I don't own PMK or any if it's characters, I only own Din and Setsuna Hinto.
Thanks for the reviews! I really love each and every one of them! Pleas enjoy while I keep updating until I'm caught up with what I have on my comp.
Enjoy!
"So?" Shinpachi sat forward towards Sanosuke. "What else happened between you two?"
Sanosuke sighed. "I guess after that…we became boyfriend and girlfriend."
"WHAT!?" Heisuke and Shinpachi yelled together at once.
"Yeah." Sanosuke blushed. "The last time I saw her she was crying. She was upset about something and then she told she was going back to the orphanage and that she would be back in a second. After that she got adopted and I never saw her again." He reached down into his kimono and pulled out a small envelope. "She did send me this though."
The taller man passed the envelope to the other two who took it and placed it between themselves. They looked at once another, then pulled the envelope open, revealing a picture and worn out letter.
Heisuke bent down to the fallen picture and picked it up. Neat handwriting was placed on the back that the black haired man had never seen before.
Setsuna Hinto and Sanosuke Harada--date unknown--.
Meanwhile Shinpachi pulled out the letter gently and opened it, being careful because of the creases and already torn paper.
Sanosuke-chan,
This is the last time I will ever be able to write you. I'm sorry for everything I've let, and caused to happen to you. Please forgive me, and at the same time, forget me. You'll always be in my heart and I'm sorry that everything turned out this way.
Don't tell Din-nee.
Setsuna"Did you tell her?" Shinpachi asked as he handed the letter to Heisuke, and Heisuke passed the picture to Shinpachi.
Sanosuke sighed. "That's what we went out to talk about the day after we found out about Setsuna-chan dying."
Shinpachi shook his head. "Sanosuke-kun…I'm sorry."
"It's alright." he said with a grin on his face.
Tetsunosuke, Tatsunosuke, Susumu, and Din were all walking around in the market where the festival was being held, Tetsunosuke running around and being the loudest of them all.
"Come on you guys!" Tetsunosuke yelled as he ran ahead of the group. He ran over towards a booth and grabbed a small toy gun. "Come on Tatsu-nii! You're good at this game."
Tatsunosuke sighed. "Not today Tetsu-kun, I think I'll pass."
Hearing this and the way he said it, Susumu and Din looked towards one another, telling each other something, then looked away. Din coughed and broke away from the group.
"I'm going to go do something, I'll be back a bit later," she announced.
"Are you gonna be back in time for the fireworks?" Tetsunosuke asked, looking back towards her.
"Don't worry." She laughed, crossing her arms. "I'll be back."
Din continued to walk away from the group until she disappeared into a crowd. Tatsunosuke watched until he couldn't see her anymore and sighed loudly, catching Susumu's attention.
"Hey!" Tetsunosuke yelled. "I wanna taste that!" He tugged on Tatsunosuke. "Come on!! Let's go!"
The group, minus Din, walked on an hour later when Tetsunosuke turned around towards the two.
"Hey I'll be right back alright?" he said as he turned his back once more. "I'll be right back!"
"Tetsu-kun!" Tatsunosuke yelled.
His call fell on deaf ears; the smaller red head was already halfway down the street with his festival mask on his face. The two of them didn't say anything as they walked towards the wall next to them, and Susumu rested against it. It wasn't until Tatsunosuke bowed down and caused Susumu to raise his right eyebrow did he say anything.
"So what's up with this?" the black haired boy asked.
"I wanted to thank you and apologize to you for everything Tetsu-kun's done to you, and for what you've for him," Tatsunosuke explained.
"It's not big deal." Susumu shrugged with a slight laugh behind his tone. "But I think you should apologize to Tetsu-kun. Everyone else around him is praising him for what he went through, everyone except his big brother, the one who should be the most proud of him."
Tatsunosuke looked away. "You don't understand what's gone on between the two of us."
"Frankly I don't want to," Susumu interjected. "I'm just sayin' that you should take a bit more pride in what your baby brother is doing." Susumu looked down to see Tatsunosuke with his hand outwards. "What's this?"
"I have to apologize for what happened the other day," Tatsunosuke answered with a sigh.
"Too bad you're brother isn't as weak as you'd like him to be." Susumu moved his right hand back. "But why don't I pay you back for what you tried to pull with me?"
Tatsunosuke twitched. "You're going to hit me?"
Susumu laughed. "All you gotta do is block my punch."
His right hand flew out towards Tatsunosuke's face, then his hand changed from a fist to an open hand and he slapped the dark red head on the side of his face. Susumu pulled away quickly, and then rubbed his hand.
"Now go down to the dock, Din-san's waitin' for you down there," he hissed towards the other man. "But before you go, can I ask you somethin'?"
"What?" Tatsunosuke rubbed the side of his face.
"You really like Din-san don't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Ya know, like her."
Tatsunosuke blushed. "I…uh…I."
Susumu laughed sarcastically. "Never mind. Just hurry down to the dock before puppy-kun comes back."
"Thank you." Tatsunosuke bowed once more.
Tatsunosuke ran as fast as he could down to the dock where the noises from the festival where muffled out and were replaced by the sound of the water hitting the wood and stones over and over again. He looked around and spotted her standing near the third dock, looking outwards towards the water where the sun was just beginning to set.
"Din-chan," he whispered.
He picked up his legs once more and ran towards the woman and slowed down once he got close enough. She turned to look at him and handed him a small piece of candy.
"Thank you." He bowed.
"I come down here everyday to wait for something," she said gently. "Even though I know it's not going to come for a while, I wait." She turned away from him. "Siblings never do what you want them to, and they never come when you call."
"Yeah I know."
"Tatsunosuke-kun, you're doing a wonderful job with Tetsu-kun. Please just keep being his soft spot to land. You're…the best person for that job."
"What do you mean?" He blinked.
Din laughed a bit. "You're one of the best people in the world to talk to. You always listen and take everything to heart. That's why I love talking to you…and why I hate to see you upset."
A heavy blush came over Tatsunosuke's face. No one had ever said something like that to him before and he didn't know how to react to it. He coughed a bit and to avoid saying anything back he shoved the piece of candy in his mouth.
She turned back to him. "I hope that cheers you up a bit."
"Oh," he scratched the back of his head, "yeah it does."
"Good."
She walked towards him and moved forward a bit, telling him to follow her. Figuring that she was right and that they had to get back to the other two before it got dark, he began to walk with her.
"Hey Din-chan?" he began, "Why do you come down here day after day if you don't mind me asking? What are you waiting for?"
"A sign," she answered easily. "Just a sign that it's time to move on."
Not wanting to ask anymore, he walked forward until they walked into a large group of people who pushed passed them, carrying objects from the docked boats, forcing them to press against one another. Tatsunosuke moved towards a wall with Din to try to get out of the way but that just caused them two to become trapped against the wall. They moved carefully until a man pushed against Din, forcing her into Tatsunosuke's chest.
"Sorry Tatsu-kun." She laughed.
"Uh…." He blushed heavily once more. "It's fine."
Another man pushed into her at that moment as the two were talking, pushing her face into his and shoved her lips against his. They both stood there, lips locked and unable to do anything because of the people moving behind them.
Tatsunosuke's heart bet against his chest so hard that he thought it was going to explode as his mind wondered what to do next. He could feel her hands on his chest from when she was shoved on to him and wondered if she could feel his heart pounding away in his chest, or if she was just simply trying to push herself away from him.
Finally the people behind them moved, and Din moved her head back. She blinked for a few moments then backed up a bit and bowed.
"I'm sorry!" she said with a playful tone behind her voice. "I didn't hurt you at all did I?"
Tatsunosuke came back into reality and shook his head back and forth. "No, not at all. Are you okay?"
She felt her lips. "Yeah, I just might have hurt my lip a bit from the impact but I'm fine."
"I'm sorry." He bowed.
"It's okay." She giggled. "Come on, let's hurry up and get out of here before they start moving more things."
"Right." He nodded.
The two began to walk once more, trying to hurry before the next ship came in. Tatsunosuke, though, somewhat wanted to get stuck next to her once more. That was his first kiss in his lifetime from a woman but the back of his mind told him that it had been on accident and didn't count. The more the more he thought about it, the more and more he found his heart beating away. Once he got back with his brother and Susumu, the feeling left and he figured that it was for the best.
Night had fallen and the fireworks had begun high in the sky. Back at the Shinsengumi, Hijikata, Souji, and Kondo were all sitting on the roof, watching and hoping that the trio wouldn't come up on the roof with them also. Yamanami was sitting in his room, pretending to be sick as he looked out of his back door and saw the highest fireworks.
At the festival, Susumu, the Ichimura brothers, and Din all stood and looked upwards towards the sky. Between the breaks of the firework display, they slowly walked back to the Shinsengumi, until they finally reached it.
"Thanks for asking me to go with you tonight," Din said to Tatsunosuke with a smile. "I really had fun for the first time in a long while."
"Oh you're welcome." Tatsunosuke laughed.
"I'm going to talk to the vice commander now so I'll see you in the morning." Din turned away, but looked back towards him. "Night."
He bowed. "Good night."
"Don't tell anyone about what happened alright?" she asked, causing him to look up in wonder. "I wanna keep it between the both of us." She winked.
Tatsunosuke blushed. "Don't worry."
He watched as she walked away, and sighed. The feeling inside of him had returned but he couldn't figure out what it was. He didn't know whether he liked her or not but thought that he would think it over before he fell asleep so that he didn't have to worry about anything else.
"This is great!" Souji cheered from on top of the roof.
Hijikata looked over towards the other two sitting on the roof with him and smiled. Kondo had seemed to return to his normal self instead of being so distracted, and Souji was now feeling better. He sighed and leaned back onto the roof.
Things couldn't get any better. He thought.
"Din-nee!" Souji cheered.
"Hey Souji-kun!" she said happily as she laid down next to him. "Isami-kun, and Hijikata, I'm back."
"Nice to have you up here with us." Kondo passed her a cup of sake. "It wouldn't have been the same without you."
"Thanks." She took the cup and quickly drank from it.
The fireworks started up once more, allowing Hijikata to look at the three people sitting on the roof. For the first time in eleven years, three of the four most important people in his life were sitting all together, watching fireworks just like they used to. He could see the fireworks in their eyes and remembered how they looked the same when they watched fireworks for the first time thirteen years ago. These people were the people who mattered the most to him, and the people who had made the biggest impact on him in the long run. They had all been separated once but fate had brought them all back together.
"Toshi-kun?" Kondo asked.
"What?" Hijikata shook his head, breaking out of his thoughts.
"Nothing." Kondo smiled with a blush from drinking on his face. "You just looked distracted."
"I'm fine." Hijikata looked up towards the sky. "Just fine."
And these were the people, he would protect.
Tatsunosuke was lying in bed, the lights off around him, and the people sleeping away as usual but he couldn't sleep. All he could think about was Din and how she acted with him. It was more then strange for him when their accidental kiss happened, but a part of him hoped that it meant to her just as it meant to him.
What a stupid thing to think. He covered his eyes with his right arm. Why would something accidental mean something?
He had never had the time to think about something like this, his love life, because he had never felt this way. She seemed to go out of her way to make sure he was okay, and often complemented him on things that he thought were the most important like Tetsunosuke or work.
I wonder… He began. If she's with or has an interest in someone else. She got into this place easily but that's because she's good friends with Kondo-sama. Could she be with him? He shook his head. I did hear rumors that Kondo-sama had a mistress but could it be Din-chan? Maybe…I should ask.
Tatsunosuke rolled over onto his right side. Would Din even like someone like him if he had managed to work up the courage to tell her how he felt? How did he feel about her? He kept telling himself over and over again that he had to considerate on his work and couldn't let anything get in the way.
"Everything will be fine with Tetsu-kun soon but please worry about yourself."
Myself. Tatsunosuke thought. She goes out of her way to tell me to worry about myself. No one else has ever done that for me.
He rolled over onto his other side. Someone was taking care of him, someone making him feel worthwhile. He was worth it.
Maybe I do like her. He thought. I do…
"So how are you feeling?" Hijikata asked as he looked down at Din who was sitting down and leaning against his wall.
"I've just got a low fever," she answered in a low tone. "I'll sleep it off, don't worry about anything."
Hijikata moved his hand down in front of Din's face, and she saw that it was a small sake cup. She looked up at him, and blinked.
"It's medicine. I told you not to go to the festival but you wanted to go, now your fever is acting up again," he hissed, pushing the cup towards her. "Hurry up and take it."
Din gently took the sake cup and quickly drank from it. She shook her head as the medicine touched her tongue, causing a bitter taste. Finished, she gave Hijikata back the cup and leaned her head back.
"Damn that's gross," she hissed.
"Huh." Hijikata turned away. "You wouldn't have to take it if you haven't gone."
"I had too," she insisted.
"Why?"
"Because Tatsu-kun asked me to," she answered as she closed her eyes.
"So?"
"So that's why I went."
Hijikata sighed. "You should know better then going out when you're sick. I can't afford you getting everyone else sick. Yamanami-kun is already—"
"Who cares?" She shrugged.
"Din," he began to rub his temples, "please do as you're told and stay in this room until you're fully recovered. I don't want anyone else getting sick. Tatsu-kun—"
He turned back around to finish his sentence only to see that Din was asleep. Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing slowly with her head slightly titled to the side. Hijikata sighed, and then ran his fingers through the top half of his hair.
"I'll make sure to talk to you tonight before bed alright?"
Souji-kun. Hijikata thought.
The black haired man walked over to Din and bent down to her, wrapping his arms around her body. With a small moan coming from the woman, he picked her up, and carried her out of the room through the back door. He stepped carefully down the wooden floor, and into Souji's room where he was up, reading a small book.
"Hijikata-sama?" he asked as he looked away from his book. "Din-chan!"
"She's sleeping," Hijikata said.
Walking into the room, he set her down on the second futon Souji had laid out hours earlier. She groaned once more once her body touched the futon, and then stretched out before she finally stopped moving.
"Hijikata-sama," Souji whispered, "is she feeling alright?"
"The medicine I gave her will make her feel much better in the morning." Hijikata turned his back to the younger man. "Thank you Souji-kun, for allowing her to stay in your room."
"No problem." Souji smiled. "You know how I like having her around. But Hijikata-sama, if she finds somewhere to live are you going to let her go?"
Hijikata sighed and began to walk out of the room. "Din can do what she wants. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
Souji sighed and looked over towards the sleeping Din. "I just don't want to lose her again. I went a few years not talking to her and those years passed by so slowly."
"Don't worry about it," Hijikata began as he stepped out of the room.
Hijikata-sama… Souji thought when he stepped out of the room completely. I never want any of you to leave. Never.
R&R please!