Saitou

Saitou Hajime was in a foul mood. Or at least, in a more foul mood than usual. His ashtray was overflowing, his eyes were narrower than usual, and he was smiling. When Saitou Hajime smiled like that, you ran. When someone had excitedly hit the keys on the typewriter too loudly and leaned back with a sigh, Saitou had fixed the unfortunate man with such a glare that he had fallen off his chair. The fearful silence in the office was stifling.

"Sir?" asked a timid voice. "Could you please check my report?" Saitou's pen stopped its' scratching. Then he slowly turned to the speaker who stood, quaking in his boots, yet holding out a few sheets of paper with both hands.

"…Kosaburo." Saitou said slowly, breathing out smoke through his nose.

"S-sir?"

"What the hell is this?"

"S-s-sir?"

Saitou's face darkened. "Don't 'sir' me, dumbass. I can already see two typing errors, a grammatical error and a smudge. This is only the first page. How-"

There was a knock on the office door and Saitou actually growled at the interruption, looking away from the unfortunate officer with the report. The door opened a crack and a head poked in. "Yo, Saitou, how's it going! Is Okita around?"

Giving him a wry glance from under his eyebrows, Saitou stubbed out another cigarette. "No. What do you want, idiotic Harada?" Kosaburo took this opportunity to scamper away.

The younger man grinned and walked in, his arms folded behind his head. "Well gee, Saitou, don't look so happy to see me." He said and sat on the edge of the lieutenant's desk. There was a collective gasp at that, which the two of them ignored. Harada Sanosuke scratched his ear and yawned. "The thing, is Saitou, Mr. Hijikata's got some uh… Special business for you to do. It's pretty big this time. So he wants to see you." He pulled a face and parted his bangs in the middle, mimicking Hijikata's low voice and clipped, formal manner of speech. "It a matter of extreme importance, Harada."

"He does realize that I have a lot of other things on my plate, right?" Saitou raised an eyebrow.

Harada shrugged sympathetically. "Not my call, boss. This is straight from Mr. Kondou and you know where he gets his stuff from." He smiled encouragingly and ignored Saitou's glare. "If things go as planned, then you'll be back home in time for Thanksgiving, so we don't have to piss off Tokio-san"

Saitou's jaw tightened and he blew more smoke out of his nose. "Why were you looking for that idiot Okita then?"

Again, Harada shrugged. "You know that guy. He settles down at his desk, does all this paperwork in record time, gats up and disappears somewhere."

Standing up suddenly and causing Harada to fall off his desk, Saitou stubbed out his cigarette. "I'm going to Vice-Captain Hijikata." He said. "Leave Okita alone for now." he smirked. "Take over for me, will you?"

Harada rubbed his head, raising himself off the floor and shrugging, watching the door slam behind Saitou, which caused a lot of wincing, then immense sighs of relief. Kosaburo poked his head out from behind his desk. "Sir?" he asked Harada. "Could you please check this for me?"

**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**

Shaking rain from his coat and hanging it haphazardly on the coat-tree, Saitou stepped over the threshold of his home. Raucous laughter came from the kitchen and he rolled his eyes. "I'm home." He muttered, pulling off his gloves.

"You're late, Hajime-kun!" a voice called cheerfully from the pantry.

Saitou rolled his eyes again and made his way down the hall and into the kitchen. "Okita." He said dryly. "Why am I not surprised. People are looking for you all over the place at work – and here you are – drinking tea in my kitchen and chatting up my wife."

Okita pouted and took a sip of tea. "You're not exactly the chatty type, though, are you? Our poor Tokio-chan needs a bit of civilized company now and then, no?"

"Yes, in fact I do." Laughed she. Saitou was about to fire back a retort featuring his favorite choice of insult at the both of them, but the butt of a ladle in the ribs cut him off. "Now move, Hajime."

"I missed you too." Muttered Saitou.

Tokio brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. "Sure." She said. "But if this burns, I'm blaming you." She looked up and smiled. "Go get changed. You look like a wet dog."

Okita burst out laughing. "It's 'wolf', Tokio-chan, not 'dog', remember?" He said. Then he shook his head and leaned back comfortably in the kitchen chair. "I've always said, 'When Tokio-chan smiles, she's getting ready to insult you'." He dodged a playful poke from the ladle.

Saitou left and returned wearing dry clothing, Okita finished his tea and Tokio put the kettle on again, this time for herself and Saitou. After a while, Okita left and Tokio, noticing his pronounced cough at the chilly night air, wrapped him in one of her self-knitted woolen scarves. Saitou sat down heavily in a chair, leaning his elbows on the kitchen table and lighting a cigarette and Tokio followed him in.

"No matter how many times I tell you not to smoke in the kitchen, you're still not going to listen to me, so why do I even bother…" she muttered as Saitou raised an eyebrow. Tokio sat down opposite him and raised an eyebrow. "So when are you going to tell me what's bothering you, Hajime?" she asked. "There's something going on, right?"

"Astute as ever, woman."

"That's why you married me."

"No – I married you because you are the only person I know who can hold a decent verbal sparring match with for more than two seconds. …And you're also great in b-"

Tokio flicked a crumb at him. "No changing the subject."

He smirked and blew out a strand of smoke watching it dissolve into the air. After a while he looked back at her. "I'm having one of those… Annoying jobs again. I'll be gone for a week and back in time for Thanksgiving."

Nodding thoughtfully, Tokio also leaned her elbows on the table. "You better be." She said with an encouraging smile. "Tell me more."

Saitou nodded. "It's an undercover job that they're sending me on. And you know, I'm working alone again."

She smiled fondly but a little sadly. "My lone wolf."

"I'm going to arrest Wu Heishin and Takeda bloody Kanryuu – catch them red-handed. Hijikata told me it doesn't matter if they're dead or alive, as long as I get evidence of their wrongdoings." Saitou laughed dryly. "It's like I'm more of a bounty-hunter than a cop. But considering my past…" he stopped. "…And I suppose it's easier to kill them and bring evidence rather than have to bring them in alive."

"I suppose so." She nodded thoughtfully, tapping her fingers lightly. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to New York City on a train. Heishin's going to be on that train, and Kanryuu'll be in New York." Saitou lit another cigarette. "I'll finish everything and come back on the same day. The department are paying for everything so I can afford to splurge." He cleared his throat. "I'll… Buy you something in New York."

Tokio stood and put a hand on her husband's arm. "I'm not going to tell you to be careful, because that will insult your capability – and I believe in you above anything or anyone else. But I will tell you to not die and come home in time for Thanksgiving Day. Make sure that when I read the headline of the daily newspaper I know more or less what you're doing."

Saitou stood to face her and smiled a little, taking her hand in both of his. "Sure. I'll do that."