It has been a long time now, but I had some trouble finishing up this story. I did not wish to have another fanfiction open for the next I-don't-know-how-many years, therefore I decided to finish this one before posting anything else.
It has been written down, but still needs betta reading and further editing, since I'm not to happy with it jet.
Thank you all for your wonderful reviews, love you people.
It was early morning, not even the sun was up jet, that there was a knock on Kondo Isamis door. He had hoped to at least be able to sleep in a little bit, seeing as last nights dinner had gone way into the morning hours, but it seemed his faithful commander was back at work at headquarters and so he had to get up too. He wondered what it was Toshi was so preocupaid with this early in the morning, none the less he sat up in bed and answered the door.
„Come in," he said while not bothering to get up any further. To his great surprise it was not Hijikata Toshizo who entered his room.
Instead Chizuru closed the doors behind her and addressed her leader.
„Good morning Kondo-sama. I hope I did not wake you." She stated with a sweet smile. It was obvious she did wake him and both knew. „I was wondering, if you could lend me some of your time, Kondo-sama. There is a ..." here she paused and her cheeks reddened. „...a matter of great importance that I wish to speak to you about."
Isami suppressed a yawn. „The sun is not even up jet, Chizuru..." he commented a bit distraught.
„I did not wish to intrude on your daily work, commander. And this conversation could get a bit longer." Chizuru clarified.
The man still sitting in the middle of his bed rubbed his eyes, stretched and arranged the blankets around him.
„Well then," he said. „I'm awake now and the are no urgent matters calling for my attention."
Kondo finished with a smile.
The young woman in front of him bowed deeply. „Thank you very much Kondo-sama", when she sat up again, she closed her eyes for a moment. This could not be more difficult than telling Hijikata, she assured herself.
When she opened them again, the leader of the Shinsengumi had no doubt left, that something transcendental was going to be revealed to him.
„I must asked you, Kondo-sama, to neither judge me nor to interrupt me, until the very end of my tale. Can you do that?" Chizuru needed some kind of safety net. Her leader only nodded, showing he would not disturb her explanation.
With a deep sight the young woman offered him her secret. „I'm pregnant, Kondo-sama."
The man before her tensed up in seconds. His face froze into a mask, before he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. One hand came up and when he looked at her again, his lips where pressed to a fine line and his eyes demanded the explanation, he desperately needed to not break the promise he had just given.
She started her tale from the end, going back in time step by step. „I was only sure of it two weeks ago. Before that, I had suspicions, that I did not want to acknowledge and even before, a feeling, that my world had changed." This time it was her taking a deep breath.
„The events that led up to this..." she had not found the right word to describe her predicament either, „... date back to early winter last year. One night, after finishing my duties, I was on my way to bed. I heard,..." she paused to find the right description. „ noises, pain filled noises to be exact. I am no stranger to that sound, the one a human makes, when changing into a rasetsu."
Kondo sight deeply. Chizuru interjected: „Kondo-sama, you know there are a few of the Shinsengumi captains, that are rasetsu. But I fear, that their number is higher than the official count."
The leader of the warrior troupe looked at her, as if she had accused his men of mutiny.
„Please Kondo-sama, do not judge them to hard." Her interjection caught the man of guard. „They are soldiers, warriors with a worthy cause to fight for. Don't condemn them for wanting to fight for you, or for being desperate enough, to grasp the last possible solution, to stay at your side."
Chizuru had tears in her eyes. Her comrades had tried to do the best for the group. She wanted their leader to understand that.
Isami Kondo let his right hand go through his hair a few times, then rest it in his lap with the other. This was neither the moment to inquire about the use his man gave the ochimizu, nor to discuss Chizurus involvement in the case. He nodded once more and the woman at his side, restarted her tale.
„I just wanted to help, Kondo-sama. I went into the room, where the noise came from and found a rasetsu, one that was gone so far in his blood lust, I was not sure I could help any more. But I had trapped myself already, so I decided that the kamis would know my destiny. I offered him my blood, like I have done for many of my companions here until now. Drinking it calms them down, to the point where their senses return and the blood lust disappears under their normal self. This one did not take the offered sacrifice, instead it stilled another hunger with me, before he drank my blood. Afterwards, I made sure he would not freeze to death and returned to my room."
Kondo had burrowed his face into his hands. One of his captains, one of his closest friends, had imposed himself upon a woman. He had broken a taboo, he had broken one of their golden rules. And it had not been any woman, but Chizuru, the flower, the princess they all cared for.
When he looked up, he could see the pain of that night in her eyes. The pain this all caused in her, the pain the future held for them all.
„For a long time I did not know, how much he remembered of that night." She said with a sad face. „I did not want to know." She added in a whisper.
„He knows." More than a question, it was Kondos confirmation of what she had not said aloud. She nodded. „And he knows about the child." This time she looked up at the commander and smiled beautifully. He did not need any more answers to that question either.
„I am willing to leave the group, on my own, commander. I'll take the responsibility for my child's life and I will not be a burden for the Shinsengumi." Chizurus smile had vanished and cold steel lay in her eyes. „But, under no circumstances, I will reveal the name of the father. He was not himself that night, he had no control over his actions and he has been punishing himself for them, ever since. There is no need for you, commander, to take action on this matter."
In that moment Kondo Isami saw that the sweet child they had adopted was no longer there. She had grown into a woman, still with a heart of gold, but with a resolve, that would bent any sword and dent any fangs which tried attacking her.
„That is your wish?", Isami asked to make sure.
„That is my final word on this case," she replied, head held high.
„Are you going to accept my word on your case?"
That was a good question. She had said she would leave eventually and take the responsibility. But would she accepted his judgement, his council?
This time Chizuru beamed at him, before she bowed. „You are my commander, Kondo-sama. I will follow your orders."
The sun had risen mere moments ago, when a light knock on Kondo Isamis door announced the second visitor of this day. This time there was no mistake possible and so the leader of the ronin squat, let his second in command enter. Hijikata blinked once at seeing the young female in their leaders room, twice, and then his face closed up into the unreadable mask, he wore like an armour.
Chizuru on the other hand looked up from her position on the floor and greeted the demon commander with one of her usual bright smiles. „Good morning Hijikata-kun", to which he replayed with a nod, fixing his eyes on his superior for an answer to this unusual constellation.
„It seems Toshi," Kondo readily supplyed. „That we have quit a problem at our hands. Someone took... his liberties with our dear Chizuru-chan and now, the Shinsengumi are expecting their first child." He finished with a smile on his lips. That moment, if Hijikata Toshizo was a lesser man, he would have fainted.