A Doctor's Journal from the Bakumatsu: My Patient Is Okita Soji

Fukuzawa Chinatsu, a clinical pharmacist, accidentally transmigrates to Kyoto in the Bakumatsu era, 161 years in the past. With a cartload of modern medicine, she rushes straight to Ikedaya and forces medicine down the throat of Okita Soji, the genius swordsman who, according to history, died young of tuberculosis. She hopes to change his doomed fate, but the Shinsengumi, a group of samurai, consider her suspicious and place her under house arrest.

"I'm a doctor. I can cure your illness!"

"Who doesn't know tuberculosis is incurable? You're so arrogant as to claim you can cure me. What kind of quack are you?"

Faced with his distrust, she chooses to treat others and prove her skill and worth.

"As long as you take the medicine I brought on schedule and follow the treatment, you'll recover."

"If you can't cure me, I'll drag you to hell with me."

The young man coughing up blood smiles tenderly as he threatens her, yet he also gives her his favorite konpeito candy.

"Doctor, shouldn't you pay a little more attention to your patient?"

"After tasting the candy you gave me, I've started to be a little afraid of bitter things."

"I'm the Shinsengumi's killing sword, while your hands are meant to save people. Now, even this sword of mine wants to exist to protect you."

He secretly takes her hand on the roof, quietly fixes her hair at festivals, makes her a peachwood hairpin with his own hands, and even acts like a child, begging her for attention.

"I wonder what the doctor would look like in a white wedding kimono."

"Not my fiancee, but my wife, Okita Chinatsu."

"Before I met you, I wasn't afraid to die. Now I'm afraid I won't have enough time to be with you."

Okita Soji, captain of the Shinsengumi's First Division, died of tuberculosis in the first year of the Meiji era, aged twenty-six.

-

They say the samurai known as the Demon Child always has a compassionate doctor by his side. She is the Shinsengumi's physician, but she also treats townspeople and enemies alike.

"That's interesting. What else has she done?"

The woman smiles at the man. "She treated the people of Kyoto during the cholera outbreak, staying by the Tokugawa shogun's side in Osaka Castle until the very end. She also developed Western medicine in a medical institute in Edo, and founded the Red Cross and an orphanage on the territory of the Meiji government."

"Where did she go afterward?"

"No one knows, but many people survived the wars because of her."

-

[Bonus Scene]

Fukuzawa notices that Okita has recently picked up a new habit. He likes to sit quietly nearby, holding Koban in his arms, while she works.

Sometimes she's sorting medicinal herbs; sometimes she's writing prescriptions. Whenever she looks up, she meets the remarkably similar eyes of the man and the cat. Okita's eyes are full of amusement and mischief, while Koban's are purely, innocently animal.

At last, she can't help asking, "Mr. Okita, why are you always watching me?"

Stroking the purring Koban in his arms, Okita says casually, "Koban seems to like watching you. I was wondering if there's something about you that attracts cats."

His gaze shifts to her, his smile deepening. "Something like silver vine, perhaps?"

Fukuzawa is at a loss for words.

Okita lowers his head and softly adds, in a voice only he and the cat can hear, "Otherwise, why is it that when I look at you, I feel like... I can't take my eyes off you?"

[Reader's Guide]

1. Original heroine x Okita Soji. This is a historical fan work with artistic liberties, following the Bakumatsu chronology. The early part is a slow burn (please understand if that's not for you; this is a literary novel, not a conventional power fantasy), while the middle and later sections feature high-density conflict and emotional climaxes. Romance, medical work, and historical plotlines develop in parallel.

2. Ensemble cast, healing, mutual devotion, one-on-one romance. Readers who subscribe to the full story can read the original second-generation storyline for free.

3. Medicine serves the plot. Advanced medical techniques are used as needed for the story, but would be difficult to achieve in reality. Do not imitate any experiments if you are not a professional! Some historical and medical terms are explained in the author's notes at the end of each chapter (feel free to skip them). If anything is unclear, you can look it up or ask in the comments. The traditional herbal prescriptions are for reference only and must not be prepared on your own. If needed, use them under the guidance of a professional pharmacist.

4. In the Bakumatsu setting, characters' differing perspectives lead to different choices and values. If you can't accept certain characterizations, your preferences are respected. There is no pure evil, and every female character has her own story and life. This story is unrelated to Touken Ranbu. Although the author plays the game, the swords here exist only as weapons and symbols of identity.

Theme: Uphold the compassionate heart of a physician.