I don't own PMK or any of it's characters, I only own Din and Setsuna.
Enjoy!
Night had passed and Din was now sorting through the burned rumble and charred wood hoping to find something that had survived and that she could carry on. So far she hadn't found anything worth saving, all of her papers had burned as well as furniture.
"Dammit." Din sighed as she picked up a small piece of wood and threw it not too far away from her.
It was discouraging, seeing everything she owned and loved burned to the point where she couldn't recognize it at all. Everything she had worked so hard to earn or to keep for so long was gone now, all in the blink of an eye.
As Din searched through the rumble, Yoshida walked over to the burned down bakery to see what his assassin had done the night before. He had a small wooden hat on his head that covered his eyes, hoping that no one would recognize him right away.
Tarason Bakery. Yoshida thought as he stopped walking and looked at the damage. He spotted Din moving around, searching. Could that be the owner? Din Hinto?
Yoshida walked forward, towards the burned bakery and stood there, looking. Din caught him looking at her so she looked back at him.
"Can I help you with something?" she asked.
Her eyes. Though the color was different from the ones Yoshida was comparing them to, they were still so similar. Her face and the way she moved her facial features were almost exactly the same as hers, Setsuna.
Yoshida shook off his strange feeling. "Are you the owner of this business?"
"No." Din smiled. "I just like digging through old piles of burnt garbage."
Her tongue. Yoshida thought with repugnance.
"Anyway, is there anything I can help you with while I'm here?" Din asked as she looked away and went back to picking up garbage.
"No." Yoshida looked away with a small grin on his face. "I think I've gotten what I need."
Yoshida then walked away, leaving Din alone to pick up what was left of her bakery. She didn't even notice that Yoshida was now gone because she was so involved in what she was looking for. She moved a small piece of wood and saw a small metal knife looking back up at her.
That's it! She thought as she bent over and picked up the knife. At least I've got one. Now if I could find two I should be okay.
She moved another large piece of wood and saw another knife. She sighed with relief and picked it up. She looked at it, happy that she had found another one, and placed the two down her kimono top so that they would be hidden.
"Din-chan!"
Din turned around to see Tatsunosuke standing there with a small basket in his arms. Din hopped off of the burned building and walked over to him with a smile on her face.
"Hi Tatsu-kun."
"Okita-san asked me to bring this to you." Tatsunosuke held out the small basket towards Din who took it.
"Tell him I said thanks, and thanks to you too Tatsu-kun." Din sighed and looked back towards her bakery.
"I'm sorry for what happened," Tatsunosuke said gently. Din quickly turned around to him and blinked.
"You know Tatsu-kun…you're the only one who's said that to me." Din looked back away and gripped the basket in her arms. "Thank you."
"No problem," Tatsunosuke answered back as he too looked back towards the bakery. It was strange, he was there only a few days ago and now it was gone, burned down to the ground, never to be the same before.
"Tatsu-kun?" Din began. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to talk to you tonight."
"Sure. How about after dinner? Right after I put Tetsu-kun to bed."
"Sounds fine with me. Meet me in the dojo."
Hijikata stood near the well, thinking about what he had just done. Ayumu requested that she go back to her old job and Hijikata had agreed to let her go but the thing was, he didn't know if it was right or not. This was all because of Susumu, because he had gotten caught and now his sister was stepping in to make everything right in a sense.
I'm thinking too much. He thought as he cupped his hands underwater and brought them over his face.
"Hijikata?" He turned around to see Din standing behind him with another small box in her arms.
"What?" He looked back into the well.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm back," she said gently. She turned around and got ready to walk away when Hijikata spoke once more.
"You're now one of our cooks."
Din turned around quickly. "Why? Where's Ayu-chan?"
"Ayu-chan?" Hijikata asked as he turned around to face Din. "How well do you know her?"
"She was the one who always came by the store and bought bread for you," Din answered as she shrugged carelessly. "We just started talking to each other so we know each other pretty well and everything."
Hijikata sighed. "She's one of our watchers."
"Really?" Din asked in surprise. "I never…would have figured. I thought your watchers could only be men."
"No. Anyway as of now you will prepare meals for the entire Shinsengumi household with the help of some members," Hijikata explained as he looked away once more and back into his own reflection looking back up at him.
"Fine I might as well to pay you guys back." Din turned away from Hijikata. "For everything Isami-kun has done for me but you might have an issue with my cooking, after all it hasn't changed much since the old days."
Hijikata didn't answer back but in order not to say something back to her he gripped the edges of the well. He growled and mumbled underneath his breath until he heard Din move forward.
"When will Ayu-chan be back?" she asked.
"Two days."
Hijikata heard the sounds of Din walking away, and the sound of an opening sliding door, then the shut. He sighed once more and dropped his hand into the water near the opening of the well. Missing Ayumu was going to be harder then he thought.
Night had fallen quickly, dinner had already been served and finished off, and now Tatsunosuke was walking out of the main sleeping room after making sure Tetsunosuke was asleep, he walked into the main dojo where all of the training went on to meet Din. He walked down the hallways, wondering what it could be that Din would want to talk about, the first thing coming to mind that he was in some kind of trouble but how could he get in trouble with a woman he had just met?
He reached the dojo doors and slid them open, taking a deep breath in as he did so. Once the doors were fully open, he walked in and then closed the doors, trying to be quiet. Looking around the dark room, he saw that the door leading out to the backyard was open and Din was sitting there, waiting.
"Din-chan," Tatsunosuke said gently, catching her attention.
"Right on time Tatsu-kun. Come over here," she answered back.
Tatsunosuke did as told and walked over to where the older woman was sitting. He was about to open his mouth to say something when she spoke first.
"Tatsunosuke Ichimura, one of the two sons of the Peacemaker. I didn't know that you two survived that fire."
The red head stopped in his tracks. The thought of Din suddenly becoming a threat entered his mind and the idea of having to keep Tetsunosuke away from her echoed through his head.
"Has your face ever gotten you in trouble?" she asked, breaking the silence. "I never would have thought Tetsunosuke belonged to Ichimura-san but you," She laughed, "you look exactly like him."
"What do you want?" he asked, becoming suspicious of what she was getting at.
"Nothing," Din answered with a sigh. "I just thought you should know that I knew your father and mother. Your father helped me a lot when I was younger and I never got to thank him so I figured that I would…thank you instead."
"Oh."
All of Tatsunosuke's thoughts against Din dropped and suddenly he wanted to ask her questions. He wanted how she knew his father and what exactly he did to help her but he couldn't find the nerve to ask her any of them. He figured that if she wanted him to know then she would tell him.
"So Tatsu-kun…I hope you'll accept my thanks for your father," she whispered.
"I do." Tatsunosuke sighed. Being reminded of his father wasn't his favorite thing so he changed the subject. "How's your stomach?"
"Fine thanks," Din answered, back in her normal tone. "How are you?"
Tatsunosuke walked over beside Din and sat down. "Fine I'm just a little tried from the day."
"Oh by the way." Din moved to her side and picked up a small object wrapped in a white cloth. "I made this for you while I was making dinner. It's not much but it's the best I could do without any money or anything."
She handed Tatsunosuke the object as a blush came over his face. He looked down at it and unwrapped it to see that it was a small bread loaf. He blinked, not expecting it, and looked back up at the older woman.
"It's for helping me last night. It should be more but I don't have much money right now sorry." Din laughed a bit out of embarrassment.
Tatsunosuke also let go of a small laugh. "It's fine. I understand where you are, thank you very much."
Din stretched. "I'd better get to bed. I'll see you in the morning alright Tatsu-kun?"
"Yeah." Tatsunosuke smiled.
She stood up and walked back into the dojo but stopped and looked back at the red head for a second. She shook her head, and began to walk forwards once more until she stepped out of the door and closed it behind herself.
Tatsunosuke looked down at the bread sitting in his hands and sighed. There was something about her that was bothering him and he didn't know if it was a good feeling or bad. Maybe it was because she seemed to know so much about him and he didn't know that much about her. It was just a strange feeling that he felt slowly disappearing the more and more he looked down towards the bread.
I wonder. He thought. Just how she knows my father.
Later that night after everyone had gone to bed, Tetsunosuke woke up. He smacked his lips, feeling that his mouth had gone dry while the urge to go to the bathroom ran through his body. He sat up and pushed the closet door open.
Bathroom… He thought sleepily.
He gently got out and stepped over all of the men sleeping on their futons. He walked over to the door, opened it and walked out without bothering to close it. He walked down the hallways, rubbing his eyes as he walked towards the outhouse. Once he got there and used the bathroom, he walked back out and stretched his arms over his head.
Damn I'm tried. He thought with a yawn.
As he began to walk back a shadow caught his eye. He saw the figure hop over the Shinsengumi walls and he heard it land on the other side.
What the hell was that?
The curiosity getting the better of him, he ran to the front of the house and ran past the front gates and into the middle of the street. He looked around and saw the figure run down the street so he followed, be careful to stay against the wall so he wouldn't get caught.
Is it Yamazaki-san? He wondered as the night air caused him to shiver. It can't be, I thought he was off duty for a while. It must be that ninja Hijikata-sama ran into the other night!
Tetsunosuke stopped once he reached the middle of a large residential area to see the figure standing in the middle of the street with another figure dressed in a ninja outfit. Tetsunosuke the other figure's light blue eyes even though the darkness and how they were deadest on the figure he had been following.
"Another one of Yoshida's assassins?" the figure Tetsunosuke had been following said. "Why have you called me out here?"
"I have a message for you," the blue eyed one spoke. "Yoshida-sama knows where Setsuna-san is. He wants you to come and pay him a visit after all you are her older sister."
"Setsuna-chan is my little sister."
It's Din-san! Tetsunosuke thought his eyes growing wide. She's the ninja Hijikata-sama met with the other night?!
"Where is she?" Din hissed, gripping a throwing knife between her fingers.
The other ninja laughed. "You'll have to see Yoshida-sama for that information. But for now, I'm going to have to get rid of your little friend then take off."
"Friend?" Din asked breathlessly. She raised her knife up to the other ninja and through the reflection saw Tetsunosuke trying to hide behind a small wall. "Tetsu-kun!"
Din turned around quickly and ran towards the small red head, feeling throwing stars fly by her. She was just about to get to Tetsunosuke when two more female ninjas dropped down from nearby roofs and grabbed Tetsunosuke.
"Shit." Din stopped in her tracks and grabbed two more throwing knifes. "Put him down."
The feelings of being an older sibling ran through her once more and for a second Tetsunosuke changed and became her smaller sister. Din tried to push the image and feelings away but they wouldn't disappear. Her heart began to pick up and inside of her mind she began to panic but she calmed herself down.
"Put him down!" she yelled, her emotions getting the better of her.
"And if we don't?" one of the female ninja's asked, placing a knife up to Tetsunosuke's neck. "Remember where you are, you're over there and we're over here."
Din reached down to her right ankle and grabbed the gun there. She quickly brought it up, aimed, and shot the knife out of the woman's hands. The shock left Tetsunosuke open and he took action by turning around and kicking one of the ninja's in the stomach and then the other. After the both of them were down, he ran beside Din.
"Stay by me," Din ordered once he arrived next to her.
"How are we gonna get out of this?" Tetsunosuke asked, bumping up next to Din's right leg.
"We have to get back quickly. I'll have to drop you off then lead them away from the Shinsengumi," Din explained.
"I can't leave you alone!" Tetsunosuke protested.
"You're going to have too!" Din argued back. "I can't risk you getting hurt. As soon as you make it back, go back to bed like nothing happened all right? All I need is to get into more trouble."
Tetsunosuke didn't know what to do. He figured that once he got back into the dojo he would go and tell Hijikata what was going on just to make sure that Din was safe. He had to do it.
"Fine," Tetsunosuke lied.
Din's left arm came down and her arm grabbed the top of his nemaki. She clenched it tightly. "We're going to run now. Stay close and in front of me so the knifes and stars don't hit you. Are you ready?"
"Yeah." Tetsunosuke grabbed Din's arm and held it tightly.
"One…two…" she counted, "Three!"
Din jumped upwards, holding Tetsunosuke tightly to her body. The three other female ninjas jumped up with her, trying to catch her. She and the red head landed on a nearby roof, and then she jumped off of the roof, landing on the street closest to the Shinsengumi headquarters.
"Come on!" Din yelled.
Tetsunosuke followed orders and began to run in front of Din. She would pull him back once in awhile as ninja stars and throwing knifes flew passed them both. Tetsunosuke couldn't see where the other three female ninja's were but he could see the knifes and stars flying towards the both of them.
They finally reached the Shinsengumi gates, and the weapons stopped coming towards them. Din pushed Tetsunosuke into the gates and looked around.
"I think…" Tetsunosuke began as he began to catch his breath. "I think they're gone."
"Still." Din looked around. "Get into the house. I'm going to check the area out."
"But Din-san—"
A ninja star and two throwing knifes came out from the dark night sky, the star hitting Din in the center of her chest and a knife hitting her right arm with the other breezing past Tetsunosuke's left arm, cutting the top of his skin.
"Dammit!" Din bent over and looked over towards Tetsunosuke. "Get into the house!"
"Not without you!" Tetsunosuke's arm reached out and pulled Din into the gates. "Come on!"
"Tetsu-kun!" Din tugged back. "I've got to go to Yoshida, he knows where my sister is."
Suddenly talking could be heard and Hijikata, and Souji, Souji in full uniform. The two looked up at the two that came out, and Din tired to run away but Tetsunosuke pulled her back.
"What's going on here?" Hijikata asked, looking around until his eyes landed on the ninja. "You!"
He walked forward pulling his sword out only to have Tetsunosuke step out in front of him.
"What?" Hijikata hissed.
"It's Din-san!" Tetsunosuke announced. "Hijikata-sama, she's injured!"
"What are you doing out here?!" Hijikata yelled, seeing his small page. "You're supposed to be in bed! And you," He turned to Din only to see her hunched over in pain, "get into my room."
"Onee-chan." Souji ran over to Din and helped her. "Come on, I'll take you into Hijikata-sama's room."
Hijikata watched as Din walked by him, her breathing shallow and hard. He closed his eyes, trying not to watch her too much. When he heard the front door close, he turned back to Tetsunosuke.
"You," he said firmly.
Tetsunosuke shivered. "Yes?"
"You are to stay in the dining room with Souji-kun and explain everything to him. Then in an hour I want you to come into my room and tell me."
Tetsunosuke sighed. "Yes sir."
Hijikata walked back into his room to see Din sitting down and taking the top of he ninja outfit off. He could see the wound on her arm, and the ninja star sticking out of the bandages that hid her breasts. Her wound was bleeding so she pressed the top of her ninja outfit against the wound.
"So you were that ninja I met that night?" Hijikata asked, putting his sword back onto its pedestal.
"Yes," she answered with a bit of strain in her voice.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Din bit her lower lip as a wave of pain ran through her body. "I thought that if you knew you would make me stop doing it. If anyone knew who I really was they could possibly get hurt so I kept it a secret."
"You are not to do it while you are living under this roof," Hijikata ordered as he turned around to face her.
"What?" she asked breathlessly. "I have to do it Hijikata! It's for Setsuna-chan! I have no choice! Spying was the only way I can get information about her!"
"But your spying has gotten you involved with the Choshu," Hijikata counteracted.
"I don't care!" Din yelled. "I'll get involved in whatever I have to in order to find her! I'll do anything to make sure that she's alright!"
Hijikata sighed and looked away. "How bad are your injuries?"
"I'll be fine." Din looked away from Hijikata.
"What about your chest?"
Din moved her right arm away from her other wound and pulled the ninja star out from her chest. Hijikata blinked, not believing that she wasn't in any pain from the star and that she wasn't bleeding at all. She saw this and sighed.
"I've got a small piece of wood covering that area," she explained. "Usually I have a lot more protection around my chest but all of my spying equipment burned in the fire. The only real injury I have is my arm and I can handle that."
Hijikata walked over to her and sat behind her. She moved her arm out towards him and he began to clean out the wound and gently wrap it.
"Why did you go out?" he asked suddenly.
"When I walking back from gathering my things at the bakery I met with the same woman who attacked me just a few moments ago. She told me to meet her there later that night to relay a message. Yoshida knows where Setsuna-chan is and he wants me to see him," Din explained, wincing once from the pain. "From all of the information I've gathered I know Setsuna-chan had something to do with the Choshu but I don't know what that something is yet."
"You cannot go to Yoshida," Hijikata insisted.
"I don't have to listen to you," she argued.
"If you go you'll just risk more lives, you already risked Ichimura-kun's."
Din's eyes widened as the sentence hit her. He was right. She could have been the cause for the small boy's death if she hadn't been careful. She had almost taken Tetsunosuke away from Tatsunosuke and all because of her own selfish reasons.
"Shit." She pulled her arm away. "Why the hell do you always have to be right Hijikata?"
Hijikata ignored that question and changed the subject. "How's your other wound?"
"It hurts once in awhile," she answered, moving her arm down to her stomach. "It should be fine though but Hijikata…why weren't there any guards out in front of the gate? I didn't see any on the way in from the streets."
"They were attacked earlier and had come in for treatment," he answered, putting things away. "That's why were up when you and the puppy came in."
They fell quiet once more. After a few moments, Din stood up and moved her arm around in a circler motion to make sure the knife hadn't hit anything important. It moved perfectly, except for the pain. Hijikata looked up at her to see her doing this and stood up himself.
"Oh." Din reached her good arm behind her head and pulled out the red ties holding her hair back. She turned back around to the demon and handed them to him. "I think I should give these back to you. You asked me when we were younger to hold onto them for you so you would always remember what you were fighting for."
Hijikata looked up at her only to see the woman he had been in love with years ago. Now with her hair down he remembered how she always kept it down around him or when she would take it down when they were going to be intimate. She looked almost the same as she did back in those days except that her eyes and face looked tired now. Her hair was still down to her waist, and it still fell around her face the same way.
He snapped out of his thoughts. "Keep them."
"Why?"
"Setsuna-chan always liked your hair back especially with those ties," he answered.
Din closed her hand, gripping the ties. He was right, as always. She brought her hand back up to her chest and sighed. She had forgotten that small fact that used to mean so much to her.
"Hijikata…," she muttered. "Good night."
She turned away from the black haired man and pulled her ninja outfit back onto her shoulders, covering her bandages. Without saying another word she walked out of the room, and closed the door behind herself, leaving the demon to himself.
Why is it always so damn difficult with her? He thought, rubbing his temples.
Instead of going back to Souji's room, Din walked down to the training dojo to see if she could talk to Tetsunosuke and make sure that he was okay. She stepped through the hallway quietly, and opened the dojo doors only to hear Tatsunosuke yelling at his smaller half.
"What were you thinking Tetsu-kun!?" Tatsunosuke yelled. "Sneaking out in the middle of the night?"
"Tatsu-nii!" Tetsunosuke protested.
"Hey Tetsu-kun," Din said gently, walking into the room, catching both of the boy's attention.
"Din-nee!" Souji ran over to her and stood by her right side. "Are you alright? How's your arm?"
"I'll be okay." Din nodded. "I just came in here to see how Tetsu-kun was, and to say sorry to Tatsu-kun."
"Sorry?" Tatsunosuke and Tetsunosuke said at once.
"Tetsu-kun, I think it's time that you go and talk to Hijikata-sama," Souji said, sensing where Din was going with things. He walked over to Tetsunosuke and when he stood up, the two of them walked out of the room, leaving Tatsunosuke and Din alone once more.
Din was the first to look away. "I'm so sorry Tatsu-kun."
Tatsunosuke sighed. "For what?"
"I put Tetsu-kun in danger." Din shook her head back and forth. "That was something I should have been watching more closely to make sure no one was following me. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to Tetsu-kun! It was my responsibility! Dammit!! He could have died."
"Din-chan." Tatsunosuke sighed.
He couldn't say anything, those were the exact feelings he had felt when he heard what happened and he knew Tetsunosuke was okay but there were always the 'what if's' when it came to being an older sibling and that was something the both of them understood.
"Tetsu-kun is sneaky Din-chan, don't worry about it," Tatsunosuke said gently. "He's home and alright now."
Din turned back around and smiled. "Thanks a lot Tatsu-kun. You make me feel a whole lot better."
"Oh it's no big deal." Tatsunosuke scratched the back of his head as he blushed. He was now searching for conversation and he found it in a question Souji had already asked. "Okita-san told me that you were injured, are you okay?"
"Yes thank you," Din sighed gently. "I was just considered with Tetsu-kun."
"Thank you." Tatsunosuke smiled. "All he had was a small cut across his upper arm so other then that he was fine."
Din turned away from Tatsunosuke and began to walk towards the door leading out of the room. "Good night Tatsu-kun. I hope you can still get some sleep."
"I'll try." Tatsunosuke answered with a bow. "Good night."
Din walked out of the room, not bothering to close the sliding door behind herself. Tatsunosuke sighed as he took in everything that had happened that day, and figured he was lucky to still have Tetsunosuke with him, and that Din had put in an effort in caring for him.
You get into so much trouble. Tatsunosuke thought.
R&R please!