I own nothing but my OC.

Chapter 52: The Distant Face

BANG!

Shiranui fired his last round and opened his gun to reload, reaching into his pocket for more bullets. Unfortunately, he only had one left.

"Tch!" He looked around for something else he might be able to use and spotted a wagon that was still loaded with crates of gunpowder. He jumped up and landed beside Sano as he took out another rasetsu with his spear. "Hey, Harada. Whatcha think of me drawing the fakes' attention while you carve a path for your men to escape?"

"But then, you would…!" Sano said, furrowing his brow.

"Don't lump me together with you weak humans." Shiranui said coolly. "I'm not so lame as to let myself get devoured by these failures." He smirked as he let out a war cry and charged for the wagon, aiming his gun at its explosive load.

"Shinpachi! Guys! We're retreating!" Sano shouted to the others.

"Gooooo!" Shiranui shouted as he fired his gun, setting of a chain reaction of explosions as each box set off another, blowing all the rasetsus standing too close sky high.

–∞–

CLANG! CLASH! SWISH!

Okita and Kaoru were locked in battle, constantly blocking and dodging each others attacks. Kaoru took another swipe at Okita, but he dodged it with ease, grinning, as he charged forward again, forcing Chizuru's annoying brother further and further away from her and Kondo-san with a series of powerful blows. It was all Kaoru could to block him. Kaoru grit his teeth and furrowed his brow as locked swords with Okita again, but Okita wasn't having that, he applied more pressure behind his blade and forced Kaoru's sword aside.

"!" Kaoru gasped in alarm when he was thrown off balance and sent stumbling back. Okita smirked as he let out a war cry and lunged at him with a predatory gleam in his eyes, ready to end him.

THROB.

"Ugh!" A wave of searing pain suddenly wracked Okita's entire body, sending him to his knees as his hair and eye color returned to normal. This latest fit of violent coughing was so bad that he couldn't hold his rasetsu form!

"Didn't I warn you?" Kaoru said as he straightened up, relieved for the reprieve in Okita's fierce attacks. For a second there, he thought he might really die. "The Ochimizu can't heal your tuberculosis." He stated haughtily.

"!" Kondo and Chizuru gasped in alarm as Okita continued to cough, unable to even lift his sword.

"Chizuru, behold." Kaoru said as he walked over to Okita with renewed confidence. "You have to toss aside the weak and kill them, like this!"

"Okita-san!" Chizuru cried, rushing forward as her brother raised his sword high, preparing to strike him down.

"Souji!" Kondo yelled.

"Don't do it!" Chizuru screamed.

STAB!

"Hah!" Chizuru gasped as her eyes widened in shock, along with Kondo's and Okita's. The tip of a sword was protruding from Kaoru's chest. He had been stabbed from behind before he could slay Okita. Kaoru's eye twitched as he stared ahead, wide-eyed. It hurt to move, but he lowered his arm and struggled to turn his head despite the pain so he could see the face of his killer.

"Kazama Chikage…" He groaned, furrowing his brow as he did his best to glare at the oni. With great effort, Kaoru reached up with shaking hands for the blade that was piercing his chest, trying to grab hold of it.

"Losing your pride as an oni and dirtying the Yukimura name is unforgivable." Kazama said sternly, pulling his sword back out of Kaoru's chest, letting the younger oni fall to the ground with a harsh thud. Kaoru trembled and lifted his head off the ground to look up at his sister.

"Chizuru!" Kaoru called out weakly, struggling desperately just to crawl over to her. "Chizuru! Chizuru!"

"Ah!" Chizuru gasped.

"Chizuru! Chizuru! Chizuru… why?" He asked as he craned his neck to look up at her with tears in his eyes.

Chizuru's face flushed slightly as she stared down at him and tears began to form in her own eyes. It was too sad. It was too pitiful. As she stared down at him like that, a long forgotten and repressed memory of the two of them playing together in a flower meadow as toddlers resurfaced. A little boy with a face just like hers was smiling up at her so sweetly as he presented her with a crown of pink wildflowers.

"Why?" Kaoru asked pitifully as tears streamed down his face. "Why was it always you?"

"Kaoru…" Chizuru said sadly as a tear rolled down her cheek. She leaned down to reach out to him, but it was too late. The tips of her fingers were only inches away when he breathed his last and his head dropped to the ground. Her brother was dead.

"I imagine you've heard," Kazama said as he sheathed his sword, "but Koudou has left the Satsuma Domain and strayed from the path of the oni." He informed them, watching as Chizuru knelt down beside her brother's corpse and gently placed her hand on his head. "I also have a message for you from Miyagawa Sumiko."

"Eh?" Chizuru gasped as they all looked up at him in surprise.

"She asked me to tell you not to worry about her if I saw you. Her wounds have almost finished healing." Kazama recited, repeating what Sumiko had said almost verbatim as he reached into his kimono and tossed a thick envelope on the ground in front of Okita. "She made this for you and the other rasetsus like you. Supposedly it will help you against the sun and silver. The instructions are inside. Don't abuse her good will." He said firmly, narrowing his eyes slightly in warning as he turned and walked away, leaving them without a fight.

"Did he just… help us?" Kondo asked, confused.

'He said it was from Sumiko-san… but why would he…?' Okita started to wonder, when Chizuru suddenly took off running, chasing after the oni. "Chizuru!"

"Yukimura-kun!"

"Please wait!" Chizuru called out as she caught up to Kazama. He paused and glanced back her. "Sumiko-san… is Sumiko-san really all right?" She asked anxiously.

"Yes. You needn't worry. She's being treated well." He replied calmly.

"And that package really is from her?" Chizuru asked. "Why would you give it to us? I thought you hated rasetsus."

"Because she asked me to." He said simply, surprising her. "It's the first time she's ever asked anything of me, and I thought it wouldn't hurt to level the playing field a little." They all wanted those new rasetsus taken care of. Those things were even worse than the ones from the Shinsengumi.

"Please… Please give me some time!" Chizuru requested earnestly, clenching her fists. "Father and I… we need to talk." She said, furrowing her brow with determination. She looked a little like Sumiko when she did that. "Even if we are not related by blood, he is my father. He cannot be allowed to use his rasetsus to wipe out humanity. But he may realize the error of his ways if I talk to him. Please!" She said, bowing at the waist.

"Very well." Kazama said, turning to face her. "I shall give you some time." After all, that was what Sumiko hoped for as well.

"Ah! Thank you!" Chizuru said as she straightened up to look at him.

"Never forget: Oni always keep their promises. Act as a proud oni and keep your word." He told her.

"Hai!" Chizuru said resolutely.

That evening, with Kondo-san's help, Chizuru buried Kaoru's body beneath the shade of a blooming cherry tree along with his sword. After that, they somehow managed to make it back to Edo with Okita.

—∞—

"Welcome back." Sumiko greeted Kazama when he returned. She had come to wait for him by the gate with Amagiri. "How was it?" She asked, biting her lip nervously.

"Any sign of them?" Amagiri asked.

"I didn't see Koudou personally, but I heard there were rasetsu on the battlefield in broad daylight. I killed Nagumo Kaoru." Kazama stated calmly. "And I delivered your message and that package." He added, glancing at Sumiko.

"Thank you." She said, smiling gratefully at him. She hope Chizuru wasn't taking the death of her long lost brother too hard. He might have been psychopath, but he was still her brother…

"… If you want to thank me, you should hurry up and marry me." He told her, smirking when she had to look away as she started to blush.

"Well… lately, I've been thinking maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing…" She admitted a little shyly, playing with the sleeve of her kimono. Kazama blinked as he and Amagiri both stared at her stunned.

"Are you—!?" Kazama started to ask seriously, when Shiranui came up and clapped him hard on the back.

"Yo!" Shiranui greeted them brightly. "Hey, Kazama, why is that I had to find out about those things from Koudou? A little heads up would've been…" He trailed off when he saw the death glare Kazama was giving him for interrupting. If looks could kill, he'd already be six feet under, yesterday. "Hold it, why are you so angry?"

"I believe they were having a moment, before you interrupted them." Amagiri replied calmly.

"Heh?" Shiranui said, smirking, as he glanced between Kazama and Sumiko. "Is that so? You decided to accept his proposal?"

"I-I'm seriously considering it… Oh! Look at that, time for dinner!" Sumiko replied nervously, blushing furiously, as she ran off back into the castle to escape from being put on the spot.

"Hmm. She must be nearly healed if she can already run like that…" Shiranui said thoughtfully as he watched her go.

"Shiranui, you bastard…" Kazama muttered darkly, radiating murderous intent as he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. "Do you have any idea how close I was to finally getting answer!?"

"Whoa, hey now…" Shiranui said, taking a cautious step back. "We all know a fight between two pureblood oni is a waste of time, right? Right, Amagiri? Back me up here!"

"I agree. It is pointless… but in this case, might I suggest you start running?" Amagiri called out in response, already a safe distance away from Kazama's wrath.

"Wha!? You traitor!" Shiranui shouted incredulously.

"Um, guys, dinner really is ready, so if you don't hurry it'll get cold. I helped make it today, so…" Sumiko said, poking her head out from behind the gate. "… What are you doing?"

"… Nothing." Kazama said calmly, turning his back on Shiranui to join her. "What did you make?"

"I made that dish I mentioned the other day that my adopted mother used to make for me." She replied with a smile.

"Oh, that 'omuletu' thing?" He asked.

"It's 'omelet', but yeah. I made some rice to go with it, so it's actually 'omu-rice', but there's no ketchup, so I couldn't draw faces on the eggs…"

"Why do they need faces?"

"Because it's more fun that way."

"…" Shiranui said as he stared after them, stunned. "She has no idea how amazing it is that he actually stopped, does she?"

"Miyagawa Sumiko… is a woman to be reckoned with." Amagiri stated seriously, impressed.

"She'd better marry him, or it's gonna get ugly…" Shiranui commented with a sigh.