"Welcome!" the timid, dark haired shinigami said from behind his cash wrap. He'd recently been transferred from Karakura Town to a new city called Edo. He'd just gotten a bit more used to his new surroundings. He had gotten his normal convenience store job like he'd had before. His normal greeting, ringing, bagging and thanking. Just now another customer came into the store, it was one of those guys in uniform.

"Oh what was it again...shin...shin...ah! Shinsengumi!" Hanatarou pondered. The fellow was wearing a less fancy uniform than the last guy that came in...the one that bought four bottles of mayonnaise. This guy seemed a little more normal other than the holster attached to his back holding a badminton racket.

"Man, the customers back in Karakura Town were a bit different than the ones here." Hanatarou thought to himself.

He watched the customer wander across the shop before stopping in front of the drink cooler. He looked at the different beverages inside before opening the door and taking out his selection. He closed the door and let out a deep sigh before walking up to the register.

"Is this all?" Hanatarou asked the young man.

"Can I have a pack of Marlbolos too? Vice-commander forgot to get some when he came up on his mayonnaise run." The dark-eyed Shinsengumi member said.

"Okay," Hanatarou said, grabbing a pack, "So the mayonnaise customer is your vice-commander? He seems to be a very strong man."

"He's alright. Just a bit of a mayonnaise addict. Anyway, are you new here? I haven't seen you before." the Shinsengumi member asked.

"Yeah. I just moved to Edo recently. I'm interested in what the Shinsengumi does. I've seen a few members come here. Your vice-commander as well as a man with spiky hair, facial hair and bright red footprint on his face." Hanatarou said.

"Ah, the commander? He must have gotten into a fight with Otae-san again. Oh. By the way, I'm Yamazaki Sagaru. I'm not a high up like them but I'm a Shinsengumi member just the same." he said, introducing himself.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I never introduced myself! I'm Yamada Hanatarou. Very nice to meet you!" he said, blushing lightly at forgetting to introduce himself.

"Hanatarou? If you'd like, I can show you around the headquarters sometime. I'll see you later." Yamazaki said, taking his bag. "I'll be around. Don't hesitate to say hello."

"Thank you very much!" Hanatarou said, bowing behind the register.

He watched his new acquaintance, Yamazaki-san, walk out the door, giving a final wave before walking away from the store. "Ahh....I wish he would have stayed longer." Hanatarou thought to himself. He put his elbows on the counter and held his head up. When he hand contacted with his face he was surprised, it was very warm.

"Ah! Why is my face so warm. Ahh! Yamazaki-san must think I'm an idiot, blushing just from meeting someone." Hanatarou yelled.

He then looked around the store to make sure no customers were around to have heard his outburst. To his relief there weren't any customers in the shop. The remainder of his shift went by slowly. No more shinsengumi members stopped in, no one totally strange at all actually. It was...well...boring.

All Hanatarou could think about was Yamazaki-san. He was the first customer that really bothered to say anything to him. Also the first shinsengumi member he carried a conversation with. His first friend in Edo probably. When Hanatarou's shift ended he sighed, leaving the store with a boxed meal from the refrigerated section for his dinner. He walked back to his apartment, just past the shinsengumi headquarters.

As he passed by the main gates he peered in, hoping to catch a glimpse of his new friend. Much to his surprise, there was Yamazaki-san, stranding right inside the gate talking with the man he now knew as the Commander. "Ah~ I wish I could go talk to him but he seems to be busy. I don't want to disturb him while he's speaking with his commander. I wouldn't want to get him in trouble at work." Hanatarou sighed. He continued walking past the gates when he heard someone call his name.

"Hanatarou-kun! Good evening! Done at work for today?" Yamazaki-san called to him.

Hanatarou felt a blush come over his face as he turned around to face his friend. "Yes. I'm going home to have some dinner now."

"You're just going to have convenience store food? Why don't you have supper here at headquarters? The food isn't fantastic but it's not bad." Yamazaki said, beaconing Hanatarou past the gate. "I can show you around tonight if you'd like."

"Y-you could do that for me?" Hanatarou blushed. "I don't want to disturb you at all. I really don't want to be a bother."

"Oh, don't worry about it, you can't be near as much of a bother as half the people that are already here." Yamazaki smiled back at Hanatarou, walking closer to him. "Besides I don't have any work to catch up on tonight. Do you know how to play badminton? I need a partner."

Hanatarou gave a smile to Yamazaki as he was practically pulled the shinigami into shinsengumi headquarters. His new friend gave him a tour around the main areas of headquarters that weren't strictly shinsengumi members only. Soon after they went to the dining area and had dinner. It seemed this evening was a bit of a party. Yamazaki explained that Kondo-san, the commander, was able to go an evening talking to Otae-san without getting punched or kicked so he felt the need to party since his relationship with her was going so well.

"Yamada-kun, please have a drink on meeeeeeeee~" Kondo laughed, pouring out far too much sake into the small sake glass.

He looked nervously over at Yamazaki before taking the small glass and drinking the whole thing. Seconds later his cheeks were bright red and he had the hiccups. "Yamazaki-san~ What is this stuff, it makes my head feel funny!!" he giggled.

"Hanatarou-kun...You've never had alcohol before?" Yamazaki asked him. He grinned a bit looking at his new friend, wobbling all over the place and giggling. He started to feel his own face going a bit red and his heart seemed to be pounding a bit more quickly than usual. "What, am I getting drunk already too? That can't be." he thought.

~***~

Later that night....

"Hanatarou-kun, can you stand up?" Yamazaki laughed drunkly. "Come on you have to get up. I'll take you home."

"Yamazaki-san I don't wan---" Hanatarou began saying, then pressed his hand to his mouth "I feel kind of sick..."

"Ahh!!" Yamazaki screamed, putting Hantarou's arm around his shoulder and trying his best to sprint to the bathrooms. Somehow the smaller man had managed to keep everything down before reaching the bathroom. The moment Yamazaki sat him in front of the toilet he let everything go. Frantically, Yamazaki grabbed at Hanatarou's hair, trying to hold it away from his face.

"Yamazaki-san...I don't feel good." Hanatarou grumbled, vomiting a little bit more after speaking.

Yamazaki rubbed his friend's back and ripped off a piece of paper for him to wipe his mouth. "You'll feel a lot better soon, I promise. Maybe it's better that you stay here tonight."

He helped the young shinigami up and walked him toward his room. Once again he felt his face getting warmer. He sat Hanatarou at the small table in his room. "I'll go get you a glass of water. Don't move, okay?" His companion let out a grumble and laid his head down on the table.

As the shinsengumi member went to get the water he couldn't stop thinking about how soft Hanatarou's hair was. He was surprised, it was soft like a girl's hair. He realized that he himself had moderately long hair, but it wasn't anything like the young shinigami's. He once again felt his face growing warmer.

"Gah what is it about that guy...." He said out loud, filling the cup with water. He turned around to head back to his room. "Why can't I stop thinking about that..."

Upon arriving at his room he realized that Hanatarou had fallen asleep sitting at the table. Yamazaki grinned, leaning over to tap his shoulder to wake him. Instead he took a moment and just examined the boy at his table. He was kind of small and actually a bit feminine. He smiled before tapping his shoulder. "Hanatarou-kun, please drink this. It'll make you feel a little better."

The shinigami opened his eyes groggily. "Thank you Yamazaki-san. Sorry I fell asleep." he smiled, wiping his eyes. He took the glass and drank it in one gulp. "I still feel a little funny.....You make my face feel warm." He said before laying his head back on the table.

"'You make my face feel warm?'" Yamazaki repeated in his head. "What's going on......First I'm thinking strange things, but I guess he is too. Maybe there was something extra in the drinks tonight...." He looked back down at Hanatarou, to his surprise he was looking back. He jumped a little from the surprise and because he was still quite a bit drunk, fell back and hit his head on his TV stand.

"Ite-te-te..." Yamazaki said, holding his head.

"Yamazaki-san are you alright?!" Hanatarou said, attempting to get up from under the table. He stumbled, landing right on top of Yamazaki. They were now face to face.

For a second Yamazaki stopped. He peered back up at Hanatarou. He was blushing, his lips slightly parted, panting lightly. He felt his own face growing warmer.

"Yamazaki-san....I....uhm..." The shinigami blushed.

"I don't know if I'm going to regret this or not...but here it goes...." Yamazaki thought. He reached up and pulled Hanatarou's face down, just centimeters away. He looked up at the shinigami for a moment before pulling him even closer, locking lips with him.