Sake (3)
If by any chance, Kami-sama answered her prayers, she would beg him to disappear at that moment and the earth ate her all in one go. The interrogative gaze over her eyes and the silence were a dangerous combination that destroyed Chizuru from inside, slow and deviously. She tried to turn the look in another direction but the sensation of those eyes kept being reflected in her as a mirror.
"It looks recent," commented while Chizuru seemed to faint, breathless.
It was uncomfortable, too uncomfortable.
As soon as her fingers started doing knots on the clothes so clumsy, a knock on the door rang outside, asking for permission to enter.
"Come in!" Hijikata said with a tone of lead on his deep voice.
Chizuru relaxed her shoulders immediately, letting them to descend with an ephemeral sigh. Hijikata raised an eyebrow while a new person was added to the conversation.
Heisuke snuck next to Chizuru, keeping his gaze with the corner of the eye over the girl, who answered with chills down her spine and shivering her snow-white skin. Heisuke put a hand over Chizuru's shoulder, trying to make her feel comfortable anyhow.
"Could you leave us a moment?"
The girl in question nodded, standing up from her knees to make a little reverence a few second before going out from the room.
The echo of the knock sounded for a while before the warm smile of the teenager would be changed suddenly for a naughtier one and provocative of the anger of Shinsengumi lieutenant.
Heisuke cleared his throat before talking.
"Did I interrupt…something, Hijikata-san?" incurred on the mocking with the tone his voice.
The lieutenant clenched his fist in low; if something could bother him it was about leaving business incomplete and that wouldn't be an exception.
"At all," cut off as cold as always.
"Hijikata-san, if you wanna get off with a girl you shouldn't be so rough, otherwise you could scare her and…"
"Heisuke!" shouted, recovering his role.
"You haven't come just to pick on me, right?" said the black haired guy maintaining the composure, feeling a vein on his temple beat to the very exorbitant rhythm.
The minor changed his façade into a more serious one, and sat down on his knees. He swallowed hard, slow and uncomfortable, even deep within.
"It's about what happened last night…"
Chizuru ran to her room, sliding the door close with no gentleness. Her hand held her head to feel the crimson warmth that dyed her skin. She looked for a mirror and centered his attention over the red mark –standing out- placed above the beginning of her collarbone.
The girl sighed weary without knowing how she had overlooked the presence of that little 'problem'. After thinking hard on the different ways to hide the evidence of the last night she decided to use flowing hair, option which would not get everything worse.
Apparently, it would take a few days until it fade away, she would've had to be careful to avoid someone misunderstood it.
An urgent reunion was called at night, it seemed everyone suspect a bit of what it was about, except her and it made her to feel more uncomfortable. She tried to ask more than once to satisfy her curiosity but the silence was the only answer.
She put the tea in front of every person in the room with a reverence in every time but no words to join the mechanical action. When she arrived the last place in corner of the room her breath stopped froze suddenly. Hijikata kept an eye a few seconds before turning the glaze in other direction. Chizuru thanked him but the bittersweet feeling was still there.
"How much is it, Harada?"
Everyone looked at the red-haired man, who kept the session more taciturn than no one before while he held his head with the index in a deep though. Finally after a complete meditation, he decided to answer cold and firm.
"Thirty thousand."
The domino effect was on the whispers of conversation among the members of Shinsengumi. Drinking was inevitable at that time when it could be one of the safe hobbies, but drinking until get nuts and get a big bill to pay in a night wasn't funny for anybody.
"However, Kimigiku-san has proposed a saver way to pay the bill…"
The air become more gelid than she remember but that time the difference was the fact that the snow wasn't guilt of the slow blood circulating in the veins.
"Talk now, Harada," Hijikata ordered.
The guy in question decided to face the tiny girl resting on the corner of the room. Feeling his eyes on hers, she swallowed hard hoping it wasn't about what she had begun to think about.
"Chizuru, may you like to work at teahouse with Kimigiku-san?"
"Ehhh?"
"It's only while we find a better way," said Harada, rubbing his arm against the back of the neck as nervous as her, "I promise it won't be long time."
"Woa! Chizuru will be the best hostess in the house!" cried Heisuke, passing the motion of his sempai cheerfully.
"I wouldn't mind to go there if you were the one serving me tea personally," added Okita, making color the cheeks of the oni woman into an equal crimson.
"If any of our members would involve on the matter it would arouse people suspicious, "paused, "on the other hand Chizuru is a key element not seen before and no suspicious as well. In my opinion is the best action we could take," agreed Saitou, drinking his tea slowly.
"I apologize for involving you in our business Yukimura-kun," said Sannan-san, paternal gaze on his eye.
"I-ie, if I can be useful for Shinsengumi in any way then I'd be glad to."
Then all the heads turned on Hijikata-san direction. His anger was showed on his crossed arms on his chest. She could see how his fists became paler due to the force applied on them.
"Do as you wish," finished, going out to his room, sliding the door close.
It had definitely hurt his proud.
Don't throw tomatoes at me please! The update was supposed to be on July, but things happened and it couldn't be that way. Well, I hope you enjoyed as I did by writing. Reviews, ne?
