I own nothing but my OC.

Chapter 19: Bitter Medicine

"Ah, this sucks." Sumiko mumbled as she held a cool cloth over her face. Her eyes were still raw from all the crying she had done the previous night. "Chizuru's so lucky… no puffy eyes at all!" It must be thanks to her special healing abilities… Before meeting Chizuru, she had thought she healed abnormally fast, but Chizuru was on an entirely different level. She thought it was pretty amazing, but she understood why Chizuru and her father might want to keep it secret since a lot of people were still really superstitious in this era, and there could also be people who might want to exploit an ability like that… Like the way the Bakufu wanted this Ochimizu.

The cloth slipped from Sumiko's hands as her eyes widened when a terrible thought suddenly occurred to her. Was it really just a coincidence that Chizuru, a girl with unbelievable healing abilities, was the daughter of a man who knew how to create a medicine capable of doing the same thing to a regular human who wasn't born with…? She shook her head. No. No way! Koudou loved Chizuru. There was no way he would test something like that on his own daughter!

"Agh! Pull yourself together, Sumiko!" She snapped at herself, clapping her hands against the side of her face to wake herself up. "… Okay, Ow." That had definitely been too hard… Great, now she probably had red marks in the shape of handprints off of her face, too!

"What's Aniki doing over there by himself?" One of the men whispered to his friend as they watched from a safe distance. They had been passing by coincidence, when they happened to spot Sumiko sitting all by herself.

"A one man comedy routine?" His friend suggested. They exchanged a glance.

"Yeah, that's probably it." They decided, continuing on their way. Aniki was cool like that.

—∞—

"Hey, sorry for the wait…" Sumiko said as she entered the Kitchen. Chizuru had gone ahead to get started on making the tea while she tried to fix her face without the miracle of makeup.

"It's all right. The tea is ready. Now we just have to…" Chizuru said, smiling wryly, as she turned. "… Sumiko-san, did you pink your cheeks?" Sumiko hung her head.

"Oh, whatever! I give up." She said, throwing her hands in the air. "Let's go bring them their tea before they start assuming we're up to some sort of 'unsettling activity'."

—∞—

The atmosphere in the room was heavy and tense as Kondo, Hijikata, and all of the captains aside from Okita, who was still guarding San'nan-san. They were all anxiously waiting to hear further news from him on the deputy-commander.

"Pardon us." Chizuru said, sliding open the door, so she and Sumiko could serve the tea. The girls, sensing the tense atmosphere, entered and carried out their task quietly. Chizuru served one side of the room, while Sumiko served the other. When Sumiko reached Hijikata, she set down his cup with her usual grace, but she kept her eyes down, avoiding his gaze as he watched her every move. She deep down, she was still afraid that if she made eye contact with him, she would see that cold and heartless look in his eyes, that it was being reserved for her.

Hijikata didn't know what to think as he watched her retract her hand and leave to sit off to the side with Chizuru. She had served him his tea without complaint, but she still wouldn't look at him. He furrowed his brow, silently berating himself. He should have expected this. Even though it was important to give the girls a scare to show them just how much danger they were in, he knew what an oppositional and stubborn personality Sumiko had. He pushed when he should have pulled. He had not only threatened her life, but he had used her affection for Chizuru to force her to listen to him. She was sure to hold a grudge for that, if nothing else.

The door to the inner room slid open, revealing a smiling Okita and Inoue.

"Looks like San'nan-san is out of the woods." He announced without preamble, much their collective relief.

"He's quieted down." Inoue added as he followed Okita into the room, closing the door behind them, before sitting down and joining the others. "He's still asleep." They all heaved a sigh of relief and finally allowed themselves to relax.

"So, did San'nan-san do it?" Shinpachi asked.

"We won't know for sure until he awakens." Inoue said. "To the eye, he's no different from yesterday."

SLIDE.

They all glanced up when the outside door slid open without warning, revealing Itou.

"Good morning." He greeted everyone politely.

"Geh!" Shinpachi said as he and nearly everyone in the room involuntarily flinched upon remembering they still had yet another problem to deal with.

"!" Okita started coughing. Sumiko narrowed her eyes slightly. She didn't like the sound of that cough.

"You all right, Souji?" Sano asked.

"Yeah." He said, chagrined. "The air's kind of stale in here, so I…"

"Oh, my. A brisk morning like this, yet all your faces appear uneasy." Itou observed. "Could this have something to do with the disturbance last night?"

"Uh, well, that is…" Kondo said hesitantly, fumbling hopelessly for an adequate response that would protect San'nan without actually counting as lying.

"Hey, fool him, Sano!" Shinpachi whispered urgently when he saw that Kondo was about to go up in flames.

"Huh? Me?" Sano whisper-yelled incredulously. What was he supposed to say?

"Hai. Hai. Let's leave that to someone skilled at explaining things." Okita whispered to both of them. All three of them glanced expectantly at Saito. Saito took that as his cue to step in. He stood up and turned to face Itou.

"As you say, Officer Itou, something did occur last night." Saito stated calmly. "Headquarters has yet to return to normal."

"My, I'm sorry to hear that." Itou said, turning to face him.

"Troubling you with this was the last thing that we wished to do. Thus, if we may assess the situation, and inform you of the details this evening…" Saito said, bowing respectfully.

"I see." Itou said with a ghost of smirk before turning to face the others. "I understand now. If that's the case, I anxiously await your summons this evening." He told them, stepping out and closing the door behind himself. They held their breath and waited, listening to make sure they could hear his footsteps really leaving. Once they were sure of this, most of the men heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"That's it!" Sumiko said bluntly. "Someone get the salt!" Time to exorcise that bitch. Shinpachi and Sano smiled wryly, glad to see her back to her usual spunky self.

"Seriously. Still, it seems like he cut us some slack on that one." Okita said. "Maybe he just liked how Hajime-kun handled it." He added, smirking.

"It would be nice to think that." Saito said.

"The top staff is all assembled, but San'nan-san ain't here. Itou-san is sure to soon notice that something doesn't add up about that." Hijikata stated seriously.

"Yeah, true enough." Okita said, sighing. "That guy sure is a pain."

"What should we do, Toshi?" Kondo asked. Hijikata was silent.

"… Um, just a thought, but… why don't we try talking to San'nan-san first?" Sumiko ventured, staring down at the floor as they all glanced at her, still too nervous to risk meeting Hijikata's eyes.

"Nn." Hijikata agreed, nodding. "Let's do that." There was no point in panicking until they knew whether or not there really was something to worry about.

—∞—

Sumiko gripped her medical kit tight as she followed Hijikata, Kondo, and Okita through the dark hall to the same room she had found Chizuru and San'nan-san in the previous evening.

"San'nan-san!" Kondo said when they opened the door and found the deputy-commander sitting up at his desk, swirling a beaker of red liquid. "You're all right to be up?" He asked as he and Hijikata entered the room and sat down a short distance away from him.

"I'm somewhat lethargic, but… I'm sure that's a side-effect of the medicine." San'nan replied.

"What makes you say that?" Sumiko asked as she stepped into the room. She noticed his hair was back to normal.

"Ah, Miyagawa-san." San'nan said, glancing up at her. So were his eyes. "Forgive me, it seems I've caused you quite a lot of trouble."

"I've come to expect that from you." She replied calmly as she kneeled down beside him and set down her medical kit so she could start examining him. "So, you were saying you think lethargy is a side-effect of the medicine?"

"Since taking that medicine, my daily routine has become rather difficult." He replied as Sumiko opened her kit.

"So, in other words…" Okita said as he entered the room and took a seat behind Hijikata and Kondo.

"I am no longer human." San'nan finished for him. Sumiko froze momentarily but quickly recovered her wits as she picked up the stethoscope.

"We're just glad you're alive!" Kondo said happily. "That's more than enough!"

"So, did it heal your arm?" Sumiko asked, holding open the front of his kimono while pressing the mouth of the stethoscope to his chest. His heartbeat was slightly elevated.

"Yes, it appears to be healed. At least, it gives me no inconvenience." He replied, smiling wryly. "My, that device seems to be even colder than usual today." He remarked.

"Consider it pay back for almost choking the life out of me." She deadpanned as she put it away. Hijikata's pupils constricted slightly as he stared at her. She never said a word… Hijikata clenched his fists. No, he never bothered to ask.

"But you can't go out during the day, right?" Okita asked. "Can you perform your squad duties like that?" San'nan turned to face the other men while Sumiko pulled up his sleeve and examined his left arm more closely.

"You should just consider me as dead." He told them.

Hijikata's pupils constricted to pinpoints. He was shell-shocked by what he had just heard.

"I think I'll bring together the new Shinsengumi as an example of the medicine's efficacy." San'nan said, smiling. "We were ordered by the Bakufu to keep the medicine secret. If I were dead, the medicine's existence would remain hidden. And if the medicine had no side-effects, no one would hesitate to use it, yes?"

"That's the only way?" Kondo asked.

"Well, this is the path you chose, San'nan-san." Okita said, though he wasn't particularly happy about it. San'nan just continued to smile.

"In that case, talk of moving the headquarters has ceased to be a joke." Hijikata said.

"Hm?" Kondo and Okita said.

"Hiding San'nan-san from Itou's men will require a very large headquarters." Hijikata explained. Sumiko blinked as she suddenly remembered something from history.

"San'nan-san, don't take this the wrong way, but would you mind committing seppuku?" She asked, earning herself some strange looks from the men. "I was just think of what we're supposed to tell Itou-san later!" She explained quickly.

"Ah, I see." San'nan said. "Yes, that could work."

"Maybe I could be your second?" Okita said with a slight smirk.

"You would say that, wouldn't you?" Sumiko asked, sweat-dropping, as she glanced at him past Hijikata.

—∞—

Later that evening, after having had to endure the arduous task of informing Itou of San'nan-san's supposed seppuku, and then having to sit through a meal where Sumiko continuously avoided eye contact with him, Hijikata had enough. He marched over to where Sumiko was washing the dishes by the well with Chizuru, and grabbed Sumiko by the wrist.

"!" She gasped, startled, when he started to drag her away. She sent a Chizuru a look for help.

"I'm borrowing her." Hijikata informed Chizuru stiffly as he continued on his way, pulling Sumiko along.

"H-Hai." Chizuru said, a little caught off guard.

'You traitor…!' Sumiko thought, chagrined. Hijikata didn't stop until they had gone some distance away.

"I'm sorry!" Sumiko shouted at the same Hijikata turned and said:

"I'm sorry."

For a moment they just stared at each other in surprise.

"Huh? Wait, I'm confused…" Sumiko said.

"That's my line." Hijikata said. "Why are you apologizing? You've been avoiding looking me in the eye ever since last night. Aren't you angry with me for how I treated you?"

"… Yes, now that you mention it." Sumiko said slowly. "But to be honest, I was more worried that you might hate me."

"Hate you?" Hijikata said, furrowing his brow. "Why would I hate you?"

"I thought… I thought that maybe if I'd been able to do more for San'nan-san, then he wouldn't have felt so pushed to take the medicine. I was the doctor in charge of his recovery. That makes me responsible for him." She said. "I was afraid you would blame me… and that if I looked you in the eye, I'd see it."

"I don't blame you." He said. "And I don't hate you."

"Okay… Then why do you look so troubled?" She asked. The more she had tried to explain her reason for apologizing, the harder his expression had become.

"Because I made you think that way." He replied. Sumiko blinked.

"That's all? What about all the other stuff?" She asked.

"I thought you weren't mad about that." He said, furrowing his brow.

"I wasn't, until you reminded me." She huffed, crossing her arms. As Hijikata stared at her, her frown curved up into a light smirk. "But I'm sure I'll think of some way you can make it up to me."

"Who says I want to?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You did. You were already apologizing for something before you even knew why I was apologizing, so therefore, all I have to say is this: apology accepted." She said, grinning like a Cheshire cat, as she pranced off happily.

"Hn. Cheeky woman…" Hijikata said, smiling wryly.