I don't own PMK or any of it's characters, I only own Din, Setsuna, and Seimura.
Thank you for the reviews!! They brighten up my day!! No matter how small/large they are!
Remember awhile back I said that this wouldn't be going on for much longer? Well I have a guess at how many chapters this is going to keep going, and I'm aiming to finish it within fifty chapters. ((Damn!)) I know I said only a few more but when I sat down and planned it out it turned out that I had A LOT more to do within this story. Not only with Din and her issues, but with the PMK storyline entirely. (If you have the fourth and fifth PMK mangas you know what I'm talking about.) I really hope that all of you will stick with me through the chapters, since the ending will be something I hope no one sees coming. Thank you!!
Enjoy!
Two weeks had passed since Din had left the Shinsengumi household in such an uproar, and things were back to the way they used to be. Shinpachi and Sanosuke took turns cooking, and Tetsunosuke had been given all the chores that Din would normally do. No one spoke about the time when Din had been at the Shinsengumi, instead they only talked about battles and training that happened while she was there, nothing more.
"Tatsu-nii!" Tetsunosuke called as he into the Shinsengumi headquarters. "Tatsu-nii! I have something for you!"
Hearing his little brother call out to him, Tatsunosuke stuck his head out of the back door of his office. He spotted Tetsunosuke running down the backyard with a thin letter in his right hand.
"What?" Tatsunosuke blinked.
Tetsunosuke arrived in front of his brother. "There was this guy standing outside of the gates who wanted me to give this to you."
The smaller red head handed Tatsunosuke the thin letter. Tatsunosuke took it, and studied over the address to find that he didn't recognize it.
"Did the man say anything else?" Tatsunosuke asked.
Tetsunosuke shook his head back and forth. "Nope, he just gave this to me and told me to give it to Ichimura Tatsunosuke."
"Oh." Tatsunosuke looked back down at the letter. "Thank you Tetsu-kun."
Silence set in as Tetsunosuke stood there in wait. He wanted to know what was in the letter, and he wasn't going to leave until he found out. Tatsunosuke, on the other hand, feared what might be in it.
Tatsunosuke noticed Tetsunosuke's staring. "What?"
"Open it!" Tetsunosuke said impatiently.
"Alright." Tatsunosuke sighed and moved the letter in a position to where he could open it.
Tatsunosuke ripped the top of the letter open and moved his hand down inside where he felt another thin piece of paper. He grabbed it with care, and slid it out of the letter to find that it was a small picture. It was the picture he had taken with Din the night before she left with Ryoma.
"Oh." Tatsunosuke's smile disappeared.
"What?" Tetsunosuke perked up and tried to look at the picture. "What is it?"
"Nothing." Tatsunosuke looked away. "Just go back to what you were doing Tetsu-kun, thank you for bringing me the letter."
"But…" Tetsunosuke blinked. "What is it?"
He wanted to know what small piece of paper could have killed his brother's good mood so quickly. It had taken days for Tetsunosuke to get Tatsunosuke to smile after Din had left and he didn't want his brother to be so upset again.
Tetsunosuke began moving around his brother to try and see what had upset him. Tatsunosuke fought with him as he tried to hide the picture from his younger brother but the stronger Tetsunosuke grabbed his right arm and pulled the picture down towards him.
"Oh…" Tetsunosuke released Tatsunosuke's arm. "Tatsu-nii…I'm sorry I didn't mean to—"
Tatsunosuke smiled. "Don't worry about it Tetsu-kun. Go back to finishing your chores now before Hijikata-sama yells at you."
"O-Okay."
Tetsunosuke took a step backwards, and then another one until he picked up enough speed to run away from Tatsunosuke. Once Tatsunosuke had lost sight of his brother, he stepped back into his work room and closed the door until nothing but a small crack was left between it and the wall. He moved back over to his desk littered with papers and kneeled down, the smile still on his face.
"Tetsu-kun you're so nosey," he whispered to himself in a happy tone. "You always think that you've done something wrong."
He slid the picture underneath a large pile of paper that he had yet to file, and picked up another piece of paper. He began to work on it with the smile still on his face as if nothing were wrong with him.
"I want to take you across the ocean with me. Will you, one day?"
Tatsunosuke pressed down harder on the brush he was using as the line Din had said entered his mind. He bit his lower lip and forced himself to keep working, even though his mind was elsewhere in a place that demanded more attention.
"I think I'll be waiting for that day."
"Dammit," he muttered to himself. "Focus…you're working."
"When I'm gone Tatsu-kun? Will you wait for me to get back?"
Tatsunosuke grabbed the brush in his hands tighter then he had been before. He closed his eyes for a long minute as he searched within himself for a push to keep working, and a push to remove Din from his mind.
"Din is a traitor to the Shinsengumi; she was spying for the Choushuu alliance and is one of the leaders."
"I know," he whispered. "I know that now but…"
He knew that he had placed Tetsunosuke in danger by falling for Din and even by thinking about her right now but he couldn't help himself. He knew that she was now wanted by the Shinsengumi and would die on the spot next time she was seen but he never got to tell her how he felt.
"If I had only been stronger," Tatsunosuke told himself. "I should have told her."
No. He thought as he shook his head. She's not on our side anymore; she betrayed all of us…even me. She was with the people who killed my parents and caused so much suffering between Tetsu-kun and I.
He had to rid himself of his feelings for Din. There wasn't a choice in the matter for Tatsunosuke, Hijikata had ordered it, and it was Hijikata he now worked under. There wasn't anyone in the world Tatsunosuke would risk losing his job for because it meant that there was a chance of Tetsunosuke losing his home once more. Tatsunosuke didn't want to end up back on the streets because of someone who wasn't related to him.
Then again Tatsunosuke wanted to be with Din. She was the first real person he had fallen in love with and he wanted to be with her. He wanted to be next to her and just hear her voice once more. That's all he wanted, her.
"Nothing. I'm just happy I'm here with you now."
"But you're not here."
Tatsunosuke moved forward and lost control of the tears that had been burning behind his eyes. The brush he had been holding fell from his hands and onto the table. He moved his right hand away from the brush and to his forehead.
"Why did you have to leave Din-chan?"
"Please Ryo! Please!" Din begged.
In the weeks that Din had been away from the Shinsengumi, her wound had healed well thanks to medicines Susumu had given Ryoma. Though the wound hadn't fully healed, Din had been acting as if it had already. Everything had been going smoothly with Din until she remembered that she had forgotten something back at the Shinsengumi.
"I have to go back and get it Ryo!" Din said as she tugged on Ryoma's kimono top. "I can't leave this place without it!"
Ryoma had come in to see how Din was doing at lunch when she grabbed his kimono. She was sitting up in front of Ryoma with her hands on his chest and a glisten in her eyes that told Ryoma that she was about to cry.
"I can't go back to the Shinsengumi!" Ryoma said in a soft tone. "If I go back there I'll die!"
"Then let me go!" Din whimpered. "Please, it's the only picture and letter I have of Ryuunosuke-sama! I can't be without it!"
Ryoma shook his head. "I can't let you go, or any of my men."
"But," Din's eyes began to water, "I can't leave it there!"
Ryoma grabbed Din's hand and moved it away from his kimono. "Din…I just can't."
Din began to cry as she lowered her head. Ryoma stood there, unable to do or say anything to her. He hated to see her like this but knew that there was too much at stake right now to go and get a picture.
"I'm sorry Din," Ryoma said as he too, lowered his head.
Two hours later, Tatsunosuke's ears picked up on the sound and smell of something burning. He stood up, and walked into the backyard to make sure that the fire wasn't out of control and found Hijikata standing in front of a large pile of leafs. Tatsunosuke walked over to him, and saw Hijikata throw a small piece of paper into the fire.
"A little early to be burning leafs don't you think?" Tatsunosuke asked, trying to make good conversation.
"I'm not only burning leafs." Hijikata closed his eyes. "I'm burning paperwork that Din left behind."
"Oh." Tatsunosuke looked away from Hijikata.
Burning what Din had left behind seemed so final. As if Hijikata knew that Din was never going to come back, or even as if he knew that she had passed away. Tatsunosuke stepped away from the fire that told him that Din was in fact gone and began to walk away when Hijikata turned back to him.
"I want you to go through what's left of Din's things," Hijikata ordered. "Make sure there's nothing in there about her being here. If there's anything about her ties with the Choushuu, you are to give it to me is that understood?"
Tatsunosuke nodded. "Yes sir."
With that done, Tatsunosuke walked away from his adviser and over to Din's room. He took a large breath inwards as his hand touched the door. It was going to be strange to go in there and not have her there.
"Get over it," Tatsunosuke told himself.
He slid the door open and walked inside to the room he had been in thousands of times. He looked around to see papers scattered around the room, and two small wooden boxes sitting in the corner of the room near her futon. Her clothing still sat on the floor, waiting to be used while other items hung in the closet.
It felt so surreal to be in this now empty room. Tatsunosuke looked around and shivered. There was such a cold feeling in the room that he couldn't describe. He knew that the winter season had come early this year but it wasn't that cold outside. It was so cold in the room. Tatsunosuke shivered once more as he walked over to the papers and began to go through them.
The papers were nothing of importance. Tatsunosuke sorted through them rather quickly and moved on to other areas of the room where more papers lay scattered. Nothing caught his attention or brought anything to alarm as far as Tatsunosuke could see.
Once every piece of paper on the floor had been looked through, Tatsunosuke moved his attention to the two small wooden boxes in the corner of the room. He picked up the right one first, and slid the top off only to see a picture of Ryuunosuke with Din.
"Father," Tatsunosuke whispered.
It was still a bit strange to see Din in a picture with his father when, before Din gave him one, he didn't have any pictures himself. He couldn't remember Din from when he was younger which bothered him, but then again he really couldn't remember too much from when he was younger before his parents died.
What kind of relationship did you have with Din-chan Father? He thought to himself.
There are so many questions I want to ask you now…but I can't. Please Father…give me a sign on what to do.
The back door slid open, and Hijikata moved into the room with a single step. Tatsunosuke placed the picture down onto the floor and looked up towards his commander.
"Yes Hijikata-sama?" he asked.
"What can I burn?" Hijikata asked as he looked around the room.
"Uh." Tatsunosuke looked around and spotted the useless papers he had gone through a few minutes ago. "All of those can be burned; they're just paperwork about tabs at the old bakery."
"Fine."
Hijikata bent down and picked up the large pile of paper. Without saying another word he left with the papers, and closed the back door behind himself. Tatsunosuke returned his look to the picture of his father. After looking at it for a few more minutes, he put it down beside him and continued to look through the box.
The box contained more pictures of when Din was younger, and some pictures of when she had grown older. Some of the pictures she was by herself, while in others she was with people Tatsunosuke didn't know. He moved through the pictures, but stopped when he found a picture of a young Din with another woman that looked similar to Din. Sestuna.
Setsuna-san? Tatsunosuke asked himself.
He had never seen Setsuna before but now that he was looking back at a picture of her, he could see the similarities between Din and Setsuna. But instead of looking at the picture, Tatsunosuke placed it back into the wooden box and closed it tightly. The box contained things that Tatsunosuke didn't want to throw out. These things were items that Din treasured and Tatsunosuke couldn't bear to throw them away. He would keep these items, just in case Din ever came back.
With this box done, Tatsunosuke reached over to the unchecked box and grabbed it. He pulled it over to himself and began looking through it. The first thing he found was just a plain piece of paper but beneath that he found a picture of a young Din standing beside a young Hijikata.
I can't throw these things away. Tatsunosuke thought. These things mean too much to Din-chan…I couldn't give these to Hijikata-sama to burn.
Tatsunosuke put everything back in the box he had taken out, and made sure that both of them were sealed the way they had been when Did had done it. He placed one box on top of another and carried the two out of the room. He carefully stepped into his office and hid the two boxes away in his closet and then returned to Din's room. When he returned to her room, he began searching through another pile of papers when Hijikata entered the room once more.
"Anything more?" Hijikata asked.
Tatsunosuke grabbed the papers he had been looking over. "Just these sir and I'm not done looking them over."
"Fine." Hijikata turned away. "I'll be back in a few minutes to collect those."
Tatsunosuke nodded. "Yes Hijikata-sama."
Hijikata left the room once more and closed the door. Tatsunosuke looked back down towards the papers he was to file and began concentrating as hard as he could on them.
"Damn," Ryoma whispered.
Night had fallen, and Ryoma had left his hideout in search of food for everyone that worked underneath him. He was wearing a disguise that covered his face and left his eyes visible while everything else remained hidden. Personally he hated to wear such things but it was the only way to get around without getting sent to the Shinsengumi or being chased around.
"Please, it's the only picture and letter I have of Ryuunosuke-sama! I can't be without it!"
Ryoma sighed. Why do you have such a hold over Din Ryuunosuke-sama? She's still so damn attached to you.
In truth, Ryoma felt horrible that he couldn't sneak his way into the Shinsengumi in order to pick up Din's forgotten items. There was just no easy way around it. He couldn't just walk into the Shinsengumi and retrieve her items, the two were both wanted by the Shinsengumi and it was just too dangerous.
Sorry Din. Ryoma thought as he hung his head.
"Please, just a few loafs of bread," a familiar voice said.
Ryoma looked out ahead of him and saw Tatsunosuke standing in front of a bakery with a frown on his face. Ryoma paused for a moment; he didn't know if he should approach Tatsunosuke or not when the image of Din crying came back into his mind. It was worth a shot to try and ask Tatsunosuke to at least get that one picture.
With a slight jump in his step, Ryoma walked over to Tatsunosuke and stood beside him. He began ordering his own bread while Tatsunosuke waited for his order to be filled. Ryoma got his small order first, and looked over towards Tatsunosuke.
"Not as good as Din's 'eh?" Ryoma asked.
Tatsunosuke froze. "What?"
"Din!" Ryoma lowered the covering around his face and took a bite from the bread. "Hey there Dragon Boy!"
Tatsunosuke looked around at the people around him. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm still in Kyoto," Ryoma answered with a grin.
"Where's Din? Is she okay?"
Ryoma nodded. "Perky as ever! But speakin' about her Dragon Boy, I've got somethin' I wanna ask you."
The woman at the bakery handed Tatsunosuke the bread he had ordered. Tatsunosuke took it, and began to walk away from the bakery with Ryoma by his side only with his cover back over his mouth. They walked behind a building and ducked away from the crowd.
"What?" Tatsunosuke asked once they were alone.
"Din's gotta a bunch of stuff back at your place," Ryoma began, "she wants the picture of your Dad before we leave."
"Leave?" Tatsunosuke's heart dropped down into his stomach.
All of Tatsunosuke's hopes of Din coming back to the Shinsengumi, no matter how small they were, crumbled in that single moment. Din was still leaving just as she had planned to. She was going somewhere that Tatsunosuke couldn't go with her; no matter how much he loved her.
"I'm askin' you to get that picture for me Dragon Boy." Ryoma bowed. "Do you think you can get it for me?"
Tatsunosuke looked away. Could he help the opposite side that he was told to have nothing to do with? He couldn't stand the fact that there was something he could do to help Din but at the same time it was forbidden. But this was his last chance to do something for the woman he loved.
"I'll do it," Tatsunosuke said. "Give me a few minutes and I can get the picture for you."
"Really?!" Ryoma perked up. "You can really get it for her?"
Tatsunosuke nodded. "On one condition."
Ryoma blinked. "What?"
"You tell her that I did it for her."
"Sure." Ryoma smiled.
Tatsunosuke returned to the Shinsengumi and put the food in the kitchen that he had collected. He began to sneak out of the kitchen and back into his room to get the pictures Din wanted when Shinpachi stepped into the kitchen.
"Hey Tatsu-kun," Shinpachi said.
Tatsunosuke jumped. "What?"
"You forgot the radishes," Shinpachi said as he pointed to the bag Tatsunosuke had brought in. "Can you run back out and get them? I need them for dinner."
"Uh sure!" Tatsunosuke walked out of the kitchen. "Give me a minute or two alright?"
"Anything!" Shinpachi called out.
Tatsunosuke sunk back into his room and grabbed another bag he used to keep loose paperwork in. He walked over to the closet where he had hidden the boxes earlier and placed them both into the bag.
His heart pounded away in his chest with every second that passed. Tatsunosuke was nervous to be doing something that was said to be against the rules but for once he decided to go against the feeling in his stomach. The thought of making Din happy for the last time was the only thing that kept Tatsunosuke from backing out of this deal, and that was all he needed.
Once both boxes were safely in the bag, Tatsunosuke backed out of his room and left the Shinsengumi once more under the promise of bringing home more food. He ran down the street, being careful not to damage the boxes. He ran until he reached the spot where Ryoma stood in wait.
"I've got both of her boxes," Tatsunosuke said through a series of pants. "I found them earlier today."
"Wow!" Ryoma reached out and took the boxes from the red head. "Great job Dragon Boy!"
"Please," Tatsunosuke moved his fingers into a fist, "take good care of Din-chan."
Ryoma looked away from the boxes and back towards Tatsunosuke, blinking. He looked down at Tatsunosuke's hands to see how tight his fists were, and smiled. Tatsunosuke moved his attention back towards Ryoma and cocked his right eyebrow.
"Why are you so happy?" Tatsunosuke asked.
Ryoma shook his head. "Ya know you're exactly like your father and I think that's why Din likes you so much."
"My Father?" Tatsunosuke blinked.
"Never mind, that was the wrong thing to say." Ryoma moved his free hand behind his neck and began to rub his neck. "Din likes you a lot Dragon Boy, and I'm sorry that things had to turn out this way."
"Oh." Tatsunosuke relaxed. "Sakamoto-san, please don't tell Din-chan how I feel about her."
Ryoma looked back at Tatsunosuke, confused. "Why not?"
"I want to tell her," Tatsunosuke said with a slight smile.
Ryoma returned the smile and began to step away from the other man. "G'night Dragon Boy."
Tatsunosuke watched Ryoma walk away with the boxes held in his hands with care. There was something about this moment that told Tatsunosuke that he was going to get the chance to tell Din to her face how he felt but he didn't know when or where. He just knew that he would see Din once more. All he could do was hope for that time to come soon.
R&R please!