Author's notes: Sorry if its long…
Hello everyone, I'm glad my readers find my story entertaining so far and thanks for the reviews by the way, they always make me smile. Here are my thanks to my great reviewers! You deserve hugs!
Evee-chan: Thank you for sticking around to read my story and for tolerating my weird idea…lol…you're reviews and the reviews of others make my day and the name Toshimi…lol…it just popped out of nowhere in my head… glad you like the name!
Sedarephs: Thanks for reviewing and for enjoying my story and for also pointing out that mistake I made regarding Saitou's name, I'll go and fix it up now!
Ayray: Thanks for reviewing and glad to hear you're enjoying my chapters!
Buffalocatz Another great reviewer, thanks for sticking around as well and about my English class eh I guess I have to listen from now on since my teacher practically stands in front of me during the reading…so sad...but I'll conjure more ideas during my favorite subject, lunch time.
Anyways a reviewer of mine (Sedarephs) has pointed out to me a good mistake that I thought should be corrected; in the last chapter since I was rushing like a deranged maniac I made a mistake regarding Saitou's name. His Last name is Saitou while given name is Hajime and in the whole change of names scenario I changed the last name and not the first so I apologize for that mistake and thank you for pointing it out to me.
So instead of "Saiko" Saitou's new name will be Hanajima Saitou…(Yeah, the name was last minute thinking)
Anyways being the Shinsengumi deranged fan that I am, for this chapter I had to take out every Shinsengumi related book I had (yes I admit my parents bought me every Shinsengumi/Samurai era related books and yes they tolerate my weird obsession for the Shinsengumi… )
Notes:
Before you beat me with a stick or jab me with a katana I have some notes in case you might be interested about the character that'll be focused on in this chapter, his name is Takeda Kanryusai and he was a member of the Shinsengumi who had been rumored to be a homosexual. Anyways Takeda was a sneaky bastard, indeed he was; his personality was that of a kiss-up. He kissed-up to every commander and he was said to be mean and sneaky towards subordinates, another thing you should know about Takeda-san is that when the Shinsengumi and the rest of the Bakufu we're on the verge of losing he then betrayed them and switched sides with Satsuma (who if you didn't know was an ally of Choshu) In my story, (I'm not going to follow the entirety of history since I'm toying with our boys in blue) Takeda-san will be somewhat of a useful character to the boys…I mean ladies.
Anyways yes, I did some research regarding the people I'd use here and I'm going to shut up now because I know you're all going to beat me like a piñata if I don't shut it and so here it is dear readers, my new chapter!
Chapter VIII
Enter: Takeda Kanryusai, the man with a secret
Kondou Isami and Hijikata Toshizou looked at three comedians with utter confusion in their faces; Kondou who had just processed the information of his men turning into women soon found himself processing another information regarding a certain captain, Takeda Kanryusai.
"What about Takeda-san?" Hijikata asked, his eyebrow raised
"Well…um…well…um…you tell him Sano" Shinpachi stuttered as he backed away from the commander and demon vice chief
"Um…well…we've…we've heard rumors about him…" Sano began
"And these rumors would pertain to?"
"Well…um…how do I put this…well…um…there have been rumors that Takeda-san…is…is…" Sano paused, not wanting to rat out on a fellow captain
"Harada, for Kami's sake; if you don't tell us right now I will add another seppuku scar in that belly of yours" Hijikata snarled
"Toshimi, nothing can be resolved if you raise your temper" Kondou said softly
Hijikata twitched at his commander's comment, "Did you…did you just call me Toshimi?" He asked as his eye twitched madly.
"You told me to call you by your woman alias" Kondou replied with a grin
"Isami...baka…" Hijikata whispered through gritted teeth
"Well Harada-kun, are you going to tell us or not?"
With a heavy sigh the giant captain found it futile to lie any further, "There have been rumors going around that…that…that Takeda-san is…is…he's gay…"
The room fell silent as numerous jaws literally dropped and souls left their owner's bodies; everyone after having a moment of silence regained their composure.
"Wow…um…well…that…that was truly unexpected" Kondou said uneasily, "Harada-kun…now tell me how in the world you've come to this presumption?"
"Well, many of the men have been saying that at times they could have sword that Takeda-san had make up on and when he was questioned about it he said he had been visiting his woman at Shimabara" Sano explained
"SO THAT EXPLAINS THAT LIP REDDENING!" Heisuke exclaimed (AN: Lip reddening is my "olden day" name for lipstick)
"Lip reddening? What the hell are you talking about?" Shinpachi asked
"Well, one time I caught him with unusually red lips and when I asked him about it he said his woman at Shimabara wouldn't let him leave and had kissed him way too much the stuff rubbed off onto him, I knew it was too good to be true!" Heisuke explained in an as a matter of fact fashion
"Just what the heck does that supposed to mean?" Shinpachi questioned, "What the heck do you mean by it being too good to be true?"
"Oh, I meant about the woman not being able to let go of Takeda-san…I mean compared to me I think women should be running for their lives not clinging onto him" Heisuke said with a smile
"Look whose talking, if I recall you're the one who scares off every freaking woman" Shinpachi grinned
"Just shut it Shina, I don't want to hear another word from you"
"Commander…vice-commander, although this statement isn't confirmed yet but my female disguises have been missing from my possessions, I am not implying that it was Takeda-san who has them but men have been saying that they've caught the captain dressed in women's clothes" Susumu stated simply
"Maybe it was you" Tetsu scoffed earning him a punch from the stoic shinobi, "HEY! I WAS JUST STATING THE OBVIOUS, AND OBVIOUSLY YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO DRESSES AS A WOMAN!"
The room fell silent as they turned to face Heisuke, everyone slowly backing away
"What now?"
"Um…yeah…rephrase what I said and add pervert man over there" Tetsu grinned
"WHAT!"
Kondou smiled sheepishly, "Well being that this is the situation, I supposed we could go and speak to Takeda about this"
The rest nodded in agreement
"But what I don't understand is that why would we go to Takeda-san in the first place, aside for confronting him of course?" Kondou asked curiously
"Well, rumors have been going around as well that Takeda-san…he…he…he makes kimonos during his spare time like Hijikata makes medicine" Sano stated
"WHO TOLD YOU I MADE MEDICINE?" Hijikata asked defensively
"You shouldn't be ashamed Hijikata-san and I also think its only right for the men to know where they got their "special" medicine from" Soji said with a smile
"Oh my…Takeda…Takeda…he makes kimonos?" Kondou stammered
"Well, women's kimonos to be sure and another rumor is that when he's on patrol he pretends to be checking out the katanas but he's actually making a deal with the local merchants"
"Oh my…" Kondou sighed
"Yeah and seeing that we've turned into women...might as well need clothes!"
"Eh…Saitou-san, didn't you say you sensed something unusual about Takeda-san too?" Tetsu asked the sleepy captain who turned to him with a bored look
"Indeed…he had a shadow trailing behind him" Saitou replied nonchalantly as everyone turned to face the two
"Was it a dark shadow like mine?" Tetsu asked engrossed by the topic
"No…it was more of…a pink shadow"
Everyone slapped themselves upon hearing the captain's last retort, Susumu twitched uncontrollably as the three comedians sweat dropped and the Ichimura brothers gasped.
Hijikata who had been silent the entire time picked up a book and started hitting his head with it, the rest sweat dropped as the demon vice commander continued the process over and over again.
"Great…just great…I have a queer among my men" the demon vice commander groaned as he dazedly smacked himself with a book, "The world is crashing…I've been commanding a queer all this time" (AN: I have nothing against homosexuals by the way so please don't take it the wrong way)
"Actually you have two queers…Takeda-san and the obvious one" Shinpachi retorted as everyone turned to face a fuming Heisuke.
"I'M NOT LIKE THAT DAMN IT!"
"Sure you are…that's what they all say…" Shinpachi stated with a sly grin
"SHINPACHI YOU'RE DEAD!"
"Hey…it's not my fault that you grew up like that"
"SHUT UP YOU BASTARD! IT'S GO TIME!" Heisuke yelled as he grabbed one of Kondou's brushes and whacked Shinpachi
Okita Soji giggled as he observed the hilarity that occurred right before his eyes, "You should always count on those two to lighten up the mood ne Hijikata?"
Hijikata only twitched more
"OUCH! THAT'S IT" Shinpachi in return grabbed hold of a brush and whacked Heisuke, "PREPARE TO DIE YOU BASTARD"
"SURE, LIKE A BRUSH WILL KILL ME" Heisuke scoffed
"YOU SHOULDN'T BE AFRAID OF THE BRUSH…BE AFRAID OF ME…BE VERY AFRAID OF ME" Shinpachi declared, his eyes glinting of malice
"Um…shouldn't anyone stop them?" Tatsu commented sheepishly
"Shut it Tatsuki, I wanna see who wins!" Tetsu cheered
"THINK FAST HEISUKE! OH WAIT NEVER MIND…I FORGOT YOU LOST YOUR BRAIN AT THE RAID AT IKEDA-YA" Shinpachi said slyly (AN: Remember peacemaker episode 23 and when Heisuke was stabbed in the forehead)
"SHUT IT!"
"STOP IT YOU IDIOTS OR YOU'LL BOTH BE COMMITTING SEPPUKU" Hijikata snarled causing the two to drop their mock weapons, "Kondou, play your part and help me run these ahous"
Kondou who had been amused by his fighting captains stifled a laugh, "Well, I suppose we better go pay our special captain a visit" Kondou announced as he got up from his position.
Kondou and his "nieces" then made their way to the said captain's quarters, apparently as they walked through the training hall they were met by curious stares and whispers from the men.
"The one with long hair, doesn't she look beautiful?" The men whispered, apparently regarding to Hijikata who twitched madly
"The quiet one, the one who looks like Ayu-nee, I think she's divine" Susumu cringed and nearly gagged being that his own comrades where checking him out
"The one with sleepy eyes…she looks oddly familiar" One soldier commented, "I hate the quiet types" His friend responded
"Did you say something...about the quiet types?" Saitou said as he without warning came face to face with the men
"Weren't you…weren't you…weren't you just…"
"I travel fast" The captain replied as he continued walking
"The short one is cute too"
"Which one there are two"
Tetsu snickered as Shinpachi tried his best to calm down and not kill the man, "I'm not short…damn those ahous…"
"Don't mind us boys, my nieces and I are just passing" Kondou said with a smile
"Kondou-taichou you're nieces are beautiful!" One soldier said with a grin
"Thank the heavens for blessing me with angel like nieces" Kondou said as he played along with the act
"Are any of them married? Or seeing anyone?" One soldier called out
"No, but sadly they won't be staying long" The men groaned sadly as they resumed training
Finally escaping the hell which was the training hall the men found themselves sighing heavily.
"That was close, thank goodness no one recognized us" Tetsu stated
"Just be lucky those men weren't paying too much attention of what you were wearing" Kondou said, "You look like cross-dressers as of now" he added apparently stating the fact that they were sill in their male clothes.
"Oh shit! That was close!" Sano exclaimed
Finally reaching the quarters of said captain Takeda Kanryusai; Kondou Isami and his "nieces" carefully slid the shoji doors, opening just enough to peer in. To their horror, Takeda who had been rumored to be a queer was indeed one for right before their very eyes the said captain had appeared to be putting on powder and lip reddening.
"Oh" Soji gasped
"My" Tetsu gaped
"Bakufu" Susumu said eyes wide
"He is a queer" Sano whispered, "The rumors were right"
"He's wearing my female disguise!" Susumu exclaimed, his voice shocked and angered at the same time, "It took me weeks to put that thing together!"
"I thought pervert man was crazy but you…you're insane" Tetsu scoffed
The rest looked at Susumu with "what the hell" faces
"Well Isami, what do we do now?" Hijikata asked with a sigh, "Apparently we've raised a stray here"
"Takeda-san, if he were like this…why was he not honest?" Soji asked his voice hinting sadness
"Who would be honest…it is a disgrace…and to think he is a samurai…and a Shinsengumi for Kami's sake!"
"Kondou-san…what are you going to do?"
"There's only one thing to do" With that said Kondou swiftly opened the shoji doors, startling the unaware Takeda. The look on the poor captain's face had been a look of terror and shame.
"Taichou…I…I…" Takeda stammered, trying his best to think of a way out, "I was…I was…I was just…" seeing that explaining things were futile the captain dropped the charade and bowed his head in embarrassment.
"Takeda-san…what has become of you…"
The said captain could not even look at his commander straight in the eyes, "I have disgraced you…forgive me…"
End of Chapter...
I didn't want to end this chapter at such a sad note but I'll save the other parts for the next chapter, first things first I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was a bit serious than the others and just to let you readers know I felt bad for Takeda-san when writing this chapter but in reality if you've read about his biography the man is a treacherous snake. Anyways thank you for reading and as I said and will say again because I love ya guys so much; read and review my story okay?
PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER IX
"Kondou-taichou...I ask for...forgiveness..."
"I also came here to ask something of you..."
"Who are these women?"
"My nieces"
Next chapter, Takeda's secrets come out, Kondou and his "nieces" ask a favor from Takeda more trouble lurks ahead