Chapter 7: Sannan's Pain, Alice's choice
Disclaimer: I don't own Hakuouki or American McGee's Alice or the Madness returns
Over the next few day's Alice decided to make herself useful by doing any household jobs like laundry, sweeping the halls and grounds and other small tasks throughout the day's. But in the evenings and nights she was plotting, away to escape her prison cell and the Shinsengumi, she had devised a ritual to allow her to shift from her room to wonderland at her discretion, it was all a matter of time.
However, no matter how much she beavered away and worked herself into a trance she was still very observant and had noticed Sannans peculiar behavior, he seemed more quiet yet agitated, it broke her heart to see the look of frustration his face as he forced himself to train with his sword one handed, it made him look agitated if only with himself.
One morning Alice made her way to the kitchen only to be surprised to see Okita and Saito preparing for breakfast.
"Okita, Saito, good morning" said Alice sweetly, smiling.
"Good morning, Alice-Chan" said Okita distantly as he chopped whatever it was in front of him.
"you two make the meals for everyone?" Asked Alice politely.
"It's not if it's just us, everyone takes turns in making meals"said Saito softly.
"Hey Alice, Sannan-San said that he will be eating in his room again" said Heisuke as he entered the kitchen to join his friends.
"eat my foot, his chopsticks barely touch the food we make for him" said Okita as he proceeded to fill everyone's bowls with rice.
"That can't be good" said Alice sadly, knowing that he was hindering himself and his recovery by not eating.
"If Sannan-San doesn't eat, he won't get better will he?" Asked Heisuke hesitantly.
"No he won't, he'll just get worse!"said Alice snapping slightly.
"I've allowed you to eat in the hall with the others as I recall but I don't ever recall giving you permission to wander around the compound at your will" said Hijikata quickly causing everyone to jump slightly. This caused Alice's acid green eyes to narrow into slits and for her to walk up to him and start yelling. Shocking everyone else in the process, the never thought, that she would react that way let alone to their vice commander.
"How dare you talk to me like that! You don't even know what it's like being stuck with only two places to go to! And yet you speak to me like I'm a serving girl!"Alice Yelled with immense fury, causing Hijikatas face to go red with equal amounts of anger.
"How dare I! How dare you! your nothing more than a child and a foreigner in this land as well as an outsider to the Shinsengumi!" He yelled back at Alice, obviously forgetting why she came to Japan in the first place. Causing everyone in the room to stop and stare at him with slight disgust at how he treated her.
This aggressive statement caused Alice to step back and eye him critically, after a few seconds Alice turned and walked back to her room without a single word being uttered, the only thing heard was Alice's feet padding away softly. Now to everyone else in the room they thought that Hijikata had gone too far with that remark, while Hijikata was still angry at how Alice had the gall to yell at him like that, on the other hand Alice was silently fuming on her way back to her room, she allowed her thoughts to once again consume her as she considered getting even with him.
That's when it occurred to her, she could escape from right under his nose and head straight to wonderland, grinning Alice entered her room and set about starting the ritual to get there. She had just finished marking out the "magic" circles as well as the symbols on the floor in chalk when she heard a knock at the door.
Meanwhile in the hall every ones food had been placed ready for consumption, and most of the people had arrived and were ready to eat, they did however notice that someone was missing.
"Hey where's Alice" ask Shinpachi in between chewing and shoving more food into his mouth.
"She and Hijikata had a fight earlier" said Heisuke not bothering to look up, while he was hungry he didn't want to eat as much as he did earlier in the morning, that argument between Alice and Hijikata shook him to the core. At hearing this everyone stopped eating and looked at Hijikata, as if questioning weather it was true.
"She didn't like the way I was speaking to her, and it led to her yelling at me, the me calling her a foreigner and an outsider here" he said calmly, seeing as he was now regretting the way he yelled at Alice, it wasn't fair on her seeing as she was right much to his annoyance, he had talk to her like she was a servant and not the young lady that she was, he also kept her so restricted, to the point that she was suffocating.
"wow, low blow " said Shinpachi staring at Hijikata, not knowing what to think after all Hijikata was his superior but he liked Alice and she seemed so helpless.
"yeah Hijikata that was low even for you" agreed Harada further adding to Hijikata's guilt.
Things where rather subdued during and after the meal, as well as throughout the day for Hijikata and his associates.
Meanwhile in Alice's room, Alice and Sannan where chatting and trying to establish some sort of alliance with each other which resulted in Sannan apologizing for Hijikata's behavior as well as his hostile behavior as of late.
"I might be able to help you with that arm of your's Sannan" said Alice softly as she stood up and rummaged through one of the carpet bags she brought with her, this caused Sannan's left eye brow to arch slightly, as she pulled a large glass jar out of the bag.
"what is it?" Ask Sannan as Alice handed the jar to him, carefully using his good hand he lifted it to the light, showing the thick yellowish paste in it.
"it's called comfrey ointment , It's supposed to be a healing balm, when I was a child, I fell down the stairs and broke my leg, while it was healing it was painful for my muscles and joints, when it got too much my father would put some of that on me to alleviate the symptoms" replied Alice sitting down, subconsciously rubbing her left leg.
"I see, so you think this might help" said Sannan inquisitively.
"It might, just apply it to the skin, and massage it in" replied Alice calmly, knowing that it was a half and half chance.
Sannan smiled softly, knowing that Alice was desperately trying to help, if only to put everyone's fears to rest, and encourage him to look after himself, he quietly thanked Alice for her peculiar gift and left her room, disappearing back into his room, leaving Alice to get on with her ritual.
Meanwhile, Hijikata was pacing in his room, pondering over how he should apologize to Alice for his foul behavior and cruel comments towards her, he knew he didn't mean anything of what he said, she made him so angry.
This was when he heard someone at the door, he opened it to see Kondou.
"Well it seem's we owe our young guest our thanks" he said smiling, sparking Hijikata's curiosity.
"And why is that?" He questioned sternly.
"I've just seen Sannan-Kun leaveing her room smiling, he told me she gave him something to help with his wound, he was holding a jar of something" Kondou replied, causing Hijikata to force himself to bury any feelings of jealousy.
"anyway I thought you should know, she's up to seeing visitors " said Kondou smiling, watching as Hijikata stalked out of his room, and down the corridor.
Once Hijikata had reached Alice's room, he knocked, but received no response, so he quietly opened the door to see if Alice had fallen to sleep yet, only to see her sat up in her nightie, reading a book in her home language.
" I see you calmed down" said Alice softly not bothering to look up from the page she was engrossed in.
"And you too" replied Hijikata looking to the side slightly, praying his blush would fade, much like the night they had met.
"Is there particular reason you've come to see me at this hour?" Alice asked softly, still not bothering to look up from her book.
"I came to apologize for my atrocious actions this morning" Hijikata said, "take this proverbial slice of humble pie as it were".
"It's alright, I'm sorry about what happened earlier too, I was out of line with what I said as well" Alice replied finally putting her book down.
Hijikata smiled softly before turning to leave.
"oh by the way, what's the book your reading?" He asked trying to gain some knowledge about her or at the very least what she likes.
"It's called Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, it's quite the thriller" she replied the corners of her mouth tugging back slightly.
Hijikata smiled slightly as he shut the door and walked back to his room, he couldn't get her out of his mind, and the more he thought about seeing her curled up with her book, the more he desired to be the one she curls up with, he knew that Alice had been hurt and it had altered her perspective on life, making her seem so vulnerable on the outside, but she was so strong on the inside. Suddenly it hit him, he realized that he had something worth living and fighting for.
Meanwhile Alice was thinking of Hijikata, he seemed so callous at first, but she knew that it was a facade, and a very fragile one at that, as she could see through his mask of a cold hearted soldier to a soulful man, stuck with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Suddenly Alice's train of thought was interrupted when she heard a soft padding outside of her room, and so she opted to investigate it. She quietly rose to her feet and opened her door, only to see Sannan walking towards a room she never noticed before, being the ever curious girl that she was, Alice followed with little success. Suspicious Alice returned to her room and settled down for the night, sleeping on her thoughts.
The next morning was an odd one, Hijikata had heard news about the rogue samurai making their way into the Capital but they didn't know where they were in the capital, either the Ikedaya Inn or the Shikoku Inn, so the commanders decided to select their soldiers and split into to teams so they could raid both locations. Kondou ordered Hijikata to take 24 men to the Shikoku in while he took 10 men to the Ikedaya Inn, causing Hijikata to protest, claiming that it would be reckless to have so little men in his team, Alice and Sannan on the other hand were instructed to stay at headquarters for various reasons, mainly Alice being a woman and Sannan being injured thus making them both helpless and useless in battle.
Hours later after the troops had left, Alice was left to conduct her escape, she had begun the ritual and had gotten half way until something rattled her concentration and caused her to stop mid chant, disgruntled Alice opened the door to her room only to see a young man dressed in black from head to toe.
"Sir the rogue samurai have gathered at the Ikedaya Inn" the young man told Sannan.
"How careless of me, I've missed judged" replied Sannan franticly.
"I'll alert commander Hijikata at once" said the young man promptly.
"Thank you, time is of the essence" said Sannan as he suddenly looked to the door to see Alice standing there.
"Alice, you go with Yamizaki-Kun as well please" Sannan asked Alice.
This request put Alice in a quandary, she was going to make her escape tonight, but this request had reminded her that the people here had kept her safe in the last few weeks, they kept her fed and warm, this made her realized that she owed them a lot and probably owed them her life. With those thoughts, her decision was quickly made, she looked Sannan in the eye and nodded her head. Within seconds Alice found herself running alongside Yamasaki surprising herself by keeping up with him.
"Alice Liddell, wasn't it? Unfortunately I can't guarantee your safety tonight" said Yamasaki calmly to Alice.
"Okay" Alice replied panting slightly. They ran for what seemed for an eternity until they came upon a group of men who instantly turned away from Alice and Yamasaki.
"You have any business at the shinsengumi headquarters?"asked Yamasaki.
"No nothing at all" was the vague reply from one of them, looking away.
"Alice-Chan, no matter what, you must reach the end of this road" Yamasaki said calmly as he drew his sword.
"Of course"was Alice's only reply, as she started to run on ahead, not looking back, hearing yells and the clash of blades.
Meanwhile, at the Shikoku Inn Hijikata and his men waited impatiently trying to catch any form of movement inside with very little luck. everyone was on edge eager to get word of where the rogue Samurai where meeting.
On the other hand at the Ikedaya Inn the battle had already commenced.
"In the name of the Izu lieutenant general, we are the Shinsengumi, we're here to interrogate all of you" yelled Kondou, causing the rogue samurai to come running and to draw their weapons ready to fight.
"If you resist you shall be cut down" bellowed Kondou "kill them all!".
Causing his men to draw their weapons and launch forward into a bloody battle.
Back at the Shikoku Inn Alice had arrived much to the alarm of the men.
"what are you doing here! You should be at headquarters!" Said Hijikata.
"The Ikedaya Inn! You need to be there" cried Alice in between exhausted pants.
This announcement caused everyone to run towards the Ikedaya, Harada pulling Alice along, Alice on the other hand was making mental notes to loosen her corset or at least burn the cursed garment soon. The small army made it to the Ikedaya to see that the fight had started without them.
Meanwhile inside the battle was in full swing, neither side was showing any mercy, the Shinsengumi had already lost one man his comrades retaliated with equally lethal force, the smell of blood permeated through the air as the Shinsengumi cut through the rogue samurai man by man.
"Announcing us before we enter that typical of Kondou-San" said Shinpachi laughing as he slashed the chest of his opponent.
"There only two of them, kill them both" yelled one of the rogue Samurai drawing his blade when he saw Heisuke and Okita fighting his allies on the stairs.
"we aren't doing a bad job but they're hesitating alright" Said Okita peeking over his shoulder slightly.
"we'll clean them up by the time Hijikata and the others get here" replied Heisuke in a cocky fashion launching into another attack making his way up the stairs with Okita in tow, only to be met with two of the strangest men in the establishment.
They were dressed lavishly, as if they were part of the elite with one in a simple plain black and white robe and the other in an extravagant green, gold and red yukata creating a stark contrast between the two, almost like master and servant, but the most peculiar thing about them was that they didn't show an ounce of concern for the carnage that was surrounding them, they were watching the battle with what could be seen as either amusement or boredom.
As both Okita and Heisuke entered the room they both raised their weapons, preparing for a bloody duel, only when the two men looked at them, their fight commencing.
Meanwhile outside Alice stood waiting for news to take to Yamazaki and Sannan only to hear a loud crashing coming from the second floor, causing Alice to run in nearly getting decapitated in the process, much to the worry of every one of the Shinsengumi members on the ground floor.
"what are you doing woman!" Bellowed Shinpachi as he slashed the chest of his opponent and moved to try to shield her from harm.
"you shouldn't be here child"yelled Kondou as he fought and killed a rogue Samurai that stood at the foot of the stairs.
"there's something going on upstairs someone's got to get to whoever's upstairs" she yelled as she pulled out the vorpal blade from hammer space, slicing an attackers throat in the process. Then much to the shock of every one Alice used her butterfly swarm ability to get up the stair past more of the rogue samurai with lightning speed and to the second floor.
Suddenly there was a crash as Heisuke was flung through a wall, only to get back up and run back into the room.
"what the hell are you!" Exclaimed Heisuke as he staggered back onto his feet
"Stop, you have no reason to fight with me" the man with the black robe said sternly.
"what was that!" Said Heisuke his rage slowly building.
"Fall back now and I won't take your life indiscriminately, don't be foolish"his opponent warned him raising his fists ready to defend himself from further attacks.
"unfortunately, I can't overlook what you choshu guys are doing" said Heisuke with a deranged smile on his face as he launched himself to attack his new enemy only for his opponent to catch his sword in his gloved hand pulling Heisuke forward and punching him so hard that the protective head plate shatters and sending him back through a wall.
"wait damm it" was the final statement that Heisuke made before he fell unconscious, his wounds getting the better of him.
Meanwhile Okita was locked in combat with the man in the Yukata with little success or failure, it seemed that his fight was going nowhere. It wasn't until his enemy drew his sword that things get interesting.
"you may be worth sinking my teeth into" the man complimented or mock insulted.
"let your guard down and you may find those teeth being knock from your face" said Okita as he went in for another attack only for his opponent to deflect the attack and kick him in the abdomen causing Okita to start violently coughing up blood.
Meanwhile outside of the Inn a group of armed men approached only to be stopped by Hijikata, claiming that this fight was between the Shinsengumi and the rogue samurai, causing the men to back off after a few choice words and threats leaving the Shinsengumi to destroy any of the rogue samurai that thought they could escape.
Back inside Alice was tending to the walking wounded as she made her way upwards through the maze of hallways until she came upon Heisuke's unconscious form, knowing there was nothing she could do but see to his external injuries Alice did her best to patch him up with what little skills she had, once she had finished she carried on until she found Okita fighting one of the strangers until she saw him cough up blood, she saw red.
"Leave Him Alone!" She yelled drawing both men's attention.
"Alice What are you doing" yelled Okita moving in front of her creating a barrier between her and his opponent.
"something I should be doing" she replied as she seized the handle of the vorpal blade causing it to morph into it giant counterpart the Vorpal cleaver, causing the man in the yukata to step back.
"If you continue to interfere little one, I will kill you" the man said raising his sword to fight Alice only for the blade to cut clean in two by the cleaver, he obviously got the message and chose to flee.
"That was a foolish move girl" said Okita falling to his knees in exhaustion, and eventually into unconsciousness.
Suddenly everything went deathly quiet, that was when Alice realized that the Shinsengumi had won, and it was the moment where fragile loyalties fell solidly into place, at this point Alice staggered back to a wall and slid down it into a sitting position, the last thing she backed out was Hijikata entering the room, she smiled before it all went black.