Chapter 4

Dusk had fallen over the Shinsengumi headquarters as Keiko walked lazily towards the well in the courtyard. She and Heisuke had had a particularly rough training session that day, lasting far too long with both of them pushing themselves far too hard. After her sense of pride in Heisuke's steady improvement had worn off, the burning in her throat had begun to become more prominent. So, she found herself wandering over to the well to quench her growing thirst.

From around a corner, she suddenly heard urgent footsteps, followed by Harada's voice. "Ryunosuke! Have you seen Niimi-san?" She heard him ask, urgency evident in his tone. She stopped from behind the corner, listening intently. Niimi-san? Serizawa's lap dog? She thought idly.

"Nope, I haven't seen him today." Ryunosuke responded. "Is there a problem?" He added, almost as an afterthought. Keiko leaned against the wall, focused entirely on what Harada's answer would be.

"He's gone!" He stated angrily. "He took the Ochimizu and vanished!" Keiko jolted upright, a feeling of dread filling her gut, although she did not know why. Ochimizu? She had never heard the term before. From the way Harada had spoken it, as the the word left a foul taste in his mouth, she knew that it must be something quite dreadful. If the ever calm and collected Harada Sanosuke was this worked up, she knew that something was wrong. She grit her teeth, resolving herself to tail Harada and learn more. She knew she had not yet earned enough trust from the Shinsengumi for them to discern what it was voluntarily, and while she was not fond of spying on her comrades, it was necessary to discover what the group was hiding.

She was able to follow Harada unnoticed. She tailed him until he eventually turned into Hijikata's room, looking around suspiciously before he closed the door. He had not seen her. She edged her way closer to the room, ducking under the porch silently. There she hid, patiently, listening as several new footsteps crept into the room. Finally, everyone had gathered and they began their meeting.

"I suspected that he'd try to pull something sooner or later," She heard Hijikata's voice, quieter than she was admittedly used to hearing it. "But to think he ran off with the Ochimizu…"

"What should we do, Hijikata-san?" Shinpachi's voice, also quite a lot quieter than she had ever heard him before, to the point where she almost hadn't recognized it. "Don't we need to hurry and find out where he went?"

"Considering the weight of the situation, I would love to send all of our men out to find Niimi-san." Hijikata said wishfully. "But with the Ochimizu in the picture, I can only send the handful of us that know about the medicine to look for him." Medicine? Keiko narrowed her eyes in distrust.

"Indeed. Fortunately, he did not take the men he turned into furies and experimented on." She heard Sannan add. He sounded utterly unaffected by the topic at hand, something which made shivers run down Keiko's spine. He spoke the words "experimented on" so easily, she could picture his cold eyes half lidded with indifference as he spoke. She grit her teeth. She was uncovering the source of the horrid aura which had drawn her away from her home in the first place. A strange medicine, experiments being done on men, and all of it was being kept a secret by the men she had come to call friends. To have heard Shinpachi's voice among them, she couldn't help but feel a slight sense of betrayal. She vaguely heard that Harada had spoken, but she had been so caught up in her thoughts that his words hadn't registered. She pulled herself away from her racing mind to continue to listen to the conversation.

The next to speak up was Okita, in his usual lazy tone. "But wouldn't that man do whatever it takes to sell the Ochimizu?" He brought up a valid point.

"Anyway, finding Niimi-san is our top priority." She heard Kondo speak, as clear and determined as ever, and her heart sank just a little bit deeper to think that an honourable man such as him would be involved in something shady like this. "Keep your eyes peeled when you conduct your patrols." "Sir!" They all replied in a low, urgent whisper. Keiko lowered her eyes, listening to the sounds of many pairs of footsteps exiting the room. She waited patiently for her chance to silently slip away, long after all the others had left. She made a mental note to keep a close watch on everyone from here on out.

Over the next few weeks, she saw them all busily trying to find Niimi-san. Heisuke had Ryunosuke draw out detailed pictures of Niimi-san, all of them wasting no time in their effort to locate the traitorous man. Keiko remained silent on her newfound knowledge, watching and listening patiently to everything they did. Shinpachi had even asked her to assist them, still not offering any details but insisting that it was very important for them to find him. Keiko had offered Shinpachi a pleasant grin, nodding and telling him she would do her best to help. She surprised even herself with how easy it was to hide her own comprehension of the situation.

With every passing day, the dark aura she had originally felt grew stronger, it's presence taking over her senses. It smelt of death and decay, with the iron pang of blood. She could hear it in the night, the screams of innocent women and men who were ill-fated enough to have been caught in its grasp. She heard it roaring in the night, screaming for blood. She knew now that "it" was once a man, and that whatever this 'Ochimizu' was, it was probably the cause.

Every night, she would silently make her way to Hijikata's room, where she had discovered the captains often had secret meetings, and listen in on their conversations. Every day, she would watch and listen carefully to the other members of the Shinsengumi. Finally, one fateful day, she noticed Yamazaki headed towards Hijikata's room, an intense look in his eyes. She followed him noiselessly, hiding behind a corner and listening intently as they exchanged their greetings.

"The inspectors in town just informed me that they saw who they think was Niimi refer to himself as Tanaka Iori," He said with urgency. Keiko narrowed her eyes. "Before entering a high-class restaurant called Yamao in Gion-Shinchi."

"Souji, Saito, you up to this?" Hijikata asked immediately, followed closely by a quick "Sir!" from Saito and a casual "But of course." from Okita. "If we try apprehending him inside, there is no need for a large group." Hijikata said with certainty. "It'll be just the four of us."

Five of us. Keiko clarified to herself. She had every intention of tailing her comrades to the restaurant, and finally discovering what exactly was going on in this city. "Let's hurry and get this over with." She heard Okita lazily remark as he got up, and she hurried to back away from the room, preparing to follow the four men.

As night fell, the men ran through the streets towards the restaurant, with Keiko following closely from the rooftops. She heard Hijikata order Yamazaki to go around the back, and she swiftly followed suit. She would probably have to either find a way to sneak around the man, or she would have to forcefully render him unconscious. Either way, she had already resolved herself to find the truth, and the answers she sought were right inside this building.

She followed Yamazaki to find him sneaking into the back entrance, and she wasted no time in leaping down from the rooftop to dart inside after him. Upon entering, he was nowhere in sight. She looked around, closing her eyes to listen carefully. She could hear a commotion coming from the rooms upstairs, doors being slammed open and feet running through the halls. She lunged forward, rushing to get upstairs.

As she made her way up the stairs, she heard Niimi's voice, desperate and shocked, arguing with an eerily calm Hijikata. She pushed herself to go faster, before the trio could kill Niimi and thus get rid of the information she sought. However, she was forced to stop suddenly, as Yamazaki stood in the hall ahead of her, sword in hand and pointed straight at her. In her rush to leave, Keiko had left her glaive in her room, so she stood before him, weaponless.

"What do you think you're doing, Ayama?" Yamazaki's voice was laced with venom as he glared daggers at Keiko. She glared back, standing her ground. She heard yelling coming from the room up the hall, followed shortly by the distinct sounds of swords cutting through flesh. She narrowed her eyes at Yamazaki.

"Yamazaki… We don't have time for this." She spit out urgently. However, he held his ground, never breaking eye contact. "Why did you follow us? What do you know?" He nearly growled, and she could see the distrust in his eyes. She sighed, lowering her gaze. When she looked back up at him, it was with apologetic eyes.

"I'm sorry to have to do this to you," She spoke earnestly. She really didn't want to do it, but she wasn't about to let this opportunity slip from her hands. She lunged forward with incredible speed, reaching Yamazaki in the blink of an eye. She saw his eyes widen in shock, but did not allow him the time to recover. She punched him in the gut, hard. He coughed out in surprise, before he fell limp against her arm. She gently laid him down on the ground. "Really. I'm very sorry." She whispered gently, just as his eyes closed and he lost consciousness.

Keiko could hear Niimi's hysteric laughter, his voice sounding strange and distorted. "Hajime-kun, up!" She heard Okita's voice, followed by a cry from Niimi and a loud crash. She stopped just outside the door, peering around the corner to peek at the scene inside.

Her eyes widened in horror.

Niimi's hair had been bleached white, his eyes now a swirling crimson. He had a maniacal smile on his face, grinning as he fought effortlessly against Okita. Saito was on the ground, stunned, while Hijikata caught his breath against a wall. Niimi suddenly grabbed Okita's arm, flipping him over and onto the ground. He raised his sword, about to drive it through his heart, before Hijikata let out an urgent "Souji!" and lunged at the creature before him. Niimi chuckled darkly.

"You're slow, too slow. Your strikes are like that of a child!" He laughed out his insult. Keiko could take no more of this, the disgust in her gut having long since boiled over. She could see, plain as day, that whatever Niimi had become was far stronger than the three men who came to slay him.

But he wasn't anywhere near her level.

She burst in suddenly, rushing past Niimi to grab Okita's sword from his hand. He grunted out in surprise; "Huh? What're you- HEY!" He reached out to grab his sword back, but he wasn't quick enough to catch her.

"You… You wretched creature." Keiko muttered, her speed betraying her true power as she rushed forward towards Niimi. "You are UTTER FILTH!" She screamed as their swords clashed, Niimi's confident smile breaking instantly as she pushed him back. He tried to swiftly move behind her, but she caught his sword effortlessly with hers, her icy blue eyes searing into his with animosity and disgust.

"B-but… How!?" He erupted, stumbling backwards as she glared at him. He saw it then, something in her eyes seemed… Different, somehow. They were glowing. They had always been bewitching, but now they seemed ethereal. Her pupils had dilated into slits, her eyes narrowed in undiluted hatred. She looked predatory, and he certainly felt like he had become her prey.

She lunged forward again, too fast for even him to see, and when she appeared again in front of him, he coughed out and all he could taste was blood.

Niimi looked down to see that Keiko had plunged her borrowed sword deep into his chest, right through his heart. He looked back up at her, to see her face only inches away from his, her predatory eyes burning into his soul. He couldn't look away, he could feel his consciousness slipping away from him, but all he could do was stare helplessly. "Die, wretch." She whispered, twisting the sword as she spit the words. He grit his teeth at the pain, but still could not bring himself to look away from her eyes.

This woman… He could see it now. He had gained so much power, and had been able to easily fend off three of the Shinsengumi's best warriors, yet she had killed him without breaking a sweat. Yes, indeed, he could see it now. This woman, with her impressive skill and bewitching beauty and captivating voice, and the immense power that radiated off of her…

As he died, the thought hit him. It seemed so obvious now. Of course, He thought, his eyes sliding shut.

She isn't human.