Re-edited February 2021
Kaiya sat in a courtyard underneath the shade of a tree, while reading a book that Kondou had borrowed her. When Kondou had discovered her love of books he had excitedly shown her his collection of books and told her if she wanted to borrow any, to just let him know. Most of his books were books you expected a man like Kondou to enjoy, but Kaiya was shocked to find out that Kondou was a bit of a romantic and had some romantic novels amongst his collection.
Ever since then, she'd been paying regular visits to Kondou to raid his collection. She enjoyed being able to talk to someone about things other than current events which she was starting to get sick of hearing about. Hijikata also enjoyed reading but he never admitted to liking anything more than the more masculine type stories, but Kaiya was pretty sure he was a hopeless romantic himself.
Kaiya generally only found time to read during the slow periods of the day, when she had no patients to care for. It'd been so hot lately that she couldn't remain inside the stuffy clinic for longer than necessary. If she wasn't at the clinic, she was spending her time researching a cure. Sannan, ever the curious mind, often came to pay her a visit before going on his nightly rounds with the furies. While Kaiya still wanted nothing to do with them, she felt like she was slowly being pulled into that world.
"Kaiya-chan, can I talk with you a moment." Kaiya snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to see Chizuru looking down at the ground fidgeting nervously in front of her.
Kaiya patted the ground beside her. "Of course, Chizuru. Take a seat." Chizuru sat down next to her and pulled her knees to her chest and half hid her face behind her knees. "What is it? Is everything alright?"
Chizuru wouldn't meet Kaiya's eyes as she responded. "Yes. I just…want to ask you something that's a little embarrassing."
Kaiya smiled as she put her book down. "Of course. I won't laugh or make fun of you, I promise. Ask me anything."
"H-how…" Chizuru stuttered and then put head to her knees and hid her face completely. After a moment she looked up again but still looked at the ground. "How can you tell if a man likes you? Like really likes you. Not just as a friend."
"Is there someone you like?" Kaiya asked.
Chizuru was still quite young, not used to dealing with love and did not really having another girl her age to talk to about such things. Kaiya wasn't a great deal older, but she had at least three years on her.
Chizuru didn't respond but her face flushed deeply. "Is it a guy from the Shinsengumi or villager?"
"D-does it matter?" Chizuru stuttered.
"It does. Both have completely different type's personalities. If I know the guy, I could probably tell you if they like you. There is no set way to tell if a guy likes you. It depends on the guy. For example, there are guys like Sano-kun who are pretty straight forward. If they like you, he has no problem flirting but he also flirts with pretty much any girl. Then there's those that are like Hijikata-kun and Hajime-kun who are less straight forward. They're so duty bound that they don't want their affection for a woman to get in the way of their duties so they keep it to themselves for a long time until they can't keep it in anymore." Kaiya noticed Chizuru blush deepen when she said Hijikata's name.
"He's more the serious type...he doesn't express himself to well." Chizuru put her forehead on her knees completely hiding her face again.
Kaiya patted Chizuru on the back. "I'll tell you a little secret. I like someone too."
Chizuru's head popped up and looked at Kaiya shocked. "You do? Who?" She asked.
Kaiya chuckled at her reaction. "If I tell you, then you'll have to tell me who it is you like."
Chizuru deliberated for a moment. Then sighed in defeat. "O-okay, I'll tell you."
"It's Hajime-kun." Kaiya was kind of surprised how easy that was to confess but they'd been together for years now and still they hadn't been found out or at least she didn't think they had.
"Eh!? Really!?" Chizuru was totally flabbergasted.
Kaiya laughed. "We've been dating for quite some time…or least we were." Kaiya sighed sadly.
Chizuru put a hand on Kaiya's shoulder. "I'm sorry, you must be so lonely. Did you know he was going to leave?"
Kaiya shook her head. "No, I had no idea…although he acted a little strange the night before. Anyways, we were talking about you not me. So, who do you like?"
Chizuru's face suddenly turned red again. "Um…" She fiddled with her fingers for moment then very quietly said "Hijikata-san."
"That makes a lot of sense." Kaiya said smiling brightly at Chizuru.
"It does?" Her face was still bright red, but she finally looked at Kaiya.
"Hijikata-kun is really nice guy, as much as he tries to hide it. All the women in Kyoto are wooing over the handsome Demon Commander." Kaiya chuckled. "But don't worry," Kaiya whispered. "I'm pretty sure he likes you too."
"Do you really think so?" Chizuru looked shyly down again.
"I do. I'm very close with Hijikata-kun and he's almost as overprotective of you as Souji is of me. But he treats you way differently than he does other women, even me. He rewards you and protects you fiercely and I've seen the glances he gives you." Kaiya poked Chizuru in the arm with a big smile on her face. "You should tell him."
"Eh!?" Chizuru gave her a mortified look.
"Seriously. Men like him have a hard time expressing their feelings and sometimes they'll express themselves only when they're certain of how the woman feels. Hijikata-kun doesn't always take rejection all that well, so he'd have a hard time confessing. Then there's his sense of duty. The whole work before play, thing." Kaiya chuckled again.
"Then he might reject me." Chizuru said sadly.
"I don't think he'd reject you, but he may say something stupid like 'I don't have time for that right now'." Kaiya did her best imitation of Hijikata, even Chizuru laughed this time. "But I think it'd be good for him to have a distraction from everything, every once in a while. I don't think Hajime-kun ever regretted letting himself get involved with me, he said it actually helped him focus even better."
"Really?" Chizuru asked.
"Really. Whether he'll ever admit to it or not, Hijikata-kun is more than likely thinks about you a lot." Kaiya gave her a kind smile.
"I-I'll think about it." Chizuru was silent for a moment then looked at Kaiya again. "Does anybody else know about you and Saitou-san?"
"As far as I know just Souji and I'd rather no one else know. If other people knew, they might start thinking I'm spying for him or some other stupid but dangerous things." Like thinking that maybe Hajime was the spy, Kaiya thought to herself. Though some people may think that already.
"I won't say a word! I promise!" Chizuru finally got to her feet and dusted herself off. "I should return to my chores. Thank you for talking with me, Kaiya-chan."
Kaiya also got to her feet. "Of course. Come talk to me anytime, it's nice to have a little bit of girl talk!"
Chizuru turned and left. When she was out of sight, Kaiya decided to return to the clinic to see if there was anybody waiting for her. She always left a note so that if there was an emergency, they'd know where to find her but since no one had shown up, she'd assume nothing critical had happened thus far. When she arrived, she found the room empty.
A breeze had picked up since she'd left, making the temperature in the clinic was no longer unbearable, so Kaiya decided she should probably do some of her more monotonous duties like taking stock. Kaiya first went through her pre-made remedies and found one very important remedy was completely out, Kaiya frown as she moved over to her bundles of herbs stacked in one corner and sure enough, she was out of what she needed to make said remedy.
With a frustrated sigh, Kaiya quickly finished taking stock to make sure nothing else essential was out. When done, she headed straight to Hijikata's room. She found his door wide open, as well as his window. He sat at his desk busily reading the various sheets of paper scattered across his desk.
Kaiya knocked on the door frame. "Hijikata-kun do have moment?"
Hijikata let out a frustrated sigh. "No but come in anyways. What is it?"
"I'm sorry to bother you, when you are so busy, but I really need to make a trip to the market to pick up some things that are important for the clinic." Kaiya wondered if he'd let her go being in the mood that he was in.
"I'm too busy to go with you and no one else is available to go with you and the patrols left." He said irritably.
"I wasn't asking for an escort, Hijikata-kun. I was just asking for permission to leave on my own. Like we had discussed." Kaiya held her breath.
Hijikata finally looked at her. "Fine but be very careful, Kaiya-chan. Things are starting to escalate again."
Kaiya finally breathed again. "Thank you, I will be careful."
He looked at her sternly. "I mean it Kaiya-chan! And don't take too long either!"
Kaiya quickly got to her feet. "I won't! I'll be quick!"
She gave a quick bow then left the room and rushed off to her own to grab her katana. Kaiya head straight for the market only stopping to buy herself a treat along the way. When she was done with buying the things, she required she stopped and considered the way she should take going back. She'd already been out shopping for over an hour and Hijikata had told her to hurry. It was much quicker to get back using the back streets but posed a greater danger as they were not nearly so populated. Kaiya shrugged, she doubted someone would try and kill her in broad day light.
Kaiya started down a side street that would take her in the right direction. As she started to weave her way through the streets, she suddenly felt like she was being followed. As she passed by a dark alley, a pair of hands grabbed her by the mouth and waist and hauled her into the darkness. Kaiya instinctively struck out behind her with her elbow as hard as she could into her attacker's side and was rewarded with a grunt of pain.
Her attacker quietly pushed her up against the wall hand still over her mouth. As he came into view, Kaiya was about to sack him and give him black eye when she realized that her attacker was in fact Hajime. When he saw the recognition in her eyes he let go of her mouth and pushed her into a corner hiding them both from view of the street, all the while looking intently in the direction she had just come from. He suddenly pressed himself firmly against her still looking over his shoulder.
Suddenly she heard two pairs of feet, running up the street. "Shit! Where'd she go?"
When the steps finally faded Hajime slowly back away from her and carefully looked down the street. When satisfied, he turned back to her frowning.
"What do you think you are doing? Trying to get yourself killed?" He sounded very angry.
Kaiya gave him a bit of rueful look, hurt that he was yelling at her. "I was trying to get back to the compound quickly, so I decided to take a short cut. I didn't think I'd get attacked in broad daylight."
He crossed his arms and stared at her hard. "That was a stupid idea, especially when you are by yourself! You're lucky I saw you in the market and followed you!"
He may as well had stabbed her in the heart with how much his words hurt. She looked away as her eyes started to tear up. "I'm sorry." She mumbled.
Hajime sighed and he softened as he stepped towards her. Kaiya saw him get closer and clutched the bag of herbs that she'd somehow managed to hold on to, closer to her chest and continued to look away. He brushed a tear away that had started to trickle down her cheek and turned her head to look him in the eye.
"I'm sorry that was too harsh. You're the smartest person I know but you did misjudge." He sighed again. "You scared me just now, that's why I reacted like I did. I can't lose you." He looked at her worriedly.
Kaiya relaxed as she looked into his eyes, how she missed staring into them. "You are right, obviously. I'll stick to the main streets next time." She said working very hard to keep her voice level.
"Thank you." He started to straighten but Kaiya wrapped her free arm around his neck, pulling him down again and kissed him deeply. Hajime didn't pull away but instead pulled her closer as he wrapped her tightly up in his arms. He pushed her up against the wall again, pulling the bag of herbs from her other arm and dropped it on the ground.
When he ran out of air, he pulled the neckline of her kimono open to the point that her chest was exposed. Then continued kissing her neck and shoulder as he groped her chest. Kaiya put her head back moaned. "I missed you." She panted. Her katana made a dull thud as it hit the ground beside her herbs as he fully untied her kimono and pulled it all the way open.
A while later Hajime leaned heavily against her while holding her up against the wall, panting with his face pressed against the forearm that held them both up. Kaiya slowly unhitched her legs, sliding her legs down and regained her footing. She gasped as he pulled from her but managed to keep herself up right. While she started organizing her clothing he bent over and pick up her obi and katana and handed them to her as needed.
When she looked up at his face, she saw that his expression was caught between being pleased with himself and annoyed. What they had done was both reckless and dangerous, mostly for him and she doubted he had planned on making love to her in a back alley when he went to save her.
He tugged at his own clothing to straighten them as she let her hair down and combed her fingers through it, Hajime was a master at messing her hair up while his always seemed perfect. When she put her hair back up, she looked up at him again.
"How do I look?" She asked him.
He smiled down at her the way he only did for her and stroked her cheek. "Beautiful as always." Then kissed her carefully.
Smiling she bent over and grabbed her bag of herbs. "I really should be getting back. Hijikata-kun will get mad if he knows how long I've been gone."
He grabbed her free hand. "I'll get you safely back home, in case someone else comes looking for you."
Kaiya frowned. "Is that ok? What if someone sees us? That'll be bad for you, won't it?"
"It could be bad for you too, but we won't be seen." He pulled her towards the entrance of the alley and carefully peered up and down the street. He pulled her along behind him in silence as they quietly worked their way through the back street until they were two blocks away from the compound. He pulled her into the shadows again, then turned towards her.
"I can go no further but you should be fine from here." He stroked her cheek. "It may be a while before we get to see each other again."
"I know." Kaiya said sadly. "At least we had our little moment of paradise…right after an argument too." Kaiya chuckled.
Hajime winced at the reminder. "I'm sorry."
She put her fingers up to his lips. "It's okay. You were just worried, and I did do something stupid." She started to leave but turned back. "Thank you for that note. From what you said the night before you left, I knew that it wasn't over between us but it's nice to get confirmation."
"You burnt it right?" He watched her face carefully.
"Of course." She walked back to him and kissed him, then turned to leave again.
"I'm proud of you know." He said as she walked away. "For that elbow and when you faced me, you were ready to clock me." He huffed out a quiet chuckle.
Kaiya looked over her shoulder and winked at him, then went out into the street.
111
When Kaiya returned to the clinic, she stopped dead in her tracks as she had started over the threshold. Sitting on the ground was Shinpachi looking as red as an apple.
When he saw her he gave her a mopey look. "Kaiya-chan where've you been? You've been gone forever!" He whined.
"Uh…shopping. What happened to you?" Kaiya sat down putting her bag of herbs beside her so she could carefully inspect the burnt flesh on his face and the exposed sections of chest and stomach.
"I laid down to have a quick snooze in the courtyard near our rooms…Hijikata-san has been running us ragged." Shinpachi let out a tired sigh. "Anyways it wasn't a quick snooze, more like a three-hour snooze." Shinpachi laughed and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Unfortunately, it was Hijikata-san who found me snoring."
Kaiya laughed. "I bet you're in deep do-do. He was testy when I left, and I don't imagine finding one of his captain's taking a nap brightened his mood any." Kaiya got up and grabbed her aloe vera cream. She then sat down again as started spreading the cream on his chest. "Are you feeling dizzy or getting a headache?"
"My head is throbbing a bit. Beside that, just the obvious pain of burning oneself toasty." He stooped forward a bit as she reached up to put the cream onto his face.
"I'll give you something for the headache in a moment but if you can, please refrain from being outside for an extended period of time for the rest of the day. The cream will help with the pain but you'll have to reapply it frequently for at least a week and you're going to have to cover up those big muscles up for at least three to four days." She smiled up at him as she grabbed his arm.
"What? But I'll cook! It's been so hot lately!" He whined.
"Good than you can suffer more!" Hijikata grumbled as he entered the room. "Did you find what you needed, Kaiya-chan?" Kaiya indicated with her head, the bag of herbs still on the ground. "Good. Is his three-hour nap going to affect his duties?"
"Does he patrol in the morning?" Kaiya grabbed his other arm and started applying the cream to the arm.
"Yes, he does." He scowled down at the both of them.
Kaiya looked up and calmly met his stare. "If you could move him to the afternoon patrol. That should be enough time to recuperate from the consequences of his nap. I'll even give him a couple of flasks of ginger tea to help with the nausea that he is bound to get."
He glared down at them for a moment as Kaiya continued to look up at him while Shinpachi looked back and forth between the two. Hijikata finally sighed. "Fine." Then looked at Shinpachi, "You owe me." Then turned and stormed off.
After they could no longer hear Hijikata's footsteps, Shinpachi smiled at her. "Wow you just stared him down! Next time I need a break, I should get you to negotiate it!" He said as he laughed.
"Don't get the wrong idea Shinpachi-kun, it doesn't always work like that! In fact, it rarely does! I think he only caved because he knew I was right. Coming from his background, I'm sure he's had sunstroke before and the last thing he needs is one of his more reliable captains going down for more than a day. Trust me you could be worse; you may still get worse." Kaiya got up and indicated for him to follow. "Let's go make you some tea."
