What makes history (Hijikata x OC)

Heisuke - part II

The very next evening, Kitsu-san came to me in the evening with a smile curling upon her lips. Had she talked to Chizuru about my bloodlust crisis? It didn't matter, for she dragged me out of bed without a single glance at my half naked body, and took me to the training room.

"This will hopefully remind you how to be alive," she whispered as we lit up the lanterns. "It sure as hell reminded me of it."

There was determination upon her face when she shed the heavy woollen mantle that usually covered her to the upper thighs.

I coughed awkwardly when her attire was revealed; she was dressed like a panther, exposed under a layer of dark material that clung to her skin far too suggestively.

"What the hell, Kitsu?" a voice boomed from behind me. "Undressing for Heisuke?"

She glared at Sano-san and Shinpachi, then lifted an accusing eyebrow in my direction.

"Manwë's breath, Heisuke! I told you not to spread it."

I shook my head vehemently, but it was Shinpachi who responded with his usual discretion.

"Like he could keep this from me."

Sano-san scoffed by my side, his arm landing upon my shoulders.

"Hey! Je suis ton Meilleur ami !", he said in French. Whatever you plan on doing here, ninja training or else, I want to be part of it."

"Especially dressed like that!" Shinpachi added. Then... "Ow!"

Sano's fist greeted his belly none too gently, and the big oaf bent at the waist with a grimace.

"No leering at Kitsu, even if she's half-naked."

Instead of getting mad, the young woman only laughed. In the low lights of the temple, she looked like a shadow.

"Don't worry, you won't have time to ogle anything. Sorry that I have no music for this routine, I had one specific in mind. It's called 'unstoppable'."

Both Sano-san and Shinpat-san exchanged a puzzled look; albeit they had followed me, they had no idea what Kitsu-san was up to. But I felt giddy at the prospect because damn, she wore a determined face I'd only seen people sport in battle. This was as important to her as it was to me.

"What ...?"

"Shut up, Shinpat-san," I snapped.

The tall man's jaw locked when Kitsu purposefully walked to the centre of the training room and lifted her arms to the sky in a pose that reminded me of a tree. Or a priestess, calling to whatever Kami in the depths of the forest.

For a moment, my face heated up again. The tight-fitting clothes showed much more of her form when she stretched her hands to the sky like that. Then, my mind forgot about her form altogether as she lifted her leg behind her, higher and higher, until it formed a near split. Even though her feet were too big for a woman – her waraji were one of my old pairs – they still looked pretty.

Then, she set her hands on the ground, and shifted her balance forward. I cringed, expecting her to fall, but her legs just passed over her head, and landed on the other side without a hitch. I'd only seen this in festivals; acrobats were sometimes supple as rubber.

Somehow, the rest of Kitsu unravelled at its suit with the fluidity of water, and she started performing a few steps with pointed feet. The way she kept moving on the ground, her foot half-raised, while the other swatted to and fro without her balance shifting the slightest was an incredible show of strength.

She had yet to switch her support leg, but she smiled.

"Rooo," Shinpachi groaned at my side. Sano-san remained silent; perhaps he'd seen Kitsu performing such tricks in battle. But I was pretty stunned; her body was flexible beyond understanding, not in the martial way. I'd seen limbs bent at unnatural angles from battles, ninjas and martial arts experts doing pretty cool stuff, their features set in concentration and, more often than not, pain.