It's no use. He had that for quite a while now, so even if you gave him immediately after we gave that claw to you, you still can't save him."
My blood ran cold, and I sank to the ground. After a moment, I laughed.
"Oh, right...I forgot how absolutely useless I am!" I screamed, self-loathing, my vision blurry from the tears. It hurt so bad I wanted to die. A terrible lump formed in my throat as I cried miserably. "Tell me what to do, Eri. I don't want to feel like this anymore."
"There are quite a few choices, Jun-chan." Yuri's smile was almost gentle. I frowned, since it was rather uncharacteristic for her to do that. "You could run away from the Shinsengumi. You could just run away from Okita Souji." She paused for a moment, wondering if she should say something. "But you could also stay behind to take care of him. I don't recommend doing that though." She and Eri looked at each other worriedly.
I understood what they had exchanged with that look. I glared at the both of them, frustrated with all the things they hadn't say before. The incident with Chizuru, the time portal, the meeting with Kazama Chikage, and now...
"Tell me what else you hide from me. Now." This time, instead of staring daggers at them, I looked at them with my 'mask' on. They glanced at each other, before Eri sighed and told me the worst news ever.
"Wherever you go, you will unconsciously absorb the life energy of the people around you. If you stay here too long, the life energy of the Shinsengumi men would soon drain off." Eri's eyes met mine solemnly. "And they will all die."