HAKUOUKI: Back in Time

Chapter 5

~Why not listen to music while you read?~

After taking us back to our room, we sat there in silence before the person started to talk.

"So you are from the future?" the person said in a feminine tone. There was doubt about it. This person was a woman.

"Yeah. it seems so..." I say in almost a whisper while looking at my bound hands.

"I don't think they want to kill us, but... It seems like they have no choice." she says sadly. "I don't know how I'm supposed to convince them though."

She then stood up and walked toward the door before flying open on its own, revealing the chief, Kondou.

Oh no she's screwed now. Now how are we gonna get out of this?!

The girl had stumbled into the chief of the Shinsengumi and fell backwards. And from behind Kondou, the man Sanan stepped out. "Oh my... Well, that was rather bold. You meant to run away, I assume?" "Trying to run was not wise. It will only make your situation more difficult." His voice was calm and friendly but his eyes were as cold as ice.

"I told you once and I won't do it again. Run, and I'll gut you." said Hijikata in a low and quiet rage.

"Sorry, but now we've got to kill you. We can't trust a kid who can't keep a promise." smiled Okita.

They are going to kill her for attempting an escape? What will happen without her here? Will I have to stay here forever? I shook with the thought of that ever happening.

"You won't give me a chance to explain myself, will you..." she sad sadly as she bit her lip and looked at the floor. "Then you may do whatever you like with me."

She is gonna give up just like that? Tell them your identity already! These men are really oblivious and it makes me very angry but then Okita broke into laughter causing a face of confusion on the girl.

"Ahahahahaha! Oh, you're a funny one... All right, I admit, maybe we were a little rough on ya." "So just relax, okay? We aren't going to eat you or anything. I don't think I've ever seen such an innocent girl."

Was I hearing things? Did he just say 'girl?' He did right?

"You knew I was a girl...?" she says with a bit of hope.

"What?! Souji, are you telling me this child is a girl?!" Kondou says surprised.

"Really? Huh. I was sure you'd all figured it out by now. Maybe not Kondou, but..." Hijikata says unfazed.

"All right, all right. Now, tell your big brother... Why would a nice girl dress up like a boy and run around Kyoto in the middle of the night with this person?" Okita say while pointing at me.

"Perhaps we should all sit down and talk about this again. Some of us may have changed their opinion." Sanan says with a sigh.

And there I was, surrounded once again by the leaders of the Shinsengumi.

"So not only we bound a girl and left her for an entire night but bound two girls and left them for an entire night." Inoue says with regret.

"Well, 'she' claims to be a girl, but it's not like we have an actual proof, right?" Nagakura says.

Why do you need proof, you leech?!, I thought to myself.

"P-Proof?!" the girl stutters.

Harada laughed while Nagakura grumbled to himself under his breath. "Proof? Really? Not obvious enough for ya, huh? All right, will you feel better if I strip her down?" Harada says jokingly.

"Please, don't-" the girl says before being interrupted. "No! You will absolutely will not! Even suggesting a thing is preposterous!" Kondou yells angrily. "I just figured it was the quickest way to settle the question..."

"Well since both of you are girls, then killing you just feels kinda...wrong." Nagakura says while looking troubled.

"It doesn't matter. If we have to kill them, they die." Hijikata says unfazed once again.

"Gender irrevelant. Killing in general is wrong." says Sanan calmly. "We were organized to protect the public good in the city of Kyoto. We would ill serve the public good by murdering civilians in cold blood."

"Yeah, yeah. But if these girls, or boys, were a threat to the peace, then that's a horse of a different color." Okita contradicts with a grin.

"Well then, we only need to determine if you two are a threat. Will you tell us your sides of the story?"Kondou says while looking at me first.

Straightening up, I start to speak. "Well, I told you that I am from 200 years in the future. I was walking before almost being run over, and when I opened my eyes I found myself here. The ronin chasing her found me as well and she took my hand and ran." "...I don't know anyone here so there really isn't anyone I could...tell..." I finish saying before starting to look down.

"That's true. You don't know anyone so there would not be a point of telling anything." Sanan says in agreement followed by other heads doing the same. "Now what about you?" he turns and looks at the girl next to me.

"My name is Yukimura Chizuru."

She told them everything, how she lived in Edo and how she came to Kyoto in search of her father.

"Oh, so you came all the way from Edo to find your father?" Kondou asks. "What business did your father have in Kyoto?"

"My father was a doctor, His name is Yuimura Kodou, and he specializes in western medicine-"

"What?!" exclaimed Hijikata.

Once that guy's name crossed her lips the atmosphere in the room changed.

"Oh my, so the good doctor Kodou has a daughter?" Sanan says with interest.

"You know my father?..." she says desperately.

It was Saito who broke the silence. "The Shinsengumi is currently attempting to determine the whereabouts of Dr. Yukimura Kodou."