Okita's L ve

"Hey! Where's my food?" Okita exclaimed, looking around the table as if it was hiding there somewhere.

"You snooze, you lose," Kagura said matter-of-factly.

"What the - ?!?" He looked at her with surprise. He just noticed that she was the one who took it. "Why the heck would you steal my food?!?"

"I didn't STEAL them. They begged Me to TAKE them," she answered, her mouth full of noodles.

Okita glared at her. Hijikata chuckled.

"What are YOU laughing about?" Okita barked.

"Oh nothing," Hijikata replied. "I just don't understand why you're always surprised of her manners."

"Manners," Okita mumbled in disgust. "Pigs don't have manners."

Hijikata gasped. Kagura suddenly stopped chewing, a noodle hanging on the side of her mouth. Noticing the silence, Okita looked up.

"What. Did. You. Say." Kagura asked through gritted teeth.

"I said pigs don't have manners," he said rather proudly.

"You - !!!" she yelled. She started to reach for him, but Okita ran to the door. "How dare you call me a pig?!?!?!"

Okita stuck his tongue out. Being 16 years old, and older between the two, it was pretty childish. Kagura started to run towards him when Hijikata stopped her.

"That's enough."

Kagura looked him straight in the eyes. She sighed and went back to the table. She started eating again as if nothing happened. Okita just looked at her then to Hijikata, who was quietly sipping his tea. He bit his lower lip, and eyes filled with anger and sadness, he looked away.

"I'm going to train," he muttered.

"Again? But it's already dark," said Hijikata.

"I'm going to train," Okita muttered again.

Hijikata sighed defeatedly. "Fine, just be careful."

Okita grunted. "I don't need you worrying about me." He looked at Kagura then left.

Hijikata watched him leave while Kagura didn't show any concern, but stopped eating all the while.

"You should go after him."

"Who, me?" Kagura asked.

"Who else, Kagura?" his tone was serious.

"Ugh. Fine," she agreed unwillingly.

"Thank you," Hijikata said.

"What's his problem anyway?"

"I guess it's because he's becoming a man," he replied, looking at her.

"A man," Kagura scoffed. "He hasn't even had a - " she stopped, not wanting to say anything inappropriate in front of Hijikata.

"Hmm…? What's that?"

"Nothing," she said as she left hastily, giggling quietly.

"Hmm. well, wasn't that just weird?" Hijikata said thoughtfully then drank the last of his tea.

Kagura ran very swiftly through the woods towards the training range. She was wearing a red-and-black china dress, a folded sun umbrella tied across her body. She was expecting sounds coming from the range's direction, but there was nothing. When she finally got there, she couldn't find Okita.

"What the - " she muttered. "Okita! Where the heck are you?"

No one answered. It was very dark; she couldn't even see the ground.

"Okita!!!" she called again. Nothing.

She started walking around the area, hoping to bump into him, thinking he might have just fallen asleep. She then heard something move in the bushes near the river. She walked towards it.

"Okita, why are you playing hide-and-seek?" her tone was a bit annoyed. "Okita?"

No answer. She moved closer. She reached behind the bushes, ready to yank Okita out of hiding, but she was surprised when he threw her towards the riverbed.

"What the heck is your problem?" Kagura yelled, standing up. Then she saw it wasn't Okita at all. With the help of the moonlight, she saw that it was one of their enemies. "Crap."

The ninja charged, his sword shining through the night. Kagura leaped out of his away, and reached for her sun umbrella. She couldn't reach it; it was gone. She looked around while the man started to attack her again. She dodged them, but she knew she couldn't do it forever. She finally saw her sun umbrella, lying beside the bushes. She tried to get closer to it, but every time her enemy would move her away from it.

"Dang it!" she exclaimed.

She leaped, kicked, ran and jumped away from his pursuer's attacks, but he was persistent and fast. He finally got her pinned on a tree, ready to kill her with his sword. Then suddenly, the man grunted and released Kagura unwillingly. She saw Okita holding his own sword towards the ninja, blood dripping from the sharp blade. The man tried to get away, but it was too late. Okita struck and finished him at last.

Silence surrounded them. They didn't look at each other, only at the man in the black clothes.

"Hmph! You didn't need to come," Kagura said indifferently. "I got it under control."

"You got it under control, alright," Okita muttered. "For your own death! What were you thinking going out here?!?"

"Well, I just thought to take a stroll and hoped to find a ninja hiding behind the bushes so he can kill me," she said sarcastically then yelled, "Of course I came to get you!"

"Get me? Why on earth would I need you to get me? And why did you leave your weapon lying around like a piece of twig?" Okita asked, holding the sun umbrella on his left hand.

"Hijikata told me, and for your information, I dropped it!" she yelled again. She snatched it out of his grasp, and started to leave.

"Oh…" Okita muttered. She stopped.

"Oh what?"

"Huh," he looked away from her, towards the flowing river. "Hijikata told you. And here I thought you were worried about me for once."

"What?" Kagura asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Just," he hesitated then sighed. "Just go back to the house, to Hijikata."

Kagura watched him move towards the riverbed. Her mind told her to leave already, but her body moved on its own, following him. She sat beside him, looking at him under the moonlight.

"Why won't you tell me?" she asked quietly.

"Oh now you want to know?" he asked bitterly, turning his head to look at her. he realized she was serious…and sad. He sighed.

"Kagura," he started." I-I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" she asked, befuddled for the second time.

"I know that you're in love with Hijikata. I saw the way you look at him, how you do whatever he tells you to do."

"So?" Kagura asked defensively. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Yes, everything of it!" he exclaimed. "You're 14 and he's 23. And you can't do everything he says; he's not a god. What if he asked you to burn this whole city, would you do it? How about to kill all the people her? To jump over a cliff? To kill your- "

"Yes, yes, yes, and YES!!!" Kagura yelled. "I'd do anything he tells me to do."

"What if he tells you to kill me?"

"What? Kill you? He'd never ask for that," she laughed half-heartedly.

"What if…?" Okita looked her straight in the eyes, waiting.

"You know what? You're insane," she started to get up, but Okita took her hand, stopping her.

"It's wrong, Kagura, because I don't want you to love him. I want you to," he looked away and let go of her hand. "I want you to love me."

"You wha-"

"I really like you, Kagura," he said, looking at her direction. "I like your hair, your eyes, your scent." He ran his fingers through her hair; touched her eyes, which made Kagura close them involuntarily; caressed her cheeks very gently; and touched her bottom lip with his thumb, tracing it slowly, back and forth.

"Kagura?" he called quietly. She opened her eyes quickly and met his. She saw him leaning towards her, but she couldn't stop him, she didn't want to. She could her heart beating so loud and fast.

"Kagura, I love you," Okita whispered and pressed his lips to hers very gently and sweetly. He kissed her for about a minute then pulled away. He looked at her and waited for her to say something.

"Okita! Kagura!" someone called. It was Hijikata looking for them. "Where are you? It's really late and dark now."

Okita kept looking at Kagura and saw her turn around, looking at the house's direction. He sighed.

"What I told you is true," he said, standing up. He started to leave, stopped, then turned to look at her. "Just think about it."

Okita left without another word, leaving Kagura still unsettled. She stayed there for a few more seconds, pondering and pondering.

"Kagura! Come back now!" Hijikata called again.

She looked at his voice's direction, to the river, then to where Okita sat. she touched her lips unthinkingly, bit it, then made a heavy sigh. She stood up, picking her sun umbrella off the ground, and started walking towards the woods, towards the house, towards Hijikata, and towards Okita.

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