Disclaimer: All the characters are 'borrowed' from Peacemaker.

Author's notes:

Due to requests for a Tetsu-Saya fanfic, I've adapted & developed the original 'mail's in' into one.

Expect the total butchery of history as we know it. (Thou hath be forewarned)

Romance was never my strong suit, but hey, enjoy.

Chapter 1: Mail's in

The mailman trembled as he heard the ominous rumble of feet. Please let it not be Harada's patrol...Buddha...Kami...The mailman is a short man. Everyone knows Captain Harada is a giant of a man with a blind spot below his waist. The poor mailman tried to flee to safety but tripped on his sandal strap.

"Ojii-san, watch out!" A red-haired youngster and a very good-looking young man hauled him to safety bare seconds before Captain Harada and his men returned from their patrol.

"Harada-san! You almost trampled the mailman again!" Okita yelled after the giant. "Did you say mail?" The rest of the taishi emerged from their training. Many of them had left their homes in other parts of the country to enlist in the elite Shinsengumi. "Hai, mail! We'll take it from here," Okita took the mail.

"Can I have this sent to China?" Okita gave the mailman one of his best smiles as he handed him a worn book---Hijitaka's haiku collection.

"SOUUJIIII!! GIVE IIT BAAACCCKKK!!!!" A roar shook the headquarters. A very angry Hijitaka appeared at the gate still in his pajamas. He looked every bit the Demon of the Shinsengumi. The mailman took to his heels and fled with Hijitaka in hot pursuit. Tetsu looked at Okita. "Okita-san, is it alright sending that book to China?"

Okita laughed and patted the front of his yutaka where a book stuck out of its white folds. "Okay! I'm handing out the mail! Yamada-san! Koizumi Ichiro..." Kondo and Yamanami observed the young captain of the first patrol from where they stood and shrugged. No harm was done really by the boy, unless Hijitaka caught up to the mailman.

Tetsu looked at the two letters with his name on them. One was from Suzu and went:

Ichimura,

I realize now that our friendship was a BIG mistake. You are nothing but a Shinsengumi corrupted swine. Mark my words, the next time our paths cross, I'll fulfill my master's orders and-

With a sigh, Tetsu scrunched it into a ball and tossed it for a passing cat to play with. It was pointless to continue. The other one lit up his day. It was from Saya.

My dearest friend Tetsu-kun,

I miss you so. Even now I think of you. I'll be having my day off on the 12th. Please meet me at-

"Aww, the puppy got a love letter!" The Comedian Trio surrounded him. "Harada-san, gimme back my letter!" Tetsu yelled as he tried to snatch the letter which Harada dangled just out of his reach.

"Who took an all-night booking in Shimabara using MY name?" Tatsu paled as he looked at the bill. "We invited you, but you never showed..." Heisuke grinned. "We found you later drunk and naked in the main street, wait, was that Tetsu-chan?" Tatsu promptly fainted. "Er, guys, I think my joke went too far."

"Man, my wife wants me to send her a kimono allowance! What's this world coming to when a man can't spend every cent he earned in Shimabara?" Shinpachi groaned. "And my mother wants a grandson! She wants me to go home and assist my wife! Women!" He rolled his eyes in mock disbelief.

"My lovely fiancée Aiko writes to say she misses me and is arriving in Kyoto TODAY??" Heisuke blotted out of the gate.

Tetsu had just rescued the scraps of Saya's letter and was trying to piece them together when Saitou appeared. Saitou is shaking and looking really pale. "Saitou-san, what's it? Is the shadow back?" Tetsu glanced about in fear.

"Relax, Saitou-san just received news from back home." Okita helped steer Saitou into the shade. "What is it? Did something happen to his parents? Or..." Yamanami asked. "Worse!" Saitou moaned. "They are ordering me home to marry my fiancée, Tokio! Heavens, I don't even know what type of woman she is."

"Look on the bright side," Yamanami tried to cheer him up." Maybe she has my Akesato's beauty, warm personality...and Ayu-nee's culinary skill." "Akesato?" Kondo stared at Yamanami, who looked the other way in embarrassment. "Then she could have Hijitaka's winning personality and ..." Saitou shuddered and turned green.

On the roof, Yamazaki Susumu opens his letter with trembling hands. Please, please...Dang! Another letter of rejection from the overseas shinobi college. Scraps of paper come floating down on the wind like flower petals.

"Well, that's all the mail," Okita smiled as he picked up Saizou, who nuzzled his master. "Wait, Souji, there's one more. Don't feed it to Saizou!" Kondo snatched the letter from Okita who groaned. It was a letter from a certain hospital reminding Okita Souji to return for his medical appointment.

"Souji! Have you been missing your appointments?"

"But I HATE medical examinations," Okita grinned impishly. "They always want to have me admitted."

"No buts!" Hijitaka, who had returned after running around town, put his hand firmly on his young friend's shoulder. "You can go there voluntarily or I'll drag you there. Must I always baby sit you?" With a helpless shrug, Okita put Saizou on the ground.

"OH NO!" Tetsu wailed. One piece of the letter was missing. Where in town will Saya be waiting for him? Sanosuke, Heisuke, Shinpachi, just you wait.

(to be continued)