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 19

A soft groan escaped Saburo's lips. When he opened his eyes, the room was filled with little light. How long had he been sleeping? It felt a bit cold and he did not have any blanket. Moving his arms to help himself sit up, his eyes squinted around the room. He saw Souij was sleeping next to him. And then Saburo blinked when he saw Hajime sitting on his ankles by the door.

"Good morning, Saburo," Hajime greeted, staring at him quietly.

Saburo smiled, "Morning, Saito-san." He looked around once again. But there was only three of them. "…Where did Shiranui-san go?"

"He took off with Kanon-san a little while ago," Hajime replied without blinking.

"Huh, without us?!" Saburo rushed to get up. He wobbled a bit and covered his mouth when he almost felt sick. Hajime nodded to him and said nothing. Saburo now recalled last night and frowned down to Souji. "Aw man…" he sighed with complete defeat. "Why didn't you wake me up, Saito-san?"

"Because Kanon-san did not wish to wake the two of you up," Hajime replied. While Saburo heaved a heavy sigh, he walked forward and slid the door open. "Where are you going?"

Saburo pouted as he stared at the hall. "I'm going to apologize to Kanon-san," he grumbled ruefully. "She must have seen such an ugly sight of us drinking… And she just wanted to have fun too."

Hajime slowly blinked and watched Saburo going off as he slid the door closed. "…You are right about that incident," Hajime faintly smiled. Kanon was unusually quiet and did not look happy this morning too. She must be disappointed in Saburo and Souji for last night. Hopefully she was not as upset as they thought.

[…^…]

In the front of the house of the Fukui Residence, Sanosuke was cleaning the blade of his spear while sitting on the chair. He was just cleaning it out of habit. His eyesight was back and he did not find anyone suspicious when he woke up to use his power. So he was now waiting for the others to return from the Blooming Flowers Brothel. With that thought, he smiled as he shook his head when he imagined how Saburo and Souji could have done over there.

His mind was very occupied and he failed to notice Kanon had just walked by him. Sanosuke blinked and looked back. She had rushed into the house and did not greet him. 'Oh great,' Sanosuke sighed. Maybe something did happen to the love trio. His eyes averted from the house and his calm face changed to surprise when he saw Kyou with Kyuuju just a few ways down the road. What a random sight that was.

"Ahhh, morning, Harada," Kyou frowned, feeling tired as he stretched his arms.

"Amagiri?" Sanosuke stared to him, getting up with his spear in hand.

Kyuuju gave him a simple nod and Kyou looked grumpy. "Yeah, we ran into each other last night," Kyou explained involuntary. "So he'll be joining in our merry group."

"That's great, but…" Sanosuke continued to stare at Kyuuju. This was a bit shocking. What kind of chance was Amagiri Kyuuju showing up? Sanosuke was just really dazed.

"Saito had notified me of the situation," Kyuuju slightly bowed. His eyes gazed to Sanosuke's and he added, "If you do not wish for my assistance, I will simply take my leave, Harada."

Sanosuke blinked and smiled awkward, "Sorry, it's not that… but it's really weird. I hope I did not offend you, Amagari. We'd be happy to have you." And that was the truth enough. Sanosuke noticed Kyou seemed pissed about something the moment he walked pass him. "Shiranui, did something happen at the brothel?"

Kyuuju's eyes were calm and Kyou looked back with a glare. "Nothing happened," Kyou told him casually. "…Just a couple of drunken men got on my nerves. That's all."

"O… kay?" Sanosuke uttered. Kyou turned and walked around the house. Seemed like Kyou wanted to be alone. It was suspicious, even if Kyou often preferred to be by himself. Sanosuke glanced to Kyuuju, who faced away and was guarding the front yard like a statue. 'This is really weird,' Sanosuke rubbed the back of his head, getting back to sit down. And he continued to tend to his spear.

Some time passed and Sanosuke stood up as he was satisfied with the blade. And very soon, Sanosuke caught sight of Saburo down the road on the right. He smiled when Saburo waved as a greeting. Kyuuju remained still as soon as Saburo walked up to the house and panted a bit. "Saburo, I heard you guys got drunk yesterday," Sanosuke smiled, raising a curious eyebrow.

Saburo frowned and seemed very defeated. "Uh, yeah, sorry about that," he bowed his head down. When he looked up, he seemed to just realize Kyuuju there and stared at him for a moment. "…Is he our new friend?"

"Yeah," Sanosuke grinned. "This is Amagiri Kyuuju."

While the tall man gazed to the young man, Saburo smiled, "Oh, nice to meet you Amagiri-san." Merely nodding, Kyuuju did not say a word. Saburo took a couple of steps forward and told them, "Kanon-san's here, right?"

"Yeah," Sanosuke looked back to him.

"Great!" Saburo rushed into the house. He did not wait and walked through the first room. It was emptied. So he checked the kitchen first. It was emptied as well. Saburo heard Little Fukui outside with Kosuzu and Ryunosuke. Checking bedroom one, Saburo saw old man Fukui napping in the futon. 'So, Kanon-san must be in the other bedroom,' he thought. Though, there was still the dining room.

Bedroom two was closer and he slide the door open, just in case Kanon was inside. He blinked when she was wrapped in blanket, sitting by herself in the corner. Her halfway opened eyes were staring at the ground and she seemed really spaced out.

"Kanon-san?" he smiled, standing out in the hall. She did not seemed to hear and he walked in. "Kanon-san?"

She was still in the same position, staring at the ground. At first, he worried about her thinking of Ayumu and Yumeko again. However, there was no sadness in her face, so what could she thinking about? Anxious and questioning, Saburo walked over to her and bent his knees beside her. He called her name again, and this time, he reached out to touch her shoulder.

Kanon quickly slapped his hand away as if it was a reflex. "K-Kanon-san?" Saburo smiled uneasily. The way she slapped his hand almost made his heart break. Because she never done that before, other than pushing him away from hugging her.

She blinked and looked at him. "Saburo," she smiled awkwardly, wrapping herself tighter with the blanket. "H-Hey… there."

"…What's wrong?" he tilted his head to her. She really was not like herself.

"Nothing," she forced herself to say.

But he noticed something strange. It was like she was covering up something. "Um," he stopped smiling. "I'm sorry. Were you mad last night? I knocked out."

She flinched, "No, of course not!" She could not force a smile on her face.

Saburo then asked, "Want me to comb your hair for you?" She shook her head 'no' and he stared at her carefully. 'Okay, something's definitely wrong,' his eyes narrowed. Knowing her, he thought she would object to his offer rather aggressively when it came to her hair. He even tried to comb her hair back in the village and she hit him right away. …Should he test that out?

Kanon noticed the change in his eyes and quickly stood up. "I need to use the restroom!" she quickly said, walking off as quickly as possible. Saburo grabbed her right wrist and she almost fell back. "I said I need to go to the bathroom!" she yelled, not looking back at him.

He was shocked at the tone of her voice. He slowly let her go and she practically ran off in the opposite direction were the bathroom was. Saburo glared as he moved to stand up. 'Did Okita-san do something to her when I was knocked out?' he asked himself. What else could it have been? But if that happened, Hajime or Kyou would have stopped him, right? Unless Souji found a way to fool those two and…

With his hands forming into fists, he walked out of the room and rushed through the front door. Opening it loudly, Sanosuke moved out of the way when he was walking to the door. Saburo ignored him and begun taking the road back to the Blooming Flowers Brothel.

"Saburo?" Sanosuke called to him, going to stand beside Kyuuju. But Saburo did not respond and started to dash. Sanosuke made an inquiring expression, "What's gotten into him?"

Running pass the crowd of people, Saburo's eyes glared. He did not want to jump into conclusions, but he really want to find out what happened last night. And maybe Souji was the only one who could answer to his demand. Just when he made a turn, his eyes caught sight of Hajime and Souji walking together as they were chatting.

"Geez, Hajime-kun, you could have woke all of us up," Souji complained, rubbing the aching pain behind his neck. He was looking up and tried to get his mind back together from being drunk.

"Kanon-san did not wish for that," Hajime told him. Like, for the third time. Souji sighed and was tired of hearing the same thing over and over. While Souji's head was still lifted up in the air, Hajime saw Saburo's running figure. And Saburo did not look happy. Hajime stopped walking and held out his right arm to stop Souji from walking.

As soon as Souji brought his head back down, he asked, "What?"

Saburo had grabbed for Souji's shirt and pulled on him. Hajime lightly glared as his arm was between. Before Hajime could even tell him to calm down, Saburo exclaimed, "What did you do to Kanon-san yesterday?!"

"Eh?" Souji stared at him blankly.

"Saburo, stop it," Hajime said, trying to put some distance between them. Saburo was glaring even harder, but pushed himself away and took a couple steps back. Hajime sighed at him and glanced to Souji.

"What are you talking about?" Souji continued to stare blankly.

Saburo retorted, "Kanon-san was acting strange! Tell me what you did to her right now!"

Hajime narrowed his eyes and glanced to the two of them slowly. "Souji was—"

"I just kissed her on her cheek," Souji shrugged with a frown, cutting Hajime off. There was a pause and Hajime gave Souji a slight surprised look. "That was all I did," Souji chuckled. Was Kanon really that mad at him? With a smirk, Souji looked to Saburo, who still looked angry. "What are you going to do about it?" Hajime's steady eyes stared to Souji when he asked Saburo that question.

Having the urge to grab the green-eyed man, Saburo clenched his teeth together instead. He calmed himself first and waited a few more seconds. "You think kissing isn't a big deal?" Saburo demanded, his muscles tightening up.

Souji snickered, "Well, if she's making a fuss about it, then it must be really bad for you, huh?"

Why was he talking like that? Souji sounded so lay back and was not considering anyone's feeling. That was the feeling Hajime was getting. To the other guy, Hajime made sure Saburo was not going to punch out of nowhere and they remained in the middle of the road. No one moved. Saburo then scowled, "Go apologize to her right now."

"Now, why would I do that?" Souji grinned. Saburo's eyes snapped wider to him. "I was direct about it. The kiss I gave her was real. Why should I have to apologize to hint I like her?"

Saburo glared harder and stomped his feet furiously. "I told you before, Kanon-san's mine!" he exclaimed. "And you better apologize to her!"

"No way," Souji grinned wider. "She's mine."

"I know Kanon-san longer than you!" Saburo stared into his eyes angrily. "She would never slap my hand away like that! She would never yell at me with that kind of tone!"

"You think, me, apologizing to Kanon would make her treat you better or something?" Souji inquired amusingly. Saburo shut his mouth and continued to stare angrily at him. "I'm not sorry at all. And there's no point to talk about this." Souji begun walking forward and went right by him. "I'm done here."

Saburo's hand reached out, but then Hajime took it and pulled him back. "Saburo, stop," Hajime said as Saburo's eyes met his. "There is no point in violence. Right?"

"Saito-san," Saburo hissed, trying to calm down. Yes. No point in violence. Saburo's eyes turned watery and his muscles relaxed little by little. And then Hajime let him go while Souji kept on walking ahead. Saburo whimpered, "But… Kanon-san… was so different…"

"I am certain she would not have you fight with Souji like this," Hajime told him quietly. Saburo took a moment and nodded as he rubbed his eyes to wipe the tears away. Seconds later, Hajime patted on his shoulder and said, "Time to head back to the others. …Are you ready?"

"Uh… yeah," Saburo nodded, bringing up a sad smile to him.

Relieved, Hajime really wondered if what Saburo said was true. If Kanon was that mad to make Saburo worried, Souji should make an apology. Perhaps, for now, Hajime hoped the people around him were not too affected by this. Waiting for Saburo to walk first, Hajime went to walk beside him.

[…^…]

On the right side of the Fukui Residence, Kanon was leaning her back against the house while standing up. Her eyes were completely overwhelmed with confusion and her fingers kept shaking. But then she reminded herself of a voice that kept apologizing to her in that moment. She closed her eyes and tried to forget that painful feeling. '…Yuma,' she thought, letting her shoulders relax a bit. 'Haru…?'

"Hey," Kyou's voice called rather softly.

She opened her eyes and lifted her chin up. Kyou was sitting on the roof, his feet down the edge, and he wore a guilty frown on his face. With Kanon analyzing his very expression, she thought back to last night once again. 'I had Hajime and Kyou, who should have been awake around then, right?' she questioned herself. Her face was still blank while Kyou had jumped down to her side.

With his back to the wall, Kyou leaned and stayed next to her. 'Gosh, I hate this,' he thought, almost biting his tongue. If only he had not chased after Amagiri Kyuuju that night. None of that would have happened to Kanon. Kyou was complete disgusted with himself, though the only one to blame was Haru. Kyuuju was simply another victim.

"Can I see your gun?"

Kyou slightly looked to her at the corner of his eyes. She smiled a little and with interest. "…Have you consider using a gun now?" he smirked. Or at least, he tried to be himself a little more. There was no use to tell Kanon what happened. Haru was still in his head and she would stop him if he opened his mouth to talk about it. He could not even hint it to Kanon. There was nothing that could be done. Absolutely nothing.

Kanon smiled wider, "Not really, but I want to touch it and see how I like it. Maybe I might actually use one myself."

He scoffed as he grabbed his gun from his right side. "Knock yourself out then," he held it to her. "Just don't pull the trigger."

She nodded and moved her hand to touch the gun. Wanting to turn around, she tripped on her own toe. "Ah?" she blinked, falling to the side.

Kyou rolled his eyes and grabbed her with his left hand. With a face of uncertainties, she pulled on his left hand roughly as her leg kicked the back of his knee and he fell forward over to her. "What are you—" Kyou was startled. Landing on her knees awkwardly, Kanon pulled on his shoulders and let his face fall right onto her. His eyes snapped opened and a light flashed by.

"I won't let Haru take you away," Kanon whispered with her eyes closed.

"Shiranui!" Kyuuju's voice struggled to warn.

Kyuu glared as the light disappeared from his and her body. He held his gun with his right hand and his right arm went around Kanon's waist. He jumped into the air with her as Kyuuju had just punched into the ground. Kyou spun in the air and Kanon's arms wrapped around his neck. He grinned to her and she wore a faint smile of victory. "Thank you, Kanon," he said. Haru's control was completely gone now. That suffocating lock vanished.

Before Kyou landed over to the roof of another house next door, Kanon quickly notified, "Use your hand to direct where you want to control gravity."

'To Amagiri?' Kyou blinked. He quickly acted as his feet landed on the roof. She got her footing as his arm her go. Kyou saw Kyuuju was looking up and was just about to move to get away. With a pleased smirk, Kyou's hand reached out and he slapped down through the air.

Kyuuju felt the air pressuring down on him. Within a few seconds, his body was forced into the ground and the air was heavy against his back. 'Amagiri Kyuuju, get out of there!' Haru shouted angrily.

'As you can tell, I'm trapped,' Kyuuju said. And he was relieved to be.

'Yuma! Hurry and stop them!' Haru ordered. Kyuuju narrowed his eyes and estimated the time Yuma would actually get here.

"Wow, I like this power," Kyuu whistled, playing with his gun.

Kanon had jumped down from the house and walked to Kyuuju, where the air looked like heat waves on his back. From the backyard, Kosuzu, Ryunosuke, and Little Fukui peeked out from the house. "So, you're under Haru's control as well?" Kanon lowered her body as she bent her knees to Kyuuju.

While Kyuuju's lips were sealed, Kosuzu turned to Ryunosuke. "Take Little Fukui inside," she whispered.

Ryunosuke touched the confused Fukui's shoulder and teleported him into the house. "Done," Ryunosuke said, his eyes over to Kanon and the others. 'Did she said Haru?' he thought to himself.

Kosuzu sighed, "No, Ryunosuke. I wanted you to take him there, not teleport him." She hurried off to the back door, fearing Little Fukui would get hurt if he tried to come out where the danger was.

Ryunosuke watched her go for a moment and he walked toward the others. Sanosuke had came around from the front door and the moment he saw Kyuuju being held down by a strange heated air, Sanosuke's eyes quickly glowed to track down any incoming enemies. "Yuma's above us!" Sanosuke warned, looking into the sky. He was not sure how, but he was coming right down and was directly to Kyou. "Shiranui!"

With a grunt, Ryunosuke focused his power on Kyou. Just as Yuma, in his Oni form, rained down with his blade, the sword struck the ground as Kyou was teleported in the back yard of the Fukui home. Yuma wasted no time and moved his feet. But then he stopped as soon as his eyes lay upon Kanon.

She was still next to Kyuuju with her knees still bent. But she was staring to Yuma quietly. His body was shaking to fight back a control. 'I'm sorry,' he wanted to say, his eyes trembling.

'Damn you, Yuma!' Haru growled. She did not understand why his body became stiff. And so she changed the flow of his body and Yuma had begun moving again. 'How dare Kanon see through my control over Kyou!'

Just as Souji came around to see what the commotion was about, his eyes glared as Yuma leaped into the air like a bird over to the back yard. "Hey!" Souji called, his hand on the handle of his katana.

"Ryunosuke!" Kanon shouted over to him. "Teleport all of us outside of town!"

He listened and quickly worked his way as he stared back. His mind went white and he teleported everyone around him easily. Everyone, but for him though, and then he walked around to the front of the house and saw Hajime and Saburo running to him. "Good," Ryunosuke thought out loud. He needed to make sure where the two men were to teleport them all together. And then Ryunosuke counted Kosuzu in the house and he used his power once again on them one more time.

Within a blink, the area where they were teleported to was just right out side to the west of the town wall. Hajime saw Kyuuju getting up from the ground and before the others react, Yuma had charged to aim his blade to Kyou. And as Ryunosuke panicked, he used his power again, wanting to teleport Yuma away.

Kyou took a good look at Yuma's Oni form. And he took note of Yuma's unusual horns. 'No Oni that I know had long horns like that,' Kyou thought, bringing up his gun to aim.

But then Yuma seemed to have teleported and now his blade directed over to Kanon. "Ah, damn!" Ryunosuke cursed. It would seem he used his power out of panic again. 'And of all people, why Kanon?!'

Kyuuju forced his feet into the ground, fighting against Haru's control momentarily.

The blade was already close. All of the guys barely moved to go and save her because it was merely a second. Kanon slightly backed away and Yuma's blade turned to the right and the sharp edge slice a bit of her skin on her neck and then through her hair. The blade stopped and the sound of it rung coldly in her right ear. Her eyes widened as he almost pushed her over and he stared into her blue eyes shamefully. Did he change the course of his attack to avoid hitting her? Or was it because of the teleportation power? Before Kanon could even grab for his arm, he pushed her away and took a few steps back himself.

Dropping his gun, Kyou used both hands to keep Kyuuju and Yuma down with his power. When the gravity above the two men fell on them, Yuma was still standing against the gravity while Kyuuju fell to his stomach once again. Kyou widened his eyes, a bit shocked, 'Why isn't Yuma…?' Yuma's golden eyes glared and he tried to untangle himself out of the gravity Kyou was casting on him.

In that instant, Saburo wanted to do something to help. Sanosuke was still trying to scan the area with his power to track any other possible enemies. Ryunosuke pulled on Kosuzu's hand to have her closer behind him. Hajime's observing eyes were watching over them, his own hand on the handle of his katana.

As for Souji, he took this chance to thrust his katana to Yuma's back for the Oni was unable to free himself of the gravity yet. But then Kanon swiftly stood behind Yuma and opened her arms to shield him. Souji could always strike pass her head, but her eyes were burning at him and sent a message for him to back off. Pausing his katana in midair, it stopped in front of her face and Souji stared at her, unclear of her motive.

Yuma looked over his right shoulder as his body was still trying to get out of the gravity under Haru's mind control. "Kanon… why are you protecting him?" Souji inquired quietly, his two hands gripping tightly onto his katana.

It was not like he would kill Yuma on the spot. Souji was simply concerned Yuma would attack if he broke from the strange air that held him in place. But the look in Kanon's determined eyes… she did not wish for Souji to harm Yuma. Not even a single scratch.

And what else was behind the meaning of her deadly gaze?

Thanks for reading!