Re-edited February 2021
The morning after the devil's attack, there was no evidence that an attack had even occurred. Apparently, they were good at covering things up, they probably done it more than she had even realized. As the days turned into weeks, Kaiya became acutely aware of her loneliness. While Hajime and Kaiya really didn't get a lot of time alone, she still got to see him every day.
Souji seemed to take notice and was trying to cheer her up like a sweetheart. He started to spend more time with her in the clinic and when she went with him on rounds, he chatted with her constantly. He didn't even seem to tease her as much.
One evening, about a month after Itou's departure, Kaiya was summoned to Sannan's room. When she arrived, he sat in front of his desk closely inspecting a vial of liquid. When she entered, he put the vial down and turned towards her.
"Kaiya-chan, good evening! Why don't you take a seat?" He gave her a half-hearted smile, something seemed to be bothering him.
"Is everything alright, Sannan-san?" She watched him carefully to see if she could notice something amiss.
"I have no health problems thanks to your diligent care. My arm is as good as it was before I had been injured it but I'd be lying though if I said my thoughts weren't bothered." He sighed and looked over his shoulder.
"What is it Sannan-san? You can tell me anything, I won't tell anybody! Not even Kondou-san if you don't want me too." Unless it was detrimental to the Shinsengumi thought Kaiya.
Sannan laughed. "Yes, so I've heard. Kondou-san finally broke down and told Hijikata-kun and I about Okita-kun's illness. It was actually a relief to be able to understand what has been going on with him, but Kondou-san seems confident that you've got a handle on Okita-kun's health. I must say it was quite impressive that you managed to keep a secret from all of us this long!" Sannan reached behind him and grabbed the vial that he'd been previously studying and held it out so she could see it.
"Do you know what this is, Kaiya-chan?" He asked her.
Kaiya grabbed the vial and studied it. It was an unnatural shade of red, she then popped the lid off and carefully smelled it. There were a few vaguely familiar scents mixed in the concoction. Kaiya shook her head.
"No, I have no idea what this is." Then handed it back to Sannan.
Sannan studied her carefully. "It's the water of life." Kaiya looked surprised but said nothing so Sannan continued. "You're probably wondering why I called you here and showed you this when Kondou-san has agreed to let you stay away from it. He indeed doesn't know that I am now talking to you about it now. But I have to do this."
Sannan looked at the vial again. "The fury corpse doesn't have proper commander, and no one could stop them if they decided to turn against us. So, I have decided to take it upon myself to fill that position."
Kaiya frowned. "What does that mean? And why tell me? I want nothing to do with those so-called furies!"
He looked at her solemnly. "Because if I fail, you may not be given the choice to continue ignoring our research." Sannan stood up and walked over to where his swords hung on the wall. He pulled one from its sheath than handed it to Kaiya hilt first. "You may need this, if I attack you do not hesitate to strike me down."
"What?!" Kaiya nearly dropped the blade; she was so shocked.
Sannan picked up the vial again and popped the lid off. "In the process of changing, some go mad. If I attack you go straight for the heart or remove my head. Any other attacks will only slow me down." He quickly tipped the vial back before Kaiya could stop him.
Sannan immediately dropped to the ground holding his throat. Kaiya gasped and stepped forward. "Stay back." Sannan croaked. Kaiya kept her distance but Sannan was obviously in pain. After a few seconds, his hair slowly turned white like the men she had seen a few weeks before. Slowly Sannan got to his feet when he looked at Kaiya, his eyes were bright red. Kaiya held the blade at ready but she wasn't sure if she could kill a friend. Sannan lunged at her and she quickly dodged to the side.
"Sannan-san! Snap out of it!" She yelled.
Sannan looked like he was about to lunge again but suddenly stopped and grabbed his head. "I have no luck!" He said with a strained for. "It seems I have become a failed one. Kill me now, Kaiya-chan! Please! Before I try to harm you again."
Kaiya looked at him panicked. She couldn't do it with him in control of his faculties, she wasn't a warrior. She couldn't just kill on queue.
Finally, she hollered. "Help! Someone! We're in Sannan-san's room!"
"Do it!" Sannan said almost angrily.
He tried to grab for the blade, but she quickly moved out of the way. Kaiya heard footsteps thundering down that hall and the door slam open as Sannan tried to grab the blade again. Hijikata slammed his fist into Sannan's side causing him to collapse. Hijikata put himself between her and Sannan and indicated for her to put the blade away. Sanosuke and Shinpachi grabbed Sannan by the shoulders and pinned him to the ground.
When Sannan was secured Hijikata looked back at her. "What the hell happened? You aren't supposed to have any involvement with the furies!" Hijikata sounded a little peeved.
"He didn't give me a choice!" Kaiya responded somewhat defensively. "He invited me here and said that the furies needed a commander. Then he handed me a blade, told me to kill him if he went crazy and drank that stuff before I could even react."
Hijikata nodded his head accepting her story. He turned to the others. "We need to keep this quiet. Take him to the inner courtyard and keep him under close watch. We should know by morning if he's going to be able to keep his sanity." He looked at Kaiya again. "For tonight go back to your quarters, we'll talk in the morning. Souji, you and I are going to make sure nothing gets out."
Sanosuke and Shinpachi dragged Sannan out of the room while Souji watched her carefully. Kaiya wasn't sure how she felt, her brain was having a hard time processing what had just happened. As they all walked out, Souji hugged her with one arm and a kiss on the head before following Hijikata outside.
111
The following morning Kaiya was summoned. Both Kondou and Hijikata listened as Kaiya retold the events of the night before. During the night Kaiya decided that she was mostly just angry. Sannan put her in a really bad situation, asking her to kill him if he became a failed one. Putting the pressure on to her to make something she didn't agree with! Why couldn't he ask Souji or Sanosuke or one of the guys? For whatever reason, to him, she seemed like the logical choice.
When she was finally done retelling her story, Hijikata informed her that Sannan had survived the night and managed to keep his sanity. Neither Kondou nor Hijikata were impressed with how Sannan went about it but they did agree that they needed someone who was a fury to command them. They weren't about force anyone loyal to them to take up the position, but it was starting to become necessary.
Kaiya decided to reveal the plan she had been thinking about throughout the night. "You know that I do not support this research. For me, it's unethical." Kondou made a very guilty face but Kaiya continued anyways. "But there is something that I'd like to research myself that is somewhat related to this and if this conflict ever ends, could be useful."
They both looked puzzled and intrigued but it was Hijikata who asked. "What kind of research?"
"I desire to find a cure." Kaiya replied simply.
"A cure? For the furies you mean? Is that possible?" Kondou asked.
"I'm not certain but I'd like to try. This a man-made concoction to begin with, so I have hope. Having Sannan-san become a fury maybe helpful now but one day, he may need to be human again; same with the other furies." Kaiya watched Kondou and Hijikata carefully as they looked at each other.
"I think Kaiya-chan maybe right. Eventually they all seem to go insane. If Kaiya-chan can find a cure than maybe, we can reverse it." Hijikata turned and studied Kaiya carefully.
"I agree with you Toshi, I think we should at least try but we need to keep this to ourselves for a time. The Aizu may not like us trying to undo their work." Kondou said.
"More like our work and since we made those abominations. It's only right that we fix it." Hijikata go to his feet. "Come with me, Kaiya-chan. I'm sure Koudo-san's research could also help you find a cure."
Kaiya stood up. "Yes, it would help. I brought a few devices from my father's stock of medical equipment that he had brought back from England that should help."
Kondou also got to his feet also. "Thank you, Kaiya-chan. I don't think we would've ever thought to try and make a cure for this. We'll give you whatever support you need. Toshi, can you work out sometime for Kaiya to be able to do this research? I know we are all very busy, but I think this will be very important one day."
"I'll see what I can do. We should have enough recruits now, to take her off the patrols." Hijikata replied then nodded to Kondou before he turned and left.
Kaiya followed Hijikata down several hallways and they eventually came to Sannan's room. Hijikata walked in without knocking and when Kaiya stepped in, she found it empty.
Kaiya frowned. "Where's Sannan-san?"
Hijikata looked back at her. "I won't give you the details but he's recovering somewhere out of sight and where we don't have to worry about discovery." Hijikata sat down in front of Sannan's desk and rummaged through a stack of books. "Ah here they are." He handed her several books. "The top two are Koudo-san's books, the bottom is the research that Sannan-san has done since he took over. He has made some progress since Koudo-san disappeared all those years ago. Sannan-san shouldn't be here for a couple days…he probably won't return regular duties anyway; the Furies don't do well during the day. Should you need, you can access his room freely if you need anything from here."
Kaiya bent over and closely inspected all the instrumentation that was on his desk then shook her head. "I don't think I'll need any of these instruments. I have most of this packed away safely in a box in my room, but there may be notes in here that never made it into Sannan-san's journal. Will I be able to speak with him anytime soon if I have some questions?"
Hijikata stood up. "I'll let you know when you can speak with him. Make sure you keep these journals somewhere safe. We can't have this getting out. Only a select handful know about this research, even among our inner circle. I suggest somewhere locked."
Kaiya smiled. "Of course, I know what top secret is. I may need to go on a shopping trip to pick up some items that aren't normally carried here. I don't need an escort; I just want your permission to go."
Hijikata studied her, "I admit I don't care for it much, but you've proven you know how to handle yourself. So, if you need to, then go. Just let me know if you're going and don't forget to arm yourself."
"Of course. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll return to my duties."
Hijikata nodded. "Of course. I'll still need you to go on rounds today, but after today you should be off of regular patrols. But I may ask you to fill in as need be."
"Alright." Kaiya agreed, then turned and left.
She made a quick stop at her room to drop off all but one book, then returned to the clinic. When she arrived at the clinic, she buried the book in a stack of her own so that when she had the time, she could start reading the journals.
Unfortunately, the morning had been a busy one. The day turned into one of the hottest of the year thus far, despite still being spring and many of the men had come to her complaining about headaches. By the time she was to head on patrol, she had to call on Chizuru to come and look after the clinic. Yamazaki was still too busy doing whatever it was he was doing, to come and take over the clinic.
When Chizuru finally arrived, Kaiya made a mad dash for her room with the book and a leather flask in hand. She put the book with the others, grabbed her haori and katana and headed straight for the gate, not even having time to make a quick stop in the kitchen. By the time she had arrived everyone had gathered.
Most of the men seemed annoyed by her delay but Sanosuke just smiled and leaned on his yari. "Busy morning eh?"
Kaiya bowed. "I'm sorry I'm late. I had to get Chizuru to watch the clinic because we had several cases of heat stroke."
Sanosuke indicated for her to walk beside him. "No worries, Kaiya-chan. You're a hard worker, you would only be late if had a good reason. But man, this heat is insane isn't it! It's only the middle of May!"
"I hope it's not an indication of the summer to come! Although this heat could prevent any serious fights from breaking out. I know I wouldn't want to be fighting in this heat! Oh!" Kaiya looked over her shoulder at them men behind them. "Is everyone feeling alright? I have this drink here to help keep your strength up! It's quite refreshing too!"
"Hey, pass it around, Sensei!" called one the men at the back.
Kaiya handed it to the man nearest to her. "Just one gulp, that's all I have right now."
Sanosuke laughed. "Now aren't you guys happy she's here! Keeping us all in fighting form!" When the flask was finally passed to Sanosuke, he gave it a shake than passed it to Kaiya.
"Aren't you going to have some Sano-kun? Or has Souji scared you off the remedies I offer?" She jabbed him gently in the side.
"No, no! I trust you Kaiya-chan." He said laughing. "There isn't enough in there for both of us and I think you'll probably need it more. It'd be terrible if our doctor got sick!"
She tried to hand it back to him. "I beg to differ, Sano-kun. Your roll is much more important than mine. It's my job to look after you!"
Sanosuke shook his head. "It's my job to look after you since you pay way more attention to other people's health than your own. I'm shocked you haven't gotten yourself sick!"
"Well, I can't afford to get sick." Kaiya finally gave up trying to shove the flask into Sanosuke's hand, the man was extremely stubborn.
"Tch, if only it worked so well for the rest of us." Sanosuke laughed again and gave her a solid thump on the back.
After only an hour, Kaiya, along with the rest of the men, were sweating profusely. In order to prevent any of them from becoming ill, Sanosuke allowed everyone to stop at a tea stand and rehydrate themselves. Despite drinking the cooling tea, Kaiya had slowly started to feel lightheaded, as they continued their patrol, and broke down, taking the last gulp from her flask. Everyone was grateful when the sun began to drip below the horizon as they walked up to the compound. For the last while Sanosuke had been constantly looking over at Kaiya and frowning. When they finally walked into the compound, Sanosuke grabbed her shoulder and stopped her.
"Kaiya-chan, go get some rest, you look terrible." Sanosuke said sternly.
"I'm starving Sano-kun! I haven't eaten since breakfast; I'll make myself sick if I don't eat something. And I still have the clinic to look after." Kaiya fact did feel terrible, but she couldn't shirk duty.
"You didn't eat lunch? Why didn't you say something! I would've allowed you to grab something to eat!" He crossed his arms and frowned at her. Kaiya just shrugged. "Fine, I'll tell Chizuru-chan to bring you food and I'll tell Hijikata-san that you can't work for the rest of the day, so you can get some rest. And before you say no, remember that if you can't take care of your own health, then how do you expect us to take care of our own." Sanosuke glared at her.
"Fine." Kaiya finally relented. "I'll go lie down and wait for Chizuru to bring me some food. But tell them to come and get me if there is something they can't deal with!"
"It's a deal." Sanosuke said with a smile. "Now go lie down."
Kaiya sighed as she turned and walked to her room. When she opened the door, she was hit with muggy hot air, so Kaiya left her door open and opened her window. Instead of grabbing her futon, she just grabbed her pillow after putting her haori and katana away.
Kaiya sat down, pulled off her socks and tied up her sleeves than put her head down on her pillow. She must have fallen asleep because it felt like she had just closed her eyes when a knock on her open door woke her up.
Kaiya sat up and said "Come in." Expecting either Chizuru or Souji but was shocked when Hijikata came through her interior door carrying a tray of food.
"Hijikata-kun, what are you doing here?" Kaiya suddenly felt very self-conscious.
"Harada said you really didn't look so well. So, I decided to bring you your food myself." He set the tray down in front of her.
"You didn't believe him?" She asked as she picked up her chopsticks and started eating.
"Of course, I believed him. He might lie for the others trying to slack off, but you wouldn't ask him to do that sort of thing for you. I was worried about you. I went to go check on Chizuru-chan when I found out that she had to watch the clinic, she was very busy." Hijikata put his hand up when she gave him a worried look. "It's nothing she couldn't handle, and we temporarily reassigned Yamazaki for tonight so you can get some rest. You deserve it Kaiya-chan, although I'd rather you enjoyed the time off."
"I feel bad putting you in a bind." Kaiya finished her rice than moved on to the other dishes.
"Don't feel bad. It was a bad day for everybody today. You should try and get some rest; it looks like it's going to storm tonight, and I don't want you tired in the morning because of it." He finally got to his feet. "When you're done put the tray outside the door, someone will pick it up. I'll make sure nobody disturbs you, I'll see you in the morning." This time he exited through her open exterior door and closed the door behind him.
Kaiya quickly finished off her food and tea, then put her tray outside her door. A very cold draught had started flowing through her open window. When she walked up to it, she noticed that sky was turning black and the rain was starting to sprinkle on the ground. It's going to be one heck of a storm Kaiya thought as she closed the window. When she finally laid down again, she almost immediately fell asleep.
111
Several hours later Kaiya woke to a bright flash and the sound of her exterior door shutting. Kaiya immediately pulled the dagger from underneath her pillow and rolled on to her toes in a crouch. She listened carefully for another sound, but no other sound came, other than the wind and thunder with the occasional flash of light.
Kaiya finally settled down on to her knees. Did she just hallucinate the sound? Maybe the door just rattled in the wind? Kaiya stood up as she realized she was still wearing her kimono instead of her yukata. Kaiya lit a lamp and walk over to her wardrobe. When she opened up the door, she saw a folded-up piece paper on the bottom of the wardrobe. Kaiya unfolded the letter and read it.
Kaiya. I'm sorry I left without telling you what was going on, but I couldn't. I miss you.
I can't let anyone know that I was there, so you'll have to burn this when you finish
reading it. One day I will return to you, but I can't say when. You are forever in my
thoughts. I love you.
-H
Kaiya couldn't help but smile as she touched the words he had written. He didn't put it into words, but he basically told her that he really was just spying, or at least that's what she was hoping. Kaiya idly wondered if that also meant that Heisuke was also just a spy. Kaiya went to her desk and found the empty bowl that always say there. She then lit the letter with the flame from her lamp and dropped it into the bowl. She watched sadly as it burned up and then stood and changed into her yukata.
Kaiya finally unrolled her futon as her back was starting to hurt her from lying on the hard floor. By the time she lay down, her eyes had begun to get heavy again. She smiled as she thought about Hajime, she missed him so much but at least he was still thinking of her.
