Title: (no real title...)

Author: Kikane

E-mail: woaisoujirou@yahoo.com

Source: Kaze Hikaru by Watanabe Taeko (my favourite manga!)

Main character(s): Okita mainly, Hijikata, Shinpachi and Sanosuke make appearances
Archived on the website:  ?? um, yes?
General Rating:  G, very innocent. mostly comedy ^_^
Disclaimer: The characters I used are based off the manga "Kaze Hikaru" by Watanabe Taeko, produced by Flower Comics. I don't own Okita, he owns himself, and Watanabe owns Kaze Hikaru.


(guess who's telling the story!!) ^_~


	I had gone to bed early last night because of that troublesome cough. I didn't have a fever, but I could tell I was sick. For that reason, I had been lying in bed for about an hour longer than I should have, staring at the wall between intervals of short naps. During one of those naps, someone started talking to me from outside my room, shouting, "Souji? Oi, Souji! Are you still sleeping like a lazy cat?"
	I groaned and rolled away from the fusuma-door, just as it slid open.
	"Souji?" He asked, pronouncing my name to sound like the word for "house-cleaning." Only one person spoke to me in that tone of voice: Our Fukuchou-- Vice-Captain, Hijikata Toshizou. As he stood there, perhaps waiting for me to get up, I fell promptly back to sleep...
	"Souji!!" he raged.
	"Mmm?" Souji... that was my name, wasn't it? "No, Hijikata-san, just a few more minutes..." I pleaded, half asleep and burying my head under the blanket like a reluctant child.
	"I know you're not feeling well, but your Squad is waiting for you." Then he remarked absently, "Ever since the Ikedaya-Affair, we've been getting so many new recruits."
	Ever since the Ikedaya-Affair, I had had an annoying cough. Recently, my chest had started to hurt, too. The thought of training a fresh batch of amateurs was not one to make me leap out of bed.
	"Guuu" I groaned, "Iyada (No, I don't want to)."
	Hijikata almost started fuming, but suddenly caught himself and changed his tactics. "But what will happen to your portion of breakfast?" he crooned maliciously.
	A pause. "What about my portion?" I asked, cautiously pulling the covers off my head.
	"Oh, that's right! I didn't tell you." Although Hijikata-san was standing behind me, I could clearly picture his face looking like a sly cat who has just cornered his prey. I was starting to get nervous.
	"Since breakfast was almost over, I took the liberty of saving you some before anyone else ate it, but you know, it's hard work guarding food from men who have nothing else to do but wait for their Captain to wake up." 
	For a moment I was frozen as the unsaid meaning of those chilling words  worked through my mind.
	"NO!" I shouted, sitting up abruptly. The horror of all horrors was about to occur. My own Squad was about to EAT my breakfast! "Hijikata-sa~n!" I whined, nearly tripping over my futon as I raced to get dressed, "Why didn't you just bring the food to my room where it would be safe?!"
	"Do I look like your servant?" he asked in his smooth, canny voice.
	I made a tortured face, "No, but still; it's my food! Have a heart!"
	Even as I slid the fusuma-door shut, leaving Hijikata-san inside without thinking, I was still tying the sash to my hakama-pants. My futon remained on the floor, and the blanket I suppose was somewhere beside it. There was simply no time for tidiness; not with my breakfast at stake. I jogged down the hallways to the eating quarters, my feet thudding delicately on the wooden floors.
	"Sorry I'm late!" I exclaimed, heaving open the fusuma to the eating room. "There is food left, isn't there?" I asked whoever it was that was helping the cook by serving our meals today. He was one of the new taishi-warriors, though I did not even take time to ask his name.
	"Oh, of course." he said politely, " Hijikata-Fukuchou told me to hide it in the firebox for you. I'll go and fetch it."
	"He told you to hide it there?" I inquired skeptically.
	"Ah--hai!" the young man answered nervously. Then, I suppose, not knowing what else to say, he trotted off as I was left with the amusing thought of my breakfast being burnt to ashes. I snickered. Still, no one would think to look for it there; Hijikata-san had chosen a good hiding place. I clasped my hands together, praying silently, Thank you, Hijikata-sa~n!
	Just as I sat down at the table to wait, I heard the door slide open and looked up, not expecting the cook's helper to return so quickly. It was someone else though, Nagakura Shinpachi, a Kumichou--Squad-Captain like myself. He greeted me with his usual, "Ou, Souji!" upon seeing my sitting figure.
	Smiling widely in return, I said happily, "Ah, Nagakura-san, good morning!"
	He sat down beside me, saying almost too cheerfully, "Wow, I thought you were dead, Souji."
	"Hah? Why would I be dead?" That was a strange thought. I was the strongest fighter of the Shinsengumi; how could I die?
	"Well, you went to be early last night, and Hijikata wouldn't tell us where you were all morning. You even missed breakfast. Our only conclusion was that you must be dead."
	"I hope no one started digging my grave." I said, smiling awkwardly.
	Nagakura-san chuckled, "Actually, Sano started to. I had to wrestle the shovel out of his hands."
	Hearing that I burst out laughing. I could easily picture Harada Sanosuke brawling with Nagakura-san over a shovel. A drawn out sigh ended my bout of laughter. Only Sano would take an assumption that far.
	"You'd better tell him you're still alive. Otherwise he might start digging again." Nagakura-san advised me.
	"I will next time I see him---After I tell him I am a ghost who came to haunt him for eating my yastuhashi last month." I said grinning.
	"Che, you still haven't gotten over that?" he asked in exasperation. I only smiled in return.
	In the most impeccable timing, the cook's helper entered at that precise moment. Excitedly I sat up straight, mouth wide open in a smile. Wai! Wai! I wanted to cheer. "Gokurou-sama deshita!--Thank you for the food!" I shouted to the helper as he placed the tray--which only had a few soot-smudges on it to prove its stay in the firebox-- in front of me. Grabbing the nearest pair of (one could only hope) unused chopsticks, I exclaimed, "Itadakima~su! --Let's eat." and pulled off the lid to the first bowl. Hm, rice. Next--pickled vegetables. Last--miso shiru. The Shinsengumi was, in truth, poor, but I was thankful for a meal at all.
	After I had oh-so-gleefully finished my breakfast, I laid my chopsticks on the tray, thanking the helper again for aiding me in my time of desperation. He bowed appreciatively before taking the tray away. That was something relatively new for me. Usually I would make breakfast and later clean up after myself. Maybe having all these new eager-to-be-warriors was not so bad after all. That reminded me, I had to go gather up my Squad and teach them how to wield a sword like good Shinsengumi taishi-warriors. I was about to ask Nagakura-san to help me find them all, when I remembered that he had left at some obscure point while I was eating. I hoped he would not reach Harada Sanosuke before I did...
	It did not take too long to assemble everyone, but when I did, I realized all the best training areas were taken by the other Kumichou-Squad Captains. After all, the Shinsengumi were poor, and it was not as if we had a dojo or anything like that. We did have a few well-sized courtyards, but apparently not enough, now with all the new recruits. So, I decided to take my Squad for a walk through the woods. We could practice in a field not too far away. It was a lovely place besides, now that the sakura-cherry trees were in full bloom. I encouraged my group to keep going, that after this hill there would be a flat area beyond the sakura-trees.
	Suddenly, one of my men called out my name, "Ah--Okita-sensei, be careful not to fall into the hole!"
	"Eh?" I turned around to face him, but kept walking nonetheless. Quite swiftly, my foot found "the hole" and I toppled into it. "What is this hole doing here?" I sputtered, crawling out. 
	The Squad was divided by sounds of concern and sounds of humor. One of them spoke up, "Harada-sensei thought you were dead and was digging you a grave his morning...He knew how much you loved the cherry blossoms and thought you would... like this place as your burial ground."
	I could not help laughing. "Sasuga Harada-san-rashii!" Something like this could only be expected of him.

                                         朞wari