[center][h1]Aki[/h1][/center]

Five days ago, Homura had the pleasure of tasting the blood of a Shinsengumi. It would have been a great story to tell Yoshiaki, except that she had the feeling that she would not be home for quite a long time.

If she had the chance, Aki would have told her sensei that she was wearing a gray haori over dark blue kimono, the one with white and peach autumn flowers that reminds her of the field where she used to play as a child. Her hair was gathered in a neat side bun, carefully decorated with flowers of the season. If her sensei would contest that she might have looked like a suspicious person, Aki would firmly say that she was not. That night, she was just another tourist surveying the lively tents of merchants selling products from all over Kujin. Aki even bought three bottles of her sensei’s favorite sake.

The Shinsengumi incident happened after she left the night market. Actually, she was half done with her sushi when she noticed the suspicious uniformed man watching her from under his straw hat. It made her decide to walk at a leisurely pace towards the exit. Towards somewhere dark and less crowded.

Her leisurely walk brought her to a shrine on top of a hill that overlooked the festivities. The distance muted its noise until only the sound of her geta (wooden sandals) tapping the stone steps and the soft rustling of the leaves could be heard. She did not know which deity the shrine was build for, but she did know that she will be offering a sacrifice of blood that night.

“Aki,” the syllables lingered in the cold autumn breeze. Such a soft sound, but to her it was like a clap of thunder. She acted out of instinct and attacked with a shuriken. He easily deflected it with his sword before taking a step towards her. The ninja would be a fool not to defend herself.  She drew one of her short swords and ran towards the shrine, kicking off her geta in the process. Footsteps followed her, his speed picking up, but she was faster and nimbler. She hastily scaled the wall of the shrine, and knowing he was close, somersaulted once at the roof’s edge. She landed on her feet behind him. There was no time to waste. Before he can react, Aki used the momentum of her fall to push her forward and to drive her weapon into the Shinsegumi’s upper arm muscle. She pinned him to the wall as the sound of his cry drowned the hiss of metal as his samurai fell to the ground. 

“How did you find me?” the ninja asked, putting pressure on the short sword’s hilt to keep her hostage in place.

He smiled despite his position. “It is not difficult to find a beautiful fac--” Aki moved the blade at an angle cutting him off. Through gritted teeth he continued, “I bear no intention to harm you, Kitsune. I bring a message from my lord.”

“How did you find me?” her voice came out in a low tone.

“The lord I represent, he has eyes and ears on the ground. If you will consider his request, your questions will be answered.”

Looking back, she thought that he should have said that sooner. It would have saved them both time, but the Shinsengumi had to provoke a ninja. Nevertheless, his injury was tended to and she even insisted on paying him for the damages made. 

It was out of curiosity that she accepted the invitation. She hastily traveled to Odikawa, bringing with her the three bottles of sake. Two days later, it was the same three bottles that she used to bribe the head housekeeper of the manor with a silver crescent moon into accepting her services. She had to know who it was that summoned her and how he found her. It was clearly not the master of the house, because judging with the amount of preparation being done in her two days of working as a house staff, it was obvious that he was expecting someone important.