Hakuouki in its entirety belongs to IDEA Factory/ Yone Kazuki-sensei; Kawa belongs to me.
**edit: short, chapter is short. /bows apologetically
He glanced back at her as she lounged on the steps. "So you two made up, then." He guessed, perking her ears.
She nodded, stretching her arms to the sky and yawning. "Yeah, we did. Not that he's gonna be a behaved puppy nowadays, knowing him." She shrugged innocently and smirked.
He smirked as well, his blue eyes looking to the men training before them, their shinai swinging up and down in the air.
"Oi, Hajime-kun!" They both looked up to see Heisuke trotting forward; he smiled lightly at them. "S' time for our patrol to start." He announced.
Saitou nodded and ended the training session, lifting a brow as Heisuke tossed a blue package to Kawa and pausing in retrieving his own from his room. "You're not serious..." He muttered.
Kawa shrugged her arms through the sleeves of the uniform coat, looking at him and smirking again. "Dead serious. Gotta let a bird spread its wings, right?" She replied with an innocent smile.
Not if the companion of said bird gets killed by the bird's older brother, he deadpanned. "Did Hijikata-san approve of you going out?" He asked.
She nodded, hopping from the steps to join Heisuke at his side. "Yeah, though he mostly said I was allowed with Souji's squad, but I talked him into letting me go with you and Heisuke." She replied, winking and fixing the headband on her head by the white ribbon, tying it behind her ponytail.
Saitou ran a hand through his hair, his patience beginning to wane. "I'd rather not know how that happened…" He muttered.
"Neh ya might as well let her come with, Hajime-kun; y'know Kawa-chan's as stubborn as Hijikata-san." Heisuke chimed lightly, further causing the ever-patient Saitou Hajime to deadpan again.
"Fine, fine." Saitou amended, ending the conversation, and going to get his things.
Kawa cuffed the younger captain over the head. "Oi, oi, what was with that 'stubborn as Hijikata-san' crap? Don't lump me together with my brother," she grated, pouting as he rubbed his head gingerly.
Heisuke returned the pout, teal eyes grimacing in slight pain. "W-well it's true!" He stammered.
"You two do look identical, especially when you wear your hair in that ponytail. The only difference is your eye color." Saitou chimed as he returned shortly, having donned the coat and headband, looking at the girl and smirking.
Kawa's cheeks colored pink and she snorted, looking away. "Piss off, Mr. Perfect." She ground out as he walked ahead of her to the front of the line, following him with Heisuke in tow.
Pleased at effectively shutting her up, Saitou led them out into the busy streets of Kyoto.
:::::::o|o::::::::
Her brow furrowed.
"I heard they put a ronin's head on display."
"In Osaka, right?"
"They frighten me!"
"Those damn Mibu Wolves."
She glanced at the boy to see him lower his head, a frown on his young brow.
"Why I aughta…" She muttered, perking up as the stoic captain nudged her, looking at him. "Saitou-kun?"
"Let it be. You know as well as I that what they say is just gossip." He quieted the retort she made to fire, seeing her open her mouth and then close it.
Kawa nodded, looking at the crestfallen Heisuke and placing an arm around his shoulders. "It's nothing, Heisuke, ya know that." She assured gently.
He looked up at her and saw the almost-sisterly way she looked at him and nodded, smiling faintly. "Yeah, you're right." He mumbled, trying to brush it off.
She smiled kindly, looking about and lowering her gaze.
'Wolves of Mibu', were they?
"Sorry for the mess; we ran into some ronin claiming to use the Roshigumi name to borrow money. It turned into a swordfight, but they got away." He apologized calmly, perking up as his sister dabbed a piece of cloth into the water bucket and rung it out, helping him get the stains off.
She scowled patiently at him. "Bakkero, ya should've taken more of us with you; that many ronin against you and Sannan-san is risky." She scolded, scrubbing rather roughly on one particular smudge of crimson on his left cheek.
He made a face and gently pushed her off, lowering her hand. "As flattering as that is, risking your neck isn't something I want to do before I die." He remarked, seeing her shudder slightly before she scowled again and jerked her hand away on reflex, rocking back onto her heels.
"Neh, it's unusual for you and Sannan-san to let someone get away, Hijikata-san." Souji piped up from leaning against the doorway, his arms folded.
"They had a large group of comrades hanging nearby so it was inevitable we let them go." Sannan-san defended.
Kawa sighed and handed the cloth to her brother, straightening to her feet. "The positive thing is that you two are back and intact, with no injuries. Otherwise I'd have to kill the fucker who pulled that technical-ambush on you." She mused, folding her arms over her ample bust.
Souji smirked at her. "Neh, aren't you being the over-protective little sister, babe." He teased; she blushed slightly and smirked back.
"So there're guys using our name to get money, huh?" Sano wondered.
Shinpachi huffed softly, "yeah and until just recently they were calling themselves Imperial Loyalists."
"That just goes to show how far the Roshigumi's poor reputation has spread." Sannan-san mused.
"Think putting that head on display had the opposite affect we wanted?" Heisuke dared wonder.
Souji huffed. "That man really has been outta hand lately, hasn't he?"
"If the Roshigumi's reputation is poor, then it could injure the Aizu Domain's good name. We can't allow things to continue as they have." Sannan-san stated, standing to his feet.
Kawa huffed. "No offense, but that's easier said than done, with that man spearheading the Roshigumi into the ground." She grated, rubbing her neck absently.
review please; thanks~ ;'3