Hakuouki: Hitsuzen

Seeds of the Future

The following week, Chizuru and Hijikata were married, and they had another reception. Three days later, the four of them were ready to leave for the Yukimura Village. They traveled on foot from Edo to the Shirakawa Domain in Mutsu province. It took them a little over eighty hours of walking to get there. When they reached their destination, they found the rundown, overgrown ruins of what had once been a prosperous and large village. As they drew closer, they could see fire damage on the remaining structures.

"It looks like it was burned down..." Sumiko said.

"The Yukimura clan followed the Way of the Oni. They didn't involve themselves in human affairs. Because of that, they were destroyed by some humans affiliated with the shogunate after they refused to intervene on their behalf in a war," Kazama explained. "Aside from the two of you, Nagumo Kaoru, and Koudou, there were no other survivors."

"They killed everyone?" Sumiko asked, feeling particularly sick thinking of the children. Kazama nodded.

"Humans are indeed foolish," he said, putting an arm around her to comfort her. Hijikata looked down. He couldn't argue with that, not while he was standing there looking at the ruins of Chizuru's clan.

"How terrible..." Chizuru said, taking another step forward.

CRUNCH.

Chizuru froze when she felt something odd under the sole of her shoe and looked down. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw that she had stepped on a child's skull. She immediately stumbled back away from it and fell.

"So cruel..." Chizuru said as tears formed in her eyes, imagining all the people that had once lived there who had been killed. Hijikata kneeled down next to her and held her.

"... I want to bury them," Sumiko said after tense silence. "They've been like this long enough. ... Don't you think?"

"Yes," Chizuru agreed, wiping her eyes as Hijikata helped her stand back up. "It's the least we can do."

For the next several days, the four of them worked together to hunt for and collect the bones of the fallen Yukimuras and bury them together in the graveyard just outside the village. They got supplies from a village that wasn't too far away and camped near the well, which thankfully was still full of clear, clean water.

On the fifth day, someone unexpected showed up. Kazama paused in digging when he sensed a familiar presence approaching and looked up to see that Amagiri was making his way over to them. Hijikata stopped digging, too, when he saw him.

"You..." Kazama said, narrowing his eyes. He hadn't forgotten how Amagiri had threatened to hurt Sumiko before because he thought she was a bad influence. "What are you doing here?"

"That is my question," Amagiri said. He looked at the grave they were digging and the ones they had already finished. "Burying the dead?"

"What of it?" Kazama said.

"I think it's admirable. They have been abandoned for far too long," Amagiri said.

"It was Sumiko's idea," Kazama said, narrowing his eyes at him. He had better not be there to hurt her.

"I see," Amagiri said.

"What are you doing here?" Kazama asked.

"There were rumors you were in this area. I came to confirm them," Amagiri said.

"And now that you have?" Kazama asked.

"I would ask what your intentions are," Amagiri replied. "Do you intend to revive this village?"