I'm sorry for the long ass wait I'm currently on a vacation to see family and going off the game, unlike the anime episodes, it's harder to find a stopping point. Hopefully this is to your liking everyone. I hope there aren't any mistakes I missed and if there are please PM me so I can fix it. Thank you and please enjoy the prologue to the REAL story.
"Is there a reason you continue to deny me, Mei?" The figure asked. Unlike the many dreams before, the figure spoke softly, and there was much more distance between them. "Why do you deny me so harshly?"
Mei sat there with her knees to her chest as she refused to look at the figure. "… You want to kill everyone around me... Isn't that reason enough?"
The figure didn't say anything, and instead, everything started to disappear. It felt like an eternity of silence passed before everything changed.
"I protected you." It finally said, as everything then started to gain back color. As if it were a canvas being paint. It was a memory. She was now chained to a wall, and everything felt so heavy, and it hurt so much to breathe. "I made sure, I took half your pain. I got you out of that horrible place."
Mei, now younger and bound by chains, coughed harshly before blood slipped past her lips onto the floor.
"I helped you survive. I killed them. So, you could escape."
Mei let out a scream as her uncle stabbed through her thigh.
"Tell me where they are and this will all stop. It's taken years just for you to scream out loud... All you need to do is give me what I want." He whispered, getting to his knees in front of her, his hands sliding up her legs. "You look just like your mom when she was younger..."
"… Mama..." Mei whispered brokenly, her body was limp and she could barely move. Even as the man leaned into her.
The scene disappeared and Mei was back to her present age, her body healed as if nothing ever happened, but she was now on all fours, clearly still traumatized by the events that happened while she was captured.
"They drugged you... tortured you... Broke you... I couldn't allow you to end that way..." The figure whispered as she leaned into Mei, suddenly now very close, and ran her fingers through Mei's hair. The touch was fleeting, however, and disappeared not too long after, the scene changing once more.
Mei was younger once again, panting for breaths, standing in the middle of a large, open room, with bodies scattered all over. Their red, crazed eyes, staring aimlessly as they glossed over and lost their light. Blood coated parts of her skin and soaked into her clothes and hair.
"I turned your fear of them... Into hatred... into power..."
Mei grinned menacingly as she stared at the scattered bodies.
-Reality-
Mei's eyes suddenly opened and she found herself outside on the courtyard's ground once more. She found herself underneath that tree no matter what season it was, quite often. Slowly sitting up, Mei glanced up at the moonlit sky and smiled lightly. Her dreams weren't as bad before, and they didn't come as frequently as they once did. She had an inkling that it had something to do with the fact the last few months were relatively quiet. Li hadn't made a move since their last encounter, which slightly disturbed her but mostly concerned her. Despite that, she was grateful to the peace in the meantime. Their search for Kodo Yukimura still in effect with no real luck, and their day-to-day duties were still the same.
After that night with Serizawa and Ryunosuke, everything was a bit—cold to Mei. That didn't mean the woman missed the ever so harsh Serizawa Kamo, but she missed the clumsy boy that would be running around to please the man. Who'd joke around with them when given the opportunity and who had become a dear friend of theirs.
She kept in touch with him through Lan and Jun as much as she could without drawing suspicion to herself from the captains. Before she even realized it, two months had gone by. October ended on a bad note, but by the time January hit everything was now relatively as it was before. Hijikata was still a hard ass, but now with more control without the even more devilish man Serizawa around, Kondou was his goofy, and charming man he always was, Sanan was spent more time doing research but still came out every so often as if to reassure us he was still alive and well. He always had some snide remark to throw Hijikata's way and begin a subtle banter of sorts between them.
Harada, Shinpachi and Heisuke were the same goofy-trio that they had been when she had first met them, always going to Shimabara when they had the chance.
Saito was keeping to himself the majority of the time, always being the man of little words, but she supposed, it was comforting to know he hadn't changed.
Okita... Well... He was still the pain in her ass as he had been the moment she opened her eyes in that room with her limbs bound by rope all those months ago.
Mei let out a sigh as she held her haori a bit closer to her person and decided to go inside to change. Snow was beginning to fall and her clothes were dirty from laying on the ground for so long. She stepped onto the veranda and made her way to her room. As she walked, her hair over her shoulder as she continuously ran her fingers through it.
It didn't take her long to reach her room. The weather called for change of clothing from her usually revealing dress. She did wear the clothes the captains often got her, for the sake of the other men's ease since many were still weary of her being from China, but the night was always coldest. She stripped herself of her clothes and redressed herself in warmer clothes. She slipped into a pink pao, its appearance extremely similar to her usual dress, except the sleeves were tight and went down to her knuckles and the slits began at her hips. Next, she slipped on some black pants that were a bit loose but weren't nearly as loose as the one's Okita wears. The last thing she put on was a wide red sash that wrapped around her stomach a bit and secured with a black cord.
Mei tied up her hair and left her room to go check on Okita before she heard that scream... One she had come accustomed to since she was young. ".. A fury...!" She hissed in irritation before rushing off in the direction of the scream, before it turned into crazed laughter. When she arrived at her destination, she saw Sanan on the floor. She and the rest of Kondou's faction entered the room.
"What the hell happened?" Hijikata growled as he looked around for an explanation.
"… Three of them... escaped." Sanan groaned as he got to his feet.
"What...?!" Kondou asked in horror. "Did they lose their humanity?" He asked, concerned they'd have to kill more of their men. When his question was met with silence, he knew what the three furies fate were.
"We have no time to waste. Souji, Saito." Hijikata started as he turned to the captains and Mei. "You know your orders. We find them, and kill them..."
The three gave a nod before Okita turned to Mei, "You stay close to me and Saito, got it?" He stated before she nodded in understanding.
"Shame, I was hoping to stay with Harada." She hummed, knowing by now her friendship with Harada bothered Okita for some reason.
The man looked at her with a bit of annoyance in his eyes with his usual smirk on his lips.
Mei looked away innocently before going over to stand by Saito. "I'll wait for you guys at the entrance." She stated before rushing off.
-a bit later-
Mei was rushing through the streets with Saito and Okita, searching for the furies, they were trying to keep silent so they wouldn't draw attention to themselves and the Shinsengumi. Hijikata was lagging a bit behind with the Watch.
"It's been 20 minutes, he might be hiding." Mei stated lightly as she glanced down every alley they passed, Saito doing the same on his side.
"No. They'd be looking for blood. They're hungry so they must still be on the street looking for easy prey." Okita stated as he kept his eyes ahead.
Blood.
That familiar iron smell wafted into her nose and Mei tensed up. "… Okita...!" She hissed urgently before she looked over to Saito, "This way!" She insisted before running down an alley. That's when they hear it. That laugh that sent chills down her spine and screams of agony from their poor victims. They moved swiftly, expertly avoiding crates and wooden planks along the way before she finally led them to the furies, their white hair coming into view along with their blue haori's. They were over a few ronin bodies they had just slaughtered, now nearing a boy cowering behind some wood leaning against the wall.
Mei picked up the pace, stepping in front of them with Saito behind them, and plunged her swords into two of their Furies hearts. Saito doing the same to the last of the three.
"Really you two...?" Okita said with slight disappointment, a grin on his face. "And here I was, planning to take care of them all. Couldn't you guys have picked another day to work fast?" He asked as the two slipped their swords out of the men.
"I only did my job. Unlike you, I take no pleasure in battle." Saito stated with his usually emotionless expression.
Mei shrugged, "I couldn't help myself. They really annoyed me." She hummed.
"Well those weren't very nice things to say." Okita stated, feigning hurt, before laughing.
"You don't even bother denying it." Saito sighed before he looked past Mei and to the person behind her.
Mei followed his gaze and looked down at the witness to the massacre. Now that she got a good look at the child, she couldn't help but think how much of a girl they looked like.
Okita crossed his arms and followed their gazes as well, "Maybe, but if you had just sat back and let them kill the kid, you could have saved us some trouble." He hummed.
"Perhaps. That decision is not ours to make." Saito said, coldly, his eyes closing.
Mei growled, "Okita." She hissed.
"Luck is not your friend tonight." Hijikata stated as his sword was now at the kid's neck. "Run and I will kill you. Do you understand?" He asked firmly.
His voice caused the three that were already present to look over at him.
The kid looked terrified before passing out onto the ground, probably from all that had happened. A sword suddenly pointed at them couldn't have possibly helped.
Hijikata returned his sword to its scabbard before crossing his arms beneath their sleeves.
"What? Wait, Hijikata, are you sure about this? This kid saw... everything. That can't be good." Okita said with a more serious expression, but it turned to one of slight pain as Mei stepped on his foot.
Mei glared at Okita a bit, "… I know you get thrill from the kill but the kid didn't do anything that would warrant immediate execution. The kid is passed out too, that's unfair."
"I think it would be merciful." Okita replied quickly.
"Shut up. Both of you." Hijikata reprimanded.
The two looked away and gave up their bickering for the moment, however, it didn't last long.
Okita smirked once he glanced at the kid before looking back at Hijikata, "I really think it's going to come back to bite us in the ass if we let this kid go."
Hijikata sighed, "So we should just kill civilians now? No, I'll see what to do with this kid when we get back." He stated.
Mei moved from the men at her side and over to the civilian on the ground. Something about the way she moved caught Okita's attention, but at the moment he didn't say anything. Instead he just simply watched her. Mei slowly reached a hand out, hesitantly, before pushing away the kid's hair from their face. What he couldn't see was the look she gave to the sword at the kid's side.
I know you've noticed it too...
Shut up.
Mei pulled her hand away quickly before turning back to the men, not noticing that her master had been examining her actions.
"As for you two, drop the 'Hijikata' and 'commander' act. Keep a low profile." Hijikata growled.
Mei gave Hijikata a look, a brow raised, as if he had said something dumb, "Really? You're worrying about that now? Aren't the blues a bit of a dead giveaway already?" She asked.
The four looked at one another before Saito spoke up, changing the subject before Mei said something that would annoy Hijikata, "What shall we do with the bodies, then? There doesn't seem to be any physical signs."
Hijikata glanced at the corpses at his feet before closing his eyes, used to the sight but still obviously not okay with it, "Just take their blues. Yamazaki can deal with the rest."
"As you wish." Saito stated before he began to remove their blue haori's.
"Another man cut down in the street, huh? Doing a great job, aren't we?" Okita smirked, teasing Hijikata about the situation.
"As long as we keep our mouths shut, no one will know we were here." Mei stated in response to Okita's words, who in turn, gave her a look.
Hijikata sighed before looking at Mei, "Could you get the kid?"
Mei only nodded, slipping an arm beneath their knees and around their shoulders before slowly raising from the ground. "… Light." She hummed out loud, not realizing she voiced the thought. "Let's get going before someone sees us..." She stated before moving past them, holding onto the kid almost—protectively.
Okita raised a brow in some confusion before following after her.
When they got to the compound Mei was instructed by Okita to watch over the kid, tying them up and staying with them till they awoke. Mei was convinced she wasn't the only one who thought the kid was a girl.
Mei took the task with a nod and set the kid down before tying them up and covering their mouth w None of them knew if they'd scream once they woke up. There's something ironic about this picture... Mei thought as she allowed a small, Okita-like smirk cross her lips. Before her expression became serious once more, She smells a lot like...
I know...
-The Next Day-
Mei was sitting in the corner of the room when she heard a small hum coming from the kid in the middle of the room. They hadn't seemed to notice her yet, taken from the fact the kid had yet to take the time to look behind them.
"Look who's finally awake." Mei hummed as she watched the kid in front of her, who in turn let out a muffled scream as they turned on their side to see her. Mei slowly got up from her spot in the corner and walked over to the door, "Try to escape, and it won't end well at all for you." She stated before she walked out, sliding the door closed behind her and going to the common room to tell the others. When she arrived she gently opened the door and looked at Hijikata, "The kid is awake now... Do I bring them in?" She asked.
"If you would please, Mei." Kondou smiled.
Mei nodded before walking back to the room and silently stepping inside. Just like she hoped, the kid didn't move from their spot in the middle of the room. "Good... I'm going to loosen the ropes and remove that cloth, okay? You scream, I'll slit your throat." She threatened, though for some reason it didn't hold any weight like it would've with anyone else in the kid's position.
The captive nodded in fear.
With a small sigh, Mei removed the cloth first before beginning to loosen up some of the rope rill only her wrists were tied.
"… Um... Who are you...?" The kid spoke up.
Oh yeah, definitely a girl.
Oh yeah, definitely a girl.
Mei thought as she raised a brow at the girl's voice. "... My name? It's Mei Shi. Call me Mei." She replied as she helped the girl to her feet.
"Thank you... um... Mei." The girl trembled a bit.
"… Come with me... They have been trying to figure out what to do with you since morning... For now, Inoue convinced them to hear you out about what exactly you saw last night before making any drastic decisions." Mei informed as she lead the girl out of the room. She could see how afraid the girl was. "Ah... They look really intimidating... but they're all idiots in all honesty... They don't bite... Well... Maybe my master but other than that, they won't carelessly play with your life..." She wasn't the best at comforting others, that was usually Harada's job.
It didn't take long before Mei brought the girl into the room, "Excuse us." She stated before guiding the girl inside.
"Good morning! I take it you slept well?" Okita smirked from his side at the wall.
Mei glared at him.
"It wasn't particularly... comfortable..." The girl murmured as she looked at the ground.
"Is that so?" Okita hummed, "Because when I went to have a look at you earlier, you didn't budge, no matter what I poked. You were knocked out cold, and you looked snug and cozy in your sleep." He teased.
"WHAT!?"
"He's only teasing you. Souji didn't go anywhere near your room." Saito said just as Mei kicked Okita's stomach.
Mei gave him an annoyed look, "Could you behave yourself for five damn minutes, Okita."
Okita let out a few coughs before he grinned up between Saito and Mei, "No need to get violent, I just wanted to see the kid squirm a bit. No harm done. Not very nice of you to call me out like that, Hajime." He stated.
"I don't think Saito did anything wrong. YOU, on the other hand..." Mei trailed off as she let out a sigh.
"Shut it. You sound like a bunch of fucking kids." Hijikata barked in irritation causing the three to fall silent.
Okita still seemed to be smirking away though, and Mei still looked like a scolding mother as she gave him the look she often gave him.
"So, Hijikata, this is your witness?" Heisuke piped up, causing Mei and the girl to look over to him, Shinpachi and Harada. "He's a real stick, huh? Just a kid..." He said, voicing his observations.
"You're calling him a kid, Heisuke? That's rich." Shinpachi chuckled.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
"Right you are. To anybody else, I'll bet the two of you look like a sad pair of scrawny brats." Harada piped up.
"I'm the only one who gets to call 'em out on being scrawny punks because I'm the mature adult and all..." Shinpachi tried to show off.
Mei laughed, and she looked over to Harada.
"Mature adult...? Anything that comes to out of your mouth is basically nonsense, Shinpachi." Harada cut in.
"Piss off, you grumpy old bastards." Heisuke pouted.
"The hell I will, boy! You think you can get away with talking to us like that?!" Shinpachi looked offended.
Harada on the other hand was plainly amused, "Besides. I'm hardly mature enough to be called 'old'. Shinpachi, maybe, but not me."
"You son of a bitch... I thought we were friends." Shinpachi frowned.
Mei couldn't help but laugh a bit into her hand at the sight of their back-and-fourth, but as she did so, she lead the girl to sit in the middle of the room when she noticed that the girl was becoming tense and frightened.
"I apologize for all of this frightening behavior. Please, don't let the men unsettle you." Sanan spoke gently, trying to soothe the girl.
Mei could feel the girl relax a bit.
"Are you serious? You're the scariest out of all of us, Sanan." Hijikata stated, giving his friend a side-glance. Everyone that knew Sanan silently agreed to his claim, much to their captive's dismay.
"Oh?" Sanan smirked, "How crude. I can understand their feelings, but of our own demon of a commander to feel such a way as well..." He was clearly teasing the man. "It is up to me to hold the integrity of the Shinsengumi to our highest standard. It is easy to be confused, however, when our standards... or rather, our taboos, are at the mercy of our own, Hijikata."
"It is true. But now isn't the time to be talking about this..." Hijikata smirked back.
Kondou smiled happily, "You're lucky to have a friend like Sanan, Toshi."
Kondou, the sweetest person on Earth. Mei couldn't help but think with a silent giggle.
"Oh! My apologies, I haven't introduced myself. I am Isami Kondou, Chief of the Shinsengumi." Kondou introduced.
"When you say Chief... Do you mean you're the most important man in the Shinsengumi?" The girl asked.
Being as humble as every Kondou blushed a shook his head a bit, "I wouldn't call myself the most important. It is more accurate to say I represent everyone." He stated. "Toshi over there is the commander, and Sanan is our Colonel."
"Ah, Kondou? Why are you telling him all this?" Hijikata asked.
"Uh... why? Do you think it's a bad idea?" Kondou asked sheepishly.
"Well, unless you think this kid should learn our secrets, maybe you should keep stuff like that to yourself." Shinpachi grumbled.
Heisuke now piped up, "Exactyl! Why bother anyway? We owe him nothing."
"Hmm... Perhaps, you all raise good points, but... Isn't it rude to ignore our guest?" Kondou wondered as he looked thoroughly troubled by everyone's opposition.
Harada glanced at their Chief and couldn't help but let out a laugh, "True, we've already brought 'em here. It's not like telling 'em will hurt us." He shrugged, trying to make the man feel better.
Which seemed to work since Kondou perked up at Harada's words, "Well, let's get back to the business at hand. Can you give me a full report of last night?" He looked at Mei.
"Last night we were on patrol when we encountered some wondering Ronin. They drew steel, so, we fought. Some of the men subdued the Ronin, but, in doing so, exposed their failure." The lie was a bit stretched, considering the only thing that was true was that the Furies did expose their failure in fighting their bloodlust. Saito, as well as everyone else looked from Mei to the captive in the middle of the room.
"I didn't see anything." The girl stated quickly.
"You sure you didn't see anything?" Heisuke asked, eyeing the kid.
"Yes, I didn't see anything."
"Really? Well, if that's true, then I don't see what the problem is." Heisuke hummed.
Shinpachi looked confused, "Hold on a minute. I thought Souji said you helped out some of our men or something."
At those words Mei glared at Okita as if she was scolding a child. "I have half a mind to kick you in the head." She hissed.
While the trio practically interrogated the kid, Okita simply smiled and had a small conversation with Mei. "What did I do? I didn't do anything wrong."
Mei raised her brow at the man she served. "Why does everything that come out of your mouth sound like bullshit?" She whispered with slight irritation.
"Because you think everything I say is bullshit." Okita chuckled.
"Because everything you do say IS bullshit..." She quipped back.
"I won't tell anyone! I swear!" The girl pleaded.
Sanan looked at the kid a bit pitifully, "It seems unlikely this attack was mere chance. Yet, it seems equally unlikely that you're an enemy. Despite your good intentions, you could be taken for interrogation. Could you handle torture?"
The kid whimpered.
Mei looked at everyone before looking back at the girl. Mei knew the guys were all scaring her, knew that everything they were saying at the moment was against her. She couldn't let this girl die just yet... Not until she knew the truth.
Before she knew it, the whole conversation escalated and Heisuke opened his big mouth, causing Mei to throw a dirty glare at the boy. "Really Heisuke?" She growled with some irritation, "Learn to put a filter when you speak." She stated.
"A man should always be ready to face death. You should make peace with yours." Shinpachi stated firmly.
What about females?
"Shinpachi. Shut up." Mei growled.
"The hell did I do?!"
Mei rolled her eyes, "Everything. Shut up."
Now Harada was feeding into that ideal.
With a deep sigh, Mei glared at them, "Do I need to gag both of you for you two to be quiet?" She suggested. With another sigh she looked over to Hijikata, Kondou and Sanan, "Since we'll get nowhere with these idiots at the moment, can I take the kid back to their room?"
Saito nodded in agreement, "If they were to hear something they shouldn't while they're still here, then we'll likely have no other choice but to kill them."
Hijikata sighed, "Indeed... Let's do that. Plus, there's something I want to look into." He stated, glancing around the room.
"I agree... There are too many careless men here." Sanan stated as his gaze slowly lead to the trio on the far side of the room.
Mei slowly got to her feet before helping the child get to theirs and lead her out of the room. As the page lead the unfortunate child to the other room she frowned, "Ah... I'll try to help you out as much as I can..." She whispered before gently pushing her into the room and sliding the door closed. Hopefully... With a deep sigh Mei turned on her heel and headed back to the common room.
AHHHHHHHHHH I'M SO NERVOUS ABOUT THIS CHAPTER PFTFGSDYHFBDSJFHU! Okay well I hope everyone enjoyed it-I know it's a little slower than most would like but it's important not to move too fast. Ummmm, Please favorite, follow and review! I really miss hearing from you guys! :'( Thank you all who have favorited and followed this story and to all that have reviewed! I greatly appreciate your existence in and out of this community!
Sincerely,
Chess~