Free When I'm Sinking Down

Hey everyone!

First of all, I'm a non-native English speaker, so I'm sorry if there's any mistake.

This fic was inspired by Morcheeba's song "Sounds Of Blue" so I encourage you to listen to it while reading this fic! The title is actually a quote from it!

See you at the end!

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Hijikata was used to fighting at night, having probably done it more in pitch darkness than in broad daylight. He was in his element, his instinct taking over. It was effortless for him to hear the swinging of swords in the silence of the night. It was easy for him to catch the moon's reflection on the blades of his opponent's. And he had no trouble cutting his enemies down without even seeing them.

What he was less used to, was, however, fighting on a boat. It was kind of new to him, without totally being unprecedented. He had less room to manoeuvrer between the corpses and the fighters on the deck than in a classic battlefield, and he hadn't mastered the thing yet, but he was quickly growing used to it. Gintoki, as usual, seemed to be in his element.

When they shared a fight, side by side, Hijikata always had trouble looking away. It was distracting, to see the Shiroyasha in action. It was in his blood, in the innate way he swung his swords in the night, slicing enemies after enemies, never looking back, knowing assuredly that he hadn't missed his target.

The Shinsengumi's Vice Commander had long since stopped wondering what was the warmth spreading in his chest each time he watched the other man fight.

Be it in the middle of the sea, or in a packed crowd, every fight Gintoki took part in seemed to fit him perfectly, the man conquering each battle with an outrageous ease.

Tonight was no exception, and Hijikata occasionally turned around to watch the silvery-haired man through the thinning crowd. The Shinsengumi and the Yorozuyas were fighting against second-rate mobs, the Agency once again getting dragged into something that was none of their business. The gang they fought was dealing drugs, which explained why they were fighting on a boat right now, the ship still being moored to the harbour.

Sometimes, Hijikata felt the ship pitch under the soft movement of the swell hitting the hull. It was sort of distracting, unsettling, but Hijikata kept going. They were winning already, the numbers of opponents having already drastically reduced since the beginning of the fight earlier. It probably was the reason why he let his guard down.

Walking next to bodies on the ground, he didn't notice the rope lying there until it tightened around one of his ankles. He heard a low chuckle under him before he was pushed overboard, only able to say "fuck" before he fell and hit the water. It was colder than he had expected. He quickly understood why the rope had been tied around his leg when something suddenly weighed him, pulling him down the water, making him flat out sink under the surface.

Had he not swore, he might have been able to take a bigger gulp of air, but the surprise had taken over him, and now he cursed himself again, but for a different reason.

Surely, the end of the battle had been close, and someone had probably already noticed that he wasn't aboard anymore, but probably not to the extent of making the connection between him and the splashing sound he'd made when he'd hit the water. He hadn't even had the presence of mind to scream louder to be heard.

Hijikata was a defeatist man, he knew it. He had already tried to change his mindset on multiple occasions, to no avail. Yet, here, right now, even with the best will in the world, he clearly couldn't see how he could find optimism in his situation.