Yuuki found herself sitting in front of the man named Hijikata and Kondou.
"And? What's your story?"
"I uuh..Got lost, I guess?"
"Where are you headed?" This Hijikata guy somehow resembles male oni with his stares and heavy aura around him.
"Nowhere in particular…"
"Do you want to stay here?" Kondou san suddenly asked her. Chizuru's happy reaction was the total opposite of Hijikata's.
"Kondou-san! We can't!"
"Why? I don't see anything wrong. Plus Chizuru-kun will finally have a new girl friend, besides Sen-chan. They rarely see each other."
"Sir, it's really fine..And I need to continue my travel.." To avoid those bastards.
"See? She has something else to do" I can see he doesn't like the idea of me staying here.
"Really? Don't you want to think about it for a while?" Seeing Kondou-san's sincere face and Chizuru's pleading eyes, I told them that I'll think about it for quite some time.
"Ne, Yuuki-chan, you can't move around the house with those clothes. You'll need hakama, like mine. But I don't have enough for the two of us…." Chizuru said. "But maybe we can borrow some of…Heisuke-san since he's the youngest of them. His clothes might fit"
She suddenly pulled my hand and we ran to Heisuke's room.
"Is there anything you need, Chizuru-chan?" Harada-san asked them. He was sitting on the porch in front of Heisuke's room, wearing his usual clothes.
"Harada-san! Have you seen Heisuke-kun? We're going to borrow a hakama for Yuuki-chan"
"Oh, so that's your name. Yuuki..Snow?" Yuuki nodded her head at him. "I don't think Heisuke has any and if ever he has, I'm sure it's all unclean. Why don't you ask Saito? A yukata like his would work, right?"
Chizuru bowed her and while thanking him and we ran towards Saito's room.
"Saito-san? Are you there?" Chizuru called out in front of his room. Saito was polishing his swords when he heard Chizuru's voice. He opened the door and saw the two of them.
"Saito-san, do you have any extra hakama? Yuuki need it for a while. "
Saito looked at her up and down for a while before signaling her to come inside his room. Chizuru stayed outside and waited. Saito close the door behind him. He walked towards a small cabinet and pulled out an old hakama and a black yukata like the one he wears often. He walked towards her and made her wear the yukata with her cloths still on.
"It's a bit long since we don't have the same height." Yuuki was happy he didn't use the word "small". He bent down and folded the hem until it reached her ankles.
"You can tell Chizuru to sew this for you so that you won't trip" When he looked up at her, his deep blue eyes met her aqua ones. They stayed like that for a while, not saying anything. Yuuki almost jumped in surprise when Chizuru called her name.
"Are you done?" They heard her ask from outside.
Saito faked a cough before standing up.
"That's all I can give. We can buy some other times." He said and opened the door for her. Yuuki couldn't say anything. She covered her pink face with the clothes and quickly pulled Chizuru with her.
"What's wrong, Yuuki-chan?" Chizuru ask, concern.
"No-nothing..Just…nothing.."
…
"Aren't you going to tell Hijikata-san about me being an oni?" Yuuki asked Chizuru while they are cooking for lunch.
Chizuru gave her a warm smile. "That's not for me to tell. I believe it's your right to tell them when you want to."
"Thank you, Chizuru-san"
Heisuke suddenly came barging in the kitchen.
"Hhhmm..smell good! What are you cooking? " He was fast to grab a riceball from the tray but Chizuru was already expecting that. She quickly slap his hand away.
"Ouch, Chizuru, that hurts!"complained Heisuke.
"You'll have to wait until lunch!" She said and shoo-ed him away from the kitchen.
"Yuuki-san, I don't want to be rude but, what's with the weird looking tattoo on your back?"
"Its...some kind of..birthmark..no, rather, a clan mark" Yuuki said and reached her upper back with a hand. A horrible story from the past lies with that tattoo.
...
It was lunch time so Chizuru and Yuuki ate with Harada, Shinpachi, Heisuke, Hijikat and Kondo. Yuuki noticed that Saito's not around.
"Chizuru, can you bring Saito and Souji some lunch afterwards? They are guarding in the west bridge" Kondo asked her.
"Sure! Yuuki-san, want to go with me?" Yuuki just nodded her head. She'd go wherever Chizuru goes since she's still awkward with everyone else.
"What?! No fair! two beautiful women will bring those two their lunch? Aarrgghh..Why can't it be me?" Shinpachi growled and everyone laughed at him.
"That reminds me, Yuuki, you should tie your hair." Hijikata said, pointing at her long loose blond hair.
Yuuki looked puzzled."Does it bother you so much?"
"Ahh, no..but well..how do I say this..You look too feminine with it."
"I don't want to cut it!" She exclaimed.
"No one's saying you should cut it, I mean tie it...Like Heisuke's"
Yuuki looked at Heisuke who's busy fighting with Shinpachi and Harada's food.
After they finished eating, she waited at the porch for Chizuru. She's trying to tie her hair but she couldn't. Harada-san saw her and walked towards her.
"Yuuki-chan, need some help?"
"Uuhh, no..I can manage" She lied and just tied it messily. Harada laughed and pulled her hair loose again.
"That won't work.." Yuuki can feel his presence behind her. He was really big and tall, making her feel smaller than ever. After a few seconds, her hair was done.
"Turn arond so I can see if it's good" She followed his orders and turned around. Harada was lost for words. She looks good with her hair tied neatly. He noticed her almond shape eyes with the color aqua blue. It feels like seeing the ocean water.
"So, is it good?" Yuuki ask him.
"Of course" Just then, Chizuru came with some lunch boxes.
"Waaaa~Yuuki-san, you look so pretty! You look refreshing" Chizuru meant it as a compliment and it made Yuuki blush.
"But I should look manlier.." Yuuki whispered to her self.
...
Saito and Souji were guarding the bridge with a few shinsengumi. Saitou was staring at the river where Yuuki almost drowned while Souji was complaining how hungry he is.
"Oh? Is that Chizuru-chan?" Souji beamed when he saw the lunchbox she's holding. Behind her was Yuuki with her long blond hair neatly tied in a high ponytail.
"Oh? Isn't that the new girl?" Souji said. Saitou glance at their direction and indeed it was her. She was smaller than Chizuru.
"Saito-san, Okita-san, we've brought lunch" Chizuru said with a smile.
The four of them sat down on the nearest bench and let the other members guard the bridge while they are eating.
"The food taste a bit different" Saitou commented.
"I-I'm sorry..It's because I hepled Chizuru-san in cooking that's why it's not good" Yuuki apologized and bowed her head.
"Who said it's not good?" Saito asked and Yuuki was sure he smiled for a split second before he continued eating.
"It taste horrible" Souji said after he finished eating.
"Okita-san!" Chizuru rebuked.
"If it's horrible, how come you finished eating it without any leftovers?" Yuuki asked, glaring at him.
"It's not my nature to not eat the food in front of me, shorty"
"Sho...SHORTY?! That's not my name!"
"Oh, well pardon me because you haven't told us yet"
Yuuki stood up. "It's Yuuki, YUUKI" Then she ran away from them and went down the river.
"Okita-san, look what you did! She's still thinking whether to stay or not and she might choose not to because of what you said!" Chizuru said. "Go and apologize to her" But Souji pretended he didn't hear anything and went back to the bridge to let the others take a break. Chizuru sighed.
"I'll go" Saito said and walked towards the direction where Yuuki ran off to. Chizuru thanked him.
Saito saw her sitting on the grass with her chin on her knees. He quietly sat down beside her.
"You know" He said, breaking the silence. "This is where you almost drowned last night. It's a good thing you grabbed my hand before you lost conscious"
"Oh, so you were the one who saved me..Thank you...But maybe it's better if you had left me to die"
"Your cooking is not that bad. I'm sure if you practice more, it would be perfect" Saito meant it to encourage her. The food wasn't bad it's just that he doesn't know what to say to women.
Yuuki turned her head away and whispered again "So it was really that bad,huh"
"What?" Saito asked when he heard her murmuring something.
"It's not about the food...I'm a stranger, you don't even know anything about me except my name which you only learned a while ago. I maybe a spy or something...I maybe a threat and a danger to you"
SHe could feel his stare even though she's not looking at him.
"You're not the only one who have secrets. We all do. When we found Chizuru, we were supposed to kill her because she knew about that secret. You're not the only one who's dangerous"
"So, you're telling me that I should be cautious around you and the others?"
"If that's how you understand my statement.."
"But you didn't killed her. Isn't that proof enough that you're good people?"
"We kill people"
"Killing people is your job and you do that to protect the people...Unlike mine.." The last sentence was more a whisper.
Saito wanted to ask what she meant but Souji called him. He helped her stand up and pointed where Chizuru is.