Among the Wolves [Hakuouki]

Chapter 8

"Hmm...you seem to have no fever either. I believe you're perfectly fine Asai-San. This must be an allergic reaction to an insect bite."

Rin glanced at her shoulder, which had healed over night; her veins were still visible, but not as prominent as they were earlier. She smiled at the western doctor Kondou-San had insisted on calling in to check on her.

"Arigatou Yukimura-San" she said as the doctor packed his equipment and slid the door open.

The bald man turned around and returned her smile, then left the room, sliding the door shut behind him. He went up to Kondou-San and reassured him that there was nothing to worry about.

As the western doctor left the gates of the dojo, his smile faded. He dug through his bag and took out a small vile of thick red liquid: blood. His eyes narrowed with suspicion as he walked out onto the streets of Edo.

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Rin was up and walking in no time. She walked around the dojo aimlessly, when suddenly, she caught a whiff of some foul scent lingering in the air.

"What the hell is that?" Rin asked herself as she nearly gagged. Reluctantly, she followed the scent until she reached the kitchen.

"OI! Sano-San! You're burning the rice!" She heard Heisuke say.

"Heisuke, pay attention to the vegetables. You added too much soy sauce in them" Sonosuke retorted.

"AH! SHIT!" Heisuke yelled out.

"Shinpachi, don't keep the fish over the fire for too long" Sonosuke added.

"Wha-? Ahhh...I think I burned it..." a new voice said.

Rin sweat dropped and peeked into the kitchen, only to see the 3 men running about in the kitchen and freaking out.

A pot was on fire.

A chopstick went flying through the air.

A knife cut through the air and went flying by Rin's ear and stuck into the wall, missing her face by a few inches.

"Rin-chan! You're awake!" Heisuke said, noticing Rin standing at the door way with a tired expression on her face as she watched the hustling in the kitchen.

"Oh...you must be Asai-San! Heisuke told me about you. I'm Nagakura Shinpachi" the unknown man said, grinning.

"It's nice to meet you Shinpachi-San...may I ask what exactly happened here?" Rin asked the 3 men.

They exchanged glances. "It was our turn to prepare lunch today." Heisuke explained.

"I can clearly see that...and it looks like none of you have ever entered a kitchen before..." Rin said, shaking her head.

"It's not like that. We've cooked lunch several times before. It's just that a kitten came an stole some fish so we all ran after it" Shinpachi explained.

"Souji's still after the kitten" Heisuke added.

"And you left everything over the fire when you ran after the kitten?" Rin asked, raising an eyebrow at them as she glanced at at the pot which was still ablaze.

"Well...." Heisuke started.

"Either way, I don't think this stuff is edible anymore" Rin continued criticizing mercilessly as she poked the black meat over the grill.

"But what can we do now? It's nearly lunch time and we barely have any ingredients left" Heisuke complained as Sonosuke and Shinpachi nodded their heads in agreement.