Disclaimer: I do NOT own PMK or its characters.
An Assassin's Tale
Chapter 13
No! Souji silently screamed. A dull thud. The stench of burning fabric and flesh filled the room. Kichi watched in disbelief as his master staggered backwards, the flames from the arrow in his back leaping onto that ridiculous cape. Awareness returned as the last grip of the spell lifted. "Hey, are you alright?" Kichi asked weakly.
"I'm burning…" The man staggered to the side and knocked over the brazier, spilling flames over his body and the dais in front of the stunned Shinsengumi members and Kichi. Kichi also watched in horror as the flames licked hungrily at the man. He stepped back a step, then stumbled. He was transported back into his childhood when his foster home caught fire and he watched his foster-parents burn before his eight-year-old eyes.
His foster father was lying on the floor, head crushed by a fallen roof beam. The flames had turned his flesh to a raw red. His foster-mother was screaming as the flames consumed her body, pinned under the same beam. The sickening stench of charred flesh… Her screams quickly died out. Kichi screamed hysterically. He couldn't run at all. He was going to burn to death this time.
Stung into action by his twin's screams, Okita Souji tried to approach the him, only to be driven back by the flames, heat and smoke. "That madman's beyond all help," Saitou concluded dryly. That young man might have beaten the spell, but this was a complication he had not expected. Saitou looked about. They could not get past the flames. Souji was still trying, Hijikata restraining him physically.
Suddenly a section of the ceiling came crashing down on the flames, narrowly missing the Miburou and Kichi. Riding the ceiling board was a black garbed woman.
"You're that woman from Yogotoya!" Souji recognized Osu.
"Okita, what were you doing near that notorious gay brothel?" Hijikata demanded.
"Talk later, boy! And shut up, you ox!" Osu quickly pulled her scarf up to protect her nose and mouth from the smoke. Souji was starting to cough as Hijikata pulled him away. The smoke had overcome Kichi, who was curled up in the corner away from the flames. Osu unceremoniously grabbed him under the armpits and proceeded to drag him roughly over the ceiling board splinters towards the exit. Saitou nonchalantly helped her pull the barely conscious Kichi to his feet and supporting him between them, they made their way out.
"Please, let me help…" Souji coughed. Smoke was choking him as Hijikata half-dragged him out.
Emiko spat blood out from her mouth. This was long overdue… The sorcerer and the medium now faced each other across the pool. "Meddlesome hag… you die tonight…" Furube hissed. His carefully laid plan had fallen apart because of a mere witch. Yamaguchi Emiko straightened up. She can sense the darkness being summoned by the occult spells closing in. Quickly, she sketched mystic signs in the air with her hand.
Darkness engulfed her, swirling, suffocating… Ah, that shadowy warrior Hajime had faced… What katanas failed to do, she would. She unclogged the small vial of water she had taken earlier from the sacred springs and threw it at the warrior. An unearthly scream rang out as the figure wavered and melted.
"Impossible!" Furube shrieked. The shock of watching his spell crumble was enough for Emiko to fling a blood smeared ofuda at him. Flames leapt up where the innocuous looking paper touched him. The sorcerer shrieked as he caught a glimpse of the hell that awaited him. Exhausted, Emiko collapsed onto the muddy grass… At least that sorcerer will not be bothering anyone anymore…
"Saitou, where's he?" Souji coughed. He suddenly realized his twin was not with them. "The woman took him away," Saitou replied and caught the half-hearted punch Souji threw at him with a palm. "Why? Why did you let her take him away?"
"Because Vice-chief Hijikata's a man of his word." Saitou cast a glance in Hijikata's direction. "If he has given his word to Sasaki, he will hand over your brother to the Mimawarigumi…" Okita let his next punch fall by his side as Saitou's words hit home. They could not shield Akira or Kichi.
"If fate allows, you will meet him again…look, there's your girl-friend." Having regained her senses, Hotaru was screwing up the courage to speak with her Okita-sama…
Okita hid his whirlpool of emotions behind a smile as he always did and greeted Hotaru.
Slowly and silently, the cart trundled along back into Kyoto. Okitsu had found a usable cart nearby. "Will he live?" Osu murmured as she jabbed at the limp body on the cart. "Probably, once he comes to. Still has a pulse, even if his breathing a little weak." Okitsu examined Kichi. The young man coughed weakly.
"B-brother…" he cried out in a hoarse whisper.
"Coming around, he'll live," Okitsu concluded. "A couple of days of bed rest for your boy and he'll be running about your place and flirting with your customers as usual…" Groaning, Kichi closed his eyes. His head ached, his throat was terribly dry. Slowly, he slipped off into a sleep peppered with dreams of his happier childhood…
A several days later, Captain Okita stood outside Masuya's shop listening to the bloodcurdling screams from within as his men made short work of anyone foolish enough to resist arrest. How could they be so blind? How could they have allowed Ayu-nee to be captured and tortured by those brutes? Hijikata's feeling the full weight of their mistake. The grey light of the hours before dawn had hid their raiding party well enough… Susumu was inside as well, hopefully, not killing the man responsible for ordering his sister's death. Hijikata would have problems interrogating a corpse now, wouldn't he?
"Captain Okita…" A woman's voice drifted to his ears from somewhere above. Was it his imagination?
"Captain Okita, do drop by Yogotoya some night. There's a special there for you…" He turned.
The kunoichi added a lewd joke before dropping out of sight like a blurry black shadow. Still, he recognized it as a message. "Okita-san?" A taishi called out, snapping him out of his reverie…
Author's Notes:
There was this weird few moments during the Masuya raid when Akesato the kunoichi called out to Okita. I'm using her as a messenger here. I think the medium-sorcerer battle sequence was a tad too rushed, but hey, the leads in this fic are Kichi and Souji. It sorta make sense that Kichi would have a secret phobia of fire considering how he ended up in this mess to start with.