Love at first sight (Heisuke x OC)

Chapter 38: Brief reunion

Hey, hey! Quick before you start reading!

I advise you to play the music paired with this chapter after a certain someone saves the protagonist from her persistent antagonist.

Got it? Good, you may continue.

~~~~~

After that visit from Sen-chan, I found that I had trouble sleeping. My mind was working tirelessly, deeply analysing everything that Sen-chan had told me. With my mind in such a state, it was no wonder why sleep wouldn't grace me with its presence. "Normally, Heisuke would be here to help me sleep..." I sighed. I miss-What the?! The all to familiar sound of steel against steel suddenly erupted outside, interrupting my thoughts. Soon enough, the clashing sound was followed by the shouts and roars of battle. I quickly stood up in a panic. What's going on?! Someone suddenly loudly announced their presence;
"Gomenasai for bothering you this late, but this is an emergency!" Shimada-san?
"I-It's okay, please come in!" As soon as the words left my mouth, Shimada-san had slid open my door and stepped inside. His body language wasn't exactly filling me with relief. His eyes darted back and forth nervously and his body was tense. "What's going on out there?!"
"The ninjas have invaded us again"
"Nani?!" Does that mean Kioshi is somewhere nearby?!
"They're after you, which means you need to stay here"
"Noted. I'll be fine here, you go help the others"
"Iie, I can't do that. I've been ordered to guard you"
"Then I guess we'll be spending a bit of time together while we wait the attack out" I joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"I guess so" Shimada-san smiled. Suddenly, Kioshi appeared behind Shimada-san. Where'd he come from?! I know he's a ninja, but come on! I didn't even see or hear him enter the room! My shock must've shown on my face because Shimada-san quickly asked me what's wrong.
"Shimada-san, behind you!" I warned, but my warning was too little too late. Just as Shimada-san began to turn around, Kioshi struck. He swiftly knocked Shimada-san out by striking him hard with his sword hilt. "Shimada-san, iie!" I saw blood emerge from where Kioshi struck him.
"You're coming with me. And this time I came prepared" He held up rope and a long cloth.
"Iie! Someone-argh!" Kioshi slammed his sword's hilt into my stomach, knocking the air out of me and causing me to collapse.
"Not this time" He tied the cloth around my mouth before proceeding to tie my ankles and wrists together with his rope. He then picked me up effortlessly, as if I weighed nothing, and exited my room. He used the back entrance to leave the compound, seeing as the rest of the Shinsengumi had been drawn off by the commotion happening elsewhere. I heard the sound of swords clashing nearby and tried to call for help;
"Mhmm!! Mhmmm!!!" I thrashed around in his grip and tried to make as much noise as I could, but I knew it wasn't loud enough. Kioshi smirked at my feeble attempts.
"No one will stop me from killing you this time" He stepped into the street and started running. No matter how hopeless it seems, I can't give up! I continued struggling, trying to break free. While I did not accomplish my main goal, my wriggling about did cause the cloth around my mouth to slip. I can talk again! I didn't waste the opportunity, before Kioshi realised what I had done I screamed as loud as I could manage;
"Help me!!! Anybody!!!" I hoped, with all my heart, that someone would hear my cry for help and with luck, maybe they'd even rescue me.
"Damare!" Kioshi quickly re-covered my mouth with the cloth, but it was too late.
"Hey, what's going on here-A kidnapper?!" I know that voice! Heisuke ran towards us. Heisuke! I can't believe he's here...He's actually here...Needless to say, I was surprised, but also extremely thankful for Heisuke's unbelievably good timing. "C-Chiyeko, it's you?! What are you doing here?!" Heisuke exclaimed in shock once he recognised me. I tried to reply, but all that came out were muffled words. Heisuke please, you have to help me! "And you! Why won't you leave Chiyeko alone!?" Heisuke yelled angrily as he drew his sword. His shock quickly turned to rage once he properly laid eyes on my captor.
"I already told you. She must pay for her family's crimes"
"Well don't think I'm about to let that happen. I'll protect Chiyeko just like I promised!" Heisuke announced proudly with a smirk.
"Protect her? I thought you left her to play hero with some teacher of yours? If you really wanted to protect her, why would you leave her all alone?" Kioshi's words angered Heisuke a great deal.
"Goddamnit, would you just damare! You don't know anything about my decision! And I may have left her, but I still love her and I will not let you harm her in any way!" Heisuke's sword shot out in anger, his strike would be impossible to parry, let alone avoid for a regular swordsman, yet Kioshi dodged it easily. "Nani?!" Heisuke gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Oh, too slow. Just give up now, you won't win"
"Shut it! I never give up!" Heisuke yelled before bringing his sword down in a powerful chop then jerked it back up in a second strike. Kioshi effortlessly dodged both. Heisuke kissed his teeth as he swiftly created distance between them. "Damnit! I can't hit him!" Heisuke exclaimed, but his tone wasn't just full of frustration. There was strong amounts of worry accompanying his frustration and I knew exactly why. Heisuke could not hit Kioshi because there was a chance that he'd also hit me. I'm keeping him from being able to fight his best and he can't beat Kioshi if he's not at his best...! I couldn't just do nothing and allow this to continue, but...what exactly COULD I do to help? "...No time to think. I gotta do something!" He let out a battle cry as he leapt forward again, his sword hissing back and forth in shining arcs. That just gave me an idea! I thrashed around violently in Kioshi's grip, purposely putting most of my weight on his dominant arm.
"What are you doing?! Keep still you baka!" In your dreams! I continued to thrash around, this time I placed all of my weight on his dominant arm. This caused him to stumble forwards when he tried to raise his sword. Heisuke didn't let that opportunity pass him by and immediately took the opening I created for him. He dug his sword into Kioshi's shoulder and blood splattered onto the street. Kioshi let out a noise of frustration, but he didn't let me go. Then try THIS on for size! Although my hands were tied together, that didn't stop me from managing to grab hold of Kioshi's sword arm. In the commotion, the cloth around my mouth had slipped once again.
"Now's your chance Heisuke!" I tightened my hold on Kioshi's arm before continuing. "I'll hold his dominant arm down and you'll stab him along with me!" Heisuke's eyes widened at my command, but I wasn't about to let him argue over this. "Don't worry about me Heisuke, I'll be fine! So hurry up!" Determination burned intensely in Heisuke's green-blue eyes. He nodded and struck, causing blood to spew from Kioshi's arm. Relfexively, he pulled his arm back, freeing me in the process. Though, since I was tied up I couldn't exactly go anywhere. "That wasn't very smart, now you can't go anywhere. So be a good girl and wait over there!" Kioshi kicked me in the abdomen hard, sending me flying into one of the buildings. I let out a cry of pain as I connected with the wall behind me.
"You bastard!" Kioshi may have still been acting high and mighty, but you could tell his arm was gravely injured. He was covering the wound on his arm, but the gash in his shoulder bled freely. You could see the large amounts of crimson red blood that was trickling freely down his pale flesh. Kioshi was a demon so he'd probably heal quickly, but in the moment, Heisuke appeared to have the advantage. Though, it was clear from Kioshi's expression that he wasn't ready to give up yet. He lifted his sword again and Heisuke prepared himself to have to fight again, but before they could start again, someone let out a whistle close by. I looked around to notice that people were beginning to gather, their interests having been piqued by the fight. "It seems we've attracted some onlookers. I prefer my fights without public commentary so I'm going. But as long as you're still breathing I'll be back for you Chiyeko" Leaving those words, he vanished into the night. Heisuke quickly ran over to me.
"What you did was absolutely crazy you know" He smiled exasperatedly.
"You never would've landed a hit on him if I stayed put in his arms"
"True, I guess I should be thanking you"
"You can thank me by doing something about these binds"
"Oh right! Gomen!" Heisuke cut through the ropes with his sword, completely freeing me. This allowed him to take notice of the injury he caused me when he stabbed Kioshi. "Your injury...I'm so gomen Chiyeko, are you alright?" His expression saddened as he no doubt felt guilty about causing me harm.
"I'm okay Heisuke, an injury like this will heal in no time flat" I smiled to try and reassure him, but he continued to stare at me with a puppy-dog expression.
"You may be okay, but that doesn't make what I did okay. I failed as a man by allowing the woman I love to become injured...Is what Sano-san would've said"
"Um...Daijōbu Heisuke?"
"Ah...It's nothing. I'm fine, don't worry about it" He was smiling again, but something seemed off about it.
"Well, I have to admit that you were pretty amazing Heisuke" I stated in an attempt to cheer him up.
"Really...?"
"Of course really! I mean, you saved me didn't you?"
"Yeah I guess I did, but like you said earlier, I couldn't have done it without you. If you hadn't given me that opening...Honestly, I don't know how this would've turned out" Heisuke directed his eyes to the ground, the emptiness in his gaze caused my heart to pound painfully. "...Maybe I haven't been training hard enough since I left the Shinsengumi...I just felt so useless. I couldn't even rescue my girlfriend"
"Heisuke. All that matters is that I'm gonna be fine"
"Yeah, you're right. Glad you're okay" He grinned. "But how's your stomach?"
"I'll live" Heisuke helped me up and let me go, but as soon as I tried to support my own weight pain attacked my abdomen causing me to double over.
"Chiyeko!"
"Gomen, I don't think I can stand up on my own just yet..."
"It's not your fault, you don't need to apologise" In the distance, I could see men in white Shinsengumi jackets heading this way. "Ah shoot...Well, time for me to go. Gomen that I can't take ya back!"
"Iie! Please Heisuke...!" I grabbed onto his arm. "I need to be with you for a while longer...!" I pleaded with him.
"Man, you're gonna get us both in trouble..." Heisuke sighed before scooping me up and dashing into an alleyway. He continued until we were deep enough in that we wouldn't be overheard. He then set me down. Thanks to my demon blood, my abdomen was nearly back to normal. I could at least stand on my own. As we stood there in silence, Kioshi's words echoed inside my mind;