HAKUOUKI: Back in Time

Chapter 63

~Why not listen to music while you read?~

I ran to Saito as he leaned heavily against a nearby tree, his fingers digging into the bark. His teeth ground and his breath sounded strangled. As I watched, he began to sweat. My stomach fell as I realized what it was.

"Do you...want blood?" I asked trying to stay calm. "S-Saito, Just give me a moment, okay?" I pulled out my sword and slid it across my wrist. Thick red blood welled up, glistening in the moonlight.

Saito looked at my face and then down at my wrist, his expression unreadable.

"It's fine. I heal really fast." That seemed to make up his mind as he proceeded to lit my hand to his mouth and press his lips against my wrist. He drank and drank, and I began to wonder just how much blood he would need. But in time, I felt my wound close and as the pain receded, his lips pulled away from my hand.

"I'm sorry." He looked down at the ground, unwilling to meet my eyes.

"It's alright..." The look of guilt on his face made my heart want to break.

The march continued without any other major incidents until we finally reached Koufu Castle.

"In a stern voice Hijikata looked at the castle and said, "So, Koufu Castle's in enemy hands. Has been for a long time."

"Well, we could've gotten here a lot earlier is someone hadn't been out drinking and partying."

Shut it, Shinpachi. Nobody could have guessed they'd get here so quick." Harada said in an attempt to calm his friend down.

"Unfortunately, once they heard what had happened, most out our men ran off last night. We've only got about 100 left."

We had left Edo with almost 300 men. So many of them deserted before the battle had even begun... I tried to swallow my anxiety and turned to Saito. "Saito, what's going to happen now? Are you going to try and take back the castle?"

Saito kept his voice low so that the other men couldn't hear. "...Victory would be impossible. For even the vaguest hope at victory, we would need at least three times as many men as our opponent. To ensure victory, we would need at least ten. And that assumes we have similar weaponry. If we will be fighting men armed like the forces we saw during Toba-Fushimi, we would need even more than ten times their number."

"Then..."

All eyes turned to Kondou. There was a tense silence before he finally spoke. "We will not retreat. Find a good location and get into battle formation. We'll see what the enemy does.

"What the hell?!" Nagakura-san yelled

"The shogun gave us money to mount this campaign! We simply cant turn around and return to Edo with our tails between our legs! How could we face the men who have put their trust in us?! Are you not samurai?! Now is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate our loyalty to our lord Yoshinobu!"

Several of the men who had just recently joined cheered at Kondou's words. "That's more like it, Chief!"

"Just leave it to us! We'll give it everything we've got!"

They're rushing to their own death I thought nervously. I could feel my palms start to sweat.

"Look Kondou, go ahead and act like a hero if that's what does it for you, but I think you need a reality check. The might not have realized we're here yet, but they've already taken the castle. We're in a really bad spot here, no two ways about it.?

Kondou frowned. "Nagakura... Do you only fight battles you know you can win? Is that sword just fr show?

"I'm not saying I'm scared of a fight, I just down want to throw my life away in a fight we can't win!"

Fists had begun to clench when Hijikata spoke up. "Calm down, Shinpachi. We have reserves back in Edo, I'll go get them immediately. Besides, I think the rebels are still in the dark about us. So long we keep quiet, things should be fine. Just... give us a little while, all right?"

Nagakura grumbled unintelligibly to himself, but he lowered his fists and stepped back." Fine. Can't really say no to that without looking like a complete asshole."

In a matter of minutes, Hijikata was on his way back to Edo for reinforcements and the rest of us settled down to wait. Fortunately, the men in the castle either hadn't noticed  us or didn't care to attack.  If they had, I had no doubt we'd have been annihilated before Hijikata could return. Everyone was alert, but we still had only 100 men, which meant guards and lookouts were short in supply.

"Saito, are you alright? You don't look very good." I asked with great worry. It would be a bad time for him to fall ill at this time.

"I'm fine..." His skin was pale, and he looked as if he was only moments away from  collapsing.

"No, you're anything but fine. You need to rest."

"If we were anywhere else, I would, but I can't let my guard down here. This could become a battle field in any moment."

"That's true but..." It was the middle of the day and the sun beat down on anything not hidden by the shade of trees. Saito shouldn't have even been awake, let alone preparing for a battle. If fighting actually broke out... I swallowed, and tried to put that thought from my mind.

"Enemy troops are coming this way!"

"What?! Are they on us? How many are there?!" Nagakura frantically yelled to the other soldier.

"I think about ten! They look like they're out on patrol."

"Yeah, I can see them... Well, looks like we got lucky. No guns." Harada said to Nagakura in an almost relief tone.

"Dammit. Well come on, we need to get in there!"

Nagakura and Harada grabbed their swords and ran toward the approaching men. The enemy soldiers drew their own weapons, ready to attack when-

"Don't think so!" With a his of metal and a flash of light, Nagakura's sword drowve into one of the attacking men.

"Gahh!" Nagakura's strike slid between the gaps in the man's armor and with a cry, he collapsed into the dirt.

"One down..." He grinned.

"Eh he he he he!" The man he'd just killed broke into a cackling laugh. Nagakura stared at him, stunned and in that moment, the soldier leaped higher into the air than Nagakura was tall and swung his sword down in a great vicious arc.

"What the hell?!" He caught the blow on his sword and threw the man off but he was clearly shaken. "I stabbed him in the gut! Nobody could stand up after that! They've... They've got to be-!"

As if on cue, the enemy soldiers' hair changed into that haunting white color.

"Rasetsu...? How do they have rasetsus?!" Saito said clearly shaken while preparing his sword. Rarely had I seen Saito so surprised.

"Dammit. What's going on here? I thought rasetsus couldn't handle sunlight!"

One after another, the red eyed rasetsus ran into the line of Shnsengumi soldiers, their swords flickering in the midday sun. Our men desperately tried to fight them off, but they had neither the experience nor the technique to stand their ground against the strength of the rasetsus.

"Aaah!" Cried a warrior

"H-Help me! Please, somebody!"

The rasetsus waded in unopposed bodies falling around the like rain. I pulled out my own sword and took Chizuru by the arm, putting her behind me. If the Imperial Army had created their own rasetsus, then that had to mean...

"Hehehehehehe... This is quite an improvement. I have waited a long time fore this day. The day my beautiful children can at last use their full strength in the light of the sun.

Kodou?!

~Feel free to comment!~