Shieikan Memories II

Nightlife, Colds, Rituals, Encounters. Eight More Drabbles of Shieikan Memories...

Sales Pitch

"For every bruise and sprain, Ishida Powder will ease your pain. How's that?" Hijikata asked.

Sano frowned. "It's certainly memorable…"

"But?"

But who would buy something so dubious-sounding? Sano wanted to say, but knew he wouldn't escape Hijikata's wrath if he did.

To his relief, an oddly curious Saito suddenly approached them. "I apologize for overhearing, but this Ishida Powder intrigues me. Would it be alright for me to buy some?"

Sano was dumbfounded. "Saito, don't tell me you actually bought that line?"

"What do you mean? If Hijikata-san says it, it must be true."

Hijikata smiled triumphantly. Sano facepalmed.

Corruption

Shinpachi wasn't sure when he first noticed that the boisterous Heisuke was actually quite sheltered and shy, but when he did, he decided to remedy it.

He took him to a teahouse.

The results were…interesting.

According to Shinpachi, Heisuke was thoroughly intimidated by the women, got drunk absurdly fast, and forgot how to speak Japanese.

According to Heisuke, Shinpachi failed to impress any woman, broke a door when attempting a dance, and got so drunk, he forgot his own name.

What everyone else noticed though, was that Heisuke was very eager to accompany "Shinpattsan" to the red light district again.

Favor

Souji was used to not being taken seriously. His students treated him like an unlikable child and refused to follow his instructions, but he didn't care. He wasn't the one leaving his class covered in bruises, after all.

Then one day, Hijikata suddenly barged into his class and demanded a duel. Souji's first impulse was to refuse, but he was already in a bad mood so knocking Hijikata around a bit felt very enticing.

He won, of course. And he noticed discipline in his class improved significantly afterwards.

Souji pouted. It wasn't like he needed Hijikata to butt-in like that.

Tea Time

Tea Ceremonies were truly relaxing. It was a ritual of purity, respect and tranquility and Sannan found the custom to be excellent for teaching patience and balance. The delicious tea was simply a bonus.

Since arriving at Shieikan, Sannan held the occasional ceremony, with the others sometimes joining him. Inoue-san made for very intelligent company, but Sannan also greatly appreciated Kondou-san and Hijikata-kun's genuine curiosity.

The others were…another story.

Once, in a clear lapse of judgment, Todou, Nagakura, and Harada decided to join Sannan's Tea Ceremony.

The only thing anyone learned that day was to never ever make Sannan angry.

Get Well Soon

"Here." Saitou was the first to bring it: a thin brown root he'd heard was very nutritious.

Next Sano and Shinpachi brought over a few, teasing that they would make him taller.

Then a whole basket of them arrived, courtesy of Kondou.

Finally, Hijikata brought one over, in its own box even, acting very coy about the whole thing. Heisuke couldn't hold back his laughter after that.

Because despite all of them having the same idea, no one knew what the root was called, or how one should even eat it.

But…laughter really was the best medicine for a cold.

Encounter

The temple was always packed on New Year's. The large volume of people made it very easy to be pushed, tripped, or even separated.

Hijikata belonged strictly to the third group. He was completely and utterly lost.

At least he wasn't alone. A young woman he had saved from being trampled had been separated from her father. Sympathizing with her plight, Hijikata stuck close to her, protecting her from any more shoving as well.

They found him when the traffic cleared up a little.

"Thank you," she bowed and ran off. Spotting Kondou in the distance, Hijikata did the same.

Bonding

More than anyone else, Hijikata understood the importance of the bond between brother and sister, so it always warmed his heart to see Souji and Mitsu spending time together. From what little Kondou told him, he knew that the siblings' bond was strained, but Mitsu was doing her best to reconcile with her little brother.

Her efforts were working too. Souji had gone from simply tolerating her presence, to taking some interest in her games. It made Hijikata smile—really, it did!

He just wished their idea of family bonding wasn't teaming up to make his life a living hell.

Approval

Souji was there first. As expected.

Hijikata showed up second, and only their mutual agreement that this was for Kondou's own good kept them quiet.

Sannan and Gen-san materialized next. Intellectual curiosity, they claimed.

Heisuke, Shinpachi and Sano appeared afterwards and their amusement at the whole thing nearly blew everyone's cover.

Even Saito showed up, and the 8 men quietly, but intently spied on Kondou's marriage meeting.

Kondou and his potential bride knew they were there all along.

"I'm sorry about this," Kondou sighed.

"It's quite alright," Tsune smiled, "I do wish for their approval as well."

She got it.

Thank you to everyone who read/reviewed/faved the first chapter. I got so much encouragement, that I was inspired to write a few more. Only eight this time, but I hope you find these eight to be entertaining as well.

"Bonding" is dedicated to the wonderful Feliciatcb, for the conversation that inspired the drabble. This is totally my Mitsu headcanon now! xD

I think "Corruption" and "Tea Time" are my favorites in this batch. "Encounter" and "Approval" were really fun to write too (Well, they all were really. I shouldn't be playing favorites with my own stories ^^")

Thanks for Reading :)