Chapter 23: Samurai

The fragment of the sword went flying, grazing her cheek as it spun past her and finally stabbing itself into the stone floor. She blinked her eyes in astonishment, just several more centimetres to the left and she would've lost her eye. But that wasn't good at all, the apparitions appearing once more, tenfold in speed and tenacity they all went for Toyohisa who was now unarmed.

Takeko made quickly made her way towards Toyohisa her own weapon drawn out, however was stopped by Hijikata who swung his sword, cutting her arm in the process. Gasping out as it was a relatively deep cut. She leapt out of the way as he once more swung, this time she managed to parry it off. However her spear shuddered and groaned, her arm was not strong enough to fend off his heavy and precise attacks. Her arms was also protesting in pain, the cut wasn't too deep to hit her bone, but it was a wound that would deter her fighting capability.

"Do not interfere, Takeko", he growled out as he parried blow after blow. He knew how she fought, he knew her weak spots but yet she still managed to fend off his strikes. Her eyes following the movements of the flying silver, as she twisted torso to give a round-house kick right in the chest. It managed to hit him as he felt a gush of air being pushed out of him. Jumping back he repositioned his feet and retightened his hold on his sword, his eyes narrowing at her bloodied form and her starkly back hair. She didn't attempt to exchange blows with him again as quickly looked towards her commander.

The apparitions gathered and with nothing to hinder them, they surrounded Toyohisa, his arms folding out into a defensive position, doing his best to avoid the numerous swords. However their movements became faster and faster and soon they managed to swarm around him. Allowing no escape and no chance for him to defend against their swords. Strike after strike and in wild flurry of movements they finally dispersed leaving Toyohisa heavily injured. Blood splattering against the cool stone floor, deepening his vermillion armour in a more profound crimson. Yet when he emerged from the one-sided fight there was still a triumphant grin persisting on his face.

The small sound of the blood dripping down became more apparent as Toyohisa eyed Takeko, it seemed she fared better than himself, but only a little. The lacerations along him weren't deep, shallow enough that it allowed movement, however the wounds around her were deep and she was losing blood as well. He noted as well how her breathing became somewhat laboured as she readjusted polearm to lay on her shoulder. But she was a beautiful sight to behold at the same time, she gave no hint that she was uncomfortable or upset, and her eyes reflected nothing but a smouldering fire. She was dabbled with blood all over, and despite that it made even more appealing to him than he would've imagined.

"You bastards underestimated us", he had remained unharmed in any sort of way. Spare the slight bruise he was forming around his chest area, compliments of Takeko who knew. "You underestimated Shinsengumi. You think you can keep leaping and prancing around forever? Foolish", he muttered as he scrutinised their mishap figures. He observed Takeko from the corner of his eye, she had somewhat slackened herself a little bit now. But her brows were furrowed as her lips were pressed into a think line. He understood this as she didn't take his words too kindly like Toyohisa.

Toyohisa looked shocked for a moment, "I haven't underestimated you even once, though. This is a battlefield. I'll do whatever I gotta do, even mess around", he said, ignoring every single bit of stabbing pain which lurched around his body.

There was a resounding blast which same from the Capitol building, as bursting flame erupted from the windows and the doors. Takeko looked up, and immediately knew that it nothing short but Oda's handiwork. Those troops which had been disperse earlier must've went for the Capitol building she surmised, and Oda had predicted it. 'That man is truly terrifying. He figured it out so quickly as well, and managed to organise a counter-attack', she thought grimly. She only expected the best from such a famous military commander such as himself.

"Wh-What!" Hijikata turned his attention towards the alight building. 'How!?' He gave no hint or clue that was their objective, 'Wait, no. Everything. All of my actions were taken into account. They didn't let any single detail slip past them. Everything was planned', he grinded his teeth together as he heard the muffled cries and screams of his soldiers being burnt alive. He was the one who had underestimated them, those Drifters!

"Nobu and Yoichi chose me as general, even Takeko has no qualms with following me and listening to my orders. But I never thought of myself that way. After all…above all, I'm just an ambitious brat. I'm nothing compared to my uncle, Yoshihiro-dono and my father. I'm different from them", the blood was even more profound than ever, but he ignored everything. The roaring flames, the burning embers, the smell of smoke. He ignored everything to take into consideration of this warrior before him. "However he is different. Oda Nobunaga, former Minster of the Right, Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, is different! If I act as a distraction for you, in that moment, Nobu could definitely change the tides of battle. If it's for that purpose, even if it's jumping and prancing around, I'll do anything", he claimed happily. His life was solely for the battlefield, only that and nothing else. He would stake his lives just to bring a small chance of winning, he would injure himself beyond recognition just to take the head of the commander. Everything he trained for was dedicated towards the life on the battlefield. Like all men of Satsuma.

Takeko took a step towards Toyohisa, her hand holding onto the broken piece of his sword. She was unnervingly silent as she looked up towards Hijikata. His expression was seemingly calm, but she could feel the tension bubbling within him.

"You bastard…" He bit out.

"Even if our men die at Sekigahara. We Shimazu will turn that into fuel to accomplish even more. Even if we die, we won't have died. With that in mind, we can do anything", his smiled persisted. He knew there was no point on explaining this to Hijikata but having a piece of his mind was something he wanted to share. After all they were samurai, weren't they? Their lives were dedicated to the glory of the battlefield, then surely in some way he can understand what he is saying here.

"Shimazu!" He yelled out. His anger peaking over. Takeko inadvertently flinched slightly. She had rarely ever seen him so angry before, and even that she had never been on the receiving side ever. It was truly frightening.

"Even if I am to die here, Nobunaga will turn by death into the foundation of our success. It may take several ruthless steps", he continued however was promptly cut off.

"That Shimazu attitude brought death to us!" he turned suddenly calm, the apparitions once more appearing, swarming around himself, a strange moan and bellow of wind accompanying the ghost's as they drifted around. 'I really hate them. I detest this damn clan who die smiling. His eyes are almost boasting, 'We Shimazu are the only true samurai'. Those eyes…I loathe them'.

Just as the apparitions were about to strike Toyohisa once more a bellowing voice called out, "Toyo!" The dwarf cried out, stomping his foot through the smoke. His gun out and loaded.

Toyohisa immediately understood his drift, "Yeah! I don't mind! Fire upon me!" He cried out. Takeko immediately knew that she was in peril and tried to make way towards one of the laneways to the side. However Toyohisa grabbed her torso and encompassed his entire body around her, shielding her from any sort of blast. "Stay still!" He ordered as he further wrapped his arms around her, relishing in the feeling of her soft and lithe body. She smelled quite pleasant as well, quite a contrast to all the manly smell he was accustomed to.

All sorts of debris went flying around as soon as the blast was heard, its coverage was far and wide and managed to hit around the side of the buildings as well. Takeko heard small rips of flesh and clothing as she heard the debris fly past them. Although Toyohisa had managed to shield most of her body, her legs still got hit. Although sparse and few compared to the wounds that Toyohisa received.

'Crazy. Completely crazy', she thought as she felt Toyohisa hug her even tighter. The smell of blood and sweat hit her senses and soon it overwhelmed everything, she kept still though, obeying his orders. There a smell underneath the sweat and blood which she could only identify as his own natural smell, and it completely enveloped her, making her somewhat queasy. Toyohisa himself could smell something most akin to tea from Takeko and unwittingly nuzzled into her neck to smell it better. Takeko immediately flushed up, as she fought every single instinct in her body to beat the man off of her. Her entire body going rigid.

The guns radius had blown away the apparitions though to her amazement and to her own surprise she hadn't minded be in the strange embrace of this man either. Even when there was no longer any flying debris he still relented in letting her go. Immediately when she was out of his grasp and standing on her own two feet, he had regrettably missed the feeling of her warmth and her scent clung to his clothes. But they made no indication of this, either ignoring the strange sensations or being simply too stubborn.

'What is he? A fool? Among all the people I have seen from Satsuma, he is the greatest fool', he thought is astonishment. To willingly take upon the firepower of the gun and not even make an attempt to move out of the way. Takeko had made a struggle to at least find some coverage only to be dragged back. Although it may have been a smarter choice. At least the majority of the wounds were on the back and were easily mendable.

Toyohisa took this chance, he jumped up and immediately kneed Hijikata in the jaw. The force of it sent his head flying back, and there was a distinct crack of his neck being bent at such wild conditions. He managed to look straight back at him in the heat of the moment, "You brat!" Clenching his fist, he sent a hurtling punch right in Toyohisa face. Both now swung back at the immensity of the force put in both respective attacks. "You are genuinely insane!" He cried out, his teeth grinding together.

"War is already insane from the outset", Toyohisa replied cheerfully.

Hijikata suddenly turned silent, his eyes widening as he remained still and a grim expression taunt on his face. His lips upturning into an ugly scowl, "No yet! I still have not lost yet!" He cried out holding out his arm. Toyohisa and Takeko looked at each other in bewilderment. They saw no-one but himself, so who on earth was he talking to.

Toyohisa made a grab for his shoulder, throwing him to the ground, his broken sword latched onto by his mouth. "You're in the middle of a fight! Who the hell are you talking to?! You bashtard!" He pushed down his sword even harder at him, Hijikata only just managing to grab onto his arms and hold back the sword. His neck endured only with a single cut, thin and almost insignificant. Toyohisa not relenting at all pushed down even harder, he was not going to leave this battlefield until he had his head!

"You dead bastard!" He cried out, pushing him off and kneeing him straight in the jaw, Toyohisa flung back down onto the floor with Hijikata pinning him down. Sending another punch straight into his face, knocking him back and forth. The two had completely disregarded their weapons and brawled head straight against each other. Exchanging blows to one another which would've knocked out an otherwise normal person.

"Are you a monster or something!? Die! Hurry up at die!" Hijikata cried out in between blows.

"Ah! Just leave you head, jackass!" Toyohisa retorted, punching him back with even more vigour.

Takeko and the dwarf stood just several metres away watching the spectacle, Takeko holding onto her arm tightly to slow down the blood flow as she looked upon the fight with amusement. She related the fight to two children brawling over a toy. Something funny, but then again these two men were fully grown adults.

"Argh…like this…we'd end up hitting them both. We can't even help", he bit out. a little frustrated at their helplessness.

"They won't need our help. They're doing just fine", Takeko simply said as she saw some ghostly apparitions also materialise next to them. They too were unable to help their master in such close combat. Takeko blinked her eyes in surprise as they took a look at her and bowed as a form of greeting.

She smiled, nodding her head, "Hello", she said. The dwarf doing to same but with a more exasperated expression. He didn't even know that these ghosts could move independently.

Just as Hijikata was about to give him a another good blow to the face he suddenly stopped and jumped back, his expression rather grim and a snarky grimace marred his bloodied face. He was reluctant to even leave however the orders were orders. There was a loud wail of beast that came from the skies, as a dragon came from above, a soldiers seated on its back waiting for Hijikata to board. Jumping back and with the help of the apparitions he made the unhuman jump of some several metres.

Toyohisa and Takeko stood dumbfounded as they stared at the beast in the sky, Takeko felt her jaw slacken a little. "That's a dragon…a real fucking dragon", she said in awe. Toyohisa looked to his left in surprise. That was the first time he had heard a woman ever swear, although it was rather befitting of this situation. Because he didn't even know dragon's even existing in this world as well, although considering he things they had seen it was only to be expected. The dwarf was somewhat surprised but it was not unheard of dragons, so his marvel was only in seeing one after so many years in imprisonment.

"Get down here!" He yelled, staring right up at the dragon and the samurai. "We were just about to get to the good part!" Crossing his arms and with a face of disappointment he huffed out, "And here, I thought I was finally going to be able to fight with a proper Japanese samurai. I won't forgive you for flying away like this. I'll relieve you of your head, so get down here!" Toyohisa bellowed, still looking up at the dragon.

'This bastard…just earlier, weren't you the one leaping and prancing around?' His eyes turning away, deciding that he enough of this stupid red clad samurai. "Ignore him. Go", he said briefly.

"Understood".

For a split second he decided to look back down, not at Toyohisa but at Takeko. She stood beside Toyohisa and had a rather placid expression. Remaining tall she looked up, both meeting each other's eye. She gave him a smile and lifted up her arm to wave him a small goodbye, before turning away. He blinked his eyes, she had still regarded him as a friend to even give him a wave. Or was she just mocking him. 'Remain the same. Don't change, Kotake', he thought, turning away as well. Looking towards the distance.

'I thought I was fighting a proper Japanese samurai', his voice still echoed in his mind. It was such a term he hadn't even referred to himself in years. It was a term which had begun to loose meaning to him. "Samurai…Samurai, huh. Me?" A smile spread across his face, he would look forward to next time. And next time he would also kill him.

Toyohisa let out a grunt of dissatisfaction, "Defeated…but victorious", he grumbled out. The fight was unsatisfactory and his prey had run off with less wounds than him. His wounds finally caught up with him and finally he fell forward. Takeko made a grab for him but then realised that her arms were still injured. Resulting to him collapsing onto her.

Gasping out as she felt his body weight crush her as she fell onto the floor, "H-help…" She wheezed out, reaching for the dwarf.

"Oi! Toyo!" He cried out, as he managed to pull off Toyohisa's unconscious torso off of Takeko who was now heaving. And her head was throbbing in pain with her arms screeching in protest of being stretched and used beyond their capacity. Soon her loss of blood and her cry of muscles made her pass out as well, purely from the sheer dizziness.

He fumbled through the bedsheets as he woke up with a jolt, a flash of searing pain running through his body as he vaguely remembered what was transpired within the last few hours. Looking around the rooms, he vaguely made out some details. Pinpointing it as one of the official buildings of the Capitol, one of them that had managed to escape the fire. He looked around, the room was not overly dark, being lit by some few candles. Looking to the lone table to his side he could see his clothing and his weaponry all in good shape, except for his sword which lay in two pieces.

He clicked his tongue in irritancy at the thought of his broken sword, it was one of his favourites and he had no replacement blade. There was a small rustling sound to his right which made him flinch and instinctively go for his sword. To his right was also a bed, and there was a moving frame beneath the sheets. It was smaller in comparison and there was a soft groan. He relaxed his muscles, it was her.

The bedsheets moved and finally it was pulled aside, revealing a bandaged woman, with bed tousled hair who looked up and around, her mind still sleep ridden. She slowly got up into a sitting position, rubbing her heavy-lidded eyes, trying to rub the tiredness out of them. Takeko felt her neck crack at the movement and her arm protesting in pain. It was in a small sling but otherwise her body was not in terrible shape. Looking to her left she saw an apprehensive Toyohisa who was bound in so many bandages she didn't recognise him for a moment.

"You've looked better", she mumbled, her tongue fumbling over some words. Her body still laden with sedatives and her head wasn't the clearest right now. She scratched her neck with her one good arm, as she tilted her head left to right. Her hair shifting along with the movement, covering parts of her face.

As the bedsheets slipped further down he could see that she was wearing a single layer of a yukata, and that the clothing had bunched up in awkward places, allowing him to see some things that was not seen by any other man. Thankfully the bandages covered some parts of her body, including the cleavage area which was now bound.

"How are your wounds", he said turning away, his face somewhat flushed, trying to wash the image out of his mind.

She took a look at herself lifting some of the bandages to get a peek at the cuts, "Not as bad as I thought", she deemed. She slowly swung her legs to the side of the bed and with some effort she managed to get up. She was not in such a bad position where she could not get out of bed, but it would've been better if she stayed put. Toyohisa also made the attempt to pull himself out as well, but his muscles groaned out in protest and his legs simply didn't have the energy or strength. His wounds were just too deep.

Walking past Toyohisa's bed she took a look outside, it was currently night, not too much past sunset. Her legs were aching and she was pushing herself to even stand, finally relenting she hobbled back her bed. However only managing to make it to Toyhisa's bed before sitting down as her muscles cried out. Panting slightly as she rubbed her head, she was still dizzy from her loss of blood.

"You shouldn't be walking around so soon", Toyohisa reprimanded as he felt the bed shift in gravity as Takeko lay against his legs, resting her arm on his knee, her chin in turn resting on her elbow crease.

She gave him a sceptical look, but said nothing. Silence enveloped the room, however soon soft snores could be heard, Toyohisa blinked in astonishment. She had fell asleep on his legs!? He leaned forward to nudge her so she could return to her own bed, but seeing her serene expression and her soft snores he didn't have the heart to wake her up. With some effort he managed to grab her bedsheets and drape them over her body. She tucked her head even further into the soft folds of the bedsheets, curling up into a ball.

Her body warmth quickly enveloping her legs, although making them numb at the same time from the lack of blood movement. However he made no protest as she continued to sleep. She was a deep sleeper, that or she had way too many sedatives in her body. But she slept rather peacefully, her hair curtaining some of her face. The strands getting stuck to her lips as they flickered along with her breathing.

He didn't know what compelled him, but he leaned closer and brushed the strands from her face, combing them behind her ear. He pulled back his hand almost immediately, staring at his hand with shock. He had done that out of compulsion and not by reasoning or thought. But his hand had remembered the soft touch and feel of her skin, it was unlike his. His was rough and always dirtied in some way. Her's was soft, silky and pearly. It felt nice against his calloused fingertips.

He leaned back as he let out a heavy sigh.

'What am I doing?'

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