The time Kazama had spent back in Satsuma took longer than he had thought. He did not anticipate the delays that moving from Kagoshima Bay to Sakurajima could have had, much of it having to do with the defenses of the location of the new Kazama village. When the immediate copy of the Kazama manor upon Sakurajima was completed, new plots of land for the crops that they would sow had to be cleared, and that took some time. On the way back north, he also had tour the villages controlled by the Amagiri clan, to discuss their defenses with Amagiri Kazutarou and his kin… All in all, it took him three months and much of spring to start his return journey to Kyoto, but was instead summoned by his superiors to remain in Kyushu.

"We've entered some very interesting negotiations these past months," Saigo Takamori told Kazama and Amagiri when they met him in Kagoshima. "It would seem that the Shinsen-Gumi will once again be broken into two."

Amagiri did not understand Saigo's foreshadowing. "Why would that happen?" he asked suspiciously. The Shinsen-Gumi were famous for being nothing less than they were, a pack of wolves. It was said that however brash and uncouth their existence had been, they had come from nothing and found one another amongst utter hardship. The bonds between the members of the Shinsen-Gumi were supposed to be the strongest among that of the Bakufu's agents because of it.

"You have heard of their military advisor, Itou Kashitarou, have you not?" Saigo said plainly. Both the Oni nodded. "Well then, the man has… Toubaku leanings to put it gently, and he had decided to make them known soon."

Kazama sighed. "He plans to sell himself to us and break away from the Shinsen-Gumi," he concluded. "Most likely, he had bought over a sizable portion of men for his cause and has the confidence to forge his own path. Do we seriously want an ally like that, Saigo?"

Saigo raised an eyebrow. "We need all the allies we can get, Kazama," he answered. "I hope that you and Amagiri are able to attend to our next… meeting with such an esteemed future-colleague of ours." If words did not have multiple meanings, it would have meant that Saigo merely wanted them to resume their original duties as high-profile bodyguards. Sadly, words had multiple meanings, and the ulterior one was also clear. He wanted them to see Itou Kashitarou in person for themselves, to obtain a… general feel of the man. After all, he had learned to trust the keen senses of the Oni, and would want them to report to him any… abnormalities the man had.

"Understood," Kazama replied singly, knowing that Itou Kashitarou would not disappoint at all.

Late February of the Third Year of Keio (March 1867)

The last round of negotiations between the Satsuma-han and Itou Kashitarou occurred in Dazaifu city of the Fukuouka-han. It had been the regional administration center of the Bakufu in Kyushu, and was where the Bakufu extended its power to the third largest island of Japan. However, in the weakening hold of the Bakufu, it was treated as a neutral area where both agents of the Bakufu and those that wish to bring it to ruins could meet in the open.

Of course, Kazama and Amagiri were present at such a meeting, silently watching as it played out. It seemed to them that there was more to Itou Kashitarou than his apparent charm and charisma. Long-haired and fashionably dressed, he had an air of dangerousness about him, because his expression was utterly unreadable. All throughout the meeting, he kept a calm and composed stance, fanning himself as he spoke, as if he were a trained geiko. Every movement he had made, every word uttered was deliberate, a construction of ability and confidence.

Saigo and Itou had been drinking when Saigo finally presented Itou with an obscene amount of money for a man whose occupation had been a scholarly kenjutsu instructor. "With the support of your honored han, I would be able to do as I please to great effect," Itou said with gratitude laced in his voice. Of course, the money was not all for him. If he was wise, he would have used a portion of that sum to bribe certain individuals that… needed persuasion.

"But of course," Saigo replied. "We simply cannot tolerate the fact that a fellow Imperialist has to remain under the wing of the Bakufu dogs. We are confident that you would be able to play your part well."

Itou chuckled. "Such praise… I would have to work harder then." A bout of laughter erupted between the two men, and Saigo poured more sake into Itou's saucer.

"I seem to have heard some… astonishing rumors about the Shinsen-Gumi as well," Saigo added. "But I am sure that you would know all about them…"

"Oh, and what are these astonishing rumors, pray tell?" Itou asked.

Kazama was not interested in knowing what Saigo had to say to Itou further. Besides, he was the one who told Saigo that Sannan Keisuke was alive, not dead as was reported. Bowing his leave, he opened the door and entered the courtyard of the administrative complex, with Amagiri following closely.

"Kazama, where are you going?" Amagiri demanded. "We've not yet completed our guard duty…"

"There is no need for that anymore," Kazama answered. "We have no compulsion to accompany them in their drinking." He decided to retreat back to his family manor, where there was much work to be done. He would rather prepare for more important things before him. "Amagiri, we should bring Chizuru to our side as soon as possible. There is no reason for her to stay in the Shinsen-Gumi any longer," he told his confidant and companion on the way home. If Itou Kashitarou did manage to split the Shinsen-Gumi, it would mean that the peasant samurai would have gained another enemy. He would not know who in the Shinsen-Gumi would follow the likes of Itou, but he understood from the previous conversation that those involved could possibly count one or two members of its administration, which warranted the amount of gold that had been given to Itou. The number of her protectors would lessen, which did not warrant him any confidence that they could protect her any better than he could.

Amagiri agreed with him. "We must be patient," he warned Kazama. "If you bring her to your side, then what excuse would you give those above us?"

"The truth," Kazama said, with the trademark sideways grin of his family prominent upon him. "I'll find some property in the capital and tell them it is to house my future wife." Needless to say, he would omit the fact that said future wife was actually serving in the Shinsen-Gumi as a page. "Surely, they would not begrudge me that?"

There was no choice but for Amagiri to agree with him. "Still I would advise caution and patience," he stressed. Kazama was not a foolish man, but his lack of patience would be his downfall. He could barely count the number of times that Kazama could have set this human conflict into greater turmoil if he had not been there to stop him before Kazama kills the wrong person at the wrong time.

"Hmph, suit yourself," Kazama replied. If he were to retrieve Chizuru from the Shinsen-Gumi, he would have to launch a full attack on their headquarters. An irony, that in winter, he had managed to aid her in collecting information about a bunch of rowdy roshi who were about to do the same. It would also mean that if he decided to engage the Shinsen-Gumi in open battle, they would also have to utilize the Rasetsu they had… it would give him the opportunity to get rid of the false Oni as well, effectively killing two birds with one stone.

Not long after his return to Kyoto, Kazama had acquired a simple residence in the city to house himself, Amagiri and also Chizuru, if she was willing. Although not as extravagant as the Kazama manor in Kagoshima, it was… serviceable, with a tree-lined garden and being far away from the military offices of the city. Of course, he would have to make his move known to the Satsuma-han. Many of them had wondered why he was moving away from the shared lodgings that they had all stayed in, and when he told them that he was to marry a girl that he had been betrothed to, they all beamed and congratulated him, although he doubted their sincerity.

Late summer in the Third Year of Keio (1867)

Emperor Koumei finally succumbed to illness, and the capital was once again unstable. The Imperial Court then issued secret orders throughout the government, one of which reached the bowels of the Shinsen-Gumi headquarters, citing a need to for able warriors to guard the newly-interred emperor's tomb.

The Goryo Eiji had been formed when Itou Kashitarou finally played his last card as the military advisor of the Shinsen-Gumi. After personally seeing Sannan Keisuke, who had been presumed dead, before his very eyes during a freak accident in the Nishi Hongan-Ji, Itou engineered a mutiny against the central commanders of the Shinsen-Gumi, citing that he had received orders to guard the Imperial Tombs following Emperor Koumei's passing. Fearing that their clandestine, Bakufu-ordered activities would be revealed, as threatened by Itou, Kondou Isami, the Commander of the Shinsen-Gumi had no choice but to allow Itou and his cohorts to leave. With him, went the Captains of the Third and Eighth Division, Saito Hajime and Todou Heisuke, effectively thinning out the members of Shinsen-Gumi's leadership.

Kazama was aware that Sen-hime had approached the Shinsen-Gumi shortly after the Goryo Eiji had left the Nishi Hongan-Ji. Most likely, she tried to warn the paltry peasant-folk of his wishes to make Chizuru his bride, offering to protect Chizuru in their stead. However, he also knew that Sen-hime and her Suzumori bodyguard left the temple without their quarry. It had been a first for the Princess of the Oni interfering in the affairs of any Oni clan. However, he could not blame Sen-hime, for she was still young, and believed that she was only helping Chizuru in the only way she knew how.

"So, we're really going to attack the wolves' den?" Shiranui asked Kazama the very moment they approached the Nishi Hongan-Ji. "We're not just walking in and politely asking for the girl's hand, since you've every right to do so?"

Kazama harrumphed. "If you want me to surrender my head to the Shimazu clan for marrying someone from the Shinsen-Gumi, be my guest," he returned. "My condition would be that you be adopted into my family and complete my duties."

"That's worse than dying, I think. I refuse the offer," Shiranui chuckled. He had always enjoyed his freedom of being merely the beloved nephew of his clan's leader. It was not so much of the prestige, but the ability to go wherever he wanted and do whatever he wanted at his own pace and design, while knowing the amount of work one actually had to do as a clan-leader made him rather… grateful that he was only eighth in line of the succession of his own clan.

Amagiri turned towards the two and silenced them. "We might be spotted," he warned them, but instead, Kazama took a great step forwards. "Kazama, what are you…"

"Let them see us," Kazama argued. "I want those Bakufu dogs to see what real Oni are capable of." Their mission that night was two-fold. The first was to retrieve Chizuru while the second was to destroy as many of the Rasetsu that the Shinsen-Gumi had as they could. He had already told the Oni Council that he would not stand for the existence of those false Oni and cared not for their lackasidal attitudes towards them just to grant a wayward Oni some closure.

Sighing, Amagiri replied, "As you wish." There would be no more words that could sway Kazama away from what he had decided to do. Without a moment's delay, he gave one powerful punch towards the great wooden doors of the temple, crushing it into mere splinters while Shiranui shot down the two door-guards behind it. It was enough to rouse the denizens of the headquarters of the Shinsen-Gumi from their sleep.

The response was quick. They had merely entered through the gate when several combatants, dressed in asagiiro haori, appeared, ready for combat. However, they were harder to kill than most men, which meant that they were no what they seemed to be.

"They are fakes," Kazama proclaimed, and as he said those words, more came towards them, led by Sannan, the Rasetsu that Kazama had met before leaving for Kagoshima in the winter.

"We have been waiting for you," Sannan proclaimed, his hair turning white and his eyes blood-red, baring his teeth. "We, the Rasetsu Corps of the Shinsen-Gumi will be the opponents of the Oni." The Rasetsu charged at all three of the Oni, engaging them in combat, but Kazama was quick to reveal their weakness, having had experience in dealing with them.

Using the wakizashi of one of the Rasetsu, he pierced it through the beast's heart and repeated the action for the one behind him. "They die if you hit their vital organs," he explained to Shiranui, who had never faced them in combat before. Getting the hint, Shiranui started to change his aim and managed to get rid of at least a few more Rasetsu than he originally thought possible.

"Their creation is an act of utter disgrace," Amagiri commented, knocking as many down as he could. However, their main concern was not the Rasetsu. As Hijikata, the spearman Harada and Nagakura Shinpachi, Captain of the Second Division were sighted, Kazama knew that it was time to seek out his bride.

"I'll leave this to you two," Kazama told his companions. Naturally, they got his meaning and stayed in the main courtyard while he disappeared into the shadows, looking for Chizuru. He found her foolishly running into the battlefield even as a man was trying to keep her from getting out of her quarters.

"Yukimura-kun, the Fukuchou has ordered you to stay where it's safe!" the man warned Chizuru but to no avail. The girl not only had courage, but she had a tendency to want to be where the fighting was, because she knew that somehow, she had to bear the responsibility of the carnage that was being wrought in their very home.

"They are coming for me, I must help!" Chizuru exclaimed, trying to move past the man. However, she turned speechless when she realized that Kazama was near them. Truly, she did not expect that he would come for her at all.

The foolish human thought that he had any chance of defending her. "Stand back, Yukimura-kun," he told the girl and unsheathed his katana, charging towards Kazama, who easily parried his attack and kicked him square in the chest, rendering him unconscious.

"Shimada-san!" Chizuru cried out, but to no avail. Knowing that she would have to defend herself, her hand flew to the hilt of her wakizashi as she stepped away from Kazama. "That's enough!"

"Do you want to know what happened to your family, Chizuru?" Kazama asked her, even as she unsheated the Shoutsuuren, thinking that she could actually face him in a duel. It would be a futile attempt, no doubt, but Kazama had no intention to indulge in such a possibility. "Sen-hime must have told you how your family was destroyed…"

At that moment, Chizuru hesitated. "H… how would you know?" she demanded. "I don't believe you!" There was anger in her eyes. At that point in time, he was her enemy. He had entered her home, raised his katana against her guardians, her friends, and she would not submit to him, no matter what he had promised.

Knowing that she would not come with him without a fight, Kazama hit her with the hilt of his katana right under her ribs, causing her to fall into his arms. She would not wake for a good while. Carrying her into his arms, he whispered into her ear, "Come with me and all shall be revealed."

With his prize in his arms, Kazama walked back towards the courtyard, where Sannan and Harada were fighting Amagiri and Shiranui respectively. "Oi, do you have to be so rough?" Shiranui asked Kazama when he saw Chizuru unconscious in Kazama's arms, knowing full well that he was the culprit.

"There is no more reason for her to remain here," Kazama answered. "Come, it is time for us to leave."

Hijikata would not stand for it and immediately delivered a thrust aimed towards Kazama's neck, an attack easily avoided due to Kazama's agility as a highly-abled Oni warrior, even if he was carrying Chizuru. Again and again, Hijikata failed to find and opening, and in the end, Kazama decided to put Chizuru down onto the ground to properly face him.

"You Oni are an interesting bunch of bastards," Hijikata said confidently, clearly confirming that Sen-hime had indeed warned the Shinsen-Gumi that Kazama had designs on Chizuru beforehand. "You dare to attack our home so easily… do honestly think that I would tolerate any more of your nonsense?"

Harrumphing as he lazily parried Hijikata's attacks, Kazama explained, "Yukimura Chizuru's worth can only be discovered if she comes with me." The flare of Hijikata's Ki, the increasing desperation of his movements only made Kazama realized just how unwilling this man was to let Chizuru go. If he had given his heart to her, Hijikata had not made any mention of it, which meant that was a chance that Chizuru could be his, Kazama thought. He did not know whether he should thank the human for his foolishness or not.

"Tell it to Enma in the netherworld," Hijikata hissed. "I will never surrender her to the likes of you!" It was a proclamation made not only to fall upon Kazama's ears. It was meant for to be heard by the whole world. "She is a ward of the Shinsen-Gumi, and you will not take her away under our watch!"

As the seconds passed, Kazama realized more and more that Hijikata was a fool when it came to his own heart, an advantage to him that should not have existed at all. If Chizuru knew what he had known, if she chose to stay under those circumstances, he would leave her be willingly. Thankfully, the circumstances were in his favor. He still had a chance…

"Nor will I allow her to be surrounded by such meaningless fakes!" Kazama hissed, raising his katana high and changing his target. Instead of Hijikata, he leapt high into the air, moving towards Sannan instead. The Rasetsu had no chance of defending himself against the leader of the Oni in the west of Japan, and was soon beaten to the ground. When the dust had settled, Kazama pointed his katana downwards, ready for the kill.

"Sannan-san!" Hijikata shouted, running towards the Rasetsu, but was hit back by Kazama before he even knew it. Rolling backwards, he lost hold of his own katana and struggled to stand. When he could, he realized that Kazama was already inches in front of him. However, he could feel a strange warmth surrounding him, somehow stopping Kazama in his tracks.

"Stop!" Chizuru shouted, clearly awake. Brandishing her wakizashi, she came between Hijikata and Kazama, not knowing the outcomes that her actions would cause.

Hijikata put his arms around her defensively. "Oi baka!" he scolded her. "Do not rush into things you have no business with!" She did not move, but neither did he.

Nevertheless, Kazama walked towards her. Instead of raising his katana to her, he raised his hand, facing his palm downwards. It was an invitation. As he had done at the Ikedaya, he engulfed both of them in a dazzling bubble of many-colored lights, causing their hair to turn white and their eyes amber in color, even as Hijikata held onto her with dear life. "Your father named you after a thousand cranes because he wished to see you free and happy," Kazama told Chizuru. Naturally, she would not know if he was talking about Chizo, but it mattered not now. "You were born in the mountains of the Tohoku region, in the stronghold that was the Yukimura manor, where meadows green ran wide, nourished by sparkling rivers."

Chizuru gasped at those words, her hands flying to cover her mouth as if she was trying to stifle a cry. Could she have remembered anything at that moment? No one could have known Hijikata looked at her, and so did the other peasants posing as wolves. She did not make a sound, but she no longer seemed to resist Kazama's words at all.

"Chizuru!" Nagakura called towards her, but Kazama gave no notice to him.

"Take my hand and I will tell you all that you want to know," Kazama pressed on. "These peasants cannot give you what your heart truly seeks… A family and a home. You have searched for it here in the capital, finding nothing, have you not?" He seemed to have hit where he should have hit a long time ago. He had long suspected that she would be in search for Koudou, the only other remaining Yukimura, but with Koudou now siding with Choushu, the chances of her seeing her last remaining relative were fewer by the moment.

"Don't, Chizuru…" Hijikata murmured when she inched forwards towards Kazama. When she broke free of him, he could only stand and watch. "Chizuru!"

Chizuru steeled herself. Knowing that her heart would break if she looked back, she told Kazama, "If it's me you want, it's me you'll have." Regarding Kazama with the ferocity that she would one day be in utter control of, she sheathed the Shoutsuuren. "Please… spare Hijikata-san and the others. Spare the Shinsen-Gumi."

"Chizuru, you're staying with us!" Harada shouted, trying to convince her to stay. However, Kazama knew, just by looking into those large, honey-colored eyes of hers, that she had already made up her mind.

When the tips of her fingers touched that of his, Kazama clasped her hand in his. "Very well then," he said and sheathed his katana as well, calling off the attack. "You may say your goodbyes."

Knowing that it might be the last time she would see them in her life, Chizuru turned towards Hijikata, Nagakura, Harada and Sannan, giving them all a deep bow of thanks. "Arigatou. I can't be a burden to all of you anymore," she told them. "You've been so kind to me… all of you… It's the only thing I can do to repay you."

Having said thus, she turned towards Kazama and nodded. Amagiri and Shiranui walked towards the broken gate of the Nishi Hongan-Ji, with her closely behind them. Kazama was the last to leave, knowing that he had at least succeeded in half of his great duties in the capital.

They of the Shinsen-Gumi were still calling after Chizuru even when they had already stepped out of the temple. Chizuru had been so… fatigued by her separation from her former protectors that she fainted into his arms. Wordlessly carrying her, Kazama and Amagiri started to walk towards their lodgings for the night. For him, at least the journey towards realizing his promise to Yukimura Chizo had ended. He had at least managed to keep her safe, far away from the fire and fight that would finally tear their nation into a state of civil war.

Now that the journey to find and retrieve her was over, his quest to win her heart and wed her had begun.

HAN: HEH HEH HEH, did you see what I did with that last sentence? Yes, dear readers, this is the end of this fic. I spent days and days wondering how to write this, and finally, it came through. It was quite the challenge, writing an entire story on Kazama and the Oni, mainly because there's just so little material about them, even with what could be derived from Toki No Kizuna. I know that many of you were expecting some lovey-dovey scenes between Chizuru and Kazama, but I would think that at this point of Hakuouki, Chizuru could have seen Kazama as a threat to the Shinsen-Gumi because he was always on the opposite side of the chessboard. I also decided to make it a point to reiterate time and again that Kazama was so adamant in marrying Chizuru because it was what he promised her father to do. If it were just a normal contract, and Chizuru was once thought to be dead, he would not have been so keen on marrying her. There had got to be some reason, other than the fact that she was a pure-blooded female Oni with an influential surname that was the sole reason why Kazama kept pursuing Chizuru, as well as wanting to make the Shinsen-Gumi look like fools, especially since he kept going on and on about Oni keeping their promises. As for this chapter itself, I did base it on most of Episode 9 of the anime, with a bit of action from Kyoto Ranbu. I also felt that it was important for Kazama to somehow... convince Chizuru to follow him, not only because he used the Shinsen-Gumi as leverage, so I decided to add something about her wanting to know about her family, especially since Sen-hime forbade him to take her away by force.

[Note: If you guys have not yet read "The Quest", you can do so now! Let's see, I have a few great battle scenes, some mushy Hijikata pining for Chizuru and vice versa scenes, more Kazama awesomeness, and a little ruby-eyed surprise at the end! So please do check it out if you want to know what happened after Chizuru took Kazama's hand! As an added bonus, it's an AU so none of the Shinsen-Gumi boys die, yay! It's quite a shameless plug, but you know, this was the prequel so it would make excellent sense to give you people a little teaser, heh heh.]

Arysen: Well, the real romance would always be in the Quest because it's how Kazama manages to win her over. It would be... kinda nonsensical to have any form of romantic interaction between the two now because Chizuru'd still be deathly afraid of Kazama after what she's seen him do, heh heh. Thanks for loving this one as much as the last!

CloudCarnivore: Too bad that Kaoru is not pleased at all to meet him! Thanks for sticking around, and I do hope that you check out the Quest if you have the time!