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

Thanks for the reviews!! I'm so happy! I'm almost caught up here, which is strange since I've been updating every week or so. Anyways,

Enjoy!

Two weeks had passed since Yamanami's death, and through everything, everyone seemed to be trying to move passed it. People were talking once more, and going about their business without saying anything about it. Even the two commanders seemed to be back to normal, but Hijikata kept away from Din as much as he could.

Kondo and Hijikata were now sitting in Hijikata's room as always, waiting for their lunch to be served to them. They were talking about other things that had been happening around the dojo, such as Heisuke talking about heading off with Ito's group because he wanted to protect him, and be with a group that used the same sword style that he did. In the middle of the conversation, Din slid the door open and came in with their food.

"Hey Din-chan," Kondo said happily.

"Sorry about the food," Din said as she bent down and served the lunch. "I'm going to go shopping in ten minutes to get more items to make a better dinner."

Kondo blinked. "It's raining Din-chan."

She shrugged. "It'll only take a few moments."

Din then stood up after giving the men their plain rice and bowed down. She walked out of the room, and gently closed the door behind herself, leaving the two alone.

"Are you two talking?" Kondo asked as Hijikata grabbed his food.

"I don't know." Hijikata closed his eyes.

"Remember my order." Kondo sighed. "But more then anything…remember what Sannan asked you to do."

Hijikata blinked. "You heard that?"

"Don't…let Din-chan become something you regret…please, watch after…her."

Remembering his words, Hijikata moved his chopsticks away from his mouth and set his food down on the floor. He just couldn't see why Yamanami would say something like that, he had come to the conclusion that Yamanami hated Din and wanted nothing to do with her, but he didn't know about how the two had begun to get along before he died.

Kondo shook his head. "Please go with her to the market. I fear that she might run away this time…and not come back."

"Not come back," Hijikata repeated, as his eyes grew wide.

He hopped up and grabbed a thicker kimono, which he wrapped tightly around himself. He looked back at Kondo who smiled, and then left the room, heading towards the front door.

The Ichimura brothers were sitting together in Tatsunosuke's workroom, mainly because he couldn't go outside and wash clothes so he was bored and had no where else to go. Tatsunosuke was working, as his left hand moved down and pressed against his stomach.

"What's wrong?" Tetsunosuke asked, looking at his brother's arm.

"Nothing," Tatsunosuke answered without taking his eyes off of his paper.

"Then why are you holding your stomach?"

Tatsunosuke sat back. "I've just this really bad feeling about something. I don't know why but it's flipped my stomach over."

"Hey." Tetsunosuke blinked and looked away from his brother. "Do you love Din-chan?"

"Love?" Tatsunosuke blinked.

"Yeah…love."

Tatsunosuke smiled and shook his head. "Why don't you talk about something else Tetsu-kun?"

"Because I want to know!" Tetsunosuke stood up.

"Your brother is someone I could marry."

"Tetsu-kun calm down." Tatsunosuke moved his hand up and down. "Why don't you head over to Shimabara and talk to Saya-chan?"

"She's coming over tomorrow." Tetsunosuke puffed up his cheeks and sat down. "She's been lonely ever since Akesato-san left."

"It's a shame." Tatsunosuke sighed as he went back to work.

Tetsunosuke sighed, thinking of another question. "Have you kissed Din-chan?"

Tatsunosuke blushed as he remembered being pushed into her. He remembered the way her lips felt on his, and how she looked up at him after it was done. Tetsunosuke coughed, bringing Tatsunosuke to shake his head back and forth.

"Enough questions Tetsu-kun!" Tatsunosuke looked down at his work. "I have to finish this tonight so could you please leave?"

"Fine." Tetsunosuke stood up and walked out of the room, allowing Tatsunosuke to sigh and rest his chin on his interlocked fingers.

Din-chan. He thought. You've been on my mind a lot…does that mean that I love you? Even after what I said…I still don't know. Those words just don't seem right for me to use when I think of you. I don't know. He shook his head once more. I'll worry about this later.

Hijikata walked out of the Shinsengumi to see Din walking away with an umbrella over her head just as she had been months ago. He took a deep breath in, and ran over to her, and grabbed her shoulder.

"What?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I want to talk to you," he confessed.

"About?" She turned around and handed him the umbrella.

"Everything."

"Fine." She turned her back to him. That's when he noticed that she had a scar on the back of her neck from where she had gotten cut and he had to place stitches in her to keep the cut together.

"Who took your stitches out?" he asked, realizing that he hadn't done it.

"A friend," she answered simply. "Come on, I have to get this done before it gets too late."

Through the shopping trip it had been rather quiet. They didn't say much to one another even though Hijikata told her that he was the one that wanted to talk. After the first twenty minutes of silence, he figured that he had just gone with Din to make sure she didn't run away.

Once the trip was done, she was walking home with him and a small package of food in her hands when she finally decided to tell him something.

"Hijikata?"

"What?" he asked.

"I have something to tell you."

"What?"

"I've broken my promise to you," she said as Hijikata slowed down. "I didn't tell you when I was falling in love with someone."

He blinked in disbelief as he walking came close to stopping. "You…fell in love with someone?"

She nodded. "I fell in love with him but that's not it…we're engaged."

Hijikata stopped walking as she continued until she was standing in the rain by herself. He could do or saying anything, all he could do was stand there and look at her back as the rain trickled down her body.

Din turned back around to face him. "I'm getting married."

The rain became heavier as Hijikata's eyes widened, and puffs of white smoke came from his mouth. The more and more he looked at the woman in front of him, he wondered if she was really crying, or if it was just the rain running down her face.

"Engaged?" Kondo asked in surprise as he sat forward. "To who?"

"I don't know," Hijikata answered.

They were in Hijikata's room with Hijikata sitting near the back door, watching the rain fall while Kondo sat further back in the room with a bowl of rice in front of him.

Kondo sat back. "So what are you going to do?"

"Nothing. There's nothing I can do."

"You never let that stop you before." Kondo sighed. "Come on Toshi-kun, just tell her how you feel about her."

"There's nothing to feel."

Kondo rolled his eyes. "Toshi-kun, I know you're still in love with her just as much as she is with you. Just tell her and perhaps it will change things around. You never used to let limits keep you away from the women you wanted."

Hijikata twitched and turned to him. "Are you saying I should do it anyway?"

"Yes." He nodded. "We don't know when she got engaged or how long she's been engaged so maybe she can break it off if she gets back with you."

"I've never heard you talk like that before."

"It's only because I think the two of you both love each other," Kondo said after taking in a deep breath. "You're just too stubborn to tell her, and that's something I know first hand Toshi-kun."

"I'll wait a few days." Hijikata sighed. "A few days before I say anything to her on those lines."

The next day the sun was out and shining down. Tetsunosuke was walking down the street with Saya by his side with a slight blush on her face. They walked into the Shinsengumi, and over to Souji to see Tatsunosuke catching pigs for the longhaired man.

"Thank you Tatsu-kun!" Souji said happily. "You caught them so easily!"

"It's no problem." Tatsunosuke laughed. "I've been getting a lot of practice thanks to Tetsu-kun."

"Are you saying," Tetsunosuke appeared next to his brother, "that I'm a pig?"

"What makes you say that?" Tatsunosuke laughed, trying to pretend that he hadn't said anything.

"Good grief." Souji giggled. "I see you brought your cute friend with you today Tetsu-kun."

"How are you feeling?" Tetsunosuke asked as he walked over to Souji with Saya behind him.

"Good." Souji smiled.

"Saya-can, this is Okita-san, the guy I'm always talking about," Tetsunosuke said, moving his hand towards the older man as Saya bowed.

"Hehe, Tetsu-kun has told me a lot about you too. You can't talk but you're really cute. And you need more practice on the shamisen," Souji said as he chuckled and Saya twitched.

Saya's eyes met Souji's and something strange happened. The way she was looking back at him caused him to shiver. Finding it strange, Souji stood up and coughed a bit, moving Saizou up with him.

"Well make yourself at home Saya-chan." Souji turned and walked into the room behind him and closed the door.

As soon as the door closed, Souji's coughing took over his body. He fell to his knees and began coughing over and over again, unable to clear whatever was bothering him out of his body.

What's wrong? Souji asked himself. What's going on?

The other entrance into the room suddenly opened, and Din ran in. She ran over to Souji and began to pat him on the back as she moved her face down towards his.

"Souji-kun!" she said. "Calm down Souji-kun!"

Souji's coughing fit lasted for a few more minutes, and slowly came to a stop. Din sighed once he stopped, and rubbed his back for a few moments to make sure that everything was okay with him.

"You want some water?" Din asked gently.

"No." Souji shook his head. "I think I'm all right."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Souji sat back up with a smile on his face.

Din sighed. "Okay then. I've got some chores to finish, please call me if you need anything else."

"I will." Souji giggled, trying to make her feel better.

Din turned away and walked out of the room. I'd better hurry up and finish that blanket before Souji-kun's cold gets any worse.

"We have things to do so we'll be leaving now," Tetsunosuke said as he looked towards Saya who just nodded.

"I don't think you should go into the quarters though." Tatsunosuke laughed.

"Haha, yeah! There are a lot of creeps in there!"

"It'll be dark when she leaves, make sure you walk her home," Tatsunosuke called out as the couple began to walk away.

"I know!" Tetsunosuke yelled back.

"I thought he was just a little brat," Susumu said as he walked up to the dark red head. "But it looks like he's been keeping himself busy if you follow me."

"Is your mind always in the gutter?" Tatsunosuke twitched.

"She's a girl ain't she?"

"She's a friend. A friend who's a girl! Can't you tell? And don't act like Tetsu-kun is doing somethin' wrong."

You either. Susumu thought. Ya can just tell by lookin' at her face. Neither one of them brothers knows a thing about love.

Din was in the kitchen making dinner when Saitou walked into the room with a small white note in his hands. She turned around to him, and her smile changed to a glare as she crossed her arms.

"What?" she asked with a harsh tone.

"A message from a person who misses you," Saitou said as he handed her the note.

"Really?" Din took the note and opened it to see Suzu's handwriting.

Din-chan,

Don't go anywhere soon; I'm planning something big for you.

--Suzu

"What do you have to do with this?" Din asked, looking back up at Saitou. "How do you know that boy?"

"I know him, that is all." Saitou nodded.

Din narrowed her eyes. "Are you going to take down the Shinsengumi?"

"No." He shook his head. "I'm simply trying to move along and help my cause."

Din looked away. "Fine, don't tell anyone about this."

"Don't worry."

"When you have tears of blood in your eyes, and you're missing a leg or two. When you come crawling to me, your face covered in mud and filth, then I can say, "Ah, I'm glad I let you live". Until that day comes, I'll be watching you…Tetsu-kun."

Tetsunosuke sat up in his closet with sweat dripping down his face. The incident that had happened with Suzu just hours before he had retired to bed replayed over and over in his mind until he could see them on the back of his eyelids every time he blinked.

Suzu-kun. Tetsunosuke shook his head. Why? What's wrong with you? Why aren't you the Suzu-kun I used to know? Suzu-kun…

Tetsunosuke turned back around and shoved his face into his pillow, trying to get rid of the images behind his eyelids. They just wouldn't leave him, and the more pressure he placed on his pillow, the more and more the images would become real until Tetsunosuke felt as if he were living them once more.

Suzu-kun! He thought, as he grabbed his blankets. Suzu-kun!!

Back in Din's room, she was just placing the sewing materials she was using to make Souji's blanket when she heard a light knocking on her back door. She put everything away quickly, and opened her back door to see Ryoma standing there with a smile on his face.

She pulled him into her room, and closed the door. Before he could say anything else to her, she ran over to the candle in her room and blew it out.

"Calm down Cowgirl," Ryoma whispered as he watched. "I just came here to check up on you."

"Check on me?" Din whispered, coming back over to him. "Why?"

"I heard a friend of yours died." Ryoma touched her face. "I wanted to know if you wanted a bit more time here instead of coming with me in a month."

She looked away. "I don't know. I really don't know."

"Why?" Ryoma blinked. "Somethin' goin' on here or somethin'?"

"I want to go with you," Din whispered with confident. "I want to help the alliance like I promised."

"You'll do that." Ryoma placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled. "Don't worry 'bout nothing! We'll get everything done and come back to live in our house!"

She smiled. "You have to be quiet."

"I will." He grinned. "But I'm sorry for the loss of your friend."

"I am too."

Ryoma walked over to the wall and sat down, surprising Din. She shook her head and sat down in front of him with her head lowered.

"Yamanami-kun committed Seppuku while I was with you," Din muttered.

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing I can do now." She sighed heavily. "I'm just going to go and see him tomorrow and leave flowers."

"Ya want me to come?"

"No." She shook her head. "I don't want you to get in trouble and if I'm seen up there with you, people may begin to think things."

"True." He sighed. "Leave him somethin' for me though."

She looked back up to him, and smiled. "Thank you, Ryoma."

"Well he looked after my girl while I was gone, I owe him somethin'."

Din moved over to Ryoma, and leaned against him, lacing his arm with hers. She placed her face in his neck, and he leaned his head over against hers with a smile. His hand moved down towards hers, and grabbed it, lacing their fingers together.

"I missed you," Din whispered.

"And I missed you."

Din tugged on Ryoma, causing him to look back down at her, blinking. She moved her mouth up to his, and pressed her lips against his. He pushed his face closer towards hers, making their lips meet completely. Her hands twitched as she felt that he hadn't shaved in a while.

After a few moments, she pulled away only to feel him place his hands on her face, and pull her back in for a deeper, rougher kiss.

"Ryoma," Din whimpered as she pushed him away.

"What?" he asked, pulling her in closer.

They kissed once more, only this time Ryoma pushed Din down and began kissing her neck. She arched her back into his chest, and he took it as a sign that she wanted him to go further down.

Hijikata wasn't coming into her mind at all. All she could think about was Ryoma and how his body was reacting to hers. Unlike the first time they had started to become intimate, she was only thinking of Ryoma and everything he was, not of Hijikata and what she had with him.

"Ryoma," Din whimpered.

"What?" he asked once more. "Somethin' wrong? Do you wanna do this?"

"What?" she asked, grabbing his jacket.

He moved up towards her ear. "Be with me."

She paused for a moment but then an answer came to her for the first time in a while. She smiled and grabbed his face and moved him until he was looking her in the eye.

"Yes," she answered. "I want to be with you."

R&R please!