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 16

From this day forth, my life is your shield, Saburo-sama.

Saburo's eyes snapped open when Yumeko's words echoed in his dream. He was lying under the blankets on a wooden floor. Taking a moment to come back to reality, Saburo remembered about last night. After the flames disappeared without having to be extinguished, Yumeko and Ayumu's body turned to ashes and flew in the wind of the night. Saburo and the others headed back to the town, but they were unwelcome by the inn. Although, an old man whose name was Fukui, an acquaintance of Ryunosuke's, allowed them to stay in his home for the time being.

So here they were, Saburo was in the nearly emptied small living room with the other men. There were no pillows for them to use. Kyou slept with his back to the front door with no blanket around him. Souji was a bit to Saburo's right, the blanket was over half of his body. Hajime was to the left side of the room and he was facing the wall with the blanket from shoulder to toe. Ryunosuke was sleeping closer to a door way that lead to a small hallway. And then there was Sanosuke, whose eyes were awake, his left hand under his head. The blanket covered half of his body.

Earlier, Sanosuke was thinking about Yumeko and how she decided to end her life when Ayumu departed from the world. Did she love Ayumu that much? If one died, the other would have no more will to live on. Was that the feeling she had? Did she not fear death? Sanosuke could not help but try to understand it over again. What would he do if the woman he loved died? Would he end his own life as well? But… there was so much to life. Sanosuke felt he could never do it. In the end, Sanosuke was unable to understand Yumeko's choice.

Saburo moved to sit up and his eyes gazed to the paper window tiredly. The sun rising for them and for the future that was still there. Saburo let out a quiet sigh and could not help but think about Yumeko and Ayumu. Moments later, Saburo turned his head to Sanosuke. "…Did you sleep well, Harada-san?" Saburo questioned.

A smile spread on Sanosuke's face. "…A little," he whispered. Throughout the night, Sanosuke wanted to be sure no bandits were around. He was even worried about Yuma and Ren too. So he slept only a small amount of time. His power was still weakened from being overused too, to the extent of him being a bit blind. But he felt his eyesight would return again after another night's rest. "Did you dream anything, Saburo?"

Awoken, Kyou opened his eyes as Saburo replied slowly, "…Nothing. I dreamt nothing."

Sanosuke chuckled softly and had a long pause. He was beginning to wonder what their next course of action should be. The enemy already attacked; therefore it may take a long while before they strike again. Maybe it was time to do something to ease up the heavy air around them. "Saburo… what do you think we should do?" Sanosuke inquired, turning his head over to the black haired guy.

Saburo blinked and timidly asked, "W-Why are you asking me? I don't have any bright ideas."

"Heh…" Souji's snorted. It seemed he was awake as well, but he kept his eyes closed. "Aren't you the peacemaker, Saburo-kun? I'm sure you'll think of something for once. Let us know when you plan our day."

"What, why me?!" Saburo sharply turned his head to Souji, blushing a bit.

"Hey, shut up," Kyou called from where he was. While Sanosuke moved to sit up, Saburo looked apologetic. "The girls are still asleep. What happened to being men, eh?" Kyou smirked.

Sanosuke sneered, "Didn't know you cared, Shiranui."

"Of course I do," Kyou grinned directly to him. "And you guys are very lucky because I'm still plan to stick around longer."

"Or maybe," Souji opened his eyes, looking at the ceiling. "Shiranui probably thinks if he left, he would miss us."

"Dream on," Kyou snickered. But would he? He always wondered why humans intrigued Kazama Chikage. Was it because the humans were fun to watch? Fun to mess with? Kyou smiled at the back of his mind and tried to think of something else before taking a real liking to humans. And then Yumeko's death came to mind. That incident was something he could not grasp.

The sigh from Hajime was heard and he removed the blanket off of his shoulder to sit up. Hajime glanced around and then fixed his eyes on Sanosuke. "Should we prepare food, now that we're all up?" Hajime inquired, folding his blanket up.

Saburo pouted, "Wait, Ibuki-san's still asleep." He was pointing and Ryunosuke was still sleeping.

Souji laughed a little, "He's just faking it."

"So what?" Ryunosuke snapped his eyes opened. He was dead tired and said, "I'm trying to go back to sleep here! It's still too early!"

"Lower your voice, you big head," Souji frowned with a shrug. Ryunosuke mumbled annoyingly in return.

After Hajime was done folding his blanket, he set it to the side and stood up, fixing his katana in place. "I will go and wash up first," Hajime quietly said, walking off toward the door way over to Ryunosuke. Before he actually left, he said, "Saburo, don't forget to plan our day."

Souji laughed amusingly and Saburo could only heave out a tired sigh. He really had no idea what they preferred to do! Just shortly after, Hajime returned into the room and looked a bit uneasy about something. Saburo stared at him strangely and raised the question, "Saito-san, what's wrong?"

Grunting, Hajime appeared to show some sign of awkwardness. All of the men started to hear voices. A kid's laughter and Kanon's alarming voice. Footsteps ran and a boy ran right pass Hajime and accidentally bumped into Saburo's back. "You little—" Kanon shouted. She ran and appeared at the doorway, barely dressed. Her hair was wet, her left hand held her kimono over her chest and around her arms, but it was sliding off her right shoulder of a bit and her black shorts were showing underneath.

Apparently the boy was holding Kanon's black waistband, the only thing she needed to complete dressing up. Saburo was the first to comment, "Kanon-san, don't come to us looking like that!" He grabbed the black waistband from the boy.

She glared and the boy pouted, "Hey, I was just kidding!" The boy had short black hair and the color of his eyes was black, shined with purity and honesty. He was wearing a simple dull blue kimono with a gray waistband.

Hajime closed his eyes, rubbing his face as he walked away. Sanosuke looked away from the scene even if his vision was not as good, Ryunosuke pretended to be asleep, Kyou was just staring with a grin, and Souji's eyes were on Kanon's skin.

"Give it here, Saburo!" Kanon demanded, reaching her left hand out. She did want to walk further into the room. "That kid stole it after I took a bath with Kosuzu!"

"He did what?!" Ryunosuke stood up and the blanket on him fell to the floor. "Did he see anything?!" Because Ryunouke would so teach the kid a lesson for peeking.

"Yes, did he?" Souji smirked teasingly with Hajime sighing in the background.

Kanon snapped her head to Ryunosuke and then to Souji, "We were already dressed, and of course he saw nothing!" Souji threw his head back to laugh at the tone of her high-pitched, embarrassed voice. She set her kimono over her shoulders and wanted to rip her arm off just so she can throw something at Souji.

Saburo got up with the waistband in hand and the kid frowned in defeat. Handing the waistband back, Kanon snatched it with an angry look and hurried off. Saburo let out an uneasy laugh and then he turned around quickly to look at the kid. "Little Fukui, don't do things like that," Saburo wanted to tell the boy.

"Fukui Katsu!" the boy raised his hand, loudly stating his full name.

"Little Fukui sounds better," Saburo grinned, reaching a hand out. He ruffled the boy's hair and chuckled. "Where are your parents?"

Smiling and letting Saburo play with his hair, Little Fukui replied, "They went off to work. They always go before the sunrise. And they come back late. So it's always me and my grandpa."

"I'm surprised we didn't hear them," Sanosuke looked over to the two of them. Did Sanosuke doze off? He barely remembered if he ever closed his eyes.

Saburo noticed Little Fukui was rubbing his arms and shivered for a second. "Are you cold, Little Fukui?" Saburo bent his knees to meet the boy's eye level.

He nodded with a pout, "Because Kosuzu and Kanon were here, grandpa and I had to sleep in a room that had lots of holes… so the wind comes in and it gets chilly."

Suddenly getting an idea, Saburo stood up with a fist pumped and wore a happy smile. "I know what we should do now!" All the guys turned their heads to him, wondering what kind of plan Saburo thought for all of them for today.

[…^…]

A while later, in one of the bedrooms, Kanon's hair was dry and Kosuzu walked behind her as they both were sitting on their ankles on the wooden floor. Kanon was tilting her head in the mirror while Kosuzu was combing her long brown hair for her. The black comb slowly untangled Kanon's hair and Kosuzu made sure to be gentle. The girls were quiet, but Kosuzu knew what was going through Kanon's head the moment she saw Kanon's depressed face in the mirror's reflection.

Easily thinking of a topic, Kosuzu asked, "How do you want your hair to look like today, Kanon-san?"

Her head turned to her and she blinked up at Kosuzu's delicious-looking soothing brown eyes. "I don't want it tied up or anything," Kanon said, her face brightening up.

"Oh?" Kosuzu gently played with the long hair. "That's a pity."

Kanon dryly stared at her, "Oh, really?"

Giggling, Kosuzu nodded, "Yes. Want to me to do your hair?" Kanon looked away and had a moment to think about. Kosuzu combed her hair again and let Kanon take her time to decide it. "…Ryunosuke told me about your healing power and your heritage," Kosuzu smiled. She looked in the mirror and saw Kanon's face was totally blank. "And I'm thankful for what Ayumu given me and Ryunosuke… and… I'm sorry for your loss."

"…Thank you," Kanon murmured, letting a smile spread across her face. She still took it hard because Ayumu and Yumeko were both gone in that instant. Death was always unfair and it made Kanon wondered if she had been a bad girl in her past life. Because her life now had only been filled with the death of others. Maybe she did do something really bad in her previous life. So she committed herself not to hate no matter what. 'I don't want to lose any more of them,' Kanon thought, her eyes softening. 'So, I'll be a good girl, Aunt Akiko…'

"Where's that hair tie…?"

Immediately, Kanon turned her head and touched her hair with her hands. "No, I'm not going to tie it up!" she cried defensively, pulling her hair down.

Kosuzu had to giggle at her and nodded, "Fine, I won't tie it up without your consent."

Kanon smiled right away and stood up for a stretch. "Hmm, oh," she blinked just as Kosuzu stood up. Both girls were now ready to leave the room, but Kanon had a curious question. "Kosuzu, were you saying Ayumu also healed you?" Kosuzu nodded with a soft smile, blinking at the same time. "What's your power then?"

Right before Kosuzu answered, Little Fukui slide the door opened and called, "Breakfast is ready!" Both girls looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Hajime-san and the others made them for us."

"Oh," Kanon blinked. She wondered what they made.

Taking her hand, Kosuzu tugged it a bit and said, "Let's go." Kanon nodded as Little Fukui lead them to where the dinner room was. Before they were out of the bedroom, Kanon glanced to her short swords and shrugged, leaving them as they are on the ground by the mirror.

It was just about twenty steps away and Little Fukui stepped into the room where the other men were. Kosuzu and Kanon soon entered and they both looked around for empty seats. It seemed Ryunosuke saved a spot just for Kosuzu to his left. "Good morning," Ryunosuke put up a happy smile. The men were sitting from the two sides of the walls, facing inward at each other.

Kosuzu returned a smile and let Kanon's hand go. "Morning, everyone," Kosuzu nodded, regarding all of them as she made he way to Ryunosuke across the room.

Over the other side of Ryunosuke was Kyou, Sanosuke, and then Hajime. As little Little Fukui went to sit by his grandpa, on Little Fukui's right was Souji, an emptied seat, and then Saburo. As Kanon went to sit in the last one, Souji was the first to comment, "Hey, your hair looks much healthy today."

"Kosuzu combed it for me," Kanon blinked at him, reaching to the empted spot. When she sat on her ankles, she looked to the food placed on a small table. There was a bowl of rice, a small fish, and miso soup with a tofu in it.

Feeling Saburo touching her hair, she glanced to him. "Wow!" Saburo smiled happily. "Kanon-san! Your hair never ever felt this nice before!"

Souji clicked his tongue at them. Kanon slapped Saburo's hand away. "No touching," she told him. "Or my hair will fall around in someone's food."

"Okay," Saburo grinned, raising both of his arms. "Time to eat!"

"Ittadakimasu," everyone said. Someone sounded like they were mumbling too. (A/N: this means "Time to eat" in Japanese or simply a phase they say before digging into a meal.)

This was probably the first time Sanosuke was eating with a group in a long while. If Heisuke and Shinpachi were here, their voices were be the first to interrupt their meal time. Sanosuke cracked a smile as soon as Souji said, "Hey, Little Fukui, don't steal from others."

"But I'm a growing man," Little Fukui pouted childishly. His tiny fingers were holding his chopsticks and they were stuck between Souji's chopsticks. When Souji let the boy's chopsticks go, Little Fukui said, "And you're already a full grown man. You can get any girl you want now. I have a ten-year plan to fulfill so I must eat more!"

Souji had to laugh a bit mockingly and Little Fukui pouted even more. "Wow, what an ambitious little boy," Souji patted on the boy's head with his left hand. "But are you sure you're not just very hungry?"

The old man, Fukui, bowed his head over to Souji. "Please forgive my grandson's behavior," he chuckled softly.

"Oh no, it's quite all right," Souji smiled, nodding to assure the old man. Souji was just amused the way the boy used his words.

While Ryunosuke and Kosuzu exchanged quiet words, and Hajime eating silently without disturbing anyone, Kyou looked up to Kanon who did not touch her food yet. Seconds later, she took the small fish with her chopsticks. "Little boy, you can have this," she leaned forward to smile at the kid.

"Really?" Little Fukui brightly smiled. She nodded and he whimpered. "But… wasn't I… mean to you?"

"What, you call that mean?" Kanon grinned, giving him a weird look. "You have to do better than that!"

Souji took the small fish from her, "Then I'll teach him a lesson for you, Kanon."

"Souji," Sanosuke frowned. There Souji goes again. Without Hijikata, who was going to make the green-eyed man stop fooling around? Not that Hijikata ever could prevent Souji from doing what he wanted and Hijikata could only yell nonstop. Sanosuke smirked at the thought. He really missed those days.

Kanon glared, "Hey, that isn't yours, Souji!"

Little Fukui nodded, "Yeah, give it!" When the boy moved to his feet, his chopsticks reached to retrieve his gift from Kanon.

While Souji was not going easy on the little boy, Saburo sighed to the side. 'I was hoping for a peaceful morning,' he rubbed his face. Saburo wondered how Hajime was doing it because Hajime ate like no one was around him.

[…^…]

Kosuzu and Kanon were out in the back porch, watching the men doing work on repairs on the house. On the roof, Hajime and Souji were rearranging the beaten tiles with new ones. Ryunosuke was chopping firewood in the right corner of the small yard. Saburo carried flat wood and leaned them against the house and began looking for any holes he could see. As for old man Fukui, he was in the house, resting.

Little Fukui went off and sat on Kosuzu's lap when Kanon gave Kyou a look, "Why aren't you helping out, Kyou?"

"Heh," Kyou was drinking sake next to Sanosuke. They were sitting on the girls left side. "Because I'm here to make sure Harada doesn't run into a wall," Kyou grinned more to himself. "Someone had to watch over him."

Kanon flattened her face and Sanosuke chuckled. His eyes were still dim and he would squint his eyes every now and then. "…Sanosuke, sorry if I can't heal you," she told him, her voice remorseful. "Because if I did…"

"Then I would have an unstable extra power," Sanosuke nodded, his eyes on the ground. In his hand was a cup of sake. "Something like that, right? Shiranui said that was what Yumeko-chan mentioned. And I'm fine with the way I am. Don't worry about me."

She lowered her eyes and felt depressed all over again. That painful feeling just never goes away, does it? Kanon wanted to try harder and just live for another tomorrow. So she stood up and rolled up her sleeves. "I'll help out too," she said, making a determined expression.

"Why don't you just go grocery shopping instead?" Souji called from the roof. Kanon frowned and moved to look up at him. He sat on the edge and smirked. "Leave these jobs to the men."

"Yeah!" Saburo grinned, waving happily to Kanon.

Little Fukui got off of Kosuzu's lap and raised his hand, "I want to go shopping too!"

Souji gave the boy an annoyed look, "What happen to being a man? You should be staying with us. Don't you think?" In the inside, Souji would feel envy and if the boy got to go with the girls. Souji would not allow it.

Kanon blinked and Little Fukui took her hand. "No, I'm still a kid," Little Fukui smiled innocently at Souji. And the green-eyed man narrowed his eyes as the kid fail to see his threat. "So I want to go with them. They might need help."

"How thoughtful," Kosuzu smiled, moving to stand on her feet. She looked over to Ryunosuke, who was looking at her with concern. "I will be going with Kanon-san and Little Fukui, Ryunosuke. We will be right back."

A pause. Ryunosuke nodded softly, "Okay… be careful out there."

She nodded, "As you wish."

"Let's go," Little Fukui tugged on Kanon's hand. "The money is in the house, so we'll go get it first and then we'll go shopping!" Kanon nodded as they both went inside the house with Kosuzu following them.

Souji sighed and could not believe the damn kid. "Souji," Hajime's voice said. While Souji was turning around, Hajime pointed down to the roof that had an opening. "Focus."

"Yeah, yeah," Souji frowned, moving up to finish the job first. He was starting to feel grumpy and Hajime was reading him like a book, even if Hajime was dense at some part of a certain human emotion. Like a crush on someone. Souji let out a sigh and shook his head to forget about. 'It'll be fine,' he thought to himself. 'Kanon knows how to take care of herself… right?'

[…^…]

The two young women and Little Fukui walked in the market area. They were just about done and were taking a detour to explore the area for the fun of it. Both Kosuzu and Kanon were carrying straw baskets on their backs, which were covered up with a sheet of cloth and Little Fukui was holding a small bag filled with some potatoes. Just up ahead now, Little Fukui blinked and his face became red. "Um… we shouldn't go that way," Little Fukui stopped walking.

Kanon looked back, making a puzzled face. "Why?"

In front of them, Kosuzu could see the large three-story brothel, which was about three houses away. The title sign of the place was boldly called Blooming Flowers Brothel. A lot of women were on the streets to greet any men walking by and even managed to drag some of them in. Kosuzu cleared her throat and turned around. "Yes, let's take another path," she agreed, smiling as naturally as possible.

Still not understanding why, Kanon glanced around. All she saw in her path were a lot of women on the street. What caught her eyes was a booth beside the three-story building. Some men lined up and were picking up papers, but then they were whine, pay up, and then walk away. Curious, Kanon walked off while Little Fukui and Kosuzu opened their mouths, looking surprised. "Kanon-san!" Little Fukui whispered loudly.

Kanon approached the booth after the men left. The booth had a sign that read: Win and Get One Free Meal and One Night Rest here in Blooming Flowers! On the table, there was a large green straw basket with folded pieces of papers. And then her eyes lifted up to the two girls behind the booth.

The one on the right wore a thin layer of a yellow kimono. Her hair was long and black, which were all pulled up on her head as a bun, which made her mature. Even her dark yellow eyes carried a mature sensation. The girl on the left was wearing a thin layer of a pink kimono that was in the same design as the other girl. Her round eyes were childish and the color of her pupils was pink. Her hair was in the same exact style as the first girl.

"Care to try?" the one in yellow smiled to Kanon. "Drawing is free, but if you do not have the winning paper, it will cost you five hundred yen. And you can only have one shot at this."

"Can I really?" Kanon blinked, looking back down the folded papers.

The girl in the pink nodded as she giggled, "Of course! It doesn't matter if you're a girl. We will serve you if you win. Everything will be free of charge! You can even bring four people with you, who will also have the free meal and a night's rest! Cool, right?"

Kanon smiled, liking the idea. She did not want to impose on grandpa Fukui for another night. And another meal, seeing as how poor they already were. She probably would not able to bring everyone with her, however if she won, it was better than nothing. "Okay, I'll give this a shot," Kanon nodded, rolling up her right sleeve.

"Kanon-san!" Kosuzu and Little Fukui walked up behind her. They were worried because they do not want to waste a single yen for today.

But Kanon already drew a paper out of the basket. She opened it quickly and saw the word: Winner. "Oh, I won!" Kanon exclaimed with a big smile.

"WHAT?!" all the men around her shouted all at the same time. Their mouths dropped in complete shock for the lucky girl.

The two girls behind the booth clapped their hands at the same time. "Congratulations!" they said in unison.

Kanon laughed cheerfully and looked back to Kosuzu and Little Fukui, who both had a dry look on their faces. "…What?" Kanon beamed. "At least I can bring four people with me. You two want to join with me tonight?"

"Are you kidding me?" Little Fukui pouted. Though it was rare chance to eat wealthy meal, he refused, "I'm not coming here. Mom will scold me."

"Oh," Kanon blinked. "That's too bad. I wonder why?"

Kosuzu softly frowned, shaking her head. "Oh, Kanon-san…" she could only utter. Just how little did Kanon knew about brothels?

Thanks for reading!