Love at first sight (Heisuke x OC)

Chapter 40: A serious new mission

November 1867

A gust of wind stripped some of the last, stubborn leaves from the trees and sent them skittering across Kyoto's streets. It was a cold morning and my clothes barely protected me from the freezing air biting into me. I shivered as I walked. I know I wanted something to do, but damn I didn't know it would be this cold outside...I rubbed my hands up and down my arms rapidly in an attempt to warm them up. "One thing I will never get used to in Kyoto are the winter months"
"I guess the wind's gotten pretty cold lately"
"It's "pretty cold"? It's damn well freezing out here"
"Well, if there's one thing Kyoto is famous for it's its cold winters and hot summers"
"Yeah yeah, I know. Doesn't make dealing with them any easier though"
"True, but at least we don't have it too bad during the day. I mean, imagine how cold it gets for the night guys" He laughed, letting out a small cloud of smoke as he did so.
"I don't even want to imagine that. I guess I should be thankful that the 8th Division don't have patrol tonight"
"Indeed you should" He chuckled. The tips of my fingers were so cold that I thought they'd turn blue soon if I didn't warm them up. I breathed onto my fingers to warm them up and Harada noticed me doing so, causing a troubled smile to appear on his face. "If your hands are cold then I could hold them for you"
"Harada, never saw you as the type to make moves on another man's woman" I teased.
"Hey, you snooze you lose" Harada shrugged with a smile.
"Well I think I'll pass, my fingertips aren't that cold"
"Suit yourself-Oh, look who it is" Harada pointed ahead of us and I looked over to see a certain someone walking towards us.
"Hey guys! Ain't today great?" Nagakura approached us with a skip in his step and a smile on his face.
"...You're kidding, right? It's freezing and you're asking if today's a great day?"
"I'm afraid so, he is the only one person I know not affected by the cold" Harada wryly stated.
"Nani?! You're one to talk man! Look at what you're wearing!" Their bickering might have seemed strange to a passerby, but I knew it reflected the strength of their friendship and how deep it ran. "Hm? What's up? Why're you grinning like that?"
"Probably thinks your face is funny Shinpachi. You really oughta do something about that thing"
"Why you-!"
"Iie, that's not it!" I quickly interjected before Nagakura could finish his possibly argument starting sentence. "I was just thinking how nice it is to have good nakamas like you. The three of you create a very unique combination"
"Three...?"
"Yeah; you, Harada and-Oh..." Harada and Nagakura's faces turned grim as I trailed off. Great going Chiyeko, ya ruined the mood! I mentally cursed myself as I diverted my gaze from the two of them. "Gomenasai, it's just...A lot has been going on lately and I guess it's got me feeling nostalgic" It had been more than six months ago since Saito-san and Heisuke left the Shinsengumi to join the Guardians of the Imperial Tomb.
"The Shinsengumi's changed...Hell, so has the rest of the world" Harada muttered with closed eyes.
"You're not wrong there..." I agreed in a quiet voice.
"But man, who would've thought there would come a day where we'd be promoted to a jikisan"
"Yeah, I couldn't believe it myself actually. That happened around the time our headquarters moved to Fudodo Village, right?"
"Right" I remember there being a handful of people who insisted that they were going to leave and it was quite a big fiasco. Among those men, there was a distinction between those who were free to leave the Shinsengumi and those who were forced to join the Fury Corps. I know it's their job, but I just see it as unfair that some were allowed to leave while others were forced to become something that wasn't...human. Kondou-sama appeared to be thrilled about being promoted to a jikisan, but I wondered how the others felt about it.
"I've got a question for you two: How do you feel about our promotion?"
"...I'm not really a fan" Harada sighed.
"Yeah, I didn't do all this work just so I could be a retainer for the shogun"
"I see, that makes sense..." Kondou-sama's promotion had drastically changed the Shinsengumi's relationship with the daimyo. Before we were only philosophically aligned with the shogun, but now we answered directly to him. For some people, that was a serious problem. "I'm completely in the dark when it comes to politics, status and all that so, would either of you care to explain what's this promotion going to change for us moving forward?"
"You know, ya tend to sound really smart when you have absolutely no idea what you're talkin' about" Nagakura nonchalantly pointed out. I didn't have a plausible argument to his observation, so I responded with this instead; "Damare!"
"Looks like I hit a nerve" He smirked.
"I'll have you know that I'm not completely politically ignorant! I know that the Imperial Prince became the new emperor a few months ago! And that there was a Restoration of Imperial Rule last month! I think..."
"You'd be correct in thinking that. The Tokugawa shogunate returned power from the government to the emperor"
"Yeah and it was supposedly Sakamoto Ryoma's idea" Nagakura added. "I heard that the Satsuma and Choshu are really pissed at him for that because they were going to use this opportunity to fight for power"
"Well, he already had a target on his back from the shogunate supporters, so now he's basically hated by every ronin in Japan" Harada stated matter-of-factly.
"I may not know a whole lot about politics, but I must say I'm quite surprised you do Nagakura. I guess I never realised how smart you are"
"You "never realised"...? Wait, just what did you think of me Chiyeko?" Nagakura narrowed his eyes at me as he crossed his arms over his chest, it was clear he was not happy with what I'd said. To be completely honest, it was a little startling to see how unhappy he was.
"It's winter meaning it'll get darker quicker so we should probably continue our separate rounds!"
"You're trying to dodge the question!"
"Come on Harada, let's roll!" I grabbed his arm and briskly walked away from Nagakura, pulling the snickering burgundy man behind me.
"That'll show him Chiyeko" He laughed boisterously.
"Well, I meant no harm by my statement, it's his fault for being oversensitive" I stated defensively as I let him go.
"You're right about one thing. I sure am glad to have you as a nakama" He chuckled while wiping tears from his eyes.