The days were getting shorter in winter. Soon the sun was bending in the west. The sunset glow tinted the tower red and the light from setting sun sent a wash of colored light over the snow.
Jiziru Yukimura sat on her knees in the empty room and looked blankly at the strip of cloth around her waist which was used to tie the kodachi. Her sword was disappeared. The rays of the evening sunlight slanted through the paper window.
"If I just sit here and take no action, I will surely be killed..." Jiziru turned her gaze to the window and thought, "Compared with the interests of Shinsengumi, I"m negligible. I have to run away. I don"t want to die..."
As soon as the idea of running away formed in her mind, Jiziru got up and walked to the door. She gently opened the sliding door a crack. It was very quiet outside. She raised her hand and shielded her eyes against the dazzling declining sun.
Seeing n.o.body around, Jiziru Yukimura took two steps with her back against the sliding door and was about to sneak away when someone suddenly grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up like a bunny drawn forth for a magic trick. "Idiot! Do you really think that you can run away from the camp?"
Jiziru Yukimura swivelled her head and saw the tall black-haired man, Toshizo Hijikata, who caught her on the spot.
"Please let me go!" she pleaded in a low voice.
"Yesterday I told you that if you tried to run away, I would kill you. Have you forgotten it?" Hijikata questioned in a cold, hard voice.
Jiziru Yukimura struggled to free herself from his grip. "Even if I obediently stayed in the room, you would kill me, wouldn"t you? I don"t want to die. I have something important to do."
Suddenly, Souji Okita loosed his grip on her collar and her feet touched the ground again. She looked back at him.
"Tell me what you"re going to do. Is it worth risking your life?" Hijikata asked. The evening sun shone upon his handsome face and he had a puritan streak in him. Jiziru Yukimura stared at him and suddenly felt that he was reliable. She slowly nodded.