Disclaimer: Hakuouki is a visual novel game by Idea Factory. (They make a bunch of cute guys! Drools. So I always look up new series just so I can stare at them~) Hakuouki then is adapted into an Anime by Studio DEEN. And today, the Anime series is licensed by Sentai Filmworks in North America. (I got this information from Wikipedia and I believe the information is accurate. I wouldn't know though!)

To Aen Silver Fire: I had fun chatting with you in our messages! If this fanfic story gets boring for you, you can stop reading anytime you want. I will keep writing, even if I'm a bit slow. Or just really, really slow. 8D (I know I'll be slow after this chapter, for sure!)

"Forever" will not keep us connected

Chapter 2

It was that night when Harada slowly lost his vision. Beside him, Shiranui Kyou could only keep his company, seeing as there was nothing he could do to save Harada's life. The light of the cold moon felt lonely, but Harada smiled because Kyou was still there with him.

The thought of leaving Shinpachi behind worried Sanosuke. His friend would wonder where he had gone and might even search for him forever. Unable to pass a message to Kyou, Sanosuke's conscious stopped and his breathe gone.

"I see two good looking guys are over there," the voice of a young woman said rather sarcastically.

Quickly looked to his left, Kyou saw a young-looking woman walking with a tall man, who had a cold look on his face. '…Who are they?' Kyou narrowed his eyes, his hand gripping on his gun.

"Ayumu, it looks like one of them is dying," the young woman pointed. Her short hair was black and her eyes were dull orange. She was wearing a complete dark blue kimono. Her expression had no emotion or whatsoever.

The tall man beside her, appearing to actually look younger than her, had long brown hair that was not tied and it covered his shoulders. His red eyes studied over to Sanosuke. "He's already dead, Yumeko," he told the young woman. His choice of his clothes was color gray.

They both stopped walking and she looked at her friend. "Not unless you save him in time," she tugged his sleeve. "Hurry."

Puzzled, Kyou stood up and faced their way. "Save him?" he inquired, sneering. "He's already dead."

The girl with the short black hair ignored Kyou and gave Ayumu a soft kick in the back of his knee, which he was leaning more weight on. His same knee bent forward and he lost his cool posture. "If you're not going to do it, I'll kill myself right now and be his wife in the afterlife," she threatened calmly. With a pause, there was no reaction from the tall man. "…Are you going to do it or not?"

Kyou raised an eyebrow and had no idea what was going on. Or what was going to happen.

With a frown, Ayumu stepped forward and looked at Kyou. "If you don't mind, I'll save your friend's life right away," he told him.

"He's not exactly a friend," Kyou smirked.

Approaching them, Ayumu kneeled in front of Sanosuke. He sighed when Yumeko faked a cough, telling him to hurry up. "This is just a complete waste of time," Ayumu mumbled with emotionless a stare.

[…^…]

"That's what happened?" Souji inquired. He was still in the shed and alone with only Sanosuke and Kyou. While Souji and Sanosuke were sitting on the ground, facing each other, Kyou was leaning back against the opened door. "But… why are you here then?"

"Uh," Sanosuke's eyes looked up. "That Ayumu guy said I had to follow him no matter what. He used words like he was my benefactor and that I now must serve him to repay back his… kindness." In the end, Sanosuke still had to leave without saying anything to Shinpachi.

Lost in thought for a few seconds, Souji slowly looked over to Kyou. "And you?" he questioned.

"I'm interested in Ayumu's strange healing powers," Kyou grinned, glancing over to Souji. "No one in this world can do that after all. Maybe it can save more lives in this war."

War. Souji's eyes burned bright and he faced to Sanosuke again. "Sano-san, we have to get to Hijikata-san," he said with concern.

"What happened when I was gone?" Sanosuke inquired first.

Outside of the shed, there were some few houses around, but more than half of them were worn out. Just about couple of houses away from the shed, Saburo was cutting a small log standing upright on a trunk. He had an ax in both hands. Kanon was nearby an old table and washed her face with the warm water Saburo had gotten.

After cutting down the wood over the trunk, he paused his work. Saburo lowered his ax and looked over to Kanon. "What do you think they are talking about?" he asked curiously.

"Mm," she shrugged, flapping the towel to dry a bit. "Something about the outside world, I bet."

Saburo blinked, "…Are you going to allow him to leave?"

"Obviously not!" Kanon flattened her eyes to him. She laid the towel on the table by the bowl of used water and started to make a fighting stance. "He's not completely heal and I did that for a reason."

He watched her punched and kicked the air, training by herself. "…He seemed really eager though," Saburo smiled nervously.

"Then next time don't cry over a dead body and don't tell me to heal him," she shot him a light glare. He cracked a tense smile. Kanon leaped forward and kicked high over her head. Leaving her foot in midair, she frowned. "Now I can't leave him alone. So he's going to have to stay here until the news of the war is over."

Saburo scratched his cheek and he turned his head up to a roof. Ayumu and Yumeko were sitting on the roof together, but kept their distance from each other while seated. "How were you guys able to keep Harada-san around anyway?" he inquired with a blank face. Maybe he could learn a thing or two from them.

"Oh," Yumeko pointed to Ayumu and her finger touched his cheek. "He pretty much just said, 'I saved you. So now you're going to work for me.' Something of the sort."

"Pretty much," Ayumu nodded away, his eyes at the blue sky.

Saburo beamed and looked over to Kanon, who gave him a disgusted look in return. "You can say that to Okita Souji too, Kanon-hime!" he excitedly waved his ax around.

"No, no, no," she walked up to him. She took the ax and almost looked like she was going to hit him with it. "I'm not going to follow my brother's idea. I can think of one by myself!"

Slowly, Ayumu looked down from the sky. "You disappoint your onii-sama," he flatly stated.

She gave him a frown, "Your onee-sama isn't going to follow her little brother's way of thinking! Not in a million lifetimes!"

At the siblings, both Yumeko and Saburo could only sigh with boredom.

"Oh," Yumeko pointed to the shed where Sanosuke and Kyou were walking out. "I think they're done talking."

"Good!" Kanon stomped off. "I'll show all of you what I got to make Souji stay!"

"Kanon-himeee…" Saburo whined with embarrassment. She still had the ax in her hand too. Will this all end up bloody? He rushed after her just in case.

When Kanon ran right pass Sanosuke and Kyou, Souji had just exited the door. Kanon pushed him back in with one hand. "You're not going anywhere!" she strongly said.

Souji glared at her. "There's no point keeping me here," he told her, frustrated with her attitude.

At the same time as Kyou was looking back, Sanosuke went over to where Ayumu was. With a serious face, he called, "Ayumu, I have something to ask of you."

Ayumu said nothing and Sanosuke waited. Narrowing her eyes, Yumeko nudged Ayumu in the arm. "What?" Ayumu questioned, his eyes growing cold.

"There's somewhere I have to go," Sanosuke said rather determinedly. "When I come back, I'll repay your kindness."

"What if you die out there before then?" Ayumu inquired, tilting his head. "What would you do then?"

Yumeko waved to Sanosuke, "We'll come with you."

With a grunt, Ayumu looked at her, "Yumeko, shut up."

"You're stuck with us either way," Yumeko told Sanosuke. Seeing his face brightened up a bit, she added, "But your wounds had not completely recover. So we'll depart together first thing in the morning."

Sanosuke smiled, "Thank you both."

Ayumu snarled without another word and Yumeko gave Sanosuke a thumps up with a blank expression.

From the shed, Souji raised his voice, "What right do you have to keep me here?!"

Saburo sweat dropped, "Ah, Kanon-hime…"

Finally annoyed, Kanon grabbed Souji's shirt and pulled him close so he could feel her breathe. "You can't go anywhere until the war is over. You were supposed to be dead anyway, so there's no point going out there," she told him harshly.

He glared at her, "I'll kill you if you stop me one more time."

"Ha!" she pushed him away with a smirk. He stumbled backwards and his back hit against the wall. She watched him struggle to stand properly with a pained expression. "I like to see you try!"

"Careful, he's still injured!" Saburo uneasily waved his arms.

Kanon threw the ax to the side and slightly turned her body. "If you can beat me, you can leave," she told him. Souji glared again and stood up straight. "Do you think you can do it, eh?"

Kyou whistled and Saburo whined. "Kanon-hime!" he pulled on her arm. She brushed Saburo away without looking at him.

"Fine," Souji accepted her challenge. He would do anything to get away from her grasp.

She folded her arms to her chest and looked away with her eyes closed. Souji felt offended and charged at her with no weapon.

"Souji!" Sanosuke just realized what was going on when he looked back.

With his right fist, Kanon dodged to the right. Souji glared and swung his right arm to her and she backed away with one step. She opened one of her eyes and he turned his body to hit her with his left fist now. She docked and did a round kick at his ankles, causing him to flip and fall on his bottom with a loud thud.

"Geez…" Saburo slapped his face, closing one eye.

Souji moaned painfully and got up. He breathed heavily, but then noticed something different about it. He touched his chest and was stunned. '…Wait,' he told himself. Was he not sick? He would cough nonstop, but now it was it was not even there.

"If you give up, then say it," Kanon said. He looked at her seriously and stretched his fingers. "I'll fight you any day until you feel better. But for now, since you can't even hurt me, you're staying here and rest."

He bit his lower lip and could only glare at the bratty girl. Then she smiled happily and gestured off to the right. Souji looked where she was trying to show and the ax was lying over there. Standing where he was, he gazed to her.

"Use any weapon you like," she grinned. "And I'll use none."

Wanting to leave as soon as possible, even if he was not fully healed, Souji walked over to the ax.

"Hey, hey," Saburo was even more nervous. "Are you serious, Kanon-hime?"

"Very," Kanon said, keeping her eyes on Souji.

Kyou was staring at Kanon and Saburo. '…Hime?' he thought to himself.

When Souji picked up the ax, Sanosuke called, "Souji, wait. How about I go out there and find Hijikata first? Why don't you rest here for the time being?"

"Sano-san," Souji turned his stiff body and looked over to him. His eyes were serious and Sanosuke stared back. "You can go first… I'll be right behind you."

"But," Sanosuke raised his hands. He simply did not want to see him fight a girl who may only be just a little younger then Souji. "A man should never raise a blade to a woman, Souji."

"Not to worry," Souji said, glaring at Kanon's smiling face. He cooled his head and gained more control of his body. "She started it."

Sanosuke frowned, "That's not a good reason."

With no more words to exchange, Souji slowly took side steps to the right. Kanon stood where she was and crossed her arms to her chest again. Gripping on the handle of the ax, he swiftly charged forward.

Noticing the change in his pace, she backed three steps. When he was close enough, she had jumped from the ground. Her foot landed on his left shoulder and his eyes widened with surprise. Giving him a good push, she leaped off of him and he fell on the ground on his stomach and the ax fell away his weak hand. Kanon landed over a well and gracefully faced him.

Grunting, Souji pushed himself up and panted. That last move he did already used his strength up. "…Damn it!" he hit the ground with his fist, still on his knees.

Everyone was quiet and Souji was unable to bring himself back up. Ayumu closed his eyes and shook his head with a sigh.

"…Anyone hungry?" Yumeko asked casually, hoping to lighten up the mood.

Thanks for reading!