--Meanwhile-
Y/N sighed in relief as soon as she got to the room that the rogue samurai were in, glad that most of them were too drunk to notice her sudden appearance as she sat down and began to pour the sake as she had been shown by Kimigiku earlier that morning.
"Damn those stray dogs of the Shogunate." One of the rogues slurred.
"No one's afraid of the Shinsengumi! One day, I'll bewilder them!" A different rogue shouted.
"You have a brilliant plan or something?" Another one slurred.
Y/N frowned at the thought of these guys attacking the Shinsengumi, before feeling a shudder run up her spine as she noticed one of the men looking at her.
"What's the matter?" The man asked.
"I-It's nothing." Y/N assured with a falsely calm smile.
"If those meddlesome Shinsengumi are gone, the Tokugawa era would be long over." Snickered one of the others, catching Y/N's attention once more, as she stayed oblivious to the man from just before as he stood up and stumbled out of the room. "If we succeeded, I'd get a great reward for my accomplishments!" The same rogue boasted. "Like you." Y/N's eyes widened as the man leaned towards her, and she attempted not to cringe at the heavy stench of rotted food and alcohol that was on his breath. "Have you decided on a future husband yet?" The man asked her.
"No, not at all." Y/N responded calmly, though she was actually quite surprised. Her eyes then widened as he suddenly grabbed her wrist. I better get the whole bathing house to myself for the rest of the day. She bitterly thought.
"How about it? If you'd like to become my mistress, you should take this chance." He smirked at her.
"Uh...No thanks." Y/N declined.
"Oh ho~ So innocent." The man slurred happily, grunting as her elbow jabbed into his nose as she suddenly stood up.
"The bottle is empty. Please let me go refill it for you." She apologetically smiled at the man, and made a beeline to leave the room. As soon as she closed the door behind her, Y/N took a deep breath. What a bunch of pigs. She thought with a scowl, before jumping as the door slid open behind her.
"Hey, did you wait long?" That man questioned with a smirk as he stared down at her.
"I told you I was refilling your bottle, please return to the room." Y/N ordered, before beginning to quickly walk away.
"So, this is when they pretend to hate what they like?" The man snickered as he stumbled after her.
Y/N gasped as she found herself at a dead end and she turned around, only to see the man smirking at her. "What's wrong? You're not running anymore?"
Y/N raised the empty sake bottle to toss it at the guy, before her eyes widened as a familiar black clad man appeared in between them out of nowhere. "Yamazaki-san!" She exclaimed in relief.
"Who the hell are you?" The drunk rogue questioned. "That's a weird outfit. Who are you?!" He then pointed at Yamazaki with a look of distaste.
"I-I'm..." Yamazaki seemed to hesitate, before remembering Y/N's nickname for him. "As you can see, I'm a ninja." He stated.
"I knew it!" Y/N whispered to herself from behind him.
"A ninja?" The drunkard repeated. "Have you been eavesdropping?!" He shouted.
"No! I'm a ninja who protects the cute princess from the shadows on windy and rainy days!" Yamazaki exclaimed.
"What the hell?" Y/N deadpanned, wondering if she should focus on the fact he had called her cute, princess, or that he was acting like some sort of shining knight in armor.
"I will appear whenever there's a scream for help! You bastard! What do you intend to do to our princess?!" The ninja-dressed male questioned the man.
"Uh...Yamazaki-san...?" Y/N whispered into the males ear.
"Just play a long for now. It'll be a problem if we get busted now." He whispered back to her.
"You've been spouting nothing but nonsense! Hand over that woman right now!" The drunkard exclaimed as he began to walk towards the duo.
"Princess, this way!" Yamazaki exclaimed, grabbing Y/N's wrist and pulling her to his side and causing the man to stumble onto his face as he lunged at them, before Yamazaki pulled the female out of the room. "I, the ninja, Yamazaki, will protect you with my life!" He exclaimed.
"You're getting way into character." Y/N pointed out, before she grinned in pure amusement. "I leave my life in your hands, ninja Yamazaki." She stated, before allowing him to pull her into an empty room and slamming the door closed.
"Bitch, where are you?!" Y/N gripped onto Yamazaki's sleeve as she heard the drunkard shouting.
"Damn it, he's persistent." Yamazaki cursed to himself.
"Where are you?!" Y/N tightened her grip as she heard a door in a nearby room slam open.
"Yamazaki-san, don't worry about me. You should get out-" The female began to try and persuade the male to go get the others, before he glanced at her seriously.
"What are you saying, Princess? There's no way I could abandon you and escape on my own." He told her, before they both gasped as the door slid open and revealed the drunk rogue.
"There you are." He cackled, beginning to walk into the room. "The game's over."
Yamazaki's eyes narrowed. "Yamazaki Style...Ninpou, Tatami Flip!" Y/N watched in awe as the man flipped a tatami mat at the rogue.
"That was awesome!" Y/N practically squealed. "Just like a real ninja!" She praised the male.
"Princess, leave this to me and run." Yamazaki said as he heard shouts from the other rogues. "Now!"
"Right." Y/N nodded her head and began to run in the opposite direction, hoping she could find the others quickly.
She ran down a flight of stairs, before pausing as a door slid open to reveal the man who had questioned her earlier.
"Heh? Aren't you that geisha?" He smirked.
Y/N glanced around, before noticing the room that Saito was supposed to be in, and she immediately opened the door and rushed in. "Saito?!" She asked, before looking completely confused when she didn't see any sign of the blue haired samurai.
"What's wrong?" She turned around immediately as she heard the drunkard slur. "You didn't have to run." He stated as he stumbled into the room and grabbed her wrist. "Now, let's return. Come."
"Let go of me this instant!" Y/N ordered, twisting her wrist in a manner that caused his own to twist, and then she kneed him in the face.
"You bitch!" The man snapped, raising one of his hands to pinch at his nose as it leaked a stream of red, and then raising his other hand to slap the female.
"That's as far as you go." Y/N smiled in relief when she saw Saito standing in the doorway. "Any further harassment, and I will not forgive you." The blue haired man stated coldly.
"Who the hell are you?" the drunkard questioned and pushed Y/N to the side harshly. "This has nothing to do with you! Get lost!" He shouted.
"Unfortunately, it does have something to do with me." Saito said as he walked into the room. "I'm the guardian of this geisha." He stated as he protectively stood between Y/N and the other man.
What are with these guys and suspicious titles? Y/N sweatdropped.
"I am employed to protect the geisha from unreasonable guests." Saito told the drunkard, before turning to say something to Y/N, until pausing as his eyes widened at the unusual new look. "You're...L/N, right?" He questioned, as if he wasn't sure.
"Who else would I be?" Y/N tilted her head curiously as she stared at the man.
"It's the first time I've seen you in makeup like this. I didn't think there'd be such a difference." Y/N looked shocked, before deadpanning once more at his talk about looks. "You're dressed up this way just to help us."
"You bastard! Are you underestimating me?!"
"I thought you might be doing this unwillingly, still...I hope to remove any feelings of regret I may have." Saito told her.
"Saito?" Y/N gaped at the male as he spoke so calmly.
"So, I should tell you now..." Saito looked unemotional as the man cute him off.
"Hey, look here!" The drunkard interrupted the small scene with a shout as he got all into Saito's face. "Don't go creating your own world by ignoring me! You taking me for a fool?!" He questioned, grabbing a hold of Saito's shoulder.
"It's not the time for that." Saito stated and punched the man in the face, causing him to fall backwards. "L/N. There's something I must tell you. Will you listen to my words?" He asked.
"Well, I don't really think that this is the time, Saito..." Y/N drifted off as she gazed over his shoulder and looked at the drunkard who was still insistent on getting back up.
"How dare you?!" Saito elbowed the man in the gut as he attempted to run up behind the monotonous samurai.
"I'm sorry. When I see you dressed like this, it makes me a little nervous." Saito apologized to the impressed and shocked female.
"Yeah, alright, we can talk about this later. Right now we've got something more important to do." Y/N attempted to get the man to recognize what was going on, as she watched in slight horror as three other rogue samurai rushed into the room.
"What is the meaning of this?" Saito glanced at the arrivals with his usual expressionless feature.
"Y-you bastard. Not once, but three times..." The man that Saito and Y/N both had punched began to shakily stand back up.
"What do you want?" Saito asked. "We are having a conversation." He stated, before looking at Y/N. "If you want to talk, we can do that later."
"Yeah, sounds good to me." Y/N sighed, already ready for the night to be over with.
"What was that, you bastard?!"
"He's looking down on us!"
Y/N took a step back from Saito as she noticed a scary aura surrounding him while the four men began to advance towards him. "Whenever an important conversation is interrupted, it puts me in a foul mood. I won't be able to hold back." Saito said with a glare towards the men. One of the men shouted and pulled out a short sword, aiming for Y/N, before Saito grabbed his wrist and twisted it, causing the man to fall onto the ground and giving the sword to Saito. "If you really must fight, I'll take you on." He told them.
When did these guys suddenly begin to look so cool? Y/N wondered as she stared at Saito in awe. It was then that she realized she hadn't actually seen any of the guys in real combat before.
"Y/N, go ahead and get out of here. I've got them." Saito told the female as he and another one of the rogues clashed swords.
The female nodded her head, hesitantly, and rushed out of the room quickly.
She gasped when she felt arms wrap around her from behind, and she turned her head to see two of the men had followed her. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed her attackers arms and pulled herself inwards, before swinging her hips to the side. She balled up one of her hands into a fist and struck the man's groin, causing him to let go and howl in pain, before she interlocked her hands behind his neck and kneed his groin upwards.
With a smirk and inward thanks to Mr. Nio*, her self-defense instructor, she began to run away from the other man as he shouted curses and threats at her.
"Umph! Kazama!" Y/N exclaimed in surprise as she looked up at Kazama, whom she had bumped into when she turned around a random corner.
"Huh, did you come back to let me take you?" Kazama smirked down at her.
Y/N opened her mouth to retort, before feeling a hand on her shoulder. "Gotcha." The man who was chasing her smirked.
"Let go of me!" She shouted.
Kazama narrowed his eyes and quickly grabbed Y/N's wrist. Pulling her to his chest, he kicked the other man's feet, causing him to tumble down, before Kazama gripped his wrist harshly and kneed the man in the gut.
"You've got some major balls picking fights with me!"
"I'm on your side, Mr. Forerunner!"
The female stared at the collapsed form of the rogue, before she shook her head. "Hey, wait..." Y/N scowled as she followed Kazama as he walked to the railing of the second floor and stared down at Harada, Heisuke, and Shinpachi who were fighting a group of the rogues.
"Pick fights with us and we shall return the favor!" Y/N rolled her eyes as she could hear the triumph in Harada's voice.
"Hmph, thanks to your people, my investigation for Satuma seems to end here." He stated, and Y/N couldn't help but to figure out that he was actually glad about that.
"Wow, they are fighting like mad!" Other guests came up on the other side of Kazama as they stared at the fighting in awe.
"I really enjoyed this evening, now disappear." Kazama whispered to Y/N, surprising her.
"Thank you." Y/N smiled, before she rushed down another stairwell.
When she finally got to the exit of the building, she sighed in relief. It felt like a maze she had just gone through. Glancing up, she scowled at the looks of fear on the others faces as they watched the fighting, before she stared wide-eyed at the familiar kimono. "Hijikata-san!" She shouted, rushing up to him.
"Y/N?" Hijikata stared at the relieved female in shock as she stumbled towards him on the heels that were beginning to hurt her feet.
"Ah, yeah." She nodded her head.
"Sir!" The two immediately turned their heads to see Saito walking up to them.
"Oh, Saito! How did an investigation held incognito turn out like this?" Hijikata interrogated.
"You have my sincerest apologies." Saito bowed apologetically. "I am at a loss myself."
"It was those rogues fault, one of them tried to attack me." Y/N spoke up.
"What?!" Hijikata's eyes widened.
"Please take care of L/N. I will file my report later." Saito stated.
"Very well. Take care of things here." Hijkata sighed. "We're returning to headquarters" He told Y/N.
If the man were anyone else, Y/N would have declined and insisted she help fight. If she were not exhausted, Y/N would have declined and insisted she help fight. "Alright." She nodded her head in agreement, and the two began to walk out of the red district.
The two were quiet as they walked through the village, besides Y/N as she raised her hand to cover up a tired yawn. "Woah!" She exclaimed as she suddenly lost her balance and fell forward, before Hijikata caught her by wrapping an arm around her middle.
"Are you alright?" He worriedly questioned.
"Yeah, I'm just not used to heels." Y/N answered and kicked off the wooden stilts into a random alleyway. "OK, I'm read n-ow!" She flinched as she put pressure onto one of her ankles.
"Let me see it." Hijikata insisted as he knelt in front of her.
"I said I'm fine." Y/N attempted to take a step back, before flinching once more.
"Hurry it up! I said to let me see it!" Hijikata sternly told her.
Y/N pouted slightly, before nodding her head. "Fine." She lifted up the lower skirts of her kimono and Hijikata felt around her ankle for any hint of a fracture or swell. For Y/N, she couldn't help but to remember the time that she had slipped on the tile in the kitchen and how worried her mother had become.
He really is like a mother. She thought with an amused smile.
"You should be fine." Hijikata announced, unaware of the female's thoughts. "The pain should subside in two or three days." He told her, causing the female to remember that he had once worked with medicine before the Shinsengumi.
"Right, thank you." Y/N sighed in relief. "I'll try and never wear those type of shoes ever again." She chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck.
"It throws me off when you talk the same as always when you're all dressed up." Hijikata couldn't help but to grin in amusement.
"Isn't that a good thing? Like I've said before, looks don't matter. I'm still me." Y/N nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders.
"That's the best part." Hijikata stated. Though, seeming to realize what he had said, he cleared his throat and awkwardly patted the female's head. "Come on." He then continued to tug her towards the gate, as Y/N was now oblivious to the pain in her ankle as she was both shocked and confused by his compliment. Her cheeks turned a bright red.
"Excuse me, sir! Where are you going with that geisha?!" A man suddenly shouted and stood in front of the duo.
"Wait, she isn't a geisha." Hijikata denied.
"How could you possibly say that?" The man asked. "No matter how I look at her, she is clearly a beautiful Shimabara geisha." He pointed out as he gazed at Y/N.
"No, she isn't." Hijikata chuckled awkwardly. "There is a good explanation for this." He stated.
"Well, I'm sure there is a deep explanation for the interactions between all men and women. If you wish to purchase this geisha, there are certain steps you must take." The man stated with a grin.
Y/N scowled, but before she could shout about how women weren't objects, Hijikata beat her to it. "You want me to buy her? What the hell are you talking about?!" he shouted.
"W-well, you see..." The man stuttered out as Hijikata stared at him with his famous 'devil vice commander' glare.
"Damn, this is such a pain!" Hijikata exclaimed as a crowd began to form around them. Y/N gasped as he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her against him. "Jerk, who the hell do you think I am?! There is no freakin' way that the Vice Commander of the Shinsengumi would do something as licentious as elope with a geisha!" He shouted.
"S-Shinsengumi?!" The man stumbled backwards and fell onto his butt, looking quite terrified.
"Due to certain circumstances, this woman is being placed under my care! If you've got a problem with that, I'll hear you out at our headquarters!" He announced.
___Quick Time Skip___
It was once more quiet between the two as they walked through the more quiet area of town, Hijikata leading Y/N by holding her hand, and Y/N following with a look that showed she was lost in thought.
"How is your ankle?" Hijikata suddenly questioned as they got closer to the headquarters, cutting through the silence.
"It's fine, thanks." Y/N managed to whimper out. In truth, she had completely forgotten about the pain as she was trying to figure out what had just happened.
"Huh?" The attention of the two were suddenly on Okita, as he suddenly appeared behind the gate door to the headquarters. "Thank you for the feast." He smirked, before walking away.
"Stop right there, Souji!" Hijikata ordered. "Don't get the wrong idea." He stated, before sighing and shaking his head when Okita suddenly disappeared inside. "That bastard."
When the two heard laughter, Hijikata once more began to lead Y/N. "Hurry and get inside!" He told her.
Y/N hid in a small room, as Hijikata leaned against the door in a nonchalant manner as some Shinsengumi warriors passed by. Once they were gone, he looked exhausted.
"Is this part of my job as the Vice Commander?" he wondered aloud.