HAKUOUKI: Back in Time

Chapter 53

~Why not listen to music while you read?~

Kodou? Did that mean Chizuru's father was working with Kazama? He released the bottle and it landed with a soft thump in front of Saito.

"...What will you do? Will you drink this poison and become an abomination so that you can fight me? Or will you choose to keep your pathetic human pride and die? The decision is yours. I won't force you."

"..." Saito's chest worked harder, laboring to push breath into his broken body. Seconds seemed to stretch into hours as he stared at the bottle, his mind working furiously. Then, his hand moved.

"Saito, no!" But it was already too late. I watched as the wounds Kazama's sword had left disappeared and Saito climbed to his feet whole. He stood before me, his hair silver-white and his eyes blood red, the only signs of his old wounds were the dried blood on his clothes.

"Ah ha ha ha! So you would drink the Ochimizu just to defeat me? How foolish of me, to think you had any pride. The mere chance of victory against me is enough to turn yourself into an abomination? Pathetic."

Saito's expression didn't change. I fell to the floor. Another person I had cared about had taken that damn thing. I couldn't do a thing. With a slow hand, he wiped the dried blood from his face and when he spoke, his voice was quiet and calm

"...Say what you wish. I don't expect you to understand my sense of honor. If the Shinsengumi have chosen to protect them, then I will carry out that duty even if the cost of my success is my own humanity." He lifted his sword into a fighting stance. That sort of attitude was just what I would have expected from Saito, but for him to turn into a rasetsu simply because the Shinsengumi had ordered him to protect us was horrible. We had turned him into a monster.

"Ah ha ha ha ha! So you'll throw your life away for the whims of the Shinsengumi?! Wonderful! You can't even think for yourself, can you?! You're nothing more than a puppet!"

"Perhaps I am. It doesn't matter. I can think of no better way to give my life than in the service of what I believe in."

"What you believe in? You mean those simple minded ronin so desperate to recapture the glory days they'll go down with that laughable excuse for a shogun?"

"What?!" Saito threw himself toward Kazama in the same breath, his words almost a snarl. The demon deflected his attack with ease and smiled back.

"Shall I use small words for you? The shogunate is a rotting corpse and this war will wash away the maggots like you that insist on clinging to it's putrid flesh. That sword you carry no longer has any meaning! Today's world has no place for that samurai nonsense about pride and honor!"

"Shut up!" He struck again and again and it seemed that the Ochimizu had closed the gap between them, at least somewhat. Bit by bit, Saito's well aimed blows drove Kazama back. The tension between them was almost palpable, like the air before a thunderstorm.

"Urgh!" From time to time Kazama landed a blow of his own on Saito but those wounds closed almost immediately thanks to his new rasetsu blood.

"Excellent! I was worried I might not enjoy myself but it seems you'll provide enough of a challenge after all! No more babying you then! Are you ready to die, you worthless-"

"Stop!" A familiar voice echoed through the night.

"Amagiri? What are you doing here? Have you come to spoil my fun?"

"The Satsuma Domain requires your presence. We must go."

"Mere humans dare to order me around? If the want me, they may come and get me." 

Amagiri didn't so much as blink. "...Be that as it may, you should return. We can ill-afford a dispute with the Satsuma Domain right now. You know that as well as I."

"Damn them..." He snarled and slammed his sword back into its scabbard. "It looks like I don't have the time to put you down right now. I'll leave our wives in your hands for now. I'm sure you'll be utterly useless either way, but... Do try and keep them alive. Some day soon I'll be back for them. I hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am."

And with that, he was gone. Amagiri's face told me he wanted to say something but instead, he turned and disappeared into the forest after his companion and once again, we were plunged into silence.

"..." For several long moments, Saito stared after the two demons, saying nothing. Though I could sense a tumult of emotion behind that placid face, he betrayed non of what it might be. With a shrug, his white hair melted back to it's original color and the red went out of his eyes.

"...We need to be off the mountain by morning, or we'll run into more trouble." His voice and manner were just as they had always been, suggesting nothing of the ordeal he'd just been through. I felt my heart rise to my throat and I turned away before the sight of him made me burst into tears.

"Right..." Both Chizuru and I said in unison. Sanan and Heisuke had already given up their humanity to become rasetsus and now Saito had joined them... My heart felt like lead.