(Untitled)

[hitmansougo13]

WHO: Hijikata Toushirou, Okita Sougo
WHAT: Meeting up after Hijikata's arrival.
WHERE: By the pier.
WHEN: Two hours or so after their conversation over the journals.

Comments

[mayo_maniac]

No-good unmotivated bastard, thought one Hijikata Toushirou as he surveyed the bustling but otherwise uninteresting pier. The ingrate was probably napping off somewhere, conveniently ignoring his duties as Captain of the First Division and wallowing in the general chaos and confusion of the place. Hijikata closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling into his cigarette, debating whether he should just leave or give Okita the extra hour or two it'd doubtless take the man to get to the pier

[hitmansougo13]

He was right, it did not take much effort to locate the familiar face that belonged to that pathetic excuse of a Vice Commander. Why, Okita should be the one carrying that title. He was more deserving than the mayonnaise addict. Really, he was sure if the other members were asked to vote right now, he would definitely seize victory- regardless of the fact whether the votes were sincere or not. Approaching the very man he was fond of disturbing- Hijikata's reactions were more than satisfactory half the time- and the seven big crates of what was more like dog food to him, Okita pondered firing a shot to alert Hijikata-san to his presence

[mayo_maniac]

"Friendly greeting" indeed. Years of experience and sharp intuition alone saved Hijikata from the bazooka's unforgiving blast. At the first hint of disturbance--barely processed notice of a certain scent and displacement in air--Hijikata leapt from sitting position to a full back flip over the crates of mayonnaise. With an instinct not unlike those of mothers defending their newborns, his sheathed sword was out in a manner of seconds, knocking the crates over in a loud but saving clatter onto the pier as the explosive zoomed narrowly past and crashed straight into wooden pier behind Hijikata

[hitmansougo13]

It was certainly disappointing. "Ah I missed," he said aloud deadpanned, with a blank expression on his face as if he had just fired a water gun at the Vice Commander rather than a life threatening shot. Sighing somewhat exaggeratedly, he started advancing towards Hijikata relaxedly- nothing had happened, he just said hello in a different way. Well, although he did fail to hit his target, watching said target go through all those hasty actions to evade his blow was enough for the moment. His reactions were incredible, and his movements swift. Really, he should award Hijikata-san for getting better at dodging over time. He would have to take aim more seriously in future, or fire multiple rounds, Okita reasoned

[mayo_maniac]

Actually, Okita did have a point there. You'd think that after years of constantly dodging unpleasant attempts on his life Hijikata would be more prepared for Okita's constant acts of brutality.

Eh, whatever. Hijikata had better things to think about, anyway.

Edging away from the destruction and angry civilians, Hijikata brought with him an abandoned cart (that is, abandoned when its owner was forced to take a nice swim in the harbor) he'd spotted near the gaping pier-hole. Narrowing his eyes as Okita approached the mayonnaise, Hijikata placed himself in a strategically defensive position in front of the mayonnaise as he started to load the crates onto the cart.

"Ch'--not only that, but you're late. Have you even found us lodging yet?"

[hitmansougo13]

Okita started to reach a hand out to the crate full of yellow, sticky mush, but then drew his arm back. Never mind, he would have his chance to do whatever he wanted later on, however he pleased. Gazing uninterested as Hijikata piled the cart up, he wondered how the Vice Commander was intending to safe keep all that without spoiling it's contents. Unless he wanted to eat them all within the day- which honestly, Okita would prefer not to know if that was the case- they would have to get another refrigerator for the house.

"I was only helping an old woman along the way. She tripped over a cat and lost her balance. It was pretty bad, you know. I had to take her to the local clinic," Okita lied smoothly, very much used to giving excuses. Pausing for a moment, his eyes met with Hijikata's and he just stared blankly for a few seconds for no apparent reason before continuing, "I was living in one of the houses up until now. There's no room for those unsightly stuff of yours, though. The fridge is also not in working condition."

[mayo_maniac]

Hijikata snorted at Okita's very, very unlikely story. It was more likely that he was the one to have set the cat on the old woman in the first place.

"Of course they won't fit in a fridge. There was an old man I asked earlier who said he'd lend me an ice box--I'll come pick it up after we find out where we're staying."

He absently bit his cigarette and looked at Okita a bit more closely. None worse for wear, it seemed. No surprise--Hijikata doubted anyone here could pose a serious threat. Though he'd never admit it, he was glad it was Okita and not someone like...say, Yamazaki that was here, though Kondou-san would've been better. At least he was used to Okita.

"Let's go."

[hitmansougo13]

Was his little made up story being doubted? Hijikata, like always, did not seem to believe his words. That was expected, of course, anyone who knew him well enough would see through his excuse. Moreover, Okita could not really bother to spin a more convincing tale

[mayo_maniac]

"It'd be more troublesome without you," Hijikata replied tersely. And it was true. From what he'd gathered from the gossip on the docks, if he could only get mayonnaise from the townspeople, but judging from the size of the town it'd take some searching before he found someone who had it in bulk. He'd bullied this particular shipment out of a merchant, and it'd be annoying to have to eat unflavored, imperfect foods until he could find a mayo supply.

"...oi, Sougo. I'm pretty sure we saw this panty shop before."

[hitmansougo13]

"Huh?" Okita responded as Hijikata mentioned that the store they had just passed looked familiar. Pausing in his footsteps, Okita pretended to survey the surroundings, eyes wandering over said outlet and it's signboard. "Did we? How do you know that; were you staring at the panties earlier? You know, we could stop and patronize the store for a few minutes if you'd like, Hijikata-san," Okita brought up, adjusting the bazooka on his shoulder. Perhaps it was time to wrap the journey up, after all. He was not used to the weight of the new weapon, and even he felt his arm aching slightly.

[mayo_maniac]

"I know that because unlike you, I was actually paying attention to our surroundings! AND WHY IN HELL WOULD I NEED PANTIES?!"

Hijikata adjusted his grip on the carts and glared, a few of the passer-bys scurrying away from fright.

"We'd better not be lost."

[hitmansougo13]

"There's a very big difference between need and want, you should know that very well, right?" Okita answered, lightly tapping Hijikata's shoulder with his free hand, which he had grabbed an underwear with just a few seconds before, when the store owner was not looking- though it did not matter since everything came free of charge. Letting go of his grip on the cloth, he instantly put his hand away. "Hey now, don't be embarrassed."

"We're not lost, it's just up ahead," he added after Hijikata's comment.

[mayo_maniac]

Hijikata yelped when he realized that he was now left not only pushing a cartful of mayonnaise, but balancing lacy female underwear on his shoulder. Growling he snatched up the panties and slammed them hard into Okita's retreating backside.

"I DON'T NEED OR WANT PANTIES, YOU STUPID BASTARD!!! I'VE NOTHING TO BE EMBARRASSED ABOUT EXCEPT FOR BEING WITH YOU!!"

The going got noticeably easier now that the locals had scurried away to hide in the shops and buildings.

[hitmansougo13]

Prickly bastard as usual, Okita thought, as he turned around to face an annoyed Hijikata. Tilting his head down a little, he looked at the underwear which had fallen from his back after the other had roughly pushed it at him. Eyes darting back to Hijikata, he replied in a monotone, "That's rude, where are your manners? And please don't yell, Hijikata-san. It poses a threat to my ears, not to mention, you'd attract unwanted attention. Ah and who's going to pick that up now? Should we leave it lying there in it's sorry state and hope someone else puts it back where it belongs?"

He paused before retrieving a pen from his pocket, "Hey how long do you think it takes to come back to you if I write your name down?"

[mayo_maniac]

On his list of all the things that annoyed Hijikata about Okita Sougo, he had to admit that the guy's superficial insistence on manners and conduct was at the very top. That smiling face could under no conditions be trusted. On the very bad days of course, Hijikata would remember that it was Mitsuba-san that taught Sougo his manners, and he'd wonder if it was some kind of weird tribute to his sister that stayed so "polite."

"We've been attracting unwanted attention since you destroyed Dock 11, asshole. And even if you wrote my name on it there's no one in the world who'd pick up random panties off the floor and try to return them to their owner!"

[hitmansougo13]

"You think so? Don't underestimate the sincerity of good hearted citizens, Hijikata-san. But since you're so doubtful, we should try it for sure." With that, he bent down and scribbled out the Vice Commander's name in handwriting large and neat enough to be noticed easily.

Capping the pen, he stood up. "Let's move on then, it's just round that corner," It should not take long for his companion to be known in this area. Soon, someone would recall having seen or heard that name around, probably, and the rest Okita would leave it up to their own creativity.