I own nothing but my OC.

Chapter 2: The Snowflake Capital

Almost two years later:
Late December, 1863
Kyoto, Japan

"Keep going, Chizuru!" Sumiko shouted encouragingly as she and her younger friend ran through the streets of the capital, trying to lose the two men chasing them. Chizuru nodded, panting, as she ran. They could see their breath as the snow fell around them. It reminded Sumiko of the night she had first found herself in the past. Looking back now, that moment went she rushed out into the street roughly two years ago had really changed her destiny.

"Hold it, kids!" One of the men shouted, reminding her that this was no time to reminisce.

"This way!" Sumiko said, grabbing Chizuru by the hand, as she sharply turned the corner and ran into another alley, hoping to through them off. She wished the snow was coming down faster to help cover their tracks. "Hide behind this barrel. I'll be right back."

"Sumiko-san!" Chizuru said worriedly, grasping the sleeve of her haori.

"Don't worry." Sumiko said, smiling reassuringly at her. "I'm just going to erase our tracks to confuse them for a while." Chizuru hesitantly let go, and Sumiko quickly removed her haori and used it to smooth out the snow from where they had turned while she backed up to hide behind the barrel with Chizuru. She shivered and put the cold haori back on. She had finished without a moment to spare.

"Damn!" The younger of the two men cursed when they reached the corner and saw the tracks ended. "Where did they go?" He asked, glancing around.

"Those rats are fast." The older man commented, also looking around.

"Stop making excuses, find them!" The two girls remained hidden as they listened carefully to the sound of the snow crunching beneath their feet. Apparently they had decided to split up, because one set of footsteps sounded like it was going further away, while the other sounded like it was coming closer. Good. It would be easier to take down one than two. Sumiko readjusted her grip on her umbrella, getting ready, as the footsteps drew closer. She really wished she had been able to afford her own sword. There was the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath. Chizuru's hand hovered over the hilt of her kodachi as the younger man's shadow loomed into view. Any moment now…

SLASH!

"Waagh!" They heard the older man cry out.

"Yoichi!" The younger man shouted in alarm and rushed off to the aid of the other man. "W-Who are you—Aaaah!!"

"Gyahahahaha!" Shrill, maniacal laughter echoed through the night as Chizuru and Sumiko exchanged confused and frightened glances.

"What?" Chizuru whispered, stunned, as they leaned out just far enough to take a peek at what was happening. The two men who had been chasing them were struggling to fend off attacks from two white-haired samurai. In matching haoris. Sumiko's eyes widened. She recognized their uniforms out of history. They were Shinsengumi! But something was wrong. There was a crazed, blood thirsty look in their eyes.

Chizuru gasped when the younger man's opponent bit his blade and shattered it with his teeth. This was insane. That shouldn't be possible…!

The man cursed and threw the broken katana away, drawing his short sword, just in time to block the next attack as Yoichi was cut down.

"Gyahahahah!"

"What the—!?" The young man grit his teeth and managed to push his opponent back, striking him in the shoulder. The crazed Shinsengumi member just let out another shrill laugh after seeing the blood and continued on like it was nothing, even though it was deep wound. "Wh-What's with these guys!?" Sumiko quickly pushed Chizuru back behind the barrel and covered her mouth so she wouldn't scream as the insane samurai slashed the young man's torso and aimed for his head.

"Aaaah!!" The man's scream was cut off as they watched the shadow of his opponent's sword thrust clean through his head.

SWISH.

The sword was yanked free.

"Heh?" The drooling lunatic leered at them with crimson eyes when it stepped forward and peered around the barrel at them. Sumiko clenched her jaw, steeling her nerve, as she let go of Chizuru and thrust her umbrella out in front of her defensively.

"Nooo!" Chizuru screamed as the cackling samurai raised his sword, preparing to strike. The moment he thrust his sword at them, Sumiko flashed the umbrella open and twisted as she shut it, momentarily trapping the blade of his sword, and pushed forward with her shoulder like a seasoned linebacker.

"Oryaah!" Sumiko shouted, gritting her teeth as she somehow managed to push the lunatic back. "Run, Chizuru!"

"Sumiko-san!"

Both girl's eyes widened when a sharp blade suddenly and swiftly pierced through his chest from behind just inches away from the tip of Sumiko's nose. Their would-be attacker fell down lifelessly to the ground. Sumiko stared at the handsome man responsible, whom she could see was standing just a couple of feet away from her now, in amazement.

"You were fast this time, Saito-kun." Another handsome young man said as he stepped into the alley. Sumiko narrowed her eyes. These guys were good. She had never even heard them coming.

"I only did as my duty required." The man who had just saved them replied coolly as his partner approached them. The other man smirked slightly when he saw Chizuru. Sumiko took a step back to put some distance between them and positioned herself protectively in front of the younger girl. She heard Chizuru gasp when a third man stepped up and pointed his blade at them. Sumiko furrowed her brow slightly and tightened her grip on her umbrella.

"Listen, don't try to escape. If either of you tries to run, I'll kill both of you." He said sternly in a low voice. Both girls held their breath as they looked up at the tall man with dark, purple eyes and waving black hair, and the falling snow illuminated by the moonlight. It was like watching out of season sakura blossoms blooming.

THMP.

"Eh?" Sumiko said, blinking, before cautiously glancing back over her shoulder to see that Chizuru had fainted. "Ah! Chizuru!" She called out, trying to rouse the girl, as she quickly kneeled down to check on her. "Oi, get ahold of yourself—this is no time to pass out!"

"My, my. Did she faint because you scared her, Hijikata-san?" The smirking one asked teasingly. Sumiko froze when she heard the name, and her eyes widened. She glanced back up at them as Hijikata put his sword away. No way… No way! Why did they have to get caught by the Demon Vice-commander, of all people!? She knew life was unfair, but come on!

"Vice-captain, what do we do with the bodies?" Saito asked calmly.

"Just remove their coats and let the inspectors handle the rest." Hijikata replied while Okita confiscated Chizuru's sword and Sumiko's umbrella and the sword that was still stuck in it, so they wouldn't be tempted to try to use them. Normally she would have put up more resistance to having her weapon taken away, but she seriously doubted she had any chance of defeating even one of them without being cut down first, and there was no way she could outrun them while carrying and unconscious Chizuru. She was going to have to bide her time carefully and wait for an opportunity to escape.

"What do we do with these two?" Okita asked.

"We'll take them back to head quarters." Hijikata said.

"Eh? Is it safe not to kill them?" Okita asked, suddenly adopting a serious expression. "They saw what happened." Sumiko furrowed her brow and bit her lip to keep from saying anything that might exacerbate the dangerous situation they were in while Hijikata stared down at her with those sharp eyes of his.

"We'll decide what to do with them after we return." He said, turning away.

—∞—

"Is this really necessary?" Sumiko asked as Okita pulled the rope he was using to tie her up even tighter, chagrined. They had decided to tie the girls up until they were ready to question them. Saito was standing guard by the door in case she tried to make a run for it. Hijikata had gone to report that they had returned from their patrol.

"Yep." He said, smiling brightly, as he abruptly stuffed the gag into her mouth. Her eyes narrowed dangerously with the promise of retribution. "My, how scary!" He exclaimed mockingly. "That's a good look you have in your eyes. Not that it'll do you any good." He then proceeded to tie up and gag Chizuru, too. "Later, Saito-kun." He said with a casual wave, slipping out of the room. Saito closed the door behind him. He stared silently at the two girls for a few minutes before walking over and pulling the blanket over them to keep them warm since they couldn't do it themselves. Sumiko gave him a small nod of thanks since she couldn't talk and sighed internally as she stared up at the ceiling, wondering how things could have turned out like this when all they had been trying to do was find Chizuru's father.