Aesthetic

The night came with a rush of adrenaline surging through the veins and infusing the body with an effect known solely to those whose lives were in danger. This particular reaction was the only thing keeping her alive at the moment, after realizing the grave mistake of having run into a town the Shinsengumi had been patrolling. She had quickly stepped back into the shadows of an ally way and kept her back pressed against the wall, but was found minutes after by one of the patrolling young man with reddish brown hair and a sadistic smile.

And she bolted from between the buildings, running as fast as her legs could carry her towards the road that lead out, but she was never one for luck. He came from around the building and blocked her path, and though she was light on her feet and twisted away and towards another direction, he still managed to find her by cutting off her path. His emerald green eyes full with amusement as he looked town at her own similar colored ones, though hers shone brighter than his and made him think of a stray.

Though clearly hiding the fact she was a woman, Souji already knew by the movements of the body that he was not hunting down a man: smaller frame, lighter on her feet, and the way the body felt against his when he took her arms from behind and pressed up against her, there was no way in hell he would be able to forget the softness squished in between his arm and chest. His other arm, at the time, held the sharp end of his sword against her pale throat as she craned her neck back to glare at him.

“Move . . . and I’ll kill you.” He said to her lowly, only a whisper in her ear as she glared at him. “If you don’t stop looking at me like that, I might do just that.”

Souji didn’t expect the hiss that came from her lips, or the sudden jab of her elbow against his ribcage, before she slammed his sword hand down and jumped away. Just as agile as a feline, she had slipped through his arms and back into the shadows of the town, but he never lost sight of her and trailed behind only with a few steps.

“You do know I’m just humoring you,” he called after her, a chuckle catching her attention and forcing her to stop abruptly. Souji stopped ten feet away, sword back in its sheath as he would not need to use it on some thieving woman. Unless she absolutely begged for him to do so, he would happily oblige.

“Come quietly and I’ll try not to hurt you as much as I want to.” She could see the smirk on his lips, eyes shadowed, but still the glint of dead serious could be seen. When she didn’t move to run or to speak, Souji stepped forward, only to have her take a two steps back. “Looks like you don’t want to cooperate, and I’ll forced to choose the hard way to subdue you. Not that I’m complaining.”

There was a very specific reason as to why he was chasing this woman down, playing cat-and-mouse nonetheless, and it was due to the reason rumors of thievery caused by a supposed dark spirit. The rumor went that the evil came with a person that moved from town to town, stealing valuable right under the noses of the owners. Now that supposed spirit was here, and this is the person whom he first runs into once that rumor began here. Only those with the lack of brains could not see what the real culprit was; a mere young woman with sharp eyes.

Her face was covered partially, only the nose and mouth, body clothed in men’s loose ware, her black hair held high in a style much like Heisuke’s. There were no weapons on her, none that he could see, but Souji didn’t for a second doubt that she was indeed armed. She was good at escaping, but no one would stand their ground against the Shinsengumi unarmed, unless they had other methods of defending themselves. Souji narrowed his eyes, unsheathing his Katana as he neared her. There were things only he had seen that cleared his thoughts on why someone would be so calmed against someone who could easily kill them, but he couldn’t be sure if she was like those ‘people’.

She kept her ground, shifting slightly only to keep his eyes locked on hers while she glared at him furiously. There was nothing to hide, she had taken nothing of value that night and had only been out scouting the area for potential victims. If he searched her now, he would find nothing, but she feared that he would just find another way to place blame on her. Or maybe he would do what he was threatening to do from the start; kill her.

The blade was pointed at her throat, his dark grin getting broader as she refused to move and the tip began to edge into her skin. A single drop of blood oozed out and trailed down her neck, and still she kept her eyes on his without flinching. With a scoff, Souji pulled back and placed his blade back in its sheath. The woman simply tilled her head to the side in curiosity, and his thoughts on her being a feline intensified.

“I’m letting you go,” he spoke over his shoulder as he was heading back the way he came, “But when I see you again, because I know I will see you again very soon, I’ll kill you.”
And with a satisfied grin on his face, he left her in completely confusion and furious at his lack of interest in her. He didn’t think her a threat and believed he could scare her into behaving solely because he was a bit older than she, but he was wrong. And so was she, thinking Souji would not keep an eye on her to see what she was capable of, at the ready to slice her throat open if his thoughts proved correct that she was one of ‘them’.

Not having forgotten about one another after their past departure, it took no more than a night and day to pass that the two ran into each other, which neither saw it as a shock. Souji knew that she was currently living in the town, it was how the rumor went anyhow, and she knew they patrolled the town after running into him that night. Though both could not foretell in what kind of situation they would meet again, and surely it was not in Shimabara.

Though very differently dressed in a women’s kimono, pitch black hair up and decorated with ornaments, and her face clearly in view and powered in the Geisha style, those sharp green feline-eyes glaring at him were unmistakable. Also, her hands, if looked at closely, could be told apart from the other geisha. They were a tab bit rougher looking, actually they would look better holding a word and not an empty bottle of sake, that she was not pouring him but other guests.

Souji was not paying attention to what the other Shinsengumi were saying, he only had eyes for the young woman glaring daggers at him in secrecy. All he could do, was send her his own malicious smirk and a wink, and her reaction didn’t disappoint. It took all her will power to keep seated beside the guest she was serving and not go to him and do whatever came to mind first. But she couldn’t do that, not now at least, but she did manage to irk him my mouthing ‘were you not going to kill me’, and it was Souji’s time to glare at her.

The doors were closed after that small interaction, Souji almost standing to walk toward the room and kick the door down, but he could wait. She was going out this night, he was sure of it, because of the clientele she was serving; visitors passing by and clearly distinguishable from commoners. He had no way of knowing she had targeted in town earlier on, seduced them into coming to Shimabara, served them the best she could to not cause suspicion, and then she would clean them out when the time came; not during working hours, of course.

That night, the Shinsengumi were witness to why the supposed rumor of some spirit moved from town to town. It was not long after the door was closed that there came a loud sound from the room. Being the one to keep peace in the town, the Shinsengumi wanted to rush in, especially Souji who knew who was in there, but were kept at bay by the courtesans. Some screams, the sound of cups breaking, and many curses came from the room and into theirs where they were being kept.

Then came the curse in a more feminine tone, the young courtesan that  had been in the room having been dragged out by the others was yelling curses both at the group of men and courtesans that were pulling her through the halls. She them apologizing to every guest in the place, to the ones across from them where Souji was and who was looking straight at her with amusement shining in his eyes.

But she only held his gaze a couple of seconds before she was pushed and shoved towards the back of the building, the other courtesans throwing her out into the light drizzle that had begun to fall during the night. Her hair no long neatly pulled up into the courtesan style, ornaments pulled of, part of the make-up now smudged on her ripped clothing to better show her face, she sat at the corner of the ally with a furious look in her eyes.

In her defense, they had it coming, and she didn’t have ice in her veins. It anyone would as much try and push themselves on her, she would snap and give them a piece of her mind if not hurt them, and that is what had happened that night. They had tried to manhandle her, threaten her with ridiculous tales that they would tell the Matron of the place, and she was not going to put up with them doing as they please.

She was holding her knees to her chest as the rain lightly hit her head, sitting in a place where people would pass very often, and she just didn’t care how horrible she looked like and what they might think happened to her. And then she heard that low chuckle that set her blood on fire, forcing her face up to glare at the owner of it.

“Well, Kerus-chan, that was quite the entertainment they deprived us off.” Souji laughed full heartedly, Kimigiku having told them of how the young temporary courtesan came to be in Shimabara and why it was she was kicked from every other place she had worked at. She was just trouble, her personality not compatible to be the timidly submissive kind that was usually seen in those kinds of places, and Souji agreed.

“I knew you were more suited for a sword than a sake cup,” he was grinning even more as her glare deepened, “Do you know where you’re seated?” the question caught her by surprise, knowing well she was seated near the edge of the district were people come and go, but she was sure that wasn’t what he was talking about.

“It’s a very familiar spot for me” Souji told her with a smile, “A spot where I usually pick up Toshi.”

Toshi? She thought, getting irritated by the familiar way this man spoke to her, and the fact that he still meant to kill her with his eyes. She couldn’t blame Kimigiku for anything this person did or say to her after the chaos she caused, but the woman could have still kept him away from her.

“You can’t sit there.” He looked down at her, eyes shadow, that delicious devious smirk. Before she could open her mouth to demand why, she was pulled up over his shoulder. “This is where young kitten are abandon in hopes someone will take them to their home. And you just got picked up.”

“You bastard!” she went straight for the kidneys, slamming a fist to his back and forcing him to drop her. But Souji only jumped forward when she tried to run, grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her back into him. “If you don’t let go this second, I’ll make you wish you had killed me that night.”

Souji smirked at her, placing his cheek next her and nuzzling into her like a cat would before slowly saying, “Now, don’t be like that to your new master, Kerus-chan~”