"What do you mean when you say you cannot find Ryumiko?" Akurou asked Okita and Saito when they returned to the head-quarters.
"Honestly, we don't know where she is" Okita said, trying to cover up for Ryumiko. He knew that Akurou would stop at nothing to get her back, and he knew that he would hurt her again if he did. Moreover, Ryumiko was happy to be with Hiko.
"Have you checked her lover's place?" Akurou asked again.
"We've told you, Akurou" Saito replied, "She wasn't in the vicinity of Kyoto. To add to that, she wasn't even in Mibu too"
"You must be lying!" Akurou said with scorn and rage. "You are her sworn-brother; therefore she must've asked you to hide her from me!"
"Akurou, use your brain" Hijikata broke in fiercely. "Ryumiko did not have any contact with us since she was wedded to you. If we knew that you and your father have been abusing her, we would've killed the both of you in split second"
"Do you think you are welcome here, Tsubasa Akurou?" Kondou said, "Especially since you are the one who constantly poison Reiji-sama with opium and cigars, and the one who attempted to dishonor Ryumiko because she is a hitokiri"
Akurou was aghast by the words of the leaders of the Shinsen-Gumi. They stood up for one another, and it took a lot of his measly amount of courage to even face them when all of them were together. They were all like a pack of wolves, seen more significantly in Saito, Okita, and, of course, Ryumiko. Those three were inseparable, especially during the night, when they would go out to dine or kill together.
Reiji hobbled out of his room with his cane and went to Saito and Okita. "You two are to come with me"
The two obeyed, and went in without uttering another word. They were utterly surprised when they entered his room. It wasn't scattered with Sake, cigars or opium, like Akurou's room when the Shinsen-Gumi held a search for Ryumiko in his residence. No, it was well-kept like it was long before he was addicted to opium.
"You must be wondering why I haven't spoken to any of you within these few years and why I whipped Ryumiko because she stood up from Akurou's abuse" Reiji said calmly.
"As a matter of fact, Reiji-sama, yes" Okita said, ever the diplomat. "The silence I can understand, but Ryumiko…"
"It pained me to my own heart when I saw her struggling as I whipped her" Reiji said ruefully. "She was ever the obedient daughter who constantly upheld the family honor. But, she was a fool to submit to Akurou's abuse. Kondou and Hijikata were just as shocked as you both were when they heard about my plan to let Ryumiko escape Akurou's abusive ways. I wanted my daughter to be safe… Even more so when she is already pregnant"
The news shocked Saito and Okita. After all the years of seeing her Maiden's Mark (A red dot that is visible on virgins) on the back of her neck, they did not notice that it had disappeared already. The next question was: Did Hiko know about it?