Samurai's Blossom - A Hakuouki Fanfic [HAITUS]

Chapter 8 - Caught

Harada Sanosuke pov:

"Oi! What's with your sloppy stances?! Put in more energy!" I yelled at my squad's men as they trained to improve their Kenjutsu. I went around the group and pointed out to those who weren't giving their best, even snapping at them for not being serious. We were just two days away from the planned ambush on another group of Choushu spies who were going to gather in the local inn to plan their next move against the Aizu Clan and I was not going to have my men being sloppy!

In the midst of yelling at them, I too trained with my spear, fine tuning my moves and trying to make my swings faster and more powerful. Ever since that Oni guy Shiranui dodged my spear rather easily, I knew I had to get faster and stronger if I wanted to defeat him and his Oni buddies, all the more now because that Kazama guy was after Sara. The Shinsengumi had to be undefeatable to we could maintain peace and order under the Shogunate.

I was quite surprised to hear that Sara was an Oni – none of us had expected it actually, even though Kondo Ossan had admitted that he had had a hunch about it, and we didn't really know how to digest the fact. Then again, it seemed that Sara herself wasn't aware of the fact that she was an Oni until only recently. She had confessed that she had the ability to regenerate, to heal wounds within minutes, but she had kept it a secret from us out of habit because she didn't want any of us to see her as a freak or a monster.

We weren't very happy that Kondo san had forgiven her for keeping such a big secret from us but when we thought about it, it wasn't unexpected. Chizuru had kept her regenerative ability and the very fact that she was an Oni a secret from us too despite being well aware of it even before that Oni had pointed it out, so there was no justification in treating Sara differently. I was especially apologetic because I had got angry at her and treated her roughly – not like the gentleman I always boasted to be. I could see that she had felt intimidated by me when I had questioned her harshly and she had been keeping her distance from me for the past few days.

I had apologized to her, though I was kind of awkward about it and unsure of how to face her after my rude behavior that contradicted with my actual wish to be nice to women and children, and it's obvious that Sara preferred to keep her distance from me after the incident.

Sannan san had been the one to confirm that she was an Oni – he had taken a sample of her blood and tested it using whatever concoctions he worked with. He was the brains of the Shinsengumi and was currently working on the Ochimizu, to improve it and make it so that Rasetsu wouldn't be bloodthirsty and lose their minds when in battle. He hadn't been successful until now but I suppose it was only a matter of time before he achieved it.

I grunted, thrusting my spear forward during practice, feeling frustrated from everything that had happened in these past few days. I wanted to talk to Sara and apologize to her again and tell her to talk to me like she usually did...well, I had already done so once but she was still hesitant. Darn it...there had to be something I could say to her that would make her forgive me...

Exhaling deeply, I put my spear down on the ground and looked into the distance while remembering some of the unexpected gestures she had done to me – the most prominent being her running her hands through my hair to set it down after a fight with Shinpachi and Heisuke over persimmons. I also remembered the short excursions we had had to the market for shopping and the gentle way she always tended to my wounds – since the last few times she had treated my injuries, her touches had left burning trails on my skin. I felt oddly weak when she smiled at me and laughed at my stupid jokes and...damn it, I liked her. I really liked her, just as a man would like a woman, and her avoidance was killing me.

I didn't care if she was an Oni or a human. I mean, it made no real difference to me because Sara was Sara – she was a beautiful, strong woman and a skilled doctor that the Shinsengumi trusted and depended on. The only problem now was convincing her that we were apologetic for how we had treated her, that I was apologetic for how I had doubted her, and get her to talk to me comfortably again.