Author Note:

I am not very knowledgeable about Japanese culture or history. I do try to be as accurate as is possible but will probably make some mistakes along the way. I fell in love with samurai movies as a young girl so when I learned of the Visual Novel Hakuouki-Kyoto Winds and Edo Blossoms, I dove right in. While the VN was beautiful and entertaining, I was just as enamored of the real story behind the men of the Shinsengumi. My retelling won't follow any one plot but will sort of be a mash up of all the things I loved as I explore the mountain of emotion I felt and still feel as I play through the game again and again. I will be using the names given in the game version I have played, because it is the only version I've seen. I don't seem to have access to the anime or the previous game versions. (I skimmed through a few fics on Ao3 and noticed different spelling for Sanan and Souji as well as the others. I've not been able to find a reason for the altered spellings, so I thought it best to stick with the versions I know. I hope this doesn't cause any confusion or frustration.) I've only played the newest remake, the 2017 and 2018 Kyoto Winds and Edo Blossoms. I've never watched the anime, nor any of the other game makes, or the movies. And I can hear some of you saying man are you missing out! I'm sure I have. Maybe someday I will be able to!

I will follow some of the dialogue and events, but more often than not I will take liberties with the original text so that the story doesn't feel like a retelling. I also can't promise that the pairings won't change throughout. I intend for Kazama and Chizuru to end up together, but I make no promises on who Aimi falls for along the way. At first I thought of pairing her with Sakamoto, the dashing ronin who is too handsome and charming for any woman's self preservation. But I see him as just a passing interest, and ally. I personally can't decide on a favorite among them, and expect this to carry over in my writing. There will probably be many moments where Aimi and one of the others would be great together, but in the end it isn't meant to be. I hope you enjoy my story as much as I enjoy writing it, and stick through the twists and side roads as I figure out how to get to the end I have in mind.

As a work in progress the plot and pairs are still evolving. There was one cute newbie that I thought would be easy to resist, but no...His route plays into Aimi's path so well that I can't help but see those two together also. At least his close friendship with Hijikata makes a threesome possible. Hijikata isn't going anywhere anytime soon. He and Aimi are perfect for each other.(imo) I always felt that his relationship with Chizuru was because she wore him down rather than what he really wanted. Aimi will deserve her happy ever after, after all I put her through in this coming story! I know where it's going, just not how it will get there, and what all will happen along the way!

For those who are joining in as a first reader, yes this story has evolved into a poly-amorous relationship with Hijikata/Aimi/Hachiro. I know Polyamory/Polygamy isn't for everyone and respect those readers show would rather not get started into a fic that will bring in a relationship type they are uncomfortable with. I wish you the best and hope you find the fan fics you are looking for.

Aimi muttered under her breath. The child was lost in thought, and had wandered far from the inn she directed them to hours ago. Aimi didn't want to leave the shelter of the shadows. She had more important things to do than babysit. She put her face in her hand when three ronin approached him. The idiot boy was going to get himself killed.

"Hey kid."

"Pretty nice blade you got there.

"Looks like a bit much for a pup like this, right?"

"Give it here okay? We'll put it to good use."

"But...this is..."

They advanced on the kid, forcing them into a corner.

"What seems to be the trouble, boys?" Aimi kept her face in the shadows. She might hide her slender frame within men's garb, but nothing could hide her feminine features. She could only hope they were too preoccupied to notice.

"This isn't any of your business." One of the men said.

"You're picking on a child. I think that makes it my business." Aimi drew her katana. "Run kid, I'll take care of these guys."

"What? No, I'll help." He pulled his kodachi with trembling hands.

Aimi shook her head. He'd be little help. The boy rushed to her hiding spot, and the three men followed, swords drawn.

Aimi blocked the first attack, spun away and sliced the arm of the second man. She had speed, but not strength, and fighting three men with her back to the buildings hindered her movements.

"Run kid, I'm right behind you."

"But..."

"Don't argue, just run!" Aimi parried another blow, but found no opening to strike. The three ronin had her on the defensive. She had no choice but to retreat if they were to make it out alive. Aimi kicked a barrel into their path and grabbed the boy's wrist, dragging him behind her.

"Hey! Get back here you bastards!"

They raced through the streets, ducked hanging baskets and dodged crates. Occasionally Aimi knocked a stack of boxes, or baskets to impede their pursuers. The boy was light on his feet and soon the distance between the ronin increased. Finding a dark and empty ally, Aimi pushed the boy under a stack of boards leaning against the wall.

"Stay down, stay quiet. Don't come out until I tell you to." She didn't wait for an answer. With her back against the wall she peered over her shoulder and down the side street. She stifled a gasp at the flash of pale blue that streaked by.

Three men in blue jackets rounded on the ronin who trailed her. The three ronin attacked first. Their swords met flesh, which healed before her eyes. An eerie laugh filled the air. The three ronin fought wildly, their eyes round with fear. Moonlight bathed the alley in white light. It glinted off of steel, and reflected off the silver hair of the three men in blue.

"What is this? Why won't you die!? Damn it. We gotta get out of here." The panicked voice of one of the ronin sent a chill down her spine.

Eerie laughter rent the night.

A scream of pain echoed through the alley. More eerie laughter followed. The three men in blue surrounded the ronin. Their swords no longer swung with finesse, but hacked and stabbed at the ronin. Blood splattered their clothing and faces, and still they hacked at the bodies.

Aimi's heart dropped like a stone. The rumors were true. Monsters were loose on the city, and now she knew who was responsible. The blue coats were a dead giveaway. Her hands grew clammy. She needed to stop them before they killed anyone else, but against three she didn't stand a chance. She turned to grab the kid and run.

The boy knocked the stacked wood to the ground with a clatter. The sound seemed to grow louder as it echoed through the alley. He sat still as a stone, staring at the three monsters, who now turned their feral grins toward the noise.

"Damn it, kid. Run!"

The boy was frozen with fear. Tremors shook his body as he stared at the blood soaked monsters.

Aimi reached for her pistol. Would a bullet to the heart kill them? Before she could pull it from hiding, there was a flash of light glinting off of steel, and before she could blink, the three monsters dropped like stones.

"Really? And here I was planning on taking care of them all. Couldn't you pick another day to work so fast, Saito?" The man's tone was more jovial than his words implied.

"I only did my job. Unlike you, I take no pleasure in battle." The one called Saito spoke quietly, his voice solemn.

"Still, you could have let them kill the kids, saved us the trouble."

"That is not our decision to make," Saito said.

Aimi cursed under her breath. Things had gone from bad to worse. These men may have stopped the monsters, but it was clear that her and the boy's presence was a threat to them. The threat of death hung heavy in the air. Aimi might outrun them, but she'd end up lost. She didn't know the streets of Kyoto well. Besides, she wouldn't leave the kid behind.

"I for one, would like to stay alive. I'm pretty sure the kid does too." Aimi looked at the boy who nodded.

The two men were nearly the same height. The man with green eyes called the other Saito. Saito's eyes widened a moment as he stared at her, and then a frown creased his brow.

A dark shape moved into the alley and a flash of metal caught her eye.

"Luck is not your friend tonight." His voice cut through the air, hard and cold.

Aimi stood mesmerised. The most beautiful man she had ever seen held a sword at her chest. She opened her mouth to explain what happened, but her breath caught in her throat. His eyes darted down her frame and back. Furrows wrinkled his brow. In the last two years she grew well acquainted with the ways of men. What she read in his eyes should scare her. He hadn't been fooled by her disguise. Her cheeks warmed at the flash of emotion in his eyes.

He studied the boy a moment. Then spoke quietly. "Run and I will kill you both. Do you understand?"

"Wait, Hijikata-san, are you sure about this? These two saw everything. That can't be good."

"Shut up. If you keep it up you know what we're going to have to do." The man called Hijikata gave the other a hard glare,

Aimi swallowed the lump in her throat. She darted a look at the corpses at their feet. The boy still knelt in the blood soaked dirt. Given what they saw, living to see the sunrise was a hope quickly slipping away. She hadn't heard good things about the men of the Shinsengumi. Would they really kill a woman and a child?

"I really think it's gonna come back to bite us in the ass if we let the kids go."

Aimi almost spoke up to tell them she wasn't a kid, but it was clear the men were caught up in their argument.

"So we just start killing people? No, I'll see what to do with them when we get back," Hijikata said.

"I agree with the commander. If we linger we are likely to be seen. Again." Saito looked at the corpses and asked what should be done with them.

The three men spoke quietly, and Saito stripped them of their blue coats. Someone else would deal with the bodies later. Aimi tried not to stare at the bodies. They no longer looked like the crazed monsters that first turned on them. In death they appeared to be ordinary men. Even if the two of them were to talk, who would believe them without proof?

The first man turned to her and smirked. "Ah yes...We did save you didn't we?"

Aimi gaped at him. "Saved us?" She looked at the blood on the ground and the other three ronin who'd chased them. "Yeah, I suppose you did."

The boy jumped to his feet and bowed. "Thank you so much." He turned to Aimi. "And thank you. Everything happened at once I forgot to thank you for trying to help me."

Hijikata looked as though he bit into a lemon. Saito's eyes grew wide. He darted a look between Aimi and the boy with a curious expression on his face.

The other man's laughter rang out. Hijikata and Saito looked anywhere but at the boy.

"Well, you're welcome. I'm Souji Okita. Nice to see a kid who knows how to be polite." He smirked at Aimi. His grin widened as he looked her over carefully. His laughter rang out again and he wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh this is too funny."

"Are you two not together?" Hijikata asked.

"Um," the boy hesitantly spoke darting a look at Aimi and then at Hijikata. "Sort of."

"Not exactly," Aimi said. "I was nearby when three ronin tried to take the boy's kadachi. He was going to be stupid and fight them, but I distracted them so he could get away. We thought we lost them until..." She let her voice drop.

"Really you should thank Saito." Then he pointed his thumb at Hijikata. "The bossy guy is..."

"What the hell do you think you are doing, Okita?" Hijikata barked a warning.

Okita shrugged. "You already said we weren't killing them, well not here anyway. And the blues are a dead giveaway."

The boy wrung his hands. It was clear even he knew who these men were. He looked at the corpses and back at the men.

Hijikata jerked his head and Okita grabbed the boys wrist, jerking him down the street. Aimi opened her mouth to protest.

"It would be best if you prepare for the worst. I doubt this will end well for you." Saito's grim words stopped her from speaking.

Hijikata took her wrist, pulled her arm behind her back and reached for the other one. She braced herself expecting him to hurt her, but he simply tied her wrists together. She felt his breath against her ear. Despite the warmth of it she shivered at the sensation. He stood behind her, and drew in a deep breath. She kept her eyes lowered, hoping to hide her face with her bangs, but she was sure Hijikata knew her secret.

He stepped around her and took hold of her arm. Okita led them as he drug the boy roughly. The boy followed with his back straight and eyes forward. Aimi commended him his courage. If only bravery was enough to save them.

Hijikata strode silently. His stoic expression was set in marble. The earlier emotion she read in his eyes was replaced by grim determination. He caught her staring and clenched his jaw. Woman or not, if she needed to die to protect the Shinsengumi, she knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill her.

Okita pushed the boy into a room and followed.

"Gotta hand it to you kid, you got spunk. Too bad you have to die."

If the boy responded, Aimi didn't hear him, as she was pushed into a room further down the hall.

"What are you going to do with us?" she asked Hijikata.

"Us? I didn't think you were together."

"We aren't, or well we weren't, but now..." She tried to shrug but her shoulders ached too much. "He's just a lost kid in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"If I were you, I'd worry more about yourself than the boy." Hijikata leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.

Aimi bit the inside of her cheek. She could easily escape, leave the boy to his fate. But only a coward would let a child suffer and save themselves. She raised her head. "I don't know why Fate put him in my care tonight, but I'm now responsible for him. I won't let him suffer if I can save him."

Hijikata's mouth quirked up in a smirk. "Even if it means you die in his place?"

Cold fear slithered down her spine but she didn't back down. "Even if I must die to save him."

Hijikata closed the distance between them. He quickly removed her katana and kodachi and set them on a rack at the back of the room. He returned and patted her down, searching for more weapons. He frowned at the pistol he found tucked into the pocket of her kimono. His fingers smoothed over her arms and he sighed at the arsenal she had hidden.

"If you'll untie my hands I will remove my knives."

"And risk you running?"

"I already told you, I won't leave without the boy."

"Saito, come in here, please."

The door slid open. Saito entered without a word.

"What can I help you with?"

"She's carrying more knives than Yamazaki."

Saito's brow shot up, but Aimi didn't think his surprise was about her being a girl.

The door slid open and Okita stepped in. "Hey, hey, if you need me to, I will take her knives."

Aimi stared at him, mouth agape. Was no one fooled by her disguise?

"Souji, shut your mouth. You worry about the kid."

"The kid fainted." Okita shrugged. "He's trussed up tight, he won't go anywhere." He grinned at Aimi. "Now that we have better lighting, you look familiar?" He rubbed his chin.

"Yes, she does." Saito narrowed his eyes as he studied her. "She's new to Shimabara... The geisha from the west."

"Yes!" Okita snapped his fingers and pointed at Aimi. "They won't be pleased one of their best girls has gone missing."

Aimi's spirits plummeted and she bit her lip. They didn't frequent Shimabara. She was familiar with Harada and Nagakura. If memory served her they only brought Okita and Saito once. She had hoped they wouldn't recognize her. Now, even if escape were possible, she couldn't return. They would know just where to find her.

"So what is it that sends a woman into the streets of Kyoto dressed as a man?" Hijikata waved at her. "Few men carry the arsenal you carry."

Saito efficiently removed her hidden blades. His fingers barely grazed her skin. If she hadn't watched him, she might have imagined it altogether. He also cut the rope at her wrist, and she shook her arms to get the circulation going again. She shrugged her shoulders. "Kyoto is a dangerous place at night for one unprepared."

"A woman shouldn't be roaming the streets after dark," Okita began. "Never know who might take advantage."

"Which is why I didn't go dressed as a woman."

Hijikata stood with his hands on his hips, his eyes narrowed. "You still haven't answered my question? Why were you roaming the streets ready for battle?"

She lowered her eyes and bit her lip. Telling them the truth would issue her and the boy a death sentence. "How do I know I can trust you? You may work for the same people I do, but I don't know that your loyalty lies solely with the shogunate."

"You work for the shogunate?" Hijikata scoffed at her.

It wasn't a total lie. She may not work for them directly, but the man who helped her find work at Shimabara did. "I was to meet a contact at the Tereda Inn. I report every two weeks, unless something of note happens."

"And just what was it you were reporting tonight?" Okita asked.

She shrugged. "It's been quiet, nothing of interest." She pointed at her pocket. "There is a list of new customers. Usually that is all I do, take a list of names. I found it's best I not ask too many questions."

Hijikata reached for the folded parchment in her pocket. She tried not to jump when his fingers brushed against her hip. "Why can't your contact simply meet you at Shimabara?" He opened the parchment and scanned the list of names. His eyes narrowed and he passed it to Okita.

"Hey, this name here. Isn't that...?" He scratched his chin. "Sadamori Yoshii, the guy's a real piece of work. Used to be a hatamoto, but he betrayed his daimyo. Now he works as a mercenary."

"Souji." Hijikata glared at him. "Are you so eager to have me cut your tongue out?"

"Heh?" He looked at Hijikata and then at Aimi. "Oh, right." He gave her a wolfish grin. "Figured we weren't letting her go anyway, it wouldn't matter what she learned."

"Yoshii is a known Choshu sympathizer. You aren't the only ones watching his movements," Aimi said, shaking her head. "I hoped he would meet with someone so I had a report worth risking my neck for." She glared at Okita who merely grinned back at her.

"Heh? You've risked a great deal more than your neck, little sister." He picked up one of her throwing knives and weighed it in his hand, testing it for balance. He gave an appreciative nod as he replaced it.

"I'll have to verify your story. Who's your contact?" Hijikata asked.

She squared her shoulders. "I can't tell you that. My involvement is, well, it's..." Precarious at best, she thought.

"In other words, you get caught you're on your own." Okita leered at her. "I bet I can make her talk."

Hijikata rubbed his knuckles along his jaw. "We will decide in the morning who will interrogate her."

Fear crawled up her spine at the way Okita looked at her. He wouldn't care that she was a woman. If Okita was her interrogator, she knew he would do everything to make her talk. She wouldn't let them hurt the kid. They needed to escape. Even if she had to carry to boy out on her shoulders.