RATING: Mild M for sexual situations

Author's Note:

I had hoped to contribute at least one story to OkiChi Week 2017. Unfortunately, I was only able to put together this modest (or rather immodest) little piece - but I hope that you enjoyed it! :)

~ImpracticalOni

Losing One's Regrets to the Gift of Teasing Laughter
Prompts: Lost, Regrets, Gift, Laughter, Teasing

They had rebuilt Chizuru's parents' house, bit by bit, over the course of that first, difficult year. It was a good thing that Kōdō and Kaoru had already repaired the main structure, and made three rooms fully habitable, since otherwise the extensive fire damage would likely have been beyond Sōji's fluctuating strength and Chizuru's lack of expertise to handle. By the time that the first snows had come—both earlier and harder than in Kyoto or Edo—not only had Chizuru expanded the inhabitable space to four, comfortable rooms, but they had managed to obtain sufficient supplies to get them through the winter with a minimum of reliance on rural neighbours or the small village a few miles away.

"We'll need to get a better vegetable garden started as early as possible in the Spring," Chizuru murmured, as they stood together on their small porch watching the flakes come down from the grey, late November sky. "And I hope the hens make it through the winter."

"You worry too much," said her husband, just as she'd expected. He looked even thinner than in the past, but his face was tanned from a summer spent in the sun, and the pale hollows around his eyes had disappeared thanks to rest, lack of stress, and the oddly peaceful, almost healing atmosphere of the Yukimura land. Chizuru always ignored his explanation that he simply didn't dare look less than healthy around her due to her overbearing ways as a doctor's daughter.

"We should go in," Chizuru said—and then smiled, because Sōji's huff of laughter told her that she was at least as predictable as he was.

"In a moment."

"You always say that, and it's never a moment."

Sōji responded by pulling her tightly against him and kissing the top of her head. "Then you'd better keep me warm while I risk life and limb proudly surveying my domain."

Chizuru's reply was muffled against Sōji's chest. They were both rather stubborn, she reflected, but they made that work for them. Then she smiled. Their friends would not call Sōji "rather" stubborn… She shivered suddenly, with the unhappy recollection that the stories out of Aizu had all been bad, which did not bode well for Saitō-san or Nagakura-san, although she clung to her stubborn belief that they were alive. They had heard nothing at all of Heisuke-kun, but Harada-san had almost certainly died in an especially bloody battle that had left no survivors on the loyalist side. She mourned Kondō-san and now Hijikata-san; even Sōji had wept over the recent, conclusive news from Ezo, although not until he could reasonably pretend to believe that she was asleep.

As if he had followed her thoughts, Sōji tipped up her chin and smiled down at her. He had obviously intended to reassure her—or more likely tease her into happier reflections—but his expression was shadowed with imperfectly concealed regret, and he was unusually at a loss for words. On the whole, Sōji dealt with regret better than most, in Chizuru's opinion. However, she guessed that his current regret was too new to have been fully processed and laid aside.

Not that they ever talked about the way in which he'd left Hijikata-san before they'd come here to face her brother and foster father; some wounds were still too deep for words. But it had been a bitter parting for two men who had worked together for so many long, hard years, and death now precluded any resolution but acceptance. Chizuru pulled herself together. She was immensely grateful to have Sōji with her now, alive and apparently improving every day, even though there was little they could do about his fury-depleted lifespan. They had committed to living for each other, and that was more than enough.

"I was thinking that I could keep you even warmer inside," she told him, overcoming embarrassment for the sake of seeing his green eyes light up with interest and a certain mischievous amusement at the blush that she could feel spreading over her cheeks.

"Oh? What do you have in mind? It's a little stuffy inside to be honest, now that we've gotten most of the cracks sealed up. I think I prefer it out here."

Chizuru felt the blush creep up her neck. She didn't have her husband's facility for being straightforward about their more intimate moments. On the other hand, she had now managed to distract not only Sōji but herself from less happy notions. Sōji's lips brushed hers, and then he started to nibble on her earlobe, while his hands managed to both pull her even closer and caress her waist and hips.

"Oh, um, don't you think our r-room would be m-more comfortable, Sōji?" she managed, still trying—on some level—to make him come in from the chilly porch.

"More comfortable for what, Chizuru-chan? I'm not quite sure what you mean." These words were accompanied by a distinctly impish chuckle, and Chizuru suddenly felt the door behind her—he'd obviously managed to turn her slightly and back her up a step. He leaned against her and grinned, before bending down to kiss her neck. When the kiss turned into more of a bite, and he deliberately pressed his body even closer to hers, she gasped slightly.

"S-Sōji? What are you doing?"

He raised his mouth from her neck and gazed at her, the picture of utterly feigned innocence. "Waiting for you to explain why we'd be more comfortable inside. I mean, I'm even trying to make sure that you can still speak, even though I think there's better things you could be doing with your mouth right now."

Chizuru was startled enough to gape at him—and then squirm slightly when he put his lips against her ear and murmured, "I just meant I wanted a kiss… but that was a cute little choking sound you made just now. Did you have something else in mind?"

Annoyed at how easily he was making her react to his very improper—but interesting, said her traitorous mind—insinuations, Chizuru forced herself to stand perfectly still and say nothing. This seemed to have the desired effect, as Sōji leaned back enough to look at her and say penitently:

"You're right, Chizuru. I'd much rather be inside." He loosened his tight hold on Chizuru and held out his hands. In one hand was the cord she had tied over her obi… and in the other hand was the belt itself. A tendril of cold filtered into the now open front of Chizuru's kimono and she gasped.

"Sōji!"

"I know… pretty amazing, right?"

"I—we—we need to go in!"

Her husband was definitely laughing now, all trace of shadow gone from his face and bright green eyes. Chizuru tried to pull her kimono closed, but it was not to be—a strong, long-fingered hand closed around both of her hands and held them tight. She was neither surprised by, nor all that sorry about this interference, although she was a little shocked at being undressed, without her knowledge, and in public! Not that there was anybody around for at least two miles, but still.

Sōji used his free hand to unfasten the ties of her white under-kimono, and then slid his fingers caressingly over one small breast. She inhaled sharply, and then gave up trying to plead for her modesty as her skin warmed under his touch.

"I thought you said you'd rather be inside," she said softly, feeling her body start to simultaneously relax and tense at the same time. Since she still didn't have the use of her hands, she stretched up to claim a kiss.

The kiss was returned with interest, and they managed to stand like that for quite some time, drowning out the sorrows of the past and the uncertainty of the future by savouring the present. Naturally, Sōji insisted on having the last word. As soon as their lips parted, and Chizuru glanced at the door that lead into their bright, cozy home, he put his arms around his wife and smirked down at her—not for the first time and definitely not for the last.

"Oh, but you see… I didn't mean I'd rather be inside the house."

[END]