Hakuouki: Demons Within

薄桜鬼7

薄桜鬼7

Even though my newly assigned unit was off, I hardly felt relaxed. I had earned the Shinsengumi's trust with honesty, kindness, and my skills. I was beyond grateful to them all. I smiled and leaned against the shoji, folding my arms behind my head. I took a deep breath and eventually dozed off.

When I woke up, everyone was rushing about with swords in hand. I quickly glanced around, and sprinted to the dojo to grab a sword for myself. I slipped it within my himo and followed to were the commotion was. I rested my hand on the tsuka of my blade. In front of me was a monster. It had piercing red eyes and hair as white as fresh snow, blood trickling from its mouth as its victim slowly rose from the ground. His victim, a former Shinsengumi member, had a split back and was drained of most of his blood. Just then did I truly realize the nature of these creatures, and discovered the utter disgust I had for them, hiding my fear.

The men surrounded the beasts with ready blades, and I drew mine as well. I held it tight between sweaty palms, and watched as Hijikata lunged towards the demons. His blade slid through it's body, plunging deep in it's heart. To my surprise, it fell to the ground with a thud. The other threw back it's head and laughed, then dove for the fresh carcuss ravenously. Saito saw a clear shot for it's head, and seized the opportunity. Before the fury had reached the corpse, it fell to the blood covered ground. The members looked on with mixed expressions as Hijikata and Saito wiped their blades and sheathed them.

"What should we do with the bodies?" I asked.

"Burn them." Nagakura replied nonchalantly. I felt an unknown emotion rise within me, and it made me very uncomfortable. I kept the feeling to myself.

"I'll collect firewood." I offered. Heisuke raised his hand, signaling his accompaniment. Harada sighed and helped Nagakura carry the bodies away. As Heisuke and I walked through the gate out to the forest, I heard a loud groan behind me. I spun on my heel and was startled to see Heisuke bent over on the ground.

"Heisuke-kun?!" I stepped towards him when he looked up to glare at me.

"Get back!!!" He growled. Shocked, I stayed put and watched him writhe in his agony.

"What's wrong?!! What happened?!" I asked as I searched for a reason he would be like this, and came up with nothing. Eventually, his own brown hair turned to white, and his bright blue eyes turned to red. I kept quiet and stayed still, unsure of how to act or what to do. He tightened his grip on the tree he was clinging to, and his other hand made marks in the dirt. He arched his back and wailed in pain. I knew what he needed, but would I lose him to the insanity?