Disclaimer: I don't own any element of Hakuouki. This story is written for pleasure and not for profit.

A Friend Like You

Chapter 5

"Dad's Favorite"

By Lady Yomi

"I never thought one of my fellow captains would spend his surveillance hours trash-talking me to Kyoto's young girls. It's a rather creepy pastime. Don't you think so, Chie-chan?"

Tani Sanjuro's syrupy voice caused a shiver to run down Chie's back all the way from the nape of her neck to her waist. She gaped an inch (trying to find the words to convey the flood of feelings welling up in her throat), when her father joined the newcomer:

"I'm glad you decided to visit after so many years, Tani!" Mr. Izanagi said with an ear-to-ear grin as he slapped him hard on the back. "Chie hasn't been the same since you left Edo!"

The girl's cheeks flared at her father's shameless admission and she scrambled to her feet so violently she nearly knocked Heisuke's cup of sake off the table. "And it's... b, been a long time since then! Hasn't it?!" she blurted while scratching her head frantically, but covertly. "I, I bet... Tani-san didn't come here to talk about the past, dad!"

Izanagi stared at her with the same surprise Heisuke did but, to her misfortune, he didn't grasp Chie's feelings as clearly as the latter did. The cook slipped an arm over the boy he almost raised, regaining his smile as he continued: "How foolish of you! A tree without roots gets blown away by the storm! Isn't it a wonderful coincidence we now live in the capital like you, Tani-kun?"

"We grew up, Izanagi-san, and the world has become quite small since then," he stated with a cordial smile without taking his eyes off Chie.

"That's right, that's right." Izanagi motioned for Chie to follow him. "How about the three of us sit down for a little chat and catch up? Come on, Chie-chan! Let's go have some good sake with our guest!"

"D, Dad!" She stood still on the spot. "There are still many customers to take care of!"

"Bah, tell them to come back later. This is a festive occasion for our family!"

"But..." She turned to look at Heisuke's table and blinked slowly upon noticing it was empty. When had he gotten up? Was she so nervous she was starting to lose track of what was going on around her?

"Chie-san." The 8th Division captain's voice snapped her out of her doubts. He was standing next to her, watching her with a confident expression. "I'll help him get the customers out."

"Oh! T, that's not necessary! There's only a few left and we can wait for them to leave."

"Do you think your father is willing to wait?" He pointed to the entrance with a quick shake of his head. The place's owner could be seen arguing with the customers who didn't want to leave the restaurant without finishing the dishes they'd paid for. "If I don't do something this will end in a brawl."

Chie tried to refuse, but Heisuke walked boldly to the door and apologized by explaining the Roshigumi needed to interrogate the owners about a pressing subject for the Shogunate. The crowd began to slowly leave, several of them hurling curses directed at the "Shogunate Dogs" under their breath.

Chie frowned as she took in the scene. She loathed lies of any kind, but Heisuke's decision succeeded in getting everyone to blame the government for the sudden action, rather than her impulsive father who had nearly lost them loads of loyal customers. Why was he so excited about Tani Sanjuro's return? Chie couldn't put her finger on it, but she didn't like the whole thing. Her reddish eyes moved to the table Tani sat at and she distressingly realized her heart fluttered in her chest in that distinctive way she used to hate.

The redhead had changed so much in those five years, not only physically but in another way Chie found hard to understand. His mannerisms, the way he spoke, there was something more "cultured" that jumped out at her and sparked an interest she tried hard to hide.

"Chie-chan." The object of her thoughts called her from the table. "Your father went to get us some snacks, shall we take the chance to make peace in the meantime? Or are you still mad at me?"

"Oh!" She pursed her lips into a line. "N, No... I'm not mad about anything!"

"Then come." He smiled mischievously at her, bringing the sake Heisuke didn't finish drinking to his lips. "I promise my company will be of greater entertainment than the rumors that gossipy midget tries to feed you."

Chie frowned, struggling between suspicion and the curiosity she felt at her former best friend's gentle demeanor. Eventually, her desire to understand his motives won out and her feet led her carefully to the edge of the small table he was sitting at. She noted he was staring at her and averted her gaze as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"How have you been, Tani?" she said dryly and impersonally. "Dad was certainly pleased by your arrival."

"Was it him alone?"

She squinted at him from above. "What are you talking about?"

"I hoped Chie-chan would also be happy to see me."

"Oh, yes." She shrugged and looked away again, this time to focus on Heisuke, who struggled to slowly explain to old Mrs. Yuyume why she had to leave the store. "Are you doing well at the Roshigumi, Tani-san?"

"Not as well as I'd like." He gave a pitiful sigh. "I seem to be having some adjustment issues."

Chie turned to look at him with a frown. "You say that as a joke when it's a rather delicate subject."

"Are you afraid they'll make me cut open my belly, Chie-chan?" He grinned teasingly at her. "I knew you were worried about me."

"Don't be so reckless." She sighed and straightened her apron. "It's hard to get far in the Shogunate if you don't mingle with the other warriors."

"These aren't warriors." He took another sip of sake, disdainfully glancing at Heisuke. "Not even the geezers will listen to them."

"With that attitude, it shouldn't surprise you they'd be tempted to complain about you."

"Geez," he interrupted her with a pleased smile. "I missed your lectures, Chie-chan."

The girl was about to reply when her father stepped between the two of them with an overwhelming amount of food in his arms. "Good! You're already catching up! Great, that's very nice! Make the most of the time you've lost!"

"Dad..." Chie frowned again, puzzled by the unbridled joy of the man who brought her into the world. "Shall I help you with that?"

"No, no. Just sit with Tani-kun while I serve you these delicacies."

"I'm not hungry." She pouted. "I had lunch on my break a couple of hours ago."

"Well, at least stay and keep the boy company while he eats!" He took a seat next to Tani, popping a cheese-filled onigiri into his mouth. "I heard they made you a spear instructor at the Roshi!"

"Yes, that's right." Tani shrugged with an awkward smirk on his lips. "But it isn't such a big honor if we consider I train farmers and merchants like you, sir."

"It's true, it's true." Izanagi gave a low chuckle. "I would never be able to master such a weapon myself! You were always proficient with them, I remember how you wielded the broom pretending it was a spear twenty years ago."

"These guys don't even reach the low level I had back then." He rolled his eyes and shook his head as he continued: "They wouldn't even know how to defend themselves with a broom."

"Oh, boy. I bet that must be pretty frustrating."

"It is." He grimaced in disgust as he watched Heisuke walk wearily toward them after finally getting the old woman to leave the place. "But Kyoto's ronin squad would be lost if it weren't for the charity shown by people of my lineage and one does what one can for one's country."

"They're all gone," Heisuke interrupted them with a tired smile. "Now you can celebrate in peace, Izanagi-san."

"Right." The cook looked at him with the same disdain his comrade did. "Then you have no business here, Toudou-san."

Heisuke's eyes opened to their widest extent, surprised by the restaurant owner's attitude, but he was quick to conceal his reaction with a friendly smile directed at those present. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Izanagi-san, but you know I'm conducting a surveillance mission that requires me to bother you with my presence." He opened his haori to retrieve the order signed by Hijikata and show it to Tani and Izanagi, who glanced at it without much interest.

"Then tell Hijikata I'll take care of the surveillance." Tani took the note and tucked it inside his right sleeve. "He knows where to find me should he have any trouble with it."

"At least... you managed to successfully shoo away the customers, Toudou-san." Chie mustered all her strength to dare to speak. She was sitting between her father and Tani, shrunk by the turn of events that unfolded in the past few minutes. "You did us a huge favor with that, you know?" She shot him a pleading look that didn't elude Heisuke, so he hastened to reply:

"I don't want to be a spoilsport, Chie-san, but we're still not done discussing the terms of ...Serizawa-san's dinner!"

"Serizawa-san's... dinner?" Izanagi frowned deeply, his tiny black eyes moving quickly from the captain to his daughter. "What's that all about?"

Chie wondered the same thing, but kept silent when she realized her wordless pleas seemed to have been heard by Heisuke.

"Our second-in-command loves to give parties and he asked me to inquire about the budgets offered by the city's restaurants."

"I didn't hear any of that," Tani Sanjuro cut him off, his eyelids so half-closed his almost see-through pupils could barely be seen.

"That's because I was the one in charge of it, Tani-san."

"I would've heard about a party, it's not something you can hide in the headquarters."

"It's not a common party," he rushed to answer, aware of his opponent's mental acuity and the handicap it posed. "It's for... Ume-san."

Silence. Tani cursed inwardly upon hearing the involved person's name. It was obviously a lie, otherwise she'd have entrusted it to him, but it wouldn't take long for the others to find out about his intimate relationship with the aforementioned woman if he used the truth as proof.

Did the damned midget know something about his love affair and that's why he brought her into question? He looked inquisitively at him, searching for traces of malice in his eyes, but the boy's gaze was as honest as it was innocent. It was clear he knew nothing about the matter and his excellent excuse had been purely coincidental.

A disastrous coincidence.

He clicked his tongue as he tried to hide the frustration that overwhelmed him. He couldn't act like that in front of Chie and her father, not when he was at the most crucial moment of his return.

"For Ume-san?" he repeated without calming down enough. "And why would Serizawa-san throw a party for Ume-san?"

"Well..." Heisuke felt beads of sweat running down his forehead. He was trying hard to get Chie out of this awkward predicament, but he was getting short of ideas against Tani's insistent pressure and dangerous questions. "I, I don't know... he didn't tell me."

"I doubt Serizawa would explain himself to a brat like you," Tani mockingly blurted out. "I was just thinking out loud, you didn't have to answer."

"Huh..." Heisuke scratched the back of his head, unable to say anything else.

"I don't see why you're talking to her about this instead of me," said Izanagi while eating, oblivious to the verbal duel that happened right under his nose. "No woman runs this place."

"Dad." Chie leaned toward him, eager to avoid any kind of physical contact with Tani. "Toudou-san is the Roshigumi's youngest member and this assignment is a way to prove himself to them." She smiled gently. "He's doing his best, but he doesn't know much about running restaurants."

"That doesn't make any sense." He turned his face to the boy he began to grow rather annoyed with. "Now you know how they're run and that women have nothing to do but cook, so get out of here and we'll see when we talk about the budget."

"But, Dad..."

"Quiet, Chie. I've said enough." Izanagi stared at Heisuke and the captain noticed how the wrinkles between the owner's eyebrows became dangerously pronounced. He regretted not being able to do more, but getting her out of there was no longer in his hands.

"I, it's all right, Izanagi-san," Heisuke muttered, his face red with embarrassment. "I, I won't bother you anymore."

"You give them a haori and a sword," Tani mumbled as he watched him leave the place with his head down, "and they already think they're entitled to meddle in whatever they want."

"Certainly, Tani-kun," replied Izanagi thoughtfully. "That's the problem with this new Shogunate policy. They can't ask vagabonds to pretend they're something they're not, that boy looks like more of a thief than a samurai."

"Dad!" Chie cut him off rashly, not thinking about the aggressive tone she used when speaking. "Do you forget you're talking about one of the people who saved my life a month ago?"

"I don't forget, Chie-chan, but those guys are crude bandits who don't deserve your concern."

"The only thing Sannan-san and Toudou-san stole was my soul from the Grim Reaper's hands, so show them more respect."

"Chie-chan." Tani looked at her with mock gentleness. "You're always pitying everyone around you, huh? One worthy deed doesn't turn someone into a samurai."

"It doesn't matter whether he's a foolish samurai or not." Chie frowned and held his gaze for the first time since they were reunited. "I think my life is a little more valuable than a title, don't you?"

"Why do you say that, Chie-chan?" He shrugged in an innocent way. "Did I give you any reason to think that way?"

Chie bit her tongue to restrain the burning fury that swept through her body at her former best friend's words. How come he never put a title before herself? How about when he ditched her to pursue his warrior career, five years ago? Why didn't he take her feelings into account? Wasn't she obvious enough in showing him how much she liked him?

She sighed, defeated, realizing that perhaps she wasn't as honest as she needed to be. As a mere thirteen-year-old girl who was even shyer than she was today, Tani, a high-born guy, three years older than her and far more versed in social affairs, had always been an unattainable challenge for her. So much so... that maybe she'd relied too much on her "childhood friend" status to keep him around.

In the end, she was the only one who saw those years together as something special, wasn't she? It was probably her fault; had she been a little prettier or had a better personality... maybe Tani would've realized how she felt about him.

"Chie..." Her father noticed how pale she had grown. "Why are you staring at the table like that? Don't you like what I brought to eat?" He took a plate and raised it abruptly to her face, eager to make her smile. "Look! It's seaweed soup, your favorite!"

"I said I'm not hungry..." she muttered, struggling to keep from crying. "Hey, Dad. Is it okay if I go out to get some fresh air?"

"Get some fresh air?" The man looked at her as if she'd asked his permission to fly off into the skies. "Can't you breathe right in here? I've had the windows open since dawn and I haven't cooked anything in the coal ovens."

"No, I just... I don't feel very well."

"By the Holy God of lunches, child!" Izanagi huffed, showing his desire for the girl to make a good impression on Tani Sanjuro. "It looks like you're looking for excuses to be rude to our guest!"

"No, I'm not. I-"

Tani interrupted her with a charming smile that made his gray eyes sparkle like two translucent pearls. "Let her go, Izanagi-san. I bet she got embarrassed by Toudou-kun's little ruckus and needs to regain her composure."

"Is that nonsense what troubles you, you stubborn and whimsical girl?"

"Yes, Dad, it's that very thing." She looked at him pleadingly, desperate for him to step aside and let her stand up.

"To hell with that brat..." Izanagi growled as he cleared the way for his daughter to leave. "Hope I won't see him in my restaurant for a long time."

"Wish I was that lucky, Izanagi-san," Tani scoffed, his eyes fixed on Chie's figure as she quickly disappeared outside the store.

Chie walked quickly away from the restaurant. She feared Tani and her father would come out looking for her if she spent too long outside, so she wandered away far enough so they wouldn't catch up with her for quite a while. She strode briskly down the dirt street that ran alongside the river that cut the city in half, until she was forced to stop at a street corner where a lengthy parade of imperial carriages blocked her way.

She gave a pitiful moan and her shoulders slumped at the unexpected obstacle. The emperor's family usually took quite a while to get through the city and she couldn't afford to stand still; waiting to be found. She turned her face toward the river, remembering that the dock ran under the bridge where the chariots interrupted her escape, and approached the canal's edge to deftly dangle from the stone wall and drop with a small leap onto the crumbling wood that creaked under her weight.

She smiled and stretched out her arms, pleased to find she hadn't lost her body's flexibility after the composed life she was supposed to lead as a woman of marriageable age, but that smile turned into a grimace of dread when she noticed the half-amused, half-surprised expression of the person who peacefully fished off the dock.

"Did you come to fish, Chie-san?" Heisuke snorted, trying to hold in his laughter. "Or are you going to jump into the river?"

"At this time? I think the second one."

"I'd let you do it, but you'd scare the fish away." He motioned for her to come closer without letting go of his grip on the rod. "I'm sorry about what happened back there, I didn't know Tani-san had come with me. He probably followed me or something."

"What are you talking about?" Chie walked closer and stood next to him, with no intention of sitting down.

"When Tani showed up I recalled what you said about not being on good terms with him."

"Oh, yes." She frowned without noticing. "He caught me off guard and I ended up acting like a fool."

"Why do you say that?" He clenched his line between his teeth, concentrating on reeling in a new fishing line. "I bet it was awkward to be surprised by someone you don't like very much."

"Is that what you think?" She looked at him from above. "That I don't find him 'likeable'?"

"Many people dislike him, you don't have to be a genius to notice it."

"It's not that..." She sighed, holding her hands in front of her apron. "Tani-san and I are childhood friends."

Heisuke smiled without taking his eyes off the water's surface. At last! Some information about the smug Tani Sanjuro! Maybe he wouldn't leave empty-handed from that encounter. "Really? Gee, I don't know if Chie-san is the kind of person I'd picture as his childhood friend."

"Well, it's just that we..." She shook her head curtly and took a step back as she spoke. "I should be getting home, it's not something I can really talk to you about, Heis... I mean! Toudou-san!"

"I think you could call me Heisuke instead of Toudou-san and no one would lecture you for it," he remarked casually. "I bet we're about the same age."

"What a crazy thing to say! We're still strangers."

"Strangers? Bah, a stranger is someone you buy oil to polish your sword with, not the person who refers a desperate comrade-in-arms to a competent doctor."

"Hmm?" Chie raised her eyebrows in surprise at what she'd just heard. "W, well... anyone would do that. It's not like the doctor is me."

"Not just anyone, Chie-san." He smiled briefly at her before turning his attention back to the fishing. "That's why I tried to help you out of the mess, although I think I made it worse with my stupid excuses."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." She took a seat next to him and muttered discreetly: "Tani-san isn't an easy person to fool."

"I've already noticed."

"I was going to have to face him sooner or later. You know... we live in the same city and all."

"May I know...?"

"What?"

"What was the reason the two of you don't get along anymore?"

"N, no..." Chie pursed her lips into a line. "It's nothing against you, but I don't want to talk about it right now."

"I understand..." He shrugged with a smile, trying to hide his disappointment. He didn't want to have to get any closer to her to obtain that information, but he knew neither Souji nor Hijikata would be satisfied with the little he knew about Tani so far. "It's better if I don't meddle in your things, otherwise I'll end up messing up even more."

"I don't know what to tell you." Chie laughed softly. "Because it's quite likely you will if I let you."

"H, hey! It's okay if I say so, but not if you do!"

Chie laughed again, pointing to the rod wobbling under the hand Heisuke flailed relentlessly. "It's okay if I say you're about to lose your catch?"

"Oh! D, damn it!" He snapped his attention back to his tool and held it tightly, only preventing it for mere seconds from being swept away by the current. "This day couldn't get any more crappy! Hijikata-san will hang me from the roof if I get back to the headquarters without the dinner supplies!"

"Do you want me to do it for you?"

"What?" He clenched his jaw into a puzzled grimace. "You'll let him hang you from the roof in my place?"

"No, you bright thinker. I'm talking about fishing."

"Can you fish?"

"What kind of question is that, Toudou-san?" Chie pouted. "I work in a restaurant."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Do you think Dad has time to fish, prepare, store, and cook the fish, all by himself?"

"Hmm..." Heisuke frowned and scrutinized her from head to toe, pure distrust plastered on his face. "How long have you been fishing? Do you do it well? Hijikata-san ordered me to get these fish and if I don't bring him the exact amount he asked for he's going to-"

"To hang you from the roof, I heard you." She took the rod gently from him. "I'll catch twice as many fish as you'd have, and while I'm at it, I'll distract my thoughts from things I shouldn't be thinking about."

"Do you know what you could think about?" Heisuke suggested jokingly. "Calling me by my first name, I heard it has surprising effects on people's moods."

"Did you hear that?" Chie hid the smirk that peeked out from her lips. "I'm curious to know from whom."

"I heard it from... huh..." He scratched the back of his neck and scoured the horizon for a reasonable answer. "Oh! Well, from Mantaro-san!"

"Tani-san's... brother?" Chie wrinkled her nose.

"And Sannan-san's new personal physician, don't forget."

"You won't convince me in that silly way, Heisuk-" She forced herself to keep quiet, embarrassed to notice his first name had almost slipped out of her mouth.

He didn't overlook her misstep and contented himself with plopping down gently on his back on the dock, grinning from ear to ear as he gazed up at the bright summer sky above their heads.

Maybe his friendship with Furukawa Chie wouldn't have to be a sham.

Author's note:

We've reached the fifth episode's end! I hope you liked this installment because I had a lot of fun writing it. I really care about everyone in this story (both "Hakuouki" Canon characters and OCs) and that shows in my eagerness to write every chapter of the fic. ;)

Your comments are always expected and appreciated, so feel free to send them! See you next time!