Author's note: My apologies to everyone for having forgotten about this fic. I posted the first six chapters of a twelve to fourteen chapter story and then stopped for reasons I don't even remember. Over the last few days I have gone back and revised those first six chapters for typos as well as a few minor content changes. I am currently doing the same for the next five chapters, after which I will be re-writing and extending the final chapter (the ending). I rushed it at the time I originally wrote it and that's not fair, to you or to the story. It deserves a proper ending which I will do my best to get to you soon.
kuraireikan

Tainted Tea for Two

She had to pull herself together, and quickly.

She turned to Souji slowly and did her best to get things back on track.

"I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, Souji-san," she nodded.

"Just Souji, please," he corrected with a slightly pinched smile.

"Souji," and she nodded again, eyes downcast. "I admit that Hijikata-san's response was a surprise; so much so that I shifted somewhat and was reminded rather strongly of how we all came to be here," she explained. "It was a particularly painful error on my part, which is what brought the tears to my eyes. And unfortunately, it has also put me off my appitite," she added as she gently moved the rice cakes closer to Souji, "but please do help yourself to as much as you like. The thought of their spoiling bothers me almost as badly as my ankle."

It was all she could think to do in the heat of the moment.

She knew that they would be aware of the cost of honey and sugar cane. Anyone with a sweet tooth would. This was the time of year when all the confectioners nearly doubled there prices due to the limited supply of good quality ingredients.

As part of her disguise she was dressed in a manner that was to be expected of a lower middle class young lady. The sort who would have to work long hours to save enough yen to buy honey at the current market prices.

To refuse her now would be completely unacceptible.

"You need not worry, Takeshi-san. Nothing is going to go to waste today, is it Hijikata-san?"

This last was such an obvious challenge that Akiko wondered if Souji had even heard the explanation for her tears.

"No," came the soft, if gravelly reply, "not today." And with that Hijikata held out his hand for a rice cake which Souji wasted no time in taking to him.

After giving one sticky cake to Hijikata and laying one out each for Akiko and himself, he pulled a small bag of sweets from his sleeve pocket and spread its contents in front of the hearth, near the remainder of the cakes before again looking at Hijikata expectantly.

Hijikata in turn brought two small packages out of his own sleeve, one containing a selection of dried fruits while the other held pickled vegetables.

Akiko couldn't help but be touched by this small offering and bowed as graciously as she could given that she, too, was sitting on the floor, and with a sprained ankle..

Afterward, Souji and Hijikata ate their rice cakes in silence while Akiko used that time to add fresh water to the pot hanging over the fire.

It was obvious from the grimace that the bitter taste of tea with sweets did not please Hijikata one bit. He said nothing, however, and alternated between a bite of cake and a sip of tea until they were both gone.

Souji's reaction was even worse. He nearly gagged and looked as though he might not finish it. Whether this was because he'd eaten two rice cakes and several candies already or because he was unaccustomed to bitter flavors in general, she didn't bother to speculate.

"I'm sorry," she said, her eyes once again downcast, "It's my fault. If I hadn't made such a fuss earlier. I'm afraid I let it steep a little too long, and now it's nearly cold as well. Please, allow me to start again."

Her act of self deprication followed by her reaching for the cup was all the excuse Souji needed.

He downed the rest of his tea in two swallows.

Akiko covered her mouth in a manner that would look as though she were stifling giggles. It was by the thinnest of margins that she was able to take the cup back when Souji held it out to her. After which she turned away as if to pour herself a cup, but her hands were shaking too violently now. They'd notice in a minute, despite her clutching at the cup to hide them.

"Would anyone care for more tea?" she asked still clutching at the cup, "I'll make a fresh pot if you like."

The sound of the, "No, thank you," in that deep timbre, overlapping Souji's higher pitched and brighter, "Not for me Thanks," made it difficult to tell how far things had gone. No matter, it would happen soon enough and her ankle wasn't in such bad shape that she couldn't get out of their reach if need be.

She leaned over the hearth and gently washed the cups out in the pot over the fire before drying and placing them on the tray next to the teapots.

"Would you care for more rice cakes?" she was chattering now to keep them from realizing.

Just a little longer, she told herself.

"Forgive me for not joining you, but with the pain of my ankle, I'm afraid I'm not up to it," she said, and paused.

"Takeshi-shan?" and there it was.

It had begun.

"Yes?"

When she turned back, Souji was watching her strangely. He slowly raised one hand to touch his lips, and then poke at them, before his hand fell back into his lap.

Hijikata hadn't moved but from his expression it seemed that he was doing an internal check.

Souji looked thoroughly confused for a moment where as Hijikata's eyes narrowed as they attempted to wrap their heads around it.

"I don' unahsh...," he was attempting to say when realization struck like lightening.

Souji's hand once again moved, a spasmodic motion that was likely his attempt to reach for his sword, before falling to his lap once again and sliding off his leg to land palm up on the floor beside him.

Hijikata faired better, managing to struggle upward to one knee and get his sword halfway out of it's scabard before falling forward. His normally lightening fast reflexes, even slowed to this extent, still allowed him to get one hand down to spare him falling flat on his face, but just barely.

From there he pushed upward, ever so slowly, to his hands and knees and started in her direction. Fortunately for them both, he collapsed before reaching—and falling into—the fire still burning on the hearth. It would have been impossible for her to move the near dead weight of a man his size before the fire did irreprable damage.

As it was, it took nearly all of her strength to pull his upper body back into a sitting position and drag him backwards to where she could once again prop him up against the wall, and in a manner that ensured he would not shift and fall sideways. He had only made it about a foot, thank the gods or she would have had far more than I mild sprain before it was all over.

Every few seconds she could feel the slight twitch of a muscle here or there, most likely from Hijikata's attempts to kill her while she was within arm's reach. Based on the fact that he was trying to glare holes into her the entire time, it was obvious that his current physical restrictions had done nothing to dull the absolute fury in his eyes.

Until he saw Souji.

The sudden change in his demeaner caused her to turn as well.

While Hijikata's fury had surprisingly little effect on her, the look in Souji's eyes effected her greatly, as it did Hijikata.

Souji, unlike his friend, was completely unable to move or speak. And unlike his friend, his eyes were not filled with rage but with a sense of betrayal and fear.

Tremendous fear.

Once again, she felt her resolve weaken.

It's too late now.

It always was.

Souji was still in almost exactly the place and position he'd started in so there were very few adustments to make in his case. Hijikata might take some work, though.

She moved quietly, and as quickly as possible, into the sleeping room behind them and retrieved several decorative cusions and support boards.

She placed cusions on either side of Souji before getting him under the arms from the front and moving him into a higher sitting position. His back against the pillow behind him, braced on eaither side by cusions under the arms—hopefully this would at least keep him from falling sideways—the final piece being the folded cusion she placed under his knees to prevent a downward slide.

This should do, she thought

She studied Hijikata carefully before moving in and using a combination of support boards and cusions to do the same for him that she had done to Souji. It took surprisingly little time and when done she stood back to view her handy work.

They sat directly across from each other in the room, propped against opposite walls, just as the widow had insisted upon.

Leaving the one she hated uninjured but killing the one he cared about instead was bad enough. Doing it with poison would be considered by most as both cowardly and nasty. But to set it up so that the one was forced to watch this death by design?

Akiko was beginning to think that perhaps she and the widow were far more demonic than the demons they had hunted.

With this thought all the tension, nervousness, and fear she'd been battling all evening left. Now, a wave of exhaustion the likes of which she had never known; not even in the widow's house, came over her.

Truly, it was time to bring this to a close.

o0o0o

When the time comes, you must find within yourself a steel the likes of which you never knew existed. A steel even stronger then that of their blades.

"Gentlemen, there is nothing you can do so you may as well save your strength," Their looks of deadly rage mixed with shock and betrayal were difficult to ignore. However, she had a job to finish and so quickly returned to her place.

Cold, the widoe had said. Cold like steel.

So be it.

She began, "to answer the questions that I know you have..."

"You have been poisoned."

"I have used two different toxins delivered in several ways," she stated.

"The teapots and cups were all lined with a thin residue. Not one that is dangerous alone if used in small doses for relaxing tight and painful muscles, but a high enough dosage can knock out an ox," she explained. "The point of this was to not only put you at ease but to ensure that your bodies would be all the more susceptible to the rest."

"Blowfish toxin dried and loosely ground before being added to the tea leaves, as well as a very small amount of it in liquid form, along with snake venom, mixed into the honey. None of the dosages when used separately are enough to kill a man, but when all three are combined...," she finished.

With this admission Hijikata's eyes went wide before narrowing again, as much as possible under the cicumstances, and there was the tiniest of squeaks from Souji's direction. "Yes, Hijikata-san, you know exactly what that means, don't you?" she taunted mildly. "Shall I explain to little Souji since you're in no condition to do it yourself?"

"The muscle relaxer not only puts you at ease but lowers your heart rate, making it harder to notice something that raises your heart beat. Something like a combination of a very small amount of snake venom and blowfish toxin," she began to explain.

"That went into the rice cakes that were served first because the flush it causes—the increased heart rate which in turn causes the blood to rush through your veins—could be written off as a sugar high," she explained, as she undid the bandage around her ankle..

"It puts your entire body into full adreneline mode, as if you were in battle," she paused for a moment to look at Hijikata, "It also tends to numb the tastebuds, Isn't that right Hijikata-san?"

They were both breathing heavily by now and it looked as if Souji couldn't decide whether to burn her alive with his eyes or just cry. She chose to ignore him and, having repositioned the poultice, began to rewrap her injuried ankle as she spoke. "Even though Souji ingested twice as much as you did, Hijikata-san, it was a mild dose to begin with. It probably wouldn't have killed him," she admitted.

"I used it primarily to cover the taste, and hasten the effect, of the larger dose of blowfish toxin in the tea. And, it's that toxin, on top of all the rest, that will kill you," she whispered as she met Souji's glare with as much of one as she could muster herself. "It is, as Hijikata-san well knows, a paralytic."

After this she dropped her eyes and went back to finishing her first aid before saying,

"I can assure you gentlemen, there is no way out of this until it has run it's course," she informed them, "and by then, it will be too late."

"You may also be wondering what you have ever done to deserve being treated this way by the likes of me?" she asked as she completed the work on her ankle and began to gather together the tea set.

And after a pause...

"Nothing."

Their inability to move did not spread so far as to effect their expressions. At least not those which could only be seen in the eyes.

Their sudden shock was real enough.

"You owe me nothing," she continued. "Consider this to be just one of those random acts of violence that are so prevalent here in our lovely city. The kind that the Shinsengumi are so good at wading into with their blades swinging indiscriminately," and with that she headed toward the kitchen, stopping only once as she turned to slide the doors closed.

"Hijikta-san," she said just before closing the door completely, "You should know. That hole in your chest where your heart used to be?"

"It never goes away."