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 10
You are in my dream, touching my very soul. I miss my deepest love with you.
Those were the words Ayumu once spoke with the first tears he shed. He had thought he had erased those memories, but his conscious was completely blank with old memories only. His body would not move. From time to time, he could hear the voices of Kanon and Yumeko. Later, he would hear the others talking around him. There was a moment Souji badmouthed Ayumu, but Yumeko told him off angrily. Angrily? She had never shown her anger side before. Ayumu had only known her to be sarcastic, lying for her own amusement, quiet, and… loyal to her friends.
The floor felt shaky, the horsed neighed, and then everything came to a stop. There were whispers. Ayumu tried to stay with the world, but then his conscious was lost in the memories once again.
[…^…]
"Ryunosuke, what's wrong?" Sanosuke inquired, removing the black curtain. The sun in the middle of the sky and the curved road was still wet. And down the road that led to the right, Sanosuke heard voices. It sounded like rowdy people were laughing and someone was crying. Sanosuke glared, "Ryunosuke, hey…"
"Shh," Ryunosuke hissed, glaring to the road. There were trees that blocked what lie ahead of the curved road. The horses were just as quiet and Ryunosuke grunted. "I think there's trouble up ahead…"
Kanon peeked out from the other side of the curtain in the front. "Sanosuke, can you check what's up ahead?" she requested.
Ryunosuke looked back at the same time as Sanosuke nodded. Soon, his golden eyes glowed and he narrowed his eyes as he saw ten presences. They moved around, kicking a couple of people near the entrance of the town. And in each arm of the men, they carried something Sanosuke recognized. "…They're all carrying riffles," Sanosuke informed. Ryunosuke's eyes opened widely, shocked and wondering about Sanosuke's eyes.
"Huh?" Souji leaned to Sanosuke. "I thought you can only sense presences of people. Can you actually see through trees now, Sano-san?"
"Shit," Ryunosuke's cursing word interrupted them. "I bet those guys are a group of bandits that I have been hearing about days ago." Ryunosuke signaled the horses to turn back and hopefully the bandits would not hear them. "Great, I'm even more worried about Kosuzu…" If only he got here sooner, but he could not bring himself to blame anyone who needed the ride. "How in the world did the bandits get through? The town's walls are too high for them to climb over… But there aren't any town guards either…"
As the wagon fully turned, Saburo jumped over Kanon and asked, "What group of bandits?"
"They go by Carnage—something," Ryunosuke frowned. He was worried about Kosuzu in the town. "We should find a way to get inside without getting notice…"
Kanon nudged Saburo off. "Tell us more about these bandits," she eyed Ryunosuke curiously.
Hajime was in the back with Kyou, so they both removed the curtains from the back, making sure no one was following them. They still heard the cries of help. Hajime narrowed his eyes and wished to aid them. As for Kyou, he merely smiled when he noticed Hajime's concerned expression.
"Those bandits had been stealing from the rich for the last few weeks," Ryunosuke begun explaining. "They carry all sorts of weapons… and they're growing in numbers each day and now they pick on the weak. The new government made no time to get rid of them on this side of the land." The horses speed up when Ryunosuke used a whip.
"That's horrible!" Saburo glared with a pout. "Let's go and beat them up!"
Ryunosuke frowned, "It's not that easy…"
"Hey, we have powers," Kanon said, gesturing to the people around her. "I think we can do it just fine." She wanted to help out the weak.
"Even so—" Ryunosuke looked over to her.
"There should be a doctor in the village and my brother needs help as soon as possible," Kanon stated seriously. "You said it yourself, someone you know is sick in town. So hurry up and park this wagon somewhere… I'll go into the town and see what I can do."
Saburo snapped his head her and asked, "Kanon-san, you're not planning on going in alone, are you?"
"Yes, you may come along," she flattened her expression to him.
Kyou smirked, "Hey, count me in too. Ibuki said they had all kinds of weapons, right? I'll go and see if they have anything for me."
Smiling brightly, Kanon nodded, "That's sounds great! We should go and steal some ourselves! I always wanted to use a weapon! What do you use to fight, Kyou?" She remembered he had a gun, but she wanted to ask him anyway.
While the guys listened to them talking, Kyou sneered, "A gun of course."
She frowned, "That's so boring! All you do is stand there and shoot."
"And aim," he winked, forming his hand into a gun and pretended to fire at her. "You should try using one too. It'll kill anyone in an instant. Because the moment you pull the trigger, a life is guarantee to be taken away. Just like how the blade of a katana works."
He was right. All weapons were the same either way. Kanon shrugged, "I'll think about it."
Sanosuke then said, "Hey, maybe we should go and steal some weapons. We need to be armed before Haru and those guys attack us again, right?" Hajime nodded to him quietly. "Then let's make plans how to get into town and mess things up for the bandits."
Snickering, Souji said, "Alright, sounds fun." He was up for something like this anytime.
Though Saburo agreed to beat the bandits up, but stealing was entirely different. Saburo sighed disapprovingly at them while Ryunosuke gave them a look. "Don't act so careless," Ryunosuke informed with a snarl. "They're more of a problem than you think!" And he did not care how talented they were with their katanas or whatever. A life and death battle should be avoided at all costs. But everyone ignored him and Ryunosuke looked away annoyingly.
"Yumeko-chan, how far can I leave Ayumu's side?" Sanosuke inquired, looking to her.
She was only staring at Ayumu silently, but she answered, "Ten miles."
Sanosuke wished she would be more cheerful, or at least be herself again. Seeing her quiet and depressed was unusual. He smiled and said, "Don't worry about Ayumu. We'll take care of those bandits and get him a doctor." There was a trace of smile on her face and she nodded. Sanosuke chuckled as he reached over and patted on her head.
"Alright, here's what I think our plan should be!" Kanon threw a fist in the air, beaming.
Souji frowned, "Ah, no. Kanon, we are not going to go with your plan." She shot him a glare and he added, "At least let's all think of one together."
"Hence why I said 'what I think our plan should be' you dummy!" she told him.
"Okay, listen up," Sanosuke took charge to quiet them down. Kanon gave Souji another glare and Souji smirked to the side amusingly. Sanosuke had to sigh at those two and said, "We'll have to avoid going in as a group first…" Besides Yumeko and Ryunosuke, everyone leaned in to listen.
Ryunosuke still could not believe they were actually going to do it. Since they would not willingly to listen to him, he could only hope they would be unharmed. Ryunosuke did not listen to their plans, but heard Kanon and Saburo arguing about something for a second and they all calmed down again. And then Ryunosuke heard Souji being shocked to learn Yumeko could make fire out of thin air. So were Sanosuke and Hajime. The wagon had long gone off the road and Ryunosuke made sure there were enough trees to hide the wagon away. He moved off the wagon and stretched.
"Ryunosuke, you're staying here with Yumeko-chan, okay?" Sanosuke said, getting off the wagon first.
"What?" Ryunosuke turned to look at them. While everyone else got off, Yumeko remained by Ayumu's side. "Why are all of you going to town for? That's too suspicious, don't you think?" And did Sanosuke not say something similar about it a few minutes ago?
Hajime and Souji walked next to Sanosuke, who was facing Ryunosuke. They stood a few yards from him. "Don't be concerned about us," Hajime nodded, his eyes warm. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can find a doctor to treat our friend."
Kanon frowned, "I still think we can just all go together, pretend to be nice to the bandits and at the same time, get a doctor. What if Ayumu needs treatment as soon as possible?"
"I know," Sanosuke glanced to her, worried. "But we don't know how many men we'll go up against. I can't run with Ayumu on our backs, can I?" They had already talked about this. When will Kanon get it through her head?
Saburo nodded, putting his elbow on Kanon's shoulder. "Yeah, less talk, the sooner we'll get a doctor," Saburo blinked at her. She gave him a defeated look and shrugged him off of her shoulder.
"We should move then," Kyou called. He was already walking off by himself.
Saburo hurried to catch up with him and Kanon looked over to the wagon. Yumeko was watching them with a cool expression. "We'll finish this before nightfall," Kanon promised with a smile. Yumeko nodded and Kanon waved, turning around to go after the other two guys.
Ryunosuke had to frown as the three men in front of them faced away. Souji smirked, itching for a fight. Hajime was calm as ever and Sanosuke seemed confident. Ryunosuke's muscles relaxed as he watched their backs. 'Well… those guys never changed,' Ryunosuke smiled, crossing his arms.
"We'll be back soon!" Sanosuke waved high without looking back.
"Yeah!" Ryunosuke shouted to them. "And don't die on me!"
With a pause, Sanosuke stopped walking while the others were still walking ahead. Looking back with a grin, Sanosuke commented, "You look good with that new look, Ryunosuke."
"Hah?" Ryunosuke could not help but give him a frown. Sanosuke laughed and moved his feet to catch up with the others. "…Geez," Ryunosuke pouted a bit, touching his short hair. Either Sanosuke really thought his new hair looked good or he was just teasing him as if he was flirting. Ryunosuke had noticed they had shorter hair too. 'I wonder what they've been though,' he thought with a quiet look on his face.
Yumeko moved closer to the end of the wagon and gazed to her friends. Her hand touched the wall of the wagon and she felt some concern for them. Ayumu was still breathing and he had not seemed to be getting worst yet, but something made her feel very uneasy. "Good luck, everyone," she murmured, leaning her head against the wagon softly.
The group in front, Kanon was walking beside Saburo's left. Though Kyou was a bit ahead, he was more on Saburo's right. "Kyou, a question," Kanon looked to him. Kyou glanced at her with a natural expression on his face. "The walls of the town are high, right? And Sanosuke suggested me to have Souji help me jump over it…? Why Souji?"
Kyou rolled his eyes with a smirk. "You can totally ask Harada that yourself, can't you?" he snickered. She shrugged and still gave him a curious look. "Okita is a Rasetsu," Kyou told her. "His inhuman strength and combine it with your fast jumping ability, I'm sure you know what Harada was thinking about."
"Yeah, Kanon-san," Saburo blinked to her, smiling a bit.
"Inhuman?" Kanon inquired. "So, Souji's really a monster?"
Laughing a bit, Kyou replied, "It's a complicated and long story… but yes, he became a monster. Though, using the strength as a Rasetsu takes away a person's life span. So the more he uses it, the less he'll live."
Saburo gasped, "Really? What a terrible power! Why was Okita-san thinking, becoming a monster like that?! What happened?"
"Long story," Kyou repeated, keeping his eyes straight ahead. He wanted to be sure the town were in their direction. "Go ask him yourself. I don't know the details. Seriously. I don't."
"Kanon-san!" Saburo snapped his head to her with puppy eyes. "Do you think you can heal Okita-san's life span?"
She frowned at him, "Of course I can! I'm sure my healing power already took care of it… but if Souji continues to use it, that means I have to keep him in check and heal him all over again." That sounded about right, but Kanon hoped she never have to heal him again. He deserved a bit of pain once and a while just because she believed so.
"I guess you're right…" Saburo slowly nodded, looking back to the front.
"Oh," Kyou seemed to remember something. If Souji could still use his Rasetsu form, how come he was not thrusting for blood? Kanon's power again? That was really strange. Her power seemed very handy, but it also puts her life on the line. "Pretty sad," Kyou mumbled.
"Eh?" Saburo stared at him with confusion.
Looking to Kanon at the corner of his eyes, Kyou smirked, "You're really something, aren't you?" She blinked and Saburo leaned his body forward to show his confused gesture. "You and Ayumu… those powers… I wonder if Okita even noticed he's walking in broad daylight right now." Kyou smirked. He had not been paying any attention to Okita, so he only realized it now.
Before Kanon could grasp what Kyou was saying, Sanosuke's voice exclaimed, "Hey, that's right! Souji, I completely forgot about you shouldn't be walking around in day!" Souji raised an eyebrow, but he was a bit shocked. Hajime glanced to them, showing a little surprised look himself. "Man, I guess just seeing you all normal now never raised that question before!" Sanosuke grinned, ruffling Souji's hair.
"Hey, don't do that," Souji slapped his hand away. But he was in a bit of daze. Because all this time, he really did forget how a Rasetsu do not walk in daylight. Souji just happened to be thinking about his thrust for blood too. He had not felt it in a long while. 'Is it really thanks to Kanon?' he blinked, looking at his hand he raised to his chest. Just how much was he going to owe her for saving him and his friends? She healed his sickness, but he was sure she was not aware of that in the first place. She brought him back to life and she could have prevented his thrust of blood. His lifespan too. Souji suddenly felt heavily indebted for not realizing this sooner. Had he been taking her for granted?
"Kanon's a good girl," Sanosuke nodded with a smug smile. He was between Souji and Hajime.
Souji smirked and glanced to the redhead. "Then you can have her, Sano-san," Souji teased with a chuckle.
"Who said about having her?" Sanosuke grinned happily. That thought never crossed his mind. After all, she was still very young.
Hajime glanced to them on his right. "Souji," Hajime spoke. "Don't forget what Kondou-san taught us. We must always—"
"Thank our benefactor, I know," Souji said with complete boredom, interrupting him. "I did thank her already."
Sanosuke snorted and put his hand on Souji's shoulder. "Sure, but I heard you thanked her right before you started to throw punches at her," Sanosuke said. Souji narrowed his eyebrows at him, wondering where Sanosuke had heard that from, and Hajime sighed in disappointment. "Why don't you thank her properly, huh?"
"I don't think she needs it, Sano-san," Souji told him, brushing Sanosuke's arm away. That was what he believed since Kanon was such a brat. She did what she wanted and she was that kind of person from the moment they met. Like an arrogant little princess. Crossing his arms, Souji put hands into his sleeves with a frown. His eyes gradually glued onto Kanon's back. She turned her head as if she felt him looking and he smirked. She returned a look by sticking her tongue at him. "I'm so going to beat her up as soon as we are armed with weapons," Souji declared with a hiss.
With a calm glance, Hajime inquired, "Is that all you can think about Souji?" Before Souji could even respond, Hajime said, "She simply acts the way she does because of you."
Sanosuke laughed, giving Souji a rough pat on the back, "Hajime's right! So you better treat her a little better from now on!"
"Yeah right!" Kanon shouted over to them. The three of them were so loud and clear; she felt she had to say something. "Not until I turn him into a baby first!"
Annoyed, Souji elbowed Sanosuke away to keep their distances now. Before any more words were exchanged, they started to hear Ryunosuke calling. Everyone all turned around, with only Kyou looking over his shoulder, they spotted the wagon heading toward them. Yumeko was sitting in the front next to Ryunosuke and the look on her face was blank.
"Hey, what are you two doing?" Sanosuke frowned, taking a few steps.
The wagon stopped a few meters away and Yumeko jumped off, walking to them while fixing the knives in her sleeves. "Sorry, but she…" Ryunosuke pointed to Yumeko, blinking a couple of times.
"Yumeko?" Kanon called, jogging over to the group with Saburo behind her. When Kanon ran pass the three men, she stopped and took Yumeko's hand. "What's wrong? Did Ayumu wake up?" she inquired, looking back to the wagon.
"No," Yumeko shook her head. Kanon blinked, a bit sadden to hear it, but wondered what her friend wanted since she came to them. Giving Kanon a serious look, Yumeko said, "I think we should go with Plan A, where you want me to use my power to set up a fire to cause a commotion inside the city."
Saburo stopped running right beside them and asked, "Huh? Why? We went with Plan B because we were worried about you and—"
Yumeko interrupted with a glance to him, "I think it's better to go together. I really don't want to be separated from anyone… Not anymore." Yumeko's eyes gazed to the other men. Hajime and Souji seemed indifferent and Sanosuke slightly concerned. "And I think we should add adjustments to the plan, even if we get separated for a little bit."
Over where Kyou was, he watched as Sanosuke walked forward. Sanosuke then questioned, "What do you suggest then?"
"I want Ayumu to see a doctor as soon as possible," Yumeko said, lowering her eyes. She stared at the hand Kanon held gently. "So let me and Ryunosuke take him into town first."
"Are you kidding me?!" Ryunosuke exclaimed, getting off the wagon. He stomped toward the group rather angrily. "Those bandits aren't that friendly when they see a pretty girl!" Ryunosuke paused in his steps when he distanced himself from Yumeko's right side. "Even I'm worried for Kosuzu!"
There was truth in Ryunosuke's words. Sanosuke was reluctant himself and Hajime felt there was no place for a woman to enter a town like that. Souji frowned to the side and rubbed the back of his neck. After a moment of silence, Yumeko gave Ryunosuke an emotionless look. "I'll be fine," she assured. "I can play with fire if I really want to."
"Then let's do it," Kanon said, turning around to look at the others. All of the men stared at her. Thinking quickly about Yumeko's 'adjustment' to the plan, Kanon said, "Hajime, I want you and Yumeko to go into town together with Ryunosuke. Take Ayumu ahead to see a doctor."
"H-Hey, don't use my first name like that so easily," Ryunosuke gave her a strange expression.
"And then," Kanon looked at Saburo, clearly ignoring Ryunosuke. While Saburo seemed hesitate about the idea, he listened. "I'm going to ask you to stick with Kyou and Sanosuke, so the three of you can go into town together after Yumeko, Hajime, and Ryunosuke go through first. Okay, Saburo?"
He blinked, "But Kanon-san…"
She let go of Yumeko's hand, turning around to look at the other men. "Souji, you and I will wait outside," she told him. "Like what Sanosuke planed beforehand, we'll wait for nighttime and sneak into the town. Meet up with Sanosuke's group when they locate the stolen weapons. And then we wait for Yumeko's fire signal."
Souji grunted, "Do you actually think—"
"And then Sanosuke," she ignored Souji right away, looking directly to Sanosuke. He kept his words to himself and waited to hear what she had to say. "We'll stick your plan with the use of your power. I'll be counting on you, Saburo, and Kyou to slip pass the guard to get the 'boss' of the bandits to put an end to the bandits' abuse. That is, if any boss is actually in town right now."
Sanosuke silently glanced to Yumeko and back to Kanon. As for Souji, he rested his left hand on his hip with a sigh. Hajime then nodded and said without any doubt, "We'll go with that plan then."
Seconds ago, Kyou was walking to them. He went around them to get a better view of their faces and snickered after. "Doesn't matter what kind of plan we have," Kyou smirked. "I just want to crash a party."
"Okay, who's that guy again?" Ryunosuke had to ask, looking over to Sanosuke. To him, Kyou was such a weird person. Even weird than Hijikata.
"Shiranui Kyou, at your service, kid," Kyou introduced himself. They all had a short intro when they first got the ride, but Ryunosuke seemed the type to forget easily. Or so Kyou thought with a snicker.
Ryunosuke gave Kyou a long hard look. "You don't look very friendly," he commented. How the others met this guy was beyond his knowledge.
"You're saying that now?" Kyou scoffed, looking away at the same time.
"I really don't like the plan," Sanosuke's voice rose. Everyone now looked to him and his eyes narrowed to Yumeko. "You're clearly using yourself as bait to get the bandits' attention. I'm not going to let you do that. I won't allow it."
Yumeko glared, a side she does not desire to show to others often. "I only want Ayumu to see a doctor as soon as possible," she told him, her voice getting deep. "Besides, don't concern yourselves with me. I'm the only one who's armed and I'm good at fighting. I can hold on my own."
Still, Sanosuke did not approve. "Ah," Saburo raised his hand. "Harada-san, I wouldn't worry about Yumeko. She'll be fine. Seriously. She can burn those bandits if they go too far. And she'll have Ibuki-san and Saito-san with her." Saburo hoped they would get this discussion over with as soon as possible. For one, Ayumu was still uncurious, and two, Saburo did not want anyone to start arguing. They were all friends now. It hurt to see everyone look angrily at each other.
They all noticed Yumeko was still glaring to Sanosuke, while he gave a disapproving look in return. Souji's voice cracked up the silence, "Sano-san is just worried."
"Come, Hajime," Yumeko called, her eyes breaking off the stare. She took Ryunosuke's arm to drag him back to the wagon.
"Whoa, hey, seriously?" Ryunosuke uttered, turning around to walk at his own pace.
Hajime glanced to Sanosuke, looking for any sign of consent. After a moment, Sanosuke just nodded. "Don't worry," Hajime told him, walking off. "I'll make sure I'll keep an eye on her."
Sanosuke chuckled, his eyes lowering to the ground. "I'll count on you, Hajime," he said quietly. Using women as bait… Sanosuke really hated that idea very much. But Yumeko was really insisting on it. He could tell she would not even listen to him or the others.
As Yumeko got into the wagon, Ryunosuke unwillingly sat in the front and then Hajime got up and moved into the wagon. With a frown, Ryunosuke took the dark reins and whipped the four patient horses. As the horses begun to move, the others moved out of the way for better access of the pathless road. Just as wagon passed them, Ryunosuke called back to them, "Be careful now! We'll go on ahead!"
"Yeah!" Saburo waved. Though he was worried himself, but kept a smile on. 'Please be fine, you guys…' Saburo prayed, his hand slowly returning to his side.
Souji's eyes closed halfway when Sanosuke was still staring at the ground with a bitter face, as if Sanosuke was unable to do a thing. Kanon walked to Souji's side and she peeked to look at Sanosuke's face. As the wagon had passed all of them, Kyou was watching the wagon. The back did not have the curtains so he could see Yumeko and Hajime inside clearly. None of them looked back though, but Yumeko seemed very determined. Kyou let out an exhausted sigh.
Hopefully their 'half-baked' plan will turn out all right in the end.
Thanks for reading!