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

Thanks for the reviews! I love reading them!

Enjoy!

The sun had now risen high into the sky, and Din and Yoshida had already left with the company of Suzu. Back at the Shinsengumi, Shinpachi was in the kitchen, cooking with the company of yelling and cursing about how this wasn't why he joined the Shinsengumi. Back in Hijikata's room, he and Kondo sat, talking as usual when Souji ran in.

"Hijikata-sama!" Souji spoke as he opened the door. "I've looked everywhere, I can't find Din-nee! I even looked at the market and she's not there!"

"Dammit are you sure?" Hijikata stood up.

"I've looked everywhere!" Souji insisted. "No one in town has seen her or anything! Hijikata-sama I'm worried."

"Maybe she left after the argument," Kondo whispered to himself but nonetheless the demon caught it.

Hijikata grabbed his sword and placed it on his hip. "No one is to know about this. I'm going out to look for her; no one is to follow me."

"Toshi-kun, be gentle on her when you find her," Kondo warned.

Hijikata ignored his request and stepped out of his room without saying another word. Once Kondo figured that Hijikata was out of earshot, he looked over towards Souji and sighed.

"Do you think he'll find her?" Kondo asked. "What Sannan said seemed to hurt her greatly."

"She won't admit that she's upset." Souji sat down. "And getting mad at Hijikata-sama doesn't make her feel any better. I honestly don't know if she'll come back."

Hijikata had searched all around Kyoto and hadn't found Din or anyone who had seen her. Discouraged and now a bit more considered, Hijikata returned to the Shinsengumi where he walked back into Kondo's room and sat down next to Souji.

"So?" Souji began.

"I couldn't find her," Hijikata said. "No one around town as seen her either, just as you said Souji-kun."

"Hijikata-sama?" Souji moved around a bit. "We're not going to make Din-chan commit Seppuku are you?"

Hijikata looked over towards Kondo who looked away, then looked back over towards Souji. Souji's eyes widened then grew back to normal as he looked up at Hijikata with questions running through his eyes.

"No," Kondo interjected. "She is not considered a part of the Shinsengumi, she is just a cook."

"So is Ayu-san but she's off fighting for us," Hijikata cut in.

"Ayu-san came to us as a spy," Kondo answered quickly. "If anything we're protecting her from the Choshu, she is not in the Shinsengumi."

"She's coming back," Souji insisted. "She wouldn't leave her belongings here unless she was coming back right?"

"Right." Kondo nodded. "Souji-kun, if Din-chan hasn't returned in two days, I want you to go and look for her."

"Yes sir." Souji bowed.

Sanosuke, Shinpachi, and Heisuke were sitting on the wooden floor outside of Tatsunosuke's open door where he sat working. They were bored and had come to bother Tetsunosuke only to discover that the smaller one had been sent out with Yamanami to do shopping.

"So bored!" Heisuke whined.

"I know." Shinpachi sighed. "There's nothing to do around here when puppy-kun is gone."

"Hey," Heisuke looked over towards Sanosuke, "I just remembered what I was gonna ask you earlier, where did you and Din-chan go the other day?"

Sanosuke looked away, sticking his nose in the air. "None of your business!"

"Come on!" Shinpachi laughed. "You can tell us anything!"

"I'm not telling!" Sanosuke said his nose still in the air. "I promised Din-chan I wouldn't tell anybody what we talked about!"

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you told us!" Shinpachi moved closer towards the taller man with Heisuke.

"I ain't talkin'!" Sanosuke stood up and began to walk away only to have the other two begin to chase him around the backyard, demanding for him to tell them whatever it was.

Din-chan. Tatsunosuke thought, looking away from his work. I haven't seen you all day… Realizing what he had just thought, he shook his head back and forth. What am I doing? I should get back to work.

"Tatsu-kun."

Tatsunosuke looked up from his work to see Hijikata looking down at him with his pipe burning away in his mouth. Tatsunosuke placed his work down and paid full attention to vice commander.

"You wouldn't know anything about where Din could be do you?" Hijikata asked coldly.

"No sir." Tatsunosuke shook his head back and forth. "I haven't heard anything from her for almost a day now."

"Hm." Hijikata looked away. "Tatsu-kun, if you hear anything from Din, you are to report it to me word-for-word. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Tatsunosuke answered. "May I ask a question Hijikata-sama?"

"What?" Hijikata raised his right eyebrow.

"Nothing is wrong with Din-chan right?" A slight blush crossed his face. "There's no trouble with her is there?"

Hijikata sighed. "No, I just wanted to know if you had seen her."

"Okay." Tatsunosuke smiled. "Thank you Hijikata-sama."

The rain had come quickly. The rain fell heavily onto the ground and prevented the Shinsengumi from doing much. Most of them stayed inside, watching the rain, or went and trained out of boredom.

"They've both been gone too long," Kondo spoke to Hijikata who was sitting across from him and looking out towards the rain. "Ayu-san and Din-chan have been gone too long."

"Ayu-san," Hijikata sighed, "we haven't had contact with her for over six days."

Kondo looked towards the window. "I know. I've had Sanosuke-kun and Shinpachi-kun dispatched to see if they can find out anything about her."

"Are they in uniform?"

"No." Kondo shook his head back and forth. "I didn't want to cause alarm."

Hijikata lit his pipe and began smoking from it. Kondo took in a large breath, and looked towards Hijikata; ready to ask a question he had wanted to ask him.

"If Din-chan never comes back," Kondo began, "what will you do?"

Hijikata released a puff of smoke. "Nothing. I left her, so maybe this time she's left me behind."

Kondo remained quiet. He knew there was nothing he could do to make Hijikata see what he could see so easy and figured that everything would be revealed to him in time. Trying to get off of the subject, he brought up a new one.

"Have you talked to Sannan lately?"

"No," Hijikata answered bluntly.

Kondo blinked. "Why not?"

Hijikata shrugged, and Kondo finally understood. Hijikata blamed Yamanami for Din's leaving, and that's why Hijikata hadn't been talking to the other man. So, Hijikata had to care somewhere inside that Din was now gone. Realizing this, Kondo smiled and began talking about something else; happy that he now understood what the demon was thinking.

Hijikata sat down in front of his small desk, writing with a pipe in his mouth. He was waiting for Tetsunosuke to come back with the tea he had ordered and it was taking a bit longer then usual.

"Hijikata-sama!" Tetsunosuke said, walking into the room with tea in his hands. "I got the tea you asked for!"

"Just drop it off right there." Hijikata pointed to the corner of the room.

Tetsunosuke did as told. Dropping the tea off, he sighed and looked over towards Hijikata fighting with himself whether to ask the question he was thinking of or not.

Hijikata noticed his lingering. "What?"

"Uh," Tetsunosuke looked around, "I was wondering, have you seen Din-chan around?"

"Why?"

"Tatsu-nii was askin' me if I had seen her so I was wondering if you knew where she was," Tetsunosuke asked.

"She's out doing something right now," Hijikata answered. He twitched thinking that Tatsunosuke was pondering about Din.

"Can I ask you something else?"

"What?" Hijikata asked with an irritated tone.

Tetsunosuke sighed. "The other day I saw Din-chan sniffing one of your kimonos. I was wondering…what that meant."

Hijikata blinked and then looked away. "Nothing, just get out of here you brat."

Tetsunosuke puffed up his cheeks. "Fine."

Angry that he didn't get his answer, Tetsunosuke stomped out of the room leaving Hijikata alone with what he had just said.

Smelling my kimono. Hijikata thought. He ran his fingers through his hair and tugged on it as he thought of her missing him. She shouldn't care anymore. She just shouldn't. She told me dammit.

Another day had passed. Neither Din nor Ayumu was back at the Shinsengumi, and now Hijikata, Kondo, and Yamanami had sent out a few of the unit captains to find them. Souji had been sent out to just find Din, while Sanosuke and Shinpachi went out to search for Ayumu.

Tetsunosuke had been left at home, and now was looking around for Susumu to talk to him about Ayumu.

"Aren't you worried about her?" Tetsunosuke asked, once he had found Susumu.

"About who?" Susumu asked coldly.

"Ayu-nee!" Tetsunosuke answered, gripping his fists. "She's your sister! Aren't you worried about her?"

Susumu walked over towards Tetsunosuke, and wrapped his hands around the smaller one's neck. Tetsunosuke whimpered a bit, as Susumu slowly picked him up off of the ground, choking him even more.

"You have no idea what you're gettin' into." Susumu growled.

Tetsunosuke winched as Susumu's grip became tighter. "There's a woman's body in the rain. What if it's Ayu-nee's? What are you going to do?"

Susumu's grip on Tetsunosuke's neck lessened, and the red head landed on the floor on his feet. Susumu quickly turned away and began to walk away from the smaller one, not saying another word.

"Hey!" Tetsunosuke called. Susumu ignored him. "HEY!"

Annoyed that the older man was no longer paying attention to him on such an important matter, he ran over to him, grabbed him and threw him as hard as he could towards the back doors of the dojo they had been in. Susumu fell out of the doors, landing on the cold, wet ground outside, and Tetsunosuke, wanting to get his point across, ran out, and jumped on top of him.

"She asked me," Tetsunosuke began as tears fell down his face, "to take care of you!! She asked me to teach you things!!"

Susumu's eyes widened. Why would Ayumu ask something of someone so small? Why would she ask for something like that for him? He who did not acknowledge her as his older sister, he who did not speak to for weeks on weeks, he who caused such a mess up of the job she was supposed to do.

"You don't…," Tetsunosuke whimpered, "deserve to call her your sister."

Susumu pushed Tetsunosuke off, and stood up slowly. Tetsunosuke began to cry once more, allowing Susumu to walk away with a slight jump in his step.

"Din-chan!!" Souji called as he walked through the rain. "Din-chan!!"

He had been out for two hours while Sanosuke and Shinpachi ran out looking for Ayumu. Alone so that Din's missing wouldn't be known to the others of the Shinsengumi, Souji carried an umbrella over his head and tried to look inconspicuous.

"Din-chan!" he called with a sigh.

Where are you Din-nee? He wondered. Please be okay.

Since Din had just discovered her sister's death, Souji stopped calling her Din-nee for fear of making her think about the other person who called her that.

Souji walked a bit more, and then stopped. He thought of going back to the dojo to help the others with searching for Ayumu but then he remembered how Kondo asked him to look for her after Hijikata had told him to give up. Kondo figured that Hijikata had come to terms with the fact that Din could have left and might never come back and now Hijikata, not wanting to be hurt, put up a fence and said that he didn't want her back. Kondo, though, didn't want to give up looking for her, and missed her.

Suddenly, the sound of someone else walking towards Souji caused him to look up. Din was walking towards him, looking downwards and without an umbrella.

"Din-chan!!" Souji called out as he began to run towards her. "Din-chan!"

Souji caught up to her, and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Her kimono felt as if it had been completely soaked through and was cold. Ignoring it, he moved closer towards her, shaking her shoulder.

"Din-chan!" he called once more.

"Ayu-chan," Din whispered. "Please find Ayu-chan…Please."

"We need to get you home!" Souji said. "Come on Din-chan, we need to get back to the Shinsengumi!"

"I-I can't go back," Din whispered. She stepped away from Souji and began to slowly walk forward.

Souji twitched. "Din-chan please," He grabbed her shoulder, stopping her, "Hijikata-sama may not act like it but…I know he misses you. He wants you to come back to the dojo, please."

Din whispered, making it so that Souji couldn't understand them. He stood there, waiting to see what she was going to do, and she finally took another step forward, as if she were going to keep walking.

"Din-nee," Souji whispered.

Those words ran through Din, triggering memories and emotions all at once. Unable to take them all together, her eyes closed, and she began to fall over causing Souji to run to her front and hold her up.

"Din-chan."

Souji sighed, and moved Din so that her left arm wrapped around his neck, and began carrying her home until Sanosuke caught the two, and picked up Din. He promised to take her home, and ran off with her, allowing Souji to look for Ayumu.

Her body was heavy. Susumu trucked through the streets with his sister on his back, thinking that maybe if he got her back to the Shinsengumi, they could do something for her. He shook his head, he knew she was dead; it was a stupid idea.

"It should have been you that died. You don't deserve to be called a ninja."

Susumu knew that he should have died. He should have taken the punishment for getting caught, not Ayumu. Thinking that all of his thoughts were just getting in the way and distracting him from walking, he pushed all of his thoughts to the side and kept walking forward.

Everyone stood outside as Susumu carried Ayumu in. No one said anything, or looked away as he walked by everyone, and carried her into her room. Hijikata was the first to look away, and the first to speak.

"Dammit," he hissed. "Harada-san, Nagakura-san, go out and look for Din, I don't want any more deaths."

"Look for her?" Shinpachi asked, stepping up. "I didn't know she was gone."

Sanosuke sighed. "But Hijikata-sama, I—"

"Don't ask questions!" Hijikata yelled over the rain.

"Hijikata-sama!" Souji called as he ran passed the crowd. "Hijikata-sama!"

"What?"

"Sanosuke-kun and I brought Din-nee home an hour ago!" Souji confessed. "Kondo-sama told me to go and find her."

"Damn."

Hijikata turned around and walked through the group of warriors. Walking quickly, he entered the dojo once more and saw Kondo standing in front of his own door, looking down.

"Where is she?" Hijikata asked once he walked over to him.

"In Souji's room," Kondo answered. "Toshi-kun, there's something wrong with her."

Hijikata moved away from Kondo, and began to walk down the hallway, slowly at first, then picking up speed. A noise began to echo through the hallway, a noise that Hijikata knew too well. Running now he stopped in front of Souji's room and froze.

She was coughing.

"Don't open the door!! Don't come in here!"

Hijikata felt all of his nightmares catch up with him and hit him full on. He remembered things from his childhood, and slightly shivered as they played in his mind like old movies. Hearing her cough once more forced him to remember that now was different, and gathering his courage, he opened the door and stepped inside.

She was sitting up, her hair down, and wearing her nemaki with her hand covering her mouth as she coughed.

"Din."

She looked up at him and began coughing once more. This coughing took a lot out of her, and she fell over only to continue coughing.

"Din!"

Hijikata walked into the room and pulled Din back so she rested against his chest. He brought his hand to her forehead and felt that it was warmer then usual.

"Ayu-chan," Din managed to say between coughs. "Y-You—"

"We've already found her," Hijikata confessed, holding Din tightly.

"And?" Din perked up, her coughing finally coming to a stop.

Hijikata looked away. "She's gone."

Din's eyes began to water as she looked up at Hijikata, she began to cry but instead of simply crying, the coughing kicked in once more. Hijikata sighed and held her a bit closer, waiting for the coughing to stop by relaxing her.

"Din-chan?"

Hijikata looked up and saw Tatsunosuke standing in the open doorway with a look of concern on his face. Noticing where he was, Hijikata released Din, causing her to catch herself and allowing Hijikata to get up.

"You are not to tell anyone about this," Hijikata hissed, his right hand grabbing the edge of the door. "Understood?"

"Yes sir." Tatsunosuke bowed.

Hijikata pulled the door, and slammed it shut. Tatsunosuke stood there, wondering what he had just seen. Din, the woman he hadn't seen in three days was in a room he walked by everyday coughing with the demon vice commander. He stood there in thought but then heard the noises of the people running in and out of the Shinsengumi's headquarters yelling and talking. Wondering what was going on and if Tetsunosuke had anything to do with it, he walked away from the door, trying to forget what he had just seen.

R&R please!