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Hanami, cherry blossom viewing. A time of love and peace. But under many trees were other red blossoms. Death young women, and Ryuma was acquired with them. They revered him. But Ryuma didn't have any romantic interests in other women, he had already found his special someone between all the betrayal of the changing past era. So now he has to save what's dear to him again.

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Spring, finally! The winter was a hard one. But now the snow was melting and you could see everyone cheering up. Ryuma was out in the town, doing his job while watching the people become lively again. The commander changed his route. Maybe Ryuma had upset him again, he doesn't remember. But now he has to patrol the Yoshiwara. The area of Geishas and Oiran, the worst place for a policeman, especially now with all these foreigners here. The business of love and affection was always a silent and is steadily becoming more hidden. But now it also includes rude and loud guys arriving every day on the ships. The gods alone know how to merge all this. And Ryuma alone has to watch over the safety in it. And all these women! Pretty trimmed up and clingy to everyone out of their on row, they surround him as soon as he enters their area. And of course Ryuma is what they call a ‘gentleman’. So here he was again, patrolling this area, talking to these woman while trying his hardest to still get what was going on around him.

~~~~

The time of footprints in the snow and slippery, frozen rooftops came to an end. Still, the sodden ground wasn't the best for his job either. “Now I'm leaving the footprints indoor instead of outside in the snow.” Shin was complaining while entering the second floor of a building through the window. “Don't complain to me! Will you take the job or are you too much of a coward?” The man in front of Shin was fat, ugly and rich, like they always are. He stands beside the door of a shabby little room in one of the smaller Okiyas. “Why do you want to see him dead?” “He looked at my favorite woman… In the wrong way, you know what I mean… Don't you?” Shin raised an eyebrow. “That's all?” “‘That's all’ he says! That's more than enough to let him lose his goddamned life! Just go and kill him, i'll pay you well!” “No.” And in the blink of an eye the fat man was alone. The child of the night he wanted to hire was nowhere to be seen. “Such a dishonorable cockroach! As if i ever would steal a life for such a reason!” Shin said disapprovingly, a few roofs away. Then he saw a little group down on the road. Swift and adroit he followed this bunch of women till he got a better view. Shin’s loud laugher provoked the center of this cluster of women, his best friend Ryuma, to look up angry at him.

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Time doesn't stand still and neither does nature. The Hanami of the police was early this year. The cherry blossoms had barely opened when the commander decided to go out. So now everyone was busy buying dumplings and sake, getting the blankets laid out under the trees and of course getting the normal daywork done before the evening. The blossom viewing started in the last rays of the daylight. The orange of the setting sun and the light rosy of the cherry blossoms matched each other just perfectly. And as night fell, everyone started to consume alcohol and sweets. The policemen were happy to have a little break. They didn't scrimp on sake and soon everyone was laughing and singing under the trees. So it isn't surprising nobody noticed a thing.

In the early morning, most of the policemen had left to go back to their home. So Shin showed up to collect his drunken friend. Without his black clothes and the black twinblades he looked just like a normal guy. Only the commander knows there's one of Ryumas friends who's not like the other town people. But even he doesn't really know it was Shin. So the commander waved the two men goodbye while starting staggering in the opposite direction.

Four hours later Ryuma woke up. The arriving of a new presence let his eyes fly open. “Although you have to wake up for work anyway there was a messenger here just now. Some dead bodies were found where you were drinking yesterday.“ the dark voice of Shin informed him from the shadows of the corridor. “What?” Ryuma asked drowsy while the tall man stepped into the room. “Dead bodies, murdered people, corpse, in the cherry blossom field!” There was the imaginary sound of big gear wheels latching inside Ryumas head. “Where we were blossom viewing yesterday? Dead bodies?” he asked just to be safe his brain finally got the message. “Finally, you got it!” Ryuma didn't see the amused look at Shins face anymore, he dashed already out of the house.

~~~~

Ryuma was one of the last to arrive at the field again. Like the night before the space between the trees was filled with policemen. But now the blankets he could see weren't to sit or lie on but more to cover three corpses. “Ryuma, there you are.” The commander waved him over. “All three are women from Yoshiwara. See if you know them.” Ryuma swallowed hard and kneeled down beside the nearest blanket. Slowly he lifted the white cover and gazed in the face of a woman he just saw the day before. The body itself was almost unharmed, the makeup and clothes still on place. Only the throat was cut open. “But… But shouldn't she be covered in blood?” He stormed to the next body. The same, a woman he spoke to yesterday, throat opened, almost no blood. The third, the same too. “Commander, what is this? Were they already dead while getting their throats cut? There's no way to get rid of so much blood without destroying the makeup and stain the clothes and it doesn't look like they were prepared after dying…” “Get them on the cart, maybe Taro knows a few answers!” The commander barked.

~~~~

Yoshiwara was in uproar. Three famous women were killed. The rumors spread fast and at the end of the day nobody could be found between the buildings of fun and entertainment. Every house had gathered their women inside and under protection. But still, it is a business of communication and contacts, and so it took not even two days for the life to return to Yoshiwara.

“Did you get any further with this Oiran case?” Shin was asking in the silence of the night. He was meeting Ryuma on whose rooftop he sat. “Hush, keep it down please, the little kitten is sleeping inside.” Shin couldn't hide the smirk. “So, tell me quietly.” he mouthed. Ryuma sighed and started whispering “It seems they got their throats cut open after dying. But Taro, who's in charge of examining the bodies, can't tell what exactly killed the women. They're dressed up completely. It looks like they died while working, so they weren't alone. Maybe some guy got carried away… “ ”You think so?” the tall man in black asked. “I'm not sure what to think about all this Shin. I mean, why cutting their throats? That's nothing someone can do with a small weapon or less strange… And also… I've a strange feeling, something isn't right here.” Ryuma sighed lightly. “You mean because you talked to all three women the day before they died?” Shin seems to read his thoughts. Ryuma nodded.

~~~~

It was around four days after the finding of the corpse. Ryuma was patrolling as usual, again surrounded by a bunch of women. He has asked them several times, “Did you see anything? Who were the girls with at this evening? Is there someone more violent than normal?” But nothing really came out of it. All three women were requested to different parties the evening before they died. The invitations were brought by simple messager boys, the money already included. Hina, her name suitable beautiful like a doll, cling to Ryumas arm. “Please Ryuma-san, don't let this monster kill us too!”

~~~~

Shin wanted to search for the murder, looking into all this dark secrets taking place in the company of the queens of entertainment. He was very worried about his friend Ryuma. Like the policeman the child of the night also thought of all the mismatching parts of this case. But he was sitting here, in his friend's tiny house for hours now. Yes, the kitten made him a warm meal and he had lots of rest and time to check on his equipment, but so he got not a single piece of information. “As soon as i hear Ryuma coming home I'm out of here!” he mumbled. “It wasn't my wish to hold you back. I would pretty much prefer you would protect Ryuma instead of me.” The thin voice saying this died away at the end. “I know this, it's the only thing we're alike.” Shin said with a dramatic sigh. Then he stood up and left, only moments before Ryuma entered his home.

Shin went to Yoshiwara. His feelings were screaming something would happen there in this night.

Hina was still in front of the house she belongs to. Her friends, or more rivals, were called to a big gathering of politicians and foreigners. The door opened and a man called Hina in while Shin jumped from roof to roof toward her. “... someone waiting in your room. Hurry, you don't need to prepare first. Just go!” while the woman crossed the house Shin went around and stopped on a spot across the Oiran's room. “Woah, you're looking great! Come to me and don't struggle around, i don't like that.” A cold voice, clearly not used to the unknown language he was using. “Here my deer, eat this for me.” Shin couldn't look into the room from his spot. So he searched for a better place. In doing so he got distracted by a boy talking to the house owner outside the backdoor. “Go boy, hurry and tell Gami-san his friend arrived!” The boy went blank but run away as if death were chasing him. And so, judging from his feelings, Shin run after him.