Thanks for the kind words ye lovely few. Regarding this...thing, I couldn't say no. Writing Hakuouki is strangely addictive and is a nice respite from my other attempts at fanfiction (namely Naruto). And then there's this pairing I can't get enough of.
Warnings for the following:
-Extreme OOCness,
-Ridiculously long sentences, which leads me to the last warning;
-Nonsensical and possibly contradictive rambling
I apologize for all and none of these. Enjoy :)
...
Love is like a barren place and
Reaching out for human faith is
Like a journey I just don't have a map for
...
If love was red
Then she was colour blind
...
Chizuru is supposed to be accompanying Hijikata on morning patrols when Kazama appears in that slightly creepy, slightly amazing way that he does. She was alone, wandering along the outskirts of Kyoto, watching the few people crazy enough to be awake this early meander on the main road. Those very same people don't look twice at the scene of the beautiful demon walking towards an unescorted, defenceless girl. Partly because they don't want any trouble from the demon, but mostly because they just don't care.
To Chizuru his appearance is unexpected as they ever have been, which, she supposes, makes them less surprising each time. The expression 'expect the unexpected' is all too familiar now, so she hardly bats a lid at him. But as Kazama walks towards her he quirks a brow in question. Chizuru's lack of response more than slightly annoys him, because he's conceited enough to think that that's the kind of attention he deserves. And he gets neither a smile nor a frown from her.
Chizuru, ever so perceptive, senses his displeasure, so, at least pretending to be surprised — because she understands that's what he enjoys most about these random visits; her loss of composure and ability to talk — she gasps and holds a hand to her chest. Kazama smiles at that and brings his hand around from behind his back, presenting her with a bouquet of deep purple roses held together by a simple black ribbon. He's stopped and now stands close enough for Chizuru to reach out and touch if she wanted, and she can't deny that the shiver that runs through her is in response to the proximity.
"Chizuru," he murmurs in greeting, "I brought you flowers."
Chizuru looks at the flowers sceptically and doesn't take them. She's unsure what to make of this scene and doesn't know whether or not the flowers might be some sort of trap to steal her away. Maybe they're lethal and emit some kind of sleeping gas, or maybe they can transform into some kind of restraining tool once she touches them. Whatever the case, she doesn't trust there isn't some alternative motive behind this gift-giving, so she stands resolute and silently refuses to accept them.
Kazama, though, decides to ignore her silent refusal, because he thinks he's had enough refusals from her to last a lifetime. He will not be denied this least of all.
He stares at her, believing that his steady gaze will eventually prevail over her own nervous disposition, and waits, his roses extended for the taking. It's a strange predicament they find themselves in with neither party moving nor speaking, and Chizuru thinks that after a few seconds it starts to get a little too awkward. She's become so accustom to the Kazama who makes big speeches about stealing her away that she's almost expecting the time when he'd bust in with a gag and some rope to forcefully claim her. So to be offered flowers, even though they might be the kind that Chizuru hardly expects to find charming, (she's sure that's what he's going for), is entirely unexpected. Chizuru was never good with 'unexpected' either.
When the awkward silence drags on for just a little too long, Chizuru decides that even words in place of silence would be better. Because she doesn't want to accept the flowers yet. She still won't even believe they're safe.
"Hijikata-san says I shouldn't speak to you," she says firmly, slowly moving her hand down to where she keeps her short-sword.
"Do you always do what Hijikata-san says?" Kazama watches her hand with a lazy kind of caution.
Chizuru frowns softly, and Kazama wants to take his thumb and smooth it away. But then he remembers who he is; Kazama the cold, unemotional, entirely anti-social demon, and he stops himself.
"Well," Chizuru says, "Not always. But it's not like I don't agree with him, so..."
"Is it because he's scared?" he asks, arrogance lacing his words.
Chizuru stares off into a non-distinct horizon somewhere over Kazama's left shoulder. "I probably shouldn't even be accepting flowers from you…"
Kazama scoffs, "It's because he's scared, isn't it?"
"Although I can't remember if that was instigated in the first." Chizuru says, carrying on from her last sentence as if forgetting Kazama was there at all.
Kazama smirks triumphantly, though, when Chizuru sighs, looks him in the eyes and takes the flowers from his hands. As she inspects them he laughs softly to himself. "He's so scared."
"Of course Hijikata-san is not scared. He's just worried for me."
"Which is synonymous for scared."
"Not really."
Chizuru breathes in the rich scent of the roses, content to deem them at least not life-threatening to her. She doesn't deny that they are quite beautiful, in a morbid sort of way. But then, what else should she have expected from someone like Kazama? At least in this way she knows he's stayed true to his character. Or at least the part of his character that she knows.
She brushes past him, glancing once up at him in invitation to follow, and they begin to walk up the path away from Kyoto. They approach the border of where the wild forest meets the civilization of their simple roadway and continue to follow it, flitting in and out of the shadows cast by the trees.
"Hijikata-kun knows that I can easily sway you to leave this silly place." Kazama murmurs, watching Chizuru carefully as she answers.
"Oh really? Sway me by giving me purple roses?"
Kazama blinks once, observing the way Chizuru still assesses the flowers with rapt attention. If he didn't know any better, he might say that this particular ploy is actually working. Or at least as much as he expected it to, even though she isn't grovelling at his feet in thanks, because perhaps that might've been just a bit too much to ask for. Nevertheless, he's understood thus far that Chizuru is a woman of many parts, and that her liking his roses might not mean what he thinks it should mean.
"What's wrong with purple roses?" He says, "Do you not like them?"
"It depends."
Kazama pauses, forcing Chizuru in turn to halt abruptly and face him. They're standing in the shade of the trees now and the play of the changing shadows on Kazama's face makes him appear ominous, but in a way that Chizuru could almost find alluring. His hair shines richly and his eyes flash like dark rubies polished by the moon. He brushes a stray golden strand off his face. "Depends on what?" he says carefully.
"On the intention behind them" Chizuru replies.
"An intention shouldn't influence a preference that is based solely on the naked eye. Do you like the flowers or not?"
The question is blunt and his tone demands a direct answer, but Chizuru finds herself liking this conversation too much for it to come to such a hasty conclusion. Instead she asks; "Would you like me to like my flowers?"
Kazama works to suppress his exasperation. "Who cares what I'd like," he growls, "I want to know if you like your flowers."
"But you would prefer that I liked them, wouldn't you?"
Kazama's eyes glint dangerously, as if he's precariously close to the edge of a cliff that might represent something important.
"That hardly matters." He says, "You will decide whether or not you like them based on your own personal tastes and partialities, disregarding whether or not I want you to like them, and whether there might be misleading intentions behind the notion of giving them. Not that I'm admitting to such a thing. I only want to know, Do. You. Like. Your. Flowers?"
There's a surprised silence and Chizuru stares at Kazama with raised eyebrows, her amusement playing clearly across her face. "That's the most I've heard you say in…ever. Or at least the most that's made sense."
Kazama sighs and rubs at his face, his expression softening. He peers at Chizuru through his fingers.
"You're making me weary." He doesn't know what to make of the smile that suddenly lights her face, except that he can't deny it makes him feel warm and, dare he say it, happy even. He squashes that concept down firmly, deciding to confront it when he's had enough time to remember what kind of person he's supposed to be.
She stares down at her flowers and fingers the dark petals gently.
"I like the flowers."
"Good"
It's Kazama's turn to smile now, even though the notion of a genuine one doesn't come naturally to him. But at least it's not the savage, arrogant sort of smile that Chizuru is use to seeing on him, and she finds herself liking it all the same.
They turn back to their path and continue down it in companionable silence. Kazama keeps close enough to the tree-line so as to not be noticed by anyone who happens to be watching from the borders of Kyoto town — namely one equally as possessive Shinsengumi member who might happen to be close by, more specifically, Hijikata.
He can't deny he hates Hijikata. And he would safely assume the feeling is mutual. And it's not just because of the obstacle Hijikata presents when in comes to Chizuru, although he loathes to admit it presents a formidable challenge. It's everything about the man. The idealism for a phantom sort of future that's only going to get him killed in the end; the headstrong belief that he and his Shinsengumi are the most powerful group ever to grace this stupid earth. And perhaps Kazama is guilty of entertaining the same ideas himself. But the very fact that he is a demon — a race far superior to any nation or group — surely gives license for him to think what he thinks.
But Hijikata is just a man with excellent swordsmanship, hardly anything to boast about. And then there's the point that, to make their so-called indestructible army, they must make these fake demons? Kazama can only roll his eyes in contempt.
However, Kazama pushes these thoughts from his mind and endeavours to concentrate on the woman at his side. He refuses to let Hijikata cloud his mind while he has this opportunity to walk with Chizuru. And in the end it doesn't take very much for his attention to be consumed by her. He's not sure if that's a good thing or not.
He observes intently the way she walks along, gazing keenly at her surroundings and smiling at any small thing that catches her eye. A wild rabbit scurrying under bush, a pair of birds tumbling and twisting playfully in the air like lovesick fools. She smiles down at her roses when they pass a small field of wild daisies and buttercups, and that makes Kazama pleased.
He thinks about how very much like a Yukimura she looks. The soft features countered by her strong, sharp spirit. The nobility stands out so clearly in the way she holds herself, and yet there's a humility that comes to her so naturally — the kind that the Yukimura family never had. He wants to think it's because she's spent her life believing she's human, but he knows it's not.
After a while they find themselves at the summit of a small rising that overlooks Kyoto. Chizuru looks up at Kazama and smiles, even though she's not sure whether or not she's okay with the idea of enjoying his company this much. Even though they've said hardly anything since resuming their walk, she thinks she's seen some softer side of him, and that makes her scared in a silly, school-girl kind of way. She thinks he doesn't know that, throughout the walk, she would catch small glimpses of him from the corner of her eye. She knows he'd been staring at her in a way that makes her think he isn't as brutal, as stone-cold as she's believed him to be. She's partial to this side of Kazama, and to her, that's too dangerous a prospect to dwell on.
"Well," Kazama says, glancing down towards the town, "I will leave now."
Chizuru stamps down on the flare of disappointment that rises inside of her.
Forcing nonchalance, she asks "So soon?"
Kazama is not fooled. A victorious feeling along with that special kind of happiness he's never felt before rises, and this time he let's himself revel in it. He flashes a quick, almost animal-like smile at Chizuru which in turn makes her frown. "Hijikata-kun is coming" he says.
"Now who's the scared one?"
From the town a lone figure emerges. Kazama watches wearily as it makes a steady approach.
"I'm not scared," he protests, "I just don't feel like ruining this day with a confrontation."
Chizuru laughs and follows his line of sight until she too can see Hijikata making his way towards them. She wonders if Hijikata can see Kazama standing in the shadow of the trees. Probably not, she concludes. "Whatever. You're scared."
"Am not." Kazama's already stepped back into the cover of the forest.
"Well, whatever. But," Chizuru holds Kazama's steady gaze a moment and then smiles — that genuine, soul-warming smile that Kazama likes. "Thank you for the roses. I do like them."
"You're welcome."
"I wonder, though, what I should say if Hijikata-kun asks who I got them from?"
At this Kazama smirks before answering, "You'll tell them they're from me. A blow to his ego will do him good in the long run. And will prove to you how scared he is."
Chizuru turns back down the path again and begins to pick her way down.
"No more than you who refuses to see him." She calls over her shoulder, noting Kazama's not even there anymore. He's disappeared like mist; faded into nothingness. She picks up her pace then and lets her smile rule unrestrained.
Her heart jolts so hard that she fears it might burst out of her chest when she hears Kazama's voice. It's like thunder reverberating through her body and feels like it comes from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
"Whatever," he says, "Enjoy your roses."
/-Still can't decide what to make of this scene
But whatever. It's obviously obvious in this chapter that I have a serious infatuation with KazaChi. Whether or not I will continue to elaborate on it, though, is unforeseeable. As of yet. If the notion hits me to go on, then I will. But thank you for reading anyway :)
Please review because they make me smile. Like, really bigly.