[A/N] ~ Well, hello hello! Welcome to my first ever fanfiction~ Named it Maikaze after the opening of the second season of Hakuouki. It`s basically just a rewrite of the series with my own plot stuck in it. Not sure how well this'll be received, but one review with more than three words that`s somewhat encouraging would be welcome.

Disclaimer : I do NOT own Hakuouki, Shinsengumi, Hekketsu-roku, or otherwise, or anything related to the series or games. If it were up to me... Well, you`ll read about it. ;]

Snow fell down in dusty flakes as she raced through the empty alleyways, her ragged breathing appearing as puffs of white smoke in front of her. Her geta sank into the powdery snow and her short sword bumped against the brown haori covering her leg.

Footsteps echoed behind her as two rogues chased her, one shouting, "Stop right there, brat!"

Lanterns flickered dully in the light dusting of snow falling from the grey clouds. She paused at a crossing of alleys and ducked into one, nearly skidding to a stop behind a wooden barrel.

She panted heavily, trying to catch her breath as quietly as she could as she heard one of the rogues mutter, "Damn it! Where`d he go?"

The other replied, "He's a quick little devil!"

"Argh! He couldn't have gone far. Find him!" the first hissed loudly.

She rested her hands on the side of the barrel and froze with fear while one of the outlaws began walking closer. The 'shick' that reached her ears from down the alley told her that he'd drawn his sword. She prepared for combat as she placed her right hand on the gold-embossed hilt of her short sword, most likely the reason the rogues had started chasing her in the first place.

The footsteps got closer and closer until she could see the man's shadow on the far wall. She grasped her sword hilt tighter and…

"Guaugh!"

The shadow on the wall turned its head to face back behind it. The pursuing rogue yelled," Youichi! You bastard, what the hell?"

The rogue ran back down the alleyway, so she dared to look around the barrel to see what was happening.

"What…?" she whispered, her small voice lost on the wind.

A gruesome sight lay in front of her. Two white haired, red-eyed samurai wearing blue and white haoris were advancing from the opposite alleyway. One of them had struck down the other rogue and was repeatedly stabbing the corpse with a katana, staining the blade red with fresh blood. The other had caught the blade of her pursuer in his teeth and shattered it as if it were glass.

The rogue staggered back as he croaked with fear, "What the hell?"

He recovered quickly enough, throwing away the hilt of the broken blade and drawing the second sword at his waist in time to counter the ghoulish samurai`s swing at his head. The rogue grunted, pushed off the opposing sword and countered with a savage slash at the samurai`s shoulder. Blood sprayed in a heavy mist from the wound, yet the samurai did not seem fazed by the injury and instead uttered a crazed laugh and grasped his sword more tightly.

"What the hell are they?" the rogue managed to choke out before he was struck down with a stab to the stomach then through the head. She managed to quickly avert her eyes but still heard the sounds and had to cover her mouth to keep herself from making a sound that would give her away. Her brown eyes widened as the ghoulish samurai retraced the steps of the rogue, lumbering down towards her until she fell into his line of sight, turning his head towards her as she crouched behind the wooden barrel, shaking with fear.

"Eh…?" He saw her hiding, a terrible grin forming on his face. He lifted his bloody sword over his head and let loose a spine-chilling laugh as he prepared to strike her down.

No… I can`t… I won`t die here!

Well, that's it for chapter one. What'd anyone think? Please read, review, whatever~ x3