Chapter 7: The Truth behind the Reason

The wind brushed against his cheeks as it blew away, a radiant smile etched on his face as Reo finally faced him after such a long time. Her face was the same, still with a frown and her blonde hair would always illuminate under the daylight. Souji's eyes were like peridots as she saw her looked at him in the eyes.

"Not mad at me anymore?"

"…"

"Geez, just when I thought that you finally talked to me, you gave me the silent treatment," he whined.

"…"

Turns out she still couldn't face him, he might cause her distractions. Before she walked away from Souji, Sano invited them to Shimabara as a treat for protecting a bulletin board.

"So, you two are coming?"

"Sounds nice and she's coming along too," Souji pointed with his thumb at Reo, "She needs to cool off a bit."

"…"

"Okay then, we'll leave tonight!" Sano sounded excited.

xXx

Everyone arrived in Shimabara. All were excited except for Reo and Souji. The guys stared at them both, "What's with you guys? You've been fighting a lot," Heisuke commented.

"Well little missy here had been hanging around with women. Tsk choosing them over me huh?" Souji glared sideward at Reo who's only at the height of his shoulders.

"…" she stood silently and didn't know how to respond, he wasn't teasing he's actually angry.

"Come on you two! We're here to have fun!" Heisuke decided to ignore what Souji said earlier.

The group spent their time drinking and eating good food, laughter filled the room as Sano was about to his belly skit. But Chizuru and Hijikata are still the ones missing, so Shinpachi called them from the other room.

"Hey, I noticed you've been looking at Chizuru-chan, enjoying the sight of a beautiful geiko?" Souji teased his grin wasn't playful it was more of a way to irritate her.

"Why are you mocking me? Has it occurred to you that I'm actually thinking what it's like to be a girl?"

"I see…" to Souji it's nothing more than a pathetic excuse.

As the drink party went on, there were only a few people whom can be talked to properly. The stunning geiko, Kimigiku was done with her services and left the room, when she opened the door a tenant of the brothel came into sight. Reo stood up, her deep blue eyes stared sternly at the man.

"Is Shiori available?" even though the people were drunk they couldn't ignore the fact that she's trying to see a geiko.

"Y-Yes!"

"That room across is fine," her voice was low and firm not showing any signs that she'll take a 'no' for an answer from the troubled tenant.

"B-But her time is very expensive, she's the finest after all. And most of all you're a woman," he pointed out.

"You guys wouldn't care if I have money right? Just give her to me already."

"R-Right! Please wait for a moment!"

Reo slid the door closed and went to the other room; the geiko of her choice arrived. But their room seemed awfully quiet. "Hey, hey I didn't know she swings that way," Shinpachi whispered to Sano, Heisuke heard and joined in the conversation.

"Yeah, no wonder Souji's so pissed," Heisuke commented.

"Heisuke-kun, no man wouldn't be mad if a girl chooses another girl over him right?"

"Yeah! Too bad Souji!"

"You didn't have to rub it in," he took a sip of sake and after a few minutes Reo came back to their room with reddish hand print on her cheeks, "What happened to you?" he raised one of his brows and grinned at her.

"It seems force didn't worked on her… maybe I'll ask nicely next time," she said inaudible enough for her to be the only one to hear but the last part she said was heard by the guy she sat next to: Souji.

He glanced at her; her face was still glowing red, probably slapped hardly. She noticed him and covered her cheek with a hand, "I'm no longer interested in what happened to you back there… if you prefer it that way then I won't force you."

"…"

xXx

"Hijikata-san! There's trouble in Shimabara!" Shinpachi and Sano came before midnight or before Hijikata sleep, Kondou and Souji were both in his room when they arrived. Both were panting hardly coming all the way from Shimabara.

"I won't ask why the hell were you in pubs at this hour, so who's causing trouble?" Souji took a glance at the two while he leaned his head on his sword.

"It's Reo, she's trying to take the geiko by force!" the guys immediately got up.

"That idiot! What the hell is she thinking?!"

xXx

"Just hand over the woman! I paid for everything right?!" Reo yelled at the tenant as she tried to grab Shiori.

"Look, you've done more than enough trouble! You're the one who kept on killing Shiori's other customers!"

Hijikata and the others arrived just in time, "You die first," said Reo to the tenant who twitched and gulped at the same time.

"Hey! Don't just go and cause trouble over a woman! You know what I thought you were a model soldier but I never thought that you'll overlook the fact that two women can't stay together…" he massaged his brows.

"Of course we'll stay together! Forever!" her line caused Souji to be a bit pissed, "Right?" she glanced at Shiori who kept quiet.

"Please stop Reo-san…"

"We're going home Reo," Hijikata commanded, "Old man just give her back the money and she'll never bother you again."

"Shimabara doesn't do refunds!"

"Reo-chan, it's time for you to go home and forget about this woman," said Souji, he pulled her arm but she stood firmly without moving an inch from where she is.

"Shut up! Who gave all of you the right to say that to me?! Honestly I don't have to pay for anything just to get my own mother back…"

"WHAT?!" said Souji and the others. They nearly dropped their jaws.

"For the last time I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER!" Shiori finally spoke even with the rage on her tone she still sounded elegant.

"How could I forget the woman who pushed me off the river? You changed my fate so therefore I have the right to bring you back to me," Reo explained, "Everything you told about yourself is exactly the same who my mom really is, a geiko from here, a singer, and a mistress of a foreign man."

"Is that why you made me talk about myself all this time?" everyone fell silent.

"And that giant scar on you back proves everything."

"M-My scar…"

"Oh~ the reason why you got slapped right Reo-chan?" Souji interrupted it seemed like he didn't faze from the situation, "You forcibly took off-"

"Be quiet you…!"

"Okay, okay."

"All of this aren't mere coincidence… you are my mother," Shiori finally gave in; there's no besting her own daughter.

"I'll go get all my things…"

"Hey! You can't do that! She still needs to pay for the customers she killed!" said the tenant, he's feet still shaking.

"I'll take responsibility for that as her mother."

xXx

The following day everything went back to normal, Reo was reunited with her mother. She bought the nearest house by the headquarters even if it was a mansion, she insisted on making her live there. She was unexpectedly possessive with her mother and doesn't let any of the Shinsengumi guys go talk and near her.

"Okay, case closed," said Hijikata.

"Ya know, you could've told us you were seeking for you mother!" said Sano with a slight worry.

"Those are personal matters that you guys shouldn't get involved with," she said briefly.

"You caused a scene there you idiot! How can we not get involved?!" Hijikata yelled as he jumped from his seat.

"We thought you were lesbian…" among the trio (Sano, Shinpachi, & Heisuke) Heisuke was the first one to have admitted.

"I AM NOT! Geez, as expected from men with dirty thoughts!"

"WE ARE NOT!" said the trio.

"Reo-chan sure is loquacious today, could it be that you're happy?" Souji teased, he giggled as he turned his emerald green eyes to Reo's sapphire ones.

She looked away and glared at Hijikata, "I don't approve of you as my new step-father!"

"You brat, what are you saying? There's nothing between me and you mother!" he raised his voice louder than hers.

"Hard to believe when I see you guys were secretly meeting at night!" she hit the right mark, he fell silent and thought of an excuse but he there's no escape from her accusation.

"Woah! Hijikata-san's a lady-killer!" Shinpachi said as he grinned, his eyes were also smiling. The other men laughed.

"You bastards…!"

Sorry if it was short *bows* anyway I'll do better on my next vacation (Christmas) I guess. Hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to leave a review.

Thank you for reading.