Hakuouki: Demons Within

薄桜鬼 18

"So, do you still think me as gentle?" Souji asked that morning, his question waking me. I glanced down at my body, peeking beneath the covers to reveal my skin with his love bites scattered across my breasts, stomach and thighs. I was aware he left a few on my shoulders and neck as well.

"Haha, well..." I thought of how I could counter his question, but I even felt too sore to walk. Souji chuckled and pulled me into his arms. I suddenly tensed.

"This is what's gentle about you!" I exclaimed quietly. He pushed me back enough to look down into my eyes.

"Oh, what is?" He teased, then hugging me so tight I could barely breathe.

"S-souji! You're squishing me!" I squeaked.

"Hahaha, I know." He took a deep breath and kissed the top of my head.

"You're so cute." He muttered into my hair.

"I am not." I flustered, my face heating against his chest.

"Yes..And so precious to me, too..." He held me firmly and said nothing. I knew that at this time, my presence was stirring something in his heart. I was silent and my arms curled around to his back.  Abruptly, he sat up and took my body with him. I was sitting in his lap, trapped in his embrace. Sadly, our moment of intimacy was interrupted by Hijikata, who called for me from outside of the door.

"Me..?" I wondered. Souji sighed, reluctantly letting go of me. I rose to my feet and quickly changed, aware of Souji's pouting. Looking back at him, my heart ached. His skin was so, so pale... His body wasn't nearly as warm as it used to be. I wanted to help him...I stepped out of the room to Hijikata's summence, which with bittersweet realization figured that what Hijikata needed me for, was information of Souji's health status.

"How bad is he?" Hijikata questioned morosely.

"Unwell...His skin is so pale, alike new fallen snow. His body temperature is to match...He has cough fits occasionally, but lately they've been getting more and more frequent...I'm worried, isn't there anything I can do?" I replied, downcast.

"That is unfortunate news...Luckily, Sannen-san and I might have reached a conclusion that might prolong his life. Here..." To my surprise, Hijikata hands me a bottle of red liquid.

"What is this?" I questioned.

"This will turn you into a fury."

"Me?"

"No, give this this to Souji."

"But Hijikata-san!"

"Kaori-chan, this is Souji's only chance at life. Look. He already desires blood as a fury. You lose blood with tuberculosis, you know this well. This will make him twice as violent and hard to control, but I have high hopes he'll listen to you. I request of you three favors. Give this to him, convince him to talk this. The second, give him your blood when he so needs, make sure you take care of him. The third, I need you to take this." Hijikata pulled a vial out of his pocket, along with something small wrapped in cloth. He delicately unwrapped the cloth, revealing a small syringe with a needle fastened to it. He punctured the vial's strange lid with the needle and pulled back the syringe to suck up the fluid.

"This will hurt, but you want to help Souji right?" He asked. I nodded, not breaking my cautious gaze at the needle.

"This is full of the supplements he needs. We're putting his medicine in your bloodstream. He will need to take a lot of blood from you, often. To sustain your health I ordered foods specifically for you that I personally will make if you grant me these requests."

"Yes sir."

"Alright. I don't know how bad, but it's supposed to sting because of the contents in this. Don't make any noise, alright?"

"Okay..." The whole conversation was held quietly outside Souji's and my room. Hijikata pulled up the sleeve of my kimono to my shoulder, where two love bites were unconcealed. Hijkata said nothing, but sighed and laughed to himself. He pushed the needle into my arm, breaking the skin. The needle itself did not hurt, but as Hijikata pushed the syringe downwards and the fluid poured into my bloodstream, a searing pain began to explode throughout my bloodstream. I winced, biting my lip and exhaling. Hijikata glanced at my pained expression and continued to slowly inject the contents into my body. Then, he pulled out the needle and wrapped it in the cloth.

"Done. Thank you. That is all." He concluded, then walked away after a brief moment. I returned to Souji's room, where I realized he was gone. He had changed, the futon put up. I walked through the room out to the engawa, where suddenly a wave of drowsiness swept over me. I searched the courtyard, finding nobody but housekeepers that were tending to the engawa. The ones that I had asked for Souji's whereabouts, came up with nothing. I followed a dirt path that began leading outside the gated walls of the estate, into the forest. The sun was still high- I had time to search.

"Souij?!" I called out. Panic started to fester within me, and it grew, the deeper I went into the forest.

"Souji!!! Where are you?!!" I shouted. I heard a loud bang coming from deeper within the forest. Was it him?! No way, did he shoot himself?! Is he being attacked?! He's too sick to be out like this!!"

"SOUJI!!! PLEASE!!!!" I yelled, incrementally getting louder. I raced through the woods to the sound's origin. As if I shot myself, the drowsiness I experienced escalated to exhaustion. My legs felt ten times heavier, and my eyelids too felt as if they weighed a ton.

"Souji!!!!!!" I kept screaming. I had run in a frenzy for at least an hour, and I was beginning to stumble. I was unable to feel my legs, and in a final wave of fatigue, I fell to the ground, panting heavily.

"Souji...!" I whimpered, hopelessly. I felt like a shadow was cast over me, and I slipped into a deep sleep.