I own nothing but my OC.

Chapter 24: The Fetters of Fate

Chizuru and Sumiko were hanging some freshly laundered kimonos up to dry.

"I'll go get the rest." Sumiko said, heading back to the well, where they'd left the ones that needed to soak a little longer.

"Okay." Chizuru said, wiping her brow. She turned when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye and saw that Okita was walking with Matsumoto-sensei. Curious, she decided to follow them.

"You have no appetite, a slight fever, and sweat profusely at night…" Matsumoto said thoughtfully, repeating the symptoms Okita had just told him he was suffering from.

"Yes." Okita replied. He figured he might as well ask Matsumoto-sensei while he was here before Sumiko carried through with her threat to Hijikata. That woman was just crazy enough to do it. Matsumoto was silent for a moment, and then he sighed heavily.

"Here's what I think: your illness is tuberculosis." The doctor informed him frankly. There was no point in sugar-coating such a fatal diagnosis.

"Tuberculosis!" Chizuru gasped softly from where she was hiding around the corner, horrified.

"Oh, jeez. That famous deadly illness, huh?" Okita said rather calmly.

"You're not surprised?" Matsumoto asked.

"To be honest, I'd already heard as much from Sumiko-san. She insisted I get a second opinion since she wasn't entirely sure. But being told for certain like this to my face, yeah, it sucks." He said, laughing, while he rubbed the back of his neck.

"This is nothing to laugh about!" Matsumoto said sternly. "You should leave the Shinsengumi at once and begin recovery! You need to rest at a place with fresh air—"

"Leave the Shinsengumi?" Okita asked, turning back to face him. "I can't do that."

"!" Matsumoto gasped in astonishment. If he had already talked to Sumiko about this, then surely she would have told him the danger his life was in…

"Whether my life is long or short, there are few things I can do." Okita continued resolutely. "To stand with the Shinsengumi and kill our enemies… That's about it. All the more so if I have little time left. Being here is everything to me." Even though she had threatened to rat him out, Sumiko had never even broached the subject of him possibly leaving the Shinsengumi. Perhaps, because she understood this. Maybe already knew what he would say if she did. She was sharp like that.

"But…" Matsumoto began to protest, but he fell silent after seeing the solid determination in the eyes of the young man before him. "I accept your resolve." He eventually conceded. "All the more reason that you should do as I say going forward. Don't push yourself too hard."

"Hai." Okita said solemnly. So, in the end, it was pretty much the same as what Sumiko had already told him. "Oh, and please don't tell Kondo-san and the others. I'd also appreciate it if you could let Sumiko-san know we talked, since she was threatening to tell if I didn't see another doctor soon. Promise me, okay?" He asked with a sly smile.

Matsumoto nodded and went to find Sumiko. Okita sat down and waited for him to disappear before calling out to his little eavesdropper.

"Chizuru-chan."

"!" Chizuru gasped, startled to have been so easily discovered.

"Come on out, it's okay." He said. She stepped out from around the corner, peering cautiously at him. "Yes, come over here." He told her, patting the spot next to him. Chizuru quietly walked over and sat down beside him. "Are you taking that talk just now to heart?" He asked, smiling slightly, when he noticed how upset she was on his behalf. "You wouldn't tell anyone this silly story, would you?" He asked, trying to laugh it off. Chizuru was silent. "Sumiko-san already knows, but if you plan on telling anyone else, well then… I'd have to kill you."

"Okita-san. You always say that." Chizuru replied somberly. Okita smiled slightly.

"Yeah, maybe so." He stood up and started to walk away.

"Okita-san." Chizuru said as she also stood, stopping him. "I'll keep quiet about your illness. I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you."

—∞—

Sumiko and Chizuru were both lost deep in thought while they swept the courtyard by the pond together, pondering the heavy secret they had to carry now that Sumiko's unwelcome diagnosis had been confirmed. Well, Okita didn't have to worry about either of them talking. After hearing what had happened from Matsumoto-sensei, she had decided to just let him do as he wished with what was left of his life since there was nothing else she could do for him. She would just have to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't push himself too hard and rush to his grave…

"They've made you do grunt work, is that it?" An all too familiar voice asked suddenly from behind as a gentle breeze sent ripples across the surface of the pond.

"!" Both girls gasped in alarm as they spun around to face the owner. Kazama was resting on the large boulder in the center of the pond.

"You, with the blood of Oni in you, doing the humans' biding…"

Sumiko furrowed her brow, silently berating herself for letting her guard down so far.

"Chizuru, run." Sumiko urged her friend, tightening her grip on her broom. Of all the times for them not to be wearing their swords…!

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Chizuru demanded nervously, staying where she was. Sumiko sweat-dropped as she glanced at her friend, slightly chagrined. Why couldn't she ever just listen, for once?

"Hmph. This has gone beyond laughable into just plain pitiful." Kazama said assumingly as he stared down at them. Both girls furrowed their brows and narrowed their eyes at him.

"For your information, everyone takes turns doing this." Sumiko retorted tartly. "It's called 'shared responsibility'."

"Don't get so angry." Kazama told the girls, standing up. "I'm not here to fight today."

"Hearing that almost makes me afraid to ask: what are you here for?" Sumiko asked.

"You two have some relationship with Koudou?" Kazama asked, getting straight to the point.

'He knows my father?' Chizuru thought as Sumiko's pokerface instantly slid into place.

'We should probably play this cool until we find out what he wants and how much he knows…' Sumiko thought.

"Why do you—" She started ask carefully, when Chizuru abruptly blurted out:

"Yukimura Koudou is my father! Sumiko-san is his apprentice!"

'Chizuru…!' Sumiko cried internally as she hung her head in defeat. 'Why are you telling everything to someone who wants to kidnap you!?'

"Eh?" Chizuru said, glancing at her friend. Did she do something wrong? Kazama tilted his head slightly, looking a bit surprised himself to hear such a candid answer. He smirked slightly.

"I get it." He said. Sumiko raised her head upon catching that.

"Get what?" She asked, furrowing her brow. "You all… What do you want with—"

"Came sneaking alone into enemy territory, did you?" Hijikata asked, stepping out from behind a nearby tree. "Sorry, but I can't overlook such foolishness." Sumiko-sweat dropped. How long had he been standing there? She must have been really out of it not to notice sooner…

The two men exchanged a sharp look.

"What are you doin' here in the middle of the day?" Sano asked as he arrived on the scene, aiming his spear at Kazama. "It's still too early to try chatting up a woman."

"You better stay away from them!" Heisuke added as he ran up, placing himself in front of Chizuru and Sumiko.

"Everyone…" Chizuru said, relieved. Sumiko kept her grip firm on the handle of her broom.

"How you roam in a pack is just like dogs. Isn't it?" Kazama commented haughtily.

"Now you've done it." Hijikata said, looking pissed, as he pushed his sword out of its sheath slightly with his thumb, preparing the draw.

"If you want me to play with you, I can be your opponent, but unfortunately I've come here on business today." Kazama stated calmly, unfazed. "Also, let me give you a warning: stop turning mere humans into oni."

Chizuru gasped as Sumiko's eyes widened slightly in surprise and realization.

'Turning humans into oni? Is he talking about the Rasetsu?' Sumiko thought. 'He knows about them?'

"Mind your damn business." Hijikata retorted sharply.

"Yeah, some sleazebag who'd try to abduct a woman in broad daylight has no business talkin'." Sano added.

"Heheh. Fools." Kazama said smugly, laughing quietly to himself. "I gave you this warning trying to show you mercy."

"This is our territory!" Heisuke said. "Quit talkin' big and get the hell outta here already!"

"Hmph!" Kazama laughed. "The weakest dog does tend to bark. Chizuru, we have Koudou on our side. You know what that means, yes?" He asked as she gasped and Sumiko furrowed her brow. "It means the man who is your father and her teacher has abandoned the Bakufu."

"I don't believe you. Like we'd take the word of someone who tried to kidnap us." Sumiko said defiantly. Kazama smirked, as if he had expected such a reaction from her.

"Tell me, then. What does it take to gain the trust of a girl who is out of time and place?" He asked loftily.

"!?" Sumiko gasped as he eyes widened and her pupils constricted. No… it couldn't be… The only person she had ever told about that was Koudou-san. Even Chizuru didn't know.

"Sumiko-san…?" Chizuru asked, concerned when she saw the stunned and betrayed look on her friend's face.

"Was that a threat, you bastard!?" Heisuke demanded hotly.

"For what reason are you here?" Kazama asked the girls calmly, ignoring Heisuke's outburst. "You should think about that." With a gust of wind, the oni vanished.

'My father is with them…?' Chizuru thought as she bowed her head sadly, shaken by the look she had seen on her friend's face. 'He's with the anti-foreigner faction?' She didn't understand what Kazama had said that upset her so much, but she could tell Sumiko knew something.

'I could maybe understand Koudou-san being tempted to turn on the Bakufu after they made him make the Ochimizu, but to team up with the same creeps who were trying to kidnap Chizuru… and then to tell them that… What is he thinking!?' Sumiko wondered, clenching her fists as she trembled slightly. What did this mean? What would happen now that someone else knew she was from the future? Did they really believe that, or had Kazama just said it to get her goat because he knew that she did? She hoped it was the second case, because it could spell big trouble if someone out there wanted to try to use her as a cheat-sheet for the future…

"Don't make that face, Chizuru, Sumiko." Heisuke said, trying to cheer the girls up. "Don't go believin' anything he'd say!"

"Yeah. There's no guarantee that what he's saying is true." Sano said.

"We have inspectors out there looking for Koudou-san as well." Hijikata added. "We're sure to pick up something."

"Yes." Chizuru said, raising her head, as she forced herself to think positively. Sumiko put on a brave face and smiled for them to hide the doubt she still felt.

—∞—

Kazama Chikage was standing on a bridge, leaning back against the railing, while he watched the sun set. His visit with the female oni and half-oni had gone as expected for the most part, but what he hadn't expected was to get such a strong reaction out of Miyagawa Sumiko for hinting that she might be from the future, as Koudou had claimed. He didn't believe such a thing was truly possible, but her reaction had been far to honest and unrehearsed. At the very least, she herself honestly believed it to be true, and Koudou had said he saw her appear in a ball of bright light in the middle of previously dark and empty street three years ago… It was unthinkable. But if it were true, then why was she with the Shinsengumi? Was it merely coincidence, or did she know something they didn't? He wondered if she was helping them continue their research on the Ochimizu. Koudou had said such a thing would never happen, but she was his apprentice… And she was half human. Who knew what kind of foolishness she was capable of?

"What business did you have with them?" Amagiri asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Hm?" Kazama said, glancing over his shoulder to see that the older oni was standing down below on the bank of the river. "I went to confirm those girls' relationship to Koudou."

"Is that really the only reason?" Amagiri asked.

"What do you want to say?" Kazama asked sharply, furrowing his brow.

"I'm asking if perhaps you have an interest in those humans."

"Not interest; nothing more than pity." Kazama replied more calmly, glancing back at the sunset.

"There is no need to further involve ourselves with humans." Amagiri said as Kazama straightened up and sarted to walk away. "We need only repay our obligation to Satsuma."

—∞—

Back at the Shinsengumi headquarters, Kondo was having an evening meeting with San'nan. On the paper San'nan had just passed to his commander were the kanji for 'Rasetsu' and 'Unit'.

"I've dubbed it the 'Rasetsu Unit'. Please use us, for the sake of strengthening the group." San'nan told him.