Trying to Kill Each Other Doesn't Count as Flirting (or Does it?)

Chapter 14

Little did Sougo know, everything would fall perfectly into place.

Five days later, the Yorozuya got into some trouble with the bakufu—something about an old man and an old woman who'd made a promise. One thing led to another, and before long, the former shogun, Tokugawa Sadasada, was imprisoned for multiple crimes, including the orchestration of the murder of (F/N)'s parents. Sougo would have loved nothing more than to escort him straight to (F/N), and have them take turns stabbing him to death—in fact, it was on his to-do list—but some things were slightly more important.

In the aftermath of the chaos, Sougo scanned the crowd for a familiar figure—the Shogun. He spotted him on the other side of the room, chatting with Matsudaira about the events of the day. Frowning, Sougo started forward, pushing through the crowd of black-clad Shinsengumi until he could just reach out, and grab the Shogun's arm. His eyes widened, and Matsudaira opened his mouth to shout something, but Okita was already dragging the poor, unsuspecting Shogun away.

"Hey, Pops," he called over his shoulder, "I'm borrowing Sho-chan for a bit."

"What?" Matsudaira snapped. "Sougo, what do you think you're—"

The sound of his voice was cut off as Sougo slammed the door to the next room shut. Beside him, the Shogun stared at him, eyes wide with curiosity.

"What's wrong, Okita-san?" he asked. "Is there something you need to discuss with me?"

"Yeah, that's it," Sougo replied, turning to him with a scowl. "I need to talk to you about something important.

"It's about Hitotsubashi (F/N)."

~o0o~

(F/N) was curled up on the floor with a blanket around her shoulders, and a manga volume in her lap when Sougo opened the door. He didn't knock—not that he really had to, it was his room, after all—he just strode inside, and looked her over with an expression of thinly-veiled concern. At first, (F/N) expected him to say something about how she should eat, or maybe take a bath, but soon, that expression was replaced by his usual indifferent mask, and he leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest.

"Good news," he said, "we've found the man who killed your parents."

"What?"

(F/N) leapt to her feet, fists shaking. Her mind was racing, scrambling to process what she'd just heard. They'd found him—the person who'd taken everything from her. She could finally have her revenge.

"Who is it?" she demanded. "Tell me his name! Right now!"

"Tokugawa Sadasada."

She froze—hesitating only for a moment—but it didn't matter. She didn't care if the murderer was the former shogun. She would end him, no matter what it took.

"Take me to the palace at once!" she ordered. "I want to look that monster in the eyes and kill him with my own two hands!"

"As much as I'd love to do that," Sougo said, "I'm afraid that's impossible."

"What? Does the Shinsengumi code dictate you can't take me to off him?"

"Yes it does, but that's hardly the problem. The problem is, you're not the only person in the world with a bone to pick with him, and I'm afraid somebody else got to him first." He looked her in the eyes as all the color drained from her face.

"Tokugawa Sadasada is dead."

The whole world slowed to a stop. Ever since her parents died, she'd been living for the chance to someday slit the throat of the one responsible, but now that person was dead. She'd never even gotten to see his face, and all that was left was the knowledge that Nobunobu was going to send her away, and she'd never see any of the people she loved again.