#... he reached into the future for that one. he just looked at okita and knew he liked him and he was like ...... niisan ...

[dirt-str1der]

Maybe i just wasnt paying a lot of attention to ishin but how did okita and ryoma become friends like one moment okita was salting about him beating him in a swordfight and the next moment hes following ryoma around with big wet adoring eyes i mean eye like they werent even talking to each other when he was following him like they just fell into step then didnt stop walking. Like a pair of ants following the same scent trail

[bookaddict24-7]

Better late than never, right?

I’m really hoping that this month is the month that truly gets me out of my reading slump! I’m feeling that familiar itch and excitement to keep reading my current read and I haven’t felt that for anything other than my safety genre (romance) for a long time. 

If you’ve been in a slump like mine, you’re not alone and it, too, will pass!

This week is a weird mix of genres and not as straightforward with my decisions as the past couple of weeks!

Also, it looks like Tumblr got rid of the line separator. Welp. 

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A gentle reminder: Just because I’ve unhauled the books in this post and in future posts, it doesn’t mean that they’re books not worth reading. They’re just not right for me. This is more of an incentive for me to free up space and give these books better homes than my basement.

Read my original post and how I’m going about this challenge here.

Have any of you practiced this challenge this past week?

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Berserker by Emmy Laybourne

Decision: Unhauled

I don’t know why I kept this ARC for so long. This is a genre so far from what I normally read/like that I honestly don’t even know why I even put it on my shelves. I’ve heard good things about this book and I’ve liked one of the author’s past books, but I just don’t see myself reading this one. 

Synopsis: 

“Are Hanne's powers a gift from the old Norse gods, or a curse?

Her brother Stieg swears their powers are a gift from the old gods, but Hanne Hemstad knows she is truly cursed. It's not Stieg's fault that their father is dead, their mother has left, and their brother Knut has been accused of a crime he didn't commit.

No, the fault lies with Hanne and her inability to control her murderous "gift"--she is a Berserker. When someone she loves is threatened, she flies into a killing state. The siblings must leave Norway for the American frontier or risk being brought to justice.

Aided by a young cowboy who agrees to be their guide, Hanne and her siblings use their powers to survive the perilous trail, where blizzards, wild animals, and vicious bounty hunters await.

Will they be able to reach their uncle, the one man Hanne believes may be able to teach her how to control her drive to kill?”

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Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto

Decision: Save for Another Day

I know I will want to read this when I’m in the mood for a kickass fantasy. There’s not much to say--I knew I wanted this book the moment I saw the ARC and in wanting to be completely honest, I still shared this (random) pick from my mug. Back to the ARC shelves it goes. 

Synopsis: 

“I had a sister, once…

In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders—legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire—until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart.

I promised her the throne would not come between us.

Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders—even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks.

But it is a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled.

Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all.

Sometimes the title of queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken.

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Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

Decision: Currently Reading

Ah, the second time this book has come through and it’s finally time to read it! I’m about a third of the way through and I’m really enjoying it. I knew I just needed to be in the mood for a cute contemporary to fully appreciate the book. I’m really glad I didn’t unhaul this one. 

Synopsis: 

“Shouldn't a girl get to star in her own love story?

Seventeen-year-old Megan Harper is about due for her next sweeping romance. It's inevitable—each of her relationships starts with the perfect guy and ends with him falling in love . . . with someone else. But instead of feeling sorry for herself, Megan focuses on pursuing her next fling, directing theater, and fulfilling her dream college's acting requirement in the smallest role possible.

So when she’s cast as Juliet (yes, that Juliet) in her high school’s production, it’s a complete nightmare. Megan’s not an actress, and she’s used to being upstaged—both in and out of the theater. In fact, with her mom off in Texas and her dad remarried and on to baby #2 with his new wife, Megan worries that, just like her exes, her family is moving on without her.

Then she meets Owen Okita, an aspiring playwright inspired by Rosaline from Shakespeare's R+J. A character who, like Megan, knows a thing or two about short-lived relationships. Megan agrees to help Owen with his play in exchange for help catching the eye of a sexy stagehand/potential new boyfriend. Yet Megan finds herself growing closer to Owen, and wonders if he could be the Romeo she never expected.”

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Have you read any of these three books? What were your experiences with them?

I’ll be back next week with another three picks!

Happy reading!

[fierce-little-miana]

Birthday!

And this is for the best birthday boy of Saichifest 2019! Careful SSL AU incoming.

 Hajime was filled by a feeling of dread. If he was perfectly honest it was rather a deeply rooted unease, but considering it has been with him since this morning he was starting to seriously worry.

 Everything had started in front of the school gates. While Nagumo was supposed to be the one monitoring the coming students he was not allowed to do so today. Not after his last fall dow with Souji. It was as if Nagumo was looking for confrontations with him. Confrontations he couldn’t win if he continued leading them like that. But this wasn’t Hajime’s role to tell him that. Only experience would bring Nagumo to calmer and quieter shores, and only if he was ready to listen to it. He wasn’t. That meant that Hajime had volunteered to take on his duty to make sure that all the students came to class with appropriate clothes and behavior.  

 It was when he was calmly asking a first year to turn off his phone that he had noticed Yukimura. She had come to him to say hello with her sweet smile and big kind eyes, only to be snatched back by Souji. He might have been as surprised as Chizuru considering the startled expression on her face. But when she had noticed it was Souji her expression had changed for a slight worry. Souji had murmured something in her ear, she had looked quickly back at him and then at her shoes with a slight blush on her cheeks. Souji had smirked and then nearly dragged her behind him inside the school. Seeing them interact like that had made something tighten in Hajime’s chest. He had no right of course. Yukimura was a nice girl and it was only natural that she got along with plenty of other students, not just with him. However this whole interaction was strange. Souji had seemingly wanted to avoid him for no apparent good reason and made sure Yukimura did too.  

 Still he had to refocus on the task at hand. The first year was gone, and Hajime didn’t even have the time to tell Souji to tie his tie correctly before him and Yukimura had disappeared from his view. Between his failure and Souji’s odd behavior, the day was going to be more complicated than planned.  

 After the third hour of class he knew something was wrong. Souji kept on avoiding him, not that he particularly sought him out but being suddenly deprived of his friend’s presence was unusual. Souji usually always found a reason to come and have a chat with him. What could have just been one of Souji’s numerous and usual fads had been confirmed as something deeply out of the ordinary by Yukimura and Heisuke’s behavior. When noticing him in front of her in a corridor Yukimura had brutally changed her way. So brutally in fact that she had ended up bumping into an half opened door. When he had tried to reach for her to check if she was okay she had nearly ran away from him without saying a word. He had came across Heisuke in one of the supply-rooms. He had came to retrieve a map for his fourth hour geography class. He didn’t know what Heisuke was doing there considering that the only words he had said to him were “Oh! Saito! Sorry for being in the way!” before jolting for the exit of the room in way reminiscent of Yukimura’s escape without any unfortunate encounter with a door. 

 No, something was wrong and it could only be linked to the day. He didn’t really expect that anyone would make a fuss about it. His brother was enjoying his end of year vacations in Hokkaido, his last one before graduating from college. His mother had joined his father in Singapour to enjoy the new lunar year there and wouldn’t be back before the end of the month. Finally his sister was way to busy preparing her future life as a wife with her in-laws, she hadn’t set a foot in the family home for at least two months. Yes Hajime fully expected being alone for his birthday today. It wasn’t a new occurrence. He will probably go to the restaurant with his mother and siblings when they would be available but that would be all. Except apparently it wasn’t. Something was going to happen. And having Souji apparently leading the all thing was absolutely nerve-racking. Didn’t he try to light a bonfire in the stadium when they were in middle school? Would Hajime need to explain things to a furious Hijikata-sensei once again? 

“ - Whatever this is, you’d better not have dragged Yukimura in anything reprehensible, he finally said to Souji while running into him.” 

 He was coming back from making his excuse to Hijikata and Kondo for not coming to the kendo practice today, he had a meeting with the disciplinary board. Souji simply smiled at that, a smile with more teeth than niceness in it. Did he thought he was subtle? He left him without saying a word. Hajime could only notice that he wasn’t heading for the kendo dojo either. This was going to be a disaster of epic proportion.

 The final and strangest moment of the day came during the disciplinary board meeting. Nagumo was arguing for a re-enforcement of the rules for the field trip that, while not being totally incoherent, were way too obviously personally targeted against a certain someone to make anyone in the room comfortable. The two first years that had joined them looked like they wanted to disappear. Hajime was about to intervene when the door open:

“ - Oh no, it has already started... commented Yukimura who seemed really worried she was bothering them. I am really sorry Saito-kun but could I ask Kaoru to come with me just this time?”

 Well this was a first. So much in fact that the entire room went completely silent for a few seconds. Not only did Yukimura never interrupt any meetings without giving and having an excellent reason to do so but her relationship with her long estranged brother was complicated and she always avoided seeking him out when he was busy for fear of putting him on edge.

 Nagumo was actually about to answer something and every signs pointed to it not being very nice before Yukimura started again:

“ - Please Kaoru.”

 That seemed to touch Nagumo somehow. Hajime wanted to sigh. Everything would be so much easier if he accepted that he wanted to be liked by people and that they weren’t out to get him. But of course it would take several years for him to get there. Nagumo turned toward him and Hajime nodded before adding:

“ - Go with her, we can finish this on our own.

- Thank you Saito-kun, answered Yukimura with a smile which lightened the room.”

 The twins left but so did part of the tension that had been with Hajime for the entire day. Maybe things would turn out just fine. 

 At the end of the meeting Hajime was intercepted by Hijikata-sensei. He needed to speak to him and asked him to follow him to the teachers’ room. Hajime did follow him. What could have happened that necessitated a meeting right now and couldn’t be discussed in a corridor? Hijikata-sensei was especially tense too. This must be something of the scale of the attempted bonfire that had burned half of the football field grass. 

 They finally arrived in front of the teacher’s room and Hijikata-sensei gestured for him to enter. Hajime did and the minute he stepped into the room he was welcomed by a powerful:

“ - Happy Birthday!”

 There was no fire in the room far from it. The tables had been rearranged to create an inviting space with sparkling drinks and sweets. Around it some paper decorations, usually used for schools events, had been hung. Finally a cake with a white frosting, strawberry decoration and eighteen candles was in front of him. 

 Souji, Yukimura, Heisuke, Nagumo and some other member of the kendo club were here. But Nagakura-sensei, Harada-sensei, Sannan-sensei, and Kondo-sensei were also present. And they were all smiling. So was Hijikata-sensei in his back.

 Everything looked pretty sensible, as if the person planning the surprise had really taken him in consideration rather than using the occasion to cause the biggest mess possible. He was glad Souji had brought Yukimura into this because he could see her hand on everything. It had been a long time since anyone at taken care of his birthday like that and Hajime found out he was deeply grateful. 

 Hijikata-sensei finally pushed him toward the cake. He hadn’t even notice he had gone very still. On closer examination it was obvious the cake was homemade. There had apparently been an attempt to write something on it but it had been covered by frosting. It made him smile:

“ - Sorry I wanted to make a cake in the shape of a snow bunny but something happened to the frosting and I had to change my plan at the last minute, said Yukimura while coming closer to him.”

He felt a blush raising to his cheeks but the attention was thankfully taken away from him by Souji who declared:

“ - This was a weird idea anyway. I think this cake looks better.

- You don’t know that! answered Heisuke. If you hadn’t accidentally spilled half of the sugar bag in the frosting we might have had a chance to see what it could have look like.”

 Heisuke was saved from a quick and deadly elbow stroke by a comment from Nagumo:

“ - Accidentally? Sure it was accidental.

- Oh you don’t want to go down this road Koaru-chan.”

 Hajime could almost hear Hijikata-sensei rolling his eyes behind him. He looked at Souji and said:

“ - Souji, no.”

 Several emotions passed on Souji’s face. Every single one a testament to his difficulty to let his prey go but eventually it fixed on a smile, with less teeth this time. 

“ - Go ahead Hajime-kun, blow your candles.”

And he did. 

 While the cake was being cut, Yukimura, who like him already had a piece, came to talk to him.

“ - Is there something you would have liked for your birthday? 

- You already baked the cake, didn’t you?

- Yes I did, but Kaoru helped me, especially to remake the frosting with less than half ingredients left. Heisuke-kun and Okita-kun were a bit panicking, even if Okita-kun will not admit it.

- You cooked with Heisuke-kun and Souji in the same room as you? You are braver than every single one of us.”

 She smiled at him, a smile so genuine that his heart might have missed a beat. He wasn’t completely sure of this. She was going back toward the table but he called her back. She turned toward him. This was going to ask more courage of him than dealing with any out of control bonfire would had ever asked.

“ - You asked me if I wanted something else?

- Yes, you thought about something?”

Hajime took a deep breath:

“ - Would you consider calling me by my first name?”

 She looked at him with widened eyes and her entire face went completely pink. This had been a terrible idea. He wished he hadn’t said anything. While he was looking for an exit, there was none of course but he so wished there was one, she came close to him. She had her eyes fixed on the floor but her hand come grabbing the bottom of his sweater:

“ - Hajime-kun?”

 This time his heart skipped a beat and he was sure of it. He also felt his cheeks burning up. But what entrapped him to the moment was the fact that she lift her eyes to meet his:

“ - Would you then call me Chizuru, Sait... Hajime-kun?

- Chizuru.”

 It came out before he had realized it. She went pinker, if that was even possible. His hands come to rest on hers.

 Suddenly he remembered where they were. They might have been a bit apart from the others but he now noticed that Souji was watching them with interest. At least it was only him, even if Yuki... Chizuru would probably disagree with this.

 He was about to step back from her, maybe grab a drink to regain some sort of composure, when the fire alarm went off. The smoke of the candles of course. It didn’t take long for the ceiling water sprinklers to starts pouring water on the room. They were all positively wet in a matter of seconds. Hijikata-sensei swore loudly and Souji bursted out laughing. 

 But for once, by Chizuru’s side, invisible to the rest of the room in front of the literally pouring mess, he was glad things went off.

[rike-with-love]

Be Mine (chapter 3)

Pairings: Okikagu

Rating: M for mature content, bad language, violence, angst

Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama or it's characters, Sorachi Hideaki does. I only own this story.

Author’s notes: I have a link to my fanfiction masterlist on my profile. Please check it out for more chapters and fics!

Chapter 3

After the sunset the evening was chilly. Streets of Kabukicho were still full of people. Kagura was running with a dust trail behind her. She was running as fast as she could... Kagura's mind was commanded by one thought and one thought only: Get home, NOW. Was she running so hastily to get home, or was she trying to outrun her ferocious heartbeat? She wasn't sure.

Finally, Kagura reached home, she jumped on the balcony and slid the front door open. Someone was in the living room. Kagura kicked her boots off and took a deep breath. ”Kagura-chan?” A familiar voice asked. Kagura walked into the living room. ”Gin-chan, why are you still up? Kagura asked.

Gintoki had his crossed fingers under his chin and a concerned look on his face. Kagura dodged Gintoki's eyes and quickly shuffled towards her closet. Gintoki got up and tried to grab Kagura by her shoulder, but she was faster and managed to close her closet door before Gintoki got to her. Kagura leaned her back against the door. She let herself slide down on the floor and she felt warm tears on her cheeks.

Gintoki stood behind the door and Kagura knew that. ”Kagura-chan, listen to me. I know you must feel terrible about what happened earlier today, that old baldie surprised even me.” Gintoki said. Kagura stayed silent and kept listening to Dadtoki Gintoki. ”This thing will clear up tomorrow, I'm sure about it. But if you want to talk about it, I'm here,” Gintoki said while scratching his natural perm hair.

Kagura sniffled louder. Gintoki panicked and said: ”Oi, oi, please don't cry I- He was caught short by Kagura's words: ”It's okay Gin-chan, I'm just feeling a little odd.” Gintoki took a deep breath and said: ”I'm sorry that your father has made you feel that way, that's really messed up.” Kagura was shaking her head and said: ”It's not papi that made feel this odd feeling.”

Gintoki was a bit confused. ”Oh, what do you mean Kagura-chan, did someone else do something to hurt you?” Gintoki asked with worry. Kagura closed her eyes, wiped away her tears and touched her neck. She remembered Sougo's breath that tingled her skin, just the thought of it made her mouth dry. ”Kagura?” Gintoki repeated. ”I...I'm tired Gin-chan, good night!” Kagura said while getting up from the floor.

A puzzled Gintoki walked away from Kagura's door, then he heard it, the tiniest and most sinful: *GROOOOOOOOWL*. Gintoki smiled and walked away. Kagura changed into her pyjamas and laid on her sort of bed. What a weird day, since when did that stupid sadist begin to look kind of...handsome...no...not handsome. A giant pile of amanto dung, uh-huh. Kagura though, as she turned to her side.

Kagura felt a warm and fuzzy feeling when she thought about Sougo's face and his eyes, his fierce reddish eyes. What is wrong with me? Why is my heart so warm when I think about him? So weird and gross, (mental barf). Kagura thought to herself. Her tummy growled again and she decided to sneak in some food without Gintoki's knowledge.

Kagura got up and opened her door. Lights were out and silent snoring could be heard from Gintoki's room. Perfect, Kagura thought and took a step. She hit her toe on something small. It was a full box of sukonbu on the floor, just for her. Kagura smiled and thought: Maybe you aren't such a useless madao after all Gin-chan.

She picked up the sukonbu and closed the door. Kagura laid on her bed again, munching and thinking. It would be a sleepless night, but not once did she worry about her future husband or her papi, there was only one man in her head that night.

Across the town, at the exact same moment, poor Yamazaki happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. ”Okita-taichou! Where have you been, you weren't attending our evening training?” Yamazaki asked while holding a bag of anpans. Captain Okita Sougo stomped into the Shinsengumi compound and was heading straight for his room. ”Okita-taichou?” Yamazaki asked again (which was an obvious mistake, poor guy).

Sougo gave Yamazaki a demonic look. Yamazaki's life flashed before his eyes. Sougo grabbed his bag of anpans, stuffed it in his bazooka and fired at the badminton master of the Shinsengumi. Yamazaki ducked in time, but the yard was filled with a mash of anpan. Other officers were looking with horror and confusion. Sougo kept on walking towards his room.

Sougo was blocked by a cigarette smoking Hijikata. Sougo stopped and said with anger in his voice: ”Get out of my face.” Hijikata looked at the wet captain and asked: ”What the hell happened to you?” ”Get out of my fucking face, NOW!” Sougo yelled and forced himself to pass his superior. Sougo didn't look back and went to his room. Hijikata was puffing his cigarette and followed Sougo with his eyes.

Finally, in the privacy of his room, Sougo yanked off his wet jacket, kicked his shoes off and let himself collapse on the floor on his knees. He clenched his fists and felt his pounding heart again. Damn you China, damn you. You kicked me in the crotch, who does that, but wild monsters, which she obviously is, a horrible beast...horribly strong beast...a strong beast woman...woman. Such an enchanting woman...What, how did it get into this again? Sougo thought as he pounded his fist on the floor.

Sougo felt so humiliated that he let himself be so vulnerable with Kagura and then she took advantage of the situation. Sougo got up from the floor, set out his futon and changed on his sleeping yukata. As Sougo laid in bed, he closed his eyes and thought about Kagura.

I really thought she was giving me ”signs”. I'm such an idiot. This is the beast girl that caught my eye since...well a long time ago, I finally need to accept that. She is so different from every other woman. She really cares about her friends and family. China has such an amazing effect on everyone around her, her energy and her smile are so infectious.

Oh god...I would sound so pathetic if anyone could hear me now (I think you sound sweet Sougo) I've been in denial for so long, but I guess it's time to come clean to China...I have to make sure I can kill her if she laughs at me. China...do you really hate me so much? Sougo wondered. Sougo had always been a man that was hard to read, because of his deadpan face. Although a true companion, a true partner would see right past his shell.

It was a silent night, few stars were winking from the dark sky. Sougo was looking at the sky through his window. He was so head over heels for Kagura that even the freaking stars reminded of her sparkly eyes. It seemed that the 1st division captain was a soft, snuggly teddy bear inside. Maybe I should do that chivalrous shit, maybe a bouquet of sukonbus or something. Sougo sighed at his gooey thoughts and tried to get some sleep.

Next day at the Yorozuya, Gintoki and Shinpachi were sitting in complete silence. Kagura hadn't come out of her room yet. Shinpachi was getting anxious, he was tapping his foot rapidly. Gintoki was reading JUMP and tried to ignore his subordinate. Shinpachi's foot had reached the speed of light. ”Shinpachi!! I'm going to rip that foot off you and feed it Sadaharu if you don't stop, right, NOW!” a roar was heard from Kagura's closet.

Shinpachi froze at the sight of angry Kagura walking out of her closet. ”Ka-Kagura-chan, you're up!” Shinpachi stuttered with a nervous smile. Kagura rolled her eyes and stomped into the kitchen. Gintoki's nose was buried deep inside his JUMP. ”Kagura-chan, there's some breakfast ready for you, we weren't that hungry,” Gintoki said without lifting his gaze. Kagura knew it was sort of a pity breakfast, but she was hungry, so she went with it.

The Yorozuya trio was sitting in the living room and Kagura had changed her clothes and was now devouring her second portion of breakfast. There was a knock on the door. Everyone froze on the spot, they all knew who was at the door. Shinpachi got up and went to answer the door. ”Umibouzu-san, come in!” Shinpachi said. Kagura swallowed her food and put the empty bowl on the living room table. Gintoki was silently observing her actions.

Shinpachi and Umibouzu made their way to the couches in the middle of the living room. Umibouzu sat next to Gintoki and straight across from Kagura. Kagura was looking at her feet with a neutral face. Umibouzu cleared out his throat and said: ”Kagura, I would like to talk to you, privately, if you don't mind?”

Kagura gave her father a tiny nod and got up. ”Papi, let's take a walk outside,” Kagura said and grabbed her parasol. Umibouzu followed her and they left the Yorozuya shop. ”What do you think he is going to tell Kagura? Gintoki and Shinpachi changed looks and shrugged their shoulders.

Kagura and Umibouzu were walking in Kabukicho district, it was a sunny day and the streets were once again full of people. Kagura was holding her parasol with both hands, her two long ponytails were flowing with her step. Umibouzu was looking at her daughter, he wanted to explain everything to her. ”Out with it papi! You came here for a reason, yes?” Kagura said neutrally.

”Kagura, as I told you yesterday, I made a deal with Orochi, the leader of Kuro Orochi. I got the Altanian crystal from him and I promised you as his bride,” Umibouzu explained. ”I got that already, I just...I love my life here, and this is going to change everything,” Kagura said.

Kagura had mixed emotions, she wanted to honor her father's deal, but she was very unsure of marrying someone she didn't know. Kagura's thoughts were interrupted with Umibouzu's words: ”Orochi will arrive in two weeks, that's when you meet him and the wedding arrangements will begin.” ”In two weeks, what if I hate him, or he is a fat madao or something?” Kagura asked.

”Uh, well he is much nicer than he was in his youth,” Umibouzu said nervously. ”I was only kidding papi, besides if he's a weird man, I'm going to kick his ass, that's what I do to weird men,” Kagura cheered. ”No, Kagura-” Umibouzu began, before Kagura laughed: ”You really don't get my jokes papi.” Umibouzu laughed a bit.

”So, in two weeks I'll meet this Orochi, I hope he buys me lots of sukonbu AAAND I hope he isn't a stupid sadistic bastard...” Kagura huffed. ”A sadistic bastard? Umibouzu inquired. ”Umm...nevermind papi, well now that you are here, can we go eat something, you'll pay of course, because my paycheck hasn't arrived yet.” (actually not once in 4 years)

As the strong Yato duo was looking for a restaurant Kagura hadn't been banned because of her bottomless appetite. Umibouzu felt that there was one thing he wanted to clarify for his daughter: ”Kagura, I want you to know, that if there was a safe way for you to get out of this deal, I would do it...I just don't want to put you in danger.”

Kagura patted her father's helmet and said: ”Don't worry papi, I can take care of myself, you have nothing to worry about. I've always wanted a sugar daddy to buy me everything I, a beautiful, blooming woman, would want.” ”You are so brave,” Umibouzu said with a proud smile.

Kagura was putting on a smile, but secretly she was still very scared. Kagura was scared that she had to marry someone who she might not love, that would make her very depressed, even with a lot of money to spend. Money was only money to Kagura, she valued strength, loyalty, and trust. She didn't have anyone special in mind, not anyone who made her heart race...right?

[shibuemiyuu]

HijiChi Week Day 2

Title: Joy and Sorrow

Prompt: Joy/Sorrow

Pairing: Hijikata Toshizou/Yukimura Chizuru

Background: Alternare Universe. Hijikata was a detective and Chizuru was his fiance.

AN: English is not my first language as I stated previously. But I hope all the readers can enjoy the story like I enjoy making it. Sorry for any grammatical errors.

Miyuu

Slam!

Hijikata lifted his head and looked straight to the door in front of him that just opened and banged the wall with a loud sound. There he found his fiancee, or soon-to-be-ex-fiancee stood at the door. Her eyes were glaring hard at him.

His fiancee just stood and not moving from the door. He could see from where he was sitting and over her shoulders, that some of the people -namely Harada, Nagakura, Yamazaki, Okita, and Saitou- that still working an overtime in the detective’s office, were trying to look on what would happen between them.

‘It’s not their damn business.’

He got up from his seat and strode to the door, pulled the woman’s arms and closed the door with another loud banged. He released her arms and stared at his fiancee with an icy look.

“What do you want, Chizuru?” Hijikata said coldly.

Chizuru narrowed her eyes at her fiancee, “Don’t give that tone, Toshizou-san. You clearly know what I want.” She was trying to control the anger and anxious feelings that were overwhelming her body at the moment. “We need to talk about your decision to break our engagement.”

Their eyes staring at each other, neither wanted to give up. Then Hijikata walked to his work desk and leaned his body on the desk. He folded his arms on his chest and looked at Chizuru with a bored look. “That matter was clear enough. You and I, we will break our engagement. That’s it.”

“I guess you forgot to mention that you also didn’t say whatever reasons of why you wanted to break the engagement. I want to hear and know the reason of why you have decided to make me taste the sorrow and take the joy out from me, as what you’ve promised you will never do such a thing to me before.” Chizuru bit her lip, her voice trembled when she said the next words. “Are you taking light of the promise you have told me when you proposed to me, Toshizou-san?”

His indifferent masked which he displayed to cover his real feelings was on the verge to slip and made her saw the pain and anguish that was taking over his body now. His resolved to act cold toward her almost crumbled when he heard the sadness that laced in her tone.

For the first time since he could remember, Hijikata didn’t know what to say. His decision of breaking their engagement was something he still thought over and over. Did he do the right thing? Was it right to make the woman that he loved more than his life to feel the sorrow of being separated from her loved one? They loved each other and he would love her till death came for him. No, even beyond the death itself. And he also knew that she would do the same thing. The trials that they had experienced on their love had made the bond between them deeper, and no other things could tear them apart. At least that was what on his mind before he stumbled on the case he was involved at the moment.

As the lead detective on this case, he had to delve into the matters more than anyone else and sometimes had to take a dangerous action. For as long as he worked as a detective, this was the first time he had to face this kind of dangerous level. And also for the first time, Chizuru’s safety was in jeopardy because she was related to him. There were two kidnapped attempt of her already, one of those was succeeded to be conducted.

And he didn’t want to feel the fear and frightful feelings ever again of not knowing whether Chizuru was alive or not, period. He was seriously contemplating to break his relationship with Chizuru after the first kidnapping incident. The second attempted was the last straw. He was afraid that while he would try his best to protect her with all that he had, it still wouldn’t be enough to guarantee her safety. In the end, he took one of the hardest decision he ever made in his life.

‘Her safety is beyond anything worth in this world.’

Hijikata averted his eyes, not looking back at Chizuru. He opted not to look at the brown eyes that was filled with the sorrow, courtesy of him of course. This action made Chizuru frustrated more. She didn’t want to receive silent answer from the man in front of her. She wanted answer, explanation... anything to understand of why Hijikata had decided of doing an absurd thing of breaking their engagement.

She approached the man slowly and stopped at an arm’s length. “Look at me.”

He let out a humorless laugh. “Since when you are brave enough to give me an order?”

“I’m not giving you an order, Toshizou-san. I just tell you to not run away from your feelings. Because that’s what you are doing right now by avoiding to tell me the reason for breaking our engagement,” Chizuru said matter of factly. “Don’t try to deny it.”

‘Damnit. She knows me to well.’

“Toshizou-san,”

Hijikata closed his eyes, bracing himself to tell the lies he had prepared about this matter. But before he could open his mouth to talk, a soft delicate hand was placed on both of his cheeks. The hand guided him to look at its owner. He was greeted with two pleading brown eyes.

“And, please don’t try to tell any lies. Please tell me the truth.”

Hijikata could feel the warmth from Chizuru’s hands, that were placed on top of his cheeks, untying the knot that was suffocating his body. Her pleading and sad voice made something inside him snapped then. He grabbed Chizuru and pulled the woman to his embrace. He inhaled her sweet scent that always could give his mind a peace. How could he let himself be apart from her? It’s the same thing as doing a suicide.

“I can’t lose you,” Hijikata said hoarsely. He couldn’t hold his pent up emotion any longer. “The last kidnapping incident was like a warning and wake up called for me. If something happen to you… I don’t even want to imagine it.”

Chizuru felt Hijikata tightened his embraced on her. She circled her hands on his back, returning his hug with the same force. “Who says that you will lose me? Nothing can make me away from you.” Chizuru whispered softly. “When I made a decision to be with you, of accepting your proposal of marriage, I also accepted the consequences of being together with you. Your job is not the safest thing to do after all.”

“But you were not suppose to be involved in the dangerous situation that I faced! What I offer to you is for you to be safe and protected for the rest of your life.” Hijikata’s mind drifted to the recent kidnapping incident. He gritted his teeth hard. “You almost die, Chizuru. I nearly losing my mind back then when I saw you unconscious with blood pooling around your body.”

“I’m sorry for causing you such a fright. I will try to be more careful next time I get kidnapped.”

“Don’t make your situation as a joke!” Hijikata cut Chizuru harshly. “You don’t have to apologize. That’s not your fault.”

“Okay, no more talking of the kidnapping incident then.” Chizuru pulled from Hijikata’s embrace to look at his face. She caressed the man’s cheek tenderly. “Haven’t you realized yet that by doing this, of breaking our engagement, there’s no way I can feel the joy that you promised will always make me feel? You know clearly that my joy is to be by your side, always,” Chizuru said, stressing the joy word. “You will only give me endless sorrow by being separated from you. And I know you are the man of your word. You will never go back for every word you have said. So, please… Let me be with you.”

“...Is that what you want?”

“I won’t barge into your office at this ungodly hour to safe our engagement if I don’t want to be with you.”

Hijikata cupped Chizuru’s cheeks and leaned closed to her face. “You won’t regret it later? I have offered you a ticket on living free life without have to always be on constant alert if someone is targeting you or not. To do whatever you want, go wherever you want, to be free and not be involved in any dangerous situation.”

“If you are not in the life you are offering to me, I will certainly turn it down. My mind won’t change on that matter.”

Hijikata released Chizuru cheeks and slowly he get down on one knee. “Then let me propose to you once again.” He reached for her left hand and hold her fingers. “As you know, I don’t have anything to offer. My job as a detective has made my life in a constant alert. Dangerous situation is also not far from it. I have said it before, the thing that I can offer is a lifetime protection and whenever I’m by your side, your safety is guaranteed. I will always make you feel joy and will cast away any sorrow that will make you sad. I have once tried to do something foolishly stupid by deciding to break our engagement. Something that is equal as attempting a suicide for me. But you are willing to take me back and make me realized the mistake that I’ve made. And with this, I promise that I won’t ever do that foolish act again. I won’t ever let you go, even if by the death itself. Please stay by my side and let me loved you as my wife and partner of life.” Hijikata kissed the ring on Chizuru’s finger, the one he had slipped to her finger when he proposed to her.

“Can I say no to that?” Chizuru’s vision blurred from tears of joy by Hijikata’s words. “I will say yes again if you promise not to do this again in the future.”

“You heard my words,” said Hijikata firmly.

“Get up then and kiss me.”

“Your answer?”

“It’s a yes of course.”

Hijikata got up from his kneeling and showered Chizuru with his kisses. Their kisses were never as sweet and as fulfilling as what they had before. A kiss full of promise not to be apart and to be always together.

[byakushisakura-writing]

5 Times Cried

Peacemaker Kurogane

Soji Okita x Nanami Hijikata (Not my character)

1,586 words

Based off this meme - written for kaliplier

1. Beginning

 Soji lay on the floor of his bedroom as he stared up at the ceiling and sighed. “Why did this have to happen?” He asked himself as he looked over to his mirror. It was covered in pictures, mostly of him with a girl, his best friend.

 They had met on the first day of high school when both were lost and heading towards the same place, they have been nearly inseparable ever since.

 Now they were going to the senior prom together, it had been innocent enough, Neither was seeing anyone so Soji had asked her as a friend. At least that’s what he thought, but now, as he stared at those photos he thought that maybe they could be more.

 These thoughts came at a price as he remembered his past relationships, none of which had ended well. His most recent relationship came to mind, it was his first boyfriend, though before long Soji found out that the male thought he was a woman. Upon realizing this he beat Soji so bad he had to spend a few days in the hospital.

 His mind then went through the handful of women he had dated, the ones who called him disgusting for wearing dresses and makeup. The ones who would hit or yell at him if he did something wrong. One of them even tried to keep him away from his best friend.

 That’s when he thought of her again, she knew all of his secrets, even some that he wouldn’t tell his guardian. He knew that nothing could tear them apart, but he was still terrified as he felt the tears staining his cheeks.

 2. Tuberculosis

  Sojis eyes grew wide as he sat on the bed in the doctor’s office. “Tuberculosis?” He asked, hoping that he had just heard him wrong, but the doctor simply nodded.

 He dreaded the answer to his next question. “Can it be cured?” It seemed like a lifetime before the doctor responded.

 “We think we caught it in time.” He replied, though this did little to reassure the male as one word bothered him.

 “Think?” He asked softly as he gripped the edge of the bed. “Does that mean there’s a chance it can’t be cured?” The doctor nodded again.

 Soji had so many questions, but he couldn’t take it anymore, at least not right now. He thanked the other before leaving the office.

 Soji walked slowly down the halls as he thought. He thought about how he would be finishing college in the spring, and the plans they had to move in with each other after school ended.

 Suddenly his entire future was falling apart, he was barely an adult and death was already hunting him down.  He didn’t know what to do now.

 How much longer would he live? 1 year or 50? Would he be able to finish school? Have a family? How would he tell her?

His final question was answered soon as Nanami was waiting for him just outside.

 He walked over to the girl and buried his face in her shoulder as he clung to her. 

 “I’m not ready to die… I’m not ready to leave you…” He whispered as tears began to soak through her shirt.

  3. Wedding

  It was nearly 5 years to the day since Soji had gotten the diagnosis that put his life on hold, and nearly ended it completely.

 He had not been completely cured but his health had improved enough for him to finish school and get a job as a police officer.

 As he stood at the altar he silently thanked everyone who had helped him get this far. He looked up when he heard the music and smiled happily as he watched his best friend walking down the aisle, her arm linked through Hijikata’s. With his health, and future so uncertain this was a moment that nobody saw coming, not even the bride and groom. When she reached him he took her hands in his and barely listened as the man standing before them made his speech.

 Instead he thought of everything that had happened since they met and how his life changed for the better after that moment.

 When they were told to kiss he did so passionately as all his emotions from the last few years were let out in the form of tears that the other wiped away as he rested his forehead against hers.

  4. Child

  Soji stayed by his wife's side in the delivery room as he held her hand, letting her squeeze as hard as she wanted. Her uncle sat on the other side. Soji tried to comfort Nanami as best he could, though he knew it wouldn't help much.

 A baby's cry soon filled the room and Soji smiled widely as they handed him the tiny girl. His heart sank when he turned to show the child to her mother, something was wrong.

 Soji soon felt himself being forced away from his wife. "No…" He said softly as he watched them trying to save her. "This can't be happening." Soji backed himself against the wall before they were ushered into the waiting room while she was taken to surgery.

 Soji waited with his baby girl in his arms, refusing to let anyone take her from him. Hijikata stayed with him the entire time, worried for the younger male and scared for his niece.

 After what seemed like hours the doctor returned but stayed silent, he didn't need to say anything, at the solemn shake of his head Soji's entire world was shattered.

 He didn't hear the doctors words of condolence, nor did he notice Hijikatas hand on his shoulder. "I-I want to see her…" He said finally, his voice shaky.

 The doctor simply nodded in understanding and lead them to the morgue. He uncovered the body and as Soji looked at her pale face it started to sink in, he would have to raise their child on his own. He started to tremble as the tears streamed down his cheeks.

 Soji turned and buried his face in the elder mans chest as he cried until there were no more tears.

 He stayed in the hospital until the baby girl, which he had named Nanami after her mother, was allowed to be taken home. He focused all his time and energy on the child, trying to avoid thinking about what had happened, but as he lay alone at night he couldn't think of anything else and more than once cried himself to sleep.

 Hijikata checked in on Soji most days to make sure he was taking care of himself, which was something he rarely bothered to do properly these days.

 The funeral was held 2 weeks later and during it Soji stayed at the back with his child, not approaching the grave until everyone else had left.

 He lay a flower in front of the stone and ran his fingers over her name. "I promise that I'll try to be strong and take good care of her." He said softly as he lowered his head so his bangs covered his face and no one would notice him crying.

 She was his best friend, his wife, the mother of his child, and now she was gone…

  5. Sacrifice

  Soji was dropping his daughter off on her first day of school. Kneeling down he kissed her head and smiled. "Be good, I'll come pick you up this afternoon." He said as he moved the bangs from her face, at 4 years old she was already the spitting image of her mother. "I love you, sweetheart." He said as he stood and pat her head before watching her follow the rest of her classmates into the school.

 Once she was out of sight he sighed and headed to work.

 Halfway through his shift Soji went on patrol and stopped when he noticed a couple teens beating up someone on the ground. He called for backup and got out of his car before approaching them.

 One of the teens ran but the other scowled and turned to face Soji. "Damn pigs always ruining our fun." He pulled a knife out and lunged.

 Soji was able to dodge and with only a few small cuts got the knife away before pinning the boy to the ground. He handcuffed the teen and was about to take him to the station when he felt a searing pain in his back. He brought a hand to his abdomen and paled when he saw the sticky red substance that coated his fingers.

 He stumbled slightly before falling to his knees and looking up to see the teen who had ran. He hadn't been running away in fear, he had gone to get a gun.

 Soji could feel himself losing blood quickly and as his vision began to blur he saw the teens running away before his backup arrived.

 Soji managed to drag himself over to a wall and leaned against it. He tasted the saltiness on his tears mixing with his blood as he thought of his child who he might never see again. Then he pictured his wife. "I-I'm sorry…" He choked out. "I tried so hard to keep my promise, but in the end, I couldn't."

 Soji soon passed out from blood loss and although the paramedics arrived soon after they were already too late.

 That day Soji cried for the last time as he joined his wife in whatever might come after death.

[shuuenka-writes]

Sound of Heartstings [Two.]

[Okita x Reader]

Summary: Who would’ve thought that one night patrol would bring so much troubles? Okita didn’t want to be transported to a future land, neither to be involved in demon’s business. But what other choince did he have, but  to stay?

moodboard | masterlist | pervious

Once I hold out the compensation...

“Hello,” the man said, his katana ready in his hands. “We’ve got a score to settle, crow.”

You looked at him dumfouned. And then back at the tengu. It was a crazy day, and it seemed night would be even worse. Wait a minute, did he said ‘crow’? 

How could he see him? Yokai were usually invisible to normal humans anyway. Souji, you agreed just for a while to call him this, leaped at the yokai with a katana in his hand. It was idiotic, he was an actor wasn’t he? What could he do!? 

Tengu slashed with his weapon at him, and you felt your jaw dropping when Souji deflected the blow.

You quickly shook yoursefl from the shock and reached for your pocket. You grasped a paper manikin in your fingers and concentrated. No matter how powerful the cosplayer was, you weren’t going to let him die by yokai hand. Blue glow surrounded your hands.

‘’By the name of Amaterasu-no-kami, I summon thee,” you clasped your hands together. ‘’Akagitsune, come forth!”

With your call, the paper flew out of your hands and chainged into a fox. A kitsune, because it was you shikigami took its stance.

‘’I cleanse thee!” you shouted and the kitsune attacted Tengu. It wasn’t expecting the attack, so the opening was quickly found. Soiji looked confused at you, but the sound of a screeching yokai brought him back to his senses. He slashed the bird and it puffed in a black mist. You blinked. ‘’How did you do that?!”

‘’What?”

‘’How did you cleanse that Tengu?” you asked as Akagitsune stood just beside you. Little red fox  rubbed his mug in your legs.

‘’What are you talking about?”

‘’May I see the sword?’’ you reached for the katana. Maybe it was one of those weapons some Onmyouji carried around with them, packed with spiritual energy.

‘’Hell no,” he clicked his tounge. ‘’What were you doing? How did that fox appeared?”

‘’Geez, you’re so uncooperative, Souji,” you sighed. ‘’This is my shikigami, Akagitsune. Don’t you know? You have a sword that can slash yokai!”

He looked at you as if he was talking to a crazy woman. You stared back. You felt a buzz in your pocket. You looked at your phone, just to see your grandma calling. She just learned how to use a smartphone and would call you with every little thing.

‘’Sorry, I gotta get that,” you said with a smile. He just rised his brew. ‘’Hi, grandma. What is it?”

‘’_____?!” your grandma’s voice shierked through the phone. You hissed, messaging your ear. ‘’Are you there?!”

Souji jumped in his place and stared at you with raised katana. His muscles were tense once again.

‘’I’m here, grandma, please don’t shout,” you replied.

‘’I felt disturbance, what happened?” her a little bit hoarse voice came from the other side. You tapped your chin, perhaps she was talking about the tengu? But yokai appeared quite often, no matter how powerful onmyouji she was, such small disturbance wouldn’t alert her. Afterall, yokai were common. Yes, your grandma was onmyouji as well, all you knew you knew from her. She was retired at the moment, but she still responded to the other shore.

Though, more you pondered about it, tengu appearing here was out of ordinary. You usually cleansed small demons, that were causing minimal troubles, it was quite uncommon to see more powerful yokai in that region. It still happened from time to time though.

‘’No worries granny, I took care of it,” you chirped. It was best to not worry your grandma.

‘’Are you sure?”

‘’Yep!” you replied. ‘’I’ll see you later! Bye!”

You hung with a sigh, when a flash of a blade passed before your eyes. Your phone, a second ago held in your hand, now was falling to the ground. With another slash it was shattered in two pieces and you stood face to face with a stranger. He grasped your shirt and brought his face closer. His green eyes gleamed in the darkness as he squinted them.

‘’What kind of witchcraft is that?” Souji hissed and you felt his blade on your neck. You gulped as your heart started to beat quicker. “Ack!”

He turned to his feet where your shikigami was biting on his leg. Akagitsune growled and his red eyes glared at your attacker.

‘’What do you mean witchcraft?” you asked. Your voice trembled a little.

“That thing,” he spat, pointing at your phone. “It talked.”

“What,” you asked, once again dumbfounded. Your fear was slowly fading, when behing his glare you saw simple confusion. ‘’Phones are used for talking. Haven’t you used a phone before?”

“P-hone?” he repeated after you. His grasp was loosening. His face twisted for a moment and he glared at kitsune, “let go, furball.”

Akagitsune for a second looked insulted and with a small growl he tightened its grip.

“Akagitsune, let go,” you hushed. Kitsune without haste stepped to your side. 

You turned your gaze back to Souji. “You too, please. Thank you,” you coughed and made a step back. You noticed he still held his katana ready to strike. You gulped, “How come, you don’t know what phone is?”

This time it was Souji who looked insulted, ‘’how can I know something, if I’ve never seen it?”

“But how?! It’s twenty first century, everyone has a phone now!”

Your hands went to the air. The man before you stood froze, his stare was making you uncomfortable. You could almost see question marks filling up the air. Of air speaking of – it was getting quite cold.

“What did you say?” he asked, slowly.

‘’Everyone has a phone today?”

“Earlier,” he sent you glare. “Answer quick, woman, or you’ll be dead in a second.”

You flinched as he raised his sword. You looked at Akagitsune by yourside and took deep breath, if anything would go wrong you could always count on your shikigami. Or at least you hoped.

“It’s twenty first century,” you replied, tensing your muscles. He did look serious, and his threat sounded convincing enough for you to be wary. You hadn’t even noticed that you’ve been keeping your breath in.

He was eyeing you, without blinking, and a second later he glanced at the lamp over your heads, where minutes earlier tengu appeared.

‘’It’s 1866, early April,” he spoke, still looking at the lamp.

“Uh,” you frowned. “You’re right, but only when it comes to the month,” you said, taking his appearance to consideration. You recalled the stack of his clothing he was brought to the hospital with. Wet samurai clothing. Katana. Long hair. Okita Souji, born 1844 as you almost wrote in the application. “It’s 2016. It’s been 150 years since bakumatsu period, it’s heisei era.”

His eyes flashed back to you. He coughed and clasped his hand around his abdomen. With the whole chaos surrounding tengu you forgot he was a patient in hospital, not just any. But hit in his abdomen and with tuberculosis. It sounded crazy, but – damn, everything was in its place. Dr Matsumoto even said that this wound was weird and couldn’t be given by a kitchen knife.

He fell onto his knee and you rushed to help him up. He pushed you back and started to cough again. You saw his consciousness fading as his sword fell onto the ground. You caught him just in time before he would hit his head.

“Oh, dear, I caught you,” you sighed. The morphine must have run out and he was definitely too tired to keep consciousness. You checked his wounds, but it seemed to be fine, a little blood stopped when you added the pressure to it. It was crazy, you were crazy. You were definitely not in the right state of mind if you really believed that this man was the Okita Souji of Shinsengumi. You put him on his back and stood up, “Great, my phone is dead. How am I going to explain it to insurance? Samurai from Bakumatsu Era striked it because it looked like a witchcraft?!”

Your messaged your temples and went back and forth, with Akagitsune glancing at you.

“I can’t just bring him back to the hospital, can I?” you asked the red fox. He blinked, not giving you any answer. “They saw me, and I told them everything was under control, right? And, uh, calling an ambulance is out of a question and my work resume would look horrible with addition of walking in the middle of the night with a patient,” you tapped your chin. “Well, he wasn’t admitted to the hospital yet, so there is no record of him anyway, right?”

Akagitsune cocked his head and sighed. His fluffy tail was moving back and forth. You pursed your lips.

‘’Granny is going to kill me,” you wailed and kneeled by the man. You threw his arm around your shoulder and rose up. You lost balance for a second and with a groan you took a step. Luckily for you your home wasn’t too far away and you knew the shortcut by this forest. You glanced at shikigami, “Aren’t you gonna help me?”

Kitsune snickered and with a flush of a blue flame he disappeared. On the ground fell small papercut manikin that just a second ago was your Akagitsune.

‘’Damn you,’’ you hissed and put the paper in your pocket. ‘’Okay, let’s go.” He was heavy, you decided after a few minutes, not to mention his sword was adding more to the weight. It wasn’t far from your home, but still – you weren’t used to carry, or rather drag, a grown man. You stopped by the stairs to the temple. That’s right, you lived in a temple. Well, not exactly in the temple, but at the area of it. You saw a figure on the top of the stairs.

Your grandma was standing under the gate, and she turned to you when you called out. She walked down, with each step you could see her face more clearly. Her gray hair, put in a high bun, turned silver in the moonlight. Her wrinkled face held a frown, as she quickened her steps.

“_____, what happened?” she asked you. You were staggering with Souji on your shoulder. Your grandma took a hold onto his arm.

“Help?”

She nodded and both of you dragged him up the stairs. You felt bad to make your granny carry him along with you, but you wouldn’t been able to do it yourself. You passed the main temple and stopped by your home. You brought him to vacant room and laid down on the futon.

Your grandma checked his forehead and turned to you, “fetch a bowl with a water.”

You stood up without missing a heartbeat and went for the bowl. You took some compress with you as well as bandages. In a few minutes you were back in the room. You sat down and put the compress on his head while your grandma was working on his bandages. His condition seemed to be better than the paleness you saw when he was brought here at first. His breath was slower and he looked like he was just sleeping. You guessed it was a little bit too much of a fatigue for a one day.

‘’Now, mind telling me who this young man is?” your grandmother asked once you left the room. You smiled.

‘’He is magically brought back from the past Okita Souji of the Shinsengumi?” Your grandma’s deep brown eyes stared at you.

“It’s the truth, I swear!” you half yelled. She just shook her head and made her way through the corridor.

‘’We’ll talk about it in the morning,” she summed up and left.

You stood uncertain in the hall. Suddenly the fatigue took over you and you decided good night sleep would do you good.

***

You woke up early in the morning, when the sun weren’t even up. You were glad it was still a break and you didn’t have any lectures. You rubbed your eyes and stood up. Last night’s memories came back rushing into you and you made your way into the stranger’s room. You shifted the doors and peeked inside.

Souji was just pushing himself up. He took off the compress from his head. He looked around the room, little relieved perhaps. You smiled and opened the doors fully.

‘’Good morning!” you chirped. His head shot in your direction and he paled. ‘’Did you rest well?”

“You…!” he pointed at you, his brew twitching. “So last night?”

You cocked your head.

“Oh, yeah! You fainted and I brought you to my home,” you sat by his futon. 

‘’Granny’s been taking care of you.”

He frowned deeply and send you a glare.

‘’You said last night, which year is it?” he asked with tired tone.

‘’2016! Oh, wait. I’ll bring you calendar in case you’d want to stab me to death again.”

You shuffled and went to your room for the calendar, when you were back he was on his feet, opening the doors to the garden. You also took a stack of history books with you.

‘’Well, so,” you called out to him. ‘’If you’re really who you really are, and that is 150 something years old samurai, then… um. you’re dead.”

You sat down on the floor and opened history book you’ve kept since high school. You shuffled the pages till you found right period and pointed at the letters. Souji had no choice but to kneel down by you, he took the book in his hands and squinted.

‘’You’re joking with me,” he hissed. You showed him the calendar with pursed lips.

‘’Well, you’re the suspicious guy here,” you huffed. ‘’And honestly, how are you even here? You should be dead, no offence.’’

‘’None taken, though I wonder whether I should slit your throat right now, or in a few seconds.”

You send him a pointed look and sighed. Should you even believe him, or just send him to the psychiatrist. Both things suited. ‘’Look, I can even take you to see your grave, though you’d have to wait for visiting hours. And around three months.”

‘’Visiting hours?”

You nodded, skipping some pages in your textbook.

‘’Yep, it’s famous. I mean, you’re famous” you said. ‘’And it’s opened for one day in July. I wonder how it is to see your own grave, though.”

You tapped your chin.

‘’Damn yokai…” he cursed under his breath.

‘’Agreed, but what do you mean?”

He clicked his tounge.

‘’Nevermind,” he said and stood up. He went up to his futon where you put his katana last night and picked it up. ‘’I’m getting out of here.’’

You blinked. Once, twice. And watched as he shot the doors behind him. Hell no, you thought. You leaped after him, and for a injured person he was rather quick. How did he even knew how to walk through your house you had no idea. You caught up with him when he was at the courtyard before the temple.

‘’What the…?” he hissed. ‘’That temple...” He looked around and then walked down the stairs, or rather, run down. You called after him, but he didn’t listen to you.

You went after him, passing by some visitors to the temple by the chance. They were looking after you with a surprised looks. You run through the forest, as your stomach started grumbling. You cursed the samurai under your breath and kept following him between the trees. You two stopped by the river.

You panted as you stopped by the man. You didn’t even had a chance to shout after him as he leaped into the water.

“Souji?! Hey?!” you screamed.

After a while his head appeared over the water. He stood up in the water, and looked down.

‘’Get out, quickly!” you shouted. You took a few steps in the water and you felt your feet freezing. You trembled and called, ‘’You’ll get cold!”

Then you remembered that they brought him to the hospital soaked. Person calling the ambulance said that they found him by the river.

‘’Oh, dear…” your sighed. ‘’I, uh, am guessing you transported to the future by this river?”

He didn’t bother looking at you and just cursed. His hand made a contact with water and splashed it around, with a hiss of pain. You stood uncertain. Souji was standing in the water for a while, but after a few minutes he went back to the shore.

‘’You can stay at the temple, you know? For a time being, until we figure out how to send you back,” you offered. ‘’Having a historical figure under my roof sounds kinda amazing.”

You laughed lamely and scratched your cheek. He looked over you, with droplets of water sliding down his cheeks in the morning sun. His green eyes didn’t seem so dangerous anymore. He looked just tired.

“Okay?”

He seemed to ponder on it. He slowly nodded.

“Okay.”

“Oh, thank gods,” you let out your breath, “because I’m here inmy pjamas and people are starting to stare.”

You send him a nervous smile, pointing behind you. Some runners and bikers were looking after you two with confusion. Souji looked in their direction and put his sword on his shoulders, straightening his back. With a pride he started walking back to the temple. You laughed.

‘’Why are you laughing, woman,” he asked.

‘’It’s not woman,” you said, falling step in step with him. “My name’s _____, a miko-hime of Amaterasu Temple and Onmyouji!”

He rolled his eyes.

“All right, miko-hime of Amaterasu Temple, whatever.”

“Gee, I always might take my offer back.”

“Too late,” he smirked.

You stared at him. It might be the first time you saw a glimpse of a smile.

“What?”

“Nothing. Let’s go.”

It’s going to be interesting, you thought.

                                                                                                                                I wonder what I will gain in return?

[yui-kinokawa]

Cold Reception

In the cold of a Coerthas winter, a routine delivery turns into a deadly confrontation. Yui knows she can win any fight she puts her mind to, but what good is victory when when you’re fighting for the wrong reasons?

Yui Kinokawa pulled her furs closer and silently cursed whatever mad deity held reign over the cold wastes and colder fortunes that had befallen her. Even with just her eyes exposed the cold tore at her face and threatened to pierce her protective outer clothes at every seam. The Calamity had never fully left Coerthas. Five years in its wake, the Western Highlands remained a cold, bleak hellscape coated in rime, buried in fulms of snow, and infested with wild beasts, voidsent, and feral Dravanians.

Just hours before, she had departed Ishgard for the Lancegate. Whispers of a salvage team of some renown marshalling in the north of the Western Highlands surrounded the missive she had been tasked with delivering. Count Edmont de Fortemps said nothing of the missive’s contents, but his younger son and the house servants seemed to think her lack of Elezen ears made her deaf. Still, Yui knew better than to press for details. Her clients sang praises of her reliability via word of mouth, and to sink her fresh connections with House Fortemps over her own curiosity would be tantamount to career suicide. If she were to make good on her future goals, that was the sort of setback that Yui could not afford.

She reached a gloved hand forward and gently rubbed the back of her chocobo’s neck. Ever faithful, Okita had taken to the journey without complaint. Thankfully, the Ishgardians were thoughtful enough to provide proper barding and shoes for the bird that would prevent injury or illness from exposure to the elements. The pair trudged along in silence, minding the ever deepening snow.

The thought of spending her gil on a long soak in a hot bath with a bottle of mulled wine did little to ease the burden of delivery. There was but one aetheryte in the traversable areas of the Highlands and that was malms behind her now in Falcon’s Nest. Adding insult to injury, the projected forecast of partly cloudy had only turned out to be partly correct; while it was indeed cloudy, not two hours had passed before it also began snowing. Yui had expected flurries throughout the journey but now it appeared a full-blown blizzard was blowing.

Visibility continued to drop until Yui could see only the road in front of her. Even this was rapidly fading in the unending deluge of fresh powder. Reaching into her memory for maps, Yui recalled a nearby outcropping under which they could weather the storm until it had cleared enough to travel safely. It should have been just ahead.

Should.

What Yui found instead was a barrier of ice in the middle of the road. Yui’s scales itched uncomfortably beneath her furs as the tingle of adrenaline coursed through her body. Far from being natural, the wall had all the hallmarks of being man-made, being a cross-section of the permafrost below. The top was a frosty white fading to icy blue. Dirty pelagic appeared where meltwater had mingled with soil and rock before freezing solid. The heaving of such a large slice out of the ground belied malicious intent and powerful magicks. She swiveled her head left and right, searching for a culprit. The snow betrayed nothing.

“Okita, hold.” She ordered.

Yui dismounted and gingerly stepped toward the wall. That it shielded her from the wind, Yui was quick to acknowledge. That the wall was fresh based on the disturbed ground and lack of snow cover, she was equally quick to discern. She took a deep breath and steeled herself, whirling around to face whoever was responsible.

At first there was nothing. Then, Yui saw them; shadows flitting about at the edge of perception slowly materialized out of the snow, nearly a dozen in all. Okita kwehed frantically, trotting back to Yui to warn her of the encroaching forms. The bird had seen enough battle to not spook and run at the first sign of trouble, but was intelligent and well trained enough to know the odds were not good.

Yui stood motionless, her eyes darting from form to form, sizing them up and weighing her rapidly dwindling options. A retreat was out of the question. The way forward was blocked and the way back was firmly under the control of her stalkers.

That her life was not in immediate danger was nothing more than cold comfort. These highwaymen wanted something from her, likely money and goods. Indiscriminate killing attracted attention, and attention from Ishgard was bad for business. Better to walk away with gil and supplies than leave a bloody trail for the Inquisitors to follow. None of that precluded armed confrontation.

The hunters drew near enough to discern through the snow and fading light. Elezen to the last, Yui muttered to herself, her words lost to the frozen tempest escalating around her. Heretics; they must have been. Or rather whatever extremist holdouts had decided to eschew reconciliation in favor of insurgency. The tattered Dravanian-themed tabards draped over their armor and furs all but confirmed it.

A single man stepped forward from the bunch. Were his ears not clearly visible, Yui might have mistaken him for a highlander hyur. Indeed, he very closely held to the same broadness of shoulder and squared jaw that would be typical of the race. Yui’s eyes immediately fixated upon the massive axe that the man rested on his shoulder. It was an executioner’s axe of unmistakably Ishgardian design, complete with Halonic imagery engraved upon its blade.

Ironic that a heretic holdout would adopt an inquisitor’s arm.

“You know what we’re here for.” The Axeman went straight to business.

That he didn’t opt to have his mooks shoot first and not get around to asking questions gave Yui an iota of hope that parley might still have been possible. However slim the chance, avoiding needless bloodshed was preferable to drawing steel. Not that she would make it easy on them.

“Am I being detained?” She remained deadpan. “My papers are in order with the Holy See. You may contact the Vault via linkpearl if that is in question.”

“Open up those saddlebags.”

“I was not aware of any Inqisitors’ checkpoints in the northeast of the Highlands,” she pressed, “nor that they would be doing random inspections of cargo and wares.”

“Are you really going to play this game with us?” He growled.

His axe dropped from his shoulder, the blade landing with a thud in the snow at his feet. While he made no efforts to raise it yet, Yui could plainly see that his arm twitched and his legs prepared to gird him for battle.

“This is your last warning, bitch. You hand over the missives and we let you go. You keep mouthing us off and I’ll kill you where you stand.”

“The missives…” Yui’s words were lost in her hood, but what the Axeman let slip was enough to immediately draw her ire.

Missives. What use could a bandit possibly have for missives? And how in the hells did he know she’d be carrying them? No, something else was at work here.

“Take her. Get into those saddlebags, get the codes. Do with the girl what you will.”

“Okita, hide!” she shouted.

The heretic leader took a step back, surprised at the voice which lashed out from the short figure before him. Equally surprising was the sudden kick from Okita that caught him across the chest, sending him tumbling into the snow. With a loud ruffling of feathers and a mighty KWEH, the chocobo was away, flying into the sky and vanishing into the snow.

The axeman leaped to his feet, roaring in frustration as his hapless henchmen loosed arrows in vain at the fleeing bird. The bowmen visibly recoiled at their own failure, stepping backwards in an attempt to put distance between them and their enraged leader. Like a rabid wolf, he snarled at them, cursing their incompetence before turning his predatory gaze back upon Yui.

“Clever little girl, you are!” The Axeman finally sneered, a mocking laugh upon his lips. “Get her! Shake her down for everything she knows!”

Six men stepped forward through the snow, advancing toward her in a line. One reached into a belt pouch for rope. The others drew their weapons.

“That it would come to this.” She muttered.

Yui closed her eyes. Ghostly blue light sprang to life between her fingers, forming a spear in her left hand. Yui drew her foot back and raised her throwing arm into position. One of the heretics shouted a warning and raised his shield.

It was in vain. Splinters showered his comrades as the shield exploded, the aether javelin obliterating it and proceeding to skewer him to the cold ground. The others looked on in shock, then in outrage. They charged.

Yui’s hands flew to the hilt of the katana resting at her hip. With one fluid motion, she parted the furs draped over her, drew the blade, and struck. Five brilliant shards of aether shot forward from her blade, slicing through air, aether, flesh, and bone. Crimson spray stained the snow. Those who had survived the initial maiming dragged their injured comrades away.

Grabbing hold of the clasp at the front of her furs, Yui undid it, allowing the furs to slip off her shoulders and to the snowy ground below. The hood of her cloak followed closely behind. No longer smothered by furs, the tails of her white longcoat fluttered out behind her, freeing her to move. She brought her katana to high guard, anticipating the next attack from her opponent.

Instead, the Axeman paused. “You… you’re Au Ra.”

“I am.” Strange as the sudden lull was, Yui seized upon the chance to stay her blade. “Has that changed your mind?”

“Why do you serve them?” Her question was ignored outright. “They hate you and all your kind! Any that bear the marks of a dragon they hate!”

Dragon kin. She’d heard the epithet whispered around the bar when she put down at the Forgotten Knight. There were few Au Ra in Coerthas and even fewer Raen. The handful she’d met in Ishgard had all been Xaela. While House Fortemps had been most gracious, it seemed the Knight’s upper-crust clientele were less so. Auri scales, horns, and tails only reminded them of the foul beasts that had assailed Ishgard for the past thousand years. A single treaty could not undo centuries of prejudice. Still, the thought of it had weighed heavy on Yui’s heart ever since her arrival in Ishgard.

“I am no dragon!” She kept her voice neutral, hoping against hope that she could de-escalate the situation. “And you are no beast! Come! Parley would suit us better!”

“That you would refuse to hold the High Houses accountable for their crimes speaks enough to me. There is no parley with the High Houses, only death.”

Yui could not help but scowl. “And you would visit the same upon a hired messenger? You would spurn reconciliation to sate your need for violence?”

“The farce of reconciliation!” He spat. “Ishgard cares not for anyone without a high house pedigree! It is but a ruse! I will not be the fool to come back to be greeted by the gallows!”

“The war is over. Ser Aymeric offered reconciliation! Things have changed!”

“NOTHING HAS CHANGED!” He roared. “You are but another slave to the high houses. Your sentence is death!”

“I am sorry.” There was no malice in her words, only quiet resignation.

The Axeman’s roar echoed in the white, swirling void, his steps thrumming like thunder as he stampeded forward. Yui closed her eyes and breathed deeply the frigid air, her blade unwavering and her feet firmly planted. Singing steel split the air.

Yui’s eyes snapped open. Her limbal rings flared bright violet and golden flames wreathed her left arm. The axe blade crashed to a halt ilms from her own blade. Sparks leaped from the air above Yui, the surface of a golden barrier just visible below the massive axe blade. Twisting her blade subtly, Yui counterattacked, her two sword strokes catching the Axeman across the chest.

He staggered backwards, eyes wide with shock. The man was clearly no stranger to pain, but the means of Yui’s reprisal were foreign. Yui returned her blade to high guard. Snowfall traced the outline of a magicked barrier around her.

“Your sorcery cannot save you!”

Again, the Axeman charged. Again, Yui answered. Blow after blow fell upon her, flying steel like falling snow. Yui turned each strike with subtle twists of her blade and deft sweeps of her hand. Her barriers sparked and flared, but held fast against the onslaught.

Yui marked the time between strikes as she parried and riposted. Her opponent was slowing, tiring -- opening himself to a proper attack. Her opportunity came soon enough. The Axeman wound up for a big swing, slower than his prior strikes. Yui’s eyes flared brightly, the faint glow of her shield consuming her entire arm in golden flame. A blast of golden light exploded from her open palm sending her foe stumbling backwards.

Yui dashed forward, a single flash of steel the only indicator of her strike. What remained of her foe’s guard crumbled, his axe falling by the wayside, his stumbling form an easy target. Yui drew back her katana, two fingers from her other hand sweeping across the flat of the blade, her magicks infusing the metal and sheathing it in glowing aether the color of blood. A brilliant crimson flash erupted from the wound as thrust her blade into the gut of her foe. His entire body seized, his gaze locked upon the blade piercing his body.

Yui withdrew, pointing the tip of her blade at the face of her enemy. Only one word left her lips. “Yield.”

A beat of silence followed. Whether the Axeman was contemplating or frozen in pain, Yui could not discern. Finally, he collapsed to his knees, leaning heavily upon the haft of his weapon.

“Do it.” he rasped, his voice quavering. “I know you want to kill me. Do it and complete the will of your masters!"

She said nothing. Yui sheathed her blade, but the shield glow remained about her arm. She extended her right hand, now freed from the task of wielding her katana. The Axeman spat. Yui drew back her gloved hand, the surprise on her face immediately apparent. He would insult her even as she offered him help?

“Patronize me all you want. You're still a damn pet!” he growled. “You answer the high houses’ every beck and call, but they still think you a heretic by your very nature. Look at your own horns and tail, girl!”

Yui bristled visibly at his stubbornness, the cracks in her patience only growing as her foe prattled on. She bent down and clenched a fistful of snow to to clean off her glove, glaring at the bandit even as she dropped the soiled snowball back into the fresh powder on the ground.

Her reply was terse. “You would rather spit insults at me than reconcile with your brethren?”

“You don’t get it, do you, bitch?” he snarled. “I can’t reconcile with them! Nor can you!”

“Can’t? Or won’t?” A tinge of red crept into her cheeks at her own outburst, but it was quickly lost in the blowing snow.

“People like you disgust me!” He coughed and hacked, his wounds clearly taking their toll. The spite, however, was undulled. “You serve those who oppress you and pass their contempt onto people like me! Never have I seen greater self-loathing married with such self-delusion!”

Even in the haze of adrenaline and the din of battle -- especially in the din of battle -- Yui was never one to lash out. But this was no wild beast or foreign soldier threatening her life. Were he a mere beast, Yui would have no qualms about putting him down; indeed, any beast would have tucked its tail between its legs and run away after the sound thrashing she had given it.

But beasts did not spew verbal vitriol. Beasts did not hurl insults that cut her heart. He was not wrong. Ul’dah and Ishgard were no havens for Au Ra. No matter how upstanding her service to House Fortemps, she was an outsider among the Elezen.

Anger Yui did not know she harbored possessed her. She could not control the flaring of her limbal rings, this time a fiery crimson rather than their usual cool violet. Her foe was not cowed. In fact, he seemed to take great pleasure in her reaction, a smile creeping across his lips even as his vitality drain onto the snow at his knees.

“You would suffer death to spite me?" She growled. "Even when I am trying to help you?”

“Your help is unwanted and unneeded!" His laughing was punctuated with heaves as his lungs struggled for breath. “My death is preferable to slavery to the high houses. I pity you.”

“And I, you.” Yui turned and began walking, making for to the spot where she had dropped her furs. "Perhaps in another life you would have chosen a less miserable end."

"You're going to leave me?" His voice cracked.

Whether he was in pain or rage she could not tell. But she had made her decision. “I cannot save one who refuses to be saved.”

"You last mistake was to turn your back on me!" he choked.

Yui whirled around at the jingle of gear, her hand raised in preparation to fire another magical bolt into her foe. She refused to be caught unawares if her opponent pulled a gun or dagger with which to deliver a parting shot. It was, however, no weapon. The bandit took from his hip a flask and quickly chugged its contents. Choking and sputtering issued from his mouth, punctuated with wheezing, the vile contents of the flask exacerbating his prior injury.

Poison? Potion? No. Poison was the opposite of what he wanted. And a potion would not cause pain. Yui's blade flew again to high guard. She'd heard of this in hushed whispers in the Forgotten Knight. Heretics quaffing dragon's blood to awaken some latent magic within, transforming them into horrible twisted beasts in the process.

Laughter. Laughter without mirth, without joy, without a shred of happiness. The Axeman raved on as his body was consumed by magicked shadows erupting from every pore. Even through her barriers, Yui could feel the unearthly heat prickle her skin and scratch at her scales. The shadow flames vaporized the snow around them, carving a shallow circle of rock upon the path, continuing to grow as the heat intensified. Yui averted her gaze. The flames caused her pain to look at, not through brightness but through a strange warping of the aether Yui could feel in her bones.

She snapped her hand forward, projecting a rampart of aether in front of her. The shadow inferno exploded, the blast wave clearing a massive circle free of snow save for the slice shielded by Yui’s barrier.  Where once there stood a man now stood a beast.

His already impressive physique bulged to grotesque proportions, his bloated musculature now covered by gnarled scales the texture of broken stone. From his head sprouted a dragon’s snout topped with a single large horn. Scales on his neck extended into a twisted headdress and a tangled mass of thorny protrusions erupted from his back. His limbs were tipped with massive claws that he swiped through the air, testing his new weapons before bringing them to bear.

The beast glared at Yui. An unholy roar blasted from its maw, making her wince. He lowered his head and charged.

Yui’s barrier flared brightly as the beast collided with it at breakneck speed. Snow swirled and winds roared around the thunderous impact. Yui staggered backwards, the sheer force of the strike dazzling her with magical feedback. Unfazed, the beast continued its unrelenting assault. Blow after blow rained down upon her barrier.

The circle of protection continued to shrink with each strike. Finally, all that remained was a weakly glowing disc floating in front of her hand. Yui gasped for breath and crumpled to one knee. Her shield arm trembled in fatigue.

As she glanced up at the monster looming over her, she swore she could see a predatory grin. The monster raised its fist to strike. Yui rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the massive claws that threatened to crush her. Dirt and snow sprayed over her from the impact. It took a moment for the dragon to realize his prey had narrowly avoided death.

It took almost all Yui had to push herself back onto her knees. It took what remained to force herself to stand. Stained in grit and matted with melted snow, the brilliant halo and pristine garb of a paladin had vanished into the grimy visage of a battered warrior.

“Mercy and succor.” She gnarled, eyeing the monster before her. “Mercy was what I swore I would live by. Succor was what I promised to bring. And this...”

Yui brandished her weapon once again. The remainder of her shield vanished, replaced instead by a dull red glow from her katana that pulsed as if a heart beat within it. Blood thundered in her head, her skull feeling like it would surely explode from the strain. Her patience was spent. Her kindness drained. Her self-control was but shackles, shackles that fell away as seething anger burst its bonds.

“... THIS is what I’m met with?” Her low grumble escalated to an angry shout. The monster cocked its head ever so slightly, as if curious about his foe’s newfound resolve.

Yui dashed forward again, her blade weaving vermillion trails of light around her, its radiance escalating until steel struck scale. Searing ribbons of crimson light erupted from her blade, blasting clean through her target. The beast reeled from the strike, the first one to truly test its defenses since its horrid transformation. Its feral grin returned, its interest in tougher prey dripping from bared fangs.

Its counterattack was swift. A storm of fang and claw lashed out at Yui. She roared in frustration, dropping all pretense of defense to get one more strike against the beast. A single claw swipe caught her across the chest, lifting her off the ground and sending her flying backward.

Her eyes snapped back to the dragon before her as she rolled back onto her feet. He reared up, the sounds issuing from his throat almost that of laughter. When he dropped back to all fours, his eyes and nostrils were aflame. The flash of light was all the warning Yui had.

She raised her barrier and gritted her teeth. Brilliant wings of aether sprouted from her back as the spell took shape, reinforcing her shields against the fiery onslaught. The wave of dragon’s breath washed over her in a tide of hellfire. On and on the torrent raged, finally engulfing Yui entirely.

The deluge of flame finally stopped. The dragon beast roared in triumph. But as the smoke and steam cleared, Yui remained.

Her eyes flared bright crimson, her blade glowed molten red, and tongues of flame leaped from her boots as she charged. Gripping her katana with both hands, she wound up for a massive attack. Yui’s strike ripped through the monster’s defenses as if a hundred blades had suddenly sprung from her katana’s edge. One cleave after another carved into the beast’s flesh, each blow sending it staggering back until finally it fell to its knees.

The dragon looked up, the light in its eyes wavering. Yui strode forward, every last shred of mercy having left her long ago. Finally in reach, she sheathed her blade, but not to walk away. Hoarfrost crawled across the hilt and saya. Motes of soft moonlight materialized around Yui’s shoulders in a ghostly dance. Wisps of aether resembling cherry blossoms whirled around her head in a majestic halo as the blade burst from its scabbard in a flash of blinding steel. Her twin strikes echoed loud as thunder across the Highlands.

The lingering blossoms from her spell combusted as its effects faded, tongues of flame consuming the delicate petals before flickering out in the storm. Soft moonlight blazed into searing sunfire, flaring brightly before just as quickly collapsing into void. The Intricate hoarfrost patterns cracked and shattered, the pieces melting and evaporating into wisps of steam from Yui’s still glowing blade.

Before her the beast lay unmoving, its vitality draining out into the snow.

Yui did not know how long she stood in front of her slain foe. Only when she felt the gently nuzzle of Okita’s beak against her face did she realize snow was beginning to accumulate on her. She shivered violently.

“Okita, heel!” She called through chattering teeth.

Shaking, Yui sheathed her blade and scrambled back along the path to where she had discarded her furs, quickly wrapping herself in them. Still trembling, she climbed on Okita’s back and hastily pointed him back toward the trail.

Tired breaths drifted from beneath Yui’s furs. Slowly, warmth began to return to her body. She wrung her tail with her fingers and left navigation to her steed. Images of battle and biting self-reflection haunted her, carrying her mind away from the road.

“Slavery to the high houses,” she mouthed, echoing the Axeman’s bitter words.

She had won. She had survived. She had even defended her cargo. But what good would her service do if none in Ishgard even saw her as a person? What good would reconciliation do if those offering it were soon overtaken by those insistent on orthodoxy? What good was law when all law did was allow the powerful to oppress the weak?

Her oaths were to mercy, to succor. But neither had been given today and neither mattered if he was right. But why would she listen to some bandit who had just tried to murder her? Why would she take his word over that of House Fortemps and First Commander Aymeric? Logically she knew better. But an uneasy feeling settled in her gut that made her wrench her tail and grit her teeth in frustration.

Yui opened her hood to allow in a blast of arctic air. The burst of cold was enough to push momentarily quell the onslaught of thoughts. It was a long walk to Lancegate. There would be time for her to organize and process all that had happened.

For the moment she had clarity. There was no quick fix to the problems that had just reared their heads. But she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to try.

Mod Notes: Sat on this for way too long. If I get the time and energy I’ll revise for a bit more coherency, but right now I just want to put it down so I can work on other projects. It’s mostly self-indulgent fight choreography, but I don’t feel right about scripting combat or sex without some kind of philosophizing bookending it. It is what it is.

Enjoy!

[spider-moon-princess]

Time Travel CH 18

Omg, 18! I’m having too much fun writing this! 

Part Seventeen

Masterlist

----++----

Shinpachi, Heisuke and Sanosuke had gone back to the gym to work out some more.

 “Yosh! Let’s work on some crunches now!”

 Sanosuke set his weights down, grabbing a towel from the bench. “Shinpachi! Haven’t we done enough today?” Heisuke flopped on the floor. “I’m with Sano-san! I can’t do this anymore!”

“Pshh, you two have such little stamina. Let’s take five and run on the treadmills then!” He sat down next to Heisuke, grabbing his green water bottle to take a swig of water.

 The little click-click of heels had Sanosuke snapping to attention. There was a reason that Shinpachi was so eager on dragging out his gym time, and this only made it clearer. He pretended not to see her as she approached the trio. He wiped his brow with his towel.

 Finally, the click-click of heels stopped right behind Shinpachi. He stiffened a bit, hesitant to turn around.

 “Shin!” Hands on her hips, a pout on her pink glossed lips, and her were eyebrows furrowed in displeasure.

 Shinpachi immediately stood up to face her. “A-ah, Etsu!” His heart skipped a beat, looking at her. She was wearing a flared red dress that hugged her curves that reached above her knees. “Wh-what brings you here?”

 “You know exactly what, Nagakura Shinpachi!” She crossed her arms. “You went to the club again, didn’t you?”

 “Just for a bit…just for a drink with Sano!” He knew he was better off telling the truth. Yeah, he liked going to the clubs, but it was mostly for the bar and ambiance. He had no interest in other women, only her. “Na, Sano?”

 Sanosuke gave her a sheepish smile. “I was watching this idiot the whole time, once he was drunk off his ass, he was listing things that he loved about you. I had to listen to him during the car ride home.” He chuckled.

 Etsu’s expression softened. She knew Sano-san never lied to her. Though she trusted Shinpachi, she couldn’t help but be doubtful once in a while. He was an attractive man, women and men looked his way when they walked out in public holding hands. She trusted he wouldn’t cheat on her, but she certainly didn’t trust the majority of girls at a club or bar. “Really, Shin?”

 “Maa, I don’t remember much, but I guess I can repeat it for you…” His cheeks were dusted with pink.

 “Ooooh, Shi~in!” She lunged forward, tackling him in a hug. “Tell me over dinner!”

 Shinpachi chuckled, giving her cheek a peck. “Okay, okay, let me get changed and I’ll meet you in my office.”

 Giggling, she nodded happily and tip-toed to kiss his cheek. Even with her three-inch heels, she still couldn’t reach his cheeks.

 “Geez…” Heisuke watched her leave for his office. “You two fight and make up over nothing.”

 “We do not fight, we have small disagreements from time to time. Besides, Etsu’s such a catch.” Shinpachi grinned like a fool in love, which was what he was. “She knows how to cook, she’s kind, beautiful, she’s got curves, she’s a D, and thick thighs for me to rest my head on-”

“Oi, oi, Shinpachi, save it for dinner.” Sanosuke shook his head, clapping him on the back as they went to hit the showers.

 --

Chizuru and Hijikata-sensei had agreed that he would bring Okita-san as soon as the discharge papers went through. She decided to go home after changing to set things up for him.

 Souji was alone in the room. He closed his eyes and tried to take a nap, but little flashes of what he wanted to call memories came to him.

 Chizuru cooking, their first kiss, studying with Chizuru, Hajime-kun, and Heisuke-kun, little bits of things here and there he didn't understand.

 Just what the hell was going on? These thoughts, memories, weren't his, but they were in his head.

 "Oi, Souji." Hijikata-san opened the door.

 Souji chuckled, "The Hijikata-san I know also never knocks." He stood up and stretched until his back popped a bit.

 "Let's get going, the papers went through." He grabbed the file folder and opened a bit to check its contents. A birth certificate, an ID, even a high school diploma...He really did not want to know how Sannan-san got a hold of these documents.

 Souji followed him out to the parking lot, grimacing slightly when he heard a loud roar. "Hijikata-san, what are all these machines?" He looked around them. The machines were similar shapes, but different colors. They all were in neat rows, though some here and there were placed crookedly.

 “Cars. They’re like our modern horses.” Toshizō opened the passenger door of his black sports car. “Come on, Souji, I don’t have all day.” He glanced at his iPhone 4, smiling lightly as he got a reminder from Satomi to come home for dinner. He didn’t forget, but she knew to send him little reminders in case he did lose track of time. He shut the door after Souji and quickly responded that he’d be home after dropping Souji off at Chizuru’s.

 “Modern horses?” Souji mused, looking around the car. He had the urge to press buttons that lit up when Hijikata-san brought the modern horse to life. What had he called it, a car?

 “Souji! Don’t touch anything! It can be dangerous if you press the wrong thing while I’m driving.” He had spotted that devious glint in his eyes. Sighing, he started driving out of the parking lot, the car picking up speed once he was out on the road.

 Souji grasped the seat for support as Hijikata-san started to go faster. He didn’t like this car thing, though it was more convenient than a horse or walking. He had to admit that when Hijikata-san made the turns rather harshly, it made him a biiiiit scared for his life. He chuckled nervously. “Are these cars meant to go this fast?”

 Toshizō smirked, pressing down on the accelerator, passing other cars by. He wasn’t a reckless driver, but he certainly was a speed demon. “Oh sure, this one is built to go rather fast. She’s meant to drive fast.” He could see Souji was scared shitless by his driving, and he was relishing every moment of it. He smoothly parked the car near Chizuru’s apartment. “Well, here we are. Didn’t take long at all.” He probably broke over twenty traffic laws, but it was so worth it, especially when Souji crawled out of the car on all fours.

 Oh, sweet solid ground. Souji took a few moments before he stood up. He’d gotten a little nauseous with the car moving at such high velocity.

He never, ever wanted to get in the same car as Hijikata-san again.

 --

 Toshizō led him to Chizuru’s apartment. “I can’t stay, but you’re going to tell him, right?”

 Chizuru nodded, looking over at Souji; he was busy staring at pictures she had up on the wall. “Yes, Hijikata-sensei.”

 “Good. Here’s his medicine, the file from Sannan-san, and the journals. Good luck, Yukimura.”

 Chizuru bowed and set the box inside, next to the coffee table.

 His jade green eyes stared at a few pictures on the wall. There was one of him, Heisuke-kun and Hajime-kun. They were wearing some type of uniform, Heisuke had his arms around the both of them, grinning, and even Hajime was sporting a slight smile. His future self was smiling so happily, it made him a little jealous.

 There was another picture that caught his eye of his future self, Hijikata-san, and Shinpachi-san. The three of them wore lab coats, making funny poses in front of a crowd of children.

 Chizuru came behind him, staring at the same picture, a smile spread instantly. “That’s one of my favorite. Kondō-san was out sick, but he was supposed to read to the children in the hospital, so he asked Hijikata-sensei, Nagakura-san, and Souji-kun to read it in his place instead.” She laughed at the memory. They had ended up doing a rather unorthodox version of Momotaro, thanks to Souji.* Hijikata-sensei and Nagakura-san chased him around the halls for deviating from the story by bringing in a gorilla instead of a monkey that Nagakura-san had to provide the voice for and the rest of the characters, and making Hijikata-sensei the demon. She’d been in the back, laughing with the rest of the children. They’d loved it so much.

 “Hmm, sounds interesting.” Souji stepped cautiously towards the living room as he looked around. This is where he would be living now. With Chizuru.

 “Ah, Okita-san…” Chizuru went to sit on the couch, taking out a packet from the box that Hijikata-sensei had given her. “…You probably have questions about the Shinsengumi, don’t you?”

Souji took the seat next to her, crossing his arms. “Many.”

 “...This packet of information should clear a few things up.”

 Souji took it from her, quickly scanning the first page. He skipped ahead to find out about Kondō-san.

 He nearly tore the damn paper in half. His jade green eyes furiously looked over at Chizuru. “Ne, Chizuru-chan, this is a lie, isn’t it?” His voice shook slightly. “Kondō-san would never surrender!”

 Chizuru remained silent as Souji reread the end of the paragraph that described Kondō-san’s death.

 “The fucking bastards didn’t even let him commit seppuku?! They beheaded him like some animal?! Where the hell was Hijikata-san?!” Souji threw the packet down, bowing his head. “Tell me that’s a lie, Chizuru-chan…tell me that he at least got to commit seppuku like the warrior he is…”

 They sat there for a few moments, Souji waiting for Chizuru to tell him the truth.

 “...He deserved that honor…He was…He…” His voice broke, unable to say anymore. He hated showing this side to anyone. He was Okita Souji, Captain of the First Division of the Shinsengumi. He didn’t shed tears. 

 Chizuru gently pulled him into her arms, burying her face into his hair, feeling his tears on her arm. There was nothing she could say to him that could ease the pain of losing a loved one in such a horrible manner. If her Souji had the same relationship with Kondō-san that Okita-san had with the Kondō-san in his time, he thought the world of him. She couldn’t do anything to ease the pain in his heart, so she just held him, hoping that her presence could be of even of even the slightest bit of comfort to him.

Part Nineteen

----++-----

*This is actually from one of the Hakuouki SSL drama CDs, I seriously recommend listening to it LMAO, although idk if it has any translations out. 

On another note, I’ll slowllyyyy be adding in the OCs and interactions! I started with mine, since I know her the best LOL, but they’ll get their time to shine, I promise! 

 AND FEELS, I KEPT SEEING SOUJI BREAK DOWN IN CHIZURU’S ARMS AND I JUST- ToT ToT 

[sambart93]

Top Things I Did This Year

More like things I'm thankful that happened xD This year has been absolutely incredible and as far as stages and actors are concerned, I've been pretty damn lucky and got to experience so many amazing things! So here's some of the massive highlights of this year!

1. Went on a Bus Tour!

I've always wanted to go on a bus tour and what's even more amazing is that I managed to get onto MakiChan's Bus Tour! It was such a great two days! MakiChan is just so sweet and so much fun to be around! Also we got cheki's with him, he went around talking to people on the bus stops and lunch times, he came around to everyone's room and did pretty much whatever we requested of him, he must've been absolutely shattered by the end but he was still full of energy and smiling and having fun! I legit cried when he waved us off at the end.... I do hope if he ever does another that I can go again!

2. See TouStage Live

While I only ever appear to complain about TouStage; I absolutely love the series and Touken Ranbu in general and I do think of myself as bloody damn lucky that I've managed to see the LV three times this year (Saien, Akatsuki and Jyoden) as well as go IN PERSON twice (Akatsugi and Jyoden) ALSO I feel pride for the fact they performed at Odawara castle which is literally ONE stop away from where I live! I do feel blessed, I've always felt blessed for how many times I've been able to see this stage series.

3. Went to ALL my Oshi’s BDay Events

Well at least to all the Oshis who DID Birthday Events (HirokiKun and Tomo didn't do one this year but has said he will next year and I only knew about YuuKun AFTER his birthday!). I've been to Domoto's, JP's and MakiChan's! I was also able to go to ShoSans! To be honest, I wanted to get to all the major TokiEnta's boys' birthdays (including Shouta and KishiTaku) but just didn't have time, so hopefully next year I can reach that goal of going to all TokiEnta's Boys' Birthday Events! xD But I'm super happy I managed to get to all my oshis'! Hopefully next year too!

4. Safely completed MakiChan goods collections every time

This one is really silly but MakiChan's characters are super popular; Kuro (K), Ritsu (Ensemble), Manba (Touken), Okita (Hakuouki) so trading and being able to get one full set of his trading goods is super, super difficult! But by a miracle I managed to do it every time! And I'm super thankful that I could! Hopefully next year too!

5. Able to see almost all of KAT-TUN in some form.

KAT-TUN were unforutnately forced to stay on their Hiatus this year for the entire year, but thankfully all three boys got solo events and things that allowed fans to go and see them! So in the end, I saw SOME form of them. I went to Ueda’s play for my birthday ON my birthday and it was a lot of fun and very funny and Ueda did amazing! I watched Kame’s movies and doramas and they were great, also I managed to go and get his concert goods even though I couldn't go to the actual concerts. AND I watched Nakamaru’s show which was absolutely ridiculous and hilarious and one of the best entertainments-ness things of this year. It still cracks me up thinking about it! xD

6. Multiple Showings

Again, I am super duper thankful that I got to see HakuMyu 4 times, Hatsukoi Monster twice, and K Stage 3 times -- while I may not hit for things like TouMyu, EnStage etc. I’m super thankful that for the slightly less popular shows that I’m able to go a ridiculous amount of times! And they were all ones MakiChan was in too! So I felt I could properly support him in quite a lot of things this year even when other things it was more difficult to do! These kinds of chances keeps my motivation, love and support for him going strong!

7. Finally Meeting UeChan!

I was so freaking nervous and I've liked him for a long time (well not really technically) and he was everything I expected him to be like and he was so professional and lovely! It's like a dream meeting him...

8. Unexpected Chances

A few things happened this year that I never thought or imagined possible; for a start:

- The TokiEnta events and seeing the Shachou between events or even seeing him at MakiChan events and him remembering and acknowledging me ^_^ 

Other unexpected things like:

- A Haisute actor helping out at JP's event and just being able to talk to him and have a proper conversaiton with him! And lets not forget THAT Domoto Birthday event and what happened there!! 

- Things like YuuKun yelling 'you're not going back to England are you Alex?!?!?' are just amazing chances and experiences! 

- And Domoto thanking me for 'always sending letter' to him *dead*

- And HirokiKun always taking time to properly talk to me after his events and stages too and remembering what I've told him in letters etc. And doing things like taking my hands and going 'oh they're so cold! Are you okay?!’ and then the next time I see him, he’s like ‘are they cold again this time?! No? You sure? Oh, I'm glad' *dead*

- ANNNND freaking MakiChan on the bus tour patting my head and saying 'I like you' literally inches from my face during his 'going around the rooms' and EVERYONE fucking knowing the next day xD while it definitely wasn't true, I still feel super special and happy that only I got that from him! 

- ALSO lets not forget Shosan sitting on my chair during TokiEnta Events! 

I literally could go on with the amount of unexpect but amazing chances I've had this year! I hope everyone else can have just as many amazing experiences as I do, if not more!

And just to bring it all back to reality:

9. Friends Not Abandoning Me

I can be a super shitty person and I can be super snappy and negative towards the, but they're still by my side, still wanting to spend time with me, still wanting to hang out whenever we get chance and I am always and will always be thankful that they still accept me and don't mind me being in their lives *now I start crying* I'M LOOKING AT YOU ALKOI AND TONBO!

10. Seeing My Grandparents

I may not say it much but I absolutely love my grandparents and I miss them much much more than I do my parents (I can skype my parents whenever and more often than I do my grandparents, and they’re still young and healthy enough to come and see me). They can't travel anymore so I'm super thankful how much I'm able to see them whenever I go back home, even though I'm usually in a pissy-jet-lagged mood. But I love them with all my heart! I think about them every day and I always count down the days to when I can next see them! I always want to see them!

11. See My Friend Getting Married

The first person in my group of friends got married this year and I'm going to be honest, I cried inside the ENTIRE fucking day. This is a friend who I've been friends with since we were 8/9 years old. We've been through some stuff together, we've also had bad times and times we weren't talking but we’ve also had a lot hilarious and fun times. And seeing her in that dress on her wedding day; I died inside. And she deserves all the happiness and all the success! And her partner is just the sweetest person ever! I'm seriously like a proud father giving a daughter away, that's how I feel about this situation. And I wish her nothing but laughs, safety and happiness in the future. Seeing her get married also made me realise, few friendships last, but the ones that do; they REALLY last and me and her are definitely one of those friendships <3

*

What were some highlights of your year?

I'm gunna go and get rid of these tears of joy from everything xD

[yokailovesugar]

Unexpected Part 17

This is an Ulquihime fanfic I wrote. This is Part 17

Enjoy!

More chapters will be on the way for this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or it's amazing characters that all belongs to Kubo Tite.

*I also do not own the Japanese historical figures that appear in this fanfic or actual Kyoto Sightseeing places* I don't any of the artists, songs mentioned in this fanfic,

Ulquiorra Cifer and Orihime Inoue and other Bleach Characters (c) Kubo Tite

More Bleach Characters will be appearing as this story continues.

PART 17

LOCATION: Complete Darkness (Time unknown)

Ulquiorra is in the darkness and sees a ghost of himself as the Arrancar he once was.

Ulquiorra reaches out to the apparition of his former self but it disappears.

[MALE VOICE]

Ulquiorra you disappoint me.

Ulquiorra' green eyes widen hearing the voice.

[MALE VOICE]

Bring me the woman.

Ulquiorra's green eyes snap open.

Ulquiorra wakes up in a break of sweat.

LOCATION: IKEDAYA INN IN KYOTO, JAPAN. (Early Morning)

The sound of Rain is heard hitting the windows.

[ORIHIME]

Ulquiorra what's wrong?

[ULQUIORRA]

Nothing. Go back to sleep Onna.

Orihime touches his forehead and feels sweat on her fingers.

[ORIHIME]

You're sweating I'll get a towel.

Orihime starts to get up but Ulquiorra grabs her hand pulling her hand back to his hot forehead.

[ULQUIORRA]

Just... stay.

[ORIHIME]

Ok, but what scared you?

[ULQUIORRA]

Nothing scared me, Onna.

[ORIHIME]

Ulquiorra, you obviously had a nightmare it's ok to admit that.

Ulquiorra closes his green his eyes while not responding,

[ORIHIME]

He did this same thing when he fell asleep in my room and he wouldn't tell me about that dream either, instead, he just got mad at me because I called him Ulquiorra-Kun. Orihime thinks to herself.

[ORIHIME]

Ulquiorra, I want to have a baby.

Ulquiorra's green eyes widen.

[ULQUIORRA]

Now?

[ORIHIME]

Of course not. I mean after we're married. I was thinking about the future.

Ulquiorra sighs.

[ULQUIORRA]

You know my past, so why subject yourself to that misery?

[ORIHIME]

It's not misery bringing a child into the world it is a joy.

[ULQUIORRA]

Did you not read the report from the hospital? I did and it wasn't positive.

[ORIHIME]

How did you? I hid it.

[ULQUIORRA]

Who do you think I am?

Orihime bites her lip.

[ORIHIME]

Damn, nothing gets past him. Orihime thinks to herself.

[ULQUIORRA]

It said OUR child could carry the gene of TB because it runs in my family.

[ORIHIME]

That doesn't mean OUR child would have it Ulquiorra it's only an estimate.

[ULQUIORRA]

It's a high probability.

[ORIHIME]

I'm willing to take that risk.

[ULQUIORRA]

Why?

[ORIHIME]

I wish to have a family with you.

[ULQUIORRA]

Isn't fine just the two of us?

[ORIHIME]

Yes, but don't you want to be a Father?

[ULQUIORRA]

.......................................................

[ORIHIME]

And Medical care and medicine have come a long way since the 1800's. I want to have a family of our own, Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra sighs.

Ulquiorra turns over with his back toward Orihime.

[ORIHIME]

Hey, we are having a heart to heart right now.

[ULQUIORRA]

Haven't I heard this topic already?

[ORIHIME]

No, there are more parts to it.

[ULQUIORRA]

How many parts are there to the heart?

[ORIHIME]

infinite amount.

[ULQUIORRA]

Ridiculous.

Ulquiorra covers himself with the blanket.

[ORIHIME]

Ulquiorra?

[ULQUIORRA]

Go to sleep Orihime!

[ORIHIME]

I'm cold Ulquiorra.

[ULQUIORRA]

Then dress warmer.

Orihime clicks her tongue.

[ULQUIORRA]

And get under the blankets.

[ORIHIME]

I'm still cold.

Ulquiorra sighs.

[ORIHIME]

You... Warm me up, Ulquiorra. I'm cold!

Ulquiorra turns over and hovers over Orihime.

Orihime pushes him off her.

[ORIHIME]

That's not what I meant!

[ULQUIORRA]

Then don't say suggestive things, Onna if that's not what you mean.

[ORIHIME]

I wasn't! You took it the wrong way!

[ULQUIORRA]

You told me to warm you up! How else would I take that?

Ulquiorra frowns.

Orihime just sighs while wrapping Ulquiorra arms around her while resting her cheek on his chest.

[ORIHIME]

I meant like this.

[ULQUIORRA]

You are indeed strange, Onna.

[ORIHIME]

Ulquiorra, How do you think Ichigo and Uryu doing?

[ULQUIORRA]

You have some nerve Onna speaking of other men while in my arms.

Orihime pecks Ulquiorra on the lips.

Ulquiorra sighs.

[ULQUIORRA]

You are my only opponent I can not win against.

[ORIHIME]

So that must mean I have gotten stronger, Ulquiorra?

[ULQUIORRA]

You, were always a Strong woman in my eyes, Onna.

Ulquiorra brushes a strand of red hair behind her ear.

Orihime smiles at Ulquiorra then rests her head on the number 4 tattooed on his chest.

[ORIHIME]

I feel kind of guilty I'm in paradise being in Ulquiorra's arms while Ichigo and Uryu are lost in the past. I hope Ichigo and Uryu are doing ok? Orihime thinks to herself while biting her lip.

LOCATION: Alternate Dimension Shinsengumi Headquarters in Kyoto Japan (1864)

[ICHIGO]

I think she went this way.

[URYU]

Excuse me, Sir have you seen a black cat?

[MAN]

Oh, yeah I think it ran into that dojo.

[URYU]

Arigato.

Uryu and Ichigo run into dojo the man was speaking of.

[ICHIGO]

Here Kitty, Kitty.

Ichigo reaches to the cat.

[ICHIGO]

Hello, Kitty.

The cat swipes at him with her claws scratching Ichigo.

[ICHIGO]

OWW! WHAT THE HELL YOU DO THAT FOR FURBALL?!

[URYU]

I don't think she likes you calling her Kitty.

[CAT]

No, I don't.

[ICHIGO]

OH, MY GOD, I WAS RIGHT THAT CAT TALKED!

The cat sighs.

[CAT]

Kurosaki!

[ICHIGO]

Wait, how do you know my name?

[CAT]

Keisuke sent me here.

[URYU]

Are you by any chance Yoruichi Shihoin?

[CAT]

Glad someone is on the same page.

[ICHIGO]

Wait but your Aniki's.

[YORUICHI]

Let's get something straight Ichigo Kurosaki I belong to NO ONE!

She hisses at him.

[ICHIGO]

Ok, I get it, but why are you a cat and not a human?

[YORUICHI]

Being a cat makes it easier to get around. Less suspicion the better especially in these times.

Ichigo nods.

[ICHIGO]

Doesn't Mr. Hat and Clogs miss you?

Uryu and Yoruichi stare at Ichigo like horns are growing out of his head.

[YORUICHI]

Kisuke is who sent me. Haven't you seen Mr. Hat and Clogs or better known as Keisuke Yamanami around here, Kurosaki?

[ICHIGO]

WAIT ARE YOU TELLING ME MR. HAT AND CLOGS IS ANIKI?!

[URYU]

My suspicions were correct.

[YORUICHI]

He's also who sent you both back to the past.

[ICHIGO]

WHAT?! MY OWN BROTHER TRIED TO KILL ME?! THAT BLOODY FOX IS HIM! I'M GONNA KILL HIM WHEN I RETURN AND BREAK HIS MASK WHILE I'M AT IT!

[URYU]

Calm down Ichigo.

[YORUICHI]

I doubt that was his goal, but Kisuke can be extreme with proving his points.

[URYU]

I told you.

[ICHIGO]

How could that Bastard fool me?!

[URYU]

But why are you here?

[YORUICHI]

I was sent to tell you how to get back to present time.

[ICHIGO]

And why are you waiting until now to tell us this?!

[YORUICHI]

Kisuke believed you would figure out how to return on your own once your memories of Okita Soji and Hajime Saito would return, but instead, you are creating problems in history and taking your time staying here. He now has memories that he didn't have before and he's not happy.

[ICHIGO]

EXCUSE ME! WE ALMOST DIED FROM COMING HERE! AND I'M NOT FUCKING HAPPY EITHER!

[YORUICHI]

He's worried about you causing a butterfly effect.

[URYU]

Ichigo is planning to save Keisuke Yamanami.

[ICHIGO]

Jee, thanks for throwing me under the bus!

Yoruichi jumps up till she's at eye level with Ichigo.

[YORUICHI]

There will be no saving your brother! You will follow MY orders, understood?

[ICHIGO]

I can't believe I'm taking orders from a talking cat.

Yoruichi swipes her clawed paw at Ichigo's face.

[ICHIGO]

OK! Just put the claws away!

Yoruichi retracts her claws and jumps down landing on all four paws.

Yoruichi turns around eyes both Ichigo and Uryu

Uryu straightens his obi till it's centered.

[YORUICHI]

Good, Now let's start the training!

[ICHIGO]

Training?

[YORUICHI]

Do you want to get back to your world?

[URYU & ICHIGO]

Yes.

[YORUICHI]

Then take out your swords and let's start.

Uryu and Ichigo take out both their swords and both take battle stances.

LOCATION: Alternate Dimension Shinsengumi Headquarters in Kyoto Japan (1864)

Grimmjow is holding his sword doing practice swings.

Renji is tying his forehead protector that bears the Japanese character for sincerity on it.

[RENJI]

Where's the kid Sano?

[GRIMMJOW]

Probably wiping his ass.

Both laugh.

[RENJI]

I'm Curious to see how Okita and Hajime fair in the tournament.

[GRIMMJOW]

No way Heisuke, we're going down in this tournament, and I'm gonna show that heartless bastard Hijikata I'm better than him too.

[RENJI]

Always competing with the Vice Commander aren't you Sano?

Grimmjow's eyes narrow and he sheathes his sword.

[GRIMMJOW]

That shitty Pretty Boy pisses me off always acting like he's so goddamn better than me!

Grimmjow folds his arms across his chest.

Renji sharpening his sword.

[GRIMMJOW]

Found something interesting Heisuke, in Okita's wallet.

Grimmjow hands a photo to Renji.

Renji puts his sword carefully down while taking the photo from Grimmjow.

Renji looks at the photo of Rukia.

[RENJI]

Who's the beauty?

[GRIMMJOW]

Beats me, but who knew the brat had a woman. I guess Okita didn't listen to the commander.

[RENJI]

It looks like Sano, Okita is hiding secrets from his brothers.

Renji stares at the photo of Rukia.

END OF PART 17

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 18

[spider-moon-princess]

Is He Really a Knight? Pt 2

Haha...It’s been forever, trust me, I got notes written for this, I just gotta finish it off LOL I had too much fun in this part. 

Part One

----++----

Her brown eyes stared up at him, her hands on his shoulders. “…Would you really?” She whispered. “Let me marry someone…else?”

 Souji’s green eyes stared into her already watering eyes. Holding her close like this…he didn’t want to let her go.

“Yes.” His voice hardened, immediately releasing her and letting her stumble. “If Isami-sama so ordered it, then I have no right to oppose.”

 “No right? Right?” Etsu’s watering eyes glared at him and she grabbed his arm in protest. “Okita Souji, you know there’s something here. Yes,” She looked into his widened eyes. “I fuckin’ went there. I’m tired of playing this game.”

 “Interesting choice of words, Hime-sama,” He spat the title out, trying to build a wall between them. “Where did you learn such colorful language?” Though the corners of his lips were turned into a smile, it held no emotion. “Sannan-san would be appalled his lessons were for naught.”

 Etsu grabbed his arm to pull him into the library. God forbid anyone saw them arguing and thought something indecent of the recently engaged Princess. Souji decided to humor her, since clearly, she was not done with him. “Don’t give me that shit.” She wiped at her eyes. She’d picked up her colorful vocabulary from Shinpachi and Souji. Isami-oniisama would probably be horrified if he’d heard his sweet little sister say such words.

 “Then, pray, tell, Highness, what answer do you seek of me?”

 His formality was infuriating her. Etsu grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him down to her, her lips meeting his.

 He didn’t pull away. To her surprise, he brought her closer.

 She felt like she was dreaming. Breathless, she looked up at him. “Will you?”

 This time, his resolve weakened, but he continued answering as before, “Yes. Hime-sama. If Isami-sama had you wed, I would not interfere.”

 Etsu grit her teeth and stormed out of the library. Why? Why? She’d felt his passion…why did he deny it to her face?

 She shook her head. He hadn’t denied it, he’d just said that he’d follow orders.

 Why was Isami-oniisama more important that his heart? Her heart?

 She finally let her sobs overtake her in the garden. She felt so powerless in this moment. She couldn’t do anything about this upcoming marriage or to hasten her brother’s decision.

 “Hime-sama…”

 She took the handkerchief that the tall red-haired knight handed her, dabbing at her eyes. “Sano-san..”

 He sat on one of the many marble benches in the garden and invited her to sit next to him. “What saddens you besides the news of your engagement? Did you have a spat with Souji?”

 She looked up at him in surprise. “…Wh-what…I-…” Sighing she gave up. Sano-san was too perceptive and she knew she could trust him with her problems and secrets. He’d always been someone she could go to when she needed a shoulder to cry on or vent. “…I kissed Souji-kun…” She flushed, noticing he didn’t seem the least bit shocked. “Even after calling out our feelings…he doesn’t care what happens to me! He doesn’t care if I marry another man! Sano-san, marriage is a life sentence for someone of my position. I can’t just get up and leave or even have affairs.”

 Sanosuke chuckled and gently ruffled her black hair. “I wouldn’t say he doesn’t care…His loyalty to Isami-sama is stronger than the need to listen to his heart.”

 “Damn him.” She muttered, continuing to wipe her tears away.

 “Well, I think Souji will regret it if he lets you go, hell, he probably regrets it at this moment.” Sanosuke shrugged. “And we know Isami-sama is in a difficult position.”

 Etsu’s shoulders sagged with the weight of all this going on. Looking up at the sky, she sighed wistfully, wishing she could be like one of those birds, free to roam the skies with nothing binding them. She never asked for this life, nor this fate, it was merely dealt to her.

 --

 The week dragged on. Sannan-san had focused her lessons on life after marriage, though he seemed rather put off as he was teaching her. He didn’t agree with the decision of her marriage, but he couldn’t speak out against it.

 Finally, her bags were packed, the horses prepared, and the carriage was ready.

 During that week, Souji had been avoiding her like the plague. She didn’t see his face once after that day…Even when she went to find him, he was never conveniently there.

 “Oniisama,” Etsu begged, holding onto his arm, tears in her eyes. “Please don’t send me away. Please…I don’t want to leave…”

 It hurt him too, sending off his little sister to an unknown kingdom, unknown castle, unknown prince…he didn’t know what her future husband-to-be was like, so he was wary and hesitant to let her leave, but there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening. The only viable option to overrule this marriage was to murder their father, and he could not bring himself to do so. “I’m sorry, little sister…”

 Heisuke and Hajime were tasked with escorting her to the castle. Their party consisted of a maid, and a footman besides the two knights.

 The King stepped out with a few of his personal guards. He lifted a hand and one of them moved forward to grab her arm.

 “You may be the King’s guards, but we’re the Prince and Princess’s retainers.” Sanosuke used the back of his spear to stop the guard’s hand. “She gets on when she’s ready.”

 “Oniisama,” Etsu begged pitifully once more. “Please…”

 “Enough of this. Put her on the carriage.” The King ordered.

 Two more of his heavily armored guards moved forward and each grabbed her by the elbow, lifting her off the ground. “Put me down, you buffoons! I refuse to leave!” She screamed and kicked, but it was no use. “Souji!”

 She quieted down once they’d exited from the castle. There was no point in struggling anymore.

 Heisuke exchanged glances with Hajime, his expression a lot more pained. “Hime…”

 “I’m okay, Heisuke-kun…” She called from the inside of the carriage. She had the curtains over the windows, not wished to be seen with her silent tears rolling down her cheeks. God, she felt pathetic.

 After a day’s travel, Hajime declared for them to set up camp in the forest. Etsu was left to her own devices while Hajime, Heisuke and the footman went to water the horses. The maid was preparing dinner for them.

 She had taken off her shoes and was dipping her feet in the lake they’d settled nearby. If she was forced to resign to this fate…she might as well hope for the best. Maybe the Prince wouldn’t be so bad…

 Her scream got caught in her throat as a hand clamped over her mouth and an arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her up. She struggled a bit until she heard familiar snickering. She immediately ceased her movements and tried to peer through the darkness at her captor.

 Souji?

 Yeah, that’s the person she wanted to see.

 “Why’d you stop struggling? Aren’t you in a dangerous situation?”

 She bit his hand for good measure, and he chuckled in response. “You idiot!” She turned in his arms and hugged him tightly. “What are you doing here?” She asked in a hushed whisper. The moonlight shone on his brown hair. She reached up to cup his cheeks and close the distance between them.

 “Never pegged you for the needy type, Etsu-chan.” Souji smirked against her lips. “Thought you’d be shyer than this.”

 “I can’t waste time with you, Souji. You’ll leave me at any given moment, I need to take advantage of that.” She grumbled, crossing her arms.

 “About that…” Souji cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck.

---++--

Etsu changes from time to time LOL Sometimes she’s shy, sometimes she just wants her man LMAO Also depends on who she’s with as well! 

[spider-moon-princess]

Time Travel CH 7

I gave myself feels writing this, have fun with this!

Part Six

----++++---

"Chikage-kun!" A six year old Chizuru wailed, jumping up and down, trying to reach the flower the blond haired boy was holding out of reach. "Please, give it back!"

"Not until you agree to be my bride!" He cackled, taking off running. He loved teasing Chizuru like this, she was too adorable. As he turned his head to look back at her, he wound up face first in the dirt, his white shirt and shorts now dirty. "YOU PEASANT! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"

The auburn haired boy had stuck his foot out for little Chikage trip over. He plucked the little flower from his hand. "Don't go making Chizuru-chan your bride." His jade green eyes glared into his ruby red ones. No one gets away with bullying his Chizuru-chan, only he was allowed to.

Chizuru caught up and she looked up hopefully at Souji. "Souji-kun!"

Souji smiled, placing the flower in her hair. "Come on, Chizuru-chan. Let's go find Hajime-kun."

Chizuru nodded happily, taking his hand.

"Damn you, Okita!" Chikage shrugged off the hand that an older red-haired boy used to lift him up.

"Kazama-sama, your father is waiting for you."

"I have business to handle with Okita, Amagiri!" Chikage struggled against his hold, but the older boy was stronger than him.

Chizuru happily skipped along as they walked, holding Souji's hand. "Ah, I found Hajime-kun!"

Little Hajime was reading a book underneath a tree. It was usually where one could find the little indigo-haired boy when they went to the park.

Hajime glanced up when he heard his name mentioned. He nodded in greeting and went back to his book.

Chizuru plopped down next to him, and Souji next to her.

"Ne, Chizuru-chan,"

She looked over at Souji, her hand touching the flower in her hair.

"Why didn't you tell Kazama you'd be his bride? You didn't have to mean it." Souji found it a little odd that Chizuru didn't cry uncle at something so simple as that.

Chizuru's little cheeks flushed pink. "That's because..."

Souji's green eyes stared at her, wondering what would come out of her mouth. It'd been less than a year since he came to live with Kondō-san's family and Hijikata-san, and Chizuru-chan, the little girl next door, was stuck to him like glue. At first, he found it a little annoying that a little kid wouldn't leave him alone, but he came to embrace the time they spent together now. It was nice...being a part of a family that cared. There was a small part of him that feared that one day his foster family wouldn't want him anymore, but Kondō-san always put those thoughts to rest. He couldn't trust adults because they always lied, but he could trust and believe in Kondō-san.

"I want to become Souji-kun's bride in the future!" She buried her face in her little hands in embarrassment.

Hajime looked up momentarily from his book to stare at the pair, his stotic expression stayed the same.

Souji burst out laughing after a brief moment of silence. "Chizuru-chan as my bride?" He hummed in amusement.

Chizuru finally peeled her hands away from her face to look at him. "Yes! I want to become Souji-kun's bride so we can have a family of our own someday!"

Souji laughed again and patted her head. "Okay. Become my bride, Chizuru-chan." He stuck out his pinky finger.

Chizuru smiled and immediately put her little pinky finger to his.

---

"Na, Chi-zu-ru!" Heisuke called for the tenth time that minute.

Chizuru blinked and looked up at Heisuke, slightly dazed. She had gotten lost in her own thoughts. "I'm sorry, Heisuke-kun, could you repeat what you said?"

"I asked you which ramen you're getting. Are you okay?" Heisuke looked over at her in concern.

"Ah, I'll get the usual." She handed him her menu. "I'm okay, I just got lost in thought."

"There must be a lot going through your mind, with that other Souji suddenly appearing and all."

"You could say that." Chizuru fidgeted with her napkin.

Heisuke wasn't used to this much silence between them. They normally could chat away a storm over the smallest topics. "Na, I wanted to go with you tomorrow. Is that okay?"

She already knew what he was talking about. "That's fine! Thank you, Heisuke-kun, for always being there for me." Chizuru gave him a genuine smile.

His cheeks warmed in response. "It's no big deal! You're a really good friend, Chizuru."

Chizuru's smile faded, and she sighed. "I'm worried about how Hijikata-san will react to Okita-san."

Heisuke nodded in agreement. "That's for sure...it's been hard on all of us, Chizuru, not just you. We all miss him."

"He should be happy, hearing that so many people cared about him."

More silence. Neither could think of what to day next. Luckily their waiter broke the silence by taking their order.

After a delicious meal of ramen, Heisuke took Chizuru home. During the car ride, the car was heavy with silence, both lost in their own thoughts.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Heisuke-kun. Thank you again." Chizuru gave him a small smile before she exited the car.

"Yeah, goodnight, Chizuru."

Chizuru made her way to the empty apartment. It still felt empty even after some time. She was never going to get used to it.

----------

Part Eight

I had so much fun imaging them as kids, augh, little Hajime and Chikage are precioussssss! >w<

[spider-moon-princess]

Time Travel CH 8

I had a different idea, but it came out like this, so I would definitely love any feedback you can give me on this particular chapter!

Part Seven

----

"Saitō-san, you should get some rest." Shimada, one of the physical therapists, gently reminded him. Kondō-sensei had told him to keep an eye on him, since Saitō-san could go without sleep for a few days at a time.

 Hajime looked up from a patient's chart and nodded. "Yes, I will, thank you, Shimada-san." He'd been up for a full 24 hours, he'd forgotten about sleep. After assisting with a surgery, he had decided to stop by Hijikata-sensei's office to drop off a cupcake he'd made and organize his patient files. He had took it upon himself to cover a night shift for another coworker, since this month was especially hard on him and the others, especially Chizuru. The best way for him was to keep himself occupied on work.

 He had to admit he was more tired than he had thought. When his head hit the pillow, he fell into a dreamless sleep.

 He slept like a log for about four hours.

 “Ha~ji~me-kun~!”

 Someone was calling him, but he couldn't bring himself to wake up. Instead, he shifted onto his side, unaware of the person next to his bed.

 “Ha-ji-me-kun!”

 This time, the voice was louder, bringing him out of his sleep, but he remained still. He recognized the voice. Hajime chided himself, knowing that it was impossible to hear that voice again. Perhaps he should go home and sleep like a log for ten hours. That should cure him of hallucinations.

 He could feel someone loom over his face, and he grabbed the hand that was about to touch him. He was disappointed with himself that he didn't notice it sooner. His senses were dulled from the lack of sleep, or perhaps he had skirted his gym and martial arts sessions too much this month.

 Hajime's dark blue eyes narrowed in annoyance, wondering who dared to disturb the little sleep he had gotten. A familiar grinning face greeted him in the dark. He couldn't mistake that face and voice. In surprise, he released his finger as his usually stoic eyes displayed a flurry of emotions. "S-Souji?" He reached over to turn on the lamp to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him in the dark.

 Souji straightened and waved at him. "Hmm, you look almost like him."

 The indigo-haired man stood up to stare at him some more, unable to speak. He'd lost Souji five years ago now, the very best friend that he’d met when he was child. They went through elementary, middle school, high school, college, and med school together. They’d been roommates after graduating high school up until Souji got engaged to Chizuru. They’d been involved in the Kendo club and Judo, and they had sparred so many times, they could reach each other so well. When Souji had died, he’d lost a friend, a brother, a part of himself. He never could’ve imagined his daily life without an annoying Souji prank.

 “Hajime-kun?” Souji grew concerned with each passing moment that the shorter man stared at him with his dark blue eyes.

“Spar with me.”

 Souji blinked, but shrugged. “Lead the way.”

 Hajime led him to the rooftop after grabbing the wooden bamboo swords from Kondō-sensei’s office. He mostly kept them around for decoration, but they still were used from time to time when they needed a small break at the hospital.

 They stood across from each other, taking their respective stances.

 When they crossed their bamboo swords, Hajime could feel the difference in skill and strength. The person in front of him moved similar to the Souji he knew, but each blow was more powerful and graceful.

 Souji found it curious that the Hajime-kun in this time moved similarly enough, but he lacked the same grace and finesse that Hajime-kun displayed in his time. He could easily read his moves.

 “My win.” Souji smirked, pointing his bamboo sword in front of Hajime-kun’s face. They bowed to each other.

 “Who are you?” Hajime took a moment to catch his breath, noticing how undisciplined he was compared to the person in front of him. He had barely even broken a sweat.

 “Okita Souji.”

 “How…can you look just like him?”

 “I wonder how many more times I’ll be telling my story.” Souji shrugged and began telling his tale to him.

 Hajime listened quietly to him, taking a few moments to process what Souji told him. Like the others, he just couldn’t believe it, but it was true, the proof was standing right in front of him. He struggled to accept the fact that there was another person that looked, sounded, and acted like the Souji he’d known his whole life. “It seems what you say is true…Kondō-sensei and Hijikata-sensei had the right idea to confine you to the room. You could cause great panic and confusion in the hospital.”

 Souji gave him an amused smile. He had already known that would’ve been his answer. “You probably know me, Hajime-kun.”

“Yes…You cannot listen to orders and stay still.” Hajime sighed, but the corners of his mouth were upturned into a very slight smile. “Let’s return to the room.” He checked his smart watch. When Hijikata-sensei came in early, it was normally around five am, and it wasn’t long before then.

 The two made their way back to the room where Hajime suddenly became a little chatterbox as soon as Souji mentioned the Shinsengumi. He asked many questions about swordsmanship and what their past counterparts were like.

 Souji was more than happy to satisfy Hajime-kun’s curiosity, since he had plenty of questions of his own, especially about Chizuru and her relationship to his future counterpart.

Part Nine

[shuuenka-writes]

Sound of Heartstrings [One.]

[Okita x Reader]

Summary: Who would’ve thought that one night patrol would bring so much troubles? Okita didn’t want to be transported to a future land, neither to be involved in demon’s business. But what other choince did he have, but  to stay?

moodboard | masterlist

The stars, forever unchanging, they guide us on paths unseen...

If only he knew what kind of problems this night patrolling would bring, he would’ve stayed at the compound.

It should’ve been a quick evening patrol, just a look at the streets, perhaps scare off some ronins, then back to the Shinsengumi Headquaters. Was it a gut feeling, or something else that brought him in front of a small temple? He didn’t know. Perhaps, it was also his instincts that told him to dodge, when a hit came out of nowhere.

Quiet night filled a growl. A creature materialized before him, its eyes glowed in the dark, like a two blue embers. He could hear its heave steps, as the creature moved towards him. Okita took his stance, and waited for the monster to attack again. As it came closer, he could take in more details of its appearance. He invoulontary shuddered, when a thought of a demon crossed his mind. 

  The roar shook branches on the trees, and the creature, Okita named oni, attacked. It’s spear slashed through the night air, like a  flash of moonlight. Okita stopped the blow, though he shouldn’t feel surprised when it threw him backwards. He smirked, it would be a challenging battle for sure. Oni’s eyes flashed in fury as another blow came.

Okita felt a sting in his shoulder, and before he could realize what it was, the spear slashed right before his eyes. Two enemies surrounded him, one he didn’t know where it hid. He felt drops of blood running down his left arm, but he didn’t dare to break his stance. He jumped and swung his katana at the oni before him. 

The demon growled and blocked his sword, and Okita felt another sting, this time his knee gave out and he fell.

Pushing himself up, Okita dodged another blow form the Oni. Where was the other enemy? He tried to spot him, but in the inking black darkness, his eyes were useless. His ears only detected one growling beast before him, rustle of the branches.

He hid behind a tree, watched and when the opportunity came - and before the creature could realize what was happening -  he cut off his head. Okita didn’t allow himself to take a breath of relief, another yokai was lurking in the dark. He felt presence beside him. He slashed the air, cutting nothing. Something shook in the bushes surrounding the temple, and Okita waited for the attack. It never came, instead of the trees flew  a flock of crows. For a second he saw enormous, human like birds on the branches, but when he blinked all he could see was black birds on the moonlit sky.

Sssword.

He heard a voices, as if he came across a wasp nest. The voices resounded from soft whispers, to loud buzz inside his head. He frowned.

Give usss the sssword.

What the hell, he thought. The birds on the tree moved, their wings flapped on the wind and in a whirlpool of feathers they shot after him in a flash. Okita jumped to his feet, and knowing he won’t be able to protect himself from vicious yokai, turned away. His knee was hurting, and he was leaving a bloody path behind him, but he didn’t stop. Without turning back, he run down the stone stairs. The crows attacked, he felt their claws on his arms and shoulders. He tried to push them back with his sword, but they were to swift.

He didn’t know anymore where he was running. He spit, thinking himself of a coward, running away from dumb birds. But it was some kind of instinct deep down inside, that pushed him forwards. He Stopped before a river. His hand gripped the katana and he turned to the enemies. They were no longer crows. Before him stood enormous human like birds. Their faces, red, twisted in a grimace. He knew them, from festivals that took place in the city. The masks now looked more real than anything, and if he wasn’t so sure he was chased by the flock of crows, he’d think it was some kind of sick joke.

He took his stance again.

“Well, let’s finish it,” he said. In flash, shorter than a second, he felt a pain in his abdomen. And he was falling into the water. Cold water filled his mouth, and all he could see was a full moon, slowly turning red.

He didn’t know how long it took to die. But he was sure as hell, he was still alive. 

He opened his eyes, and it was still night, the moon still shone, and the pain was still real. It couldn’t be some kind of afterlife. He pushed himself up, water dripped from his hair. He turned around, to see if the crow yokai, tengu,  were still around. He gripped his katana and plucked it out of water.

Something felt weird. It was not as dark as earlier. As if the sky was brighter, but then again it couldn’t be. There was still time before the down, and the shining moon proved it. Okita felt his head spinning. Weird lights appeared before him, around him, everywhere and he couldn’t take it. He fell once again in the water.

***

Annoying, he thought, when he heard a buzz and a constant sound that reminded him of a rattling chain. He breathed in a scent, he couldn’t quite put a finger on. Perhaps a mix of medicine shop and other weird chemicals he had no idea of. He didn’t like it one a bit. Perhaps somebody from the Shinsengumi found him and brought him to the clinic. His body was stiff. He felt materials wrapped around him, bandages made of different kind of material.

Finally, he could open his eyes. He shut them again, when a light flashed in his eyes. He gulped, and tried again while creeping feeling of danger lit an alarm in his head. He looked around the white room. Everything was white, or in gray or blue. He moved his body, and to his surprise he was able to lift his hands. There was a string attached to his palm, and went above his head.

His head shot to the sound of a moving doors. He regretted it a second later. His muscles stiffened.

“Oh, hello,” he was greeted by a female voice. He squinted at the newcomer. 

“It’s good you’re awake!”

“Who the hell are you?” he spat, ready to reach for his katana. Only – he didn’t know where it was. He looked down, and his clothes were gone. He wore some kind of stiff kimono. He glared at the woman.

“I’m ______ __________,” she smiled at him, and walked up to his futon. And another thing he realized, he was not on a floor, his futon was up in the air. No, not in the air, it was attached to a table. Not really, but it was his best guess. “I’m volunteer here.”

Once again she send him a relaxed smile. “Hm, to be honest it’s my last day here,” she chatted, while taking out a parchment, or something similar. “Alright, what’s your name?”

He glared at her. “Why should I tell you, missy?”

“Uh… so you can be properly admitted to hospital?” she blinked, and tapped on the paper. “We haven’t found any ID on you, so you’re kind of nameless now.” He squinted at her again. He was slowly getting used to the light that earlier blinded him. He gripped at the covers, when the female reached out to him. He caught her hand in midway causing her brows shot up.

“Ow, ow, ow, let go,” she squeaked. “I just wanted to push you up, ow.”

“Don’t touch me.”

“I wasn’t going to, Mr. Anonymous,” she shook her hand, giving him a pointed look. “Besides it’s you, who’s touching me.”

He sent her last glare and let go. She messaged her hand, while he closed his eyes for a second, the pillow shot up. He was in the sitting position, and the woman was grinning at him with a rectangular box in her hand.

His head hurt.

“Alright, then. Back to the question. Name?”

He ignored her. Okita thought of a way out here, but first of all – where was this here? The woman acted natural, as if white rooms, and futons on tables were something common. She spoke Japanese, she looked Japanese – so he wasn’t in another country.

“Please, work with me, sir…” she sighed. “We can always start with age. Or address. Or anything. I really need to fill up this questionnaire for doctor Matsumoto.”

She slumped down and pursed her lips.  “Soo?”

He looked at her, she didn’t seem to be letting go. And she mentioned dr. Matsumoto. He wondered why the medic took a woman as a help but he could work with that.

“Okita Souji,” he said. She jumped and smiled.

“Okita… Souji…” she scribbled on her parchment. Her hand stopped in midway. She looked at him and squinted her eyes. “Wait. Please tell me your real name, sir.”

He frowned. “This is my name.”

“You’re joking, right? I mean, I know the Shinsengumi is popular. But seriously!” she tapped on her parchment with a brush, that didn’t look like a brush. He glared at her, what did she knew about the Shinsengumi? “Fine. Let it be this way. Age?”

“Twenty three,” he sighed. This woman was so exhausting, he thought, as she wrote down the information. He wished dr. Matsumoto was there. “Where is dr. Matsumoto?”

“Huh? He’s with other patients,” she replied. “Okay, date of birth?”

He noticed she wasn’t wearing kimono. Weird woman.

“1844,” he said and tugged at the string attached to his palm. When he looked closely, it was not made of wool.

“What.”

“What?”

They were looking back and forth.

“Are you perhaps…”she gulped. “…an actor?”

“What.”

“An actor, huh?” she clapped her hands. “I know there are groups that make real life costumes and do plays at the festivals! I like watching them,” she nodded. 

“You play Okita Souji? I never imagined Okita Souji like this, no offence!”

“What are you talking about?” he was seriously wondering whether or not this woman was crazy.

“But sir, please, give me your real info,”  she looked at him with pleading eyes.

“I’m serious,” he replied. “Or are you too dumb to understand?”

“Hey, sir, this was rude,” she huffed.

“I’m out of here,” he decided, and jerked off the string at  his hand. He ignored the gasp of the girl and shook of the covers from his legs. He pushed her back, as she tried to stop him. He finally localized his katana, and with a swing of his legs he was down on a cold floor. He reached for the sword and checking if it’s fine he rushed for the doors.

“Wait! You can’t!” the woman called after him. He ignored her and looked through the corridor. It was pretty much empty, the light he was now used to seeing, reflected in the stone cold floor. He rushed to the left, when he heard the woman falling step in step with him. “Hey, mister, get back to bed!”

“Shut up,” she snarled at her.

“Rude!”

He stopped for a moment by the stairs, but then there was nothing to lose and he run down. The woman was right beside him.

“Sooooujiii~!” she shouted after him, as he was still ignoring her.

“Since when we are at first name basis, missy?” 

“Since you won’t tell me your real name!” she huffed. “Please go back to bed!”

He looked around the hall. There were some other people in there, that really didn’t pay attention to him and quickly went back to their business.  Where was the exit? Okita tried to localize doors. The girl hooked her hands around his arm, and if he was in any worse condition she might’ve jerk him even further. He tensed his muscles, and watched as man walked out of the hall and into the darkness.

Okita decided it was the exit and made way for it. He stomped through the hall with the woman hanging around his arm.

“Uh, everything is under control!” she laughed. He followed her gaze to a man that stood behind counter. “We’re just taking a stroll!” she shouted. The man raised a brew at him, but relaxed a little bit. Then she turned to Okita. “Don’t be problematic, please!” she half yelled, half whispered. “I don’t want to be fired. On my last day. For letting a patient escape!”

He glanced at her and smirked, “well, that’s your problem not mine, isn’t it?”

Okita found himself in an unfamiliar neighborhood. The ground was covered with stone cold plates all around. While looking around he noticed lights. He didn’t knew that lanterns could give so much light as they did here.

He gripped his sword and walked further, ignoring the pain that he started to feel. He wondered why did it take so much, to feel his wounds?

Something flashed before him.  And again. And again. One of those flashing things slowed down and drove to the entrance to the clinic. He watched as a cart made of shiny wood stopped. Where were the horses? How come the lanterns could give so much light. A man in foreign clothing stepped out of the cart and quickly went into the clinic. Okita wondered if this was land filled with yokai? 

Perhaps the cart was a spirit and didn’t need horses.

“Can we go back now?” the woman tugged at his sleeve. He didn’t want to see it anymore, he turned on his heel and walked into the forest.

He sped up, and soon he was running. She was right behind him, and he was surprised she could keep up. After awhile, she slowed down, shouting curses at him.

“Gods! I’ve had already my morning run through the park…!” she huffed. He heard a crow screech and looked up in the air. She caught up with him, just to see as the lantern explodes and darkness fills the forest clearing.

The tengu flew down and landed on the ground, its staff ready to attack. Souji was glad this time he wasn’t surrounded by a whole flock of them like the last time. He pushed the girl back, she fell on her bottoms, but he ignored her protests.

“Hello,” he said, his katana ready in his hands. “We’ve got a score to settle, crow.”

 ...and you were written in my story, destined to collide with me.

[shuuenka-writes]

Between The Lines [12.]

Okita Souji x Reader

Summary: Living in Kyoto these times got really interesting, right? Even for you, the bakery shop owner. It’s not like you could ever be bored having the Shinsengumi Captain around.

pervious:  [9.] [10.] [11.] [masterlist]

You and Okita talked. You talked, sitting in your house, with a cup of untouched tea. He told you results of drinking the Water of life. It gave him strength and cured his body. In exchange he functioned only at night time. The sunlight hurt him and made him tired and weak. Now he was transferred to the other division called 'the Corps'.

"It's a horrible name," you said scrunching your nose. He laughed at you. He was called the Fury now. But, he said, he was happy about it. He could be useful again. No matter what he said, it didn’t change a fact that guilt welled in you, couldn’t be so simply gone. Immersed in conversation you didn’t notice when the down came. Sun beams peeked through the shoji doors. Both of you looked towards the sun as it slowly made way on the horizon. “I should go,” Okita said and stood up. “Huh?” you blinked. He smirked at you confused face. “Don’t miss me too much, ______.” “You’re unbelievable,” you pursed your lips and shook you head in disapproval. In the end you smiled and stood up too. You took some sweets from the cabined and gave him. “From the yesterday, but should be  still edible,” you grinned. "Oh, and take the umbrella with you, it's in the corner." He blinked at you and took the package. He ruffled you hair like he used to. It made the butterflies in your stomach flutter. Even this small form of affection from him made you immensely happy. Even if whole world crumbled, even if he was the Fury and your heart was breaking at any thought he might die, this simple smile from him made all your worries go away. He tucked some of stray strands of hair behind your ear. Your heart beat faster when you stood captivated by his gaze. His hand stayed on your cheek and you let yourself to lean to his gentle touch. You didn’t know how long the moment would last, but you silently hoped it would never end. You put your hand over his and closed your eyes for a second. Okita suddenly broke off the contact and took your left hand. You peered at his frowning face. He examined your hand and traced his fingers along the scar. It was the one that Kaoru left when he stabbed you a month ago. The gash healed some time ago, with help of herbs and creams, though it still hurt. On both sides of your hand, extended now a pink, ugly scar. “______...” he began and squeezed you hand. “I won’t let that happen again.” Your eyes went wide and breath hatched in your throat. Was he worried about you? That’s impossible isn’t it? He made it clear back at the Shinsengumi headquarters. Maybe that part of you that thought that knew him was right. That part you dismissed. The part that told you to not believe a word he said back then, the part that saw right through his lies. The part that made you wait for him and hold onto hope. “Souji-san…” you said with a small smile. “Just take care of yourself, that’s all I need.” He blinked at you shook his head a little. “You’re crazy, you know that?” he concluded and stroked your hair. He turned around and you escorted him to the doors. He took the umbrella with him. “Souji-san…?” you started looking at your feet. “You know, you can always visit me… Even if it’s a night.” You blurted the last part. He threw his head back and laughed loudly. You huffed and covered your mouth with a kimono sleeve. You did knew how this statement sounded. He just had to pick it up this way. “Sure thing, ______~,” he said with a grin. “See you!” You closed the doors with a blush on your face. You leaned on them and let yourself slide onto the floor. *** Unbeknownst to anyone for the last month you trained with a sword. Minamoto-san let you keep the katanas for a while now, so if you had any spare time you swung in your garden. Being woman of samurai lineage you used to watch their trainings. Sometimes you even joined, till you came to age and started to learn how to be a lady. You also remembered how Okita taught you once his technique. Mostly for a laughs, but you still could recall the basics. You trained to avenge Kimiko. She died innocent and only you were to blame. Even if her murderer probably already met his end, it was Kaoru who pulled the strings. It was Kaoru who decided to kill your best friend just to get closer to you. Now, you had even more reason to train. You learned the sad truth behind the Water of life and its effect.  You couldn’t forgive him. Never. Days flew by and you got used to the new routine. Wake up, open the shop, close in the afternoon, train. Once or twice Okita actually visited you by night. Interesting experience, to say at least. You came back from the market one peculiar evening. You got caught up in conversation and the time passed quickly. You walked into your house, put down the purchases. “Good evening, ______,” you heard voice inside. Shiver run down your spine as you cautiously walked further into the house. “Kaoru,” you said. “So much venom,” the boy sighed and took a sip of a tea. You glared at the boy. You searched for your sword only to see it at Kaoru’s side. You were lucky that you hid the second one on the shelf. “Why are you here?” you asked. “I see you’re still wearing that haori,” he made a disgusted face. You gripped the material. “Why are you here, Kaoru?” you repeated. You took a step to the shelf. The boy sent you twisted smile. Amusement flickered in his cold eyes. He was so close, you had to be patient. Just a few more steps; with a swift move you reached for the sword and unsheathed.  “This is for Kimiko!” You leaped and swung your katana. He dodged and stood up. Kaoru smiled and you repeated the move. Your blade pierced his arm. He stood still with twisted smile on his face. Your hands trembled as you looked at his face. “That’s all, ______?” he asked. “Did it soothe the pain? What I feel now is nothing compared to the pain you caused me years back.” You looked at him horrified. How could he stand still after such a stab? You remembered the pain you felt when he pierced your hand. So how was this possible? “What are you…?” “I’m a demon,” he simply stated. He pulled out the blade from his arm and threw it onto the floor. “I just wanted to tell you that Okita’s making ruckus in the city. Something along the lines that Kondou is dead and he has to find a guilty one.” “Why are you telling me this?” “Because you care about him.” Your blood ran cold. Only way Okita could make a ruckus was by spilling the blood. If Kaoru was telling the truth and Kondou died, Okita right now was at his worst. He meant so much to him, you knew how it was to lose somebody important. You had to do something. When you looked up Kaoru was gone and your sword laid untouched on the floor. Only the shoji door to the outside were wide open. You looked outside and saw only darkness. You snatched the katana from  the floor and ran outside. You didn’t have time to think. You had to find Kaoru. You heard explosion and gust of wind pushed you forwards. You turned around only to see your bakery in flames. Red and yellow lights danced on the evening sky. You felt hot air touching your face. You grinded your teeth. “KAORUUUU!” you cried into the night. Neighbors began to walk out of their homes. He took everything from you. Your friend Kimiko, your home, the bakery. If there was something left, you were sure he would break it into pieces. “Souji-san…” you realized. Last thing, last piece that held special place in your heart. You won’t let him. You said you won’t ever give up on Okita, you were going to keep that promise. You wiped tears from your face and rushed in unknown direction. You didn’t know where to go, you just knew, you had to run. Soon you were panting, but didn’t dare to stop. Shouts from the neighbors died down as you proceeded forwards. In the distance you saw a familiar blue haori. He was surrounded by dead bodies, only a few warriors still stood. By the time you were close enough he stood alone. You sighed in relief that he was alright and Kaoru didn’t get him yet. You had to stop him, you knew what he was doing right now was wrong. “Souji-san!” you called in ragged breath. He turned around and looked at you surprised. He treated you with a cold look in his green eyes. You flinched. “What do you want?” he asked. “I came to stop  you.” “What do you even know, ______?” he sneered at  you. You held his gaze. “I know that it won’t help at all!” you took a step towards him. “You and your damn preaching. Stop bothering me, or I’ll kill you!” he said. You looked at him and frowned. “What good would it bring?! It’s not right thing to do!” “Right thing to do…?” he frowned at you. You looked into his cold eyes.  You nodded. You understood something in this moment. When you stabbed Kaoru you didn’t feel relief. You felt nothing. Not even accomplishment. You smiled sadly at him. “Revenge won’t bring dead back,” his eyes went wide. “Kimiko won’t be back if I kill Kaoru… nor Kondou-san,” you couldn’t hesitate now. “Souji-san I know wouldn’t swing a sword he swore to use only for Kondou-san. Not for a revenge.” “I do it, because I am made for killing…” he looked away from you. “I’m a sword. I’m a weapon, nothing more.” “No! You’re much more than this,” you walked closer. The pain was evident on his face. He must’ve felt terrible after Kondou-san’s death. Just like you when you saw Kimiko. “Because you do it for Kondou-san… It shows that you have feelings. Only humans have feelings.” “______, that’s more complicated.” “Of course it is. You let the emotions get better of you… But aren’t you a skilled warrior? I saw it a few times. You were always calm. Don't you remember?” “I…” “You are a great warrior! You saved me many times and probably will in the future. But please… No, I beg you, don’t forget who you are! I don't want to lose you...” “You make it sound so easy. Why should I even listen to you?” “Because I am a woman, who would rather hit a man with a pot than stay quiet. And if you want to go further you’ll have to kill me first. I don’t want to watch the massacre.” You stood like this, gazing into each other eyes. You were afraid. You'd be fool if you didn't, but now, after Kaoru took everything from you, none of this mattered.  Minutes later his stare softened. “You’re really crazy, you know that?” he sent you a crooked smile. You smiled back. “I think we established that when we first met, Souji-san,” you laughed weakly. He sheathed his katana. He walked closer to you, his eyes focused only on you. You felt sharp pain in your side. The impact of unknown force made you stumble forwards. You touched your obi and saw red liquid. You looked at Okita’s horrified face. He looked at something over your shoulder. You couldn’t hear anything, all you heard was a ringing sound in your ears. Pain in your side intensified and you felt that you couldn’t stand straight. It happend in a second. Okita caught you in midway and screamed something, what you couldn't hear. You heard horrible noise and Okita’s scream of agony. The ringing stopped and you were able to hear. Gunshots. But who was shooting? Both of you fell on a dirty street. Okita turned his head to face you. “Don’t fall asleep, ______,” he said in hoarse voice and squeezed your hand. “You’re the one to say…” you coughed and smiled at him. You felt blood dropping from the corners of your mouth. You vision began to blur. You saw him struggling to keep eyes open. Tears flew through your eyes as you tried to reciprocate the squeeze. “Souji-san… I’m so sorry… The haori you gave me is ruined now.” His eyes finally closed. You felt that your kimono was soaked in the blood. You weren’t sure whose blood was it now. It was harder to keep your eyes open, you felt cold, you were shivering. “I’m sorry… It’s all my fault,” you smiled bitterly. “At least… I want to tell you… I love you…” All you saw later, was darkness. ~~***~~

Q: Did you kill Kondou-san way earlier than he died in the game? =.=

A: Hoho~~ the timeline is not stated, right?

But really, I forgot about this little detail, that he was alive at this time. But I said that my story gotta have twists! So here it is!

I hope you enjoyed!

Also... it;s been 9 years since Hakuoki! Can you believe it?