This story takes place years before the events of Hakuouki, when the Shinsengumi had not yet earned that name — they were still the Mibu Roushigumi, a rough group newly arrived in Kyoto. A wandering young man named Ibuki Ryuunosuke falls in with them entirely by chance, just as they begin to take shape as an organization. He is not eager to be involved, but he makes friends with the members despite himself, and witnesses the beginnings of an era he will not easily forget.