Seeds of Discord

Seeds Of Discord (動乱の火蓋 Dōran no Hibuta) is the second episode of the anime Hakuōki: Shinsengumi Kitan (Demon of the Fleeting Blossom: The Tale of the Shinsengumi). It aired on April 11, 2010.
==Plot==
The episode begins with a common dining scene with everyone present including Chizuru but excluding Hijikata and Sannan. Shinpachi and Heisuke are fighting for food when Inoue tries to calm them down by saying that they are scaring Chizuru. Shortly afterwards, Hijikata enters the room followed by Sannan whose arm is injured and bandaged. Saito expresses his formal gratitude for the work they have done. Quickly reassuring everyone that the wound is not serious, Sannan leaves the room without eating. Hijikata notices Chizuru in the crowd and demands answers on why she is in the room with everyone else; all the members of Shinsengumi present, starting with Heisuke, claim that they have invited her to dine with them, and Hijikata agrees to let her do so in the future.
The story continues with Chizuru's narration about Sannan's gradual personality change: he does not eat anymore and has almost stopped talking to others. We can also see him secretly training with one hand while Chizuru is watching from behind. 
 
One morning Chizuru notices Saitou and Okita cooking meals and asks them to take some food to Sannan hoping to convince him to start eating again. Hijikata is displeased with her roaming the halls without supervision but Heisuke and the others persuade him to let her talk to Sannan while bringing him a meal. Chizuru voices her doubts about Hijikata not caring about Sannan's condition which is contradicted by Saitou who assures her that Hijikata cares the most because the injury happened in his presence. 
Chizuru makes an attempt to help Sannan by cutting his food which he sees as pity and as her wish to earn her place with Shinsengumi. She leaves hopeless, however, her actions take effect as Sannan joins the room to eat with the others.
 
Some time later Chizuru is seen doing house chores with Saitou and Okita training in the background. She asks them if she could come to the city to look for her father, but Saitou refuses her for her own safety. Okita then offers her to join the patrol groups if she can prove that she can protect herself. Saitou volunteers to test her which makes her worried that she would hurt him, so she uses the other side of her blade, but Saitou quickly disarms her showing the difference in their swordsmanship. However, he still compliments her saying that he would ask Hijikata to allow her to join the patrol groups.
Chizuru goes out in the city and starts asking the citizens about her father when she gets pointed at an inn where someone like him has been seen. She walks in without thinking twice and gets into trouble right away. She is saved by Okita who runs in right after her, and the quest ends in Shinsengumi confiscating the ammunition that has been transported into the shop illegally and capturing a Chōshū spy. In the next scene we can see Yamazaki and Shimada for the first time who claim that they knew about the illegal activity but did not report it in time. Chizuru apologizes for causing inconvenience but other Shinsengumi members (from Okita to Hijikata) claim to be responsible for her to a degree. 
 
In the following conversation we learn that Chōshū are planning to set a fire in Kioto in the nearest future. Shinsengumi are planning to attack them by surprise but the exact spot of their gathering is unclear. The samurai divide into two groups: Hijikata and 24 men (including Saitou and Sano) go to Shikkokuya while Kondou, Okita, Shinpachi and Heisuke with a couple more people go to Ikedaya. Sannan and Chizuru stay at the headquarters. At the end of the episode, Yamazaki arrives with the news that the place is Ikedaya after all, so he and Chizuru run to warn Hijikata and his group. Yamazaki stops to fight some enemies, so Chizuru runs further alone.
Category:Episodes
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Category:Season 1