Disclaimer: I do NOT own Peacemaker Kurogane or Rurouni Kenshin. They are the properties of their respective creators and the Shinsengumi and Ishin belong to history. This is an insanity fic not to be taken seriously.

M. Kasshoku: Well, Sara is very beautiful and exotic in her looks, I mean, how many blond cuties do you find in Bakumatsu-era Japan?

Swirly: I gave Battousai Red as a codename in a certain Personal Ad in New Kyoto Post. Maybe Hijikata will kill Kenshin first, then kill Okita once he learns of poetry night… About Dragon Boy Tatsunosuke… Well, the kanji for Tatsu translates to 'Dragon' or 'the hour of the Dragon' to be exact. Hope that clarifies things.

Lolo: The Okita-Kenshin chapter awaits! Muahahahaha…

Sake Shack LIVE! 5: Fateful Friendship

Nami looks around worriedly. Finally, she takes the mike.

Nami: Umeko-san has gone AWOL and is most likely lost again. We have some volunteers from the former Shinsengumi and the Choushu currently looking for her. So allow me to start the show in her absence. I am Nami, her personal assistant. Still single and now running my own maid agency with a few girls from Umeya. Tonight, we have a touching tale of friendship, of two young men from different sides of the conflict...

Tetsu looked uneasily at Suzu across the room. Suzu glares back at him.

Let's welcome Okita Souji and Himura Kenshin!

Okita and Kenshin took the stage.

Tell our audience how you met.

Kenshin: It was at a community service project at the local orphanage…

(Flashback. Okita playing with the children. Kenshin comes with a top. Children see Kenshin and runs towards him.)

Children: Sou-nichan! This is Kenni-kun! He spins tops the best!"

Sou and Kenni study each other for a while. Then Saizou nips Kenni's ankle. "Ow!"

"SAIZOU! Let go!"

(End flashback)

Okita: "Then we learnt that we have loads in common, like an appreciation for fine arts and literature, kendo and selfless service to the community. Yes, Kenni had loads of promise as a swordsman, even as a boy…"

Were you trying to poach him? I mean, looking out for talent in the schoolyard?

Okita: "Oh no... He was like a kid brother to me."

Kondo yells from his table. "Fess up, Okita, you were going to get him to join us at that dinner after Ikeda-ya, the one he missed for reasons we all now know."

(Flashback. Okita is measuring a Shinsengumi uniform haori in the training hall.)

Okita: "Hijikata-san, it's too big for Tetsu, but I think I know someone it'll fit!"

Hijikata: "Who?"

Okita: "I'm gonna introduce him to you at the Gion festival, ok? He's a great swordman given his age."

"Souji, no more brats!" Toshi's eyebrow twitched as Tetsu spilled the tea again.

(End)

Okita: "I never guessed he was Battousai then!"

Kenshin: "I found out your true identity at that clinic."

(Flashback reel)

Okita is being helped by Kenshin into the Kyoto Public Health Clinic.

Okita: Cough, cough…

Kenshin: Sou, sure you alright? You wait for your turn. Be right back. (leaves)

Okita overheard a conversation between a doctor and his assistant. "Another TB epidemic. Now the rules say all TB patients will be sent to Hokkaido or something together with the lepers." Okita decides he has heard enough and sneaks away.

Kenshin returns to find Sou gone. Before he can figure out what's going on, a nurse hands him Okita's patient card. "Sir, the doctor will see you now…"

"But miss! I'm not…" Kenshin sees the name on the card. "Okita Souji of the Shinsengumi…" Drops card and leaves in a state of shock.

(End flashback)

Kenshin: "I wrote in to Umeko's column for advice and got some from Shishio. I tried following his advice and wound up injuring a new colleague who later went AWOL."

(Flashback. Kohagi Inn dining hall. Katsura is introducing Okita's lookalike, Kichisaburo to the men. Kenshin is in the backyard doing laundry.)

Katsura: Men, this is Kichisaburo. Not Okita. He is our colleague as of now. (leaves)

Random samurai: Hey, kid, don't you work at the Boys' Teahouse?

Kichi: …

Random samurai: What's it? You miss us?

Kichi finally has enough of being harassed. "Get your hands off me! DIE, you filthy dogs!" Kenshin enters room just in time to see Kichi attacking the others. He reacts by drawing his sword. Katsura rushes to the scene, just as Kenshin slices off the tip of Kichi's nose. "Break it up! Kenshin! What are you doing?"

Kenshin: "Er, trying to save the others from Okita?" Katsura explains the truth of the matter to Kenshin.

Kichi: "Why didn't you kill me?"

Kenshin: "Because I…" Can't bring myself to kill a friend. "Can't bring myself to follow Shishio-san's advice."

Kichi tries to attack Kenshin but is restrained by the other samurai. "Kichi, it ain't worth the risk, kid! That boy's Battousai himself."

Kenshin: "Sorry, so very sorry…"

(End flashback)

Okita stares at Kenshin. "You mean you had so many chances to kill me and you passed them up? I met you a few times after the clinic visit in the schoolyard."

"Didn't want to upset the kids."

Then came an incident in this very same place…And poetry night! (Hijikata groans)

(Flashback to Sake Shack shortly after Sannan's death. The shack is crowded with off-duty peacekeepers and other samurai types, including Ishin supporters. Kenshin is drinking alone. Okita is drinking alone. He has Saizou in his lap. Both men are slightly tipsy. Kenshin spots Okita and staggers over.)

"Sou, life's real screwed up right?" Okita stared back. Kenshin has always been wearing a plaster on his face to cover the cross-scar, as usual. He nods in reply. Kenshin takes a chair and sits at Okita's table. "Upset?"

"One of my friends just died. Seppuku." Okita murmurs. "A good man."

"That's why life's screwed," Kenshin adds. "My wife died… She's a good woman…"

"You got married? Any kids?"

"And widowed in six months. No time for kids." Kenshin adds. "Why don't we be godfather to each other's kids? If we ever have any…" Okita pats Kenshin on the shoulder and accidentally drops the infamous haiku book. Kenshin picked it up.

"Haikus. They're to cheer me up…but they don't work…"

"You're doing it wrongly. Haiku oughta to be read out loud like my shishou does it!" Kenshin clears his throat and prepares to read.

(Reel abruptly ends as Hijikata slices the projector in two with an enraged roar.)

Hijikata: "SOUJI! How could you show MY haikus to an Ishinshishi?"

Okita: "Aw, Hijikata-san, fine literature should be shared…"

Please stand by for technical difficulties. Souji, it was after that night you learnt from a certain source that Kenni is Battousai. What were your thoughts?

Okita replies. "I was shocked. I mean, I just lost one friend and now I may have to kill another one. It was a nightmare! Can you understand that?"

Kenshin nods. "I was putting off actually having to fight you. Duty versus friendship… what a dilemma! That incident was a near one when Saitou stepped in for you. Then I was relieved when I thought you had passed on from natural causes."

Okita: "The newspaper guys got it so wrong…"

We can't have that flashback reel, since someone just broke the projector… How about you act it out for us what happened at Umeya's kitchen?

Hotaru: "I'll stand in for Umeko-dono!" A howl of outrage from the other members of the We-Luv-Okita-sama club as she glomps Okita.

Hotaru-san, Umeko did not hug him, ok? She was screaming like… GHOST! EEK!

Kenshin continued. "I came running and… Sou? Is that you?" He walks up to Okita and feels his shoulder to see if he's solid. "SOU! Glad you're still alive!" Kenshin hugs Okita hard.

"Ow! I still got to kill you! Ow!"

"Sorry, forgot about your injuries… kill me later, ok?"

"Umeko-san? She's fainted!"

"And we ended up rushing her to the clinic together…" Kenshin summed up.

Repairman: "Miss Nami, the projector should be fixed shortly!"

Now for a break…

In the washroom, the two Sanos are using the head. Harada turns to the younger Sanosuke. "Hey kiddo, you Sano Junior right?"

"Don't junior me, old man! The name's Sagara Sanosuke."

"Why you punk! Let's settle this outside!"

"ON!"

Shinpachi, Heisuke and Saitou watch as both Sanos marched out of the shack. Harada with his spear and Sagara with his zanza. The two Comedians sweatdropped. Saitou murmured, "Ahous, both of them…" He lit a cigarette and got a rap on the knuckles from his wife for smoking near their son.

Loud crashes and sound of things being smashed outside the Shack.

A/N:

Poetry night in the Shack! A spot of impromptu acting by Kenshin and Okita. Kichi's reasons for going AWOL can be found in the New Kyoto Post's Ask Shishio column. It involves an unmarked grave somewhere…

Since Okita-Kenshin friendship is so popular, I'm adding another chapter for it. Cheerio!