Chapter 7: The Fake Romance

"Is something wrong Saitou-san?"

Akira waited for the man to answer but he only sat there watching her. She was starting to feel uncomfortable as he never left his gaze from her. After a while, she finished the pile of papers waiting for her. She even wrote her good-bye letter, while Saitou was still looking at her, sitting there since he came.

"Saitou-san," she started again, "Tell me what you have to say. You're beginning to make me feel uncomfortable just staring at me."

"You're planning on leaving," it was statement, not a question.

"I see, so you're planning to stop me," she too replied in a statement.

He nodded his head and made no other motion as she approached him. She sat directly in front of him and explained to him why she was leaving in a very small whisper, as if she were telling him a big secret.

"Saitou-san, I'm only telling you because I know you will listen and I know you won't interrupt me. It's already winter, the time I was born. It's also the time where my powers are strong, too strong. I can be extremely dangerous if I don't restrain my power. It's much harder for me to that though because I'm a young witch. If I am to stay here, I need to find that book to place a binding spell on myself. Until then I'm just a hazard, especially towards Heisuke."

"Why Heisuke?" was the only thing he asked. He didn't question her reason, nor was he frightened of her. He simply wanted to know why his youngest comrade was the in the most danger.

She gave him an understanding smile, "Remember when I moved away and I scream 'don't touch me' to him."

Saitou nodded again, wondering where this was leading.

"Well that's because my family is cursed. All our lovers die because we kill them. It doesn't matter when or how because it always happens. When we don't have lovers, the curse still insists on hurting someone. It usually chooses the closest male towards the witch and slowly tortures him over time. Heisuke will suffer much misfortune just because he received that shock and still insisted it was a minor setback; however if I leave, I can trick the curse that we aren't that close and he'll be fine."

"So you need someone whose role in your life is greater than Heisuke's."

Akira was a bit surprised at Saitou's statement.

"I guess you can also see it like that, but I don't want give anyone any trouble."

"And the only role greater than a sibling is that of a lover," Saito said thoughtfully to himself.

Akira was shocked with what Saitou was saying; she didn't understand why he thinking about this at all.

"No. I don't want a lover. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me I want.…" All of her emotions were crashing together. She started to feel dizzy.

Saitou finally paid attention to the witch as she was beginning to lose herself. This conversation was making Akira stressed. Her head began to spin. Her powers grew out of control. The papers began flying around the room.

"I want to protect you guys. I want to protect the Shinsengumi… No… Stop! I don't want to hurt them!" Tears came to Akira's eyes as she cried out trying to prevent her magic from harming Saitou and the other Shinsengumi she struggled against her magic, she slowly passed out.

"Mommy, who's that boy who looks like me?"

"What are you talking about Akira-chan? There's no one else here but you and me."

Akira was confused. Her mother then went to the store so she was home by herself. She wanted to play with someone but no one was around. That's when the boy appeared.

"Hello, do you want to play with me? Wait, first I think I should introduce myself. I'm …"

"Huh? You're ..."

Akira wanted to ask a lot of questions, but everything became a blur again. She heard a man's voice calling out her name.

"Akira"

She slowly opened her eyes and saw Saitou's face in front of hers.

Everything in the room was back to normal and the things were back in their place. She could only imagine that she herself put them back after the chaos. She nodded her head, lightly blushing. She had made several scenes before but this one was just absolutely ridiculous. She wanted to be mature and explain things to Saitou but she lost control. This is why she hated winter. Both her powers and her mental state were out of balance. Saitou visibly relaxed and moved back so she could sit up.

"Are you alright?" he asked. He wanted to make sure she was mentally stable enough to continue telling her what was on his mind.

"Yes, I apologize for acting that way. I get like that during winter a lot… that's why I want to leave," she whispered the last part as even Saitou was against her departure.

"Are you willing to listen to me now," his voice was serious. His eyes were demanding her attention. He was hypnotizing her with his gaze. She didn't even realize when she nodded her head. She only knew she did because Saitou continued.

"I will to pretend to be your lover. I'm not afraid of death and the others are out of harm's way.

"I refuse," she said quickly and boldly, "I don't want to force you to do something so unnecessary and also my absence would only be temporary. Everyone would be out of harm's way and I can also take this opportunity to look for the book."

"But you might not return." It sounded as if it physically hurt him to say it out loud.

He was right. If she found the book, she really might not come back. Akira knew he might not actually care about her but he did care for his comrades and they were all fond of her. Her leave would be their pain and their pain would be his. She knew that. Maybe she wanted Saitou to actually care for her. Maybe she really didn't want to leave. Whatever it was, she couldn't help but go with the man's plan.

"Very well," she said sadly, "but it'll be painful to be my lover, even if it's a fake one. You filled with misfortune and you can still die."

She held the vain hope that he will change his mind and decide against his plan after all. She quickly crushed her own hope. Saitou was not the type of man to retreat from his own plan and she was right.

He reached out his left hand towards hers. A small electric current became visible and he hesitated, but only for a moment. He then lightly placed his hand over hers. An electric wave quickly flowed through his body. He flinched. He did not know how Heisuke said it was only a small shock; he was in excruciating pain. He didn't show it in his face nor did he remove his hand from hers. He kept his cool demeanor as he gazed into her eyes, assuring her everything was okay. She didn't need to leave. They could figure it out. He leaned in closer to her face. His hair brushed her cheeks as he made his way to her right ear.

"I know," he whispered into her ear. He softly squeezed her hand, silently telling her he was already in pain.

A small smile formed her lips. It no longer mattered why Saitou was doing this, just the fact that he was made her happy.

"You're very brave Saitou-san."

Saitou moved away from her face but still kept a close distance. He brushed her face with his right hand, feeling the shock sensation getting stronger. His eyebrows twitched and Akira started to feel guilty for being happy.

"Saitou-san, you don't have to force yourself, I can…"

"Hajime," he interrupted, "you can call me Hajime when we're alone."

"But…" she began to protest, but Saitou's eyes told her to say it, to call out his name.

"Hajime," she whispered steadily. The one and only thing she truly hated about Saitou was his hypnotizing gaze. Every time she looked into his eyes she would unconsciously do as she is told.

He continued to caress her face as he added on the conditions to this fake romance.

"Don't tell anyone, they will only question the reason."

Akira nodded.

"Also," he continued, "I apologize if I'm a lousy lover."

His cheeks became pink, but he didn't remove his eyes from hers. Akira smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying this moment as she was tricking the curse.

"It's okay," she said. "As long as Hajime is okay with it, then it's okay."

When she opened her eye again, he gave her a rare smile and her heart skipped a beat. Her face turned red as he proceeded to make their foreheads touch.

"Good night Akira," he said as he breathed into her face.

Akira could not take her eyes away from Saitou's. Her heart was racing madly in her chest. It's just pretend she told herself, but she couldn't help but to feel happy. Her face softened and she gave him a warm smile.

"Good night Saitou-san."

"Hajime," he reminded her.

"I'm sorry," said the girl still in his trance, "Hajime."

He nodded approvingly and let her go. She felt her heart drop as she noticed Saitou relax as he moved farther away from her. It's only pretend, she reminded herself again, but even so, she felt so very happy.

Saitou did not feel the same as she did and as for the act, he was merely imitating what he had seen Harada do several times, but he was reaching his limit. The shock that ran through his body was becoming too much for him to bear. For Heisuke. For the Shinsengumi, he thought and the pain subdued a bit. Now, his fake romance with Akira became just another mission to protect the Shinsengumi.

Author's Note:

Okay so I said I had everything in my head for this chapter and I did... the problem was I didn't write it down so I couldn't make it the way I originally thought. Then I had writer's block. Yeah, it was the most painful week of my life. You can all thank my cousin Yaya who added stuff in the middle of the chapter. It really did get my imagination flowing and I was able to finish. Honestly, I don't know when I would have updated if it weren't for her, so thanks Yaya! I also got some reviews (some by the same person but I still like the input) and I was dying of happiness. Thanks you guys! I promise that at the end of story I will have a dedication page just for you. (I am NOT joking)

P.S. If you didn't notice, I changed the genre and it's now officially romance/tragedy. You will all know at the end why, BUT... I'll just wait until you guys get there for me to finish the sentence. I can say you guys might hate me for it.

Please Review! Me like critics :D