Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Where Are You Now? ❯ Chapter 7: Hajime and Tokio's Story ( Chapter 8 )

AN: Wow last chapter was so romantic, but how will their passionate love end up in this chapter…..who knows, I'm just coming up with this stuff as I go….. Anyway, as you all have noticed I have been ignoring the relationship between Saitou and Tokio, so this chapter I decided to give my all to the couple. Plus, I will tend to skip around in the story, maybe go from a year or two till the day of that they marry which happens to be in the year 1873. Maybe you all might slightly understand Tokio's darkness inside of her heart the way that Aiko had described her. I sincerely doubt that I will have Okita and Aiko in this chap. so you all must be patient as I begin to unravel the threads of time for you all, but until I do, enjoy the intro. Need to add this: WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!! 25 REVIEWS **Looks over at Inca_dove, does little loser hand motion** HAHA, LOSER, GO ME, I RULE!!!!! U suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: ………..

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Where Are You Now?

Chapter 7: Hajime and Tokio's Story

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July 3 (exactly one month)

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"You bunch of loaders, here I am trying my hardest to pay for the bill here and you all are just relaxing having a good time! The men are the ones who are supposed to get the money and the women are the ones who cook dinner for you!"

Kaoru was more then just angry she was peeved. Of course she had a good reason for all of this, one there was no one else but her that was getting money for food. The least that these men could do was thank her for all the effort she's done; helping one bum, a thief, and a ruffian was beginning to become a little annoying.

Kenshin, Yahiko and Sano sat in front of the angry woman and tried their best to reason with her. Kenshin's reasoning:

"Now Miss Kaoru there's no need to be so violent."

Yahiko's reasoning:

"What do you mean cook for us, any man would die if he ate your food!"

And the ruffian Sanosuke's:

"But, but……what could we do to get some money?"

But Kaoru's reply to his response was easily answered.

"DO ANYTHING TO HELP OUT!"

The shoji slammed closed in all of their faces, leaving them completely confused and helpless. How were they supposed to get money to help out? Were they supposed to do what they did when they met Shura? That would be a horrible thing to do once more….

A big sigh came from them all, tilting their heads forward all of them sat back down onto the floor. It was true though, they did need the money for food, and they weren't paying their fill. Instantaneously, a thought went through their minds but not the same thought. Up in Sano's empty head he pictured helping out at the Akabeko, then soon realized what a horrible mess that would turn out, he could imagine it now. Kenshin not knowing where to go and poor Tsubame ending up with a red face with Yahiko there.

`That would be horrible……no embarrassing.'

Yahiko gave a big smile, how about they get paid for bullying up some people, or become fighters for hire for a day to gain some money, who knows they could always run into some old enemies and beat them up. Hey there might be some fun in it, then again, Sano and Kenshin would probably take care of it to quickly. Both of them wouldn't need his help because the people would be down after `rooster head' hit them in the face.

`Forget about that……'

Kenshin really didn't know what to do, the only thought that really crossed his mind was to help out at some kind of apothecary or restaurant and gain some money there. Giving another deep sigh, Kenshin slouched once again, it was hopeless, really, there wasn't anything out there that they could do. Suddenly an almost silent knock came from the front; nothing unusual could be felt so instead of Kenshin answering the door, Sano stood up and proceeded through the hallway. A few seconds passed before Kenshin and Yahiko heard the door open and a ki begin to flare.

The two both stood up as well and also rushed to the door, Sano was there, hands in strong fists and shoulders tightened. On the other side of him was a tall man….. with four spider-legged bangs, Saitou. His narrow eyes closed and his left hand kept on the sword that stayed at his side.

"Move away ahou, I didn't come here to talk to you."

"What did you say?!"

Sano could feel the rest of the door move away from his grasp, and a full head of red hair stepped forward in between of the two. Kenshin's eyes didn't seem to be worried at all with the presence of the man; it had almost a month since the last time he saw Saitou's wife. Kaoru had gotten better with her cooking that much was for sure.

"What do you want Saitou?"

"Still without manners I see."

Kenshin's eyes narrowed only a fraction as he stared up at the seemingly six-foot tall man.

"I only give manners to who are worthy of them."

Saitou smirked just for a second and recollected his stern face; there was something that he wanted to tell this shell. He had found the next location where the Okashira Phoenix is going to murder some more people.

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Fujita residence

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`It has been so long since the time that we first met, the time in a marketplace in Kyoto where I had been overtaken by some men.'

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January 18, 1871

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Three long days it had been snowing, white powder covering the ground and piling up as high as it could go. Nothing really happened on the outside anymore, just the few people in carriages came and went. A door kept opened to all of it and a single man sat there, puffing his cigarette calmly. Kyoto was slowly pacing down, in these winter months though what wouldn't slow down. Still having a long samurai ponytail made of black hair and his swords by his side, only a thought drifted through the man's mind.

`Shinsengumi had failed.'

Most of the men were executed or captured, word of the death of Kondo Isami spread rather quickly, mainly in a bad way. After that he had received word from a former soldier of the Shinsengumi that Hijikata had died in the Boshin wars. Slowly but surely, men who were from the Shinsengumi were dying to fight for the era that had passed only a few years ago. The man's grip on his hakama tightened relentlessly. There was only one man that he knew that would fight this Meiji era, and that was………

`Okita.'

`That damn boy.'

Thinking about him only made Saitou want to slice something in two, if not that then punch something to death. He quickly stood up, not caring of the weather around him he needed something to do, the longer he stayed kept up in that home the more he became angry. His clothing seemed to stick with his tall figure except for his overcoat, which began to act like his old Shinsengumi haori. Crunching sounds of snow could alert anybody who came into the path of someone else, making the noise for over a very short distance.

Kyoto was quiet, to quiet if anyone asked him, not a single noise, even the sounds of people cooking could not be heard. Why should he care, the silence was always better than anything else was. He continued to walk down into the snowy haze in front of him, not even noticing that he had begun to walk in the marketplace. His cigarette had just went out when the winters snow fell upon the tip of it, making it wet to the touch. Reaching up for it, he flicked it with the tip of his thumb and it began its decent to the white ground.

Then, from out of the distance a woman's scream echoed through the falling white powder. A helpless blood-curling scream that even men themselves would be horrified by. Not Saitou though, a mind which was so rational and strict that it even knocked the smile from his old friend's face. Saitou could imagine how stupid he would look if he just rushed into a fight without knowing what was really happening. The moment that the woman's scream stopped was the moment where Saitou could hear men laughing, this could only be one thing, torture.

Three figures soon hazily appeared one on the ground and two standing up with pathetic looking bokkens in their hands. Keeping his firm expression he proceeded to the scene only stopping to where an alleyway was; watching what the men were going to do next, he narrowed his eyes and waited.

"You stupid wench! Who ever said that you could help out here?!"

The man stepped forward and threw the bokken upon the woman's frail body.

"You have some nerve, to tell us that we need to pay food in this old broken down restaurant. Who do you think you are a thief, we already paid for enough food by bringing this Meiji era to life."

The other man walked closer to her and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her up to his eye level. Then, with her eyes wide with fear, the man threw a punch into her stomach and let her drop back down to the ground. This time, unlike all other times, she didn't let out a scream of agony instead she released frozen tears that were like glue in the presence of snow. Her hands embraced her stomach and pushed down on it to try to relieve the pain. The men, who only a few minutes ago had left she had hoped, she didn't hear their angered breathing. Reopening her frosty eyes, she only starred upon a hazy black blur infront of her, which was kneeling down beside her. She closed her eyes, feeling some sort of sleep wash over her she lay motionless.

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"Fainted eh?"

Saitou grabbed the woman's arm only slightly and picked her up, raising her to put her on his back. Not even heeding all of the cuts and bruises that she had received, the only thing that he kept his eyes focused on was her face. Though, at that moment he couldn't really tell what she looked like from the blood running down half of her face, but something about her reminded him of someone. Her body structure wasn't that much different from the one who reminded him of her. A woman, not that tall but not that short, cascading black hair going to the lowest part of her body. A woman who deeply devoted her life to her husband and the Shinsengumi, who bore two daughters and who took care of one orphan, for everyone who knew her, her name would stay engraved in anyone's heart, Maemi. This woman that he was now carrying to the hospital looked almost like Maemi.

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Warmth, something that she had longed for such a while, she could now feel it in her body. Ears finally adjusting to the sounds around, listening for the sound of banging pots and pans only when realizing that there were no sounds at all. Some silent whispers only floated through the room, tones of ruffling papers and a deep sigh, where was she?

Quickly opening her eyes she studied the roof above her before finally realizing where she wasn't. Slowly pushing herself up from her elbows she saw the room around her, plain green mats laid down onto the floor and ink paintings hung from the walls. The question that she had recently asked herself was a rather good one, where was she really?

"Doctor, she has finally woken up."

"That so."

She turned her head to see the slow approaching man in gray, hands tucked behind him and a frown covered with long gray hairs, he was indeed the most horrible looking old man that she had seen. Short and stubby and old, three mixes that always seems to give her the willies. When the older man stopped he looked deeply at all of her wounds, examining each one so carefully that the woman could've sworn he was actually a perverted old man. If that were the case, so was captured for some sick pleasures for an elderly man, and the young woman behind him was probably here to keep her down. The middle of her face quickly went the shade of blue, only one word played over and over in her mind.

`EEEWWWW!!!!!!'

Suddenly he backed away and turned to the young woman behind him, he bowed his exit and left the room. The other woman's face followed his form until he disappeared behind the shoji, then giving a sigh she looked back over at the woman in bed who seemed to look more frightened than a pale ghost.

"What's your name?"

Quickly being drawn out from her mind, she starred over at the woman who wore a small smile.

"Takagi Tokio."

"What a beautiful name."

"….um, ano, what is this place?"

Almost taken back by the question, the woman laughed nearly hysterically.

"Nani?"

"Oh, gomena, this place is a hospital, a man brought you here not to long ago. He was a scary one though, really narrow eyes and swords kept close to him, he must've been a samurai a few years ago."

Tokio began to feel a little easier about the whole situation, that woman must've just been a nurse……a really hyper nurse at that. She was nearly bouncing off the walls just talking, really annoying, could someone just shut her up now. Soon afterwards, the shoji reopened itself to show a tall figure standing there, black hair in four bangs draped over his face. Gray hakama's and a black gi, squinted gold eyes staring intensely at her. Tokio could feel herself shrink into a little ball.

The nurse who was at one time jumping around silently bowed her way out, but Tokio didn't want her to go she wanted her for a block from whatever this man yields. The sounds of his shoes rang in her ears as he proceeded to walk inside the light room, closing the shoji behind him. Saitou couldn't help to laugh inside himself at the look of distress that crossed her face, hands clamping fiercely onto the blanket from which covered most of her body.

"What is it?"

"N-nothing."

"Hn."

Turning around and walking to the window of the room, he made his back face hers, telling that him starring at her didn't make her feel any comfortable. With only a short glance at the woman he could notice three things that she didn't lack.

One……..Because she holds up a blanket to cover her she must half some decency unlike the women in the brothels.

Two……..The fact that she is around the age of 18 and not married gives the woman some integrity but not much.

Three……..

"What's your name?"

Tokio wanted to fight back the question, first time she comes to Kyoto after the war and she already gets into trouble, she wished her father was here to back her up. Swallowing down the question, she ignored him and tilted her head to her side. She, never in her whole life really had to answer to any man's questions, even if the man…..looked kind of………

"You going to answer?"

Did she really have to?

"Hai…."

Saitou turned his head to look back at the still distressed young woman.

"It's Takagi Tokio…"

Continuing his old thought……

Three……..She's the daughter of Takagi Kojuurou, an important member in the Aizu officials.

"And yours is?"

Plus, she also likes to blurt things out when not needed.

"…….."

Tokio watched the man in almost complete silence, waiting for the guy to actually answer her question. Now that she thought about it though, it was kind of an unneeded question to ask after all she only knew the guy for a few seconds. He was tall `that was for sure', dark `scary if you ask me', and it seemed he was the type for all of the honor `taking all this into account he probably was…….'

`OH I know a farmer! That's why he has to carry a wakizashi and a katana, after all he does have to protect the crops.'

Tokio put on a small grin and looked up at the man starring out the window.

"Saitou Hajime."

Her hands fell upon the white blanket covering her; the blanket also fell exposing the bandaged skin underneath. He was no farmer, he was a samurai, and as far as her father told her, he was an especially good warrior at heart and at mind. He didn't at first look like any samurai but now that she watched him, gazed upon his structure she could see the influence in him.

Saitou wasn't even beginning to feel any better, this woman only irritated him more, and her complete silence after he told her his name. The only thing that actually was audible to hear from her was her soft breathing, something that really distinguished men from women. He looked back at her, eyes shadowed by her bangs, hair up in a bun but so loose that some strands had begun to fall. If this was the young daughter of the Takagi family then certainly if seemed that she was a spoiled brat.

Turning to the door Saitou lit his last cigarette from his pocket and began to walk to the door, but instead of opening it he stood there waiting for something that he forgot would never come. Whenever he was alone, or when he was about to leave for somewhere, there would always be a laugh that seemed to over joy people. A laugh that surrounded them with the smell of cherry blossoms, rather feminine to Saitou but that man was a rather helpless one at the time, choosing to serve the Shinsengumi then to live out the rest of his days at home where he did truly belong.

"I thank you for saving my life Saitou-san."

How woman-like, thanking someone you do not know but indeed it was common courtesy to thank someone who saved your life. Saitou didn't bother on bowing or even nodding, like he thought before, he wasn't in the mood for anything to occur right at this particular moment. Narrowing his eyes once more and giving rest to those muscles he opened the shoji and walked out of the bright room.

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1879

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The older woman gave a silent sigh, her eyes peering out the window in front of her, sunlight continued to poor onto her form. That year was probably the biggest turning point of her life, at first she didn't like the man at all, but the countless times he saved her and not to mention he was the one who her father helped to get into Kyoto. Inside was nothing but silence and outside the sweet perfume of cherry blossoms and the sounds of birds chirping at each other. Summer was here finally.

Tokio stood up from her resting-place on the engawa, for some odd reason she didn't feel like doing anything today. Then again, she had been doing a lot of work during the past few days so she could be allowed to have a day off from all of it. She made her way down the empty hallway, or rather quiet hallway, no kids, no Aiko and Okita, just her all alone. Speaking of Aiko and Okita, those two seem like a couple now, they're always together and now Tokio has no one to talk to. Plus the only thing that she didn't like doing is reminiscing about the past.

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1873

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Summer, yes the only time that Tokio never liked well, it always seemed to bring out the worst of things. Her long black hair swinging with every step she took, her hazel eyes looking upon only the men and women. Many days she had been away from Kyoto, she even asked her father to go back there again, but he didn't appreciate the thought. He had been telling her of a man that he planned on her marrying, so of course it had become an arranged marriage, but hell, she didn't want to marry a guy that she didn't even know.

All that she knew of him was that he was a very strong man and that he was trustworthy. Tokio starred up at the puffy white clouds gathering in the east, her life seemed to pass on by as she calmly watched them float her way. Soon very soon, she will be married and will learn to live on her own. It wasn't the fact that she didn't want to leave home, she knew that there would be a time where she would have to, but now, she was going to be forcefully taken away from her home by being in an arranged marriage.

Tokio gave a distressed yawn, slacking her posture as she did so until finally standing up and walking back to the front of the house. Aizu, a place where some of the finest doctors lived, and along with the doctors, old samurai's protecting their homes with their own sword and blood. To Tokio, it seemed such an awful thing to do, waste your life for such a country that was falling blindly into madness, but the days of the Tokogawa Shouganate had long since passed. Was there really any reason to hold a sword now?

Her hand guided her down the side of the house, feeling all of the rough edges with her hand; she would do this when she was a child. She was so fascinated by all the feelings of the bamboo and wood, how they had all kinds of bumps and ridges, now though it appeared to be dull even though it wasn't. Maybe it was because of the simple fact that she had been here in Aizu for to long of her life, maybe it was a good idea to have an arranged marriage.

The moment that Tokio had full sight of the front yard was the moment that she stopped in her footsteps. There standing in the middle of the yard by the garden was her father, still dressed in a black uniform. Then there was another man, first things that came to her perspective were tall and dark, but when she focused all of her attention she begin to see the man that her father was talking to. A tall man dressed in a black gi and brown hakama's, a ponytail that might've gone to the bottom of his back, black hair, and a seemingly narrow face. She knew that man; she had met him before back in Kyoto, he was the one who saved her, who brought her to the hospital for wounds to be bandaged.

Tokio backed up to the side of the wall, covering her quickly beating heart with her hand she tried to listen intently to what they were saying. Her eyes stayed locked open starring out into the long fields beside the home. The conversation wasn't tense, actually it was an easily said talk from man to man. The words coming from her father were easier to here than the strangers, and when she heard them she began to feel fear working up in her chest.

"I assure you Saitou-san, my daughter is a good woman."

Those last words told Tokio everything; her father was marrying her to the man she met in Kyoto. Now Tokio could feel her legs go limp under her and as a result, she slid down the wall into a sitting position. Tokio's beating heart froze for a second before continuing it's regular path, she knew that in a few days she would marry that man without any say in it at all. Of course though, a woman was only allowed to sit to the side and be silent until the men were done with their stories and lectures. This situation grieved Tokio though, she may have not known the guy only for a few seconds and now marriage between the two was coming.

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Few Days Later……

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The marriage came and went, her father said that having it in Kyoto seemed to fit the new couple better than in Aizu. Both of them were silent until it was their turn to speak, exchanging wedding vows to the one they were going to live with for the rest of life. Now they both were walking down the street towards their home, that home would be the place to live, to cook, and to prepare baths for her teishu.

'Teishu.'

It sounded much better than calling him Hajime for the moment, his real name seemed threatening to her very existence and so the only thing that she felt was in her power was to call him by that. He hadn't said a word since the time when they left the Congratulations party, she knew she wasn't up for that, having fun and drinking sake sounded more like 'Act like a two-year-old and do whatever you want!'

She also could tell that her new husband also thought the same thing or at least the same thing. Tokio gave a low sigh; she loved the piece and quiet but she didn't even know this man and was starting to feel like she never will. Saitou noticed his wife's sigh and glanced back at her, half of her face was covered with her black bangs. This whole event must've been very exhausting to her, just like a woman, get tired even after such little things.

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1879

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Yes, those times were times of heartache and chaos, both the Boshin and Seinan wars caused her heart to shed tears unlike any before. She never knew she could love him so much yet hate him at the same time. Just like the first few days in Osaka when she finally realized her husband was an alcoholic by nearly killing her with his very own sword. The only thing that probably stopped him was her sudden yelp of pain.

'The days in that house went on by, Hajime wanted to leave to fight in the Seinan wars, I wanted to stop him but only learned that I could not. The very chilling thought of him attacking me just like when he was drunk only made me fear him more. I hated him, and yet my feelings for him began to grow and that day that he left was so hard for me. I couldn't tell him the truth, I couldn't speak a word with him but that all I could do was smile and watch him leave. Back then I regret that I didn't tell him the truth, and that truth was the mere fact that I was pregnant.

Months passed on by and I began to gain new friends in Osaka, some young men who had been training in the local dojo and others were wives that cared for me dearly, almost like mothers to me. Everyday someone would come over to talk to me, not about Hajime but about things happening in the market and dojo. They wouldn't say a word to me about him, not a word but almost acted as if he never existed.

Then one day I happened to stumble across a young woman, no older than 19, but clearly a raggedy mess. Her hair was tousled and her clothing, a beautiful but torn shade of orange kimono stuck to her body from all of the mud that had caked onto it. She kept herself tucked into a ball to keep her warm from the quickly approaching winter. Many people spoke of a ghost that haunted the streets of Osaka, no one knew the story of the ghost but all feared it was angry.

They told me what it looked like, what it acted like, but they never gave me an age. At that time, the description clearly fit the young woman's. That was the day when I found someone to comfort me, to take care off to pass time, oh I was fond of this new girl with me but oddly enough whenever I tried to talk to her it never seemed that she would answer. One day she was kind enough to tell me her name, probably because I mostly called her sweetheart or honey. When she told me her name, I can remember dropping the cup onto the floor from which I was washing. That girl's name was a rather famous one when it came to the Shinsengumi, her name was Isami Aiko.

Yes, everything was going fine and people were starting to get used to having Aiko around more, and soon they began to treat her as a daughter as well. Oh I loved having someone around to talk to, until one day I just didn't want anything, I had realized how long it had been since Hajime had left. That day no one disturbed me, not a single person, not even Aiko who came by the door to listen but never came in to see me. He had been gone for at least three months then, the rest of the month went by so distressingly that I began to leave the house that I lived in and the find myself lost in the woods.

Thank heavens I had Aiko, she knew Osaka by every nick and corner, and she always came to save me. I would say thank you but only to find that there would be no response. There was one day when she wouldn't come near me, she wouldn't do her usual routine by passing my door and listen to me. That day was a day that all life in me died, when I tried my hardest to commit suicide in the kitchen. I realize that if I really wanted to go I should've gone to my room and kill myself, but I couldn't return to that room, there was no way I would.

Aiko had forbidden me of doing such an act, using both her hands to pull the knife from above my head away from me. I fell into such tears that Aiko didn't know what to do until finally I told her, I told her that I had lost Hajime's child that it lay in the futon. I had miscarried my own child, I had lost the link between my teishu and I……'

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The house remained quiet, not a single sound vibrated off the walls only a soft and gentle breath passed through the air. In her hand an old book that she held close to her heart; it was a book that her mother had given her before she left Aizu. Many days she sat and pondered the book, trying to understand all of the strange riddles inside of it. Pulling the book up towards her heart, Tokio leaned forward and remained silent.

Suddenly, the sound of a young boy laughing caught her attention, her eyes slowly opened and she laid the book back to rest in the wooden box from which it came. Pushing herself off the floor, Tokio proceeded to the open shoji and walked out closing the door behind her. The gentle steps of her feet hitting the wooden floor made her spirit become once more happy then depressed as she continued to the engawa. Outside she found the four people who had left earlier that day to buy some things in town, there was Aiko who was giggling to herself and Tokio could understand why. There on the ground being bullied by Eiji and Tsutomu was Okita, laughing and trying his hardest to push them away.

Everyone was laughing, laughter echoing into Tokio's ears. These were the times that she had forever missed, the fact that she had been confined into situations where it would only bring more distress. Those were days of dread to her, the days where she feared her own husband, but all of that had long since passed. Now she had the love of a husband and to children, and also the love of Aiko and Okita. Yes, at least she had that person to watch over her for the rest of her life, at least she had her love Hajime Saitou…….

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AN: Oh My Gosh was this thing hard to write, I like Saitou and Tokio and all but, heh, their pairing……………….no comment. I really had a hard time with this chap. so please I beg of you don't make me feel any more worse. Besides that I really, really, really recommend u guys to go to this place to check out all of my fanart on my story "Where Are You Now?" You'll see the process of getting the characters write by drawing them. Oh and by the way, my name in this site is called Okitasgirl, lol! http://www.mediaminer.org/fanart/src.php?sect=ANIME&type=265&sub mit=View "Huff, Huff!" Also, just to tell you all, I'm so interested in this new anime Peace Maker Kurogane…It has a pretty, pretty Okita in it….OH DO I LOVE OKITA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Reviews

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Inca_dove: ……I forgot what u said but Thank you anyways for reviewing….TEEHEE! That's why it is better to review at ff.net SO THERE UH!!!!

Mystic_Female: AHH. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH DANNA! Thank you for being my first reviewer…..teehee, later in the story I might come to u again….BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! **Cough**

CeeCee: LOL, yeah centuries later, I was wondering if you were going to review my story or not, thank heavens you did because when I don't get reviews in a long time I tend to lose my edge in writing. HEH I'm a sucker for reviews!

AngryBee: Sorry if the part about Tokio sounded familiar from your story, I tried my hardest to keep it original. Besides, my sis…..Mystic_female says that Tokio does have a miscarriage in Osaka. I don't know, really I don't, I'm someone who likes to sit back and read any Okita stories out there, for some odd reason he just never gets boring!

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Fanfic by ione