Disclaimer: I do NOT own Hakuouki or anything related to it.

Prologue

Sanan sighed as he crossed his arms and looked around the room."Where on earth could it be?" He muttered, frowning.

After completing his duties for the day, Sanan had been looking forward to sitting down with a good cup of tea to enjoy while writing in his journal. The problem? He couldn't find the book.

He was a very organized man, so the mere idea of having misplaced something was not one he was willing to consider. Plus, he hadn't been here since morning, yet upon noticing the slight disorder in how some items were placed, he realized that someone else had. How high were the chances that this someone had taken his journal?

Now came a new question: "Who took my journal?"

Sanan's eyes narrowed as he pondered each suspect. Kondou and Inoue were not even up for consideration. Souji? He certainly got plenty of amusement from playing pranks on Hijikata, but he knew better than to play those games with Sanan. The Idiot Trio? Harada would have normally restrained his two friends from doing anything too foolish;of course, they could have done this without Harada's knowledge. Shinpachi didn't seem like a possibility, though, as the image of his frightened face in response to being confronted with the theft flashed within his mind. Heisuke, then? He did fear Sanan's wrath, but his recklessness often led him to take...unnecessary risks.

It seemed he would be speaking to Heisuke. Right as he was turning around to find the younger man, something occurred to him. He had not considered Hijikata as a suspect, and now that he thought about it, he sounded much more likely to be the culprit. It was different from their more subtle tricks toward one another, but he was certain Hijikata was responsible. All he had to do now was find his journal and exact revenge...

Shaking his head, Sanan chuckled as he walked to the door.

The second the shoji slid open, Sanan had to step back to evade the much smaller male who had fallen due to having been reaching to open the door at the same time as Sanan. The boy would have landed face first had Sanan not caught him by the arms. Something fell from the boy's hands, and crashed to the floor with a soft thud. Before Sanan could get a good look at the object, the boy snatched it and held it behind his back.

"S-Sanan-san!" Souji stammered, blushing from embarrassment and annoyance."What are you doing here?"

"Strange," Sanan drawled."I was about to ask you the same question, Okita-kun. But, seeing as you asked first, I will answer. This is my room. Unless, of course, my quarters were changed today without my knowledge. All of my things are here too, if you require proof." He chucked as Souji blushed harder. He then added,"Well, almost all of my things are here." He clasped his hands behind his back and leaned down slightly so he and Souji were at eye level."What do you have behind your back?"

Souji moved backwards to the door, only for Sanan to reach out and close it. Sanan gave him a smile that did not reach his eyes.

"Nothing!" Souji exclaimed, his back now pressed against the door.

"Okita-kun," Sanan uttered in a sing-song voice."I think you have something that belongs to me." He moved closer to Souji, a dangerous glint in his eyes."May I have it back?"

Souji swallowed before slowly removing his hands from behind his back to reveal that he did indeed have the book. Sanan accepted the book whilst giving Souji a look that warned him not to go anywhere. Of course, the moment Sanan turned around to return his journal to its rightful place, Souji took the opportunity to flee. Sighing, Sanan followed him, though whereas Souji was running like his life depended on it (which it probably did), Sanan could not be more calm in his pace. He even hummed as he walked.

During this chase, Souji almost bumped into Inoue, who let out a gasp as he almost fell while Souji continued running. Upon seeing Sanan, Inoue uttered,"Oh my. Is he in trouble?"

Sanan paused his humming to say,"Yes,", before resuming his task. He passed Heisuke on the way, guessing that Souji had accidentally knocked him down. Heisuke pointed in the direction Souji had gone, and Sanan nodded in thanks.

As he predicted, Souji ran to the room where Kondou was. By then, the boy was barely able to move or breathe properly, and had collapsed after entering the room.

"Souji!" Kondou, who had been in the middle of a conversation with Hijikata, turned away from Hijikata in response to Souji's arrival. Sanan arrived only a moment later.

Sanan laughed softly, pretending to be out of breath."I must say, Okita-kun, you are an excellent runner. Either that or I am getting too old."

Souji yelped when he saw Sanan. Adrenaline seemed to have taken effect, because he was on his feet and running away within two seconds.

With a smirk, Hijikata extended his foot to trip Souji, causing him to land on his face. He would have attacked Hijikata for doing that, if Sanan hadn't picked him up from the floor and thrown him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. To make things more unsettling for Souji, Sanan was humming again while he did this.

"Is everything alright?" Kondou asked.

"Kondou-san, help!" Souji cried, eyes wide with terror.

"Oh, yes, everything is fine," Sanan assured Kondou, ignoring Souji's pleas for help and mercy. He patted Souji on the back."I do not know why you think Okita-kun has outgrown children's games, Kondou-san. He was quite insistent that I chase him."

"His pride won't let him admit it," Hijikata said, smiling at the glare Souji shot him."Have fun, you two." He waved at Souji.

Kondou was convinced by the cheerful looks on Hijikata and Sanan's faces. Souji groaned in dread and frustration as he gave up on resisting and was carried away by a humming Sanan.

They passed Heisuke and Inoue on the way back to his quarters, both of whom sent Souji looks full of pity.

After closing the door behind them, Sanan carefully placed Souji on the floor and crossed his arms as he gazed down at the boy.

"I'm sorry!" Souji cried, shaking with fear."I didn't mean to take it! I didn't even go into your room before now!"

Sanan raised an eyebrow."Then why are my things in such disorder?" He gestured to his desk.

Souji looked to where Sanan was gesturing, and the fear on his face became anger."I knew it! I knew he did this!" He stamped his foot.

"Okita-kun," Sanan said sternly."Explain."

"I swear I didn't go into your room, Sanan-san!" Souji said."I didn't even realize the book was yours until I opened it." When Sanan narrowed his eyes, he added,"I didn't read anything! I just realized it was the wrong book right away! I didn't even take it from your room! It was in Hijikata-san's room!"

Sanan's eyes widened."What?" His voice was flat."What was my journal doing in Hijikata-kun's room?"

"I was looking for the haiku book and the cover of your journal is very similar to the haiku book's cover, so I..." Souji trailed off, scowling at the thought of Hijikata setting him up."The book was so obviously in view too, I thought it was too good to be true." He stamped his foot again."I'm going to make him pay for this!" Souji started to stomp toward the door, only for Sanan to grab his sleeve.

Sanan snorted. So his initial hypothesis about Hijikata being the thief had been correct. Clever, very clever. Now he could return to plotting his revenge...

"Correction, Okita-kun," Sanan said."We are going to make Hijikata-kun pay for this."

Souji blinked up at Sannan, who grinned from ear to ear. After a moment, Souji grinned back.

This started out as a drabble request, but as I wrote more, I realized it was too long to just have it be one chapter, so I'm making it into several chapters.

Please remember to revive, leave constructive criticism, but no flames!