Hakuoki: An Unexpected Adventure
I do not own Hakuoki. I never have and probably never will. If I did own it I would have let everyone live and Chizuru and Hijikata would have their happy ending not be ripped from each other's arms in the very next episode after Hijikata finally confesses his love for her. Please read and review this story as always I welcome any tips or anything that will improve my writing.
CHAPTER 8
"Yes I can do that." Chizuru says standing up
"I appreciate you doing this Chizuru." I say standing up as well to show her out.
"You don't need to get up on my account," she says, "I will be back once I ask Hijikata and let you know what he says."
"If you say so," I say and sit back down. Once I finish my food I decide to sit outside for some fresh air. Stepping outside the door I look around and see Saito practicing by himself in the courtyard and I sit down on the edge of the porch to watch him. After a good 15 minutes he appears to realize he isn't alone and he turns towards me.
"Are you allowed to be out of the room?" He asks me
"Are you being serious right now?" I ask, "If you just now noticed that I was out of the room…"
"I knew you were there as soon as you sat down I just chose to ignore you until now." He cuts me off and I take a deep breath to keep calm
"Sheesh how is it you and Hijikata know just what to say to make me angry?" I ask more to myself than anything, "And by the way Hijikata told me earlier today that I can sit out here if someone is nearby I am just not allowed to go anywhere else without his permission." Instead of replying Saito turns away from me and continues with his training. After watching him for a few minutes I lean backwards supporting my upper body with my hands and a few minutes later the wind kicks up a bit and I lean my head back closing my eyes and let the wind blow the scent of the cherry blossoms across my face and feel myself relax a bit for the first time since I had found myself in this crazy situation. Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching I open my eyes and sit up again.
"Aryssa come with me." Chizuru says coming to a stop beside me.
"Hijikata told me not to leave this area without his permission I tell her feeling my tension return full force.
"I know that." She says, "He is the one who told me to come and get you. He asked me to get you as well Hajime."
"Very well," He replies and stops his training once again
"Fine," I say climbing to my feet. "But if he starts yelling or something I am walking away." With that I fall into step behind her. Instead of taking me to the large room from before she leads us to a smaller room not too far from my own room.
"Hijikata I brought Tousani and Hajime as you asked." Chizuru says, "Are we allowed to enter?"
"Yes, you may enter." Is the reply and she slides the door open. Stepping into the room first I bow towards Hijikata and speak up,
"I would like to apologize for losing my temper and yelling at you earlier today Hijikata." I say and still bowing I wait for his reply.
"Very well," He says and I straighten up, "I was informed by Yamazaki earlier of your accelerated healing process and that you should be back to full strength and ability tomorrow."
"Yes I figured he would tell you at some point." I reply and he continues
"The other day when you were brought before us you told us that you would do whatever you could to help us if we let you live. Did you mean that or were you just saying that to make us consider sparing your life?"
"Of course I meant it I reply quickly.
"Souji mentioned earlier that you claim to have knocked a grown man unconscious with that practice sword you have been carrying around." I nod in affirmation and he continues, "He also said that you told him you would spar with whoever he wanted once you were cleared by Yamazaki. That is why I had you come as well Saito. He wanted Tousani to fight you since you are both apparently left handed fighters and I agree with his choice. If she is able to meet your standards I would like to have her placed in your unit as a new member of the Shinsengumi."
"As you command," Hajime says and with a nod from Hijikata he takes his leave.
"As for your other request I will allow it as long as you take one of the captains not on patrol with you." Hijikata says, "You can go with Chizuru for other clothes before you leave as well. Now you are dismissed."
"Thank you very much." I say with yet another bow before I also leave the room. Without another word I follow Chizuru to her room and once we enter and shut the door she pulls out a pink Shitage and Hakama identical to the one she is wearing and hands the to me.
"These should fit you pretty well but try them on right now just in case." She says,
I take the clothes from her and after checking to make sure the door and window are shut I put them down and pull my ruined shirt off over my head dropping it on the floor then I change into the Shitage and Hakama. "Do you have an extra sash or something for a sword?" I ask once I feel how loose the Shitage is."
"Of course I do." She says handing me a white sash.
"Thank you." I say tucking the Shitage into the waist of the Hakama before tying the sash to complete the ensemble. "I wish it was a different color but other than that how does it look?" I ask her
"Actually it looks like it fits perfectly." Chizuru says, "Now we can try to find one of the guys and head out to the bath house unless you want to change back into your original clothes."
"No let's go find someone." I say looking forward to cleaning up a bit.
"ok," She says and we head out to locate someone. After walking for a few minutes we bump into Okita, Heisuke, Harada and Nagakura.
"Hey guys," I say, "Are any of you on patrol tonight?"
"Nagakura and I are." Harada says, "Why are you asking?"
"Hijikata gave us permission to go to the bath house as long as we have a captain who is not on patrol escort us."
"I'll take you," Okita says his usual smirk replaced with an even more dangerous looking smile on his face.
"I trust you about as far as I could throw you right now which is not far at all." I say, "Would you be able to escort us Heisuke?"
"Um, are you sure about that?" he asks blushing slightly,
"Of course," I tell him, "I trust you much more than I do Okita."
"Me too," Chizuru puts in
"In that case I will accompany you." He says and we head out. When we arrive at the bath house Heisuke goes in ahead of us to make sure it is empty. "It is clear for now so you guys can head inside." After we finish cleaning up and I pull my hair into a braid we head for the entrance. As we approach the entrance I stop short when I hear a somewhat familiar voice speak up.
"Boy how long do you plan on blocking our path?" I hear and looking outside I see the ronin I had knocked unconscious the other day with another group of ronin. Without thinking about it I step boldly outside and walk forward.
"I see you have recovered sufficiently enough to harass people again over stupid things." I say stopping a few steps away from the group
"You," He says his hand going to his swords as soon as he recognizes me
"Yes me," I tell him with a chill in my voice, "And you happen to be threatening a friend of mine."
"You still owe me for the Sake brat." He says,
"Are you still going on about that?" I ask, "A real samurai would have gotten over that stupid alcohol by now so I guess you are just a fake."
"Why you little…" He says drawing his sword
"I would think about that if I were you." I say and continue with my bluff, feeling a strange energy start to cycle through my system, "Of have you already forgotten about what happened the last time someone drew a sword on me. I suggest you turn away and just come back later." As he returns his katana to its sheath and does as I say I suddenly get really dizzy and dropping to my knees I sit on my feet.
"Are you ok Aryssa?" Heisuke asks me
"I'm fine," I tell him shaking my head to clear it, "I just got really dizzy for a moment."
"Are you sure you are ok?" Chizuru asks coming to crouch beside me, "You are really pale."
"I said I am fine," I snap, I just need to get some sleep, which always made me feel better when this happened when I was little. My great grandmother started having me take some kind of homemade medicine and the dizzy spells disappeared until now once I stopped taking the medicine a few days ago." With that I climb to my feet and we head back to the Shinsengumi headquarters.