The Ordinary Life of Chizuru Yukimura

Disclaimer: Hakuouki isn't mine.

"Going out somewhere 'brother'?" Kaoru smiled.

"Just going to study at the library." Chizuru met her brother's gaze head on. "Are you?"

"Just meeting up with friends."

Once she was out of sight of the house and sure that Kaoru could no longer see her, Chizuru sped up, almost running to get to the meeting spot. She was already late and she needed to get there before Shin and Kaoru so they weren't spotted too soon. Her phone was buzzing so she knew she was being complained at by the rest of the group.

Once she reached the burger place, she headed to the second floor where the majority of the kendo club had gathered by the window.

"Finally!" Heisuke tutted at her as she slid into the chair next to him.

"I had to make sure Kaori didn't see where I was going!" That and she had forgotten to set a back-up alarm. She would not mention this part however.

"Luckily for you, Lover boy isn't here yet." Souji was on one of the window seats and watching the mass of people, with Sano on the other side holding up a pair of binoculars. Chizuru was not going to ask about that one.

Saito was the only one uninterested in the proceedings, choosing to read a book instead. He did nod at Chizuru when they made eye contact, and then went back to being anti-social.

"When's Hijikata here then?" Heisuke speaking got her attention.

"You invited Hijikata?" That guy would not enjoy it at all.

"He thinks we want to have a training discussion." Sano snorted at the naivety of the usually very suspicious Hijikata.

"Won't he be angry?" Chizuru found herself slowly sinking down. If he did get angry she wanted to be shielded from his full rage.

"Oh he'll be livid." Souji seemed almost excited at the idea.

"Am I late?" And speak of the devil. Hijikata had finally appeared and was looking round at the assembled group.

"Nope. Plenty of time."

"In fact, I think the main event is going to start now." Sano was leaning down eagerly. "He's here~."

"Wow, that didn't take long." Heisuke and Souji all leaned over to survey the meeting. "We've only got an awkward looking Shin so far."

Hijikata sat down opposite Chizuru and looked straight at her.

"What are we actually doing?" He seemed like he didn't care that much.

"Watching Shin on a date with my sister." Hijikata rolled his eyes.

"Well I knew it wouldn't be a training meeting." He looked over and dragged the tray that had been sitting between Sano and Souji over to himself.

"Hey! That's ours!" Sano looked suitably outraged.

"You dragged me out, you should treat me to lunch." He stuffed a couple of fries in his mouth, confident that he would not be challenged further. The others were more interested in what was going on outside. "Want some Ruo?"

"Sure." She didn't care enough to watch either.

"And here comes the leading lady!"

"Ohh! An awkward hug! First one of the day~." There was really no need to actually look at what was happening; the provided commentary was enough.

"Won't they notice you all crowding the window?"

"Just let them do it Ruo. The sooner they're noticed, the sooner the couple will run off and then they all will get bored and go home."

"I hope so." At least she wasn't alone.

"And they're coming in! Everyone look normal!" The other three sat down and attempted to look casual. Heisuke alone was watching the top of the stairs in a totally obvious way. Chizuru tried not to look at him; it was hard not to laugh at the face he was pulling.

"I don't think they're coming up," Sano finally said after a long enough time had passed.

"Yeah… Heisuke, check they're still there."

"Aye aye!" And after a small salute, he clambered over Chizuru and to the stairs.

"Are we really just going to follow them everywhere?" They couldn't really fail to notice the gang pursuing them around the town.

"We were thinking of throwing things at them too." Chizuru sighed.

"Don't you have better things to do?" All of them just stared. "…Ok that was a stupid question."

"They're sitting and eating in silence." Heisuke had returned. "Shin really sucks at this."

"It's why we love him." Sano thought about this statement for a second. "Why we love laughing at him is what I meant."

-Page Break-

"…This is getting stupid now." Chizuru was crouched behind a nearby plant pot, close to Sano who was peering round the side.

"It's ok, they've turned a corner." Finally. Souji and Heisuke emerged from the opposite pot. Saito and Hijikata cared a little less and had sat on a bench, waiting for this idiocy to be over.

Chizuru followed the others reluctantly, not liking the odd looks they were getting. Stalking her brother and friend down the street was not exactly a normal behaviour, especially in a small town like this.

Just following hadn't been the end of it either, they'd all had to apparently launch any objects within reach at Shin's head. So far there had been eight objects launched, three of which had hit the target (two by Sano, one by Souji. Heisuke had nearly hit Kaoru). Shin had started to get suspicious at this point so they were having to keep far back.

"So what do we do about the cinema?"

"I say one of us goes ahead and finds out what film they're watching," was Sano's suggestion.

"Good idea. Saito, you go." Slowly, Saito's eyes raised over the top of his book.

"Why me?" He looked nervous.

"Because you're good at moving stealthily." Saito glared at Souji.

"What if they see me?"

"Pretend you're walking and reading like you usually do."

"He does that?" Chizuru wasn't sure this was possible.

"Yeah. We've had meetings about it." Hijikata sighed.

"Go on Saito! For the team!" With a very uncertain look, he disappeared around the corner while the group waited.

"What do we do in the cinema then? All on the row behind?"

"I say we spilt up and surround them. That'll annoy him." It would be Souji who would come up with that plan.

"It works. I guess?" Saito appeared, moving quickly and looking shaken.

"So?"

"They're seeing that romance film. The really badly acted one." Nicely played Kaoru.

"Ugh… The things we do to annoy our friend." Sano looked exasperated for a second. "Ok, make sure you all spread out."

Chizuru did not want to watch this film. She hated bad films; they made her cringe so this would be painful. But still she went and stood in line and bought the damn ticket with the rest of them.

"There they are. In the middle." Sano and Heisuke sniggered as they crept down so they were sitting only a couple of aisles behind Shin and Kaoru.

Chizuru really didn't care and so walked to the other side of the theatre, sitting as far away as possible. The others could do what they wanted; she was going to get some sleep so she didn't have to put up with that film. The only reason she had come was to make sure that if Kaoru was discovered, she knew about it. Part of her was wondering if this was even worth it. The guys would tell her if they saw it.

Just as she managed to get settled into her seat and comfortable, the sound of a chair folding out beside her caught her attention.

"You look comfy." Slowly she turned her head to spy a Souji sitting beside her.

"Why are you over here?" Surely he would be better near the happy couple so he could more easily pester them?

"It seemed a decent view. Plus Heisuke and Sano are already behind them."

"Oh…" So now she would be stuck with him for the whole of the film. "Where are Hijikata and Saito?" Souji pointed to where Saito had pulled out his book and Hijikata had started doing some kind of homework. "Why are they still here?"

"Probably they're secretly interested."

"Or they can't be bothered to go home."

"That too." Souji eased himself back in the chair and looked comfortable. "So how shit do you think this film will be?"

"Unbearably so."

"Probably. But I could do with a good laugh."

This film wasn't a comedy. Technically it was a drama. But all of the badly written script and poorly acted lines made it pretty hilarious to watch. The woman swooned even! How many people did that nowadays?

"And there she goes again." Chizuru had to stifle a laugh as Souji leant in and whispered to her, right as the terrible actress fainted again. "Maybe she should carry an inflatable bed with her so she at least gets a soft landing."

"No woman does this! It's so stupid!"

"It is set in the olden times." Chizuru made it very clear that she did not consider this an excuse. "And really, it's all to do with her acting."

"How so?"

"If she wasn't so bad at her job, they would've wanted her around more. As it is, they needed her to be unconscious for half the film."

"That would make sense." The two of them stifled their laughter at the over-dramatic awakening on screen and instead looked over to see what was going on with the date.

They were just in time to witness Heisuke pelting Shin on the back of the head with a piece of popcorn. Shin spun round to glare and Heisuke and Sano both ducked down behind the seats sniggering. From the large amount of popcorn in his hair, it seemed they had done it a lot already.

Chizuru was amused but at the same time tired. She wasn't exactly enjoying the film and she didn't feel like annoying her brother all day.

Screw it. I'm going home. Or she could go to the library; she had told Kaoru that was where she was going. Chizuru grabbed her bag and hopped back over her seat, strolling out of the theatre and into the outdoors. At least now if they were spotted, she could deny having been there.

"Where are you going?" Chizuru let out a very girly yelp and spun round at a sudden voice from behind her Souji was smiling at the exaggerated reaction.

"Why are you following me?" Damn Souji and his ninja-like stealth. Alas, it was too late to hit him and pretend that she'd done it out of fear.

"Not much going on in there. And I wondered what you were doing?"

"Home or library. Not sure which."

"Cool. I guess I could follow you." That wasn't an invitation. But it seemed he was inviting himself anyway so Chizuru walked along in slightly awkward silence.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back and pester Shin?"

"Nah. I've already got what I wanted." Chizuru gave him an inquiring glance. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started flicking through the gallery where there were several pictures of Shin and Kaoru. "I'm gonna send them to him in a few days, see if I can freak him out."

"Oh…" Information warfare. Souji returned the phone to pocket and yawned.

"Stalking people is tiring work. I think I need a coffee or something."

"Maybe you should get one."

"Good idea." And he took her by the arm and led her into a (suspiciously conveniently placed) coffee shop. "How do you take your coffee?"

"I don't want any."

"Yeah you do." And he pushed her down into a chair and strolled to the counter, ignoring her glaring.

Does he want to talk about something? She could tell there was something since he wouldn't have bothered her otherwise. She would have gone home and left him to it but she had nothing else to do and did kind of want to know why he was suddenly so keen. He hadn't seemed any different from his usual.

"Here you are." He placed a cappuccino on the table in front of her.

"How much do I owe you?"

"It's on me."

"Thanks…" She sipped it awkwardly. Well it wasn't like she knew what to talk about and he obviously had something in mind. He didn't start until he'd sipped half of his sodding coffee though.

"So I had an asthma attack last night." He was smiling but he didn't look happy.

"What? Are you ok?" She knew those things could be lethal.

"My sister cleaned her room; too much dust in the house." He shrugged. "I didn't die so that was good."

"But… I mean, did you have your inhaler?"

"Yeah. It took a while though. She nearly rang an ambulance, hence the sleepiness."

"So should you be out so soon?"

"I wasn't as bad as I could have been. It wasn't long enough to cause any damage."

"But…." Chizuru was worried. "Why are you telling me this?" He looked momentarily thoughtful.

"Hmm… I'm not sure… I guess I wanted to tell someone. And you seem like you won't make a big thing of it. Don't tell Hijikata by the way. He'll kill me."

"Don't be stupid then. What if you had another one?"

"I have the inhaler." He pulled it out so she could see he wasn't lying.

"Still."

"Are you worried about me?"

"Of course! You're my friend!" She was embarrassed to be half-shouting this but it was the truth. Souji looked momentarily surprised.

"It's nice of you to care so much Chizuru."

"You should get back home. Get some rest."

"Yes mother."

"I mean it! I will walk you there myself!" Correction; she would drag him there if necessary. No one could be that stupid, surely?