To Not Give In

Eight || The Three Commanders of the Shinsengumi

Kuso — damn

••

"My name is Katsurou Suzuran," I began. I looked as calmly as I could before the three commanders. "I am the girl who bit that escaped monster of yours the other night."

Kondou's eyes widened a bit, and he sat up straighter. A shadow crossed Hijikata's face and his lips curled. Sannan though, merely regarded me curiously. For a moment, none of them said anything.

"Well. This is a surprise," Kondou finally remarked. He crossed his arms. "I suppose we have no need for Yamazaki to look for you in town anymore."

Yamazaki? Could it be that guy from last time...? The one that was loitering around Miyazawa?

"Yes, but why? Why did you come all the way to our headquarters just to tell us that?" Hijikata spoke, voice low and I could literally feel the iciness in it. His crystal-violet eyes darkened. "Leverage? Blackmail?"

I gulped and gaped at him. Just what kind of person did he take me for?

"Now, now, Toshi, no need to be so frightening," Kondou started, chuckling a bit.

"My, aren't you a quick judge of character," I muttered under my breath. I took a deep breath and looked straight into those violent eyes. "To answer your question, no. I have no intention of using my knowledge of your monsters as leverage or blackmail. In fact, I am here with a problem that is because of that monster you let escape."

"A problem, you say?" Sannan nudged his glasses up the bridge of his nose a bit. There was a sudden light of interest in his hazel eyes as he regarded me. "And also, may I ask how exactly you know that it was our  'monster'?"

Crap. I'd accidentally let the "your" slip out. I was tempted to bite my lip—but quickly stopped myself. I couldn't let them suspect me any more than they were at the moment.

"A while ago I saw one of your captains kill it in the street from my window," I replied as casually as I could. I had a feeling that I was sitting stiffer than I had been before. "It was opened a bit, so they weren't able to see me."

"Kuso!" Hijikata cursed, dragging a hand down the side of his face. "So you knew the whole time?"

"Yes." Then I quickly added, "and I haven't told a single person."

"Really?" Hijikata looked at me with a leveled gaze. He was testing me. I could tell.

Not folding underneath the weight of his gaze, I nodded. "Really. Not a single word to a single soul."

Kondou-san studied me before nodding his head once. "I see. Thank you for informing us. Now, please continue with your reason for being here."

I took a deep breath. Now came the main point.

"Ever since I bit the rasetsu...my food has been testing bland, it has no flavor at all. I can feel the texture but that's all—and I've asked a few other people who ate the food from the same cook, but they didn't weren't having any problems at all. And not only that, for some reason..." I clenched my fists over my lap. It was hard to get it out of my mouth. I had to force it. "I've been getting these strange urges. These little urges to drink...drink blood."