Sanosuke took off his glasses, quirking an eyebrow when he heard his name being called down the hallway. Shinpachi tended to be loud and boisterous, but this was uncharacteristically loud of him. He stood up from his desk, shrugging on his lab coat, thinking maybe it was an emergency. Sure, his specialty was psychology, but he'd learned things here and there, he could assist in an emergency.

Before he could open his door, Shinpachi threw it open. "Shinpachi! What's wrong?"

Shinpachi gasped for breath and grabbed Sano by the shoulders. "Sa-Saitō's with Souji's ghost!"

As soon as those words were out of his mouth, Sanosuke just stood there, staring at him. "Shinpachi, do you hear yourself?"

"Yes! I saw him, Sano! I saw the ghost!" Shinpachi gasped. "And I left Saitō there! We have to go back for him!"

"We?" Sanosuke rolled his eyes, still finding his outbursts rather ridiculous. "How many night shifts have you worked? Do I need to prescribe you some sleeping pills? Or maybe get you laid?"

"I'm legit trying here, Sano! I swear, I saw Souji!"

"You know that's not possible."

Shinpachi quieted for just a few moments and grabbed him by the arm. "Fine, I'll just show you!"

"Oi, Shinpachi!"

—

"Hijikata-san, surely you're not blaming me for this disaster?" Souji narrowed his eyes at him. After hearing Shinpachi's outburst, Toshizō had to interrupt his paperwork to rush to check on Souji.

"Hijikata-sensei, let me explain." Hajime stepped forward, which made him raise an eyebrow. Hajime rarely spoke out, unless Souji really wasn't to blame.

Toshizō caught himself thinking, rather, replacing this Souji with the one he missed. "Very well, Saitō."

–

"Go, on, open the door." Shinpachi urged Sano.

"I bet it was all in your imagination." Sighing, Sano opened the door, catching sight of Hijikata-san and Saitō.

Shinpachi was right. There was a ghost in the room.

"God damn it all!" Toshizō shouted, pulling Harada and Shinpachi into the the room. He shut his eyes, rubbing his temples. He was going to get gray hair at this rate before Sannan-san did.

Sanosuke glanced back at Shinpachi.

"I've come back to haunt the both of you for looking at Chizuru-chan in inappropriate ways~, ooooooh~!" Souji slowly inched closer to them.

"I swear! I didn't look at Chizuru-chan once while you were alive, Souji! She's just so cute!" Shinpachi moved away from Souji until his back was against the wall.

"Oh dear, Shinpatsu-san, it seems like I'll have to kill you first." Souji's eyes narrowed, feeling rather annoyed at Shinpatsu-san's confession of attraction to Chizuru-chan. "What kinds of dreams have you had of her?"

"I swear I haven't!"

Sanosuke sighed, placing his hands in his lab coat pockets. "What's going on, Hijikata-san?"

Hajime placed the chair behind Hijikata, and he sat down, still rubbing his temples. "Souji! Knock it the hell off!"

"Tch, you're no fun, Hijikata-san." Glancing back at his victim, he gave him a Cheshire cat smile. "We shall have a talk about this later, Shinpatsu-san." He crossed his arms and went to sit on the bed, Hajime-kun joining him. "Well, then, Hijikata-san, go ahead and explain.

—-

Sanosuke and Shinpachi remained pensive after Hijikata-san and Saitō finished explaining the unusual situation Souji came to be right in front of them.

Sanosuke was more concerned about how Chizuru felt with all of this. He'd gotten a text earlier from her this morning that she would be coming by his office. He expected it after he checked the date. "There's no reason not to believe, I suppose…but his era is different from ours. The world, our country has advanced a lot. If Souji's going to reside here, we need to teach him about our time."

Shinpachi nodded repeatedly. "Right, right, Sano's right, and the best way of doing that is with a drink!" He clapped Souji on the back. "Right? You're an Edo-period man, you must drink sake!"

Souji chuckled, shrugging. "Here and there. You, Sano-san, and Heisuke are the biggest drinkers back in my time."

"Oh-ho! Just how it should be! A man's gotta know how drink!"

"Forget about that, Shinpachi. Kondō-san's orders are for him to stay here to keep an eye on his health. I just reviewed his chart," He paused, looking over at Souji. "He's got tuberculosis."

"Souji's strong! Just give him some medicine and he'll be cured in no time!" Shinpachi grinned, patting his shoulder.

"Is this illness so easily cured?" This was a death sentence back in his time, he just couldn't believe that it could be cured so easily with something as taking medicine. Nothing could stop this disease from consuming its host.

"There's a way to prevent it during our time." Hajime spoke up. "But since you have contracted it, you must follow a strict regiment of taking antibiotics, medicine. It could take months until your symptoms disappear completely."

"So…I have a good chance then…of surviving through this?" Souji wasn't sure if he could believe it, but he knew Hajime-kun wouldn't lie to him.

Sanosuke gently patted his shoulder. "Yeah, we'll all do our best to help you through your recovery, Souji." He patted Hijikata-san on the back. "We should break it to Sannan-san, Yamazaki, and Gen-san soon, before it gets more out of hand."

"I don't know how much more worse this can get." Toshizō sighed and checked his watch. "Speaking of the antibiotics, it's about time for Souji to take them. Ah, Shinpachi, Kondō-san wants a meal plan for our special case here."

"Yes, sir!" Shinpachi tightened his green bandanna that covered his forehead. "I'll get right on it. You'll see Souji, with a good meal plan, exercise and medicine, you'll get better in no time!"

Shinpachi's optimism was rather contagious. Souji found himself smiling back at him. "Thank you."

"Ma, I'd best get going, I've got a ten o'clock." Sanosuke waved to them and went back to his office. "Did I make you wait long, Chizuru?"

Chizuru bowed and quickly shook her head. "No, Harada-san, I just got here, but I have something to tell you, as a patient."