Souji was being too hard on the pages.
There were many valid ways to approach teaching, some of them quite harsh. But surely the first and only priority should be to improve the students' ability at the skill in question. Souji did, undoubtably, wish to improve the pages' skill, but there was also no doubt that he wished just as strongly to have fun at their expense. And fun, for Souji, usually meant some sort of violence.
There was a loud crack and Souma made a muffled cry of pain before falling to the dirt. Souji grinned and flipped his wooden sword around to strike the other page, Nomura, and then started thwacking them both on the side as they lay on the ground. "Learn to follow my sword," he said, cheerfully, "Or my sword will follow you.".
Souji didn't like to talk much about his childhood, except to sometimes mutter about how much better things had been before Hijikata came along and dragged Kondou away from the simple life of a dojo instructor. But Hajime got the impression that Souji had been bullied by the older apprentices, even more cruelly than those at Hajime's dojo had harassed him for being left handed. It was unfortunate, if understandable, that this experience had taught Souji to be cruel, instead of kind.
"Souji," said Hajime, in the tone that meant that's enough.
"What," said Souji, sharply, but he stopped and let the two young men get up. Souma gave Hajime a quick grateful smile, and Hajime tilted his head slightly to acknowledge it. Hajime liked Souma, he wasn't the most capable recruit the Shinsengumi had ever had but he was admirably determined to follow the path of the warrior despite his relative lack of skill. Even if it meant letting Souji cover him with bruises.
The other page, Nomura, was less earnest, and Hajime found his fast, humorous patter a little alienating. But he was still turning up for training with Souji, so he clearly had some level of dedication. Most other people would have given up by now. But for all that Souji was not a natural teacher, he was a fine swordsman, and if they could stay the course they would be stronger at the end of it.
Souma and Nomura had just settled back into defensive stances, ready for Souji's next assault, when Nomura turned his head to look behind Hajime and started shaking his hand in the air. "Hey, Yukimura-sempai!" he shouted. "Want to come join us training with Souji? Maybe you can help us wear him down."
"Three against one?" said Souji, with a smug smile. "That might almost be fair."
Hajime turned and sure enough, there was Yukimura, just behind him, her arms full of cleaned uniforms. "Oh!" she said. "Um, no thank you."
"Yukimura-Sempai is not a warrior," said Souma, seriously, to Nomura. "It would not be appropriate."
"I agree," said Hajime. "Yukimura walks a different path." And a very strange path it was she walked, too, pretending to the pages she supervised and most others she met that she was a man. Did she miss her previous life as a doctor's daughter, free to go where she pleased and dress as she liked? Did she resent being trapped here amongst warriors, with nothing to do with her day but volunteer to help with menial tasks and wait for word of her father? If she did, she hid it well.
"Except he doesn't walk a different path," said Souji, his smile tinged with a little cruelty. "He's always getting into trouble and needing to be rescued. It would make our lives a lot easier if he actually learned how to fight."
"Oh," said Yukimura, in a sad tone. "I do cause a lot of trouble don't I? Well, um. I am busy right now, but if you wanted to teach me later..."
Souji laughed. "You're a brave one. You've seen what I've done to these two squirts, right? Don't think I'll be any softer on you because you're cuter." Hajime could see Souma bristling at Souji for daring to call his sempai cute.
He had no doubt of Souji's willingness to be as tough on her as he was on everyone else, and the idea made Hajime feel almost nauseous. Unlike the other pages she had not been raised to endure such treatment.
"Yukimura," he said. "You have no need of a specialised teacher, not while you are still deficient in basic sword techniques."
"That's true..." she said. "I suppose I would be wasting his time."
He nodded. "Basic sword training is at the hour of the Dragon. I will see you there."
Her eyes widened and then she smiled. "Yes!" she said. "Yes you will."
Chizuru's sword felt loose in her sweaty hands. She aligned the tip of her sword with the tip of her opponent's, and then watched as he stepped towards her and then swung towards her neck. She waited until the last minute and then stepped aside, feeling a cold gust of air against her cheek as the blade passed her by. He frowned, and prepared to swing again, but it was too late: her dodge had also been the beginning of her own attack, and her sword sliced down towards him, hitting his shoulder with a soft thud.
"Very good," said Saito. "Yukimura wins."
Kobayashi's face twitched with frustration, but he bowed and acknowledged Chizuru's win. She'd won! In a match against an actual member of the Shinsengumi!
Sure, Kobayashi had been a member of the Shinsengumi for around a month, and before then had been a merchant. But he was twice her size and had spent that month training as hard as he could. And she still beat him!
Saito turned from showing Kobayashi where he'd gone wrong to stare thoughtfully at Chizuru. "Show me your stance," he said.
She did, and he gestured towards her thigh. "You're still not putting your leg forward enough," he said. He was always a little more reluctant to touch her than the men, but otherwise treated her exactly the same. It felt nice, like she was really one of them.
Chizuru shifted her leg and nodded. "I'm sorry."
He shook his head. "Mistakes are a step towards learning, there is no need to apologise. And you are much improved."
She felt flushed with pleasure. Saito was a man of few words, and disinclined towards praise. Every time she impressed him, even a little, she felt a warm sense of pride that motivated to try even harder. Chizuru had worried that being in close quarters with all these men might lead to someone realising her gender, or that an injury healing too fast might reveal her demon blood. But everyone was too focussed on her as a swordsman to notice anything else. And so she focussed on becoming a swordsman, and let her other worries fall away.
Saito approached her after the lesson was over. "I appreciate your hard work," he said. "But I hope you do not find the training too taxing."
She shook her head. "It is hard, certainly, but I can feel myself growing stronger. And I would feel bad if I complained when everyone else is working just as hard as me."
"But you have other duties," he said. "I do not wish to make you too exhausted to perform them."
"It is not too much, but thank you for your concern." He wasn't entirely wrong: after this she had to finish peeling some vegetables for dinner, then check on some drying laundry. And then there was the cleaning... "Oh, that reminds me," she said. "Saito, can I ask you a favour?"
He looked at her in surprise. "If it is within my power," he said, "I would gladly help you in any way you need."
It was funny, she had used to think of Saito as cold, but he was really a very kind man. She smiled at him. "I've recently been helping Yamazaki with his medical duties. And one thing we've been doing is secretly cleaning Okita's room: he refuses to let anyone in but it's important for his health."
As far as Chizuru was aware, the only people who knew about Okita's tuberculosis were her, Dr. Matsumoto, Yamazaki, and Saito. She had a sudden vivid memory of Saito holding his hand over her mouth to stop her revealing them eavesdropping on the conversation where Okita was diagnosed. For some reason it had stuck in her memory.
"You wish me to help you clean?" said Saito, in surprise. "I must admit, I do not have much experience in such tasks, but..."
She laughed at the mental image of Saito applying the same serious intensity to removing dust as he did to swordsmanship. "No!" she said, "Yamazaki and I will do the cleaning. But I was hoping you could keep an eye on Okita this afternoon when you go on your rounds, to make sure he doesn't come back early."
"Ah," said Saito. "Then yes, I would be glad to help." He paused and gave her a small smile. "I am glad to know you and Yamazaki are looking after Souji. There is not much I can do for him, and he is not always willing to look after himself."
"I know!" said Chizuru, "It's so frustrating!" Her repressed frustration threatened to spill forth and she had to force herself to modulate her tone, lest someone hear. She cared about Okita, which tended to involve a lot of time spent wanting to slap him. "He should be resting with a doctor's care, not fighting!"
"I agree," said Saito. "And yet, I do not know if I would I behave very differently, were I in his position. Souji defines himself entirely as a warrior. It is difficult to let go of that self definition, even at the risk of death.
"I...I suppose I can understand that," said Chizuru. "But there's more to him than just his sword. More to both of you."
Saito gave her an almost puzzled look. "Thank you," he said. She wasn't sure he actually believed her.
Souji wanted to kill someone and the gods were not making it easy. His chest burned and his mind buzzed and he needed the cool simplicity of violence to find peace in himself.
But the people of Kyoto were being uncharacteristically calm, law abiding, and peaceful. The sun shone, children played, and the ronin had apparently all decided to take a nap. It was maddening.
He leaned over and knocked his shoulder into Hajime's. "Hajime I'm bored, can we start a fight?"
"No," said Hajime, keeping his eyes forward and his tone flat.
"I wouldn't even have to kill anyone," Souji whined. "I could just maim them a little and then stop. I would be proving that the Shinsengumi are merciful."
Hajime just snorted in amusement and didn't reply.
"What the hell are you doing here?!"
Souji's heart soared. Was that rough, angry voice directed at him? But then he turned to face this miraculous benefactor and was confronted with the smug face of Takeda Kanryusai, in his Shinsengumi blues no less. He wasn't allowed to kill Takeda!
"We are doing our rounds," said Hajime, before Souji could reply with something ruder.
"It's our turn," said Takeda. "Are you saying we haven't got things covered?" Takeda was accompanied by some lackey Souji hadn't bothered to learn the name of. He sneered at Souji and Souji grinned at him in return, showing his teeth.
"We're saying you can't manage a simple schedule," said Souji with a smile. "It's the twelfth, which means it's Hajime and me. But if you want to help, we won't stop you tagging along."
"Fuck you," said Takeda. "The twelfth is for us. Get off our streets."
"Your streets?" asked Souji with mock surprise. He tilted his head. "I don't see your name on them." Childish, yes, but Takeda was a simple-minded man.
"Souji," said Hajime. "Don't antagonise him."
"Yeah!" said Takeda. "Run off home like a good little boy and stop causing trouble."
Souji narrowed his eyes and put his hand on his sword. He'd show this bastard trouble.
"Souji," said Hajime. You know what Kondou would think of you picking fights with other Shinsengumi. He didn't even need to say it.
"I really hate you sometimes," Souji muttered, then took his hand off his sword. "Fine," he said, smiling at Takeda. "If you want to do our job for us, then go ahead." He gave a cheery wave. "Have fun!"
And then he turned around and started walking back to headquarters before his better instincts lost their weak and temporary hold over him.
"Do you wish to spar?" asked Hajime as they passed under the gate.
"You want to spar with me now?" asked Souji. If anyone knew how to recognise Souji's more dangerous moods, it was Hajime. And Souji was feeling very dangerous right now.
"Why not," said Hajime. "You can imagine I'm Takeda."
Souji snickered. That did have some appeal. "It's your funeral."
Hajime gave a small smile. "We will see."
No-one else fought quite like Hajime. Not just because he was left handed, or because of his prodigious skill. He threw his whole self into every fight, even sparring, graceful and relentless. It was like fighting a typhoon. Souji could throw himself in entirely as well and not have everything be over in seconds. Even after years of familiarity with each other's styles every fight was a surprise, like going on a journey to a new land with a familiar companion.
Souji didn't even mind that he was losing. The sharp pain of Hajime's successful attacks just kept his blood pumping. He hit back ferociously, but only managed a few glancing blows. They were normally more evenly matched...or perhaps he should say, they used to be. Maybe those days were gone. But at least for now, he could still put up a good fight, and he revelled in the dance of their swords.
"Do you wish to rest?" asked Hajime, as his wooden sword gently tapped against Souji's stomach. Souji shook his head. He was pretty sure at this point that Hajime knew about his illness: he fought Souji just as hard, but was more inclined to suggest rests, and more careful to avoid causing any serious injury. If he was honest with himself, Souji appreciated it, even while the knowledge that he was being coddled made his blood boil.
As they began another bout, it occurred to Souji that he really couldn't ask for a better friend than Hajime: he was fun to fight with, put up with Souji's jokes, and didn't expect anything more from Souji than mutual respect as warriors. Other men expected their friends to be into drinking and women and talking about their emotions and Souji had never seen the point. As far as he could tell, Hajime felt the same way. They were warriors, nothing more and nothing less. Everything else was an irritating distraction. Hajime could be kind, in his way, but he wasn't interfering, and didn't seem to mind that Souji rarely reciprocated with much kindness of his own. Yes, Hajime was a rare diamond in a sea of irritating losers.
And as if summoned by his thoughts, Sano and Heisuke wandered past and then sat down to watch the fight. Souji didn't hate these guys the way he did Takeda, he even enjoyed their company sometimes, but too much of them and he started getting a headache. Hopefully they weren't going to take the fun out of this match.
"So Saito," said Sano. "What's this I hear about you having training sessions with Chizuru? Nice work, I guess you're not so bad with women after all."
Hajime froze, just for a second, which gave Souji the perfect opportunity to strike, arcing his sword to hit Hajime in the shoulder. He smiled to himself as Hajime winced. Yeah, that one was going to leave a bruise.
As he looked at Hajime's face, Souji realised his cheeks had a faint flush. Was he embarrassed by Sano's teasing? But Sano was always saying shit like that...oh ho, could there actually be something going on between him and Chizuru? Who'd have guessed? But Chizuru was a nice enough girl, as girls went, and they spent a lot of time together. It made a certain amount of sense.
Souji was surprised to notice himself feel a little pang of jealousy. But the part of him that actually cared about Hajime's well being had to admit that Chizuru could offer Hajime a lot of things Souji couldn't. That and the reverse was true, Chizuru might be getting less terrible at swordsmanship but she'd never be able to offer Hajime the challenge Souji did. The thing taking that away was Souji's body, not Chizuru.
Hajime put down his sword. Souji sighed and put his down too. There went the sparring match.
"I would never take advantage of my position to do anything inappropriate," said Hajime, his voice ever so slightly weaker than normal.
But you've thought about it, huh, thought Souji. He'd never noticed Hajime show any sign of interest in Chizuru, but it wasn't like he was a very expressive guy. And Hajime would rather die than behave unchivalrously. It was sort of sweet, in a pathetic sort of way. Would he ever say anything? Did Chizuru even like him back? Souji pondered it for a moment and then decided it wasn't his problem.
"That's what they all say," said Sano, with a wink. Yeah, Souji could just imagine what he'd be like training a girl.
"Jealous, Sano?" said Souji. He was fairly sure Sano wasn't actually interested in Chizuru, except to the extent that he was interested in all women on principle. But that was no reason not to take a jab at his ego.
Sano shrugged. "Maybe a little. Aren't you?"
Souji shrugged. "I have my own students. And Nomura's more fun to bruise."
"I think it's great Chizuru is learning to protect herself," said Heisuke. "And Hajime's good at teaching."
"It's our job to take care of her, she shouldn't have to worry about it," said Sano. "And I know you wouldn't do anything inappropriate, Saito. But doesn't it feel weird? Training a girl?"
"I am less bothered by her gender, and more by the fact that she is a civilian," replied Hajime. "She does not have a warrior's spirit. But as Souji pointed out to me, she still lives a life surrounded by battle, and there may be times when none of us is there to keep her safe. It is my duty to protect her, and training her to protect herself assists with that duty.
"Finally someone listens to me," said Souji, before Sano could offer any more witty retorts. "Anyway, this has all been super fun but if it's all right with you guys I'm going to go sit alone in my room for a while and forget all of you idiots exist."
"I'll come with you," said Hajime.
Souji ignored him and kept walking. "That would negate the part where I get to sit alone."
Hajime quickly strode to catch up with his itty bitty legs. "I will not stay long."
Had Souji thought Hajime was a good friend? He took it back. Hajime was as annoying as the rest of them.
"Fine," he muttered. They walked for a while in silence. "So is there anything you wanted to talk about or are you just lonely?"
"I wanted to remind you to double check the schedule, Souji," said Hajime, his voice oddly loud. "I am fairly sure that we were in the right today in our conflict with Takeda, but we should make sure."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," said Souji, as they reached his door. Wait, was that the sound of the other door to his room being closed?
He opened the door and looked inside. It all seemed normal but there was a strange smell, like...soap? And the floor had a subtle sheen to it, as if slightly damp. Souji glared suspiciously at Hajime. "Hmm."
Hajime returned his gaze coolly.
"You've been spending too much time with Chizuru," said Souji. "She's a bad influence." And then he shut the door in his face.
Commander Hijikata found her laying out pickled plums in the sunshine to dry.
"What's this I hear about you giving up training?" he said. "Have you gotten lazy, or did one of the men do something offensive?"
"No!" said Chizuru. She was such an idiot. "They didn't do anything wrong! And I'm going to start training again. I had...I was being silly."
"Good," said Hijikata. "I'm not going to make a girl learn to fight if she doesn't want to, but you do seem to keep throwing yourself into combat situations."
She laughed self consciously.
"You're not usually prone to silliness, though, Yukimura. If something is bothering you, I want to hear about it."
"Oh but it is silly," said Chizuru. "I'm embarrassed to even tell you."
He raised one eyebrow and waited patiently. She felt like a little kid having to confess to breaking a jar. She looked away and took a deep breath before steeling herself for him to think her the most ridiculous girl he'd ever met. "Nomura and Souma told me I was looking more manly," she said. They'd been so proud of her, too, and she'd had to pretend to take it as a compliment. "Because of all the training. And I-"
She was interrupted by Hijikata making a muffled snort. "Sorry," he said. "It's just not what I was expecting." He did think she was ridiculous. Because she was. He coughed and schooled his face into a more serious expression, clearly waiting for her to continue. Fine, she might as well give him the whole ridiculous story.
"And I really looked at myself, and I have gotten more muscular." She had biceps now. Women weren't supposed to have biceps! "So I..." She covered her face and said the rest in a rush. "I thought no-one would ever want to marry me. Which is so silly, I don't have time to worry about that, I know. I can't marry anyone if I'm dead. But I had a moment of self doubt while I was training, and...and that's why I wanted to stop."
She forced herself to look up at Hijikata, to see if he was laughing at her, but he was just giving her a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Yukimura," he said. "You should be able to worry about that sort of thing. But you're right, looking pretty won't do you much good if you're dead."
She nodded sadly.
He gave a long sigh. "Yukimura. I'm only going to say this once, but-" He closed his eyes and steeled himself, like he was having to pass on bad news. "You're not a bad looking girl. So what if you've got a little meat on your bones? Shows you're capable. Men like that."
She wasn't entirely sure they did, on the whole. But she felt better regardless. "Thank you, Hijikata," she said. "I'm sorry I'm so...that I'm being so immature. You shouldn't have to baby me."
He shrugged. "Even I know how much a big deal marriage is for women. It's not immature for you to worry about it." He stood up and dusted himself off. "But now that's settled, can I rely on you to keep training?"
"Yes," she said, giving a determined nod.
"Good," he said. "Now go tell Saito, he was quite worried. And...and I wouldn't leave it too long."
Hijikata's tone was oddly sad. Had Saito been that worried? She bowed quickly and ran.
Souji stared at Chizuru in surprise.
"A gift? For Hajime?"
"Yes," she said. "To thank him for training me. I accidentally gave him the impression I didn't like how he teaches, and want to get across how grateful I am."
"Nomura and Souma never got me gifts," he said, pouting. "It makes me feel like they don't like me."
"Oh, but I'm sure they do," said Chizuru, showing every sign of sincerity. "They really appreciate how much you challenge them! That's why they chose you as their teacher."
Souji suspected it was more the sort of youthful macho posturing that made men fight tigers: Souji was a torture they were testing themselves against, not a beloved mentor. But he found Chizuru's oblivious optimism endearing.
"You know it's Hajime's job, right? To train the more incompetent Shinsengumi? Do you get a gift for the servants every time they clean your chamber pot?"
"But I'm not really Shinsengumi," she said. "I know a lot of men wouldn't have been willing to train me, and he's been really nice about it."
Yeah, I bet he has, thought Souji. "Nicer than he is to the others?" he snickered. "Is he being soft on you, then?"
"No!" said Chizuru. "He doesn't pretend I am any better than I am. He's just...he treats me exactly the same as the others. Like I have a right to be there."
Actually Saito was absurdly impressed with her progress, he'd been practically effusive. Souji found this amusing, although having watched a training session or two he had to admit that Chizuru's determination was admirable even if her technique was still deficient.
"Yeah, you're shit," he said. "Better than you used to be, but still shit. I guess I can see why you think Hajime needs compensation for wasting his time with you."
A frown flickered across Chizuru's face as she bit down on her annoyance at being insulted. You try very hard to be a nice girl, he thought, but there's some steel in there under the sugar.
But she refused to let his teasing distract her from her mission. "So do you have any ideas?"
If this was any other girl, he'd take her determination as proof that she returned Hajime's feelings, but the problem with Chizuru was that she was nice to everyone. She could be in love with half the Shinsengumi or none of them and it would be hard to tell. He briefly wondered how many of them had fallen in love with her, it didn't take much for most men to fall for a pretty face. But it was Hajime's feelings he actually cared about, and he wasn't sure he wanted to be part of giving Hajime more reason to pine annoyingly unless he was sure there was actually much chance that Hajime and Chizuru would...get married, or whatever.
"Nope," he said, cheerfully. "I am not in the habit of giving people gifts, so it's not something I think about. Just use your imagination!"
"Oh," she said, sadly. "I thought, since you were friends..."
"Hajime and me have the kind of friendship where we don't do nice things for each other. You should try it." Chizuru's lips thinned in frustration and he laughed. She was so much fun to poke at. Well, while he was on a roll... "Specifically, you should stop cleaning my room. I didn't ask you to do it, and if you keep coming in here without my permission I'll kill you. That goes for Yamazaki too."
She opened her mouth to deny it but her stupidly honest soul wouldn't let her. "I'm just trying to look after you," she said. "I don't want you to get sicker." Souji noticed that she didn't acknowledge Yamazaki's involvement, it was almost sneaky in a pointlessly protective sort of way. But that was her whole deal, wasn't it? She wanted to protect everyone, even though it was their job to protect her. "I'm sorry I invaded your privacy. But your room needs to be cleaned. Would you rather I did it when you were here?"
"Just sit and watch you clean my room? Lying back on my futon while you scrub my floor? It does have a certain appeal." He though about leering, but it would probably go over her head, and anyway Chizuru was so innocent it felt sleazy to make dirty jokes at her. He sighed. "I'll think about it."
"Thank you!" she said, like he was doing her a favour. "Let me know when it's convenient! I don't have time now but I can do it tomorrow afternoon, or the morning after..."
He waved his hand to dismiss her. "I said I'll think about it. You're getting on my nerves, go away."
"Ok," she said. "And think about a gift for Saito too, if you can!"
"You really don't give up, do you?" he said.
She smiled at him, and he could definitely see the steel now. "No," she said. "I don't." And then she gave him a cheerful wave and walked away.
Yukimura's face was flushed, and strands of hair stuck to her sweat stained forehead, falling into her eyes as she slept.
Hajime was frozen between the desire to stay and care for her and the deep seated knowledge that he shouldn't be here at all. He had been ordered to visit headquarters as little as possible, and never show any sign of seeing the Shinsengumi as anything but enemies. Not until his undercover mission amongst The Guardians of the Imperial Tomb was complete. What damage could he do to the mission if he was seen, here, in Yukimura's room? Hijikata had mentioned that she was sick, that he was worried about her, but surely he hadn't intended for Hajime to respond like this.
She gave a soft cough and winced, as if she had no escape from the pain of her illness even in dreams. Hajime went to fetch a bucket of cold water.
Yukimura's voice was soft and cracked, as if every word hurt to say. "I miss training with you," she said. "Inoue's nice, but..." She trailed off, and looked oddly sad. Gen's technique was workmanlike, but solid. He was a good teacher for those at Yukimura's level. There was no reason she should prefer training with Hajime. Yet it made him feel warm to hear her say it.
He thought of her often, these days. His life with the Guardians was one long lie, and while he had no qualms about the rightness of his actions he missed being able to trust his commander and being able to respect those he trained with. And he missed the honesty and quiet connection of his interactions with Yukimura. He could no longer pretend to himself that he cared about her only because he had been ordered to, but as long as these feelings did not interfere with his duty he saw no reason to deny them.
Her hand was so warm in his. He hoped it would not be long before her fever broke, and was glad he could offer her this small comfort. As she slowly drifted off to sleep, he wondered when they would speak again. Would her honest spirit resent his lie? Or would Itou's more devious mind see through him and have Hajime killed before she had a chance to find out the truth?
As he quietly snuck through the corridors, he heard coughing from Souji's room. Yukimura wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping comfortably. Hajime put his hand on Souji's door, and silently wished his friend well. And then he left, and tried to put all thoughts of the Shinsengumi behind him.
Kimigiku settled herself lightly into a corner booth and scanned the tea shop again to be sure of the terrain. There was only one entrance, which made things easier, but the angle of the counter made it hard for her to see past that entrance to the street outside. She would have to react to any oncoming threats quickly.
She flicked her eyes over to the Princess's table. It was the next one along the wall, with the Princess safely back behind the thick wooden table, and the Princess's friend acting as a buffer between the Princess and the rest of the room. All things being equal Kimigiku would rather keep them both safe, but if push came to shove her loyalties were clear.
The few customers in the store seemed harmless: an old man, a young couple, and a mother with her child. But you could never be sure. There was the sound of metal against stone from behind a curtain and Kimigiku tensed for a moment before reassuring herself that it was just someone preparing food in the kitchen. She smoothed out her breathing. Everything was clear.
"More tea, miss?"
Kimigiku lowered her eyelashes demurely and nodded. It was important not to stand out.
As she sipped her tea she looked over at the Princess. She was smiling, something she had little enough opportunity to do these days. There were so few demon women of the Princess's age and class, it was good that she'd found a friend. Chizuru did not have a strong grasp yet of what it really meant to be a demon, but she was a kind hearted girl with a warm nature that made her hard not to like. And she made the Princess smile: Kimigiku would like her for that alone.
But was it Kimigiku's imagination, or was Chizuru's energy a little more subdued today? She looked at Chizuru's round, open face and tried to decide if the pinkness around her eyes was a sign of tears. And then, to her surprise, Chizuru started looking back.
"Um. Kimigiku," said Chizuru, with a small smile. "I wanted to ask you something, if that's alright?"
She blinked. Was Chizuru talking to her? She felt a slight flash of annoyance at having her anonymity undermined. It was harder for any attackers to neutralise her if they didn't realise she was there. But what was done was done.
"Of course."
"Can you give me some advice on where to buy good quality sword oil?"
"Sword oil?" Kimigiku looked at her in surprise, wondering if she'd misjudged Chizuru entirely, but her self conscious smile implied she was exactly as unfamiliar with the topic as Kimigiku would have guessed. "For what manner of sword?"
Chizuru's face fell. "Oh no, does it matter? I just use whatever is cheap. Um. He has a katana and a wakizashi? I think they're made of...steel?"
Kimigiku had to stop herself laughing. That didn't really help narrow it down. "I take it this is for a member of the Shinsengumi?"
Chizuru bit her lip, as if somehow unsure of the answer. "It's a gift for my teacher," she said. "His friend said he'd like it, and I wanted to buy him some, but there were so many types that I couldn't decide, and then..." Her lip quivered, but she took a breath and recovered her equanimity. "I thought you might be able to offer me some advice."
"Ah," said Kimigiku. She was a little curious, now, about this teacher of Chizuru's who might or might not be a member of the Shinsengumi. But it was not her place to ask. "Well if it's a gift, I know a company that sells a good quality oil in a very visually pleasing red glass bottle. I cannot guarantee that it would be the perfect oil for your teacher's swords, but he would be bound to find it useful, at the very least."
The Princess laughed. "Yet you tut at me when I buy it myself!"
Kimigiku smiled. This was an old argument. "Because I know your sword, Princess, and there are oils better suited to it, even if their bottles aren't as pretty."
"You use a sword, Sen?" asked Chizuru with surprise.
"All demons learn at least a little sword training," she replied. "Even princesses."
"You sell yourself short, Princess," said Kimigiku. "Your skill is unparalleled amongst the women of your class." She bowed her head slightly and turned to Chizuru. "I guard the Princess because it is my duty to protect her as ruler of our clan, not because she is incapable."
The Princess waved away Kimigiku's praise. "It is hard not to be unparalleled when the others don't even try. But you are learning to fight yourself, Chizuru?"
Chizuru nodded. "Though I'm not very good. Sometimes I think I'll never be any good, because I'm a girl. But then I remember you, Kimigiku, and I am inspired to try harder. You're so elegant and strong!"
The look of surprise on Kimigiku's face was intense enough to send the Princess into giggles. But having a highborn demon see her as a role model didn't happen every day.
"Kimigiku inspires me to try harder, too," said the Princess.
Oh. Perhaps it did.
Souji had almost convinced himself he was looking forward to killing Hajime.
He'd never had a reason to kill someone he actually liked before. Well, someone he used to like, it was impossible to keep liking anyone who was willing to betray Kondou, who could declare loyalty to the Shinsengumi and it's Chief and then turn around and side with their enemies. Souji had been loyal to Kondou since before there even was a Shinsengumi, had known since childhood that Kondou was the only person in the world whose existence meant a damn. Those who couldn't see that deserved no mercy.
Would Souji feel guilty? Would Hajime's face haunt his dreams? That would have been an interesting change from Souji's usual indifference. Not that his feelings mattered either way: he was the Sword of the Shinsengumi, and Hajime was an enemy. Swords don't care about things like friendship.
He'd told Chizuru that, when she asked. She hadn't seemed very happy with his answer.
But the moment Souji realised he wouldn't have to kill Hajime, that Hajime had never betrayed any of them, Souji was filled with a fierce and surprising joy. He was still angry, mind you: he didn't like being lied to, or manipulated, least of all on Hijikata's orders. But it was a bright, friendly sort of anger, the sort that leads to a fun sparring match, not a deadly blood feud.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the energy for a sparring match right now, so he had to put up with Hajime visiting him in his room like a fucking invalid. It was getting harder and harder to just ignore the fact that he had tuberculosis. Didn't his body know he had more important things to worry about?
Luckily, Hajime didn't fuss over him or make sad faces at how thin he'd gotten. He just sat next to Souji and gave a brief run down of the situation with the Guardians of the Imperial Tomb, who sounded like they were actually worse than Souji's expectations.
"I'm glad you weren't actually stupid enough to join them," he said.
"It was not a matter of intelligence," said Hajime. "Itou is a very intelligent man. But he is not an honourable one."
"He's going to be a dead man soon," said Souji, with a grin. How dare that bastard plan to kill Kondou?! One death wouldn't be enough for him.
There was a voice at the door. "Okita? I was wondering if you wanted some porridge."
"Come in, Chizuru," said Souji. He smiled at Hajime. "She make me porridge all the time, you know. It's not bad, either." Hajime had never shown the slightest sign of jealousy about Chizuru's interactions with other men, but it was still fun to tease him. But Hajime just smiled, as if the thought of Chizuru caring for Souji made him happy. Honestly, no wonder Hajime had a reputation for being bad with women, even Souji had a better grasp of the way you were supposed to behave about these things.
Chizuru came in holding a tray with a steaming bowl on top of it, but froze when she saw Hajime. He looked up at her and they both tried not to blush, though only Hajime succeeded. Well, that answered that question.
"Can I have my porridge?" said Souji. He opened his mouth expectantly.
Chizuru managed to tear her eyes from Hajime and pouted at him. "You're not that sick," she said.
He pouted back. "Then I'm not that hungry."
"You need to eat! Okita!" She glared at him, then turned to Hajime. "Can you help me make him eat?"
"I have yet to learn the knack of making Souji do anything," said Hajime. Ha!
Chizuru looked disappointed, and then frowned at Souji, and then at the bowl of porridge, clearly unable to decide whether she was willing to let him get away with being such a brat. He was pretty sure she would, in the end. That was why being a brat was so rewarding.
Hajime watched her for a moment, and then reached for the tray. "Here," he said. "If Souji is to be fed, there is no reason you should have to do it. You have laboured enough already."
Souji laughed. He loved how strange Hajime could be. "What if I don't want to be fed by you," he said. "Chizuru's a lot cuter."
Hajime's eyes narrowed slightly and he just silently held a spoonful of porridge towards Souji, as if daring Souji to test his patience. Hajime's patience ran pretty deep.
Since he was actually a little hungry, Souji opened his mouth and let himself be fed. But then he had to wail around a mouthful of porridge. "Mmph! Too hot!"
"I apologise," said Hajime. He filled the spoon again, but blew on it this time, his expression serious and focussed. He was clearly thinking carefully about exactly how much cooling the porridge would require. He fed it to Souji and it was just right.
Souji was filled with some emotion he couldn't define. He never in a million years would have asked Hajime to feed him, but having him do so was...something. Comforting, perhaps.
He looked up and saw Chizuru beaming. Yes, yes, they were adorable. "Isn't it wonderful having Saito back?" she said.
Souji shrugged. "As long as he keeps feeding me," he said, and opened his mouth for another taste.