HAKUOUKI: Back in Time

Chapter 36

~Why not listen to music while you read?~

That night, after everyone else had gone to bed, I laid awake thinking about what happened. I couldn't forget what Okita said...

"A useless kid..."

He was right. Compared to the captains, no, even compared to the weakest Shinsengumi foot soldier, I was pathetic. There was nothing I could do. It wasn't as if I'd tried to imagine myself as some sort of warrior but to have my lack of worth stated was something of a blow.

I laid there, staring at the ceiling. I couldn't go on like this. I need to have better judgement. Just after thinking this, I closed my eyes-

"What?!" Chizuru and I exclaimed in unison.

There was a crash from the hallway outside my room. I rolled up and out of my bed just as the door exploded into my our room. Standing in the hole was one of the Shinsengumi's soldiers.

"Um... Is something wrong?" Chizuru asked.

The soldier didn't answer which caused me to put Chizuru behind me. I know doing this would not help but it was better than nothing. It was dark, inside and out, and I couldn't see his face. He just...stood there. I felt a chill run up my spine.

"Did you need something?"

"Blood... I need blood..."

Blood?! He was a rasetsu!

"Eh he he he he! Give me blood!"

I could see now that his face was twisted with madness, and his eyes shone like twin fires in the night. His hair glistened white in the moonlight. He was a member of the Rasetsu Corps, and he was utterly and completely mad."

"Chizuru, you need to look for one of the captains. I'll stay here."

The two of us alone couldn't possibly face a deranged superhuman monster by ourselves.

"O-Okay...but what about you?

"Just go! I'll hold off!"

Chizuru ran out the room in a flash leaving me with this monster.

"Graaah!"

His sword hissed through the air, and I felt the metal of it's blade burn into the flesh of my arm.

"Nghh!"

Blood sprang from the cut. I pressed down on it desperately with my free hand, but to no avail. Thick, red liquid spilled between from my fingers, fled down my arm, and onto the floor.

"Yesss...blood... Give me blood..."

He began to creep toward me, his movements odd and jerky, like a massive spider. I backed away from him until I felt my back hit the wall. I'm going to die! 

"Eh he he he he! Blood! Bloooooood!

He was down on his hands and knees, licking my spilled blood off the floor. There was no samurai there. There wasn't even a person in him anymore. The blood on the floor had distracted him, but I knew that would only last precious seconds. If help didn't arrive soon... The seconds went by like hours. Please! Chizuru! I begged to any god who might be listening, let someone come!

"Not enough...not enough!"

He looked up from the floor. My sleeve was soaked in blood from the cut on my arm. His eyes locked o to it, and I saw them light up with animal hunger. His grin was a nightmarish thing.

"Eh he he he he! Yes! That! Give me more of your blood!"

"No!"

There was no doubt. He was going to kill me! I froze-

"Hey! You alive?!"

"Y-Yes!"

Hijikata and Chizuru had appeared in the doorway, Hijikata's sword already drawn and shining in the moonlight.

"Graah!"

The rasetsu spun to attack Hijikata, but the commander's sword was faster.

"Aaaarghh!"

His twisted cry reverberated from the walls of the room, but he still stood, despite the wound Hijikata had just given him, sword in hand.

"Get over here! Now!"

"O-Okay!"

As I ran to his side, I heard other footsteps pounding down the hallway and in mere moments they resolved into the figures of the other captains.

"Shit, this is bad. I don't think he can even understand us."

"Yeah, he's far too gone. We can't let him live.

At some unspoken signal, a chorus of blades slid from their scabbards.

"Shin! Sano! Don't screw this up!"

"Who the hell do you think we are, Heisuke?!"

"If a captain can't take out a simple soldier, even if he is a fury, he'd have to resign. Assuming he wasn't dead."

They fanned out quickly, surrounding the wounded soldier. There was no escape. The captains all attacked at once and the rasetsu died almost instantly. The excitement was over... Or so I'd thought. It hadn't been only the captains who heard the ruckus.

"What's going on here?!"

"Dammit."

"What on Earth happened to that man?! Oh, this room has been stained with blood! How savage!"

Itou's voice and face were filled with shock and horror.

"Why have our captains cut down one of their own men? Explain at once! What happened here?!"

The captains fell silent.

"My apologies. My lack of discipline is at fault here."

"Sanan?!"

What's he doing here?! His appearance surprised me and likely everyone else. It seemed like it would be more prudent for him to remain hidden. Needless to say, the appearance of a man he'd thought to be dead did little to improve Itou's disposition.

"S-S-S-Sanan?! What are you doing here?!"

Itou's usual composure was almost entirely gone and he gaped openly at Sanan. I couldn't really blame him. I probably would have done the same thing if I saw a dead man walking and talking.

"I will explain later, but first we must clean up this mess."

Sanan's face looked tight and drained. As commander of the Rasetsu Corps, he likely felt responsible for what had happened as the man who had gone mad was supposed to have been under his control.

"It's not your fault, Sanan."

"It's just a side effect of the treatment, right? Nothing you could do."

"Wh-What?! What are you saying?! 'Treatment'? What are they talking about, Sanan?"