"What!? Are you sure?" Hijikata asked sharply, furrowing his brow as he and Sumiko both ran to the house where he had left Chizuru.
"There's no mistake," Sumiko replied grimly, furrowing her own brow. "This recent rash of killings in the town is the work of the Rasetsu Unit. I had to cut one of them down myself."
"I see... There's no mistake then," Hijikata said, accepting her conclusion. Nearly all of the remaining men in the Unit had been on her operating table at some time before taking the Ochimizu. She wasn't likely to forget their faces. And although he didn't want to believe it, he had known from the start this could be a possibility, that San'nan-san might have betrayed them...
"I'm sorry," Sumiko apologized solemnly, knowing this wasn't easy for him to hear. "We finally get to meet again, and this is the kind of news I bring..."
"No, it's not your fault. But you sure do have a knack for finding trouble, Sumiko-san," he said with a wan smile.
"Contrary to popular belief, I don't go out looking for trouble. It finds me on its own!" she retorted with a wry smile, sweat-dropping.
"Guaah!" they heard a familiar voice cry out in pain as they drew nearer.
"!" Sumiko gasped as they exchanged an alarmed glance before picking up speed.
"Heisuke!" Hijikata shouted as they rounded the corner and sprinted towards the side gate.
"Hijikata-san! Sumiko-san!?" Heisuke exclaimed, surprised and relieved to see both of them together. They could now see Heisuke struggling to fend off a group of rasetsus in Imperial Army uniforms.
"These are Sensei's...! So, it's as I thought..." Sumiko said lowly, narrowing her eyes slightly, as she followed Hijikata into combat without hesitation as he leaped to Heisuke's aid.
SLASH!
SLICE!
SLASH SLICE SLASH!
With all three of them working together, it was over within seconds. Hijikata and Heisuke stared at Sumiko, stunned. Her stance had changed. Despite their best efforts not to fall behind with the sun weakening them, not only had she done most of the work, but the speed and skill with which she dispatched and executed their enemies suggested that this was not her first time killing...
"I still don't like it," Sumiko said, as if reading their minds. She was staring at the blood that had splattered onto a clean, white kimono that was hanging from the line. "A human life is a heavy burden to bear. I was afraid I would be crushed by that weight, but there's something important that I have to protect, so I've decided to do what I have to. But I won't let myself be crushed. It wouldn't be fair to all the people I've outlived if I just up an died so easily. Instead, I've decided that for every person I've killed, I'll survive and live enough for their share as well, so that it won't go to waste. I'm tired of walking on egg shells. I'm not going to hold back anymore." She turned to face them. "But enough rambling from me, where's Chizuru? Did Koudou-san take her?"
"Yeah!" Heisuke said, still panting a little. "He covered her mouth with a white cloth, and she fainted!"
"What!?" Hijikata said, clearly alarmed and concerned for Chizuru's safety. The two of them looked like they were about to immediately rush off and do something hasty, so Sumiko quickly grabbed them by the backs of their shirts to stop them.
"Hold on, I'm worried too, but we can't just go rushing off without a plan. There's too many of them for just the three of us to handle right now... but it would be a different story at night," she said with the hint of a smirk. Hijikata seemed to catch her meaning, and he calmed down slightly.
"But we can't wait that long!" Heisuke protested hotly. "Chizuru—"
"—Is with Koudou-sensei, right? Although it's worrisome, her life isn't in any danger as long she's with him. He may be losing it, but Sensei still loves Chizuru like a daughter. He won't hurt her," Sumiko stated confidently.
Sendai Castle
When Chizuru opened her eyes again, she found herself lying in a soft futon.
"Chizuru, are you all right?" Koudou asked with a look of gentle concern. He had been sitting beside her for the past several hours, waiting for her to wake up.
"Tou-sama..." Chizuru didn't move from the futon. She still felt a little disorientated. At a glance, she could see that they were in a very rich and ornately decorated room. "Where am I?" she asked.
"Be at ease," Koudou said softly. "This is Sendai Castle."
"Sendai Castle?" Chizuru gasped and bolted into an upright sitting position as it all suddenly came rushing back to her. "Where is Heisuke-kun!?"
"I'm sorry I had to get rough with you," Koudou apologized, "but I wanted to speak to you in a calm manner."
"Tou-sama..." Chizuru said softly. He was acting like her usual kind father now that they were alone. It broke her heart to think he had done so many horrible things. She never would have thought him capable of it... It didn't seem real.
"I want you to lead the oni as the last member of the main branch," Koudou said, reminding her that everything that had happened was indeed real. Chizuru bowed her head and looked away sadly.
"That is not what I want," she said, raising her head again. "Tou-sama, please change your mind!" she implored him earnestly.
"Chizuru, this is what Kaoru-kun wanted, and it is for your own good," Koudou said firmly. Chizuru gasped as the innocent and happy childhood memory of her brother smiling up at her resurfaced.
"Kaoru..." she said sadly.
"Kaoru-kun was a misfortunate child clear until the end," Koudou added solemnly. "I want you to carry on the ideals he imparted with you. Not a single day has passed where I can forget our people's tragic history. I swore I would someday make them pay for humiliating us!"
"No, Tou-sama!" Chizuru said, shaking her head. "Please don't seek vengeance. If you do, it will only create more sadness!" Koudou frowned and his expression hardened. He was obviously disappointed with her answer. "Tou-sama, you were my pride and joy," she continued sadly. "You saved countless lives as a doctor and earned their gratitude. That was the father I respected, ever since I was a child! Tou-sama, you should know that the weight of a human life is no different than that of an oni's."
"But..." Koudou said hesitantly, looking as though he was beginning to waver after hearing his daughter's heartfelt speech. He had never seen Chizuru look so determined before.
"Humans and oni can coexist as friends!" she continued earnestly. "Even after learning that I am an oni, there were people who continued to treat me as their friend. That's why..."
"May I interrupt?" a familiar voice asked through the door, stopping her cold.
It couldn't be...
"You may enter," Koudou replied, and the door slid open to reveal none other than the former deputy-commander of the Shinsengumi.
"San'nan-san!" Chizuru gasped as he entered the room.
"It has been a while, hasn't it?" San'nan greeted her coolly. Alarmed and unnerved, Chizuru quickly backed away as he took a seat beside her father and scrambled hastily to her feet.
"San'nan-san, what is going on!?" She demanded. Had he really betrayed Hijikata-san and the others after all!?
"In order to conduct research on the rasetsus, I secretly formed an alliance with Koudou-san," San'nan stated matter-of-factly, looking as cool as a cucumber.
"An alliance?" she asked, furrowing her brow. "Does that mean you have betrayed the Shinsengumi? Betrayed Hijikata-san?" The former deputy-commander simply stared up at her with a devious expression on his face in reply. "San'nan-san!" she yelled as hot tears began to form in her eyes, feeling betrayed.
"Ahh!"
"Ugh!"
Cries of pain and the sound of swords cutting flesh were heard just outside the room as the doors on the other side of it suddenly slid open.
"Chizuru, you okay!?" Heisuke demanded urgently.
"Heisuke-kun!" Chizuru exclaimed with a look of immense relief on her face as she turned to face him.
"Heh. Slaying all those guys took awhile," Heisuke said with the hint of a smirk.
"Geez, look at you, trying to act cool. You make it sound like you're the only one doing all the work," Sumiko commented wryly as she stepped into view.
"Sumiko-san!?" Chizuru gasped in shock and surprise. "You're all right!" she cried with relief.
"Of course! You can't get rid of me that easily, Chizuru," Sumiko said with a wink, smiling at her friend. Despite the circumstances, she was happy to see her friend again.
"This is one strange castle," Hijikata remarked as he joined them with a stern look on his face. "There aren't any people and the defenses are weak."
"Hijikata-san!" Chizuru exclaimed, positively radiant with joy to see them all there.
"Tch!" Koudou gritted his teeth in irritation and scowled at them.
"I thought it was about time for you to show up," San'nan stated coolly. "Though I must admit, I did not expect to see Miyagawa-san."
"What can I say? I'm full of surprises," Sumiko quipped as Hijikata stepped into the room and pointed his sword at San'nan, who calmly stayed where he was, while Koudou scrambled to get out of the way.
"Explain yourself, San'nan-san," Hijikata ordered sternly. "Are the murders in the town your doing?"
"No," San'nan answered. "I have slain rasetsus who went berserk, but I never murdered innocents."
"Then why did you neglect to contact us?" Hijikata demanded. "And what are you doing together with Koudou-san?"
"You will not find what you seek in Sendai," San'nan told him. "The Northern Alliance plans to avoid entering the war." Hijikata appeared taken aback by this news, but he recovered quickly. "The brutal defeat Aizu suffered must have scared them. While I was spying on the enemy, I discovered that Koudou-san is dissatisfied with the Imperial Army."
"Just can't make up your mind, can you?" Sumiko asked as she and the others glanced questioningly at him.
"The Imperial Army secretly ordered me to come here, but I am fed up with all these human conflicts," Koudou explained, furrowing his brow. "I expect you came here to finish what you started at Ueno?"
"I'm here to stop you, if that's what you mean," Sumiko responded calmly with determination. Why couldn't she get him to understand that? "I went back to the battlefield to mourn you, but I suspected you were still alive when I noticed there were signs that someone had crawled out of the water on the opposite side of the bank." She glanced at San'nan out the corners of her eyes. "But why are you here with him, San'nan-san? Are you two working together now?"
The corners of San'nan's lips curved upwards.
"Sharp as always, Miyagawa-san," he said, glancing up at them with a sharp gleam in his eyes. "I joined forces with him so we could pursue creating an oni kingdom that will also harbor rasetsus."
"What!?" Hijikata demanded, taken aback by his confession as the others gasped in alarm. Sumiko frowned. She had been afraid something like this might happen...
"I infiltrated the castle and assumed control of Sendai," San'nan continued.
"No wonder something seemed off about this castle," Hijikata said, furrowing his brow.
THMP. THMP. THMP. THMP.
Hijikata and Sumiko glanced around as the sound of hurried footsteps surrounded them.
"Crap!" she cursed under her breath when the other doors slid open to reveal hallways crowded with enemy rasetsus. They were surrounded.