Reborn into Hakuouki!? (Hakuouki Fanfiction)

Play 38: The Elements Of Fury

That didn't exactly make me feel better.

I gloomily dragged myself into the common room where I overheard that the Shinsengumi had received a request to guard the notice board at the Sanjo Ohashi Bridge. Normally, I would have accepted Kondou's invitation to join them, but after hearing what that evil female Byakko had said put me into a bad mood. Before I knew it, it was evening and more than half of the Shinsengumi men had went over to Shimabara to celebrate.

I ate my dinner silently with the twins in my room, my stomach sinking every single time I recalled that I was a replacement of Chizuru in this world. The rice that I had usually savored so happily was now bland and tasteless. I took a few more bites before placing the bowl on the tray, appetite lost.

Suddenly, the door slid open and Sanan stepped in. The Byakko twins stopped arguing over the fish they were supposed to be sharing and looked warily at the man.

"Oh, Sanan-san." I eyed the twins as I beamed at him. "Do you need something?"

"The Water of Life is amazing!" Sanan exclaimed, and I winced. Was he looking for me just to talk to me about that? "The furies we've created are a complete success! Only short-sighted fools would call it failure. They simply lack a proper understanding of what we've done/"

I picked up my bowl nervously and began munching, trying to keep my mouth full and busy. "Is...that so?"

He nodded in response and grinned. "With this, we have nothing to fear! Not Tosa, not Choshu, not anyone!"

Glancing over at the frowning twins, I forced myself to swallow my rice as I blinked. Something wasn't right—there was a weird look on Sanan's face right now, and we didn't like it. Without warning, he came over and grabbed my shoulders roughly.

"You agree, don't you, Yukimura-kun!?"

"Ow..." A painful moan escaped my lips, and out of the corner of my eye Yuri stood up, her leaf green eyes shining with menace. Eri grabbed her hand and shook his head slightly, all the while keeping a watchful eye on Sanan.

"Say something! You don't agree with those fools, do you!? They don't understand!" He forced me to look at him when I glanced at the twins, asking for help.

I tried desperately to remove the tightening hand around my cheeks, but no avail. "Weff, I thinkf it'f greaf! Reallyf!" I laughed, pretending that I wasn't flustered.

"What're you grabbing her for, Sanan-san?"

The voice that I had been waiting for discreetly belonged to Souji. He walked into the room as if nothing was wrong, and grinned casually. "That's not how you impress a lady. See?" He looked over at me, and I blushed, furious that I couldn't brush Sanan off me. "She's terrified."

"I'mf nof terrified—" I opened my mouth to retort, but closed it when I noted that his hand was around Sanan's arm. Two shadows moved behind him, and I saw Saito and Heisuke with grim faces.

There was silence before Sanan smiled like usual. "Oh. I got...caught up in the moment. I lost control. I apologise." That expression didn't seem that apologetic though. After a while he let go of me and left the room.

"You're back." I sighed involuntarily, and Heisuke grinned.

"Sano-san's gonna be drinking till morning, if Shin has anything to say about it." He scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed. "I didn't think I could handle that much, so I left with this pair of sticks-in-the-mud." Heisuke pointed at the two older man with his thumb, and I giggled. The twins smiled politely and innocently behind me, looking at them in an almost timid manner. That act would be convincing if I didn't know these two brats well enough.

"Hijikata-sa caught the eye of a lady at Sumi called Kimigiku. She sat next to him the whole night," he continued, smiling mischievously. I coughed hearing that, making a face when I knew that even that evil demon could get himself a hot babe if he wanted to.

After all, I was always jealous of that black, silky, long hair of his...though it had no relation to him landing himself beautiful women.

Heisuke continued to rant on as I drifted off, thinking about Hijikata and his hair.

"Ah, if only I had hair like his..."

The boy stopped, raising an eyebrow at me, while Souji chuckled, knowing that I was talking about the demon.

"Hey! I'm not thinking about Hijikata or his hair!" I blurted out, glaring furiously at Souji. My cheeks flamed once I knew I gave myself away, and cursed under my breath in embarrassment. I tried to come out with an image of how this Kimigiku looked like, but could only think of the words 'beautiful' and 'elegant'. I sighed. Not another Kaoru and Sen...This era was sure filled with women like them.

As I stared at my clothes, picturing myself in Romeo's clothing, the twins started to whisper and titter among each other. I scowled at them warningly, and they showed me their typical puppy eyes. I rolled my own and a loud yawn escaped me.

"I imagine you're tired. Perhaps we should leave." Saito finally spoke. "You should get some rest, Jun."

I nodded and thanked them (except Souji, earning myself a chuckle and two small giggles) before clearing my food away. I was exhausted, and I wanted to snuggle into my comfortable futon as soon as possible, even if it couldn't be compared to the one I had back at home.

"Sanan-san..." I heard a muffled voice that seemed like Souji's. "This...this Water of Life stuff. Does it cure diseases and things too?"

I felt my heart sink to the bottom of my stomach. Souji couldn't be thinking about becoming a fury, could he? If so, he really needed some brain surgery.

"Of course." Another voice said. "I was a normal human bring before, but I have been reborn into something completely different."

I paused at the door, wondering if I should interrupt. Eri tugged my clothing, shaking his head solemnly, and I reluctantly pulled away from the door. Maybe I could just find some time to talk to Souji personally about this. Until then, nothing would happen...

Right?

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