"It's true. The Gozen heir is teaching her the demon arts," Kyo Shiranui mused through a devilish smile.

Kazama reclined against the railing of a balcony that overlooked an ornate garden. Its natural beauty was overshadowed by a light downfall of rain, but the demon prince found his attention spanning beyond the delicate blossoms and onto a certain delicate girl. Conjuring a mental image of Chizuru Yukimura, he tried to imagine her versed in the ways of a demon and almost laughed. The idea was too absurd, even if she was a pure blood oni.

"Your first few impressions must not have been enough to kindle the internal flame, Chikage." Shiranui taunted, hands on his hips. "The girl means to fight you."

Kazama flashed him a cold look.

"Why does the Gozen brat feel compelled to teach her? She is not family," he pondered out loud, "Last I recall; there was no love between the Gozen and Yukimura clans."

Shiranui leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

"Who knows? Senhime might have a hidden agenda that requires Chizuru in order to get to you." He offered lazily. Demon politics were never his preferred topic of conversation, but there was something particularly amusing about the vivacious and stubborn Senhime living among a bunch of Mibu Wolves. When he had spotted her a few days ago within the complex with her tall kunoichi close behind, he took in their samurai clothing and could only put two and two together.

"She hates you, if you remember."

Now this, Kazama had to chuckle.

"Yes, I remember," he grinned. There had once been a time where she had been the object of his pursuit, but the Gozen girl was like a princess locked away in a tower with a scary, fire-breathing dragon outside her moat (namely a kunoichi). Her clan was extremely well-established in this part of Japan and their union to the shinobi clan made things far too inconvenient for the demon prince. But Chizuru; on the other hand, well... she was like a sitting duck that came with her own cooking pot and leeks. She too was locked away in a tower, but full of humans who could not hope to withstand the power of Kazama Chikage for he was the scary, fire-breathing dragon clawing at their moat.

In simpler terms, Chizuru was easy pickings.

Or at least she had been. This business with the Demon Arts changed things ever so slightly. The girl would never rise to his level of mastery, but it was still a cause for concern nonetheless. As the sole heir to the Yukimura Clan, Chizuru possessed the incredible power of a pure blood. She was among the elite of demon society, a princess of noble birth. It was why Kazama lusted after the idea of their two houses joining together. With the East and the West unified by marriage, all of demon tradition would subvert to his rule.

Power, prestige, wealth, beauty...all of it his if only he captured Chizuru.

"I say...let her try and best me," he murmured after a moment of thought. A dark fire ignited in his vermillion gaze as his mind continued to churn with hunger. "Let's see how powerful she becomes when I kill her beloved oni-fukuchou. Let's see how powerful she becomes when I rid her of the only reason she fights. It may be a glorious sight to behold, Kyo."

The gun-bearing demon met his gaze with a grim expression.

"If that is truly what you want, Kazama."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Chizuru slid to an immediate halt. Sword in hand and held at the ready, she raked the wet hair from her face and took a moment to gather her bearings. Peering deep into the darkness, she tried locating the south central barracks, but its familiar shape was eclipsed by an expanse of thick, green bamboo shoots that circled her like the bars of a cage, increasing her sense of claustrophobia.

Calm down. She panted wildly. Focus. Focus on your power.

Her demon sword hummed with anticipation.

During the course of the night, dark clouds had crept across the sky bringing with it rain and thunder. A light drizzle dampened her face, but Chizuru relished the cold sensation. It felt so luxurious after hours of dueling in her heavy silks and metal armor. Letting it be the sedative to her racing thoughts, Chizuru tried to shake off her growing fatigue as she dropped into a defensive crouch. Angling her sword so that she could perform and upward thrust at the first opportunity, she took a step forward.

Hours in the bamboo thicket had trained her to appreciate the vertical strokes every bit as much as the sweeping horizontal ones. They made for better maneuverability in tight, cramped quarters like this. Even so, she kept the majority of her weight resting on the balls of her feet so that she could make a tactical move in the event of being rushed from the sides.

If Senhime had taught her anything in the past twenty-four hours, it was to never let your guard down.

Her sword continued to pulsate with blue light, eagerly awaiting its spar mate.

Where did they go? It seemed to grumble anxiously. We have a fight to settle.

Chizuru grinned in disbelief. She was still coming to terms with the fact that her sword was capable of expressing sentiments beyond her imagination. When Senhime had mentioned demon swords having essence, she hadn't truly understood the concept until after performing the Blood Seal. Once the oath had been made, Chizuru became receptacle to its true nature.

She could feel its emotions. Not all of them were warm and fuzzy though.

At first it had ostracized her, filling her psyche with enough disdain to give her a slight headache. The demon power had nearly escaped its corporeal form in the middle of her Blood Seal, but lashed out in anguish as it fell back under Chizuru's control. Unfamiliar with its new master, it tasted her chikara as a connoisseur would taste fine sake, mulling over its potency.

I don't know you. It griped at her at last. Do you even know how to fight?

When the moment came for her to combat against Senhime and the power of Daitsuren, her sword was clumsy and awkward. Its intentions were out of sync with hers and it took a while to adjust to their newfound connection. After a few minutes of sparring; however, Chizuru discovered that as her confidence rose, her sword became easier to yield. Acting on her findings, she continued to fortify their bond until they fought with unanimous willpower and ferocity.

Now they were essentially one.

Let's outsmart Senhime this time. She thought wryly. Together.

The wakazashi pulsed in agreement.

Heavy footfalls forewarned Chizuru of trouble just in time for her to swirl around and meet the adversary head on. Clanking steel-on-steel, she kept her ground and threw her weight forward, but gasped when she met the vermillion gaze of Kazama Chikage.

"Chizuru," he drawled, "I have come for you."

Wild fear coursed through her body at the sight of the blond demon, and she was in danger of losing her focus. Sensing her weakening resolve, the wakazashi zapped her with a small shock. Fight him! Fight him! It sang. Chizuru remembered herself and shed her fear immediately.

She pushed back against his blade and lunged toward him for another assault, performing the upward stroke in a blur of red silk. Kazama met it with his own katana, but caught it at the guard and tried to rip the wakazashi out of her hands. Chizuru grunted as she sank to her knees and rolled to avoid an overhead strike.

Landing at his back, she jumped up and met his parry with another cloying ping of metal. All the while, her mind began to scheme. That was the sole purpose of this exercise after all. Chizuru had to simultaneously fight and spellbind in the midst of a dangerous enemy.

Kazama thrust her backwards, sending her to the ground.

"So weak," he murmured, raising his katana for the killing blow.

Bringing it down in one swift, solid motion, the impact sliced through Chizuru.

She burst into a cloud of leaves.

The real Chizuru stepped out of her camouflage and attacked the Kazama imposter, sinking her wakazashi into the skin between his shoulder blades. The apparition gave a believable cry of agony before dissipating into a foggy mist.

She took a shaky step back.

"How was that, Osen-chan?" She asked, completely winded. Resting her hands on her knees, Chizuru tried to catch her breath. The demoness materialized besides her with a troubled look.

"That was a solid illusion, Chizuru. Your longest apparition yet." She congratulated. "You managed to deceive my fake Kazama long enough to sneak up on him. Very good."

Chizuru withdrew her chikara. Sheathing her sword, she collapsed on the floor.

"Akuma Shinkirō is hard," she groaned. "I almost lost it when Kazama appeared. I knew he wasn't real, but he frightened me all the same."

Senhime's face contorted with apprehension.

"This is what has me worried, Chizuru," she confessed with arms crossed over her chest. "If you should ever face the real Kazama, you will need to do much more than that to trick him. The Third Deadly virtue requires tremendous amounts of power in order to bring your visions into reality. But once they manifest, it takes an incredible amount of focus to maintain the illusion."

Senhime heaved a mirthless laugh.

"And you know what's even worse?" She asked Chizuru rhetorically. "Kazama happens to be a master of Akuma Shinkirō."

Chizuru was careful to keep her expression neutral as she digested Senhime's words.

"That may be so, but he would never stoop so low to use it," Chizuru murmured after a quiet moment of thought. Lifting her head so the rain fell gently on her face, she closed her eyes. "Kazama is cruel, violent, and proud. But he would rather knock me unconscious with the hilt of his sword than resort to illusion. He's immoral, no doubt about that, but not completely without principle."

"You are giving him the benefit of the doubt," the demoness intoned.

"Maybe," said Chizuru, hunching her shoulders. "But at least I have a better idea of what I'm up against, thanks to you, Osen-chan. I don't feel so helpless anymore."

It seemed a lifetime ago that Kazama and his miscreants had broken into the compound to retrieve her. At the time, she had fearlessly raced toward the entrance to support the Shinsengumi, but she was powerless to do anything to help them. Now, armed with the powers of her demon lineage, Chizuru could do much more than support the Shinsengumi. She could fight.

Reading the aspiring fire in her pupil's copper eyes, Senhime crouched low before her.

"Chizuru, listen to me. Everything that I have taught you up until this point has been in effort to empower you. As a pure blood, you cannot hope to live a full and happy life without understanding your natural powers. This has been much more than self-defense, I realize. It has been more about coming to terms with your true identity. However," she counseled severely, "armed as you are now, this does not give you the right to go gallivanting onto the battlefield as a shield for your Shinsengumi. Nor does it give you the right to seek out Kazama. As a full-fledged demon, you must now abide by the Demon Code."

Chizuru listened intently, but couldn't help thinking that the demoness sounded a lot like Hijikata. The two were a lot alike whenever Chizuru grew bold enough for a good scolding. Finding the thought amusing, she could not help the smile that spread across her face.

Senhime quirked a brow.

"Are you even listening to me?" She asked.

"I won't go gallivanting onto the battlefield," Chizuru assured the demoness, her smile broadening. "But I won't be a burden either."

Senhime puffed a sigh that sent tendrils of her hair flying.

"I swear you are going to give me a stomach ulcer." She grudged, lifting to her feet. "I'm beginning to understand what Kimigiku has gone through all these years. Serves me right, I suppose. Come on, let's take a break from this rain and warm ourselves up with some tea. We can resume your training in a little while."

She offered her a hand and Chizuru took it gratefully.

Heading back toward the central barracks, Chizuru couldn't help but pause. Looking back at the place where she had stabbed the Kazama-like apparition, she wondered if she would have the resolve to stab someone in real life. The illusion had felt so life-like; it left her feeling somewhat disturbed.

Perhaps she did had the capacity for violence after all.