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 was 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!)

"Forever" will not keep us connected

Chapter 4

In the small house that was closed shut, Ayumu was sitting with his back up against the door. He did not want anyone to see his emotions any more than what he had already shown. His hands were covering his head and he was completely quiet. The voices of the others were just outside, but he chose to tune them out. After a while, his eyes looked over to where Kanon was resting. She was lying on a low bed and breathed normally.

Outside, Saburo paced back and forth. "I can't believe you, Okita-san!" he cried in front of Souji's face.

Souji gave him a weird look, "Look—"

"I'm not blaming you though!" Saburo walked off, throwing his hands in the air. "That's why I told Kanon-hime many times to just tell you the truth! She only waits until she gets hurt! That's how I found out about her secret because I ran off without knowing!"

"What secret?" Sanosuke inquired. He was next to Souji while Kyou was sitting on a table with Yumeko standing by him.

"We can't say," Yumeko's eyes closed halfway. She promised to keep it a secret after all. "Ayumu and Kanon are stubborn like that… But they have their reasons to hide it."

Frowning, Sanosuke then said, "Let me guess… For some reason, I'm not allowed to be far from Ayumu… right?" Saburo blinked and kept eyes elsewhere. Yumeko's face was expressionless and she had no comment. "And Ayumu didn't want Souji to be away from Kanon-chan either," Sanosuke elbowed to Souji, who gave him a blank look. "…Does that have to do something with them saving our lives?"

There was still no answer.

Kyou sneered, "It could be. Nice obvious observation, Harada."

To brush the Oni's statement off, Sanosuke merely smirked.

The door to the house opened and Ayumu walked out in silence. He closed it and turned to everyone, who looked back to him. It was Saburo who walked to Ayumu first. "She'll be fine," Ayumu said, not making eye contact with Saburo.

"Phew," Saburo smiled with relief. He wanted to check on Kanon because he had not seen her since he woke up from being knocked out. But Ayumu blocked the way with his arm. "Can't I just…?"

"I won't let her be disturbed at this moment," Ayumu's eyes gazed to Souji.

Saburo backed off quickly and sadly looked away. "I'm sorry, Ayumu," he quietly said. "It's my fault."

"I don't want any apologies from anyone," Ayumu said, mostly directly his words to Souji. Walking forward to him, Ayumu decided, "But I will tell you this. I'll judge on your reactions. If I don't like it, I won't let you harm Kanon's life again."

Wearing a serious face, Souji stood where he was. Ayumu stopped in front of him and he was taller than Souji. The two men did not back away and Sanosuke observed their expressions carefully. "You think I would listen to what you have to say?" Souji questioned with a smirk. "I won't sympathize with anyone when my own friends' lives are in danger out there."

"You're already a dead man," Ayumu looked down on him. His voice was calm and smooth. "Even if you went out, there's nothing you can change."

Sanosuke lowered his eyes and kept his thoughts to himself.

"From what I heard, Saburo was the one who wanted you to live," Ayumu continued to speak. "But Kanon was the one who could heal."

"I'm sorry, but…" Saburo played with his fingers.

In Souji's eyes, there was still no response. Ayumu wanted to punch Souji, but only frowned. "The moment Kanon saved you… you've become a part of her," Ayumu narrowed his eyes, explaining as little as possible. "Because she's weaker than me, you cannot leave her side for half of a mile. If you do, it would only end her life."

There was a slight shock in Souji's eyes now.

"So, Ayumu," Sanosuke raised his hand. "Is that why Yumeko-chan advised that we'd be together?"

"Why else would it be?" Ayumu shot him a glare. "I didn't want to save you though. Both Yumeko and Saburo are just nosy."

Unfazed, Yumeko proudly said, "I don't regret it."

"I know you don't," Ayumu hissed to her.

"What kind of power is it exactly?" Kyou inquired. "Why do you guys have such a thing?"

"It's just a curse that runs in our blood," Ayumu replied, turning away from Souji. "My ancestors rarely uses this skill to save anyone because it would only bring trouble to us…"

Souji narrowed his eyes, "Is there a way to break from Kanon's power then?"

"That…" Saburo looked at him with concern. Souji then looked to the black haired guy. "The only way you can be free from Kanon-hime is when she dies. Or just run away and let her die."

It was an answer Souji did not like.

Ayumu clarified, "Our cursed power may give us an advantage in life, but those who we save may not feel any gratitude and just leave our sides… That was how most of our people died. And the result of it all only remained Kanon and I." He glared and his hands turned into fists.

The question Kyou had asked for was not entirely explained. But he kept quiet to let whatever they may still have to say first. Twirling around with her arms spread out, Yumeko slightly hit Kyou's arm in the process. She walked off quietly by herself. Kyou ignored her when she might have accidentally hit him without meaning it and kept his ears opened to the conversation.

"So tell me, Okita Souji," Ayumu grimly looked over to him. "Even after knowing our background, do you still wish to let her die? Kanon refuses to leave here after all."

Souji looked at the ground and had his own train of thoughts. "…She's just being selfish," he said out loud.

Ayumu softened his glare, "I know."

"What do you expect me to do?" Souji asked with annoyance. He looked to Ayumu and gestured, "I don't want to stay here! I have to go!"

"Well then," Ayumu slightly moved. His hand signaled the door to the house where Kanon was resting. "Simply talk her out of it," he told him. "There's no need to follow Ba-Kanon's idea. You don't have to use actions to win her over. Just use your words."

Sanosuke smiled, "I agree with Ayumu." He gave Souji a confident grin. "Why don't you let her know about your feelings? Girls may be hard to talk to, but they're also easy as well."

Unsure, Souji said nothing.

Raising his hand high, Saburo offered, "I'll help you talk to her too, Okita-san! I mean, she is being unfair, though I understand her feelings and…!"

From the house, Kanon coughed and gasped, which interrupted everyone outside. "…I'm alive!" she cried and a ruckus was heard. The door then was slammed opened and she glared as soon as her eyes saw Souji. "YOU!"

"Kanon-hime!" Saburo jumped over to her for a hug.

Her hand pushed his face away and she yelled, "Saburo, I told you to watch him!"

"Kanon, I told him about our background already," Ayumu told her. Shocked, she looked at him with her mouth opened. "They had to know since you and I saved Saburo and Yumeko together once."

She grumbled words, but they made no sense.

Souji then spoke, "I'm still leaving."

Her head snapped to look at him, "Do you want me to die that badly?!" She pushed Saburo's face away and she ran to grab Souji's shirt. She pulled on him and said, "Go ahead and leave me here to die then! That way, I can join my aunt!"

Saburo nervously cried, "Don't say things like that, Kanon-hime!"

"Staying here is the same as death to me," Souji said as calmly as possible. She did not let him go and they looked into each other's eyes. "Either you die… or I die."

"Souji…" Sanosuke gave him a soft look.

Upset with Souji's words, Kanon questioned, "You'd throw your life away… because I'm keeping you here?"

"You and Saburo-kun may have saved me…" Souji bit his tongue and his eyes looked away. "But I just can't…" he trailed his sentence off. He was never really good at conveying his feelings to a bratty girl before. Especially the words from his heart. Would she even understand what he was trying to say?

She let him go and stayed in front of him. He seemed hesitant about leaving now. Now that he knew about her situation, she felt he might just leave her in the end.

"Kanon-hime," Saburo called rather quietly. "Okita-san can possibly have family and friends out there in the war… Can you really just stand there and watch him like this? Watching him worrying about the ones he loves?"

Souji grunted and slowly met Kanon's calm gaze. "I… still have people I care about," he murmured, trying harder to find the easy and right words.

Now she was realizing what she had been doing to Souji. She had already lost a lot of her love ones, but Souji may still have the chance. Kanon understood that feeling very well, but was too blinded on the past. And there was another thing.

"I didn't want you to know about my power because I didn't want my weakness to affect your decisions," she told him, crossing her arms and looking away. Souji slightly looked at her and she was smiling. "So I had fun when you didn't know a thing." It resulted him in showing what kind of person he was. A loyal person, he was.

"And now that I know about your power?" he asked, eager to leave again.

Kanon faced him again and inquired, "Tell me why you want to leave when you're already died the first time?"

Souji's mind was as clear as a crystal. "If I am still alive, I want to do what I still can," he answered honestly.

Looking as if she was enchanted, she thought about his words. In the background, Saburo was quietly cheering for the two to make up. Ayumu was already gone and Kyou was still at the table. And Sanosuke was chuckling softly.

Blinking a couple of times, Kanon's eyelids fluttered rather shamefully. "I'm sorry for holding you back," she told Souji.

He looked neutral. "You WERE holding me back," he found himself smirking. This was a conversation he was going to win now.

She grunted and flattened her eyes to him. 'I can always come back to the village,' she told herself, glancing off to the side. There was nothing else to do in the village anymore. Kanon always kept herself in shape over the years too. Maybe it was time to use her skills for something. Maybe this was what she always wanted. Her eyes dryly looked at Souji. "Is it too late to say, I'll go with you?"

"We're stuck together, aren't we?" he shrugged. He felt a bit more carefree now.

Saburo jumped on Kanon's back. "Of course we are stuck together!" he beamed. "That means I'm coming too because Kanon's power is also inside of me!"

"Get off, Saburo!" she growled, elbowing his stomach.

"Ow, okay! Okay!"

Sanosuke laughed lightly at the three of them and was happy to see how things quickly turned out. If only it was much sooner though.

"Alright, time to eat," Yumeko's voice called. In her hands, she had made soup in a pot. She had cooked it since she came to the village. "I hope you guys like eating rabbits," she said with a expressionless doll-like face.

Ayumu was beside her and told everyone, "Eat and then we'll leave this place. Together."

Thanks for reading!