Hey everybody! Sorry I took so long to post another chapter! I ran into a nasty bit of writers block. The beginning of this chapter was brutal for me to write! And then the ending! The middle part was easy though, wrote the main body of the chapter in a day. Sorry if the beginning is awkward, like I said I struggled with it. This may or may not be the last chapter for The Effect. Since Kaiya was not apart of the battle that makes it is the official end of what was technically the first season. I may make a second story or add the second season to the end of this story...we'll see. I may also just move on to another story for now and maybe one day start the second part later on...I know that would be terrible to all of you! One of the options for new stories are either a story with Sanosuke or Souji as the love interest or Mass Effect Epilogue...with my own spin to the story. Let me know what you think!

Anyways without any further adieu!

Kaiya stood by Souji's door and fidgeted nervously. Hajime had been unable to find Souji and after some asking around, had found out that Souji had gone off with Hijikata and some men from his unit to take care of some business. Kaiya had a feeling that Hajime knew exactly what they had been doing but in light of recent events, she thought it wise not to ask. Apparently he would be back late in the evening. Hajime had offered to see if he could talk to Souji when he got back but Kaiya told him to wait until the next day, she'd see if she could set up a meeting with him for lunch so that both Hajime and Kaiya would be there when he told Souji.

Now Kaiya stood in front of Souji's door with hand raised ready to knock. She had heard him enter his room just a few moments earlier and could now see some light coming from his room, so she knew he was in there. Kaiya took a deep breath to settle herself down and finally knocked on his door. Souji opened the door almost immediately with a big teethy smile on his face.

"You took a long time to knock." He said with that cheeky grin on his face.

Kaiya's brain froze for a moment, suddenly panicked that he already knew. "…I thought you might be a sleep already. I was debating whether I should wake you up."

Souji stepped back and indicated that she could step inside. As she stepped inside he said, "Well I'm a wake. What's up?"

Kaiya remained by the door instead of sitting down, like she typically did. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out for lunch with me tomorrow?" She asked.

"Tomorrow? Sure, why not. Will anyone else be joining us?" Souji finally asked.

"Well, I was going to invite Hajime-kun too if that's okay!" Kaiya replied, trying to not raise any flags yet.

"I guess, I don't see why not. Is there a particular reason for this sudden…lunch?" He eyed her carefully.

"No…" Kaiya started.

"So there is." Souji said with a smirk as he continued to study her. "Don't lie to me cousin, I'm good at reading people and you are a horrible liar."

"Oh come on, Souji! Give me a break, it's nothing bad!" Kaiya pleaded.

"Are you pregnant?" Souji asked almost too casually.

"No!" Kaiya exclaimed.

"Did Hajime-kun propose finally?" He asked and when Kaiya didn't respond immediately, he smiled again. "Nailed it!"

"Souji! I didn't say that!" Kaiya said feebly trying to defend herself.

"Like I said, you're a terrible liar." Souji stepped closer and hugged Kaiya. "I'm happy for you Kai!" As he pulled away he kissed her on the cheek. "Aren't you glad Hajime-kun and I found you in your little town and rejected that Haru character?"

"It would have been better if Hajime hadn't nearly got himself killed." Kaiya replied.

"Good thing he was in the good graces of the local hot doctor." Souji said smirking.

A month later, Kaiya and Hajime got married. Kondou made it out to be a big thing, using it as an excuse for pretty much the whole body of Shinsengumi to celebrate. He said it would be good for the spirit of the Shinsengumi, giving something to celebrate in a time of conflict. Sanosuke had joked that the Shinsengumi were more likely to mourn, for Kaiya was being taken off the market.

When Hajime and Kaiya told their friends they erupted into a round of jubilant congratulations and they all gave Kaiya a hug and Hajime a slap on the back. None of them seemed all that surprised, apparently most of them thought that things had been going on between Hajime and Kaiya longer than they actually had.

The next day, after a belated start, they were back to business. The situation in Kyoto and across the country was dire. With Itou gone, his faction was in disarray but frothing for blood and with the Satsuma joining forces with the Choshu, it further complicated things.

The Shinsengumi were once again preparing for full out battle. Kaiya stocked up on as many supplies as she could find, teaching Yamazaki as many complicated procedures as she could and most nights she continued her research on the anti-serum. Kaiya found it comforting to return to her room every night and have the man she loved to curl up with at the end of a long night.

One particularly cold and snowy day Hijikata and Kaiya were strolling towards the clinic but were stopped by the sight of Kondou and Souji sitting together in Souji's room. Souji had his blade across his lap like he had been sharpening it and Kondou's black haori draped over Souji's shoulders. Souji was laughing heartily and Kondou was looking at Souji confused but after a moment he joined him in laughing.

"Kondou-san. We have to leave soon." Hijikata said as he looked at the scene before him.

Kondou looked up at the two of them. "Yeah." He responded then turned back to Souji. Kaiya and Hijikata looked at each other and smiled than continued on their journey to the clinic.

Once at the clinic, they were met with two fully outfitted men. Hijikata nodded at them, "Once Kondou-san gets here, you are to accompany him on his journey. Protect his life with your life."

"Yessir!" They said in unison.

Kaiya looked at the guards in concern as she handed Hijikata the bag of supplies she packed for Kondou's journey. "Just two." She asked.

Hijikata sighed, letting his frustration show. "Yeah, I want to send more but Kondou-san insists that two is more than enough. He says they are more useful here. I've tried to reason with him but..."

"I'd like to see that someday, the battle of two iron wills." Kaiya laughed. "I don't think most people realize how stubborn Kondou-san really is."

Hijikata smirked. "Return to your duties, Kaiya-chan."

Kaiya returned the smirk then moved back into the clinic. Several hours later Souji walked into the clinic as the sun began to set, Kondou's haori still over his own clothing.

Kaiya laughed when she saw him. "That's cute."

"What's cute?" Souji asked frowning.

Kaiya shook her head. "No nothing, never mind. What did you need Souji? Or did you just come to visit?"

"I could say that I came to visit but I'd be lying. It's this weather." Souji said as he rubbed his chest. "My chest has been feeling tight and it's making it hard for me to breathe."

Kaiya frowned as she motioned him to sit down beside her. When he did, Kaiya put her ear to his chest to listen. She couldn't hear anything different from what she had heard in recent weeks but as she touched his chest, it was ice cold. With a sigh she got to her feet and retrieved a jar of ointment.

"You really should be dressing warmer for this time of the year. The muscles around your chest are tight because your body is cold, you twit." She grumbled as she once again sat down beside him.

Souji gave her a rueful smile. "Maybe you're right, at least for colder days like today. When Kondou-san put his haori on my shoulders, I started breathing better once my body started warming up." Souji paused as he looked at the ointment she had started to put on his now bared chest.

"That not the normal stuff you use." Souji said as he grabbed the jar from her and sniffed it.

"That's because it's not." Kaiya said as she snatched the jar back. "The other stuff helps loosen up your muscle so you can breathe, this will help warm your body so your muscles can relax by themselves which will help you breath."

"Sensei! Sensei!" Came a loud shout followed by one of the guards who was to accompany Kondou.

Kaiya was on her feet fetching her surgery kit before the man even said another word. The guard doubled over to catch his breath, hands covered in blood.

"Kondou-san…he's been shot!" The man exclaimed once he'd caught his breath.

Souji shot to his feet. "What!?"

Kaiya grabbed the man by the arm and started walking quickly towards the door. "Where is he?"

"This way!" The guard took off running followed by Kaiya and Souji, hot on his heels.

When they arrived in the room where Kondou lay, they found Yamazaki bent over him with a red hot piece of metal, ready to cauterize and Hajime and Sanosuke holding Kondou's shoulders down.

"Wait!" Kaiya called.

"He's going to bleed out." Yamazaki said with a frown.

"Is there still a bullet inside him?" Kaiya asked as she knelt down beside Yamazaki. She gave the wound a quick inspection while she checked his pulse and breathing.

"I don't know, there was no exit wound that I can see." Yamazaki responded as he looked at her questioningly. She knew she was hurting his feeling by questioning his judgement but she had to be sure.

"We have to make sure." Kaiya said. "Roll him over onto his side."

Sanosuke pulled while Hajime pushed and Yamazaki supported his head. When Kondou was on his side Kaiya took a lamp and closely inspected his back.

"Okay roll him back onto his back." She said once she was done. "No exit wound so the bullet is still in there and I need to get it out."

"Normally I don't question your judgements, Kaiya-chan, you're infinitely more experienced than me but Kondou-san is bleeding out! His heart is going to fail!" Yamazaki explained.

"And if we don't remove the bullet it could still cause more damage." She countered as she continued to work on him. "If it's still intact, it will poison his blood and if it's shattered it pieces could travel to his heart and put a whole in it, even if we do stop the bleeding. His heart is beating strongly right now and he's stubborn man, he can hold out long enough for me to fix this." By this time she had already opened up her surgery kit and was cutting into the bullet wound to make it wider.

Hajime helpfully held the lantern over the wound so she could better see what she was doing as Yamazaki walked over to where Hijikata was speaking to the guards. After a brief conversation the room became deadly quiet as Kaiya quickly worked to remove the bullet. Luckily the bullet had been intact so once she found it and removed it, she fixed the damage the bullet had made and stitched him up. Kaiya got up, leaving Chizuru to bandage Kondou up and went over to where Hijikata, Souji and the others sat waiting.

"Well," She started. "He's far from out of the woods but I believe I managed to fix the damage quick enough. Kondou-san is a fighter if anybody can pull through, it's him."

"Good job, Kaiya-chan, as always. And to you as well Yamazaki." Hijikata looked over at Sanosuke and Hajime. "Go find a stretcher and bring Kondou-san to his own rooms, I'm sure he'll be more comfortable there."

Hajime and Sanosuke got quickly to their feet and left as Souji followed Kaiya back to Kondou's side. Souji sat down beside Kondou and, for a moment, looked like a scared little kid as he stared down at him. Most of the time Kaiya forgot that he was barely in his twenties and a couple years younger than she.

When the moment passed, anger emerged and he stood up suddenly and left the room. Kaiya watched him leave worriedly than looked over at Hijikata.

"I hope he doesn't do something stupid." She said to him.

Hijikata frowned severely. "He better not."

Chizuru got to her feet. "Kaiya-chan, I'm going to get some fresh water." She said as she walked to the door.

Kaiya got to her feet also. "I'll help you." She said as she followed Chizuru out of the door.

The two of them walked in silence as they walked to the well, both carrying a deep bowl. Kaiya was the first to reach the well so she tossed the well's bucket in and hoisted it back up and dumped the first bucket into Chizuru's bowl, only managing to fil it half way.

Chizuru stared into the bowl sadly as Kaiya tossed the bucket back the well. Finally she looked up at Kaiya. "Is Kondou-san going to be okay?" She asked.

"It's hard at this point to say for certain." Kaiya started. "But like I said before, he's a strong and a stubborn man, if anyone can make it through this he can."

She was quiet again as Kaiya dumped another bucket of water into her bowl but looked up again asked. "What will we do if he dies? He's the Commander, our leader!"

"The Shinsengumi will continue but under Hijikata-kun. For the most part things would probably stay the same but there definitely would be a whole left behind and unfortunately, several men may well leave." Kaiya said sadly.

"Why wo…?" Chizuru started but then frowned as she started into the shadows behind Kaiya. "Okita-san? I'm pretty sure I just saw him run by."

Kaiya turned around and frowned at the shadow. "Souji?" Just then several gun shots went off, causing both women to flinch.

Chizuru put her bowl of water down then took off running towards the wall. Kaiya balanced the bucket on the side of the well and followed after her. Just as Chizuru rounded the corner, Sannan suddenly appeared causing her to nearly run into him.

"Please calm yourselves." He said to them as he put a hand out to steady Chizuru. "They're just trying to rile us up."

"Okita-san just took off on his own." She said as she looked over her shoulder.

"Are you certain you saw him?" Kaiya asked.

Chizuru didn't answer she just turned and ran off again. Kaiya reached for Sannan's belt and pulled out his wakizashi*.

"Sorry I'm going to borrow this." Then took off running after Chizuru before he could respond.

The two of them ran to the gate, exited then followed outside of the walls to where they had heard the gunshots come from. At first when they arrived they had found nothing but when they looked up the street, leading away from the wall, they saw two forms with their blades crossed. Kaiya and Chizuru started running up the street at full speed to assist.

"Okita-san!" Chizuru called as one of the figures jumped into the air and disappeared.

As they got closer Kaiya could see that it was indeed Souji. She called his name also and he appeared to relax his stance. As they closer Kaiya could see several dead bodies around Souji's feet. She saw Souji look up and to his right then look back at them.

"Look out!" She heard Souji shout and then took off running in their direction.

Kaiya stopped but Chizuru didn't, so she started running even faster than before to catch up with her and grabbed her arm to pull her to a stop. But it was a moment to late as two shots rang out. Kaiya instantly looked at Chizuru but saw no bullet holes then looked over to the direction that the shots had come from, only to see Souji blocking the path to a back alley.

"Shit! Let's go!" She heard someone yell on the other side of Souji.

Kaiya rushed forward as Souji swayed then fell to his knees. She caught him just as he fell backwards and the two of them fell to the ground together. Kaiya struggled to sit up and with Chizuru's help, managed to move his head to her lap. He was dressed in full uniform, obviously wanting to make a statement when he slew the men who shot Kondou.

"Okita-san, why?" Chizuru asked as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"He wanted get revenge for what they did to Kondou-san. Kondou-san is basically Souji's father and Souji protects his family with everything he's got. Now help me get him back to the compound, I now have two critical patients." Kaiya said as she grabbed his upper arm and forcing down the fear and panic that wanted to suffocate her.

Together they managed to get Souji to his feet, put an arm over each of their shoulders and dragged him back to the compound. Instead of dragging him to the clinic they brought him to Kondou's rooms so that she could look in on both of them. When they arrived Kaiya knocked on the door and Hijikata threw the door open with angry look on his face and mouth open like he was about to scold them but his face instantly turned to one of worry as his gaze fell on Souji so he just stepped aside and let them in.

Hijikata and Yamazaki took Souji from them and then Chizuru took off as they laid Souji on the floor. Yamazaki handed Kaiya her surgery kit and Kaiya handed Hijikata Sannan's Wakizashi, he looked at her quizzically.

"I borrowed it from Sannan-san when we noticed Souji leave. We happened into him on our way out." She said as she tried to keep herself calm as she looked Souji over.

Kaiya quickly removed the bullets from Souji's torso repaired the damage done. She had just put the second one on the plate as Sannan entered the room and went instantly to her side. He frowned down at Souji.

"Is he going to be alright?" He asked.

Kaiya looked down at Souji than up again at Sannan. "It doesn't seem like the bullets hit anything important." Kaiya stated.

"Vice commander, look at those bullets." Yamazaki said as he handed the plate up to Sannan.

"That is certainly not lead. Is that silver?" Sannan asked as he looked at them. "Why would they use silver bullets?"

They all were silent for moment then Kaiya looked up at Sannan. "Souji told me a few months ago that Kaoru-san came to him one night and gave him a vial of the Water of Life, tried telling him that it would cure his Tuberculosis. Maybe she expected Souji to have taken it and maybe those bullets are meant for furies."

Hijikata came over to her. "Would it cure him?" He asked.

Kaiya shook her head. "No, it would in fact make things worse. He probably would have felt fine but it would have accelerated the disease."

"What makes you think the silver bullets are for furies?" Sannan asked this time.

Kaiya cut the last thread for the last suture, then turned her full attention to the men standing over her. Kaiya got to her feet so she didn't have to continue to look up at them.

"My father's time in foreign lands educated him in more than just medicine. The French and English have stories of using silver to kill certain monster, according to the stories only silver would kill the monsters and nothing else. I'm certain they have heard these stories or something similar, and maybe they are associating furies with those monsters."

"And you think that they thought that Okita-kun would have taken the Water of Life and planned on killing him with these silver bullets." Sannan responded.

Kaiya shrugged, "I'm just speculating. I could be really off. I know you probably don't want to hear it but maybe the Shinsengumi should be investing in more guns."

Hijikata sighed and rubbed his face. "Maybe you're right. In the meantime we'll be taking Kondou-san and Souji to Osaka Castle to heal."

"What?" Kaiya asked surprised. "I can take care of them! I don't need Matsumoto-sensei!"

Hijikata smiled at her tiredly. "I know, that's why you'll be going with them. I'll be counting on you Yamazaki-kun to be able to supplement the care that Kaiya-chan has been providing." He said looking over at Yamazaki.

Yamazaki nodded his head. "While no one could replace Kaiya-chan, I'll certainly do my best."

Hijikata nodded. "Good, now everybody out except Kaiya-chan."

Everybody but Hajime left. When their footsteps had faded Hajime stepped closer and put a hand on her face and the other on her waist.

"It seems we will be parting ways again for a time." He said sadly.

Kaiya sighed. "So it would seem." Then stood up on her toes and placed a kiss on his lips. When she pulled back she wrapped her arms around his waist and put her head against his chest. "I would spend as much time as I could with you but…"

"You have to watch over them, it's alright I understand." Hajime pulled her arms from around his waist and walked towards the door. "I'll get you a futon."

"Thank you." She said as she watched him leave.

Kaiya once again knelt down beside Kondou and Souji. They were both heavily sedated so they wouldn't wake up anytime soon but she worried whether they would make it through the night. Kondou had only one bullet wound but the bullet had hit close to his heart and he had lost a lot of blood on his journey back. Souji had two bullets wounds. One was in his stomach and the second was also just below his heart. He hadn't bled out nearly as long but he had twice the injuries not to mention that his disease made his body weaker and that seriously concern Kaiya.

Two days later Kaiya deemed them healthy enough to take the short journey to Osaka. The journey to the castle was uneventful, partly due to the fact that Hijikata was not about to let the scumbags who'd shot Kondou, finish the job. The more important part was that both Kondou and Souji were still alive and had even gained some strength on the journey back. For a while, things were looking up.

*Japanese short sword

Was my ending terrible? I really didn't know how to end it smoothly without leaving any loose ends. Anyways I hope you all enjoyed it otherwise.

-Shockra