Hakuouki: Memories of the Shinsengumi (Chapter 2)

Chapter 2, February 1865

Kaika has grown accustomed to living with the Shinsengumi, and feels like she has found her own place with them. The Shinsengumi started running out of space at their headquarters after gaining more members. One of the new members is Kashitaro Itou, a new deputy commander. Many Shinsengumi members are displeased about Itou’s new membership, since he is an imperial nationalist, similar to the Choshu they fought before. Toshi states that Toudou is a national loyalist, advocating the shogunate and advocating the expulsion of foreigners from Japan. In each case, both are nationalist (wanting to remove foreign influences). The members then speculate that at the very least, Sanan should like Itou’s entrance into the Shinsengumi. However, with this new deputy commander, Sanan felt that there was not much need for him, a colonel, anymore.

Itou starts to insinuate that Sanan, now without his ability as a swordsman, is now useless and replaceable. Toshi is infuriated by this, and tells Itou that Sanan is the exact opposite, and that Sanan is a swordsman of the Shinsengumi. The group is unsettled about Itou, but can’t seem to find a way to deal with him without making a mess of things. Saito comments that as an organization grows bigger, there often come together people of differing views. However, if this difference is forced upon the group, it may spell bad things for the group.

Chizuru wants to help Sanan in some way- she thinks that the hints drawn from the “Corps” and their mysterious healing ability that Heisuke and Shinpachi had alluded to may give her an answer. She decides to…

• Investigate

• Return to my room

Investigate

(Chose this because I want to see the plot advance a bit more and find out the truth behind things. Sanan’s been a bit of a jerk, so it’s not entirely to help him out of goodwill like the kind MC wants to.)

Kaika thinks of where to investigate. She resides in the Yagi house, where the captains of the Shinsengumi live- and there is the Maekawa house, where soldiers stayed, generally several to a room. She generally avoids Toshi’s room. She decides to…

• Investigate the Yagi house

• Investigate the Maekawa house

Investigate the Yagi house

(this is for areas she hasn’t been to before- in her situation, I would investigate somewhere more familiar to me first so I know how to navigate myself- going to investigate the Maekawa house would put her in a den of wolves, despite her being disguised as a boy)

Kaika finds out someone went into the common room. She takes a peek into the common room and finds out that the person is Sanan.

(…I get the dreadful feeling that I’m going to die O___O… scary…)

(Oh, ok… no dying. Good.)

Sanan explains that the elixir allowed men to become stronger and have faster healing abilities. However, it has a great flaw: it drives those who drink it mad. Just like the men with white hair and red eyes that Kaika had encountered on the day she was saved by the Shinsengumi. Sanan explains that Kaika’s father had experimented on the Corps to develop the elixir, but ran away before his research was complete. Sanan continued researching and made the elixir he showed earlier. However, he had not tested the effects on anyone else, so he had no idea what it would do if he drank it.

Sanan feels useless as a soldier and thus wants to drink the elixir to heal his arm. Kaika tries to reassure him that everyone loves him and that he wasn’t useless. However, Sanan is intent on drinking the elixir. Kaika decides that she can’t let him do it. She stops him by deciding to…

• Persuade him

• Scream

Persuade him

(Chose this because, usually screaming gets a person nervous and desperate, and he’d probably chug the elixir if I did this…)

Kaika tells Sanan that she can’t leave him be and anyone in her place would do the same. Everyone would be sad if Sanan died. Sanan disagrees, though he does not that Heisuke would not be happy with his decision. Sanan then tells Kaika that if he does indeed die, to relay his last words to Heisuke for him. Sanan drinks the elixir. Sanan throws Kaika across the room (….maybe I should have chosen to scream after all O___O).

(….Yeah… definitely should have screamed…)

Kaika manages to call out Sanan’s name while he’s choking her. He lets her go and screams. Sanan notes that he failed after all, and that maybe he wasn’t as lucky as he thought. Kaika gives a call of concern to Sanan, but he tells her that she should kill him before he loses his mind and kills her. It feels as if Sanan is about to pierce himself on Kaika’s blade when he suddenly pushes himself away and collapses.

Okita comes into the room. Okita figures out the situation and carries Sanan out of the room. Kaika collapses. Kaika wakes up in her room, and remembers that Okita had carried her back after she passed out. Okita asks Kaika questions about why she was in the common room with Sanan and finds out that Sanan has also told her about the origin of the elixir. He notes that it would have been easier to kill her, but he supposes that she has the right to know. He asks if she has any questions.

Kaika asks Okita why the Shinsengumi got involved in something like this. Okita explains that they used to have a shortage of men willing to join, and the ones who did were disappointing. The shogunate showed up and offered to make them part of an experiment. Okita also explains that in usual cases, those who broke the rules had to commit harakiri (cutting one’s belly open). However, once the experiment began, those who broke the rules could choose to drink the elixir or do harakiri.

Inoue reports that Sanan has survived the hardest part of taking the elixir and is now asleep.  ^___^ Sanan is ok now.

Itou comes into the room saying hi. Everyone tenses up again. @___@ Itou inquires about what happened last night Saito manages to give Itou a story as close to the truth as they could divulge (the other guys were pretty shaky with how to explain the situation). He promises to give Itou more details later. Toshi notes that they shouldn’t have allowed Itou to see them together- Sanan was the only one missing, so Itou would eventually be able to notice that something happened to Sanan.

Sanan comes in the room, seeming normal, but paler than usual. He notes that he is tired during the daytime hours now (sort of like a vampiric effect…) and is not human anymore. Sanan also notes that his left arm is healed. Sanan remarks that it is better to say that he is dead and allow him to work with the Corps. This allows the elixir to remain a secret. Toshi notes that if they were to keep Sanan and the Corps a secret, they should speed up their moving plans to somewhere bigger.

Kaika is left out of the discussions on where they should move. She is reminded that her status is at highest that of a serving girl or prisoner, and her loneliness deepens.

May? 1865

It has been three months since the Shinsengumi moved the headquarters to Nishi Hongwanji, a temple with an optimal location used to house the Choshu. Kaika goes to feed Sanan. (Perhaps because of his regaining a sense of usefulness, Sanan has become kind again. Apparently the term for what Sanan has become is regarded as a fury, instead of rasetsu like in the anime.)

Heisuke goes on patrol with Keika. He was busy in Edo, so it’s been a while since Keika and Heisuke met again. Heisuke tells her that he took a look at her old home in Edo for her, but kicks the dirt, indicating that he couldn’t find her father there. Keika and Heisuke run into Okita, who’s also on patrol, and lets them know that the shogun will be visiting Kyoto. Okita starts coughing… (T___T not good…) It’s a very bad cough… he glances behind Keika and sees a ronin.

It appears (*cough*, appears) that there is a pretty young lady being hassled by brutes. Heisuke is about to step in, but Okita confronts the men instead. The chief of the brutes recognizes Okita’s blue coat and remarks that he must be one of the Shinsengumi. Okita asks if they want a fight, and the brutes go pale, but only run away once they see Heisuke along with him.

The young lady introduces herself as Kaoru Nagumo. (She has a very seductively cute voice O____o) Kaika observes that she is very elegant and thinks that even if she dressed as a girl she could never be as elegant and starts feeling sorry for herself. (…….BWAHAHAHAHA, this is ironic….*rolls on floor laughing*) Okita notes that the pretty lady and Kaika look just like each other. Kaika suddenly realizes that this is true and is disturbed by it.

Kondou talks about how Iemochi Tokugawa, the 14th Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, will be visiting Kyoto. The Shinsengumi have been asked to guard him as he passes through the city on his way to Nijo Castle! (Kondou is smiling really big right now, it’s cute ^___^) Toshi says their hard work has finally paid off (*dies* he’s smiling really widely too! And it’s so gentle! So cute! I want to kiss you, Toshi! >3<) Kondou is about to assign Toshi, Okita, and himself to do something, but Toshi interrupts and tells Kondou that Okita should probably sit this one out because he’s getting sick. Okita thinks Toshi’s being overprotective, but decides to follow his advice. Heisuke tells Kondou that he’s feeling a bit sick too. Toshi asks Kaika what she wants to do. (Me: I want to go out with youuuuu <3) Kaika gives him a puzzled face. Toshi frowns and asks whether she’s coming with them or not (to guard the shogun). (…his frowning face is cute too… >3<) Kaika: “I-I can go too?!” Kaika thought they were going to leave her behind again, since she didn’t feel like she was really part of the group yet. Kondou says that she’s practically one of them and that if she wanted to go, he’d love to have her come. (…;A; Man, I’m touched…thank you, Kondou-san! I won’t let you down!) She decides to go. 🙂 She feels invigorated, with a “steel in my <her> spine that hadn’t been there before.”

(Toshi’s smile here is so kind ❤ ^3^)

Kaika’s job is to tell soldiers when to change shifts and carry messages back and forth. Due to the heavy protection of Kujo Castle, it seems that only an idiot would try and attack the shogun here. However, Kaika starts to feel a chill and a nearby lust for blood.

The three men who had caused trouble at the Hamaguri Rebellion appear (Chikage, Amagiri, and Shiranui- in other words, the three oni).

(left to right: Amagiri, Chikage, Shiranui)

Kaika asks the men why they are here (at Kujo Castle). Shiranui remarks that she should be asking how they got there, not why. He then answers his own question by telling that a little human wall doesn’t mean shit to a demon. Amagiri tells her that their purpose for being there is Kaika herself and they are here for her.

Kaika asks what they mean by demons and wonders why they are here for her, all in stutters. Chikage asks how can she ask what a demon is and that she must be the one joking, for she is one, just like them. Amagiri asks Kaika if her injuries were healing quickly- almost too quickly. Kaika couldn’t bring herself to answer, and stayed silent. Shiranui is irritated, and volunteers to demonstrate. Chikage cuts in and says that he doesn’t care if she admits it or not. They are there for a reason. Her family name is a demon’s and she carries the Demon of the East’s kodachi (oh… so that kodachi was important after all…). Apparently, that is evidence enough that she is a demon. Chikage remarks that they don’t need her permission to kidnap her. Chikage: “Female demons are rare. Now, come with me…” (…….Chikage really doesn’t know his way with the ladies, does he? @__@;;) Kaika compares his outstretched hand with a tentacle of a hideous subterranean monster (ROFLLLLLLLL…. ouch, Chikage… ouch, ahahahaha- well, at least she doesn’t say this out loud).

Saito and Harada come to save Kaika. Kaika starts to collapse and a hand catches her.

(…. I’m obviously fanning myself, but let’s move on…)

Toshi asks what they want from a kid (….TTATT) and that he assumed that they were there for the shogun’s head. Chikage responds that he has little interest for the shogun or Toshi, and that the matter at hand concerns only them demons. Harada prepares to fight Amagiri and Saito prepares to fight Shiranui. Kaika starts to move her hand to her kodachi. (O3O Good for you! Not a weakling like in the anime…)

Yamazaki creeps in behind her like a ninja and tells Kaika that he’s been ordered to return her to headquarters.

• Want to remain here

• Will return to headquarters

Want to remain here

(…I don’t know if I’ve just made a very stupid move. But I want to stay here and help out. Even though she did just point out that it was unlikely that she could actually be of help to anyone.)

Yamazaki is surprised by Kaika’s decision. He asks her what she hopes to accomplish by remaining here. (……..I want to help… *sob* can’t I fight with you guys? *sob*) Kaika states that staying might not be the smartest idea, and that she may not be able to help and actually might get in the way, but she needs to stay. She then thinks to herself that she doesn’t know what they meant when they called her a demon, and needed to know the truth (OTL… so she had a completely different reasoning than I did… maybe I’m just stupid… OTL) Yamazaki says that she has a reason to stay and conviction, and he can admire that. But he has his orders. He’s about to grab Kaika when suddenly, Shiranui appears behind her with a pistol aimed at Yamazaki.

Toshi glared at Kaika. There were now three duels forming. (…………………………..I’m going to go back and choose something else. OTL OTL OTL I’m feeling like a wounded puppy at the moment….WELL, I’m going to suck it up and do what I came here for…)

• Reached for my sword

• Cried for backup

• Didn’t move

Reached for my sword

(>) Let’s dance…)

Kaika wraps her fingers around her kodachi and looks at Kazama. Toshi yells at her to get out of here and tells Yamazaki to keep her out of this. (….I’m sorry, Toshi… ;___=… but let me do this!) He puts himself between Kaika and Chikage. Toshi reminds Chikage that he hasn’t paid him back for killing his subordinate earlier. Chikage: “Hmph,. You wish to kill me, and put my body as an offering on the grave of the man you lost?” Toshi: “Don’t be an idiot. I’d rather send you to apologize to him in person.”

Toshi and Chikage start engaging in battle. Toshi’s eyes glance towards Kaika for a moment, and his hands tighten on his sword.

Toshi: “What the hell do you want with this kid anyway?!”

Chikage: “Kaika is too much for you. We’ve come to take her off your hands. Quite simple.”

Toshi: “And just what’s that supposed to mean?!”

Toshi manages to cut Chikage’s hair. Chikage’s eyes reflect respect for his opponent. He lowers his sword. (.___. I abbreviated the fight… it was supposed to be intense and stuff though…but yeah- end result = Toshi gave Chikage a haircut) The three oni/demons decide to go. Chikage says that they only came to say hello this time. (…T___T yeah, right…) Chikage tells Kaika that he will return for her soon. (……………….. o___o)

Harada helps Kaika stand up and Toshi asks her if she knew why they were after her. She tells him that she wasn’t sure.

(OK…..I get the feeling I messed up badly here………I guess we’ll see what was the alternative in the next playthrough…)

June 1865

(Oh, ok- I got the previous date right 🙂 )

Apparently the soldiers are excited about something. Kaika sees Itou incredibly flustered. She asks him if there’s anything wrong. He tells her that everything is wrong.

Apparently they were conducting physicals, and the doctor demanded that Itou remove his clothes in front of everyone. When he refused, the doctor tried to remove his clothes by force. Kaika asks what’s the doctor’s name. Itou replies that it is Ryojun Matsumoto. This is the doctor that Kaika’s father had referred her to in the beginning. She decides to go check out the physicals. (….my dear MC, don’t you know from Itou’s description that there are going to be lots of unclothed men there? *sigh*)

(…………………I knew it)

Shinpachi seems eager for his physical. He starts showing off his body.

Shinpachi: “Hm? Hm?! Wadda ya think?! You’re looking at the amazing product of years of training” (to the doctor)

Heisuke: “Your body’s fine, Shin. I think it’s your head the doctor oughta be taking a look at.”

Shinpachi: “What’s that? You say you want me to beat the daylights out of you?”

The doctor says he’s fine and calls for the next person. Shinpachi tries to show him more, but the doctor tells him that he’s seen quite enough, thank you. Harada tells Shinpachi that he’s holding up the line. Shinpachi’s insistent that there wasn’t enough time to fully examine him. (OTL)

Saito: “A medical examination is for finding problems, not showing off. Now move.”

(ROFL…. you tell him, Saito, ahaha)

Kaika notes that it’s not difficult to see why Itou tried to desperately escape. (ROFL…)

Kaika waits outside the examination room for Matsumoto to come out. When he does, his eyes seem to look at her curiously. He invites her to go with him to fetch some medicine.

Kondou comes out and meets Kaika and Matsumoto as they’re walking together. Kondou notes that Matsumoto has already found Kaika. Apparently Matsumoto was there to see her and that Kondou told him that Kodo’s daughter was staying with the Shinsengumi. Kondou tells Kaika that he had received her letters, but when he came back into town, he didn’t know how to find her. He was surprised when he found out where she was. Kaika tries asking about her father, but Matsumoto tells her that he doesn’t know any more than she does about his whereabouts.

Matsumoto tells her about “treatment” Kodo made and how he was working under the shogun to make “furies” (rasetsu). Furies are humans with demonic strength and speed and great healing abilities. The substance that transforms men into furies is called the Water of Life (ochimizu). In short, it grants immortality. Kaika also notes that it had the power to drive men insane and those who survived the insanity could go insane again with the scent of blood. She then asks why would her father do such a thing. Matsumoto says that maybe that is the reason why he left- his conscience would no longer allow him to continue.

Kondou argues that the Water of Life was an opportunity given by the shogun to strengthen the Shinsengumi. Matsumoto disagrees- he says it was an experiment and it failed, and that Kondou should put it behind him.

Sanan butts in and says that an outsider has no right to object. Sanan tells Matsumoto that he has continued Kodo’s research and that he himself is living proof. They start arguing with each other about the cost of human life in the research. Kondou breaks them up and tells them to discuss things later. Kaika makes a mental note that the two probably wouldn’t ever agree with each other.

Kondou asks Matsumoto how the physicals went. Matsumoto grimaces and tells him that nearly a third of the men are sick, or injured, or both. Kondou is taken aback by the news. Matsumoto tells him to set aside a room for medical care and clean the place up. The captains go about cleaning the entire compound. Heisuke complains that Okita didn’t help out with the cleaning. Okita tells him that it’s not his fault that Toshi’s being an overprotective mother hen. Toshi tells him that he’ll let him do stuff when he stops coughing up a lung. Saito notes that a clean home is a nice change. Everyone agrees. Harada starts suggesting that they clean the compound everyday, and Shinpachi adds that Heisuke should do a good job with it. Heisuke complains that Shinpachi has more energy, but once Kaika tells him that she’ll help too, he tells her that they’ll all do a good job cleaning tomorrow too. Shinpachi protests, but Hijikata teases him and tells him to go throw away some trash in the corner. Saito tells Shinpachi to stop running around; they just cleaned the place up and he was already kicking up dust. Kaika sees Okita going outside with Matsumoto.

• I’m worried about Okita

• It’s not any of my business

I’m worried about Okita

(Couldn’t hurt… @__@;; I don’t have any love points with this guy, and I don’t feel any warmth from him at all… would be ironic if I only got close to him when he’s about to die…)

Kaika took too long to go outside, so by the time she was out, the two were gone. She sees Shimada and asks him if he’s seen Okita and the doctor. He tells her that he saw them on the way to the courtyard. She wonders if she should try to catch up or go around the back and try to reach the courtyard before they did.

• Catch up

• Go around

Go around

(I really have no clue for this one, so I’m just going with this)

Kaika hides in the shadows and waits. Okita and the doctor appear. Matsumoto tells Okita that he has tuberculosis. Okita doesn’t seem to be surprised by this. Matsumoto tells Okita that he couldn’t bring himself to tell “her” one more thing. He mentions that there’s a rumor that Kodo is working for a group of extremists, some of the imperial nationalist ronin.

Someone behind Kaika slips their hand over her mouth. That someone appears to be Saito. He tells her to stay silent.

(I’m adding bigger photos now that I’m inserting images directly rather than copying them from my Google Drive document)

Okita and Matsumoto eventually leave the courtyard. Yamazaki tells her that if it weren’t for Saito, she would have been in trouble. He was hiding behind the trees the entire time.

Kaika apologizes and says that if it weren’t for Saito, she would have given herself away. Saito apologizes for being so forward, yet commends her for following his orders.

(Gives love points for Saito)

(….SO… Saito is in the lead now, ahahaha… ha… OTL)

Saito asks for Kaika to forget about what she heard regarding Okita’s illness- because if word got out about his illness, their enemies would be elated and their chief and commander would be miserable. Saito tells her that they’ll handle things regarding Okita’s illness; in other words, he told her not to get involved.

She agrees. His words remind her that she might live among the Shinsengumi, but she wasn’t one of them. (… I feel really bad for MC here… she felt like she had a place with them at first, but things like this remind her that she doesn’t really belong after all) She starts feeling lonely again.

The Corps got renamed the Fury Corps.

October 1866

(O____O They jumped not only a year, but a year and a few months in time?!!)

The Choshu Domain were declared enemies of the court (I thought they already said this?) and the shogun gathered other domains and launched a military campaign known as the Choshu expedition (I’m starting to wonder if the date’s wrong… did he really need this much time to round up the other domains?) The shogunate planned to completely demolish the Choshu Domain, but intervention on the part of Satsuma and some of the other domains lead to an early end for the Expedition with no actual battles fought (huh… ok, so I just missed a lot of events and they’re summarizing them… hence, the big date change). The Choshu stayed silent for some time, but eventually their disrespect for the shogun kicked in again. Kondou was asked to accompany an envoy sent to the Choshu to investigate their behavior, but they refused to meet with the envoy. Fed up with their insubordination, the shogunate ordered the Second Choshu Expedition.

Nagakura come rushing in with some bad news, telling them that Tokugawa Iemochi, the shogun, is dead. Harada is concerned with this, as it bodes bad news for the Second Choshu Expedition. The death of a leader would damage army morale. This became especially apparent as some domains withdrew from the war entirely. As a result, the Second Choshu Expedition ended in a shocking defeat for the shogunate army. That was the moment when the shogunate government, stable for 260 years, began to waver.

Kaika goes on patrol with Saito. A rowdy man calling himself a patriot (server of the country) goes around stirring trouble and tries to kick a child playing in the street. A lady stops him from doing so, and he tries to lunge at her. He misses, but Kaika speculates that he won’t miss the second time.

She goes to protect the lady and asks him if he loved his country, why was he attacking its women and children. A crowd starts supporting her, and the man, upset, pulls out his sword. Saito knocks out the man with the back of his sword.

Saito scolds Kaika for being reckless, and the lady Kaika saved seems to do the same. Kaika, confused, apologizes for being reckless and the lady, who appears to be named Sen, thanks her for saving her. She then notes that girls need to look out for each other. Kaika, alarmed, looks at Saito, who then tells her that she can’t fool everyone. Sen seems apologetic for mentioning this, since it seems like it was a secret. She asks to be friends with Kaika, and then asks for her name and introduces herself.

Kaika, confused, asks Saito if her disguise was really that easy to see through. Saito replies “…Who knows?” and gives her a mysterious smile.

The weather is super hot. @__@ Kaika brings tea to Kondou. Kondou is getting worried about Okita’s physical results- Okita has an older sister called Mitsu, who told Kondou to take care of Okita for her. If something happened to Okita, Kondou would get into big trouble. He mentions that he’d rather fight off ten ronin than get into an argument with her. Toshi joins in the conversation, saying that he felt the same way. Kondou tells Toshi that if something did happen to Okita, he would like Toshi to be the one to relay the news to her.

Toshi: “Like hell I will. That kinda crap is what we have a chief for, Chief.” (ROFL) Kaika wonders what sort of person Mitsu was to have both Kondou and Toshi afraid of her.

There have been people taking down a notice board and throwing it into the river. It happened a second time when the notice board got replaced. Toshi thinks that the Shinsengumi will be asked to keep an eye on the notice board soon. Kondou proposes using the Fury Corps, since the notice board keeps getting stolen at night. Toshi objects to this, saying that the Fury Corps often kill the opposition, and afterwards mutilates their bodies. If this keeps up, the Shinsengumi is no better than the people who stole the sign. Toshi tells Kondou that he has other plans to handle the situation. Kondou accepts this and moves on to talk about politics and the upcoming Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi, who seems like a good replacement for the shogun. Kaika is unable to understand the rest of their conversation, and politely excuses herself.

Kaika decides that she’s the most worried about:

• The notice board

• The furies

The furies

(… mm, logically speaking, I think this would be the thing she’s most worried about, seeing as her father’s the one who created them to begin with)

They found out the sign board stealers were from the Tosa Domain and Harada and his division, being well-prepared, captured them when they attacked. Harada was given a reward by the Aizu for his service and he took the rest of the captains to Shimabara to celebrate (red light district with courtesans). Kaika eats her dinner alone at the temple.

Sanan comes to visit her, and tells her that the furies they’ve created are a complete success. He starts becoming frightening, almost insane, and asks Kaika if she agrees with him. He grabs her wrist hard she screams. Okita comes in the room and stops Sanan, while lightly joking, “What’re you grabbing her for, Sanan? That’s not how you impress a lady. See? She’s terrified.” Sanan loosens his grip and regains control of himself, apologizing for losing control. Saito and Heisuke are behind Okita. Kaika welcomes them back, and Heisuke explains that Harada will probably be drinking till morning with Shinpachi. Toshi caught the eye of a courtesan called Kimigiku, who sat next to him the whole night. (T_____T…..I see… so one more person to add to the top of my hit list, eh?) Kaika imagines that they must be a beautiful couple and looks down at her boy’s clothes. She suddenly feels sad. (TTATT I’m sad too… I share your feelings, MC… TTATT… Toshi’s spending a night with another woman…………..TT__________TT) Saito tells Sanan that they should leave. He then tells Kaika that she should get some rest. (;A; Saito… so far I’m heading towards your route, and you treat me very nicely, ever since near the beginning… but I am in love with Toshi… I’m sorry.)

Okita asks Sanan whether or not the Water of Life cures diseases. Sanan tells him, of course, and they go about walking away. Saito tells Kaika that he’ll leave Sanan to Okita for now. Heisuke is the last to leave; he seems sad to see Sanan change so much.  He also mentions that there was a person who interrupted the Shinsengumi during the arrest of the people who stole the notice board. And that person looked exactly like Kaika.

The next morning, Kaika helps out cleaning outside. Kondou spots her and talks about the weather with her. She offers to roast potatoes and give some to Kondou to warm him up during the cold weather, and he remarks that that would be nice, and that he hasn’t enjoyed those in a long time. This reminds Kaika of how busy Kondou’s been, as well as Hijikata. Toshi comes, as if her thoughts had summoned him. (……I’m still a bit sad….TTATT I should have totally intruded and interrupted!!!!! If only I was there! I’ll definitely find the choice where I can go with them and intrude!)

Kondou announces that Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi is going to be the next shogun. Toshi seems to have problems with him, though he won’t say what exactly.

Yoshinobu passes away only twenty days after being elected. He is succeeded by the imperial prince, who is only fifteen years old. Japan is thrown into turmoil.