Chapter: 38

"What the hell just happened?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Sano."

"Hell if I know."

The captains weren't the only ones confused. Sanan himself seemed to be just as surprised at his sudden transformation.

"I see. I went mad Just like the others..."

"But you went back to normal again..."

"How...? I...I don't know."

"We can figure that out later. First we need to clean up this room. Someone get rid of that body."

"That floor mat's gonna have to go."

"...And we're gonna have to replace this door..."

"Each of them moved to begin some task that needed doing and Hijikata turned to me.

"You..."

Is he going to yell at me? I'm scared.

"You're hurt. What you need to do is rest. Since you two obviously can't use your room, you can stay in mine tonight."

"Your room? Are you sure?"

"Do I have a choice? Go."

"O-Okay!"

Hijkata didn't yell at me like I'd thought. I had no desire to remain in the blood soaked room any longer and Chizuru and I made our way to Hijikata's room.

"Hmm? It's morning?"

The sun was peeking through the window and outside, I could see the twitters and chirps of birdsong. Aah... This room wasn't mine. It took me a moment to remember whose room it was and then all the events of the previous night crowded back into my memory. I saw, vividly, the man who'd gone mad with bloodlust; felt the sting as his sword bit into my arm.

I looked down at my arm. Chizuru had wrapped it for me after insisting that she could handle it, being the daughter of a doctor. Slowly, I lifted it, then moved it in a circle. The cut had bled a lot, but fortunately, it hadn't been particularly deep. I moved my arm some more. It didn't hurt.

"It must have healed." With deliberate care, I unwrapped the bandages. "Of course." What had been an ugly open wound the night before was now little more than a faint white line. After a few days, even that would be gone.

It's nice that the wound is gone but if anyone were to see this... An oni... Shaking my head, I re-wrapped the bandages . Unless someone took them off, no one would know that my arm was completely healed underneath.

Chizuru had awakened just after I wrapped my bandages which was lucky. But we then decided to go to the common room and see if anyone was there.

As we neared the entrance, Itou appeared, on his way out. Heisuke and Saito followed in his wake, much to my confusion.

"Good morning."

"Oh, it's you two. Good morning. I'm glad to see you safe and sound."

"Thank you."

His mood was almost the polar opposite of the previous night; he seemed now to be in rather high spirits.

"Has something happened?"

"Oh ho ho ho! Would you like to know?"

"Yes."

"I won't tell you."

Then don't ask in the first place! I swear, if we were in the future I would have kicked him in the gut already.

"Ha ha ha ha! Well, you'll learn soon enough. Isn't that right, Toudou? Saito?

"Hmm?"

I cocked an eyebrow at Heisuke and Saito. What will I learn? Do they know?

"...Yeah, I guess."

The moment my eyes and Heisukes met, he looked away. That was rather odd.

"Saito?"

"You have no need for this information just now."

Unlike his friend, Saito met my gaze straight on, but his eyes were flat and utterly devoid of any emotion.

"We should go, Itou."

"Uh yeah... See ya, Haruna. Chizuru."

And then they were gone, leaving me wondering just what had happened.

"Saito... Heisuke..."

"Are you sure it's alright for you to be up and about already?"

Inoue and Shimada looked up as soon as I stepped into the common room.

"Oh no. I am fine. I slept really well and I fell a lot better."

" That's great. I'm sorry about what happened to you though. Does your cut hurt?"

"Oh, uh... The cut wasn't very deep. It barely hurts at all."

I couldn't tell him the truth, of course: that it was already completely healed.

"Oh, we ran into Itou on our way. Did something happen?" Chizuru asked.

"Ah... So you saw them, eh?" He frowned.

"He said something weird. And Heisuke and Saito were acting kind of strange too."

"Yeah... Well, Itou and some others are leaving. They are going to form a new group, different from the Shinsengumi."

"What?! Is...is that okay?"

Saito and Heisuke are leaving the group? I thought they were always part of the Shinsengumi. Something's weird.

"He had a meeting this morning with the chief and Commander Hijikata."

"...Guardians of the Imperial Tomb?"

"Yes. I intend to take some of my comrades and leave. We will be appointed official guardians of the imperial Mausoleum. I have been considering such a move for some time now, but after last night's...excitement... I felt this was the right time. I knew when I joined the Shinsengumi that my imperialism might not be welcome, but I thought we could work past that. I see now that I was mistaken."

"Just spit it out, Itou. You want to split up the Shinsengumi."

"Call it what you like, but I can no longer remain in the company of such savages as yourself."

"If you insist, then I will do as you ask. You must remember, however, that last night's incident is a result of orders from the shogunate. We cannot allow you to reveal this secret."

"Then I propose a deal: Allow me to depart peacefully and in turn, I will remain silent. I also wish to bring several of your men with me."

"..Very well, but anyone you wish to take must agree to leave."

"Of course. I will, naturally, maintain the fiction that we intend to continue to cooperate with one another. A stance that will no doubt benefit both of us."

"...Cooperation. Fine. Toshi? What do you think?"

"It's our decision, not mine."