Author's Note:

Saitô and Chizuru's return to the Shinsengumi has been delayed by a chapter due to (1) Kichirô and Heisuke's request for extra screen-time, together with Sôji's demand to share some of Hijikata's snarkiness spotlight; and (2) pressure from Harada for "just a little more" time with Sen. I should perhaps mention that my Harada Sanosuke plushie usually perches beside me while I write, and he's been a little pushy lately. My Saitô Hajime plushie, aka "blueberry-head" (thank you, Sano), is quieter, but glares at me when he's especially embarrassed (which has been fairly often, lately). Plushie!Saitô was quite pleased to have others be the focus of today's chapter.

In other news, I must once again apologize for not getting back to a few of you who were kind enough to leave reviews. Please be assured that your comments are very much appreciated and your reviews inspire me.

To Bluebonnet and a number of others: you will be seeing more of Hijikata again in upcoming chapters... and chances of Snarky!Hijikata are high. \(^o^)/ Also, Chiharu is becoming less and less willing to remain a passive observer. She's going to have some difficult decisions to make when big brother comes into conflict with the Shinsengumi at the Imperial Palace. And yes, our beloved elder Kazama and the ever-cynical Shiranui Kyô will be back very shortly!

FAMILY TREE: I have finally created a proper family tree. Frankly, it's just as much of a mess as the story suggested it would be; everyone is related to everyone else. If you would like to take a look (and make suggestions and corrections), please visit

(www).(familyecho).(com/)(?p=START&c=xegi3n5p2i&f=753422844872576710)

Note that Fanfiction does not allow direct links to other sites, so you will have to paste this into your browser and fix (remove all brackets) manually. Enjoy!

~ImpracticalOni

Quote:

I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.

— A Jack London Credo, used by Jack London's literary executor Irving Shepard in 1956

Chapter 75—Impatience

[I] - Mad About Ochimizu

Sannan Keisuke was a disciplined man with an excellent mind. Despite Yukimura Kodo-sensei's disappearance, he had been able to make progress with the ochimizu, as shown by the improved reaction of the last two furies that he had created. Although the unrest in Kyoto since the raid on the Ikedaya had made life more difficult for the Shinsengumi in a general way, it had at least provided Sannan with more test subjects.

Naturally, Sannan wouldn't impose a death sentence—with the option of drinking the ochimizu—on a common criminal; such people were regularly turned over to the proper city authorities. However, men who deliberately attacked Shinsengumi officers were a different story, and between those who had tried to assassinate Saitō-kun, and the few prisoners who had survived the attempt on Okita-kun and Tōdō-kun, it had been almost too much of a good thing. They really needed more space for their operations.

The furies were presently quartered in the largest outbuilding of the Maekwa House estate. They had to be carefully overseen, because Maekwa House itself contained the majority of the soldiers' accommodations. The estate adjoined, and was now connected to, Yagi House, where the executive officers of the Shinsengumi resided. This made surveillance easier, but not always perfect. On the other hand, it allowed Sannan to work on some of the more challenging aspects of his research—such as measuring the tolerance of the newly created furies to various stimuli, including sunlight—in greater privacy.

Of course, Sannan was contemplating moving the furies to a different location irrespective of the space shortage. He hadn't missed the way that the demon Amagiri had appeared to know about the furies, nor the demon's disapproval. However, moving was easier said than done, and if he moved the furies then he would have to move as well, as the question of oversight would become more pressing. Moreover, it would have to be more than just him. Thanks to his useless left arm, even conducting experiments was a source of continual frustration, let alone managing creatures—though he thought of them more as specialized soldiers—that were stronger and faster than he was.

These considerations always seemed to lead him in the same direction: should he consider taking the ochimizu himself? For now, the answer was still a firm no, but Sannan was self-aware enough to notice that his resistance to the idea was decreasing. Sometimes, he took a very detached view of the whole thing and speculated how long it would be before he broke down and just drank the stuff. Other times—still more often than not—the insanity and bloodlust of the test subjects would make him recoil from the very idea. The fact that the transformation was an exceptionally painful process didn't disturb him; waking up to his useless arm every day was far more agonizing than anything else he could imagine.

In any event, he discussed his results less and less with Hijikata-kun, partly because the other man hadn't approved of him continuing the research in the first place, and partly because he didn't trust how much his colleague had become involved with Saitō's transformation and the so-called Oni. Sannan did report his successes to Kondō-san, of course, knowing that the Commander's dislike for conflict with Hijikata-kun would make it very unlikely that he'd ever raise the issue with his Vice Commander.

Despite some reservations, Sannan was looking forward to Saitō-kun and Yukimura-kun returning to the Shinsengumi compound, and not just because he felt uneasy allowing such free contact with the demons. It had occurred to him that since the rasetsu and the Oni had several points in common—such as colouring and the ability to regenerate—he might be able to glean some insight from the newly-married pair. Saitō-kun's situation in particular interested him, since he had apparently become an Oni, much like Sannan's test subject had become furies. He would have to proceed slowly, however, so as not to upset anyone. In fact, he was contemplating whether indirect methods for obtaining blood samples might be best.

[II] - Boys Will be Boys?

Kichirō kept his breathing as steady as possible and his hand away from the hilt of his sword. After all, these were Hijikata-san's men, and although Harada-san and Nagakura-san were more approachable than Saitō-sama, they were all disciplined, reasonable men.

"We've never met, Tōdō-san," he said in what he hoped was a calm voice. "You met Amagiri, and my brother Kazama Chikage-sama, but—"

"Shut up!" Tōdō-san's face took on a surprisingly dangerous expression, even though Harada-san had told Kichirō that the youngest captain was a very friendly person. "I've heard that you can use some kind of weird power, so no more talking!"

The soldier standing beside Tōdō-san looked very puzzled at this, but continued to keep his sword levelled. A moment later, a man who had to be Okita-san came up to the group. He was much taller than Tōdō-san, maybe even taller than Hijikata-san, with broad shoulders and the dangerous walk of a hunting cat. Once again, Kichirō had to fight the urge to either draw his blade or flee. It was a pity that he didn't yet know the stronger coercive techniques of Mind magic.

"Hey, Heisuke. I sent my patrol off to check on a couple of buildings, since it didn't look like you'd captured the Chōshu army…"

Ah yes. Harada-san had mentioned the sarcasm. Nagakura-san had agreed. He'd said that Sōji-san was funny as hell except when he was being a pain in the ass, which seemed to be quite often. Kichirō hadn't really understood everything they'd said, though.

"Ah, Tōdō-san," he tried again, with a careful bow, "please—"

"I said shut it!"

"Aw gee, Heisuke, now you sound like Hijikata-san. I think we can manage one kid, right?"

Tōdō-san had gestured for his sub-officer to step back when Sōji-san arrived. Despite his predicament, Kichirō noted with interest that the young Shinsengumi captain was obeyed without hesitation. There was obviously more to him than it appeared. Of course, he had survived a blow to the head from Amagiri, which was telling in and of itself.

"Geez, Sōji, are you saying you don't recognize him?!"

"Recognize who?"

"It's the guy from the Ikedaya, moron—you know, the"—Heisuke lowered his voice—"Oni."

"Yeah? So, kid, are you Kazama Chikage?" Sōji crossed his arms and tilted his head to one side, the slight smirk never leaving his lips.

Kichirō sensed that the bigger captain was amused by something. Somehow, Soji-san knew that he wasn't Chikage-sama.

"No? I mean, no! I'm Kichirō." The blond boy assayed another carefully neutral bow.

Sōji-san studied him, brilliant green eyes gleaming with mischief. He reminded Kichirō a little of his elder brother in his amused but absolute self-confidence. Onii-sama was never quite so relaxed, however.

"Well, I don't think you're Kazama Chikage," Sōji said carelessly, "but I'm still not sure we should let you go, either."

Tōdō-san was fairly twitching with annoyance.

"Blond hair, red eyes—red—come on Sōji, what do you mean it's not that Kazama guy?"

Sōji-san's eyebrows rose expressively.

"I didn't say it wasn't a Kazama. Just not the Kazama."

"Kazama Chikage is my brother, Tōdō-san." For some reason, Kichirō felt the need to stop Tōdō-san from pursuing a losing argument. It just felt wrong to allow Sōji-san to have even more reason to mock the younger man.

Tōdō-san lowered his sword a fraction. "How do you know he's telling the truth?" he asked his companion, his eyes still on Kichirō.

Sōji-san's expression turned serious, but Kichirō could still sense barbed amusement.

"Well, you see, Heisuke, his stance is different, he's wearing his sword differently and—let's see—he's got completely different clothes."

Kichirō stared at the First Division Captain. He was quite sure that the first two points weren't true, and the last point was just… foolish. Apparently Heisuke thought so too, because while he listened attentively at first, when Sōji-san reached the last point he slammed his sword home into its scabbard in annoyance.

"Fine, don't tell me what's going on! The kid said he wanted to talk to Sano-san and Shinpat-san, so I'll just take him along to headquarters, shall I?"

"I don't know," Sōji drawled. "I mean, even if he's not the blond bastard from the Ikedaya, he's still probably pretty fast. Are you sure you can manage?"

Tōdō-san just shook his head. "You've been in a really pissy mood, you know that? What do you suggest, since you know so much."

Kichirō noticed something strange just then. The younger captain was speaking to Sōji-san, but his unusual, turquoise eyes were scanning the rooftops. Curious, Kichirō tentatively extended his own senses upward, deciding that neither of the Shinsengumi officers appeared to be about to attack him—probably.

He sensed nothing.

"Nope, nothing," said Heisuke, echoing Kichirō's thoughts.

"Hmm?" asked Sōji.

"I thought it might be our spy again."

Sōji's immediate scowl was more than a little scary.

"That's just great. Or maybe I should take advantage of it? Every time I get accused of being snarky I'll say the spy made me do it."

"Nah," Tōdō replied. "Nobody'll believe there a spy in our compound that often. So, are you going to tell me about the kid?"

"Oh, that…" Sōji's smirk was back in place. "Harada and Nagakura told me about him. You were there, you were just too busy worrying about your food. Besides, you can't tell me that this guy comes across at nearly the same level as we faced at the Ikedaya."

Kichirō was baffled. He'd never met anyone like this before. Tōdō-san had missed important information because he was concerned about his meal? And Sōji-san had spun the whole thing out as a joke instead of just explaining the situation right away? Kichirō was starting to feel more than a little impatient.

"Tōdō-san?"

"Yeah?" The blue-green eyes flicked over to him. "Crap, you know, you look way too much like your brother."

Kichirō wasn't sure what to say to that. His usually even temper was starting to fray.

"So, what's your brother like when he's at home?" Sōji put in. "'Cause he sure hasn't made any friends here."

"Well, I don't see how anybody could be friends with you."

What? I didn't mean to say that out loud! Without any warning, brutal coercive magic had slammed into his mind and made him utter the words that he'd been thinking. He desperately tried to retract his words—to apologize—but instead found himself drawing his sword. With lightning speed, both Shinsengumi captains had their swords ready to strike.

Kichirō felt sweat break out on his forehead. He lowered his katana into a guard position, mind fighting the coercion every inch of the way. Strangely, despite the provocation, and despite their apparent lack of discipline, the two captains were holding their attacks.

The mental pressure grew stronger, and now there was a series of images playing in his head. Once again he was effortlessly tossed against the wall by Saitō-sama. Once again he saw the scene immediately before that, in which a human—a human!—was kissing an Oni princess. Chizuru-sama was lovely, and she should be married to Chikage-sama, or maybe even… Kichirō? Her brown eyes seemed to fill his vision, and behind that… rage… furious, possessive jealousy… The sensation was so totally foreign to the young Kazama that he was granted a sudden moment of lucidity.

Kichirō pivoted on one foot, sword a sudden blur. Even as it left his hand, aimed perfectly for the shadow in the alleyway just fifteen feet away, two katanas met with a resounding clash, practically deafening him. He had known that they would swing at him, but he'd been frantic to escape the mental domination. Strangely, he felt no pain, and he was accelerating toward his true opponent now, changing form as smoothly as only a pureblood of one of the high clans could do.

His claws tore blood-stained fabric and dug furrows across his enemy's chest. There was a screech of anger, and he twisted aside barely in time to avoid getting a knife in his throat. Oddly, he still couldn't quite make out his assailant, although for some reason he once again saw large, dark brown eyes. Even as he tried to strike a second time, he saw a glimmer as his sword was flung aside with an audible hiss of pain.

"Gods-damned, human-loving bastard! Where is your pride? Your brother would vomit if he could see you now!"

Kichirō took a heavy body blow, combined with a coercive jab that left his mind reeling. He stumbled, barely keeping his footing, but somehow followed the elusive figure as it moved swiftly away down further into the alley. Then there was a wrenching pain in his skull, and he collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily.

"Kichirō-kun!"

That was Tōdō-san's voice.

"Shit, there's blood everywhere…" Sōji-san.

"Not… mine…" Kichirō growled. Back to human form, his instincts told him. Oni form was bad around humans. It had been drilled into him since he was a child. Despite his blinding headache and acute nausea, he somehow regained his other form. "Not… mine. His."

"Huh. Guess you were right, Heisuke." Sōji-san sounded halfway apologetic. "Good thing I wasn't aiming to kill him, though."

"Yeah, thanks," grumbled Heisuke. "You can help me get the nick out of my sword later."

There was a chuckle from the green-eyed captain. "Worried Hajime-kun'll get mad at you for not looking after it properly? He's pretty scary about things like that."

Kichirō was left at a loss for a second time. An unknown—and powerful—Oni had nearly incited a potentially disastrous fight, and now they were joking about Tōdō-san's sword? At least Sōji-san had confirmed that Kichirō wasn't the only person who found Saitō-sama intimidating.

"You okay to stand up, kid?"

"Kichirō." He might be tired and no doubt dirty, but he was still the pureblood Heir to the Kazama clan. He was tired of being referred to as a child by a man barely older than he was. Giving his first name was already a compromise.

"Right, Kichirō-kun, gomen."

Tōdō-san sounded more off-hand than apologetic, but there was no malice in him. In fact, he helped Kichirō to his feet—which wasn't necessary, the boy told himself firmly—and gave him a cheerful smile. Kichirō eyed him warily, unsure what to expect next.

"Well, it sucks that he got away again," Sōji said, picking up Kichirō's sword and testing the balance experimentally. "But it would've been worse if I'd sliced you open, right? Though I'm guessing you heal pretty quick." He walked over to Kichirō and handed over his sword. "Nice katana, by the way. Don't know the maker, but the light's bad."

Kichirō nodded his thanks. Sōji-san had flicked away what blood he could from the blade, but it was going to need cleaning again. Tōdō-san offered him a rather dirty rag, which surprised him.

"Yeah, well, I guess you know Hajime-kun right? He told me to keep one on me just in case there wasn't something, um, handier."

"Me, I just assume there'll be a body," said Sōji with a grin that definitely didn't reach his eyes. "We should get back to Heisuke's guys before they come charging in here. They're surprisingly fond of the little guy."

Heisuke chose to ignore the insult, more interested in meeting an Oni who wasn't freaking scary like Amagiri or Kazama—Kazama Senior, that is.

"So, you were headed to the compound?" he asked. "Do you still want to visit?"

"Yes," replied Kichirō, "but I think I'll just head back to my cousin's instead."

"Aw, come on," said Sōji, "you already got most of the way there. Besides, Heisuke was almost done his round anyway and you can go with him."

"Yeah, you can come see the place—not that there's much to see—and say hi to Sano-san and Shinpat-san. I think we should avoid the Vice Commander, though."

Sōji snorted. "Seriously. He keeps muttering about how the Oni are taking up all his time."

"O-oh," said Kichirō, feeling rather stricken.

Sōji-san clapped him on the shoulder. Somehow, Kichirō wasn't surprised to discover that the man was very strong, for a human. "He's not that bad, really, but anyway, he's not mad at you. Sano-san said he almost seems to like you."

While Heisuke got his division organized to go back to headquarters, Sōji gave Kichirō an ironic half-bow. "I'm Okita Sōji, by the way. And I guess you're Kazama Kichirō, right?"

"Yes, Okita-san." Kichirō was relieved to finally have a last name.

"Well, tell you what, Kichirō-kun. If you come by sometime when I'm around, we'll see if you're as good as your sword, okay?"

"Thank you, Okita-san."

Sōji laughed, suddenly sounding genuinely amused rather than sarcastic.

"Must be an Oni thing—Chizuru-chan's just like you. Too bad your older brother isn't so polite."

Fortunately, Heisuke hurried over then and spared Kichirō from answering.

"Come on, Kichirō-kun, let's go! Just a short tour, promise. Besides, I want to know about Hajime-kun's wedding—were you there?"

Souji laughed again and walked off in the direction of his division, just up the road. "Be good," he called back to Heisuke. "And if you get in trouble with Hijikata-san it's not my fault!"

"Tōdō-san?"

"Um, just call me Heisuke, okay? I mean, it's not your fault that you look like—well, anyway, I feel kinda bad that I wouldn't listen to you. But seriously, nobody calls me Tōdō other than the Commander and Deputy Commander. And Inoue-san, but he's a bit old-fashioned, though not as strict as Sannan-san. Anyway, about the wedding?"

Reluctantly, Kichirou answered what questions he could, making sure to get some questions of his own answered, mostly about the Shinsengumi captains and the Vice Commander. He and Heisuke spoke in hushed voices, since it wasn't really an appropriate conversation for the regular soldiers to overhear.

Kichirō frowned at his bloody shirt, but nobody said anything. It gave him a certain insight into the daily lives of the Shinsengumi. He wondered how Chizuru-sama, who was small, and a girl, could have managed. He hoped that she hadn't been somehow forced to marry Saitō-sama. He had to admit that she hadn't appeared unwilling, however. At all.

"So, why don't we both get cleaned up a bit? I can point stuff out. Then you can say hi to the guys."

Realizing that Heisuke-kun was a greater force to be reckoned with than he had realized, Kichirō nodded. At least his head had stopped pounding.

"You know, I wonder if Chizuru-chan will cook more of our meals now?" Heisuke wondered aloud, as they washed beside the well. "She's way better than anyone else—including me, of course." He gave Kichirō a conspiratorial look. "We had to ban Hijikata-san from the kitchen, and honestly, Sōji's not much better, though his food's edible, sort of."

He stopped to dry his hands and noticed Kichirō staring at him. "What?"

"You… cook?"

Heisuke eyed him speculatively, and then grinned. "I guess you're from a noble family, right? Must be nice. Yeah, we all take turns with chores. We could have the soldiers do the work, I guess, but there are problems with that. First, a bunch of them are from samurai families, and don't like the idea any better than you do. Second, it's easier to talk if it's just the officers around, right? Third, it makes it harder for people who shouldn't be there to hang around the officers' quarters."

Kichirō listened with mild interest. A small voice in his head reminded him that these were just humans, so of course they didn't have the same standards. The practical part of him suspected that Heisuke-kun was right, however—Kichirō just came from a privileged family. He couldn't imagine Chikage-sama cooking, but Amagiri probably knew how to manage if necessary. Haru-chan had insisted on learning, now that he thought of it, even though their brother had been against it, except to the extent of fancy festival dishes that a lady of rank ought to know how to prepare.

By the end of the short—and slightly furtive—tour, Kichirō had learned a great deal about the realities of the warrior's life. He'd also learned that food shortages were becoming more and more frequent, as many regions of Japan either couldn't be or weren't cultivated for food. Although he had some difficulty following Heisuke-kun's rambling discourse, he got the impression that there were many reasons why the southwest Opposition provinces—those han that had been on the losing side at the battle of Sekigahara two-hundred and fifty years before—hated the Tokugawa-dominated northeast. A lot of food was shipped out of the southwest to support families and armies connected to the shogunate. Oddly, it put some of his elder brother's concerns into perspective.

"You're from Satsuma han, right?" Heisuke asked, seeming to follow Kichirō's thoughts.

Kichirō agreed cautiously. Oni never spoke about where they lived to humans. He wondered how things were going to work with Saitō-sama, who had feet firmly planted in both worlds. Once again, it helped him to understand, a little, where his elder brother was coming from in terms of his isolationist/pure-blood approach to Oni-human relations. Kichirō wondered for the first time what Osen-chan's role was in terms of dealing with the humans. He'd have to ask her.

"It just looked odd, you know, to find Satsuma guys hanging out with Chōshu rebels," Heisuke was saying, apparently referring to events at the Ikedaya.

"I'm afraid I really don't know anything about politics," Kichirō replied, both relieved and apologetic.

Since the younger teen didn't seem to be lying, Heisuke let the subject go. They found Harada and Nagakura in Harada's quarters.

"Well, well, look what the kitten dragged in," Nagakura teased. His tone was light, but his eyes were wary; Kichirō sensed that he was uneasy about having a more or less unknown kid—and an Oni—wandering around with Heisuke-kun.

"What's up?" asked Harada, sipping from a saucer of sake and eyeing Kichirō's bloodstained, dirty clothing. "Or rather, what happened this time? That blood's not from earlier this morning. Or were you two fighting?"

Heisuke took a seat and leaned forward. Kichirō waited for Harada to nod to him before he entered and knelt beside Heisuke.

"Actually, guys, it was pretty epic! You should've seen us! Kichirō and I were awesome."

The older captains listened with interest to the story. Neither of them were happy to find out that the spy had gotten away again.

"Any idea who it was?" Nagakura asked Kichirō in an off-hand voice that fooled nobody. Kichirō was reasonably sure that Nagakura-san was at least speculating that he might have been in league with the spy.

"No, Nagakura-san." Kichirō hesitated a moment and then added: "But for just a moment, there was something familiar about the person." He flushed when he realized how useless that sounded, but Harada-san leaned forward:

"Can you think back to what was familiar?"

Obediently, Kichirō closed his eyes and tried to think what had caught his attention. Finally, he looked back to the tall spearman.

"The eyes, mostly, and the shape of the face. When I tackled him, his illusions wavered a bit. He looked like Yukimura Chizuru-sama."

Kichirō met the spearman's eyes steadily. He wouldn't apologize for his strange conclusion. He'd been asked his opinion and he'd done his best. They could believe him or not.

Nagakura-san looked dubious, but Harada-san just looked thoughtful.

"Well either she's got some kind of twin running around out there or you're just off-base. But since I've been paying attention to the history lessons lately, I know that she did have a twin brother, right? I mean, I don't know why her own brother would be pulling all this crap, but after this morning…"

Kichirō had to repress a shiver. This morning seemed days away, somehow, but the truth was that they'd seen madness. He realized, now, that Hideo-sama had done everything he could to keep his son and Kichirō out of the worst of it. And the son—Mamoru-kun—had still been very strange, behaving more like a young prince than the younger son of a vassal clan.

"Why haven't you reported all this to Hijikata-san, Heisuke?" Nagakura suddenly asked.

Heisuke looked blank for a moment, and then a little worried.

"Oh… you see… might as well wait for Sōji to come back so we can do it together, right? Don't want to miss any details and all that."

Kichirō felt some sympathy for the younger captain.

"I should go, Heisuke-kun," he said. "Unless you want me to come with you to see Hijikata-san?"

He got three incredulous stares and then Harada-san laughed.

"You've got guts, kid, but no. Your best bet is to get out of here before the Vice Commander finds out that you wandered into a patrol, got into a fight, and then decided to take a tour of the compound. Don't worry"—he raised a hand to prevent Kichirō's protest—"we'll tell him. But it'll go better if you aren't here. Come on, I'll walk you part-way back to Osen-chan's place."

"What about our sake?" demanded Nagakura, disgruntled.

"I can go with Kichirō-kun," added Heisuke, looking annoyed.

Harada unfolded himself from the floor. "You can take the bottle with you, Shin—my gift. And as for you, Heisuke, I'd get my butt over to Hijikata if I were you. Plus, you don't even know how to get to the place and I do. Between Kirō-kun not knowing Kyoto, and you not knowing where the house is, you'd make a mess of it."

Kichirō appreciated the offer. Upon consideration, he could see that he might have some difficulty finding his cousin's house. Any sword practice with Heisuke-kun would have to wait for another time.

Nagakura-san waved them away, but Heisuke-kun came with them to the front gate.

"He's hoping Sōji'll get back in time to avoid having to report to the Vice Commander on his own," Harada murmured to Kichirō.

"Not true, Sano-san, geez! So, Kichirō-kun, maybe we can get together some other time, yeah?"

"I hope so, Heisuke-kun, thank you. I don't get the chance to practise with others very often."

Just then, Okita-san's squad appeared around the corner. The look of relief on Heisuke-kun's face suggested that Harada-san might have been at least partly right. With Okita-san there, Heisuke-kun's excuse of waiting for the other captain seemed more reasonable. Maybe. Still, Kichirō preferred to think that the Eighth Division Captain had been genuine in wanting to see him off.

"Come on, kid, let's slip away before Sōji's gang gets a good look at you. Your hair's even more noticeable than mine. And the red eyes…" Harada-san shook his head and guided his young charge out of the compound.

"I can use an illusion"—Kichirō began.

"Nah. Just keep your head down and walk fast, it'll be fine. You're really tired, you know."

Since that was completely accurate, Kichirō didn't bother to argue. He was beginning to find Harada-san far too perceptive for a part-Oni. Maybe there was a reason that Osen-chan was interested in the man. Kichirō had his doubts about such a match, but he also felt that it wasn't his problem—at least, he hoped it wasn't.

They'd gotten about halfway back to Osen-chan's home, with Harada-san setting a quick pace, for a human, before the tall man brought up his main reason for accompanying Kichirō. Kichirō, for his part, had been getting more and more nervous about his expedition the closer they got to those who might reasonably have expected him to stay put for the afternoon.

"What were you thinking, leaving your sister injured and unprotected?" The red-head's usual drawl was markedly absent. Instead, the words were a clear rebuke.

"But… Amagiri—"

"Is still badly injured himself and unaware that you aren't there. And Saitō fought a pitched battle this morning and got hurt. That means he's off somewhere with Chizuru-chan trying to get some personal time in, right? Not to mention that his leave is over in a couple of hours. You're lucky to be hearing this from me instead of him."

Kichirō shivered at that. "I—"

"Don't bother. I get it, but I think you'd better go straight to Amagiri and let him know what happened, okay?"

Annoyed—mostly because the man was right—Kichirō agreed stiffly that he would do so.

"Good. Don't worry; I won't bring it up again. Can't blame you for wanting to get out on your own."

Slightly soothed by these words, Kichirō spent the rest of the walk trying to decide how to present his case to Amagiri. Harada-san stopped when they got to the main road leading toward Osen-chan's home.

"I'd better get back," he said. Kichirō thought he seemed regretful. Had he hoped to see Osen-chan?

They parted with reasonable good will on both parts, and Kichirō hurried back to his cousin's. He was relieved when nobody met him at the door, but his relief was short-lived when he discovered Amagiri sitting with his sister, who had obviously bathed and dressed. Kichirō had taken a minute to throw on a clean shirt, but otherwise hadn't changed.

"Nice of you to join us," Chiharu said in unusually sarcastic tones. "I was foolish enough to actually worry about you, but Amagiri assured me that you had probably gotten bored and gone looking for the Shinsengumi. Since he finally found you parting from Harada-san, I take it that they decided to look after you instead of locking you up."

"I-I'm sorry Onee-san! I'm sorry, Amagiri! Y-you look quite a lot better, Nee-san!"

The prepared speech no longer seemed quite so convincing, so Kichirō settled for apologies. Harada-san would probably approve.

Amagiri only nodded. His face looked more strained than it had earlier, Kichirō thought. The realization that he had worried his sister—as if she needed more today—and forced Amagiri to scan for him made him hang his head. He still felt frustrated, but it was easily overshadowed by embarrassment.

"How is Hijikata-san?" asked Chiharu, her tone still rather sharp. "I'm surprised he welcomed you, given what he said this morning about being busy because of increasing tensions among the humans."

"I didn't see Hijikata-san, Haru-chan. I-I did meet Tōdō Heisuke-kun, though—he asked me to call him Heisuke. And I also met Okita Sōji-san." It spoke volumes to Amagiri and Chiharu that Kichirō failed to comment at all on Okita-san. "Anyway, there was… a bit of a problem. After that—yes, I'll tell you about it, give me a moment—I did get to visit the Shinsengumi compound. It was interesting, in a way. Not very nice, really, but from what I saw the soldiers must train quite a lot. Then, Harada-san came back with me."

"Which was kind of him, since he knew that Osen-chan wasn't here."

Kichirō ignored his sister's interpolation, and turned to Amagiri. Even as he marshalled his thoughts in order to describe the afternoon's events and the unknown Oni spy, he suddenly remembered what Saitō had told him much earlier in the day. Amagiri was Kenshin's father. He'd managed to forget because of everything else that had happened. He flushed slightly when he realized that Amagiri was looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"Who told you?" Amagiri sounded tired, rather than upset. He had always been frighteningly good at picking up on their thoughts—even Haru-chan's, and she was much more controlled than Kichiro.

"Saitō-sama," Kichirō blurted out. "He said that it would have been better to hear it from Haru-chan, but that I should know in case Yukishima-sama—the original one, I mean—tried to use the information to distract me in battle."

"Hmm. You should know, Kichirō-kun, that I was not permitted to tell you myself until yesterday, and things have been happening very quickly."

"Aa. I-I understand, Amagiri. It's just very strange, you know?" Kichirō suddenly felt shy, daunted by all the complications arising from Chikage's treatment of Amagiri, and his brother's strained relations with Osen-chan and Saitō-sama.

"Yes. It is very strange. I do not yet know what will happen with Kenshin. He has been well cared for by Kazama Chikage-sama and your sister and you. Your mother has always been very kind as well."

"The problem is that if Chikage and Saitō-sama are at odds, then having Kenshin in Chikage's control will be very uncomfortable for Amagiri," Chiharu said bluntly, connecting the dots for Kichirō. "Also"—Chiharu turned her dark purple eyes on Amagiri—"there is the matter of Kenshin's birth mother, Yukishima Chikame-sama."

Amagiri shook his head. "I will not discuss that issue with you further, Chiharu-sama. Also, we should find out what happened to Kichirō-kun this afternoon."

Kichirō was still standing just inside the doorway, since his sister hadn't really invited him in. He looked between his elders uncertainly, sensing disagreement. Then his sister's face resumed its more usual calm expression.

"Please come in, Kirō-kun. Amagiri, I promise not to say anything further about Chikame-sama. Since I'd rather not intrude on Chizuru-chan and Saitō-sama, I will ask for tea to be sent up here, and we can hear about Kirō's adventures."

Kichirō didn't appreciate his sistern's slightly dismissive tone; however, he also felt like he had escaped a severe (and well-deserved) scolding. Besides, Haru-chan would be less condescending when she heard what had actually happened. Settling himself on a cushion, he began his story about how he had accidentally found himself challenged by Heisuke-kun's patrolman.

[III] - Why Wait?

Harada made his way back to headquarters by a slightly longer route than strictly necessary. He wasn't worried about Kichirō—the boy had a pretty level head on his shoulders for fifteen, and would probably admit how badly he'd screwed up soon enough. He did wonder a bit how Amagiri-san was doing. After all, the woman lying unconscious in Osen-chan's care was his former lover and the mother of his ten-year-old child. In his opinion, that was going to be a tough relationship to rebuild, if it was even possible.

Hijikata-san—or Haru-chan for that matter—would have known exactly why he was taking a seldom-used southern route back toward headquarters. Hell, even the kid could probably guess. But Harada had always had good instincts, and for some reason his hunches were seldom wrong. Just a minute or two afterward, he sensed the person that he was—he might as well be honest with himself—hoping to see.

Assuming that she could probably sense him at least as well, Harada stopped. He could now see the edge of the woods surrounding the path that led to the hidden village of Yase. Sure enough, Osen-chan appeared a moment later. Even at a distance, Harada could tell that she was exhausted. Frowning, he hurried over to her. One or two of the people using the narrow road around the southern end of the city smiled a little at what was clearly an assignation.

If the tall red-head had wondered whether the long detour would be worth the trouble, Osen-chan's look of unconcealed relief and pleasure at seeing him gave him his answer. In fact, he was a little taken aback to realize just how much he'd wanted to see her as well. He liked her directness, but at the same time he'd finally had to admit that he didn't know how to deal with an innocent of sixteen who seemed to be hell-bent on attracting him. He was used to the shy town girls, who would barely meet his eyes without blushing, on the rare occasions when he asked them out. He was also reasonably familiar with the arts of the professional courtesans, many of whom were genuinely interested in capturing his interest—after all, better to have an attractive, pleasant customer, than the usual sort. But Sen-hime was by turns bold and unsure, provocative and demure. Worst of all, sometimes it was an act, but often it wasn't.

"Harada-san! I-I wasn't expecting to see you again!" Sen beamed up into the spearman's eyes, her fatigue seemingly gone.

"No… and I can't stay long, but your cousin got loose so I offered to escort him home." He put his hands on her shoulders and studied her face. "It was hard on you, wasn't it? Sorting out this morning's mess? I'm sorry I couldn't be there to help."

Sen took a deep breath. She couldn't begin to describe how awful it had been, and standing here with Harada-san made her want to beg him to come back to her home with her. His warmth and good humour would go a long way toward reducing the knot of anxiety in her stomach. There was just so much to do right now, and so much at stake.

"Of course you couldn't stay… and I know you can't stay now. But… would it be terribly improper for us to walk back into the woods a ways, where it's a little quieter?"

"Where it's more private, you mean?" Harada asked quizzically. His smile was teasing, but he'd already taken her elbow and was guiding her back the way she'd come.

"Well… yes, I suppose I did mean that, now that you mention it."

When the sun's harsh yellow rays had been reduced to a more muted green light but the leaves overhead, they stopped, and Harada pulled Sen into a tight embrace. It wasn't proper, of course, but it was what she needed. He continued to hold her against him until she sighed and looked up, forcing him to give her a few inches of space so that she could actually meet his eyes.

"I am indulging myself when I need to get home and check on Haru-chan and Amagiri. And poor Kichirō! It hasn't been much fun for him, I'm afraid. Although—did you say something about Kirō-kun a moment ago?"

"I did. And you won't worry about him having fun when I tell you that he got himself arrested by Heisuke, bailed out by Sōji—sort of—and then attacked by our mystery spy, who was intent on forcing him to provoke Sōji and Heisuke into fighting him."

Sen looked appalled instead of amused, and Harada realized that she'd really had too much to deal with in the past several hours. He should have taken things a little more gently. Just as he was about to reassure her about the outcome, however, Sen shook her head and managed a slight smile.

"Well, at least he finally got to meet more of your colleagues. I hope they weren't too rough with him—and vice versa?"

"No…" Harada replied, admiring the strength of mind that had allowed her to respond lightly to what could have been another disaster. "No, as far as I could tell, he got away without a scratch. Covered in blood and dirt and a little shaken up, but unhurt."

Before Sen could ask more questions, Harada bent down and kissed the top of her head. "I really do have to get back, Hime-chan."

"I guess this is pretty much how things have been for Chizuru-chan and Saito-san for the past few days," Sen murmured. "I expect she doesn't like those words any better than I do."

Harada tried not to let his imagination wander to what he could do with the girl in his arms if they were married and had a few hours together. He wasn't entirely successful, and it took a moment to banish the images. It was a testament to Sen's fatigue that she didn't appear to notice.

"I wish I didn't have to go, Osen-chan." Even as he said it, Harada got a flickering sense of just how badly the princess wanted him to stay. Unlike his own, rather less innocent visions, Sen was thinking how nice it would be to curl up in his arms and let him carry her home. He found himself wavering.

"It's okay, Harada-san. I really do understand."

They stood together for a minute or two longer, and then Harada bent once again to kiss Sen's soft brown hair. He pulled himself away reluctantly.

"Take care of yourself, as well as everyone else."

"I will. Don't let Hijikata-san run roughshod over everyone."

Harada laughed. "You ask the impossible! But really—I am worried about you. I take it that Kimigiku-san is still with her family?"

"Yes. It's all a bit of a mess isn't it? Oh well, I'll manage. And I will say one thing: If your friend Nagakura-san does admire Akane-san—because I thought he rather liked her—then he has better taste than I'd thought. She's very…" Sen paused, searching for the right words. "Brave. I mean, brave enough not to have given up all hope of having a better life. I'm not sure how she managed."

Harada gave Sen a slightly crooked smile, even as he dropped his arms back to his sides and stepped away.

"Well, I guess we part-Oni are a pretty resilient lot. I think that an awful lot of humans have to live on hope, you know?"

"Maybe. And now we will both run off to our appointed duties." Sen hesitated a moment, then lifted a hand to Harada's cheek. "Thank you for being here."

He caught her hand, kissed it, and then leaned down and kissed her lips.

"You're a bad influence, Hime-chan. I'm trying to behave."

"I'm trying not to influence you," Sen said in a low voice. "At least, not with any Oni magic. It's more difficult than you realize."

Understanding that they had somehow gotten onto dangerous ground, Harada squeezed Sen's hand.

"Come on, give me some credit. I like to think I've gotten pretty resistant to Oni mind tricks."

"I'm… sorry… if I did anything wrong before," Sen responded, eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

"What do you think you did wrong?" Harada kept his voice neutral.

"I think… that maybe I shouldn't have tried so hard to make you kiss me the way you did after we went out for dango together. You've been… more cautious around me since then."

"True." Harada sighed. "You've picked a really weird time to talk about this, you know."

"There hasn't been a good time. Even when we tried to talk about this before we got sidetracked by other things. But if I tell you the truth—I may have tried to influence you a little, because I was curious and a little jealous—and I promise not to do anything like that in the future if I can help it, then will you try to k-kiss me like that again?"

Harada stared down at her, his return to the Shinsengumi compound momentarily forgotten. Sen still wouldn't look at him, and her cheeks were pink with embarrassment. Worse, he had the impression that she was close to tears.

"Hey… It's okay… It spooked me a little, that's all. I couldn't figure out why I'd reacted like that. I told you before—I don't normally do that with any girl, especially a beautiful princess. And then you were really evasive about the whole thing, so I figured you had tampered with things a little. It made me uncomfortable. The idea that I didn't have control over my own head and actions, I mean."

"I know," said Sen unhappily. "And that's why you've been keeping everything the way that you would with any human girl, right?"

Harada took her shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. "All jokes aside, I don't let girls fall asleep on me just because they're cute. And I can't imagine any girl other than you letting me take down her hair and rub her neck and shoulders, unless we were at least engaged. More to the point, I wouldn't do it at all because it could get me into trouble. Where do you get this idea that I'm not taking you seriously?"

He could tell that she was desperately embarrassed, because the tips of her ears were red. He couldn't see much of her face. Her arms seemed to cross reflexively across her chest.

"You've never tried to kiss me like that again," Sen said, very quietly. "And I know you wanted to in the first place, because I never would have made you do something that you didn't want."

"Osen-chan. Listen to me. It's only been a few days. And they've been very, very full days. I admit I've been doing a lot of thinking. I admit I might have been trying to slow things down. But give me some credit here, you know? I'm actually trying to make sure that how I feel about you doesn't get mixed up with how I feel about learning about the Oni, and my mom, and everything else that's going on. I mean, I just found out that I can sense what people are thinking! I can talk to people in my head. And let's not forget that Saitō almost killing me and then going through hell because he was turning into an Oni has left a pretty strong impression on me!"

He stopped abruptly, realizing that he was gripping Sen's shoulders too tightly for her comfort. He hated it when he lost control of his temper. And it's not like he was even upset with her. He was just frustrated that she couldn't get how weird everything was. Fortunately, a thread of humour came to his rescue at that moment.

"Osen-chan? Princess?"

"Yes, Harada-san?"

"You're upset because I haven't tried to kiss you again like the first time? To be clear: you want me to kiss you as though we're lovers, not just getting to know each other?"

"Yes."

"Why? I mean, most guys would jump at the chance, but I'm confused."

Sen looked up defiantly. Her deep pink eyes were glimmering with tears, but she hadn't shed any yet. "Because it's exciting and it feels nice? Because I'm not some human girl who has to guess how you'll behave and can't defend herself if you try to go too far? Because I want to be closer to you? I mean, you wanted to kiss me like that—why shouldn't I feel the same way? Just because I'm a girl?!"

Harada waited until she appeared to be done.

"You've made your point," he said simply. "Although it seems to me that the Oni can be just as traditional-minded as humans—Chiharu-sama was clearly raised much as I would expect any girl of the noble class to be raised."

Sen's shoulders slumped a little.

"The Western clans are like that. And… even the Eastern clans are becoming that way. Now the one remaining clan that allowed women to be on an equal or better footing with men has been shown to be corrupt. The whole thing is a horrible tragedy, but I'm at least partly upset because Kazama Chikage will gloat when he finds out."

"Given that his father contributed to the mess, you'll find a way to deal with it. Or let him gloat. Seems to me that he doesn't have a lot else to feel smug about right now."

Sen looked surprised, and then managed a small chuckle. "That's true."

Harada gently placed his large hands on either side of Sen's face.

"We both have to go. Why don't we set the politics aside for a moment, okay? I still think that you need to get your brilliant mind around the fact that it's been a really rough week for those of us who just found out that Oni are for real. I also think that I need to get my not-so-brilliant head around the idea that an Oni princess—"

"The Oni princess," murmured Sen.

"Sorry, the Oni princess finds me so irresistible that she'd rather just neck with me now instead of waiting until a more decorous amount of time has passed."

Despite her earlier declarations, Sen blushed.

"Oh? Did I misunderstand?" Harada asked.

Sen waved a delicate hand in front of her face with some vigour, although she couldn't quite meet Harada's eyes. "N-no. You didn't misunderstand."

"Good." Harada looked down at the top of Sen's head. "You're going to have to look up at me again at some point, you know. Although you do look pretty cute right now…"

More slowly than before, but without embarrassment, Harada tipped Sen's face up toward his and pressed his lips against hers. When he felt her body start to relax a little, he deepened the kiss, giving her time to figure out what to do and what she liked. After a few minutes, it dawned on him that for all of his experience, he was losing focus and becoming distinctly aroused, and he realized that part of the intensity wasn't just the kiss itself, but being able to feel how Sen felt, and hearing the echo of her contentment in his mind. He felt his heartbeat accelerate, and desire quickly began to replace caution. He held Sen's body as firmly against his as possible, given the height difference, concluding once again that she felt wonderful in his arms.

They finally broke the kiss by mutual accord, and this time neither of them was left wondering what the other thought. Sen's eyes were bright with excitement now, instead of unshed tears, and Harada could only shake his head a little at her enthusiasm and his own strong reaction.

"Better, hime-chan?" he asked, a little breathless.

"As if you need to ask… but yes, much better. You?"

"I think it's a good thing I have time to cool off before I need to focus on my job again."

Sen gave him a deadpan look. "I wouldn't think that a brisk walk in this heat would have a very cooling effect," she observed.

"Well, it will have to serve, won't it?" he retorted. "Best regards to all your guests. I suspect that Chiharu-sama is feeling much better by now."

Sen giggled, her eyes dancing. "I wonder if they know," she murmured.

"If I had to guess, Saitō's got a pretty shrewd idea by now. He doesn't miss much, even when he's distracted. Who knows what Chizuru-chan thinks? I find Oni women very hard to predict."

"Baka. Goodbye for now, Harada-san."

"You've clearly been spending too much time around Hijikata-san," Harada remonstrated severely. He frowned unconvincingly at the impenitent princess, which just made her laugh. "Be good, hime-chan. See you again soon, I hope."

[END]

A/Note: Thank you for reading!