Hakuouki in its entirety belongs to IDEA Factory/ Yone Kazuki-sensei; Kawa belongs to me.
Kondou-san had told her about Souji's past, albeit only small bits and pieces; most of what he told her sounded a lot like her own past, save that she had noone to care for her except her mother. The fact that she learned the way of the sword two years younger than Souji had was a surprise to not only herself but to Kondou-san as well.
In a lot of ways, Kondou-san was a lot like her own sensei, Katsumoto Mori-sensei. Both of them never lost faith in either Souji or Kawa, despite their obvious difficulties.
'No way am I going back; I'm gonna stay and help you, Kondou-san!'
Souji… she paused short of another alley, having made sure to keep clear of the busier parts of the city, peering into the darkness and finding no sign of him.
With a brief sigh, she decided to try the river; she highly doubted he was there, even though something was nagging in the back of her mind to try looking for him there, and so she went.
Finally reaching the river, she bent over a bit to grip her knees and regain her breath, having paused short of stepping onto the bridge that covered the river.
"Imagine my surprise to see you here." His familiar voice declared, perking her ears.
Jackpot, she thought, straightening and wiping a few beads of sweat from her brow as she stood and saw his lanky figure leaning over the lip of the bridge's railing, staring into the darkness.
"Toshi tried to talk me out of coming to find you, but I came anyway. Kondou-san and the others are worried, too." Kawa informed quietly, walking forward to stand at his side and lean over the bridge's railing.
Souji's face softened at the mention of his older-brother-figure, huffing softly. "That a fact? It's not like I was gonna run away forever; I was gonna come back…" He mused.
"That's beside the point, idiot." She interjected, making him glance at her from staring at the stars overhead.
"The guys weren't the only ones worried… I was worried, too. I was afraid, for the briefest moment, that you'd gone and left us for good." She admitted, looking at the flowing water beneath them as her cheeks warmed, pink blush staining her cheekbones.
He cocked a brow at hearing her confession, turning to rest his back against the railing, folding his arms in the sleeves of his red haori. "You're an idiot sometimes, y'know?" He exhaled.
She looked up briefly at him, a soft breeze tugging at her black hair as well as his reddish brown hair. "What's that for?" She pressed, curious.
Souji huffed again, his eyes on the twinkling stars once more. "Over a week ago, I told you that I loved you, remember? What kind of dumbass would I be to leave behind my friends as well as the woman I declared my love to?" He imagined her eyes widened slightly at his words; he smiled wryly up at the brilliant orbs overhead. "I'm not leaving you, Kawa. I won't ever leave your side. Hell, I refuse to! No matter what anyone says or tries to do to try and break us apart, I'm not going anywhere. Got that?" He declared sternly.
Kawa felt her eyes soften as she nodded, smiling in relief and happiness. "I wouldn't have it any other way, actually. I'm glad, I really am." She sniffed and laughed weakly.
He looked at her then, seeing the rims of her eyes looked puffy; something inside his chest clenched at the idea of her shedding tears, even if they were happy ones. He smiled gently, reaching to tug on the blue sash at her waist to pull her into his arms as he turned to face her so she landed in his chest with a slight 'oof' that made him chuckle.
She blushed again and smiled when his arms wound around her hips, burying her cheek into his upper shoulder and hugging him tightly. "I love you, Souji."
Even though he'd had his fair share of girls in his younger days, not one of them made him feel this way like he felt for the one currently in his arms; his arms tightened on reflex and he kissed the temple that had been scratched a week ago. "I love you too, Kawa."
"I imagine you were a cute kid back when Kondou-san took you in." She mused after a long moment of silence.
His cheeks flared pink at her words before he pouted, making a grumbled noise in the back of his throat. "Shut up," he scolded, hearing her giggle.
"Souji!" Both of them perked up to see two figures running toward them, noting that as the figures drew closer they could see it was Kondou-san with Ibuki at his side.
"Kondou-san," Souji began with a slight smile.
Kawa smiled in relief again, glad to see both him and Ibuki present. "Took ya long enough, Kondou-san." She jibed gently.
A slow exhale escaped.
"So he threw you out to buy more booze again?" She guessed.
He nodded, throwing her a glance for what seemed the umpteenth time. "Yeah, he drinks sake like its water… Um, Kawa-chan, can I ask you something?" He returned, seeing her lift a brow at his questioning tone despite her leisurely posture with her arms folded behind her head and her eyes closed despite the fact that they were walking and getting closer to finding that liquor store he'd been recommended to a few months back for Serizawa's habit.
"So long as it ain't anything perverted, fire away." She shrugged.
"Well, alright, first off, why did you decide to come with me so late? Wouldn't Okita-san worry over you?" He asked.
Kawa opened an eye at the mention of her lover, smirking gently and closing her eyes again. "Nah, he knows I don't like anyone else in the compound, and he'd prolly kill the bastard that tried to take advantage of "his woman"." A slight tic in her cheek at the pronoun before she sighed. "To fully answer your question, I was bored and the boys threw me out of the kitchen because it was their turn to cook, so here I am." She explained.
Ibuki nodded, deeming her explanation fair and suppressing a shudder at being the unlucky bastard to be at the receiving end of Okita-san's katana, relaxing his pace as they were within sight of the liquor store. "Okita-san really loves you then, if he's that protective and willing to kill Serizawa-san for calling you names." He mused.
She opened the same eye again before huffing and sliding it shut. "He can be a bit possessive, I know, and he's lecherous and sometimes a complete idiot… but I love him just as much as he does me, so I can't complain much. I'd rather not, really; Toshi would maim him if he heard otherwise." She chuckled softly at the thought, smirking again and stopping as he went inside the store to get more sake, leaning against the outer wall with her arms dropped to cross over her chest, making sure her katana was visible as she waited for him to run his errand before they could retreat to the compound.
"Did you want to ask another question?" Kawa asked calmly as they started back home, sidling to his right side on reflex and keeping her arms folded over her chest.
Ibuki blinked before nodding again. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" He looked sheepish, which she spared a kind smirk at, briefly hesitating to ask. "Um, why do… why do you wield a sword? I'm not tryin' to say that women are second-rate compared to men, okay? I guess I'm just curious on why you wield a sword and fight with your fists and kicks…" He trailed off in embarrassment.
"You're wondering why I'm the opposite of how girls normally act in this day and age." She surmised, glancing at his slightly flushed face. "Neh?"
He nodded mutely. "Yeah."
She sighed again, lifting a hand to tap her chin in thought. "Well, ta be honest, noone's ever asked that of me before, not even Souji." She laughed sheepishly, using the hand that tapped her chin to rub the back of her neck. "I guess it's because I was basically raised in a dojo since I was seven. I never had a father; he left my mother before I was born, so it was just her and me in a tiny house in Edo. Mom worked her ass off to keep us alive and food in our guts for nineteen years. But on the dojo thing, it's kinda funny, really: I was roaming the streets one day when I was seven, dunno what I was doing at the time, but all I remember from that day is seeing a few boys picking on a little girl in the back of an alley that I so happened to pass through. I guess the Hijikata blood in me musta gotten out because I ended up beating those boys and scaring them away from the poor girl and a day or so later after that incident I saw the same boys again, only they had a man with them, seeming to point me out to him. Turns out that man would be my future sensei, Katsumoto-sensei; he was a lot like Kondou-san. He was impressed that I had done something so brash and asked me to join his dojo; said something about how he liked my fighting spirit. I busted my ass through twelve years at Reishin Dojo, fighting boys that dared think they could take me on and win through pure superiority and bull-headedness. The rest is history." She explained, a wistful tone in her voice as she thought back to the fun she had back in Edo.
He smiled wryly. "So you were a hard-ass, even as a kid." He mused.
Kawa blinked at the term before she laughed, smiling humbly. "Pfeh, I wouldn't be here if I didn't have the same backbone my brother has." She remarked.
Ibuki laughed with her.
"Ryunosuke!" Both of them blinked at hearing the familiar voice, looking to see the trio of baboons trotting forward with Saitou in tow and Sannan-san at his side.
She furrowed her brow as she noticed that they were missing a brunette, aside from the fact that both Sannan-san and Saitou were also present was a foreboding sign.
"Where's Souji?" Kawa asked slowly, the crease in her brow deepening.
"That's what we were going to ask. Neither of you have seen him?" Saitou replied, lifting a thin brow behind his raven-black locks that covered his face.
Uneasiness formed in the lowest pit of her gut, seeming to grow with each second. "I stepped out with Ibuki-kun to help him run an errand, but we didn't see him on the streets." She explained.
"We can't find him anywhere; I went to his room to get him for dinner, but he wasn't there!" Heisuke piped up, a likewise crease in his young brow.
"Supposedly, he was walking out with Tonouchi." Saitou spoke up again as he and Sano took a step forward as if to back the younger man up in his claim.
"'Tonouchi'," Ibuki repeated, frowning as well.
"You know him?" Sano asked curiously.
He looked down a little, orange eyes sad. "No… um, actually…" He began, explaining that he'd overheard Serizawa bringing up the fact that he wanted Tonouchi to get rid of Kondou-san.
So Serizawa-san must've mentioned his name to Souji… shit... She looked at the men, scowling. "Where's my brother?"
:::::::x|x:::::::
The air was tense.
She looked at the burning light of the lamp, taking a step forward to go see him.
His hand grabbed her wrist from behind, surprising her; she looked back to see her brother's hard eyes on her slightly surprised gray stare. "Nii-san," she began.
"Let him be, Kawa." He advised.
She perked up at his words, her brow furrowing so her expression matched his own; she yanked her wrist free, scowling. "I told you before, didn't I? It's not his fault. You know it, I know it, and everyone here knows it, too! Souji can't help it, so give it a rest, Toshi!" Her voice had risen to a shout, slightly surprising the men.
"Kawa-chan," Heisuke began quietly in surprise.
She glared at her brother, turning to storm off to his room with her hands at her sides curled into fists.
"Yasakawa." Toshi's beckon fell on deaf ears.
Kawa's shoulders shook slightly.
:::::::x|x:::::::
He looked at her as she wiped the blood from his face, her eyes trained on the smudged crimson he bore.
She had already put his clothes away to wash, having given him his sleeping robe to wear until they were clean, now tending to cleaning him up and checking to see if he bore any injuries beneath the blood that didn't belong to him.
Most people would think she was foolish to love him even after he had shed blood that wasn't his own, but most people weren't him, and they didn't know that she really did care about his physical well-being as well as mental and emotional.
"You killed him because he threatened to kill Kondou-san," she mused softly, breaching the silence of his darkened room.
He nodded slightly, watching her pull the wet towel from his face to ring it out over the small basin she'd brought forth, faint crimson water cascading into the full basin and tingeing the once-clear water a pastel reddish hue. "You obviously don't hate me for doing it, otherwise you wouldn't be here trying to help." He replied.
She huffed and flashed a bitter smirk. "Bakkero, of course I don't hate you. I just… I'm worried, okay?" She exhaled slowly, ringing out the towel again rather harshly this time.
Souji eyed her curiously, tilting his head to one side. "For what?" He knew he'd broken those rules, and maybe that's what she was worried for.
Kawa's eyes darkened as she thought back to the rules her brother had written a few weeks ago, her shoulders shaking again. "I don't want to see you die." She admitted her voice soft.
Bingo.
"Your brother obviously don't care, given he wrote those damn rules without giving much thought that they'd catch us in the crosshairs too…"
The towel smacked him in the face, surprising him.
He blinked; did she just hit him?
"Kawa…" He began quietly in surprise after wiping away the water droplets from his brow and face; his stomach lurched and flopped uncomfortably in his gut when he saw tears standing in her eyes.
"Toshi did it to keep that man in check, and you know it! Damn it, Souji…" She croaked, glaring at the wall behind him as tears started to fall down her cheeks slowly. "I don't care what he thinks, I don't care what that man thinks either: I won't let you die on me, Okita Souji, even if it means I lose my life to keep yours safe!" Kawa cried, shutting her eyes tightly as her shoulders shook more in silent sobs and she covered her face with her hands in a vain attempt to keep him from seeing her cry like a toddler.
Souji's eyes saddened at the sight of his lover weeping, reaching to place his hands on her shoulders, noting that that one touch allowed him to pull her closer so she sat in his lap, her face buried into his neck as he held her close, letting her cry.
She finally stopped after what felt like hours, sniffling and lifting herself a little to see he was looking down at her, his face blank; she sniffed again and rubbed her nose gingerly, looking down. "I must look like shit right now…" She muttered.
He brushed locks of black from her forehead gently, shrugging. "Nah, you still look beautiful. You always do, even when you're pissy." He saw her blush before she smiled weakly.
Kawa ran her fingers down his chest absently, resettling into his lap. "What I said, I meant it. Every word." She mused.
Souji stiffened slightly beneath her before his arms around her waist tightened and he burrowed his nose into her hair. "I know you did, and that's partly what pissed me off." He muttered.
She lifted a brow, glancing up at him. "Why?"
"I don't want you to die, you idiot. The last thing I want is for some bastard like that man to lay a hand on you. The second-to-last thing I want is to see you cry. No matter what, I hate seein' you cry, Kawa. So even if one day I'm forced to commit seppuku," at this he received a slight growl of distaste and tremble from the woman in his lap, "I don't wanna see you crying over me." He declared.
Kawa buried her face into his neck again, shuddering. "Guess we're both fucked, then." She muttered.
Souji quieted at her guess, smiling a little as his arms tightened protectively around her. "Just shows that we really do love each other." He mused, feeling her shiver again as he blushed at openly admitting that.
No matter what, I want to stay at your side, she thought, hugging him tighter out of reflex.
I'll do what I can to help you, Kondou-san… and I'll do it to protect Kawa, too, he inwardly vowed, running a hand through her hair.
review please; thanks~ ;'D