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Chapter 13: The Blue Hour

"At least it's a bit cooler now that it's dark…" Sumiko commented as she sat around a small fire outside the Aizu camp with Chizuru, Saito, Sano, Okita, Inoue, and Shinpachi while they waited for further orders from Kondo and Hijikata.

"It would seem that these Aizu soldiers are just for back up, and not the main force." Inoue said after glancing around. "Soldiers for the main force are apparently protecting the Hamaguri Gate."

"So, will the Shinsengumi be treated as back up forces, too?" Chizuru asked.

"It's inevitable that we will." Inoue said regretfully.

"Tch." Shinpachi clicked his tongue in irritation. "The message that came to our headquarters said that time was of the essence."

"They sure do know how to piss people off, don't they?" Sumiko deadpanned.

"We can head for the battlefield at once, should conditions call for it." Saito said. "Now, at present, this is all we can do."

"Okay…" Chizuru said, nodding. 'I don't think I can relax all night long…'

"Well, good night, then." Sumiko said abruptly, lying back in the grass.

"Eh? Sumiko-san!" Chizuru said, flustered, as she glanced around to see the reactions of the others.

"What? It's been a long day." She said, propping herself up as she raised an eyebrow at her friend. "We should rest while we can, or we'll be too tired when it counts."

"She's right, Chizuru." Sano said. "Just say if you want to rest. I can at least lend you my thighs." He teased.

"I'll be fine!" Chizuru replied quickly, blushing, as she looked away.

—∞—

In the early hours of dawn, when much of the sky was still a deep blue, Sumiko found herself awoken by a sudden feeling of unease. She glanced around but saw no immediate cause for alarm. She decided it must have been caused by a bad dream that she had left behind the border between waking and dreaming and simply couldn't recall at the moment. Shinpachi caught her eye and held a finger to his lips, nodding at Chizuru. Sumiko smiled wryly when she saw that Chizuru had actually fallen asleep while sitting up, poor thing. She must have tried to sit up with the others.

BOOM!

"!" Sumiko gasped, shooting up into a sitting position at the sound of an explosion echoing in the distance.

BOOM! BOOM!

Everyone was on alert now, and Chizuru was startled away when the others suddenly jumped to their feet.

Kondo came running out of his tent to stand beside Hijikata as he looked off in the direction the sounds had come from. They could see the glow of a fire burning in the direction of the palace and plumes of black smoke rising into the sky.

"Let's go." Saito said, springing into action.

"Hai!' Chizuru said as she and Sumiko hurried to follow after him and the rest of the men.

"Wait there, Shinsengumi!" The jerk who had greeted them the day before shouted. "We were ordered to stay on standby!" Hijikata glared fiercely as he turned to face the man. He'd had enough of all this bureaucratic bullshit.

"On standby to provide support should those Choshu bastards launch an attack!" He snapped at them.

"B-But, the order to move hasn't—"

"If you have even a shred of pride in your job, you pricks will stop talking about 'orders' and do something!!" Hijikata shouted with righteous fury as he and the rest of the Shinsengumi headed out. Sumiko kept her head down as she ran. She had to fight hard to suppress her blush and grin as she followed that fierce man into battle. This was bad… She was starting to really, really like him…!

The Aizu soldiers stared after the Shinsengumi, watching as the bold country samurai faded into the distance. Their leader furrowed his brow.

"Okay! Follow them!" He ordered his troops.

—∞—

When the Shinsengumi arrived at the scene of the battle, they found it littered with corpses and the walls were smoking, damaged by canon fire. Whoever was responsible for the carnage appeared to have already moved on. Hijikata glanced at Saito and Sano, who nodded in understanding and immediately set off to gather intel while the rest of them worked with the Aizu to organize the chaos and care for the wounded.

"Still, to think they'd raid the emperor's palace… Just what are those Choshu guys thinking?" Kondo wondered out loud.

"Don't tell me, if they'd go this far…" Inoue said, astonished.

"They'll learn what befalls those who humiliate themselves." Hijikata said gravely as Saito came running back with more information from a survivor.

"At dawn, a Choshu presence sent to the Hamaguri Gate was apparently driven off by some Aizu and Satsuma forces." Saito reported.

"Hmph. Satsuma coming to Aizu's aid, huh? The world sure is changing." Hijikata remarked sardonically.

"Hijikata-san," Sano said, rushing back with his own report to give, "they say there are still some Choshu guys at the Kuge Gate."

"What?" Hijikata asked, furrowing his brow.

"Commander." Yamazaki addressed Kondo, suddenly appearing out of nowhere with his usual ninja-like stealth. "Men believed to have incited this attack on the imperial palace are headed for Tennozan Hill."

"What do we do, Toshi?" Kondo smirked.

"Harada. Take some of the men and head for the Kuge Gate. Drive off the remaining Choshu." He ordered.

"Yes, sir." Sano said, nodding, before immediately leading a group of men away to do just that.

"I want you and Yamazaki to find out the situation." Hijikata told Saito. "Provide backup protection for the Hamaguri Gate, as originally planned."

"Sir." Yamazaki replied, nodding.

"Also, Commander, I have an important job for you." Hijikata said, turning to face Kondo. "There are defeated forces other than those headed for Tennozan Hill. They'll probably head for home, forcing supplies from stores along the way."

"Yeah." Kondo agreed.

"To track down and kill them, we will have to leave the capital. You are the only one who can get us permission for that." Hijikata said. Kondo nodded.

"Understood." He said. "I'll find a way to persuade the Kyoto Protector somehow."

"Yeah. Gen-san, you go with him. Keep an eye on the commander here and make sure he doesn't go out of control." Hijikata added with a more humorous tone.

"Understood. Leave it to me." Inoue said, smiling wryly, while Kondo scratched his cheek, looking a little bashful, while the men laughed good-naturedly. Sumiko and Chizuru smiled. Hijikata really was a great vice-commander.

"Everyone else, come with me!" He ordered, glancing back in their direction. His eyes stopped for a moment on the girls before he turned back to face forward again. "We're going to Tennozan Hill!"

"Hai!" The girls responded determinedly with Shinpachi and the rest of the men.

"Let's go!" Hijikata said, leading them away.