Chapter 10

"Sora?" Chizuru and Hijikata stood in front of Chizuru's room.

"Go away."

"But Sora …" Chizuru said.

"I said no!"

Hijikata laid a hand on Chizuru's shoulder.

"Tanaka-san, listen. Heisuke didn't turn you down."

"What did he do then?"

"He was just surprised, he didn't know what to do."

"Because?"

"Because he likes you. And Heisuke isn't good with emotional and romantic things."

"You think so?"

"I'm sure."

The door opened and Sora looked at Hijikata. "Really?"

Hijikata sighed deeply. "Yes."

Sora looked down to her feet with a light blush on her cheeks. "Then I should apologize to him, right?"

"That's indeed the best thing you can do, but I think that you should do it later, when Heisuke knows what had happened."

Sora nodded.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Chizuru asked.

"If you don't mind I would like to be alone for now."

"That's okay, you can call us if you need anything."

Sora nodded and closed the door. As Hijikata turned around he took Chizuru's hand and they walked away.

"I need to finish some paperwork, are you coming along?" Hijikata asked.

"Yes."

Harada and Shinpachi walked to the place where Saito most of time practices. They thought that Sicilia would be there too.

"Hey Sicilia-chan!" Harada said as he saw her sitting on the porch. She was looking at Saito who was practicing.

"Is it a good show, Sicilia-chan?" Shinpachi asked.

"Yes, very amusing," Sicilia answered with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"We have a question," Harada said. "Are you good with boys?"

Sicilia looked up at the men and Saito stopped.

"It depends on how old they are."

"Heisuke's age."

"Is Heisuke in love with someone?" she said in curiosity with sparkling eyes.

"Yes."

"Who is the lucky girl?"

"Well …" Shinpachi ran with one hand through his hair. "I don't know if you can call her lucky."

"Who is it then?" Saito asked.

"Tanaka Sora."

"And why isn't she lucky?"

"After lunch they went to the garden and Sora-chan thanked him for rescuing her from Souji's flirtation. She did that by giving Heisuke a kiss, but Heisuke had a black-out and didn't know what to do. So he doesn't understand what that meant," Harada explained.

"And what do you want me to do?"

"Go talk to him and tell him that he is stupid for not understanding a kiss," Shinpachi said.

"Okay, is he in his room?"

"I think so." Sicilia gave Saito a kiss on his cheek and walked away.

"Shall we practice?" Harada asked as he grabbed his spear and pointed it towards Saito.

"Sounds like a good idea."

Sicilia knocked on the door of Heisuke's room.

"Who's there?"

"It's me, Sicilia."

"Why are you here?" Sicilia opened the door and stepped inside the room.

Heisuke laid on his futon, underneath the blankets.

"I want to talk to you."

"About Sora-chan, right?"

Sicilia sat down next to him after closing the door. "How do you know that?"

Heisuke sat up. He had undone his ponytail and looked different than usual like this. "I'm not stupid if you think that."

"I don't think that. And do you also know what I want to tell you?"

"That I need to know her better." He looked at Sicilia, slowly tearing up.

"Yes, and do you know what that kiss meant?"

"She thanked me by giving me a kiss."

"Are you alright, Heisuke-kun?" Sicilia asked as she saw that there was a tear sliding down his cheek.

"Yes. But I was too shocked to actually do something. I thought of giving her a kiss or a hug, but we only know each other one day."

"Heisuke-kun-"

"It was love at first sight. And that I didn't do anything doesn't mean that I don't like her, although I think that she thinks that now."

"Heisuke-kun, take a deep breath." She moved her hand to his cheek, but he stopped her movement.

"You really resemble my mother," he said suddenly and intertwined their fingers. "I remember having a conversation with my mother about love. She said that love was very difficult to understand."

"Love starts small but grows big, and you don't have to rush it. Those little things like holding hands and giving and receiving kisses on the cheek are things that most women really like. Keep that it mind."

"Yes."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to say sorry to Sora-chan." Sicilia nodded and bent forward. She gave him a kiss on his cheek and hugged him.

"You can always come to me if you want to have this sort of conversation again."

"Okay."

Hijikata and Chizuru were in Hijikata's room. Hijikata was writing something while Chizuru combed his hair. She insisted on it when she saw all the tangles in his beautiful hair. And Hijkata gave in, not being able to resist her pleading look. He loved how her fingers softly touched his neck as she pulled his hair back.

"If I hurt you please say so, okay?"

"Yes, but I'm sure that you won't hurt me."

After a while Hijikata put the brush down and closed his eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" Chizuru asked worried.

"No, why do you ask?"

"Because you stopped writing."

"I'm just concentrating on you."

"Hijikata-san, I've been thinking about something," Chizuru said as she stopped brushing his hair.

"What is it?"

"Okita-san mentioned a few times something about us marrying." She put his hair to one side over his shoulder and hugged him from behind. "Is it wrong for me to think that that would happen one day?"

Hijikata could hear in her voice that she was unsure about this. "It isn't wrong to think that. And I'm sorry if you think that I don't love you enough to marry you. It's just that I'm waiting for something that still isn't finished."

"So …"

"So one day I will marry you."

Chizuru felt tears streaming down her face. She pressed a light kiss on his skin, which made him shiver. She loved those moments where she managed him to shiver or to blush. She would never forget them.

Hijikata felt that she was crying, so turned around and kissed her. "Do you want to sleep here tonight?"

Chizuru nodded shyly and hugged him. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too."

A few minutes later someone knocked on the door.

"Who's there?" Hijikata asked.

"Sora."

"Wait a moment," Hijikata said and Chizuru crawled out of lap and sat beside him. "Come in."

Sora opened the door and looked at them. For a moment she was silent and forgot what she wanted to say.

"What is it, Sora?" Chizuru asked.

"Oh, well, I wanted to ask if you could come with me to Heisuke-kun," she said while looking at Chizuru.

"Isn't it better to go alone?"

"I think so too, but I'm a little bit afraid to go alone."

"Alright, I will come with you." Chizuru stood up and before she reached the door Hijikata called her name.

"Chizu, don't yell to him."

"I won't." And before she closed the door they waved at him. Chizuru and Sora walked towards Heisuke's room. While they were walking Sora couldn't stop thinking about Hijikata and Chizuru.

"Chizuru, do you like Hijikata-san?"

A blush appeared on her cheeks as Chizuru looked away from Sora. "To be honest, it's more than just liking."

"You love him?"

Chizuru nodded.

"It must be nice to have someone who cares for you so deeply other than your family."

"It really is, especially when your family isn't alive anymore." The girls walked further in silence, thinking about their own family. As they reached Heisuke's room, Sora was very nervous. Her hands were shaking and she was standing behind Chizuru. Chizuru had knocked on the door and they heard the footsteps of Heisuke. He opened the door and closed it as soon as he saw Chizuru.

"Heisuke-kun, I'm sorry for yelling at you," Chizuru started. "Can you forgive me for that?"

"Yeah, and I understand why you did that. I was pretty stupid back then. But if are you here to talk to me about Sora-chan you can go, because Sicilia-san already did that."

"I'm not here to talk to you about Sora-chan." Chizuru wanted to say more but Heisuke opened the door again. This time he looked better at Chizuru and realized that Sora was standing behind her.

"Sora-chan …"

Chizuru took a step to her right and turned around to face Sora.

"You can do it," she said and walked away. Sora and Heisuke watched Chizuru walking away. As she was out of sight they both thought about what to say. Heisuke was the first one to look at Sora. He saw that she was slightly trembling. Just as he was about to say something, Sora looked up and opened her mouth.

"I'm sorry about what I did in the garden. It was too early to do something like that."

"No, no. I didn't mind. I was just too …" His hand started playing with one strand of his hair while he was searching for the right words to describe his feelings. Sora started smiling as she saw what Heisuke was doing.

"I was just too shocked … no, not shocked, I …"

"You can't handle emotional and romantic things, is that it?" Heisuke looked surprised at her.

"Hijikata-san told me," Sora explained.

Heisuke sighed in defeat. "That's right. It's because I've never experienced this kind of things, or feelings."

"Well, how about we first learn more about each other? Maybe then it will be easier for us to handle those situations."

Heisuke nodded and stopped playing with his hair. "Shall we go for a walk then?"

"Yes."

Heisuke closed the door and walked together with Sora through the garden.

Later that day, after dinner, Chizuru and Sora were in the kitchen doing the dishes. Chizuru was thinking about how to ask her question at Sicilia. It shouldn't be so difficult, but she was still afraid to admit that she would be sleeping together with Hijikata. Without realizing it, Sicilia made it easier for Chizuru.

"Do you know where Sora-chan is going to sleep tonight?" Sicilia asked.

"Uhm, it was the intention that she would sleep with me, but is it okay if she sleeps with you and Saito-san?"

"I don't mind, but why can't she sleep with you?"

Chizuru let the bowl slip out of her hands into the water. She looked away from Sicilia, embarrassed.

"Why?" Sicilia asked again.

"Because Hijikata-san asked if I would sleep with him tonight," Chizuru answered with a whispering voice.

Sicilia's mouth dropped open and her eyes became big. "So you're finally taking it to the next stage?" Sicilia asked enthusiastic.

Chizuru became very red and covered Sicilia's mouth with her hand. "Not so loud, please. We're not going to do that … Just sleeping, really." She removed her hand and looked Sicilia right in her eyes to let her see that she meant it.

"Okay okay, don't worry." Sicilia said while patting her head. "I don't mind her sleeping with us. I will ask Sora-chan and Hajime-kun." Sicilia opened the door to the next room. She spotted Sora directly, she was sitting between Heisuke and Lulu.

"Sora-chan, would you like to sleep tonight with me and Hajime-kun?" She asked and pointed at Saito, to make her understand who she mentioned. Sora looked at Saito and then at Sicilia.

"I find it okay."

"Are you also okay with that Hajime-kun?"

Saito nodded.

"That's settled then." Before she closed the door she looked at Hijikata. He gave her a small smile as gratitude for the girls resolve.