Something To Protect (A Hakuouki Story)

Their Past

"Well, he is just a kid, Shinpachi," Harada said to the man who had spoken. He was fairly tall, with reddish-brown hair and a lot of muscle. Noticeably more than anyone I could recall seeing. Though I don't really remember people often, so that's really not saying much.

"So the kid was looking for the guy you brought back here?" the shorter one thought out loud. He was a brown-haired boy about my age or younger with a very long ponytail. "But why was he yelling about you doing something with his sister?"

"Kazuto..." I scolded him. "You know why I've been pretending to be a boy, don't you?" The kid silently nodded. "Then why would you constantly risk ruining my cover by calling me your sister so carelessly?"

I hadn't exactly been yelling, but my voice was definitely scary. It even appeared to startle the three men around us. "I'm sorry Big Sis!" the little boy cried out, bowing in apology.

Harada laughed. "So just why are you dressing as a man?"

That was a question I'd hoped to avoid answering. I sighed and began to explain. "I came from a small village near Edo. A few years ago, we were attacked and the entire village was destroyed. Kazuto, Yukina, and I were the only ones to survive."

"Some rogue samurai kept us captive for a while," Kazuto added. "They made Big Sis do a lot of work and they did bad things to her." I tried not to react to that. As far as I knew, he didn't know all the details of what happened during that time and I wanted it to stay that way.

"Eventually I managed to steal a pair of swords from them and escape with the twins," I said, not allowing anyone the chance to say even a word about what Kazuto had just said. "The first chance I had, I traded the swords for a different pair from a man we met in Edo." If I'd encountered the guy who I'd stolen the swords from, no doubt he would be pissed off if he recognized me. "After that, I taught myself to fight."

"And you started dressing like a boy around that time too," Kazuto said, jumping in again. "You said that no one would take a female samurai seriously, but if they thought you were a boy, no one would bother you."

As much as I loved the kid, he did tend to get on my nerves at times. "Kazuto," I scolded the boy. "What have I told you about interrupting me when I'm talking to someone?"

The boy looked down at the floor. When he spoke, his voice was small and sad. "Don't ever interrupt an adult conversation unless it's something extremely important..."

The three men laughed. From what little I'd seen of them so far, the three seemed almost like big children themselves. Well, big children who can and have easily killed people.

They weren't trying to do anything now though, so I decided they could be trusted. "I don't believe I got your names," I said kindly. Even if they seemed harmless now, it would be smart to avoid angering them. "I am Mitsuru." I'd often used only my first name, so it seemed only simpler to do the same now.

The larger one was the first to introduce himself. "Shinpachi Nagakura."

"I'm Heisuke Toudou," the little one with the long ponytail said. Something told me that these names would be important, so I made a point to carve them into my memory.

"I'm Kazuto!" the child next to me said. Apparently, my scoldings never seemed to stick with this one. I sighed and shook my head.

Kazuto... Will you ever listen to anything I tell you?