His foot connected solidly and Okita grinned, pushing forward with his sword as Kenshin blocked. Their swords connected and Okita kept a steady pressure on his, forcing Kenshin to push back or risk letting Okita get another slash in. This battle was getting his blood going and it was making him remember. Fighting in narrow halls was what he was trained to do, but so was Kenshin. The Ikedaya had been dark and the floor slick with blood, the air thick with shouting and tension and fear. Across the city, Hijikata's group searched for a hideout that Kondou and the others had already found. It rested with Yamazaki to let them know where the Choushuu were. Inside, it was life or death. Here again, he was tasting that same thing. Life or death, fear and tension, shouting and blood - all of it flooded his senses until he channeled it down to one thing: the desire to kill his enemy. \

He had to blame someone for losing him again. The first time Homura had stopped him, but this second time, no one could. He was alone now. A wolf without its pack, cut off and left stranded in a strange wood with no one to answer his calls.

Kenshin spat blood at him and Okita grit his teeth. How dare that bastard remind him now? It was a distraction, that was all. He meant to remind him of how he was dying of that disgusting disease again. Kenshin was forcing him to remember that he was fighting a losing battle. "No, we don't," Okita snapped back, shoving his sword harder against Kenshin's. "You have to live in this world. Your friends have to live in this world. All of mine are dead at your hands."

Shot in the back in Hokkaido. Forced to commit seppuku as a traitor. Lost on the battlefield. Left to die in Edo. There was no place for the Shinsengumi in this new world. Canting his left shoulder, Okita pushed off Kenshin's sword, jumping back before running forward again, his blade aimed at Kenshin's heart. "And I'm going to follow them soon enough!"