A/N: My internet can get so screwy sometimes. I apologize... It's been long since I updated. Hopefully you liked the previous chapter. Still working very hard!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Chapter 5

The Second

July 1 of 1866 ::Edo (later renamed Tokyo) , Shinsengumi occupying the east side of the city::

It was a dreadful day, hard rain coming down in constant sheets over the houses, proving once again that Mother Nature was ruler of all living things. The streets in Edo were empty and mud was a thick paste on the ground. Saitou Hajime was put into silence by the weather and stood by the doorway with Okita Souji with his arms folded across his broad chest. His narrow eyes traveled to the smaller man sitting at a table quickly yet gracefully scrawling on parchment paper. 'Another letter to Tokio, no doubt,' he snarled in his mind.

More and more, he noticed himself carefully watching Takagi Seinosuke and even assisted him in tight spots during a fight. Why? He did not know the answer to that question. Saitou found Okita's never-ending mumbles about the Takagi girl very irritating. To add more to that, her damn brother was talking non-stop about her also. It was enough to drive any man mad.

The first captain put his brush down carefully and surveyed his letter. 'He previews his letters...pathetic,' the thought had come to him more than twice now, discovering Okita's habits very aggravating. He almost wanted to grab the brush and stuff it down his throat and then make him drink the ink latent beside his hand. Saitou let out a detested grunt from the back of his throat, snapping his fellow swordsman back to reality.

The younger man grinned widely at him. "Tokio told me that she would cook for the both of us when we came back." He gently blew on the paper to dry the wet ink faster so that he could send it on the next carrier to Kyoto.

The irritated man turned back to the rain outside. Listening to that was far better than hearing Okita's voice. The rainy weather affected Saitou to be in a grumpy mood, snapping at any soldier who dared to have another ignorant question to ask him. It was more than he could stand. His patience was stretched.

"Okita, when will you stop writing your love letters?"

"Now, now, Saitou-san, they are not love letters like I told you from before. To-chan likes to be informed of her brother."

"To-chan?" he wrinkled his nose at the strange way that sounded to him, "Okita, the pathetic girl has a name. Don't make her sound even more pitiful than she already looks. If your skills start to wane, even just a miniscule amount, I will personally write to her that you cannot continue your correspondence. Don't let yourself get carried away." He warned. Okita's smile diminished quickly, but he nodded all the same.

Abruptly, the smaller captain's face contorted and he covered his mouth quickly to stifle a violent cough. His small frame shook with each cough, and he could feel a familiar rawness in his throat. When he looked up from his fit, Saitou had placed a kerchief on the desk. There was blood on his hands. The illness was taking its toll.

"I assume that Tokio does not know about this?" Saitou drawled carefully, watching his comrade from the corner of his eye.

Okita took a refreshing breath of the damp air. "No, I never want to worry her over something like this. I wish to keep it that way. Besides, she has enough to worry about."

He recovered quickly and looked down at his letter. Saitou heard him let out a pitiful whine and he glanced over at him carelessly, only to smirk.

The smaller man held up the letter. "There is blood on it. I have to write it all over again."

'Good luck rewriting those ten pages, Okita.'

::Takagi residence::

Tokio was busy trying to attend to Tami and cook a meal at the same time. The restless child never seemed to hold still for even a moment. Trying to be patient with the restive girl, she kept her busy by letting her play on the porch with her marbles.

Her father had not come home yet due to a meeting held in Edo. Tokio sent another letter with her father to convey to the Shinsengumi. From there, the letter would find Souji-kun. What she didn't mention to her father was that it was her fifth letter to him in three days. She was constantly in worry about him and Seinosuke; she even bothered to ask him about how Saitou had been doing. The war was getting heavier and news of battles resounded from every corner. She was quickly growing tired of the war. But for Souji-kun and Seinosuke, she had to keep fighting that thought.

After getting the miso soup on the low cherry wood table, she ushered her sister inside the house to eat. Rice balls of many variations inevitably caught Tami's attention almost at once. Fortunately for Tokio, the child was well mannered at the table and carefully ate them one by one until she was too full to eat anymore.

Tokio found a natural talent of stitching in Tami. They spend countless hours sewing kimonos and summer gis and hakamas for Seinosuke. As they stitched, Tokio would relate news to Tami and she'd ask her older sister if Okita and she were going to get married.

Instead of scolding her, Tokio found herself blushing beet red and chose to ignore the question. She was educating Tami to be a well-mannered girl and so far it was going pretty well.

Souji had not mentioned any thing even related to marriage or courting and Tokio was glad. She knew she was not ready for it. Even so, the cold face of Saitou Hajime came into her mind. She suspected that the man was not interested in having romantic relations with a woman. It didn't suit him for some reason.

"Tami, would you like to help me in the garden? The irises that you planted should be in bloom now." She said. Tami brightened and left her stitching and ran to change into some work clothes.

Outside in the garden, it was hot and they had to water the flowers and the herbs abundantly. Inspecting the plants for any signs of bug infection, Tokio hummed a little song to herself. Tami skipped along the rows of herbs sprinkling them with more water. "Tami, don't over water those."

A knock came at the gates and she went to open it. Tokio looked up to see the solemn face of Matsudaira Kaitou. She politely bowed, not forgetting the day he refused to help her. "I'm sorry, Kaitou-san, my father is in Edo. He shall be back next week. Good day." She closed the door and turned to go back to the garden. Another soft knock. She opened it. "Would you like to come in, Kaitou-san?"

A finger pressed on her soft lips. "Don't...don't call me that..." He pleaded in a whisper. "I came...to apologize for my behavior the last time we met. It was wrong of me. I heard from Kondo that you were almost killed. If...if that ever happened, I couldn't live with myself."

I went into shock. This was Kaitou talking? He sounded like a little boy. I softened. "Kaitou, I was foolish enough to find the Shinsengumi on my own. Do not apologize to such ignorance."

He shook his head and he cracked a small smile. "No, Tokio, I don't think you know how ignorant I was not to tell you. I should have known that you'd find out another way."

"My, where are my manners. You should come in. Have you eaten yet? I'm afraid that Tami and I already have."

The two friends walked inside the house with Tami climbing all over Kaitou. They sat down to talk and drank tea together while Tokio's little sister fell asleep on her lap. Kaitou stood to leave.

As Tokio tried to cradle Tami and get up, he stopped her. "No, I don't want her to wake. I can find my way out. It was...an honor talking to you again. I'll try to keep in touch." He turned to go.

"Wait, Kaitou," – he turned – "can you smile just this once? I think I've forgotten how you really look like." She looked at him expectantly. His lips started to widen slowly and he looked at her with eyes that briefly escaped their usual iciness.

"Thank you, Tokio. I will never forget you." He said and left quickly.

Tokio carefully put Tami into her futon and went about her chores. She started to feel lonely and even a bit frightened as she did her regular routines. She wanted to hear Seinosuke practicing kata, she wanted to hear Souji taking to her about life, she even wanted that strange feeling of security in Saitou's presence. 'I am a moronic little girl...thinking a monster would eat me in the dark.' She giggled in spite of herself. 'I wish everything was the way it was before this dreadful war.'

::Okita::

Okita Souji didn't expect another letter so soon. Her writing was frequent, almost feverish, in her careful words. He opened the letter and read it carefully, smiling at a bit of humor every now and again.

The entire truth was only known to God and him. She was always occupying a part of his consciousness, always smiling and laughing in his mind. Every passing day he would try to figure out his feelings, only to come back to one single conclusion every time. Okita had half the mind to tell her this truth by letter. It was starting to frustrate him and her frequent letters did not help. He couldn't deny that she was beautiful, but...He sighed, resting his head in his hands.

He stood in the rain, letting water run down his face, taking refuge in the loud pitter patter blocking all other sounds. It was probably quite possible that he would get a cold from standing out in the rain, but for now, he needed to clear his head. Okita slipped off his Shinsengumi haori and his plain white gi underneath in a careless pile in the mud. Rain slapped against his bare skin, numbing it rather effectively. Drawing his sword, he held it in a relaxed ready pose, instinctively focusing on the very tip of his blade, pushing away thoughts of her. Rain droplets dripped from his sword to the ground as he performed the first thrust of his Sandanzuki technique. Then came the second. Then came the third.

"Hya!" Over and over again he practiced to the point where he was in perfect sync with his mind and spirit. That focus was broken when a violent coughing fit racked his body. Falling to his knees and spitting out the bitter taste of blood from his mouth, he gasped for breath. White clouds formed in front of his face with each shaky breath. He fought to keep his body upright, only to fail and collapse unconscious to the ground.

"Souji-kun, are you all right?" Tokio asked gently, bending down to help him up. He groggily sat up, wincing from stiffness in his joints. It was still raining, but she had an umbrella with her.

"To-chan, what are you doing here?"

"You were calling for me, were you not, Souji-kun?" She asked in a puzzled manner.

Okita blushed as he looked down at his half-naked form. He reached for his wet haori, but Tokio put hers around him first. "You shouldn't put on wet cloths. You can get a cold from that." She smiled and he smiled in return.

"We should get back." He said quietly, getting up from the muddy ground.

The two of them walked in silence, the man walking with a small limp with the umbrella in hand, while the young woman carried his sword and sodden clothes close to herself.

'I know now...yes, thank you, Tokio.'

Okita unsteadily pushed off the ground, mud clinging to his body. He coughed again, small flecks of blood mingling with the rain. Using his sword as a staff, he got himself up in a crouching position, still leaning quite painfully against it.

An iron grip was placed on his wrist, causing him to look up and see Saitou. Okita feebly grinned and said, "Saitou-san, I was just about..." He drifted off and slumped so the tall man grasped his comrade's arm to put around his neck. But before he could move, Souji stopped him.

"No...more...depending on...other people...Saitou-san. I've...done it...for too...long now. No...more..." He wrenched his arm from his friend's neck and places his foot in front of the other in an agonizingly slow rate. Countless times he fell, only to get back up and continue on with Saitou to watch him carefully. When he got to the porch of the quarters, he collapsed shaking with high fever.

Swiftly taking action, Saitou got a doctor and put him in his futon to rest. Okita had dark circles under his eyes, his face pouring with sweat. He was hiccupping, trying to get air into his lungs and his body doing everything it could to retain body heat so it was shivering constantly.

"W-write...t-to...Tokio..." Okita mumbled hoarsely. Saitou got up without hesitation and went to his own room, retrieving paper, ink, and a brush. Promptly, he wrote a quick letter to her, getting to the point at once and very precise.

Fortunately, a carrier was still operating in the foul weather and Saitou was able to get the letter on the same day to Tokio. Saitou paid extra to make the Takagi residence the carrier's first stop. He made sure that everything was in order before reporting to Kondo that Okita had fallen ill. Hijikata looked gravely at Kondo, who also exchanged uneasy glances with him. They couldn't risk the first captain getting sick at a time like this. If the other soldiers found out, it would cause chaos and uncertainty.

The two of them decided that they would move Okita at the break of dawn into another inn where he could rest in peace without the noises of restless soldiers. It was best for him. The superiors wanted a speedy recovery. It was for the best.

Early in the morning, Saitou and a few trusted captains carried the ill Okita down cautiously, not wanting any of the soldiers to get up. They carted him to a nearby inn with the landlady meeting them furtively. She led them to a vacant room where futons and blankets were supplied already. Making Okita comfortable, Saitou paid the lady a weeks worth of fee and left. He would send people to check on him; he had to lead his squad for a spy mission.

::Night of July 5::

Seinosuke peered through narrow eyes at the building in front of him. Captain Saitou's team of elites surrounded it without the enemy's notice. The east wall was secure and he saw the last of the swordsmen keep watch the north. He was at the south wall, where the main entrance was. A smirk formed at his lips. It was settled. They would attack tonight.

Adrenaline pumped through him as Saitou signaled the noiseless motion forward to make even a tighter noose around the Ishinshishi. Seinosuke watched his captain carefully, following his every move towards the building.

Out of nowhere, one of the inexperienced men launched forward with a might yell. "Die, you Ishin sum!" It was then that chaos unleashed from hell.

I reached out for him. "Matte! Our captain didn't give the signal!" But it was too late. The Ishin bodyguards already filed out to form a vicious counterattack. The young swordsman was instantly killed by a guard's spear.

Seinosuke heard Saitou give a roar of battle as he saw the tall man lunge from the infamous Gatoutsu stance like a true wolf and go for the kill. Tokio's brother pursued soon after, clashing sword after sword with the Ishin. Twisting savagely, he knocked one to the ground, pausing briefly to pierce his neck.

He sensed someone behind him and quickly turned to parry a swing to his neck. When he looked up, he met eyes of burning amber not unlike his captain's, but this man had long, reddish hair in a high ponytail, and he was small in stature. Hitokiri Battousai. Without warning, the assassin struck. Blocking, Seinosuke let out a sharp breath as he felt a sharp tingling as metal struck against metal.

Battle wore on and the assassin had a higher morale. Seinosuke was growing steadily weary. He knew he couldn't last. But he wouldn't go down without fighting. Block to the right. A flash of his father's face. Slash to the neck. A flash of Tami's face. Receiving a fatal thrust to his stomach. Tokio's loving smile. He could only grin at the image as he collapsed ungracefully to the ground, blood pooling around his body. In Seinosuke's hand was clutched his last letter to his family.

The hitokiri stooped down and gently picked up the note before it got spoiled by the blood. It was addressed to Takagi Tokio. Tucking it away securely inside his gi, the assassin walked away from the bloody scene.

::Next day at the Takagi residence::

A soft knock came at the gate door and Tokio went to get it. A small man in an oversized straw hat was standing before her, his head stooped and a shadow hid his features. He carefully held out the letter and the young woman took it, staring at this unknown person in astonishment.

"T-thank you," She stuttered as he walked away. His long reddish hair in a high ponytail swayed gently in the breeze, capturing Tokio's eyes for a moment.

When she shut the gate door, another knock came after it. Upon opening it, she saw Saitou Hajime standing in front of her.

"I have come to deliver your brother back to you."