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

Thanks for the reviews! Here's my weekly update, 000-shows flashback or dream.

Enjoy!

"Ryuunosuke-sama! Ryuunosuke-sama!!"

Ryuunosuke looked up from the grocery basket he was looking at that was full of apples and saw twenty-six year old Din running down the street. She was yelling, and waving her right hand in the hand. He smiled and stepped away from the grocery basket, and into the middle of the street.

"Ryuunosuke-sama!" she yelled once more.

She finally met up with him, and slammed herself into him, wrapping her arms around his stomach tightly. He smiled, and wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling her in deeper.

"I don't want to leave," she said, her voice somewhat muffled.

"You have to," Ryuunosuke said with a laugh. "Your family needs you and you can't let anything happen to your family."

"I don't want to be alone."

"You have Ryoma-kun." Ryuunosuke pulled her away and moved her chin up to make her look up at him. "You won't be alone. Did you get my letter?"

"I had it sent to my parent's home." Din blinked. "That way I can read it when I get there."

"Good." He grinned. "So are you going to continue searching for Setsuna-chan where you live?"

"Yes." She nodded. "There are a few Choshu bases up there so I'm going to look up there."

"I'll send you any news I hear about her." Ryuunosuke gentle petted her on the head. "I'll keep an eye out for her as well."

Din's eyes began to water. "Thank you so much Ryuunosuke-sama!"

"No, thank you Din-chan." He wiped the tear from her eye. "I just hope that everything goes well for you in your future."

He bent down to her, placed his hands on her shoulders and gently kissed her on her forehead. A heavy blush crossed her face, and her arms fell back down to her sides.

He pulled away from her. "Good luck Din-chan. Take care of yourself."

"Ryuunosuke-sama…," she whispered.

000000000000000000000

Suddenly Din sat up and wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. She took a deep breath in as she thought about the dream she had just had.

Ryuunosuke-sama. She thought. I haven't had the dream about our parting in months.

She looked over towards Tatsunosuke and smiled. She couldn't help but smile whenever she looked at him because he always seemed to make her so happy. Looking away, she looked towards the backdoor where only a bit of light peaked through, telling her that the sun had barely began to rise. Figuring that she should get back to bed, she laid back down, facing Tatsunosuke.

You look just like him. She pondered. But you're so different from him.

"Looks and personality are two different things."

Yamanami-kun…How can someone who always used to cause so many problems with me be the one to give me advice? Din hung her head.

"He's so different from Hijikata."

Din's eyes widened a bit. Are you like Ryoma? Is it just because I'm looking for someone so different from the man I used to love that I'm falling for you two? Is that the only reason why?

"I think he may be as confused as you are."

Does that mean that he would fall head over heels for a woman who's the exact opposite of me? She closed her eyes.

"There's something about him that just keeps me comin' back to him. I don't know, we're really close now."

"I don't know what it is that keeps dragging me back to him but every time I'm around Hijikata I feel like I'm cheating."

Tatsu-kun…what am I going to do when it's time to leave? I don't have a plan…really. I'll have to think of one. She sighed. I'm going to have to soon.

Tatsunosuke opened his eyes to see Din sleeping across from him with her covers down passed her waist. He blushed as he realized where he was but soon relaxed as he thought of the night before.

I'm just asking for you to watch over my boys.

Was that the only reason she was laying down with him right now? Did she only talk to him because of his father? He shook his head and thought of everything he and Din had been through and found himself blushing. Figuring that he should enjoy this rare private moment, he closed his eyes once more.

"You make me happy."

The sound of someone walking by stirred him, and he remembered how Din had to get up. Not liking the idea, he got up anyway and gently shook her until her eyes opened.

"What?" she asked with a tired tone.

Her eyes blurred as she looked up and saw someone hovering over her and for that brief moment, she saw Ryuunosuke. She blinked once more, clearing her vision and the image changed to Tatsunosuke, causing her heart to pick up, and a smile cross her face.

"Tatsu-kun," she said happily.

Happy that it was him, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. He blushed as he was pulled down on top of her.

"I'm so happy it's you Tatsu-kun," she whispered.

"Uh, Din-chan you have to make breakfast."

"Just let me hold you a little longer."

Tatsunosuke twitched. No one had ever said anything like that to him before and he didn't know how to react. Letting the blush on his face deepen, he relaxed and wrapped his arms around her.

Din had to prove to herself that Ryuunosuke was no longer around, and now Tatsunosuke was there. Tatsunosuke was the one who was going to be there for her now, not Ryuunosuke.

Din pulled away. "I'd better get going Tatsu-kun, I have to make breakfast."

"Alright." Tatsunosuke blinked.

Din stood up and walked out of the room, leaving the door open for Tatsunosuke. After waiting for a few minutes so that he wouldn't get caught leaving her room, he walked out of the room, and back into his normal working office.

"Come on Saya-chan!" Tetsunosuke yelled as he grabbed her small hand and ran ahead of her. She giggled, and ran along with him, passing the trio who was taking a break from training.

"Looks like Tetsu-kun has found himself a woman as well." Heisuke sighed. "Damn Ichimura brothers, they have all the luck."

"I think someone's jealous," Shinpachi teased, hitting him on the side with his elbow.

"Am not!" Heisuke hit the red head. "I'm just wondering what seems to draw women to the two brothers that's all."

"You act like they have hordes of women." Sanosuke narrowed his eyes.

"But they have one and that's more then me!" Heisuke yelled.

"So you are jealous!" Sanosuke and Shinpachi announced together.

"What about that Mizuarni girl who lives down by the river?" Shinpachi asked, moving in closer towards the brown haired boy. "I saw you talking to her yesterday!"

Heisuke blushed. "That doesn't mean anything!"

"Sure!" Sanosuke laughed. "By the way," he moved in closer towards the two, "did you see Tatsu-kun come out of Din-chan's room this morning? I was comin' to warn her about it getting late and she came out only to be followed by Tatsu-kun!"

Shinpachi moved his hand under his chin. "Come to think of it I didn't see Tatsu-kun when I woke up this morning."

"You think they were doin' something?" Heisuke asked, now getting into the conversation.

"EW!" Sanosuke pulled away from the group. "Don't talk about Tatsu-kun losing his virginity!"

"Is he a virgin?" Shinpachi whispered so that the nearby Tetsunosuke wouldn't hear anything more then he needed to.

"Well he's never had a girlfriend." Heisuke shrugged.

"That doesn't mean he's never had sex before." Shinpachi laughed. "But getting with Din-chan means that he likes older, more experienced women."

"Ew!" Sanosuke and Heisuke yelled.

"Hey!" Tetsunosuke came running towards the group. "I found this hanging near the front gate."

He handed Sanosuke a small white letter with Din's name written on the front in handwriting he had never seen before. Sanosuke, figuring that it would be best to give it to her then rather open it, stood up and sighed.

"I'll go and give it to her." He sighed. "Anyone know where she is?"

"I saw her eating lunch with Hijikata-sama," Tetsunosuke answered as Saya walked over to him and stood beside him.

"Alright." Sanosuke sighed.

"Remember that time when Hijikata got into a fight with the neighbors?" Din asked with a large smile across her face.

She was sitting in Hijikata's room with Kondo, Hijikata of course, and Yamanami, going over things that happened when they were younger. They were all eating the lunch she had made, and drinking small amounts of sake along with their tea as they reminisced.

"You were so angry!" Kondo laughed. "I remember Toshi-kun going over there and giving him that killer look he has and we never heard from them again!"

Din began laughing louder. "They were scared shitless!"

"It's that look!" Yamanami began laughing as well.

"And that sarcastic attitude!" Din added.

"Oh shut up." Hijikata said with a slight smile coming across his face.

"Hijikata-sama!" Sanosuke called from outside of the back door.

"Enter!" Hijikata answered.

Sanosuke opened the door, and walked in, looking for Din. He spotted her and without saying anything, he handed her the note and left the room. Wondering what it was, Din opened the note.

Din,

It's been three months since we've last seen each other, and I doubt Yoshida-sama would like that. I've got something that will lead you towards who killed your sister and I know you'll want it. Meet me in the building in the wood cutting factory tomorrow in the mid-afternoon. Come alone.

Suzu

Suzu. She thought, reading over the note once more. Suzu was the little boy who Setsuna-chan was taking care of. He's still alive? I thought someone said that he died after the Ikeda-ya incident.

Kondo noticed the change in Din's happy mood and how her eyes widened a bit as she read over the letter. He looked over towards Hijikata to see if he noticed it but he was busy eating as much as he could while they weren't laughing or talking.

"Is everything okay Din-chan?" Kondo asked.

Din looked away from the letter. "Fine." She folded it and hid it in her kimono. "Now where were we?"

The next day, Din did as she was told in the letter and arrived at the wood cutting factory. Moving passed the large piles of wood; she found a small wooden shack in the very back and figured that she was in the right place.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps came from behind Din, and she turned around to see if it was Suzu only to see a large, towering man standing behind her moving his sword towards her.

Shit. She thought.

She jumped backwards, missing the sword and landed, glaring towards the man. Reaching down into her kimono, she pulled out a throwing knife and threw it at the man's right shoulder. The knife went through his clothes and the handle stuck out, telling Din that she had hit her mark.

There! That should—

He raised his arm once more and moved his blade sideways, aiming for her neck. She ducked and stepped back a few steps until she felt the shack hit her back

I aimed for his shoulder! He shouldn't be able to move his right arm at all now dammit! What the hell is going on here? She thought, her hand gripping the wall behind her.

There was no place for her to run. Her eyes looked around, trying to find an open place but found nothing. Suddenly, she came up with a plan.

This better work.

She quickly moved to her left as the man followed her. Aiming for the corner of the building, she ran scooted towards it, the man started to move his right arm once more for another sideswipe. Once around the corner, she turned her back to the man and jumped backwards, his swing coming across and cutting her hair as well as the back of her neck.

Dammit, dammit, dammit!! She repeated over and over again in her head.

As she flew over him she grabbed another knife out of her kimono. She landed behind him, and with everything she had; she stabbed the knife into this back, aiming for his spine.

This has to do something.

The man moved back, and with his left arm, turned around and smacked Din to the right. Her body flew, smacking into a large pile of wood, and then hit the floor with her cringing in pain from both impacts. She heard a crack, and looked up to see that the wood was starting to fall and the man was walking towards her. Figuring that she the wood would come first, she moved her hands behind her head to protect it.

If I die here, I'm gonna be so pissed off. She told herself in order to comfort and calm her down.

She waited for the wood to come crashing down but heard another noise. Turning around she saw that the man had pushed his sword through the wood, preventing it from falling over.

"You have very nice moves," another voice said, catching her attention. Din looked up in front of her and saw Suzu sitting down with a smile on his face.

"Kitamura-kun," Din said breathlessly.

"Hello Din-chan, it's been a while." He grinned. "Excuse Hikagami-san, I just wanted to see how you would react against him."

He was so different from the Suzu Din had come to know in those three days she had spent with him. He was no longer the caring boy who Setsuna had taken care of; the death of his master had changed him completely.

"Now why don't you come out of there so I can talk to you?" Suzu moved, as did Hikagami.

Din moved from underneath the wood only to feel that she had done something to her left arm. Whenever she placed weight on it, a sharp pain shot up her arm and lingered on. Standing up, she realized that her hair had been cut very short, and the wound on her neck was bleeding profusely.

I'm hurt dammit. She thought as she panted from the pain. I can't fight again with my arm like this.

"What do you have that can tell me who killed Setsuna-chan?" Din asked, standing up weakly.

"This picture." He moved his hand down into a pocket and pulled out a small picture. "It's a picture of who killed Setsuna-san. But before I give it to you, I want something from you."

"What?" She narrowed her eyes.

"What is your connection with Ryoma Sakamoto?"

Din twitched, her heartbeat picking up. "He was helping me look for Setsuna-chan."

"That's it?"

"We're partners. But now that I know what happened to Setsuna-chan I don't think we'll be corresponding much longer." Din spoke as the blood from her neck began to leak down her back heavily.

"He's going to start turning the world around." Suzu cupped his chin. "And being with the Shinsengumi might lead to a few…problems. I want exactly what my master wanted, you are going to come with me."

Din's eyes widened. "I can't!" She shook her head. "Kitamura-kun please! Just give me a bit more time with the Shinsengumi!"

"Why?" Suzu blinked.

Tears began to fall down her face. "There's someone I love there! Please Kitamura-kun just allow me a bit more time with them! Then I'll come with you and do whatever you want me to just please!" Din took a large breath of air in. "Setsuna-chan asked me to take care of you and I will honor that wish if you just allow me more time!"

"How long?"

Din thought quickly and came up with a number. "Six months."

Suzu sighed. "Six months might be a bit too long. I think I'll come and get you whenever I see fit."

"Kitamura-kun!" Din moved forward but fell to her knees, dizzy because of her blood loss and pain. "Please," she begged, now crying heavily, "allow me to stay with the Shinsengumi and I'll make sure Tetsunosuke Ichimura is safe from harm."

"Tetsu-kun?" Suzu walked closer towards her with interest.

"I know you two are friends," she managed to say as her vision doubled. "I know you want to see him again. I'll watch over him."

Suzu turned away. "I don't know, take the picture and leave."

The white haired boy flicked the picture down onto the floor, and Din snatched it. Not wanting to be in the area any longer, she shoved it down into her kimono and looked back up at Suzu.

"I'll be watching you," Suzu said with another sigh.

Hikagami moved his hand down towards Din's head, and smacked her. The pain ran through her, and she tried to yell from the pain but nothing came out. Her mouth was wide open but nothing came out. Everything around her became black, and she fell to the floor, unconscious.

R&R please!