Author's Note: Here is my first Hakuouki fanfiction. I would not recommend reading this if you have not reached episode 18 of the Hakuouki anime yet, for this fic contains spoilers.
I noticed that they more or less kicked Nagakura out of the show. He's really minor this season, which irks me, because he's hilarious. He's not my favorite character, but I wish I could see more of him in Hakuouki: Hekketsu-Roku.
Enjoy.
In the opinion of Nagakura Shinpachi, Shimabara had always been the most excellent place in the whole of Japan. His best weapon had always been his trusty sword. The finest day was always the day when he received his wages. The best drink was most definitely sake, and the best time to drink it was at night, away from duty, with a pretty geisha and friends next to him. It was preferable that either Sano or Heisuke would foot the bill, but he didn't complain on paying if it was on his pay day.
You're so simple, Shinpachi-san, Okita had once mocked him. You could be presented with a single bottle of sake while the others get a hundred ryo, and you'd still be happy. Well, maybe it's good you're so simple like that. You'll probably keep your sanity longer than any of us if you don't die of a liver infection first.
The following July, Okita Souji vanished at a pass outside Aizu Shimizu-ya, and Harada Sanosuke was never to be seen again. Hijikata Toshizou suffered from severe battle wounds at the Battle of Utsunomiya, and Saito Hajime suffered a large amount of pressure while attempting to handle the Shinsengumi and defeat the Satsuma and Choushuu forces. Toudou Heisuke was forced to remain in hiding with the rest of the Rasetsu Unit.
The world had changed. The era of swords and spears had fallen; guns now dominated the battlefield. And Nagakura Shinpachi was forced to watch Okita's prediction come true, and his simplistic way of living turn complicated.
Sometimes he still wished that he could be as simple as he had been before, and just sit down with a bottle of sake and get drunk with his friends again. He didn't mind if he had to foot the bill on his small wallet; he only wished to be able to experience the carefree feeling once more.
Right then, however, it wasn't possible. It was absolutely necessary that they had to defeat the Satsuma and Choushuu forces, and there was no time to stop and relax. For the sake of the Shinsengumi, he had to keep working hard.
Someday he hoped to be able to sit down with a tokkuri of sake and be able to forget his worries and drink to old time's sake. Even though many of his old drinking friends weren't with him anymore, Shinpachi decided that he would drink in memoir of them, and of the Shinsengumi. He'd drink for the people he'd met over the course of his life.
Maybe when he got drunk he could meet everyone once more.
Additional Notes:
Ryo - The currency they used in Japan before they switched over to yen
Shimabara - A district in Kyoto. Nagakura frequents there quite often with Heisuke and Harada in the Drama CDs.
Tokkuri - A special container used to hold sake.
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