Fandom: Peacemaker Kurogane
Title: 月光. (Moonlight.)
Pairing: Hijikata + Souji
Rating: G
Description: (Happy Valentine's Day!) A ficlet about Hijikata-san and Souji under the light of the moon.
月光. (Moonlight.)
by Miyamoto Yui
He looked at the well and then down at the stones scattered across the yard. Maybe people did not bother to count them, but Souji knew.
While everyone was sleeping, he'd slip out of his room and sit on the wooden veranda, closing the screen ever so slowly behind him. Stroking Saizo in his lap, his legs dangled under the space, unable to touch the soft grassy ground. He was grateful for this because everyone made fun of him for being so tall, especially Hijikata-san who did it to hide his strong favor towards the long-haired one. The one whose hair he loved since he was a child.
The moonlight touched the light blue-grayish kimono he always wore for bed and as Saizo settled more into his place, Souji's solemn expression wasn't hidden by smiles or anger. For tonight, it was peaceful as the breeze stroked their skin with its coolness.
His fingertips scratched the bottom of Saizo's chin playfully, the pig smiling in its blissful sleep.
"Souji," Hijikata-san whispered from down the wooden pathway, the veranda connecting their space but not their hearts.
Sending him out, he wished he could take it all back and return Souji back to when he was nine. The time when blood and his talent for the katana hadn't robbed him of his innocence.
Yet Hijikata-san still loved him all the same, even if Souji hated losing his humanity and wanted to cling onto Hijikata-san even more than before.
As the wooden boards softly creaked beneath his feet, Hijikata-san walked over to sit a few feet away from Souji. He took some of the ends of Souji's dark indigo hair into his fingers to smell and kiss it, saying nothing.
It was enough that Souji was alive and there next to him.
And then, his heart broke a little more.
It was because Souji began to cough, the blood splattering into his translucent white hand. Without thinking, Hijikata-san reached out to wipe it with his brown kimono. Before Souji could protest, for a brief moment, he saw it: The clenched jaw and the trace of tears on the eyelids reflected from the moonlight.
Even if he doesn't say anything, he'll still do everything for me.
Nothing has changed since I was nine.
You always save me with your kindness.
And with that very hand, he took Hijikata-san's cheek to brush his lips on it while pulling the back of his neck with his bony fingers.
Why do you keep blaming yourself when it was me who wanted to follow you?
No one wanted me since my parents died. Only you did.
So because I love you, I fight. There is no other reason I am here.
Owari./The End.
Author's note: For Hijikata100-san, another Souji/Hijikata fan.
This is short, but I just wanted to capture that earnestness.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Love always,
Yui
2/14/2017 10:33:45 PM – Los Angeles
2/15/2017 3:33 PM - Tokyo