Chapter 1: It was destiny

At the age of 21, it was time for her to finally move on with her life, become a fully independent woman. She was ready to move with her boyfriend, even though she was having some doubts. Her family was supportive of her decision, even given the circumstances, but she had to learn how to be on her own in the absence of her family. Her boyfriend was no angel, involved once with drugs and guns underground, yet she wasn't that soft natured. She held her ground against men pretty well, even for her petite figure.

Tonight was the big night, she had prepared her luggage, all of it, and was now heading to the first floor of her family house, where her whole family was waiting. "I knew this day would come… but I was not ready…" her mother said, holding her in a tight embrace as her two older brothers walked up to them slowly. They both said their goodbyes, and last… was her father. His face with a saddened expression as he walked to her, lifting his hand to caress her cheek gently "You have become a grown woman now Abigail, remember to make the best choices from now on" Abigail nodded "Yes papa".

Ever since she was little she respected her father for his immense wisdom, which was one of the reasons she was afraid to present her delinquent boyfriend. Even after the news about her boyfriend being a former drug dealer, her father talked in private for several hours that day, she was 18 at the time, and he was 21. Her father then approved, watching as both children turned into proper adults, and now, he was seeing off the only daughter he had. "Oh, and Abigail, never forget the meaning of your name".

She looked back at her father wide-eyed, midway to the car. My name… it means "The father's joy, good in discretion and beautiful in form" she thought as tears formed in her eyes. She ran back to her father, giving him one last hug before she departed with her beloved, then looked up at him "I promise to take care of myself papa" and with those last words, they let go of each other, her father giving her a kiss on her forehead before leaving.

She got in the car, and waved at her family with a teary smile on her face. Her boyfriend drove off, leaving her old home far in the distance. What she didn't know, was that this was the last time she would see any of them.

It was almost midnight, and Abigail was watching her favorite anime in her phone on the way Hakuouki huh? I have seen it so many times I almost memorized it, I wonder how it was actually back in that time… As she was distracted in her own world, she didn't notice her boyfriend was almost falling asleep while driving. Riding on a steep mountain road at midnight was not as safe, but it was the fastest way to the town they were gonna be living in.

Her boyfriend's eyes closed completely, and the car was slowly running to the very center of the road. Lights were seen from far away, getting close rather quickly. It was then that Abigail noticed, a little bit too late. "KINO! WATCH OUT!" she yelled, waking him up immediately. He turned the car out of the way, but to their demise, they were on the open side of the road, and they fell down the mountain, the car crashing and burning when it reached the end of the mountain…

Abigail, it means The father's joy, good in discretion and beautiful in form, so never forget Abigail, you are my greatest joy, act wisely once you turn into a woman…

The strong sun rays of summer woke her, yet she refused to open her eyes. Hey… hey wake up! She heard a voice from far away, and it was then that she decided to open her eyes slowly, wincing as the brightness hurt her eyes. "Nng… what happened…?" she asked, looking hazily around her, noticing an unfamiliar silhouette over her. She then blinked and sat up with a jolt, which she immediately regret.

Moaning loudly in pain, she held her head, noticing the sharp pain through her whole body. "Try not to move too quickly… it seems you suffered quite the amount of hits…" a deep but gentle voice said to her. It took her a moment to realize her surroundings, and she slowly looked around her, noticing the impressively different environment. "Wait a moment… where am I?" she asked.

"You are in Kyoto young lady" the voice responded, it was then that she decided to look at the source of it, her eyes widening at the familiar face. She gasped, but then wince and moaned in pain once again, holding the right side of her rib cage with her left hand. "Ah! Easy there!" the man said, but it was too late, for she had already fainted from the excruciating pain "M-my… belongings…" was all she could say before passing out cold.

The man looked around nervously, noticing a few weird items scattered around them. "Sano-san!" a childish voice called from afar, followed by a young boy running to them by a big, muscular guy's side. Their eyes widened at the scene, and Sano turned to them with distressed eyes "Get all those items! We need to take her to Yamazaki quickly!" he yelled, carrying the mysterious girl in his arms as her blood stained his red and white bandages that covered half of his torso.

How is she? More voices from far away, voices she could not recognize at first. I am not sure, she got bruises and burn all over her body… what accident could cause such harm on such a small body? She kept hearing the voices, more clearly now, which caused her to slowly open her eyes.

She groaned softly as she tried to adjust her vision, she noticed she was now in a small, wooden room. Her violet eyes were dull, as she was still not fully conscious. "Those eyes…" a familiar voice said, she blinked twice, finally adjusting her vision. "huh… where… where am I?" Abigail asked, looking around her as much as she could. "Try not to move too much, you are still deeply wounded" when she looked at the source of the recognizable voice, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Harada… Sanosuke?" she asked softly, to which he replied with wide, surprised eyes.

"How do you know my name? It isn't normal for a beautiful girl like yourself to know my name" He asked.

"Uhm… well…" she was about to reply when the sliding door suddenly opened in a rush, a rather young looking boy panting at the frame, it seemed he was running.

Everyone in the room looked at the boy surprised, and then he yelled "Is she okay?!" Abigail winced a little at how loud he was, and then looked to her right when another man started talking "She is stable, though she will need around 2 or 3 days of rest until she fully recovers" said the other man, whom she identified quickly "Susumu Yamazaki?" she said in a low voice to make sure he didn't hear her.

"That's a relief! I thought she was gonna die for sure." The boy said, sighing loudly. Toudo Heisuke too… can it be that I am inside Hakuouki?! She thought. At that very second her thoughts were interrupted by another man standing behind Heisuke. At the sight of the man, Abigail gasped and blushed, eyes wide with surprise.

"Is she finally awake?" the man asked in a deep voice, almost intimidating.

"Yes commander, she just woke up." Harada replied "Though she is still rather delicate right now."

"Hmm…" the man put his thumb on his chin, he appeared to be thinking, looking at the floor. "H-hey! You are in no condition to be sitting up!" at those words, the thoughtful man's eyes widened and looked at the girl, whom was sitting up with all the strength she currently had.

"H-Hijikata Toshizo… it's you right?!" she asked between gasps, her cheeks flushed red and beads of sweat running down her forehead and neck. Everybody in the room looked at her in shock, unable to decipher how the mysteriously dressed girl knew their vice-commander's name.

Hijikata, completely dumbfounded for a few seconds, then glared at the girl that called him "You… how do you know my name?" he asked in a dark tone. He walked to her and kneeled in front of her, grabbing her shoulder harshly, to which she whined loudly in pain "Are you some sort of spy? Answer me!"

"Hijikata-san wait! She is still deeply wounded! The wounds ight reopen if we mistreat her right now!" Harada grabbed onto Hijikata's wrist, trying to convince the vice-commander to let go of the girl. "She knows my name as well, and she looked at us as if she recognized us, let's wait until she recovers and then we can-"

Harada's words were cut off at the sound of her pained voice. They were all looking at her now, only to notice her face had gotten pale "m-my… my arm…" she whimpered. To both Hijikata's and Harada's surprise, Hijikata's hand was covered in blood, which made him retreat it quickly, only to notice she had a big piece of glass embedded in her shoulder.

"Yamazaki!" Hijikata yelled, watching as Yamazaki quickly started to remove the thick piece of glass, to which she screamed.

Footsteps were heard in response to her loud shriek "What was that noise?!" A tall, muscular man yelled from the frame of the door, his eyes widening at the sight before him "W-what is that?!" he yelled.

"Sano, take everyone out of the room, now." Hijikata ordered, and Harada quickly followed it, ushering everyone out of the room and closing the door behind them as Yamazaki continued the procedure. It took several minutes to fully remove the glass and treat the wound. Abigail was finally asleep, Hijikata still looking at the girl with doubtful eyes.

"Vice-comander… I think it will be best to let her rest until tomorrow, I know it's disturbing that such a strange-looking woman knows about us, but all we can do is wait." Yamazaki said silently, opening the door to leave the room. Hijikata then sighed "Yes, I believe you are right" and with that, Hijikata stood up and left the room, closing it behind him, darkness overtaking the room.

It was now morning, Abigail's eyes opened as the sun rays hit her face. She sat up slowly, scanning the room, only to notice she was completely alone "How… How long have I been asleep?" She asked herself. For the looks of it she had been sleeping for days, her body no longer in that unbearable pain, only a slight ache. She then looked at herself, noticing she was not wearing her usual clothes, it was a white kimono instead.

A shadow was at the door, opening the door slowly. Abigail quickly covered herself, not saying a word until she could clearly see who was entering the room. It was none other that Hijikata, followed by Harada. They both got in the room silently as to not disturb her, and they proceeded to sit by the tatami's left side.

"It seems you are much better from your wounds now." Harada said with a gentle tone.

"Y-yes… I am sorry for all the trouble I caused you" Abigail said, looking down at her lap.

Clearing his throat, Hijikata started speaking now "Let's go straight to the point here… how do you know our names?" his eyes looking straight at hers, glowing in a slightly darker shade of violet.

Her eyes then looked straight at his, her expression rather serious than scared now. "If I tell you… will you believe me?" she asked, looking down at her lap once again, her hands balled into fists, trembling slightly.

"Is something the matter? What could possibly make you think we will not believe you if it is the truth?" Harada asked, touching her hands gently, which to a certain degree calmed her.

Abigail then looked at both of them, completely convinced she had to tell them the truth "Well… I come from the future, and not just from the future, but also from England." she said softly, to which both men's eyes widened in surprise.

Hijikata's eyes then glared at her, full of fury "Look here, don't you go playing games with us, there is no way possible that you come from the future." he said, menacingly.

"But I do! I-if you want, you can check one of my bags!" she protested, pointing at her light blue sports bag. "Some of my clothes are there, you can see they are completely different from the clothes here."

At this, Harada stood up and opened the bag, completely dumbfounded by the zipper. His eyes widened as his cheeks turned bright red, pulling a red lace pantie "W-what is this?" he stuttered. Abigail gasped "Put it back inside! S-sorry to make you look in that one!" she yelled, her face now completely red Shoot I forgot that was the lingerie bag! She thought.

Hijikata then cleared his throat, trying to ignore the incident "Care to explain why you know our names?"

To this, Abigail then started explaining about everything, how she had watched them in an anime series, how she read the historical books about the Shinsengumi in the Edo era.

Both Hijikata and Harada seemed quite confused, then it was Harada's time to ask "Hey… if you come from such a distant time and land, how exactly did you get here?"

As soon as he asked, Abigail's eyes widened. How did she get there? All she remembers is going in Kino's car and… She then gasped, covering her mouth with both hands as tears formed in her eyes. "H-hey… uh… is everything ok?" Harada asked, getting closer to her as Hijikata curiously watched her reaction.

"I was… I was on my way to my new home… It was almost midnight, my boyfriend fell asleep while driving…" she started explaining, sobbing lightly "Another car almost hit us and I screamed to him, making him lose control over our car… then we fell down the mountain… after that, I only remember seeing his dead body all blurred out, when I woke up I saw you Harada-san…" she said, crying softly.

"So… your beloved didn't survive the fall?" Harada asked, to which she nodded gently. He then pulled her to him, letting her cry wildly. Throwing a glance at Hijikata, who sighed softly with a frown in his face after hearing her story.

"Young girl…" Hijikata started speaking "What is your name?"

She then looked at him, her eyes gleaming in their light purple tone "My name…" at the sight of her face, cheeks all red and tears running down them quickly, Hijikata's eyes widened slightly. "My name is Abigail." she answered.

Hijikata was frozen, making Harada look at him "Hijikata-san?" He then snapped back to reality, standing up rather quickly and walking to the door. Before opening it, he said "If you have no place to stay, you can stay here if you desire." he then opened the door and left the room, closing it behind him.

Both Harada and Abigail looked at the door in shock, and then looked at each other. At that exact moment Harada let go of her, completely blushed "S-sorry, it seems we were too close for too long." he said, looking away from her. She giggled slightly "It's alright, no harm done." she smiled softly, causing him to smile as well.

Harada then stood up "Well, I have to get going now, I will let you rest a little bit more." he said, walking towards the door, then looking back at her. He smiled "Welcome to the Shinsengumi Abigail." he said gently. Here eyes widened, her cheeks turning a soft pink.

"Thank you, Harada-san." she smiled back, and he left the room, closing the door behind him. I was supposed to die in the accident, instead, I woke up in the world of Hakuouki… this must be… destiny…