" Kamiya!"

Sei felt the vein appear on her head as the oni vice-captain called her over by her alias.

They had just finished patrolling the city and everyone just wanted to sleep, but did Hijikata-sensei see it like that? No, he just thought about how the sun was still in the sky and that they could all get some last minute practice.

However, she knew if she said anything Hijikata would probably hit Okita-sensei, so she kept her opinion bound behind her lips.

" Yes, Hijikata-sensei?"

" Spar off with Soji."

" Yes, sir."

This cheered her up a little since Okita was slightly less aggressive than Hijikata.

She made her way into the practice area, slipping on the practice gear that almost always caused her a little irritation she waited for Soji to come over. However, apparently none of them had noticed that he was already asleep on the floor.

Once Hijikata did notice, however…

" Soji, you worthless lay-about, wake up!"

No reaction…

This led to Hijikata taking a big stick from outside and banging it repeatedly against the old, rusty gong the kept at the side of the compound.

" Wake up Soji! I mean it now, get up or I'll have you and Kamiya cook dinner! You've got ten seconds to get up!"

He started counting down, each second that passed passed with a gong beat and a bit of chuckling from the other men who found this display rather amusing.

" ….Three…..Two….One….Zero!"

Only after Hijikata had finished the count down, did Soji finally open one of his eyes, peering over at the oni vice-captain.

" Something wrong, Toshi-san?"

The other men in the room began laughing like a pack of hyenas while Sei counted the veins popping out of Hijikata's head. She now, truthfully felt fear for Okita.

" Wrong? No, no, nothing's wrong. You and Kamiya are going to cook dinner, that's all."

Without another word, Hijikata was out the door, muttering slightly understandable curses. In Sei's opinion, Okita had gotten very lucky.

As the other men chatted about the room about the little incident, Sei moved her sensei into the kitchen, chastising him the whole way.

----------------

" You really should lighten up a little, Kamiya-chan."

" Oh, should I? Okita-sensei, you could have gotten the whooping of your life just then, I can't tell you what could of happened if that oni wasn't so tired."

The two friends had agreed to disagree about the incident and simply cook the dinner they were assigned to.

Sei had decided to make the sashimi and nori(1), while Okita cooked the tako chahan(2).

For a while they worked in pleasant silence, until Okita asked a very unexpected question.

" Why did you decide to stay here? I know you said that you wanted to be Bushi, but your family's been avenged, what else is there to stay for?"

Sei considered her answer, for a while not saying anything, just staring at the handsome man in front of her.

After a few moments she decided to try and answer.

" Well, I suppose you could say that I, well…. There's something Saito-sensei said to me a while a ago that made me feel that I had a duty to stay."

" Oh, and what did he say?"

" Well, I can't repeat it word for word, but basically he said that my revenge was just a grudge. I wasn't actually protecting anyone, and that life is meaningless if you can't protect anyone but yourself. I stayed because now I do have someone I wish to protect."

The ending of this explanation ended with Sei having a blush painted across her face. It made her look almost like a tomato.

" Who?"

Soji wasn't sure why he had asked her these questions, especially the last one. He just felt like he really had to know.

Sei took a long look at Okita Soji for what seemed like forever, before saying, almost in a whisper," You."

I'm wishing on a star
To follow where you are

Soji didn't reply, he just stared at her with a face of slight confusion. Sei almost felt like she would die right there.

I'm wishing on a dream
To fall away with me

Sei was now shaking, tears running down her cheeks, it felt like the water were fire, though.

And I wish on all the rainbows
Let us sing,
I wish on all the people
Who really dream

Suddenly the tears were whipped from her face by soft hands. Opening her eyes she saw Soji barely an inch in front of her. Before she could do or say anything, her leaned in, giving her a kiss. Not just any kiss, but the kiss of love.

I'm wishing on a star
To follow where you are.

" I love you."

-----------

A/N- I own nothing.

1) raw fish and seaweed
2) fried rice and squid