a/n: Drabble update. Enjoy!

Note: Had to abbreviate the chapter in the drop down box, sadly! :( But, oh well! :)

Fateful Outtakes

Drabble 3: Saito's Most Unfortunate Encounter of the Female Kind

Put a kendo stick in his hands and he was ruthless. Give him a task and he completed it without fault. Hell, even put him in charge of rowdy teenagers and he could easily take it on. Overall, Saito was excellent. The perfect student, teacher, friend or whatever he needed to be. There was hardly anything that Saito couldn't do, or couldn't learn to do.

It was a trait that many were envious of. But the one damned thing he couldn't do was talk to a lovely female. Of any kind. Whether demure by nature or even wily saucy one that was clearly just aiming for one thing. It was a miracle in itself if he could keep from just staring like an idiot or keep from babbling on like one. He wasn't really quite sure what it was about females that made him...awkward when he was really anything but.

Saito knew he was a good looking guy—as the guys usually gave him shit for it, not that they were ones to talk, so it wasn't a self-esteem issue. Hell, it wasn't even a confidence issue since he's had his taste of women every now and then, but he had to admit. The times he did, it was mostly due to him being silent. Women, he guessed, liked the silent brooding type.

He really didn't think he was that, necessarily. But he did admit that he was quiet a lot of the time, was it his fault he liked to observe? Saito could normally judge a person's demeanor by doing so. People, whether they realized it or not, did a lot of obvious things that reflected their character. For instance, when he first met Chizuru he could tell she was a kind hearted soul with an infatuation of Okita. He caught it before anyone else did. The moment he watched her blush due to Okita's comments and he knew. It was almost a shame.

Now there were a few exceptions to his whole...ordeal. None of them at all helpful or, healthy, in a sense. One way he found he wasn't easily flustered around women was when he was surrounded by his friends. That was mostly because, well, the majority of them were loud mouthed crass people who did all the talking for him. Never once did he have to utter a single thing other than his name to have a female interested.

Another was getting drunk—which normally wasn't even him half the time. Once again, all the credit went to his wayward friends who liked to continually push bottle after bottle, or shot after shot for anybody and everybody. Saito wasn't one to go overboard easily, but he found himself many a time, drunk and he found it a hundred times easier to talk to ladies. And they didn't seem to mind his rambling, but in that state of mind did it really matter?

Not if he still was able to perform.

Saito stared passively around him, the night was young and the bar was hopping, practically bursting at the seam. He furrowed his brow, his personal space was already being invaded by unwelcomed bumps and passes. Why did the others enjoy this so much? It was far too loud, but he wasn't one to normally complain.

This night was for Okita, to celebrate his release from the Hospital—not that he agreed on his choice, but rarely did Okita do the right thing. Hijikata had been, adamantly, saying over and over that this was a bad idea for him. But like always, Okita brushed it off. And like Saito, once the alcohol consumption began, everything started to be okay.

Both him and Hijikata didn't even make it to the bar before two ladies crossed their path, already baring them a beer as if they were waiting for them. The thought unsettled Saito, since he was always in control. Politely he accepted the drink and in doing so, the woman thought he was accepting other things.

Quickly, she hooked her arm through his, pressed her body close to his side and started to lead him towards a table. He tried hard to keep his composure, after all, she was a female and he was in no immediate danger. But still. He was gravely unsettled.

Luckily, she talked. And talked, and talked. Honestly, he couldn't even hear half of the things she was saying but when she laughed he politely did so as well. In between the laughs, he would nod at the appropriate times and take deep swigs the rest of the time. Really, how long could one girl talk about herself for?

She didn't seem vain, but the dim lights made it hard to tell her true character. Occasionally she'd put her hands on him, would lean in closer and/or would rather boldly push up against him with no sense of privacy. Saito felt his face flush and he tipped his head in the other direction. It's not that he wasn't tempted, but how does someone react to that?

His eyes swept around the area, trying to find his way out without exactly offending the woman next to him. She didn't seem to notice his wandering eyes, not that he was trying to hide it. In this instance, when Saito wanted out, he had a certain distress call—one that Hijikata always seemed to receive. Except, this time, Hijikata wasn't anywhere in his line of vision.

In fact, now that he searched, none of his friends were. His eyes landed at the bar and he noticed Chizuru, her head tossed back with a shot glass pressed to her lips. Saito completely forgot about wanting to avoid the girl next to him, his curiosity spiking. Now why would Chizuru be doing shots...? Earlier, from what he had briefly seen, she seemed a little out of sorts.

Saito watched another glass get picked up and he stood up, this time he did hear the girl next to him but he choose to ignore her. He didn't normally act so rude, but something didn't sit right with him. As he got closer to Chizuru, he noticed another girl much like the one he had been talking to taking shots of her own. Males seemed to notice the whole ordeal, probably thinking how lucky it would be to get with any one of them after they were done. Nothing rang easier than a series of shots.

His eyes scanned the area again. Okita was nowhere to be seen. Saito sighed as he wondered where the heck he could've disappeared to. Glancing back at the table he sat at, he noticed the girl still sat there, her eyes glued to him. His choice was clear, go find Okita and let him know what was happening or go back to the table with the girl whose name he didn't hear.

The choice was obvious...at least it was to him.

Girls never were his strong suit.

A/n: Poor Saito. Love him. :) Read and review! Thanks!