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 29

It was only a few minutes ago when Souji had rested Little Fukui on the single futon in the room of the inn. Covering the boy up with the blanket, Souji observed the child's condition. The kid was breathing and it seemed he would be getting his health back soon enough. Souji smiled and patted on the boy's forehead and then ruffled with his short black hair.

"Yamamoto-san."

Akio was by the door and he looked to Souji. "Yes?"

Getting up from the ground with his hands on his hips, Souji gazed to him and inquired, "Did you harm the boy's family?"

"I would never do anything as low such as that," Akio replied with his eyes closed. "I simply took the boy when he was running about. Haru said she wanted him and that was simply what I did."

"So, you just took him?" Souji raised an eyebrow. "Without asking Haru why?"

Akio steadily opened his eyes and kept his eyes on the ground. "I trusted her," he could only said.

Souji scoffed, "I guess you'll listen to anyone, huh?"

"That's the reason for my very existence, yes," Akio nodded to himself.

With a frown, Souji ignored him and his eyes glanced to the window. "Well, as long as Little Fukui's family is safe, then you can be forgiven," Souji smirked a bit. While Akio said nothing more, Souji saw a shadow out the window. The shadow made it obvious and walked by silently. Souji felt no danger from it, but his guts were telling him another thing.

Akio lifted up his chin as Souji walked by him without a word. He did not ask where the green-eyed man was going and just moved to close the door to the room behind him.

Out of the inn, Souji walked to the right side of the building and eventually saw Yuma standing firmly about twenty meters away. He seemed to be waiting with a composed expression, holding his sword in his right hand and the blade was up against his arm. In that moment, Souji could only feel himself wanting to kill him.

"What are you doing here?" Souji questioned, approaching him.

When Souji stopped about a few feet in front of the silverhead, Yuma stared at him quietly. "I'm here to see Kanon," Yuma replied coolly.

The way Yuma used her first name only ticked Souji off more. "She's busy," Souji told him, smirking. He leaned his weight on his right leg and stated, "And she doesn't want to see you. Ever."

"It's important," Yuma insisted, still calm about facing him.

"So?" Souji snickered. His hand ran down the handle of his katana and Yuma seemed unfazed by Souji's gesture. "I don't care how important it is. You touched Kanon." Yuma's eyes quivered and he offered no other response. "And if I said no, you can't see her. Get out of my face." The sooner the better because Souji was having the urge to strike Yuma down. The only reason why he was holding back was for Kanon.

With his eyes lowered for a mere second, Yuma sighed. He felt responsible and only deserved to be treated like this by this human. Then he looked to green-eyed man one more time and more determinedly. And he politely continued to say, "Let me see Kanon."

He said her name again. And Souji snapped.

Yuma kept his eyes on Souji's intensive gaze. The unsheathing sound of the katana was heard and Yuma stood perfectly still. The grip of Souji's right hand on his katana was quick and he pierced into Yuma's chest, purposely over the heart.

"Souji!" Kanon's sudden voice shouted angrily.

The green-eyed man ignored her and merely smirked to Yuma. Souji then noticed the calm emotion in Yuma's eyes changed to bitterness. And then Yuma's lips moved to say, "Oh… So, you are Souji?"

With a flash of the blade that reflected the sunlight in Souji's eyes, Yuma had stabbed his own sword into Souji's chest, over his heart as well. Souji winced, but he did not back away. And both men glared at each other silently.

"Souji," Yuma murmured, his eyes glued to the other man's gaze. 'The name of the man Kanon kept calling for that night…'

"It's Okita Souji," the green eyes burned to the silver eyes of the Oni.

Yuma calmed himself down slowly. "…I'm Kuromori Yuma," he introduced himself.

Between the two, Kanon appeared and rose up her arm up under both blades. She wanted to injure herself underneath the sharp edges, hoping to get their senses back together, but then the two men quickly withdrew their weapons and backed off. "What are you two doing?!" Kanon glared at them back and forth, her right hand resting on her hip. If she had her weapons, which were probably still in the carriage, she would have used them to stop the two men somehow.

Souji glared at her, "And what were you doing, did you want to cut yourself?"

Out of nowhere, Kanon did an uppercut under Souji's chin, which forced him to take a few steps back from her sudden blow. However, at the same time as she hit him, she had used her healing power to fix his wound inflicted by Yuma too. While Souji's wound stopped bleeding, Kanon eyed to Yuma. His own wound was healing by itself and steam hissed the place where Souji stabbed him.

"Kanon," Yuma looked at her quietly.

Feeling chills around her body when he voiced her name, she looked away and tried to gather her thoughts first. While she did that, Souji stepped forward and said to Yuma, "See, she doesn't want to see you."

Yuma glared to Souji again, no longer feeling courteous to the human. "I am not talking to you," Yuma told him.

As Souji narrowed his eyebrows, moving forward again, Kanon backed up against him and pushed him back. "K-Kanon," Souji frowned, trying to get her out of the way.

"I have questions for this man," Kanon stated, elbowing Souji. The two stopped pushing each other and Souji was grew silent. She did not look at him and kept her eyes on Yuma. "…Can we talk inside?"

The silverheaded Oni nodded directly to her, "Of course…"

Souji clicked his tongue and turned in his place and walked away first. He really disapproved of having Yuma around. What was there to talk about? Shortly, Souji realized it must be about the baby. …Their child… Souji bit his lower lip and rushed out of there as fast as he could. He wanted to storm off, but he desired to stay and listen to what was happening with Kanon. And Yuma might have the answers.

Kanon was staring at Souji's back and when he was gone around the corner, she sighed. "What a kid," she mumbled with a pout. Understanding what was going through Souji's mind, she could not help but want to console him. Directing her gaze to the Oni, she saw he was just standing there and waiting for her to lead. "…Let's go," she stepped away.

Quietly, he called her name again, "Kanon." She stopped after her second step and kept her back faced to him. "…I am sorry. About Ayumu… about everything."

She nodded without much thought. "It's fine," she told him. She never blamed him. Not even for a second. And then she slowly led the way as Yuma followed her.

In the inn, Akio slightly turned his head when he took notice of Souji's footsteps. The green-eyed man walked by and roughly opened the door to the room. He walked in with a bitter expression, which left Akio wondering what was going on this time.

When Kanon showed up with Yuma trailing behind her, Akio's eyes slightly widened. "Yuma…?" Akio leaned away from the wall to face them.

"Oh," Kanon blinked. She stopped by Akio and looked back to Yuma. "That's right, you two worked together for Haru before…"

"Something like that," Yuma nodded and then eyed to Akio to regard him. "It is good to see you are doing well, Akio."

The older man smiled a little. "I could say the same to you," he responded. "…Were you under Haru's mind control too? Or are you in control of your own body now?" He was asking since he did not know what was Yuma's condition. And as Yuma seemed to be with Kanon as an ally, Akio felt it was safe to have Yuma around.

"Let us discuss about it in the room," Yuma suggested, glancing to Kanon.

While she nodded, Akio realized about their surroundings. "Right," Akio agreed.

Kanon entered the room first and noticed Souji had sat to the far right, leaning back against the wall. His eyes looked elsewhere and he seemed really comfortable from where he was sitting at. And he was completely quiet. Kanon pouted at Souji's expressionless face and then went to Little Fukui's side to sit by him.

As Yuma stepped into the room, Akio walked in as well and closed the door afterward. Kanon watched Yuma sitting across from her, with Little Fukui in the middle and Akio remained by the door while he stood.

Yuma quickly cut to the chase and said, "Yes. I have been under Haru's control for at least three years, but I did not know of it until a few months ago. She recently released her mind control over me—"

"Okay, I don't care about that," Kanon honestly remarked, narrowing her eyes. She patted on her belly and Yuma was trying to be as calm as possible. But he looked guilty again. "Will you tell me why this is growing so fast? I might not know a lot about child birth, but Aunt Akiko told me stuff like this too."

'…Akiko?' the name crossed Akio's mind. He was staring at Kanon and repeated the name in his head again.

Souji's eyes were cold and he simply kept quiet as the conversation commenced.

"As you know, I am an Oni," Yuma started to explain, keeping his eye contact with Kanon. He did not wish to look away and he wanted to tell her everything.

He started off with his Oni clan. The same one that had cursed her family line in the beginning. Kanon was shocked and listened closely to his every word. Even Souji was surprised at how small the world was. Akio was caught between confusion and doubts while Yuma mentioned about his own family. And how the baby would take Kanon's life soon.

"How soon?" Souji scowled, glaring to Yuma.

The silverhead now lowered his eyes and Kanon feared the worst. "I have heard it would take at least four months," Yuma told them. "However… Kanon… it almost looked like you're already at the fourth-month stage. The progress is too fast." Yuma had noticed the growth of the baby seemed to have changed suddenly from the last time he saw Kanon too.

"And do you know why?" Kanon pressed for answers. Her hands seemed to be shaking, so she clenched them into fists to stop it.

"Unfortunately, no," Yuma replied, quietly gazing at her.

Souji then said, "Then there's no use for you to be here anymore."

"Shut up, Souji," Kanon murmured without looking at him. Once more, Souji clicked his tongue and fixed his eyes to the wall where Akio was. "Is there a way we can stop it?" Kanon inquired the Oni in front of her.

When he nodded, she was almost relieved. "We can only slow the process and we may be able to save both of the lives of you and our—the child," Yuma said, but his sentence broke at the end. And it made his avoid meeting anyone's eyes. There was no place for him to say it was their child.

"I don't want the baby though," Kanon told him, still determined on the idea. Yuma's eyes widened as he continued to stare at the ground on his left.

Akio then voiced, "Kanon-san, you must keep the child. Do not even entertain the thought of abandoning it."

"But I don't want it," she stated again, closing her eyes tightly. She truly did not ask for it in the first place. Life was still a long way before becoming a mother. And Kanon did not desire to experience having a child so soon.

The room was quiet and Souji glanced to her for a moment. "…Kanon, don't forget, I'll be there for you," he reminded with a softer voice.

Slightly, Yuma glared over to him. Behind his thoughts, he considered about being the one to say that to Kanon. Yuma had even wanted to be the father who would not abandon her either. But Okita Souji… What is he to Kanon? Did the two of them already decided to stay together?

"I'm the father," Yuma chose to say with a serious expression.

Souji smirked as a response. And he asked, "Are you saying you have feelings for Kanon?" Yuma stared at him between the moments of pause. "Because I already promised to be with her. And she agreed."

The room felt ill with Souji's harsh words. Kanon sighed loudly to get their attention. "We're still talking about how to stop the baby from growing fast, remember?" she furrowed her eyebrows to the two men. She hated having to hear and see them stared each other down like that. What was more important to them? Fighting over her or her life that was clearly on the line?

"First," Yuma easily got himself together and his calm, cool eyes gazed to the girl. "There is another family who came from my Oni clan." Kanon's eyes brightened up at the news, wondering if this was a good thing. "They carry the same family name as mine and their powers were meant to stop your own, Kanon."

"Their powers were meant to stop mine…?" Kanon quietly questioned, showing her confusion through her blue eyes.

Nodding, he explained further, "However, because that certain family had decided to go against our ways and to marry humans… their family was cursed as a result." Everyone did not respond and kept on listening curiously. Yuma closed his eyes and understood the pain of those who were cursed by his family line. "Their punishment for leaving the Kuromori Clan behind… the curse that had befallen on them… is when the men of their clan reach at the age of twenty, their age will be reversed. They will return back into children over the years and then to… nothingness."

"Why at the age of twenty?" Souji inquired. Kanon frowned at his question since it sounded unnecessary.

Yuma did not glance at him, but he answered, "Because the one who was the first to decide about leaving was an twenty-year-old Oni. Other than that, I am not confident of the other reasons why or how the cursed worked."

"Alright, next question," Kanon raised her hand. Her chest felt heavy, but she was glad the conversation was going somewhere. "Do you know anyone from that side of the family, Yuma? Is there a reason why you're talking about them?"

There was a long pause. And then Akio frowned at her, "Why must you call everyone by their first names?"

Kanon pouted, now understanding why there was a pause just now. "Why not?" she countered, still pouting and at the older man by the door.

"You're being disrespectful," Akio calmly noted for her.

"I am not!" she raised her voice childishly. "Why are you afraid of being close? That must be your problem!"

"What did you just say, lass?" Akio narrowed his eyes at her.

Yuma raised a hand and it somehow got their minds back on the subject they were supposed to keep on discussing about. The Oni remained focused as he mentioned, "I know one man who is from the branch family that was cursed by my clan. His name is Kuromori Hibiki."

[…^…]

Everything was dark. But a voice angrily rose and a scene appeared around her. This was something she wanted to forget, but it kept on haunting her.

"You bitch! Its no wonder nii-sama let me marry you! You're a Tainted Oni!"

He strangled her with his hands grasped around her throat, holding her down on the ground as he sat over her. She choked and wanted air, her fingers clawing into his forearms. But she was powerless the moment he attacked her from nowhere.

She should have seen it coming.

Unable to cry for help, she could only save herself. There was no one she knew who would aid her. Protect her.

"Haru-chan?"

Someone was calling her. Was it Chizuru?

Before forcing herself to wake up from the dream, the scene changed within a flash. Haru saw long brown hair and someone stabbed through her chest with a blade. The person looked up and met her eyes. It was Kanon who stabbed her. The emotion in her eyes filled with only sadness and hate. Then Kanon pushed the blade further in without mercy.

Haru was about to lose it. She felt her mind was going to break and shatter to pieces.

"Haru-chan!"

The woman woke from her dreams and immediately felt her body shaking for a mere second. She was resting her head on her arms over the table while sitting on a chair. Chizuru's hand was on her shoulder. She must have been trying to shake the Oni awake. Unable to make any sense how she was in an emptied room, Haru finally looked to Chizuru, who was still talking to her.

"Were you having nightmares again?" Chizuru grabbed a chair to sit next to her. Haru moved to sit up straight and wiped a couple of sweats on her forehead. Chizuru seemed sad when Haru's eyes stared nowhere, as if she was not fully conscious yet. "Haru-chan?" she called her name one more time.

Finally, she blinked and gradually smiled at Chizuru. She nodded to show she was now fine and Chizuru smiled a bit, but she was still worried.

"Do you want water?" Chizuru inquired softly. Haru shook her head to reject her offer. "…Would you like to go out for a walk then?" Haru glanced away and thought about it. She chuckled and nodded to Chizuru, who smiled wider. "Then, let's go."

The two of them stood up and made their way outside. Shinpachi had gone out to do an errand for his dojo. Something about fixing the locks. The two Onis strolled in the front yard first and then made it out on the streets side by side.

The sky was still bright and the sun was slightly over them. As usual, the wind felt good, but Haru felt a storm would come eventually. It would be the perfect timing too.

"I hope your nightmares goes away soon, Haru-chan," Chizuru wished, taking Haru's left hand softly. They walked by a garden that carried a sweet fragrance in the air.

'It will… soon enough,' Haru mentally said in her head. She grasped Chizuru's gentle hand and smiled to her. Chizuru giggled and looked straight ahead while Haru still gazed to her. 'After Kanon comes to Edo, my nightmares will go away forever.'

And the time will soon arrive.

Thanks for reading!