bloodlust;;

[derepressed]

After Aburano Koji.
Shinsengumi Headquarters, Harada & Nagakura's Room.

[It's been nearly a week since Aburano Koji, but Chizuru still sees red every time she closes her eyes. The streets, their clothing, their blades. Red. Everything, red.

Heisuke had suffered a grievous wound, and there were so many witnesses that when he took the ochimizu, there was no recourse but to declare him dead, because too many people had seen him take a blow that should have been fatal. Too many people could bear witness to the sort of injury that would have killed anyone else, and it would have raised too many questions for him to make a miraculous recovery. He was waiting out his transition with the rest of the Corps, and Chizuru can't help but think that it must be so incredibly lonely.

Sano and Shinpachi, on the other hand, had also suffered terrible wounds - but they were not so publicized. The full extent of how badly they had been injured hadn't come to light until after the return to headquarters, when so many people were occupied with Heisuke's injury and "death" that it was possible for them to take the serum and recover without arousing too much suspicion. They're confined to one room to wait out the change (because, should they be separated, one would inevitably seek out the other, and if something happened in public during that trip...!), and Chizuru is with them now, caring for them to the best of her ability.

She has cups of tea, not sake, to go along with their meal. In truth, she's not sure it's a great idea to be giving them alcohol while their bodies are still trying to adjust to the change. And so she sets one in front of Sano and one in front of Shinpachi, fixing them both with a smile as she does so and then turning to spoon rice into bowls.]

Please, eat as much as you like... [They need their strength. She's gone out of her way to make sure they have nutritious foods; she wants to make this transition as easy for them as possible. If Sannan would let her do so, she would do the same for Heisuke, but he still didn't allow her to freely walk through the rooms where the rest of the Corps was housed.] There's plenty for seconds, and if there's anything you need, I--

[Her words are cut off with a slight gasp because, as she speaks, she accidentally scrapes her finger against a sharp edge of one of the bowls - where some of the ceramic had chipped away and left a hazard. Immediately, she curls her hand into a tight fist and brings it close to her chest, trying to minimize the smell of blood - because it's clearly the last thing they need.]

U-um...