Through the worlds to you

Chizuru ran out of the building, forgetting her purse inside, but she didn’t care. Only when she got to the central street she slowed down her pace. The girl’s eyes were losing hot pearls of tears. She wandered aimlessly about an unfamiliar area as her heart was bleeding and didn’t want to stop doing so. She remembered. She remembered everything, every detail of her life before she got to this strange world. Chizuru recalled the forgotten memories the very moment she saw Kazama’s blood on his injured wrist, but she didn’t want him to know it, so, she pretended that she didn’t comprehend what he was talking about. But she did… The memories of her killed husband ran through her mind, they lingered on and on, while she tried to smooth the pain in her heart. She was losing sanity slowly… She remembered his crystal-blue eyes, his beautiful smile, meaningful talks, caring gaze, strong yet gentle embraces, soft yet so sensual kisses that took her to unknown heights she never knew could ever exist. But everything had disappeared the moment the enemies took her beloved from her. Hajime-san was gone forever… Chizuru couldn’t hold back her sobs and squalls anymore. She cried her poor heart out, standing in the almost empty street of the night town. She didn’t notice as her body started shivering from the coolness of the summer rain. She didn’t notice that it started raining in the first place. All the poor widow knew was that she had lost everything in her life and she had nowhere to go. All her peaceful life she had had before today’s event was a lie, a mirage that had never existed from the beginning. Kazama was right: they were strangers to this world. But how did they appear here? The last thing she remembered, before recalling everything, was Hajime-san’s image in the air. And he was calling for her, but then… everything went black. Kazama made her remember her former life but she wasn’t happy about it. It was better to live in illusions than in cruel reality where you were a widow, chased by a certain blond who had a strong wish to have pure-blooded heirs… Heirs… Hajime-san had told her once that he wanted to have a son and a daughter; and Chizuru knew that he would be a decent father to his children. She wanted to give birth to his heirs so much, to bear them under her heart, to bring a new meaning to their family life, but... but… He was gone… And now she had no place to hide from Kazama. He said he would have her no matter what, and she knew that he would keep his word. He never lied. It was his code of honour. It was back then, it would be like this now. Chizuru brushed away wet hair from her face and looked up at the raining night sky, where the moon was already showing its face to the world. She didn’t know how long she had been wandering like that, but it seemed that it had been past midnight already. She had to return back home. Home… Where was her home? Did she even have it now? It was clear that she couldn’t stay at Saito-senpai’s house any longer and incur more trouble to him. She had to leave for Tokyo as fast as it was possible, and there were two reasons for such decision: Chizuru couldn’t let Kazama have his hands on her respected host, and there was no way she could stay close to the man who had the same appearance as her dear husband’s. A random car stopped by the side of the road she was standing on. Chizuru involuntarily turned her head towards the source of light. A man in his late 60s showed up in the cabin as he opened the side door and said: “Young Miss, it’s dangerous to walk alone in this late hour and when it rains to that. Get in, I will drive you home”. The brown-haired girl nodded indifferently and sat inside the vehicle. Her eyes were glassy and emotionless. She didn’t say anything and didn’t even get surprised that the man pushed the gas pedal and drove to unknown destination. Little did Chizuru know that this man was one of Kazama’s stooges that followed his master’s orders to bring the target to the place safe and sound. Actually, the Satsuma clan, that was working for Chikage Kazama as his personal security, was watching after the girl very attentively while she was lost in space. They neutralized all the guys and hentais who had had bad intentions towards the lady during her night walk under the rain, but as they had been ordered, they kept their incognito. After all the clan wanted to give the best results of the operation to their boss. Kazama-sama did so much for their clan by paying their debts and saving them from bankruptcy by doing so. And now they owned the great and wealthy man a lot and the least they could do to repay him was working hard for his well-being and satisfaction. “We’re at the place, Miss. Take care and don’t walk alone in the nights again, okay?” the leader of the Satsuma clan said politely and got a very quiet “arigato” as a reply, before his passenger opened the door and got out of the car. The moment she left the cabin, the driver pressed the button on the panel and announced: “She is at the place. The mission is accomplished”.

OooooO

Sitting in the cabin of the plane Saito Hajime couldn’t but muse about his new discovery. He spent several days in Tokyo as a representative of his family and to his grate luck he met a person he really wanted to meet during this trip. Saito didn’t know if he would be able to see Tanaka-san, his father’s companion during their work in police, but something was telling the young man to take the evidence with him. Back in Kyoto, Hajime made a crime, well, maybe not a crime, but illegal actions, but still… While Yukimura-san was out for her studying, he entered her room and took her katana. He didn’t know why that thought crossed his mind in the first place, but there was no way back. The young heir of Saito’s dynasty took out a piece of silky fabric out of his pocket and sliced it a little with the sharp blade of the katana. After doing so, he put that piece of fabric into a plastic bag and then laid the weapon on the same spot it had been laying before his coming. After hiding the evidence of his presence he left the room. Then the blue-eyed master of the mansion headed to his cabinet only to repeat the same actions with the Saito’s relic, but using another piece of silk. He understood that his suspicions were absurd and baseless, that he had made a mistake, committing illegal deeds towards Yukimura-san’s property, and he was ready to renounce his attempts to solve the mystery of the two blades, if only he didn’t meet Tanaka-san. The man was considered as the best criminalist in whole Japan and he was in good terms with Saito’s fathers, so when he noticed Hajime among the guests, he was very glad to see his good colleague’s son and ask him some questions about his respected parents. The Saito’s heir considered this chance as a fateful one, and decided to ask Tanaka-san for help. He requested the man to make an examination of the two silky pieces of fabric. He needed to know what kind of steel was used to slice them. The experienced expert agreed to help. Hajime got the folder with the results right before the departure. And now, after he read the expert’s report, the young man didn’t know what to think anymore. He laid his nape on the headrest of the seat and closed his tired azure eyes. The last lines of the paper sounded in his mind again and again. “According to the results of examination, the two pieces of silky fabric were sliced with the same cold steel, in the current case--a katana. The steel is dated to 1800s and was forged by master Mishima Akira”. He had to know why she had the same katana as his clan’s, that was why he decided to ask her about it when he came back to Kyoto.

OooooO

Chizuru walked in the semi-dark corridor and closed the front door behind her silently. She was still lost and frustrated and didn’t pay much attention to her surroundings. Her body functioned on its own as she took off her wet shoes and put on her slippers. The water was dropping from her dress, hair and body creating a big pool on the wooden floor. But the girl didn’t notice the mess she was making. She was about to head towards the staircase when suddenly the light of a night-lamp blinded her, so she had to screw up her eyes for a moment. “Okaeri, Yukimura-san,” Chizuru heard the voice she thought she would never be able to hear again. It was her dear husband’s voice and it made her heart tighten in her chest. She hurriedly opened her eyes only to see his face, to run into his arms and embrace him, to make sure that it wasn’t a dream, that he was alive and… “Hajime-san!” she exclaimed, her voice full of tenderness and joy. But when her eyes focused on the young man that stood before her, the girl’s face suddenly lost its colour. He had the same appearance, the same voice and posture, but… …it wasn’t her husband… This young man was looking at her with surprise and concern in his light-blue eyes. He didn’t have that warm and gentle gaze her Hajime-san was gifting her with every time he saw her. Chizuru eyes widened as a shadow of fear appeared in them. He wasn’t Saito yet he looked like him. He was another false illusion of this strange world… …he and all the members of Shinsengumi she knew here: Okita-senpai, Todou-kun, Nagakura-sensei, Harada-sensei, Hijikata-san, Sannan-san and even Yamazaki-san. But all of them were killed! How could it be possible that they were alive here? And this man that resembled her of her beloved husband… “Yukimura-san! Did anything happen?” his voice was filled with worry. Merely the sound of his voice made her believe that he was him. It was like the river of emotions disturbing her inner peace. What made her think this man was her beloved husband when dear Hajime-san was dead and nothing could bring him to life? Once Chizuru believed he was gone, she corrupted from within, she lost the meaning to live. So why did she see the face she longed to see and shower with her light kisses right before her eyes at the moment? Please, somebody, save her from this nightmare! Don’t let her lose her mind! “Yukimura-san! Please, answer me! Are you alright?” he had no strength to hold back. The young man couldn’t stand seeing her like that, so he made a step towards her shaking form to make sure that she wasn’t wounded or anything, but… …the girl stepped backwards as if she was afraid of him

OooooO

Saito was very surprised that Yukimura-san came back that late that night. He couldn’t sleep because he was worried about her. At first, the Saito’s heir felt very excited to know the truth about the katanas, but then he got really concerned about Yukimura-san’s absence. Yamazaki-san told him that Yukimura-san had promised to be back by 9 p.m. but it was already after midnight. Hajime tried to call her several times but his guest’s cell-phone was turned off. He had a bad feeling about that dinner from the very beginning and now, when he met her in the doorway, standing all lost and emotionless, not mentioning wet from head to toe, he got really scared that the blond could do something bad to the fragile girl. Saito didn’t trust that man with lustful eyes. The only thing that held him back from starting searching for Yukimura-san was the thought that Osen-san was there too. Saito shifted his blue eyes from Yukimura-san’s face to her dress and got paralyzed by the shocking view: the thin white silk got glued to the girl’s body like a second skin and due to wetness, the fabric became transparent and now all her feminine shapes and curves could be easily seen through. Even her lacy underwear didn’t save the situation, since it was wet too. He lifted his horror-stricken gaze on her face again the very moment she opened her eyes and called him by his given name. Her words amused him to no limits. Yukimura-san had never addressed herself to him by calling him by his given name. But the moment he found her eyes, he noticed that there was great terror in her mirrors of soul. That kind of emotion could be seen only in the eyes of those, who were scared of something to death. But in this case it wasn’t something, but someone…--him. She was afraid of him and her reaction was proving his deduction. The blood in his veins froze. What could have happened to Yukimura-san that made her behave like that? Did she get into an accident? There were no visual evidences of any catastrophe on her body. Maybe she became a victim of sexual harassment? The last thought had almost driven him insane as he felt something tensed in his chest. Hagime made a step towards the shaking girl to make sure that she was all right. It was a reflex, an action made by the instinct. “Yukimura-san, did anything happen? Please, Yukimura-san, answer me! Are you alright?” he asked, praying for a negative answer. But he didn’t get any because she drew back, almost jumped back, in fear away from him as if he was some kind of a dangerous flame. Now Saito was really scared for her well-being. Something terrible did happen that evening. The young man returned to his previous spot, swallowing hard nervously. He didn’t even notice that his hands started to shake a little due to his inner tension. “Yukimura-san, is there anything I can help you?” he uttered carefully, watching her reaction with his sorrowful azure eyes. Chizuru’s lower lip started trembling uncontrollably as long as her whole body. She covered her mouth with her palm to silence the loud sob that escaped her throat. Her chocolate eyes filled with more hot tears, which started to roll down her pale face right away. He looked like him and still it was not him. Chizuru lowered her head in order not to look at her land-lord’s face any longer. It brought too much pain to her heart and soul. Without saying any words, she ran past him and then to the staircase, leaving the young man standing alone in the semi-darkness of the corridor. Saito turned back to look at her retreating form. There were no words to describe what he was feeling at the moment. Concern? Pain? Worry? No, not even close. He felt like he was killed. She was scared of him and he didn’t know why. Hajime wanted to run after her, to take her into a hug and chase all her fears away, to lend her his strong shoulder she could rely on, but… …he had no right to do any of those actions, especially after seeing that terror in her eyes. He had to know what happened to this fragile girl, so that he could try to protect her from the consequences. He had to… …but tonight it was impossible. He felt like he had no chance to come close to her since she couldn’t stand his presence right now. Hajime decided to give her some time to calm down, but in the morning they needed to talk. There were too many questions they had to resolve, but at this very minute he had to cool down his burning emotions himself, or else he would go insane by the dawn. Saito walked in the cabinet, took out the family relic from the safe and headed to the backyard of the mansion. The blade and cool drops of rain would help him to cool down his mind and emotions. Or so he prayed.