𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ 𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐤𝐢 [ON HOLD]

⇛ 𝐂𝐇. 𝟔

"where's chizuru?"

"she's gone down the path giving out the orders i told her to." hijikata told the blue haired girl, who didn't want to leave chizuru's side.

"i'll follow her." the girl quickly ran down, sensing something was off. she was always able to tell when someone was in danger.

hijikata watched her with an uncertain look. he didn't trust her yet and was wary of her. the sudden bumping into each other at the inn, then the festival, and edo was all suspicious to him. while it was purely coincidences, he didn't think so. he was an over thinker and especially with the enemies always nearby he thought it wouldn't be much of a surprise if she turned out to be a spy.

while hijikata was deep in thought about everything, keiko was close to chizuru and could hear yells.

"it's you again!" she heard chizuru yell.

"chizuru." keiko sped up running, seeing the three figures standing on the wall and chizuru on the floor in the middle.

"why are you here? and how?"

"precious. do you really think humans could come up with anything that could keep some demons like us out?" shiranui said, his hands on his hips. he had his usual mocking tone.

"demons? are you making fun of me?!"

"us? don't you know about demons? are you honestly telling us you don't? you were one of us yukimura chizuru. just embrace your destiny." kazama told her.

"leave her alone!" keiko yelled. she left the dark shadows, revealing herself, and ran to stand in front of chizuru. she held out a protective arm and had her weapon out.

"keiko." kazama acknowledged, not even shocked by her appearance. "i expected this. you running to the shinsengumi like a dog in need of guidance."

"damn you." she called out. "you left me in a burning building."

"it was an accident and if you had stayed by my side, we wouldn't be in this situation. now would you care to join us?"

"i know you have nothing to hold against me. you won't kill her." keiko said, pointing her katana at him. she knew the shinsengumi men would notice something was off and would appear soon. she just had to stall for now.

"we won't kill chizuru, but we will find other weaknesses."

"how do you know my name!" chizuru yelled out, interrupting their quarrel.

"my dear, your wounds heal so quickly it was a sure sigh you're not human." amagiri appeared behind them. keiko's ears perked up at the sound of his voice and she grabbed chizuru, pulling her behind her again. amagiri disappeared after speaking.

"well, in that case, wouldn't it be faster just to prove it to the girl?" shiranui pulled out a gun aiming it at in chizuru's direction. he looked to be holding down on the trigger and keiko's eyes narrowed as she glared at his finger.

"no!" she took out one of her daggers and threw it at him, hoping to either hit his hand or the gun, but he dodged.

"stop it shiranui." kazama said. "you can accept it or deny it, but our actions will not change. i will keep this brief. the surname alone proves you're a devil but combined with the short sword of the devil of the east this is all the proof i need."

"kazama." she warned.

"i'll say this in advance, we don't need your permission to take you with us so it's no use arguing." kazama jumped from the wall and in front of the two girls. "amagiri hold keiko."

"stop!" she called out as amagiri's arms wrapped around the girl, tightening her in his hold.

as kazama continued walking forwards to chizuru, keiko felt herself getting angrier that she was being held back. her blood began to boil and her fingers twitched as her nails grew longer, digging into amagiri's arms. she could feel a powerful aura appearing around her and the others could sense it too. her form was being revealed.