Something To Protect (A Hakuouki Story)

Escape & Rescue

(???'s POV)

"Quite a stubborn one," I said to myself as I lifted up the injured boy. With the way he'd fought the first time, I had expected he'd fight with me again if given the chance, regardless of his condition. But I hadn't expected him to be so fired up so soon.

"I don't think 'stubborn' is the word you're looking for, " one of my companions, Shinpachi, said.

"More like stupid."

"Reckless."

Everyone who witnessed the boy's attack had a different word for him. As expected, none of them were really good words. But I ignored what the others were saying and merely returned him to the room he's just escaped from.

After we'd fought the first time and he'd collapsed, two children came right to his side. The boy was clearly too young to be a parent, so I assumed he was a sibling. "Big Sis!" Their voices echoed in my head.

Wait a minute... Sis?

A chill ran down my spine. A girl pretending to be a man? It was a possibility. After all, Chizuru had pretended to be a man so that she could search for her father. If the kid was dressing as a boy to protect those two children, everything made sense.

"I wonder..." As I set the "boy" down in the room we'd had him in before, I wondered if I should investigate my suspicions. Though there wasn't any real way to confirm it, not without looking or touching something that I really shouldn't. But when treating the wounds, someone would have had to have found out for certain.

I knelt next to the unconscious body. Carefully I tilted the "boy's" head from side to side, looking at the face closely. Sure enough, the kid had a feminine face when you looked at it close enough.

"Well now, a girl are you?" Even if I couldn't tell for sure, I was certain this boy was really a girl.

As I stood up to leave, there was a lot of noise coming from outside.

(Kazuto's POV)

Big Sis... I'm coming to rescue you!

Those men she'd fought with before had taken her with them when they found out that she was still alive. I had no idea what they could want with Big Sis, but I wasn't going to just let them take her. Even though I wasn't good with any sort of weapon and I hadn't stood a chance against them the last time, I had to try.

As long as I had Sis's short sword, I felt like I could do this. With my weapon drawn and ready for a fight, I charged into the enemy's headquarters. The moment I was inside, I was met by several enemy warriors. None of them were the ones who hurt Big Sis, so I didn't intend to fight with them if I didn't have to. That was the way Sis always fought. Never fight a battle that has no reason behind it.

No one made much of an effort to hurt me, but a couple of them still attacked me. After a while, they all backed off and looked over at something to my left. Or rather, someone.

Standing there were three men. In the middle was a scary-looking dark-haired man. To his left was a brown-haired boy that looked about the same age as Big Sis. I didn't know either of them. But the man standing to his right, that man I knew.

My body trembled with rage. That hair... the face... that spear... The was no doubt in my mind: he was the one who had wounded and kidnapped Big Sis!

With my sword pointed right at him, I quickly forgot all about everyone else around me. "You! What did you do with Big Sis?"

All around me, I could hear the others whispering to each other. "It seems the little one is just like that kid," one of them said.

No one was answering me. "Where is my sister?" I demanded, trying to act tough.

My question was answered with more pointless whispers. "You think he means that kid Harada brought here?"

"Hey!" I shouted, watching Sis's attacker turn his back to me. "Don't walk away from me!"

As I started to run at him, he glanced back at me. "You want to see her, don't you?"

I froze. Was this some sort of trick? The man motioned for me to follow, but could he really be trusted? I looked at everyone else surrounding me; every one of them was watching me, waiting for me to make some sort of move.

After some thought, I lowered my sword, but still kept it out, and ran to catch up to the red-haired man. At the very least, he could show me where she is. And from there, I could rescue her.