"Mei! Get the laundry, won't you?" Inoue asked softly as he was preparing lunch. Mei had peeked in only to nod before leaving the man to his duties and went off to grab the laundry.

Everything was back to normal, and Mei couldn't have been more relieved.

-A few days before-

"Neither of you don't seem to know much about our group, nor did you have any ill intent. We don't have a reason to believe you are a danger to us at the given moment, therefore there is no reason for us to force your stay here." Sanan said as he looked to the women before him. A small smile on his face as they all stood in the courtyard of the compound.

Lan and Jun stood there a bit confused and surprised as they were handed back their weapons.

"Really? You're just gonna let us go?" Lan asked incredulously. She looked to the group of men that her friend had grown so close to.

"Yes really." Shinpachi stated with a laugh.

"Unless you give us a reason to try and kill you." Okita grinned.

Mei gave him a look, a look she had given to him countless times before. A look that Okita only grinned at with a small shrug before looking away. And like always, Mei could only sigh as her look had no effect on the man. She turned to the two who had caused her a great deal of trouble.

"Are you sure you're fine being here with them?" Jun asked lightly, "You seem content being in the company of these men, however, we just want what is best for you."

Lan nodded her head in agreement.

"It's not as if I have much of a choice you two… I lost a wager and this was the price… And it's not so bad… I suppose…" Mei trailed off as she glanced at the men that stood behind her. She also had information about the Roshigumi, secrets, that the public should never know. They would never let her leave the compound so long as she knew about the Furies. Not that she wanted to leave any time soon anyways. They were a band of misfits really. Just regular men with something to fight for, yet men that had such a close bond they could've been family. Before she knew it, months had gone by since she first arrived in Kyoto and had the unfortunate, or now fortunate, luck in crossing paths with Serizawa. "They're odd but they keep things interesting…" She finally said with a small smile.

Lan seemed convinced of her friends resolve before bowing to Mei a bit, "Then I'll trust them to protect you in our absence."

Jun didn't seem all into the idea of leaving behind Mei to the Roshigumi, however, she only bowed her head to Mei, "… We'll be taking our leave then… We'll be close by if you need us… Seems like Li will be doing the same so we can't leave anyways. We'll be watching him, and if he does anything suspicious we'll inform the Roshigumi right away."

"Fair enough…" Mei sighed, defeated. She had lost the argument a long time ago and the two women were never truly going to leave her alone. But unlike before, she didn't seem to mind that too much. What changed in the last few days that Mei went from despising the two females before her, to tolerating their presence. Perhaps it was the fact the two finally seemed to come to terms, for the most part, that Mei had no intention of leaving the Roshigumi just yet. "In any event, thanks for getting me more medicine…" She stated softly so the others couldn't hear her.

"If you need more all you need to do is reach out to us, we'll come with more." Jun nodded.

"Alright… Get out of here already… I want to go to bed." Mei complained as she motioned the women to 'shoo'. All three of them smiled faintly before Jun and Lan walked out of the compound and disintegrated into the darkness like spirits.

-Present-

Mei began to fold the laundry into the baskets with little effort. The weather wasn't too harsh and the slight breeze wasn't cold but cool as it ghosted on her exposed skin. Her hair was pulled back in her usual high ponytail and her injuries were still bandaged but already beginning to fully heal.

The next few days after the incident at first were a little rocky, being that Mei was still a little bitter about the way she was treated by Okita. Other than that, everything went back to the way things were before.

However…

In that that time that everything was settling down between Mei and the Roshigumi, tensions between the Roshigumi and the citizens of Kyoto only seemed to worsen.

Mei grabbed the basket of laundry and made her way down the veranda to hand to Inoue. On her way though she stopped once she saw Shinpachi swinging his sword downwards as if practicing, but an angry tone lacing in his words.

"Damnit- Every time- I go out on patrol- The people keep callin' us the damn wolves of Mibu! This sucks!" Shinpachi growled in irritation.

"Come on, since when were you delicate enough to break under this kind of pressure, Shinpachi?" Okita asked with his usual smirk on his face. The man leaned against the wall a bit on the veranda as he kept his eyes on Shinpachi.

"Nope not me." Shinpachi denied as he set his sword on his shoulder. "It's Heisuke that's acting all depressed. I just can't stand this annoying mess." He growled with evident irritation.

"Looks like it's getting to our younger members as well." Harada piped up from beside Okita.

Okita closed his eyes and sagged his shoulders smiling, "Oh geez… What a bunch of wimps." He looked back up, his eyes settling on Mei. "The locals are so scared of us they open up a path. It's easier to get around so what's the big deal? Right, Hajime?"

"Don't bring Hajime into your insensitive idiocy." Mei reprimanded before moving past the guys. "Because they're afraid they're even more likely to side against the Roshigumi and hide those you were tasked to take care of. Especially since I am one of the people you should be expelling, being that I am a foreigner." She pointed out before walking off. It was true. They seemed to forget that she was a foreigner, something that many of the other men despise. Until it's informed that she was half Japanese. The other men felt she could be converted thanks to the Japanese blood in her veins.

The page set the laundry with Inoue before she went off to go see if one of the halls needed cleaning, especially the training hall. She set a hand lazily on the grips of her swords as she walked. She ignored the gazes of the few men she came across on her way to her destination as she always did before she stopped at the entrance of the compound.

"Oh, it's you."

Mei found herself frowning as she narrowed her eyes on the man who has irritated her more than Serizawa. And only in one conversation, "Kodo Yukimura." She growled a bit before she took a step back.

"No need to get all defensive, Miss Shi. I just came here looking for Sanan or Nimi." Kodo stated as he didn't seem the least bit threatened by the hostile page. "I was just on my way out." He added before he began to walk off.

God, she hated that man. The air around him was thick and heavy with bullshit in her opinion. What disturbed her was that the air around him was only clear when he talked about that cursed liquid. She didn't waste much more time in the vicinity before she hurried to her original destination.

-that night-

Mei frowned a bit as she stripped herself of her usual Chinese wear, and into the white sleeping kimono. She pulled the ribbon holding up her hair and sighed as she felt her pink locks fall down her back and over her shoulders.

She set her swords beside her bed before she slipped beneath the covers on her futon and stared out the window to see the moon. How long had she been with the Roshigumi? A few months, right? Less? She had forgotten or never really thought about it, but time had flown by. Why was that? She was usually so perceptive… Was her time with the Roshigumi dulling her senses?

Before she could delve further into her thoughts she slowly closed her eyes and allowed her body to relax.

~dream~

"Ne, Lao… Am I really that strange?" A young Mei asked as she trotted over to her brother in the snow. Her soft pink hair beautifully contrasting against the pure white snow.

Lao, who had been practicing his swordsmanship, looked at his little sister astonished. "… What brought this, Mei? Who told you that you were strange?" He asked as he knelt in front of the smaller child and frowned, setting a hand upon her head.

The five-year-old looked down at the ground a bit, looking as if she was guilty, "N-No one…" She stuttered.

"Meiiiii…" Her brother sighed.

"… Some of the servant's children… They called me strange… Because Mama and Papa leaving us here with their friends… And I'm not sad anymore, especially when I'm with Chiyo and Fung… And don't remember when I last saw them." Mei whispered before looking down at the snow. "They called me strange… Saying… I don't care about Mama or Papa…" By then the girl had tears forming in her eyes. They had often picked on the young child. Calling her a monster and heartless.

"Mei." Lao said softly before the Sixteen-year old boy pick his tiny and frail sister up into his arms. "You are not strange… But when you're having fun with people you care about time flies by quicker… And the sadness doesn't hurt as much." He reassured before kissing his baby sister's cheek. "You are still only a baby-"

"Am not! Mei is a big girl now!" Mei insisted with puffed cheeks and a small blush.

Perhaps referring to herself in third person only made her look more of a child coupled with her expression, because Lao could only laugh even as small hands beat softly against his chest.

"Of course, Mei. You're my big girl." Lao chuckled before he kissed the girl's cheeks, "Mama and Papa would think so too." He assured.

The young girl smiled happily before wrapping her small arms around her brother's neck.

The scene disappeared and changed to black before the colors were stained red, orange and black.

"… Why?! Why did you betray us!" Kiku, her own mother, shouted as she took out her Katana and aimed it at Li. Yu, her husband, beside her with his own Katana. "We treated you like family, welcomed you with open arms! And you repay us with betrayal?!" She screamed.

Fire burned around them, creating such terrifying silhouettes of those caught in the middle. Li's eyes glowed beneath the flickering light of fire, and a sinister grin on his face. "People like you, pacifists who know nothing—power is wasted on you. When you can fix the issue easily, you just believe in naïve ideals. That's why, I'm going to take away your thrown and watch you all burn to ash." He scoffed, "Once I take those sacred swords your son has, it'll be proof that Shi family is no more. I will have power."

"Mama…? Papa…?" Came the smallest voice amongst the chaos of screams and swords clashing, somehow breaking through and reaching the ears of the three.

They all turned to the doorway just past the flames to see the eleven-year old girl. The one he hated most out of all the children.

"… Mei… Come here…" Li's sinister grin transformed into a warming smile as he walked towards her. His hand reaching out to her. His green eyes flashing, for just a moment, with bloodlust. A mistake.

Mei felt it down to her bones, to her very soul. Her eyes widened as she took a step back, "Don't… Don't come near me…!" She stepped back. Her small body was trembling beneath the gaze of someone she had trusted.

"I said- Come here you little brat!" Li growled as he charged at her. Mei turned away.

"Mei!" Kiku looked to her kin before she stepped in front of Li and swung at his hand. "Don't touch my little girl!" But obviously, Li dodged just in time before unsheathing his sword.

Mei heard her mother scream at Li, but when she turned the girl couldn't see past the fire that licked her skin. The heat only grew more intense as if controlled by the desperate tone in her mother's voice.

"MEI RUN!"

"MAMA!" The girl screamed in sorrow as tears ran down her face. She smelled blood… Her home was drenched in crimson, reeking of the coppery stench. "MAMA!"

"MEI RUN!" Now it was her father's voice. The next thing that came out of his mouth dripped with agony and sorrow, Mei knew what happened. "KIKU!"

Mei had no choice but to run as she faintly heard her mother past all the noise, after another thud in her mother's direction, "… YU…!"

Mei heard her parent's last words before she left, frightened.

"Hello there, Mei,~ Where are you going?"

~Dream end~

Mei woke up in a panic, her eyes wide and her hand gripping tightly at her Katana. Pants leaving past her lips as her eyes began to adjust to reality. "Just… A dream…" She found herself whispering. Her eyes slowly drifted from the wall to the window where she saw that it was extremely early in the morning. Earlier than she was used to. The sun hadn't quite risen yet. "I need some air." She murmured before she got to her feet, grabbing a Haori and draping it over her shoulders with her swords at her side. She left the room silently, then walking down the veranda towards the entrance of the compound.

She thought about the memories that seemed to continue to haunt her while she slept, "At this rate I won't be able to sleep soundly anymore." Mei whispered with a deep sigh, her eyes staring down towards the wood floor.

"Mei?"

The call of her name pulled her out of her thoughts, however, and she turned around to see that it was Heisuke.

"Oh, it's just you…" Mei murmured before turning to face him, "What are you doing up so early in the morning?" She asked gently.

Heisuke greeted her with a smile before scratching the back of his head, "Well… You see, I just had a rough night. Just thinking about some stuff that happened… And… I wanted to apologize again." The boy admitted before smiling sheepishly at the woman before him.

"Apologize?" Mei slowly tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"… I wanted to apologize for everything that went down that day… When Serizawa was calling you a traitor and Souji acting a bit too harsh with you…" Heisuke stated as his gaze moved from her to the floor. His eyes seemed saddened, and it didn't surprise her.

She had always noticed that Heisuke a bit more sensitive towards things like that than the other guys. "It's alright… I'm used to harsher treatment."

Her words caused him to shoot his head up and look at her with wide eyes. That smile, so kind and warm yet somehow still sad. A smile he had never seen from her before. Had that whole situation affect her this much? He had no idea-

"… I hold no grudge." Mei admitted. "At first, I was wary, a part of me believed that trusting you all was a mistake… When I sat in that room before Li showed up, I was having a tough time believing in any of you… But when you kept to your word, I knew then that my trust in you all, no matter the times we don't see eye to eye, it is not misplaced…" She held the haori closer to her person. "You all don't know much about me… If you did, you would all know that the treatment I got that night was nothing to me in the end… I would've just shut off my emotions…"

Escape, and kill you all if I had to…

"... Mei…" Heisuke whispered in shock.

"In my position, there is no time to dwell on petty things… If I intend on killing Li for what he did to me and my family… the only grudge I have to nurture is the one I have to him…" Mei said lightly before she looked out towards the sky.

"Mei… Is everything okay?" Heisuke couldn't help but ask. She had a point, none of them knew her very well despite the time they spent together, but he knew her well enough to know that the incident that happened affected her more than she'd like to admit. For her sake or their's. He had never seen her like this.

"… I'm fine, I suppose." Mei chuckled before the breeze gently blew against her hair.

Heisuke couldn't help but think that she looked really pretty with her hair down. "… Hey Mei… You should leave your hair down while in the compound, I think you look prettier that way."

Mei blinked in surprise. "Pretty..." She whispered softly before she took a lock of her hair and brought it in front of her. The pink that was the trait of her family. The color that confirmed her origins. "… Maybe I will…" She murmured before looking at Heisuke, "Thank you." She smiled more like herself now. "Who's got food this morning? I'm not doing it." She stated before walking towards the dining room.

"What? I totally thought that was why you were up so early!" Heisuke whined as he followed her.

Mei couldn't help but smirk, "But I'm still a recuperating young lady. I can't do strenuous work like make breakfast for all the guys…" She cooed.

"You're only using the young woman card when it's convenient." Heisuke muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing ma'am!"

"That's what I thought."

-Later that day-

Mei looked down at her knees beneath the water as she bathed. Locks of her hair falling into the water and gently floating around her. Heisuke and Shinpachi watched the door for her while she bathed that day. For a while, her mind was blank of any and all thoughts. She simply sat there, staring blankly at te details around her.

Absently she listened to the chirping of the birds around her, the softness of her shallow breathing, the small ripples created by her existence disturbing the water.

Slowly, thoughts began to flow back into her mind, more or less dripping into her brain like water droplets falling off leaves after a storm.

Mei remembered te pain of being betrayed, clearly—as if to remind herself how fragile relationships with someone else could be, she reached behind herself to gently glide her fingers along the various scars upon her back. They felt ugly beneath her fingertips, she couldn't help but cringe at the texture—at the ugliness of her own skin.

More than anyone she knew, Mei knew the pain of betrayal, both the physical and emotional. Not even delving into the mental toll it could take on a person. It was a toll she wouldn't wish on anyone else. The pain was something to be feared. She walked around with that pain constantly, and yet, the thought of losing her ties with the members of the Roshigumi made her so terrified she was willing to simply—stop feeling. It struck a pain in her chest so harshly she thought for a moment her heart would stop and she'd cease to breathe.

"Why did it hurt so much this time?" She couldn't help but whisper before she quickly finished cleaning herself and got out of the water. "… Perhaps I'm getting sick again…" She murmured as she began to dry herself off. She knew for a long time she had a poor constitution. Her body so weak, as a child she'd have to be kept in their home most of her life due to the fears of her parents that she'd collapse with another fever where they couldn't reach her in time.

Mei did her best to dry her hair, though her movements a bit sluggish as she continued to fall deeper within her thoughts. She slipped into one of the pale pink kimono's and red Haori's Harada had gotten her to wear when she was relaxing within the compound being that most of her other, more casual, clothes were left in the care of her two servants.

It had been quite some weeks since her last fever attack, however, she sincerely doubted it would be the last time she'd give the boys a scare.

Stepping out of the room she looked up to see Shinpachi and Heisuke staring at her with an expression she was used to from other men. Affection.

"… Wow, that kimono does look good on you, Mei…" Shinpachi whispered as a small blush dusted his cheeks, Heisuke's own adorning a matching sight.

Mei looked down at herself before pulling her hair over her shoulder and combing through it with her fingers. "Thank you…" She murmured a bit in reply, looking down towards the floor. "I can't fight in it," She whispered as she held her swords at her side, "But it's very comfortable..."

"With your personality you'd fit right in back in Edo…!" Heisuke laughed with a big smile on his face.

"You're right, Heisuke!" Shinpachi agreed with a vigorous nod of his head.

Mei tilted her head, however, in confusion. "Why is that?"

"Because Edo women are the most head strong and confident women. They also have short tempers sometimes and some would totally be on par with Hijikata in an argument." Heisuke laughed. He held his hands behind his head before he grinned mischievously at the other man beside him. The air around them was happy and warm, before suddenly a commotion was being made by many footsteps and the sounds of the other men.

That was when the smell of iron reached the nose of the Shi family member. Her eyes widened and for a moment her heart sunk to her stomach.

The three rushed to find the source of all the noise before they saw Hijikata and Sanan covered in blood and cleaning themselves up. Heisuke and Shinpaci moved further out the doors and closer to two of the most respectable men in the Roshigumi, while Mei stayed behind her 'master'.

"What happened Toshi, Sanan?" Kondou asked with evident concern on his face and in his voice.

Hijikata didn't look up as he ran a rag up and down his arm, "Sorry… We ran into some thugs using the Roshigumi name to forcibly borrow money and it turned into a sword fight, but they got away."

Mei watched the two on the floor before she frowned and set her swords to the side and walked passed Okita to get to the two covered in blood. The smell irritated her senses but she pushed away her urges and grabbed the rag from Sanan and dipped it into the bucket of water by her feet, ringing it out and cleaning up Sanan's cheeks of the blood much quicker than he was doing on his own.

"Huh?" Okita piped up, his head tilting to the side, "Hijikata, Sanan, it's unusual for you to let scum get away…"

Mei shot him a glare before sighing. She pushed her personal thoughts away about the matter and simply continued to clean Sanan up, but he gently grabbed her hand.

"I see how you're doing it, thank you, Miss Shi…" The Colonel gave her a soft smile before he slowly took the rag from her hands and continued her work on his skin at removing the other men's blood, before he looked up to Okita, "The ones that we had fought…. Had friends hiding nearby… we're sorry sir… It was our fault…"

Mei bit the side of her cheek as the man had bowed his head to Kondou and apologized. She turned to Hijikata and took his rag from his hands, repeating her previous actions with Sanan. Damn those Ronin… She couldn't help but think.

"No… It couldn't be helped." Kondou assured with a forlorn expression.

"So there are some guys using the Roshigumi name to go out and steal money, huh?" Harada murmured with his arms crossed over his chest, a troubled look in his eyes.

"And here they were calling themselves Imperial Loyalists till recently." Shinpachi frowned.

"I'm sorry but… that just simply goes to show just how far the Roshigumi's reputation has dropped." Sanan looked frustrated, almost completely upset at the predicament the Roshigumi was put in. They had simply wanted to protect the City of Kyoto, however, they were constantly treated as nuisances.

"Do you think that putting that head up on display had the opposite effect of what we were going for?" Heisuke asked. It was a question they had all been thinking but been too hesitant to ask. The whole group fell silent, the only sound heard was of Mei dipping the rag in the water before ringing it out and cleaning Hijikata up. Trying to rid his skin of that crimson liquid.

Eventually, someone broke the silence.

"That man," Okita started, "Has been out of hand lately."

"If the Roshigumi develop a poor reputation it could injure the Aizu Domain's good name." Sanan stated as he slowly stood to his feet, "We cannot allow things to continue as they have."

Mei stopped moving for a moment before glancing up at Sanan. For some reason, the moment here felt as if it would change the Roshigumi forever… And She hoped to any God out there that it would be for the better.

Sorry for the long wait, I wrote half of this like a month after the last update but I ended up getting writers block a lot. I hope it's alright and if not leave your complaints (or compliments) up in the reviews. Follow and favorite if you really liked it and would like to keep tabs on it to keep up when I update chapters. I am so looking forward to ending this arc of the fanfiction and move on to where the games and the rest of the anime takes off. I have more ideas for that (especially since the game is the reason for it). Also, I apologize if this seems spotty! I reread it and tried to fill some spots that needed more detail and yet I don't want to bore you all with details, I want you to use your imagination too!

Again, SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT FORGIVE PLEASE!

Love,
Chess.