PROOFREAD VERSION

Hi ! Welcome to « Memoirs of a Sword - Part 3 » !

TRIGGER WARNINGS : The first part was already rated M because of violence, murder and sexual and adult themes. This part 3 is still rated M for these reasons.

M-rated chapters : chapter 14 Morning, chapter 33 Sin and chapter 43 Kofu for the moment.

When I started this story, I never thought it would be this long but now, here we are ! Just like for Part 2, if you don't want to read Part 1 and 2 and want to start the story now, here's a summary ! Politics and context first then the SaiChi relation (part1 part2). Don't read if you haven't read these parts before and don't want to spoil yourself.

Politics and context :

The battle of Toba-Fushimi was a total fiasco for the shogunate troops. Although the SatCho had only a third of their soldiers, they were better organized and equipped with modern guns and weapons. The Shinsengumi divided itself in three teams :

The Fushimi magistrate's office team composed of Inoue and Yamazaki is dead and the building in flames.

Saito was sent to Ryu'un temple to take down a cannon. He lost all his unit and had to retreat to Osaka.

Okita and Kondou, are already in Osaka, supposedly safe.

The others were attacking the enemy headquarters at Gokounomiya shrine. We have no news from them.

The action starts in January 1868, just after Toba-Fushimi. Saito has been left for dead in a forest after a battle against Kazama Chikage who forced Chizuru to accompany him.

Saichi part 1 :

At first, Saito felt like Chizuru was nothing more but a bother but he eventually fell in love with her. Souji was teasing him all the time about it but Saito didn't want a relationship. He had the feeling that it would be dishonorable to be with her without marrying her and so he restrained himself. He met Yuki, an oiran who looked vaguely like Chizuru, and started to see her a lot as a decoy. She dared him to confess to the woman he loved and he eventually did it when he took her to Gion's festival. She answered his feelings and they kept their relationship secret.

Hijikata decided to use Chizuru as a spy and disguised her and Heisuke as maikos to gather information in a tea house. Saito could only see her from afar for months and had joined Sannan for night rounds to give a report on the Rasetsu corp. One night, Chizuru was nearly raped and Saito saved her. From then, he decided that Heisuke wasn't enough and that he would find a way to ensure her protection. The okiya wanted to sell Chizuru's virginity and Saito, with the help of Yuki, who became his friend, disguised as a geiko to get into the tea house and got violent with the man willing to buy Chizuru's virginity. Chizuru went back to the compound and no one knew that Saito was involved except for Heisuke who held his tongue.

For their birthday in February, Saito brought Chizuru to eat castellas and he got guilty because it was time for her to find a husband and he couldn't marry her. He asked her to promise him she wouldn't waste her life on his account but she refused, telling him she'd walk by his side even if he could never marry her.

After the failure of the rescue of Sakamoto, Chizuru went missing for hours and Saito restlessly searched Kyoto for her before Shimada told him she was back at the compound. Due to his fear of losing her (and Souji stealing his futon) he got in her room and they spent a night together platonically. Saito didn't want to be the one dishonoring her.

After the loss of Tairô, a member of his unit, they both felt a lot of grief and were splattered in blood. They went to the bathroom but their need for comfort made them fall into each other's arms and they made love for the first time. After it, they took a bath together and Saito asked if she resented him for taking away her innocence. She said she'd have to find a husband who doesn't care if his wife is spoiled and Saito told her she's not marrying anyone but him.

They started spending most of their nights together platonically until Chizuru's birthday, when Saito made homemade castellas to celebrate, taking the excuse of his birthday for the other captains. After the dinner he joined Chizuru in her room and made love to her but when Chizuru orgasmed, her eyes lit with a golden color. Saito was totally confused by the sight of it.

SaiChi part 2 :

Saito left with Ito and left his wakizashi with Chizuru as guardian of his honor. During his stay, Chizuru lost a child and Saito had a lot of difficulty overcoming this loss. Yuki, the oiran, helped him a lot and talked to him about her own daughter, Haruhi, taken away from her when she was a baby. Chizuru was sent to Osaka to learn medicine with Matsumoto-sensei.

Saito stayed 6 months with the guardians. He saved Chizuru who was abducted by Amagiri and learned that she was a demon but his feelings for her weren't impacted.

Saito got a lot of money for the murder of Takeda Kanryuusai and used it to free Yuki the oiran from her pleasure house but he discovered that she betrayed him and wanted to poison him. He abandoned her just after.

He came back eventually and defended the compound against Kazama while the others were taking care of Ito. He took Chizuru back to her room and they shared a moment together. In the morning she gave him back his honor and he went to ask Kondou-san for permission to marry her. He agreed but first they were sent on a mission together at Tenmaya to protect Miura Kyutaro.

They prepared their wedding while at the inn and Chizuru started working with Sannan on the Ochimizu. Yuki came to visit Saito who was very cold with her. She took her own life after their discussion.

The night the Tosa attacked the Inn, Chizuru got abducted by Kaoru but she managed to free herself, turning into her demon self. She had trouble turning back into her normal self and Saito helped her hide to get back to the inn. She was worried that Saito wouldn't marry her now that she was a monster with horns but he reassured her. They married the next day with all the Shinsengumi there.

A month later, Chizuru's experiments took a turn that Saito didn't like, using her demon blood. She didn't listen though and kept doing her research.

Saito found Haruhi, Yuki's daughter, in a pleasure house. She was a child prostitute and Saito adopted her.

Kaoru came to the headquarters. She wanted to take Chizuru to safety with her and Kazama since Kyoto was soon to be a battlefield. Saito informed her that she was her wife now and wasn't going anywhere. Kaoru reminded him that a marriage wasn't official before the conception of the first child and Saito began to fear that Kazama could still come for her.

Sannan gave to everyone a vial of Ochimizu and medicine made with Chizuru's blood in case of emergency and Saito sent Haruhi to Osaka with Okita and Kondou-san to put her to safety. Chizuru stayed as a doctor.

While Saito was trying to get to Ryu'un temple, Chizuru came to deliver a message and got shot in the stomach. Amagiri Kyuuju, who was on the other side, performed first aid and fought Saito who didn't want to let Kazama have her. Amagiri let them go and Saito carried Chizuru to Yodo castle but they shot him. He carried Chizuru out of town, towards Osaka. The hours passed and Chizuru was getting better, healing, while Saito's condition was getting worse, with infection and fever. They were only two hours away from Osaka when Kazama found them and he totally overpowered Saito. Chizuru sacrificed herself to save Saito's life and she followed Kazama while Saito was dying from all his wounds on the forest floor.

Other info :

Chizuru is learning eastern medicine with Yamazaki and western medicine. She has been recognized as an official doctor of the Bakufu and member of the Shinsengumi. Some people address her as Saito-sensei.

She also learned Hokushin Itto-Ryû with Heisuke and then Nagakura.