Battlefield Romance: Hakuōki x Reader

First Encounter: Hajime Saito

Scenario: After shopping for groceries, you are ambushed by bandits. Though you defend yourself, you almost come to harm. Just as your ankle is about to be sliced open, he rescues you.

******

While at the marketplace, you once heard rumors in the village that told of a group called the Shinsengumi. What you understood from all the talk was that they did heroic things, but the villagers still despised them for the trouble they caused and the inevitable destruction of the town that followed after. You, on the other hand, could only see them as being and doing good.

One hot afternoon, you were headed home after shopping when a group of local bandits stop you. They smile greedily at you, but you confidently hold your ground.

"C'mon, little Missy" one of them leers, grinning devilishly at you. "Stay quiet, and we might just spare your life." You shake your head resolutely in defiance.

"I will not go with you" you respond, holding your head high. They grow angry and draw their weapons. You smirk: they didn't know what they were getting themselves into. As they lunge towards you, you whip out your small hand pistol and shoot rapid-fire at them, bringing them all down. There is blood on the ground, but they're only partially wounded, not dead.

"That'll teach you to mess with me" you hiss at them as you return the gun to the folds of your clothing. Picking up your basket, you turn to leave when one of them grabs your ankle out of sheer desperation and anger. You let out a small scream as you fall to your hands and knees.

You can hear the bandits dragging their bodies towards you as you attempt to stand. The sound of a blade being scraped across dirt alerts you of the guy's intention: he was going to slit your ankle. You grit your teeth in determination; though he had practically won, you still refused to allow him the honor of seeing you suffer.

Just as you prepare yourself for the feeling of cold steel biting into your skin, the sound of metal against metal fills the air. You look up in time to see a mysterious stranger throw himself in front of you, holding a sword in his left hand and blocking the bandit's blade with it.

"Hurry and get out of the way!" He commands, fighting to hold his ground as the bandit weakly pulls himself to his feet. You nod, then scramble to the side as the wounded, staggering bandit and your apparent knight-in-shining-armor begin to duel. You check your gun to make sure that it's still loaded, then shoot. The bandit falls to the ground, dead. Startled to see one of their buddies defeated, the others haul their bloody-selves away from the scene, cursing at the two of you as they go.

"Thank you for your assistance" you say, nodding gratefully at the stranger once the creeps are gone. The knight nods back in acknowledgement

"Well done. You have good aim." 

You smile at his rather blunt compliment as you tuck the pistol away. "So, you're part of the Shinsengumi?"

He pauses as he is about to slide his sword back into its sheath. "You could tell?" He looks at you with an unreadable expression on his face.

You nod. "Yeah. You were there when I needed help the most, and your skills are far superior to any other samurai that I have seen. I could only assume that you were one of them."

"You speak highly of us. That's a nice change."

You shrug matter-of-factly. "I only speak the truth." A long silence drags on and you begin to feel uncomfortable.

"Well, I guess I should be -"

"Wait."

"Hm?"

"What's your name?" His voice is still a bit cold and slightly commanding, but you can detect genuine friendliness in it as well. You smile amiably at him.

"My name is (f/n)(l/n). And yours?"

"Hajime Saito."

"It's nice to make your acquaintance."

"Do you belong to any samurai clan?"

You shake your head. "No; I'm a completely independent civilian. That's why I learned how to defend myself."

"Have you ever considered joining one?" 

"One what?"

"A clan."

You shake your head again. "No, not really -- though I really do admire the Shinsengumi, such as yourself."

He smiles vaguely. "Then how would you like to become a full-fledged member of the Shinsengumi?"

You stop to think for a moment before responding. "If they'd have me, then I'd love to."  

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A/N:

The reason I made the reader's character calm and collected is because I feel that Saito would get along with someone who could match his skill, and that if she were a bit warmer than he was, she'd be able to melt down his cold exterior.

This is the end of the "First Encounter" canons. If you have a character request (such as Yamazaki or Chikage) for a "First Encounter", please comment on here  or inbox me.