On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Edo Period I

"Okita Souji should be at the Shinsengumi's headquarters."

"The problem is Sakamoto Ryouma." Akane stated.

"You don't think they'd be together, do you?" Shinsuke said.

Midori let out a hiss. "Unthinkable! If those two were in the same room, they'd be fighting to the death!"

Kinako caught sight of a certain blonde elbowing her navy haired best friend rather roughly, earning a glare. She chose not to question it.

"Well, not like Ryouma would lose to Okita." Nishiki said, smiling smugly.

He and Midori returned to their glaring contest.

Ultimately, it was decided that they'd break into two groups. Nishiki would lead the group to find Sakamoto Ryouma, consisting namely of Wondeba, Shindou, Tenma, Shinsuke, Aoi, Akane, and Hikaru. Midori offered to lead the group to find Okita Souji, which consisted of Fei, Kirino, Taiyou, Kariya, Kinako, Kimiko and, of course, Tsurugi.

"Begin the search!"

"Yeah!"

Team Okita began making their way down the hill, through the torii gates lined up on the path. Once they were far enough from Team Sakamoto, Midori let out an excited squeal.

"I hope we get to meet Okita Souji soon!" She then eyed the navy haired boy walking beside her. "Okita Souji is the aloof swordsman beauty who protected Edo's Bakufu with his very life while forcing down his illness."

That made him stop. "Illness?"

"Souji suffered from tuberculosis and was said to have lived half on willpower before he died. The beautiful die young, as they used to say."

"Some rumors suggest that he wasn't all that good-looking though."

"Kariya!"

She got a snarky laugh in reply.

"We'll see once we meet him." Fei said, defusing the situation.

"Yeah." Taiyou said. Kirino only smiled.

Meanwhile, her friend was blankly staring at his redheaded senior.

Suffering from an illness... And yet he's the best swordsman they have...

Kimiko pretended that she didn't hear that.

~~~~~

She caught a yellow flash in the corner of her eye. She swore it came from the forest.

Isn't that the direction Tenma's group went?

"Kimiko."

"H-Huh?!" She jumped and turned around. "Oh, Kirino-san..."

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Ah, no... I was just wondering if Tenma's group had any more luck than we do so far."

They've gotten into town a while ago. At the moment, the rest of the group, though mostly Kinako, was asking a passerby for information regarding their target. However...

"Don't bother! You shouldn't get yourselves involved with the Shinsengumi!" He said.

"Why not?"

He covered the side of his mouth, as if to prevent anyone else from reading his lips. "If the Shinsengumi suspect that you're an enemy of the Bakufu, who knows what they'll do to you!"

Tsurugi's eyes narrowed. "They are known for shutting up even the wails of crying children."

"The Shinsengumi are on edge so much these days that they have been looking for any excuse to use violence. If you're going, be careful!" The man then left.

"Okay."

"Thank you."

They spent quite a while wandering around to no avail.

Midori crossed her arms in thought. "Where is the Shinsengumi's headquarters?"

"If we don't know, we should just ask." Kinako said before running off.

"But isn't it dangerous if the Shinsengumi find out that we're investigating them?" Kariya reminded.

"Yeah, we should act with caution." Kirino nodded.

"Well, I'm glad we figured that out, but it's a little late, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

Kimiko sighed, pointing in the direction their brunette friend ran off to.

"Excuse me!"

In front of her were two men clad in blue, white, and black. Both of them had swords attached to their hips.

"What's the matter little girl?" One of them asked.

"Where is the Shinsegumi headquarters―" Midori ran over to cover her mouth but it was too late.

"What do you want with the Shinsengumi?" The other one pressed.

"Ahahaha... Nothing―"

Kinako broke free of her grasps. "We want to meet Okita Souji!"

"Lord Okita?"

"You aren't spies sent from Satsuma or Choushuu, are you?"

Before they could deny, his hand went to his sword's handle.

"How very suspicious!"

"Ah―!"

Before Kimiko could suggest using her powers through telepathy, another voice cuts in.

"Wait!" A much bulkier man in white and dark blue suddenly appeared. He had a similar red scarf as Tsurugi did too.

"C-Commander!"

"Kondou-san!"

They all turned to each other at that name and title.

"What is going on here?" The man known as Kondou asked.

"We were interrogating them to determine whether or not they were spies."

He turned to them, scaring them, before going back to his men. "Keeping on guard is commendable, but making a panic over children is a disgrace to the samurai name."

"Apologies, sir."

"Go to headquarters and cool off your heads!"

"Yes, sir!" And they immediately ran off.

"Sorry for frightening you." He then said to them.

"You're the most frightening of them all." Kariya muttered, turning away when Kondou's gaze landed on him.

"Excuse me..." Midori said. "Are you Kondou Isami-san?"

The man smiled proudly. "That's right. I am the Shinsengumi's commander, Kondou Isami."

The girl had to use all her power not to squeal. "It is such an honor to meet you!"

The man took a step back. "I-Is that so?"

After they've expressed their gratitude, he warned them to be careful and left.

Once he was far enough, Midori let her inner fangirl out again. "As expected of the man who leads the Shinsengumi!"

"Sure is..." Kirino nodded.

Kimiko hummed. "Now, why do I get the feeling we're forgetting something?"

"Huh? ...Ah!"

"Okita Souji!"

"We completely forgot!"

"I'm sure if we ask him, he'll take us to him!"

"He turned right at that corner!"

"I don't see him..."

"He can't have gone far!"