The day was passing at a painfully slow rate. Each minute that ticked by seemed to be dragging more and more as time went on. A miserable sigh escaped Souji as he stretched his progressively stiffening muscles. He hated his shifts at the checkpoints. They were almost always extremely uneventful, and the only way he ever had to spare himself from complete boredom was to allow his mind to wander. Today, he found, his thoughts continued to circle back to Mikoto. He certainly couldn't claim that he had had a plan when he chose to meet with her, nor could he claim to have known what to expect, but he never thought things would develop the way they had. The two of them had grown close, with Souji using any free time he had away from his duties at the Shinsengumi to visit her. He enjoyed their time together a great deal, but that was not to say that he fully trusted her yet. Something, perhaps just his natural instinct to be distrusting of people, kept him on guard. That guard, however, was dropping more and more with each day they spent together.

"Oi, Souji!" With little warning, he suddenly received a sharp whack to the back of the head. He whipped around to see his fellow captain, Sanosuke, standing there, his spear resting on his shoulder. He was giving Souji a confused look, his brow furrowed.

"No need to be so rough, Sano-san," he complained in a childish whine, rubbing the now sore spot on the back of his head.

"Where the hell is your mind at today, Souji?" I called your name several times." Though his tone was stern, concern could clearly be heard in the redhead's words. Souji blinked, slightly stunned by his own oblivious behavior.

"Did you?" His expression became playful in an attempt to cover up his error. "I suppose my thoughts are just more appealing than that noise you call a voice," he teased. He then had to quickly dodge another blow Sanosuke had aimed at his head, letting out a laugh as he went.

"Go get some rest, you've clearly lost it after standing out here in the sun all day," Sanosuke retorted. With a half hearted wave, Souji gathered up the men of his unit that had accompanied him and they started on their way back to headquarters. He walked casually with his hands clasped behind his head, giving nothing away of his inner emotions. He was relieved to be leaving the checkpoint, of course, but more than that, he was eager to surprise Mikoto with a visit once he could sneak away.

The sun was quickly making its descent in the sky by the time Souji had made his way to the inn. Before entering, he drew his blade and rested it casually on his shoulder. His threats to the innkeeper were far from empty, but he was more than content to simply torment the man for now, so long as he remained compliant. Aside from enjoying the man's cowardly reaction, Souji also had no intention to line the pockets of someone such as him. Upon walking in, he could see the innkeeper visibly flinch, bringing a satisfied smirk to his lips. As he tried to pass him, the man spoke up.

"S-she's not available tonight," he stated trying, and failing to speak with authority. This stopped Souji in his tracks. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow, his green eyes dark with loathing.

"Excuse me?" The man shrunk under his intense stare.

"S-she's not av-available." Any tiny amount of confidence he had originally mustered had clearly faltered as the words left his mouth shakily. Souji rolled his eyes, but his smile returned.

"Oh? Then I'll just have to make her available." With that, he strode past the innkeeper, who made no other move to stop him, and sheathed his sword once he was beyond the man's eyesight. "Mikoto-chan," he called out as he reached her room. "I hope it's not true that you're spending my time with...another...man…" As he slid her door open, they both froze in surprise. Mikoto was alone in her room, standing near her open window. She had halted in the middle of pulling her long, black hair into a ponytail, and her katana was beside her, leaning against the wall. Her face was clean of the makeup he had become accustomed to, and rather than wearing her usual extravagant getup, she was dressed down in a very plain, brown kimono. Even dressed down, he found her no less beautiful. Her eyes were wide, as though she had been caught red handed, but doing what, Souji hadn't a clue.

"Souji!" Her hair dropped from her hands, falling in soft curls over her shoulders. "I didn't realize you were coming tonight! I mean, it's already so late…" She began to play with her hands nervously.

"Well, I thought I'd surprise you, but...what's going on?" he questioned. "I was told you weren't available, so I thought you would be with a customer." She was suddenly refusing to make eye contact and instead, looking everywhere in the room but at him.

"Well, I always have a few days off here and there. Even girls like me get a break, you know?" Souji folded his arms, not convinced.

"And your sword? Why is that out?"

"You told me yourself to keep it closer," she pointed out.

"And your window is open."

"It gets stuffy in here, don't you think?" He began taking slow steps towards her, his eyes narrowing.

"Mikoto," he started, his voice low and dripping with menace. He stopped in front of her, leaning over so that he was eye level with her. She began to bite her lip. "I would hate to have to kill you, but if you give me reason to, woman or not, I won't hesitate. Do you understand?"

"Believe me, Souji, the last thing I want is to betray your trust." He searched her eyes for a moment but saw nothing but sincerity. He straightened up, his usual light-hearted expression washing over his features.

"Well I guess that's settled then." She visibly relaxed.

"If you're going to spare me for the night, why don't you have a seat? I'll pour us some sake," she offered. Instead of taking the offer, Souji took her by surprise, grabbing a hold of her chin to lift her face to him. He examined her face for a moment before gently running his thumb under her left eye. When bending over to her level earlier, he had noticed a thin, faint scar running horizontally across the left side of her face.

"What's this?" She quickly took a step back, bringing her hand up to hide the mark he had found.

"Oh, that unsightly thing...usually my makeup hides it…" She wasted no time turning and busying herself trying to dig out her sake. Souji took a seat, but didn't let the subject drop.

"It's unusual to see a woman with any scars, how did you get it?" She remained quiet as she poured their drinks, contemplating her next words.

"As I've said before, my past is something I'd rather not discuss," she finally explained as she took her seat across from him. Her secrecy once again gave him that twinge of unease that held him back from being able to fully place his trust in her, but he still was unable to find a reason to distrust her, so for now he was stuck in an odd limbo.

"Fine, fine," he conceded, holding his hands up in surrender. "Perhaps someday we'll find it in ourselves to trust one another a bit more." Though he was being entirely sincere, his words weren't heavy, they were spoken with a light, almost blase undertone. Though this made Mikoto's stomach churn with guilt, she couldn't help but feel happy that Souji seemed to be considering her as a long term part of his life. The tension that had been in the air since he had entered the room was finally beginning to dissipate as they fell into a comfortable conversation over a few drinks. The remainder of the evening was spent exchanging stories of their work, trading teasing blows and sharing several laughs before it was time for them both to call it a night.