Author's Note:

This story contains three main OCs, and frequently changes POVs between the three of them.

This chapter is from Sae's POV.

I don't own Hakuoki or any of its characters.

Reviews and criticisms and welcome and appreciated!

Chapter 1: Savior

THWOK!

The soothing sound of the arrow piercing its target reverberated over the grounds, causing a flock of starlings to scatter to the sky. Her aim was off today- she had only managed to hit the outer circle, just nearly preventing herself from missing the target completely. She plucked another arrow from its cloth casing and drew back the bowstring, her right arm trembling. Minding the careful positioning of her feet and back, she let out a slow breath and allowed the string to soar from her grasp, sending the arrow flying. This time it found its home in the area just above the center of the target.

Sae Tsukishima lifted her head in satisfaction. Though archery was a skill she'd been honing since childhood, she had begun to see signs of progress now that she had acquired the patience to find solace in the sport.

She reached for another arrow, the tips of her fingers gliding over the soft feather lining, when the sound of her father's disgruntled voice echoed from the front entrance of her house. Her hand froze and she tilted her head, straining to make out words. Kei Tsukishima- her father as well as the head of the Tsukishima demon clan- was definitely perturbed by something, though she failed to decipher his troubled rumblings. Abandoning the bow and arrows to the grass, she trekked across the small field to the back entrance of the house, stealthily sliding open the thin door and leaning her head beside the narrow opening.

"No, I'm sorry," she heard, her father's voice desperate now. "Please leave."

Sae pushed the door aside a bit more, hastily squeezing herself through the gap. Though she couldn't see the entrance from here- such spacious living quarters allowed the two entrances to be a couple rooms apart- there was no doubt that it must be another suitor. She sidled up to the wall of the room adjacent to the entrance, straining to catch just a snippet of the conversation. Being one of the few known pureblood female demons inevitably earned her several suitors, despite still being prohibited to pursue any one of them. Eighteen years of age was by far enough to warrant a consideration, but her parents seemed to have other plans in mind. These plans seemed to involve driving away any potential future husband.

It did nothing to stop her curiosity. Many times, just like today, she would listen for the sound of the male demon's voice, and took joy in imagining a face fit to match it.

Today she was far too late. The only sound Sae managed to hear was the front doors sliding shut with a snap.

"Perhaps we might have been able to help . . ." Her mother's gentle voice was barely audible, even through the paper doors.

"It's not wise to associate with rogue demons." her father said, his stern tone indicating that the discussion was clearly over. "It'll be fine."

Sae frowned. This didn't sound like the typical visitor. Donning a nonchalant expression, she slid open the door to join her parents in the front room, announcing her presence with a casual sigh. "Another one?"

Her father blinked, and her mother seemed to be caught off guard. After a second of stunned silence, she composed herself. "Yes, of course. They come in droves, don't they?" Rina Tsukishima forced a smile. It was slightly frightening how well her mother was able to blatantly lie- if she hadn't allowed herself time to recover, Sae might have believed it.

"So . . ." Sae trailed her mother to the kitchen, her socks sliding slightly on the polished wooden floor. "Mother, if I may so boldly ask, what was this one like?"

Without even a backward glance, her mother returned to chopping vegetables. A stray hair had worked its way out of her tightly wrapped bun, and now swayed with every chop, the dark shade of brown so similar to her own. "What was he like? The usual. Why do you ask?" Her tone was dangerous- any further prodding would already result in verbal admonishment.

Sae gulped, debating on whether or not to push on. She knew their evening visitor was not one of their regulars- neglecting to ask now would likely result in curiosity eating away at her throughout the night. "I'm merely inquiring as to-"

"Sae. Pick up your archery equipment." Her father swooped in to save his wife further exasperation. Sae's jaw snapped shut, and she turned on her heels to head back outside. Disobeying her father would only result in misfortune- answers to her questions were not worth the risk by far.

The sun was just beginning its descent as she slipped on her sandals and stepped outside, the song of the crickets growing louder by the minute. Grass crunched beneath her feet, and she scooped up her bow and arrow case on the way to the target, letting them dangle from her shoulder. She yanked one arrow out of the target and slid it back among the others, the thin material allowing little resistance. Gripping the other arrow with a clenched fist, she had only just started to pull when a sudden noise forced her to a halt.

Someone was nearby. The unmistakable sound of labored breathing was coming from beside the trunk of a tall tree, the encroaching darkness offering the stranger protection from her prying eyes. Sae squinted, her body frozen in fear, and she began to make out a silhouette as her eyes adjusted to the imminent night sky. The unknown figure was so small that they could have easily been anything- it was the breathing that alarmed her.

Sae turned, quietly twisting the nearly forgotten arrow from its target, and held it tightly in her dominant hand, her bow gripped within her left. She considered simply going back inside- on any other day, this would be her usual course of action. But her parents' previous conversation concerned her. From the tidbits that she'd overheard, their recent visitor was a "rogue demon" who "perhaps needed their help". It was unlikely that the appearance of this stranger was merely a coincidence.

It looked like she might be getting her answers after all.

Step by step, she walked toward the crouched figure, raising her quaking arm to hold the bow vertically in front of her. By the time she was within a few feet of the stranger, her bowstring was pulled taut, an arrow aimed toward the unknown person's chest. It was no wonder the figure was barely visible- being clothed in black from head to toe created perfect camouflage for the night shadows. Only a pair of piercing red eyes peeked out from the black cloth covering the head.

Sae was scarcely able to draw breath before the stranger spoke.

"Just let me stay for a few more minutes." The fierce whisper clearly belonged to a female- Sae nearly dropped her weapon upon hearing it. The voice was pleading. "I . . . just need to hide."

It was then that Sae noticed the girl was clutching one small hand closely to her stomach- her dark clothes concealed any growing stain, but her pale hands were unable to hide the red liquid pouring from her wound. Blood.

Now the bow and arrows were on the ground. "A-aaah!" Sae cried, involuntarily taking several steps back. She turned away from the sight, her body cringing. "I'll go fetch some bandages!"

She offered to help as an excuse to get away more than anything- one more glimpse of the sticky red substance would send her reeling. Nevertheless, distance did little to stifle her urge to find bandages. She had no idea how long the girl had been bleeding- at this point, whether or not she decided to help her could make the difference between living or dying.

Sae sprinted back into the house, her urgency causing her shoes to remain on her feet despite being indoors, and tore open the living room closet. She rummaged among the family's belongings, pushing aside several blankets and other miscellaneous household objects. Her parents' calm voices drifted from the other side of the house- she sighed in relief. They were still in the kitchen.

Her hand finally landed on the smooth fabric of bandages, and she shoved it gratefully inside of her kimono sleeve, feeling the weight of it as it dropped to the bottom. She darted back outside, her wooden sandals scratching on the tatami mats, and nearly tripped over herself when she saw what was in front of her.

The black-clad girl was a blur of motion now, the glimmer of light reflecting from her katana being the only indication of her movement. There was another stranger added to her predicament- a dark-haired male with no discernable features, recklessly slashing away at the injured girl with a sword of his own. Despite the rather large gash in her stomach, the female fighter managed to dodge all of his swings, before quickly maneuvering behind him and bringing the edge of her weapon to her opponent's bare neck.

"S-stop-" Sae gasped, and for a moment air was a foreign substance- she felt as though she were breathing it in quite a bit, yet not a single breath seemed to do any good. It was all happening far too fast, without a second to spare for comprehension.

The sharp blade glided over the man's neck, his skin seemingly as thin as silk, and blood gushed from the cut and down the front of his chest like a small crimson waterfall. His pupils craned upward to the rising moon before retreating back into his skull, and the gurgling only stopped when the girl released him from her grasp, letting his face collide with the dirt.

No words would come to her- Sae could only stare at the lifeless form on the ground, her mouth perpetually open in silent shock. At some point her legs had given out, and she was kneeling in the grass, the sleeves of her indigo kimono fanned out on either side of her.

"Sorry . . ." The girl said, slightly swaying to and fro. Her voice was so weak that it could be mistaken for the wind on the trees. ". . . had a job to do . . ."

With that the girl collapsed, the light leaving her pale red eyes.

lllllllllllll

The morning sun wormed its way into the small cracks between doors, its light gradually pushing up Sae's eyelids bit by bit. It was daylight again, though the day had been slow to come- the night before seemed to have lasted three full days, with each beginning with waking up and checking on the slumbering assassin by her side. Several times she believed the girl to be dead, but was proven wrong each time upon hearing the faint heartbeat in her chest. These occurrences would relieve her enough to return to sleep, but not without a fitful rest.

Pushing herself up to a sitting position, Sae scooted over to the small girl, finding comfort in the small rise and fall of her chest. She seemed to be recovering, though she had no way to tell when the stranger would wake up- she had bet everything on this occurrence happening soon, so as to avoid alerting her parents to her secret visitor. Her mother and father's habit of barging into her room unannounced had luckily seemed to take a reprieve the night before, and she had managed to keep the girl undetected in her room since then.

Sae watched the unconscious stranger for a few more moments, staring in bewilderment once again at the girl's small stature. It was difficult to believe that such a tiny girl could so easily put down an adult male- especially while suffering from an injury. She wondered- perhaps for the hundredth time- if she had made a mistake in deciding to shelter her. She knew nothing about her and could very well declare murder as her hobby. Yet she was simply so frail. Perhaps it was due to this newcomer being the only fellow female that Sae had ever met besides her mother, but she felt the need to stand by her side.

Her eyes wandered to the dark cloth wrapped around the top of the girl's head, concealing her hair. She had been forced to remove the fabric covering her nose and mouth so as to provide ample room to breathe, but every other part of her remained untouched. Now Sae's hand drifted toward the cloth, securing it between the tips of two fingers and lifting it up only an inch.

It was a sight that caused her heart to stop for a moment, her arm frozen in place. She blinked several times but the result was always the same.

The girl's hair was the color of the sun. The texture seemed fluffy and soft, like the fur of an animal, though Sae couldn't confirm this herself- it was only a second after her hair was revealed that the girl's eyes flickered open.

"Oh!" Sae's hand shot back to her side as if the stranger's hair was made of flames. She opened her mouth to apologize but no words would come- though she doubted the girl paid her any mind. She sat up with such intense speed that Sae was surprised the movement didn't cause her wound to ache.

"Where am I?" she asked, her gaze skittering desperately over every part of her surroundings in search of a clue. Her voice, although still light, almost seemed loud in comparison with the quiet morning air.

"You're in my room." Sae replied, keeping her voice to a whisper. It was unlikely that her parents were awake yet- she hoped it would remain this way. She leaned in close to peer into the girl's eyes, hoping her expression was a gentle one. "You fainted."

This caused her new acquaintance to stop short, her dilated pupils staring back at her in shock. "Did you save me?"

Sae nodded. It was no easy task- any prolonged period of time in the presence of blood made her nauseous, and she was forced to take so many breaks to recover that she was surprised she had been any help to the girl at all. The bandages seemed to do very little to stop the flow, though she seemed to heal up just fine in any case- any blood still remaining on the bandages had long dried by now.

As if reading her mind, the girl's hands wandered to the bandages wrapped sloppily around her waist, hastily beginning to unravel the stained material from her body.

"Wait just a moment-!" Sae begged, the repulsive memories from last night threatening to rise to her conscious once again. She didn't know how much progress the injury had made overnight- she didn't dare reveal the laceration once it was safely concealed from her view.

The bandages fell from the girl's stomach, unveiling a thin dark line just under her navel. Torn black cloth around her waist was the only sign of a fight. The resilient body of a demon had worked its magic once again- the grievous wound from the night before had almost disappeared completely.

"Oh, good." Sae said in relief, a hand to her chest. "You're-"

"You can't tell anyone." The girl turned a fierce glare on Sae, her red eyes sparkling with menace. Her voice was no more than a whisper, but it was as threatening as if she had screamed it.

Her words caught in her throat, Sae gulped. She had no idea what she was ordered not to tell- That she killed someone? That she got injured? That she was here?- nor did she care. No matter what it was, she wouldn't say a word. After all, her neck was on the line as well- nobody could know she secretly housed and aided an injured murderer. "I won't tell a soul."

Seemingly satisfied, the girl looked away, her gaze shifting to her unsheathed katana laying at her side. The blade was dyed red with death, and it took Sae holding it by the handle with two fingers to transport it into her room. The sheathe lay beside it.

"If I may ask . . ." Sae began carefully, interrupting the brief period of silence. The girl turned to make eye contact, blinking herself out of deep thought. "What clan are you from?"

The length of silence only stretched longer. The girl only stared at her blankly, a bit of her golden hair still poking out from underneath the dark garment adorning her head.

" . . . or perhaps you're of the Nagumo clan?" Sae continued, treading even more carefully. She had almost forgotten that she could be a rogue demon- she could either have been banished from any clan, or she could be of Nagumo origin, in which every single member is classified as a rogue. She hoped this wasn't the case. Nagumo had a terrible reputation, though she couldn't verify if any of the rumors were true.

". . . clan?" The girl finally spoke, her eyes narrowing in confusion.

"Yes, your clan. Your demon clan." Sae said patiently. The girl's eyes widened, and she examined her own hands in thought. Sae waited for a few moments before pushing on. Her words almost seemed to be making the girl uncomfortable- or strangely enough, confused. "Or perhaps you'd rather not say. That's quite all right." She shifted to sitting on her knees before giving a polite bow. "I'm Sae Tsukishima, of the Tsukishima clan. It's nice to meet you."

"You're a demon too?" The girl asked, her eyes growing to an even larger size.

Sae frowned. Now she was puzzled. "Why of course. Don't you know?" she smiled, lifting her hands to gesture to the area around her. "You're still on demon land."

The assassin blinked several times in shock, before abruptly seeming to shake it off. She bended into a bow, though hers extended much lower than her own. "I'm Satomi Sayashi. I owe you a great debt for saving my life."

"Oh, it was no trouble at all!" Sae assured her, though she actually had gone through quite a bit of trouble within the past night. She nervously looked behind her to the back entrance, where the previous day's events occurred. "Though if you'd like to repay me, you can start by disposing of your . . . kill outside. You see, I'd be in an enormous predicament if anyone were to find-"

Satomi was up and out of the door in a millisecond, her form disappearing outside before Sae could even complete her request. She stifled a laugh- the girl was a fast worker.

She spent her time waiting for Satomi's return by pondering over the last few minutes. "Sayashi?" she thought, tapping one fingernail idly on the tip of her chin. No such clan existed- that much was obvious. However, there was no question that she was a demon. The speed of her recovery from such a large wound rivaled even that of her own. That only left the possibility that she was lying about her last name. The only question left was why.

Footsteps padded down the hall to her room, and Sae threw herself over the futon to brush the bloodied katana and sheathe under the blankets, the metal clanging against each other. The door slid open just as she straightened up again, forcing herself to maintain a composed manner.

Her father's expression was uncharacteristically nervous, with a touch of pure bafflement. The look on his face was so unlike him that Sae almost wondered if he somehow knew about the happenings of the night before, or if she'd left some incriminating evidence lying around her room somewhere.

"Sae. There's . . . someone here to see you." he said, before quickly turning away and returning to the front room, his pace unnaturally swift.

Her heart pounded in her chest. "Someone here to see me?" Sae thought, standing up and frantically patting down the wrinkles from last night's kimono, grateful that she was far too worried about Satomi to bother undressing. Flecks of blood littered some areas of the fabric, though they were barely noticeable and could be mistaken for part of the design- she hoped. She combed her fingers through her hair, grabbing the nearest tie she could find and tying up the back of her hair near the bottom in her typical style. "Why now?!"

There was only one reason why anyone would come to see her whilst her dad looked so utterly petrified- her parents were finally letting her see a suitor. Her heart hammered even harder, and she cursed the fact that last night had caused her so little sleep- she could only imagine what she looked like.

Sae entered the hallway, shutting her bedroom doors tightly behind her. She prayed that Satomi would stay hidden upon returning from her task. Taking a deep breath, she headed toward the front room, lifting her head high in false confidence.

Through the opening from the hallway, only her parents were visible at first. Her father was sitting up straight in perfect posture, his mood stiff. Her mother was setting down five steaming cups of tea, avoiding eye contact from any direction. It became more and more difficult to control her breathing as Sae neared the room.

The person sitting near her parents was not the person she was expecting to see.

"Princess Sen?!" Sae scrambled to the ground, pressing herself to the floor in a deep bow.

The princess's giggle was like a lullaby. "There's no need for that!" she laughed, her manner of speech indicating she was already a good friend- though this was the first time Sae had ever seen her in person. Sae lifted herself to a sitting position, though she still couldn't manage to look the princess in the eye. "In fact, I should be bowing to you! You see, I actually have a huge favor to ask of you, Sae Tsukishima!"