Episode Title:
The Blooming Hepatica.
Episode Description:
Hijikata and his army manage to capture the city the Matsumae Clan is guarded by. However, they lose their battleship, The Kaiyo Maru. During a meeting, Hijikata experiences bloodthirst, and has a hallucination of Chizuru. Back in Sendai, Chizuru visits Koudou's grave on a daily basis, but finds Kazama Chikage there one day. Chizuru believes that he has stopped going after Hijikata, but Kazama swears not to go back on his promise to fight Hijikata once more. The Republic of Ezo is found, and Hijikata is elected as the Vice Commissioner, putting him under more pressure. Ootori secretly sends for Chizuru to work as Hijikata's attendant. She arrives and at first is upset, but says he is happy she came back, and that he wondered how he survived without her. The Republic of Ezo attempts to attack the enemy once more at sea, but they only have one ship, having lost the others in the bad weather. They are forced to retreat, and Hijikata tries to get Chizuru to leave. She refuses and promises to stay with him to the end.
