"If I said this was an accident, would you believe me?"
In the courtyard, Samael forced out a smile, raised both hands to show he meant no harm, and coughed awkwardly as he tried to make one last excuse.
"How about we just pretend we never saw each other?"
Yet the only response he received was the inch-by-inch revelation of cold steel in the hands of the girl in the light-blue haori, along with the stern murmur from her cherry lips.
"Sorry, but I am on official duty. By the Shogun's order, all lawbreakers must be bound. Anyone who dares resist will be cut down!"
Pale hands gripped the sword hilt, blade pointed forward. Though her body looked thin enough to seem frail, it faintly radiated pure killing intent.
Feeling that sharp pressure rushing at him, Samael had no doubt that this female swordswoman with the cute face would attack without hesitation.
One of the Shogunate Seven Riders—Assassin Okita Souji.
Captain of the First Unit of the Shinsengumi, a public security force active around Kyoto during the late Edo period, and the most talented swordswoman in the organization.
At nine years old, she became a disciple of Kondō Shūsuke, a Tennen Rishin-ryū swordsman from Edo. There, she trained alongside future comrades such as Kondō Isami and Hijikata Toshizō, receiving full mastery certification at nineteen.
After completing her training, she traveled to Kyoto in 1863 as a member of the Rōshigumi, becoming a core member of the Shinsengumi and serving as captain of the First Unit as well as assistant vice commander.
Since the Shinsengumi were stationed in Mibu Village, and most were swordsmen from the countryside who had come to Edo to study and knew little etiquette, Kyoto locals looked down on them and mocked them as the "Mibu Wolves."