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

Thankies for the reviews! Next week I'm going to thank the ones who review over and over again because you're so sweet to me! Anyways, I think I'm almost caught up with all of this, just a few more weekly updates and then they'll become slower and slower until I'm finally done. Damn this is long. Anyways,

Enjoy!

A day had passed, and Din hadn't returned. Her body was still lying down in the wood cutting factory, unnoticed. The Shinsengumi, by then, had noticed her missing and had sent out Souji to find her.

"Din-nee!" Souji called out as he walked around. "Din-nee!!"

"Din-chan!!" another male voice called out as if he had found something.

Din-nee? Souji asked himself.

Wanting to know if the other voice had found her and ignoring the thought of it being someone he didn't know, he ran towards the voice and found himself running through the wood cutting factory.

"Din-nee!!" Souji called out. "Din-nee!"

He ran to the back and saw Din lying on the floor, and Ryoma bending down towards her with his right hand on her neck.

Souji's hand came to his mouth. Din was just lying there; not moving and he couldn't see her chest or back moving up and down as she took in breaths. Her back was covered in blood from the wound on her back, and her hair was cut short and frizzed. Souji thought the worst at first and then moved closer towards her.

"She's got a pulse," Ryoma said, taking his hand away from her neck.

Souji sighed and relaxed. "Good. Do you know what happened?"

Ryoma shook his head. "No. She didn't come to see me last night like she promised so I knew somethin' was up."

"Come to see you?" Souji blinked. "Why would she come to see you?"

Ryoma smiled and looked away. "Because we used to be engaged."

Souji's mouth dropped open. Din and Ryoma? He just couldn't believe that she would fall for someone like him. As he thought back to see if there had been any signs when he thought of engament ring Din had shown him when they had finally met up again. DHxRS, Din Hinto and Ryoma Sakamoto.

"We'd better get her back to the Shinsengumi, I don't have a stable place for her." Ryoma bent over and gently picked her up. "You don't mind do you Okie-chan?"

"No." Souji shook his head.

"You're not gonna arrest me?"

Souji looked downwards. "Not now. Not with Din-nee like this."

Hijikata stood next to Din's body, waiting for her to wake up. He had treated her wounds as well as he knew how; her cut on her neck had been sewn together. She was lying down in her nemaki with her shortened hair now down to her shoulders.

How the hell could she get so damn hurt? Hijikata thought as he looked over towards her. What the hell was she doing?

He looked down towards her blood soaked clothing and picked up a small picture that had fallen out of her kimono when he was changing her. He looked at it, and wondered what it could mean.

It was a picture of an older looking man who resembled Tatsunosuke, and a young looking Din standing next to one another. He blinked, wondering who the man was and why Din had a picture of him. He flipped the picture over to the white back and saw handwriting.

Din-nee, age twenty something.

Din-nee? Hijikata asked himself. Could Setsuna-chan have taken this picture? Or did she have it?

Din moaned and moved slightly, catching Hijikata's attention. He moved over towards her as her eyes fluttered open and she moved her right hand up to her face.

"Ow. Dammit," she moaned, coming to. "Where the hell am I?"

"Home," Hijikata answered, moving his right hand to her forehead to see if she had a fever. "What the hell happened to you?"

"A fight," she moaned, feeling the pain shoot back in her left arm.

"With?" He moved back against the wall.

She managed to sit up and smiled. "An old friend."

"Here." Hijikata handed her the picture he had found. "This fell out of your kimono when I was changing you."

Din moved her right arm over and grabbed the picture. Taking a deep breath in she brought it up to her face and saw that it was of her and Ryuunosuke.

"It's a picture of who killed Setsuna-san."

Ryuunosuke-san and I? Din asked herself as he stared at the picture. How could we have killed Setsuna-chan? This doesn't make any sense! I went through all of that crap for nothing.

"What happened to your hair?" Hijikata asked, breaking through all of her thoughts.

Din reached back to it and felt how short it was. "It got caught in the middle of the fight. I hate it when my hair is this short."

"I've never seen it that way."

"It's ugly." She sighed. "But what does it matter?"

Hijikata decided to change the subject. "You might have dislocated your shoulder but it's back in place now."

"Thanks." She felt her left shoulder with her right hand. "How long have I been out?"

"Souji-kun found you yesterday and before that you had been gone for only one day." Hijikata stood up. "You should take your medicine."

Din looked to her right and saw small cups filled with clear liquid. Figuring that was what Hijikata was talking about; she took them each and shook her head from the bitter taste.

"Saitou-kun wants to speak with you when you get better." Hijikata spoke, not liking the silence between them.

"I don't know too much about him." Din looked out towards the back window, twitching from the stretch on the back of her neck. "He's the second unit captain correct?"

"Right." Hijikata reached over to his tray and brought his pipe towards his lips. "Ito-san will be here at the end of the week."

"Great." Din sighed. "What are you going to tell him about me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Din crossed her legs, "I'm just wondering if he'll think something is going on because I always eat dinner with you. I don't want to cause problems that's all."

"Don't worry." He lit his pipe. "I'll take care of everything."

Din's eyes moved downwards, looking at the ground. "Thank you Hijikata."

"You're still hiding things from me."

"You are too." Din turned back to Hijikata to see him smoking. "I'm sorry."

"So Ito-sama is coming here in seven days?" Sanosuke asked, looking at his two other partners in crime.

They were all sitting around outside of the room where Tatsunosuke was working with the door open, hoping that he would come out and take a break. Sanosuke and Shinpachi were sitting on the wooden deck while Heisuke was standing.

"I'm so excited!!" Heisuke said as he twirled around. "I can't wait!"

"He must be a cool guy." Shinpachi blinked as he watched his friend spin around.

"Super cool!!" Heisuke grinned.

"Hey," Sanosuke blinked as something came to him, "isn't Din-chan's birthday sometime this week?"

"Is it October already?" Shinpachi sighed. "Time's going so fast nowadays."

"Yeah." Sanosuke moved his right fist down into his open left hand. "Her birthday is the day before Ito-sama shows up."

Birthday? Tatsunosuke thought as he looked up from his work. Her birthday is six days away. Should I do something for her? He blushed. He looked over towards a small box where he had been keeping money and sighed.

"She's gonna be thirty-one this year!" Sanosuke laughed. "Damn!"

"Hey!" Tetsunosuke came from around the corner with a box in his hands. "I found another package for Din-chan, do you know where she is?"

"No." Shinpachi shook his head.

"Give me that." Heisuke snatched the box from the smaller boy. "Why does she keep getting these things?" He moved it up and down. "It's really light."

Shinpachi grinned. "I wonder what it could be."

"I know how we can find out." Sanosuke said as the grin Shinpachi had on his face crossed his as well.

"Right." Heisuke held to the box tighter. "We'll give it to Din-chan Tetsu-kun, thanks a lot."

"You're gonna open it aren't you?" Tetsunosuke glared towards the older man.

"No." Heisuke turned around and ran away, signaling to the other two to run as well.

"Hey!" Tetsunosuke yelled.

The trio took off, leaving nothing but a dust trail behind. Tetsunosuke was going to run after them, but figured that they were long gone by now, and just went back to his page duties, hoping that they would give it to Din.

The trio found Din in the kitchen, stirring something with her right arm. It didn't smell like she was making something, and it was too early for her to start making dinner. Ignoring that fact, they opened the box and found a bunch of papers with messy handwriting on them.

"What's this?" Shinpachi asked out loud.

"Lemme read them!" Sanosuke grabbed the top letter. "My Din," Sanosuke began reading out loud, "I miss you and wish to share my nights with you once more."

"EW!" Heisuke twitched.

"It's so romantic!" Shinpachi fluttered his eyes and laughed.

Din stopped what she was doing. She closed her eyes, and waited for the trio to say something else before she did anything.

"There are nights," Sanosuke continued, "that I wish for your warmth and company and wake in disappointment."

"Sanosuke-kun?" Din asked, turning around. "Where the HELL did you get that!?"

"No where!" He laughed.

"Give it to me!" Din held out her right hand. "NOW!"

"Run!" Shinpachi yelled.

Once again the trio took off with the box full of letters but Din chased after them. She followed them as they ran through the dojo, through the hallways, and passed the members who looked at them strangely.

"I didn't know she was this fast!!" Shinpachi yelled as he took a sharp corner.

"Me either!" Heisuke yelled back.

"It sure is a wonderful day outside today," Kondo said as he took a large breath in.

"It's bright." Hijikata sighed as; he too, looked out towards the backyard. "We're going to have to begin burning leafs soon."

"Yes." Kondo smiled. "Fall is coming once more. Speaking of which, what are you going to do for Din-chan's birthday?"

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"Did you even remember?"

"Yeah I did." Hijikata sighed. "She remembered mine."

Kondo blinked. "She did?"

"Yeah."

"What did she do?"

Hijikata blushed. "She did…something."

"GET BACK HERE!!!" a female voice screamed, interrupting their conversation.

Hijikata and Kondo looked over towards the backyard once more and saw the trio run by closely followed by Din. They could see that she was growing tired as they ran out in front of her, ready to turn around another corner. Hijikata was about to get up and stop the useless play when Din pulled out a knife from her kimono and threw it. It landed right in front of the trio, stopping them from turning the corner.

"Give…," Din said as she panted. "Give me back…that box."

"Shit she's serious!" Sanosuke said as he held tightly to the box.

"Yeah!" Shinpachi and Heisuke answered together as they looked towards the sharp knife.

Din walked over to the trembling trio and snatched the box back from them. As she walked by Hijikata's room once more, Tetsunosuke walked into his room with tea and spotted Din.

"You got your box Din-san?" Tetsunosuke asked.

"Yes," she answered with a large breath of air.

"Oh what's in the box Din-chan?" Kondo asked innocently.

Din blushed. "Sorry Isami-kun, I'd rather not talk about it."

"It's a bunch of love letters!" Shinpachi said as he and the others ran up behind her. She turned around to glare at them, but discovered that they had disappeared.

"Love letters?" Kondo laughed as he patted the spot next to him. "Why don't you let me read a few of them?"

"Uh." Din held the box tightly. "I don't know if Hijikata would be comfortable with that."

"Why?" Hijikata glared towards the woman.

"Because you wrote them," she answered, her blush deepening. "This box is full of the letters you used to write when we couldn't see each other."

"Huh." Hijikata looked away and closed his eyes. "Nothing more then firewood now. Hurry up and throw them away."

Din looked away from Hijikata and gripped the box in her arms. Kondo could see the normal look behind her eyes suddenly disappeared, and was replaced by an upset, hurt look. Kondo moved his hand out towards her to comfort her but before he could, she stepped away from him and walked back into her room.

"Toshi-kun." Kondo sighed.

"Hum?" Hijikata looked over towards his old friend. "What?"

Night had fallen and dinner had been served thanks to Shinpachi who took Din's place because of her injured arm. Tatsunosuke had just finished working for the day and found himself standing outside of Din's room.

I don't know if I can do it. Tatsunosuke told himself as he took a big breath inwards.

He had finally told himself that he was going to ask her if she wanted to go out on her birthday. He was afraid that she would say no, or that it was too early for her to decide something like that but he felt as if he had to ask her now. Finally gathering up all of the courage, he knocked on her door.

After a few moments of silence, Din slid the door open from the other side and smiled when she saw Tatsunosuke. Not saying anything, she moved to the side, telling him to come in. He smiled back at her, his heart slamming against the front of his chest, and stepped into the room, allowing her to close the door.

"Hey Tatsu-kun," Din said, breaking the silence. "What is it?"

"Hum, Din-chan," Tatsunosuke said, feeling his stomach cramp suddenly. "Are you doing anything on your birthday?"

Din looked to the side for a moment. "Not that I know of right now. Why?"

"Because I was…wondering," Tatsunosuke felt a blush cross his face, "if you wanted to go out for dinner with me."

Din blinked. "Sure. I'd like that."

"Really?" Tatsunosuke looked up at Din with surprise. He didn't think that she would say yes.

"Yeah." Din nodded. "I think my arm should be fine by then so I should be able to go without any kind of pain. Where do you want to go?"

He twitched. "I'll find somewhere to go."

"Alright then." Din closed her eyes as her smile grew. "Just tell me when you find out. I can't wait to go."

"You DID it?!" Heisuke asked in surprise.

"Yeah." Tatsunosuke looked down as he blushed once more.

The trio, plus the two Ichimura brothers, and Susumu were sitting on the back step of the bedroom's open backdoor. The talking between the trio and Tatsunosuke had attracted Tetsunosuke, as well as Susumu who thought he should catch up on all of the gossip between everyone in the dojo.

"I can't believe she said yes!" Shinpachi said as he laughed. "Maybe she does like you Tatsu-kun!"

"Uh…thanks," Tatsunosuke said as he twitched.

"How far are you plannin' to take this date?" Susumu asked, crossing his arms.

"What do you mean?" Tatsunosuke asked innocently.

"Are you plannin' to take her back to a private room?" Susumu laughed a bit and leaned against the wall behind him.

"NO!" Tatsunosuke yelled as his blush returned to his face. "I'm just going to take her out to dinner and bring her back home! I'm not going to do or except anything more!"

"Just don't get too mushy with her," Tetsunosuke huffed as he crossed his arms.

"What are you talking about Tetsu-kun?" Tatsunosuke blinked.

"Don't let her hold your hand or kiss you or anythin'." Tetsunosuke looked back towards his older brother and moved his index finger back and forth. "She might want to move faster then you do!"

"Tetsu-kun!" Tatsunosuke yelled. "Don't think like that! Who put those ideas into your head!?"

"Puppy-kun has a point," Heisuke said, coming back into the conversation. "What are you going to do if she makes a move on you?"

"Go along with it!" Sanosuke said with a laugh.

Susumu pushed himself away from the wall and began walking away. "Be careful with her Tatsu-kun, she might want something you can't give her."

"What?" Tatsunosuke twitched once more and blushed.

"Yeah take everything easy when you're out with her," Sanosuke said, leaning in towards the red head. "If you want to hold her hand, bump yours next to hers and call it an accident. She can't know that you want her."

"Why not?" Tetsunosuke asked, looking up at the much taller man.

Heisuke moved towards the smaller red head. "He has to lead her on. That way she'll come crawling to him."

"For what?" Tetsunosuke blinked cutely.

"Nothing!" Tatsunosuke stood up. "Nothing at all can we please just all go to bed? I'd rather not discuss this out loud!"

"Fine, fine." Sanosuke moved his hand back and forth. "Come on guys, let's get to bed."

"Night!" Shinpachi and Heisuke said to the others while they stood up.

"Good night." Tatsunosuke said, the blush still heavy on his face.

Din was sitting down on her futon, and had just finished cleaning and had covered the fire in the room. She began to get underneath her covers when she heard a slight knocking coming from her backdoor. Worried that it might have been some kind of emergency, she sat up and walked over to the door, and opened it.

"Hey Cowgirl!" Ryoma whispered.

"Ryoma!" Din grabbed his shirt and pulled him in, and then closed the door. "What the hell are you doing here?! You're going to get yourself locked up!"

"But you'll let me out right?" He whispered as he grabbed the sides of her face and moved her face towards his only to have her turn her head.

Confused, he moved his upper lip to his right side. "What's up Cowgirl?"

"You really love me don't you?" she asked, keeping her eyes hidden.

"Yeah! I won't come here for nothin'!" He whispered with a small laugh. "Why you askin' something like that?"

"I want to be with Hijikata. I don't know if it's my heart or what but I want to be with him just like we used to be but something inside of me is telling me to be with Shi as well."

"I'm confused," she admitted, moving her head into Ryoma's chest.

"'Bout?"

"If I really love you as much as you love me," she answered.

"If you didn't love much as much as I love you then you wouldn't have waited for me down at the docks everyday," he answered as he began to pet her head. "You wouldn't have cried so hard when I asked you to marry me, and you would be out there tellin' on me right now."

"I think I still love Hijikata."

Ryoma closed his eyes, and his left hand gripped her kimono. "I can't tell you who to love, but I can tell ya…that I love you."

"Ryoma," Din whimpered. "I want to be with you."

He moved his hand down and picked up her chin, making her look at him. "Is that a solid fact?"

"Yeah," she said with a smile, and a trail of tears falling down her face.

She felt strange saying that she wanted to be with Ryoma. She knew that it was something that she had wanted but Hijikata still lingered in the back of her mind, and her feelings for him did as well. But along with the feelings, she knew that Hijikata was never going to do anything on, if any, of the feelings he had. She was tried of waiting around for him, but this, perhaps, would cause him to realize everything.

R&R please!