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 6

"WAIT, KANON!" Souji ran after her with his hand reaching out.

When he called her name, she felt the chills going down her spine. She slowed down her speed and just then, Hajime rushed forward as he closely dodged her strike and the sound of the katana rung next to his ear. His hand hit her wrist and knocked the katana out of her hand. She winced and stumbled forward at the same time Hajime got his katana back.

"Get away from here."

Kanon heard his whisper of warning as her palm just hit the ground. With a glare, she quickly moved and used her left foot to hit Hajime's stomach when he was about to raise his katana to her.

While the impact pushed Hajime back, Souji quickly grabbed him securely from behind and was careful with the katana that waved around. Kanon turned around sharply and watched the two men struggled against one another. "Hajime-kun? What's wrong?" Souji grunted, trying to make sense of his friend's action.

Hajime said nothing and his eyes narrowed to Souji's puzzled gaze.

The sound of another sword was heard. A second man dashed out from the shadows with a long thin sword in his right hand and he launched it out in the direction of Souji's head. It was then Saburo appeared and blocked the sword with his arm with the sound of metal hitting each other.

"Oh?" the second man smirked. He was dressed mostly in black with a few red.

Saburo glared and studied the man closely. His purple hair was semi-long and a black eye patch covered his right eye, while the other eye was revealed as a red pupil color. "Who are you?" Saburo inquired, moving forward quickly to push the sword from pointing at anyone.

The purple haired guy smirked as the two were face-to-face. The sword was pushed close against his left shoulder. His eyes looked down to Saburo's arm, remembering the sound of a metal. His blade had made a cut in Saburo's sleeve, leaving an opening on his skin. But there was something on Saburo's skin. Just underneath the blade, there was scarlet and solid layer that was under the sleeve. "Mah, you can call me Ren," the purple haired happily answered to him, rather laidback.

"What are you doing, attacking us like this?" Saburo demanded with a fierce look.

Kanon glared over to the man named Ren and he chuckled to Saburo. "We're looking for a certain human clan around these parts of the land," Ren gladly explained. He used his strength and slightly pushed Saburo's arm back. Saburo grumbled at him and tried to hold his ground. "That clan is thought to be carry the cursed Oni blood… ever heard of it?" Ren's eyes looked back to Kanon.

Both Saburo and Kanon snapped their eyes to the purple haired man.

'Cursed Oni blood?' Souji's eyes shifted to the man Saburo was holding back.

Ren chuckled when he read Kanon's face. "So you have heard of it?" he smirked. With one more push, Saburo also pushed back and his arm moved the blade away as he leaped back. But then Saburo bumped into Souji, who was still holding Hajime back and the three of them fell on the ground at the same time.

"Saburo!" Kanon frowned, hurrying forward. Ren saw her coming and he slashed out to her, however she dodged with a skip to his right and she kicked the back of his right knee.

He fell on his knees and looked over his shoulder. She started to kick again, but he lowered his body forward and she missed. Within that instant, he quickly turned around and moved up close to her face. "Sorry about this," he told her. He punched into her stomach and she gasped. Losing conscious, she fell into his left arm and he got up and looked over to Hajime.

Hajime had just taken his blade to stab Saburo's head on the ground, who barely dodged and the blade hit the dirt instead. Souji grabbed for the handle of the katana and struggled with Hajime. "Hey, what's wrong with you, Hajime-kun?!" Souji demanded with a glare.

His eyes were still empty and he did not make eye contact. "Hajime~ I'm taking this girl away first," Ren called cheerfully.

At the same time Hajime nodded, Souji glared over to Ren. The man with purple hair took a jump and quickly disappeared into the shadows. Saburo soon ran after them. "Kanon-hime!" Saburo exclaimed.

"Wait!" Souji shouted angrily.

Hajime used his shoulder to push Souji out of the way. Souji fell, but rushed to get up. Then the katana set down to his neck and Souji glared into Hajime's cold eyes. "Souji," he first said.

"Hajime-kun!" Souji gritted his teeth. The cold edge slightly dug down his skin. "Why are you doing this? Who is he? Why did he take Kanon?"

There was a pause and Hajime seemed to have registered Souji's words into his head. "She's after the clan who can revive her brother," Souji explained, still holding his blade to Souji's neck. "Since that girl and that boy appeared to know something, she was taken away to force the answer out of her."

Souji glared and had no idea what he was talking about. "What do you mean?" he demanded, getting irritated.

The eyes in Hajime trembled. His hand shook and he bit his lower lip. "No… I can't kill him," he murmured. Souji's glare lightened up and he studied Hajime's face. "He's… my friend…!"

"Haji—"

Someone knocked Hajime from behind the neck and Souji caught Hajime's falling body. Looking up, Souji saw Ayumu as he looked around. "What happened?" Ayumu glared down to Souji with his cool eyes. There was no sign of Kanon or Saburo anywhere.

"A man named Ren took Kanon away," Souji replied fast, putting the unconscious Hajime's arm around his neck and his hand around Hajime's waist. "And Saburo-kun went after them."

Ayumu grunted and looked around again. There was a fire camp nearby, but he doubt the enemy would be over there. "What did they say?" he inquired.

"He was asking about a human clan who had the cursed Oni blood in them…" Souji informed. Ayumu was quiet, but Souj felt his anger rising. "Ayumu-kun… was he talking about you and Kanon?" It fit rather perfectly, but Souji was just assuming.

"That's none of your business," Ayumu hissed to him. Souji glared at him and did not seem satisfied.

Just then, Yumeko and Sanosuke arrived to the scene. Sanosuke's mouth dropped when he saw whom Souji was carrying. "Hajime?!" Sanosuke rushed right over. "Souji, What happened? How did Hajime get here?!"

"Why are you alone?" Yumeko questioned too.

[…^…]

It was a pretty long chase and Saburo was not planning on losing Kanon to some man with an eye patch. The clouds in the sky shortly covered the moon, but Saburo followed the noises and continue to keep in pursuit. "Kanon-hime!" he shouted after them. "If you can hear me, wake up!"

Ren smirked, running on his feet. "What a persistent little boy," he snickered. "Well… better than having to carry arrows and a bow."

"Kanon-hime!" he called again. As soon as the clouds in the sky cleared, Saburo increased his speed. Just a moment later, over the trees, Kanon's body was thrown into the air. "Kanon-hime!" he hurried. Jumping on the tree branches, he leaped over the trees and his arms reached out to catch her. Just about a couple of yards from catching her, Saburo felt Ren's presence right behind him.

A sword stabbed into his chest. Blood ran down Saburo's mouth and he glared at the man behind him. "Sorry," Ren said with a soft chuckle. With ease, Ren swing his blade to throw Saburo to the ground as the blade slide out of his body. Catching Kanon with his one arm, Ren landed on a tree branch and dashed off while Saburo landed loudly.

On the ground, Saburo moaned and closed his eyes. 'Gotta seal it up,' he thought with sweats coming down his face. Slowly, his blood hardened and covered the wound to stop the bleeding. It was not a healing ability, so his guts were still hurting. "Damn… Kanon-hime," he looked around, his vision blurring back and forth. 'I can't be away from her…'

He fell back against the tree and waited for a moment to catch his breathe. Hearing familiar voices calling out, he turned to follow the echoes. It was not long when he saw Ayumu running from afar. "Ayumu," Saburo smiled weakly.

Within range now, Ayumu slowed a bit. "Where's Kanon?" he questioned loudly. Ashamed, Saburo closed his eyes and continued to lean against the tree. Ayumu grunted and approached him to take his arm. "Come on, there's no time to be resting. We have to find her before whoever is it take her too far."

"Ah, yeah," Saburo nodded, holding in the pain. "But Okita-san needs to catch up too… we can't go far without him either."

Ayumu glared to the side and sighed. "Crap, I forgot about him," he grumbled, now looking back where he came from. To his surprised, he saw the others catching up. "Good…" Ayumu slowed his breathing. At least they were not separated from each other. Then something reminded him and he hurried towards Sanosuke.

"…Eh?" Saburo blinked, his hand holding his stomach in pain. He wondered what Ayumu was going to do now.

"Hey, Sano," Ayumu called.

Sanosuke was carrying Hajime on his back while Souji was running beside them. Yumeko was ahead of the men. After a moment of meeting up with one another, Yumeko slowed her pace when Ayumu walked pass her. Sanosuke and Souji stopped and waited for what Ayumu wanted to say since he seemed to have something in mind. "Yeah?" Sanosuke asked, keeping Hajime on his back.

Walking around Sanosuke, Ayumu studied him from up to bottom. "Good," he mumbled, going to stand in front of him.

"Were you checking me out?" Sanosuke gave him a weird look, but smiled a bit.

"Sano, there's one thing you should know," Ayumu quickly said. Then he looked at Souji, "You too. Since you're here." Both Souji and Sanosuke only returned him with looks of confusion. "I'll make this simple and brief. When Kanon and I save people, they gain extra minimal power. Sanosuke, it appears yours can detect others and pinpoint their positions within limited range. Try to see if you can track Kanon down. Now."

"Whoa, what?" Sanosuke stared at him with disbelieves. This was never mentioned before. Maybe Ayumu just forgot to mention. That or either Ayumu did not want them to know about it. No wonder Ayumu's clan would be chased after because of the strange ability it gave them.

Souji narrowed his eyes to Ayumu, "And you didn't tell us this sooner?"

"Opps," Yumeko scratched her cheeks dryly. "Sorry. For me, it just slipped my mind."

"Who cares," Ayumu gave Souji a light glare. Souji glared back at him while Ayumu helped Hajime down from Sanosuke's back. "Please, concentrate and find my sister. I can't let her go too far."

"I'll… give it a shot," Sanosuke nodded, though he felt unconfident. Souji helped Ayumu with Hajime, leaning the still body down and back against the tree. Sanosuke took a deep breath and wondered where to even start. Ever since he was alive again, he never felt any different. Let alone think he gained some kind of weird power.

He realized Yumeko walked up to him and she only stared at him. He blinked and she tapped her head twice. "It's in there somewhere," she told him, wanting to help him find his power. "It's not that hard and you'll get use to it very fast."

Sanosuke closed his eyes with a smile. He appreciated her encouragement. "Thanks," he said, slightly lowering his head.

"First, think about where to find Kanon," Yumeko whispered, keeping her distance from him. Sanosuke nodded. "Even if you only know her a little, but the feel of her presence should be enough. Her life may be in danger any time soon, so you have to find her as soon as possible." Sanosuke nodded and became very quiet.

Souji was kneeling on the ground by Hajime and he looked up to Ayumu. "…What kind of power did I get?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know," Ayumu crossed his arms, not making eye contact. "I didn't revive you."

'So… if Kanon healed me, she must know?' Souji thought to himself, looking away. Their heritage was really strange. If they did not mention about the extra power to them, could they also be hiding something else? Souji was starting to get the feeling and glanced to Ayumu at the corner of his eyes. Ayumu was silent and patiently waited for Sanosuke. '…What else are they hiding from us?' Souji asked himself.

And what of the clan was thought to carry the cursed Oni blood?

Thanks for reading!