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!)

Author's note: I hope my laziness isn't showing too much in the last few chapters... as well as this one (and the future chapters). But I do my best to write how I see fit. Enjoy reading! :D

"Forever" will not keep us connected

Chapter 24

More than a year ago...

In total darkness, a horse was sauntering. No moonlight guided the people on the same lone horse. Yumeko was struggling to hold the reins, but her eyes were barely opened. Behind her was Saburo, who mumbled weakly and sounded like he would pass out just about anytime.

"S…Saburo-sama?" the eyes of the short, black haired girl glanced back to him. His forehead was on her right shoulder and he did not respond. He probably was unable to.

An arrow was stuck through both of their bodies around their stomach area. She had refused to pull the arrow out of them for she was unable to do that by herself. And she had to escape far from home… she had to. They had to run away. That assassin might still be on their trail.

Yumeko called again, but weaker, "Saburo…sama…"

The horse stopped as the two bodies fell on the left sight. Neighing, the horse stepped back when it felt the presences of strangers. Saburo was now unconscious and no longer breathed. His back faced to Yumeko. She remained to lie still on her left side, staring at her hand in the dark. Tears filled up in her eyes. 'No, I can't cry…' she told herself, trying hard to keep her eyes opened.

Saburo's life. She must save him. Even if she must use the last of her breathe.

Her voice begun to call out, "Save him… someone… anyone… save him… please…"

The sounds of footsteps were detected as if they had heeded her prayer. And now, Yumeko continued to plead and her voice becoming more louder each time.

"…Ayumu… let's heal them," a young girl quietly said with sympathy.

"Tsk," a male was heard.

Yumeko's eyes slowly looked up to the two people. A girl with long brown hair kneeled down to her and touched Yumeko's hand. However, Yumeko tried to leave out of the girl's grip. "Save… him…" Yumeko implored one more time. 'Forget about me… just save Saburo-sama…'

The girl held her hand harder, but as softly as possible. "Ayumu," the girl raised her voice, turning her head in the dark to look over to the tall guy.

In that moment, everything grew dark. Yumeko must have closed her eyes. And silenced gloom around her. In front of her, she saw an endless path of blackness. She thought she was going to walk in the darkness as she always had, but then… a light sparked out of nowhere.

Yumeko slowly opened her eyes and stared into a pair of red eyes, belonging to a guy. His forehead was lay over hers, making her realize she was lying on her back. Was the arrow pulled out?

The light disappeared and the guy moved away to sit with a distance. Yumeko was completely surprised as she moved to sit up. The pain she felt seconds ago were vanished as if nothing had ever happened. Was it a miracle? How? Did it have something to do with that person with cold red eyes?

Yumeko's gaze averted to where Saburo was, which the brown-haired girl was laying her forehead over his. And there was that same light. Enchanting… pure and white light.

"What's your name?"

Blinking with confusion, Yumeko looked to the guy and the light revealed his long brown hair that was not tied. The light revealed the expressionless look on his face. She pretended she did not see his attitude and answered, "Yumeko…"

"Yumeko?" he did not blink and studied her for a moment. Her eyes became emotionless and he was unable to read her very well.

She then assumed, "And you're Ayumu."

His eyebrow twitched and he tried not to speak at all. Something about this encounter did not sit well with him. Simply because he sensed he would not enjoy being stuck with her for life.

…And both of their names had the word 'dream' in them.

[…^…]

"Okay, stop looking at me like that!" Saburo blushed as Souji continued staring. Kanon was in front of Saburo on the same horse so he was not sure how her expression was like. "I'm not a part of any royalty anymore!"

"Saburo-sama," Akio's voice directed with harshness, making Saburo flinch. The man in black armor stood up from kneeling and glared. The bandits behind him got up from their feet as well. "Return to us. We must drive back the foreigners."

Grunting, Saburo's hand pressed harder on his wound. Fixing his eyes to meet Akio's, Saburo inquired, "If that's what you want, why are you with Haru?" He had known Akio to be slightly ruthless, yet the middle-aged man was not blind when the victims were suffering.

"She and I are merely ridding enemies from our land," Akio stated rather honestly. His deep orange eyes were icy when he mentioned the word 'enemies.'

That made no sense. Souji lightly glared, moving his horse to take a couple of steps forward. "Obviously you were tricked," Souji assumed with mockery. Akio softened his gaze and listened to what the green-eyed man had to say. "Haru's an Oni. She only wants Kanon, who has nothing to do with any foreigners."

Kyuuju and Kyou remained on guard, both of their eyes on Akio and the rest of the bandits. No one moved.

"Yeah, Akio-san," Saburo said, wincing in pain.

"Saburo-sama, you're hurt?" Akio's eyes widened. He had just realized the blood between Saburo's hand and chest.

"Look, you have to listen," Saburo grumbled. He begun to move off the horse and before Kanon could say anything, Saburo patted on her arm and walked forward. "Akio-san, Haru probably doesn't care about you wanting to expel the foreigners… And aren't things peaceful with the way they are now?"

Souji noticed Saburo stumbling, but he held up on his own by standing up straight.

Quietly, Akio let out a sigh and his eyes observed the others. "…Saburo-sama," he now stared to the boy with the jet-black hair. Changing the subject when he taken notice of something that was amiss, he inquired, "…Where is my niece? Why is she not with you? You two escaped from that incident, did you not?"

Kanon had a feeling Akio was talking about Yumeko. 'His niece?' she questioned, her heart tightening. Thinking about Yumeko and Ayumu made Kanon depressed. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to confront Haru.

Saburo grunted and lowered his head. "Yumeko… she's dead," he replied.

"Humph," Akio closed his eyes, feeling no remorse. "I see."

"That's all?" Kyou was now glaring. Akio opened his eyes slowly and said nothing. "Yumeko's death was caused by Haru. And you're saying you're working with Haru? Or are you under her mind control too, old man?"

With an eyebrow raised, Akio asked, "What mind control?"

Gritting his teeth, Kyou conveyed almost heatedly, "We're telling you Haru isn't who you think she is, you ignorant human!"

One reason why Kyou started to feel worked up. If Yumeko was Akio's niece, why did the man seem so indifferent about her death? Were they not close? But they were family, right? Because if Yumeko were Kyou's sister, Kyou would not forgive anyone who made her lose her will to live. Yes, Kyou had long accepted Yumeko's fantasy to be a family with a group of humans.

And one thing he detested: Yumeko did not say goodbye to any of them before departing from the world with Ayumu.

"I am beginning to see why Ren was feeling 'sorry' for all of you," Akio remarked with a small smile. Everyone stood completely still in respond. When Akio met Saburo's eyes, he said rather proudly, "It would seemed Saburo-sama have grown as well."

"Akio-san?" Saburo blinked, smiling himself.

"I do not think I am under a 'mind' control," Akio told them confidently, shrugging at the same time. "If Saburo-sama is on this side of the line, then I shall believe the words you all spoke." And he trusted Saburo more than anyone. They had known each other since Saburo was a toddler. Shortly, Akio raised his hand, "Men, free the brat."

"Yes, Yamamoto-sama," a man nodded to Akio's signal. He was the one on the carriage and he moved to open the door of the carriage.

'Brat?' Souji smirked at the word. He must mean Little Fukui. 'But… does this man really believe us? So soon?' Just in case, Souji held onto his suspicion.

Kanon smiled with relief when she saw Little Fukui being taken into the man's arms. The boy even looked sacred. She hurried off the horse, seeing as the man untying ropes around Little Fukui and the cloth in his mouth was removed.

"Saburo, everyone!" Little Fukui cried with tears in his eyes. The little boy ran off away from the bandits and his arms were opened, seeking for a comforting hug.

Saburo chuckled with a wave, "Hey, Little Fukui!"

Whilst Little Fukui still ran on his little feet, Kyuuju caught sight of a single bandit aiming his riffle. Kyuuju moved forward just the second the bullet was fired stridently.

Akio snapped his eyes back and saw blood spattered into the air behind Little Fukui's back. "HEY!" Akio roared, turning around to his very own men.

Horrified, Kanon, Souji, and Saburo all stared. The one who was most terrified was Kanon. Tears whelmed up in her eyes as Little Fukui fell forward and his eyes soulless, but Kyuuju had just picked the boy up and dashed backwards as few bandits begun killing each other off with their blades.

"What the hell?" Kyou drew his gun out, pointing it out. Though, he was unsure who to shoot. Half of the bandits just suddenly attacking each other were extremely odd.

"What are you doing?!" one of the bandits demanded to the other.

Smirks filled the attackers' faces. Horses cried loudly, stuck among the brawl. While the commotion went on, Akio hurried to his men to make them get a grip.

Kyuuju went back to the others and Kanon was the first to approach him. "Little Fukui?!" she cried, touching his cheeks with her hands. But the boy did not answer. His body was completely lifeless in the arms of the tall Oni. And then a tear fell from Kanon's left eye.

Kyuuju grunted at the misfortunate of event. Behind Kanon, Souji had gotten off of his horse and Kyou gave Saburo a hand, who now struggled to stand. Then Kyuuju looked to Kanon and she was dreadfully saddened. And in that moment when he brought his eyes on her, he saw her left eye turning from blue to golden. "Kanon-san?" Kyuuju called to get her attention.

But her eyes were too distant and she did not seemed to have heard him.

Hurrying forward, Souji stopped himself when he saw a cut made in the purple sky, which revealed the blue sky beyond it. His eyes widened as Yuma, in his Oni form, fell from the sky with his sword in hand. Souji drew out his katana and was ready to protect his friends.

Before anyone else moved, the purple sky faded away. However, it became a red light and it rained like scattered tears on one side of the field and it barely touched anyone. Kyou felt a drop on his face and touched it. There was nothing wet though.

Akio shouted at his men, but a couple had stuck out with their katana toward him. He swiftly took his own katana to shield against them. "Men, stand down!" he glared, pushing the men back with his blade with both hands.

Meanwhile, Yuma had turned to the others. Souji, Saburo, and Kyou had their guard up and Yuma stood where he was. His eyes temporally gazed to Kanon's back, who held Little Fukui's hand into her own.

As a true Oni, Yuma was faster than Ren, so he left the human behind and sought to be here first.

"Oh, wait," Kyou raised his hand to Souji slightly behind him. "Something's different about Yuma today." Not only that, did Yuma just somehow immobilize that strange light in the sky?

Yuma offered no words and saw the last of the red rain dropping on Kanon, Little Fukui, and Kyuuji. Afterward, Yuma walked away from the group and he uttered, "Akio, some of your men are under Haru's mind control."

The man in the black armor glanced back, "What was that?!"

Saburo grunted and stepped onward. Unconsciously using his power, his wound covered up the bullet hold in his chest. "Eh?" he blinked and got out of Kyou's aid. Standing himself, he smiled, "Hey, my power is back! So it really was the sky!"

"Good," Kyou smirked, his eyes turned to look at the bandits. "It's about time we…" when he raised his hand and brought it down, nothing happened. Instantly, Kyou glared to Saburo, "Hey, mine's not working."

"Hm?" Saburo blinked. The sound of the bullet rung and Saburo ignored Kyou. "Never mind you, I have to help Akio-san!"

"Saburo!" Souji frowned. But forget him, Souji went to Kyuuju and Kanon. He checked the little boy's dead face and his heart sunk at the mere sight. 'Little Fukui…' Life and death was natural… but why did a child have to be involved with their mess? Even if Kanon could revive the boy later…

"Damn this shit," Kyou just ran forward, hoping to actually do some helping of his own. He fired out his gun, shooting one of the offenders down.

Akio snapped his head to him, "Don't harm my men!"

"Then do something about them faster!" Kyou sneered, aiming yet again.

"Kanon," Souji voiced her name. Her head was lowered, but he could tell she was very shocked. "Get a hold of yourself, you can revive him later, can't you?" He shook her shoulder with a soft glare.

"Everyone!" Sanosuke's voice shouted out.

Looking back, Souji's eyes caught sight of Sanosuke, Hajime, Kosuzu, and Ryounosuke from afar. It was in the same direction where they had taken off. 'Why are you guys doing back here?' Souji grunted.

Perhaps he should have guessed. Sanosuke must have lied about splitting up into groups. Nonetheless, this was good. They could all stick together and make a break for it. Although, Kyou and Saburo had went off to help Akio, even Yuma. How could every one of them escape? Maybe they would just have to fight their way through.

Kyuuju still carried the child in his arms, but his eyes glued to the human girl.

Within that moment, a strong black wind was created around Kanon. It caused every single people to stop what they were doing and the horses neighed piercingly. Kyuuju stepped back as the wind begun to attack at random. His eyes observed the confusion in Kanon's expression. Her left eye was still in a golden hue.

Akio and Saburo both directed their eyes back, but the black wind blocked their view and threw them off guard. The same with the bandits who were against each other.

Souji felt his feet leaving the ground and the wind almost carried him off. The other wind also had blown some of the bandits off the ground and raised them into the air. Souji glared, looking around. He noted his friends were safe and were still around, even Yuma.

And then Kosuzu let out a shout. The three men with her had turned to look up where she was being taken off to the sky. "Kosuzu!" Ryunosuke dashed to follow her.

"Ryunosuke!" she reached out, her eyes widening.

"Ibuki!" Hajime called after him, but remained behind a tree to avoid the wind.

Sanosuke frowned and glanced where the source of the wind was coming from. 'Kanon-chan, what's happening to you?' he so badly wanted to shout his question out.

Unaware of herself, Kanon covered her face with her hands. As if she stood in the eye of a hurricane, she mentally asked, 'What's causing the wind? Am I the one who's doing it?' She tried to stop it, hearing her name in the deafening wind. Beginning to feel it was not her power at all, she had no clue how to end the wind.

The thought of Little Fukui came to mind. She shut her eyes and tried harder, thinking perhaps it was the life of the baby that caused the wind. But, how? Was it even possible? What kind of power did the life inside of her have? She begun to tremble and repeated her own name to remember who she was. But her mind continued freaking out.

"Tsk!" Kyou's body soon rose into the air. The wind quickly carried him. Having no idea what was happening, he scanned around. His back just slammed into Kyuuju, which caused Little Fukui to fall from his arms. "Amagiri!" Kyou scolded loudly in the nosy storm.

Kyuuju reached out for the boy's hand, although the black wind was fast and the hand he struggled to take hold of was no longer reachable. "Shiranui, do something," Kyou slightly blamed the other Oni, looking back to him calmly.

"We're both in the air, what can we do?" Kyou snapped. He then noticed Yuma's body being blown the wind and Kyou shouted, "Hey, you! Do something!"

Unfortunately, Yuma could not. The only thing, probably not enough to repent, was that he recognized the black wind. '…Is that the Walking Dream?' he inquired at the back of his mind. How was that possible? Yuma grunted, unable to fight through the wind whereas he could no longer see the others on the ground.

Kanon begun to take note of Sanosuke's voice, but it was all becoming faint. She turned her body; walking and realized the wind did not harm her. It would move away and simply create wind all around her. 'Come on, think,' her lips quavered.

Suddenly, the wind stopped with no reason. Kanon held in her breath and searched for her friends. Many bandits were still present, even the numbers had decreased. There was still Akio and Saburo near by. She did not see Kyou or Kyuuju. Even Yuma. Furthermore, Sanosuke and Hajime seemed to be missing. And Souji…

"Kanon," Souji walked up to her side.

She smiled with relief when Souji approached with Little Fukui in his arms. And then her eyes tried to track the others once again. But she did not see any of them. Did the wind carry all of them away? That fast? How far though? And would they be all right, falling from the sky and landing on the ground? That thought extremely worried her.

"What was that… just now?" Souji inquired, staring at her carefully. He was lucky that he was still here, but he had his concern for his friends who had disappeared during the powerful gale. He could only hope they would be able to land on their feet.

Kanon shook her head, her eyes only fixed on the boy's body. She was very unsure and hoped Souji would understand that. 'Why did the wind stop?' she questioned herself, staring at her right hand. She tried to trace her powers, but it still felt dry. She was not able to revive Little Fukui just yet.

Their little silence was soon disturbed. "Akio, what happened to our men?!" Saburo shouted.

Souji and Kanon both directed their attention back to the front. Nearly all of the bandits' hair had turned white and their eyes red. They all smiled and killed the last of the men who did not convert like they did. And the wounds on their flesh that were inflicted on them during the brawl… they healed.

"What the…?" Akio cautiously stepped back to stand beside the alerted Saburo.

"The Rasetsu in the day?" Souji glared, lowering Little Fukui down. However, Kanon took the boy into her own arms and then Souji drew out his katana and pointed it out. She took a few steps back and Souji shifted his feet to cover her and boy.

"Hahaha, no, we're not the Rasetsu," one of the white-haired bandits stated. His insignificant presence meant nothing, but his words struck strongly, "We are the Hakuouki."

An unfamiliar name. Souji wondered if they were the new type of Rasetsu. But… who gave that group a name like 'Hakuouki'?

Thanks for reading!