"Hey, by the way, what's your name? Unless you want me to keep calling you Miss and pretty girl, which I think you enjoy a lot."
"I don't. I'd rather you call me by my name. It's Y/n."
"Mine's Sougo."
"I didn't ask."
"I know, but I bet you want to."
"Sure. Whatever floats your boat."
You and Sougo have found your way out of the village and are now heading to the wet market to look for an octopus. Sougo was the one who thought of the idea since it's an octopus, so humans might want to eat it. He even thought that the octopus already become a takoyaki, but he didn't say that to you, for he didn't want to worry you further.
The walk to the wet market was silent, for neither of you talked to each other. He was busy conversing with someone on his walkie-talkie while you were busy thinking about why a human like him decided to help you. You were beyond confused about it, for you never expected anyone to help you, let alone someone who belonged to the human race.
He looks a few years younger than you, so you thought that that must be the reason why he doesn't know you for what most people know you for. You didn't dare to inform him about it, because you thought that he might stop helping you if he knew your past, and right now, you badly needed help from someone.
On your way to the market, you saw people staring at you with their piercing eyes. You weren't sure if it was because of your appearance right now or because you had the same face as the traitor they knew from the war. It even crossed your mind that maybe the only thing preventing them from attacking you right now was the presence of a police officer beside you. He surely is a big help to you. Hopefully, he's doing it without any ulterior motive.
You continued walking to the market until you noticed that Sougo wasn't beside you anymore. You looked to your back and saw that there was a police car. Sougo was talking to the person who came out of the vehicle. You couldn't hear their conversation, but you could see that they kept glancing at you. Sougo gave you reassuring looks while the other person, you couldn't really tell what emotion he was sending you if he was even giving you anything. All you could tell from his looks was that he was someone who you shouldn't mess with.
Sougo waved his hand to you, signaling you to come to them. When you reached them, the guy still had that stern look on his face, devoid of any emotion except for the seriousness he was constantly emitting. He scares the shit out of you.
"Sougo, is that the Joui Rebel you were following?"
"She's not a rebel, Hijikata-san. How many times do I have to tell you that? She was just looking for her octopus brother."
Hijikata grabbed a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with the lighter in his hand. You don't like cigarettes at all. When you saw him smoke it, you had the urge to get it from his mouth and step on it, but then you were really scared of him, so you just went and covered your nose with your sleeve. Hijikata saw you do this. He had the same look on his face when he glanced at you, so you didn't really know what he wanted you to do. Since he's not giving you a single clue to what he's feeling, you just remained covering your nose. He glanced back to Sougo but before that, you heard him mutter the word weirdo. You have been used to being called a weirdo, so you just let it slide. Besides, you were too scared of him to do anything about it.
"Sougo, check the other hideouts. I'll escort this girl to the Shinsengumi headquarters."
With that, Sougo left but not until he gave you a reassuring smile. After a few minutes, Sougo's back wasn't in sight anymore. You were now alone with a person you barely know, but that's not to say you knew Sougo well because you didn't also. It's just that Sougo gave you friendly smiles, now and then. While this guy totally gives you nothing except for blank looks and second-hand smoke. He didn't even utter a single word to you before he entered his police car. He sat behind the wheel, while you sat in the shotgun seat.
The whole ride to the headquarters of the Shinsengumi was silent. During the ride, you badly wanted to tell Hijikata that he should be driving with two hands and not one hand on the steering wheel while the other holding his cigarette out the window, but you decided not to because it might piss him off. Instead, you just let your eyes wander to your surroundings. Most of what your eyes saw were houses and shops. There really was nothing of great interest except for the few children you saw playing outside their homes.
They reminded you of the childhood you wished you had. That doesn't mean, though, that you wanted to have human friends, although you absolutely did. However, the scene in front of your eyes was something deeper than just having human friends. You wanted to have a childhood that wasn't full of training, a childhood that didn't revolve around killing, a childhood that let you choose to play with both the Amantos and the humans, without having to abandon anyone, without having to choose which side you were on. It was a childhood a child like you could never have.
You were lost in your thoughts when you suddenly saw your car door open. It was Hijikata who opened the door for you, signaling you that you had arrived at the Shinsengumi headquarters. You exited out of the car and followed him inside. A police officer went up to him.
"Yamazaki, show this girl the octopus we caught. It must be her brother."
"Ok, vice-chief."
Hijikata left you two alone. He didn't even give you a glance before leaving, but that was expected of him. After all, he didn't even utter a single word to you since you met him. He was so cold, so scary, so mysterious. You wanted nothing to do with him, yet you find yourself drawn to him. You wanted to know his story, his past, but that's something you will do later. Right now, you were glad they had your brother so you could return him to your family, to your stupid father.
