Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Namida wa Shitteru. (My brain is too dead right now to think of a clever way to say that.)

AHHHH! It's the attack of the odd-numbered chapters! (Sorry, but I can't seem to be able to write a chapter if its odd-numbered) I got writer's block again! *Whacks her head on the desk* The purpose of this chapter is so that I can get Soujiro and Mieko out of the little house (On May 14 too!)

I apologize for any historical, geographical, or grammatical inaccuracies.

Duo_Chan-You don't have to keep badgering me at lunch to update…

Cantthinkofaname- Interesting. Thank you for reviewing every single one of my chapters!

Lilac Fire Blossom

Chapter 5—Winter's Blessing

Where…am I? Moving on to a more serious tone… Am I dead?

 Mieko opened her eyes to a warm room. Yup, definitely dead.

She spied a lady in white sitting by her. The lady seemed to be lost in thought, a faraway look on her face. Six aqua green beads adorned twin braids, which cascaded down her back like muddy waterfalls.

Curious, Mieko pushed herself up from the futon with her arms. She sat up, became dizzy, and fell backward. Okay, so I'm not dead…

Her fall attracted the lady's attention and she gazed at Mieko. "Hello, how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. Who are you? Where am I? Where's Soujiro-chan?!"

A pair of hazel eyes blinked. "Watakushi wa Taikada Sumire desu [I am Taikada Sumire], and you're in my home."

"So…"Thinking when you're sick isn't the easiest thing to do, and Mieko was not the exception. "…Soujiro-chan ditched me here, ne? I'm going to kill him the next time I see him!"

Sumire raised an eyebrow. "Really…"

"Actually, he'll just face the wrath of me! Himemori Mieko!"

Soujiro randomly chose that moment to enter the scene, hearing the commotion coming form the room. He sweatdropped. Mieko's hyper-ness level was back at normal.

"SOUJIRO-CHAN!" Meiko, despite her current state, and her current ambitions, sprang up from the ground and promptly glomped Soujiro.

"Is…that…healthy?" Soujiro turned a rather interesting shade of pink.

"Perhaps, perhaps not." Megumi said, popping out to nowhere. "Didn't I tell you not to worry? Your friend's not going to die of a cold, is she?"

"Not that…I'm choking…"

"Gomen!" Mieko immediately released him and began laughing nervously. "So you weren't leaving me here?"

"It crossed my mind…" Soujiro said, taking revenge on Mieko for choking him.

"Baka!"

"Ara…"

As Sumire watched Mieko whack Soujiro with a fan, she began to feel sorry for Soujiro, who was currently attempting to run away from Mieko. "Actually, he hasn't left you side ever since bringing Megumi-san. I had to drag him away from you so he won't get sick too."

"Really?" Mieko asked, her face glowing with cheerfulness, "How sweet!"

These were the thoughts that were running in the minds of the other two occupants of the room:

I knew all that energy would come back and haunt me…

It must be that medicine I purchased from Kyoto…I should never have trusted Okina-san with that kind of item…

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After ten minutes of total chaos, Megumi finally took charge. "The girl must be hallucinating. Lie back down before that medicine causes you to go crazier. Ohohohoho! You two, let her have some rest." The other three quickly complied to Megumi's orders because: One, she was a doctor, and two, neither one of them wanted to defy the fox and bring malady upon themselves.

In the corridor of the cottage, Sumire uttered something under her breath. Speaking to Soujiro, she said, "I'm quite envious of you Seta-kun; you seem to be very lucky."

"Me, how so?"

A shadow settled on Sumire's face. "Someone died in that room. I didn't think anybody would be able to come out of it alive if they were ill…"

Soujiro kept on his usual clueless smile. "Huh?"

"I used to live in Aizu, but because my family was poor, my parents made me marry some rich person from the Chiba prefecture…His name was Daisuke Taikada. I didn't like him very much when I first met him, even though he was certainly nice enough. We moved to this cottage because his mansion in Chiba was too far away from Aizu…"

"What happened?" asked Soujiro, suddenly intrigued.

"He died."

"He got killed?!"

"Iie…there are other way to die than at the hand of an enemy. He passed away from pneumonia in the same room Mieko-chan is in right now."

"I see." Soujiro stared at his tabi [socks], speechless.

Sumire smiled a distant and serene smile. "I wanted to tell you to understand before it's too late." She turned and walked away, sandals making clopping sounds against the wooden floor.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Sumi-chan—" Mieko paused and looked up. "May I call you that?"

Sumire smiled like how a mother might smile when talking to a young child. "Of course, my dear." She handed Soujiro a sword, sheathed, but nonetheless deadly.

"Ara…? Taikada-san, you can't give me this!" he retorted.

"Of course I can, child. It's mine to give to whoever I wish, and," she paused and whispered, "I feel that you will need it in the future."

It was May 14, fourteenth year of the Meiji when Soujiro and Mieko departed from Sumire's home. Turning around, Mieko waved goodbye to Sumire, seeing that bowing was not the most convenient thing to do when walking backwards. "Ja matte ne! Sumi-chan!"

"Understand before it's too late…" Soujiro murmured to himself, remembering Sumire's words.

"Huh?" was Mieko's confused reply. Obviously he hadn't murmured soft enough.

"It's just something Taikada-san told me."

"It sounds like a moral to some tragic love story." Mieko stated rather flatly.

Soujiro sweatdropped. "Really?"

Taikada-san…What are you trying to tell me?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shinjite ii yo niji wa yattekuru - You should believe a rainbow is coming
Kimi no tsuma saki e - To the tips of your toes.
Shinjite ii yo kimi no toki ga kuru - You should believe that your time will come
Mousugu atarashii kaze no naka - In the middle of a new breeze.