disclaimer! I don't own Hakuouki; Kawa belongs to me.


I


::::::::fb::::::::

"Your dream is to become a samurai, huh?" The girl wondered from staring up at the clear blue sky.

The boy nodded, throwing a glance at her. "You don't like it, do you?"

"No, I do." She raised a hand to the sky as if to snatch a thin cloud passing by, fingers outstretched. "I just think ya shouldn't go it alone. Friends stick together, don't they?" She mused.

The surprise that had appeared on his face faded slowly to be replaced with an understanding light. "So you'll come with me." He didn't ask.

Her fingers enclosed into a fist, nails lightly carving crescents into her soft palm. "Need you ask?" She smiled.

:::::::bf::::::::

"Geez, I can swear this is what feeding horses must feel like…" The woman grumbled, keeping her grip steady on the bag of vegetables in her right hand, looking up at the sky to see the sun slowly dying and painting the oncoming twilight with heavy shades of orange and pink and scarlet.

She exhaled in relief once setting foot on the mansion grounds, walking into the inner recesses with a slight bounce in her step; the sooner she got rid of the damn groceries, the better…

"I see no reason ta be polite to ya." A familiar voice halted her steps short of stepping onto the porch.

"S-Sorry?" A stranger voice stammered, sounding surprised and confused at the same time.

Knowing the original voice too well by this point, she silently exhaled, a vein twitching on her brow, and she turned in the direction of the well.

Well she did need help carrying the groceries in…

"What; if ya got a problem with that, well then…"

THWACK
.

"Didn't your sister teach you not to harass guests? Geez." She shook her left hand aimlessly and then placed it on her hip, scowling at him.

Rubbing his head gingerly, preferably the bump her reputed iron fist had dealt him, he grimaced. "O-oi, what was that for? That hurt!" He declared, looking up at her with stung green eyes.

The woman huffed, a dry scowl on her pretty face. "It's what you deserve, being an asshat to someone ya barely know!" She reasoned exasperatedly.

"I wasn't being an asshat; cripes, I was just teasin' the kid is all. Lighten up, Kawa-chan." The brunette samurai defended, a hurt pout on his handsome face.

The boy he'd been 'teasing' blinked a couple of times before looking at the woman properly, from her black hair that was drawn into a loose ponytail to her light olive skin and then to her hourglass frame she hid under a white sleeveless yukata and navy hakama. He noticed the two swords at her right hip, distinctly seeing blue under the black leather of the hilt, the silver pommels… A female warrior?

"…Teasing, right. And I'm actually an oni princess… That was so funny I forgot to laugh, Souji." She was saying, a knowing look on her face that she shot the brunette with, one brow raised.

"Um, sorry but do you live here too?" The boy asked, speaking before the brunette could fire back a snarky remark to the woman, making them both blink and look at him.

The woman lifted both brows at instantly catching sight of the boy's berserker blue hair drawn into a high ponytail and then his orange eyes. A smile began tugging at the corners of her full lips as she noticed he only looked to be a year or two younger than her. "Yeah. Sorry that this jerk was screwin' with you; he doesn't play well with other children. You're the kid Serizawa picked up the other day, then, it's good to see you're up and moving so soon." She nodded, an apologetic look crossing her face.

The boy blinked a third time and then instinctively rubbed the back of his neck, laughing slightly. "It's okay, I didn't expect anyone visited the well a lot…" He said, feeling a sweatdrop form on his brow when noticing the aforementioned 'jerk' scowling sorely at the woman with catty green eyes.

"Oi…" He began.

"I see your venture to the market was successful, Yasakawa-kun." All three looked to see a bespectacled brunette coming forward, his familiar friendly smile on his face.

Said woman shrugged and smiled sheepishly, "It wasn't much trouble, San'nan-san, really. I was gonna head to the kitchen when I heard this one…" She gestured to the brunette still seated on the lip of the well, "not making nice with this kid." She explained.

"That explains things, then; Okita-kun you should thank Yasakawa-kun for stepping in, knowing that Hijikata-kun would yell up a storm if you had gotten too rowdy." He said to the brunette.

He pouted sorely before exhaling and standing up. "'Rowdy'? Well that ain't nice, San'nan-san. I already told Kawa-chan that we were just playin' around; and anyway, he started it." He remarked.

"And knowing you, you were the one who instigated him." He countered knowingly, ignoring the returned pout aimed at him and the quieted snicker from the woman, looking at the bluenette. "I believe you're the one Serizawa-san rescued, aren't you? Have you recovered from your injuries?" He asked.

"Yeah, but um, where is that Serizawa guy now?" He nodded, looking at him.

"Serizawa-san is currently out, but he'll be back tonight."

"He's out, huh…"

"What do you need with Serizawa-san?"

"I was told to thank him for saving me before I go."

"Hang on, aren't you gonna thank Kondou-san?" The lankier brunette piped up, earning both men's attention.

"'Kondou-san'?" The bluenette repeated in slight confusion.

"He's the highest-ranking member of the Roshigumi." The only woman present answered calmly. She looked at the brunette nearest her and handed him the bag of vegetables. "You, come on; I need help putting these in the kitchen before they go bad." She looked at the two and smiled lightly, "See ya later; nice meeting you, um…" She faltered when realizing she didn't get the bluenette's name.

"Eh? Oh right! I'm Ibuki, Ibuki Ryunosuke." The boy answered, looking at her sheepishly.

"Nice meeting you then, Ibuki-kun." She smiled again before turning in the direction of the kitchen, the brunette with the bag of verge in his hands following at her heels.

"Ne, Kawa-chan, why do ya have to be so forceful?" He wondered blandly of her as they reached their destination, putting the bag down on the counter and then looking at her as she unloaded the bag strapped to her shoulders onto the nearby small table.

She stretched her arms up to get rid of the tired feeling in her muscles, groaning slightly. "Startin' to feel like an old lady with carrying that stuff… Someone's gotta be forceful with you if not Kondou-san or Toshi." She answered as she rolled her neck from one side to the other, leaning against the counter.

"Y'know, considerin' you're the only woman in the Roshigumi, you're pretty mean…" Okita Souji pouted at her, brow slightly twitching.

Hijikata Yasakawa snickered, punching his left arm playfully. "Don't you know girls can hit just as hard as boys?" She sang, smirking.

::::::::lDl::::::::

Given it was her job to help cook for the men, Kawa had lingered in the kitchen and once dinner was ready she served the food, knowing by this point the men in question were starving.

"Kawa-chan, I hope the food tastes as good as it smells!" Nagakura Shinpachi, a muscular short-haired brunette with blue eyes, declared as the men seated themselves in the dining room.

Harada Sanosuke, an equally-muscular brunette with gold eyes, chuckled and ribbed his friend. "Knowing the princess, it should taste as good as always." He chimed.

"I have yet to hear you lot complain about it, Sano." Kawa laughed slightly as she gave him his serving of rice, giving an equally-sized amount of rice to Shinpachi.

"Kawa-chan why didja give Shinpatsu a bigger piece of fish? He's not the one who needs to grow." Todou Heisuke, the third member of the comedy trio ('baka trio' in her book), the youngest brunette with teal eyes, piped up as she dealt a serving of rice to his tray.

Kawa rolled her eyes and ruffled his messy bangs. "Because he's older than you, dummy. Between him and Sano I don't know who's the bigger geezer…" She joked, winking at him and shuffling to serve Souji and Inoue-san who'd sat across from the trio.

Souji poked her forehead when she finished giving him a serving and then doing the same for herself, smirking at the pout on her face. "Am I off the hook from earlier?" He asked sweetly.

"Keep poking me and you'll get a harder punch," Kawa huffed, stuffing a clump of rice into her mouth. At noting the sulky expression forming on his handsome face, she swallowed and nudged his arm, smiling softly when his green met her gray eyes. "You know I can't stay mad at you for long." She reminded.

His face brightened and he smiled back, humming. "Ya make one hell of a cook, princess." He chuckled when seeing her cheeks heat a tinge of pink that made her look cute.

"You bastard, what'd you say!?"

All heads shot up at hearing the boisterous insult from what sounded like the back-entrance to the manor.

Shinpachi's brow furrowed into a frown at recognizing the voice. "That sounded like Serizawa-san…"

"Hijikata-kun, how dare you disrespect Serizawa-sensei like that!"

Kawa groaned, shaking her head. "Damn it, not again…" She stood to leave the dining room, the comedy trio plus Inoue-san and Souji following her exit towards the commotion.

Souji was the one to stop the only woman present from going to the aid of their vice-commander, grabbing the back of her right shoulder and holding fast; he ignored the sharp look earned from his immediate interference, looking at the scene with a slightly tensed jaw.

"… I didn't say anything wrong!" Hijikata Toshizou, a man with black hair drawn into a long ponytail and serious violet eyes, said bitingly to the taller and older man with graying hair and beady gray eyes whose metal fan had tapped the middle of his forehead.

If looks could kill, Serizawa Kamo would be dead on the spot.

Stiffly lowering the fan-wielding hand, the older samurai huffed and closed his eyes momentarily as he brushed past the younger man, pretending that penetrating death glare didn't burn the insides of his eyelids. "It would hardly inconvenience us if we were to stop workin' together, y'know. If you don't like my methods, you're free to return to Edo whenever you want… Niimi, let's go." Serizawa said coolly, letting the trio of his acolytes rush after his wake.

Once the quartet had left the back-route, he sighed.

"Toshi," she declared, having shrugged out of her friend's grip and now approaching her old friend, gray eyes slightly tense but elsewise she harbored concern in her stare. "Are you alright?" She asked.

He gauged the concerned look on her pretty face a moment longer before huffing, "Peachy." He said dryly, looking past her at the others gathered, surprise entering his gaze. "You all came?" He asked incredulously.

"We all heard Serizawa-san's voice and thought that there was trouble again." Kondou answered with an elated light in his light-brown eyes, arms folded at his chest.

Kawa glared at where the man had stood, huffing. "And here I'd half-hoped that old bastard had spent the rest of the night in the red-light district instead of raising hell here… again." She mused with a tinge of a bite in her voice.

Toshi smiled ruefully at the clear distaste she held for that man, plonking his hand on her head and tousling the locks that were the same shade of black his were, earning an indignant pout from the younger woman. "We should be so lucky… I swear, whether there's trouble or not, that man will argue with someone simply for being alive." He mused with a scoff, steering her in the direction of the group.

"Although I'm sure that's true, you must improve at blowing him off." San'nan-san reproached his fellow vice-commander.

"He'll have to die and be reborn once for something like that to happen." Toshi scoffed, earning a round of laughs from the group; he blinked when noticing the bluenette, brow furrowing again. "Who're you; are you a guest of Yagi-san's?" He asked, seeing the boy blink once.

"He's the guy who collapsed on the way here; he said he wanted to thank Serizawa-san and has been waiting for him to return." Kondou informed.

"Oi, Ryunosuke, it looks like Serizawa-san's had a lot to drink; wouldn't it be easier if you waited until tomorrow to thank him?" Shinpachi wondered of the bluenette.

Heisuke nodded with his arms behind his head, "Yep, Shinpatsu's right; Serizawa-san can't hold his liquor worth beans." He agreed.

Ibuki glanced downward, "but…"

"Either tell him when he's sober or tell him now that he's gone and ruffled his feathers. One way you won't end up dead, whereas with the other…" Kawa reasoned as she had left her friend's side to near the bluenette, standing near Sano and making a gesture of one slitting their throat open.

"Alright, let's get back to dinner; Yasakawa-kun cooked and from the way the men talk, it sounds delicious!" Kondou declared, being the first to retreat to the dining room with San'nan-san following.

Souji slung his arm around said woman's shoulders, smirking at her slightly-blushing face.


A/N: well i hope you guys liked this. might be a slow process working on this story buut it'll get done i can assure that. anyway, feel free to review and let me know if i messed up or not, or just to show some love for this series.

'til next chapter, lates! (: