I own nothing but my OC.

Chapter 39: Those who Fall

December 10, 1867

The snow was falling silently outside while Okita sat up in his futon and coughed terribly inside his room. After waiting for a moment to make sure his latest painful brush with almost coughing up one of his own lungs subsided, he removed the small vial of Ochimizu that Nagumo Kaoru had left behind from his sleeve and stared at it. She had claimed it could cure his illness, but…

"!" Okita quickly hid the vial when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps and a familiar silhouette appeared on the other side of his door.

"How are you feeling, Souji?" Kondo asked as opened. "Hey, now! You need to stay lying down." He chided the chided Okita as he entered the room and kneeled down beside his futon, placing his hands on his shoulders. "Your body's freezing cold."

"I'm all right." Okita said, smiling wryly as Kondo immediately began to remove his own haori to give to him.

"No, this won't do." Kondo insisted as he placed the warm haori over Okita's cold shoulders. "Here. Cold causes all kinds of illnesses. You don't want to be scolded by Miyagawa-san again, do you?"

"What's he done that he'd need scolding for?" Sumiko asked as she popped her head into the room, alerting them to her presence. Chizuru smiled wryly as she stood behind her friend and bowed in greeting to them. They had just been on their way to check on Okita when they overheard the tail end of their conversation. "Ah, it's freezing in here! Why didn't you light the hibachi?" Sumiko asked, furrowing her brow in disapproval as she crossed the room to light the charcoal brazier and warm up the room for him. Kondo smiled as he watched and turned back to Chizuru.

"Ah, Yukimura-kun. Sorry, but could you bring a cup of hot tea?" He asked.

"Yes, that's a good idea, Kondo-san." Sumiko said, nodding in approval. "If you don't take better care of yourself, I'll make you some leek and bak choi soup if you don't behave yourself." She threatened, a grimace from Okita at the mere thought. She'd do it, too.

"Hai." Chizuru said, smiling. She bowed politely and left to make Okita some hot tea to warm him up.

"This smells like Kondo-san." Okita commented with a small smile, enjoying the warmth of the haori.

"It smells!?" Kondo asked, alarmed, as he picked up the sleeve and sniffed it to make sure it wasn't too offensive.

"Pfft, haha." Okita chuckled. That was typical Kondo-san. He was too nice.

"What's so funny, Souji?" Kondo asked, confused.

"Nothing, really." Souji replied with a smile despite the pain he was in from laughing with his sore lungs. "But that's one thing I like about you, Kondo-san."

"A thing you like? My smell!?" Kondo asked, bewildered.

"Ahaha!" Okita laughed, while Sumiko smiled wryly at the heartwarming scene. She could tell Kondo was like a father to Okita from the way he was smiling, and Kondo's lost expression was priceless. It felt like it had been ages since she'd seen last Okita smile like that.

"Kondo-san. It'll be time to leave soon." Hijikata announced when he spotted the commander through the open doors.

"Yeah." Kondo said, smiling as they turned to face him. Hijikata smiled slightly at the sight of Kondo sitting next to Okita while wearing his kimono. The two of them really looked alike like that, with Okita imitating the commander's hairstyle.

As Kondo left with Hijikata to prepare to leave to attend the war council at Nijo Castle, Chizuru returned with a cup of hot tea on a tray. Okita was quietly sipping his tea when he noticed the looks on the two girl's faces.

"What's with you two?" He asked, wondering why they were both smiling so much just from watching him drink tea.

"Wearing that haori, you look more and more like Kondo-san." Chizuru replied with an even brighter smile.

"Like father and son." Sumiko agreed, suppressing a smirk at the look on his face.

"Why, you…" Okita said lowly, looking like he was caught between being pleased by their comments and being angry that they had got him right in his weak spot. "Keep mouthing off like that, and I really will kill you." He told them, chagrined.

"There's no need to be embarrassed." Sumiko told him with a wry smile. "You don't have to be blood to be family."

–∞–

Sumiko and Chizuru were walking along the porch when a sprig of wild chrysanthemums landed softly a few inches in front of them. The two girls glanced across the yard to see who had thrown it and saw Kimigiku standing next to the bare tree. She bowed respectfully to them in greeting.

"Kimigiku-san!" Chizuru gasped.

"Nice calling card." Sumiko complimented her, pausing to pick up the flower before walking over to meet the kunoichi with Chizuru.

"What's the matter?" Chizuru asked.

"I have an urgent matter to discuss with commander Kondo." Kimigiku replied calmly.

"Unfortunately, Kondo-san is out right now." Sumiko said, wondering what it could be.

"Then, is Hijikata-san here by any chance?" Sen asked, poking her head out from behind the tree.

"Osen-chan!' Chizuru said, surprised. Sen smiled as she stepped out from behind the tree.

"It's been awhile, Chizuru-chan, Sumiko-san."

–∞–

"As a rule, outsiders are forbidden from entering here." Hijikata told Senhime and Kimigiku. This wasn't their headquarters, and they were supposed to be preparing for battle. They couldn't just have guests coming and going as they pleased. Sneaking in here during such a time was an awfully risky thing for them to do. "Just what do you want?"

"I'm sorry." Sen said. "There's something I had to discuss with you today."

"Um, I'll go put on some tea." Chizuru said, preparing to leave.

"No." Sen said, before she or Sumiko could move. "We'll be leaving soon after our talk. I want the two of you to hear this as well."

"Okay." Chizuru said as she and Sumiko nodded in understanding. From the look on Sen's face, it must be something pretty serious.

"There is only one thing to discuss." Sen continued as she faced Hijikata again. "The rasetsus."

"Rasetsus?" Hijikata asked, wondering how she knew about them.

Sumiko sweat-dropped. This 'secret' really wasn't much of a secret anymore, was it?

"I will get right to it." Sen said. "They are failures, so how long do you intend to use them? They are more than you can control. The Shinsengumi must have nothing more to do with them."

"It's up to us to decide whether they're failures." Hijikata replied stiffly. These were people's lives they were talking about. If the Rasetsu Unit was disbanded because they were viewed as a too much of a threat, the Bakufu would undoubtedly want them all to be put down, including San'nan-san and Heisuke. "You're in no position to carry on about it."

"Well then, did you know that your rasetsus are killing people in the name of their 'patrols'?" Kimigiku asked.

"What?" Hijikata asked as he and Sumiko furrowed her brows upon hearing such troubling news. Sumiko's mind immediately went back to the feeling of foreboding she had when San'nan left for his patrol after talking about how 'unfortunate' Heisuke was constricting himself with 'human morals'.

"Their tendency to suddenly fall apart has not improved at all." Kimigiku said. "For those charged with protecting the peace within the capital to kill innocent civilians is a grave reversal of roles."

"And there's something else. Chizuru-chan. Sumiko-san." Sen said, glancing at the two girls. "Won't you leave here and come with us?" She asked.

"Eh?" Chizuru said, surprised. Sumiko blinked. She hadn't quite been expecting that either.

"Why?" Sumiko asked. Were the other oni coming after them again?

"Kyoto shall soon become a battlefield. We've asked you this before, but the situation has changed." Sen said solemnly, genuinely concerned for their safety. "You know that too, don't you?"

"Yes." Sumiko replied regretfully as she and Chizuru bowed their heads. They were about to pass the point of no return. Sumiko furrowed her brow and clenched her fists, wishing she could do more to help the Shinsengumi, but she didn't think telling them what she knew now would do them any good…

"If you come with us, these people can concentrate themselves on the fight." Sen said, seeing how conflicted the two girls were feeling.

"Ah!" Chizuru said, glancing up at Hijikata before looking down again. That's right. Sumiko could be really helpful to them since she could fight and be a doctor for them, but she… what could she do? … She didn't want to be a burden. "I…"

"You don't wanna leave, do you?" Hijikata said, staring directly at Chizuru.

"Eh?" Chizuru said, glancing back up at him.

"If that's so, don't bother thinkin' about anything else." He told her. "You can stay here." He said firmly. Sumiko smiled slightly and looked away as her friend stared at him in awe and the younger girl's cheeks began to glow pink with a light blush.

'Good for you, Chizuru…' Sumiko thought sincerely.

–∞–

Chizuru seemed to still be in a bit of a daze as she and Sumiko walked back outside with Sen and Kimigiku to see them off. Sen exchanged a knowing smile with Sumiko as they turned to glance back at her.

"Say, could the person you care about be…?" Sen began to ask Chizuru.

"Eh? Uh, no! Um…" Chizuru said nervously, blushing shyly after being caught in her crush. "I-I just thought I'd like to stay by the Shinsengumi's side, to help them out, if I can…"

"Aw, Chizuru, you're so cute!" Sumiko exclaimed, grinning as she hugged her younger friend. Sen smiled as well and glanced up at the sky.

"They say one of my ancestors fell in love with a human and followed them to the capital. No matter the time or circumstances, women are powerless in the face of love, aren't they?" She said.

"Osen-chan…" Chizuru said softly.

"Yeah, I guess that's true…" Sumiko said with a wan smile. "But love can also make the powerless strong. People can do incredible things in the name of love." Sen and Chizuru smiled at that.

"There you go, saying cool things again, Sumiko-san… I'm starting to wish you were a man." Sen said wryly.

"Not you, too…" Sumiko said, hanging her head with a sigh. Chizuru and Sen smiled and let out a little laugh.

"Hime-sama, we must be going." Kimigiku whispered when she sensed several people approaching.

"We have to go, Chizuru-chan, Sumiko-san." Sen said, taking one of each of their hands in her own. "Let's meet again sometime."

"Yeah. Take care of yourselves." Sumiko said with a small smile.

"Thank you, Osen-chan." Chizuru said, looking as though she were about to tear up. The two girls looked away for a moment when they heard a group of men approaching. Just as the men started to come into view from around the corner, they felt Sen's grip on their hands loosen, they wanted to look back at her as this happened, but by the time they finished turning their heads back to them, Sen and Kimigiku were already gone in a rush of wind and whirl of leaves. The girls stared at the empty space before them in amazement while the men passed behind them, totally clueless.

"… Okay. If that's an oni thing, we have got to learn how to do that." Sumiko said with an appreciative smile.

—∞—

Meanwhile, Kondo was on his way back from the castle with the others. Despite their caution, they failed to notice the rifleman hiding in the thick bamboo forest alongside the road.

BANG!

It happened so fast Kondo didn't even realize he had been shot until he realized he was about to fall off his horse after being knocked off balance by the force of the bullet, and a searing pain started burning fiercely in his shoulder. There was red everywhere. His formal garments and the saddle were being stained crimson by his blood.

"Commander!" Kondo heard Shimada cry out to him as he lost consciousness.