A/N: Hi all! So I rescently watched hakuouki and also read some awesome fanfiction-particularly saitoxchizuru; i've officially fallen in love with them as a couple so i'm trying my hand at a one-shot-possibly more-of these two. hope you enjoy!

xoxo!

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from the moment he laid eyes on chizuru yukimura, hajime saito knew he was in trouble.

he didn't know if it was the fact that she dressed as a man,

that she was a lone woman, braving the perilous streets of kyoto in search of her father,

or if it was her brazen determination to stand up to hijikata and the rest of the shinsengumi.

perhaps it was no particular one thing but all of them together that rendered him in this present dangerous situation but regardless, he knew that this would possibly be the most difficult battle he would fight in his entire life.

it angered him at first; she had no business being allowed to survive-being a witness of the shinsengumi's secret plans to save the empire, for all intensive purposes, she should have been slain on the spot.

but hijikata-san had been adament that she be aloud to survive on account of her familial connection with kondo-san.

yes, he was definitely angry

and pissed off

and completely confused.

he couldn't fathom what his commander's purpose was in all of this; keeping her alive made absolutely no sense to him. but then he was never one to question hijikata's orders...at least, not openly.

so he kept his mouth shut

and followed orders.

secondly, he was irritated by the fact that she seemed completely unpurterbed by the fact that she was forced to reside in the company of soley men-and not just regular men, but skilled warriors, proficient in the deadly arts. not only did she seem completely unbothered by her present predicament, she even had the audacity to venture outside of her quarters-which he had explicitly instructed her not to leave-and beg him to give her some useful task to undertake.

he was irritated by her blatant disregard of his strict instructions but if possible, he was even more annoyed by the fact that she was desperate to be of service to him and his comrades.

she was a prisoner! didn't she understand that? yet here she was, acting as if she owed them a huge debt of grattitude and she would not give way until he had-reluctantly-given her permission to undertake the household duties of cleaning and cooking.

what made it even worse was the way her doe-like brown eyes sparkled with child-like excitment at the prospect of finally being useful. and the bright radiant smile she bestowed upon him as she bowed and let out an enthusiastic "arigatou, saito-san!" bounding away, was even more painful for his sensibilites to withstand.

as time went on, these little irritations and inconveniences became more and more frequent from the moment that she was finally aloud to wander about outside of her quarters, to the moment that she was invited to take meals with them, all the way up to the moment that she was finally 'welcomed' and recognized as one of them.

and when that moment arrived, saito knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was in great peril...

he had-against all odds and inspite of his whole-hearted efforts-fallen completely and passionately in love with chizuru yukimura.

there was no denying it.

or running away from it.

he'd denied it for the entire year that she had been among them and at every moment of their interaction when he had feared discovery, he had fled from her with everything he had.

but it was to no avail.

somehow she had been faster than him.

and unwittingly, she had completely bewitched him-mind, heart and soul and there was no amount of fighting or denial on his part that could free himself from her now.

she was too brave.

too sweet and kind.

too selfless.

too enchanting.

too innocent.

too beautiful.

how could he look at her and deny the burning fire that rose in his chest every time her doe eyes turned their gaze upon him.

how could he pretend that the deep ache in his heart didn't exist or that the sharp hunger and longing in his body for her was just a figment of his imagination?

he couldn't.

so he did the only thing he knew how.

he took all of his feelings and passions for her and burried them deep within himself, locking them away so that there was no possible way they could ever be discovered.

he kept his mind busy with more strenuous training, intense meditation and prayer and of course, the vibrant company of his comrades also afforded him a great deal of distraction.

but even still, there were those rare moments that he was still unable to completely quell his thoughts and desires for her.

and this was one such moment; when she unexpectedly brought him his morning tea after he'd spent a few long hours of meditation at the small temple shrine.

"your tea, saito-san."

He turned somewhat abruptly to find her kneeling at his side, facing him with a cup of warm black tea in her hand with that insufferably beautiful smile gracing her lips.

"chizuru-san...I don't recall sending for tea-?"

"oh you didn't saito-san-that is, you didn't have to, i just know that you like to take your tea right after your morning prayers so i thought i'd bring it out to you and save you the trouble!" she beamed brightly at him.

that was another thing that annoyed him-she knew his habits to a t. but this annoyance wasn't in the true sense of the word, it simply made it all the more difficult for him to conceal his affections for her and it made it exceedingly difficult for him to focus on keeping these passions at bay. he had been quite proficient so far and overall, managed to maintain his decorum and indifference towards her without too much effort. but when she appeared before him like this-alone and offering him such little comforts that betrayed her thorough knowlege of his likes and dislikes, it was suddenly a painful and constant uphill battle to maintain his self-control and poise in her presence. but there wasn't much that could be done about it now so swallowing the tightness coiling in his throat and shoving down the discomfort swelling up in his chest, he set his countenance in a calm and controlled expression and took the proferred tea from her outstretched hands.

the moment the warm liquid touched his tongue, he withdrew it almost as if he'd been burned and turned astonished eyes on her.

"this...this is black tea."

she nodded but her eyes looked at him quizzically. "yes...? is it to your taste? I didn't brew it for too long did I?!" her eyes widened with panic just then and her cheeks tinged red with mounting embarassment.

"no. no it isn't...it is brewed just fine, chizuru-san...it is just that...very few know that i prefer black tea to the traditional green tea..." he trailed off, his sapphire eyes gazing once again at the contents of his cup.

"O-oh. well i-i've noticed that there's only one canister of black tea in the tea cabinet-and i've never seen any of the others use it-and whenever you've taken tea with the rest of us, yours is always poured from a separate kettle than the green tea. so i knew it had to be you...I hope i haven't overstepped or-o-offended you, saito-san." her head tilted slightly downwards and her cheeks still held a hint of red but then saito did something that surprised her.

he laid a hand on her head-somewhat affectionately-and offered her the smallest of smiles, yet coming from a man like saito who was always so calm and serious, that smile seemed like the brightest ray of sunshine and she couldn't help the blush that rose to her cheeks-now for very different reasons. "do not worry yourself, little chizuru...you haven't offended me in any way...thank you for the tea." his hand lingered for a moment longer than he'd intended and suddenly fearing he was crossing a line, his hand slipped wordlessly from her head and he returned to drinking his tea in silence.

chizuru watched him for a moment, her eyes lingering on his handsome profile that was always fixed in such a serene and serious expression. she wondered what his smile would look like...and not one of his small shy smiles that he so rarely offered...but an actual smile that reached his eyes; she smiled softly then, imagining that nothing could be more beautiful than saito's sapphire eyes gleaming with a smile.

"was-there something else, chizuru-san?"

"eh?"

"you're-staring at me."

she blushed furiously just then. oh gods, i got distracted-ugh, he must think i'm such a fool!

"f-forgive me, saito-san!" she bowed apologetically, still blushing furiously under his penetrating stare. "it was nothing...excuse me!" scrambling to her feet, she turned and hurried back inside to attend to the morning housework and to escape saito's earnest eyes which were somehow making her nervous and giddy all at once.

she softly, but firmly pounded the side of her head with the heal of her hand. stop being so silly, chizuru! you shouldn't be having such ridiculous thoughts about saito-san; he is your superior and your friend-nothing more!

but if chizuru had chanced one last glance over her shoulder, she would have seen hajime saito's sapphire eyes lingering after her and a rare, beautiful smile on his lips. "...chizuru...why must you...steal away my heart?"