OH. EHM. GEE. It took me how long to update this story? xD Actually, I wasn't really sure of continuing this story anymore because people fail to review. /looks at the long list of people who added this story to their favourite story/ You know who you are.

NOTE: Please read Chapters 1 and 2 once again. I rewrote both chapters and reading this without reading the previous chapters will only confuse you. I suggest that you do. Thank you. Enjoy.

P.S. I don't know what this site has done but I can't even use '? !' together? Like wtf? Not only that, I can't bold and underline certain words at the same time! It's truly pissing me off!

Chapter Three

"Good work, Okita-san," one of Souji's subordinates said.

Souji gave them a smile and nodded. He told them the same thing and dismissed them afterwards. He let out a tired sigh, thanking the gods that his turn to patrol was done. Since the commotion that had occurred last night, three units had gathered to the crime scene to investigate what had happened. They hadn't had the time to take a rest ever since then. Though they did not acquire very much information about the matter. Only the young woman he had found would give them answers to their questions. Heading towards the room she had been placed at, he knocked on the door. He received no answer, though. Thinking that she was still sleeping, he slid the door open, only to find the room empty.

"Ah, Souji-kun, done with patrolling?"

He shifted to look behind him and found Ayumu who had the same motherly smile she usually had on her face.

"Ah, yes," he replied.

"She's with Hijikata-san now," she said, answering the question he hadn't even asked yet. She only smiled at him.

"Thank you, Ayu-san," he said and went off to the direction where Hijikata's room was. He hummed to himself as he went on his way.

"What?"

Souji's right eyebrow rose curiously when he had heard Hijikata's voice. Now, Hijikata normally didn't raise his voice. He heard sobbing from the vice-commander's room. He assumed that it was the young woman crying. Souji let out a sigh. Hijikata even intimidated the ladies? If he kept doing that, he'd never find himself a woman. He hurried his pace towards the room. He wanted to make the situation better.

"Those damned Choshu!"

His eyes grew wide, not expecting that sudden outburst from the young woman. He immediately slid the door open, taking no notice of how rude his manners were.

"Maa, maa, Hijikata-san, don't make a lady cry," he said with his usual aloof smile.

Hijikata seemed to be genuinely surprised by his sudden entrance.

"I-" he trailed after then cleared his throat, looking away as well. "Nothing…" he finished, peering at the young woman who still sat in front of him while tears silently ran down her cheeks. For a moment there, Souji could've sworn he saw something in his eyes akin to sympathy. However, it was gone as soon as it appeared.

"Souji, take care of her. I'll explain the details later," he said, dismissing them. Souji nodded and helped the young woman up, careful as to not hurt her. He led her outside the room then gave Hijikata one last look before he slid the door closed. The young woman followed him while he waited patiently for her to calm down. He led her to the garden seeing as people rarely go there.

"Are you all right now?" he asked after he noticed that her sobs had subsided. Though, she occasionally did still sniff every so often.

She looked at him, eyes still teary. Souji was a bit taken aback at the sight of her. Her eyes…they were maroon. Come to think of it, he never did take a good look of her face, considering the limited light present last night. Her skin was pale, almost as if it were porcelain. She was naturally beautiful and her lips were plum and pink. He unconsciously wiped the tears on her cheeks. She, in return, blushed at his actions. She looked down.

"H-hai…" she meekly replied. She took a step back, bowing to him. "Arigatou," she thanked, standing up straight while she wiped the remaining tears on her face with the hem of her right sleeve. Souji simply smiled at her.

"Ah, it was nothing," he said. He beckoned for her to follow, walking towards a certain direction. She looked at him curiously but followed nonetheless. He sat down the porch and patted the empty space beside him. She looked at it with uncertainty; she hadn't been this close with a man other than her father.

"It's fine," he assured, giving her a warm smile. She looked away, blushing once again but sat down beside him (she made sure not to make it obvious that she had moved a bit far away from him).

"Your foot…" he started, peering at her. "Did you sprain it?" he asked.

Kumi immediately whipped her head to look at him, eyes wide in surprise.

"How did you know?" she asked softly.

"Well, the way you walk…it seemed strained. It looked like you were having a hard time," he explained. She bit her lower lip and looked away. There was silence between the two of them, none of them planned to break it any time sooner.

"I'll be sure to tell Hijikata-san of your condition. So please, take it easy," he said.

"I was running away," she suddenly said, completely off-topic. Souji fell silent. He turned to look at the sky above him, waiting for her to continue.

"Mother and father were killed…even everyone was killed except me. I could remember everything clearly," her hands that were resting by her lap shook. "There was blood everywhere. The people I knew were mutilated that you could not decipher whether they were human or not anymore. Everyone was screaming…! I couldn't help anyone!"

A hand landed on her hands, making her look up. She was greeted by his warm smile.

"But their wish was to have you live, wasn't it?" he asked. He patted her hands gently; almost as if he was assuring her that everything would be fine.

She took in his words, remembering her mother's last few words with her. Closing her eyes, she nodded her head in agreement. A certain kind of determination whelmed up her heart and a smile graced on her lips.

"You are right…" she said. She looked at him again and smiled. "Thank you, Souji-san."

He let out a chuckle, one that was not tainted with ill will. "I never did catch your name," he said. "It's kind of unfair that you know mine and I don't know yours."

A horrified look crossed her face and immediately, she stood up and bowed frantically to him.

"I'm sorry! It was rude of me to have not introduced myself! And I heard that your name was Souji-san when Hijikata-san mentioned it!" she apologized. "My name is Kumi Suzuki…" she trailed off, unsure if she should've mentioned her last name.

"Suzuki?" Souji repeated. He pondered to himself, wondering where he had heard that name. "Ah! You must be the heiress of the Suzuki thro-"

Kumi immediately covered his mouth then frantically checked the area to see if anyone had heard him. Seeing no one, she looked back at him.

"Please do not reveal my status," she said, letting him go. She turned her back to him. "I would rather have it a secret between you, Hijikata-san, and I."

"I understand," Souji said, walking to her side. Kumi looked back at him and found him smiling once again. A blush crept to her cheeks, her heart pounding rather quickly inside her chest. She immediately looked away then.

"Ah! There you are, Kumi-chan!"

The two of them looked behind them and found Ayumu.

"Come with me! I already have your bath and change of clothes ready!" she said with an excited smile.

"Hai," she replied. She then looked at Souji and gave him a curt bow.

"Arigatou, Souji-san," she said and left with Ayumu who led her to the bathroom. Souji watched her with a smile on his face. He then looked back at the sky, letting the wind caress his bare skin as his long hair whirled around him.

"A secret, hm?" he said to the wind.

"I see that you've met, Okita-san," Ayumu said as she washed Kumi's hair. She commented about how silky her hair felt like on her fingers.

"Okita-san?" she repeated, right brow up in puzzlement. Ayumu halted what she was doing and looked at her.

"Ah, didn't you know that Okita-san's full name is Souji Okita?" she asked.

Kumi shook her head as a no. "Therefore, it was Souji-san who had saved me?"

"Hai, hai! A pleasant man he is, no?" she asked. Kumi remained silent. Ayumu noticed her strange silence and let out a sigh.

"You know," she started. "If you dwell on things too much, you will never move on," she said. She grabbed the towel that was neatly folded on her side and used it to dry Kumi's hair.

"You're done! Come on! Up! Up! Let's get you dry," she said cheerfully, successfully changing the topic. Kumi could only stare at the older woman and smiled. She appreciated her efforts to cheer her up. However, she couldn't just forget everything that had happened to her people and parents in just a flash. The smile that was on her face was immediately wiped off as soon as she thought that. She swore revenge on them - on those damn Choshu!

"It's a good thing I have a spare kimono that I never wear anymore," Ayumu said in the background. Kumi tried to focus her attention to the older woman. Her eyes flickered to her direction.

"Ah, it doesn't fit me anymore so I'm sure it'll fit you. But we'll need to buy you new kimonos. Having one kimono isn't enough, you know?" she continued to blabbered on. Kumi could only follow her in silence. She barely followed what she was saying.

"Oh, and how is your foot? I should call a doctor to check up on that. It'd be bad if it got worse, ne?"

Kumi could already tell that this would be a long day.

"A Suzuki heiress, huh?" Commander Kondou said, arms crossed on his chest. Hijikata and Souji both sat in front of him - their faces both wore a serious look.

"We got something really big now, eh? How is she doing?" he asked.

"For the most part, she's fine. Though, it would seem she has a foot injury that needs medical attention as soon as possible," Souji informed, patting the piglet that was resting on his lap. Saizo grunted in response.

"Don't worry about that, Ayumu has that taken cared of," Kondou said. His eyes landed on the silent vice-commander and watched him smoke with his smoke pipe.

"Do you think that it was part of the plan of the Choshu clan to have the Suzuki domain wiped off? This one seemed to be personal, though," he commented, pondering for a moment.

"We can't be sure," Souji said. "But it may be a possibility."

Silence reigned then as the three men both fell into deep thoughts.

"Should we have her stay here?" Souji asked when he couldn't take the silence anymore. The thought of her wandering the streets of Kyoto alone worried him. She did not seem the type of person who could take care of herself. And the more he thought about it, the more he grew worried.

"She has nowhere else to stay. You know that," the commander pointed out.

"It would be more pressure for us if we let her stay with us," Hijikata finally spoke. He focused his eyes on the commander that sat before them. "I wouldn't want her to stay here," he added.

"Now, now, Toshi. You know the girl has nowhere else to go. If we let her go, who knows what would happen to her?" he said.

"I agree," Souji said, looking at Hijikata. "Let her stay here, Hijikata-san. Or are you scared that she may be tainted by us?" Souji's tone of voice had suddenly changed into a darker one. Hijikata, in return, said nothing. He stood up from his spot, heading for the door to exit.

"Oi! Oi! Where do you think you're going?" Kondou asked.

"Do whatever you want," Hijikata said and left for good.

Kondou let out a loud sigh. He rubbed his head. "That man…" he mumbled to himself. Souji hit Hijikata's strings pretty hard this time.

"Souji," he called the young man. Said man looked at him. "I'll put her under your care," he said. "I know it'll be more weight for you, but I do owe this child's father rather greatly."

The old commander let out a fatherly smile. "So I'm asking on my behalf to take care of Kumi."

Souji closed his eyes, a smile forming on his lips.

"Of course."

つづく...

Still liking/loving it? Tell me! (coughreviewcough) Aaah, it's been such a long time since I touched this story. It seriously brought memories. /shrugs/
I'm hungry. I haven't eaten anything since this morning. xD So bad...

~Jiru