17Disclaimer: I do NOT own Hakuouki or anything related to it.
"Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane."
— Stephen King (Different Seasons)
Taking a deep breath, Chizuru knelt on the engawa outside Hijikata's door. Souma had come to her quarters at Hijikata's request to ask if she was alright and if she could come to Hijikata, as something important had come up that he needed to talk to tell her. Since Souma wasn't among those aware of her secret and did not specify what Hijikata needed to discuss, she figured it was about Kodo or Sanan, if not both. Good timing, given her decision to confront him about her plans to take over the investigation.
Inoue and Yamazaki offered to accompany her, but she assured them she could handle it alone, and Souma claimed that Hijikata said it was best discussed in private.
As she knelt, she noticed a familiar silhouette sitting beside Hijikata."Hijikata-san," she called.
"Come in," Hijikata responded, sounding serious but not angry.
Chizuru slid the shoji open. Her eyes widened at who else was in the room."Iba-san!" She exclaimed, scrambling to enter and close the door.
Iba smiled brightly."Chizuru-chan, I'm glad to see you're doing well." He showed her the parchment wih her handwriting on it."I got your letter."
Chizuru didn't try to hide her giddiness."You got here fast!"
"Well, I did tell you to write to me whenever you needed me and I'd come." His smile faltered a bit."Although I have more than personal reasons for my swift arrival." He gestured to a letter Hijikata was reading."Your letter came around the time the shogun was giving me an important assignment."
Hijikata lifted his eyes to glance at her sternly, although she didn't get the feeling that he was angry at her, more bothered by the contents of the letter. He sighed very deeply, gave Iba back the letter, and turned to fully face her.
"Yamazaki said that he, Gen-san, and you are going to visit the Fury Corp. for a checkup tonight." It wasn't a question, but she nodded anyway."Well, it won't just be you three this time, or for any other time. It's best if we explain everything in detail to Sanan-san tonight."
Chizuru's eyes widened. Part of her was relieved to hear that Hijikata was choosing to get involved in the changes, the other part felt annoyance that it took this long to happen. She wanted to be sympathetic, remind herself that it wasn't her place to question the bonds of these men and how they went about showing their care. However, the involvement of her father in this situation, as well as her own personal refusal to let a problem fester when there was something she could do to assist in fixing it, made her think that she had some right to be opinionated about this. Plus, Hijikata was the one who once told her to always hold her head up if she believed she was doing the right thing, it was his own fault if she used his teachings/advice against him. She'd like to think Sanan would be proud of her for this.
As if reading her mind, Hijikata heaved a second deep sigh."How is Sanan-san doing? And the other Fury? Yamazaki respectfully declined to tell me his name and Gen-san gave me a death glare when I tried to ask him."
"Well, I'm not telling you either!" Chizuru blurted, wincing at the swiftness and harshness of her response. She didn't do this with the intention of being rude to Hijikata, just to honor her word to Sanan and Katamitsu. Considering her own focus on hiding her healing powers, she had to respect Katamitsu's desire to remain anonymous.
Hijikata blinked at her tone, then nodded curtly."It's all fair enough, I guess. I still know what's unfolding with him, so for now I can wait. Kondou-san also respects that, so don't worry. If the Fury wants to avoid me while I'm there then that's his choice."
Relaxing, she bowed her head.
Iba kept glancing between them, trying to maintain his increasingly-faltering smile as his worry grew. Chizuru locked eyes with him, wanting to ask what his orders were for, both hoping and fearing that they were related to the Furies. Iba simply inclined his head, giving her the impression that he would give her an explanation later. She nodded in acquiescence. She had endured a year of not knowing about her father's experiments or the truth regarding the Furies that almost killed her that first night in Kyoto; she could wait a few hours until Iba explained his new assignment.
Hijikata sighed for the third time."Alright, I need to discuss some things with Iba. Can you go get Souji and tell him to come here?" Chizuru nodded."Thanks. See you later then."
Chizuru bowed, exchanging a friendly wave with Iba on her way out. She was both eager and nervous to pay a visit to the Fury Corp. tonight.
Katamitsu slept through the nighttime and daytime, but just when Sanan was about to panic, he woke up. It was not a peaceful awakening; he shot into sitting position, limbs flailing and kicking, coughs and gasps escaping his throat, but fortunately there was no bloodlust.
Sanan hurried to the younger Fury's side, careful not to startle him, quietly uttering his name to remind he was not alone and that he was safe. The chaos lasted for a minute until Katamitsu went still and then started to fall, but he was able to grab onto Sanan's clothes to keep from hitting the floor. His breathing was shaky, he was clearly holding back tears, having likely suffered from a nightmare due to the fragile, chaotic state of his evolving body and mind.
Sanan carefully placed a hand on Katamitsu's back, which seemed to calm him. He took a deep breath, going silent for a few minutes before his breathing returned to normal and he released his grip on Sanan's clothing.
"H-How long was I out this time?" Katamitsu asked, hugging his knees to his chest and resting his chin on them.
"Almost an entire day," Sanan replied, beginning to rub soothing circles onto his back when the younger Fury tensed at the reply."Do you feel alright?"
Katamitsu shrugged weakly."As much as can be, I guess." He didn't seem to be in any physical pain, and his emotions were decently under control. Hopefully, hearing the potentially good news about the Fury that had asked for him would lift his spirits.
Sanan swallowed thickly before speaking."I - we - might have another breakthrough with the research. There is another Fury that tried to communicate last night."
Katamitsu's head snapped to look in Sanan's direction."W-What?" He blinked thrice, as if trying to be certain that he wasn't dreaming.
Sanan nodded."I do not know his name, as I believe he joined after I faked my death, but I am certain he was among those that had to choose between seppuku and drinking the serum. Also, he...asked for you. He seemed to know you very well, even refused to tell me his name until he saw you."
Katamitsu stared at him with wide eyes, looking torn between excitement and concern. His eyes narrowed after a minute, indicating that he was mentally going over all the names of his friends who'd officially died via seppuku.
Sanan bit his lip."As for the rest of them, I know not all of them can speak, but they may react if they see you. Some of them may be struggling in a similar way to how you did. It took a long time for you to talk, some of them may not be able for awhile, even though they've been Furies far longer."
Katamitsu sighed. After a moment of silent rumination, he nodded weakly."I'll see him. Just give a few minutes."
Sanan nodded. After the chaos of the previous night and his long sleep and then chaotic awakening, one required some time to calm down, especially in preparation of seeing someone they'd thought was dead.
Half-an-hour later, they were heading to visit the Fury as promised. The closer they got, the more of a struggle it was for Sanan to suppress his own excitement and nervousness. Since the cell that contained this Fury was the first one Sanan usually passed in his checkup rounds, it did not take long for them to arrive.
The Fury lay on its side with its back facing them, probably not expecting Sanan to keep his promise to bring Katamitsu, not that Sanan could really blame him. As Sanan was opening his mouth to call out to the Fury, however, Katamitsu gasped and rushed toward the cell, falling to his knees and reaching through the bars. His eyes were wide as saucers, and his hands trembled as they extended toward the Fury. He opened and closed his mouth several times, too emotional to form words. The Fury was either asleep or hadn't realized anyone was present. Sanan again opened his mouth to call out, and yet again he was interrupted.
The other two Furies in the cell, who were chained and more ferocious, paused and went silent when they saw Katamitsu. Sanan now realized that these two did look familar, and that he remembered them being close to Katamitsu, although they had still been offcially alive when he drank the Water of Life. That said, he vaguely recalled their official causes of death. One of them had been fatally wounded by ronin, while the other had to chose between seppukku and drinking the serum. Katamitsu stared at the chained Furies, becoming even more shocked and emotional, and in their eyes Sanan saw glints of recognition.
The sudden silence of its cellmates caused the Fury they had come to visit to stir and realize what was happening. Slowly, weakly, it rolled over to face its visitors and let out a sound that was a mixture of a gasp and a cry upon seeing Katamitsu. It had been physically and mentally listless for so long that moving was difficult, but it crawled with great speed and urgency, while grunting in pain with each movement, toward the man it had asked for.
"K-Kata...mitsu." It murmured hoarsely. Katamitsu still couldn't form words, but when the Fury grabbed one of his hands, he choked out a sob and reached his other hand to touch the Fury's shoulder, embracing him as much as he could through the bars. He also kept glancing at the two chained Furies, who hadn't moved a muscle or stopped staring since they saw him.
Sanan held back a grin. Well, it seemed he would getting three more potentially sane Furies instead of just the one he'd dared hope for tonight.
