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Chapter 36: The Aburanokoji Incident

"We're counting on you now." Kondo told Sano and Shinpachi as he and Hijikata prepared to leave to meet Itou on more neutral ground the following day in order to ensure that he would be more likely to come without a guard.

"Incidentally, who should I kill?" Okita asked, feeling left out.

"You just rest." Hijikata said strictly. "What can you do in your condition?" He asked, furrowing his brow as he turned to leave. To begin with, he shouldn't even be out of bed. Okita let out a wry laugh of defeat.

"I can hold a grudge, Hijikata-san." Okita said as he watched the older man walk away. Kondo turned and headed for the gate as well. Okita furrowed his brow as he bowed his head, frustrated he couldn't do more when Kondo-san's life had been threatened.

—∞—

"Sensei, will you really be going alone?" Shinohara asked, concerned.

"Yes. After all, Kondo-san himself invited me." Itou said calmly. "I look forward to it."

"They don't even realize the money they're paying us to investigate Choshu's plans… is like paying for the noose to hang themselves with. The Shinsengumi certainly is pitiful." Kano said with a smirk.

"Oh, dear. There's no need to speak so carelessly." Itou told him with a rueful smile.

—∞—

"Three hundred ryo, right?" Kondo asked, smiling, as he presented Itou with six fity-ryo coin cases as payment.

"Yes, sure enough." Itou said, returning his smile, as he reached out and collected the money to take back with him. "I shall accept your payment."

"Please investigate what the Choshu are up to." Kondo said.

"Leave it to me." Itou replied with a small bow of his head.

"All right! Well, now that business is taken care of, shall we have some sake?" Kondo asked on a brighter note. Allowing him to enjoy himself and treating him to some good sake before the end was the least they could do, right?

"Yes." Itou replied with a smile, thinking he may as well enjoy himself since it would mean more money coming out of the Shinsengumi's pocket.

—∞—

Headquarters of the Guardians of the Imperial Tomb

It was late in the evening. Heisuke was alone doing some washing by the well, when Saito approached him.

"Heisuke." Saito said, getting his attention.

"Ah. Hajime-kun!" Heisuke said when he looked up. "Where've you been? You've been gone long enough that everyone was starting to worry."

"Do you have a moment?" Saito asked instead of trying to explain.

–∞–

"Chizuru?" Heisuke asked, surprised when Saito led him away to meet someone unexpected.

"Heisuke-kun. You're looking well." Chizuru greeted him with a wan smile.

"Hajime-kun?" Heisuke said, glancing back at Saito in confusion. Not that he wasn't glad to see Chizuru again, but what was she doing there? What was this all about? Saito remained silent, leaving it up to Chizuru to explain.

"Why did you come here?" Heisuke asked Chizuru as he crouched down beside the base of the bridge and stared down into the river flowing at the bottom of the steep bank they were on.

"Um… Well, there's something I wanted to tell you." Chizuru replied a little nervously as she stared down at him. She closed her eyes for a moment and steeled her nerves. "Heisuke-kun… Come back to the Shinsengumi." She said earnestly, surprising him.

"Huh!? Wh-Where did that come from?" He asked, taken aback, as he glanced up at her. Why did she look so serious all of a sudden?

"Please! Don't ask why, just return to the Shinsengumi!" She pleaded urgently. "Otherwise… Heisuke-kun, you'll…"

"Hajime-kun, what's this all about?" Heisuke asked as he glanced back at Saito, starting to feel a little unnerved.

"Itou-san is plotting to assassinate Commander Kondo." Saito told him.

"!" Heisuke gasped, shocked.

"I've informed the Shinsengumi of such." Saito finished.

"N-No way! That can't be!" Heisuke exclaimed as he shot to his feet, appalled. "Why would Itou-san kill Kondo-san!?"

"Itou-san has joined forces with Satsuma." Saito stated grimly. Heisuke just stared at him with wide eyes, shocked.

—∞—

Meanwhile, Sumiko had concealed herself in the shadows near the crossing of Aburanokoji and 7jô, where she knew the main confrontation that had occurred after the initial assassination of Itou would take place. She had chosen a hiding spot far enough away to be a safe distance from the fight that still let her have a good line of sight of the crossing. Now all she had to do was wait and watch in case the others needed her.

It wasn't long before Sano and Shinpachi's group came into view, dragging Itou's body to the crossing. They left his corpse there as bait for his comrades and quickly concealed themselves in a closer alley to lie in wait for their prey.

Sano furrowed his brow. His face was set with grim determination while they waited for the men from Itou's group to come to take his body away. He and Shinpachi were glad the girls weren't there to see this. It was a gruesome business, and not something they were particularly proud of, but it had to be done. They had to cut off the head of the snake before it bit them. They just hoped Heisuke would have enough sense to stay away…

"Itou-sensei!"

Several members of Itou's faction shouted when they arrived on the scene and found his corpse.

"Gurney men! Over here!" One of them shouted, waving for the men carrying a kogen to come closer so they could put their leader's body inside to carry back to their headquarters. "Damn those Shinsengumi!"

"!" The men gasped when Sano and Shinpachi suddenly charged out to attack. Most of them drew their swords, but a few screamed and ran, abandoning their comrades.

"Bastards! How cowardly, to strike without warning!" One of the remaining men cursed angrily as he and his comrades took up a protective stance around the body of their late leader. "How dare you kill Itou-sensei!?"

"Hmph. We're just responding in kind to the fight you started!" Sano shouted sternly as he prepared to charge at them with his spear.

—∞—

"Heisuke-kun, please!" Chizuru said earnestly as she faced Heisuke. "It's not too late." Heisuke stared at her. Before he could finish making his decision, the sound of running footsteps grew louder as a pack of men headed their way, aiming to cross the bridge.

"Toudou! Come on, now!" Shinohara shouted when he recognized him under the pale moonlight.

"Has something happened?" Heisuke asked.

"The Shinsengumi killed Itou-sensei at Abura-Koji alley!" Abe said.

"!" Heisuke's eyes widened and he turned to glanced back at Chizuru one last time before gritting his teeth and running over to join the others.

"Heisuke-kun!" Chizuru gasped. "Heisuke-kun!" She yelled, rushing over to the bridge after him. "You mustn't go!" But Heisuke kept running, heedless of her pleas.

"Hey, you." Another man from Itou's faction said as his group also approached the bridge, pointing his sword at her. "I've seen you before. You're with the Shinsengumi, aren't you?"

"What was that!?" The man behind him asked. Chizuru nervously took a step back and placed her hand on the hilt of her sword as the new group of men surrounded her. Her hand trembled as she prepared to draw her sword. Saito came up from behind and place a hand on her shoulder, reminding her that she was not alone.

"It's… Saito!" One of the men said, astonished, when he stepped forward to protect her.

"Go, Yukimura." Saito told Chizuru calmly as he stared down all the other men.

"Ah, Hai!" Chizuru said, hurrying after Heisuke. She had to stop him before he reached the others!

"Wait!" A man shouted, charging after her.

SLASH!

"Aaah!" He screamed when Saito cut him down.

"Saito, you bastard!" The others cursed."You've betrayed us!?"

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"

"Hurry up and go." Saito told Chizuru when he noticed she was still standing there.

"!" Chizuru gasped as she turned and ran. That's right, she couldn't waste time! If she didn't stop Heisuke, he would die!

—∞—

Sano and the other members were all breathing heavily after having just finished defeating the men who had come to collect Itou's body.

"!" Sano said, startled when a half-dead man suddenly reached out and grabbed his ankle. "Tch!" He furrowed his brow and raised his spear, getting ready to finish the job.

BANG!

They all looked up, startled when someone beat Sano to putting the enemy out of his misery by shooting him. It was Shiranui!

"We'll be sure to avenge you." Shiranui promised the dead man. "Yo, humans!" He greeted the alarmed members of the Shinsengumi.

"So, you came to play after all?" Sumiko said as she finally stepped out of the shadows and walked over to join the others, drawing her sword.

"Sumiko!? What are you doing here?" Shinpachi asked, surprised.

"More importantly, what are they doing here?" Sano asked, furrowing his brow, as he kept his eyes on the oni.

"Isn't it obvious? We're here for work." Shiranui replied. "We came to watch you idiots fall right into out trap."

"Trap?" Sumiko asked, furrowing her brow. She didn't remember hearing anything about that in history class. Shiranui waved his hand, and troops of men cam rushing out from the darkness to surround them. She sweat-dropped, feeling chagrined at herself for having missed them. Was the whole city hiding out in these alleys tonight, or something?

"Looks like you picked the wrong time to come out, Sumiko." Shinpachi commented as they all took up better fighting stances. "Good job getting' all these guys together." He told the oni, smirking. "Goin' by the looks of them, they're from Satsuma, huh?"

"Yeah. Saitou said Itou had connections to them." Sumiko confirmed. "That's why I'm here. Sorry for surprising you all like that, but I had a bad feeling one of them might show…" She explained, referring to the oni.

"I get it. You worried, so you came to back us up, huh? Thanks, Sumiko. I appreciate it." Sano said. It looked like they were going to need all the help they could get now.

"Yeah, but I didn't count on it being a trap." Sumiko said, furrowing her brow, as she glanced around at all the enemies surrounding them before looking back at the two oni. "I see. So you decided to sacrifice Itou's group to get rid of the thorn in your side, huh? Who needs enemies when they have Satsuma as a friend?" She asked sardonically with a rueful expression.

"My apologies for trying to catch you off guard." Amagiri said politely. "However, we too must follow the orders of the domain."

"Never mind you." Sano told him. "Shiranui, you bastard, weren't you supposed to be on Choshu's side? I'm gonna laugh if you tell me you've changed colors."

"Unfortunately, Satsuma and Choshu seem to be gettin' along quite nicely." Shiranui informed them as a group of men from Choshu came up from behind the oni to join in facing off against the Shinsengumi.

"Hmph. Another secret alliance, huh?" Sumiko asked. So, they had already come together to form 'Satcho'… "Why don't you get a few more guys, and then we'll have ourselves an even fight?" She remarked sarcastically, earning a smirk from Shiranui.

—∞—

Okita awoke in his futon back at headquarters in another fit of harsh coughing.

SLIDE.

He sat up cautiously when the door of his room began to slide open and turned to see Nagumo Kaoru standing in the open doorway, staring down at him.

"I wondered who it was." He said tensely. "You did well, making it this far."

"Rest easy. I simply came to repay you for the other day." Kaoru told him, entering his room and taking a seat.

"Repay me?" He asked as he watched Kaoru reach inside her sleeve. She removed a small glass bottle of Ochimizu and placed it on the floor in front of him. Okita furrowed his brow and his expression darkened. He would recognize that suspicious-looking red liquid anywhere.

"Why do you have this?" He demanded calmly.

"I received it from Koudou-san." Kaoru replied.

"Koudou-san, huh?" Okita asked dubiously. Well, outside of the Shinsengumi, he was probably the only one she could have gotten it from. "What's your relationship with him?"

"He's my father." Kaoru said. "And Chizuru is my younger twin sister. Our family was destroyed after the main branch refused to help overthrow the Bakufu. Chizuru went with Koudou-san while I was taken in by the Nagumo clan in Tosa. We were torn away from each other."

"So, you're an oni too, huh?" Okita said as he stared at her. There was no denying the family resemblance. Kaoru was the spitting image of Chizuru.

"Yes. You're rather calm about it." Kaoru remarked with a small laugh. "Chizuru told me of your illness. This Ochimizu can heal the illness eating away at you."

"That girl would never tell someone else about my illness. I promised that if she talked, I'd kill her." He told her, picking up the sword beside his bed.

"Are you able to fight in your current condition?" Kaoru asked.

"I…" Okita said, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword. "I can still fight!" He declared defiantly, drawing his word and lashing out at her in one swift blow. "!" He said, surprised when Kaoru seemed to suddenly disappear like a ghost as she effortlessly dodged the attack that should've taken her head off, landing softly on the porch just outside the door as she reappeared. Kaoru looked down upon him disdainfully as she slid the door shut and disappeared for good this time. For a moment, Okita held his position, stunned.

"Nngh!" He groaned in pain as sat back on the futon, lowering his sword. He couldn't believe how much such a simple move had taken out of him. A bead of sweat slid down his pale face as he stared at the bottle of Ochimizu that Kaoru had left behind.