The lazy heat of the afternoon filled the garden as Souji found the perfect spot to lay down under one of the trees. Just enough sunlight peaked its way through the leaves to be pleasantly warm, instead of boiling hot. It would have been the perfect place to take a nap, but he had other plans.

Laying back, he pulled a small book out of his sleeve and turned it over in his hands as he grinned.

Hijikata had done a much better job hiding his haiku collection this time and he'd had to waste three whole distractions before he'd finally found it hidden in a stack of expense reports.

Now with Hijikata off chastising the Baka trio for stealing his brushes to paint Sano's stomach the previous night—and subsequently breaking them in their drunken stupor—Souji finally had some Hijikata-free time in which he could pursue the Oni no Fukucho's latest additions.

Flipping to where he had left off last time he'd had the book, Souji was surprised to find only one new haiku.

A beautiful flower

To be admired, but never held

Accusations fly

He frowned at the words. By no means was he any kind of expert, but this seemed bad even for Hijikata. It started off fine, but the accusations part seem both oddly specific and completely out of the blue.

He sat up as he read it over again. Flowers weren't an unusual theme for Hijikata, his absurd plum blossom one was just the tip of the iceberg, but something about this felt off to Souji.

What had happened in the past few weeks that would cause Hijikata to write this?

Normally he never bothered to figure out why Hijikata wrote his haiku, because normally they were either obvious enough to tell exactly what he was getting at, or so vague as to be indecipherable… and this was frustratingly neither.

"Okita-san?"

He looked up to find Chizuru standing on the engawa. She gestured to the small tray in her hands as she asked, "Would you like some peach slices? I was going to take them to Hijikata-san, but um…"

She trailed off and Souji knew she was trying to find a delicate way to say "scaring the living daylights out of three grown men" (or at the very least Heisuke).

He let a razor edge creep into his smile as he snicker and said, "You mean threatening life and limb of a certain trio? Don't worry, they'll probably only lose a finger or two, maybe a toe."

"Okita-san! That isn't funny."

She frowned at him with the odd censure she sometimes got, like she wasn't afraid of him at all. Despite that, she smiled as she sat down and placed the tray next to her, clearly expecting him to join her.

Not that he would ever say no to a sweet treat. Chizuru had a knack for only picking the sweetest fruit. Unlike Shinpachi, who somehow managed to always come back with fruit so green it was completely inedible.

Tucking Hijikata's book back into his sleeve, he got up.

Besides, maybe she would know what Hijikata was getting at with his little poem. The plum blossom incident was largely due to her after all.

"Ne, Chizuru-chan," he said as he sat next to the tray and picked up a slice of the sticky fruit. "I've got something I don't understand. Think you could figure it out for me?"

She blinked in surprise at the question, but nodded. "Um, I can certainly try. What is it?"

He recited the haiku and waited, watching for the slightest flicker in her expression as she thought it over.

"Well… Flowers do bruise when you touch them, and they last longest when you leave them on the stem…" She frowned as she chewed on her lip. "That brings up thoughts of the shortness of life… Or maybe something is out of reach?"

Souji stole another piece of fruit as Chizuru nodded to herself, really getting into her analysis. It was amusing how the normally quiet girl could really ramble when it came to poetry.

"The flower might represent something the author finds beautiful but can't bring themselves to touch. And maybe the accusations are because touching or being near that thing is forbidden or would harm it, so the haiku could capture the conflicting desire of both loving and fearing for something or someone-"

"Or maybe it means that theft of private property is wrong."

Chizuru jumped and let out a squeak at the all too familiar voice behind them.

Souji lazily took another bite of peach as he looked up at a thunderous Hijikata and said innocently, "I don't know what you're talking about Hijikata-san."

"Yes you damn well do! Give my back my book!"

Chizuru glanced nervously between them, but Souji wasn't about to admit to anything. Hijikata didn't know the book was in his sleeve. All Hijikata would know was that he had been reciting his most recent work.

Deciding to try and learn a bit more, Souji said, "What did you mean by accusations, Hijikata-san? Is there a flower out of your reach?"

Hijikata's face remained impassive except for a slight twitch at his temple and the very briefest flicker of his eyes toward Chizuru.

Oh, so it had something to do with her, did it? Something in the past few weeks had caused Hijikata to write a haiku about Chizuru…

All at once everything clicked into place and Souji let a devilish smile creep across his face. Any number of snarky comments were on the tip of his tongue, but he kept silent. This was too good to risk spoiling.

"Yukimura," Hijikata's voice was slightly strained as he broke Souji's gaze gestured sharply down the hall he had come from. "I believe Gen could use some help with lunch. Heisuke is unable to assist him at the moment."

Chizuru nodded and scurried away, leaving the tray of fruit behind and clearly eager to escape the tense atmosphere.

Once she was out of earshot, Souji said tauntingly, "Hmm, Hijikata-san wasn't touching a flower he shouldn't, was he?"

"Not another word, Souji, or I swear I will cut your fucking tongue out."

The telltale twitch was back, so Souji didn't say anything about the faint blush that accompanied it. Instead he just smirked as Hijikata turned away and stormed back down the hallway.

Only once the Demon was gone, did he allow himself a quiet laugh. It seems the feared Oni no Fukucho was developing a soft spot for a certain little geisha. And if the last line of the poem was anything to go by, they must have made quite a scene leaving Shimabara.

He picked up the last piece of peach and popped it into his mouth before getting up and walking over to the spot he had vacated upon Chizuru's arrival. There was just enough time to sneak in a quick nap in the sun before lunch.

As he settled back onto the soft grass, Souji promised himself that one of these days, he was going to wheedle out of everyone exactly what had happened the night Chizuru-chan went undercover.