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

Thank you so much for all of your reviews! They make me think this story is worth keeping up with! Much love to all of you! Bolded words are in English!

Enjoy:

Fire. He could smell the fire and see it all around him as he clung to his mother, his father dead beside him. He whimpered out and looked forward to see the man covered in darkness with a sword by his side. He cried out for his mother but she didn't respond. He called out over and over again but he got nothing in return. Suddenly, the man raised his sword, and slashed it downwards, and Tetsunosuke called out.

"Seven spring herbs, shepherds purse. Ere do the western birds."

Gentle singing in a strange language Tetsunosuke had only heard his father speak woke him up. He began to remember the song but in Japanese, not this strange language.

"To the lands of the east. Come across the sea to roost."

He opened his eyes fully and felt someone gently pushing his hair behind his ear. He blinked and looked upwards to see Din humming gently and looking out towards the open door.

"Din-chan?" he asked sleepily.

"Morin' Tetsu-kun," she answered sweetly.

He looked around to see he was still in the closet and that Din had crawled inside and placed his head in her lap. He fell back down into her lap and blinked slowly, almost falling back asleep.

"I didn't know you could sing," he said.

"I can't." She smiled. "It's just a lullaby, all women can sing lullabies."

"Din-chan?"

"What?"

"Do you love Hijikata-sama?"

Din took in a deep breath, and then released it. "You never stop loving someone Tetsu-kun. Our love was a long time ago, and…" She stopped.

He waited a few moments, drifting in and out of sleep but trying to stay awake so that he could hear her answer. "And?"

"It was too long ago," she finally answered. "Get some sleep alright Tetsunosuke-kun? I'll be by later to check on you again."

"Alright."

Tetsunosuke closed his eyes and felt Din begin to pet him once more. His breathing slowed down, and he finally fell back to sleep, allowing Din to get up and leave the young boy alone once more.

Tetsunosuke woke up to see that night had finally fallen. His stomach growled, and feeling like he should get up and do something about it, he got up and began to walk towards the kitchen when he saw a woman walking in the courtyard. He had never seen her before and stopped to stare at her.

"Tetsu-kun?" she asked walking towards him.

"Who are you?" he asked.

She picked up her hair and moved it up allowing Tetsunosuke to see that it was Ayumu, only with her hair down. Recognizing her, he smiled.

"What are you doing up so late?" she asked sweetly.

"I'm hungry." He grabbed his stomach to show what he meant.

"Good thing I saved you something from dinner." She laughed. "Come on, I'll warm it up for you."

The two were sitting down, Tetsunosuke swinging his feet back and forth over the wooden flooring while Ayumu watched him with a smile on her face. He ate the food she had given him and was almost done when he put the food down and looked up towards her.

"Ya know you're like an older sister to me," he said with a smile. "All Tatsu-nii ever does is yell at me."

Ayumu's eyes watered as she listened. Tetsunosuke reminded her of Susumu when he was younger, and how he wanted to grow up to be a ninja like her. But now, Susumu was putting himself in danger to be like her, and now she had to go out and fix everything, leaving Susumu alone.

She reached out and grabbed Tetsunosuke, putting his head in her chest. He blinked and looked up towards her face to see that she was crying now as she held him.

"Please," she began, "become friends with Susumu-kun. Teach him things about how to be a friend and how to live. Please Tetsu-kun."

"Alright," he answered gently as he watched tears fall from her eyes.

She pulled away and wiped her eyes. "Thank you Tetsu-kun. Please take good care of him."

Tetsunosuke watched as Ayumu stood up and found that he didn't understand anything that had just happened. He didn't know where Ayumu was going but he wanted to know why she acted as if she was going to leave and never come back.

"Bye Tetsu-kun," she said sweetly.

"Bye." He waved back.

Ayumu began to walk through the gates, leading to the Shinsengumi and turned around to take one last good look at it. She looked towards the walkway, and wondered if she'd ever walk on it again.

"Ayu-chan."

She looked towards the corner and saw Din walking towards her with her arms folded across her chest. She walked closer towards the other woman and wrapped her arms around her.

"Please be careful," Din whispered as Ayumu hugged her back. "If you need anything just send a messenger and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I will," she whispered back, even though she knew that she wouldn't do something like that to endanger Din.

"I should be there in a few days so don't be surprised when I show up." Din squeezed Ayumu's shoulders.

"Remember," Ayumu pulled away, "act as if I'm no one to you or they'll get suspicious."

"Don't worry your pretty little head over it." Din laughed. "I'll see you soon okay? Please be careful."

Ayumu nodded and walked away from the gate. Din stood and watched her disappear into night just like she was trained to do. Din sighed and continued to look down the road only to wonder if Ayumu would ever be coming back.

"Hey Tatsu-nii?"

"Yeah?"

Tatsunosuke was busy doing some last minute work when his younger brother had come into the room and had just sat down next to him. The silence in the room forced Tatsunosuke to keep working to keep his mind busy and he didn't leave his work when Tetsunosuke called out to him.

Tetsunosuke sighed. "Do you…like Din-chan?"

"What do you mean by "like"?"

"Ya know." Tetsunosuke fell back and looked at the ceiling. "When you like a girl and you wanna be close to her all the time. You get this strange feeling around her and even though the feelin' is weird…you like it."

He was describing the way he felt about Saya. Her face passed in front of his eyes, as if she were looking down at him from the ceiling with that smile on her face. He lost himself as he thought about her, and completely forgot about what he had asked his older brother.

"Tetsu-kun." Tatsunosuke sighed. "Please don't worry about things like that with me. Just worry about recovering alright?"

Tetsunosuke took in what his elder brother had said but quickly dismissed it, as a question popped into his mind that he thought was important.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend Tatsu-nii?" the smaller one asked.

"Tetsu-kun," Tatsunosuke hissed, becoming slightly irritated. "Please do as I've told you and go to bed."

Tetsunosuke sighed loudly and heavily. "Fine. Good night."

"Good night, I'll be in as soon as I'm done with this paperwork," Tatsunosuke called after the smaller one had left.

He heard the sliding door close allowing him to stop working and sigh. He thought of a time over a year ago when he had spotted a couple, walking together while he was working to put food on the table for Tetsunosuke. He remembered that being the first time he had ever wished he had a partner to help him with Tetsunosuke. Then he wanted a girlfriend, he wanted to feel close to someone and talk to him but the thought of Tetsunosuke being hungry entered his mind and he forgot the wanting entirely. Since then the wanting had disappeared and now that he was in the Shinsengumi, he wouldn't want to risk a woman getting hurt because of him.

Oh well. He thought as he looked up towards the moon. Maybe it just wasn't supposed to happen to someone like me.

Late night had finally come to the Shinsengumi. The moon was high in the sky and crickets began to chirp and told their story that summer was beginning and soon the land would be covered in their song. Most of the Shinsengumi members were resting, except for three people.

Hijikata pulled the black tie out of his hair, allowing everything to fall downwards. He brought his hands to the front of his face and dragged them down; tired from the long day he had just gone through. He turned around to see his futon laying down, already ready for him to finally lie down and relax.

Finally. He thought, closing his eyes.

His hands reached down to his kimono and grabbed the tie there. He tugged on it, loosing it and allowing the top of his kimono to fall off of his shoulders.

"Hijikata?"

He turned around to see Din standing near the door and closing it behind herself. Hijikata quickly grabbed his kimono and wrapped it around his shoulders and tied it off to keep it together.

"What?" he hissed irritated that his sleep had been delayed.

She stepped over to him in silence as he turned around to face her. She walked over towards him, stood in front of him, and wrapped her arms around his neck, standing up on the end of her feet to do so.

He stood there, not knowing what to do. He didn't want to touch her, he didn't want to feel her against him so he kept his arms down at his sides, and simply lowered his head down to her.

"I looked for seven years," she whispered. "For seven years I wanted to be here, like this with you and now I can finally do it."

"Din," he whispered in a low tone so only she could hear it.

Her fingers laced through the back of his hair, and gently tugged on it. "Hijikata…you're one of the only people I have left here on this Earth so please don't do anything stupid."

Hijikata sighed lightly. "Din, you know—"

"I know!" She gripped his hair tightly as she began to cry. "I know what you do I'm just telling you to be careful. I want this to pass through your mind as you're out there fighting, I want you to know that I'll be waiting for you to get back whenever you leave."

Hijikata felt wetness on his neck from Din. He felt a feeling come from his stomach and up to his chest, a feeling he knew too well. He hated seeing her cry and hated himself every time she cried over him. A part of him wanted to fix everything and make it so that she could stop crying, and another part of him wondered why he still cared.

"Right now you're the only person I have left," she whispered. "And I know that you hate me for whatever reason but please try to stay alive for me. Just until…I'm alright."

"Hate you?" Hijikata whispered back in surprise.

"You hate me." She sniffled. "I know you do and…a part of me hates you."

She pulled away from him and brought her arms back down to her sides. She took in a large breath and looked away.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you with all of this," Din said, wiping her eyes quickly. "You're just the only one I have left to talk too right now."

Hijikata looked away and rubbed his temples. "Why don't you try and get some sleep. I have to wake you up early to make breakfast."

"Right." She too looked away. "Keep moving forward because this damn world won't hold still for anyone or anything."

Din walked towards the back door, and slipped out, closing the door silently behind her. Hijikata quickly undid his kimono and slipped underneath his covered, fearing that someone else would come into his room and bother him. He closed his eyes, trying to sleep but all he could think of was what Din had just said.

"You hate me."

He didn't hate her. He was cold and distant because he didn't want her to get too involved in what the Shinsengumi was doing. He had made this choice three years ago when he told a friend of his to tell Din that he had died. It was hard for him, but he knew that if Din got too close she would end up like Setsuna, who he knew was already dead. He had to do it because, deep down inside, a part of him still loved her but knew that there was someone else for her out in the world. As long as he was in the Shinsengumi and was the leader, he would always act as if he hated her and would be as cold as he could to her just to keep her safe.

"Did ya ask him?"

Tetsunosuke sighed as Shinpachi and Heisuke sat around him during dinner the next day, bothering him as usual. Tetsunosuke put down his rice bowl and looked towards the two only to notice that one of them was missing.

"Where's Sanosuke-kun?" the red head asked, ignoring their pervious question.

"Oh him." Shinpachi crossed his arms. "He's out with Din-chan doing something. He's been acting weird ever since he found out about Setsuna-chan."

"What's wrong with that?" Tetsunosuke blinked, confused.

"Oh nothing." Heisuke sighed. "Anyways, did you ask him yet?"

"I tired but all he did was tell me to go to bed." Tetsunosuke finally answered. "Maybe he doesn't like her after all."

"Hum." Shinpachi cupped his chin in his fist. "Then we gotta do something."

"I've got it!" Heisuke slammed his right fist into his open left hand. "I'll deploy my perfect plan once those two get back from their walk!"

Yamanami, Kondo, Hijikata, and Souji all sat in Hijikata's room as usual, talking about things that had been happening around the dojo.

"So the two of them are alright now?" Souji asked sweetly as he looked towards the older men.

"It seems so." Kondo smiled. "Din-chan came into my room this morning and had breakfast with me so I assume she's feeling better." Kondo turned to Hijikata. "How's Tetsu-kun been with his page duties?"

"Today is the first day he's been working normally." Hijikata took a drink of his tea.

"That's wonderful!" Kondo said happily. "I'm glad to see that everyone is back to normal!"

The room fell quiet. Each of them looked down towards the ground as if their thoughts were one shared between them. Hijikata looked towards Kondo, who sighed and looked away towards Souji. Souji looked downwards towards his hands and moved them around while Yamanami sighed louder then anyone else in the room.

"Should we tell her?" Yamanami spoke, breaking the silence. "Should she know what we know about Setsuna-chan?"

"I think she deserves to know," Kondo agreed. "She—"

"No." Hijikata cut in. "We made a pact never to tell her and that's how it's going to stay."

"But Toshi-kun!" Kondo protested. "Don't you think she deserves to know? Especially now?"

Hijikata stood up and walked over towards the back door. He grabbed the handles and opened the doors as far as they would go and let his arms fall back to his sides.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Hijikata hissed. "That's the way it was, and that's the way it will stay."

Tatsunosuke sighed as he walked through the dojo's hallways with papers in his arms. He had been working all day organizing the stack of papers he was carrying as his last task and, as soon as he filed them away, he could finally finish the dinner he had wanted to start.

"Hey Tatsu-kun!" Heisuke said with a sly tone within his voice. "Did you finish all of your work?"

"Yes." He nodded, being polite even though he wanted to hurry up and finish.

"Alright then." Heisuke stepped to the side, allowing Tatsunosuke through.

Shinpachi quickly ran over to Heisuke and ducked behind him. "They're back!" He whispered. "They're coming over here so hurry up and make your move!"

"Right." Heisuke grinned.

Tatsunosuke walked passed the two and opened a nearby door. He walked in, carefully placed his work down onto the floor near a larger pile of books, and sighed. He figured that he would put everything away later, giving him something to do in the morning when he woke up.

His stomach growled. I'm so hungry. He thought, holding his stomach. I haven't eaten since lunch. I guess I deserve to end everything a bit early.

He began to walk outwards when he heard Din, Tetsunosuke, and Sanosuke's voices. Wondering what Tetsunosuke was doing up so late; he walked out of the room to see that the three had joined up with Shinpachi and Heisuke.

"Ready?" Heisuke whispered to Shinpachi.

"Yeah I guess." He scratched the back of his head.

As Tatsunosuke came closer towards the group, Heisuke punched Shinpachi in his upper arm, causing the red head to yell and hit him back. Heisuke hit Shinpachi once more and ran so naturally he chased after him. They ran through the group and slowly moved towards Tatsunosuke and Din who was now next to Tatsunosuke, talking. Heisuke slammed into Din, pushing her into Tatsunosuke. She fell onto him and Shinpachi, unable to stop running, crashed into Heisuke who pushed Din more and caused Tatsunosuke to lose his balance and fall over.

"Oops sorry!" Heisuke laughed as he stood up. "Didn't mean to slam into you!"

The standing group looking down towards the knocked down two and saw that Din and Tatsunosuke's faces were close to one another's, and Din's arms between the gaps in his arms, which were holding him up. Tatsunosuke's face was a bright red color from having Din so close to him while hers cringed as she gritted her teeth together and sat back down, clutching her right shoulder.

He remembered her shoulder injury. "Din-chan!" He sat up quickly and moved forward towards her. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be okay," she answered with a smile. "Are you okay? I fell on you pretty hard."

He blushed once more. "I'm fine."

The two of them stood up without help from anyone around them and looked back at the group. Tetsunosuke began to snake away, hoping not to get caught but was tugged back by his brother.

"And why are you up so late?" Tatsunosuke asked. "I told you to get to bed two hours ago!"

"I know I know!" Tetsunosuke whined as he pulled away. "I just…" He looked away.

"Just what?"

Tetsunosuke looked up towards Din. "I wanted to make sure Din-chan came home okay."

Din's eyes softened. She bent down to Tetsunosuke's level and gently petted the right side of his face.

"Tetsu-kun, please don't worry about me," she said gently. "I'd much rather have you in bed then up waiting for me alright?"

He puffed up his cheeks. "Fine."

Tetsunosuke pulled away and looked up towards his older brother. Tatsunosuke gave him a stern look, telling him to do as he was told so the smaller red head turned around and walked away.

Din sighed and stood back up as the room fell back into silence. Everyone stood in a circle, waiting for someone to say something but the silence was broken when Tatsunosuke's stomach growled loudly.

"Hungry?" Shinpachi laughed.

"Yeah." Tatsunosuke scratched the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed. "I've been working all day."

"Well too bad then, we just finished the last of the dinner." Heisuke laughed as he pointed to himself and Shinpachi.

Tatsunosuke twitched. Here he was expecting a nice dinner to end the day that had caused him to work so hard. Now he had to go in the kitchen and make his own food and a part of him thought that it wasn't worth the trouble and he should eat a lot at breakfast the next morning.

"Don't worry I'll make you something," Din said, moving her right hand back and forth. "I haven't really eaten today either so I'll make you something too."

"No—"

"Don't worry!!" Din repeated playfully. "Come on Tatsu-kun!"

Din walked towards the kitchen, Tatsunosuke following behind her with a slight blush on his face. It was strange, no one had ever taken care of Tatsunosuke, and instead he had taken care of other people and always placed himself second. But now, a woman he barely knew was taking care of him in a way. It made him fell strange but a part of him liked it even though he didn't think he deserve it.

R&R please!