Once I hold out the compensation...

"Hello," the man said, his katana ready in his hands. "We've got a score to settle, crow."

You looked at him dumfouned. And then back at the tengu. It was a crazy day, and it seemed night would be even worse. Wait a minute, did he said 'crow'? How could he see him? Yokai were usually invisible to regular humans.

This Okita Souji guy leaped at the yokai with a katana in his hand. It was idiotic, he was an actor wasn't he? What could he do!? Tengu slashed with his weapon at him, and you felt your jaw dropping when Souji deflected the blow.

You quickly shook yourself from the shock and reached for your pocket. You grasped a paper manikin in your fingers and concentrated. No matter how powerful the cosplayer was, you weren't going to let him die by yokai hand. The paper started to shine blue. You clasped your hands together.

"Akagitsune, come forth!"

With your call, the paper flew out of your hands and changed into a fox. A kitsune, because it was you shikigami took its stance.

The fox attacted Tengu as you mentally commanded it. It wasn't expecting the attack, so the opening was quickly found. Souji looked confused at you, but the sound of a screeching yokai brought him back to his senses. He slashed the bird and it puffed in a black mist. You blinked. 

''How did you do that?!"

''What?"

''How did you cleanse that Tengu?" you asked as Akagitsune stood just beside you. Little red fox rubbed its mug in your legs.

''What are you talking about?"

''May I see the sword?'' you reached for the katana. Maybe it was one of those weapons some Onmyouji carried around with them, packed with spiritual energy.

''Hell no," he clicked his tounge. ''What were you doing? How did that fox appeared?"

''Geez, you're so uncooperative, mister," you sighed. ''This is my shikigami, Akagitsune. Don't you know? You have a sword that can slash yokai!"

He looked at you as if he was talking to a crazy woman. You stared back. You felt a buzz in your pocket. You looked at your phone, just to see your grandma calling. She just learned how to use a smartphone and would call you with every little thing.

''Sorry, I gotta get that," you said with a smile. He just rised his brew. ''Hi, grandma. What is it?"

''_____?!" your grandma's voice shierked through the phone. You hissed, messaging your ear. ''Are you there?!"

Souji jumped in his place and stared at you with raised katana. His muscles were tense once again.

''I'm here, grandma, please don't shout," you replied.

''I felt disturbance, what happened?" her a little bit hoarse voice came from the other side. You tapped your chin, perhaps she was talking about the tengu? But yokai appeared quite often, no matter how powerful onmyouji she was, such small disturbance wouldn't alert her. Afterall, yokai were common. Yes, your grandma was onmyouji as well, all you knew you knew from her. 

She was retired at the moment, but she still responded to the other shore.

Though, more you pondered about it, tengu appearing here was out of ordinary. You usually cleansed small demons, that were causing minimal troubles, it was quite uncommon to see more powerful yokai in that region as your temple stood tall with powerful barier.

''No worries granny, I took care of it," you chirped. It was best to not worry your grandma.

''Are you sure?"

''Yep!" you replied. ''I'll see you later! Bye!"

You hung with a sigh, when a flash of a blade passed before your eyes. Your phone, a second ago held in your hand, now was falling to the ground. With another slash it was shattered in two pieces and you stood face to face with a stranger. He grasped your shirt and brought his face closer. His green eyes gleamed in the darkness as he squinted them.

''What kind of witchcraft is that?" Souji hissed and you felt his blade on your neck. You gulped as your heart started to beat quicker. "Ack!"

He turned to his feet where your shikigami was biting on his leg. Akagitsune growled and his red eyes glared at your attacker.

''What do you mean witchcraft?" you asked. Your voice trembled a little.

"That thing," he spat, pointing at your phone. "It talked."

"What," you asked, once again dumbfounded. Your fear was slowly fading, when behing his glare you saw simple confusion. ''Phones are used for talking. Haven't you used a phone before?"

"P-hone?" he repeated after you. His grasp was loosening. His face twisted for a moment and he glared at kitsune, "let go, furball."

Akagitsune for a second looked insulted and with a small growl he tightened its grip.

"Akagitsune, let go," you hushed. Kitsune without haste stepped to your side. You turned your gaze back to Souji. "You too, please. Thank you," you coughed and made a step back. You noticed he still held his katana ready to strike. You took a deep breath in, "How come, you don't know what phone is?"

This time it was Souji who looked insulted, ''how can I know something, if I've never seen it?"

"But how?! It's twenty first century, everyone has a phone now!"

Your hands went to the air. The man before you stood froze, his stare was making you uncomfortable. Not to mention chilly evening wind blowing past you.

"What did you say?" he asked, slowly.

''Everyone has a phone today?"

"Earlier," he sent you glare. "Answer quick, woman, or you'll be dead in a second."You flinched as he raised his sword. You looked at Akagitsune by your side and took deep breath, if anything would go wrong you could always count on your shikigami. Or at least you hoped.

"It's twenty first century," you replied, tensing your muscles. He did look serious, and his threat sounded convincing enough for you to be wary. You hadn't even noticed that you've been keeping your breath in.

He was eyeing you, without blinking, and a second later he glanced at the lamp over your heads, where minutes earlier tengu appeared.

''It's 1866, early April," he spoke, still looking at the lamp.

"Uh," you frowned. "You're right, but only when it comes to the month," you said, taking his appearance to consideration. You recalled the set of his clothing he was brought to the hospital with. Wet samurai clothing. Katana. Long hair. Okita Souji, born 1844 as you almost wrote in the application. "It's 2016. It's been 150 years since bakumatsu period, it's heisei era."

His eyes flashed back to you. He coughed and clasped his hand around his abdomen. With the whole chaos surrounding the tengu you forgot he was a patient in hospital, not just any. But hit in his abdomen. It sounded crazy, but – damn, everything was in its place. Dr Matsumoto even said that this wound was weird and couldn't be given by a kitchen knife.

He fell onto his knee and you rushed to help him up. He pushed you back and started to cough again. You saw his consciousness fading as his sword fell onto the ground. You caught him just in time before he would hit his head.

"Oh, dear, I caught you," you sighed. The morphine must have run out and he was definitely too tired to keep up awake. You checked his wounds, but it seemed to be fine, a little blood stopped when you added the pressure to it. It was crazy, you were crazy. You were definitely not in the right state of mind if you really believed that this man was the Okita Souji of Shinsengumi.

You turned him on his back and stood up, "Great, my phone is dead. How am I going to explain it to insurance? Samurai from Bakumatsu Era striked it because it looked like a witchcraft?!"Your messaged your temples and went back and forth, with Akagitsune glancing at you.

"I can't just bring him back to the hospital, can I?" you asked the red fox. He blinked, not giving you any answer. "They saw me, and I told them everything was under control, right? And, uh, calling an ambulance is out of a question and my work resume would look horrible with addition of walking out in the middle of the night with a patient," you tapped your chin. "Well, he wasn't admitted to the hospital yet, so there is no record of him anyway, right?"

Akagitsune cocked his head and sighed. His fluffy tail was moving back and forth. You pursed your lips.

''Granny is going to kill me," you wailed and kneeled by the man. You threw his arm around your shoulder and rose up. You lost balance for a second and with a groan you took a step. Luckily for you your home wasn't too far away and you knew the shortcut by this forest. You glanced at shikigami, "Aren't you gonna help me?"

Kitsune snickered and with a flush of a blue flame he disappeared. On the ground fell small papercut manikin that just a second ago was your Akagitsune.

''Damn you,'' you hissed and put the paper in your pocket. ''Okay, let's go."

He was heavy, you decided after a few minutes, not to mention his sword was adding more to the weight. It wasn't far from your home, but still – you weren't used to carry, or rather drag, a grown man. Perhaps out of pity, but Akagitsune reappered once again and helped you with Okita. You stopped by the stairs to the temple. You saw a figure on the top of the stairs.

Your grandma was standing under the gate, and she turned to you when you called out. She walked down, with each step you could see her face more clearly. Her gray hair, put in a high bun, turned silver in the moonlight. Her wrinkled face held a frown, as she quickened her steps.

"_____, what happened?" she asked you. You were staggering with Souji on your shoulder. Your grandma took a hold onto his arm.

"Help?"

She nodded and both of you dragged him up the stairs. You felt bad to make your granny carry him along with you, but you wouldn't been able to do it yourself. You passed the main temple and stopped by your home. You brought him to vacant room and laid down on the futon.

Your grandma checked his forehead and turned to you, "fetch a bowl with a water."

You stood up without missing a heartbeat and went for the bowl. You took some compress with you as well as bandages. In a few minutes you were back in the room. You sat down and put the compress on his head while your grandma was working on his bandages. His condition seemed to be better than the paleness you saw when he was brought here at first. His breath was slower and he looked like he was just sleeping. You guessed it was a little bit too much of a fatigue for a one day.

''Now, mind telling me who this young man is?" your grandmother asked once you left the room.

You smiled.

''He is magically brought back from the past Okita Souji of the Shinsengumi?"

Your grandma's deep brown eyes stared at you.

"It's the truth, I swear!" you half yelled. She just shook her head and made her way through the corridor.

''We'll talk about it in the morning," she summed up and left.

You stood uncertain in the hall. Suddenly the fatigue took over you and you decided good night sleep would do you good. But before that you had to go back to the hospital...

***You came back early in the morning, when the sun weren't even up. You were glad it was still a break and you didn't have any lectures. You rubbed your eyes, you were so tired. Last night's memories came back rushing into you and you made your way into the stranger's room. You shifted the doors and peeked inside.

Souji was just pushing himself up. He took off the compress from his head. He looked around the room, little relieved perhaps. You smiled and opened the doors fully.

''Good morning!" you chirped. His head shot in your direction and he paled. ''Did you rest well?"

"You...!" he pointed at you, his brew twitching. "So last night?"

You cocked your head.

"Oh, yeah! You fainted and I brought you to my home," you sat by his futon. ''Granny's been taking care of you."

He frowned deeply and send you a glare.

''You said last night, which year is it?" he asked with tired tone.

''2016! Oh, wait. I'll bring you calendar in case you'd want to stab me to death again."You shuffled and went to your room for the calendar, when you were back he was on his feet, opening the doors to the garden. You also took a stack of history books with you.

''Well, so," you called out to him. ''If you're really who you really are, and that is 150 something years old samurai, then... um. you're dead."

You sat down on the floor and opened history book you've kept since high school. You shuffled the pages till you found right period and pointed at the letters. Souji had no choice but to kneel down by you, he took the book in his hands and squinted.

''You're joking with me," he chuckled a laugh with no humor in it. You showed him the calendar with pursed lips.

''Well, you're the suspicious guy here," you huffed. ''And honestly, how are you even here? You should be dead, no offence.''

''None taken, though I wonder whether I should slit your throat right now, or in a few seconds."

You send him a pointed look and sighed. Should you even believe him, or just send him to the psychiatrist. Both things suited. ''Look, I can even take you to see your grave, though you'd have to wait for visiting hours. And around three months."

''Visiting hours?"

You nodded, skipping some pages in your textbook.

''Yep, it's famous. I mean, you're famous" you said. ''And it's opened for one day in July. I wonder how it is to see your own grave, though."

You tapped your chin.

''Damn yokai..." he cursed under his breath.

''Agreed, but do you mean?"

He clicked his tounge.

''Nevermind," he said and stood up. He went up to his futon where you put his katana last night and picked it up. ''I'm getting out of here.''

You blinked. Once, twice. And watched as he shot the doors behind him. Hell no, you thought.

You leaped after him, and for a injured person he was rather quick. How did he even knew how to walk through your house you had no idea. You caught up with him when he was at the courtyard before the temple.

''What the...?" he hissed. ''That temple..." He looked around and then walked down the stairs, or rather, run down. You called after him, but he didn't listen to you.

You went after him, passing by some visitors to the temple by the chance. They were looking after you with a surprised looks. You run through the forest, as your stomach started grumbling.

You cursed the samurai under your breath and kept following him between the trees. You two stopped by the river.

You panted as you stopped by the man. You didn't even had a chance to shout after him as he leaped into the water.

"Souji?! Hey?!" you screamed.

After a while his head appeared over the water. He stood up in the water, and looked down.

''Get out, quickly!" you shouted. You took a few steps in the water and you felt your feet freezing. You trembled and called, ''You'll get cold!"

Then you remembered that they brought him to the hospital soaked. Person calling the ambulance said that they found him by the river.

''Oh, dear..." your sighed. ''I, uh, am guessing you transported to the future by this river?"

He didn't bother looking at you and just cursed. His hand made a contact with water and splashed it around, with his of pain. You stood uncertain. Souji was standing in the water for a while, but after a few minutes he went back to the shore.

''You can stay at the temple, you know? For a time being, until we figure out how to send you back," you offered. ''Having a historical figure under my roof sounds kinda amazing."

You laughed lamely and scratched your cheek. He looked over you, with droplets of water sliding down his cheeks in the morning sun. His green eyes didn't seem so dangerous anymore. He looked just tired.

"Okay?"

He seemed to ponder on it. He slowly nodded.

"Okay."

"Oh, thank gods," you let out your breath, "because I'm here with my pj and people are starting to stare."

You send him a nervous smile, pointing behind you. Some runners and bikers were looking after you two with confusion. Souji looked in their direction and put his sword on his shoulders, straightening his back. With a pride he started walking back to the temple. You laughed.

''Why are you laughing, woman," he asked.

''It's not woman," you said, falling step in step with him. "My name's _____, a miko-hime of Amaterasu Temple and Onmyouji! I have so many questions for you!"

He rolled his eyes.

"Okay, miko-hime of Amaterasu Temple, whatever."

"Geez, I always might take my offer back."

"Too late," he smirked.

You wondered if you will be regretting that later.

                                                                                                     I wonder what I will gain in return?  

~~~****~~
Hi! Another chapter, anyone happy? Me, surely! Okay, dictionary first:
shikigami - little papercut manikins, used by onmyouji's, conjured beings, spirits. Reader's first shikigami is a Kitsune - a fox.
Onmyouji - an exorcist, he posses spiritual force to cleanse evil beings, yokai, demons with use of shikigami,
Bakumatsu Era - period in Japanese history, between 1853-1868,
Heisei Era - modern Japan, period since 1989 till today, still lasts,
Amaterasu-no-kami - one of goddedess in Japanese mythology, goddess of sun, universe,
miko - a priesstess in shinto, I added suffix -hime to it, since the Temple the Reader is attending to belongs to Amaterasu, the most important goddesses here, and a few other things, so no spoiler : >>

I hope you enjoyed this short chapter, if you did please tell what do you think!