Hakuouki: Hitsuzen

Catching Up

Sumiko quickly kneeled down to check on the unconscious Hijikata.

"Will he be all right?" Chizuru asked, concerned.

"It'll be a close thing," Sumiko replied as she quickly wrapped Hijikata's face with bandages and removed his distinctive jacket and vest. She took his sword and handed it to Chizuru. "We can't let anyone know who he is. It's very important, Chizuru. If anyone asks you where he is, you have to tell them he died."

"Eh!?" Chizuru gasped.

"Can you carry him?" Sumiko asked Kazama.

"If I must," Kazama said, and he leaned down and picked Hijikata up to carry him.

"W-Why!? Why must I tell everyone Hijikata-san died?" Chizuru asked.

"Let's go. He needs a blood transfusion, so time is of the essence. I'll explain along the way," Sumiko said firmly.

"Hai!" Chizuru agreed, determined to help them help Hijikata.

"So, this is going to sound crazy, Chizuru... but I was actually raised in the future," Sumiko said carefully. Although she had explained to Chizuru how she was Koudou's long-lost niece, she had left out the part about how she had been living in the future for most of her life.

"Huh!?" Chizuru exclaimed, shocked that she would make such an unbelievable claim.

"According to Koudou-sensei, my mother was a powerful oni who had unusual powers," Sumiko said. "He thinks that's how it happened. Somehow, she sent me to the future to protect me from the people who were pursuing her and my father to make sure they couldn't hurt me. This was a powerful tool, it seems," she explained, removing the magatama bead that she had owned ever since she was an infant and had been carrying on her person when she was brought back to the past to show it to Chizuru.

"It seems like an ordinary bead to me..." Chizuru said, looking at it.

"It is now," Kazama said. "They can be used to store energy, but if that energy is used up, then it will become nothing more than a mere trinket."

"Koudou-sensei believed there was still energy left in it along with my mother's wish for me to be taken 'somewhere safe from harm', and it activated when I was in danger to save me," Sumiko continued to explain. "When I was in the future, I messed up and was nearly killed. But before that could happen, I was surrounded by a blinding light and then suddenly found myself in this time. He was just on his way home from visiting a patient when he saw me appear out of thin air, so he believed me when I told him where I had come from."

"My father believed that?" Chizuru asked.

"Yes. He helped me conceal my true origins to avoid trouble. I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner, but it was so unbelievable..." Sumiko said apologetically.

"I understand," Chizuru said. "Even now I'm having a hard time accepting it. But what does this have to do with Hijikata-san?"

"I know when he's supposed to die. It's supposed to be today," Sumiko said gravely, making Chizuru gasp. "Don't worry! I have no intention of letting that happen. But we have to let the rest of the world believe he's gone, or we'll change history. I did the same thing with Sano-san."

"Harada-san is alive!?" Chizuru exclaimed, excited and relieved.

"I explained everything to him and sent him to China. In the future there was a rumor that he didn't die but survived and became a leader of a group of horse-riding bandits there, so I'm hoping if he does that, everything will be fine," Sumiko said.

"Will he be okay by himself?" Chizuru asked.

"Shiranui-san went with him," Sumiko said. Chizuru gave her a dubious look. "I know, but those two get along surprisingly well. I think they'll be okay."