Heh, I guess I lied oO; This ones about as long as the other one… but still, I included a fair few characters in it! Horray! I'm pretty sure that this story won't reach past a 10th chapter… oh well. I'm considering writing a sequel afterwards… but I guess it's a bit early to be thinking about that, huh?

Disclaimer: … Disclaimers are boring. Peacemaker is not owned by me.

Chapter Four
Ghosts

"I can't believe they let us cook!" Shinpachi stated, grinning hyperactively as he stirred the soup that he was preparing for that night.

"It's very tempting, isn't it, Shinpachi?" Heisuke asked, scratching the back of his head, "I find it tempting to drug the food."

"Which is why you're cleaning and not cooking." Sanosuke said. He was in the middle of cutting the radishes.

"What are you guys going to get puppy boy anyway?" Shinpachi asked, "I have mine already. Been saving it for a while."

"You mean that orange ball?" Todou asked, tilting his head to the side. "Well, I guess Tetsu still is a kid. I'm getting him a teddy bear."

"A… teddy… bear?" Sanosuke and Shinpachi asked in unison, blinking. They knew that it was probably not something that Tetsu would appreciate.

"Yeah!" Todou beamed, "because it's cute. Everybody likes cute things!"

Sano and Shinpachi exchanged a glance. Yeah, only weirdos like you.

"How about you, Sano? What're you going to get him?"

"Me? I'm givin' him a spear."

"A spear?" The other two said in unison.

"But, Hijikata said that he wasn't allowed a…"

"A sword?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I ain't givin' him a sword, am I?"

All three grinned evilly. "You're right! You devious thing you!"

"I sense an evil shadow looming over this kitchen…"

All three jumped (Shinpachi spilt the soup), and looked in the direction of the doorway, where there stood a very bored Third Unit Captain.

"O-Oh, Hajime… what a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?"

"I told you, I sense an evil shadow looming over the place. But I seem to have been wrong. –" The trio sighed in relief. "- What's the occasion, cooking so early in the day?"

"Well, you see, it's Tetsunosuke's 16th Birthday… and Souji's planning a surprise party for him… and we offered to cook."

"Tetsunosuke's… 16th… Birthday… huh?" Hajime placed his hand to his chin in a rather thoughtful movement. "I guess, I had better go and get him a present then." Hajime turned around, and proceeded to leave the area. The trio sighed in relief, but their relief was short lived. Hajime seemed to have forgotten something. He poked his head around the side of the door and said; "Make sure you don't drug the food."

Of course, all eyes were on Todou, who laughed nervously.

"Tetsunosuke's… 16th… Birthday… huh?"

Hajime's normally bored face tweaked at the side of his mouth as he thought about it – it'd been a while since people had really cared about somebody enough to plan a surprise party. Now all he had to do was to get Tetsu a present – which wasn't going to be easy. He knew exactly what he'd get the puppy… but choosing out of the selection was, well, hard.

"Ah! Saito-san!"

Hajime, being disrupted by his thoughts, turned to look at the elderly couple that were situated at the front of the cemetery – the cemetery being where he'd been headed the entire time. He turned, walking over to the couple. They were the care takers of the cemetery, and like himself, they were able to talk, and even see, spirits.

"Are you here for a visit?"

Hajime nodded. "Yes, I came to attempt to ask a favour from a spirit."

"A favour?" The pair asked in unison, tilting their heads.

"Yes."

Seeing as Hajime wasn't going to give more information for the matter, the pair shrugged it off, and moved off to the side, allowing Hajime entrance. It wasn't long before he was dissolved in his own thoughts again.

Suzu sighed. His eyes were focused on the gravestone in front of him, the gravestone of some of the Choshu who had since lost their life before coming to Kyoto. He came here often – just looking at those who lost their life made him feel more strongly towards his own objective.

"Master is going to be angry…" he muttered to himself, kneeling in front of a random stone. "I should be finding a present for Ichimura's Birthday…"

"You know Tetsunosuke?"

Suzu jumped almost, almost hitting Saito in the chin. Hajime had ducked out of the way just in time, avoiding the blow, but it hadn't stopped Suzu from falling backwards onto the actual grave of those who he'd been looking at.

"H-Hai." Suzu muttered.

Hajime contemplated for a moment. "Your name?"

"S-Suzu."

"Well, Suzu, I'll be expecting you at the Shinsengumi headquarters ready for Tetsu's party by nightfall."

Inside his mental mind, Suzu was cheering. Now he didn't have to sneak into the Shinsengumi when they were all drunk – he could be there from the start!

"O-Okay." He muttered, nodding, pretending to be bewildered.

Hajime silently cursed. He'd spent a while talking to Suzu, and he still had to sort through the graves. His eyes scanned the graves, looking for a suitable age, and a suitable name, and everything that would indicate to him that this spirit was reliable. He finally paused, looking at one particular grave stone:

Abura Kowasu
1798 – 1826
Good Samurai in Body and Soul
We will remember you always.

The poor man had died reasonably young, and it was known for Grave-stones to lie about being a 'good Samurai'. Still, Hajime could always attempt to get the deed for his soul. He placed his hands over Kowasu's name, and muttered something quietly. After he'd finished, a flash of yellow light – that surprisingly went unnoticed by the others in the cemetery – appeared, and a sitting figure appeared.

"Yeah. What the hell do you want?"

It appeared that Kowasu was blunt, and a little rude. Hajime took no notice of it, and he surveyed the mans appearance. He still looked young, but it was impossible to know what kind of eyes he had, considering there was a blood-tainted bandage covering them, however, his long brown hair was still tied back behind the back of his head, and he still wore his traditional – slightly blood stained – robes, as well as a two swords on his left side.

"Are you a skilled swordsman?" Hajime asked, deciding to ignore his opening statement. "Kowasu, correct?"

"Yeah. That's me. And are you kidding?" By the tone of his voice, Kowasu was surprised that Hajime could even ask such a thing. "How dare you ask me – a genius swordsman – whether I am strong? Cut to the point."

Hajime sighed. This wasn't getting him anywhere. "Right. I've come to ask for the deed to your soul."

Kowasu gasped. The deed to his soul?

"What for?" It was obvious that he was hesitant.

"A friend needs somebody who can protect him properly."

"No, I mean, what will you give me for it?"

"Sake."

"S-Sake? I haven't drunk that… in… forever! Consider it sold! When do I get it?"

Hajime sweat dropped. That was way too easy – he hoped that Kowasu would be worth the sake, and that Tetsu simply wouldn't get into any trouble. Kowasu dipped his hand into his own Gravestone again, and pulled out the deed, wiped some blood from his robes, and finger printed the paper, before handing it to Hajime.

"So, when do I get the sake?"

"Tonight. After your deed is sold for real."

"You mean you're selling me to your friend?"

"Right."

Kowasu shrugged. "Oh well. Just so long as I have an endless supply."

The pair of them had been in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, before Hajime dug into his robes for a moment, and pulled out a small wooden doll. "This is what you're going to be transported in until tonight. You'll find it nice, and I'm sure it'll have everything you want."

"I see." Kowasu stated, and thought for a moment, before tapping the wooden figure – which was a mistake, seeing as he was sucked into it.

"That was easy." Hajime muttered, depositing it back in the pockets of his robes.

"Saito-san!" Tetsu called, grinning as he came running towards the Third Unit Captain. Hajime turned to look in Tetsu's direction.

"Tetsunosuke-kun."

"Want to get some Soba with me?"

"Ah…" Hajime twitched. This was going against everything he knew – but he really should go back and help Nagakura, Harada and Todou so that they didn't poison the food. "Actually, I have an errand to run."

"But you just got home…"

"Good bye, Tetsunosuke-kun."

Tetsu watched Hajime's back until he had gone out of site, and scratched the back of his head. Saito-san rejecting soba? That's not right. Something's up… I can feel it in my waters...

Heh, I wish I could include Kowasu more in this story… oh well. If I do a sequel, he'll be in that one from start to finish, along with the as yet unnamed puppy. I still need present ideas!