Caught in the Past [Hakuouki]

Secrets of the Shinsengumi

Okita's POV

I hated the third-guard shift.

I hated it even more than I hated the second-guard shift, and I hated that one a whole lot. I was more than willing to do first or fourth. But for whatever reason, getting up in the middle of the night pissed me off like nothing else. It made me a dangerous enemy if the compound was attacked at night. You know, not to say I wasn't always dangerous.

Ichinose chuckled as I yawned again. "Shut up," I told him. "Just because you're my lieutenant doesn't mean I won't kill you."

"You could try," he muttered under his breath. True, he was a decent challenge in a fight. He was one of the few people who could use a sword almost as well as me or any of the other captains.

Almost.

"Ichinose," I said with a demonic grin on my face. I put my hand on my sword. "I think it's time we settled our differences."

His smirk matched mine. I hated that. He mirrored my actions and said, "Sounds good to me. But you should keep in mind that if you actually kill me, Hijikata will do a lot worse to you than putting you on the shift."

"So? He'll do the same to you if you kill me," I bantered. "Either way, we're both dying tonight." I felt oddly chipper about the whole thing, contrary to our conversation.

He laughed, and put took his hand off his sword. Shrugging, he said, "I'm in no mood to die tonight.

"Coward," I taunted him. I was rewarded by a mischievous glint in his brown eyes.

"Perhaps another time, then."

I huffed and returned my attention to guarding the Maekawa House. Ichinose followed suit, a look of disgust permeating his eyes.

"It's ridiculous," he said, "We keep them around, even though we can't turn our backs on them for a moment. And we can't take them to a battle without the risk of them turning on us. Why do we keep this up?"

I shrugged. This wasn't the first time the subject of the furies had come up between us, although I didn't feel as strongly about it as Ichinose. He had been against them from the start, but for some reason, the only one he'd told about that was me. I wondered about that sometimes, since I was the one most likely to kill him for it if I thought he would cause problems for Kondou. Maybe he just wanted to die.

"And if they didn't go crazy at the sight of blood?" I asked him. "What would you think then?"

For a long moment he was silent. Finally, he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hard to say," he admitted. "Maybe I'd be more open to them if they weren't only good for killing." He looked down at the ground. "But is that even a possibility for them?"

I shrugged again. "Who knows?" I said nonchalantly as I turned to do some more rounds. "Kodo's missing, so it's not like we can fix 'em anyway."

"But what if there is someone?" he called after me. I stopped dead in my tracks. I knew he was talking about Sannan. Ever since his injury, the guy had been obsessed with the water of life, tampering with it day in and day out, barely eating, never sleeping.

I turned back to Ichinose. "You think Sannan can make that stuff work?"

He shook his head. "I wasn't talking about Sannan."

And then I knew.

He'd meant Mirai.

I was temporarily thrown off guard, but I quickly recovered. "Calico doesn't know anything about that stuff," I told him. I gave him a dark smile. "And don't forget. If you tell her, I'll have to kill you both." This was the one secret that she could never found out, or else our only option would be her death.

Ichinose was completely unfazed by the grim turn of things, and smiled as he said, "Calico? Is that what you're calling her now?"

My grin widened. "I decided Kitten didn't fit her." He rolled his eyes, and walked away in the other direction, as if our entire conversation had been that lighthearted. As if we hadn't been talking about Mirai's death. I frowned at the weight that suddenly held for me. Calico's death shouldn't matter to me, not unless I did something stupid like getting close to her.

But wasn't that exactly what I was doing?

Saying I'd give her sword lessons, giving her a nickname that actually meant something, telling her to get to know me? What in holy hell had come over me to say something like that to her? 

What could I possibly want her to see in me?

Just then, I saw Hajime and the third division coming back from patrol. "Hajime," I called as quietly as I could while still getting his attention. His eyes met mine, and he motioned for the division to go ahead without him.

"Did you need something, Souji?" he asked when he reached me.

"Just wondering if anything happened while you were out," I answered softly.

Hajime sighed lightly through his nose--the equivalent of a frustrated scowl for him. "Absolutely nothing," he said. 

My eyes narrowed. It had only been a few days since Calico's little incident, but the Choshu had been too quiet afterward. Usually they were just itching to cause trouble for us, but now it was as if they had never even existed. "You think they're planning something?" I asked Hajime.

He looked down. "It's possible," he said thoughtfully. "At the very least, they'll be looking for a way to get at us."

I rolled my eyes. "Well they're always doing that," I muttered. Then an evil smile touched my lips. "You'd think they'd get a life after we keep taking theirs." The Choshu had never really had the upper hand on the Shinsengumi when it came to fighting.

Hajime ignored that last comment. "Just keep an eye out for them." He turned to leave.

"One more thing, Hajime," I called after him. He faced me again, brows raised. My smile stretched into a wide grin. "What was that bullshit you gave Mirai about being left-handed?"

He was visibly confused. "I am left-handed," he said, raising his left hand for emphasis.

"I know that," I said with a chuckle. "But you're perfectly capable of teaching her swordsmanship. You train the troops all the time."

His solemn expression returned, eyes narrowed as he said, "I overheard you telling her several lies yourself. Any one of the captains could teach her."

My shoulders shook with laughter. "The best part was how she was so willing to believe we're really that incompetent." I shook my head and pulled myself together. "Seriously, though, why did you stick her with me?" I asked. I knew he wouldn't have done that without good reason, otherwise I wouldn't have gone along with it in the first place.

He seemed almost reluctant to answer. When he finally spoke, it was hesitant, as though he was unsure of what my reaction would be. "Kondou was right when he said it would be best if you and Masumoto learned to get along. But you refuse to speak to each other during patrols or anywhere else unless it's absolutely necessary."

I was silent.

He sighed. More confident now, he said, "Just try, Souji. It may become problematic later on if you two continue like this." With that, he turned on his heel and strode off.

Well then... this was an interesting development. I'd never expected Hajime to say something like that to me. He may have had a point, though. Calico and I would never be the best of friends, but always being at odds with her would just complicate her stay here and most likely make things more difficult for Kondou. So it seemed I had no choice.

I had to get to know Calico.

A smile flickered across my mouth.

***

Okay. Short, uneventful chapter, I know. But I wanted to introduce the strange relationship between Souji and Ichinose and I had to clear up the whole thing about Saito's lie (because we all know he's perfectly capable of teaching swordplay). Next chapter will be far more interesting because we have sword lessons to look forward to! And depending on how long it is, there might be a new character introduction. *Grins wickedly and taps fingertips together* Who could it be I wonder? MWAHAHAHAHA!

Until next time, my pretties.