I don't own Peacemaker or any of it's characters, I only own Din and Setsuna Hinto.

Thanks for all of the reviews! I love them all! And OOOOOOOOO means that there is a flashback happening and when you see it again, the flashback is over. Enjoy!

"Hey!" Tetsunosuke yelled happily as he ran into the main sleeping quarters looking for the trio. He looked around and found them sitting in the corner of the room, talking and trying to figure out what happened between Din and Hijikata.

"You guys!" Tetsunosuke ran over to the trio who kept talking. "Guess what?"

"What is it Tetsu?" Heisuke asked as he tore himself away from the conversation he was having with the other two.

"I know what's up between Hinto-san and Hijikata-sama!" he answered proudly.

"Sh!" Shinpachi grabbed the small red head and hid his head. He looked around the room to make sure that no one else had heard Tetsunosuke say anything. "You have to keep it down! If Hijikata-sama found out that you knew he would kill you!"

"How do you know?" Tetsunosuke asked as he broke away from Shinpachi's hold and looked up at him.

"Well if Hijikata-sama didn't tell anyone before then what makes you think that he wants us to know now?" Heisuke explained.

"But hey what is it?" Sanosuke asked as he bent inwards, and the others following, forming a small circle so no one else could hear.

"What do I get if I tell you?" Tetsunosuke asked with a grin. He might as well get something out of everything right?

Shinpachi snarled. "I'll give you my dumpling at dinner."

"No enough." Tetsunosuke crossed his arms.

"Me too." Heisuke offered.

The three looked towards Sanosuke, and waited for his offering. He just looked at them in wonder.

"What?" Sanosuke asked.

"Give him your damn dumpling!" Shinpachi yelled.

Sanosuke crossed his arms. "Fine you can have mine too."

"There will you tell us now?" Shinpachi asked as he looked towards Tetsunosuke.

"Okay." Tetsunosuke grinned. Mission accomplished. He thought, as he got ready to tell his story.

"I heard that Hijikata-sama and Hinto-san used to be in love," Tetsunosuke said, spilling everything.

The trio was quiet for a few moments, waiting to see if the red head was going to say anything more to further explained but he didn't. Sanosuke puffed up his cheeks and before he could stop himself, he began to laugh, telling the others that they could laugh and before Tetsunosuke knew it, they were all laughing.

Tetsunosuke puffed his cheeks, feeling stupid. "What's so funny?"

"Din-chan and the demon vice commander!" Shinpachi whispered while trying not to laugh.

"Are you sure you heard right Tetsu-kun?" Heisuke asked through a laugh.

"Yeah!" Tetsunosuke yelled in his defense.

"You had to hear wrong!" Sanosuke said as his laugh faded. "We've known Din-chan for thirteen years! There's no way she was ever in love with him."

"Hijikata-sama said, 'everything that happened between us in the past is gone and I hoped never to see her again and I still do,'" Tetsunosuke said as he crossed his arms.

"Wait a minute…" Shinpachi said as he began to put everything together. "That would explain why Hijikata-sama is always leaving whenever he hears that Din-chan is coming over."

"Why is it embarrassing for you? That you lied to me?"

"I should just walk away from you right now dammit! You're dead anyway!"

The lines that Din had yelled when she had met up Hijikata again ran through each of their heads, almost as if things were starting to make sense. They blinked, putting everything together in silence as Tetsunosuke stood there, wondering if they believed him or not.

"I know they knew each other when we were younger…" Shinpachi said as he scratched his chin. "But I don't remember them ever being in love."

"But then why would Hijikata-sama say that he never wanted to see Din-chan again?" Sanosuke asked as he too scratched his chin.

Tetsunosuke thought of something Hijikata had said to prove his point even more. "Hijikata-sama said, 'She can do whatever the hell she wants too, I don't have any attachment to her anymore. All the feelings I had for her are in the past now.' So he had to have some kind of attachment to her."

"Maybe they were…" Heisuke said giving into the statement Tetsunosuke had made earlier. "Hijikata-sama I can except not to tell anyone but I would think that Din-chan would have told us."

"What happened anyway?" Tetsunosuke asked. "Why did they stop talking to each other?"

"We really don't know," Shinpachi answered. "All I remember was that Din-chan's adoptive parents moved her here to Kyoto when she turned nineteen to run the bakery and we all got separated from her. I remember her being really upset about it because she said we were her only real friends and on top of that she was upset because her sister had gotten adopted by another family."

"That's right…," Heisuke said as he remembered everything. "We promised that we would keep an eye out for her sister and see if we could ever find her."

"Setsuna Hinto…," Sanosuke said gently. "Damn…I haven't thought about that name for a while now."

"Anyway…" Shinpachi sighed. "I don't understand why Din-chan never told us."

"Maybe Hijikata-sama told her not too," Tetsunosuke said.

"It makes sense." Heisuke looked up as if he were thinking. "Hijikata-sama doesn't want anyone to see him as weak and maybe he thought if people knew, they would think that he was weak."

"Or he didn't want her to get hurt," Sanosuke added.

"This is so weird." Shinpachi pointed out. "I thought I knew almost everything about Din-chan and yet I was missing so much. Just thinking that those two might have been in love is just too weird."

"Oh yeah!" Tetsunosuke straightened up as he remembered something else. "Din-san is engaged!"

"WHAT!?" the trio yelled, causing the few men in the room with them to look at them oddly.

"That's it!" Shinpachi yelled as he stood up and pointed his index finger upwards. "Tomorrow we march straight down to that bread shop and demand to know what's going on!"

"The bread shop is closed tomorrow, it's Sunday," Sanosuke said causing Shinpachi to twitch and his hand to fall over.

Shinpachi took a deep breath and pointed his finger back up. "The Monday I'll do it!"

"And I'm coming!" Heisuke announced as he stood up next to the red head and grinned.

"Me too!" Sanosuke yelled.

Tetsunosuke stood there, embarrassed by the men standing in front of him. He watched as they cheered on and turned around, leaving the room without being noticed. The embarrassment was too much and besides that, he had gotten what he wanted so he was happy but a small part of him wanted to know what was going on.

I'll find out! Tetsunosuke thought as he walked down the hallway. I'll figure out everything before everyone else!

Hijikata had been out walking around town for an hour now and he still couldn't clear all of the thoughts running though his head out. All the emotions he had before were still inside of him, guilt, and anger mostly. He couldn't think of anything to calm him down or distract him and it was becoming rather annoying.

Why is this bothering me so much? Hijikata thought as he walked along the street. I thought I was over this years ago. Dammit.

Hijikata sighed as he looked around the streets, seeing people walk around, some hurrying home for dinner while he heard the sounds of people cooking and banging pots nearby.

I should go back.

Hijikata found a turn in the street which would take him back to the Shinsengumi dojo and he began to take it when he heard a loud bang noise, and then a man holding out a sword darted out in front of him from one of the side houses.

"Dammit," Hijikata hissed as he placed his hand on his sword's handle, getting ready to draw it out of the situation called for it.

The swordsman looked towards Hijikata and his eyes grew wide. He looked around, looking for a place to run to when his body was forced to the wall on the other side of the street, and he began to bleed.

Hijikata studied the man who was now pinned against the wall only to notice that he was a Chousu member. Hijikata began to walk towards him, ready to question him when he felt something breeze past his ear and the man pinned to the wall screamed. Hijikata looked to see what had happened only to see a knife buried in the other man's neck.

"Dammit," Hijikata cursed for he couldn't question a dead man.

"You're a bit too late," a muffled voice said from behind him. He quickly turned around to see a man standing there, wearing a large ninja outfit. His shoulders were large, out of proportion with the rest of his short body. His face was hidden by white bandages up to his left blue eye, and his other eye was hidden by a piece of cloth that covered the right side of his face entirely.

"You," Hijikata began, "you're the bounty hunter that's been killing around lately."

"I don't see why it matters to you, Shinsengumi trash," he hissed as he walked over to the dead man and began to search through his shirt, looking for something. "He's a Choshu, why should you care?"

The bounty hunter's back straightened up as he felt a sharp prick against the middle of his back. He sighed and took his hands out of the dead man's shirt.

"Do we have a problem?" he asked sarcastically.

"Why are you doing this?" Hijikata asked, gently pushing the tip of his sword into the bounty hunter's back.

"Huh." The bounty hunter reached forward and took his knife out of the dead warrior's neck, then quickly turned around to face Hijikata, the tip of his sword pressing against his stomach. "I'm looking for something."

"I can't let you go."

The bounty hunter laughed a bit, and closed his left eye, almost as if he were smiling under the bandages. "And why is that?"

"You might attack the Shinsengumi," Hijikata answered, pressing his sword in a bit more to prove his point.

"Demon vice commander you have my word," the bounty hunter answered gently. "I would never attack the Shinsengumi."

Hijikata drew his sword back, making the bounty hunter think that he really was going to believe him but Hijikata quickly moved forward, pressing his sword against the other man's neck, almost ripping the cloth around the area and slamming the other man against the wall next to the dead Choshu warrior.

"You except me to believe the word of a man who has no honor?" Hijikata hissed.

"No, I would except you to believe the word of a man who could kill you were you stand." The bounty hunter answered as he pressed the tip of the knife that had ended the other man's life against Hijikata's stomach.

Hijikata and the other man stood there, not moving. Tension was growing between them as they both wondered who was going to move, or who was going to be the first to say something but nothing happened. They wondered who was going to be the one to slip up, and move only to make the other move but no one moved.

"I'm sorry," the bounty hunter said. "I really don't have time for this."

The bounty hunter reveled that he had a bit more room to move his head back then Hijikata had thought before, and moved his neck back. His hand quickly dropped the knife near Hijikata's stomach and replaced it with his fist. He punched Hijikata in the stomach, and Hijikata drew back his sword, allowing the other man to slip underneath him and run to the right.

"I will be keeping my promise," the bounty hunter said as he looked back towards Hijikata.

Hijikata looked over towards the man and saw him standing there. His stomach felt like it was on fire and he could barely stand. Hunched over he watched as the man raised his right index finger to where his mouth would be.

"Keep our little promise a secret okay?" He giggled.

Hijikata stepped forward to attack the bounty hunter but the pain overtook him. He tried to ignore it and raise his sword once more but the other man hopped away onto the roof, and then into the darkness.

"Dammit," Hijikata hissed. "He got away."

"Got away?" Kondo asked as he looked at Hijikata.

The demon vice commander made it home without another hitch, save for damage to his pride. He was now sitting in his room, two hours later, with a bowl of rice sitting in front of him, as well as Kondo who had been waiting for him to return.

"Bastard," Hijikata hissed.

"Are you okay though?" Kondo asked. "You don't have any wounds or anything do you?"

Walking was heard outside of the door. Both of the men turned and looked towards the door, waiting to see if the person was going to come in or not.

"Hijikata-sama," Susumu's voice called.

"Enter and report," Hijikata answered, hoping that Susumu would have information for him.

Susumu opened the sliding door, and walked in. He sat down on Hijikata's right side and bowed down, handing out the knife that had been pressed against the vice commander's stomach two hours ago.

"I couldn't find him sir," Susumu reported. "There weren't any sings of him anywhere."

"Damn." Hijikata gripped his fists together. "And the knife?"

"I'm sorry sir; I've never seen a knife of this make before. The edges are that that I've never seen before. Everything about it is different," Susumu answered.

"You are dismissed."

"Yes sir." Susumu stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door tightly behind himself. Hijikata quickly turned his head away from the now closed door and growled.

"That was the last lead I had," he hissed.

"We'll find him Toshi-kun, don't worry about it. For now, why don't you eat your dinner? I had Ayumu-san keep it warm for you," Kondo said gently, trying to make Hijikata feel a bit better.

"I'm not hungry."

"Toshi-kun—"

"I'll eat later," Hijikata interrupted.

Kondo sighed. He stood up and brushed himself off. "Sannan came by today, he's waiting for me in the adjacent room."

"This day just keeps getting better." Hijikata growled as he reached over to a small desk and grabbed his pipe. He was right, everything had been fine until he went out to meet Din, they talked or rather augured, then while he was out on his walk he ran into that bounty hunter, and now he was here, Yamanami.

"I'm sorry Toshi but I have to go and see Sannan." Kondo walked towards the door, slid it open and walked out, closing it gently. Hijikata lit his pipe, took in a deep puff, and then slowly released it.

I hate the end of summer. Hijikata thought as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He opened them once more only to have them get caught on a small object sitting on his desk, the object Din had placed on his desk during their argument. He reached over to it, grabbed it, and studied it.

It was a small golden ring. He recognized it instantly, and his hand dropped down onto the ground in surprise. He couldn't believe it. He picked it back up to look at it only to further confirm that it was the ring he thought it was. The ring he had given to Din.

"Shit." He rubbed his temples as the memory came back to him.

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The wind blew gently over a hill covered with grass as Hijikata and Din stood there, Din with her head in Hijikata's chest with his arms wrapped around her tightly. She pulled away from him and looked up into his eyes.

"I'll be gone for a while but I'll come right back for you…," Hijikata said gently as he placed his hands on the sides of her head and his mouth near hers. "I'm not going to leave you. Just wait for me, and I'll be back. I love you."

"I don't want you to leave," she whispered as she rubbed her face next to his. "I want you to stay…"

"I'm going to come back to you," he said gently once more.

"But I'm leaving…Going to Kyoto." Tears fell down Din's face as Hijikata's thumb ran over them and wiped them away but couldn't catch all of them. She gripped his kimono in her hands as she cried, and the tears the escaped Hijikata fell onto her hands.

"I'll find you," Hijikata pushed on. "I will."

Din didn't say anything in response, instead she slammed herself back into Hijikata, causing him to lose his balance and fall over. He landed on his back with her on top of him, crying into his chest. He rolled over so that he was on top, between her legs, and in a position so that he wouldn't hurt her.

"Din-chan," he whispered as he kissed her. "I've got something for you…"

"What?" She sniffled.

Hijikata reached down into his kimono top and pulled out a small bundle that looked like a rag. He searched through it, as Din watched, and he pulled out a small golden ring. He brought it up to her face.

"You wanted me to marry you a few nights ago," he whispered.

"Toshi-chan…," Din said breathlessly as her eyes widened. "What?"

"Wear this until I find you…that way people will think you're already married so your new parents won't push you to marry someone else. I'll find you one day and marry you."

"Toshi-chan." Din cried as she buried her head in Hijikata's neck and wrapped her arms around him.

He grabbed the ring in his fist and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her as close as he could get her, as close as their bodies would allow them to be but he wanted more. He wanted to be closer, he wanted to feel everything about her but he couldn't get any closer to her. He wanted to be one with her but he knew that something like that was impossible.

He sat there, listening to her cry, as he told himself over and over again that he would find her and marry her. Everything would be fine and their futures would be tied together no matter what as long as he kept his promise to her.

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But he hadn't.

In fact, in all of these years he had forgotten about it.

And now she's giving it back to me. Hijikata thought as he looked at the ring once more.

He figured that she was going to replace his old ring with a new one, and marry the man who was waiting for her to get over him. It bothered him somewhere, but not enough to get up and do something because he knew that he was doing the right thing, not only for her but also for him. There was one question, however, that seemed interesting to him.

I wonder how long she wore this before she finally took it off? He wondered let his hand fall to the floor once more.

R&R please!