I own nothing but my OC.
Chapter 3: Rude Awakening
Sumiko realized she must have managed to nod off sometime during the night, because she found herself being awoken at an ungodly hour by the sound of a huge clump of snow from the roof sliding and crashing down just outside. She noticed the only other person in the room was Chizuru, who also began to stir and wake up.
"!" Chizuru gasped when she opened her eyes and saw Sumiko bound, gagged, and tucked into the futon next to her, and she began struggling against her own bonds. Sumiko wanted to tell her that it was useless since she had been trying to get out of them all night and warn her that doing so would just make her muscles sore, but the gag made that very difficult. Chizuru seemed to catch on to that, though, because she gave up pretty quickly and started glancing around the room as best she could. "Mmph!" She said when they both noticed the silhouette of a man passing by the window and stopping in front of the door.
"Are you awake?" A kind looking middle-aged man asked as he slid open the door. "I'm sorry you were treated like this." He said apologetically as he entered the room and knelt down beside them, pulling the futon back. "I'll untie the ropes. Please wait a moment."
"Mmph." Sumiko said, nodding her head at Chizuru, trying to communicate that he should untie her first.
"I understand." He said, nodding with a small smile. "Ah-ah. That Souji." He said, sighing regretfully, as he began untying her friend. "Being tied so tightly, it must have been rough…"
"Hmph!" Sumiko huffed indignantly in response. That was a bit of an understatement. He had tied her own wrists so tight, she was pretty sure she'd have welts there for awhile. The kind man smiled wryly at her.
"Can you sit up?" He asked Chizuru, helping her up so he could untie the cloth over her mouth. "You can removed the gag, too." Chizuru took the ball of cloth out of her mouth and turned to watch while he untied Sumiko.
"E-Excuse me… where is this place?" She asked tentatively. "Who are you…?"
"Oh, pardon me. I am Inoue Genzaburou." He said, finally introducing himself, while Sumiko removed her own gag. "This is the Shinsengumi head quarters."
"Shinsengumi!?" Chizuru cried, glancing questioningly at Sumiko, who nodded calmly in confirmation.
"You don't need to be afraid. Can you come with me a moment?" He asked, smiling kindly, as he held onto the end of the ropes he had left around their hands to keep them from running off.
The two girls were quietly led to another part of the building.
"What happened?" Chizuru whispered.
"You fainted." Sumiko whispered back. Chizuru made a face to let her know that wasn't what she meant, but before she ask again, Inoue-san had stopped to open a door. They had reached their destination.
"Go in." Inoue instructed them.
"Good morning." A familiar voice greeted them as they stepped into the room and saw all the men waiting for them. "Did you sleep well?" Okita asked. "It looks like that one did." He said, smirking, as he glanced at Chizuru. "She has the tatami mat's pattern on her face."
"Eh!?" Chizuru gasped, feeling incredibly embarrassed, as she held her hands to her face and blushed. Sumiko sweat-dropped she couldn't believe she fell for that. Didn't she remember waking up on a futon? Poor Chizuru always had been a bit on the gullible side.
"Stop it, Souji. She'll think it's true." Saito said. "There aren't any tatami marks." He told Chizuru.
"That's mean, Hajime-kun." Okita said with a laugh. "You didn't have to tell her." Both girls furrowed their brows and frowned in annoyance at him. What a terrible personality…
"That's enough." Hijikata said firmly. "Cut the idle chat."
"Haai." Okita replied, pouting slightly in disappointment.
"Are those the witnesses?" The youngest looking man in the room asked. He appeared to be about the same age as Chizuru. His high ponytail was even longer than Sumiko's. "So thin and small, are you still kids?" He asked.
"You can't say 'kid' to anyone, Heisuke." The muscular guy wearing a green headband with spikey hair said, grinning, as he pet the younger boy on the head, messing up his hair.
"From all the saints' and sages' point of views, you're both similar." Another man with a low ponytail said, smiling wryly.
"The old men should shut up." Heisuke said, swatting away the other man's hand.
"What did you say, bochama?" He asked, pushing down on his head.
"I don't think I'm old enough to be called an old man by you. I can't speak for Shinpachi, but I'm not!" The low-ponytail man said slyly.
"Hey! Are you betraying me, Sano!?" Shinpachi demanded hotly, furrowing his brow.
"Will the three of you cut it out already?" Kondo asked sternly. At least, Sumiko assumed he was Kondo, since he was sitting in the position that indicated he held the most power in the room, between Hijikata and another man with glasses.
"I apologize for all the gossip." The man with glasses said politely with a wry smile as he turned his head to look back at the girls. "Please don't be afraid. Well, close that and sit down." He said, referring to the door.
"Hai." Chizuru said, obediently taking a seat on the floor while Sumiko shut the door before joining her.
"I'm the leader of the Shinsengumi, Kondo Isami." Kondo began once they were both seated. "This is Captain San'nan, and this person is Toshi—I mean, Hijikata Toshizo, the vice-captain—"
"Kondo-san!" Hijikata said firmly, cutting his leader off. "Why are you telling them all of this?"
"I-Is that bad?" Kondo asked, taken aback.
"You don't have to introduce yourself to people you are going to interrogate." Shinpachi said.
"Well, that over-formality is just like Kondo-san." Sano said, smiling
"Ahem." Kondo said, clearing his throat to hide his embarrassment. "Well, let's discuss the main topic. First, let me hear about what happened last night, Saito-kun."
"Last night, failed warriors encountered some rebels in the city." Saito said.
' 'failed'?' Sumiko thought dubiously. 'That's an odd way of putting it…'
"It ended in a fight, but we dealt with them. These people witnessed that fight." Saito finished.
"I didn't see anything!" Chizuru denied immediately.
"Really?" Heisuke asked skeptically.
"We didn't see it." Sumiko insisted calmly, backing her up.
"Hmm." Heisuke hummed. "Then I guess it's okay."
"Eh? But according to what Souji said, you helped the warriors?" Shinpachi said.
"That's not true!" Both girls objected, glancing at each other.
"We were running away from those rebels." Sumiko explained.
"Then the Shinsengumi people came, so we were kind of saved by them." Chizuru added. Sumiko didn't like the way Okita smirked slightly when he heard that.
"Then you saw very well when the warriors killed the rebels, didn't you?" Shinpachi asked.
Sumiko instantly deadpanned, trying to resist the urge to face-palm. Crap. They had walked right into that one…
"Huh?" Chizuru gasped softly, realizing her mistake too late.
"You are really honest." Sano said. "That isn't bad, but…"
"Come on, let's just kill them." Okita said. "It's the best way to silence them."
"No way!" Chizuru cried.
"Don't say outrageous things." Kondo scolded him seriously. "The authorities of the country can't kill innocent people like that!"
"Don't make that face. It was just a joke." Okita said.
Sumiko sweat-dropped. This guy was definitely a sadist…
"Only say jokes that sound like jokes." Saito told him calmly.
"Please!" Chizuru said urgently slapping her hands on the floor as she prostrated herself. "We won't say anything to anybody! Right, Sumiko-san!?"
"That's enough, take them away." Hijikata said, furrowing his brow as he looked away.
"Ah!" Chizuru gasped when Saito and Inoue grabbed each of them by the arm and started dragging them away. "Please! Forgive us! We won't say anything! Please trust us! Sumiko, say something! Please, we really… ugh!" She cried out when Saito shoved her back into the room, and she fell to the floor.
"Hey! Be gentle more gentle with her!" Sumiko scolded him sternly as she entered the room and kneeled down beside her frightened friend.
"You should prepare for the worst." He advised them grimly. "It won't turn out well for you."
"Why wouldn't you say anything?" Chizuru asked Sumiko once he shut the door, distressed.
"You heard him." Sumiko said, frowning. "It doesn't matter how much we beg. They've already made up their minds about us. Whatever they're going to do to us was probably already decided last night."
—∞—
"What? No disposal?" Shinpachi asked, surprised.
"Is it really okay like this, Hijikata-san?" Sano asked, furrowing his brow. "They saw them. The saw the failed ones."
"Last night, we purged some warriors who refused to follow their orders. They were just passing by." Hijikata stated calmly.
"Is that all you want to say?" San'nan asked.
"That's all that can be assumed from what they understand." Hijikata said.
"Well, if you say so, Toshi…" Kondo said.
"Those were your plans from the beginning, weren't they?" San'nan asked with a slight smile. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have brought them here alive."
"Tch." Hijikata clicked his tongue and furrowed his brow as he looked away.
"Anyway, we have to protect the secret." San'nan said. "We can't just release them like that."
"I know." Hijikata said, standing. "I still have some things to ascertain."
Author's Note: I have added a link to my profile for a set on polyvore that shows more of what Sumiko looks like, for anyone who's curious.