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!
Enjoy:
"Ayumu-san has been gone for about four days now, I hope she's okay," Souji said as he looked towards the three older men in the room, Hijikata, Yamanami, and Kondo.
"When a week passes I'll be worried," Kondo confessed with a sigh. "But until then she's a spy and she should be able to take care of herself."
The door slid open, catching everyone's attention, and Din stepped in, closing the door behind herself. Bending over, she held her stomach and wobbled over towards Hijikata.
"Din-nee you're so pale! Are you okay?" Souji asked as he began to stand up.
"It's okay." Din moved her right hand down to tell Souji to sit. "Hijikata, do you have any kind of medicine to mask nausea for a while?"
Hijikata stood up and grabbed her shoulder to keep her from falling over. Sighing, he carefully moved her until she was sitting down against the wall.
"I'll be back in a minute with the medicine," he spoke, and then exited the room.
"Is there anything I can get you?" Souji asked, moving forward towards her.
"No." Din tightened her face as the feeling of throwing up came to her once more. "I'll be okay in a minute."
Within a few minutes Hijikata entered the room once more with a small cup in his right hand. He bent down to her level and handed her the cup. She took it and quickly drank it, hoping it would rid her of the feeling.
Hijikata moved his hand up towards Din and felt her forehead. "You don't have a fever."
She took in a quick breath. "I've just got an upset stomach that's all, I should be fine now."
Hijikata stood up and walked to a spot beside Din and sat down. Sighing, he began talking to the other three once more, looking back towards Din once in a while to make sure she was okay.
"So Din-chan what made you sick?" Kondo asked he too worried about the young woman.
She managed a smile. "I just ate something that's all."
As Din looked around the room, talking to everyone in the room, she spotted an uneaten bowl of the food she had made that night for dinner. Twitching she realized that it was closest to Hijikata so it had to belong to him.
"Hijikata, thanks for the medicine but why aren't you eating?" she asked, looking at him with her right eyebrow raised.
He rolled his eyes. "You're the one that told me why I wouldn't eat it and it's true."
"What?" She blinked. "Because my cooking hasn't changed? Well you seemed to like it when you were sending people to my bakery to get the bread I used to make it."
He twitched. "Too much of a good thing is bad for you."
She puffed up her cheeks and looked away. "Please tell me that you're eating Yamanami-san."
He sat up a bit more. "Well," he pushed his glasses up, "not that much to tell the truth."
"What?" She sat up immediately. "And why the hell not?"
Yamanami looked away from her and the group. "I'm just not that fond of the cooking that's all."
Ignoring the pain in her stomach, Din stood up. "Yamanami-san I have no idea what your problem is but why don't you get some balls and tell me."
Hijikata, Souji, and Kondo jaws dropped as they listened to what the woman had just said and then looked at Yamanami to see what he was going to say in reaction to her.
"Hinto-san, you and I both know the problems we had back when we were younger." Yamanami looked up at with a slight glare in his eyes.
"Why the hell are you still on that?!" she yelled, moving her fists backwards. "Just because I have an "attitude" towards you think that's a good enough reason to bite my head off whenever you get the chance? I think it's time for you to grow up Yamanami-san! Everyone else around you has!"
"Don't tell me I'm the one that hasn't grown up." Yamanami closed his eyes.
"Oh." She laughed and crossed her arms. "And you've grown up? You think you're so damn lonely in this world because no one in the Shinsengumi "understands" you. But wait, there is someone you think "understands" you and that's that little whore of yours down at Shimabara."
Yamanami twitched at that comment, it hitting him deeply. She had touched something inside of him that no one else knew about or that he would always keep in private. She had attacked his private life, and now he only felt it was right if he did the same. Not caring about holding back any longer now that he felt that he had been so insulted, he let everything go.
"I won't talk about whores if I were you." Yamanami started, "I think you should keep your mouth and legs shut and do us all a favor."
Din's mouth dropped. "What?" she asked breathlessly.
"Sannan!" Kondo said in surprise.
"After all I've seen you around Tatsu-kun a lot more then before," Yamanami finished a part of him feeling bad while the other part felt justified.
"Yamanami!" Hijikata hissed, tired of hearing what his fellow vice commander was saying.
Din uncrossed her arms. "If you must know, the only man I've ever slept with is sitting in this room. So I highly doubt that makes me in the same league as your Shimabara whore."
"Din!" Hijikata yelled. He stood up and grabbed her right arm. "Come outside NOW."
He walked towards the backdoor with Din's arm tightly gripped within his right hand. He pulled her until they both exited the room, and he slammed the door behind them.
The room Hijikata and Din had just left from remained quiet. Two people there who sat taking in what they had just heard turned towards Kondo who sighed and put his head down.
"Was that supposed to be a secret?" Souji asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes," Kondo confessed.
"Hijikata-kun and Hinto-san…" Yamanami sighed. "I had no idea that they had slept together."
"Yes and that's the way they wanted it. I only found out about it because I caught them in the act." Kondo get go of a small laugh. "It was in the middle of their first year together and I had left them alone for the day to run errands while Souji-kun was being watched by the trio. You, Sannan, had just dropped me off and I was going inside when I heard them outside."
"Outside?" Souji giggled.
"I thought it was strange too but it was because Din-chan was getting ready to leave for the day and Toshi-kun didn't want to let her go," Kondo continued. "I came around the corner and caught them together and I knew that Toshi-kun had caught me but I left anyway. Later he came in and asked me not to tell anyone and that he should and would hide it better after that. I stopped monitoring them after that when it came to that subject but I knew that they were frequent lovers."
"We're lucky she didn't get pregnant," Yamanami interjected.
Kondo sighed heavily this time. "Din-chan can't get pregnant. She's got a medical condition that prevents her from having them that she learned about in her early teens before she met Toshi-kun."
Yamanami looked away. "How many more secrets do those two have?"
"Kondo-sama, may I ask something?" Souji asked, looking at his elder.
"Yes go ahead."
"Do you know if Din-nee gave Hijikata-sama her virginity?"
Kondo moved his hands to his lap and fumbled them around a bit. "As far as I know Souji-kun, yes she did. Toshi-kun did the same. Why?"
"It's just that," Souji looked towards the door the two had left from, "you never forget someone like that."
Hijikata in the meantime dragged Din towards the middle of the backyard so no one near the house or street would be able to hear their conversation. Releasing her arm, she pulled away from him and crossed her arms.
"What the hell was that?" Hijikata hissed. "You know that something like that was to remain a secret."
Din shook her head. "He basically called me a whore dammit and all you care about is how I blew our secret. They were gonna figure it out anyway Hijikata!"
"How?"
"Because they always do!" she hissed back. "Why the hell couldn't you defend me in there?"
"It didn't look like you needed any help." Hijikata crossed his arms.
"Hijikata!" she yelled.
"What?"
Their eyes met for a moment but his eyes moved away first seeing that he had hurt her. Not wanting to admit it, he turned away from her, making her even angrier.
"Fine," she hissed, back in her cold tone. "Screw you then Hijikata, don't bother to talk to me or eat my food anymore, you and that bastard in there can fend for yourselves."
He heard her footsteps as she stepped away from him and sighed. He turned back around to say something only to see that she was no longer there. Figuring she had gone out on a walk, he walked back into his own room.
This is the Shinsengumi. Suzu thought as he stood outside of the Shinsengumi walls. He blinked as he looked up at them and remembered what his master had told him to do.
"Stand and wait for Din Hinto, she comes out for walks during the middle of the night or during early morning."
I guess this is where I stand and wait. He thought, still looking around.
The sound of shoes hitting the floor caught his attention and caused him to look to his right where he saw a woman walking towards him. He blinked; not believing whom it was for a moment and released the sword handle he had grabbed so quickly.
Setsuna-san… He thought as the woman came closer. How could she be here?
The woman got closer, and Suzu shook his head back and forth, it wasn't the person he had thought it was, instead it was another woman that looked very much like her in almost very way.
"Excuse me," Suzu walked towards the women, "Din Hinto?"
"Yes," she answered, uncrossing her arms. "What can I help you with?"
"Yoshida-sama wishes to speak with you face-to-face without any weapons or interruptions this time. It's about Setsuna-san," Suzu finished.
"And you are?"
"Yoshida-sama's page." He bowed. "I've been ordered to bring you back to him and give you this message."
Din twitched. Stay or go with the small boy. She thought of how leaving would effect the Shinsengumi but who cared? They weren't going to eat her food or talk to her so she might as well go with someone who would know something about the passing of her sister. Beside that, she had something to see away from the Shinsengumi in the first place, she had to go down the pier and wait just as she did every morning.
"I'll go with you." Din nodded, figuring out what she wanted to do. "But do me a favor first."
"Yes?"
"Tell me your name."
"Kitamura Suzu," he answered.
"Kitamura-kun, you've got really pretty eyes." Din smiled.
Suzu blushed. There was only one person who had ever told him that besides her and it was the woman who Din looked like, Setsuna, who was now gone. He shook his head, trying to get the thought out of his head.
"Please come this way Hinto-san." Suzu turned his back to her and began to lead her down the street.
Not bothering to look back towards the Shinsengumi, Din took a step forward and then another until she was steadily following behind the white haired child and could no longer see the Shinsengumi headquarters.
Din followed Suzu until they reached another large dojo. Suzu walked her inside and walked her passed all of the sleeping men and into the main room where Yoshida sat, waiting.
"Hinto-san has arrived." Suzu bowed as Din walked forward and sat down in front of Yoshida.
"Hello Din-san," Yoshida began. He looked up towards his page. "Go get us some tea Suzu-kun."
"Yes Yoshida-sama."
Suzu left the room and quietly closed the door behind himself. Din moved around a bit, and then looked up towards the other man. It was strange how much he looked like Hijikata with the way his hair was but he was much thinner in body structure.
"Setsuna-chan looked very much like you," Yoshida spoke. "I knew you two were related when I first saw you standing around your bakery."
"How do you know my sister?" Din answered with her cold tone.
"Yoshida Shouin, my late master, adopted her to become a caretaker for the Choshu," Yoshida began. "It was her sixteenth birthday when she came to the headquarters where my master lived; I was nineteen at the time. You've been kept in the dark about everything involving Setsuna-chan, haven't you?"
"How did she die?" Din hissed, glaring towards Yoshida.
Suzu came back into the room and set the tea down in front of his master. Yoshida ignored Din's question leaned forward and began to drink from a cup.
He slowly took the cup away from his mouth. "The grave you visited is not one where she is truly buried."
"Where is she?"
"It's a two day trip but I will be willing to make that trip with you." Yoshida looked down towards his cup. "It's been a while since I've paid my respects to her."
"Why is the grave here then?" Din watched as Suzu moved a cup towards her while she spoke. "And why was she placed in a different area?"
"When she and I married she gained my last name," Yoshida answered, still looking down towards his cup. "We couldn't risk her body being disgraced for deeds my master and I have committed. To please the orphanage, we placed an empty grave here and another one where her real body is in a secret place."
"M-Married?" Din twitched as he eyes grew. "You married my sister?"
"Now that you know I have a few questions to ask you." Yoshida looked up towards her with the hint of a smile on his face. "What connects do you have with the Shinsengumi?"
"They're housing me," Din answered. "As you know my business where I was living at the time has burned down. Because they are a police unit I was told to stay there until I found a new home."
"So you don't have any deeper of a connection with them?"
"No." She shook her head.
She had to lie. If he found out about her relationships with the Shinsengumi he might take her hostage and try to bring down the Shinsengumi. She would keep her mouth shut about everything even though he was talking to her about something so personal.
"Please," Din moved forward a bit, "were you able to have children with my sister?"
Yoshida shook his head. "We discovered that she couldn't have children."
"Dammit." Din looked away. "When are we leaving to go see my sister?"
"We'll leave when the sun rises," Yoshida answered. "We will return in two or three days and then you can go back to what you were doing before."
"Why are you doing this?" Din asked, moving forward once more. "You're the leader of the Choshu clan, I've heard so much about you and none of it has been good. Why are you showing such hospitality to me?"
Yoshida smiled and laughed a bit. "Setsuna-chan talked about you a lot. I promised her that if anything happened to her, I would find you, and ask you to join the Choshu for protection. But seeing that you're with the Shinsengumi, you don't need my protection. I'm doing this for Setsuna-chan against my better judgment."
Din bowed down. "Thank you. I just want to know more about my sister and you've done that but please, just tell me how she died."
"Suzu-kun," Yoshida turned towards him, "please leave."
Suzu lowered his head. "Yes Yoshida-sama."
Standing up, Suzu exited the room and shut the door behind himself. Somewhat thinking that something was wrong, Din sat back up and looked over towards the younger man.
"Three years ago there was an assassination attempt for my head," Yoshida began. "She knew it was coming, and got Suzu-kun and I to leave. She took the killing for me. I don't know who tired to do it, there are many groups out there who want me dead so I have no leads."
Din took a quick breath in. Setsuna had given herself up for the man she loved, and the boy she took care of. She died a way Din was afraid to, and most likely didn't want it any other way.
"Where can I sleep?" Din asked, looking away. She wanted to get off of this subject now, if she didn't she was going to lose everything and start crying.
"There's an empty room down the hall," Yoshida answered, closing his eyes. "I'll wake you up when the sun rises."
Din stood up and bowed once more. "There's no way I could ever thank you for everything you've done."
"Just go to bed."
Walking towards the door, Din stopped for a moment. She was here with the enemy Hijikata and the others were sworn to kill. This was the enemy, the man who lit fires and was trying to over throw the government the best he could. She had so many ties to him that she knew nothing about, and it was almost creepy. Was she betraying Hijikata by staying here? Was it betraying Hijikata if she went with him to see her sister's grave?
Why should I care? She thought as she opened the door. He doesn't have to know what I'm doing. Besides, I doubt he cares.
Din walked out of Yoshida's room, and began walking towards her own when she spotted Ayumu walking down the same hallway.
"Act as if I'm no one to you or they'll get suspicious."
Taking in a deep breath, she began to step forward and the two walked passed one another as if they didn't matter or exist before in emotions. Each of them released a small breath of air, telling each other quietly that they had missed one another and that they were all right. It was small, but it mattered more to them then anything else in the world during that moment.
R&R please!