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

Chapter 31

Victoria's POV

"Woah Whoa give it a rest, come on, Tori" Sanosuke panted running after me. He was out of breath because he'd just finished practice with his troops and here I was making him run. Well. not that it was my fault, I just didn't want to be late. "I'm not slowing down just 'cause you can't keep up, old man!" I teased, adding emphasis to the 'old man' part. His face scrunched up at my response. "I'm not slow it's just- Hey who are you calling old man!?" He exclaimed shaking a fist. I simply kept running until I made it to the opposite side of the Temple complex. There, amidst the sectioned off part of the gardens was, Hijikata-San. He stood in his training clothes, sparring swords in hand, his chest slightly exposed by the deep v of his kimono. The sight warmed my cheeks and also brought butterflies to my stomach. 'Yup, definitely didn't want to be late for this' I grinned inwardly.

I slowed to a halt metres from him with the auburn-haired Captain stopping shortly behind me, panting might I add. "Any longer and you would've been late" Hijikata droned. I spun my gaze back to Sanosuke giving him a pointed look. "See I told you! And you wanted me to slow down" I added, the last part muttered to him. He made to apologize but waved it off when he was too out of breath, instead choosing to fall to his knees where he stood. "I'll just watch" He huffed. I giggled at his flushed face and exhausted expression.

My concentration was quickly returned to Hijikata when a wooden sword was tossed in my direction. I fumbled to grab hold of it but managed much to my own relief. "Let's get started" The raven-haired male prompted. I tightened my grip on the sword in my hands. "Okay!" I chimed.
Hijikata always took the time to explain my mistakes to me, that's what made him a good teacher. But he was also the worst. He kept flexing his damn arm muscles and showing off his gorgeous chest like the tease he was, then had the audacity to yell at me for being distracted. I mean, it wasn't like he did those things on purpose but still...The. Absolute. Worst. Teacher. Ever. Ugh~
"Ow!" I yelped having been struck repeatedly by the Demon Vice-commander. I sorely rubbed a spot on my upper arm knowing full well to expect a bruise there later, not that they would last until the next day but they still hurt. "Your focus is all over the place. Where is your target?" He chastised. "In front of me" I replied smoothly, yet somehow still feeling like a scolded dog. "Then where should your attention be?" He continued. "In front of me" I responded quickly hoping to get this over with so I could go back to goading sympathy from Sanosuke who had been complaining nonstop about how harsh Hijikata's blows were for just a little girl.

Hijikata sighed. "No" His response was simple but yet I was still confused, tilting my head in mock-confusion. "No?" I repeated. "Your attention must always be on your opponents weapon. You must never take yours eyes off it, if you do you're dead, understand" I pondered his words for a moment but ultimately nodded, my tone full of thought. "Yes, Sir" He nodded. "Good. Let's finish for today" I could hear Sano's sigh of relief from behind. Hijikata raised an eyebrow in his direction. "I don't remember assigning you to 24/hour babysitting service" He muttered coldly. Sanosuke grinned, wrapping an arm around my exhausted shoulders. "Well I had the lovely Tori there to watch me and my squad train today so I decided to return the favour and cheer her on but I must say you're even more of a hard-ass on her than you are on us" He teased. "Huh, really?" I uttered, confused as to whether this was true. Hijikata simply scoffed, glaring at Harada. "Your statement holds no validity to it, I treat her as she needs to be treated in order to learn" Hijikata states firmly. "Huh, well-" "-Besides, Harada-San, you don't expect me to believe I'm being treated more harshly than you were when you first trained to be a Samurai" I added reasonably. He scratched the back of his neck.
"It's a bit different, I was treated as how a 'man' is to be trained. That's not the sort of training I wish for you to be put through, I was just reminding Hijikata-San of that, that's all" Sanosuke explained, concern written on his face. I folded my arms, having discarded the sparring sword a while ago. "As if Hijikata needs you to remind him what gender I am, he's walked in on me before so I'm sure he knows well enough" I huffed out, eyes narrowed. I hated these topics, the sexist ones that revolved around the idea that women were inferior to men. Frustratingly, that was the accepted norm in this era.