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Chapter 42: Beyond the Clash of Arms

"Do you think they'll send any support troops?" Chizuru asked as the three of them ran to Yodo Castle together, cutting through a bamboo thicket.

"No." Sumiko answered honestly, furrowing her brow. "But we've gotta try, right?"

"We'll have to make them do so." Inoue said determinedly. "For Toshi-san's sake. I don't want to see his face like that again."

"Yeah…" Sumiko agreed sadly, knowing this would only be the start of their troubles.

–∞–

"Why are the castle gates closed?" Chizuru asked when they finally arrived, only to find the castle completely closed up.

Sumiko frowned and furrowed her brow. This was bad. They were too late...!

"We've come with an official order!" Inoue declared bravely, taking a step forward. "We wish to ask for your help to fight insurgents who would draw arms against the emperor!"

"Ah. Over there!" Chizuru said when she spotted someone watching them from the second level. Sumiko's eyes widened when she saw the rifle in the man's hands.

"Sniper!" She cried as he took aim, helping Inoue shove Chizuru to safety, as he shouted:

"Look out!"

BANG!

They just barely missed being nicked by the bullet that had been shot at them.

"Sumiko-san! Inoue-san! This is—"

"Let's go back. It's dangerous here." Inoue said regretfully, furrowing his brow as he grit his teeth.

"But our reserves…" Chizuru said.

"We won't find any here." Sumiko said grimly.

"Eh?" Chizuru gasped.

"They are no longer our allies." Inoue explained.

"But at this rate, what about Hijikata-san?" She asked nervously. "What will happen to the Shinsengumi? Ah!" Chizuru gasped when Inoue and Sumiko each grabbed the stubborn girl by one of her wrists and started hauling ass together, dragging her away to safety. "Sumiko-san! Inou-san!"

BANG!

Again, they narrowly managed to avoid taking a direct hit. Sumiko winced when she felt the bullet whizz by her ear, like a rabid bumblebee, but she didn't stop. She and Inoue continued to run, knowing their lives depended on it.

"Inoue-san! Sumiko-san!" Chizuru shouted, still trying to resist.

"That's enough!" Inoue snapped angrily, surprising the girls, as he suddenly stopped and rounded on Chizuru. "I, too, wish to return with reinforcements for Toshi-san!"

"Ah!" Chizuru gasped, realizing her mistake when she saw the looks on his and Sumiko's faces.

"Inoue-san…" Sumiko said. Inoue closed his eyes and loosened his grip on Chizuru. He hadn't meant to snap at her like that.

"But I also have a duty to protect you." He added more kindly, placing a gentle hand on the young girl's shoulder. "If something were to happen to you, there's no way I could face Toshi-san."

"That's right." Sumiko said with a small smile. "And if Yodo Castle is full of enemies, that's something Hijikata-san needs to know as well." They couldn't warn him if they were dead.

"I'm sorry, I…" Chizuru said quietly, looking down.

"What's this? We're talking about Toshi-san. He's sure to think of some plan to turn things around." Inoue said, smiling kindly as he patted Chizuru on the head.

With that settled, they continued to retreat back to regroup with the others.

"The rendezvous point is just past this forest." Inoue said as the ran together towards the setting sun.

"Ah, there's someone there." Sumiko said when she spotted three silhouettes standing in the middle of the road up ahead. The sun was behind them, so it was difficult to see their faces.

"It's Hijikata-san and the others." Chizuru said hopefully just as Sumiko's eyes widened in horror when she realized the figures were aiming guns at them.

"Nooo!" Sumiko shouted, pushing herself out in front to shield the others as they pulled the triggers.

BANG!

"Ngh!" Sumiko cried out in pain as she fell to her knees. Both shots had been fired simultaneously—one bullet hit in her shoulder, and the other pierced her lung, hitting dangerously close to her heart.

"Sumiko-san!" Chizuru cried as she and Inoue both reached out to support her as she struggled to breath while coughing up blood.

"You bastards! You're of the Bakufu army!" Inoue shouted, glaring angrily at them.

"Hey, that's the Shinsengumi's outfit." One of the men said after taking a better look at Inoue's haori.

"Yeah. If we take his head as a trophy, Satcho will greet us kindly." Another said, drawing his sword.

"Oh no!" Chizuru gasped, appalled.

"Get out of here, Yukimura-kun. Take Miyagawa-san and run." Inoue said as he stepped forward to fight and buy them some time to escape.

"Inoue-san!" Chizuru said.

"D-Don't be ridiculous… you know I can't run like this." Sumiko told him through labored breath as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. She was loosing blood at a dangerous rate and having trouble breathing just sitting there. "If anyone should stay behind as a distraction, it should be—"

"No!" Inoue said firmly as he began to draw his sword. "Please, tell Toshi-san… I'm sorry my strength wasn't enough. I want him to forgive me for not being there until the end." Tears began to steam down the girls' faces as they watched his resolved back, and they realized nothing they could say or do would change his mind. He was determined to stay and fight to protect them, even if meant sacrificing himself. "And to know that I'm eternally grateful for him showing me that final dream."

"I can't… Inoue-san…" Sumiko cried as she finally remembered too late that this was the day he was supposed to die.

"No! Let's escape, together!" Chizuru pleaded, grabbing onto his arm.

"Hurry up and go!" He said sternly, shaking her off. "Miyagawa-san will die if you don't get her help!"

"Inoue-san!" Chizuru cried as he let out a war cry and charged at their three enemies with his sword raised.

"Die, you fool!" They shouted as they drew their swords and all three of them charged forward at once, surrounding him. While Inoue was facing one from the front, another snuck up and stabbed in the back.

"Inoue-san!" Chizuru screamed as the other two then stabbed him through the side and front.

"Hah…" Inoue breathed shakily as he tried to raise his sword again, but his wounds were too great. He collapsed onto the ground. Tears streamed down Chizuru's face as she took a step back, horrified, almost tripping over Sumiko, who was already on the verge of fainting from blood loss. She didn't even have the energy to scream or cry anymore.

"Hurry…! Run, Yukimura… kun!" Inoue gasped desperately, reaching out with his last breath as he watched the three deserters stalk towards the two girls before his vision faded to black.

Chizuru sobbed, glaring at the approaching men, as she leaned down and struggled to get Sumiko onto her feet, pulling the older girl's arm over her shoulder.

"To double-cross him just because you don't like the side he's on… Can you really call yourselves warriors?" Chizuru asked angrily as hot tears streamed down her face. She wished she could draw her sword against them, but she had her hands full with trying to keep Sumiko up as she backed away from them.

"Are we really warriors?" One of them asked. "Of course we are." He replied, smirking.

"No." Chizuru said. "I have witnessed true warriors. You all… aren't worthy of being called warriors!"

"We're not worthy of bein' warriors?" The man asked incredulously, pointing his blade at her. "Now you've said it…" He stepped forward, raising his sword to strike.

SWISH. SLASH! STAB! SLASH!

The men screamed as they all fell to the ground, dead. Kazama gave his sword a sharp swing to shake the blood from his blade.

"Scum." He cursed, furrowing his brow and frowning as he stared down at their corpses in distaste.

"Kazama…san!" Chizuru said, stunned. He glanced up at her with sharp crimson eyes. His pupils constricted when he saw the state Sumiko was in.

"Oi. You awake, komainu?" He asked, causing Chizuru to glance at her as well.

"Sumiko-san…!?" Chizuru's eyes widened in shock as she gasped. Her friend's hair was snow white, like a rasetsus, but Sumiko's deep, dark eyes were now a beautiful, warm gold instead of an eerie red, and her ears had a slight point to them now as she stared sightlessly ahead while keeping a firm grip on Chizuru's kodachi, which had somehow ended up in her hand and now had blood dripping off of it. "What!? How…"

"Hm? You mean, you didn't notice?" Kazama asked Chizuru, tilting his head slightly. "While I took care of these two, she cut down the one threatening you. She reached her limit as a human, so she turned into an oni for you. Despite being on the verge of unconsciousness, her body ignored the critical condition it was in and moved on its own to save you." He explained, moving towards them, as he sheathed his sword. "She protected you above all else. She really is a komainu."

"S-Stay back!" Chizuru said sternly, trying to back away, but Sumiko wouldn't budge. "Don't come any closer! Don't make fun of Sumiko-san!"

"I meant it as a compliment. But it would be bad to leave her this way." Kazama stated calmly as he ignored her and quickly side-stepped Sumiko when she automatically raised the sword again, grabbing her wrist as he delivered a swift blow to the back of her neck to render her completely unconscious. "It's a strain on her body to move with those wounds." He said, catching Sumiko's limp and bloody body as she fell forward into his arms.

"!" Chizuru gasped, alarmed. She quickly moved to pick up her sword, wanting to protect her friend.

"Don't." Kazama told her, watching as the sleeping Sumiko's hair and ears returned to their usual color and form. "I've just come to watch what the Yodo Domain is up to."

"Yodo Domain?" Chizuru said somberly, looking down as she lowered her sword.

"Judging by your reaction, it seems you've learned that they've betrayed you." He commented, watching as Chizuru quietly sheathed her sword and walked over to the corpse wearing a Shinsengumi haori.

"Inoue-san… Inoue-san!" Chizuru sobbed as she fell to her knees, mourning the man who fell protecting them.

"All of Kyoto's domains were handed a secret letter from the Imperial court." Kazama continued as he set Sumiko down so that her back was propped up against a tree while he examined her wounds more closely.

"A secret letter?" Chizuru asked, glancing back at him.

" 'The Satcho army flies brocade flags. They are your allies.' That's the message." He said, narrowing his eyes when he saw the bullet wound so close to Sumiko's heart. This was bad. Even a pureblooded oni would have trouble healing from a wound that… She needed a doctor.

"Brocade flags?" Chizuru said, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"The Bakufu are now the insurgents, and Satcho the loyalists." He explained patiently, wondering why she wasn't showing more concern for her wounded friend. Was Yukimura Chizuru in shock? Kazama started ripping Sumiko's sleeves to make bandages to bind her wound and slow the bleeding.

"It can't be!" Chizuru exclaimed, shocked.

"Satcho will crush the Bakufu and obtain everything. Their objective is money and power." He removed his long haori and wrapped Sumiko up in it to keep her warm. She usually had so much presence, that hadn't realized just how small and delicate she really was until he saw how his haori enveloped her. She had never seemed so fragile before. "As always, humans are foolish creatures."

"You're saying that they're fighting over money!?" Chizuru cried, jumping to her feet. It couldn't be… then, just for that everyone…!?

"War has always been a pretext for pillaging."

"Not everyone is like that!" Chizuru insisted passionately.

"Like the Shinsengumi?" Kazama asked as he stood up and turned to face her. "They merely kill those who oppose them, yes? How are they different from me?"

"We fight because we have something to protect." Hijikata said, alerting them to his presence as he arrived on the scene. "You think only of yourself. Don't think that we're the same." Hijikata added, glaring sternly at the oni.

"Hijikata-san. Inoue-san is… Sumiko-san is…" Chizuru said sadly, trailing off as she glanced between the two of them.

"Gen-san! Sumiko!" Hijikata said as he stepped closer and saw Inoue's corpse and the unconscious and deathly pale Sumiko. "Was it you? You did this?" He demanded, glaring at Kazama.

"Hijikata-san, that's—" Chizuru started.

"What if I did?" Kazama retorted with a smirk.

"Kazama-san!" Chizuru gasped, surprised. Why was he…!? Without another word, Hijikata drew his sword. "Please, wait! Inoue-san and Sumiko—"

"My, my. Another senseless death, huh? Why the rush to die?" Kazama asked as he drew his own blade. This should be quick.

"A 'senseless death', you bastard?" Hijikata growled dangerously as he glared fiercely at the infuriating oni. "You!" He thrust his sword at Kazama, but the oni blocked it. "A 'senseless death' was that, you son of a bitch!?" Hijikata roared furiously as he continued to barrage Kazama with a series of fierce attacks. Kazama grit his teeth as he continuously blocked and dodged, surprised by just how dangerous the human had suddenly become in his rage. Despite being a pureblood oni, even he was beginning to have a hard time keeping up with him.

"Hijikata-san! Please stop!" Chizuru pleaded, but her cries fell on deaf ears. Hijikata was too caught up in his rage to stop.

CLANG!

"!" Hijikata and Chizuru gasped, stunned when Kazama blocked an incredibly strong attack using only one hand again, and they saw that not only had his blonde hair turned silver-white, his eyes were a pale gold, and his ears were pointed; but he had a set of four ivory horns growing out of his head!

"I never thought I'd reveal this before a human…" Kazama said lowly, narrowing his eyes at Hijikata. "The true form of an on!" He swept his sword and Hijikata's aside, forcing the human back as he had to grab onto the hilt of his blade with both hands to keep a grip. He hadn't wanted to use this form on a mere human, but he hadn't expected the fight to go on for this long. Time was running out for Miyagawa Sumiko. He had to get to her to Koudou.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

"!" Hijikata grunted as he struggled to keep his sword raised against the blitz of powerful attacks Kazama began enacting with a simple flick of his wrist and several fierce thrusts of his blade. Hijikata was now being forced back with such ease, that it was like watching a fight between an adult and a child.

'That's… Kazama-san's true form…?' Chizuru thought as she watched with wide eyes. Aside from the horns, it was just like how Sumiko had changed earlier! 'Sumiko-san… she really is an oni, too!' Until now, she had never truly been able to completely accept that either one of them was truly an oni, but… after what she had seen today… There was no denying it anymore, was there?

"Is this the full extent of your anger?" Kazama asked tauntingly as he continued to press Hijikata.

"You bastard!" Hijikata cursed, charging forward.

SLASH!

For a split moment, Hijikata thought he may have finally succeeded in cutting down Kazama when the oni just continued to stand there, but just as he realized he hadn't actually felt his sword pass through a solid object, the oni faded and disappeared. "What?" The thing he cut had simply been an afterimage left behind when the oni moved too fast for his human eyes to keep up with. The real Kazama was behind him. With wide eyes, Hijikata quickly spun around to face the oni, but he was too slow. Kazama struck, sending Hijikata's blade flying from his hands.

"This is the end." The oni told him. "After all, you're just a band of cowardly fools, powerless on your own." Hijikata furrowed his brow. "What could you possibly do on your own? What could the likes of you 'protect'? Don't make me laugh!" He swung his sword at Hijikata, but the human managed to stumbled back in time to avoid the tip of his blade. Hijikata grabbed his sword and took up a defensive stance. "You still intend to fight in your condition?" Kazama asked. The man was panting heavily, and his injured hand was bleeding through the bandages. He as obviously so exhausted he could barely even stand at this point. Hijikata furrowed his brow and reached into his kimono, pulling out a small vial of red liquid.

"That's…!" Chizuru gasped.

"Ochimizu, huh? Just how foolish are you?" Kazama asked loftily as he furrowed his brow.

" 'Foolish'? And what of it?" Hijikata asked lowly as he clutched the vial of Ochimizu. "From the start, we were a band of foolish men. We shared an idiotic dream, followed it in earnest all the way here. We're still just halfway up that steep slope of a road. There's no way I can stumble now, falling all the way back down!" He roared, biting the vial's stopper so he could remove it with his teeth.

"Hijikata-san, no!" Chizuru cried.

"Even if you become a rasetsu, you're still just a fake." Kazama told him with a smirk. "Not a true opponent for an Oni."

"We won't know that till we try!" Hijikata retorted, downing the entire vial.

"Noooo!" Chizuru screamed, reaching out for him, but it was too late. As Hijikata squeezed his eyes shut and threw his head back, his long, flowing black hair faded to white. "Hijikata-san…"

"I can't stand it anymore." Hijikata said lowly as he leaned forward with his head down. "Those Bakufu cowards… You pain-in-the-ass oni… You say I'm a fake? So what if I am? This whole time we've been treated like a group of fake samurai. But no matter what, our convictions will not bend. Whether fake or not, persistence will make it true." His white hair fluttered in the wind as he raised his head and stared ahead resolutely at Kazama with glowing crimson eyes. "So if I, a rasetsu defeat you, then I… we can become real!" He declared, letting out a war cry as he raised his sword and charged forth. "Yaaah!"

CLANG! WOOSH!

Kazama grit his teeth and furrowed his brow as he blocked Hijikata's fierce attack, which had enough speed and force behind it to send a shearing wind shooting out behind the initial attack.

"What's wrong?" Hijikata jeered at him as he applied even more pressure behind his sword. "You're falling back!" He pushed down at an angle, forcing Kazama's blade down to the side as his own slid forward to mar the oni's face with a cut, drawing blood.

"Guah!" Kazama grunted in surprise and pain as he slid back in order to avoid the rest of the blade. He grit his teeth and glared furiously at Hijikata.

"How does it feel having been injured by a fake, General of the Oni-san?" Hijikata asked mockingly as he watched Kazama begin to tremble with rage as he reached up and felt the bleeding cut on his face.

"Bastard… A bastard like you, scarring my face!?" Kazama shouted incredulously, pointing his sword at Hijikata, as he glared wrathfully at the human-turned-rasetsu, before charging back at him with whole new level of killing intent.

Chizuru watched with wide eyes as their battle intensified. Back and forth they struggled against each other, moving with inhuman speed and strength, barraging each other with series of violent and powerful attacks. At this rate, it wasn't going to end until one of them died.

"Hijikata-san!" Chizuru screamed as they both simultaneously lunged in for the kill.

SLASH! CLANG!

Hijikata furrowed his brow and his eyes widened as his mind began to process what had just occurred. In the same exact moment that Chizuru had begun to scream, two figures had thrown themselves into midst of his battle with Kazama to interrupt their fight. The tall red-haired oni Amagiri had stopped his blade using only the back of his fist, while holding Kazama back by pressing an elbow into the angry oni's abdomen. He had done nothing to stop Kazama's blade. Hijikata stared down in horror when he realized that the one who saved him had been Yamazaki, and he had done so by using his own body to shield him.

"What are you doing, Vice-commander?" Yamazaki asked with a trembling voice as he clung to Hijikata, enduring the immense pain from the deep wound on his back. "As our leader, you're our head, and we're the arms and legs, right? Without our limbs, we can get by, but without our head… It's the end of everything." His grip on Hijikata loosened, and he fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Yamazaki-san!" Chizuru cried, running over to check on him. "Yamazaki-san! Yamazaki-san!" Hijikata's hair and eyes began returning to normal as he stared down them in shock.

"Yamazaki…" Hijikata said, horrified that one of his men had felt the need to sacrifice himself in order to save him.

"This is enough, yes?" Amagiri asked Kazama. "Satcho forces will be here soon. We'd do well to be gone before then. And, also…" He glanced over at the unconscious Sumiko, who was still lying under the tree wrapped up in Kazama's haori. "Miyagawa Sumiko's condition appears to have become critical. She will not survive any further delay." Kazama glanced from Sumiko's pale face back to Hijikata. He closed his eyes and sheathed his sword.

"It would seem we narrowly escaped. Both of us." Kazama told Hijikata. The blade of the new rasetsu's sword had been mere inches from the top of his head when Amagiri and that ninja intervened. "We'll finish this another day, Hijikata Toshizo." He vowed quietly as he kneeled down to collect Sumiko. The two and a half oni disappeared as more humans arrived on the scene.

"Hijikata-san! Yamazaki! Where are you?" Shinpachi called out as he, Sano, and Saito came running up. "Hijikata-san!" They all gasped and came to an abrupt halt when they saw how seriously injured Yamazaki was and Inoue's corpse.

"Just what happened here?" Sano asked as he glanced around.

"Look after Yamazaki." Hijikata said quietly, finally breaking his long silence.

"Ah." Shinpachi nodded and hurried over to check on him. "This is bad. Someone, get some cloth! Sumiko-san, what should we… Sumiko? Where's Sumiko?" He asked, furrowing his brow, when he realized she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Sumiko-san!?" Chizuru gasped as her eyes widened and she began glancing around wildly. She had been so preoccupied with looking after Hijikata and Yamazaki, that she hadn't even realized the oni had left. "She's gone…! They took her!"

"What!?" Shinpachi and Sano exclaimed as Saito furrowed his brow with concern.

"Vice-commander. Just what happened here?" Saito asked.

"Sumiko was injured. The oni took her." Hijikata replied solemnly as he stared at the worn and beaten blade of his sword. "… I never thought I would live on, using a troop member as a sacrifice." Gen-san, Sumiko, and Yamazaki… He had failed all three of them.