Author's Note:

Finally! Okay, so this is only the first half, but I wanted an entertaining chapter to celebrate the first year anniversary of this story!

Can't believe it's been a year, but to be fair, it's also been 83 chapters and close to 440,000 words.

I say this every time, but I don't care: THANK YOU to everyone who has read this from the start, THANK YOU to everyone who has taken a chance on picking up a really long and still ongoing fic, and THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for the fantastic support to the people who have taken the time to write reviews, send notes or message me via various means. I can honestly say that this story and your encouragement have been the very best part of this past year.

~ImpracticalOni

Quote:

Take me now baby here as I am
Pull me close, try and understand
Desire is hunger is the fire I breathe
Love is a banquet on which we feed

Come on now try and understand
The way I feel when I'm in your hands
Take my hand come undercover
They can't hurt you now,
Can't hurt you now, can't hurt you now
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lust
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us

-Because the Night, The Patti Smith Group

Chapter 83—The Night Belongs to Lovers, Part I

I – Business Not Pleasure

Hijikata restrained himself from rubbing wearily at his eyes. His stamina had always been formidable, but the last few days—the last week—had taken a heavy toll, and a discussion with Sannan-san about doing further research with the ochimizu wasn't what he needed. On the bright side, Kondō-san always grew uneasy when discussing the noxious stuff, so this part of tonight's meeting would likely wind up soon.

"I agree they'd be useful at night," Kondō said at just that moment, "but I'm still not convinced they should be used if there's still a good chance of harming either their comrades or innocent citizens."

Assuming this city has any left, Hijikata thought to himself cynically. I figure the population of innocent citizens went up by one the day Yukimura arrived and now she's married and—gods help us all and especially Saitō—pregnant. Mind you, there was more than one kind of innocence, but between the violence and bloodshed she'd seen with the Shinsengumi and the harsh truths she'd learned about her foster father Kōdō-san, it was fair to say that her views of the world had been challenged on several fronts.

"With respect, Kondō-san, there aren't many innocent citizens wandering the streets of Kyoto at night, especially just at present." Sannan's words echoed Hijikata's thoughts. "And we've repeatedly found that our captains can handle a rasetsu if necessary."

Kondō-san glanced warily at Hijikata, but the Vice Commander just shrugged.

"Sannan-san's got a point," he agreed. "We need to do some recruiting, but until then, we could use an extra couple of men at night. Problem is that we can't just integrate them into regular patrols."

"It occurred to me that Saitō-kun would be a good choice to lead a small night patrol," murmured Sannan, eyes shifting to focus on Hijikata.

Hijikata felt himself stiffen. He should have seen that coming.

"Unless you can improve the ochimizu to the point where we have less to fear from the furies than from our enemies, I think that Saitō would be better off on his own." Hijikata kept his tone dry and level, but he didn't need the slight smile on the Deputy Commander's face to know that Sannan-san was going to lose the battle in order to win the war.

"I suppose you are right, Hijikata-kun," Sannan replied, apparently conceding. "The furies still require too much supervision to form a separate patrol. Obviously more research is still needed."

"That does seem to make sense," Kondō agreed. "And this research was approved—even requested!—by the government." He turned to Hijikata. "But I agree with you, Toshi—we shouldn't put Saitō-kun in such a situation with the drug still being refined. So, that's that then?" He hurried on before either of his seconds could comment further. "Which means we need to turn to the question of recruiting—I believe we all agree that we need more men in order to be effective?"

"A greater mundane force for regular patrols and greater coverage would be sensible," Sannan concurred. His eyes flickered over to Hijikata again for a second. "Mind you, based on what happened at the Ikedaya, if Saitō-kun is anything like the other so-called Oni, then he will be even more useful to us than before. I can only hope that his allegiance is as clear as Hijikata-kun believes."

Kondō-san shifted restlessly. Hijikata said nothing; they had already agreed to keep Saitō in the Shinsengumi for now and he doubted that Kondō-san wanted to revisit the matter just at present.

"There's no reason to doubt the man," Kondō said firmly. "Let's just allow him settle in, eh Sannan-kun? You need to give things a chance. Now then, can we please turn to the issue of recruitment?"

"As you wish," responded Sannan smoothly. "Shall I tell you how our funding and finances are at present? It will give us an idea of how many men we can afford to hire and feed."

"Oh—but Sannan-kun!"

Hijikata only paid attention to the rest of the discussion with half an ear. Inwardly, his tired brain was trying to figure out what Sannan-san might have in store for Saitō. Would he have him compete against the furies just to test his strength? Worse, would he try to treat the man as a subject for his experiments? Hijikata shuddered inwardly at the possibilities. What really made him twitch, though, was that Sannan-san hadn't brought up the matter of Saitō being related—probably—to both Hijikata and Yamazaki. Not to mention the matter of a certain escaped Chōshu sympathizer.

When the discussion was finally over, Hijikata tendered his goodnights and decided to go for a walk. He would let his mind sort through his various concerns and hopefully return relaxed enough to sleep. Of course, he might as well check to make sure that Heisuke's patrol didn't have a drunk captain in the lead. For a brief moment, he regretted not having a mistress in Kyoto. It wasn't so much that sex was a good way to work off tension; it was more that he found the thought of a pleasant voice and soft hands very attractive just now. That and no multi-layered questions.

As Hijikata stepped through the front gates, nodding absently to the guards, his lips quirked into a smile.

"May I fetch you tea, Hijikata-san?" he murmured aloud. "That's about the most complicated question I want to hear right now."

[II]—Business Before Pleasure, Part I

Everyone present was grateful for Kichirō's cheerful presence in the minutes following Saitō's return to Sen's personal sitting room. It provided an acceptable way for people to ignore the way Saitō twined his fingers in Chizuru's before relaxing slightly. Moreover, Kichirō's genuine enthusiasm about what sounded like a gruelling session made Harada laugh, reassured his sister that his various fits and starts over the past couple of days had been simple boredom, and reminded Sen that she wasn't quite as old and beleaguered as she felt. It was difficult to know Satoshi's thoughts, and he made a point of rising to take his leave once Kichirō started to wind down.

"Thank you for a pleasant visit, Osen-chan. I haven't seen so many younger Oni together in a very long time." Satoshi's smile appeared to be genuine, but only Chizuru missed the way that he neatly classified Harada as an Oni.

"I'll see you to the door, Uncle," Sen said promptly. "To ensure that your creaking bones are able to make it down the stairs."

"Or to ensure that I'm really gone?" suggested Satoshi, his eyes unmistakably flickering to Harada, who had risen along with Sen.

"That too," said his impenitent niece.

Behind her, Harada gently placed a large hand on her shoulder, an unusually deliberate display of affection that caused Saitō's eyes to widen a little—a reaction echoed by Chiharu, who was sitting nearby. Sen was clearly almost as surprised as her guests, but her cheeks flushed a little with unmistakable pleasure.

"I'll come downstairs with you as well, Satoshi-sama" Harada said politely.

Satoshi merely nodded, before turning to say his goodnights to his other niece, her husband, and the Kazama siblings. "Remember that we need to speak soon at more length, Saitō-san," he added, before leaving the room. "Apart from anything else, I believe that you wish to speak with Shiranui Toshio-sama, with whom I have a friendly acquaintance. Since you are a careful man, I expect that you would prefer to know more about him before you meet him in person."

"Aa. That would be helpful. I will see what can be arranged, Satoshi-sama." Saitō's tone was slightly cool, although polite.

"Thank you for your help, ojisan," said Chizuru, in her soft, clear voice. She somehow gave the impression of softening Saitō's words without actually apologizing in any way.

The moment that Satoshi had left, Saitō turned Chiharu and Kichirō.

"I realize that our lesson was shorter than expected, Chiharu-sama, Kichirō-kun. If you will give me a few moments to speak with Chizuru, I will meet you in the training room to complete today's instruction."

Chiharu rose gracefully and smiled, but was unable to speak over Kichirō's enthusiastic assent. Shaking her head a little ruefully, she sent Chizuru a kind look and a brief mental "touch" that resonated with encouragement.

"Well, my wife?" said Saitō calmly, as the door closed behind the blonde woman. "You appear to be unharmed, but very anxious. Since you have never before called Satoshi-sama 'uncle' as you did just now, I infer that you have decided to trust the man for some reason, in the"—Saitō mentally edited out the words incredibly foolish but endearing—"way that you do with people sometimes." More often than I'd like, was the clear subtext, but it remained unspoken.

Chizuru flushed guiltily—not that there was anything to feel guilty over—and glanced sideways at Saitō, who was still holding her fingers in his. She wanted to pour the whole problem out to him, but this wasn't the right time or place. Especially since she suspected that he would take it… badly.

"I'm s-sorry, Hajime," she said at last, "but could we talk about my uncle when we get home? Please?"

Saitō moved around so that he could study her more easily.

"You are not hurt?"

"No! I'm fine. Really."

"There is something that you do not wish to tell me."

"I do want to tell you!" Seeing her beloved's look of patent disbelief, Chizuru scrunched up her face a little and conceded the point. "… Well, no, I don't really but I will. Just, not this moment. As soon as we get home, I promise."

"Is it urgent in any way?"

"No!" Again, Chizuru hesitated, because it was slightly urgent, just not right-this-minute urgent. "We do need to talk about it today, but it can wait an hour. Please, Hajime?"

Saitō struggled against the desire to take Chizuru straight home and find out exactly what her uncle—unspecified swear words hovered around the word in his mind along with a clear image of the Vice Commander's face—had said or done to make her so reluctant to talk to him. Fortunately, he had people waiting for him. In fact, he had made a commitment to Chiharu-sama and Kichirō-kun in the knowledge that it would help him not to overreact to whatever was going on with Chizuru. Not that I am overreacting, he assured himself. I am doing quite well, on the whole.

Chizuru waited with some trepidation as her husband reached forward, clasped his strong hands around her shoulders and pulled her toward him slightly, his eyes intent on hers. For some reason, her nervousness was suddenly superseded by another feeling altogether; she wanted to tangle her fingers in his soft indigo hair and press her lips to his... He had no idea how handsome he was. She was unable to bury the feeling fast enough; Saitō's eyes widened in surprise and then he reddened slightly and lowered his forehead to her shoulder.

"I just… I can't win, can I?" he muttered.

Chizuru wasn't sure how to answer. "Hajime?"

"I will wait. You will come downstairs with me and watch me train Chiharu-sama and Kichirō-kun, and then we will go home and you will tell me everything. Agreed?" He lifted his head and looked at her quite seriously.

"Yes, thank you!" She smiled a shyly at him. "I can train with you too, if you want."

"No. At some point you may decide to improve your sword skills; however, you have enough to learn right now and this evening's lesson is not for you. Ikuzo!"

Saitō rose to his feet, drawing her up with him. The next moment, his arms were around her and she temporarily forgot everything else as his mouth fastened greedily on hers and her body was held tightly against his. Time passed. Eventually, she realized that he was drawing away from her, taking his warmth with him. Her eyes flew open and she was about to protest when she realized where she was.

"…Ooooh."

"Indeed." Saitō's voice was quite calm, but he was having to work to control his breathing and his face was flushed. Then he startled her with something that was—for him—a grin. "I felt that you needed some incentive to wish to return home."

"Saitō-san!" Chizuru's blush deepened (if that were possible). Then she recollected herself: "I mean Hajime!"

"Yes?"

She stared at him, baffled by his suddenly tranquil face and unruffled demeanor. It was… frustrating. Saitō didn't pretend to misunderstand her look.

"I can hardly go downstairs to teach Chiharu-sama to handle a katana if I can't at least pretend to be calm," he pointed out.

"B-but you're not really calm?" Chizuru asked tentatively.

"Almost." It was stretching the truth, but he needed to believe it.

Chizuru followed him to the door, and they went down the stairs together. She couldn't quite believe that Saitō-san had actually… Well it seemed as if he'd deliberately… But it seemed very unlikely! They could hear a murmur of voices from just beyond the front entrance.

"Will Osen-chan and Harada-san know where we've gone?" asked Chizuru, with a fair assumption of composure. She was determined to live up to Saitō-san's standards, even though he seemed determined to make that difficult for her.

Saitō glanced at her, his face now wholly impassive. "I do not think that they will miss us," he replied dryly.

"N-no, I suppose that is true." Chizuru frowned thoughtfully. "But I wouldn't want them to worry."

"They won't." Saitou paused before sliding open the door to the training room. "Sen-hime will no doubt discreetly ascertain your whereabouts, determine that I have not mistreated you, and then turn her mind to other things."

Chizuru blinked. Yes, that's exactly what would happen. And after that?

Is not up to either of us to worry about or interfere with.

"Yes, Hajime. I guess I'm just preoccupied."

Saitō's face relaxed for a moment and he touched her cheek. "It is understandable."

[III]—Business Before Pleasure, Part II

Harada stood with his arms crossed, watching Osen-chan and her uncle speak in low voices about whatever it was that she couldn't yet share with him. It obviously had to do with Chizuru-chan and Saitō, and if more time had passed since the wedding, Harada would have ventured a guess as to what it was about. Instinct or premonition suggested that maybe Chizuru-chan was pregnant, but unless there was some kind of weird Oni magic involved, then he couldn't imagine how they'd know—and why drag Prince Satoshi into it? Harada's lips compressed involuntarily. The man might be Shinpachi's father, but he was damn annoying. Of course, so was Shinpachi, at times.

He'd find out eventually what was up with Saitō and Chizuru-chan. Right now, he was more concerned about his own situation. He hadn't meant to behave as he had. He'd planned to take things slowly, make sure that he and Sen really had a chance to get to know each other before staking any serious claims. Hell, he'd been looking forward to going out on a few dates, and maybe having somebody to talk to on the bad days—but no promises, since he wasn't in a position to make any. But Satoshi-more-oni-prince-than-thou-sama had been needling him all evening… all day if you counted what had happened back at headquarters.

Harada gave himself a mental smack. It wasn't that the guy was really being all that bad. Harada knew that he himself would want to look long and hard at any ronin-type who was eyeing a girl under his care—probably before running the guy through with a spear. Realistically, Prince Satoshi was treating him moderately well, considering that underneath all the friendliness was a mind as sharp as Saitō's favourite sword and probably ten times more deadly. Which was saying something.

What had possessed him to behave that way in front of Osen-chan's family and de facto guardian? It occurred to him that Kimigiku-san was staying with Satoshi-sama at the moment, and was going to hear all about this later probably. Of course, the lady had a lot to think about right now, especially given the situation with her sister and Amagiri-san. (Now that was one screwed up relationship. It cheered him up a little to know that the Oni who had given him lessons in correct behaviour not so long ago was now in the midst of dealing with a seriously fucked up ex-lover and… yeah, the part about the kid wasn't funny at all. He hoped Saitō didn't forget about the kid.)

Okay, but was what he had done really that bad? It wasn't as if the others didn't all know that he and Sen were sort of seeing each other. He'd just made it more official, kind of. And he liked Sen a lot. He was just overreacting. Probably because he liked Sen a lot.

"Harada-san? Would you join us for a moment?" Sen sounded slightly tired.

Startled out of his thoughts, but used to reacting quickly, Harada uncrossed his arms and walked over to stand with Osen-chan. Satoshi nodded politely to him and he managed a brief bow in response.

"Things are becoming very complicated, very quickly," said Satoshi, his calm voice at odds with his words. "Osen-chan is going to have to deal very carefully with Kazama Chikage-sama over this matter of the Yukishima clan. It is also going to be critical to get the support of Shiranui Toshio-sama. Toshio-sama and I have known each other for a long time. While he will not be averse to claiming a powerful son who has passed all of the Trials and laid claim to a clan, it would be very, very helpful if Saitō-san—or rather, Sakurai-sama—and Yukimura-sama were to visit him in person."

Harada listened carefully, his shoulders gradually relaxing as he realized that Satoshi-sama was speaking to him as a potential ally and not with the slight condescension of before. On the other hand, he had no idea what he could do about any of what the prince was setting out.

"My uncle is hoping that you will help me work things out with Hijikata-san with respect to Saitō-san's necessary absence."

"Not just that," Satoshi interjected sharply. "If it were just that then I would accept that it really comes down to what Saitō-san and Hijikata-san work out between them. Harada-san. You claim to care for my niece." Harada forced himself not to twitch and Satoshi gave him a faint smile. "Will you stand by her? Are you willing to put serious effort into learning what you need to know about the Oni clans and the Gifts? Because you must be made to understand the situation more clearly than you do now."

"Uncle—"

"You see, unless there is some other viable alternative, Kazama Chikage-sama will likely claim the need for a strong heir as a valid reason to propose a match with Sen-hime, notwithstanding the usual bias against marriages between clan heads and with the Princess in particular. Unless Osen-chan has some kind of reasonable response, it will be difficult to avoid a major rift—or even a civil war—unless she agrees to the arrangement. You see, Saitō-san's marriage to Chizuru-chan has… quite a few consequences. Osen-chan has forced Kazama to accept both the marriage and Saitō-san's status as an Oni clan head. That is admirable, but it also leaves little room to manoeuvre. Kazama is a Westerner and he will respect the rules—in the most narrow-minded way possible and in the best interests of his clan."

Harada discovered that his hands had formed into fists. He also had to unclench his teeth in order to speak.

"I get the picture," he said, after a few moments' thought. "I think you'll have to let me talk to Osen-chan about all this though. Before I can even begin to comment."

"Yes," Satoshi agreed. "Well then… Oyasumi Osen-chan, Harada-san."

Harada drew a deep breath and glanced down at the small figure beside him.

"He doesn't pull his punches does he, hime-chan?" he said gently.

Sen looked up at him, her bitter expression clearly visible in the moonlight. Then she blinked, as she registered Harada's words and especially his use of his favourite, most impudent, nickname for her.

"Harada-san?"

She almost never shows weakness, he thought, turning and holding his arms open for her. Unfortunately, I seem to need to know that I'm needed, that I'm relevant because I'm just a little scared of where all this is going. I still don't know how Saitō just… He let the thought trail off as unproductive.

As in the past, Sen showed no hesitation in affirming her absolute certainty in her choice of lover. She closed the short distance between them and laid her cheek against Harada's chest, sighing softly in pure relief when his strong arms closed around her. It might be true that she rarely expressed or showed weakness, but it was equally true that she wanted Harada to be the one with whom she didn't have to pretend.

Warm lips brushed her hair. "This can wait until tomorrow," Harada said quietly. "Most things can."

"Yes… I suppose that's true. I just wish, so much, that everything would just slow down." Her words were muffled, but Harada's hearing was almost as sharp as Sōji's when he put his mind to it. (An expression that meant a lot more to him now.) Even more softly, Sen added: "I finally, finally understand how hard it must all be for Saitō-san. It's always seemed a little funny, you know? Not the Trial of Body, that wasn't funny in the slightest. But the rest. He was just so bewildered by it all—about how Chizuru-chan felt, about the way that he couldn't control things—himself—the same way anymore. Chizuru-chan told me that it really bothered him that they never even got to go on a proper date before getting married and now—oh!"

"It's okay. I have no idea what you're talking about." Harada gave up trying to talk to the top of Sen's head and picked her up, which she seemed to find perfectly acceptable. He sat down near the edge of the wide engawa and leaned back against a pillar with his princess in his lap. She hummed her appreciation when he started to unpin her hair. "Besides, it was kind of inevitable wasn't it? I'm guessing there's just something weird going on with it—because otherwise you wouldn't even know—and Saitō is probably panicking and wants to lock Chizuru-chan up, am I right?" Harada paused for a moment and frowned. "No, that can't be quite right since he did agree to bring her here—oh, but that was probably so that she could talk to you…"

For some reason, Sen was giggling. "I guess you really do have the family Gift, Harada-san—not that I'm saying you're right, of course."

"What is there to say? Didn't I tell you that I had no idea what you were talking about earlier?" He hesitated, and then brushed back a lock of hair and softly kissed the side of her neck. She quivered slightly and he resumed his work on her hair. "Also, as much as I regret my lack of compassion for a fellow officer, Saitō was in fact very entertaining as he tried to deal with the concept that you can't always ignore or suppress everything that you feel." One part of his mind wanted very much to know what family Gift Osen-chan meant, but the rest of him was firmly against that option. In more ways than one.

He gently massaged the back of Sen's head and then pulled her closer to him, gathering her long, loosened hair to one side so it wouldn't catch on various knots and buckles. "You have a very pretty neck," he observed, allowing his fingers to trail slowly across the exposed skin. It was intriguing—to say the least—to both watch and clearly sense Osen-chan's reactions to his touch. Despite his comments, he was in fact acutely aware of how difficult things must have been for Saitō. However, sometimes a man had to sacrifice his comrades in order to make his princess smile. "You are a very lovely person, hime-chan. So I think you're allowed to find it at least a little funny that Saitō's efficient nature precluded him from going on more than one date with his intended before becoming engaged and then married to her. Also, anybody would agree that it was taking efficiency too far to get himself attacked while on his first and only date merely in order to take four evil-doers into custody. Admirable, but—for what it's worth—I wouldn't have allowed it to happen."

Sen's laugh hovered between amusement and desire, but Harada had no intention of allowing the others to find them in a potentially embarrassing position. The sound of wooden swords and the crisp tone of Saitō's instructions had been audible in the distance from time to time, but now it seemed to have stopped.

"I suppose we have to move." Sen sounded even more reluctant than he was to get up, and he spent a moment admiring her shining hair and the clear, bright skin of her upturned face.

"Unfortunately, yes. Saitō and Chizuru-chan have absolutely no grounds for complaint, frankly, and it might be entertaining to watch your younger cousin turn the same colour as his eyes… but Chiharu-sama deserves better, I think."

Harada gathered Sen back into his arms and rose to his feet. Then he grinned down at her and lowered his head to hers. "I don't want to leave without a kiss," he murmured, amber eyes glinting wickedly. He then kissed her thoroughly, passionately, and without any regard for the proprieties. By the time he was done, Sen was panting for breath and flushed to her ears—and everywhere else, for that matter.

"Y-y-you!" was more or less all that the Princess of the Oni managed to say when she was set on her feet and large, competent hands quickly and deftly straightened her clothes and tucked her hair neatly behind her ears.

"Exactly," was her lover's firm response. "Me."

Not far away...

The second half of Saitō-san's lesson had been even more grueling than the first. Chiharu had borne it stoically, and her instructor had approved. Not that he had said anything, exactly, but somehow it had been clear. It had been an eye-opening experience for Chiharu. She had never been taught by a master with such a total disregard for either her gender or her status. His straightforward objectivity had been an unexpected gift—something she hadn't known she needed until she had it. Strangely, even his frequent corrections had given her more confidence in her decision to strive to improve her physical capabilities.

When they were done, Saitō-san had acceded to Kichirō's obvious desire to spar, and the two women had sat in surprisingly comfortable silence while Saitō-san patiently countered his younger pupil's attacks. Eventually, Saitō-san had gone on the offensive, and the bout had ended shortly afterward.

"You need to work on those techniques that give you trouble," Saitō commented as he quickly washed his face, neck and hands in a basin of water. "The difficulty with training alone is that it is too easy to focus on things that have already been mastered."

"Yes, Saitō-sama," Kichirō replied politely, bowing. "Thank you for the lesson."

They bid each other goodnight at the foot of the stairs. The three older members of the group had sensed their hostess and Harada out on the porch waiting for them. In deference to the strange tension that Chiharu could now feel from Saitō-san, she had elected to sweep her brother up the stairs with her, so that he would not spend extra time telling Harada-san about his second lesson. Besides, she still didn't know exactly how she felt about Osen-chan's evident feelings for Harada-san. It wasn't that she didn't trust Harada-san (although she did harbour one of two doubts). It was more that she didn't know what her brother, Kazama Chikage would do.

[END]

A/Note: Stay tuned for Part II and "Saitō doesn't take things well". Probably.