Seasons In The Sun

It was July 26th, exactly one week since Soji Okita had died. The funeral had ended quite some time ago but three men remained at the grave. One was his lover, another like a father and the third had become a brother. Their heads were hung low as each recalled his own memories of the man.

Hijikata

"Hijikata-san, Hijikata-san." He could picture the joyful young male running into his room like it was only yesterday. "Let's go watch the fireworks together." He had just sneered and told the other to leave him alone to work. A pout came to the others face as he tried to get the elder man to go with him, eventually he gave up and went on his own…

Thinking back on it now he regretted his actions from then. His mind skipped ahead to a time when the man was no longer as cheerful as he once was.

He laid beside his lover and held him close, they both knew what was going to happen. "I'm running out of time." He said, barely strong enough to lift his own head and look at the other. "I love you so much." He said as he coughed and gripped the elder man's shirt tightly. "Thank you for loving me back. It is time for us to say goodbye." That night lasted for what seemed like an eternity, he didn't sleep the entire time as he watched the only person he ever loved fade away until he was gone.

Kondo

A certain time came to mind from long ago, it was before the Shinsengumi was formed. A young boy, barely a teenager came up to the man. "Kondo-San will you play with me?" The child asked innocently with a wide smile on his face. The man frowned and shook his head as he told him to go play with the other children. He hated to push the boy away like that but there was work to be done. After a while he found out that the boy had not played with the children that day but had trained and done chores instead.

He wishes that he could take back those words, but it is much too late. The next memory was one from only a couple weeks ago.

The young male whom he saw like his own son had weakened a great deal, it had gotten to the point where he couldn't even get out of bed anymore. Everyone knew that his end was near but not a single person could have predicted that the day would come this soon. He had been asked to go to the others room once more before he went out of town for a little while. Despite how bad his condition was he still managed to force a small smile for the other and he continued to hold it as he said goodbye. The elder man figured it was just in case something happened but when he returned just over a week later the boy he had known for so long had already left this world.

Tetsu

He had known the elder man for only a short period of time but still they had so many good times together. One day in particular showed itself above all others. It was a day from not to long after they had met, the boy had finished his chores for the day and was bored until the other offered to spar him. He was the first person to take him seriously in a fight.

If only the man had been strong enough to fight him recently, he had improved so much and was getting better every day. He last saw the other the night before it had happened.

The elder man had called him to his room. "Tetsunosuke-kun… I want you to look out for everyone and protect them. Okay? It's your job to keep them safe for me." The other handed him a bag of candies as he smiled weakly. "Be good for your brother, and stay out of trouble." With those final words he nodded and hugged the other before leaving. He knew what was about to happen but it didn't register in his mind until he had heard the news the next morning.

All three men had their eyes wet with tears, even Hijikata had shed some as he hid his face. They stood there for a moment longer before each of them placed a flower on the grave and said a small goodbye. Once they had finished all of them silently turned in different directions and walked away, the only thing that all of them knew at that moment was that the man they had lost would never be forgotten…