-Dream-

"We need to keep running, Mei!" A man screamed who looked no older than his early 20's; his age being 22. His dark red hair in a low ponytail tied back with a black ribbon flowed behind him elegantly even as he ran desperately away from the mansion that was now engulfed in flames.

"Lao! What are we gonna do? You can't fight as well as you can if you have to protect me! You need to go! I'll stay behind!" An 11-year-old Mei said distressfully before glancing back at the fire that licked at the black sky. Her eyes were wide with terror as she saw the glowing red eyes and black silhouette's that emerged from the flames. "Big brother! They're coming!" she gripped his hand much tighter.

"I know Mei, but we need to keep running!" Lao urged before suddenly picking up his sister, along with his pace.

Mei watched as the bodies did the same. Her small frail hands gripping the back of her older brothers clothing. They were gonna get killed... They were gonna die... And for what? What had she and her family ever done wrong? Her childish mind was supposed to be filled with innocent, childish things - Not death, blood, and gore that would haunt her dreams for years. What kind of world did they live in where children had to fear closing their eyes because they thought someone was gonna come into their room and kill them? Why?... "Lao... we're... we're gonna die... aren't we..." She whispered to her brother with horrified eyes.

"You're not gonna die, Mei! I'm gonna protect you!" Lao argued, hugging his sister closer to his person before running into the nearby forest. The red eyed silhouette's following after them. Lao sprinted into the forest at top speed before stopping at a large tree. Their pursuers were far behind, and that bought them some time. "Mei, I need you to find that tree you hid in when you played hide-and-seek with Mao and Lee. Okay? Remember?" Her brother asked before taking off his swords at his sides and giving them to his sister. He pointed in the opposite direction of the smoke that floated into the sky, "The tree is that way. I need you to take these and hide. I'll go distract them and lead them away, then come back for you and we'll go somewhere safe, I promise." He stated before kneeling in front of the girl.

"Lao no! You can't! They'll surely kill you! If you leave without your swords, you'll die!" Mei shook her head furiously, trying desperately to push Kusanagi and Muramasa back to him, however fruitless as he simply pushed them gently back to her.

"Have faith in me okay? If I do die, then they would take the family swords... We don't want that, right?" Lao asked, smiling softly as his youngest sister shook her head. "Good... I love you okay? You're my precious baby sister... You are strong... You will grow up to be as beautiful as mom and be as strong as father, maybe even more... You will be faster than me... And way smarter than your older sisters and our eldest brother... You will grow up to be amazing at everything you do, you're even a prodigy at Niten Ichi Ryu..." But they both felt the bloodlust of their pursuers drawing near. She had to run...

"Lao... Please come get me... Don't leave me behind..." Mei begged before setting down the swords and hugging her brother tightly. Tears streaming down both their faces.

Lao hugged his sisters small form tightly, "I Love you... Protect these with your life, Mei... You're the last of the family I can trust with these," He picked up the swords once he pulled away and wiped away his tears, placing them in her arms, "Now run!" He stated after giving her a small push and dashing into the direction of the flames in a blur.

All Mei could do was call out to her brother in a heartbreaking cry, before rushing off to the large tree where a small crawl space type hole had developed as the tree grew tall. It was large enough for her small body and the swords to fit inside and hide from the moonlight that shined inside, making them invisible to the world.

-Reality-

Lao... You lied... Why...? Why did you... leave me behind? A sleeping Mei thought before shooting up from her bed in a cold sweat and unsheathed her sword, ready to cut down anyone unfortunate enough to cross her. However, there was only Saito in the room. He himself had unsheathed his sword and got ready to subdue her if she were to get violent.

"You are safe, Mei... You have nothing to worry about here... Please put your back into its scabbard." Saito said before stepping a bit closer and reaching a hand out to her, furthering his actions as she did not move or flinch away, "Why are you crying?" He asked monotonously before rubbing his thumb on her cheek and wiping away a tear or two. "Do your injuries still hurt? I can have a doctor be brought in again." He offered, unsure of what to do with a crying woman. A task he never seemed to have dealt with before.

Mei was a bit stunned at first when he touched her skin, but calmed at the gesture, before her eyes widened at the question. Was she crying? She put Kusanagi away and wiped furiously at her cheeks to rid herself of her salty tears that began to irritate her eyes with a burning sensation. But stopped when two strong hands gripped her wrists a bit firmly and pulled them away from her face.

"You will hurt yourself more that way... and you still have some bandages there, so it is best not to tamper with them with such aggressiveness." Saito, obviously, was the one to grip her hands.

He was close to her face, a couple more inches as the two would touched noses. Her eyes widened when she realized the proximity and tried to communicate it through her eyes. Which seemed to work when Saito suddenly pulled away and stood up, leaving the room quickly.

Was he... blushing? Mei thought absently before looking down at the condition of her body. Dressed in a white yukata for sleep she peeked inside, past the folds and saw most of her torso bandaged and then at her legs, the same result. Her arms were no different. She slowly stood up from her futon and looked to the corner of her room where some of her clothes were laid out.

She quickly changed out of her yukata before dressing in a dark purple Cheongsam with gold lining and a golden dragon embroidered around it. Slipping on her flats she placed her swords at her hip and walked out of her room. Heading to Okita's room at the end of the hall. It was nighttime, how long had she been asleep...? How much time passed?

The smell of blood filled her nose and she couldn't help but freeze in her place. Her mind still lingered with nightmares of the past and the iron smell caused a chill to run down her spine. After a few moments of regaining small amount of her courage, she willed her legs to move towards the smell of iron. As she neared the source, she hadn't even realized how hard her heart was beating. How fast it was beating. If she did realize it, she would swear everyone in the compound would hear it. Before she knew it she had stopped at sliding doors, to Okita's room. When she opened it Okita had blood on his face, splattered, and his eyes widened when their eyes met.

"Mei- You're crying again…" Okita whispered before getting up, not even hindered by the blood on him. As if he hadn't even noticed the crimson. The man walked over to her a bit and reached a hand out.

Mei's eyes were wide and she couldn't help take a step back as he tried to touch her.

Okita, however, didn't seem to notice or didn't care as he still reached out and gently wiped away her tears. "Why are you crying now? Did Saito make a move on you?" He joked a bit with his signature smirk. "Actually, that probably wouldn't ever happen." He chuckled.

For a moment, everything was normal again, and Mei frowned. Her hands setting themselves on her hips, silently asking him, 'What's that supposed to mean?'

Okita had grown accustomed to her mannerisms and her silence. So at some point he acquired a small knack for understanding her without her even speaking. It was almost supernatural with how he seemed to get the jist of what she was silently saying. "I mean, you're not that pretty and Saito may be experienced fighting but with women? Ha, Heisuke's got more talent there than Saito." And Heisuke wasn't even that good. That alone said a lot.

Mei felt her cheeks heat up just a bit, focused more on the first part of his explanation rather than the second. Her eyes narrowed on the man and she looked absolutely offended. She gripped Kusanagi a bit and threatened to unsheathe the blade.

Okita held his hands up a bit in front of his chest in surrender, a laugh passing his lips. "Hey now I don't mean any harm."

Liar. Mei thought as she lowered her hand from Kusanagi, that same hand reaching up towards Okita's cheek and wiping some of the blood on his cheek onto her finger. She shuddered just a bit at the contact of the drying blood, bringing her thumb to her face she sniffed the air. Iron… She thought lightly before showing him her thumb and frowning. Who's is this? She thought. Trying to convey it as best she could.

"What?" Okita said a bit exasperatedly. He had gotten enough of that question from Hiikata and the others. "It's Tonochi's. Or was. I killed him." The male said casually. "Does it bother you? I'm sure you've killed people." He stated.

Mei didn't answer, only sniffing at the blood on her thumb again then giving him a look. She looked deep in thought before sighing, waving her hand a bit in front of her nose, trying to tell him he smells. That was clear enough for him to understand without any difficulty.

Okita nodded, "Yeah yeah. I'm gonna clean up." He stated with a light smirk. He felt a bit uneasy with her response. Or rather, the way she looked to him. She looked completely out of it. Yet also struggling.

With not much else to say she turned on her heel and walked off, down the veranda, and probably heading to one of the specific gardens. Her pink hair flowing a bit behind her as she walked.

"What's going on with you, Mei?" Okita whispered to himself once the female was out of earshot. He thought about the moment just before she left. He didn't know if it was an absent motion, or she was conscious of what she did, but in that moment—just before she walked off, an almost maddening smirk appeared on her lips. For some reason, it had chills running down Okita's spine. It was as if he had encountered something evil. But he wasn't afraid. Not of her. He couldn't stop himself from fearing for what's happening to her. What he didn't realize then, he wouldn't truly understand it till it was much later. Much too late to save her. That's how he felt. As if to mock his feeling, a crow perched on the fence, and cawed at him a few times. As if laughing at him. The bird often seen as an omen of misfortune and death, was laughing at what was to come.

Hello! Chess here, I'm super sorry for the long wait on updating this chapter. Senior year has me by the balls and is totally trying to stop me from having free time. I also work on wattpad stories too so I've been trying to update all my stories at least once this and last month.

I would greatly appreciate some reviews and follows too! I lose motivation when I think people don't read this or like it. I also greatly appreciate those of you who have already favorited, followed, and reviewed this fanfiction it means a lot and I hope you all still read this story. I know it may not seem like it, rather it seems like I'm neglecting you and slacking off on purpose, but I really try to get these chapters up as soon as possible. I don't want to abandon this story, or any stories I write here and wattpad. So getting notifications of reviews, follows and favorites always help me get a bit of motivation every time I see them.

Anyways, thanks for reading this one and look forward to the next chapter.