#hakuouki vignettes

[impracticaldemon]

Laughing at the Rain ~ Hakuouki Vignettes ~

by ImpracticalOni 4th Entry in Hakuouki Vignettes

Words ~ 1700 | AO3 Link | Fanfiction Link

Author's Note:

For @thesweateristoobig ~ Happy Birthday! ~ I hope you enjoy this!

Prompt: "can you give me a little Heichi fluff... based around this song: Fireflies by Ron Pope"

Quote (verse 1 & chorus):

"Fireflies"

When the street lights come on and the fireflies flicker I am walking her home Making plans

With her shoes in her hands I am watching her dance As the hem of her dress gently kisses the grass

It suddenly rains on us She is laughing and turns up her hands

Like autumn turns leaves Winter will breathe cold on our necks Snow in our paths Wherever she goes All that I know about us is that beautiful things never last That's why fireflies flash

Laughing at the Rain

It had been a strange afternoon. Shinpachi had come to see them, and at first Heisuke hadn't been sure quite how to behave or what to say. After all, he was still a fury—more or less, although it seemed to be rather less than more these days—and Shinpat had been against the furies, even against Heisuke's taking the ochimizu to save his life. But without the ochimizu, Heisuke could not have defeated Sannan-san. He couldn't have sat in a sun-dappled garden with his friend drinking sake almost a year after the war had ended. He wouldn't have Chizuru.

Chizuru had put things right, as she so often did. She had cried when Shinpachi had arrived, looking curiously about him as though unsure that he had arrived in the right place. When the two men had greeted each other awkwardly and traded cautious smiles she had laughed at them and scolded them and dropped everything to make Nagakura-san ("please, just Shinpachi is fine!") comfortable so that he could talk with Heisuke. She had cried again, of course, when Shinpachi had told them that Saitō was alive. They had heard the news of Hijikata-san's death, but not the news that Hajime-kun had somehow, miraculously, survived the slaughterhouse of Aizu. Heisuke had wanted to cry as well—it was such an indescribable relief to know that they weren't all dead.

They had invited Shinpachi to stay the night, but he had declined.

"I have other business in the area," he'd told them, although it was unlikely to be true. "I'll come back another time, though."

Chizuru had believed the last part; Heisuke wasn't so sure. He'd walked quite a ways down the path toward the road with Shinpachi when he'd left. Away from Chizuru, they were less at ease, but they could drop the pretence. They could discuss the fact that Shinpachi had been a fugitive for over a year, although he was likely to be pardoned shortly, along with Hajime-kun. And Shinpachi could ask him directly how he was finding life as a fury. The question had been hovering between them all afternoon, really.

"Not so bad, I guess," Heisuke had told him, shrugging. "I don't mind the sun now, which is great, but I get tired pretty easily during the day still, which kind of sucks. Also… I'm not sure how long I'll be around, you know? So I worry about Chizuru."

"Do you want me to keep an eye on her?" Shinpachi had asked, accepting the truth of Heisuke's situation without wasting time on exclamations. His tone had been sympathetic, and as genuine as Heisuke had ever heard it.

For a moment, Heisuke had wrestled with unexpected jealousy—he didn't want anyone to look after Chizuru but him. But he'd overcome it quickly.

"Yeah… I'd appreciate that. She'll probably be okay though. And who knows? We may still have a lot of years ahead of us. You know me—I like to venture into the unknown kind of thing."

"Still Master Forerunner?"

"Yeah, kind of. We have a good life, though. Don't really need to chase stuff much these days."

"Yeah, I don't know how you've stayed so scrawny, really, with Chizuru-chan feeding you up like that and nothing to do but loaf around!"

The rest of the conversation had deteriorated into inconsequentialities. Important inconsequentialities though, if there were such a thing. It was still a little weird. Those last two years had changed everything—their lives, their livelihoods, their goals… Japan itself. Only after Heisuke had said his final goodbyes and turned to go back to Chizuru had Shinpachi stopped him and told him, haltingly, that at some point in the future he thought he'd like to at least dedicate proper monuments to Kondō-san and Hijikata-san.

"We didn't always agree," Shinpachi had muttered, as though dedicating monuments was somehow shameful, "but they were damn good warriors. They… they deserve to be honored like the samurai they wanted to be, you know? It's too bad that they—Kondō-san mostly, I guess, but Hijikata-san was his man through and through—well, it's too bad that they kind of got to be a little bit too much like the old samurai if you know what I mean."

Heisuke had just nodded. His own time with the Shinsengumi hadn't exactly been without its difficulties and differences of opinion. But he had grieved over Kondō-san's merciless beheading and Hijikata-san's death in the far north on the isle of Ezo. They had been titans, and they had also been men that Heisuke had known personally, had obeyed loyally and had admired deeply.

He returned to find Chizuru waiting for him, her face calm, but her eyes a little worried. He'd wound his arms around her and they'd stood like that for several minutes, enjoying the very last rays of sunlight and the touch of a cool evening breeze.

"Let's walk, Heisuke."

"Yes." He leaned his forehead against hers. "How do you feel?"

Chizuru smiled at him and pushed a stray piece of hair behind one ear, a futile gesture, as she well knew. He was happy that she cared; so very happy that she wanted to be with him. He straightened and pretended to frown, which only made her laugh.

"I'm fine, just fine. I even managed a short rest once you and Nagakura—I mean Shinpachi-san—got to talking in earnest."

"I'm glad," Heisuke murmured, trying not to feel guilty that they'd ignored Chizuru for long stretches of time over the afternoon. Not that she would have minded; if anything, she was probably pleased that they'd managed to relax together for a while—he and Shinpat-san, that is. However… "I can't help but worry."

"I know. But I feel perfectly well, and quite rested, and I want to see the fireflies down by the river." Seeing that he still looked a little uncertain, she tucked her hand into his. "I expect the baby would like to see the fireflies too…"

That made him laugh, even though the idea of Chizuru being pregnant still scared him whenever he thought about it too closely. Especially since if anything went wrong—and things did go wrong, sometimes—it would be his fault. Well, his fault that she was pregnant in the first place. Involuntarily, he glanced sideways at the girl beside him. Even now, she looked too young and too innocent to be living with him like this and especially too young to be a mother.

Chizuru tugged at his hand. "I know what you're thinking. But you know, Shinpachi-san didn't call you a 'kid' once this afternoon. That's pretty amazing, really."

"Well I'm not a kid!" Heisuke replied reflexively. He grinned ruefully. "Yeah, I get it. Even old Shinpachi-san could tell that we've grown up a bit. Alright, let's walk. But it's not a river. A creek at most!"

It was a long-standing and entirely amiable argument. They held hands the whole time, picking their way along the now-familiar path to the river-creek that provided Heisuke with the water that seemed to have partially reversed at least some of the effects of the ochimizu. When they got to the water, they walked along the bank, greeting their favourite trees, admiring the way that the flowers grew especially well in one particular place, pointing out the birds heading home to their nests for the night. Fish leapt into the air from time to time, feeding on softly buzzing clouds of insects.

Eventually, they saw the fireflies, dancing around one particularly gnarled white willow. With a quiet hum of delight—as though she hadn't seen them many times before!—Chizuru started to hurry forward. Heisuke caught her up short and put his arms around her waist, pulling her close.

"A kiss for good luck first." He'd gotten better at telling her what he wanted, and it had worked out well for them. An unexpected flicker of desire made him blush when she tilted her face up towards him without hesitation.

Soft lips, soft skin… the scent of the day's warmth in silky dark hair. The mood shifted as his kiss became more passionate and less playful. They'd learned each other's needs and wants over the past two years, and Chizuru obviously sensed his unsettled state. Her fingers stroked his neck and wound themselves in his brown hair. After several minutes, they broke apart slightly.

"Ah… the fireflies will be here another night," Heisuke suggested tentatively.

"Impatient?" Her teasing was always very gentle, and he loved the fact that he was the only person that she teased.

"A little." He was about to say more, when the breeze suddenly carried the scent of rain to him and he noticed that the fireflies had disappeared. "I think we'd better hurry—because of the rain, of course."

Chizuru looked puzzled for a moment and then she blinked as a drop hit her cheek. "Oh!" With a laughing glance back at her lover she darted away toward the house. He caught up to her with ease, thanks to her rather confining kimono, and swung her up into his arms.

"Now then. Home!"

Chizuru laughed up at him. She was so much more open with her smiles now that it was just the two of them. He loved it. He loved her. He wished that they could be together forever and then set that thought ruthlessly aside. Right now he had everything he wanted. Why waste time demanding more?

[END]

A/Note: All comments here or on FF or AO3 are much appreciated! ~ImpracticalOni

@shell-senji @fury-ous @queen-mizera @kazama-hime @hakusaitosan@tealdeertamer @very-x-vice @sabinasanfanfic @walk-tall-my-fr1ends@hakuokifirst @annahakuouki @eliz1369 @canadiangaap

[impracticaldemon]

🌸 Hakuouki Vignettes ~ Cute Itou and Smug Hijikata 🌸

...weird...  😅

[impracticaldemon]

Hakuouki: Ikedaya Vignettes Heisuke vs Amagiri

[impracticaldemon]

Hakuouki ~ Ikedaya VIgnettes ~ Nagakura Shinpachi “You’re late...”

[impracticaldemon]

Autumn Prompt: Frost

Fandom: Hakuouki (Saitou Hajime x Yukimura Chizuru; post-canon) Words: ~ 850

Author’s Note: Finally ready to start writing again after 3 month hiatus (for reasons). Challenging myself to write short fics or drabbles with Autumn theme. This vignette is pure hurt/comfort/fluff - entirely self-indulgent. 

Frost

Autumn came much earlier to Tonami, home to the displaced Aizu clan, than it did to Kyoto or Edo.  No, not Edo; Tokyo.  Saitō still had to quell a flicker of resentment over the change in name, but there was no sense in dwelling on the past.  It was only reasonable—well, understandable—that the new government would seek to eradicate as many traces of Tokugawa rule as possible, and Edo-Tokyo was perhaps the most enduring testament to Tokugawa Ieyasu’s ambition and foresight.  Since they couldn’t get rid of what was now Japan’s largest city, changing its name was their best option.  

Saitō sighed inwardly. Even contemplating the changing of the seasons brought him back to recent history, and losses that were still painful.  He tried to clear his mind once more and return to his meditation.  Almost immediately, his good intentions were thwarted by the sound of light footfalls and the rustle of dry leaves. A reluctant smile, more a quirk of the lip, touched his mouth:  either Chizuru had noticed the shift in his mood—somehow—or she had suddenly decided to come out to see him at just that moment by complete coincidence.  Such coincidences had become a part of the shape of his life in the months they had been living together.

He turned his head a little to look at her, and to acknowledge her presence.  She hadn’t changed much in appearance, he thought; it was most likely imagination that suggested she was even thinner now than when they’d arrived.  He felt guilty for bringing her to this desolate place, as useless as that sentiment was, and it clouded his judgment.  It was frustrating that he allowed emotion to rule his thoughts like this since his release from internment at the end of the war.

“I’m sorry if I disturbed you, Saitō-san—”

“Hajime.”

“Oh! I keep forgetting… I mean, Hajime-san.” She pronounced the syllables of his first name with special emphasis, and then smiled shyly.  He smiled in return, feeling the usual twin rush of satisfaction with her and dissatisfaction with himself for allowing his emotions such free rein.

“Is there a problem?”

“Ah, well, it will be getting dark soon, and it’s not very warm out today already, so I thought maybe you’d like to come in and have some tea?”  She squared her shoulders, and continued, “It’s really too cold for sitting on the ground you know, H-Hajime-san.”

“Hmm.”  She was right of course.  The air didn’t yet smell of snow, but tonight they would have frost.

“Or perhaps I should fetch water so that I can start heating a bath—”

“No—I mean, it isn’t necessary for you to fetch the water.  I’ll get it.”  The full bucket was heavy, and awkward for her to carry from the well they shared with their closest neighbours.  But that wouldn’t stop her, once she’d made up her mind that he needed a hot bath.

“Okay! Thank you, Hajime-san.”

“Chizuru… You do not need to thank me for fetching us water.”  He couldn’t help the amusement he felt creep into his tone.  “Especially not when it is water for my own bath.”

“Ah—”

“Although of course you are welcome to bathe first, if you wish.” Saitō kept a perfectly straight face, and waited for the inevitable reaction to such a shocking breach of custom (not to mention Chizuru’s manifest personal inclination).

“Oh no, Saitō-san! I could never do that!”  Sure enough, his beloved—his wife—was appalled.  But after only a moment she returned, undeterred, to her purpose. “So you’ll go fetch water now, then? And drink some tea while I heat your bath?”

Helpless before such determined care, Saitō rose from seiza, and pressed a light kiss to Chizuru’s forehead. That wasn’t quite enough to convey his gratitude, so he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close to his chest.  He ignored her faint—very faint—protest of embarrassment.

“Yes, dear one.  I will fetch water now, and then we will have tea while it heats.”  He’d endured so much worse than sitting for an hour on cold ground in the past—days and weeks of sleeping injured and without shelter during the war in Aizu—but he knew that she knew this, and understood that it was why she was determined to spoil him (his word, not hers, of course).

“…Well, good then. … I mean, thank you for fetching the water.”  Her words were muffled by his kimono, but neither of them moved to break the embrace right away.

There would be frost on the ground tonight, but Saitō knew that he wouldn’t feel it in either his body or his heart.  Chizuru was a surprisingly stubborn woman, and she had appointed herself his guardian in these matters.  He would be able to grieve his losses in his own time, and in his own way, and she would make sure that he stayed warm.

[END]

Ah, l’amour! All feedback and especially comments in notes, tags, reblogs etc is/are appreciated! Thank you for reading. ~ Imp

[impracticaldemon]

Dangerous Connections [late submission for Saichifest 2019]

by impracticaldemon a modern, non-canonesque, 4200-word vignette

Rating:  M / Lemon  ��Read also on FFN | AO3

Author's Note: I have no idea where this story came from. Unfortunately, it nagged at me until I wrote it, which delayed other writing. Part of the inspiration came from @nospringonions fanfic for Saichifest 2019 (although that fanfic feels brighter, and has a beginning, middle, and end).  This is one of my very few non-Shinsengumi-era stories. The setting is a modern Japan AU that has a slightly? darker feel to it than Hakuouki SSL. Partial inspiration for the feel—and Saito's motorbike—go to @kurokiorya

As a final note, the entire second half of the story is more or less about sex.

Dangerous Connections

"I found you a tutor, Hajime-kun!"

Saitō eyed his friend warily. That particular grin always made him nervous.

"Tanaka-sensei said that she would find somebody appropriate, Sōji. There's no need—"

"Tanaka-sensei has already approved my suggestion." Okita's smirk became even more pronounced. "She agreed that it made sense to get somebody who knew the club, and wouldn't mind working around your weird schedule. Besides, it turns out that Chizuru-chan was already on her list of candidates."

Saitō felt himself tense. "Yukimura? Sōji—that's—I don't think that's a good idea at all."

Okita laughed. "Worried you won't be able to concentrate? On the bright side, you won't want to embarrass yourself, right? I figure you'll be speaking and writing English like a pro in no time!" He punched Saitō lightly on the arm—lightly for Sōji, at least.

"There must be other—"

"Get a grip, Saitō! Your family said you had to pass your English competency exam, or quit the team." Okita's expression darkened. "And this year we're going to win the championship, so don't you dare let them force you to quit!"

"I don't intend to!" replied Saitō with rare heat. "You shouldn't have gotten involved in this."

"Oi, what's with you? I thought you'd be pleased. I'm pretty sure you've had a thing for Chizuru-chan for ages—and didn't you mention that your dad wanted you to find a suitable girlfriend? I mean, you're twenty now, and graduating uni in a couple of years, and—"

"Stay. Out. Of. This." Saitō turned on his heel and stalked off, shoulders rigid.

Okita was so surprised that he watched him go.

"Well that was weird—what the hell did you say to him?"

"Nothing he wanted to hear, apparently." It wasn't Heisuke's fault that Saitō was behaving like he had a poker up his butt, but Okita had to suppress an instinctive desire to lash out at the younger man. He didn't handle rejection well—he knew it, but that didn't make him any happier right now.

"Anything I can do to help?" Fortunately, Heisuke was reading the room for once, and didn't demand an immediate explanation. Okita grimaced inwardly. Heisuke was a good guy, and he'd matured a lot in the last couple of years—they all had, supposedly.

"Doubt it. Not unless you're in the mood to torture Hajime-kun for personal information?"

Heisuke stared at him, then waved his hands in an emphatic denial. "First of all, torture really isn't my thing. Second, I wasn't planning to die today."

"You saying I can't take Saitō?"

"MMMMFFFF." Heisuke pantomimed locking up his lips and throwing away the key. Then he ruined it by adding, "Who knows? Not me." He grinned at Okita. "I knows nuffin' guv'nah!"

"What the hell was that? As if your English isn't bad enough to begin with."

"Better'n yours and Saitō's, I hear."

Okita grimaced, then shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me, but Saitō's dad says he either passes the next time, or he's out of the kendo club—national championship or not. The guy's a hardass, too—if he says it, he means it. But we need that championship if we're going to get funding to go international." He scowled.

"Makes me glad I'm not the heir—or even runner-up heir—to some fancy corporation, for once. My dad just wants me to take his guilt money and lead my own life."

"Yeah, yeah. There are worse things, you know?"

"So I'm told." Heisuke bit back a snide rejoinder—Souji was always grouchy when it came to families. Besides, it reminded him what he'd come to say in the first place.

"I don't know if it's related, but I have some news for you. Bad news, and I wish Shinpat had found you first, to be honest. Assuming he didn't avoid you on purpose."

Okita gestured for him to continue, though he was still staring in the direction that Saitō had… gone.

"You know that pharmaceutical company that's been in the news so much recently?"

"No." Then Okita reconsidered. "Wait—yes. Hijikata was ranting about it yesterday, I think. Kondō-san kept having to calm him down—not that there's anything new in that."

"Well, turns out they were into some seriously illegal shit, and even had some kind of stolen army biotech they were working on."

"So?"

"It was owned by Chizuru-chan's dad. In fact, her brother was the manager, at least on paper."

That got Okita's full attention.

"Well, shit."

"Anyway, nobody knows if they were set up, or who leaked the info to the cops—or the press—and so far it's hard to say who in the family knew all the details."

"There is no way Chizuru-chan knew about it, or was involved," Okita snapped.

"Yeah, we know that. But for now, the family, and everyone close to the family, is a suspect. And it gets worse."

"How?" Okita was already trying to sort out the kind of impact this could have on the club. Chizuru was close friends with all of them, and she acted as a kind of book-keeper and general secretary.

"Chizuru's dad made a substantial donation to the club, back when Chizuru started university. That's kind of why we got stuck with her in the first place, remember—not that I minded."

Okita remembered. "Fuck. FUCK!"

"Right? A club like ours—any sports club that wants to compete at the national level and beyond—can't be associated with illegal drugs. And these ones involve army tech, so..."

"Why the hell didn't Hijikata explain this to me yesterday?!" demanded Okita.

Wisely, Heisuke didn't point out that Sōji probably hadn't been listening. Sometimes things were okay between those two, other times they weren't—as in, really weren't. At times like this, he envied Hajime-kun for not living with the rest of them.

Okita glared at Heisuke for not answering his question. "Fine. Where's Chizuru-chan?"

"We don't know."

"What?! How is that even possible? She lives with us, for crying out loud!"

Heisuke took a half-step back, mentally cursing Shinpachi for setting him up to be the bearer of ill tidings. Sōji tended to hit first, ask questions later—well, not so much now, but still. Normally, they sent Sano-san to do stuff like this, but Sano was out of town for the week.

"We think she's either been taken away by her dad, or kidnapped by those Kazama thugs." Heisuke had to lean in to whisper the words, and Okita took the opportunity to grab him by the shoulders and shake him.

"Then what the hell are we doing just talking about it?! Why are we here at school instead of out looking for her?"

"I'm not gonna talk if you keep doing that!"

"Fine. Screw English class, I'm out of here. And I'm really pissed at Hajime-kun for not telling me all this earlier—he must have known."

"Our job is to go to school. Keep up appearances."

"Thank you for that, Hijikata-mommy-san. Sure, I'll do that." Without another word, Okita spun away from Heisuke, and ran for the main entrance.

Heisuke hesitated, then flung up his hands with a groan and sprinted off after him. Nobody was going to be happy when Sōji encountered the ladies and gentlemen of the press. And it wasn't Heisuke's fault that they'd trailed him here after Hijikata-san had slammed the house door in their faces.

Saitō's bike was expensive, but not showy, and it was a lot less noisy than most. That being said, he hadn't taken quite as much care as usual when he'd taken off from school after running into Sōji. Fortunately, he couldn't sense anyone watching as he methodically stowed the bike, and hurried through the parking lot door of his non-descript apartment building. On the face of it, he was just another young guy who'd probably forgotten something he needed for work or school. He'd done a good job of being anonymous here for two years; there was no reason to mess that up now.

He'd originally hoped to throw people off the scent by showing up for class as usual, but he just wasn't calm enough to pull it off. No matter how hard he tried, he still lacked the detachment and control of his father and grandfather—as they often pointed out. And ugh. Sōji had meant it for the best, but Saitō had hoped to avoid anything that might link him to Chizuru except as a member of the club's championship kendo team. The Kazama had top notch intelligence gatherers.

He made himself take the elevator up to his floor—which wasn't the penthouse, since that was just too obvious for the scion of a wealthy corporate empire. At least he wasn't the heir, thank all the gods. He unlocked the door to his apartment, and then carefully locked and bolted it behind him once inside.

"Hajime-san?"

And there she was, waiting for him. His heart-beat picked up at the thought.

"Chizuru…" It was still a delight to use her unadorned first name, and to hear his own name on her lips. He knew he was blushing, but he couldn't seem to help it, or to suppress the inappropriate—very warm—images that caused at least part of the blush.

Without warning—except that he was trained to read an opponent's slightest movement—Chizuru threw her arms around him, and buried her head against his shoulder. He tried not to react to her sudden proximity, but his hormones had other ideas. She was obviously frightened, and it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to gently lift her face to his, and kiss her. Not that they hadn't kissed before, but it was still so new to him—to them both—that he was immediately swept up in it, and didn't notice the passage of time until he realized that he had her pressed tightly against the hallway wall, one hand in her hair, and the other stroking the soft skin of her back under her blouse.

When he tried to draw away, Chizuru clung to him, her lips nuzzling his neck. He could tell that she was embarrassed, but also determined to keep him close. If only he were better at rational thought when they were together like this! Then he could comfort her properly, while still being aware of his surroundings, and considering what to do next.

"Chizuru, we need to plan." She couldn't stay hidden with him indefinitely—though part of him wished she would—but the alternatives weren't clear. "I think it's going to get more difficult after today…" Not so much because of Sōji blatantly throwing them together, but because the press was out there now, and hungry for details. The Kazama family wouldn't miss the opportunity to seize Chizuru if they could find her, and he suspected that Kōdō was finally scared enough to accept the Yukimura-Kazama merger, and hand her over to them to seal the bargain.

Saito made another effort to put some distance between them, but thinking about Chizuru engaged to Kazama Chikage made him want to do anything other than let go. In fact, he wanted very much to forget about everything other than finding out how best to please his beloved—if still secret—girlfriend. His mouth dipped down to the tip of her closest ear, and he began to trace the outer edge with his tongue, which elicited an intoxicating, shivery kind of gasp from Chizuru. He felt his pelvic muscles contract in response, and blood rush down to harden him into full arousal. Without another thought, he pressed a hard kiss—almost a bite—into the side of Chizuru's neck, making sure that his teeth would leave marks.

"Hajime…" Chizuru's voice was a little rougher than usual, and her breathing had quickened. He tightened his hand in her hair, and forced her head up to look at him, so that he could admire the scarlet that now bloomed high on her cheeks, and the way her eyes seemed to glow as she warmed into passion. When he brought his mouth to hers, abandoning her ear and neck, and biting gently on her lower lip, she made another half-muffled sound of pleasure, but louder and more distinct this time. He found himself trapping her even more tightly between his body and the wall, and grinding himself against her, while his tongue parted her willing lips and began to explore her mouth, eventually so deeply that it felt like a flagrant expression of what he wanted to do with the rest of her body.

As if in response to that thought, he felt Chizuru's hands tug the tail of his shirt free of his jeans, so that she could caress his bare skin in the same way that he was touching hers. His father wouldn't be very impressed at how easily distracted he was, he knew, but something rebelled in him at the thought. His friends and colleagues pushed him to be more open; his father and grandfather demanded perfect stoicism. Only Chizuru let him be entirely himself—she didn't mind his silences, she trusted him to listen when she wanted to talk, and she never seemed troubled by his awkwardness. He was utterly in love with her.

Still kissing, they undressed each other, fumbling at buttons, and even occasionally snarling at layers that wouldn't cooperate with their need to be skin-to-skin. Saitō retained enough sanity to lift Chizuru into his arms and carry her to his small bedroom, which was surely a more private and appropriate place to communicate such desires. Not until he laid her down on his bed—hair loose, clothing wildly askew, love-bite darkening on her neck—did he fully process what they were doing, and freeze, appalled by how far he'd let things go. He immediately sat back, still straddling her hips, and forced his greedy hands away from her skin.

To his surprise, Chizuru smiled up at him, and reached out to run her own hand down across the muscles of his stomach to rest lightly on the tight bulge still constrained by his lower fly and boxer-briefs. The button to his jeans was already undone, although it had taken her some minutes to achieve this, earlier. He still wasn't sure whether the button had actually been difficult, or if she'd just been distracted by his lips on her skin, and on the thin material of her lacy bra. Her nipples had hardened intriguingly under the ministrations of his stroking, pinching fingers, and then tongue and teeth.

He stared down at her now, breathless and dry-mouthed with desire, blood pounding in his ears, but desperate not to injure her in any way. Her thumb rubbed gently, but attentively, at the head of his erection, and he flinched inwardly at the combination of the exciting, pleasurable sensation, and the vulnerable, loving, determined expression on her lovely face. It might feel wonderful, but it wasn't right—not when there was fear and sadness lurking behind her passion.

"Chizuru," he whispered, barely able to resist leaning forward into her touch, while forcing himself to keep his hands curled on his thighs, rather than caressing her breasts, or busy with the pale blue panties that lay visible below her loose, rumpled skirt.

"I want this, Hajime. You love me, you believe in me, and I want you to be the first, since I don't know what the future has in store for either of us."

"We'll stay together no matter what, I promise, if that's what you want. But don't—Chizuru, those are the wrong reasons—you must know that!" He hoped that his voice betrayed neither the effort it cost to be rational, nor his hurt at her lack of confidence. In him, in them, he wasn't sure which.

He read stubbornness—and true longing—in her eyes, and the set of her lips. She wasn't going to back down, not when she believed in what she was saying.

"Your father won't want an alliance with a disgraced family, we both know that. And the Kazama want me so that I can produce an heir to both families, Kazama and Yukimura, now that their victory is certain. A marriage, an heir—that will bring everyone into line, and keep our noble blood pure." The last word was low and bitter. "Are you going to subject your family, and your friends, and all their dreams, to the inevitable retaliation? They—the Kazama—can be brutal, you know."

"My family can look after itself," he told her forcefully, trying and failing to ignore her insistent caresses. He shifted a little, then caught her wrists, pushing her down into the bed. "Don't offer yourself to me on such terms. I'll refuse." He wasn't sure he could, but he'd do his best.

Chizuru stared at him, clearly frustrated in every way, but also, maybe, a little hopeful. Or was he imagining it, because he wanted her so much, and needed her to want him back out of love and passion, not despair—or as part of some ridiculous, fatalistic goodbye.

"Hajime? I don't want you to get hurt. I love you. That's the only reason I would ever go to them—"

"I know, but this—" He swallowed, unable to do what he should, and just get up, and get his mind back on prioritizing her safety, and—and so on. Why couldn't things be simple? Why did he always think too much?! He could practically feel Sōji's eyes mocking him for his indecision.

"I'm sorry," Chizuru whispered into the silence. "I was being selfish—to want this time with you. This is my fault—"

"Dammit—no!" He let go of her wrists and curved his hands around her cheeks to cradle her head. "Just… just don't go there." He bent down to kiss her fiercely on the lips, and was surprised to discover that his control was still pitifully weak. Desire reignited as he registered the heat of her skin against his bare chest, and felt her lips part beneath his. He heard her breath hitch—just as it had earlier—and then her arms tightened around him, pulling him fully against her, so that he barely had time to brace one forearm to avoid falling.

"I won't give up—"

"I won't let you go."

With little grace, but also no pointless self-consciousness, he freed them both from their remaining clothes, and gave himself over to kissing and teasing and caressing his beloved's body into heated, extravagant arousal. Inexperience didn't mean lack of imagination, and he'd imagined making love to her so many times before, often to his own chagrin. He kissed and tasted and left marks on her skin, and suckled her breasts, and ran strong, demanding hands along her sides and over her hips and belly and around her smooth backside. And he thanked her, in fervent, heartfelt whispers, for letting him hear her cries of passion, and for sharing her wonderful, sweet body with him.

Her scent was intoxicating—he hadn't realized how much it would affect him. When his explorations finally reached the damp, sensitive folds of skin at her centre, and his fingers started to learn the contours of her most private places, her soft cries became whimpers, and he saw her biting her lower lip so hard that he thought it might bleed.

"Chizuru…" He almost stilled his hand, worried for the first time that he'd somehow hurt her, in his ignorance, but when his fingers slowed, and he lifted his lips from the hard nub of one breast, her expression plainly begged him not to stop, and he felt her hips jerk so as to press her mound more firmly against his hand. Only a little while later, he found himself sliding his fingers within her, both elated and a little shocked by how much he wanted to do such things. His body was beginning to quiver with need and anticipation of release, and he knew that she could feel his hard length pressed tightly against her thigh, and perhaps even the slightly sticky fluid that had started to pool on her skin. Without conscious thought, he pressed his fingers deeper within her, and felt inner muscles tremble and contract against them. Abruptly, he wasn't sure how he was going to manage to hold back any longer. He pulled away from her uncertainly, aware that he'd become completely focussed on sensation.

"Hajime…" She said his name like a plea, and lust jolted through him.

"Chizuru, I… I…" He swallowed, so deep in desire that he couldn't form a proper question. When she reached out and pulled his mouth down to hers, kissing him passionately, his whole body twitched involuntarily, and he clung to her, feeling his climax starting to build out of control. He could only hope—though he was moderately optimistic—that he'd made his lover feel the same way.

He was incredibly grateful when Chizuru shifted her hips, and awkwardly, but without hesitation, helped guide him to her entrance. He took that as permission to finally surrender his thread-bare self-command and join with her, and a soft groan escaped his lips as he thrust into her, his hands moving to grip her hips as he rocked hard against her once, and then withdrew a short space before burying himself deep into her once more, savouring the way her tight, slick walls clenched and pulsed around his shaft. She was very wet, and she smelled of arousal and sex, and a strong wave of possessiveness swept over him along with the desperate yearning of near-orgasm. Unable to stop, he thrust into her again and again, listening to her moan, and feeling her writhe beneath him. Somewhere in the haze of adrenaline and pleasure, he promised himself to do more for her next time, since this time he seemed to lack the ability to do much more than ride a dizzying wave of physical sensation until he was coming hard and fast inside her, his seed spilling hot within her welcoming body.

They lay together for some time afterwards, without speaking, their bodies still joined, their skin sticky with sweat and still sensitive to the other's touch. Saitō was conscious that he had left numerous bruises and marks on Chizuru—some light, some deep—and he was embarrassed that he didn't fully recollect being so rough. It had also occurred to him, too late, that he probably hadn't been careful enough or gentle enough, given that it was her first time. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be able to think clearly enough to express his concern just yet. He suspected he was smiling, and was a little worried that he looked smug.

Chizuru, on the other hand, looked… happy. More than happy. For some reason that Saitō couldn't fathom, she was gazing lovingly up at him through dreamy, half-closed eyes, and showed no inclination to have him move from where he lay. The only problem was that he felt a distinct inclination to make love to her again, but wasn't sure whether that would be either appropriate, or welcome. He'd never been entirely sure what women really thought about sex, having never had the opportunity—or courage—to ask. But… she really did look happy. And beautiful. Gorgeous, even. Although that didn't necessarily reflect how she felt.

"Thank you," he said, at last. It didn't begin to convey how he felt, but it was a start.

"Oh…" Chizuru looked startled, but then relaxed again and grinned at him. "You're welcome—I mean, thank you, too."

There was a lot going on, back in the real world. And somebody was going to track them down, probably either Sōji, or Hijikata-san, and probably sooner rather than later. Saitō tightened his arms around Chizuru.

"Remember, you promised."

"I know. No giving myself up just to protect everyone I care about—and especially you—from the anger of the most powerful family in the country."

He blinked. "Somehow you make it sound like I'm being selfish." Then, before it could even begin to turn into another disagreement, he added. "But even if I am—yes, that is correct. Also, to quote something either Sano-san, or Shinpachi, said one time: have a little faith, okay?"

Chizuru looked up at him with an unusually roguish smile.

"I have faith in your endurance…"

Saitō felt his eyes widen in surprise, and then Chizuru suddenly looked away, red suffusing her cheeks. Gently, he turned her face back toward his, and kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry if I was too rough—I really am. I don't know what was wrong with me. But I'd be very happy to let you test my endurance, if you want to."

And if Sōji, Hijikata-san, or anyone else needed him in the next hour or two, then that was just too bad. Chizuru's well-being, and her good opinion of him, were far more important than a national championship, a potential rift with his father, or the threats of a family with distinctly dangerous business practices.

[END]

A/Note:  I realized part-way through editing that the background for this Saito is influenced by that of the Saito from an entirely different otome game (DTL)

Tags: @shell-senji @hidetheremote @eliz1369 @nalufever @annedey @nospringonions @soujthings @do-it-for-keef @sabinasanfanfic @fury-ous @canadiangaap @aetherium-weaver @hakuyamazakisensei @petri808

To those who read Teachings of Demons:  the new chapter is underway and should be finished this weekend.  Still dealing with a number of distractions, but hoping for solid writing time in March.

~ Imp

[impracticaldemon]

Pots and Kettles

a Hakuouki vignette by impracticaldemon for @kondo-hijikata

Pots & Kettles

“It’s just for the one day, Toshi.  And I know you think highly of Sōji, even if he doesn’t always... handle situations the way he should.”

“He ‘accidentally’ punched a guy in the face for calling you a samurai wannabe who didn’t know his place, and then he drew steel when the asshole wouldn’t apologize.  He’s twenty-one for crying out loud, not twelve!  We all have to put up with hearing shit like that sometimes, you know?  We’re supposed to be keeping the peace, not starting brawls with local upper-class hotheads—I swear it’s like he wants to make our lives harder. You’re too easy on him.”

“You always say that.”

“And I’m always right.”

“Toshi...”  

Kondō leaned forward, and rested a hand lightly on the other man’s knee.  It was easy to feel the tension humming through Hijikata’s lean frame. “We both know Sōji wasn’t the only one who lost his temper.  I heard about what—”

“Whatever you heard was probably exaggerated,” Hijikata interrupted, with suddenly heightened colour.  “Besides, it wasn’t my fault the bastard got stuck in one of our holding cells overnight—”

“But—”

“I mean, it’s too bad he got picked up so late that you and I had already gone to bed, and couldn’t approve his release right away—”

“Toshi, you never go to bed that early—”

“And I don’t know how he ended up in the same cell as that incontinent drunk guy with the heaves—and don’t tell me the overnight guard should’ve cleaned up more, because it wasn’t exactly a high priority, and—”

“Toshi!”

“It was an unfortunate mistake.”

“An ‘accident’, even?”

Despite his best efforts, Hijikata couldn’t quite meet the half-concerned, half-exasperated gaze of the man beside him.  He was going to kill Sōji for letting Kondō find out what had happened after punched-in-the-face-guy had started making complaints about Sōji and Kondō to Kyoto’s Aizu delegate.  Kondō had better things to do than worry about this crap.

“Toshi?  It wasn’t Sōji who told me what happened.”

Hijikata blinked, then wanted to smack himself in the forehead.  Of course it wasn’t Sōji.  Sōji might retaliate for being confined to quarters for five days as a disciplinary measure, but he wouldn’t want to involve Kondō in this particular case.  It had to be Sannan who’d told Kondō about the whiny little paper-pushing ass-kisser’s ignominious stay at Shinsengumi headquarters last night.  It had cost the Shinsengumi a bit of cash to smooth things over this morning, and Sannan was absolutely unforgiving when it came to the group’s finances. 

“...Fine.  Sōji can have a day out of confinement for the Ghost Cat Festival, but he’ll have to make up for it immediately after.”

“Of course.”   Kondō hesitated, then added softly:  “There’s no need to take everything so much to heart, Toshi.  For either of you.”  The hand on Hijikata’s knee was warm, and strong, and communicated unreserved kindness and affection.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.  There’s only one thing really bothering me right now:  why does Sōji want to go to this festival so badly anyway?  With him, you never know what madness is coming next.”

Kondō tacitly admitted defeat with a small sigh, but his expression relaxed into a smile. 

 “Are you suggesting that you need to attend the festival yourself, to keep an eye on him?”  Without allowing Hijikata time to reply, he continued, “Well, I’ll go with you then—to keep an eye on the pot while he watches the kettle ”

[END]

Tags: @shell-senji @sabinasanfanfic @hidetheremote @eliz1369 @soujthings @resshiiram @canadiangaap @petri808 @nospringonions @hakuouki-or-hakuoki @hakuyamazakisensei 

[impracticaldemon]

Would stories of the shinsengumi a good starting place to start playing hakuouki instead of kw and eb first?

Hi Anon!

Stories of the Shinsengumi for PS3 is still my all-time favourite version of this game.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m *thrilled* to have the new Hakuouki games with new scenes and all the new characters, but SotS is the game that incorporates the most extra (official) fandisk material. This gives you significant amounts of insightful, character-specific bonus material for the original six characters, and even some officially translated CD/voice-actor short stories.  A number of the sweeter, or more slice-of-life scenes from KW and EB (Hakuouki Shinkai), are shorter versions of the vignettes from the Zuisouroku fandisk material localized on SotS.

SotS also has the ever-popular “Chizuru as a Geisha” fandisk stories - and there is a mini-route for just about everyone there including Yamazaki, Kimigiku, Amagiri, and Shiranui. If you’ve seen and liked the six anime “geisha Chizuru +” episodes, this is where they’re from.  The last major item incorporated from Zuisouroku is the oh-so-silly and hilarious “cat chase” stories - and again, there’s a mini-route for just about everyone (Shinsengumi) involved.

Final answer:  I started with SoS, and I’m glad I did.  KW and EB are great for providing extra characters, and they do incorporate some of the scenes noted above, but it’s just not the same.  Plus, SoS is easier to follow.  Downside:  The common route (which is a fair bit of KW) will be somewhat repetitious after playing SotS.  And ofc you see a lot less of Yamazaki, Shinpachi, and Sannan, and nothing at all of the three new guys, Iba, Souma, and Sakamoto.

Note on tech:  SoS is only for the PS3.  The PS4 isn’t backwards compatible (i.e., can’t play older PS2 or PS3 disks).  There may be an option to play SoS via PS Now, but I truly don’t know if it’s available that way.

[impracticaldemon]

Hakuouki Vignettes: The Bargain

by impracticaldemon

Words: ~ 750   Read also on: FFN | AO3

Written as a birthday ficlet for @eheartangel ~ I hope you enjoy it!

To @eliz1369 and @kurokiorya ~ I consider this a 'moment in time' from the same canon-verse setting as The Gift of Teasing Laughter.

To my various OkiChi shipping friends, followers, and readers (not exclusive categories, obviously!), the way this short story just seemed to work for me is a testimony to the effect of your diligent and (sometimes - ow! - sorry) reasonable arguments in favour of your ship (grin) (but a sincere grin, I swear!).

The Bargain

It was an unusually lazy afternoon, but Chizuru was eventually forced to concede that she'd needed it. It wasn't just that their life entailed a significant amount of physical labour, but that living in the shadow of death—Sōji's death, specifically—was mentally and emotionally exhausting for her. Fortunately, Sōji was much more practical about these things than she was, and when he decided that they—that she—needed a break, they took one.

He was noticeably stronger now, she reminded herself, as she watched the clouds drift in endlessly changing forms across the blue sky of late summer. That thought made her turn her head to look at him—again—taking in the healthy colour on cheeks that had once been hollow and pale. He lay on the warm grass beside her, loose-limbed and a little untidy, but as breathtakingly beautiful as always. Aloud, she called him handsome. She knew all too well how he scoffed at both the idea of male beauty and those who too obviously embodied it, although she'd long suspected that he perceived it just as easily as she did. Or perhaps that had been the problem? He had loved to mock both Itō-san and Hijikata-san for being vain, but he'd never once said that it was unwarranted.

This last reflection took her thoughts in a different direction. For many reasons, Souji no longer spoke of Hijikata-san much at all, and never with the unveiled contempt of the old days. Especially not since they'd heard that a sizeable portion of the Imperial Army had landed in Ezo over two months ago. They hadn't spoken with anyone since—their interactions with neighbours were infrequent—but it seemed likely that—

"Sober thoughts, Chizuru-chan? You promised to smile…"

Chizuru started, and then found herself under attack by relentless fingers that knew exactly where she was most ticklish. Bright green eyes glinted down at her, and even as she struggled not to giggle, she knew the game was lost. "Sōji…"

Once she was completely breathless with laughter—which never took long—Sōji rolled back onto the grass and pulled her on top of him. It always entertained him to re-enact what he still referred to as the first time she'd tried to seduce him. She'd given up pointing out that Yamazaki-san had accidentally thrown her into him.

"I figure the least you can do is provide a proper blanket for me, since you didn't keep up your part of our bargain." He grinned wolfishly, and she blushed, though not nearly as much as she would have before.

"What bargain?" she demanded, rallying, trying to ignore the arousal that his touch so frequently awoke in her. "I was about to do laundry, and the next thing I knew you had picked me up and dropped me out here on the grass." She poked the tip of his nose—something that he often did to her, and that she'd been working up the courage to try.

"Oi!" He batted her small hand away, laughing. The open happiness on his face made her melt in ways that she couldn't describe, and she felt heat that had nothing to do with the sun course through her.

"Well then, what was your part of the bargain, Sōji?"

Without warning, his hand was in the hair at the nape of her neck, and her mouth was being pressed to his. His teeth bit lightly into her lower lip, and then his tongue was exploring her mouth. She couldn't quite suppress a cry of something that wasn't pain, and their lips briefly parted as Sōji smirked up at her, loving the way that she was so wholly, transparently his. She didn't mind; she understood better now why it mattered so much to him—and also that any ownership went both ways.

"Our bargain's never changed, Chizuru: you smile for me"—and only me—"and I'll do everything I can to make you happy."

It was an unusually wonderful afternoon.

[END]

Tags:  @eliz1369 @kurokiorya @shell-senji @nalufever @soujthings @hakuyamazakisensei @beelzebubz0 @very-x-vice @sabinasanfanfic @resshiiram @cherryb0mb79 @moon-faced-pear-shaped @hidetheremote 

@fic-writer-appreciation

[impracticaldemon]

I have a request: Can you write a short scene with the Hakouki characters (in a modern AU) ~ A summer day at the beach? Extra points for Saito in a speedo. 👌👍👌

May the celestial spirits help us all.

Words: ~2800 (it just happened I swear!!!) | FFN | AO3

For DWS aka @nalufever (tumblr): a faithful reader, reviewer and hilarious collaborator. You have an evenstranger imagination than mine at times. I hope you enjoy this offering!

Hakuouki Vignettes:  The Shinsengumi in the Sunshine

The sun blazed in a blue sky, through which a few white clouds driftedlike wispy cotton balls. It t looked like a painted background instead of areal sky. It was only just starting to get really hot when a silver minivan anda slick dark convertible pulled into the small parking lot overlooking thepristine beach area.

“Oh man this is perfect!” shouted a smallish teenage boy,flinging back a sliding door and racing down across the sand toward the water’sedge. “Look! The tide is just starting to come in now–awesome!”

The back hatch of the minivan began to rise automatically while threemore passengers disembarked: a tall red-head in his mid-twenties, a muscularguy in a green bandanna and matching trunks of about the same age, and a thirdman who looked young until you noticed that the unusual green eyes had finelines around them that suggested some kind of pain or trouble in the recentpast. To call the middle of the three muscular was saying something, becauseall three men had sinewy, corded arms and walked with the light, springy stepsof natural athletes. A casual observer might leave it at that. A more observantsort would take a second look (for more than just aesthetic reasons!) andmore-or-less correctly conclude that the visitors were officers on leave from anearby military base or maybe a larger city police force.

“Yo, Heisuke! Get your ass back here and help unload or you canforget about your share of the beer!”

The teenager—who was presumably older than he looked—waved a middlefinger back at the man with the green bandanna, but ran back across the sand todo as he was told. The gesture earned him a “friendly” tap on thehead when he arrived, which he shrugged off with almost startling indifference.

In the meantime, a lean, compact man with dark hair had gotten out ofthe driver’s seat, his movements almost unnoticeable against the backdrop ofhis louder and more colourful colleagues. He was wearing a plain black t-shirtover plain black trunks with some kind of white logo at the hem. He brieflysurveyed his passengers, giving a slightly longer scrutiny to the green-eyedman, and then walked over to the convertible.

A slightly older man with black hair and movie-star good looks hadalready gotten out from behind the wheel of the other car and was unpacking thesmall storage space in the back that passed for a trunk. The young—and indeedonly—woman with the group was just getting out of the passenger seat, her warmbrown eyes bright with excitement. Like the youngest of the men, she appearedto be in her late teens.

“Hello, Saitō-san,” she said cheerfully to the quiet,dark-haired man. She showed no surprise at his rather sudden—andsilent—presence. “The wind made a mess of my hair, but Hijikata-san saidthere was no point in having a convertible if you didn’t have the top down innice weather. Oh well, I think I’ve finally gotten it all straight again.”

Saitō nodded, since the young woman’s hair appeared to be tied up in itsusual short, neat ponytail. Without waiting for him to speak—or perhaps awarethat he wouldn’t —the woman smiled and went on:

“Did you have a good drive? Did Heisuke get picked on too much? IsOkita-san doing alright?” The last question was asked in a low voice;apparently she didn’t want Okita to hear her.

“The drive was fine, Yukimura. Heisuke is in good spirits. Soujidid not cough at all during the trip.”

“Well I hope he doesn’t overdo it now that we’re here,”growled Hijikata, stalking up to the two of them, his arms full of an oddassortment of objects. The strangest of these was a large pink inflatable duck,which he thrust unceremoniously at Chizuru (as she was invariably called byanyone other than Hijikata or Saitō). “Any trouble, Saitō?”

“No, Commander.”

“Then why the hell are you over here instead of frolicking down onthe beach with the others? Or at least off finding a convenient place fromwhich to silently watch the others frolic while you drink?” Apparently thequestion was rhetorical, since he didn’t wait for an answer. “Wellwhatever. You can carry some of this junk. I swear Yukimura filled most of thecar with food and the rest with toys.”

Saitō nodded calmly, as one used to such situations. He turned to theyoung woman.

“I thought it might be best for me to carry and, ah, look after thefood.”

There was a brief, thoughtful silence from the other two, and thenYukimura nodded emphatically and Hijikata smirked.

“Yeah, good point. Don’t want Heisuke and Shinpachi making a messof things as usual and getting sand in everyone’s lunch. Fucking morons.They’ll think twice if it’s you.”

“You’ll help me carry the beach balls then, Hijikata-san?”Chizuru asked tentatively. “And the posts for the net?”

The Commander sighed irritably. He had a soft spot for the girl, butnobody knew if it went any farther than that. In fact, due to the odd circumstancesunder which Yukimura Chizuru had (temporarily) joined their unit, everyone kepta close eye on her, and seemed to go a little out of their way for her. To whatextent depended on their various natures. Harada Sanosuke, the tall red-head,was the most obviously protective and charming, while Tōdō Heisuke was thekindest and most accepting. Nagakura Shinpachi was more of a rough and readysort, but he treated her like a younger sister and often looked out for herwhen he thought nobody was looking. Nobody really knew what Okita Sōji thought,but even he tended to tone down his sharp edges around Chizuru, although healso teased her mercilessly when he could. Saitō just tended to show up when hewas needed; however, that was how he behaved with the rest of them as well.Okita insisted that Saitō—a known stickler for order and discipline—went easieron Chizuru than he should, but so far he was alone in his opinion, at least outloud.

“I will find an appropriate spot for the net,” Saitōvolunteered. “We must also leave sufficient space for the water gunfight.” He managed to say the last three words both disapprovingly andwithout inflection, a skill that many aristocratic butlers trained for years toperfect. Chizuru had never had a butler, but she had heard of them, and it hadoccurred to her before that Saitō-san would make an excellent butler.

Eventually, everyone was settled—or active, as the case might be. Theso-called baka trio had brought surf boards, and were eyeingthe incoming tide. It still wasn’t quite right, but according to what they’dbeen told, it should be getting there fairly soon. In the meantime, they wereengaged in a no-holds-barred beach volleyball competition—which pleased Chizurugreatly—refereed by Okita—which apparently pleased nobody but theself-designated ref. Heisuke was at a significant height disadvantage, but hemade up for it with exceptional acrobatics and apparently limitless energy. Allthree were drinking copious quantities of beer. Chizuru tried to get them to drinkwater between matches instead, but Okita stepped in and (in his words)preserved their inalienable right to get drunk in whatever way they wanted,even if it meant raging dehydration and severe hangovers later. Saitō, from hisvantage point not far away, noticed that Sōji’s words were more effective thanChizuru’s. All three beach volleyball players surreptitiously started to drinkmore water, and nobody commented further on it.

Hijikata-san sat against a nearby palm tree, head tilted back and eyesclosed between sporadic fits of furious writing into a handsomely-boundnotebook. Since his facial expressions always became particularly contortedduring these times, Chizuru found it best not to bother him, although she wasas intensely curious about the contents of the book as usual. Okita-san hadtold her that Hijikata-san wrote erotica, which was why he refused to read fromhis writings; Saitō-san had quietly contradicted this and told her that whatshe had seen was the Commander writing poetry. The latter was more believable,but didn’t explain the senior officer’s refusal to share his work. It hadtaken some time for Chizuru to realize that perhaps the two categories weren’tmutually exclusive. Moreover, Saitō-san hadn’t actually denied that Hijikata-sanwrote erotica—in retrospect, his precise wording could have been deliberatelymisleading.

Okita had just declared himself the winner of the volleyball tournament,to good-natured laughter and cat-calls from the actual participants, when thefaint noise of a motor-bike caught everyone’s attention. Somehow, Saitō wasalready in the parking lot, his alcohol of choice—nobody had noticed what itwas today—already stowed neatly away and his face showing neither the merrimentnor the inebriated flush displayed by his colleagues. Hijikata looked up, hisexpression registering annoyance (although as Okita often said, how could youtell?).

The motorbike arrived very shortly thereafter, indicating that it wasboth fast and surprisingly quiet for its speed. Yet another fit young man, thisone on the shorter side, sprang off the bike and hurried over to Saitō, who hadbeen joined by Okita. The three surfing enthusiasts down on the beach did notlook happy—the waves were just about perfect and the water was calling.

“Dammit, I knew this was too good to betrue,” Okita snarled as the biker gave Saitō the unwelcome news that somerich kids—the son of the beachfront owner and his pals—were on their way andmight be looking for trouble.

“Chief Kondō said that the owner was happy to oblige him with aninexpensive rental,” noted Saitō calmly.

“Yeah, well Kondō-san always thinks the best of everyone, doesn’the? Why didn’t Hijikata-san look into things better, that’s what I want toknow! That’s his job, isn’t it?”

“Thank you for alerting us, Yamazaki,” said Saitō, ignoringOkita’s complaint with the ease of long practice. “Now that you are here,however, I feel that you should change into more appropriate apparel so as notto appear out of place.”

Before Yamazaki could respond, or Okita could continue to enumerateHijikata-san’s shortcomings for failing to protect Chief Kondō from theconsequences of his over-trusting good-nature, Saitō had turned away to briefHijikata-san. He also made a point of smiling and waving at Harada, Shinpachiand Heisuke, to let them know that it was alright to get on with their surfing.Unfortunately, the unprecedented nature of these actions caused all three ofthem to abandon their surf boards and come hurrying up from the water.

“What the hell did you signal to them?” demanded Hijikata,taking in Saitō’s surprised expression.

“… I’m not sure, now,” his faithful aide-de-camp murmured.

In the end, everyone gathered around Hijikata’s palm tree to hear thenews that they were on the verge of being invaded by high-class guys looking tothrow their weight around. Chizuru, holding tightly to a large, bright pinkduck, and looking very sweet in a hearts-and-flowers two-piece bathing suit,was clearly the most worried.

“Oh no! I hope they don’t ruin your day off! Maybe they just wantto welcome you on behalf of the owner?”

Several pairs of eyes met above Chizuru’s head and exchanged theunspoken message that the girl was cute, but deluded. Only Okita took it uponhimself to explain the situation in no uncertain terms:

“Don’t be an idiot. The owner’s probably involved in all sorts ofcorrupt activities—wouldn’t be so rich otherwise, would he? Anyone"—otherthan Kondō-san, thought most of those present, but silently—"would wonderwhy a guy like that would want to be nice to a bunch of federal investigatorslike us. He’s probably set things up with his son to create trouble with us sothat he can make us look bad.” Okita rolled his eyes. “It’s notlikely they’re here to be nice to us.”

“Let’s not give them a chance to complain,” Hijikata put in atthat point, arms folded. “You three—Heisuke, Harada, Shinpachi—go surf.That’s an order! And act normal.”

“Sure thing Commander,” said Harada. He winked at Shinpachi,who picked up Heisuke, and the two tall men raced back down to the water todunk their smaller colleague and grab their boards and some more beer.

“Yamazaki—glad to have you with us—why the hell haven’t you changedinto swim gear or something yet? You look like a ninja in that bikingoutfit.”

“But—” Yamazaki began to protest, before being cut off bySaitō.

“Yukimura brought extra swim gear. You can change in that smallcabin.”

Chizuru stared at Saitō. “Did I tell you that? I didn’t think Itold anyone. Hijikata-san was, um…” She trailed off uncomfortably asHijikata raised a sharp black eyebrow at her.

“I told you not to stuff my car with so much crap, that’sall!”

The noise of a motor made them all go silent, and then Saitō starteddragging Yamazaki toward the tiny beach hut. Hijikata told Chizuru to go looklike she was having fun with the surfers.

“And act natural!” he shouted after her, as she scrambled awayacross the hot sand, clutching her duck.

Meanwhile, in the beach hut, Saitō was stripping off his black trunkswith a resigned expression on his impassive countenance.* Yamazaki, recognizingthat he was going to have fun at the beach whether he wanted to or not, peeledoff his biking gear. He accepted the black trunks without comment. According toOkita, the unit’s two top security experts preferred to operate on asemi-telepathic level when not required to speak to normal people. The twoofficers in question secretly agreed, but—naturally—never discussed the matter.

Moments later, Saitō and Yamazaki stepped out of the beach hut. Yamazakilooked marginally less like a commando (or ninja) now, in Saitō’s black trunksand t-shirt. Saitō looked… Well, he looked different. He hadruffled his neat hair into a tousled mop—always carry good hair gel was one ofhis many unspoken mottos—and produced a pair of mirrored sunglasses from theblack messenger bag that he had apparently been carrying with him all along.There was a bright silver chain with a sword hanging from it around his necknow, flashing in the sun and somehow drawing the eye to his sharp collar-bonesand lean, but perfectly muscled chest. And he was wearing bright indigo,crotch-hugging “racing trunks”. This was so totally unexpected thatthe stolid Yamazaki blinked twice before acknowledging that if aman wanted to wear two bathing suits at once, in anticipation of (a) needing anunexpected disguise at the beach, or (b) some unanticipated event, then Saitōhad planned well. Very few people would be staring at his face in that outfit.

As Yamazaki and Saitō strolled casually down toward the water,Hijikata’s face froze into an incredulous expression. Then his eyes flickedover to the speedboat that was swooping in on them in a torrent of noise andspray, heading for the small dock about fifty meters away.

“What the fuck are you wearing, Saitō?!”

Saitō raised a delicate eyebrow under his newly-ruffled bangs and placeda hand on Yamazaki’s arm. In a soft voice that in no way reflected the frost inhis blue eyes, he murmured:

“I have been studying our new colleague Itō-san, Commander. Ibelieve that his name and overall effect will be as effectivea disguise as any, don’t you?”

Hijikata stared at him and then rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“How in all the gods’ names am I supposed to keep a straight face?Just how much have you been drinking, Saitō?”

“Itō,” his subordinate told him implacably. “I haven’tgotten through my first fifth yet.”

“Fuck. Fine. Well, here they come and I’ll bet you diamonds todonuts that the lead guy is daddy’s darling.”

“No bet,” replied Okita, who had been standing besideHijikata, cell-phone camera at the ready. He was clearly struggling not tolaugh, his thin, rather pale face looking more alive than it had in months.Only the possiblity of incoming enemies kept him from immediately starting on aphoto-record of “Ito’s” day at the beach. Instead, he was saving thebattery in order to take nice, innocuous photos showing a nice, innocuousmeeting between the unit officers and their host’s son.

The boat had pulled in and been moored with amazing efficiency, andthree men were walking toward them, two of them wearing the kind of smile thatmakes you want to count your fingers after you shake hands. The massivered-haired man at the back wasn’t smiling at all; if anything, he lookedresigned. The front man definitely fit the image conjured up by Hijikata’swords: he had feathery, artistically ruffled blond hair (Saitō probably knewthe hair gel), porcelain perfect features, expensively tailored clothes, andthe kind of walk that is almost unique to those who have been entitled sincebirth. Everything about him shouted Crown Prince.

“Hello there,” called Prince-sama. “Understand Fathergave you the run of the place for the day. Mind if we join you for a bit?”

Hijikata bared his teeth in something that was vaguely related to asmile.

“You must be Kazama Junior,” he drawled, radiating insincerepleasure. “Let me introduce you to the guys—I’m sure we’ll all get alonglike a city on fire.”

[END] [for now]

Notes:

* It’s a skill. Don’t ask how he does it.

Please review or comment or whatever if you get the chance! Also, I knowthis isn’t a vignette; more like a vine with half-fermented grapes…

~ImpracticalOni ;)

Note:  Good grief I left this in my drafts! Oh well. Better late than never.

Tag team:

@shell-senji @fury-ous @queen-mizera @kazama-hime @hakusaitosan @tealdeertamer @very-x-vice @sabinasanfanfic @walk-tall-my-fr1ends @hakuokifirst @annahakuouki @eliz1369 @canadiangaap @vav-airis @moon-faced-pear-shaped @lady-yomi @thesweateristoobig @doodlethewhiteraven 

As always let me know if you want to be added/taken off the list. Or if you’re just looking for certain characters or story types.

[impracticaldemon]

Hakuouki Vignettes ~ Oni Versus Oni

P.S. Love Shiranui smirking in the background!

[impracticaldemon]

🌸 Hakuouki Vignettes ~ Souji & Sakura  🌸

How cute is this?  🤗

[impracticaldemon]

How about 'relationship firsts' for Saito (x tofu) ~ canon 😃 I challenge you to keep it under 1000 words 😉

Dear @nalufever : Did you think that I’d forgotten? 😅 Words: 777 💙 || Read on FF.net HERE (Ch 3 of Hakuouki Vignettes)

For the Love of Tofu

Naturally, it was Heisukewho asked the question:

“Hajime-kun, when did you first decide that you loved tofu?”

Saitō frowned.  He couldn’t understand the relevance to thefar more interesting discussion that they’d been having about swords.  Notthat Heisuke had contributed much—he was not really a sword enthusiast—butShinpachi-san and Sōji had raised some valid points about the origins of thesword that Saitō was contemplating buying.

Shinpachi smacked Heisuke on the shoulder, although mostlybecause Heisuke got his head out of the way in time. 

“What does tofu have to do with swords?” he demanded, echoing Saitō’sthought.

Sōji snickered, his green eyes gleaming.  “Nothing,” heanswered, while Heisuke righted himself and glared at Shinpachi. “Heisuke’s just fed up with swords.”

Saitō looked reproachfully at Heisuke, who scowled and leanedback on his hands in order to stare up at the ceiling.

“Well I think it’s a reasonable question,” the younger captainmuttered, carefully studying the wooden beams and coincidentally avoiding Saitō’seyes.

“It’s a weird question and a weirder time to ask it,” Shinpachisaid firmly, rolling his eyes.

“No, no, I think I see a connection now,” Sōji put in,apparently changing his mind.  Heisuke looked at him hopefully. “After all,” Sōji continued, “tofu and swords are both things thatfascinate Haime-kun, who rarely seems interested in anything other than hiscurrent duty.”

“Right! Exactly!” Heisuke agreed, nodding vigorously.  “Infact, maybe I should go see what’s for lunch!” Unfortunately, Shinpachi yankedhim back by his pony-tail and he was unable to make his escape.

“I take it that Chizuru-chan’s helping out in the kitchen?”drawled Sōji.  He smirked when Heisuke reddened.  “Not that I neededto ask.  Besides, you asked Hajime-kun a question—you should at least bepolite enough to stick around for the answer.”

“Oh yeah, right, I-I forgot.” Heisuke glowered at Sōji, who justshrugged and looked pointedly at Saitō.

Saitō looked taken aback.

“You… really want to know when I first discovered that I preferredtofu to other foods?” he asked uncertainly.  Sōji grinned and nodded andHeisuke followed suit, although with noticeably less enthusiasm. Shinpachi rolled his eyes again.

Saitō considered for a moment.  “It was about four yearsago,” he said at last.  “I was travelling at the time and came across asword that I thought might be the later work of”—he broke off, correctlyinterpreting Heisuke’s expression—”ah, a sword that I thought I would like.”

“So the tofu was relevant after all!” commented Sōji toShinpachi.  “It proves my point that with Hajime-kun all things areconnected to swords and tofu.”

Saitō cleared his throat.  “I decided to purchase thesword.  The vendor saw that the purchase would leave me with very littlemoney, so he kindly invited me to have dinner with him.  His wife, heassured me, would not mind.  Naturally, I declined.”

“What? Why?” demanded Heisuke, who was curious despite hiselders’ amusement.

“By giving me a meal, the vendor was essentially reducing theprice of the sword below what I had agreed to pay,” Saitō responded flatly, asthough that ended the matter.

“Yeah, Heisuke, honestly! I thought Sano and I had raised youright!”

Heisuke still looked confused and Shinpachi was laughing, but Sōjijust nodded at Saitō. Relieved that he didn’t have to explain further, Saitōcontinued.

“The vendor was a kind and honourable man and saw that I wouldnot take their food without offering something in return.  Therefore, heproposed that I accompany him in three days’ time to Osaka, where he hadbusiness.  Also, I could stay with them if I assisted with their chores. As I had little money—”

“—having spent it all on a sword—” murmured Sōji, smilingfaintly—

“—I agreed,” Saitō concluded.

“And the tofu?” asked Heisuke, who was beginning to feel hungry,although not for tofu.

“The man’s wife had recently purchased a quantity of tofu. I helped her prepare the meals and saw how many different ways the same,healthful food could be prepared. I have liked tofu ever since.”

There was an extended silence.  It was Shinpachi whofinally voiced what they were all thinking:

“Uh, Saitō?  That wasa, a nice story and all… but only you would drag the bit aboutbuying a sword into it, you know?”

Saitō shook his head.  “If I had not bought the sword, Iwould not have learned to appreciate tofu.  Moreover, they are bothpleasing in similar ways:  even in the hands of a novice, each can fulfillits basic purpose.  However, in the hands of a master, they areincomparable.”

A/Note:  Well. Um.  Actually, I have no words. Let me know what you think!

@shell-senji @confused-tofu (because how could I forget you for this one?!) @annahakuouki @kurokiorya @eliz1369 @cherryb0mb79 @very-x-vice(Anyone else? Just let me know if you’d like to be on or off this list!)

[impracticaldemon]

Ok so you knew this was coming but either heisuke/chizuru or sannan/chizuru because both bae's need love of some sort and chizuru too ;-;

Sannan x Chizuru because I’ve never tried writing SanChi before.Words: ~1000  |  Read on Fanfiction HERE (Ch 2 of Hakuouki Vignettes)

Note:  I am about to play Sannan’s route in Shinkai (but haven’t yet).

The Importance of a Meal

After the injury to his arm, it was only due to Chizuru’s patience and persistence that Sannan had begun to eat his meals with the others again. The situation had changed again after he had taken the ochimizu and become a rasetsu.  

For a while, Okita-kun had insisted on being present when he woke up, which had been frustrating but understandable. What had really surprised the Shinsengumi Deputy Commander, however, was that eventually–once he had started waking in the evening and sleeping during the day– Chizuru had begun to arrive with his breakfast.

“You do not need to do this,” he had told her the first time she had arrived at his quarters not long after the sun had set.

“I understand, Sannan-san,” she had replied, in the quiet but slightly… determined… tone that he had heard before.  “However, you no longer eat your meals with the others and they are all concerned about you.  Again.”  There had been the mildest emphasis on the last word.

“They know why I am not there, Yukimura-kun,” Sannan had retorted, trying to sharpen his tone in an effort to rebuff the girl’s effort to make her actions seem connected to the well-being of the Shinsengumi.

“If you were to arrive in the common room when you rose, Sannan-san, I would be happy to bring you your breakfast there.”

It had been a baffling answer.  Not in the immediate sense–Sannan was a veteran of verbal gamesmanship and had understood why she had simply refused to deal with his statement, since in itself it was irrefutable.  What had puzzled him had been why she had persisted.  Her place with the Shinsengumi wasn’t precisely secure, but by that point it was certainly well-established.  She didn’t need to bring him food in order to gain enough sympathy to protect her life.

“Yukimura-kun, I do not wish to stumble over you every day–or evening!–when I wake up.  Do I make myself clear?”

Those had been his words, and he had thought that he’d made his sentiments quite plain.  Two days later, however, she had brought him his breakfast at ten in the evening.  In his rooms.  He had expostulated, and she had bowed politely and gone away–leaving the food with him, just as she had done when he had injured his arm.  He hadn’t bothered to ask for her reasons.  He had known that she would insist that by waiting until he had been up for some time, she was obeying his wish not to be bothered when he had just woken up.

Somehow, he hadn’t been surprised when she had turned up the next evening as well.  The only thing that had surprised him–and bothered him–was that for some reason he had hoped that she would show up despite his grumblings.  That evening he had tried a different tactic, and had ignored her entirely.  She had ignored him ignoring her, although it had meant that she had waited some time before leaving his room.  It wasn’t until much later, in the middle of a delicate experiment, that it occurred to him that he had allowed her to come in to begin with.  His feelings of unease had grown–she always asked politely before entering, so why had he told her to come in only to ignore her once she was there?

Tonight, he found himself on edge, his eyes straying to the window to judge the time by the sliver of moon that had risen.  It was better than turning to look at his clock (an expensive and treasured belonging), which would force him to recognize his anxiety–or whatever it was–as something other than anticipated irritation.  Was he going to deny her entrance?

“Sannan-san?  It’s Chizuru with your meal.”  There was a pause and Sannan found himself clenching his teeth so as not to tell her to enter.

She defeated him despite his care, however.  After a suitable pause, Sannan heard a murmured: “Shitsurei shimasu.” Then Chizuru entered, bowed, and deposited the tray with his breakfast.  Almost against his will, Sannan turned to watch her.  He could see that she was slightly frightened; she knew–or thought she knew–that he would be angry with her.  Which he should be.  He shouldn’t have to give her a direct order to prevent her from disturbing him.  She was not unintelligent.

“Arigatou gozaimasu, Yukimura-kun,” he said, instead of delivering the short but blistering reprimand that he had intended.

Chizuru looked up into his face, obviously startled.  Then she managed a small smile of relief, which brightened her soft brown eyes and made her look quite pretty, even in her boys’ clothing.

“You are very welcome, Sannan-san.  I hope you will enjoy the food.”  

Sannan nodded and gently touched her shoulder before she could bow again and take her leave.

“I will consider eating–or at least having tea–with the others whenever it is dark enough during the evening meal time.  Will that relieve their anxiety?”  He couldn’t help a slight, dubious stress on the word “their”, which Chizuru naturally ignored.

“Yes, thank you Sannan-san.  If I do not see you at dinner, I will bring your food here.  I promise to be very quiet–in case you are working.”

He noticed that she refrained from asking his permission.  For some reason this didn’t bother him the way that it should have, though.  He also noticed that he was still touching her and quickly dropped his hand back to his knee.

“Very well, Yukimura-kun, since you seem so determined on the matter.  Good night.”

“Oyasumi, Sannan-san,” replied Chizuru. He thought he detected a hint of something like fondness in her tone and cursed himself for a fool.  Fortunately, she bowed and left before he could do anything truly foolish.

Sannan stared at the closed door for a few minutes after Chizuru left, even though his food was cooling beside him.  He reminded himself again that his life, such as it was, was wholly dedicated to the Shinsengumi.  There was no room for personal attachments.  Besides, if–if–he cared about the girl at all, he would make sure to keep her as far away as possible.  He had made his choice and was no longer a creature who walked in the light as she did.

[END]

Note:  All comments are appreciated! Reviews, follows, notes, PMs… I enjoy hearing from readers (even just to ask a question or point out a typo). 😊

@thesweateristoobig (of course) and also @yggdrasilpie and @sannankeisukecolonel ~ I hope you enjoy this!

[impracticaldemon]

Hakuouki Vignettes: Cherry Blossom Viewing

A new gif for the season.

[impracticaldemon]

Hakuouki Vignettes ~ Saitou Hajime

Not just bloodlust, Hajime-kun?  😅