I originally started writing this for Gintoki's birthday, but then it turned out to not be a one-shot and I didn't finish it in time. Decided to post it now for GinHijiGin week.
Hijikata reached up for his next handhold and cursed as his hand slipped right off its icy surface. He let out a growl, mad at himself for messing up so early on in scaling the cliff. He'd already made it past this spot numerous times, he was just being sloppy. Katsura's stupid voice rang in his head to add to his self-reprimand, 'Why don't you just give up? You'll never reach them.'
He was annoyed and frustrated after so many failed attempts and so many wasted days of having to start over after falling; he was getting so close to giving up. Fueled by anger, he felt himself heating up despite the chill and just blindly scaled the rest of the cliff face as fast as he could. Somehow, he made it to the top without hitting any traps or losing his grip.
He collapsed onto the snowy ground, breathing heavily, his breaths making little white puffs in the frigid air. He stared up into the sky, watching snowflakes fall lazily and catching some in his eyelashes. Everything was silent except for his gasps. If he weren't in the domain of a horribly dangerous being, Hijikata would probably find it all very peaceful. Instead, he felt vulnerable. He only lay there long enough to catch his breath. His pack and his sword were both digging into him, making it unbearably uncomfortable to remain lying on his back.
As he sat up, snow fell from his hair. He had to brush some of it off his ponytail before tucking it back into his coat and pulling the hood up again. For how brief their exposure had been, his ears were now painfully cold. Hijikata had known that as he got closer to his destination, the temperature would continue to drop, but he hadn't expected it to get this cold. He hoped the many layers of clothing he had on didn't turn out to be inadequate. It would be sad if he managed to make his way past all of the obstacles just to freeze to death. Especially considering he had tried to prepare himself for confronting the one who was to blame for the years-long winter: a being who had the power to freeze anything.
He had to be close now. Up here on the plateau there were no trees, just a flat expanse of pure white, undisturbed snow like an immaculately blank canvas. Off in the distance he could barely make out what he assumed to be the rumored castle made entirely of snow and ice, marring the otherwise pristine landscape. The castle was what had given the magical being their name: the Snow Queen or Snow King depending on who you asked. No one who had seen this person had lived to tell of it, or at least no one who wasn't a friend of them like Katsura was. There were rumors that led Hijikata to believe Snow King was the correct guess, though.
Hijikata kept his hand on his sword's hilt as he walked towards the castle, the crunching of the snow underfoot sounding awfully loud in the still air. He hadn't run into Katsura today, but now he felt as though it was only a matter of time before he summoned the nuisance with all the noise he was making. And of course the Snow King was definitely alerted to the fact that he had an intruder, one he had known was coming for days now. Hijikata kept getting tenser as he got closer to the castle, unable to keep himself from thinking about how much of a disadvantage he was at. He could be attacked any minute, or fall into some sort of pit trap and be stuck there until the Snow King decided to deal with him. And Hijikata would seriously be dependent on his enemy; he had no one who would come looking for him if he disappeared.
A week and a half ago Kondo had left with others who had decided to follow him into the city, leaving behind the place they had lived for most if not all of their lives. They were going to make something of themselves, become protectors of the peace. They were heading to the city, but were making a week-long stop at an onsen on the way to bond before they started their new life, according to Kondo. Hijikata had politely declined going on the trip, saying he would just meet them in the city since he wasn't ready to leave yet. Kondo had looked disappointed but didn't push him any further. Hijikata longed to be there to support Kondo, wasn't happy about the fact Sougo was there instead of him, but there was something he had to do before he left this place behind.
After an uneventful trek devoid of any of the traps he had been expecting after all the false handholds and mini avalanches he had encountered on the cliff, Hijikata stopped in front of the castle. It was smaller than he had expected and rather plain. There was also no sign of life that Hijikata could detect, making him wonder if anyone was home. He hadn't considered the possibility that no one would be here, but for now he was going to assume the Snow King was waiting inside for him, ready to attack.
With a hand that was shaking slightly, definitely due to the cold and not his nerves, Hijikata drew his sword. He wasn't about to allow his sword to get frozen into its sheath, leaving him effectively unarmed. Of course, if his opponent was actually able to do that it would probably mean there would be other things he could do that Hijikata would be unable to really defend against. Hijikata tried not to think about the fact that there was a big chance he was going to his death. If Kondo knew what he was doing, the overly protective man would've immediately stopped him, which is why Hijikata had waited until he was gone to do this. He knew Kondo would've been right to stop him from this probably suicidal thing. As much as it pained him to not only not have gone with Kondo but also to do something like this behind his back, he knew he would be haunted by worse if he didn't at least attempt to get justice after so many years.
Hijikata took a deep breath, using his free hand to push one of the castle's doors open. Despite its large size, it opened easily. Hijikata stepped inside, and after the door shut behind him, there was an immediate drop in temperature. He couldn't help but shiver. This was getting ridiculous. The asshole already changed the entire climate of the area, and it just kept getting more severe as Hijikata got closer to him. What if Hijikata froze to death merely by getting too close to him?
He carefully treaded across the floor which was thankfully snowy instead of icy. He was still on the lookout for traps, although he couldn't imagine where they would be in such a simple room. It was a big foyer with hardly any furniture or decorations, some lights being the only things not made of snow or ice. There was another set of doors almost as big as the outer entrance ones on the other end of the room, and Hijikata assumed that behind them he would find the Snow Whoever. He didn't give himself time to second guess what he was doing and pushed one of the doors open.
It was a small room, and again very plain, with only a chair at the far end that the Snow King sat on, a wooden sword leaning up against his leg. And it was a Snow King, he was pretty sure. The man almost blended in with his surroundings, being clothed in a simple, pure white yukata. His skin was pale and his hair was light silver, even though he looked around Hijikata's own age. The only bit of color to him was his eyes: they looked brown, possibly with a tinge of red. Those eyes were now coldly regarding him, hard to read. He didn't seem surprised at all by the fact Hijikata was now here, but it was hard to tell if he was angry.
"Let me guess: you're here to kill me," the Snow King said, stating it as though it were a simple fact.
"Why else would I spend so much time trying to get here? You've ruined the place I've lived all my life and caused everyone to suffer, bastard. I'm here to put an end to that."
"You'd think that with all those traps you kept falling into you would've realized that maybe I didn't want any visitors. It's also weird that you're here to fight me alone. Don't you have any friends?"
"Why would I tell you if I did? Are you making fun of me?" Hijikata ground his teeth, barely keeping himself back from lunging and attacking right now. "I'm here to stop you from hurting and killing any more people and you're making fucking jokes? Don't you feel any remorse?"
The Snow King furrowed his brows. "Of course I do, but I'm not going to just sit here and let someone kill me. And I wasn't making fun of you, I actually was curious. Why did you come here without any help? Do you really think you can beat me by yourself?"
Hijikata fought to keep himself from shivering, wanting to be as steady as his resolve as he answered, "This is something I have to do myself, and there's no way I'm letting anyone else risk their life for this."
The Snow King was silent for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. Hijikata tensed in anticipation of an attack, but the Snow King merely spoke, "Alright, I'll give you a fair fight. If you win, I'll leave here. If I win, you won't come after me again."
"What's to stop me from just killing you?"
The Snow King didn't bother to answer, instead standing silently and grabbing the bokuto leaned against his chair. He slowly and deliberately descended the stairs that led up to the dais his "throne" sat upon. His eyes had lost their sharp look and were now dull with hooded eyelids. All Hijikata could think of was a dead fish, and it annoyed him. It felt like he wasn't even being considered a threat, especially since his opponent wasn't even deigning to use a real sword.
As soon as the Snow King got far enough away from the stairs, Hijikata charged him, wanting to get the upper hand before the other could realize he had underestimated Hijikata Toushirou. Thankfully the ground was even and not slippery, so Hijikata was able to quickly close the distance between them.
Hijikata aimed a blow at his opponent's right arm, but it was easily blocked. Without pausing, he unleashed a flurry of blows, hoping to overwhelm. At least it put the Snow King on the defensive even if he blocked everything with his surprisingly hard wooden sword that somehow remained unscratched. The intensity also returned to his eyes as they fought which gave Hijikata some small satisfaction.
Hijikata was surprised they seemed to be evenly matched. He knew he was a good swordsman, as good as or better than anyone he had met including Kondo and Sougo, though Sougo was still young and could possibly grow to pass him. Hijikata also had plenty of experience fighting others due to his wild youth. But here he was failing to land a hit.
Just as he thought he was going to succeed, the Snow King dodged out of the way, swinging his bokuto at Hijikata's opening for his first attack of the fight. Hijikata barely changed his momentum to block in time. The blow had more force behind it than he had expected, and he staggered back a step to regain his balance. Now it was his turn to be on the defensive as he struggled to keep up.
The guy was obviously very skilled, but his sword style wasn't like any that Hijikata had ever seen. It was too hard to predict his attacks, and he seemed to always be able to react appropriately to Hijikata's attempts to counter. It was a stalemate until Hijikata misread a feint, and his right hand received a hard smack, making it very painful to keep holding his katana. The next instant his katana was being wrested from his grasp, falling to the ground next to the Snow King.
"I won," the Snow King said as he put his bokuto into his belt.
Like hell was Hijikata going to just give up. As the Snow King advanced on him, he kept walking backwards, trying to subtly reach into his pack and feel around in it for what he was looking for. The Snow King looked amused by Hijikata's actions. What the hell was that asshole's problem? It just further motivated him to continue to fight back.
His hand finally closed around the hilt of the knife, right as he tripped over something low. He found himself falling right onto some sort of chair made out of ice. Before he could get up, the Snow King was already right in front of him, placing an icy hand on Hijikata's cheek. He shivered violently at the touch. He tried to pull away, but he was trapped, his head hitting the solid barrier that had formed behind him.
"Now to make sure you don't come back," the Snow King muttered, moving his head closer.
Hijikata had no clue why the space between their faces was shrinking, but he took the opportunity to pull the knife out of his pack and tried to stab the Snow King in the neck. The Snow King simultaneously jerked his head to the side and deflected the attack with his hand, resulting in him just getting a shallow cut, much to Hijikata's dismay. And of course he instantly disarmed Hijikata.
"Whoa, that was a close one. Guess I underestimated you." The Snow King put a hand to his neck, feeling out the cut. It was barely bleeding, but the blood stood out starkly against his pale skin. He unconcernedly tossed the knife aside before returning his attention to Hijikata.
Hijikata was out of options, filling him with a mixture of anger and panic. He tried to stand, but his feet slipped on ice before he could even get his ass up. He felt like a cornered beast, and the feeling just got worse as his personal space was invaded. He tried kicking the Snow King in the stomach, but it was hard to get much power behind the kick with the position he was in. The Snow King just took it with a little grunt before continuing to lean in. Hijikata tried to shove him back, but the Snow King grabbed a wrist with one hand and put his other back on Hijikata's cheek, pinning his head in place. The Snow King took a deep breath, holding it as his face kept getting closer.
Eyes widening, Hijikata spat out, "What the hell-" He was cut off as he was kissed on the lips. He clenched his jaw reflexively, but his lips were slightly parted by a cool tongue. Cold air flooded his mouth as the Snow King exhaled into it, and there wasn't anything Hijikata could do to stop it.
All the warmth in his body was slowly bleeding away. His energy was leaving with it, and his eyelids were growing heavier. As he fought to keep his eyes open, he found himself staring into the Snow King's and realized that they were actually crimson. They were also going to be the last thing he saw as he drifted towards unconsciousness. Even though he knew that he should be freaking out more, he couldn't muster up the energy to. Eyes sliding shut, his last thought was, 'I'm sorry, Kondo-san.'