UPDATED CHAPTER

Hey guys. I finally decided to update earlier chapters because...gugh! I can't even look at them!

This takes place where Chizuru doesn't exist...and the original plot doesn't exist here either because the ending was HEART WRENCHING. Reason as to why I made this.

I don't own Hakuouki or any of its characters, besides my OC.

Remember, this is AU~!

Music blasted through the speakers, echoing loudly in the dance studio. Hair flipped around as a group of girls kicked in unison while others leapt and did their own bit.

Kira's wavy brown to black hair was falling out of her bun, though she did it half good so she expected that. She was beyond tired as she had been in the dance studio since one...and it was four now.

She studied herself in the mirror and the girls around her as she came out of the line and kicked and spun, heading to the back to rejoin a couple others. She was rehearsing a dance for jazz.

"One, two, three, four…" and so on counted as the girls worked hard to just get to the last few seconds of the song. Their teacher, Ms. Ray had wavy, short blonde hair. Clad in leggings and a loose shirt, she clapped her hands to keep the girls in step.

Kira was in her zone. Her legs did the thinking and carried her body throughout the dance. She was detached from the world, back in her own place. Stress from school was gone and crummy attitude vanished despite the strain to her body. You could say dance was her life, but it was, as she argued, only ¾ of it.

She was ready to do a pirouette...until the music stopped, leaving an emptiness in the room until Ms. Ray started. "Good job ladies, but we'll stop it here. Go home and rest, because tomorrow morning we're going to work on the last part and get the dance right!" She wasn't very strict. Ms. Ray was rather young and had a humorous side, far more than Kira's friends' instructors. She remembered when her one friend got in trouble for not having her bangs out of her face.

Kira let out a breath she was holding and slumped her shoulders. She was so close! The girls nodded at and started to chat, sitting down to stretch out their legs and relax their muscles. Her two friends scooted over to her, panting. One had red hair, which fell out of her ponytail, and the second had dirty blonde, kept up in a braid.

"Ugh, I totally messed up on the kicks...I kept thinking of the wrong leg!" Casy, the one with red hair, groaned as she reached for her heels.

"I nearly fell when she stopped the music!" Kira added, stretching over to her left side. "I was in mid-kick and I swear to God I looked like I was a ninja doing some crazy move." She laughed at herself, and the others followed.

The one with the braid, Bryn, sighed. "It's only fooouuuurrr," she whimpered and flopped on her back.

"One more to go…" Casy mused.

"Shut up!"

All three girls had the same classes, jazz, tap and ballet and school was enough work already. They've known each other since elementary and they met in this very studio. It took them all a while to realize that they went to the same school.

To describe these three, Bryn was the quiet airhead, Casy was the blunt and sarcastic one, and Kira was...a mix of everything, though she was louder than anything else.

Just two more hours...and then Kira would be greeted with food. Lots of food.

The three groaned simultaneously. It wasn't because they didn't like tap or that they were bad. It was just because it took out even more energy and jazz was draining enough as it was.

"C'mon, we can do this," Kira murmured as she flexed her feet. Her legs were screaming to stay relaxed...and not standing.

"When I get home...I'm gonna fall- I won't even go to my room! I'll just lie on the floor and sleep!" Bryn muttered, stretching out her arms down to her toes.

"Don't even talk about sleep, missy." Casy pleaded as she raked her fingers through her hair.

Kira yawned obnoxiously as she got into her dad's truck ungracefully. Her feet still had a mind of its own and it was still mimicking the moves from earlier.

"Tiring?" He asked.

"YES." She replied and clicked her seatbelt. She was glad she didn't have a license: otherwise she would've fallen asleep at the wheel.

"Well, your mom made some baked chicken," he said, starting the car.

"I'll eat it all-I can eat a village!"

Her dad's truck had papers upon papers scattered on the dashboard and the back seats, and the entire cabin reeked of work, which was construction. Nothing but the smell of dust, mud, and lumber that was sitting in the trunk.

Kira had changed into her denim shorts and flip-flops, wearing a tank top with striped pink and navy blue. Her hair was back up in the bun she re did, and she was exhausted...as usual.

As her dad pulled out of her parking lot, she looked at the sky. The sun still had a ways away until it was actually sunset, but it was leaning towards that silver line. Though some impatient stars started to peak in the darkening sky and a waning moon was already out.

And then sleep took over her.

As she quickly closed them, she opened them again, only to see stars and swirling blue stardust around her. Still dreaming… she felt something menacing...you could say an aura. Deep resentment lingering around her and pressed up against her, followed by the sound of a distant scream of anger.

She closed her eyes again and felt something cold on her face and a mild air chilling her legs. She woke up again and stretched out her back, satisfied after hearing the roll of cracks from her spine.

Blinking a few times, she surveyed her surroundings. It definitely wasn't the interior of her dad's truck.

More like a village with walls made out of wood, and...windows that were made out of...what looked like paper.

"What...the...hell?" Her fingers grazed along the ground and it wasn't the seat. It was dirt. Standing on wobbly legs, she looked around. It was almost dark this time, as the sunset was turning into night. She saw lanterns strung in front of doors and people in the far distance with weird-looking dresses. Ahh...what was it...kimono? The thing that the Japanese wore? She shook her head, giving up on the thought.

Still dreaming...calm down! She looked at the wooden barrels and crates that stood next to her. And then she caught a whiff of something cooking...food…

It's still a dream-relax!

Light appeared from the corner of her eye and she whipped around only to feel something warm trickle down her right arm. Her hand went up to touch it...and it was soaked in blood.

She didn't have time to scream, but she looked up. Not a dream-! A sword… stained in the deep crimson lingered in front of her. Kira nearly gagged. Nasty! Ugh!

The one wielding the sword had snow white hair and red eyes. It was as if they were glowing. It was a man, with a malicious grin with splatters of blood dotting the side of his face and clothes, like paint. It was a similar evil feeling she had a bit earlier.

A weird light blue long sleeved jacket was covered blood and that was as far as she got as she heard him laugh and leer at her. It was like he was possessed or something. It said something...she wasn't sure what it was. It sounded like 'chi'...whatever that meant.

A pang of fear stabbed her. He spoke in a voice that sounded like it was coming from a defective voice changer. Her heart dropped down to her stomach as she felt adrenaline pump through her. "Get away from me!" She yelled as she backed away from him, unknowingly further down an alleyway.

It laughed again and took another swing at her, but stopped.

Light cut through the air and something pierced the creature from behind. It screeched as it arched its back in agony as the sword was ripped out of it, spattering even more blood.

She felt it touch her cheeks. OH MY GOD! She cringed and closed her eyes, trying to keep herself from throwing up.

The body fell with a thud, blood pooling out. She looked at the walls on both sides...covered in blood too. It was like someone took a paint brush and splattered bits of it on the wall. She felt her stomach churn at the sight of it and she tore her gaze to who saved her life.

A man with a white bandana across his forehead stood a few feet away from her. He had spiky brown hair and literally he was ripped...gross. He wore the same thing like what that creature did.

Crap! Another one of those?!

He said something...but she didn't understand. She let out a frustrated noise and spun around, sprinting away. She heard shouting and footsteps coming after her, shifting into a new gear, her legs screamed in agony as she went faster and faster. Kira nearly slipped as she turned at a corner, but she didn't stop running.

Her heart thrummed against her chest, and she didn't want to stop running. Though it didn't take her long to plow into someone. Her flip-flop got caught under her foot and she stumbled ungracefully.

She yelped and stumbled backwards, struggling to get her flip-flop back to normal. "Sorry about that!" she blurted out.

She heard another set of unfamiliar words and she looked at the person she bumped into.

Well, she would admit that he was pretty good looking. Brownish hair with emerald eyes...though he was wearing the same garb that that thing was wearing and the other guy. Her eyes darted to the red spots on his jacket and then back at her shoulder. Dang, she was still bleeding. Wonderful...

He lifted his eyebrows at her and blinked, and then he said something else. She wanted to question...though she had a feeling they weren't understanding her either. Another voice sounded from behind.

Turning, she saw the guy who assumingly saved her. He sheathed his sword and walked to the guy she ran into. And then there was another guy who rounded corner, meeting up with the little group that was established. It was safe to say that this guy had the longest hair she had ever seen. Brown hair, blue-green eyes...and that jacket, with two swords tied at his hip. It dawned on her that they all carried swords.

Oh boy…

He was rather short, basically as tall as her, maybe she was a bit taller. He looked at her curiously before joining the conversation with the taller ones. They glanced at her occasionally and resumed talking. It felt like gibberish in her ears, like when the computer reads aloud a bunch of letter from keysmashing.

"Uh...what's going on her?" It was worth a shot.

They stopped and looked at her, and then continued to chat.

She let out a frustrated sigh. Yeah, they can't understand me. What kind of language is this? Japanese or something?

The three disbanded the conversation and pony-tail guy gestured in a direction. She remained stubborn, wanting to dig her toes and take root to the ground. I'm not going anywhere! Not until I know what's going on! The cut on her arm was more than enough to prove that...this wasn't a dream. Her legs were still crying in agony and she was beyond exhausted. She shook her head.

They started to chat again, and the guy with emerald eyes looked at her. He smiled at her and extended a hand towards her. It seemed almost genuine...but something was off. Or maybe she was just being paranoid.

It was a war going inside her mind as she was petrified with fear, but lingering curiosity hung in the back of her mind. She had no idea what to do next but just take the offer...better than rotting alone in this town.

Taking a breath, she took his hand, hearing the crackle of dried blood from her arm. She needed to get that patched up soon. His smile turned into a playful smirk-I knew it! She tried to pull away, but he started to lead her down the road with a surprising amount of strength. The two other guys grinned and cheered as if this guy won something.

She sighed as she was escorted to their destination.

She was in a building that was surrounded by a large wall. Here, she knew it was Japan for sure because of all the similar designs the buildings had to the pictures in her high school text book.

They started to walk down what looked like an open hall, and Kira followed until the guy, now with a green bandana, turned and pointed at her feet.

What…? No shoes allowed or something? She shrugged off the thought and semi-gracefully took them off, almost kicking one away as it didn't get off her foot fast enough. She nearly stumbled to catch up.

Sliding a door open, the four stepped inside with the short guy closing it behind them. She looked around, finding mats on the floor with decorative scrolls...and a few other guys were already inside. Another door was in the far corner of the room.

The chattering stopped and all eyes were on Kira.

She blinked and her hand immediately went to her wound. By now her hand was covered in dried blood. This is...really awkward.

A guy with dark red hair tied back, and amber eyes with a shirt that clung to his body, showing a part of his chest said something, and the guy with the ponytail responded.

A man with indigo hair-out of all things!- swept to the side in a ponytail murmured something that made the room go silent.

She could've sworn they were looking at her clothes, finally realizing after all this time she was sticking out a like a sore thumb. And then one pointed at her wound.

Before anything else happened, the door behind her opened, she jumped and backed away as three more men walked in, looking to be in their thirties.

One with long black hair in a ponytails, one with glasses, and another with black, short hair. Again, she got another set of eyes looking at her her, confused.

The man with long hair asked in a deep voice, that rattled her ribcage, said something, sending daggers with his eyes at Kira, who looked beyond confused and terrified.

The man with short hair pointed at her wound and the guy with glasses nodded. There were too many voices going on; she felt like she was getting a headache.

He looked at Kira and motioned her to come closer. She did, and he started to walk to the back door. Following him, she found herself in a small hall that led to another room.

As she listened to the chatter outside, the man with glasses pulled out a drawer and took out what looked like medical supplies.

Oh, thank God.

Wetting the cloth with...she assumed it was peroxide, she removed her hand and let him clean the wound. She gritted her teeth, feeling the sting. Before she knew it, he wrapped a bandage around her and quickly wiped off her hand.

That was fast...she nodded to the man, hoping he would understand the silent thanks. He did the same and the two returned to the main room.

Almost all the men inside were talking, taking glances at her, and then continued to talk. The feeling to just blurt something out was gnawing at her. The man with the black ponytail shook his head, obviously frustrated and looked at her before back at the guy with emerald eyes.

It sounded like they were convincing each other to do something, with black ponytail-guy completely against it. The short guy and the muscular bandana-guy seemed the most passionate about this.

Eventually, long ponytail-guy sighed, admitting defeat. Some of the guys cheered.

It was around dinner time, and she was more than grateful. She was given a try with a bowl of rice and chopsticks with plate of fish. Taking the cup, she took a sip. Water. So it wasn't poisoned, but she had other things to worry about.

Like how to use chopsticks for eating rice. She groaned inwardly. She knew how to use them for other food...just not rice; it kept on slipping through or it wasn't sticking.

A second later, she was snapped out of her trance as she saw a hand reach for the bowl. She blinked, "Hey!" Snatching the bowl, she slapped the guy with red hair and amber eyes' hand. "I'm gonna eat that!" He looked surprised for a second.

The guy with the green bandana laughed, including the short one, eventually choking on his food, making his friend laugh even harder.

She rolled her eyes, locking stares with the guy with green eyes. He rested on the wall across from her. He smirked and tilted his head, as if wondering if she had something else to say. Tearing her gaze away, she grabbed the chopsticks and scooped up a pathetic amount of rice. Though most of the attention was on the same two guys bickering over something.

Kira stared at it for a moment. Maybe I can just scoop it along the bowl…? She was glad with the results, basically she was shoveling rice in her mouth.

And then something strange happened. The unfamiliar words jumbled and repositioned. First it was a blur, then it started to sound like English. Like a record starting on a wind-up record player. She almost dropped the bowl, too excited to finally understand!

"She's almost like a kid, watching her can be a burden…" the guy with indigo hair said.

She looked at him and slammed the bowl down, clattering loudly. "What did you say about me?!" Maybe she was a bit too excited, because it caught everyone's attention. She swallowed.

Anyways, here are some clarifications:

There is a reason why she suddenly 'transported' to Kyoto. She did fall asleep, but I repeat, this is not a dream! The reason as to what it is will be in later chapters!

To make it realistic-ish, Kira had no idea what they were saying because she's now in Japan!

Yes, there's a reason why she could suddenly understand what they were saying...will be explained in the future!

Again, she's American, so she doesn't really know about kimono, haori, the custom to take off shoes etc. She isn't an otaku like us ;)

Fun facts:

Her name means 'to glitter' or 'star' in Japanese. It's also used in America, so it was easy to pick it.

Sorry if there was little to no fluff between Kira and Okita! It'll speed up!

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a review! See you next time.

-Jen