Hakuouki: Memories of the Shinsengumi (Toshizo Hijikata Chapter 10 FINAL)

Final Chapter

Benten Fortress surrendered against the Imperial Army, and Hakodate was taken, forcing the army of the Republic of Ezo to surrender. Otori had convinced the army to surrender peacefully so they may live to see the future. The Imperial Army had recognized Enomoto’s skill and spared his life, sending him to prison instead of the executioner. Shimada escaped the final, fierce battle, and escaped unscathed. He had plans to open a school of swordsmanship in Kyoto.

As for Toshi and Kaika… the two comment on their love for the cherry blossoms because the blossoms remind the two of each other. Toshi comments that he wishes he could live forever now that he was with Kaika… but with the way he used up his life energy as a fury, that could never be true… however, the two would fight to live so at the end they could say they made the best out of what they had. Toshi then comments that Kaika cries so easily he’d feel bad to leave her behind. At her surprise, Kaika felt tears coming down her face- they assured each other that since they were each other’s, they would never have to cry alone, and each would be there to wipe the tears from the other’s face.

Happy Ending Picture

Blogger note: I will be trying out Saito Hajime’s route next. I could try going into Hijikata’s bad endings, but I may just do one big bad ending post at the end instead. I may also update older posts for the generic chapters to show what different choices lead to, and post update notes with redirection links when that happens.

Hakuouki: Memories of the Shinsengumi (Toshizo Hijikata Chapter 9)

Note: Pictures are in links this time due to some difficulty I’m having uploading the photos directly to WordPress… hopefully the viewing experience is still good despite this.

Chapter 9,  January 1869

Kaika was sent for after three months when the Otori and Toshi helped make the Republic of Ezo and elections were done being held. A president would be elected for the republic. Otori became Minister of the Army and Toshi became Vice-Minister of the Army. After arriving in Ezo, Toshi had been nicer to his men, but also became more recluse, spending most of his time in his room in deep thought. Otori thinks that this is a sign that Toshi is in need of Kaika.

There is a celebration for the establishment of the new government, but Toshi stays inside his room.

Kaika knocks on the door, and Toshi responds by telling her that he is not attending the party. Kaika enters.

Picture 1 

(…O3O You look sooooo happy to see me……)

Kaika tells him that she’s reporting as his page, and was appointed by Otori. He tells her to take the letter of approval back to Otori; he couldn’t approve this posting.

• Don’t take it
• Take it

• Don’t take it

Kaika stays silent and doesn’t make any move to take the letter. Toshi rips the letter in half and Kaika tells him that she’d just get Otori to write her a new one. Stubbornly holding her ground, she tells him that she is there because she wants to help, in place of all their friends who have died.

• Take it

(Gives love points for Toshizo Hijikata)

Kaika takes the letter and rips it up. She tells Toshi that she came to Ezo because she wanted to help him. And that she couldn’t let him torture himself anymore.

Sensing her resolve, Toshi gives in and wraps his arms around her.

Picture 2

He tells her that her support had saved him. He asks if the Shinsengumi still stands for what it means to be a true samurai. Kaika tells him that the soul of the Shinsengumi that their friends believed in is alive in him, and is even stronger than ever now. There was no more need to rule with an iron fist like he had done in the past. (There are more heartfelt words between them, but I’ll leave my explanation as is ^^)

Otori comes to visit Toshi, and starts poking fun at him, telling him that he had such a nice assistant, and such. Toshi remains unruffled to the teasing, and tells Otori that he actually is quite content with Kaika being his assistant.

Otori suddenly turns serious and then asks Toshi if he thinks they’ll be coming. Kaika listens more, and realizes that they are speaking of the Imperial Army. Toshi tells her the enemy’s possible strategy, and then tells her that it may be his last battle where he draws his sword. In the situation he drew, the enemies would be coming over the mountains from Otabe or Esashi, and then attack with their navy. They would be at a disadvantage. Kaika poses a seemingly ridiculous question- what if the Imperial Army didn’t come? Toshi answers then that there would be no more need for the Shinsengumi.

Toshi starts to go into bloodlust, and then states that he thinks his body can hold up till the spring. Kaika yells at him and tells him that she’s here for him and that she wants him to live much longer than that.

Picture 3

They receive news that the Imperial Army was heading for Ebisu and meant to lay anchor in Miyako Bay. Since the Republic of Ezo didn’t have many warships, the plan would be to capture the enemy flagship, damaging enemy morale and adding to their own fleet. Hijikata would participate in the operation, but Kaika would stay behind in Goryokaku. Hijikata manages to return from this operation, called the Ironclad Seizure Operation at Miyako Bay, but the operation itself had been a failure.

Toshi pleads for Kaika to escape on a Russian or British flagship and get away from Hakodate. Unable to bear him leaving for a second time, Kaika tells Toshi that she wants to stay with him. She asks him if he’s worried about her, and Toshi, with forced nonchalance, responds, “Of course.” She then tells him that if he really wants to keep her safe, then he must stay alive to protect her. Toshi smiles in response, and shows that he’s willing to live, if only for a bit longer.

Toshi in charge of leading troops against the army headed towards Fukamata Pass while Otori is in charge of leading troops against those headed towards Matsumae. Toshi brings a barrel of alcohol to his troops to warm them up against the bitter cold night, and tells them that since they don’t know when they need to attack, only one cup is allowed per soldier until after the battle. The soldiers’ spirits are lifted by this act.

Picture 4

Otori and his men were routed at Matsumae, and Toshi and his men were ordered to retreat to Goryokaku in Hakodate, where the final battle would take place. After returning to Hakodate, Toshi left for Benten Fortress to meet Otori and the other soldiers. When he arrives, he finds Shimada and Otori, and they give each other encouraging words for the upcoming battle. Shimada tells Kaika that he leaves Toshi to her.

• I’ll do my best
• You can’t do that

• You can’t do that

Sensing that Shimada was preparing to die, Kaika tells Shimada that there may be a long battle ahead, and that he cannot quit just yet. She needed his support to help Hijikata to keep going.

• I’ll do my best

This choice just makes Shimada tell him that she’s ready to lay down his life like the other Shinsengumi members, and then Shimada advises her to protect Toshi’s heart… I dislike this choice, so I’m sticking with the first thing I picked above.

June 19^th

Toshi asks Kaika one more time if she wanted to stay… before she can even finish her sentence, Toshi tells her that he wants to tell her something this time. He then tells her that he is in love with her… and that before, he had only thought of living for the Shinsengumi, and then dying once he did what he wanted to accomplish. He couldn’t see a future beyond that. Now, she had become his reason for living. They share a deep and passionate kiss together.

Picture 5

Toshi and Kaika head off towards Benten Fortress after hearing that it’s in peril, but Toshi gets shot while riding on his horse. Managing to evade enemies, they rest at the rear of Goryokaku, in a garden of cherry trees. Toshi tells Kaika that she looks good next to the cherry blossoms, but Kaika tells him that she feels that they suit him even more. Cherry blossoms were strikingly beautiful, in defiance of the tragic ends they faced. Toshi similarly shone with the same heroism with his defiance of fate.

There is a moment of peace, but…

Picture 6

Chikage appeared.  (DAMN IT…. CHIKAGE…. Leave us the hell alone already! Die die die die die….) He had left his clan and traveled all the way to Ezo to fight Toshi. Chikage commended Toshi for being able to survive up till now, although he hid these words behind derisive remarks. Kaika wants to stop Toshi from fighting Chikage, but she cannot, for running away would mean forsaking all of his values… especially since Chikage had abandoned everything to come fight him. Toshi vowed to win however, because he wanted to live.

Chikage laughs at hearing that, and tells Toshi, that a fake like him can only use up his life force and throw it away like a cherry blossom throws its life to the wind. Toshi responds that he does not throw his life away, he just has many things he wanted to protect. Chikage replies that perhaps the name “fury” no longer suited Toshi for the life he strove to live was not that of a fake. Chikage calls Toshi a true demon, and that he rescinds any times he called him false. And if Toshi were a true demon, he was now to have a demon’s name… “Hakuouki.” (…there was a long pause before this, symbolizing how pivotal this moment was…) “It seemed almost as if the name had been chosen long, long ago, so perfectly did it fit him.”

“There was no give and take to this encounter; no block and parry. Everything that each man had went into that first, deciding blow.”

Toshi:“There’s still something I’ve got to protect. I can’t lose, not even to a demon.”

Chikage: “If I can die on the blade of a samurai such as you…Then I have no regrets. I have lived my life with honor, and I die with the same.”

Picture 7

“Hakuouki. Now you must live out what life you have left.” Those were his last words.

Some final comments for this chapter: I did wish for Chikage’s death here, mostly because I feel like his presence would cause the death of Toshi- but after their interaction in this final battle scene, where the two gained mutual respect for each other, I came to also respect Chikage. He came to defend his honor, and I believe he did it well… I quoted a few things in the end because I thought that paraphrasing his last words wouldn’t do him any justice. Last words are an important thing… especially to someone who stayed true to their own beliefs to the very end. This is an otome game, yes, but I think it brings a few important things in- honor, respect for one’s opponent, and fighting for one’s own beliefs. They are themes that resonate throughout the entire game, and are things that many of the Shinsengumi died fighting for, and are the things these true samurai lived for. I guess I am one of those strange girls who are touched by those notions, but I feel that because of the complex story, even though yes, by definition, an otome game is geared towards girls, the storyline is good for both genders. I believe men also have a sense of romance too, and the romantic scenes are not overly lovey dovey, so they would be able to fully appreciate it as well. I, for the same reason, will enjoy the other mens’ routes even though my heart belongs to Toshi here… my heart will not go doki doki over the other men, but I will fully enjoy seeing the romance between the protagonist and the men she chooses her journey with.

Diverging from this, Gintama, a more light-hearted story than this one, is also a great tale of samurai as well- it is also in the era of the Shinsengumi, and at the very least, there is no mention of Okita’s tuberculosis, and there are no member deaths (at least so far in the series). I recommend it if you would like to see more of the Shinsengumi, but have a few laughs and be moved by some of the strangely touching stories in there. 🙂

Hakuouki: Memories of the Shinsengumi (Toshizo Hijikata Chapter 8)

Chapter 8, July 1868

Once Toshi is well enough to be walking around, he meets up with the main forces. Saito meets Toshi, looking weary from the constant battles. He addresses Toshi as “Chief” though Toshi refuses this, stating that only Kondou deserves that title. Saito informs Toshi that Kondou is dead. (…this will be a great blow to Toshi. He had been fighting with the hopes of bringing a fully functional Shinsengumi to Kondou when he regained command. I dearly hope that he will not seek death after hearing this news…) Kondou had been beheaded at the Itabashi execution site at the end of April. This is a crushing blow, since Kondou had not been allowed to take his own life like a warrior, but instead was executed like a common criminal.

Toshi meets up with Heisuke and Sanan and exchange common pleasantries. He calls for Saito, and informs him that he will be commanding from the front lines from now on. Saito asks Toshi if he means to die in battle. Toshi denies this, and means to raise morale and take Saito’s place in battle. Saito tells Toshi that if he intends to take his place in battle that he must first defeat him- if Toshi was unable to defeat Saito, only death awaited Toshi in the front lines. (Thank you, Saito… Toshi was definitely rushing towards his death!) Saito pushes Toshi back.

It seems that Saito has also become a fury. Saito tells Toshi that he should leave the front lines to them and remain at headquarters to plan out strategies. Maybe Toshi would be able to forget his pain in battle, but this was not allowed for he was the only one who could unite the Shinsengumi now, and therefore, could not overlook their problems. Saito tells Kaika that he leaves Toshi in her hands now, and not to leave him out of her sight until his wounds heal.

Toshi starts to have a bout of bloodlust again.

• Give him blood
• Give him medicine
• Make him endure it

Toshi is once again sad over this, and states that this type of thing can’t continue forever.

Toshi’s injuries fully heal in mid-August. The Imperial Army seems to be gaining an advantage over the shogunate supporting troops. Shimada comes with news form Otori (the guy trained in western strategies who tried shaking hands with Toshi); they are going to mount a counterattack in Sendai, the leader of the Northern Alliance.  Sanan volunteers to go first to establish a base for the Shinsengumi. Otori passed on additional news that he will be leading the Denshu Company to Bonari Pass, in hopes of stopping the enemy advance, which may actually be a ploy to buy time for others to get to Sendai. Toshi faces a difficult decision whether to send troops to help Otori out or abandon the Aizu and send all the troops to Sendai. Saito volunteers to stay with the Aizu. Saito states that the Aizu helped the Shinsengumi become what it is now, and he could not abandon them and keep his honor. So he wishes to stay with them until the end claimed them both.

Sanan sets out for Sendai and Hajime follows along with him. Saito tells Toshi to survive and carry the Shinsengumi’s facets of honor, dedication, and loyalty for what they stood in with him.

Saito tells Kaika that he leaves Toshi in her hands now.

• I’ll never leave his side
• He wouldn’t die even if you killed him

(This was tough so I looked at both choices and chose the one with the better reaction @___@)

• I’ll never leave his side

Kaika notes that she already planned to stay by Toshi’s side and Toshi jokes that he doesn’t need to be in anyone’s care and that if Saito said such things, it would only go to Kaika’s head.

• He wouldn’t die even if you killed him

(Gives love points for Toshizo Hijikata)

Kaika tells Saito not to worry about Toshi, seeing as he has pulled through countless times, despite being on the verge of death. Instead, she tells Saito not to die, seeing that the battle at Bonari Pass would be an intense battle. Toshi laughs at her words and tells Saito that he should worry about himself.

Saito tells Toshi that he won’t die easily either, since he is fighting in the name of the Shinsengumi. He thanks Kaika for her kind gesture.

Kaika accompanies Toshi to Sendai while Toshi leaves Shimada with Saito in Aizu.

Unfortunately, when Toshi arrives with Kaika in Sendai, Sanan is nowhere to be found and Heisuke is out of contact. Murder also seems to be on the rise in the area. (:/ This sucks… Sanan was trusted to make a proper base for the Shinsengumi, and ends up mucking things up instead. I’m pretty disappointed… I actually trusted Sanan to do his job this time)

Kaika and Toshi meet Takeaki Enomoto at Sendai Castle.

He was the shogunate navy’s second in command and had many victories on his belt. Enomoto mentions the murders in town and Toshi convinces him to let him handle the murders (he seems to also think that the murders are caused by Sanan and the Fury Corps). Kaika asks Enomoto if he’s heard about Okita, but there has been no news.

Heisuke arrives with news while Toshi is out doing rounds. He tells Kaika that Sendai Castle is (most likely) being pressured by the Imperial Army and that Kodo, Kaika’s father is in Sendai. Kodo is leading a unit of furies in the Imperial Army and Sanan was seen meeting up with him.

Furies suddenly break into the room and Heisuke and Kaika meet face to face with Kodo.

Kaika finds out that Kodo followed Heisuke and that he plans to use furies (new and improved and unaffected by daylight) to restore the Yukimura clan. Unable to convince Kaika to come with him, Kodo knocks Kaika out and brings her to Sendai Castle.

Sanan is working together with Kodo to do Fury research.

Heisuke is assumed dead, but… He arrives with Toshi in tow! (<3 ❤ <3!!!) Kodo reveals his plans and apparently, Kodo was under orders from the Imperial Army to decimate the Northern Alliance, but disagreed with their plans and just convinced them to do nothing to help the war. Kodo and Sanan joined forces, and Kodo planned to seek vengeance on mankind, and those who were responsible for the fall of the Yukimura clan. Sanan tries to appeal to Toshi and suggests to use furies to help the Shinsengumi, but Toshi is against this… Sanan raises his sword and brings it down

upon a fury… a fury existed for battle, and if that was taken away from them, the least he could do was to let them die now, in battle.

Kodo asks Sanan why he was doing this- Sanan tells him that as he continued on, he saw that there was no way to save the furies. A rasetsu is about to attack Kaika, and she draws her sword, only to be too late. Kodo defends her and is dealt a fatal wound. The rasetsu is about to attack again, only to be slain by Toshi. Kodo tells Kaika that the rasetsu were a failed experiment, but he didn’t want to give up because he wanted to bring back Kaika’s clan and family. Kodo passes away, along with the furies. Only Heisuke, Sanan, Toshi, and Kaika are left alive.

But… not for long. Sanan and Heisuke both used up all of their life force, and said their goodbyes to Toshi… leaving only a pile of ashes.

 

 

Shimada arrives with bad news… Saito had fallen in battle (WOT?!!!!!! Why are all these people dying?!!!!! Saito’s supposed at least be alive! Why?! He was the longest living member of the Shinsengumi in actual history! Why did they kill him off?! Argh, this game  is depressing…)

It’s getting dangerous to stay in Sendai, so the Shinsengumi prepare to leave for Ezo with Enomoto. Toshi tells Kaika to stay in Sendai. Kaika insists on going with him, and Toshi tells her that Chikage will be coming after him, but he can handle it. Kaika yells at Toshi that she doesn’t stay just because she needs him to protect her from Chikage. Toshi then tells her that he can’t make her happy.

• Being with Hijikata makes me happy
• I don’t care about being happy

• Being with Hijikata makes me happy

Kaika tells Toshi that being with him was all that she needed to be happy. Toshi sighs and calls her a kid.

• I don’t care about being happy

(gives love points for Toshizo Hijikata)

Kaika tells Toshi that all she wants to do is fight alongside the Shinsengumi and follow the same path he does. He is honored by her feelings, but wishes her happiness.

Toshi orders Kaika to stay behind (regardless of the choices made above). Kaika is left in tears. Otori steps in and offers her a handkerchief. He tells her to wait until they’re settled in Ezo. He would assign Kaika to Toshi once she arrived.

Hakuouki: Memories of the Shinsengumi (Toshizo Hijikata Chapter 7)

Chapter 7, April 1868

Toshi worked hard to get Kondou back, but the former vassals he spoke with were afraid of angering the Imperial Army and ended up refusing or ignoring his pleas.on April 11th, a shogunate vassal and the head of the Satsuma Domain met and Edo Castle was surrendered. But the war was not over. The Shinsengumi left Edo to meet with the Denshu Company. Saito took the main body of the Shinsengumi to Aizu to keep an eye on the Fury Corps.

Once Kaika arrives, she finds the allied soldiers have a mix of curiosity and fear in regards to the Shinsengumi. There were rumors of the Shinsengumi being a pack of murderes, and the soldiers treated them as such. Keisuke Otori, the Infantry Magistrate and the commander of the Denshu Company meets with Toshi. Otori extends a hand to Toshi, but Toshi is puzzled and stares a the hand as if it were a “week-old fish.” Toshi then asks Otori if he wanted money. Otori then explains that shaking hands is a Western gesture of greeting people.

Shimada explains that be is organizing the operation of 3000 soldiers, with an advanced, main, and rear guard. He is thinking of putting Toshi in charge of the advance guard due to his experience in battle. Toshi then discusses this with Kaika and Shimada and tells them he plans on agreeing and wants to send away Shimada to help with the main guard. Shimada then Tells Toshi that although he is separated from Toshi,he still wants to identify as a Shinsengumi soldier. Toshi tells him to do whatever he pleases. Shimada also then advises for Toshi not to put Kaika in a soldier’s position for the rear guard. Kaika asks Toshi why he wants to order them away. Toshi tells her that he can no longer be ready to give his life while he battled. He also reveals that the Awanokami Katsu had been the one to give up Edo Castle. Toshi curses himself for not having more foresight. Toshi doesn’t know what he is supposed to believe in anymore.

•I believe in you

•You have responsibilities

I believe in you

Gives love points for Toshizo Hijikata

(Although Toshi is strict most of the time, right now is not the time to be like this. He is incredibly emotionally vulnerable, and thus needs emotional support)

Kaika tells Toshi that she doesn’t know what he is supposed to believe in or fight for, but if someone were to ask her why she was there, she would say that it was because she believed in Toshi. For the men, they would be willing to fight men with guns with their swords for the sake of Toshi. Toshi softens and smiles, and remarks that Kaika is correct, and that if he lost sight of something, the only person who can find it again is himself. He then asks Kaika if she really is planning to

stay. She tells him yes, and he responds coldly that it was fine, but to stay out of his way. (I know you are hurt, but that’s kind of a dick-ish way to say things…)

Toshi is once again hit with bloodlust. (and Kaika becomes the local blood bank @_@)

Toshi asks Kaika how long she plans on letting him keep drinking her blood. She tells him forever, and that as long as he needed her, she’d be there. This seems to make him miserable, as he’s lost sight of what has made him human.

The imperialists have captured Utsunomiya. Toshi proposes to take the castle with the advanced guard, but Otori is against it, and wants to wait for more troops to arrive. Toshi seems to not care whether he lives or dies at this moment.

The shogunate soldiers overwhelmingly outnumbered the castle guards, but ended up evenly matched due to the castle fortifications. Toshi orders the 200 men under him to storm the enemy line, but soldiers are hesitant because the enemy has guns. One tries to flee, but Toshi cuts him down and tells the rest of the men that he will kill those who run away. Toshi storms the enemy himself and dodges all their projectiles, killing men left and right. The men are inspired by the sight, and started fighting along with him. Shimogawara Gate (part of the castle) is captured.

There is trouble at the dining hall. All the men sent there have been killed. Toshi goes there with Kaika and finds Chikage and Amagiri waiting for them. Toshi’s hair turns white(fury mode) and fights Chikage. When Toshi is cut, the wounds that are supposed to heal do not, and Chikage reveals that his sword is Yasutsuna’s Demonslayer, used by Yorimitsu Minamoto to kill a demon named Shutendouji.

Despite this, Toshi pushes himself again and again, bleeding and almost going unconscious. He eventually loses his white hair, and goes back to being a normal human. Chikage taunts that he will kill Toshi and destroy the Shinsengumi. This riles Toshi up and his hair turns white again. Kaika realizes that if Toshi doesn’t stop trying to fight, he will die.

• Stop Kazama
• Stop Hijikata

Stop Kazama

Kaika tries grabbing onto Chikage, but ends up being flung across the room. Chikage goes to cut up Toshi some more.

Stop Hijikata

Gives love points for Hijikata Toshizo

Kaika tries to stop Toshi, reminding him that continuing to use his powers cut away at his life force. Toshi is resolved to continue the fight nonetheless, and ends up getting cut in the shoulder by Chikage.

The place is set on fire by the guards fleeing the castle. Chikage realizes that he’ll be in danger if he stays any longer, and retreats. Amagiri tells Toshi and Kaika that the demon clans will no longer be involved in the government struggles. Amagiri tells them that they have fully repaid any favors owed to the Satsuma clan, and that the shogunate was doomed to fall either way. Toshi acknowledges this, and Amagiri asks why he plans to go down with the sinking ship, especially since the Tokugawa shogunate never gave the Shinsengumi the recognition it deserved. Toshi replies that a samurai fights for their lord no matter what, although with a sad smile on his face.

Amagiri tells Toshi that if Chikage attacked again, he would be breaking the demons’ moral code, and the clans would abandon support for him.

Toshi collapses, and Shimada comes around to carry him out of the burning castle.

Only a few days later, the imperial army takes back the castle. Toshi is sent away to Nikko to recover and Kaika tries her best to nurse him back to health. Toshi recovers to the point he is able to get up now, but Kaika is furious to see that once she has told him this, he has begun to work. She tells him that after he has finished, he should go to sleep and tells him that he should not work behind her back.

Toshi thanks her. Kaika notes that this is the first time Toshi has been so genuine and nice.

Otori and Shimada come to visit. Shimada is relieved to tears that Toshi is well, but Otori admonishes Toshi for his behavior at the castle. The commanding officer is not supposed to be at the front battling enemy lines- the commanding officer is the head, and if it’s cut off, no matter how much of the body remains, the war will be lost. Toshi remembers Yamazaki’s words and smiles. He genuinely apologizes to Otori for worrying him and then to Shimada for having to carry him back. Both Kaika and Shimada are startled by the sudden change in Toshi’s manner.

Hakuouki: Memories of the Shinsengumi (Toshizo Hijikata Chapter 6)

Chapter 6, March 1868

The Shinsengumi went back to Edo. Kondou was still distraught over his first lost battle, and spent most of his time moping. Yoshinobu was ordered out of the Imperial Court and put into house arrest at Kan’ei Temple in Ueno. The imperial court was now in the control of the Choshu and Satsuma and the loyalist faction’s numbers were numerically at a disadvantage.

Saito tells Kaika to make some of her delicious tea for the commander. Kaika notes that he is more talkative than usual, signaling that he may be upset of the past day’s events.

Harada and Shinpachi decide to leave the Shinsengumi and still fight the same enemy, just not under Kondou anymore. Okita’s condition worse sanche is sent to a separate house in Sendagaya.

Kaika goes to give tea to Toshi, but finds that she’s walked in on a meeting with Sanan and Heisuke. Toshi is disbanding the Fury Corps and Sanan objects, telling him that the Fury Corps was the best way to gain strength in a weakened Shinsengumi, especially with the loss of Harada and Shinpachi. Toshi tells Sanan the conditions for using a fury’s power, and Sanan turns pale, but uses it as a reason to keep researching and find a way around it. Toshi still stands by his decision, and Sanan and Heisuke take their leave. It seems Kondou is passing by at the same moment (though I suspect he was eavesdropping).

Toshi talks to Kaika and tells her his concerns and troubles with Shinpachi and Harada leaving. He seems exhausted from working day and night.

•tell him to stop

•tell him to rest

Tell him to rest

Kaika tells him to rest and Toshi agrees to take her advice. He then tells her his plans to regroup…First letting Kondou regain control, and then having their allies help hold center areas of Japan while the Shinsengumi go to protect the northeast. Toshi is taken over by bloodlust again

•Gave him some blood

•Gave him some medicine

•Make him endure it

Gave him some blood

Kaika is about to cut her finger again when Toshi stops her and decides to make a cut himself. He cuts part of her neck with his sword and starts drinking from there. She feels his bitter feelings of regret and guilt just as he finishes drinking. Kaika tells Toshi he can drink from her whenever he wants, but he only gives her a smile and warns her that saying such things will only have someone use her up and throw her away later.

The Shinsengumi move to Nagareyama to train and Saito goes to Ichikawa to learn training with modern arms. Sanan, Heisuke, and the Fury Corps go on the Utsunomiya route to the Aizu since they can’t go to the Kaneko mansion in Nagareyama.

Kondou’s battle spirit is broken and he spends his day listlessly reading books. He tells Kaika of his books’ content and how he had dreamed of serving a great leader and becoming an amazing general just like Kansei Teikun, a great general who had served Liu Bei in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He said that dreaming of being a great general didn’t make you one. Kaika tries to convince him otherwise and that Toshi would help bring them out of the rut they were in.

The Imperial Army surrounds the mansion with 200-300 men with rifles. Toshi urges Kaika and Shimada to help Kondouescape while he defends the mansion. Kondou disagrees, and tells him that he will surrender himself to the enemy and tell them that they are mere hatamoto holding down the mansion. He then orders Toshi to flee with Kaika and Shimada. Toshi fights back tears while telling Kondou that if he were to give him up to the enemies now, what had he been fighting for all these years?

In the midst of their retreat, the three run into enemies. Toshi takes his fury form and slays many men. When Shimada and Toshi have killed all the men in their path, Toshi orders Shimada and Kaika to go check for more enemies on the road ahead. Shimada goes, but Kaika insists on staying after seeing the sorrowful side of Toshi that he was trying to hide.

Toshi starts pouring his soul out to her, telling her that his one main goal was to see Kondou become an important person, to the point where even Kansei Teikun would mean nothing In comparison. Shooting for the same dream, he felt like he could do anything for Kondou, and now he had just fed him to the wolves. Toshi questions why he is even alive now. Kaika embraces his back and tells him that she told Kondou that he would figure things out. Kondou then told her that she was asking too much of Toshi. Kondou had cared for Toshi in the same way Toshi had cared for Kondou…and that was why Kondou had decided to give himself up instead of seeing his friend die.

Kaika tells Toshi not to blame himself. Toshi takes a while to respond, but he can only reply that he has nothing left now. (I hope I can change that soon… And give him another reason to live!)

Author comment: From the looks of it, the chapters are getting shorter- or at the very least, less is happening in each chapter. The pictures at the end may not sync up very well with the summary descriptions, but I hope they add a bit of flavor to what’s going on inside the story. For these chapters, I may just go back and edit posts once the first walkthrough is done to show what happens when other choices are made. However, since the storyline is affected by each and every decision, I am not sure when the story starts to diverge into something completely different. As a result, I may need to add which route I am on, as indicated by the chapter start, to my summarizations in order for things to make sense.

Hakuouki: Memories of the Shinsengumi (Toshizo Hijikata Chapter 5)

Chapter 5, January 1868

The men are rattled- everyone is affected by how the shogun had run away while soldiers were fighting for him. Saito is off taking the wounded to Matsumoto, and hasn’t had time to come back yet. Shinpachi and Harada are depressed about the future. Toshi keeps pushing himself to work even during the daytime now, even though he’s now a fury. He’s barely been getting any sleep. Shimada tells Kaika to be careful not to walk the streets at night because of the recent nighttime killings of civilians.

Kaika waits in the common room for the captains to come back. Heisuke comes in and tells her that Shinpachi and Harada have taken the men to a brothel and left him behind to house-sit. Apparently, Sanan has been conducting patrols at night. Heisuke finds his behavior suspicious.

Toshi comes in the room, and seems to be in a bad shape, as if he’s about to collapse.

• Hijikata, you should rest.
• Is there anything I can do to help?

Is there anything I can to do to help?

Kaika asks if there is anything she can do to help, and Toshi responds that she should stay put and stop thinking about it. Her face immediately fell, and Toshi noticed- he asks her not to make that face and to not worry about them. He asks her to go make some tea and that her tea is alright. (I apologize for the awkward phrasing… @__@) Heisuke comments that Toshi puts up a good front, but is pretty easy on Kaika.

Heisuke asks Toshi if he is okay, since he is a fury now, but keeps working during the day. Toshi tells him that Kondou told him that if he was shogun he would have locked himself in the castle and fought until he didn’t have anyone left, even if he only had two or three hundred men. Then he would have gutted himself, like an honorable warrior. Toshi knows that Kondou would die for any of them- and now that Kondou is stuck injured in bed, even though he feels horrible, it doesn’t mean he can rest. Toshi wants to get things back in order before Kondou is back on his feet.

Heisuke mentions that it seems like Toshi hasn’t felt the bloodlust yet. Sometimes, a desire for blood kicks in and before it is sated, the fury feels a deep pain. Once the fury drinks blood, the pain goes away. However, this is only temporary, and the bloodlust comes again another time. Kaika asks Heisuke if he drinks blood, and he tells her not to ask him such a question.

Kaika goes to her father’s house looking for clues on how to get over the bloodlust. After searching for a long time, she finds a formula for a medicine that temporarily relieves the bloodlust. She makes the medicine, and goes back to headquarters.

Kaika meets Sanan and Heisuke and offers the medicine to Sanan. Sanan refuses her offer and tells her that the medicine would only be a temporary and solution. Heisuke tells Kaika that he’ll accept the medicine. He also tells her that he’ll keep an eye on Sanan while he is on patrol.

Kaika goes to meet Toshi, and hears him in pain.

• Give him blood
• Give him medicine
• Make him endure it

Give him blood

(Hakuouki has a biography section. It shows each romantic choice and their romance level. For those who turned into furies, there is also a corruption level. I noticed that Toshi’s corruption is high, and if you give him the medicine, it will still be high. Admittedly, I did go back and choose ‘Give him blood’ after seeing that so the corruption level would become low. Don’t know how that affects the storyline though.)

Kaika cuts open her finger and tells Toshi to drink her blood. Toshi refuses at first, but eventually gives in. He tells her that a girl shouldn’t cut herself up because no man will want to marry a girl covered in scars. (:P Not like I care… if that man is Toshi, he will know that she did it for him, and so he wouldn’t mind the scars) He then takes Kaika’s hand and licks the blood from her finger. Kaika tells him that she doesn’t mind because she’s a demon and she heals really fast. Toshi tells her that it doesn’t matter since she’s a girl. She apologizes for being so toward, and Toshi tells her that it’s fine- he shouldn’t pretend to be okay at this time, and that to have Kondou succeed, he needs to become a monster.

Toshi’s hard work began to pay off, and the Shinsengumi were given one of the hatamoto mansions to use as their headquarters.

Soon, Kondou made an appearance, seemingly completely healed. He tells the soldiers that they’ll head to Koufu and have been ordered to ambush the Imperial Army. The shogunate gave them two cannons, a number of small arms, and funding. Apparently Awanokami Katsu gave the order, and was known for being a pacifist. Shinpachi seems doubtful of him. Toshi mentions that if the shogunate didn’t exist anymore, Katsu would be out of a job- so when push comes to shove, sometimes war is necessary. They would need to round up more troops if they were to go to war with the Imperial soldiers. Sanan wants to deploy the Fury Corps, but Toshi turns him down. Kaika asks him why afterwards, and he tells her that he suspects that Sanan has indeed been cutting down innocent people in the streets. Also, the enemy used silver bullets on the furies that made them useless, so until they could find a solution, they would need to exclude the Fury Corps for now.

Toshi tells Kaika that the next fight would be big and that he shouldn’t include her, but the risk of having Chikage appear while they were away was too great to leave her behind.

Kaika finds all the captains dressed in Western clothing.

Toshi explains that their enemies will be wearing western clothing and that they better do so too if they want to win. Kaika ends up staring at him a bit, thinking that he was as handsome as an actor. Toshi notices this and asks if he’s wearing it wrong. Kaika tells him that he isn’t. Toshi smiles, and tells her that she’s strange.

Kaika notes that Kondou isn’t wearing any Western clothing. Kondou tells her that he doesn’t feel right in it, and Toshi tells Kondou that he’s fine and he just needs to act dignified for the troops. His presence alone was enough to inspire the men.

Kondou is out recruiting soldiers when Toshi suddenly gets news from Saito that The enemy has conquered Koufu Castle. Toshi tells Kaika to go back to Edo, since things are now chaotic.

• go with them
• stay behind

Go with them

Toshi gives Kaika a single order: if they fight the New Government Army, and things start not
looking good, he wants her to make sure Kondou escapes, no matter what. His belief is that if
Kondou is there, no matter how bad things get, they can still regroup. (Though I wish Toshi would realize his own significance more… Historically, after he died, the Shinsengumi fell to pieces.)

The Kouyou Regulatory Company at Koufu Castle were making negotiations with Kondou, who
wanted to resolve things peacefully. However, one of the new recruits called out they were the
Shinsengumi and attacked the castle’s defenders. This sparked a battle, and the enemy, who was superior in their knowledge of western weapons, were winning. Kaika urged Kondou to retreat with her, with Saito helping her, while Kondou looked at his dying soldiers with regret and tears.

A soldier calls out and asks them to identify themselves while they retreat down the mountain.
Saito distracts him while Kaika helps Kondou retreat. Amagiri appears, and Kondou asks her to
ask Amagiri to aid Kondou with his suicide, with Kondou taking responsibility for the war and
their great loss. Amagiri tells them that he is not there for the Shinsengumi, but since Chikage
has gone rogue due to his obsession with Kaika and Toshi (and he doesn’t intend to cut ties with the Satsuma), he is there to kill Kaika. She draws her sword and tells Kondou to escape, but he draws his sword and attacks Amagiri, telling her that a man would never leave a woman behind to protect him. Amagiri easily overwhelms him and knocks him out, but tells him that he respected the man for his actions. Amagiri tells Kaika that she is next and she attacks him, but she is quickly beaten and sent flat on the ground. Tears spill as she realizes she doesn’t have the will to overcome the pain and stand back up- she inwardly apologizes

“Giving up so easily? A real Shinsengumi warrior doesn’t stop fighting until they’re dead. The only thing on your mind right now should be how you’re going to out-think this chump.”

Toshi battles it out with Amagiri, and they are equally matched. Amagiri is surprised by this, and he asks what Toshi plans to do with his power. Toshi tells him that he plans to use his strength to protect those important to him. Amagiri stops fighting, and tells Toshi to be aware that Chikage would be back to challenge him. He also notifies Toshi that the power of the fury comes with the price of decreasing his lifespan.

Toshi helps Kondou up and Kondou discovers for the first time that’s Toshi has become a fury.
Seeing this fills Kondou with regret, but after Toshi tells him that he was happy to become a fury and help Kondou, Kondou tells them to dismiss his words and carry on.

Hakuouki: Memories of the Shinsengumi (Toshizo Hijikata Chapter 4)

Chapter 4, December 1867

Again, from the game: With the new year just around the corner, the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance formed an army and marched on the capital. In response, the Shinsengumi moved to the Fushimi magistrate’s office and began to prepare for war.

Someone has attacked Kondou. Kaika brings tea for the captains. Apparently, the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance wants power in the court as well as the shogunate’s assets and holdings. Shinpachi deduces that they want to start a war, and that they should prepare for it. Toshi agrees. He waits for input from others. Shimada states that Sanan has been trying to augment the Fury Corps. Harada is against using them because they’re too hard to control in a war. Shinpachi comments that it’s inhumane to use them too, and Saito tells him to offer better suggestions. Shinpachi shoots back that they’re still coming up with other methods, and that if it was such an easy matter to solve, they wouldn’t be in this mess.

Shimada asks for Toshi’s opinion. Toshi tells him that he’ll think about it, first surveying the actions of the alliance and then hearing the wishes of the shogunate.

Kaika decides to go visit Okita after not being able to fall asleep that night. She finds out Heisuke has also come to visit. Heisuke makes jokes about Kaika visiting a man’s room at night, but Okita doesn’t seem amused. He asks why they’re there, and Kaika asks them if they have heard about Sanan trying to augment the Fury Corps. They both affirm that they have, and discuss about how Sanan thought that without more men in the Fury Corps, they would lose, and how ultimately, it was Toshi’s decision whether or not to use them. Okita personally wants to get vengeance for Kondou and curses his ill body. Kaika notes that using the Fury Corps would give them an advantage in battle, but after the war, they might be disposed of.

Princess Sen and Kimigiku comes to visit Kaika. They ask to see Kondou, but he isn’t in the shape to see anyone, so Kaika proposes for them to see Toshi instead. They agree. Sen and Kimigiku ask Toshi how long they are going to use furies and tell them that they are a failed experiment. Toshi tells them that they have continued researching the Water of Life, and that it isn’t their place to judge them. Kimigiku then tells him that the furies have been murdering people in the streets to test out their strenght. Toshi is taken aback by this news. Toshi asks for the source, and Kimigiku tells him that she has no reason to divulge it, but that it was reliable. She suggests for him to disband the Fury Corps. Kaika thinks of what may happen to Sanan and Heisuke if that were to happen. There is silence.

Sen breaks the silence, but suggesting to postpone their talk of this, and asks Kaika to leave with them again. Sen states that there is a war about to start, and the Shinsengumi won’t be able to protect her once it does. Hijikata is upset with this statement, but Sen backs up her argument by asking him if he could protect her from Chikage if he came while he was in battle with the Satsuma and Choshu. Toshi couldn’t give a reply. Sen then appeals to Kaika by saying that if she leaves, then the Shinsengumi could fight their battles without any distractions. Kaika knows this is true, but still wants to stay. She looks over at Toshi for an answer, but he looks away.

• I have to leave

• I should leave

I should leave

(What the hell is this?!!! Is this because I don’t have enough love points with Toshi?!!! Argh!)

Kaika thinks that she should leave, but she does not want to. She hoped to live as a human after the war, and doesn’t respond when Sen asks her for her decision again. Hijikata senses her feelings and says, “…You don’t want to leave, do you?”This is more of a statement, rather than a question. “Then stay. What’s there to think about.” He gives Kaika a warm smile.

(Gives love points for Toshizo Hijikata)

(Ah, I see now- the choices were actually quite different despite them seeming the same- I should probably not jump to conclusions next time.)

Kaika asks if he’s sure that it’s ok. He responds, “I’m not going to repeat myself. …Or are you suggesting the Shinsengumi can’t handle this?”  Toshi reassures her that she can stay, and that if she was as much of a pain in the ass as she seemed to think she was, he would have kicked her out a long time ago.

Before Sen leaves, she talks to Kaika again. She asks if the man Kaika was interested in was Toshi. Kaika has difficulty explaining her feelings, but tells Sen that although Toshi seems cold, she feels that he has a heart, but cannot show it because the fate of the Shinsengumi lies on his shoulders. She says that she wants to do whatever she can to help him.

Sen laughs and remarks that Toshi has captured her quite thoroughly. She then says that her ancestor, Suzuka Gozen, fell in love with a human named Tamuramaro Sakanoue and followed him to the capital. She was their granddaughter- so she knew a bit about how Kaika felt, claiming that circumstance and rank had nothing to do with love. Kaika gets flustered once she mentions love, but Sen calms her and tells her that she is cheering her on. She bids farewell and asks her to be careful, esp. since Chikage was very dangerous.

Kaika wonders if her feeling of wanting to be near Toshi was indeed love. She then thinks that to Toshi, the most important thing to him right now was the Shinsengumi, so she would need to think of how to put her skills to use.

Okita’s illness worsened to the point he couldn’t hide that he had tuberculosis anymore.

Kaika and some other men, including Inoue, are on their way to Yodo Castle to bring reinforcements, under Toshi’s orders. Inoue mentions that they must bring back reinforcements, and that he doesn’t want to see Toshi like he was that day.

//Flashback time!//

3rd day of the new year. The Fushimi Magistrate, the Shinsengumi’s new headquarters, are attacked and a cannon is shooting at the building. Saito notes that they have incredibly long-range rifles and skilled gunners (fifty percent of their shots hit, despite the long range). Shinpachi tries to attack the enemy line, but is pushed back. Toshi, alarmed by the rifle shots outside, thought Shinpachi died, and had went pale. Suddenly smoke starts to rise and it is apparent that the cannon had set the building on fire- Harada urges Toshi for a retreat.

Toshi: “…I guess this is the end. Nobody can win a war with swords and spears anymore.” He calls for a retreat.

// End Flashback//

Inoue remarks that it was incredibly hard for Toshi to call a retreat, and that one defeat was enough. He then remarks that even though he’s not as good a swordsman as Kondou, he had his own ways of helping out. Kaika is resolved to help out as well.

Yodo Castle is strangely quiet. Inoue announces that they are looking for help to crush the rebels. Yodo Castle responds with bullets. They are no longer allies. Inoue decides to retreat with Kaika to help protect her from harm. This makes Kaika feel useless.

After they get to a safe place, Kaika weeps about how useless she is. Kaika likens Inoue to her father after he tries to calm her. They go to find the soldiers they left behind, and find that they’re all dead. And Chikage is standing in the middle of where all the corpses lay. (T___T That bastard….) Apparently, Chikage had gone to talk to those in Yodo Castle, and seeing Kaika, decided to play with the soldiers before she came back. Both Kaika and Inoue are furious- Inoue especially, because most of the men killed were from his division (the sixth division). Kaika, looking at the situation, knows that they can neither retreat nor defeat Chikage nor hold him back. Kaika is about to turn herself in when Inoue tells her to stay back. He puts himself between her and Chikage and tells her to run for it, and tell Toshi that he apologizes for his incompetence and that he hopes that Toshi will forgive him for not staying with him to the end. “Tell him that I don’t have the words to thank him for giving a man like me the chance to be a part of something. I’ll never forget what he did for me.” Kaika fights back tears as she pleads with Inoue to let her go with Chikage so he won’t have to die. Inoue tells her that he won’t use a woman as a shield to escape and that no father wants their daughter to die before them.

Chikage kills Inoue, and even though Kaika’s instincts are to run, she goes to hold Inoue’s hand as he passes away.

Chikage steps forward to take her hand.

• Run for it

• Get revenge

Get revenge

Kaika grabs her kodachi and points it towards Chikage. He taunts her and tells her that her time with humans must have poisoned her and that Inoue’s death was inevitable when he challenged a demon. Kaika yells at him to shut up, and feels a strong desire to kill him. And if she were able to transform her wrath into strength she would have been the strongest creature alive. She runs towards Chikage and he slaps her strike aside. Her kodachi falls out of her hands and as she goes to reach of it again, Kazama stomps on her arm. Chikage notes that perhaps he should punish her so that she would never defy him again. “Pain is an excellent tool for discipline. Fortunately your body heals very quickly” Kaika curses. “Damn you!” She realizes she can’t escape, but at the very least she could refuse to give him the satisfaction of a compliant victim. “If all you’re going to do is use me however you like, then I might as well bite off my own tongue and drown in my own blood!”

???: “Don’t remember giving you permission to do that. And I don’t much care for people who can’t follow orders.”

It was Toshi (or Hijikata, as Kaika refers to him in the game). He sees Inoue’s body, and is shaken by grief and regret, seemingly on the verge of tears. Kaika gives Toshi Inoue’s final words, although she knows this will pain him. Game words (I find them to be too beautiful to rephrase and summarize, so here they are): Slowly, almost as if in prayer, he bowed his head. When he lifted it again, his eyes were changed; they shone now with the brilliant fires of rage. (Again, I am reminded of why I fell in love so deeply with this man… I fell initially for his looks, but once I found out how compassionate he was, although seeming like a Demon on the outside, and how he is able to turn his grief into rage, his sorrow into strength, how he puts duty, pride, and honor, but most of all the well-being of the Shinsengumi before his feelings- I fell completely and utterly in love. For two years and counting already… I’ve been waiting a long time for you, Toshi…^___^)

Toshi prepares to attack Chikage. …the game words are amazing at this moment, so I’ll be transcribing them instead at this point.

Chikage: “Another human who wishes to throw his life away? It is difficult for me to understand why your kind is so anxious to die.

Chikage: “I was hoping I’d seen the last of this idiocy. Very well. Let’s get this over with.”

Kazama’s voice was bored, but as he spoke the fire in Hijikata’s eyes grew into a raging furnace.

Toshi: “‘Throw his life away,’ you piece of shit?!”

(…damn, I love you…)

Toshi: “How dare you say he threw his life away!”

(…I love you even more…>___<)

Hijikata roared in wordless fury and launched himself toward Kazama. (I’ve been using first names up to this point, but Hijikata = Toshi, Kazama = Chikage 🙂 )

With all of his weight behind the blade, he struck at the demon’s neck.

Chikage: “Nn!” (Chikage looks rattled at the moment)

Kazama flicked his sword up to catch Hijikata’s. For a moment, it looked as though they were evenly matched- And then Kazama was thrown back!

Chikage: “What?!”

From the look on his face, it was likely the first time he’s ever found himself overpowered by a human, and he was stunned. Hijikata didn’t let that opening go to waste. He pushed forward, his sword hissing back and forth through the air if possessed.

Chikage: “Guh!”

Just moments ago Kazama’s face had been calm and serene- now it was warped with frustration and surprise. Hijikata, by contrast, wore a manic grin and his blade slammed again and again into Kazama’s with more strength than I’d ever seen before.

(Just have to say… DAMN… the writers for Hakuouki are SKILLED. The words are like poetry and they’re also able to add in a really damn good storyline mixed really well with the actual history of the Shinsengumi… I’m really impressed…maybe I haven’t read a decent read in a long time, but this is definitely a work of art so far.)

Chikage: “Be honored, mortal. The moment your eyes behold a true demon is the moment of your death.”

And with that, the battle changed.

Toshi: “Guh!”

Kazama’s sword hummed and flickered through the air with ease, far faster and smoother than it had been a minute before. It was all Hijikata could do to anticipate and block his strikes, leaving him no time to try and land an offensive blow on his own.

Chikage: “Where’s the fire you had a moment ago?! Is this the most you can muster for the dead insect?”

Kazama’s demonic strength and endurance were beginning to show: He wasn’t even breathing hard.

Toshi: “Damn!”

Hijikata, however, was quickly running short of breath. All Kazama had to do was wait for him to tire, and…

Toshi: “Goddamnit!”

He threw his full strength behind his sword, and lunged at Kazama one more time. The demon anticipated his blow easily, and twisted to the side as Hijikata’s blade swept past him.

Toshi: “Gah!”

Kazama’s hand snapped out and Hijikata’s sword fell, clattering, to the ground.

Kaika: “Hijikata!”

In my mind’s eye, I could already see him, crumpling to the dirt, just as Inoue had done. A slow puddle of blood growing under his still-warm body… I had to do something! I couldn’t let him die too! … But I was utterly and completely helpless. Useless.

Toshi: “…” (he’s coughing and wheezing right now… :()

He fell to his knees, his chest heaving. Sweat rolled down his forehead in streams, and the cloth of his shirt was soaked. Kazama lifted his sword and pointed it at Hijikata.

Chikage: “…This is the end for you.” His mouth curved up into a cold, confident smile. “Humans are such fools. They will try to fight what they know they cannot defeat. I call that recklessness, not courage.” “You have underestimated the power of a demon, and chosen not to fear us. I hope your last thoughts are of shame at your ignorance.”

As Kazama spoke, Hijikata dragged his tired body across the ground, toward his fallen sword.

Chikage: “What’s this? Trying to run?”

Hijikata had reached his sword. With the last ounce of strength he possessed, he lifted it up once again and turned to face his foe. (….again, I fall in love one more time…haha…)

Chikage: “…You won’t bow, will you? I’ve made a fool of you, and yet you refuse to acknowledge the difference between us.” …No. Hijikata was not the sort of man to care about a difference in strength, but neither was he the sort of man that would simply abandon victory. So why, then, had he not responded? As I watched, he pulled out something from inside his shirt.

Kaika: “Ah!”

A tiny bottle filled with red liquid.

Chikage: “The Water of Life, eh? How far do you mean to take this idiocy?”

Hijikata replied with a toothy grin. “I’m an idiot, huh? Like I give a shit what you think. We were always a pack of idiots. We shared an idiot’s dream that we were all too bullheaded to give up on. And now, here we are. We’re halfway up the hill. If we stumble now, we’re gonna fall all the way back down.”

Chikage: “Even if you become a fury, you’ll be nothing more than a faded reflection of a true demon.”

Hijikata’s grin never wavered. “Well, you never know till you try.”

Kaika: “Hijikata, no!” My cries fell on deaf ears.Hijikata lifted the bottle to his lips and drank.

Hijikata: “Shut up.” Hijikata’s voice rumbled out from the fury, dark and low, like approaching thunder. “I’ve had enough of those fucking cowards in the shogunate and I’m sick of you goddamn demons. So I’m not a real demon? Why the hell should I care? Never once in my whole stinking life have they treated me like a real warrior.”

His eyes burned with anger. “But hell… Where are you supposed to find a real warrior these days? Lotta men callin’ themselves ‘samurai’ when all they do is sit behind ten feet of stone in a castle and get fat. Only thing those sons of bitches care about is making sure the side they buddy up to is the side that’s gonna win. We’re better soldiers than any of those bastards!”

Hijikata’s words weren’t just for Kazama anymore. They were for Inoue, who had died in a fight he couldn’t win…For the shogunate and the counselors, who didn’t have the courage to make difficult decisions; and for everyone who had ever refused to treat the Shinsengumi as true warriors.

Hijikata: “I believe what I believe. Nothing can change that. And I will never, ever, retreat. That’s what brought us this far. Call us fake if you want, but if we push hard enough and don’t give up, eventually we become what we say we are. If I can defeat you now, as a fury, then I-no then we- can become real demons. Right?”

The predatory grin on Hijikata’s face wasn’t human. When he leapt at Kazama, he moved so fast that I could barely even see him. He’d been impressive as a human, but as a fury.. he was beyond belief.

Chikage: “Gah!” Kazama smashed aside the first attack but a second followed it almost immediately, and then a third. Blow after blow crashed against his defenses, giving him no time to even breathe.

Hijikata: “C’mon! That all you’ve got! I thought we were just ants for you to crush! Where’s your smart mouth now, demon?!”

Hijikata’s eye flashed, like a great beast closing in on its prey, and he lunged at Kazama.

Chikage: “Hnng!” With an effort, he managed to swing his blade up in time to catch HIjikata’s but he’d lost the advantage of casually superior strength. “Gaaaah!” His sword rebounded from Hijikata’s strike, and Kazama was forced back. Hijikata leapt for the opening.

*Blood splatter sounds and a flash of steel*  Hijikata’s sword moved too fast for the eye to see: A line of blood simply appeared on Kazama’s face. He clapped a hand to it in surprise and pain, and jumped backward, trying to put space between them.

Hijikata: “Ah ha ha ha… Great. Looks like you’re finally getting into it. You look like a man now. How’s it feel to get cut by a fake?!”

Kazama didn’t even seem to hear HIjikata’s words- he simply stared, eyes wide at the blood that fell from his face to pool in his hand. Even as I watched, his wounds closed themselves. The stream of blood slowed to a trickle and then stopped. “Damn you!” Though the wound itself had disappeared, it seemed the ramifications had not. “How dare you! False demon! Insect! Scum!”

It must have been the first time he’d ever been wounded by a human. Kazama’s preternaturally calm face was distorted now by rage and disgust. It was the first time I had ever seen him truly look like a demon.

Chikage: “I will never forgive you for this! I will torture you until you beg for death! You will learn what it truly means to feel pain!”

Hijikata: “Gaaaah!”Kazama had been strong before, but now his blows landed with all the strength of a cannon. Veins stood out on Hijikata’s neck and forehead as he strained against the onslaught.

Chikage: “Damn you! You are nothing! Not even a shadow of a demon! How dare you draw my blood!” Kazama had gone mad with rage, his golden eyes wide and bloodshot.

Hijikata: “Bastard!”Every time their swords met, I could see Hijikata’s chip and shake. It looked as if the next blow could break it in two. Hijikata tried desperately to block with the back of the blade, and protect it from more damage, but Kazama’s strikes were too quick and too powerful. Hatred rolled off of them in waves. Neither of them would be satisfied with simply killing the other. “I’ll never forgive you, you arrogant son of a bitch! You’re going to hell even if I gotta drag you there myself!”

His clothes were soaked with blood, but eyes alight with vigor and determination shone out from beneath his white hair.

Chikage: “Ha! Go to hell if you like, but you’ll be going alone!”

They leapt at each other like enraged animals, blows flying so quickly that they could only defend or attack on instinct. It was clear that the battle would only end when one of them was dead, but it was rapidly becoming clear that Hijikata was fighting in a way that put him at a disadvantage. Back home, he’d always been so calm, even in the heat of battle, but cool detachment had fled with his humanity.” I had to stop them. If I didn’t, Hijikata would die, but awe and terror at their display of violence and skill had sealed my voice in my throat. Even though I was a demon, just like Kazama, I was helpless. It was maddening.

Ok, time for the story transcription to end. Summarizing again.

Yamazaki asks Kaika if she’s seen the commander. She tries to explain what’s happened, but things come out in a jumble. He sees a fury engaged in combat- he recognizes the clothes- Kaika confirms his suspicions by telling him that it’s Toshi (:P I could say Hijikata, but Toshi’s his pet name, so I’d rather call him that at the moment. Plus, it’s shorter to type, >3>;;)Toshi’s sword is knocked away. He is about to be done away with by Chikage when Yamazaki suddenly jumps in and takes the blow for him. Yamazaki asks Toshi why is he fighting the enemy alone and that the men are his arms and legs while he is the brain of the Shinsengumi. You can replace the arms and legs, but without the head, the organization is dead. Kondou and Toshi make one whole. Hijikata’s hair turns back to original color, and Kaika watches as he struggles to blink back tears. Shinpachi’s yelling voice indicates that he’s not far away either. Chikage wants to finish off Toshi now, but Amagiri gets in the way, telling him to stop, and that further battles would only result in unnecessary casualties.  Apparently, the Satsuma does not want the shogunate to fall by the hand of a demon, but by a human. Chikage vows never to forget Hijikata’s (I’m saying Hijikata here because that’s what Chikage calls him) name and that he’ll have his revenge. Toshi makes a death vow of his own to Chikage.

Shinpachi and Harada try to inquire for details of what happened, but Toshi tells them to attend to Yamazaki, who’s still alive at this moment.  Kaika helps out with the first aid. Saito inquires what happened as well. Toshi doesn’t seem to hear him and instead is muttering about how he never though that he’d sacrifice his own men to survive. He then asks Saito to help him bury the soldiers and Inoue. He jokes that it gets cold this time of year so they can’t let them freeze. Kaika knows that although he wanted to break down and cry more than any of them, he struggled to grin and joke in front of his own men. (……*sigh*…..I wonder if I can comfort him somehow… I hope I can…)

Kaika breaks down but cries in her hands so no one can see. Inoue died protecting her, Toshi became a fury to fight the demon who was chasing after her, and Yamazaki might die from protecting Toshi. She wonders how she might atone for her sins.

The Fury Corps, which seemed to have an advantage because it was hard to aim pistols once night fell, were overwhelmed, and the Shinsengumi’s allies crumbled. With the betrayal of the Yodo and Tsu Domains, and the refusal of the Owari Domain to become involved in any way, the Shinsengumi was alone. With their allies gone and enemies everywhere, they had no choice but to retreat to Osaka Castle.

Shinpachi and Harada go take Yamazaki to go see Doctor Ryojun (Matsumoto). Hijikata is still around in the daylight even though he is now a fury. Kaika asks if he underwent any changes yet- he tells her hasn’t, but he won’t be able to look at sunlight anymore later, so he might as well enjoy it now. He tells her that he’s the one who decided to drink the Water of Life, so she shouldn’t worry about it too much. Toshi seems pleased that they were able to stay in the castle, since it’s impregnable.

However, his excitement is put to a halt when Shimada tells him that they’ve been ordered to go back to Edo. Yoshinobu Tokugawa has already boarded a ship for Edo so there is little point in remaining in Kyoto. Toshi’s infuriated because Tokugawa had run away to save his own ass while his armies put their lives on the line for him. He muttered that it was fine, and that they weren’t fighting solely for Tokugawa in the first place, and that at the least they had the Denshu Company, an elite force trained in western tactics by French military instructors, and a few warships bought from the foreigners.

Hakuouki: Memories of the Shinsengumi (Chapter 3)

Chapter 3, April 1867

(I see a glance of Saito’s face here. Saito’s a really kind and nice guy, but I’m a bit miserable at the moment…I’m definitely heading towards Saito’s route right now)

Kaika is on patrol with Okita. They talk about a few things: ronin who run away from Shinsengumi = usually petty criminals, blue outfits → usually a symbol of strength, but were unfashionable, Itou’s coming back from the imperial states, where he was supposedly gathering new recruits, Okita thinks Kondou is too soft and should just kill Itou. Kaika spots Kaoru in the crowd, and starts chasing after her. Okita is left behind.

Kaika catches up to Kaoru, and questions her about her involvement with the notice board thief arrest night. Okita catches up and mentions that if she was the one who interfered, they would have to arrest her. Kaoru denies her involvement, but does admit that she passes by Sanjo Ohashi, the place where the incident took place, a lot during the day. Kaika tries to end the conversation by quickly affirming that she knew it wasn’t Kaoru who interfered. Okita, however, is unconvinced, and Kaoru leaves. Okita starts having a coughing fit. Kaika shows concern for him, but Okita starts lecturing her how although it was a good idea to question Kaoru, it wasn’t a good idea to run off alone, especially if there was an ambush laid out. Kaika apologizes multiple times, and Okita stops her, telling her to let them take care of her once in a while.

Kaika gets attacked by a fury, she decides not to call for help, because the secret of the Fury Corps would be exposed. After getting injured, however, she calls for help.

Toshi comes to the rescue, along with Heisuke, Shinpachi, and Harada. They kill the fury, after determining that the man is too far gone now. Itou comes in the room and questions why the captains had to kill their own man, and Sanan comes in the room, taking the blame. This alarms Itou even more, because he’s been told that Sanan’s dead. Sanan goes mad at the sight of Kaika’s blood and tries to lick her bloody hand. He has a vice grip on her arm, and Kaika seems to be in danger. Toshi gives out orders for them to deal with Sanan, despite their hesitation and protect Kaika. However, before they can attack him, Sanan seems to come to his senses. Since Kaika’s room has been bloodied, Toshi offers for her to stay in his room for the night. She asks if this is ok, and he tells her he doesn’t have much choice, and she’s injured and needs rest. The rest of the men and Toshi stay to clean up the room.

Kaika wakes up the next morning with her wounds mostly healed. She rebandages herself, however, to keep this a secret.

Itou forms a group called Guardians of the Imperial Tomb, to guard the imperial mausoleum. He leaves with Heisuke and Saito from the Shinsengumi, and agrees to keep quiet about their secret in exchange for being allowed to leave peacefully. Kaika decided she was more worried about

• The Guard

• The soldiers

The soldiers

(i.e. the members of the Shinsengumi, rather than the Guard- of course, I’d worry more about the Shinsengumi! We have less men now, and some of our skilled men left!)

She wondered how the soldiers who were left behind felt about their companions joining the Guard. She decided to ask someone about it:

• Someone high-ranking

• Someone neutral

• Someone close to the separatists

Someone close to the separatists

(This made more sense, seeing as someone close would be more affected than the other choices)

Kaika runs into Shinpachi and Harada. All in all, they’re pretty grim about Saito and Heisuke’s departure, though they’re happy Saito finally left. They also imply that they think that Itou was let off too easily.

It almost seems as if the Shinsengumi is breaking apart

July, 1867

Sen comes and visits Kaika. She explains to Kaika that she is actually Princess Sen, a demon. She also explains that the person who came with her is her bodyguard, who is actually Kimigiku, the girl who clinged to Toshi. Toshi deduces that Kimigiku was actually trying to spy on the Shinsengumi. (… I missed this event, I think it’s because I didn’t choose that I was more worried about the sign board. … I’ll do that next time around). The demons have been around for a long time, but humans in power came to want to use demons to their advantage, and those who refused often were declared war on and raided. As a result, many demons were separated and far apart and in hiding, and most interbred with humans, resulting in there being only a few pureblood demons. Chikage is part of the largest pureblood demon family in the west while the Yukimuras were the largest pureblood demon family of the east. With this, it is revealed that Kaika is a demon and that Chikage wants her as his bride so they can have a super powerful pureblood baby. Princess Sen tells the Shinsengumi that Chikage has been taking them lightly so far, and would not be able to protect Kaika very well once he got serious. As a result, Princess Sen has come to take Kaika so her clan can better protect Kaika from Chikage.

The Shinsengumi don’t like being taken lightly and tell Princess Sen that Chikage can bring it on. Princess Sen asks how Kaika thinks about the matter. She tries to stutter out a response, but it is difficult. Kondou sees that, and allows her an audience alone with Princess Sen, despite everyone else’s protests.

Sen talks to Kaika and asks her if her reason for wanting to stay was one of the men earlier in the room.

• Yes

• No

Yes

(Of course, yes- Toshi- though things may not end well because I haven’t been choosing all the right choices so far, unfortunately…)

Sen decides to accept Kaika’s wishes, and leaves with Kimigiku. That night, the oni come to attack. Shimada tells Kaika to stay in her room while the others fight outside.

• Go outside

• Stay in my room

Go outside

(Might not be the best idea, but seems like the best idea for me- don’t just let the men do the work!)

Kaika goes outside with Shimada, Shimada gets attacked, Kaika gets captured (OTL … I seem to be making horrible choices… I’m going to become Chikage’s baby machine OTL OTL OTL)

Chikage is surrounded by the Shinsengumi

• Try to attack

• Try to escape

• Trust the Shinsengumi

Trust the Shinsengumi

(……….OTL not thinking too much anymore, I’ll just trust my gut. Stupid choices. OTL )

So for some reason, Kaika decides to look at Harada and trust him, and he attacks Chikage first, and then Toshi, and then the combined attack gets me out of Chikage’s grasp. That battles look even, and the Shinsengumi regroups, so the demons decide to get out of there

Then there is this random touching scene with Harada calming down Kaika who has collapsed on the floor. (And I am so confused at this point because I have zero love points with Harada, why do I get this scene? I am really confused OTL )

Apparently the fight caused the Nishi Hongwanji to not want to house the Shinsengumi anymore, so they provided an alternate place for them to set their headquarters, the Fudodo Village. (…..*sigh* I don’t get the feeling I’m going to end up with a nice ending at this point… I’m doooomed)

November 1867

A lot of historical things happened.

The Shinsengumi become the shogun’s vassals, and although most of the imperialists already left to join the Guard, many are not happy with this development. Some have a big problem with it due to their political views, and try to leave the Shinsengumi. Some are allowed, while others are forced into the Fury Corps. Shinpachi and Harada are not too happy with being vassals either, but life goes on.

The shogunate handed over power to the imperial court. This was an idea proposed by Ryoma Sakamoto- in this way the imperial court regained power and the shogunate was still there. However, not much changed, so Shinpachi thinks that the shogunate may still be controlling a lot of things. Kaika accidentally blurts aloud that she didn’t know that Shinpachi was so smart.

Saito comes back and Kondou explains that Saito was spying on the guard as a direct order from Toshi. Apparently Itou has been plotting against the Shinsengumi- he wants to expose the Fury Corps and defame the shogunate. Also, in the recent assassination of Ryoma Sakamoto, the Guard spread the rumor around that Harada was the killer and Sakamoto’s personal enemy, Miura, told the Shinsengumi to kill Sakamoto. There are also plans to kill Kondou.

Toshi concludes that they must kill Itou- he plans to invite Itou to Kondou’s second home, kill him, and then use his corpse to lure the rest of the Guard and kill them. Saito tells Kaika that if she wanted to have Heisuke back, this was their chance before they killed the Guard. Kondou requests personally that Harada and Shinpachi, who are leading the plan, to try to persuade Heisuke to come back. Kaika wants to help with the mission, but Kondou tells her that it was a dirty job.

• Still wanted to help

• Decided to stay home

Still wanted to help

(*sigh* I don’t know what I should go with anymore…but at least she can try and help persuading Heisuke)

Kondou asks Kaika what she intends to help with.

• Help with Itou

• Convince Heisuke

Convince Heisuke

Amagiri and Shiranui from the Satsuma and Choshu appear after Itou’s been dealt with and the Guard has been lured. The Satsuma turn on both the Guard and the Shinsengumi and the demons try to strike up a deal trading Kaika for leaving them alone.

• Was worried about Heisuke

• Tried to negotiate with the demons

Was worried about Heisuke

… well, this is an awkward turn. Kaika tries to convince Heisuke to come back to the Shinsengumi, but he’s confused about who and what he’s fighting for- he eventually decides that he’s going to fight for Kaika. Satsuma and the demons are pushed back until they withdraw. Heisuke was attacked by Amagiri while he left himself defenseless trying to defend Kaika by throwing his swords at her attackers. All the Guardians were left dead

The assassination of Itou and the destruction of the Guardians was later known as the Aburano Koji Incident. During the fight, Heisuke was mortally wounded, and had no choice but to drink the Water of Life and become a fury, or die. As the battle was taking place, the headquarters of the Shinsengumi came under attack from Chikage Kazama (……I get the feeling I’ve veered way off Toshi’s route by now)

December 1867

Saito leaves because the other men think he’s a coward who left the Guard when he sensed that their luck ran out. Most of the furies had been killed during Chikage’s attack, which left their quarters mostly empty.

Kaika decides to tell Heisuke what was in her heart

• I want to be with you

• I’m sorry

I’m sorry

(………..*sigh* I’m still stupidly loyal to Toshi… )

Kaika feels apologetic, but Heisuke tells her not to sweat it and it was his own decision.

Sanan tells Kaika that her blood may be able to combat the madness that goes into the Water of Life and starts pointing his sword towards her. Toshi comes in the room and asks what Sanan’s doing. He tells her that she’s the key to making the Shinsengumi survive and tries to persuade Toshi to help him. Toshi says that Sanan’s violating their Code and that it doesn’t allow in-fighting for any reason. Toshi considers Kaika as part of the Shinsengumi so the rule applies to her as well. After hearing this, Sanan decides to put away his sword. Toshi tells him that he was against the idea of cutting Kaika up for her blood, and asks Sanan that although his reasoning was sounds, was there even a hint of a sick desire in him that wanted to drink Kaika’s blood. Sanan replies that there wasn’t, and takes his leave.

Kaika asks Toshi why they’ve been protecting her. Toshi tells her that it was because of her father, Kodo, and that they were just fighting their enemies like usual. Also, they promised that they’d protect her- so even though they found out she was a demon, “A samurai doesn’t go back on his word. A man who breaks a promise just because something’s changed isn’t a man.” Kaika feels like he’s just using her father as an excuse, but had a feeling that if she pointed that out directly, he’d get angry. But the fact that he could make excuses like that and let her stay and keep her safe- it only meant that Toshi and the Shinsengumi finally accepted her.

• I want to help

• Stay here

I want to help

She tells Toshi that she wants to help.

Toshi hesitates at first, but eventually tells her to send a letter to Saito, who is at Tenma guarding Miura (the person suspected of assassinating Ryoma Sakamoto). She is a good option, seeing as other men would draw too much attention. She goes to meet Saito and he tells her that Toshi made a good choice, since she was loyal to the Shinsengumi and she wouldn’t draw attention like the other captains. She gives Saito the letter, and after reading the letter, Saito burns it. Now that job is done, Kaika must decide what to do next.

• Return immediately

• Stay and talk

Return immediately

(I’m going back to Toshi as soon as I can 🙂 )

Kaika mentions that she took longer than expected, so she needs to hurry back. Saito tells her to be careful. Kaika goes to Toshi’s room and once she steps in, she can sense that he was in a foul mood. She automatically starts to apologize, which makes him wonder if she lost the letter or if she got lost and ended it up not making it to Saito. Kaika then states that she completed the task successfully. Toshi comments that that’s good, but asks why she apologized. Kaika mentions that he looked really upset, so she thought he was mad she took a long time. Toshi tells her that he’s not mad at her, but the situation with the shogunate’s position directly ties to the Shinsengumi, and things were a little shaky right now. Toshi then tells her how it was pointless to worry about it now, and that he can make some educated guesses on what would happen, and thus prepare the Shinsengumi for them. Kaika realizes how much Toshi does for the Shinsengumi and how his decisions directly impact the group. It was an unimaginably heavy burden. She asks to if there is any way to help, and bows as far down as she can to him.

He lifts her chin and tells her that if she doesn’t think what she’s doing is wrong, then she should hold her head up high and look straight, and never bow or yield. “You won’t win if you don’t keep your eyes on the prize.” She then asks him again to let her help- he gives in, and tells her to make him some tea.

(Gives love points for Toshizo Hijikata)

(Man, I’m happy right now ^_____^)

Kaika prances out of the room with a smile on her face. Once she leaves, however, Toshi is left worrying about what will happen to the Shinsengumi again.

Several days later, orders were given to begin the Imperial Restoration. Words taken directly from the game here: The emperor would be restored to power, and his court would once again rule the nation. The position of shogun would be abolished, and Kyoto’s Military and Judiciary Commissioner positions would be eliminated. All that the Shinsengumi had fought for and believed in was falling to pieces

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.

Hakuouki: Memories of the Shinsengumi (Prologue and Chapter One)

Prologue

Kaika Yukimura is in Kyoto to look for her father. She tries to look to Ryojun Matsumoto, a doctor and her father’s friend, for help. Unfortunately, he is out of town. Because Kyoto is filled with dangerous ronin, Kaika decided to disguise herself as a boy. She runs into some trouble with some ronin, who want her kodachi (short katana, large wakizashi). Seeing that the odds are three against one, she decides that her best option is to run away. The ronin are relentless in chasing her, and she can hear their curses not far behind her. At some point, it becomes silent. Kaika decides to investigate, and hears the screams of the ronin. The ronin are killed off by men with white hair, red eyes, and blue coats.

(left to right: Okita, Saito)

Two men, Souji Okita and Hajime Saito arrive on the scene, killing the strange men. A third person arrives, *______* and appears to be their commander, TOSHIZO HIJIKATA ❤

(Toshizo Hijikata)

Hijikata-san<3 looks like he wants to kill Kaika, but instead spares her life and decides to take her back to Shinsengumi headquarters to decide what to do with her.

Chapter 1, January 1864

She spends the night there sleeping and goes to this central room. Okita’s makes these teasing comments that he kept poking Kaika while she slept, which explains her lack of comfort the night before. Saito remarks that Okita is lying, and that he never went anywhere near her room last night. Introductions are made, and we get to know: Sanan (creepy elixir maker), Harada (red-haired dude), Toudou (kiddy ponytail guy), Shinpachi (muscular spiky haired guy), Genzaburo (old friendly dude), and Kondou (the captain that Toshi and Okita keep fighting over).  People keep slipping important details, like the reason that the white haired Shinsengumi men went berserk, and Saito decides that if they keep it up, Kaika definitely will need to be executed. He directs her back to her room to avoid this. Kaika contemplates her options…

• Find a way to escape.

• Attempt to explain my situation

Find a way to escape

Kaika opens the door and rushes out, only to bump into Kondou. She realizes that they left her unbinded because they were watching to see what she would do. Sannan, Toshi, and Okita were waiting as well. Toshi tells her that he told her that if she ran he’d gut her, and Okita tells her that she should prepare to die- they couldn’t trust a kid who couldn’t keep a promise.

• Stayed where I was
• Ran for it

Stayed where I was

(Gives love points for Souji Okita)

Kaika tells Okita that they won’t listen to her no matter what so they might as well do what they want with her already. Okita laughs at this and tells her that they may have been being too harsh after all. He then remarks that he hasn’t seen such an innocent girl after Kaika asks him what they’ll do to her. Kondou is shocked at this. Toshi comments that he thought they would have all figured it out by now. Okita then asks her to explain why she would dress up as a boy and run around Kyoto in the middle of the night. Sanan lets out a sigh and suggests that they sit down and discuss again since some of them might have changed their minds now.

Ran for it

(Gives love points for Toshizo Hijikata)

Kaika tries to make a run for it, but Toshi catches her- she then tells him that she doesn’t want to die and there’s something she has to do. Toshi then asks her what makes a girl put on pants and run around Kyoto pretending that she’s a boy. All the men there except for Kondou seem unsurprised. Toshi then tells her that she almost got killed for what she had to do, so she might as well tell them.

 

Attempt to explain my situation

Saito and Shinpachi open the door after Kaika gives out a yell. Sanosuke and Heisuke are also there.

There are further options for what to explain:

• Told them why I’d come to Kyoto
• Decided to tell them I wasn’t a boy
• Gave up

Told them why I’d come to Kyoto

(Gives love points for Hajime Saito)

Kaika decides to tell the group the reason she came to Kyoto. After hearing her story, Saito remarks “Then you are nothing more than a lone girl looking for someone to help you?”

Others are surprised by his statement and finally realize Kaika is a girl. Saito decides to discuss matters further with Hijikata.

Decided to tell them I wasn’t a boy

(Gives love points for Heisuke Toudou)

Kaika asks Heisuke if he thinks there’s anything wrong with killing a man before hearing him out. Heisuke, although impressed by this, tells her that she should start acting like a man and accept her fate. Kaika responds in turn that she is not a man. Heisuke and Shinpachi’s eyes go wide at this. Sanosuke and Saito, on the other hand are not surprised. Saito remarks that maybe she was right and they should hear her out first.

Gave up

(Gives love points for Sanosuke Harada)

Kaika realizes that no matter what she said, it wouldn’t make a difference, and says to forget it. Harada sees the resolve in her eyes, and tells her that he likes the look in them- it seemed like she made up her mind. Sanosuke realizes that she’s a girl, and Shinpachi is left stunned by the revelation. Heisuke smiles and tells her to come and explain why she was dressing up as a girl.

Looks like the Shinsengumi are looking for Kaika’s father. As a result, in exchange for forgetting the incident with the white haired Shinsengumi members, the Shinsengumi would help Kaika find her father, Kodo Yukimura (creepy ass old dude).

Kondou decides it’s a good idea to make Toshi be responsible for Kaika. The other members make fun of Toshi’s plight and he obviously isn’t humored by this…

Kaika’s left bored because Toshi decides that it’s best that she stay inside her room at all times. @___@ There comes a decision on what she should do when Toshi’s out on a trip:

• Stay put

• Talk to someone

• Search the compound

Stay put

Kondou comes in the room with sweets! (OTL this was a hard choice…so I’m glad I at least get some sweets… OTL KONDOU, why aren’t you dateable? I love men who feed me! OAO)

There’s a cute dinner scene where the guys are fighting over food. Shinpachi says that because there’s not enough food even for a kid, he’ll go ahead and nab some of Heisuke’s food. He’s an adult, so he needs more food, haha. Harada apologizes for their behavior, but Kaika says that she’s gotten to used to it (Her face: =___=;;).

(left to right: Heisuke, Shinpachi, Kaika, Harada)

There’s a plot to burn down Kyoto and kidnap the emperor. Kondou invites Kaika to go with them as a messenger to Ikeda Inn. The Shinsengumi are severely outnumbered and no help comes for a while.

(left to right: Okita, Kondou, Shinpachi, Heisuke)

Kondou decides to storm in, along with Okita, Heisuke, and Shinpachi. Kaika hears shouts within the inn, with Kondou crying out for Okita not to die, and Shinpachi remarking that Heisuke had been severely injured. Kaika decides to help by carrying them out, but realizes she can only save one of the two.

• Look for Okita

• Look for Heisuke

Look for Heisuke

A ronin attacks Kaika, and Shinpachi steps in to save her. Shinpachi’s left hand is injured badly, but Shinpachi tells Kaika that his injury is minor and to go help out Heisuke.

(left to right: Kaika, Heisuke)

She goes to Heisuke, who is blinded by his own blood, and is facing off against a mysterious man with red hair and black clothes (though from watching the show, I know this guy is actually an oni, who is one of Chikage’s main henchman). Kaika notices that the man is not armed, and chooses to

• …stop Heisuke

• …help Heisuke

…help Heisuke

(Gives love points for Heisuke Toudou)

Kaika draws her sword and tells Heisuke that she will watch his back for him. Heisuke laughs and remarks that if Kaika wanted to be his eyes, she needed five years of training first.

The mysterious man tells Kaika and Heisuke that he is not part of the Choshu (the ones planning to burn Kyoto and kidnap the emperor), and goes away while Heisuke curses and faints. He has a bad forehead injury, but it is not fatal.

The Shinsengumi gain recognition for their success at Ikeda Inn, but have suffered losses from the battle. Harada offers Kaika an opportunity to join the Shinsengumi. She decides she (I)…

• …want to come

• …will stay behind

…want to come

Some extra details forgot: Sanan is acting like a whiny bitch because he lost his ability to wield a sword after some injuries. Everyone is learning to ignore him, but it’s incorporated in the dialogue, and his attitude has gone from that of someone kind to a harsh and bitter person.

Kondou allows Kaika to help out and Sanan remarks that Kaika will only be a burden- Saito steps in and tells Sanan that based on previous actions and her help at the Battle at Ikeda Inn, she’s “hardly proven a ‘burden’ thus far.” (…I was seriously touched by this, Kaika/MC was too, as Saito doesn’t hand out compliments lightly…which makes later decisions hard, seeing as I sometimes have to choose between which member to help out, and Toshi’s still being cold… though, Saito was cold at first, so I think Toshi may warm up to me in time… and I’ve had these long years of dedication to him after all! ^___^ I will strive for a Toshi route, but explore other routes on other playthroughs!) Okita, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care either way. The Aizu Domain gives orders to help out the Kyoto Judicary Commissioner’s men with fight against the Choshu (who are nationalists trying to get rid of the shogunate. The Shinsengumi’s role is to protect the shogunate, so their objectives directly clash against each other). Kondou announces that Lord Katamori Matsudaira, the Lieutenant-General of the Aizu, have reported on his orders. However, the official there replies that there were no orders received to accept the Shinsengumi. Saito explains to Kaika that the communications must be chaotic, and that this usually indicated that the enemy was doing well.

The Shinsengumi head off to Fushimi Magistrate for new orders and are directed to go to Kujo Beach by the manor official. The men there are hesitant to receive them, but are convinced to let the Shinsengumi stay there after Shinpachi tells them that they would be directly disobeying orders if the Shinsengumi were not allowed to stay. Inoue relays that the men stationed at Kujo Beach are reserves, and the main force of the army has been committed to the defense of Hamaguri Gate. In other words, the Shinsengumi is being treated like reserves. The men, however, take their post seriously, and stay up all night on watch. Kaika does her best to stay up with them, but drifts into sleep every now and then. In the morning, there are sounds of a battle nearby. The Shinsengumi are ready to head into battle, but are stopped by the Aizu soldiers, who say that they were ordered to stay at Kujo Beach. Toshi, furious, tells them that if they had any sense of pride in their jobs of protecting the imperial estate, they should forget their orders and move.

The Shinsengumi, and a couple Aizu soldiers affected by Toshi’s speech, go to Hamaguri Gate, and find a bunch of corpses. Saito comes back with news that Choshu attacked Hamaguri in the early morning, but were repelled with combined forces of the Aizu and Satsuma. The Choshu were overwhelmed, and were forced to retreat. This is odd behavior, since the Choshu are nationalists supporting the emperor, yet have attacked the imperial estate, the home of the emperor. Harada arrives with news that some Choshu soldiers are fighting at Kuge Gate. Yamazaki (the ninja-looking guy) arrives with information that the men who may have led the raid are heading for Mount Ten’nou. Hijikata decides to have Harada go to Kuge Gate to fight the Choshu, Saito and Yamazaki to figure out the situation at the current location, Hamaguri, and hold their position there, and have Kondou go to talk to the Aizu bigwigs to grant permission to pursue the Choshu if they fled outside Kyoto (which is beyond the Shinsengumi’s jurisdiction) Toshi has the rest of the men come with him to Ten’nou to confront the men who conducted the raid. He lets Kaika make a decision herself on where she wants to go.

• To Mount Ten’nou

• To Hamaguri Gate

• To Kuge Gate

To Mount Ten’nou

Kazama Chikage appears and kills a man. He starts taunting the Shinsengumi. It appears that he was the one who attacked Okita at Ikeda Inn and injured him. Chikage asks the Shinsengumi why they are chasing after men who have been defeated in a battle. He then mentions that if they should even pretend to have pride in themselves, they should know that they are going to commit honorable suicides. Kaika asks Chikage how a person could keep their pride if someone else has to fight for it. Toshi states that cowards who start a fight over something stupid and don’t have the guts to follow through and run away with their tails between their legs don’t have the right to die an honorable death. Those who start a fight he isn’t willing to give his life for doesn’t know what it means to be a warrior. In his mind, dying in the battlefield would be more honorable than dying on your own sword.

Toshi draws his sword and prepares to fight Chikage. Shinpachi reaches for his own sword, about to leap into the fight, probably hoping to help Hijikata gain the upper hand. Kaika must decide what to do.

• Stop Nagakura

• Fight as well

Stop Nagakura

(Toshi would suffer a huge blow to his pride if I were to jump in. Also, I don’t think it’s decent to interfere in a one-on-one unless there’s foul play on one side, or one of them is near death already)

(Gives love points for Toshizo Hijikata)

Kaika stops Shinpachi, which reminds him that their main objective is to stop the Choshu rebel raid leaders at Mount Ten’nou. He tells Toshi that he’ll be borrowing his men for a bit and gives orders. Kaika leaves with Shinpachi, telling Toshi that they’ll be waiting at Mount Ten’nou, and to catch up soon. Toshi laughs (“Who the hell do you think I am?”) (Me: *faints and squeals* >3<)

A man name Shimada stays with Kaika along with a few other men at the base of Mount Ten’nou in case the Choshu rebels are seen there.

The rest of the men are dispatched to look for the rebels. Kaika starts worrying about Toshi, and just as she mutters that she hopes he’s safe- he appears. Toshi is unhurt- it seems that the Satsuma stepped in and interrupted their fight- Chikage is part of the Satsuma. The Satsuma had helped the Aizu with defeating the Choshu, so Chikage’s behavior is seen as strange. Shinpachi arrives and tells Toshi that all of the Choshu leaders have committed suicide. Toshi decides to respect their honorable deaths.

The Choshu’s extremists’ attempted attack on the imperial estate came to be known as the Hamaguri Rebellion. The following strange individuals were identified during this rebellion: Chikage Kazama, who injured Okita at Ikeda Inn, Kyuju Amagiri, who injured Heisuke at Ikeda Inn, and Kyo Shiranui, who fought alongside men from Choshu. Chikage and Amagiri were with the Satsuma. Some extremists had escaped and fled, setting the southern end of the imperial estate on fire, and reducing it to ash. As a result of the attack, many imperialist nationalists were executed. The Shinsengumi were given permission to patrol outside Kyoto, from Osaka to Hyogo. The Choshu were decreed enemies of the court.