Maybe coming to Kyoto wasn't such a good idea... Kyoto could be a dangerous place. With rogue samurai everywhere, it was hard to stay calm. Not to mention there was one little problem I had: I was mute. Needless to say, that made life incredibly difficult.

As I walked along the street one night, which was probably the worst thing I could be doing right now, I thought back to early this morning. When I'd been walking, I'd bumped into someone. The man was angry and demanded an apology. Being mute, the most I could do was bow and go on my way. The man, however, took that as me being disrespectful.

The man grabbed me, yelling some things that I didn't quite catch. Struggling to get out of his grasp soon proved pointless, so all I could do was close my eyes and wait for everything to be over. But nothing happened.

After feeling my arm being ripped out of the man's grasp, I opened my eyes. Standing before me was a long-haired man in a blue coat. Shinsengumi... I thought, quickly recognizing the uniform of the men who I'd often seen patrolling the city.

The other man quickly ran off, leaving me with the man from the Shinsengumi. My rescuer then turned to me. "Are you alright?" he asked and I just nodded. "What happened anyway?"

I opened my mouth to speak only to close it again. This whole mute thing was still something new, as I had lost my voice only a few years earlier. I didn't miss it, but I'll admit that talking was incredibly helpful in situations like this. In the end, all I could do was shake my head.

As I walked along in the moonlight now, I realized how terrible of an idea this was. Sure, Kyoto looked really pretty at night, but it was far too dangerous. And I was about to learn just how dangerous it could be.

Out of nowhere, something jumped out at me. At first, all I could see was a blue coat and white hair. Then I saw the eyes, the blood-red eyes... This thing in front of me in a human-like body... there was no way that thing was human. But no matter what it was or wasn't, it was a terrifying creature.

It came at me, sword drawn and ready to slice me into pieces. I was completely defenseless. Being mute, I couldn't even scream for help.

Just as it was about to strike, a sword stabbed into its heart from behind and the creature fell to the ground. My body still shaking from fear, I looked up at my savior. "You really have some bad luck, huh?" said a familiar voice. That's when I realized that this man was the same one who had rescued me this morning. "I never did get your name. I'm Heisuke Toudou."

Luckily, I'd planned ahead a little. I may not have been able to speak, but I could write. With a smile, I pulled back my sleeve, revealing where my name was written on my arm.

"That's a pretty name," he said, bringing a smile to my face. He opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by some voices calling his name. His smile quickly faded. "You better get out of here quick. If anyone finds out that you saw this guy, there'll be trouble. Just don't say-"

His warning had come just a little too late. The two who had been calling him had already arrived and spotted me. The one with longer hair frowned slightly. "A witness, huh?" he guessed.

As Heisuke pushed me around behind him, the other one had a more interesting guess at the situation. "I see... Sneaking off to meet a girl... you should have told us!" The short-haired man's gaze flickered down to the body of the thing that had attacked me. "Looks like you got him too."

"Lay off, Shin," Heisuke said in an annoyed tone. He glanced back at me. "You better go now. If any of the others show up, you might get killed."

All I could do was nod and do as he asked. It's not like I could talk my way out of trouble, so this was best. I only hoped that I could see him again someday when he didn't have to protect me.

(Heisuke's POV)

Shinpachi and Sano looked like they wanted to follow after her. I couldn't let them do that. As I stepped in the way, Sano raised an eyebrow at me. "This is strange behavior for you," he said, casting a glance at Shinpachi. "Don't tell me that Shinpachi was actually right..."

"It's not like that," I said, trying to keep myself calm. If I got too defensive, that would only make this look worse. "I just know her, that's all." I didn't dare mention that I'd only met her this morning. "She's not going to say anything, so there's no point in messing with it."

"And just how do you know that?" Shinpachi questioned.

"Because she can't," I sighed. "She can't talk, so it'd be a waste of time to interrogate her, and I don't think anyone would even consider that she'd know anything anyway." At least, I believed that was true. Maybe I only wanted to think that because deep down, I really just wanted to see her again.