Once upon a dream (Hakuouki fan-fic) (Hijikata x OC)

Chapter 13

No one's POV

"You said what?!" Hijikata boomed furiously. The Demon Vice-commander had just pulled Okita aside from training with his men to interrogate him. It was a somewhat embarrassing ordeal, getting pulled away by the vice-commander. It was also so sudden that it drew quite a few of the other captain's attention as well. Sanosuke, Saito and Shinpachi all glanced at one another, wondering the same thing. 'What was going on?'

"No way! She told you?! Aww, come on, it was just a joke," The younger male explained defensively. Okita's dismissive response did not amuse Hijikata in the slightest. In fact, it irritated him further. "That's your idea of a joke?" The vice-commander scolded, eyes narrowed a the young captain.

Okita knew it was a rhetorical question, but he still felt the need to explain himself in some way. "How was I supposed to know she'd get all offended? It's not like I get off on making little girls cry," he shrugged, his tone a bit too mouthy for Hijikata's liking. "Watch your tone, Souji," Hijikata warned. "I don't care how you talk to others, but do not implicate me."

Hijikata's harsh tone made the first division captain realize that he was being entirely serious. Then again, when wasn't he? However, Okita, being the instigator he was, just had to, quote on quote, bait the waters. "Like...ever?"

A mischievous grin spread across the brunette's face earning an audible growl emitted from the ravenette—he was not amused. "You know what I meant," the vice-commander grunted.

Okita, rolling his eyes, huffed, folding his arms across his chest in defeat. "Fine. Is that it? Can I get back to my training or-" "Don't get smart with me, Souji," Hijikata warned, cutting off the brown-haired male with a harsh tone.

Souji threw up his hands, frustrated by his superiors pressing on the matter. Why did he care so much? Normally, he'd curse at him and threaten to cut out his tongue. Why was he digging for answers all of a sudden? "Man~, Hijikata-San, what do you want from me?" the younger male sighed, eyebrows pressed together.

Meeting his gaze with a deadly stern look, Hijikata said, "What I want is for you to consider the consequences of your actions." Souji held up his hands defensively. "Alright, I'm sorry. Can we be done with that already?"

Hijikata's stepped closer threateningly, looming over Souji with narrowed eyes. "I don't think you're taking this seriously," the dark-haired male drawled. Okita sensed Hijikata's pending frustration with him. He waved his hands in front of him, "I am. I am. I said I was sorry. I won't say stuff like that again."

"It's not me you should be apologizing to," Hijikata muttered. Okita's shoulders sagged slightly, his jaw hanging in disbelief. "Oh, come on, Hijikata-San~Seriously?" The verbal complaint only made the vice-commander furrow his brows, eyes narrowing at the captain in front of him further.

Close by, Sanosuke Harada, Hajime Saito and Shinpachi Nagakura were individually training, taking advantage of the favourable weather. The trio paused, their actions faltering as they slowly became aware of the conversation between their co-captain Souji and their vice-commander.

"What are they talking about?" Shinpachi wondered, pressing a hand to his hip as he observed the scene curiously. The other two captains were just as clueless but continued to listen in on the argument. Sanosuke replied nest, shrugging, "No clue. I'm trying to figure out who Souji made cry. Chizuru or Tori-chan?" The bandana'd captain turned to look at his purple-haired companion. "What about you, Saito-san. Any idea what they're talking about?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow. The self-restrained samurai was deep in thought but was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of his name being called. "I'm afraid not, but I can only assume this has something to do with Tori-chan," Saito mused.