What makes history (Hijikata x OC)

1868 - New Year

24th of January 1868, Gregorian calendar.

That Fushimi Magistrate office was so cramped that I could hardly breathe ! I never thought that I would regret the time spend in hiding inside the Shinsengumi coumpound. My quiet retreat was over; rumours and accounts of my 'magical' stunt now run freely. Fortunately, the men regarded me with awe and deference for saving Kyokuchō's life, not suspicion.

While soldiers shared dormitories, us captains had gathered in a room turned into headquarters. Harada snored, and so did Kondō-san. Dearest Saitō had bristled a lot to share his room with a woman at first; I'd chosen to bunk in by the wall furthest to the entrance. Toshizō shielded me from the men by settling beside me; it was just as well. And I could sneak my hand across, sometimes. The lack of physical contact was killing me, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

The Sarmatian bow laid between my futon and the wall, discarded. Useless. But the gun at my hip was filled with bullets. Times changed... I needed to accept it.

Going to the shrine for New Year was totally out of the question; even though I was not hidden anymore, we couldn't set foot in the city without causing a riot. Tensions were so high that Shinpachi and Harada took bets on the numbers of hours it would take to get a full scale battle. So, once more, the feeling I'd had was verified.

Saitō and I sparred often to relieve pressure while Kondō, Hijikata and Sanan spend countless hours reconvening upon the situation. Both Yamazaki and Shimada came and went in the night, gathering intel. Things moved too fast for us to make heads or tails of it. The Shōgunate army from Edo had joined factions from Ōsaka, hoping to convey the message of their master to the imperial palace.

Like that cannot go wrong.

So when New Year came, and Nagakura's complaining about lacks of mochi frayed my nerves, I climbed upon the rooftop and waited for the bells to sing. And, true to their calling, they started ringing in the night.

Ding. It was a deep sound that echoed through the whole of Kyōto. Distant singing also filtered, monks repeating a mantra foreign to my ears, charged with energy.

Dong.

It would echo one hundred and eight times. For the hundred and seven sins of mankind, the last one representing the washing and cleansing of them all to start a new year. Sanan had told me the date in France; 24th of January. I had shrugged it off; somehow, I was pretty indifferent to the fate of my country in this period.

Dong. So far away.

The only thing I knew from my history classes was that the Franco-Prussian war was around the corner, and that we would lose the territories of Alsace and Lorraine in the defeat. Would that man, Jules Brunet who resided in Ōsaka with the Shōgun's troops, fight in this war as well?

Dong, dong.

I sighed dejectedly. I would have loved to wear that kimono again, the blue one that Toshi had chosen for me. Flowers in my hair, Kondō's tall frame beside me, and perhaps the man I had given my heart to by my side. I could have loved to partake in the folklore of that special night. But after the ambush, it would have been folly to go out.

The Shinsengumi were pretty renown in Kyōto. And so was I, now... Voices rose in the courtyard, and I surmised I might join them to celebrate the passing of the year. Who knew where we all would be, a week from now? A year? As I was about to rise, silent footsteps caused the tiles to shake almost imperceptibly.

"The sound of the bells echoes the of all things", echoed a familiar voice beside me. I smiled, listening to those bouts of poetry murmured in the night. "The color of the flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline. The proud do not endure, they are like a dream on a spring night; the mighty fall at last, they are as dust before the wind."