Author's Note:

This story was my first post for FanFiction. However, in response to a question I've had a few times now, this isn't the first fiction that I've written.

I discovered Hakuōki while scanning various websites dedicated to otome games, but since I am almost exclusively a computer (PC) gamer it took me a while to buy it for the PS3 and actually play. When I did, however, I became totally absorbed in the Shinsengumi/Hakuōki world, culture and characters. I eventually found the anime and the movies and watched those a few times... And here we are today!

The first chapter is, as many such chapters are, too much exposition and too little dialogue for my taste. But I love writing dialogue, so you will see lots of it in future chapters.

Also...

- The first part of the story remains relatively faithful to the canon, and the characters themselves are not intended to deviate greatly from the canon - at least, not in essentials. I have taken some liberties with the basic story here and there, so please bear with me. Of course, as my own particular plot twist develops, the story becomes less canon and more AU, but otherwise it would be rather boring, even in my deathless prose. :) [New note: things become progressively more AU from about chapter 15 on, however, there are lots of smaller AU points identified in earlier chapters. June 19, 2016]

- The first part of the story is written primarily from Chizuru's point of view. As the story expands, and things become more complicated, the action is seen from various points of view. In general, honorifics are used in the text to indicate perspective (who is thinking, observing and so on). Most of the time, the use or non-use of honorifics is deliberate on my part, and I have tried to research how they are best used to indicate relative age, social position, comfort level and relationship. I avoid honorifics altogether in the "he said" or "she said" parts of speech. I'm sure there are inconsistencies, for which I apologize in advance - sumimasen.

I hope you enjoy the story and would be grateful for comments and reviews.

~ ImpracticalOni

Chapter 1 – Nobody Mentioned the Blood-Crazed Monsters

Yukimura Chizuru had arrived in Kyoto in bright sunlight, a little hungry and more than a little weary, but in good spirits. Unfortunately, the day had gone rapidly downhill from there, and she was now blood-stained, frightened, and bound so tightly that even lying still caused discomfort and made it difficult to rest.

"I was an idiot," she said to herself for the tenth time – or maybe the twentieth. "Although I don't think I deserved everything that happened to me. That was just… really, really bad luck."

Most people didn't travel to Kyoto expecting to meet deranged, blood-sucking monsters. With swords. And they had been dressed as members of the Shinsengumi, a kind of Shogunate-backed local police force. She had heard terrible stories about them. Corrupt and brutal, according to what various acquaintances and patients had told her father. But the monsters had been a surprise.

Sigh.

First there had been the unexpected size and style of Kyoto itself, followed by the slight panic of not being able to find her father by the end of the afternoon. That panic, admittedly unreasonable, had led to the second mistake. She had waited too long to find a place to spend the night, and dusk had fallen while she stood wondering what to do next. Just as the first stars became visible against the night sky, she had seen three armed men approaching her. Stories about the rogue, masterless samurai of Kyoto resurfaced abruptly.

Chizuru was a small young woman, and although she was sturdier than she appeared, she had taken the precaution of dressing as a boy for her trip from Edo to the capital. In the early days of her journey, she had been conscious that she did not make a convincing boy. Aside from certain logistical difficulties, she found that she had a tendency to fall unconsciously into the submissive role of an unmarried girl of almost sixteen. However, she thought she had improved considerably; if she concentrated, she could remember to raise her eyes and lengthen her stride. On the other hand, she had given up trying to imitate the sullen scowl that seemed to be the hallmark of most adolescent males. Natural cheerfulness contributed on both accounts.

Chizuru's father, Yukimura Kōdō, was a traditionalist when it came to manners and propriety. He was a doctor, an acknowledged expert in both traditional and Western medicine; however, Chizuru had only been allowed to help with female patients, or male patients who required basic dispensary services. Interest and inclination had led her to absorb as much knowledge as she could, but she was a long way from being a trained physician.

In contrast to his otherwise traditional views, Yukimura-sensei had been adamant that his daughter learn the basic use of the family's one heirloom, a very old and rather beautiful kodachi. Naturally, she had not trained with other students, only with the dojo's sensei, who was known to her father. If Chizuru found it strange that her father did not carry the kodachi himself, she was too well-bred to question his decision.

And then...

Her father had left for Kyoto on business some months previously. She had been very surprised, but not overset, when he had announced that he might be gone for as much as two months.

He had written faithfully almost every day of those two months, although without giving any sign of an immediate return. Then the letters had suddenly stopped. Chizuru had eventually become alarmed enough to write a polite letter to Matsumoto-sensei, a colleague of her father's whose name and address her father had left with her in case of emergency. But she had not heard back from the other doctor. A month later – about three months after receiving her father's last letter – she had set out to look for her father herself, after sending a second letter to Matsumoto-sensei so that he would know that she had left Edo.

A swollen moon was just rising when the tallest of the three ronin had confronted her.

"That looks like too fine a blade for a stripling. My friends and I would be able to put it to much better use in defense of the Emperor and the nation."

She had taken a step back and bowed deferentially as all three swordsmen advanced in a loose semi-circle.

"Good evening, respected sir. Sirs. Please excuse me."

Then she had run like – well, she had run away very quickly. She led a reasonably active life, and was very fit after the long days of walking. She ignored her sore feet.

"Hey – what?! Kuso! Come back here, brat!"

She had hoped that they would run out of breath and give up. There seemed to be quite a few unaffiliated ronin in Kyoto who were more interested in drinking than running. But no… no such luck.

She had dashed down a side street, spotted some planks and empty barrels leaning up against a wall and ducked behind them. She peered between two of the planks, trying to gradually slow her breathing. As she heard the men come closer she had to force herself not to hold her breath. Her sensei had told her that the only way to be ready to either fight or flee further was to stay calm and not deprive her body of needed oxygen.

"Calm," she had thought to herself. "I can do this."

Her hands trembled. And… she was starting to feel the cold dread in her stomach that warned her that something else – something much worse – was getting closer. Breathe. Her right hand curled around the hilt of her kodachi and the familiar feeling of worn leather and metal reassured her a little.

The rapid footsteps got closer. They were still shouting threats and curses. She couldn't understand how this would make her more likely to come out to face them. Even as innocent as she was, she had few illusions about what would happen to her if they caught her.

More running footsteps, strange cries, the clash of metal on metal… The chill feeling intensified. Her knees started to buckle and she sank back against the wall, barely keeping her feet under her. What was the use of a danger sense that crippled her with fear? It had always bothered her.

One of the ronin turned the corner and was quickly within a few feet of her hiding place; but he wasn't looking for her, he was screaming in terror. In a moment she knew why. He was being attacked by a horrifying creature with white hair, glowing red eyes and bared fangs. Its light blue haori had been slashed to tatters in at least three places and it was covered with blood, but it appeared to be uninjured. Both assailant and defender carried red-stained katanas, the colour just distinguishable in the light of the rising moon.

The beleaguered ronin had stabbed the creature in the right shoulder, but taken a sword through the gut in return. Chizuru's eyes widened as the gaping wound in the creature's shoulder closed almost instantly. The next moment she almost threw up as blood and guts spilled over her former pursuer's hakama and pooled on the street around his feet. He crumpled moaning and then ceased to move at all as the blood-soaked creature closed a pale hand around his throat and strangled him with inhuman strength.

"Blood! I need blood!"

The cries had been all the more frightening for being both manic and somehow desperate. Chizuru's gorge rose again, but she fought it down and tried to force paralyzed muscles to move. She became aware of more screams and sickening sounds from just around the corner, and then two more of the white-haired beasts moved slowly toward their companion. Blood ran in ghastly streams down their chins and their teeth were horribly stained. They took up the cry for blood as they approached the dead ronin and Chizuru's hiding place.

Chizuru had wanted to close her eyes at that point, as the creature in front of her was stabbing its murdered opponent repeatedly with its sword, pausing only to lick blood from the blade from time to time. Prudence had required her to continue to watch the grisly scene, however, praying for an opening that would allow escape and flight. Instead, the creature had suddenly tilted its head, and turned to look right at her.

Then there had been the faintest sound of footsteps and a whisper of cloth, and suddenly moonlight gleamed off steel and a blade sliced through the neck of one of the beasts, then reversed with uncanny speed and took a second's head as well. A barely perceptible swirl of pale blue and black crossed her vision, and then Chizuru had seen the blade, no longer gleaming, protruding from the chest of the creature facing her. It slumped to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut, its frenzied cries for blood stilled.

Chiziru had tried to remain motionless, but the young warrior who had cut down the three horrific creatures had obviously already seen or sensed her. His dark blue eyes fastened on her brown ones and they studied each other in silence.

His hair was a deep indigo, worn long and tied into a low ponytail over his right shoulder with a white cord. Bangs fell across and framed his face, half-concealing his right eye. A long, once-white scarf was arranged neatly around his neck, but it was spattered with blood. His plain black kimono, worn under a light blue coat, was fastened with a white obi that still held a second, smaller sword. As far as Chiziru could tell, he was completely unmoved by the slaughter around him. Without a word, the man flicked his katana out to one side to rid the blade of blood. Another crisp movement and the sword was sheathed.

A moment later, another warrior had come around the corner, an unbloodied katana held almost negligently over his shoulder. Emerald eyes glittered coldly in the moonlight as he surveyed the scene. A light blue coat covered a loose green shirt and pale trousers, and she could see jagged white edging plainly in the moonlight. Suddenly she had understood – Shinsengumi.

"You're too efficient tonight, Hajime-kun," the new man complained. "I was looking forward to killing them myself."

The half-joking petulance was at variance with his assured movements and those frightening eyes. Chizuru shivered and instinctively pressed back further. Like the first man, he seemed indifferent to the bodies and the pervasive, metallic smell of blood. He lowered his sword to a guard position as he followed the other's gaze to the now cowering girl.

"I was just carrying out my orders," the man addressed as Hajime responded imperturbably, his eyes not leaving Chizuru's. "Perhaps you should have been quicker."

"And maybe you should have been a bit slower," said the second man, his lips quirking into a humourless smile. "We can't have a witness. Now we'll have to kill him ourselves."

"That is not for us to decide."

A half-step forward and a slight shift of stance warned the second man not to persist. They stood like that for several seconds, almost touching, one slight and lean, the other taller and broad-shouldered; comrades, not antagonists, despite the words spoken.

Chizuru had felt a momentary relief, and then her gaze had been wrenched upward as a third man had suddenly stepped out of the darkness, and a blade had flicked down to rest almost at her throat.

"If you try to run, I will kill you."

She had stared up at him, taking in narrowed, angry eyes the colour of amethysts. She had barely registered the blue coat of the infamous Shinsengumi. Long, silky black hair fell around a stern face, or was caught up in a flowing pony-tail. A gust of wind caught at the hair, and she suddenly realized that it had begun to snow. The flakes of snow dancing in the wind and the glowing, gibbous moon created a surreal scene. For a moment, staring into those unblinking purple eyes, Chizuru had thought the snow looked like blowing cherry blossoms. This man was… beautiful.

"We can't have a witness, Hijikata-san," said the green-eyed man, repeating his earlier words.

"What should we do with the bodies, Vice-Commander?" asked the one with indigo hair, impassive.

Irritation, impatience and something else – could it be pity? – had warred on the face of the slightly older man, clearly the leader.

"This kid was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We'll deal with him back at Headquarters. Sōji, take his weapon, check him for injuries, and tie him up. Saitō, strip off the uniforms. We'll leave the bodies for the Inspectors."

"Hai."

"Seems like a lot of work for somebody we'll just have to kill later…" grumbled the taller of the subordinates, sheathing his sword. He walked forward unhurriedly.

The other man had already started stripping the identifying light blue haori from the bodies of the blood-crazed monsters. Neither face nor voice revealed what he thought of the repellent job. His kimono would be blood-soaked by the time he was done. The other two had clean blades, but their coats, arms and legs were less pristine – perhaps they had brushed the bloodied walls, or stooped to examine the mutilated bodies.

Chizuru's own body suddenly rebelled against hunger, cold and terrified shock. She felt her legs give way and her knees hit the damp, hard-packed dirt. The leader's sword twitched aside so that she didn't fall against it.

"Awww, I think you scared him Hijikata-san."

The mocking voice of the green-eyed man had been the last thing she had heard before fainting.

Vice-Commander Hijikata Toshizō and Captains Okita Sōji and Saitō Hajime of the Shinsengumi walked briskly back to their headquarters on the outskirts of Kyoto in the village of Mibu. Okita was carrying their captive, who he had duly bound and gagged. He was frowning speculatively at the rather soft, light weight in his arms. He had originally slung the child over his shoulder, but something had made him reconsider. Looking up, he saw Saitō glancing sideways at him. They exchanged thoughtful looks and Okita almost smiled. Not much gets by Hajime, he admitted to himself, not for the first time. He wondered if Hijikata had noticed and hoped that he hadn't. Too bad that very little escaped the Vice Commander's attention either.

And... end of Chapter 1. (And really, you have to wonder why the history books failed to mention the blood-crazed monsters. Obviously a cover-up. :)

I'll be posting Chapter 2 shortly - always fun to do the "meeting the guys" part of the story, right?