Things had died down over the next few weeks. Olivia stayed at the hospital for two of those weeks with hundreds of stitches throughout most of her body and for severe blood loss. She was thankful that she was an amanto and not a human with the amount of blood that she had lost. If she were human, she would have surely been dead. Each day, someone from the Shinsengumi came by to keep her company. A couple of times, Odd Jobs came by as well, but they didn't- or weren't allowed to stay for more than a couple of hours. Something about being a distraction to the doctors and nurses once or twice… maybe even five times before.
Once Olivia was back at headquarters, they didn't put too much on her at first. She was seen as a brand new member again, but she assumed it was for the best. She still didn't feel 100% after returning from the hospital anyway. She grew tired and sore easily, but each day it would get better.
Then, the time had come for her date with the Vice-Chief.
There was a hard knock on Olivia's door a couple of hours before the actual date. She frowned at the sound, but opened it anyway being surprised when it was Captain Okita, Kondo, and Yamazaki.
"Are you excited for tonight, Olivia-san?" Kondo asked with the biggest, stupid smile on his face.
"Indeed I am."
"Have you figured out what to wear?"
"Well…."
"What about how you're going to do your hair?" Sogo asked, surprising her with how interested his words sounded.
"N-no…."
"How about make up?" Yamazaki asked.
"N-not… really…."
They all barged in, practically trampling Olivia, and shut the door behind them. They all smiled strangely at her. She arched her brow and out from behind their backs came everything that she would need to get ready for tonight. Kondo had a lovely pink Yukata with flower designs all over it. Okita had an assortment of hair accessories, spray, gel, and brushes, and Yamazaki had a big bag of make up making her wonder why and where they all got those things.
"Good thing we came at the time we did," Yamazaki said, looking at her clock. "We'll need every second!"
"… We'll need every second?" Olivia gulped.
"We're going to help you get ready for your date!" Kondo exclaimed. "We know what Toshi likes! We're going to help you!"
"Unfortunately," Sogo quickly added.
"Uh… I-I guess that's alright…." She mumbled, proceeding to twirl her hair. "But you guys don't, uh, get to see me change… if I need help with any part of the Yukata, I'll call Captain Okita to help."
Okita pushed Kondo out of the way and with a creepy almost… sadistic looking smile, said, "Hair is the first thing that needs to be done."
Olivia kind of regretted opening the door at all, but Sogo was pretty gentle with all her hair. Her bangs and side bangs were pulled back out of her face and the rest of her hair was pulled up into a neat, tight bun that he sprayed with a generous coating of hairspray. He finalized the style with two hair sticks that had wooden, pink flowers at the ends.
Then came Yamazaki's turn to do her make up. She refused to wear anything too bright and picked out the colors that she definitely would not wear and the colors that were a must, which were only two and they were both dark colors. Yamazaki nodded and proceeded to work his magic. He went for a more natural look, keeping the foundation the same color as her skin, putting a nude lipstick on, a nude eye shadow with the suggested 'must' colors at the outer corners of her eyes.
Once done, Olivia shooed Yamazaki out of the bathroom, grabbed the Yukata from Kondo and shut the bathroom door. She had never worn a Yukata before, but it seemed easy enough to put it on. The only part she needed Okita for was the belt around her waist.
"Well? How do I look?" Olivia asked, coming out of the bathroom and giving them a twirl. "How did you know my size?"
"We had the tailor that did your uniforms make the Yukata," Kondo said.
"Are you going to wear sandals?" Okita asked.
Olivia shook her head. "No. I don't feel comfortable in sandals. I would like to wear my normal boots if… if you think that's okay."
They all looked at each other with blank faces, then nodded.
"You're ready," Kondo said.
"With a few minutes to spare too," Yamazaki said.
Okita was the first one to start out the door. "Hijikata-san is probably waiting for you at the gates."
And he was. Sporting a dark yukata, sandals and his usual cigarette in his mouth, he waited with arms folded by the headquarter gates.
"Sorry if I kept you waiting."
"Not at all. It's still-," Once he had turned to face her, he froze with his mouth slightly agape.
"Er," Olivia blushed, bending a leg slightly and playing with the fabric of her sleeves. "Captain Okita, Kondo-sensei and Yamazaki-san helped me get ready."
Hijikata coughed and turned around, motioning her to walk with him. "… You look nice."
Not what she was expecting, but it was something. She looked back over her shoulder one last time to see Kondo, in tears, waving at her as to say goodbye.
What a drama queen.
She followed Hijikata to the downtown area where the nightlife was just starting to heat up. Every time his hand bumped into hers, she wanted to take it and hold it gently. Walking hand in hand was a couples thing right? Or at least a dating thing? But she never got the courage to do so. The whole way to the restaurant, Hijikata didn't even gaze at her. It was odd. Was he just as nervous as she was? No… he couldn't be. Kondo said he was popular with the ladies, so surely he's been on many more dates than she had been on.
She followed him into a nice looking restaurant and were seated immediately. The waitres looked exhausted, but tried to keep her smile cheery anyway. They ordered two glasses of water and Hijikata ordered a bottle of sake with two cups.
"You'll like this sake," He said, finishing his cigarette. "It's sweeter than usual sake. I actually prefer it, but the bitter sake is always bought by the others when we have events."
"I've never had sake before," Olivia said, burying her burning face into her menu. "We had alcohol on my home planet but we never had sake. It just didn't sell on the market so we stopped transporting it."
"You know a lot about the markets and the economy for someone who was banned from leaving her house for years," Hijikata said.
"Haha… yeah…." She gulped. Not wanting to explain further, she shut her mouth, making it slightly awkward.
The sake and water came to the table. They both ordered while they were at it. Olivia ordered the baked tonkatsu and Hijikata ordered some sushi platter. The waitress nodded and left to put in their order. Olivia immediately wondered if he put mayonnaise on sushi. She wouldn't hesitate to bet that he did.
Hijikata poured some sake into each of the cups and raised his. "Cheers."
Olivia mimicked the action. "Cheers."
And they both downed their drinks.
"Oh!" Olivia's face twisted at the slight burning going down her throat and her already red cheeks got redder.
Toushirou grinned with a slight chuckle. "Not your kind of drink?"
Olivia shook her head. "No. I like it! It's making me all warm inside."
"Good." Hijikata poured another cup for the both of them and they downed it.
"Mmm, Hijikata-san, how does Yamazaki-san know a lot about make up?"
Hijikata shrugged. "Beats me."
"And Captain Okita with the hair?"
Hijikata shrugged again. "Probably his sister."
She kept quiet after that.
Olivia was surprised at the fact that he wasn't smoking. He usually smoked a cigarette one after the other. They finished the sake just before their meals came and to her surprise, and relief, Hijikata did not put mayonnaise on his sushi. After their dinner, they split a plate of mocha ice cream.
Hijikata insisted that he pay the bill even though Olivia made the argument that he paid for lunch on their first patrol together so she should pay or at least pay half. Hijikata was having none of that though. They left the restaurant and walked through the streets for a while. Again, Hijikata did not even look at her nor did she have the courage to hold his hand. They walked deeper into the downtown area into a little street fair with games, fair vendors, and small children rides.
"Hey lady! Yes, you! Beautiful lady!" A game host yelled after Olivia making her stop and pay attention to him. "How about a game? Shoot any of the prizes with the bb gun and win that prize!"
Olivia smiled but waved her hand dismissively. "N-no thank you. I'm not a very good shooter."
"Well, maybe your boyfriend there might give it a try, hm?"
Hijikata shrugged and came up to the game stand, putting a few coins on the table for the host to take. Then went on one knee and aimed with one of the guns provided by the game stand. First try, he shot and downed a small, white, fluffy plush rabbit.
"Congratulations sir!" The host yelled, flashing the lights of the game stand. "You win the plush bunny!" From under the stand, he took out a fresh plush bunny and gave it to Hijikata.
"Thanks." He took the bunny, turned around and handed it to Olivia with a slight blush on his cheeks. "Uh… here."
She smiled softly and took the bunny, holding it close to her chest. "Thank you, Hijikata-san."
They walked the street fair a little longer, then headed back to headquarters. Olivia was a little disappointed that she never got the courage to hold his hand, but it was fine. Olivia squeezed the plush rabbit a bit tighter. The end of a date was when the couple would usually kiss, right? She's been on a few dates, but she always had to go in the middle of it for some important political event or situation. She's received kisses before, but never from an actual potential lover either.
They stopped in front of her door since it was the first one in the row, an awkwardly stayed silent for a moment.
"So… I had fun tonight," Hijikata mumbled, breaking the silence.
Olivia nodded. "I did too."
"Well, uh…." He put his hand on her shoulder and passed by. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Her gaze shifted down in disappointment. "Good night, Hijikata-san." Once she couldn't hear his footsteps, she sobbed silently and went into her room, shutting the door tightly.
"I guess… it just wasn't meant to be."