If you have read by story before and again, you may have noticed some minor changes. Nothing that changes anything the story but somethings just felt awkward and got cut or just re-word, other things were expanded upon. Mostly just better grammar. (note: better grammar, not great grammar...I just suck at grammar, but I'm slowly getting better. Re-edited February 2021


Kaiya stood with Chizuru and Sannan as they watched everyone depart. Pretty much the whole body of the Shinsengumi moved out to deal with the Choshu. Kondou had opted for her to stay behind this time to stay with Sannan and keep watch over the compound with him. Kaiya felt slightly apprehensive letting Hajime join them, she hadn't counted on them throwing him into battle almost immediately. Hajime on the other hand seemed incredibly pleased, although irritated with how easily Hijikata had defeated him.

As the night fast approached, Hijikata and Kondou had split up the Shinsengumi to cover more ground as they weren't entirely sure which Inn the Choshu might be gathering at. Yamazaki had been sent to find out which it was but Hijikata didn't want to wait at the compound worried that if they waited, they would miss the Choshu and the Aizu weren't sending orders. So, they had split up. Hijikata took the greater bulk of the force to Shikoku Inn, guessing since they'd used Ikedaya more in the past and having been where they had caught their leader, made Shikoku the more likely choice while Kondou took a small group but some of the most skilled warriors to Ikedaya.

Once they were out of sight the three of them went back into the meeting room to await word. Kaiya had thought to wait in the clinic, but word would first come here, so she had decided to wait with Chizuru and Sannan. The three of them made idle chatter while they waited but most of it came from the two women. Sannan was clearly frustrated with having to left out of this conflict but at least now he had a chance of recovery. Suddenly the door slid open and Yamazaki stepped inside, dressed in all black.

"It's Ikedaya." Was all he said. Sannan and the two women stood to address Yamazaki.

"How careless of me. I have misjudged." Sannan said frowning.

"I will inform Vice Commander Hijikata at the Shikoku Inn at once." Yamazaki said instantly.

"Thank you. Time is of the essence. Also, Yukimura-kun." Sannan turned to Chizuru. Kaiya thought calling Chizuru kun was strange then remembered that everyone thought Chizuru was a man, even Yamazaki.

"Yes?" She asked.

"You go with Yamazaki-kun as well, please."

Chizuru gave him a confused look. "Huh? You want…me to?" she asked confused.

"Pardon me, but I can convey the message on my own." Normally Kaiya would've thought he was being a gentleman not wanting to put a woman in danger but the fact that he didn't know she was a woman left Kaiya to think that he just didn't want her help.

"We don't know what could happen. To ensure the message is delivered, two is better than one." Sannan reasoned.

Yamazaki nodded. "Understood."

"Yukimura-kun. You'll go, won't you?" Sannan asked. Unlike Kaiya, Chizuru wasn't an official member of the Shinsengumi so Sannan couldn't really order her to do anything.

"Yes!" She said with some enthusiasm and earnestness. The two turned and dashed out the door together. Kaiya turned to Sannan.

"Should I go to Ikedaya to back them up? They may need my help and I could let Kondou-san know that back up is on its way."

Sannan turned and looked at her a little surprised. "You're a brave one, aren't you?!" He studied her for a moment then asked. "Do you even have a blade yet?"

Kaiya scratched her head, "No but Hajime-kun has been working hard to teach me swordplay. He said I was doing really well. He is very confident in my hand-to-hand skills."

"This battle requires a blade I'm afraid Kaiya-chan." He studied her a moment longer. Then with a sigh said. "come with me."

She followed him down a hall that led them to his quarters. Inside, Kaiya saw a desk set up with all sorts of research equipment set up on it. Along one wall there was several sets of blades mounted up on display. He grabbed one and handed it to her.

"This blade should suit you, for now anyways. I'm sure Hajime-kun or Hijikata-kun will be happy to help you find a permanent blade later on. Are you sure you can use this?" He looked her in the face just as Hajime had.

And in return she looked him square in the face as she answered. "Yes." After a moment, a smile broke across his face.

"Good. Gather some supplies and get down to Ikedaya as quickly as possible."

Kaiya nodded and headed off in the direction of the clinic. She had left her satchel there pre-packed in case of this very emergency. She picked it up and strung it across her body, made sure her borrowed katana was secure then took off across the compound. Shortly after she was outside, she found Yamazaki engaged in combat. Chizuru was no where's in sight, she must have run on a head. Kaiya stopped and considered helping him but when he spotted her yelled "GO!" So, she turned down a side alley and headed off to Ikedaya.

By the time she arrived at Ikedaya, the front door had been kicked in and the street in front of the Inn was completely empty. Kaiya ran up to the doorway and drew her blade before slowly stepping in. Immediately a blade came down at her head and Kaiya instinctively brought her blade up to deflect. The blades never made contact as Kondou quickly recognized her from both the Haori she'd been given, like all the other Shinsengumi, and her face. He quickly turned his back on her and struck out at another man.

"Kaiya-chan. What are you doing here?" He didn't quite sound angry, but he did sound impatient.

"Sannan-san sent me. Yamazaki-kun is getting Hijikata-kun, they're on the way. In the meantime, he sent me to help."

Kaiya heard a man yelling and turned in time to intercept a man's blade, the man looked at her shocked to see a woman, but she didn't give him time to recollect himself and struck him down. They were rushed by two more men coming from either side. When they had dispatched them, Kondou said over his shoulder.

"It seems Saitou-kun has done his job well. Stay here with me until the reinforcements come. It's too hot for you to go in any further."

Kaiya nodded. The next couple minutes were like torture, everything seemed like it went in slow motion. There was only ten men with them, and all Kaiya saw, were enemies and the top of Shinpachi's head dodging all over the place. She had heard Heisuke and Souji hollering back at each other but otherwise she hardly saw any other Shinsengumi.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a group of Shinsengumi rushed through the door led by Hajime. They instantly scattered throughout the Inn as Hajime came to their side. Hajime glanced at her as he gave Kondou a quick report and Kondou gave them orders. As they were about to go off Chizuru burst through the door and ran up the stairs. Kondou indicated for Kaiya to go follow after her and Kaiya managed to reach her just in time to dispatch a man who was about to kill her.

Chizuru looked over her shoulder, "Kaiya-chan!" She said shocked.

"Chizuru! You have to defend yourself! This is a dangerous situation!" Kaiya scolded.

"Right." She turned and continued up the stairs.

"Kaiya-chan!" She heard Hajime call her name from the back of the building on the main level. She ran back down the stairs, down a hall and found Hajime standing by a back door. He pointed to two injured Shinsengumi, one lying face down on the ground. Not far away Sanosuke and his unit were engaged with the men who had cut down their comrades. Hajime turned and ran back inside the building as she rushed to check on the injured men.

The one man was already dead, there was nothing she could do but the other was still alive and bleeding profusely. She quickly tourniquet his bleeding shoulder and found that the blade had only hit flesh. She quickly stitched and bandaged it up. By the time she was done Sanosuke was looking over her shoulder.

"Is he going to be ok?" He asked.

Kaiya nodded her head as she got to her feet. "Yes." She was about to turn and go back inside when Sanosuke stopped her.

"Wait! Are you ok? You're covered in blood!" He looked extremely concerned.

She nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm fine Sano-kun. I got here just before the rest of you and helped Kondou-san guard the front door. This blood is someone else's."

She turned and headed back inside. There were now several men injured in the hall. Kaiya quickly checked on the ones that were Shinsengumi, some needed stitches but weren't urgent so she wrapped their injuries up and sent them along. Kondou was still near the entry way but the battle on the main floor was over so he was instructing the men what to do. When he saw her, he pointed upstairs.

"Heisuke-kun and Souji-kun are both injured, go check on them!" He ordered.

Kaiya nodded and ran up the stairs and dodging around the bodies. Up here, there was mostly Choshu lying about. She immediately found Heisuke sprawled out on the floor and she rushed to check on him. Shinpachi came up behind her along with two men carrying a door they were going to use as a stretcher.

"Is he going to be ok?" Shinpachi asked a little worried.

Kaiya saw Heisuke's head protector had been split in two and quickly checked his head. He showed signs of a head injury, but it didn't seem to be too serious. He'd mostly wake up with a serious headache, or so Kaiya hoped, but there was nothing else she could do at the moment. She motioned the two men to take him.

"He should be ok."

From another room Kaiya heard Chizuru shout, "Okita-san! Okita-san!"

Kaiya was instantly on her feet and rushed into the room in time to see the retreating back of a man jumping out of the window and Souji collapsing. "Souji!" Kaiya cried as she rushed forward.

She knelt down beside him and turned him over as he was lying face down. Blood was coming from his nose and mouth and nearly caused Kaiya to panic. She checked him over and knew she needed to get him back, something was bleeding internally.

As morning rose Kaiya marched down the street with the other Shinsengumi, as they marched together back to the compound, closely beside Souji on his improvised stretcher. Kaiya could see the town's people murmuring to each other as they walked along, they were going to be the talk of the town again.

As soon as they got to the compound all the injured were helped or carried off to the med clinic. As the injured poured in, Kaiya immediately started barking out orders. Chizuru was put in charge of the most minor injuries, which were many while Yamazaki helped her look after the more major injuries.

After the one death at the Inn, nobody else died. Kaiya had to only perform surgery on Souji and as it was, it wasn't as serious as she had feared but she did find something interesting when she had opened him up. There were several small lacerations on his lungs not consistent with tuberculosis, Kaiya didn't know how they were formed but they explained his recent issues with breathing. She did her best to fix all that she could before sewing him up.

111

Days later, all but Kondou were together eating in a loose circle, even Heisuke and Souji had joined them though both were very sore. This had been the first time they had all gotten together since the attack on the Inn. Today Souji didn't sit by Kaiya like his typical routine but leaned against a wall to relieve the stress on his abdomen. Instead, Hajime sat on her left like normal and Sanosuke sat on her right.

They were all discussing the events of the attack when Hijikata turned to her. "Kaiya-chan, I hear you did quite well during the attack. Kondou-san was very impressed with your skill. He said you showed no fear nor hesitation."

Kaiya looked at Hajime, then back to Hijikata and smiled. "Well, I had a good teacher. You helped too Hijikata-kun."

Hijikata smiled at her fondly. "That's kind of you to say but I taught you very little. Saitou deserves the most praise. It's even more impressive that Saitou was injured during his time teaching you sword play."

"Kaiya-chan is a quick learner." Put in Hajime.

Sanosuke nudged her in the arm. "Looks like you guys made a good call letting Kaiya-chan get taught like a solider. Getting praise from Saitou is quite something…or maybe Saitou's got a soft spot for the ladies."

Everybody laughed while Hajime made no response at all. Kaiya was a little confused at what they were talking about. "What do you mean 'ladies' that's plural, as in more than one."

Souji smiled at her with a strange twinkle in his eye. "Hajime-kun was practicing…when he wasn't supposed to. He tested Chizuru-chan to make sure she could handle herself if we let her out. She passed…mostly."

Kaiya glared at Souji which caused Hajime and Hijikata both to sigh. "You knew too! And you didn't say anything!?"

Souji stopped smiling as he realized he had suddenly gotten himself in trouble. The others started snickering at Souji obvious discomfort. She looked around and studied them. "You all knew, didn't you? And you didn't say anything to me!" She felt so frustrated.

"Kaiya-chan calm down." Hijikata gave her a look that told her to rein it in. "They didn't say anything to you out of loyalty to Saitou."

"Yah that's right!" Said Shinpachi. "We all told him that he shouldn't be doing that without your permission, but we weren't gonna go tell on him either! If he wants to get himself in trouble with you, that's his business."

"We were praising you, Kaiya-chan." Hajime scolded. "Don't turn it into an argument. Besides, we've already discussed this you don't need to bring it up again."

Kaiya huffed out her frustration. "I'm sorry you're right."

"Don't get me wrong." Said Hijikata softly, "We're glad that you're passionate about what you do. You take very good care of us. You just need to remember, we're warriors. It's unlikely we'll go to you for each and every little thing."

"Apparently you three have had this discussion already." Observed Sannan.

"Right before the Ikedaya incident in fact. It was part of the reason Kaiya-chan gave Saitou the okay...after she chewed him out that is." Hijikata resumed his eating now that Kaiya had settled down again.

"Whoa!" Put in Heisuke "Kaiya-chan actually yelled a Hajime-kun! I wish I could have seen that! It'd be almost as entertaining as seeing her yell at Souji. Nobody can make him squirm but you!" Heisuke and Shinpachi both broke out in laughter.

"Shut up, that's not funny." Souji complained as he kicked Heisuke in the back from his position against the wall.

111

Later that evening while Kaiya was getting ready for bed when a knock came at her door. Kaiya had let her hair down already but hadn't yet changed her clothes. "Come in!"

The door slid open and in came Hajime. "Good evening Kaiya-chan."

Kaiya was somewhat surprised; Hajime hadn't paid her a late night visit since she had returned and considering his recent declaration it was probably a good idea. At the same time, they hadn't had any time together since the Ikedaya incident.

"Good evening Hajime-kun. Are you going to take a seat?" Hajime was still on his feet.

"Not a wise idea, right now. I just wanted to talk to you for a moment, we haven't had much time a lone recently."

Kaiya got to her feet and approached him. She ran her had down his chest approximately where his wound should be. "You haven't come to me about any pain or re-opening of your wound."

"That's because I've experienced none of that. I'll admit I was a little sore the next day, but I saw little action compared to you or the others who had arrived first at the Inn. I'm very proud of you, you know. I saw no fear in your eyes, just focus and determination." He grabbed then hand that she had left on his chest and kissed it tenderly.

"It's because of you, that I did so well." She said tenderly.

He shook his head. "I taught you how to swing a sword and throw a solid punch. Courage is not something that can be taught or learned."

"I certainly don't feel courageous, I have run away before." She put her face into his chest, she really didn't feel like she deserved anybody's praise. She was just trying to make up for everything they've done for her.

Hajime made a bit of a grunting sound as he wrapped her up in his arms. "Your first instinct is to fight, and you did that, but you were given time to think and that is what caused you to leave. You said it yourself that you did try to find me or somebody else. Most women probably wouldn't be able to handle the shame and killed themselves or just fled without looking for some help." He kissed the top of her head.

Kaiya just shook her head as much as she could with her head pressed up against Hajime as she was. Kaiya had considered taking her own life. In that ride back to her village and several times over the months while she was there, the thought had crossed her mind.

"I did think of it though…taking my life…later on."

Hajime squeezed her more tightly as some tears escaped her eyes. After a moment he released her somewhat and tilted her face up so he could see into her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't come here to make you cry." She laughed weakly as he kissed each of her wet cheeks. "You can ask me any uncomfortable question you like. I'll do my best to answer it."

Kaiya took a step back and he released her. She took him by the hand and took a seat forcing him to take a seat right beside her. She tapped her chin as she put her head on his shoulder while she thought of a question. When she finally thought of one, she raised her head again and looked at him.

"What's your family like? How did you grow up?"

Hajime winced. "Straight to the most uncomfortable question."

"I'm sorry, you don't have to answer. I'll think of something else." Kaiya had kind of figured it was a sensitive subject, but he'd reacted more than she thought he would.

Hajime shook his head as his face fell into his classic stoic expression, he obviously didn't want her to see how uncomfortable the question made him. "No, it's a fair question considering our relationship and I said you could ask me anything." He paused a moment while he collected his thoughts and then continued. "I was born near Edo like you. My father was or possibly still is a high-ranking samurai. I was his third born and second son. My mother died when I was only a few months old. My older sister and brother raised me mostly, there is almost ten years difference between my sister and I and twelve between my brother and I. My father was very cruel to us growing up. We never did things right in his eyes, and I sometimes wonder if he blamed me for mother's death."

Kaiya frowned. "How could it be your fault? You were a child!"

Hajime shook his head and shrugged. "She died not long after I was born. Maybe she couldn't handle giving birth to another child at her age."

"That would make it more his fault for not being able to keep it in his pants or at least taking the proper precautions." The thought of a child being blamed for its mother's death by its father, infuriated her.

"He is one of those kind of men who was never wrong in his own mind, everybody else is wrong. Anyways, he was a drunk. I can't remember a time when the man wasn't drunk. He never took care of us as children and when my sister got noticed by a noble's son, when I was five, she more than happy to get away. I hear that she's actually quite happy with him." Hajime's stoic expression softened for a moment while he thought of his sister, then quickly put it back in place as he continued.

"I won't go into detail about my childhood, it's unpleasant and I wouldn't want to give you nightmares. My handedness is heredity, but my family has been…correcting it for generations now. My father and brother are both left-handed, one of our family's greatest secrets. Most don't know that my family usually born left-handed because my family has become so good at covering it up. I could fight right-handed if I wished to but my skill fighting right-handed is less. When I was sixteen, I was forced into a duel with a much older and more experienced man. I hadn't yet exposed myself. I had been teaching myself how to fight left-handed for about a year at that time and had already noticed that I was considerably better when practicing that way, but a left-handed samurai is considered soulless. On that day that I was forced into that duel, I had started the fight with my right like I had been taught. I actually held my own quite well, in the beginning, but after a time the man started picking at my considerable amount of weaknesses. The man did not like me, he was a friend of my father and it soon became clear that he had intended to kill me."

Kaiya looked at him shocked. "Wait. You were using real blades?"

"Yes, it's actually quite common among seasoned samurai. You're expected to have enough control over your blade to either strike with the blunt side of your blade or stop before you actually strike your opponent. Which wasn't happening in this situation. I was lucky that even then I was every quick on my feet, I had to be for most of my childhood. My situation was getting worse and in a last-ditch attempt to save my life, I switched hands. After that I managed to defeat my opponent without killing him, but I had disgraced my father and our clan." Hajime stopped and shook his head. "At the time I was very angry for my father disowning me but now, I'm grateful for being removed from that toxic situation."

Kaiya put her head back onto his shoulder. It really saddened her that he had such a rough early life, the last few years had been rough on her but at least she had parents who loved her.

Hajime continued. "I started drinking real early in my life. After I was disowned, I had a harder time paying for my alcohol, especially sake, but that didn't stop me. It wasn't until just before meeting Kondou-san that I stopped."

"How did you support yourself? There must have been at least a few years in between meeting Kondou-san, and you being forced out of your home." Kaiya couldn't imagine him doing anything but being a samurai.

"I went to a dojo for a time, to learn how to fight properly left-handed. I earned my keep there by doing chores. Afterwards, I think I needed to prove something to myself…to this day I'm not sure what it was that drove me, but I went from dojo to dojo and challenged the strongest warriors. I never lost…until I came to Kondou-san's dojo." A small smirk finally broke a cross his face.

"Did Kondou-san beat you?" she asked.

He smiled down at her. "No. Neither him nor Hijikata-san where there when I arrived. It was Souji who met my challenge. In most cases I could beat my opponents in one stroke but your cousin managed to properly block me. It was an intense drawn-out battle that was interrupted by the eventual arrival of Kondou-san. So, it was called a draw."

"Have you ever had a rematch since?" Kaiya was extremely curious. No one seemed to dare say who the better of the two was.

"Yes, many times. Souji enjoys a challenge as much as me. I stuck around there for a time, but I eventually left. When Kondou-san left to come here, I did not follow. You probably aren't aware of it, but I didn't arrive too much before you had."

"Really?" Kaiya was shocked, she had assumed he had been with them the whole time.

Hajime got to his feet again. "Really. Now I should go, I've spent more time here then I had intended, and you need your sleep."

Kaiya got to her feet as well and wrapped her arms around his waist, she tilted her chin back and silently asked to be kissed. He smiled as he wrapped one arm around her waist, pressing her firmly against his body and the other hand grazed down her neck as he kissed her deeply. He hadn't intended it to last long but before either of them knew it his tongue was deep inside her mouth and she returned with equal passion. He started grinding his hips against her and his arm around her waist slipped down her back to grab her buttocks causing them to both moan in pleasure.

He suddenly ripped himself away from her panting and turned to the door. "I'm sorry, I hadn't intended for that to happen." He ran a hand roughly through his hair, clearly irritated with himself. When he caught his breath, he looked over his shoulder, and said softly "Good night Kaiya-chan."

"Good night Hajime-kun…don't be afraid to come back. I won't attack you again, I swear." She smiled at him. It pleased him greatly to see that she still had no fear of him. He returned her smile than left.