Notes:

Dear readers, I feel guilty because my chapters have been short until now, but it's all because I'm always excited to share my work with you fast so once I write some more lines, I start thinking of sharing them with you fast.

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Chapter Text

Chizuru remained silent while looking at Kazama. Would she really want to live with this man? What if she got pregnant from him and got trapped in a life with him? Is Sen really going to be able to help her get away from this life? What if the rules of the Oni were not going to allow Sen to do anything for Chizuru at all?

Would she really endure living with Kazama? What if his people pushed him to be a monster to her? What if he locked her in a room and used her as a tool for pregnancy and didn't even allow her to raise her children by herself? What if he brought other women and slept with them in her bedchamber as a punishment for her every time she fought him? And what if he even gave her children to other women to raise?

What if he made her a prisoner and didn't even allow her to nurse her own child? What if he didn't allow her to see her child? Worse of all, what if he teaches her child to hate her?

She asked herself. No, she doesn't want to live with this man even if Saitou is dead. Even if Saitou is dead, then she prefers living alone rather than living with Kazama.

Even if she could imagine herself enduring life with Kazama, she still can't be sure if she can endure life with his people. She has no idea what people are like. What if his people pushed him to be absolute evil to her?

Even if he is more civil to her tonight, there is no guarantee that he will stay like this.

Now, she feels more lonely than before. Her heart ached in panic. She must run away. But not now. She must think of a plan.

She pushed at his shoulders to push herself away from him. Kazama slightly frowned at her but let her move away.

Once she was separated from him, she turned her back to him. She fixed her clothes and wrapped herself more under the blankets. Time was slipping away from her hands. With each passing day, she was moving farther from her home and moving nearer to the Oni clan. She had to think and decide on a plan tonight.

Kazama rested his head on his hand and just watched her.

It was clear for him that she was one stubborn creature.

"What are you thinking of, Chizuru?" He asked as if he didn't know what was in her head.

"Nothing," Chizuru replied in a normal voice tone, " I just want to sleep."

At this moment, she didn't know if escaping from Kazama was more challenging or the danger of the road she had to travel on to reach her home.

She had no money. All she had now were some of the clothes and hair pins that Kazama bought for her. If she wore such fancy clothes, then she could be attacked by criminals. If she doesn't wear them, then she'll have nothing to sell or give in exchange for food and a warm place to rest. But can she even waste time resting anywhere?

She can stay alive without food for several days. She can get water on the road. All she needed were warm clothes to wear, warm and supporting shoes which she already had and a sharp thing to defend herself with.

She can do it. She is strong enough to survive everything. She traveled alone on a dangerous path before. She took a dangerous path when she was looking for her father and before she met the Shinsengumi. She can do it again now. Even if it's more dangerous now but she has grown more capable. Now, she knows she is Oni, and her wounds heal quickly, and she can sense the presence of other creatures around her.

Now, she has to decide where she can get her weapon from. Her sword was with them. When Kazama's men took Chizuru to the inn, they took her sword from her. They didn't even take it by force. On the night that Kazama promised Chizuru that he wouldn't kill Saitou if she accepted to be with him and sent her to be taken by his men to the inn, the guards only simply asked her to hand them her sword and she handed her sword to them without any protest. She was not stubborn at all on that very first night. She was being completely submissive to keep Saitou alive, but she has been losing hope day by day. Now, she had very little hope that Saitou was alive.

They took her swords and knife, and to her surprise, they just put the swords in a cupboard in the room and whenever they traveled they packed her weapons in her belongings and put them in another cupboard in her room in every new inn she had to stay in.

Now, all she had to do was to wait for Kazama to leave the place so she could escape. There is a great chance that there are people who are ordered to keep an eye on her so she has to escape from the window.

She is an Oni, and even if she broke a bone, it is supposed to heal, but there is no way for her to know how long it will take to heal. Maybe the pain will slow her down. Plus, maybe the sound of her jumping down will grab the attention of others. She can't jump from the window then. She must find a way to get down without making a sound and without bringing herself any harm.

Chizuru was so drowned in her thoughts that she forgot the existence of Kazama so closely beside her, but once she was conscious again, she decided that she should not let Kazama doubt that she is probably thinking of escaping.

Slowly, she turned back so she was facing him again.

He was sleeping on his back, or maybe he was not fully asleep yet. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing calmly. He seems not to care at all that Chizuru could kill him in his sleep. He seemed like he had not been caring since the very first night he took her by force.

It occurred to her on the first night to stab Kazama in his sleep. She didn't do that then. But now, if her escaping plan fails, then she will not hesitate to kill him.

She wondered if maybe she should've killed him earlier before he touched her. Now, she was possibly even pregnant with his child.

Chizuru looked at Kazama. She had rage toward him now.