Mei sighed a bit as she made her way to Okita's room, feeling she should've at least checked to see if his jaw was okay. She had punched him especially hard. He deserved it, but if he's in serious pain I'll get an earful from Hijikata… Just the thought of having to listen to the Demon of a man bitching at her made her exhausted already.

It didn't take her long to reach the man's quarters, so with a soft knock against the wood she made her presence known. "Okita… Can I come in?" She asked lightly, waiting for a reply.

"Yeah."

Mei slowly opened the door before entering his room, closing it behind her. Her eyes scanned the room a bit before they settled upon the man sitting by his desk polishing his Katana by the open window. Typical. Was the first thought that came to mind as she then noticed his usual smirk on his face. The page walked further into the room before kneeling beside him and reaching a hand out. For some reason, she couldn't find her voice now. She couldn't bring herself to speak. So, she silently asked him, let me look at your jaw.

Okita stopped polishing his blade as he saw her kneel beside him, watching her hand as it neared the swollen parts of his jaw that had already begun to bruise. With a light sigh, he set his Katana away and allowed her to do as she please, "Get on with it already, Mei."

Mei was a bit grateful to him for not making her talk, and knowing what she silently said. As much as she liked speaking again, she was glad someone could tell what she wanted to say just from her silence. Her cold fingers glided a bit along the soft tissue with a gentleness she always had when treating injuries, and her eyes were soft as she felt a small pang of guilt in her chest.

And Okita somehow knew it. "Don't feel guilty now, Mei. It's not like you, and it's kind of creepy. ~" The Man teased.

Mei growled and wrapped a hand around his neck as she silently sneered at him. And just like that, the tenseness in the air was gone… A phenomenon that happened often when the two were alone like this. Despite her annoyance with his teasing, she couldn't help the warm feeling that intertwined with it. After some moments passed, she released him and crossed her arms over her chest with a pout and huff, turning away from him.

Okita could only laugh as she had gotten mad at him, and laughed even more when she pouted and turned away. "Oh come on, don't be like that, pup~" When the woman didn't even turn to look at him he tugged on a lock of her hair. "You know it's a little annoying that you'll talk to Harada about yourself, but I'm your master and you barely talk to me." He grumbled a bit, looking at the woman with a bit of whimsy and annoyance in his eyes. "Look at me, because I have some questions for you."

Mei reluctantly did as told, releasing a small yelp as the man grabbed her chin a bit and made her look directly into his eyes, bringing her closer in the process. His eyes narrowing warningly and grew just a bit sharper.

"Don't lie to me… Or I'll kill you. Got it?"

Mei didn't flinch away, nor did she respond verbally. The woman simply looked at her master with leveled eyes, though for a moment it seemed she had the intent to kill him.

"Speak up."

"I hear you, Okita." His page murmured before moving away from the mans grasp, "What is it?" She asked as she leaned back against the wall a bit with a calculated gaze on her master. She set her precious swords to the side as she tried to physically convey he held her full attention. If she hadn't, she was pretty sure he would've told her to do so anyways. "Well?"

"… What are your nightmares about?... why do they scare you so much?" Okita asked. "And don't tell me you can't talk about it since I know you talk to Harada about it and you screamed at me pretty clearly in the courtyard."

"My nightmares…" They were nothing short of horrible memories that haunted her. They were a reminder that she is weak. That she was always protected. That she cost her brother his life. They weren't a secret, really, she was just never really comfortable with talking about them, but maybe that's changed with them… she thought.

"… They're memories… of my past…" Mei admitted after her moments of silence, now her gaze downcast, refusing to look up at the man in the room. "My home… and family… were taken away from me… my sisters… brothers… parents… friends… everyone… and everything was ripped away from me… except these swords… most of the nightmares… are of the night it all happened… the night my brother gave me the swords that were supposed to be handed to him, so he could run off and buy me time to run and hide…" She found herself digging her nails into her palms as she recollected that nightmare in pieces. "They don't scare me as much… as they're painful…"

Okita stayed silent as he waited for her to finish, "… Then that guy who's after your swords is the one who orchestrated all of that?"

Mei didn't say a word, but she knew her silence confirmed his statement. It was all that man's fault. He ripped everything away from her, and she swore on her life that he'd pay for what he did.

"Well, guess that means I'll have to kill him."

What...?

Mei slowly looked up to see her masters smirking face staring down at her.

"What? No one does something like that to my page and gets away with it. I'm sure the guys feel the same way." Okita stated before looking out the window again, "Plus I really don't like the look he gave me last time."

"He probably realized how upset he made you."

"That man sounds like he'll come back to take your swords, but this time you'll have us to watch your back. Okita especially."

Mei couldn't help but remember Harada's words to her. Like many times since she had arrived at the compound, a smile found its way to her lips and she couldn't stop the words from leaving her lips, "Scary…"

Okita glanced at the woman at his side with his usual smirk playing about on his lips.

The woman bowed her head to her master before politely excusing herself from the room, taking her swords with her. She lingered just outside the door of his room on the veranda for a few long moments before leaving down and walking towards the courtyard. As much as she'd like to say she could, she couldn't stop the smile that tugged at her lips and the soft look in her eyes as she looked at the ground while she walked. She couldn't think of any of the negative thoughts that had been often plaguing her for years. No, they were all blurred and pushed away by the warmth that some of the members of the Roshigumi had given her. The sense of security she had missed.

The next few days weren't particularly eventful but also not particularly free either. Everyone was leisurely doing work during the days and nothing was super urgent. There were no fights or issues that needed to be mended, except for maybe Ibuki since the poor boy was a page himself for the "oh so great" Serizawa. Even Mei had seemed to have returned to her old self, doing the works of a page and Okita's sparring partner when Saito wasn't around. Her small, silent comments going unheard by most, not including the six or seven certain members that she was found with much of the time.

She didn't know that those peaceful days were numbered. If she did, maybe she would've done and said some things differently. Maybe she would've left before she would've grown so attached… No one will ever know what should've, could've and would've happened if she knew then what she would learn later. A sick practical joke from God, as her punishment.

~Dream~

There was blood, everywhere.

"Where did you hide the swords, Mei…? You can tell me-"

"YOU KILLED EVERYONE! I WON'T TELL YOU ANYTHING!" The11-year old girl shouted as she tugged against the chains that held her arms up, her toes barely touching the floor. Her head hanging low s she refused to look up at those that surrounded her.

There was an exasperated sigh before the man spoke once more, "Do you just crave painful punishment?" He asked before he tore an agonized scream from the girl's lips. The rattling of her chains mingling in with her voice. Blood was splattered and dripping onto the floor now. Her blood. "If you just tell us this will all be over, Mei."

Biting her lip, she let her tears silently slide down her cheeks before they fell onto the floor too. She couldn't let him have those swords. Lao died for them, for her. And this man took away her childhood, her peaceful life. "You can rip me apart, you can tear off my skin, you can do anything… And you still won't get those swords, Li…" The girl grinned as she slowly looked up from the floor. "What's with that look Li, scared?... What kind of Shi would I be, if I let someone with disgusting hands like yours, touch my precious family possessions? You, who uses Guǐzi, touching sacred swords? I'd rather swallow nails…"

A Guǐzi laugh suddenly cut through the air.

Mei jolted up from bed as she heard a familiar, bone chilling laugh. A Guǐzi, or rather—a fury. Immediately she grabbed her Katana and slipped on a plain black haori over her robe before walking out of her room and smelling the air. Seconds passed before she turned her head down the hall and narrowed her eyes, within moments her body moved on instinct and rushed silently down the hall. A grin made her way to her lips as she unsheathed her Katana aaimed to slice down the back of the fury that was in the courtyard.

It dodged.

There was no disappointment or anger. Just amusement. "I'll kill you…" She whispered as she licked her lips.

The fury charged at her, dodging her attack which would've cut off his arm. Instead he managed to cut her cheek and back. Now he struck something. Whatever it was, it snapped inside Mei. And it wasn't good.

"Anyone ever tell you, don't put your hands on a woman?" Mei whispered a bit annoyed, the smell of her blood reaching her senses. It was like all that was in the world was her and that fury, as she did not hear the voices of her friends shouting in the distance. She moved quickly, "Let's play~" She cooed as she slashed the fury's chest before cutting off its arm. She did not care if it was once a Roshigumi member or if it was some common criminal Nimi found on the streets. She had no sympathy for the fury.

The fury immediately grabbed the sword and tried to rip it from her grasp, but was met with something surprising. Her strength over the sword was like Iron.

And she took her chance to cut through his hand while he was caught by surprise and freed her Katana. "You're no fun without a weapon." She stated before plunging the blade through his chest. Blood splattering onto her face a bit and staining her clothes. She watched with cold and disappointed eyes as he fell to the floor once she pulled the blade back out. She stared down at the fury as if she was staring down an insect. With disgust. The noises around her slowly started to fade back into her ears, but she didn't even notice until-

"Mei!"

Looking up quickly she saw Heisuke, Shinpachi, Saitou and a few other familiar faces running into the courtyard. That's when she noticed Ryunosuke near the door, looking at her with surprise. Her eyes widened for a moment before they looked back at the approaching group.

"Mei! Are you okay?" Heisuke asked as he noticed she had blood on her clothes, and a cut on her cheek.

Mei only smiled before nodding. She looked back down at the fury before using her haori to wipe off the blood on her Katana then sheathing it.

"Come on Mei, remember you need to start getting used to using your voice again." Heisuke stated before he glanced at the fury as well.

"I'm fine… Just a few scratches." Mei chuckled before looking past the group and at Nimi, who stood back some ways away. She didn't like him. Never did. Never will. He didn't seem to care for anything but status and that was something that was proving to a danger to her friends and herself. "Do you mind, keeping better track of your experiments, Nimi? You may be mistaken for one next time they run loose." She threatened a bit lowkey, before walking off back towards her room.

"Mei! Your back!" Shinpachi called out.

"I'll patch myself up, I'm fine." Mei waved her hand a bit before she disappeared down the hall and back into her room. For a few seconds, she didn't move away from the closed door. She stared into the darkness of the room, and felt it stare back at her. "… Jun… I know you're there. It's easy to sense your presence. I thought I told Lan to help you with that…"

"I'm sorry…" Came a female voice from the corner of the room with the thickest shadows. "When we couldn't find you, we stopped practicing… What are you doing here?" The woman whispered as there was some shuffling in that area. "It's good to hear your voice again…"

"… I'm taking a break… So should you and Lan…" Mei murmured as she walked to her futon and set her Katana down beside it.

"But Mei…!" The other, Jun, hissed, "What about Li? You weren't supposed to get captured by the Roshigumi-"

"I Know. Don't patronize me since I'm the one who decided what I was gonna do with my life."

"You're putting people in unnecessary danger, Mei. We've been searching for you for 11 years and this- this is what happens to you?" Jun growled, "Your family raised you better than to get others-"

"DON'T-… Don't talk about how my family raised me. They raised me to always keep my word. Don't lecture me, when I'm already breaking a rule my parents always taught me." Mei whispered, "I'm here because I lost a wager and repaying a debt…"

"Mei-"

"Leave Jun… I need to stay…"

"You've been reduced to being a servant girl, Mei!" Jun's voice rose.

Mei suddenly had her short sword up to the woman's neck, "If you don't keep it down I will personally rip out your vocal chords with this blade." She whispered dangerously. "… If I need your assistance, then I shall call for you. But until then, stay out of my sight. And stay out of the Roshigumi's way…"

The woman only looked at the wall, torn between what was right and what was proper, before she suddenly moved away from Mei and out the wind. Leaving Mei, only a glance of beautiful white blond hair before it disappeared.

There were no sounds, no marks. Nothing to indicate anyone had been there in her room, besides Mei herself. "… What a mess…" She whispered softly before she went to the other corner, one more illuminated from the moonlight than the others, and turned on a lap. Beginning to remove the upper portion of her clothes as she grabbed out the necessary things to patch up her back and cheek.

"Mei, can I come in?" She heard someone ask outside of her door.

Blinking in a bit of confusion of the voice, she moved her hair over her shoulder to cover up the view of her chest before saying, "Yes."

The door opened revealing Harada just outside. "Mei- I'm sorry!" Just like that, the ever-so-suave Harada had become like a teen boy as his cheeks heated up to a bright crimson. The embarrassment clear to see.

"Shut up and come inside, we don't need the whole compound to see me like this." Mei rolled her eyes a bit.

Harada scrambled inside and closed the door, but looked at the wall to his left instead of her. "I-I didn't mean- I- I didn't know you were-"

"I was gonna clean up my wound on my back. Stop being such a virgin. I never took you for one, considering the stories you tell when your drunk." Mei chuckled a bit before lifting some alcohol to sanitize the wound. "Since you're here, mind helping me anyways."

"O-Oh.. Okay…" Harada stuttered before walking over to her, the blush becoming fainter. "I just thought… You know that women were the more sensitive to these situations."

"Well I guess I threw that theory out into the wind. It's not like you barged in, and I'm hoping you didn't come here with the intention of something bad." Mei sighed as she felt the man take the alcohol then reach over for the bandages past her. He didn't respond to her, and she was met with a familiar silence. A silence that carried a heavy emotion. Pity. "It's not as bad as it looks…" She knew what he saw, and usually she would've made him leave before he saw them, but she knew now that she could trust Harada, to some extent.

"… They're thin but some of them look like they were really deep… Mei… How old are these?" Harada asked as he lifted his hand a bit and glided a few fingertips along one of the many scars on her back.

Mei was silent for a bit, contemplating something, before she spoke again, "11 years old…"

Harada froze, not even having to do the math to know how old she was when she was given those scars. "Mei..."

"Don't tell Okita…" Mei interrupted. "If he knew that man had done this, Okita would lose it…"

"You're right…" Harada sighed before pouring the alcohol on the wound and dabbing it with a cloth. Even if he agreed with her about Okita, he was not at all pleased with the evidence of abuse on her back. It, quite frankly, pissed him the hell off. And if he felt that way, he could only imagine how bad Okita would be. Harada cleaned Mei up soon enough and moved away from her. "I think you'll need to tell Okita about this at some point…"

"Why…? It's not important anymore."

"Because Okita cares, even if he doesn't show it like a normal person. All of us care… We need to know what's okay and what's not okay to do or say… If we don't we'll end up hurting you… And none of us want that…" Harada whispered before he politely excused himself and left her alone to her thoughts in the empty room.

"... It's getting worse... those urges..." Mei whispered.

I'm sorry for the long wait, school has been hectic and I was dealing with a lot of personal issues. I was going through a rough time and I just couldn't find the motivation to write. But I reread the Reviews and some of the PM's I received regarding this Fanfiction and it helped slowly work through it enough to write the chapter. Once I get back from my school trip (I'm leaving in like 6 hours and 20 minutes to go to California) (I leave at 4 am) So thank you to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, and followed and even took the time to PM me. It means a lot. Hope the chapter wasn't a disappointment. Leave me some Reviews.

Sincerely,

Cheshire.