To Love A Beast

Chapter 3

The ambush began a little earlier than expected. The sneaky bastards threw a torch from the other side to create a distraction. In no time, the Headquarters was starting to get swarmed with Choushuu soldiers.

Hijikata barked orders left and right while fending off enemies. The generals were at the entrances while the rest of the men were more inside of the headquarters keeping them away from the rooms.

Souji and Saito were against eachothers backs, helping one another. Kondou-san was really hesitant to let Souji fight but as always he put his foot down and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Sanou's well-known spear sliced the air and impaled an incoming enemy from Saito and Souji's side. "There is some of them going towards the rooms" he warned while getting his weapon from the dead body. Saito and Souji stopped for a moemnt to look at one another,"Chizuru" Souji frowned.

"Go Okita" Saito ordered sternly

Without being asked twice, Souji killed his way towards Chizuru's room.

Chizuru woke up to the sound of yelling, (What's happening?). She shuffled out of her futon and put on the yukata to peek outside.
The Choushuu were coming from beyond the walls of the Shinsengumi Headquarters. They appeared to add up in numbers as more and more of them invaded the place.
Chizuru was afraid of what was going on and couldn't even move because she didn't know what to do.

Without thinking, she opened the shoji to go and help her friends. As soon as she did, a big gruffy man slammed into her making Chizuru fall on her back. The man weighed a thousand pounds, he made no effort in getting up from the squashed girl.

Chizuru gasped for air, hitting the man on the shoulder . Her katana was just a bit farther from the futon, Chizuru reached to it before her organs start to bleed out. She only managed to scoot over a bit, figuring that the huge man on her was dead. (Almost...there), she streched out her arm, hoping it would somehow grow longer. Then she reached the tip of it by a centimeter, Chizuru tapped over to her until it was firmly grasped in her hand, (I got it!).

Before Chizuru took out the sword, she heard grunting then an awful chuckle coming from the supposed dead man. "You stupid bitch" he lifted his body, towering over the trembeling girl. Closing her eyes, Chizuru took out the sword and slashed the man on the thigh. "Aaarrrggh!!" he cried out, he prepared the sword to cut off Chizuru's head. She kept her eyes closed, waiting for the slashing but nothing happened. She opened one eye then the other, the man was stabbed through the chest. Before he could suck the air out of her again, Chizuru quickly moved out of the way and saw the enormous man fall over.

She turned to see who her savior was, none other than Souji,"Scum like you shouldn't even hold a sword" he smirked. Souji saw Chizuru trembling like crazy, of course she would, this gorilla almost killed her. "O-Okita-sa-an..." she stammered, Souji ran to her when another man was slammed to the room. Souji wasted no time in slashing his stomach, he pulled Chizuru behind him to protect her.

"Chizuru go somewhere safe right now" he growled.

Chizuru stomped her foot and frowned from behind him,"I'm not leaving everyone here!". Souji grunted at her stubborness and pulled Chizuru out the room to take her somewhere else. He saw Saito fighting off one of the Choushuu, and noticed another one of them sneaking up behind Saito. Souji leaped into the air, striking the enemy on the back of his head,"Saito, take Chizuru somewhere safe right now. Tag out, I can handle it from here".

Saito hesitated for a second then nodded his head, there was no time to waste. He grabbed Chizuru's hand and tightened his grip to make sure she wasn't separated from him. The girl started pulling back protesting,"No Saito-san! I have to help!".

Saito was going to answer, then he pulled Chizuru towards his body and stabbed the man intending to attack her. He didn't let go after that, he just started rummaging his way through the fights. Every second, Chizuru tried to take a look at the action or try to push him away. Saito responded by putting more weight on his hand to keep Chizuru from moving her head away from his chest

"Saito-san!" she yelled in a muffled voice.

"I was asked to take you somewhere safe, Yukimura. You can cooperate with me or I can take you by force" Saito grunted.
Chizuru stayed quiet in defeat. Although Saito was not one to be forceful with her, she still doesn't want to see him angry. She had her face towards Saito's chest, not being allowed to see where they were going. But she knew Saito kept on slashing enemies for all the movements he tended to make.

Chizuru was thankful he was very skilled with his sword, not one cut was on her body, but she hoped Saito wasn't hurt either. She wondered if she was heavy to carry, her feet were just were kinda hanging off the ground. Everyone was taller than her by 2 or 3 feet at the Shinsengumi, except for Heisuke, he was slightly taller than her. Shinpachi always picked on him for that while eating his food.

After a short-while, the yelling, the clash of swords and the movement was now gone. It was just silence, well she could hear the faint sound of the attack. She hoped the silence wasn't of her dead friends, Chizuru burried her face in Saito's chest to fade away those thoughts. He let go of Chizuru, she was cold suddenly. It was dark where they were standing, she could somewhat adjust her eyesight. "Saito-san...what is going on? Where are we?" she asked in a low voice.

"Just as I predicted, we've been ambushed. I have brought you to the Black Forest away from harm", he walked away through the thick branches of the trees. Chizuru clung on his arm stopping him, "What of everyone else?" she asked with hopeful eyes.

"I assure you they will be fine. I recommend you stay here until it is safe back there , but this time please take my advice. You could end up hurt", Saito lowered his head.

Chizuru was reluctant to stay put when her friends were in danger, what she doesn't know that if anything happened to her, the men would blame themselves. Saito didn't show, deep inside he was afraid of her getting accidentally wounded when he carried her off. Once he finished an enemy, he looked down at Chizuru carefully to see if she was ok. His heart stopped when he saw a splash of blood on her back, only to realize it wasn't hers. She would run head first into danger without thinking, one of the things he secretly admired from her.

"I understand Saito-san. Please, do be careful..." Chizuru whispered. Saito walked back to the Headquarters without looking behind.

Now she was all alone, surrounded by black trees and unknown animals. Not even a cricket was heard in the unsettling silence. Chizuru took in her surroundings, still nothing. Even the smallest step she took, there was the loud crunching of leaves. (I guess I should find somewhere to stay put) she thought, feeling the trees and leaves to guide her way around.

(How long have I been walking? I feel like I'll reach the end of the forest)
Chizuru took a break on what felt like a big rock. Her legs were sore, and her eyes started to burn, the only things that helped her was the moonlight in various spots. She didn't know why she decided to rest in a dark place instead of a lit one. What's worse is that she felt vulnerable being alone, not knowing if she would be attacked at any moment.

Chizuru decided that it would be best to move a little more to the moonlight to feel safe. Being a little closer, she heard a growl. Chizuru froze, afraid of turning around. The growl didn't stop when she hoped it would. (Now or never. If I run I will just aggravate whatever's behind me), slowly she turned shaking with every movement. Chizuru held her breath, as her eyes met other ones.
Red as blood that appeared to devour her soul. (Oh my god...), Chizuru wanted to scream from the top of her lungs. She was too scared to make a sound come out, all her throat allowed her to do was make a squeak.

The beast growled louder, Chizuru started walking back, not taking her gaze off the animal. The animal walked towards her slowly until he drove her into the moonlight. There was a thick root above ground, Chizuru tripped over it,"Ah!". She stayed there tremebling with fear, waiting for the animal to attack. It started to expose itself to the light..a big black wolf baring its fangs at her.