In the field of higanbana, I finally met you again

"Where's Takechi-dono?" Onii-sama looks questioningly at the group of unfamiliar men standing quietly inside the room. Takechi-sama is nowhere in sight, in fact there's nobody I recognise at all. Nakaoka-san is probably still somewhere else in Kyoto and these men here all have the same rough, dishevelled look of the new recruits from Shikoku.

"Don't ask me. I was told to wait here with my men." The silence is broken by a clear, slightly immature voice belonging to a much younger feminine looking boy with a permanent smirk on his face as he crosses his arms and shrugs. "You're that Sakamoto guy, aren't you?" He chuckles as Onii-sama nods in affirmation and grins mockingly at him "You're a hero among the Tosa. All the guys are singing your praises and, I'll bet Takechi couldn't handle the jealousy and ran off."

Onii-sama removes his hands from the hilt of his sword, determining that this kid isn't a threat, but is also one of us and shakes his head. "That's... impossible." His hand reaches for his katana again and stays there, resting gently as he tightens his fist and shakes his head. There have been rumours of Onii-sama and Takechi-sama being conflicted with one another , mostly since Onii-sama is a firm believer of using political power rather than strength to overthrow the Bakufu; while Takechi-sama believes the only method is by the sword. Considering that most of our allies in Tosa are split between the two, its probably something that would be troubling Onii-sama deep down. He clears his throat softly and looks at the boy " That aside, I haven't seen you before. I'm sure it is common courtesy to introduce yourself, is it not?"

"Hmph. I'm Nagumo Kaoru." The boy smirks and shifts his posture so he is slouching against the wall "Takechi put me in charge of leading the new recruits of Division 7. Bet you wouldn't expect eh?" From his tone of voice, he's trying to provoke Onii-sama, though, that's not going to do anything since Onii-sama is the calmest person I know. Now that I think about it, I've never seen Onii-sama get angry before, even when scolding me, he's always got a smile on his face-

"What else did he tell you?" Hirobumi-san cuts in to which Nagumo-san shrugs dismissively "I forget." Hirobumi frowns at him to which Nagumo-san snickers "Well, maybe he said something about heading somewhere to meet with a certain foreign merchant? Who knows?"

Glover was last seen with a Bakufu man, I'm willing to guess it was one of the question now was, why would Takechi-sama have disappeared but only alerted a no name guy like Nagumo of his whereabouts? Hmm, the girls at Shimabara might have a clue, the Ikedaya massacre was just yesterday, and since the Gion festival is happening now, there's a high chance that SOMEONE might have heard something. Perhaps my best chance right now would be to ask around.

"Kiri-chan, where are you going now?" One little thing I don't like about Onii-sama is how he practically knows what I'm going to do, yet he still asks me despite this. I hug him quickly and smile "Nowhere really Onii-sama. I'm just going to search around for information ." He sighs and looks pointedly at me "I trust you, but try to keep your cool, alright?"

"You know, I was wondering.." Ryunosuke looked sideways at Kosuzu as she delicately ate the dango while swinging her legs as they sat on a bench near the temple. "What is it Ryu-sama?" Kosuzu smiled sweetly back at him innocently as he turned beet red and then made a spluttering sound. "that!" He pointed angrily at her "Even though we've been...g-going out for awhile, you still speak all formal to me. It's so weird...ah."

Kosuzu's face was lowered as she stared at her feet and clenched her fingers tightly around the dango stick. "..I am sorry. When I entered Shimabara, it was the expectation to speak Kyoto-ben. If I...spoke normally, my mother would beat me." She tightened her fists and shuddered involuntarily

"Argh! That's all so messed up!" Ryu messed up his hair with frustration and blew some stray strands off his face with a huff "You can't choose what to wear, how to speak, you're not allowed to leave whenever you want, what's so great about being a geiko?" his voice rose as he stood up "I know! L-let's run away! I don't know exactly how, but let's run away together. Nobody will find out!" as soon as the idea popped into Ryunosuke's head, he started getting more excited, pumping his fists as he spoke quickly "The Gion festival goes for 2 weeks, people will be coming back and forth, during the parade, I'll bring a normal clothes for you to wear and you can leave that hell. Harada-san might be able to help us out, Kasamori-san too...Kosuzu-chan?"

While Ryunosuke had been excitedly planning their elopement, Kosuzu was silently staring at her hands, a sad expression on her face as she looked torn. "...I...am sorry." She lifted her teary face and sniffled softly "I am extremely honoured you would go so far for me, however...the thought of leaving...has not ever occurred to me. " she looked at the brightly coloured red lanterns of Shimabara glowing among the black roof tiles and shook her head sadly " Many girls have tried to escape before. Karyu-sama or her men always manage to find them. The men are killed without mercy, and the girls...they...they have their legs broken. Without legs, they cannot perform for guests, therefore have no choice but to sell their bodies to survive." Tears fell down Kosuzu's cheeks as she continued, Ryu quietly held her hand in his hand said nothing. "I had a friend."

Kosuzu sniffled lightly and dabbed gently at her eyes "Ayuri-neesan. When I first entered Shimabara, nee-san was the one to take care of me and help me out. One day, she fell in love with a customer. He was a man within the Roshigumi. Then..." Kosuzu tightened her grip around Ryunosuke's hand and continued "Neesan told me she was running away...that was the last time I saw her alive. Karyu-sama found out. Ayuri nee-san was killed, by her lover who was forced to kill her, and then himself."

"Kosuzu-chan...damn, I'm sorry." Ryunosuke cleared his throat awkwardly as he struggled to find the right words to say. "It is alright." Kosuzu smiled lightly at him and stared at the sky "If you do not mind, I have a favour I would like to ask." Ryunosuke nodded and waited for her to speak "Tomorrow is the Obon Festival. I must perform at Shimabara so could you place some offerings on Ayuri-neesan's grave for me?"

"...sure."

Takechi-sama is standing on the steps of the temple, looking down at a crowd of people...wait...those aren't people at all. Oh kamisama... since when did Takechi-sama decide to use the Ochimizu?

"TAKECHI-SENSEI!" Izo quickly draws his sword and leaps down from the roof. Takechi-sama smirks at him and unsheathes his katana, swinging the blade once and beckoning Izo with his pinky. "So, my student thinks he has a chance of defeating me, the teacher? Hmph." He snickers and dodges easily as Izo swings forward "I'm the one who made you the feared hitokiri. I can read all your moves just like a book."

One of the main differences between Izo and other swordsmen, was the way he wielded his katana. While the typical users held the blade with both hands aligned in the same direction, Izo held it with his right hand facing inwards and his left hand facing outwards, resulting in his blade always moving in an upwards strike rather than the normal downwards swing. Add in his speed, this made him an unpredictable and deadly opponent. Now that I think about, those of us among the 4 great hitokiri all have a unique way of wielding the katana. Izo with his upward slashes, Kirino onii-chan with his technique of combining different styles together, Setsura's preference for fighting with a wakizashi and its sheathe; and as for me, well I could never master the katana, rather, I always ended up using it like a whip. Onii-sama had always complained my moves were too fluid, too free which meant my opponents would end up cut to ribbons instead of going down in one strike.

"Ikuzo." Izo raises his blade and swiftly steps to the right, then to the left, each time moving forward quickly and striking upwards with his blade. I recognise this stance as one of his signature moves, the first strike is to trick the opponent into switching to the defensive, the second strike closes in on the opponent and the final strike makes use of his deadly speed to perform two consecutive slashes, then ending with a final slash.

"Kuhh" Takechi-sama grunts with exertion as he knocks back Izo's blade and skids backwards, his hand pressed over his chest. "I never thought it would come to this, however, you leave me with no choice. Take...THIS!" All of a sudden, Takechi-sama is a grey blur, moving quickly forward as Izo yells as he gets slashed in the lower arm and manages to block the next strike. Both their movements slow down as the master and student are engaged in a deadlock. Next to me, Onii-sama gasps and places a hand on my shoulder for support. "..It can't be.." His eyes are wide with shock as he points to Takechi-sama "Takechi-dono... How could you betray us? After what all we said?"

Right at that moment, the man facing Izo is no longer the strict but kind Takechi-sama I knew. Actually, I'm not even sure he could be called a 'man' anymore. The being fighting Izo looks exactly like one of the rasetsu, though the face belongs to Takechi-sama. "Izo-kun! Takechi-dono is longer human! You-

"Haha, I must say, the men of Tosa are far superior to the worthless trash from the Bakufu." A bald man slips out from beneath the shadow of the forest, tucking his arms calmly into his sleeves as he dips his head in greeting. " It was a poor miscalculation on my part thinking the dogs of the Shogun could ever hope to master the power of an oni. "

Takechi throws his head back and sneers, "Of course. See those two there?" He jerks a finger at Izo and I as Kodo narrows his eyes at us with an almost hungry look on his smug face. "Two of the feared legendary hitokiri. Yet, with these new powers I've received, they are nothing before my strength. Yes, it was a good thing I allied myself with you and Glover." He withdraws a folded up sheet of paper from within his kimono and tosses it into the air "Henceforth, I have no need to rely on scum like Sakamoto or Nakaoka. Together with the Ochimizu, the day I can unite Japan will be soon."

"I can't let that happen." Izo steps in front of him , his katana just millimetres from Takechi's neck. "Especially since you're...sensei. " He prepares to swing his sword up to deal a finishing blow when,"Not yet! " Takechi gnashes his teeth and punches Izo, forcing him to flip backwards, landing on his feet as he crouches low. "...sensei.." Izo clutches his head and frowns as he tries to regain his sense of balance.

"Kodo..." I'm certain that I've heard that name before. he looks at me and Onii-sama and tilts his head "Oh?" His eyes narrow as he looks curiously at me then smirks "You must be the human woman who the Yonaga brat was trying to protect back then."

"What? Are you stupid? I was the one protecting him the whole ti-" I stop suddenly as I realise what he said. 'Yonaga' Even I hadn't known Oboro's real surname was Yonaga until the day before. "T-then you're-"

"Of course." He smiles as though I said something very obvious and shrugs "I was the one who killed him." At that moment, it feels like someone just punched me hard in the stomach and followed up with a stab into the heart, then left the knife there. "...you what?" I fire at him, blowing a hole in his side which quickly heals. Dammit. he's one of them. "How dare..you.." I aim again, though just as I prepare to pull the trigger, a bolt of lightning strikes downwards at Kodo, only to crackle erratically and disappear as a thin wall of ice appears in front of him. Who is it now?

~X~X~X~

"If it isn't Yukimi-no-miya. Still hiding in your father's shadow I see."

Setsura bites her lip and frowns, taking out a tessen from within her obi and flicking it open gracefully as she looks thoughtfully at him. "Ah. I suppose you were after...this?" She takes a small gourd from within her sleeves and dangles it teasingly by the rope around the neck. "The legendary wine of my ancestor. Said to grant those who drank it immeasurable power?" Kodo's hands stretch towards the gourd as Setsura licks her lips and chuckles "Fool. As if I'd allow someone like you to even touch it."

A blast of wind surrounds her, whipping the leaves everywhere and disappearing just as quickly. Setsura's long black hair is now a shade of red, almost like blood; a pair of long black horns spiral from her head as she licks her lips, revealing pointed teeth. Strange markings adorn her chest, glowing faintly in the dull light. "Under the orders of my father, the Oni-oh and the Daitengu of Mt. Kurama, I'll kill you." Lightning crackles around her as she shoots Kodo an icy glare and purses her lips tightly.

"To think the Imperial oni princess would fight me at full power." Kodo looks amazingly calm as Setsura scowls at him and opens her tessen to attack. "SETSURA! GET OUT OF MY WAY" I aim my Spence at her to which she blinks back with confusion and opens her mouth in protest. "what do you thi-... Y-yu-chan...you.." She gapes at me as I fire a shot, slicing past her cheek which instantly heals and embeds itself into a nearby tree. "why?"

"He killed Oboro...he's MY prey." I fire again , forcing her backwards as she slams against a tree and coughs "you're crazy. I can't believe someone like you could fight me at full strength." I look directly at her as she closes her eyes and nods slowly "I understand. I'll respect your wishes, though I promise you he won't die so easily. Consider yourself warned."

I easily catch up to Kodo as Setsura disappears in a flash of light, just like last time. The tiny fires in the forest a reminder that she actually had been here. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I fire at him, shooting him in the shoulder and jump, landing just in arm's distance from him as he calmly places a hand over his bleeding wound and shrugs. "I'm simply doing what's necessary." The wound quickly heals and he looks arrogantly down at me with a sneer on his face. "A mere human like you won't be able to kill me. Now! My experiments! attack!"

A group of Rasetsu emerge from the forest, staggering as their eyes gleam red. Tch! I swear and sweep a line down as I fire in a circle. Dammit, my Spence is almost out of rounds. Guess I'll have to switch to using my Apache.

"GET BACK HERE YOU COWARD!" Dammit. Just how fast are oni compared to humans anyway? I leap from branch to branch, almost like I'm flying as I try to catch up to Kodo .'Qinggong' Oboro had called it. A martial art from China which was on par with Ninjutsu. Dammit, theres still so much I don't know about him. About the man who was able to steal my heart back then.

~X~X~X~

"Gotcha" I slash at Kodo, managing to form a deep gash in his stomach, spilling the contents outwards and onto me. "You killed Oboro-san! tell me everything!"

"*cough*" Blood dribbles from his mouth as he looks at me with frustration and retches in pain as I strike again, aiming for his arm. *Skkrshh* A Rasetsu drawn by the overpowering stench of blood throws itself into the path of my naginata and gets neatly sliced in two; twitching and groaning as it hits the ground. "Get the FUCK out of my way!" More and more rasetsu pour into the forest, their red eyes gleam in the dim moonlight as I try to carve a path to reach that cursed oni.

"KODO! Don't even think I'll let you leave alive!" I hack through a group of moaning rasetsu, furiously wiping my eyes as the blood and body matter splatters over me in the process. "Haha. You're quite amazing, for a human that is." Kodo's calm yet sinister voice drifts across the sounds of beastly growling as I try pinpoint his location. "However, even a killing machine like you must be reaching your limit by now."

He's right. There's absolutely no way anyone, any human could possibly continue to fight at full strength in a situation like this. No matter how many Rasetsu I cut down, the number seems to never change, they keep coming like a flood. The fatigue is gradually getting to me, as I feel my arms getting heavier and can feel my reaction time getting duller. My legs start to wobble as I dash through the unending stream of rasetsu, even though we're in the city area, they're still coming.

did he go? I leap onto the roof and turn my head around, trying to spot any fleeing persons down below. ...! damn, I'm nearing my limit now. "...*cough*" I barely manage to avoid being stabbed in the chest, twisting my body sideways and instead receiving a gash on the side of my shoulder. "Heh, don't underestimate me." I clutch the wound tightly with my left hand, and with my right load my pistol and fire. "Kyuh!" Kodo gets shot right in the heart, tch, I can't kill him this way. Dammit. He's running away again "Get back here! You fucken coward!"

Ah, he seems to have stopped in front of a temple. Strange. It looks familiar. Why?...have I been here before? Ugh! Stay focused! I bite the inside of my cheek and use up the last of my energy, putting all my strength into my fist as I do a spinning leap towards Kodo.

*KRNCH*

I strike him head on, but it seems the blow wasn't fatal. "GYAAAAAAH!" A burning pain hits me the moment Kodo grabs a katana and stabs in into my thigh, twisting it around and pulling it out quickly. "...uraahh!" he snickers and raises it again, trying to finish me off for good. "...grrr." The katana slices through my left hand as I divert it from reaching my neck. "..don't...think I'll let you escape." I try to tighten my grip around his arm, clawing my fingers through his skin as he suddenly looks panicked. "heh, you've done well to injure me this much. Well done human. Now then, I'll need to erase that meddling Imperial Princess and the Kazama scion."

.dammit. Don't fucken run away! My vision is starting to blur into a sea of red as I feel the blood dripping down my face, joining the mask of dried blood already there. "...I'll...kill you.." I feel my vision start to blur into a sea of red and black as Kodo's back gets smaller and smaller. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.

Onii-sama...help me.

"Geez. It's not like you to laze around like this. C'mon, wake up."

...huh? I have no idea where I am right now, but this sensation feels so warm...so comforting, almost like I'm a little girl again and Onii-sama is hugging me. Wait. That voice...I sit up quickly and gape, pointing my finger at the man in front of me with a 'hyeeeeeeh?' of shock.

"Hyeeeeeeeh' to you too." He glances at me with a disinterested expression and flicks a leaf off his kimono sleeve with a sigh. "It's a little painful when the per-gwuh?-

-KAZUUUUUUUUUUUU!" He partially chokes as I fling my arms around him in a tight hug and squish him with my arms as I yell into his chest "I'm so sorry! KAZU! How could you just leave me like that!KAZZZZUUUUUUUUUUU!...wait...am I dead?"

"...You never change." Kazu manages to catch his breath and smiles at me "I should be the one to say sorry. Nope, I'm not going to hear your excuses." he raises a hand and shakes his head as I try to unleash a barrage of words. "Besides, there's someone else who deserves this moment more than I do. Over there. " I glance in the direction of Kazu's thumb. Sitting among the river of higanbana is a white haired man, my heart beats rapidly in my chest as I notice his uniquely designed black kimono and the way he has his haori tied around his waist like a drunkard...well, If Kazu's here...then..

"...Oboro-san?" He turns his head around and grins at me "the one and only-whoa! hey now!" he leaps in front of me and places a finger on my lips as I attempt to stammer something "You look even prettier no-ouch" I smack him in the face and glare as he grins broadly "You've gotten a lot stronger too, how's Ryo handling the flood of suitors eh?" He stops and takes my hand off his face, curling his fingers around mine as I look at him. "...I..." I hang my head and point to the spot where the buyao should be."that buyao you gave me..I lost it."

"That's ok." Oboro smiles and pulls my face close to his "did you expect me to be the kind of person who'd want to burden the girl I love?" I shake my head gently and shut my eyes as he tilts his head and -

"Don't worry about my being here. Honestly." Kazu folds his arms, one hand tucked inside his kimono and the other clutching the opposite elbow; a habit he never grew out of and looks sideways at me and Oboro. "...Aw, you couldn't allow me to be selfish just this once?" Oboro looks almost pleadingly at Kazu who shrugs " It's time. Yugiri."

He jerks a finger at the river of flowers which has seemingly increased, now appearing to be a sea of red as they flow towards a red torii. "The living shouldn't be among the dead for too long-

"-But..there's so much I want to say" Kazu shakes his head and moves his fingers into a sign I recognise as 'river'. He smiles gently at me as I hesitate and mirror him, except my fingers form the sign 'mountain'. "You're my best friend, Kiri. I'll always be on your side. It's time you started living for yourself, not for Ryoma nii-san or anyone else."

Oboro doesn't say anything and gives me another long hug "Thank you for everything, Yugiri." I feel a faint trace of a tear threaten to escape my eyes as the a red mist rises from the flowers and starts to cover everything. "Kazu! Oboro! Don't go! " They start to fade away as the fog thickens to a deep red blur but I can faintly hear Oboro's voice "When help comes from the east, accept it."

"Wait! Oboro! What do you mean? Kazu? What's going...on?"

~X~X~X~

"-right? –ta-sa- wake!"

head feels strange, as though somebody is using it as a wadaiko and screaming loudly in my ear at the same time. What happened after Kodo managed to escape from me? Everything is a hazy fog to me. I groan and slowly twitch my hands. Thank goodness, I can somewhat move them around.

"Ah! You're awake! Thank goodness!" A very excited sounding young girl close to me exclaims loudly, guh! her voice is so damn loud!

"...Shizu..chan?" I slowly open my eyes and quickly clench my right eye shut as a wave of pain jolts my head. "...Onii-sama...?" A pink blur surrounded by a bunch of other colours, green, white and blue? If this is the afterlife, then what kind of hell is this supposed to be? "It's ok. Matsumoto-sensei treated your wounds. You're going to be fine!" She continues to chirp loudly as the pounding in my head intensifies and my vision starts to clear. The young girl is none other than Chizuru-san. She smiles brightly at me as I groan in response and try to sit up "oh! You're still very hurt! Try to relax!" She lays a hand on my shoulder trying to force me back down as I ignore her and try to sit up.

"Guh." I I tense from the pain and pull off the kimono blanketing me, taking a look at my right leg which feels like its been twisted the wrong way. A piece of wood is firmly strapped to my leg and bandages have been wrapped tightly around my thigh. Faint red patches seep from the bandages as I struggle to sit up but fail "Whoa! Calm down ojou-san!" Two men seated at my side rush to help me back down. As soon as I recognise them, I feel my head threaten to explode. oh Kamisama. No...why...how the hell did I end up here? Not only am I injured and unarmed, but I'm right in the den of the Mibu wolves. Knowing them, they would most likely interrogate me, perhaps even execute me as a criminal, its not everyday a famed assassin appears on the brink of death at your doorstep. No way I'd accept that. I'd rather die than submit to them.

"Ungh...*huff*...ugh.." I clamp a hand over my chest and tense my body, pretending to be in extreme pain. "W-what's wrong?" Chizuru rushes closer to me, knocking over the small bowl next to her. In that instant, I snatch the wakizashi hanging at her waist and throw her across the room. Before anyone can react, I tear open the nagujuban I'm wearing and raise the sword up high, preparing to slice it through my stomach. "Forgive me for not avenging your deaths! Kazu, Oboro. I'm coming!" As I speak, I drive the blade down towards my stomach -

*KLANG*

...? Expecting to feel a wave of excruciating pain, I instead feel a cool surface pressed against my stomach. Looking down, I see the wakizashi's point has been blocked from slicing through my stomach by a katana, which managed to block the strike in time.

"*whew*" Harada whistles and slowly pulls back the katana from my stomach, in that brief moment, he had somehow anticipated what I would do and stopped me from committing hara-kiri. "It takes guts for a man to accept his fate and die with honour, for a woman though." he whistles and smiles respectfully at me "I really admire that sort of strength, in anyone. Especially from a mysterious female assassin." I stare back at him, stony-faced and glare angrily. "Hmph. I bet you thought theres no way a woman like me could be the famed hitokiri 'Benigaw-

-Chizuru-san, I brought the banda-huh? Is that... Kasamori-san?"

At that moment, the person I least want to meet stops where he is and points a finger at me questioningly. Ryu-kun looks at Chizuru and everyone else, then back at me with a look of pure confusion. "What are you doing here? Wait, are you the lover of one of these guys?" he gestures around the room at the selection of attractive men and tilts his head.

"WHAT THE HELL? HOW DID YOU COME TO THAT CONCLUSION?.! ugh! my wound..."I yell loudly at him from where I'm sitting and toss the nearest thing at him. A bowl of water arcs across the room, hitting him right in the face, sending him tumbling back with a yelp of surprise as he crashes through the door. "Ryu-kun. You're an idiot. A complete idiot."

Ryu-kun slowly sits up and rubs his aching head, muttering a 'yeah, that's definitely Kasamori-san. Tch, that violent temp-owww!" He shuts up as Nagakura clocks him on the head and swears through his teeth. "Huh?" Harada looks at me and back at Ryu-kun with surprise "Ryu-kun, you know her?" The red-haired akuma has a strange smile on his face as he looks thoughtfully at us. "Maybe that's why she looked so familiar...hmm."

"Awwright!" Nagakura slaps Ryu-kun heartily on the back and grins at me "Don't you worry ! Your secret's safe with us." he winks and gives me a thumbs up "You're lucky Chizuru-chan was the one who found you, if it were Toshi or Sanan-san, you'd be tied up in our prison. Considering that you know about the Ochimizu as well..."

"Oh, you remember me. "I grunt in response and shrug "I'm so honoured. Now that my life has been spared, I'll take my leave now." As soon as I move to stand up, my injured right leg refuses to cooperate and sends me crashing towards the ground...and right into Harada's arms. "You shouldn't be moving around like that. Just relax and stay here until you can walk again." His golden eyes twinkle mischieviously as I move my face away from him "besides, I don't think you'd be able to work in this condition."

Ryu-kun looks at me stunned and points a finger almost accusingly at me "You mean..." he points to my neatly folded signature red kimono and black shokozu lying in the corner with my weapons "...The legendary hitokiri Benigawa Oborodzuki is ...Kasamori OSHO? NO WAY!" he clutches his head with confusion and shakes it quickly with disbelief. "There's no way that abusive woman could be someone like that!"

I glare at him and scoff "I am so very sorry. Hmm, now that I think about it, you owe me something for saving your life the other day." He crosses his arms and scowls "T-that? P-pfft! I never asked for your help! In fact, you're the one who ALWAYS insists on helping me. It's so troublesome-gyah!"

"Hahaha!" The sound of Harada laughing momentarily stops our competition of insults. I look questioningly at Ryu-kun who shrugs and looks annoyed at Harada. "What is it now?"

Harada chuckles and smiles warmly at us, as much as I hate to admit it, he's not that bad looking. Gah! Stop it Yugiri. Remember, no matter how attractive those Shinsengumi bastards are, they are still murderers. "Ah, so you two are good friends." Harada grins and gives Ryu-kun a knuckle sandwich "Hey Ryu-kun, why didn't you introduce me to Sho-san sooner?"

"Because she's a foul mouthed person who'd scare off all the men." he scoffs and points his finger at me with a scowl "Just look at her! With a temper like that, not to mention she's violent." He flinches as I glare at him and then covers his face as he points at me "..you might want to cover up Osho-san."

I glance down and pale. My bandaged chest is exposed to everyone. "Nobody saw anything." I speak quietly and threateningly at them as I put my nagajuban back on. "Understand?"

~X~X~X~

Some bastard had enough brains to work out that my weapons shouldn't be left here and put them away somewhere else. Chizuru-san and Ryu-kun are loitering near the door, ocaisonally peeking in while pretending to be busy mopping the floor. Obviously, they're acting as guards in case I try something funny. Regardless, even in this condition I could probably disable them easily. The only significant injury I have is my leg, though I still have use of my other one and can probably manage to climb ...ah! I spot an open window, leading to a roof and escape.

..hup! Focusing my strength, I stretch my hands out and jump, grabbing hold of the wooden beam across the window and allow my legs to dangle in the air. Now...to pull myself up onto the roof. Guh...I haven't been injured so badly in a long time, right now it feels like someone is trying to stretch me by pulling my legs downwards. Guh..keep trying Yugiri! You have to escape from her-

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you think you're doing?" Somebody or maybe some people rush into the room and try pull me down. "You're injured! Just stay put and relax!" Harada grabs me by the waist and holds me in his arms. "Why are you so desperate to leave?"

Uh well, you know, since I'm a HITOKIRI I'm a criminal, therefore I wouldn't want to EVER be in a place like this? Something about an execution perhaps? Then again, Nagakura and the others had promised to keep my 'real' identity a secret on the condition I was to stay here until my injuries had lessened. The first thing I can think of to pass as a good excuse bursts out of my mouth before I can think again "...uh...it's the Obon Festival so I wanted to visit someone's grave..." I respond weakly as I stare at my hands with fake embarrassment and guilt. I hear the sound of laughter as he chuckles and starts laughing so hard he puts me down onto the ground. Tch. At least he seems to buy it. I frown at him "...is that so surprising? That someone like me wants to tend to a grave?"

"No! Hahaha!" He grins at me "I actually think it's cute." I deadpan at him and grunt "Cute is not something you associate with me. And definintely not something you'd say when talking about a dead man. Why do you people even care?" He looks questioningly at me as I continue "Why on earth would you treat a hitokiri and even offer protection from your superiors? It doesn't make sense. You're aware of what I do, correct?" He nods and stays silent "Remember Kiyokawa? or Kanichiro? For a man renowned as the strongest among the Shinsengumi, he was pathetically weak. I killed them. Sooner or later, either you, your friends or your comrades will be next. Maybe even all of them."

"You're a hitokiri, a blade that exists to kill... and I respect that. You gotta fight for what you believe in. Even if your beliefs happen to be the very opposite of what I believe in, in the end it's your warrior spirit that I respect most of all." He looks at me with genuine respect and then grins "Besides, its not everyday you see someone stand up to Toshi like that. Takes alotta guts you know."

"...you're so much like him. I hate that." Harada looks at me with confusion as I groan and rub my head "..excuse me?" He frowns as I glare at him "nothing. Forget I said anything."

"So, shall we go?" He winks at me and grins as I look dumbly back. "Go where?"

"To that grave you wanted to visit." Before I can protest, he easily lifts me onto his back and starts heading out the back. "OI! PUT ME DOWN! BASTARD!" I curl my arms around his neck, attempting to strangle him as he freezes and taps my hand feebly "...l-let go..please." I ignore him and pull his ear closer to me, earning a 'ouch' of pain as I whisper harshly into his ear "I don't know what you're planning, but you better watch your back. Try anything funny and you wi-

"...you two really are lovers, right?" Ryu-kun appears out of nowhere, carrying a small bag as he crosses his arms and looks suspiciously at us. "NO! WE ARE NOT! YOU SAY ONE MORE WORD AND I WILL SLIT THAT IDIOTIC NECK OF YOURS!"

Ryu scowls and walks off quickly muttering a "..and that's why you're single. Sheesh." as he passes us. That idiot! HOW could he possibly come to that conclusion? True, Harada MAY be slightly like another Shin-chan and Oboro-san...argh! Stop thinking too much Yugiri!

Ok..since this might be kinda confusing... Sen and Chizuru are both referred to as 'hime' which is 'princess' but more closer to something like a noble lady. Setsura is referred to as 'no-miya' which is kinda like the highest standing of princess, so she's higher ranked and more powerful than Sen. Oh! and since Shuten Doji (I based Setsura's oni form on the KOEI TECMO version XD) is the 'oni king' it makes sense for Setsura to be super strong XD

and! In Urakata, at around this point, after Ikedaya, Takechi disappears and ends up using the Ochimizu, so I made him join up with Kodo (for plot :P) Plus since Yugiri is from Tosa, it makes sense to focus more on the Tosa guys instead of Choshu/Satsuma (everyone seems to love them lol!) Also! The Gion Festival goes for like 2 weeks or so, and is a festival only celebrated in the Gion (red light) district. This means that other festivals like Obon and Tanabata can happen at the same time!

* making the ninja sign for 'mountain' and responding with the opposite 'river' symbolises friendship. I got it from Hattori Hanzo's camp conversation in WO3U XD I thought it was cool. *ahem*

~ Thank you Vanny for helping me! and for everyone else who is reading, reviewing and everything!

OK, since Kazu aka Mimegumi Kazunari appears in this chapter...let's have him do the introduction!

Mimegumi Kazunari: So did Oboro. Whatever. let's just get to the point. The next chapter is ' Dare hitori sukuenai' . Which means : 'You can't save anyone'

Mei:...! OuO/ hey! I was meant to say that!

Kazu:...my bad. *shrugs*

Mei: I'll kill you! How could my creation rebel against me! *sobs*

Kazu: I'm already dead. You killed me off at the beginning. *smirks* remember?

Mei:...