Author's intro: Good evening, dear readers (since it's evening in my time zone). You can't imagine how happy I am to get your reviews. I didn't expect to be that happy... You know this story has traffic stats. I get fascinated when I see a wide range of countries the visitors come from. Most of them are the countries I've never been to. Hakuouki sure brings people together =) But it's time to move further!

Also greatest thanks to ImpracticalDemon for beta reading!

Chapter IV. Drawing closer

The pack was heading towards the Bar Mile, a famous street in the Central Slums, the most civilized part of the district, stuffed with entertainment establishments of all kinds. Chizuru took the passenger seat in Okita's car. Saitou-san joined them while the rest of the pack occupied Harada-san's Mazda.

Despite Okita being all teasing and thorny, Chizuru had the impression that she could understand his worldview easily and that they had much in common. If Okita had had an idea of her thoughts, he would have died laughing. He never tolerated those who took him lightly.

For the welcoming party the pack had chosen an old-school establishment with private rooms and a modest signboard. Several old men were having their late meals under the canopy of artificial plants.

"Hijikata-san has booked the quietest place of the quarter," mumbled Toudou giving a disappointed look to the place. "I wanna puke."

"For the sake of everyone's safety." Harada-san winked to the receptionist who was obviously shocked by a bunch of weirdos with a girl proceeding to the private rooms.

"First day in the Slums, huh? The chick's all pale." Toudou brightened up a little.

"Be generous, behave yourself," Nagakura patted his shoulder.

…

Their private room was rather tight with a number of large pillows gathered around a low table. Chizuru praised herself for wearing jeans that day. The pack ordered drinks and some appetizers. The waiter couldn't hide a disapproving glance towards a girl stuck between a scary guy with reddish-brown hair and a loud thug with a bandana on his head. When the waiter had left, they all burst into laughter.

"Poor Yukimura-san, you'll get these looks every time from now on!" said Toudou.

"Do we really look like a bunch of womanizers?" Shinpachi cried.

"You don't resemble a priest, pal, relax," Harada-san comforted him.

The idea of being an outcast or prejudiced because of the pack's company hadn't crossed Chizuru's mind before. The guys wouldn't look dangerous to anyone who bothered to take a closer observation. Moreover, they appeared pretty childish and easy-going, and they did their best to accept her into the band. Chizuru couldn't afford to rely on people's sanity anymore. "Do. Not. Belong." was the title of the band's first longplay and she had to blend in. I wanted to start over, so here it is.

"I guess you need some informal information about us," Toudou started. "You know nothing except our general occupations and the fact that Souji is an asshole. Aww! That hurts!"

"Stop harming my reputation, dude." Okita spared a casual grin to Toudou who grabbed his chest. He was not half as hostile as Toudou portrayed him, but it seemed to be a kind of regular inner joke of the pack.

They started their usual playful chatter giving Chizuru the details of their relationships and common life. She had a chance to check her first impressions and some of them were obviously false. The rumors told that the band was forced to take a new member on their producer's demand and Chizuru felt a bit uncomfortable infiltrating their team. However, they all tried to be nice. Even Okita despite his teasing was completely proficient in everything connected with actual work.

"Guys, could you tell me more about the band's history? How did you all meet?" Chizuru asked. She wanted to postpone the inevitable report about herself.

"Yep, I guess we owe you a thorough description of the mess you got into. That's what the welcoming party is for." Harada-san smiled to her.

"You shouldn't trust some random unknown punks, especially when they look like us!" giggled Nagakura.

"Especially when every frigging waiter looks at us with that frigging expression!" Toudou added.

At that moment the waiter entered the room bringing their order. He gave them all a mundane smile and retreated. He's not that bad after all.

"Okay, we should start it with Souji's biography since he's sorta the first member." Harada-san said musingly taking his drink.

"You don't have to tell her my full biography, pal. It's embarrassing. Start from the moment we first met." He didn't look all that embarrassed though. Somehow Okita happened to sit by Chizuru's left side and she could feel the touch of his knee. Why is the damn room so small? His presence made her nervous, especially since she still felt a bit tense in the new company.

"Don't worry, I won't give away your secrets." Harada-san smiled. "When Souji was fifteen, he ran a dark-electro duet with that creepy guy… remind me… Sannan Keisuke. He's rather well-known in the local underground. Souji made beats and electronic arrangements for him. He was a sort of gothic party prodigy."

"My, my, get straight to business," Okita grinned.

"Sure. Once there was some hell-of-a-party in Token club, where I'd first met him in person. We came with Shinpachi to rave up, but actually Souji was the one to have some real fun. He had a fight with a security guy and was banned from the club for several months.

"Souji was nuts. A crazy weedy teen. Pretty scary though." said Nagakura. Chizuru could add that the latter thing hadn't changed much.

Okita was sitting with a blank face, stirring his drink with a wooden skewer. He and Harada-san had turned down alcohol since they were driving. Hijikata-san had been sober since their previous encounter. To Chizuru's surprise Saitou-san was absorbing significant amounts of alcohol, although it didn't seem to affect him in the slightest.

"By the way, I have some photos with me!" Hijikata-san announced taking out his tablet. A rare smile was plastered over his face.

"Is it some kind of revenge or what?!" moaned Okita.

"I barely recognize you here. Although the smirk is the same," said Chizuru as her eyes went wide. Teen Okita was very skinny, all packed up in black and wearing shoulder-blade-length hair. He had the same rowdy face expression.

"Oh, really?" he murmured.

"And this must be your partner…" She pointed at the dark-haired guy with melancholic face standing next to teen Okita.

"Yup, it's Sannan-san. But let's continue," Harada-san said. "We found Souji on the street and quickly proceeded to the nearby bar. It was a strange feeling… As we talked it became more obvious. We seemed to be dealing from the same pack of cards. That morning we established our band."

"You forgot that I'd found your verses too intimate back then and I still consider the name too pretentious. The new squad*, really?" Okita smiled.

"Of course, he teased us to death all the time. But we know he loves us. Deep inside. Got used to it," said Nagakura refilling his plate with food.

"I need to think of something new to keep you in a good shape then."

"But what about Sannan-san? How did he accept the new band? And what about Harada-san and Nagakura-san? Did you run your own band back then too?" Chizuru asked.

"They all worked together for some time, but Sannan-san went further. He is a sound designer now," Saitou-san cut into. "He also runs a pretty reputable stand-alone about electronic music and sound."

"As for Sano and Shinpachi… There were times when every lady strolling up and down the damn Bar mile knew Sano's singing." Hijikata-san smiled. "Sano was performing some wild romance songs with Shinpachi on bongo drums and percussion."

They all chuckled picturing that scene.

"When did we meet Hijikata-san? He was the next one to join." Harada-san frowned trying to remember.

"Yup. Sano and Hijikata-san were taking part in some sort of flyting, a poetry slam. We came to support Sano and suddenly got the second lyricist for our band." Shinpachi's face was clouded with memories.

"Hijikata-san was very expressive with his beloved we all gonna die topics. Bar none, we immediately fell in love with him." Souji looked a bit regretful.

Hijikata-san sighed. "I love you too. You are my favorite ward".

They broke down with laughter. Chizuru felt unusually at ease. She couldn't totally blame alcohol for it. She basked in the warmth of their company. They were all smiling trying to get the pieces of story together for her. How could so many damn people misjudge them that much?

"Souji's stepfather runs a kendo school in the Workmen district, close to the Slums. We were allowed to occupy a room there between 8 and 10 p.m. The kendo school became our first rehearsal base. Brings back memories, huh?" Harada-san continued. Chizuru noted the word stepfather. "The whole thing was snowballing rapidly. We had lots of ideas and melodic drafts, but we lacked guitar and bass. Heisuke was Souji's schoolmate..."

"I'm two years younger than him," said Heisuke. "We hadn't crossed paths much at school. But he's found me through our common buddies."

So he attended school at least, thought Chizuru.

"Saitou-san was the last to join, I assume?" She asked.

"I got acquainted with Souji through the music-related forum on the net. I lived in my native city in northern Yezo. And Souji came there while traveling…" Saitou-san raised his voice.

He traveled across the prairie in his teens, while I was studying like a dummy. She wasn't the one to brag about an interesting bio.

"Then I moved here to enter the college and ended up in the band. I would say I was persuaded fervently," he continued with a small smile.

"Given his incredible skills, Hajime had no future there in Yezo," said Hijikata-san.

"Yukimura-san, did you see our live performance? He's such a beast, huh?" Shinpachi gave her a wide smile.

"I've watched the videos. Saitou-san is amazing. By the way, you can call me by my first name, since we are going to work closely."

"Chizuru-chan, then," stated Harada-san.

Souji narrowed his eyes at her. What does his weird body language mean? Nagakura and Toudou immediately asked Chizuru to call them by their first names as well.

"So we started to work on our first songs," Hijikata-san continued. "I was writing so-called social lyrics while Sano was writing sensual ones. That's what we call them although it's an obvious simplification."

"We're all waiting for that moment when Sano becomes a bit more political and writes some bomb protest song." They all burst into laughter again. That seemed to be another regular inner joke.

"Gentlemen, we have the only unknown member left here," Okita said looking at her with a persistent smile.

Chizuru felt a panic rising. They'll learn that I had nothing to do with police, hemp or parties. Never crossed the prairie. Nothing interesting, just school-college-orchestra.

"While studying I joined the Chamber orchestra," she started. "I did it because of the Conductor's personality… He was an innovator, always pushing us to expand the boundaries. We did both unknown pieces and his interpretations of well-known classics. I was lucky to be a part of it. And our city was lucky to have him for those several years. When he went abroad, I changed groups several times, but I've lost the thirst for classical music and a view of my path." That sounded a bit pretentious, but the most sincere words are often ridiculous. "Then I found your ad on the web. Th-that's it. Nothing so impressive about me I guess." She felt like she was starting to blush. Being the center of everyone's attention wasn't her cup of tea.

"You impressed us enough with the track choice during the audition," Hijikata-san reassured her.

"Well, I guess, I had some experimental stuff," muttered Chizuru. "I always felt like a traitor for constantly listening to non-classics and practising some weird things."

The pack chatted like that for several hours. Hijikata-san had stored a collection of old photos in his tablet and the pictures were an immense success. A range of episodes floated in front of her eyes. There was Shinpachi-san demonstrating his new tattoo with a megawatt smile. His long spiky hair was tied into a messy ponytail. There was Saitou-san shot in a musical instrument store. He looked unusually lively discussing something with a cornered salesperson. There were Okita and Hijikata-san pictured with a tall friendly-looking man embracing their shoulders.

"Souji's stepfather, Kondou-san," Shinpachi-san whispered to her ear. Teen Okita was smiling. There were Heisuke-kun, Shinpachi-san and Harada-san leaving some pub and waving hands at the photographer…

When Saitou-san fell asleep in his corner, they finally decided to postpone nostalgic memories until further parties.

...

Okita was driving her home. He, Harada-san and Hijikata-san were the only sober members of the pack by the end of the evening.

"Actually, I never feel completely sober," he commented. It seemed to be his usual joke about it.

"Does it mean you never drink?" Chizuru asked nonchalantly.

"I guess I don't like the feeling of losing control, so no, I rarely drink." Okita uttered unexpectedly. They fell silent.

The streets of reputable districts were empty and quiet due to the late hour. They finally stopped near her house.

"A Marketplace? You sure live in the wealthy neighbourhood." Okita looked at the multistorey buildings surrounding the former market square.

"Come on, it's not my fault!" She felt more relaxed around him than usual.

"Sure thing," he said wistfully. "Well, see you soon. Don't wake Hajime-kun up, I'll give him your best wishes."

Chizuru said goodbye to Okita and went inside. Her family was still up and waiting for her. She had made no secret of the fact that she had joined an underground band, not a sweet orchestra. But her parents had had no idea about the extent of the band's undergroundness. A couple of Youtube videos (especially the infamous one with Harada wounding himself) had shocked them to the core. The image of their girl playing Kansas covers with some classy guys in glasses was torn up.

That night, they had a hard talk about Chizuru's complicated and expensive education being thrown away for the sake of some thugs. About being alone with five guys with unclear motives and scary faces. About life priorities and wasting precious time. They could have used much less effort to ruin a wonderful evening, since she had been all happy and defenseless. And Chizuru ended up in tears. The tense atmosphere of her home, which she thought she had gotten used to, was driving her mad.

...

* Note: 'The new squad' is Shinsengumi's translation.

...

Author's outro: I hope you liked the chapter. I felt like busking in the sun while writing it. I have drafts of some more chapters and illustrations but I need time to refine them. Sometimes I have a feeling that I need a twitter widget on my page to inform readers about the working progress, cause I feel uncomfortable when I have no ability to update quickly. I dream about being able to spend all of my time on the story, but, alas, I have my duties =/

…

The most interesting thing about writing AU is that you have your characters put into different circumstances in comparison with the original game. And they have no chance to stay completely the same. So you have to change them with maximum caution.

...

Since I cannot answer the unregistered users, I'll drop a line here:

Dear Missumi Yoshikaw, I feel honored that you beared with Google Translator to read the story and leave a review. Thank you! Your support means a lot for me.

Dear Guests (the first and the second), thanks for bothering yourself with reviewing, I hope you liked the new chapter!