Hello everyone! I apologize for the delay, graduate school began and I'm back in the groove of classes and exams. I had this chapter around for the last week or so, but didn't feel like it was ready to submit until now. Nevertheless, I want to thank all of you, the readers, who decided to stick around with my whimsical story and plot.

As there are more and more of you, I'd like to give a shoutout to eireannlily, Jewelclaw Lady of Wind, sakura1896, LxLawliet, and yvictoriavaliente for following! I really appreciate the support, y'all are the best!

And now here we are, Chizuru and the captains at home, day 2. Hope you all will enjoy this chapter!

xoxo shadowonaqua

Chapter 4

After what seemed like a long day, classes finished at 2 pm. Chizuru yawned as she got off the bus and took a deep breath prior to entering her apartment. She worried about how the Shinsengumi commanders and captains were doing, but she was more concerned about the financial and living situation that awaited her.

After all, she was living on scholarship money, and having to feed another seven physically active men with those funds seemed, or was, impossible.

Once she arrived at her front door, the young woman pulled out her keys, inserted them into the lock, and let herself in. To her surprise, she didn't hear any noise from the entrance, so she thought that the men left the apartment or were napping. However, upon reaching the largest room in her apartment, Chizuru noticed that all the men sat around the dining table and peacefully sipped jasmine green tea.

The first to notice her was Okita, who opened one eye lazily. "So the kitten's back?"

"I have a name, you know," she retorted while setting her bag down next to the TV.

"I know," the First Division captain responded, "but you remind me of a kitten."

Chizuru sighed in exasperation. "I actually would really, REALLY appreciate it if you just called me Chizuru. To be clear," she stated, and all the captains looked to her, "all of you can call me Chizuru. None of that formality business, I don't care much for it."

"Are you sure?" Saito spoke up.

Chizuru nodded. "Positive. I will continue to address you as you would like, but by the end of this month we'll be on a first name basis unless I state otherwise. How does that sound to everyone?"

"Yosh!" Nagakura exclaimed, "In that case, welcome home, Chizuru-chan!"

"Yep, welcome back home!" Heisuke followed, and Hijikata and Sannan smiled at her.

Despite the fatigue and the impatience that was settling in her bones from earlier in the day, Chizuru smiled. "Thanks! I'm back."

She then approached the stand with her parents' picture frames. "Hello, Mom and Dad," she began while kneeling, and the men all turned their heads to her. "I'm home. I hope you had a good day up there. Today was a bit crazy, so I think I'll take a nap before starting work. It's a good thing that it's Friday tomorrow, I can take it a little easier today."

"Also," Chizuru continued, "somehow the men from the Shinsengumi popped up in my room. Let me introduce you to them!"

But as she turned to begin the introductions, Hijikata shook his head, "We already greeted them. They seem very nice, Chizuru."

Chizuru's eyes welled up with tears. "Thank you… I'm glad you think so."

"We know so," Harada spoke up, his voice laced with sympathy. "You look just like them. Kind and beautiful."

With those words in mind, she nodded in appreciation at the maroon-haired captain. She turned back to the portraits of her parents as she heard a "Stop flirting!" complaint from Heisuke. "Well," Chizuru continued, "it seems you met the Shinsengumi. I hope you like them, as I'll be helping them adjust to this life and figure out how to send them back to their time."

"Anyway, I'm going to go and do things now! Take care, Mom and Dad. I love you," Chizuru ended and bowed at her parents. She then got up from her kneeling position, made her way to the dining table, and sat down with the rest of the Shinsengumi members.

No one said anything as they continued to sip their tea, and Chizuru scratched her head due to the awkwardness. "So…" she began.

"Yes?" Hijikata spoke.

"How was your day today?" she asked apprehensively.

The vice-commander set his mug down before stating, "It was very productive. We managed to feed ourselves and relieve ourselves properly, as per your instructions."

Chizuru snickered at the honesty of this comments. "I'm glad that worked out for you. I see you figured out how to use the tea kettle?"

"Well, once you taught us how to use the gas stovetop, we were able to use the kettle that you had on the counter to at least give us some hot water. You don't mind, do you?" Sannan asked as he turned his gaze to her.

She shook her head, "Totally fine with me. If you all don't mind, I think it may be best if you stayed here until you are able to live on your own. There is still more that I need to teach you all, but let me take a quick nap first." As if on cue, Chizuru yawned loudly.

"Go sleep, Chizuru-chan," Okita smiled, although it was still guarded. "I'm sure if there are any issues then Hijikata-san will know what to do," he remarked as he pointedly gazed at Hijikata.

The commander in topic grumbled as Chizuru nodded and stood up from the table. "I'll be back in half an hour to an hour. Make yourselves at home, but I don't need to tell you that, do I?"

"Don't worry, Chizuru-chan. Rest well," Harada assured.

So she made her way up the stairs, set the alarm on her phone, and crashed into the bed for a good nap.

[薄桜鬼]

Once she woke up, the sky outside was black as onyx despite being only 6 pm. Chizuru blinked her eyes in confusion, only to realize that she completely missed her alarm. She stretched her limbs and rubbed her face to try and rid herself of the fatigue, but it seemed to cling to her like a blanket. Instead of attempting to fight it, Chizuru instead changed into her pajamas and opened the door to go downstairs.

To her surprise, a waft that smelled like soy sauce, dashi, and eggs drifted to her nose. Once she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, two of the Shinsengumi captains turned their heads to face her. "Awake, Chizuru-chan?" Harada inquired.

"Yes… Are you guys cooking?" Chizuru asked while stifling a yawn.

"We're making tamagoyaki! And other stuff," Heisuke exclaimed. "Tonight, you get to eat what we ate back in the day!"

"You mean, what we ate toward the end of our lives," Okita retorted as he walked out with two plates filled to the brim of perfectly-cut Japanese-style egg rolls, "as Hijikata-san was so insistent that we eat eggs to gain more strength, or whatever."

The commander simply grumbled as he continued to drink his tea. Chizuru chuckled before wondering aloud, "Who made them? They smell good!"

"Saito-san and Sannan-san," Nagakura grinned as he came out with another two plates of cold tofu topped with bonito flakes, soy sauce, and scallions and set it on the table.

"Wow…" Chizuru gasped in awe as she saw the sheer amount of protein on the table. She proceeded to move to the kitchen, and saw Saito and Sannan hard at work with a large pot of miso soup. "Saito-san, Sannan-san, do you need any help?"

"Ah, Chizuru-chan, no need," Sannan-san responded with a soft smile before turning back to his ladling of the bowls.

"Deputy Commander, we don't have enough bowls," the purple-haired captain remarked while he pulled out a large tub of spinach that Chizuru happened to buy a few days before.

Sannan-san pushed his glasses up in thought, "My, I think you're right…"

Chizuru scratched her head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry for that! It's okay, there is enough for all of you, I don't need any soup!" she exclaimed.

"No, Chizuru-chan, I can forgo the soup…" the deputy chief tried to deter her.

But she shook her head back at him, "No way, Sannan-san, you guys haven't had any real food in a while. Aka, a hundred or so years. Right?"

"Yes, but…" Saito also tried to state.

"I'm serious, Saito-san, Sannan-san," Chizuru stood her ground, "I can always have more soup another day. I don't need to have it every day."

Both men sighed. "You remind us of Okita-san's sister, Chizuru-chan," Sannan-san chuckled as he ladled another bowl of soup and gave it to Saito to bring to the table.

"Eh?" she tilted her head in confusion.

"Definitely," Heisuke grinned, and Chizuru gasped in surprise to find the captain right behind her. "She was quite headstrong, as are you!"

"Uh…" Chizuru scratched her head again, as she was not sure how to respond.

"Who's comparing Chizuru-chan to my sister?" Okita grumbled as he entered the kitchen as well.

Heisuke froze, "Nothing, Okita-san! Nothing at all! I'm going to set some chopsticks at the table," he quickly mumbled while darting to the drawers, pulling out a whole handful of chopsticks, and slithering past Chizuru and Okita to the dining room.

Chizuru could only stare as Okita shot a quick glare at both men and stormed out of the kitchen. "Uh… Sannan-san?" she asked quietly.

"Don't worry, Chizuru-chan," Sannan began, "Okita-san is sensitive when the topic is about his sister. Try not to mention any of this around him, alright?"

"Yes!" she squeaked. Even though she was not sure what was happening, Chizuru was smart enough not to broach the topic, especially with Okita nearby. She did not know much about him, other than the fact that was was one of the youngest and most talented swordsmen of the Shinsengumi. This may have influenced her decision-making, but Chizuru made a conscious decision to never end up on the receiving end of his wrath.

She was jostled out of her own world, however, upon hearing Nagakura complain, "Sannan-san, where's the rice?! We don't have anything to eat with the rest of this!"

"Yeah, Saito-san! Sannan-san! We won't be full with this!" Heisuke followed up.

"You two, be quiet! If Chizuru doesn't have rice, then we will eat what she can offer," Hijikata berated them. "She is already kind enough to give us access to all of her food and drink."

"Sorry about that, Chizuru-chan," Harada smiled at her as he strode into the kitchen, "those two had the biggest appetites among the rest of us. Most of our food went into their stomachs, to be honest."

She shook her head, "Don't worry, I do have rice! I just forgot to show you guys how to operate the machine. Here, let me get that started. But Harada-san?"

"Yes?"

"Why don't I let you in on a little secret?" Chizuru winked at him, and Harada felt a hint of a blush creep up to his cheeks.

"Uh, what secret?" he mumbled as Sannan walked past him with the last two bowls of miso soup.

Instead of answering, Chizuru simply motioned for him to follow as she brought him to the large cupboard on the far side of the kitchen. From there, he watched and stifled a gasp as she pulled out what looked like eight containers of… something. Harada couldn't quite figure out what the plastic contained, as it was all written in another language that contained many circles.

Chizuru turned around and grinned, "So this is rice too!"

The captain of the Tenth Division stared at the containers. "Really?" he asked, sounding unsure.

"Yeah, instant rice," she continued as she proceeded to open the lids partway on each container, "the kind where you can stick it in the microwave and it's done in a minute."

"We can eat this?"

"Yep! I prefer real rice over this though, so I only eat this when I don't have time," Chizuru said absentmindedly as she stuck each container into the microwave and set the timer.

"Wait, then if this is for dire circumstances…" Harada began.

"Nonsense, I forgot how to teach you all to use the rice cooker, or show you where the real rice is, so you all can eat these for today. You know how long real rice takes to cook," she shook her head and smiled.

"You shouldn't have…" the maroon-haired captain murmured, guilt laced across his handsome features.

Chizuru laughed, "Which is why this is a secret between you and me, got it?"

Harada couldn't help but chuckle as a "Sano! Chizuru-chan! Come over here so I can eat!" a "Don't rush Chizuru-chan, Shinpat-san!" and a "Oh, Harada-san is getting close again," floated to their eardrums. The timer then ended, and he watched as the young woman scooped the piping-hot instant rice to smaller bowls.

Smiling, Harada wordlessly helped her carry four of the bowls to the dining room. "Here is the rice, Chizuru-chan is bringing the rest."

"Whoa! But no one prepared rice! How come we have rice?" Heisuke blurted.

"Don't worry, there's enough for everyone!" Chizuru grinned as she carried out the other bowls. "Alright, everyone, let's eat!"

"Thank you for the meal!" everyone announced as they began to dig into the food. The young woman smiled as she watched the captains truly smile for the first time since that morning. Food is truly the way to men's heart, huh…

However, she soon sunk into her own concerns. That one meal used up most of her ingredients, and if she went shopping again the next day, she would go over her weekly groceries budget. Not only that, she was down to her last roll of toilet paper, and the men were still dressed in their samurai clothing. It seemed that she would have go to shopping sooner than she thought.

As the men were not paying attention, Chizuru fished out her phone and texted her best friend under the table. "Hey, Sen, can I ask for a favor?"

She turned her phone on silent just as a response came not a second later. "What's up?"

"An emergency came up. We don't have mandatory classes tomorrow, do we?"

"Nope. Need notes?"

"Yes please!"

"No probs. Take care of yourself though, okay? Let me know and I'll come right over!"

Chizuru smiled. Sen was always so thoughtful and looked out for her in her hardest times. Her thumb quickly typed, "Thank you, Sen! Please remember how many times I owe you! I'll pay you back for all this however you want!"

"Seriously though," the following reply flashed on the screen, "just don't pass out. Pay me back when I am sure that you'll not faint on me one day."

She held in a chuckle as she sent a thumb-up emoji to Sen and turned off her screen. Chizuru let out a sigh that she didn't know she was holding, and proceeded to take another egg roll from the common plate. Maybe things will be okay… I'll figure it out. Somehow.

However, a pair of sharp, green eyes followed the young woman's actions and narrowed when her brows relaxed. Okita was not sure why Chizuru seemed relieved, but as he watched the woman laugh at Heisuke and Nagakura's antics, he couldn't bring himself to interrupt her joy.

The captain of the First Division simply hummed as he ate another piece of tofu. "Something wrong, Souji?" captain of the Third Division inquired.

"Nah," the green-eyed man smirked, "just curious as always."

[薄桜鬼]

Chizuru sank into her bed, her entire body sore from the day. It was nearly midnight, and she spent the last few hours showing the Shinsengumi captains how to brush their teeth, operate the shower, use the dishwasher, and operate the rice cooker. To her relief, she somehow had accumulated just enough toothbrushes from the dentist to give one to each captain, and it seemed that they had gotten used to the many noises that modern contraptions made as they stopped flinching at every odd sound around them. She also had them help with rearranging the living room so that all could sleep on the floor. Thankfully, her floors were carpeted, so Chizuru didn't have to worry about unintentionally injuring their backs. However, she only had one large beach towel and a comforter, so the captains were forced to share to stay warm during the night.

Sighing, she opened her planner. After skimming through her tasks, Chizuru had nearly forgotten that her physics problem set was due in two days. She felt her heart rate increase as she also realized that she had not looked at it yet. Sen was right, three lab classes was a horrible idea. But, thank God that all my labs are on Monday, otherwise I'd be screwed. Despite the stress she was feeling, she took a deep breath, opened her textbook, and began to work. For the next hour, Chizuru tuned out all her surroundings and concentrated on each problem.

However, her deep focus resulted in her failure to hear a knock on her door an hour or two later. Heisuke could hear a soft hum from the other side of the bedroom door, and he waited patiently for another minute before knocking again. But by the third time he knocked with no response, he murmured, "Chizuru?"

Startled at the voice, she squeaked, "Oh?" Chizuru then put down her pen, walked to the door, and opened it to find Heisuke standing in front of her. "Do you need something?"

To her surprise, the soft scent of chamomile tea drifted to her senses. Heisuke held a steaming cup of the hot and soothing drink, and waited for Chizuru to take it before responding, "Your light was still on, so I made you this. I hope it's okay, you did mention that this tea was good for night-time…"

Her lips turned up in a gentle smile, "Thank you, Heisuke-kun. I really appreciate it." The kind gesture nearly brought Chizuru to tears; the last time someone did something similar was when she was studying for the college entrance exams, and her mother brought her the same chamomile tea late at night. After living by herself, Chizuru seemed to have nearly forgotten what it was like to have someone care for her. Therefore, she was not expecting any of the captains to look out for her in such a way.

The youngest captain scratched his head in embarrassment, "Don't mention it. You've been working hard to help us live here. If someone should say thank you, it should be me…"

An awkward silence then enveloped the space between the two, and Chizuru looked at her tea to avoid his soft gaze. "It's late already, are you going to sleep soon?" she murmured after a few minutes.

"Well," Heisuke began, "I was often awake at night back then, so this is kind of normal for me."

"You were a night owl?"

He chuckled, "Well, yeah, but not by choice."

As he replied, Chizuru noted a small flicker of sadness in his facial expression. Not by choice?

Heisuke, however, noticed her look of concern, and quickly continued, "Oh, don't worry, Chizuru! It was nothing, the work I did in the Shinsengumi often had to take place at night."

She bit her lips, but asked, "But isn't staying up late not good for you? How come you had to work at night?"

"Uh…" the man in front of her started, but did not continue as he showed how uncomfortable he was. Instead of answering, he asked, "Are girls nowadays that straightforward? Not to pry or sound mean or anything…"

At that question, Chizuru froze in horror, "I'm so sorry, Heisuke! I didn't realize that was offensive! I'm sorry!" She bowed multiple times; the traditional Japanese side to her seemed to creep out the more time she spent with the captains.

Heisuke's eyes widened, "Wait, no! I didn't mean that! It's okay to ask, I was just surprised that you did."

Chizuru gazed at him in apology, and he returned the look with one of concern as he noticed her bite her lip. The two fell into another period of silence, which Chizuru broke yet again minutes later with, "Well, anyway, thank you for the tea, and for coming to visit me. You should sleep soon, no need to work again at night, right?"

"Yeah," he smiled, "you're right. I'll head down then. Good night, Chizuru."

She nodded and waved, "Good night too! Sweet dreams."

Once she watched Heisuke silently tiptoe down the stairs to the living room, Chizuru closed her bedroom door and returned to her desk. She had many questions for Heisuke, for all of the Shinsengumi captains, really. Why Heisuke had to work during the nighttime in the past. Who with the name of Yukimura led to their demise. Yet, she knew that everyone was entitled to his or her secrets, and so she decided that she was not going to ask anything, unless they chose to confide in her.

Not only that, she had her grades and her finances to worry about. So as Chizuru finished the last calculation for her problem set, she took another deep breath. One day at a time. That's how I will live my life.