I own nothing but my OC.

Chapter 28: Clandestine Meetings

"Thank you." Chizuru said as she poured Heisuke some sake. "You're here because you're worried about me, right?" Heisuke nervously gulped back his cup of sake, blushing heavily to be alone with her while she looked so beautiful. She moved to pour him some more sake but paused when she noticed how he was staring at her.

"Heisuke-kun. Is something wrong?" She asked.

"N-Not really…" He mumbled, looking away, as he tried not to blush any more than he already was.

"Why are you looking away?" She asked.

"Well, because…" He cautiously glanced back at her and soon found himself in danger of being mesmerized by her doll-like appearance again. "It's 'cause you're dressed like that. You're so pretty, and yet you're serving other men… Aaah! I can't except this!" He shouted abruptly, jumping to his feet. "That's why, I was against it from the start!"

"Eh?" Chizuru said, blinking in confusion as he headed for the door.

"I'll talk to Kondo-san and Hijikata-san now! Don't leave this room, Chizuru!" He told her as he dashed off with a determined roar, leaving her all alone.

"Heisuke-kun?" Chizuru called after him as she carefully gathered up the folds of her extravagant kimono and crossed the room to look out the open doorway. Heisuke had departed with such speed, that he had already disappeared well beyond her sight and reach. 'Heisuke-kun…' she thought, staring down the empty walkway as she wondered whether or not he would be all right. He had been acting so strangely… "!" Chizuru gasped, turning, when she felt the presence of someone behind her. It was that oni, Kazama.

"Hnh." He said, smirking slightly as he looked down at her with a trace of amusement dancing in his crimson eyes.

"Ah, um…" Chizuru said nervously, caught between asking him what he was doing there and preparing to run.

"Hurry up and prepare some sake." He told her calmly.

"Huh?" Chizuru said, surprised. Did he not recognize her? He tilted his head slightly in the direction of the sound of a bunch of rowdy men laughing in a room across the courtyard.

"I got tired of that stupid ruckus, so I left." Kazama said, glancing back at her. "Drinking sake with those rotten men would be blasphemy to the sake."

Chizuru's eyes widened slightly. He really didn't seem to recognize her at all. She should probably consider herself lucky, but…

"Move it. You're a geiko here, aren't you?" He said.

"Ah, yes!" Chizuru said nervously, quickly going back inside the room to do as he asked. It was more important than ever now that she didn't blow her cover...!

After she ordered the sake, the two of them sat in silence for a moment or two. She was starting to wish she and Sumiko hadn't split up. Sumiko would know what to do if she were there… Well, for now, she had to do her best to keep up her act as a geiko.

"The sake will be ready soon." Chizuru said, bowing her head slightly out of politeness. "Please wait a moment…"

"Although you're a geiko, you speak in a common tone." Kazama remarked. "Strange. Is this your first time?"

"M-My deepest apologies." Chizuru said nervously, immediately changing her tone to sound more like a professional geiko. "I—Ah, no. My humble self just started here, and hasn't become used to this yet." Kazama simply continued to stare stoically at her.

"If you were a geiko of Shimabara, then you'd have been raised here." He told her.

"Huh!?" Chizuru gasped, flinching in shock, when she realized the severity of the mistake she had just made. "Um… That's right! Forgive me, I must have remembered wrongly." She said quickly.

"Is such a mistake even possible?" Kazama asked.

"Ah, um… well…" Chizuru stumbled nervously for a plausible explanation.

"Hmph." Kazama smirked as he watched her struggle.

'Wh-What do I do?' Chizuru wondered anxiously as she fell silent. 'If Sumiko-san were here…'

"Now then, shall we end this little play, Yukimura Chizuru?" Kazama asked, deciding they had delayed enough already.

"Ah!" She gasped, furrowing her brow, as she realized too late that she had fallen into his trap.

"You most likely received orders from the Shinsengumi to inquire the motives of the roshi here." He deduced correctly, narrowing his eyes slightly as he spoke. He didn't like it, humans using a female oni for something like this.

"So, you knew all along?" Chizuru asked.

"Did you think I wouldn't recognize you?" He asked, moving closer.

"!" Chizuru gasped when he reached out and grabbed her by the chin, tilting her face up towards his own. His grip was firm but gentle. She furrowed her brow as she stared back at him, doing her best not to look afraid.

"My eyes definitely weren't wrong about you." Kazama told her. "This appearance makes you suitable to be my wife."

"Eh?" Chizuru said, caught off-guard. His wife!?

"Now I want to make you mine even more." He said, pressing closer, as she tried to push him away. "And that annoying bodyguard of yours isn't here to stop me today, is she?"

"Let me go! I'm not your wife!" She protested as he grabbed the wrist of the hand trying to hold him at bay.

"I'm praising you." He told her, leaning in even closer.

"S-Stop!" Chizuru begged. They're lips were only inches apart now. "S-Sumiko-san!"

SLIDE.

Kazama glanced up as the door slide open, expecting to see that half-oni glaring fiercely at him again.

SMACK!

With a swift flick of the wrist, Sen quickly snapped the blond oni sharply on the head with a closed fan.

"Mnh!" Kazama grunted in pain and irritation from the unexpected attack. To the untrained eye, it seemed like a simple enough attack, but it had enough power packed behind it to knock even Kazama off balance for a few moments.

"That's enough!" Sen said sternly as she stared down at him in disapproval.

"Osen-chan!" Chizuru exclaimed, surprised and relieved to see a friendly face. Kimigiku-san was standing just behind her.

"Chizuru-chan, hurry up and run away." Sen urged her.

"You bitch…!" Kazama growled dangerously, trembling with anger, as he lifted his hand from his aching head.

"What?" Osen said, glaring challengingly at him as Chizuru gasped and quickly began gathering up the skirts of her kimono so she could make a run for it.

"Wait! I'm not finished talking yet!" Kazama called after Chizuru as she slipped out the door and ran to safety while silently thanking her brave friend, hoping she and Kimigiku-san would be all right.

"A man who is too persistent won't be welcomed." Sen said as he stood up and moved to follow after her friend.

"What?" He said, stopping, as he glanced back at the other female oni.

"It's only natural that your behavior would annoy Chizuru-chan. Any girl would be." Sen continued calmly.

"Hmph. I thought I would be able to capture her today without that komainu around, but then you showed." Kazama said as he walked back over to them and took a seat, deciding he may as well finish his sake.

"Komainu?" Sen asked, furrowing her brow slightly in confusion.

"The half-oni girl who's always with her, Miyagawa Sumiko. Every time I see her, she always furrows her brow deeply and glares fiercely at me while trying to protect Yukimura Chizuru." He explained, picking up his cup.

"Well, it's no wonder!" Sen huffed. "You're trying to kidnap someone she views as a best friend and younger sister. Sumiko-san must hate your guts. Kazama Chikage, you don't know how to court a woman at all, do you?"

"Oh? You want to lecture me on courting women?" He asked calmly, staring down at his cup of sake.

"Hmph. Even if you have been carefully educated as the head of your clan since childhood, Kazama, you cannot force the woman you fancy to be with you. Do you understand? Moreover, you must first understand her heart and respect her wishes… Are you even listening!?" Sen demanded indignantly, stopping her rambling lecture when she noticed Kazama seemed more interested in his sake than paying attention to her.

"Hn? What did you say?" He asked, glancing at her as he lowered his empty sake cup.

"I said, have you ever considered what women want?" She asked pointedly.

"Nonsense. Why would I ever need to consider such things?" He asked, pouring himself another cup of sake.

Sen and Kimigiku stared at him, stunned. Was he serious…?

SLIDE.

"Greetings to you all." Sumiko said politely, gracefully imitating the way she had seen Kimigiku greet guests, closing her eyes as she bowed deeply before lifting her head. Kazama stared at her with a look of open astonishment on his face. It took a moment for him to recognize her without those scruffy bangs in her eyes and the lack of scowling expression on her face, but he knew it was her. The komainu had finally come, but in this moment, he had to admit she looked more like a goddess than the beast meant to protect one. She wasn't wearing any more makeup than Chizuru, so the fact that she was now even more beautiful than her meant Miyagawa Sumiko's male disguise must have been more involved than he thought. The transformation was unbelievable.

"…" Sumiko said, frozen in place for a moment when her dark eyes met his crimson orbs. She managed to keep the smile on her face as she very calmly reached for the door and began sliding it shut again. "My apologies, honored guest… I appears I have the wrong room." Well, her performance as a geiko was better than Chizuru's, he would give her that. But did she really think she could fool him? He was about to call her back, when she suddenly slide the door wide open again. "Eh? Kimigiku-san? Osen-chan!?" She exclaimed in surprise when the identities of the other two people who were in the room with him finally registered after her initial shock of finding such a dangerous enemy in Chizuru's room with no Chizuru. "Quick, come here! That person is dangerous!" She whisper-yelled at them, trying to get them to make a run for it. "Where's Chizuru?"

"I can hear you." Kazama remarked, furrowing his brow slightly at the way he was being ignored. Normally she wouldn't dare take her eyes off of him. He felt a sliver of satisfaction when Sumiko finally looked at him, but her brow was furrowed again, and her body language indicated that she was on edge just being around him.

"It's all right, Sumiko-san." Sen said. "We already saved Chizuru-chan. She ran away, and now I'm trying to teach this guy some manners. Any suggestions?" Sumiko blinked.

"Um, yeah… leave while you still can?" Sumiko said, confused. They saved Chizuru from him…? How did they manage to pull that off?

"But we aren't finished talking yet." Sen replied calmly.

"Miyagawa Sumiko. Unless you want your cover blown, I suggest you come inside and pour me some sake." Kazama said. "You're supposed to be a geiko right now, aren't you?" Sumiko frowned as she finished entering the room and closed the door behind her, but instead of taking a seat next to him and doing as he had asked, she sat down beside Sen and glared defiantly at him.

"Sorry, but I don't feel like pouring a drink for the guy who called me a 'mongrel'." She replied stiffly. Sen's jaw dropped, and she gaped at Kazama in disbelief.

"I can't believe you! You really are the worst, you know." Sen scolded him, also glaring now.

"If you're not going to pour me a drink, then why bother coming in?" Kazama asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Well, I can't just leave Chizuru's new friends alone with a would-be kidnapper, can I?" Sumiko retorted, narrowing her own eyes back at him.

"Hmph. I'd have thought you would be more interested in finding Yukimura Chizuru after learning she had run away." He said.

"I'm not the only one Chizuru has looking out for her." Sumiko replied with a smirk. "She'll be fine as long as she has those guys around to protect her."

"She ran away! After her!" A rough voice shouted as the footsteps of several men could be heard running past outside the room.

"Eh?" Sumiko said, glancing at the silhouettes running past the outer doors.

"Dammit! Where is she?"

"Are you sure?" Kazama asked, smirking. It was obvious Yukimura Chizuru had gotten herself into some kind of trouble.

"Yeah, she'll be fine." Sumiko said, sweat-dropping, as she smiled wryly. At the very least, they still hadn't caught her yet. She must have found out something good if they were going so far as to actually chase her.

"Anyway, you didn't come here for Chizuru-chan today, did you?" Sen asked Kazama.

"So what?" Kazama said, staring calmly at the younger girl.

"Huh?" Sumiko said, glancing between the two of them. From the way they were talking, she was starting to get the feeling these two knew each other somehow prior to this evening.

"If you want to hear more of this conversation, you'll have to pour my sake for me." Kazama stated calmly, glancing back at her. Sumiko frowned, but to their surprise, she got up and moved to serve him.

"Fine." She said curtly as she picked up the sake container and pour another serving into his cup. Maybe she would be able to find out what this creep was really up to. "Here you go." He smirked slightly as he took a sip, watching the fuming woman beside him out the corner of his eye.

"As I thought." Sen said, frowning in disapproval at him. "You were probably here to find out the purpose of other states and the roshi." Kazama just sipped his sake. "The suddenly, Chizuru-chan appeared. You thought she was walking into a trap, so you tried to take her."

"Eh?" Sumiko said, surprised, furrowing her brow in disbelief. She didn't see him as the type to save a damsel in distress, rather, she thought he would be more likely to be the doing the distressing, given her and Chizuru's past experience with him. Kazama just kept calmly sipping his sake.

"What happened next was an absolute don't." Sen continued. Kazama finally lowered his cup and looked at the oni female across from him. "You really need to learn how to read the mood."

"This sake isn't bad." Kazama commented as he held his cup out for Sumiko to pour him a another serving. As he thought, sake was better when poured by a beautiful woman, even one who was a komainu.

"Be honest, what do you really think of Chizuru-chan?" Sen asked him.

"The Oni blood Yukimura Chizuru possesses is one in a million because it belongs to one of the most powerful Oni clans from the original bloodline."

"Eh?" Sen and Sumiko both said as they stared at him, stunned. What the…?

"The birthrate of female oni is twenty percent of the entire population, and those of the original bloodline are even more precious." He explained for Sumiko's benefit, since she no doubt knew nothing of their ways. "There is a one in five probability for a female oni to be like this. Yukimura is invaluable. To protect our lineage, it doesn't matter whether there is love between us or not."

'It matters to Chizuru.' Sumiko thought, frowning.

"So, you're only looking for a marriage with Chizuru-chan to perpetuate the Oni lineage?" Sen asked, surprised.

'Wait, she knows about oni?' Sumiko thought, glancing at Sen.

"What else could it be?" Kazama asked boredly as he began eating the fish he had Kimigiku order for him. Sen stared at him, astounded.

"Oh, I don't know… world domination?" Sumiko suggested. "With the way you kept popping up out of nowhere, threatening us, and fighting the guys whose protection we're under, we kind of figured you had to be up to something pretty nefarious." She explained frankly when they all gave her a strange look. "But taking a step back for a moment… Osen-chan, since you seem to know Kazama and know about oni, could it be you and Kimigiku-san are oni, too?"

"Yep." Sen replied with a smile. "There's that legendary sharpness I've about from Chizuru-chan. She said you were good at reading people."

"Hime-sama is also a female oni of the original bloodline." Kimigiku added with the hint of a sly smile as she glanced from Sumiko to Kazama.

"Huh!?" Sen and Sumiko said, staring incredulously at the geisha, wondering what she was thinking mentioning something like that after what they had just heard. Wasn't it bad enough he was already after Chizuru!?

"Do you wish to be taken by me?" Kazama asked Sen.

"Eh?" Sumiko said. Seriously? Just like that!? He really was okay with just anybody…

"Absolutely not." Sen replied, waving her hand.

"Hn." Kazama smirked slightly as he took a sip of his sake.

"What about Sumiko-san?" Kimigiku asked. "She's a beauty, is she not?"

"Kimigiku-san…" Sumiko said, sweat-dropping, as her eyebrow twitched, clearly chagrined. Kazama glanced at her out the corner of his eye. "Well, I'm probably the only one of us who's really 'safe'. After all, I'm only half oni, and I have no clue who my parents were, so who knows how far removed from the original blood line I am."

"Eh? I thought Chizuru-chan said both your parents were doctors?" Sen said, surprised.

"The Miyagawas adopted me when I was about thirteen. I grew up in and out of an orphanage." Sumiko replied calmly.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" Sen said, raising a hand to cover her mouth.

"Don't be. I'm not. I'm glad I was able to meet the Miyagawas." She said, smiling softly at the memory of her adopted parents. "They were interesting people."

'Hmm? So, this komainu can actually make a face like that, too…' Kazama thought, surprised to see Sumiko with such a gentle and loving expression on her face.

"That woman! Where did she go?" A man shouted again as he ran past outside. It sounded like Chizuru still had them on the ropes.

"Anyway, if a man wants to make love to a woman," Sen said, getting back on topic, "the first thing to do is behave. Right, Sumiko-san?"

"Look out!" Another shout came from outside.

"Right. You should know that taking women by force isn't what real men do." Sumiko said, setting down the sake container as she stood up and stepped around him to head for the door. "Trust me on this. Men who make women cry are the worst. If you're serious about someone, you should try to make them fall in love with your attitude." She paused with her hand on the door, poised to open it. "But in this case it would probably be better if you gave up. Just because you like someone doesn't mean you're meant to be together." She furrowed her brow as she glanced back at him determinedly over her shoulder. "I don't know much about oni or any of this bloodline business you keep harping on about, and frankly, I don't really care. What I do care about is Chizuru. She already has someone she likes. If you do anything to interfere with her happiness… I'll make you regret it." She said resolutely, narrowing her eyes at him as a warning, before glancing at Sen and Kimigiku. "It sound like things are getting serious out there again, so I'll be going now. If he tries anything, feel free to scream. I'll come running immediately." She said, flashing them a handsome smile, before slipping out of the room to help her friends. The three oni stared after her for a moment before resuming their conversation.

"See?" Sen said, turning back to Kazama. "Although, Sumiko-san is a woman, that was a good example of chivalry just now. It's a good thing she wasn't wearing her male disguise just then, or I might have fallen in love…" She said thoughtfully. "That girl puts the 'prince' in 'princess'."

"Hmph. You're saying in order to be a better man, I should be more like a woman?" Kazama asked skeptically, somewhat annoyed that he had lost his sake pourer.

"That woman, at least." Sen said pointedly.

"Yamazaki's ninja arts, Tatami Roll-back!" A young man shouted.

CRASH!

"A ninja!?"

"Wow! Amazing, Yamazaki-san!" They heard Sumiko cheer.

"Hey! This woman's even better!"

WHAM!

"Watch it, pervert! Try to touch me there again, and you'll loose that hand!" Sumiko growled dangerously.

"Whoa! She just threw him across the yard!"

"Miyagawa-san! Take Yukimura-kun and run!"

"Come on, Chizuru!"

"Moh!" Sen exclaimed, furrowing her brow in annoyance as she abruptly stood up, irritated that Kazama seemed to be more interested in listening to the commotion going on outside than to her. "What the hell are they doing out there? Wait here for a moment while I see what's happening!" She said firmly, glancing back at him. "We're not done talking yet!" She turned and left the room in a huff, followed close behind by Kimigiku. The geisha/kunoichi shut the door behind them. Kazama took another sip of sake.

"Unfortunately, I don't have anymore free time left." He said, smirking slightly as he set down his cup and stood up to leave.