Disclaimer: The usual. I do not own any of PMK or RK.

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Hijikata's gonna get a police brutality charge levelled at him again...

Chapter 14: Holding On

Kichisaburo sat indifferently. His shirt was slightly bloodied. His hands were cuffed behind his back. He was bleeding from a cut on his cheek.

"Worried about your man?" Kichi smirked through his pain. "I'm not telling you where your poor Souji is. By the way, I shot him in the gut while the fool was trying to protect that red-haired kid."

Hijikata clenched his teeth. He wanted to break every bone in the prisoner's body. He wanted to beat him into a pulp. He can't stand the man mocking Souji.

Hijikata's techniques were not working… Saitou strolled out. "Hijikata-san, you will help me explain to Kondo-san, right?" He called out offhandedly.

A short while later, Susumu returned with news that Maro had confessed. "What did Saitou do get him talking?" Hijikata asked. "It involves the gravel drive, the onsen van and a length of rope. It wasn't pretty…" Susumu added in his deadpan tone. "Saitou-san wants to transfer to the Oniwabanshu if Inspector Itou slams him for brutality." Well, at least it worked.

Off a cliff , eh? Okita will need all the luck he's got to survive that. Saitou caught Hijikata as he passed him in his indoor clothes on his way out. "Toshizou! It's too dark to search now!"

"Hajime! It's Souji we're talking about. We can't leave him out there…" Hijikata cried out. Maro was swearing to sue them for police brutality even as Harada and Nagakura hauled him indoors.

Hijikata was on the verge of collapse. Ayu-nee and the other policewomen had rustled up some medical supplies to treat injuries suffered during the raid. Thankfully, none were too serious. Nagakura's brat was sleeping on Makoto-san's lap as she directed her staff from the lobby chair.Hijikata allowed Ayu-nee to re-dress his wound. It was starting to ache painfully.

The good news was they've foiled what will otherwise be a terrible attack on the good citizenry of Kyoto and the government. The bad news was Okita was lying somewhere, possibly even dying and they were powerless to help him. Those bastards had tossed Okita and both missing boys into a ravine.

Where? Sorry, didn't stop to check the road signs…

In the ravine, the trio shivered from the cold. It was an uphill struggle to keep their spirits up. "Let's sing a song!" Okita suggested. Before the boys can reply, he started off in song. He didn't get very far. A sharp pain forced the air out of his body.

"Okita-san, don't! You start the bleeding again," Tetsu gently chided. Okita smiled as he ran his fingers through the redhead's hair. The kid doesn't know the real damage is internal. The pain in his insides was agonizing. He nudged Suzu into alertness before the boy dozed off.

Toshi, will I see you again? No, I mustn't give up! Okita willed himself to hold on.

Flashback:

A few days before going undercover, Okita packed his belongings from his locker under the Demon's supervision.

"Sayonara, Toshi. When this is over, I'll treat you to ice cream," he hugged his friend. They'd be apart for some time.

"Souji, I hate ice cream," Toshi rebutted. They pulled away quickly as the Trio rambunctiously entered the room. Okita was soon swamped by his friends as they wished him the best with his further studies. "Hijikata-san! Can you record the drama serial Prince for me while I'm away?"

"Get your sister to do that! I don't like mushy serials." Of course, it wasn't necessary for Toshi to do that. Okita wasn't going to leave Japan at all.

"Can't! She watches Super Chef Challenge on NTV at that time! Sayonara!" He yelled out as the wave of rookies, police officers and fellow captains swept him away from the vice chief…

Okita awoke to find a worried Tetsu peering into his face. The redhead gave an audible sigh of relief. "Okita-san, thank heavens, for a moment there I thought…" He paused awkwardly.

"I had died?" Okita smiled. "Tetsu, you're a good kid." That was close…

"I'm not a kid!" Tetsu insisted.

"Are too!" Suzu called out. "Am not!" Tetsu snapped back. Soon the duo was bickering like cat and dog.

"Can't you get along?" Okita asked.

"Nope, we've always fought since Suzu stomped on my foot on his first day from Kyushu."

"Tetsu-baka planted thumbtacks on my chair…"

"You whacked me below the belt with a baseball bat during gym…"

"You ran my clothes up the Choushu Middle School flagpole while I was in the shower, including my boxers! Then we fought and the principal gave us detention for a month!"

"You boys sound as though you can't do without each other," Okita grinned. "Best of friends, right?" Both boys' jaws dropped in shock. "Are NOT!"

"Just try not to shove each other off the ledge, promise?"

"Promise!"

"Now give each other a big, big hug!"

"What?!" Both boys decided that blood loss and exposure had dulled Okita's wits. Still, they reluctantly shook hands across Okita's lap.

"Suzu, move. You'll be warmer next to Tetsu, away from the wind…"

"You're injured! We can't have you exposed to the wind!" But Okita refused to budge on his decision. He tried to move over. In the end, Suzu relented and crawled over Okita and Tetsu's legs. Okita was determined to use his body to shield the youngsters from the cold wind as it howled down the ravine.

They still have a long way to go…

Author's notes:

A long way to go. Can't have Hijikata-san searching for Souji in the dark & falling off the mountainside, can we? Saitou's a little RK.