Okay, I'll just warn you now, this is utterly pointless. Maybe more pointless than "Simplicity," even. It snuck up on me while I was watching the Ikeda-ya episodes and demanded to be written. It was supposed to be quite a bit longer (and uhhh, deeper?), but alas. Ah well. It gave me an excuse to dig up my older PMK drabbles and make a little collection, anyway. :P
As always, no BL (slash, yaoi, shounen-ai, whatever you want to call it) is intended or implied in any of these.
Disclaimer: No, this series does not belong to me, unfortunately. It is the property of its original creator(s), and I'm making no money off of this. (Darn!)
Contradictions
(Word Count :: 200)
To anyone who did not know him well, it would have been an odd sight: big, rough, loud Harada Sanosuke was bandaging his friend's hand with utmost quiet, gentleness and concentration. Shinpachi, however, had known Sano long enough not to be surprised by the seemingly uncharacteristic behavior. This is just as much like Sano as was the fit he'd thrown a few hours ago at the Ikeda-ya when he'd first caught sight of Shinpachi and Heisuke's wounds. Shinpachi smiled a little at the memory.
As if sensing his thoughts, Sano paused in his self-appointed work and looked up, Shinpachi's hand still clasped carefully within his own. It looked deceptively small, almost delicate in comparison with his far larger hands. "I meant every word back there, you know," he said. His normally booming voice was very low, rumbling. "If you guys ever get yourselves hurt again when I'm not around…" He did not need to finish the sentence.
Shinpachi chuckled, but Sano understood that he was not making light of the sentiment. "Aa," he said, meeting his friend's earnest gaze. "I know." He offered a smile that conveyed his gratitude far better than words.
Sano returned the gesture and quietly returned to his task.