Don't really have much to say, so as always, enjoy!

Chapter 2: A Deal with The Jokester

…I walked toward the kendo dojo to see if I could meet up with Heisuke-kun, as I would do on any other normal Friday evening. As I waited in the lobby for his practice to end, I contemplated over what Hijikata-sensei told Shimada-san.

Teacher and student relationships don't work; it was a harsh but unquestionable truth. My relationship with Hijikata-sensei could never grow into being something more than what it was now. He would never see me as anything more than his student… Tears welled up in my already swollen eyes at the thought.

"Hey Chizuru!", I heard my childhood friend beam behind me. Blinking hurriedly, I pushed back my tears, and turned to face him with a forced smile.

"Hi! How was practice, Heisuke-kun?"

"Good, of course! But everyone's pretty sloppy since it's Friday and all- …Hey…are you okay?", Heisuke-kun's smiled suddenly vanished.

"Huh? Y-Yeah I'm fine! Why do you ask?", I forced a smile as I lied.

"No offense, but you kinda look under the weather, you know?", Heisuke-kun's face morphed into one full of concern. Great, now I'm making him worry.

"I think I'm just getting a small cold. Really, it's no big deal…", I patted his shoulder with an assuring smile.

"Okay… Just take care of yourself", luckily Heisuke-kun didn't press the matter any further. I sighed in relief, glad that I didn't have to lie anymore, especially to my friend of all people.

I took note that though practice was over, I could still hear clanging wooden practice swords in the distance.

"Are people still practicing?", I asked to keep distracting Heisuke-kun from suspecting that there was something wrong with me.

"Just Souji. He's got some tournament coming up so he's been in here every day for the past month", I straightened at the mention of Okita-senpai's name. I was aware that he and Heisuke-kun, along with several others, have been practicing kendo for a long time. I've been to several of Heisuke-kun's matches, and he seems to be at an admirable level of skill. But I had no idea how Okita-senpai fought, and for a reason I couldn't fathom I wanted to see how good he was.

"Do you mind if I watch his practice for a little bit?", I asked my friend.

"N-No, but why do you want to see him?", Heisuke-kun was a little taken aback by my odd request.

"Well I've never seen him fight, so uh, I guess I'm just curious", I admitted honestly. I was indeed curious, but I suppose I needed a sort of distraction to take my mind off of things.

Heisuke-kun led me through a door in the lobby, and soon we were in a large room with hardwood floors and bright lights. The air had a strong stench of manly sweat, and everyone who had just finished practicing was sitting on the benches against the wall exhaustingly, watching the only match with awe-struck faces that was taking place in the middle of the room.

Not far stood one of Hakuou Academy's teachers, Nagakura-sensei, who also coached kendo along with Kondou-sensei and several other teachers. But my eyes weren't trained on his refereeing for long as they immediately fell upon Okita-senpai.

His body moved at a speed that was hard to keep track of. Glistening beads of sweat rolled down his face and to his neck, polishing him like a statue. Each swing he took with his sword was hard and fast, throwing his opponent back every time. My blood pumped faster each time their swords met, sending sounds that reverberated all over my chest.

For a moment in time that I wasn't sure if I had just imagined it, I saw Okita-senpai's eyes flicker toward me, erasing everything around us and holding –pulling- me in with a force stronger than magnetism.

There was no doubt in my mind that Okita-senpai's skill and talent were brilliant, to put it simply. He was many things but lacking. But what took my breath away the most were his eyes; hot and icy at the same time with their own special poison that paralyzed one completely. Everything about Okita-senpai read "dangerous".

"One hit!", Nagakura-sensei yelled, as one successful hit from Okita-senpai drew his opponent back. Both of them stopped fighting momentarily and adjusted the grip on their swords. Nagakura-sensei, at some distance away from them, held his arm straight in the air and puffed his chest with air.

"Begin!", he yelled as he brought his arm down swiftly, and all movement in the middle of the room became unreadable.

Speed. Power. Endurance. Aggressiveness. The fight before me became a maelstrom of violence and ferocity. No, not just the fight. Okita-senpai was the vigorous being who controlled the outcome of the match.

The power and finesse that he put into his sword made his belligerent swings seem like an art rather than a sport.

"Stop! Okita Souji is the winner! Now show your respects!", Nagukara-sensei's voice seemed distant to me as I centered my attention solely on Okita-senpai. He and his opponent drew back from one another and gave a slow and appreciative bow.

"As always, Okita-senpai, you won again", the other pupil said admiringly despite having lost the match.

"Sure he did, but why were you aiming for vital areas on him, Souji?", Nagakura-sensei seemed less than pleased with his student.

"You should know, Nagakura-sensei. In a match there's no time to go easy on anyone. Especially when my goal is to win, there's no point in being lazy as hell", the confidence in Okita-senpai's tone was unwavering.

"I get that, but you do realize you can get disqualified from a match if you seriously injure your opponent or some shit like that", Nagakura-sensei went on to reprimand Okita-senpai, but his student hardly showed any sign of remorse.

"Yeah I know. I guess I just had…a little more motivation to fight near the end of the match", it was brief and perhaps coincidental, but I noticed Okita-senpai looking at me from the corner of his eye as he spoke.

He quickly finished up his conversation with Nagakura-sensei, and walked directly toward Heisuke-kun and me.

"Hello there, Chizuru-chan. Wasn't expecting to see you around here", he gave me his usual half-smile, but something in his eyes read that my presence –though unplanned- wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Hello Okita-senpai", I kept my greeting short. Heisuke-kun crooked a confused brow at me before turning to Okita-senpai.

"Anyway… What's that whole 'a little more motivation to fight near the end' thing all about? Must have been somethin' good considering that you almost whacked the living crap out of Tomoe", I couldn't tell if Heisuke-kun was amazed or startled by Okita-senpai's performance.

"Nothing you would understand. But you shouldn't be worrying about how I fight, Heisuke-kun", there was something derisive in Senpai's tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?!", Heisuke-kun tried to defend himself from Okita-senpai's banter. Before one of them could continue, Nagakura-sensei abruptly approached Heisuke-kun from behind and threw a bulky arm over his shoulder, almost having him in a headlock.

"It means you need to stop playing video games and actually focus on finishing your homework for my class! You little bastard, what makes you think I'm gonna let you have an easy practice after you pull that kind of shit!", Nagakura-sensei's grip tightened on Heisuke-kun.

"Lay off, old geezer! At least I don't lose all my money on pointless bets!"

"Hey! Break Before Dawn is the best horse out there right now, I was sure he'd win the last race, but his jokey has a better chance of whipping his own ass instead of the horse's!"

To anyone else Heisuke-kun's and Nagakura-sensei's conversation would've seemed like inappropriate behavior, but to them it was just casual banter between friends. Heisuke-kun was close with many men of the Shieikan dojo, so more often than not he'd be extremely casual with them.

I about lost myself in their bickering and let out a short giggle.

"All right, ready to go?", Heisuke-kun finally turned to me. Like normally after kendo practice, we would always go out for ice cream or whatever frozen sweet we felt like eating. I was about to nod in agreement, but Nagakura-sensei had other plans.

"What the hell, Heisuke?! Did you forget it's your turn on cleaning duty?"

"Eh?! But I already cleaned on Wednesday!", Heisuke-kun retorted.

"The only thing your ass busted was your own stick", Okita-senpai seemed to have planned out his intervention into the conversation perfectly. At that Heisuke-kun shot a quick glance at me –which I didn't know why he did- before blushing madly.

"Sh-Shut up! You pervert…saying things like that…", he grumbled to Okita-senpai.

"Would I ever?", Okita-senpai feigned surprise. Whatever they were talking about, I couldn't understand any part of it.

"Hey! Hey! Not in front of the lady!", Nagakura-sensei shot them both a warning glare while acknowledging my presence –I still didn't know what for, but I was beginning to think that I didn't want to know.

"It's not what you think it is Chizuru! I-I was just cleaning the sweat off of my sword! …It just ended up looking like something else…", Heisuke-kun mumbled the last part. I didn't know what I was supposed to think of any of this.

"Uh…"

"You're only making this harder on yourself, Heisuke-kun…", Okita-senpai smiled.

"Stop! Leave me alone!", Heisuke-kun's face was almost scarlet at that point.

"Nice one, Souji. In any case, you're still cleaning Heisuke", Nagakura-sensei tried to give off an air of authority.

"Fine… Sorry Chizuru, I can't get ice cream with you today", Heisuke-kun practically pouted and I felt kind of sorry for him.

"No, it's okay. We can always make plans for next week", I tried to cheer him up as best as I could, given the unpleasant situation for him.

"Yeah for sure!", and with that we parted ways.

I walked by myself outside of the dojo, but there was clearly someone right behind me. I frowned just slightly and turned to face Okita-senpai.

"Is something wrong?", I tried to make my voice as polite as I could.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? You look like you just rolled out of bed", instead of the smile I was expecting from him, he only stared at me with sharp eyes.

"Do I?!", I brought my hands to my cheeks to hide my flushed cheeks. Why does he have to be so blunt about everything?

Instead of answering me, he only walked toward me until he was standing right in front of me. My eyes widened as he brought his face closer to mine. His eyes narrowed studiously.

"Your eyes are puffy and red", he was blunt again as usual, not at all feeling uncomfortable by the close distance between us. I took a purposeful step back from him.

"Must be allergies", I was curt. Not even trying to go along with me, Senpai scoffed.

"As if", he wasted no time in his response.

He saw through right me… I opened my mouth to rebut something back, but nothing came to mind so I reluctantly closed it. We stood with awkward silence for several moments until Okita-senpai finally cleared his throat.

"You know, ice cream doesn't sound like a bad idea", he wagged his brows suggestively. Clearly he had heard about my canceled plans with Heisuke-kun and had taken an interest in them. Well, at least we weren't talking about Hijikata-sensei…

"I only have money for my own cone, though", I was honest. What would be the point in him coming to get ice cream with me if he didn't have money to pay for his own. It would've been unfair.

"Don't worry, I've got my own money. Both cones are on me, how's that sound?", he'd surprised me with that.

"You don't have to pay for mine. I have money too-"

"It's my treat. Besides, I'm sure you would've gone home if I decided I didn't want any ice cream", he seemed as though he'd hear no "but" from me. Still…

"O-Okay, but that doesn't mean you have to pay for mine- …Wait…you don't want me to go home now?", I was struck with realization and confusion all at once.

"Well we're both hungry, and I bet you're in the mood for ice cream, so I don't see the problem in all of this. And you really need to stop being so modest, I didn't even get a 'thank you' from you", despite Okita-senpai's semi-scolding, I still didn't know why he wanted me to get ice cream with him. But I didn't want to make an argument out of nothing, so we made our way to the ice cream shop together…

…

"…'Chocolate Therapy'…That actually looks good", Okita-senpai eyed my ice cream.

"Yours looks good too…", I did the same for his "Cookies N' Cream".

"Wanna try it?", he offered his cone to me with a trickster's grin. He had licked his ice cream significantly enough, and I wasn't planning on sharing any food with him. It sounded stupid in my head, but I didn't want my lips to come into intimate contact with something that his lips and tongue were on…

"No I'm fine…", I returned back to my heavily-induced-with-chocolate dessert. Despite further protesting from me, Okita-senpai still bought me an ice cream cone, and we were now eating them on our way back home. I could've walked home by myself just fine, but Senpai practically called me a magnet for trouble and decided to walk me back to my house. I was yet unsure of why he was being strangely nice to me…

By the time we finished our ice cream, we reached a bridge overlooking a river and its bank with a majestic view of the sunset.

"It's so pretty…", I mumbled as I stopped walking and grabbed onto the bridge's railing to admire the scene. The sun had taken an orange glow, and the clouds in the sky were puffy and pink. Even the riverbank added onto the beauty of it. The soft breeze sent a faint shimmer of light across the soft grass, and couples were enjoying both the tranquil river and sky.

I had been so lost staring off into the environment that I hadn't noticed until now that Okita-senpai had been watching me the entire time. His eyes were gentle as they squinted at me slightly. He must have been amused watching me gape at the sky.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm taking up your time, we should get going now-"

"It is really pretty", Okita-senpai interrupted me and broke from my gaze to stare at the sky. His green eyes glowed brilliantly thanks to the sunset, and the half-smile on his lips made him look so peaceful. If an artist were to paint a picture of the landscape now, Okita-senpai would fit in well with all of that artistic beauty.

I didn't want to disturb him now when he looked so relaxed, so I joined him and returned my eyes to the riverbank. My eyes fell upon a couple sitting side-by-side without a single space in between them. The man had his arm around the woman whom he seemed to love, and she leaned her head comfortably on his shoulder. They looked perfect, without a single care in the world…

I grew jealous and sad by that which I couldn't have. Hijikata-sensei would never take me here and have his arms around me. I would never be able to feel the comfort and relief of his touch. Why did I have to be so young? Why couldn't I just grow up to be a woman of his age and not have to worry about anything in our relationship being out of place.

"Chizuru-chan, you okay?"

"Huh?", I looked up to see Okita-senpai looking at me with concern plain on his face. Was my misery that apparent on my face to him?

"Yeah, I'm fine!", I forced a smile, but he didn't seem convinced.

"You couldn't lie to a baby if you had to, so what makes you think you can pull one on me?", he smiled playfully, perhaps in way to cheer me up, but I was certainly not in the mood to deal with his wittiness. I had enough of him.

"Why do you care?!", I snapped, sounding more harsh than what I had intended. His eyes went wide immediately before softening again in a strange way.

"Sorry… I didn't mean to upset you", his melancholic tone brought me back to my senses. Why did I have to lash out on him like that? He was only worried about me, yet I hurt his feelings… I'm so pathetic…

"N-No, I should be the one saying sorry…", my eyes met my feet. I couldn't bear to look into the sadness residing within his eyes after being so rude to him.

Silence plagued the air again. All I wanted to do now was curl up in a ball on my bed. I didn't want to face anyone right now, least of all Okita-senpai. I began to depart from the railing and walk off.

"C'mon it's getting late-"

"You were crying, weren't you?"

Okita-senpai's question ceased all movement from my legs. I slowly turned to him with an expression that easily read off as shock. How did he-?

"Heisuke-kun might have thought you were sick since you don't look so hot right now. But after what happened yesterday, I… ", Okita-senpai, couldn't bring himself to finish for some reason.

Wait…does he think it's his fault I was crying earlier?

"It's not what you think! You didn't make me sad…", I stopped myself from talking about Hijikata-sensei.

"Then who did?", Okita-senpai's eyes hardened into a glare, much more dangerous than anything I've ever seen, but I could tell that his resentment wasn't for me. I stayed silent, not sure what to make of his sudden belligerency. Aside from that, he already knew enough about my dilemma with my teacher, he didn't need to know more. I didn't want him to know more.

"Was it Hijikata-san?", he pushed on determinedly. I wasn't sure how I looked to him, but I bet my face gave off a sign of surprise.

"What'd he do?", Senpai's voice became flat. I didn't know what kind of person Okita-senpai was, but I grew worried that he'd do something unpleasant to Hijikata-sensei. I had to set the truth straight.

"W-Well, he really didn't do anything wrong. I-I guess I'm more upset at myself for not accepting his sound actions…", my voice lowered to a mumble; I wasn't even sure if Okita-senpai could hear me.

He remained silent, but his eyes were demanding. Clearly he was waiting for me to explain myself. Well…he already knew that I liked Hijikata-sensei, what would be the harm in telling him about what the vice-principal had said earlier today?

I drew in air deeply before I continued.

"…I was there when he threw away some girl's love confession to him…", I began…

…

"…'Teacher and student relationships don't work; it's that simple'… That's what he said after throwing away that letter", I said as I explained to Okita-senpai what had happened. He'd been silent the whole time, yet he didn't look bored either. He was just…listening to me. Okita-senpai was a very irritating person, but strangely it felt good talking to him like this. For that I was grateful to him.

"I feel sorry for that girl who wrote the letter. I'm sure she liked Hijikata-sensei a lot and poured her heart out into writing that letter…yet he threw it away like it was nothing… That could've been a letter from me and he'd still throw it away…", it was a mighty effort to stop myself from crying as I spoke.

"You're so honest…", Okita-senpai sounded amazed as he said it, but I wasn't sure if he was saying that to me or to himself. I also didn't know what to say to that, but before I could even open my mouth he interrupted me.

"Oh, just now, I didn't mean that in a bad way. It's just really refreshing listening to you talk like that…", he said with a gentle smile as he leaned on the bridge railing.

"Okita-senpai…"

He blew me away. Before, I thought he was nothing more than a prankster who teases everyone, but now just looking at his gentle expressions was enough to throw anyone off-guard. Why was he suddenly like that? Or could it be that I misjudged him?

"Hijikata-san isn't wrong either, but you know that pretty well, right?", he spoke up, perhaps trying to console me with a logical view on things. I remained silent, but there was no denying that Senpai and Hijikata-sensei were both right. It was just painful acknowledging that truth.

"Besides, it's going to take much more than a love letter to tame that demon", Senpai's famous half-smile reappeared all of sudden.

"Huh?", I blinked. Where was this conversation going?

"So what if Hijikata-san doesn't like high school girls? That just means he'll only have eyes for adults, right?", Senpai's sudden positive tone was confusing to me.

"U-Um I guess…"

"Which also means there's more time for you to prepare yourself in high school. And by the time you graduate, you'll officially be an adult", he continued.

"Hold on Okita-senpai. What are you suggesting?"

"Isn't obvious? In the three years you have left in Hakuou Academy, you're going to make Hijikata-san interested in you. And when you're an adult, he'll be so impressed with you that he might actually like you back", Okita-senpai practically radiated with positivity.

"When I'm an adult…", I began with awe-struck wonder.

"…That whole teacher and student relationship thing won't apply anymore", Okita-senpai finished.

"…R-Really…?!", I could feel my cheeks warm up at the thought. Could Hijikata-sensei and I actually be a couple…?

"This sounds too good to be true… I mean, what would I even do for three years to get Hijikata-sensei to notice me? We can't hold hands or go on dates… We can't do anything romantic because I'm still his student!", reason had finally hit me.

"True, but what's to stop him from crushing on you? He might not like you now, but you can still get him to have a harmless crush on you, just like the one you have for him. Of course he wouldn't act on it while you're still in high school, but it's a start nonetheless", Senpai answered.

"Okay, but how would I get him to…like me? Surely he wouldn't pay attention to me so easily…", I blushed while ducking my head. I was still a teenager, but I had no womanly curves or anything extravagant like that. I was plain…and Hijikata-sensei was out of my league. The man was beautiful for crying out loud!

I peeked up my head shyly to look at Okita-senpai, who was avoiding my gaze while scratching the back of his head. I wasn't sure if it was the sunset's glow on his face, but I could see the faintest trace of red on his face. Was he blushing?! Surely not, it's Okita-senpai I'm talking about here.

"Well, you are cute enough, especially when you blush like that", he said without meeting my eyes yet. I slapped my hands on my face immediately and kept them there.

"I-I'm not blushing-!"

"But it's going to take a lot more than that to get Hijikata-san's attention", Okita-senpai went on while ignoring my state of panic.

"So that's where I come in and help you out", he childishly smiled at me, showing off his perfect white teeth in the process.

"Help me…? But why would you?"

I suddenly realized that Okita-senpai's involvement in my love life was pretty bizarre. Yesterday he didn't care about my crush on Hijikata-sensei, even said so himself, so why was he offering to help me now?

Okita-senpai stepped away from the railing he was leaning on walked toward me. When he was close enough, he placed his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. I froze, stunned. I couldn't even think of anything. Despite my surprise, I could feel heat radiating from Senpai. He was so warm…and the sensation he had on me was almost inviting.

"Because like I said yesterday…", his face was literally right next to mine as he spoke, and his warm breath brushed across my skin softly.

"…I have a good feeling you'll be entertaining, Chizuru-chan."

Before my mind could register anything else, Okita-senpai threw back his head to laugh and gave me a huge –almost painful- pat on the back that threw me forward a couple steps.

"Whoa! Hey that almost hurt!", I whined as struggled to reach behind me and rub away the tingling feeling on my back. Senpai only laughed more and proceeded to walk in front of me.

"Geez, you're so overdramatic. Now c'mon, let's go before it gets dark", he called over his shoulder.

"Hold on! Wait for me!", after just regaining my balance, I now ran to catch up with him. This guy…just what am I getting myself into?

By the time I reached him, Okita-senpai looked back at me with that same clever half-smile of his that only he could make.

"So what do you say about Hijikata-san? Do we have a deal?"

I bit my lip as my brows furrowed pensively. I had three years to get Hijikata-sensei to fall for me, but without Okita-senpai, what exactly could I accomplish on my own? Then again, I would be relying on Okita-senpai's help, which isn't exactly the most trustful or reliable source. But he's the only source I have… And he really can't be that bad…right?

At that moment, I didn't know it yet, but I would be embarking on the most meticulous, arduous, unexpected, wonderful, and craziest adventure in my whole life.

"Deal."

And there you have it! So how are you guys liking this story so far? Hopefully I can make at least one more update for this fanfic before winter break is over for me, but I can't guarantee anything, but I'm grateful to have you as my audience!

Please review and tell me your thoughts and opinions about this chapter and/or the story overall! I would really appreciate it! So as always, have an awesome day!