Hello and welcome to another one-shot! The last one I wrote was admittedly short with no real plot of its own since it was mainly written for a close friend to feel "the feels", thus I wrote this longer one-shot as compensation that sort of takes place in between the scenes of Souji's route. The setting takes place in Dr. Matsumoto's rental house after Souji had been shot with silver bullets. This also takes place after Souji's "first" bloodlust attack, but he's still on the road to recovery. And as a fun little twist, it is written from Souji's perspective.

As always, enjoy!

Green Onions

"I'm going to buy a couple of things we need for the house, so I'm leaving Okita-san in your care", Yamazaki instructed from the entrance hallway.

Even just listening to him talk from several rooms away was annoying, but this was one of those rare occasions where I was actually content with him speaking. He was finally leaving Dr. Matsumoto's house for a bit, which gave me the opportunity to do what I wanted without him bitching right by my ear. But I didn't let my excitement distract me from overhearing the rest of the conversation…

"Don't worry, I'll be fine taking care of Okita-san on my own for a while", Chizuru assured Yamazaki with her usual optimistic tone. Good job, Chizuru-chan, keep coaxing him…

"…It's not you I'm more worried about. I'm just afraid that Okita-san will try to do something that will only worsen his condition. He's just now starting to recover more appropriately…and we can't afford to have his health deteriorating again", Yamazaki stated solemnly. I huffed and rolled my eyes. Of all people whom Hijikata could've sent to watch over Chizuru and me, he just had to pick Yamazaki.

Yamazaki's concern was irritating and completely unnecessary, not to mention that he was always exaggerating. It's not like I wanted to damage my health, in fact it's the exact opposite; I just wanted these damn bullet wounds to heal instantly. But lying in bed all the time was draining and boring as hell, how does anyone expect me to stay cooped up in my room for so long? And like he said, I am recovering, so it's better to regain my strength by walking around a little bit –not by sleeping all the time. What's the harm in that?

"He'll be okay. I'll make sure of that", Chizuru insisted firmly, her voice rising just a little. I felt myself smile at that. I could just picture her looking cute with that determined expression of hers, along with her strong voice; she had to know how adorable she looked while doing that.

When I first met her, she was nothing more than a shy and quiet girl, but the more time I spent with her, the more I realized that somewhere deep within her was an immense and indomitable strength. Now especially, I often saw that perplexing side of her, most of time being when she was trying to get me to eat or rest some more. It was somewhat taxing, but her unwavering spirit eventually made me cave into her.

"You should get going then, I don't want you out on the streets very late", Chizuru advised, but something about the words she use pinched a nerve within me. Then I could hear Yamazaki gently chuckle in response; somehow it wasn't hard to imagine a foolish smile plastering his face. I didn't like it.

"All right, I'm heading out. Take care", I could hear Yamazaki say with a special ring in his tone as he slid open the door. I ground my teeth. Hearing him talk that way, to Chizuru of all people, was more irritating than the sound of nails on a chalkboard. I was always annoyed by him, but now just the thought of him increasingly pissed me off, and I wasn't sure exactly why.

All I knew was that I didn't like him near Chizuru, and I didn't like her kissing up to his ass.

Finally, I heard the door slide close, and the house went silent. The ass was, at last, gone.

I smirked triumphantly and shuffled out of my futon's covers. Conscious of my wounds, I stood up slowly and carefully, but more importantly, I made sure to cease any sounds I could make. I didn't want Chizuru catching me trying to escape because that would only result with her forcing me to go to bed again, thus I had to be extra sneaky.

Hmm…what should I do now?

There wasn't much to do at the house, but that wasn't much of a problem because I could entertain myself with Chizuru's company. But now that I didn't want her seeing me…

…I guess I could check on her without her noticing, that way I'd know if she were preoccupied or not. Plus, it's always better to know the whereabouts of the person you're trying to hide from. With my plan settling in mind, I stalked out of my room…

…

…It didn't take long for me to find her. She was in her room, probably dusting or doing some other chore. I hid behind the corner of the hall, waiting to see if she would ever leave, but a good five minutes passed and she was still in her room. Well now that I knew she was there, I decided to venture out in the courtyard and get some sun and fresh air. I knew perfectly well that sunlight was horrible for a fury, but that didn't mean I hadn't missed it. And it was close to twilight, so the sun couldn't be so bad now…so I thought. I was ready to leave the hallway, but then the door to Chizuru's room suddenly opened.

Dammit, she's leaving.

I stood still and hoped she didn't come to my side of the hallway, but I only dared to peak ever so slightly to glance at her. I was planning on taking just a quick glimpse, but I couldn't avert my eyes from the sight.

She was standing in the middle of the hallway, wearing only a simple, white yukata. Her hair wasn't up anymore; instead it draped down her shoulders and back like fine, dark silk. This wasn't the first time I'd seen her like that, but it never failed to impress me how beautiful her hair was when it wasn't stuck in its usual ponytail. There were even times when I wanted to run my fingers through it or play with it to tease her.

But I reminded myself that this wasn't a rare sight to ogle at, and I grew irritated with myself for getting distracted. After mentally disciplining myself, I studied Chizuru to see what she was up to. From the obvious looks of it, she was planning on going to the bathhouse to wash up.

"I'll take a quick bath, then I'll start making dinner…but what should I make…?", she asked herself, completely unaware that I was listening to her. I bit my tongue to avoid laughing. She had an interesting and very amusing way of taking to herself in the form of a monologue, and neither did she give complex speeches about vexing things in life. One time, I'd even heard her get into a serious argument with herself about whether or not to cook duck stew. There was no doubt in my mind that she was the funniest and most mysterious girl I'd ever met.

"…It's been a while since I made porridge," she continued to ponder aloud. At that point, I just felt sorry for her because I would surely mess with her about this soon enough…and I'd show no mercy. Just take a bath already, Chizuru-chan, or I'm going to burst out laughing!

"Yeah…I should make porridge with grated radish –and no green onions for Okita-san", a pretty smile pulled her lips back as she let out a short giggle, but it was the sudden mention of my name that compelled my grin away. I stared wide-eyed at her, and I could've sworn my mouth was gaping slightly.

She remembered…

She'd been the only person whom I told about my loathing of green onions, mainly because Kondou believed the misconception that I liked eating porridge with green onions. It'd been too late to tell him otherwise, and I didn't want to hurt his feelings, especially when he looked so happy every time he made that disgusting porridge for me. And I ate that porridge proudly because it had come from his care of me, there was no way I could ever tell him the truth. In fact…there were many things I couldn't tell him about myself…

…But Chizuru was there on those days when my tuberculosis was getting the best of my physical ability. Even when my appetite was all fucked up, she wouldn't leave me alone unless I ate something. I figured that if I was going to eat something, it might as well be something good, so I told her about my dislike of green onions. If she could keep her promise about not telling anyone about my illness, then she could definitely know this other secret of mine. I trusted her.

…But it'd been so long since I told her that…I didn't expect her to remember.

I was caught off-guard for so long that I hadn't noticed that Chizuru already left. Damn…now I'm losing my touch around her… I didn't need to be arrogant to understand that I was incredibly perceptive; I was always good at observing my surroundings. For that ability to falter now…was it an effect from my wounds? The Water of Life? No…it had something to do with Chizuru…I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

I shook my head. There I was again, lost in thought. I'd lost sight of my goal to sneak out…and this was the only chance I'd get.

"No more bullshit", I whispered to myself and walked toward the courtyard. Only I wasn't as excited as before, this time I was slightly annoyed…and admittedly captivated by Chizuru's mysteriousness…

…

…Much to my luck, the sun wasn't that painful; I could bear through it –or white-knuckle it- so long as I felt the cool outdoor breeze whistling through my hair. Ah, how I missed relaxing like this. And my courtyard experience became more enjoyable when a stray cat wandered in and sat itself on my lap.

"At least you won't scold me for being out here" I praised my new furry companion as I gently scratched its head. The feline leaned its head my hand, purring contently until it eventually dozed off. With the sun still up and the cat's warmth on my lap, I felt my eyelids begin to drift closed. I wouldn't mind taking a nap out here; this was different compared to being stuck in that same stuffy room in the house. Slowly but surely, my mind trailed off as sleep took hold of me…

…

"Okita-san! Are you okay?!" there was suddenly someone yelling next to me, and I felt that person's hands trying to shake me awake. Reluctantly, I peeked one eye open when I felt the cat scurry away –surely the intruder must have scared it off.

"What…?", I groaned, still half-awake. My eyes eventually trained on the person trying to wake me up.

"Chizuru-chan, can't you see that I'm in the middle of taking a nap?", I whined lackadaisically, hoping that it would be enough to get her to stop shaking my shoulders.

"I don't care that I'm interrupting your nap. You're supposed to be inside, not out here" she scolded me. I blinked several times to focus my vision. As expected, she was frowning at me with petrified eyes, and her mouth was pouting in a cute sort of way. My eyes didn't linger on her face for long though, and they drifted to her wet hair and thin yukata. I even felt drops of water from her strands of hair land on me. This was certainly amusing.

"You're getting me wet. That's not a very nice thing to do to an invalid", I jeered by playing the innocent…but I made sure to emphasize the idea that she was damp.

"T-That's not important! You need to go inside now!", she tenaciously tried to ignore the embarrassment I was causing her. Her flush cheeks and panicky attitude made her all the more intriguing to me…I shouldn't have been worried about that…but I could sense something churning within my core. I shouldn't have challenged myself, but I was too curious that I couldn't help myself.

"Inside, huh? I certainly didn't take you as being that kind of woman", I was well aware of what I was implying, but it was all a joke –or at least I tried convincing myself of that. Besides, I was saying those things to see how she would take them.

"O-Okita-san…p-please stop teasing me… A-At any rate, you need to take better care of yourself", she tried dodging the innuendos I shot her, and I was no fool to miss that, but at the moment I was more concerned about her interest in me.

"Chizuru-chan, why are you so worried for me? You know my wounds are healing faster than before, right?", I asked. To be honest, I found myself wondering why she cared so much for me, not that I didn't like or appreciate her concern.

But…just what was I to her that made me so important?

…And why did I end up caring so much for what she thought of me?

"Yeah, I know, but-", she started, but then her blush deepened to the point where she could no longer look at me.

"Well?" I pressed on.

"…I-I don't know…I just don't want anything bad to happen to you", somehow I could sense she was repressing her deepest thoughts from me, but neither was she lying.

I sighed in defeat; today I wouldn't have my answers from her.

"Speaking of taking care of myself, I don't want you to stop taking care of yourself just to help my sluggish ass", I stood and grabbed the towel that was hanging over her shoulder.

"Wh-What are you-?" she began to question my motives, but I ignored her and placed the towel over her hair and began to dry it for her.

"Wasn't it you who told me not to be outside with wet hair because I'd get a cold? You really need to listen to your advice, or else the same thing will come back to bite you in the ass", I smiled, content that I got my own form of revenge for what she did to me about a year ago…but it was more than just this satisfactory victory against her…

My hands finally made contact with her ravishing hair. Sure, the towel acted as a barricade, but I was content with this closeness…content that I could start looking after her instead of just the other way around. She'd done so much for me; I acknowledged that now. Perhaps nobody else would have done what she had, and I knew her reasons had to be something more than just worry or duty of a doctor's daughter.

It was time to give back to her. Look after her, take care of her, protect her…these were all the things I promised to do in my head…but I knew a part of me –a part that I didn't know how dominant it was- desired for more. Since that night when she first offered me her blood, I knew our fates were interconnected.

But what did fate have in store for us?

After spending a good amount of time on her hair, I finally stopped and peered over to look at Chizuru's face. She'd been silent the whole time I kept myself busy, and gazing at her made it clear as to why. Desperately hiding behind the towel and her bangs, she coyly pretended that I wasn't there staring at her. Too bad her tomato-red face gave her away.

"All right you win, I'll go back inside, but I expect a good dinner from you, otherwise I won't eat", I knew I was the clear victor of this encounter, but it was nice to give her an imaginary pat on the back for encouragement. I started to tread toward my room with my head held high, but I could hear Chizuru shift behind me, and I knew she was going to say something.

"U-Um…just you wait, I'll make sure you'll be eating the whole meal I prepare tonight", the jingle of stubborn strength returned to her voice, and I smiled again. I looked over my shoulder to see her with that shy smile of her own. It was hard to gaze at her for so long, especially with that disarming inner force that radiated through her smile and bright honey-brown eyes, but I forced an easy-going expression.

"I know you will."

And with that, I turned and went straight to my room. Once there in the solitude, I let my emotions distort the coloring of my cheeks into an embarrassing shade of red. I couldn't deny it any longer that Chizuru's cheekiness was so damn adorable that it made me feel foolish.

Okay…she was charming, in her own stubborn kind of way, there was no arguing that. But I couldn't understand why I allowed myself to be so heavily impacted by her. So yet again, I only added more questions about this mysterious woman.

At least one thing was certain. She cared for me, and I enjoyed the happiness that came from her concern. And even after she'd seen me in my darkest hours or times of despair, she didn't turn away from me. For once, I didn't have to hide my true self to someone.

…I could trust her.

I did trust her…

But I'll let time sort out what we feel for one another, for now, all I was looking forward to was Chizuru's porridge with grated radish…and no green onions.

And that brings us to my final notes! It's always fun writing about Souji since he's such a complex and dynamic character in Hakuouki, and it's interesting exploring his relationship with Chizuru and Yamazaki. But I think this is the last one-shot I'll write in a while since I must get back to writing my other in-progress works, plus with spring break coming up, I have a lot of homework and studying to do for mid-terms.

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this little adventure with Souji! Please leave a review about what you thought of this story; it really helps me out immensely!

As always, have an awesome day!