Counting Down to Midnight [Gintama, Hijikata + Okita]
Not the same Gintama fic that was causing me grief last week, and really hastily written. But it was Hijikata's birthday today and, well, I had to do something.
Title: Counting Down to Midnight is for New Year's, Not for Birthdays
Rating: PG
Word Count: 750
Characters: Hijikata Toshirou, Okita Sougo
Summary: It's Hijikata's birthday, and things have been so peaceful that it's making him nervous.
He wakes to Sougo smiling cheerfully down at him, and has to fight instinct in order not to scramble to the opposite side of the room as fast as he can. In the end, though, all he receives is a mild Happy birthday, Hijikata-san. The messily-wrapped present left in his room never even explodes.
They go on patrol. Sougo is the very epitome of enthusiasm and helpfulness --- so much, in fact, that it makes Hijikata increasingly nervous. For the longest time in memory, the only injury he sustains during the course of the day is self-inflicted, when he discovers that walking quickly forward while trying to keep an a wary eye on the person walking behind him was, all in all, not a very good idea.
In the evening Sougo rounds up the members of the first squadron, and makes him a cake with mayonnaise topping. No violence was invoked during the entire process, and, after calling Yamazaki in to run a whole battery of tests, Hijikata can only conclude the cake itself wasn’t poisoned, either.
His enjoyment of it is still somewhat dampened, though --- by this point, he's convinced that Sougo was planning something big. It was only a matter of where and when.
Late at night, while barricaded into his room and thoroughly irritated at how peace could be so stressful, it's the noise that brings Hijikata out again onto the veranda. In the middle of the courtyard, Sougo shoulders his cannon, and explains himself without even being asked.
"Fireworks for your birthday, Hijikata-san. One for each year --- I've twenty-two more to go."
The fact that shooting cannon rounds into the sky couldn't be any normal person’s definition of fireworks --- that is the least of his worries right now, with Sougo still looking too wide-eyed and innocent to be believable. "Aa," he mumbles distractedly, and clamps down his mouth in order not to add, So, what’s the catch?
But Sougo seems to hear it anyway. Of course he would. "Did you have a good day, Hijikata-san?"
Hijikata frowns.
"You know --- I decided it wouldn’t be right if you ended up dying today, of all days. So I hope you enjoyed it, while it lasted."
Hijikata blinks, drops his cigarette. "Wait --- What?"
Sougo shrugs. "I thought you’d appreciate it. Danna from the Yorozuya kept telling me --- what was it? Ah, yes --- that the most meaningful gifts you give shouldn't consist of material possessions. Besides, I thought that the day I become vice commander should be worthy of celebration in its own right, not because it overlapped with your birthday, or any other trivial reason like that...."
Hijikata does seriously contemplate running into the courtyard and taking a slice at him. But here are the little details from the day, all adding up, all making sense. The tension's draining quickly and surely from his mind, like mayonnaise from a good-quality dispenser, and he is suddenly very, very tired.
And, well, ceasefire or not, Sougo was still holding a cannon.
He lets himself slide down the wooden pillar at his back, and sits on the edge of the veranda. "Sougo?"
"Yes?"
"Just --- Next time, tell people these things in advance."
"But it’s no fun that way." Sougo replies, too blandly for him not to be aware of the psychological damage he's managed to inflict. He has the cannon up and firing again almost immediately, though, and any appropriate rejoinder would have been lost in the noise.
Without anything better to do, Hijikata watches. Beyond what was necessary for practical purposes, he doesn't know too much about the mechanics behind cannons, but he’s pretty sure that Sougo’s using a different kind of shot than usual. The rounds, after exploding high up in the night sky, are giving off almost no smoke. In its stead, they seem to produce a larger spread of flame --- a rolling curtain of vibrant red, rippling outward, throwing off the occasional shower of sparks.
Still a horribly inelegant display, and --- if they were really unlucky --- chances were that Sougo would hit a ship before it was over. How was it, then, that the more Hijikata looked at it, the more it seemed a pretty decent imitation of fireworks, as far as the Shinsengumi was concerned?
Even the absurdly loud but rhythmic bang, bang, bang was relaxing, in its own way.
Sougo is pivoting on the spot to let rounds loose in different directions, and Hijikata catches a glimpse of his face --- smiling, intent, eyes alight as they reflected each burst of fire. He hmphs, but finds the corners of his mouth twitching a little, too; thinks, this might not be such a bad idea after all.
Until, that is, the last round of fireworks sails within a foot of his head, landing somewhere inside the wooden structure behind him.
"SOUGO!!"
"Ah. It's just past midnight now, Hijikata-san."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Notes:
Really, really hastily written. Thanks for sticking with it until this point. :D
I'm thinking that this might mark my official intiation into the Gintama fandom? It sort of fits, since it was these two characters that got me taking a careful look at the series, in the first place. (Here, after all, was a Hijikata and an Okita that stood a chance of living happily ever after --- if only they could get things right. ^_^*)
Title: Counting Down to Midnight is for New Year's, Not for Birthdays
Rating: PG
Word Count: 750
Characters: Hijikata Toshirou, Okita Sougo
Summary: It's Hijikata's birthday, and things have been so peaceful that it's making him nervous.
He wakes to Sougo smiling cheerfully down at him, and has to fight instinct in order not to scramble to the opposite side of the room as fast as he can. In the end, though, all he receives is a mild Happy birthday, Hijikata-san. The messily-wrapped present left in his room never even explodes.
They go on patrol. Sougo is the very epitome of enthusiasm and helpfulness --- so much, in fact, that it makes Hijikata increasingly nervous. For the longest time in memory, the only injury he sustains during the course of the day is self-inflicted, when he discovers that walking quickly forward while trying to keep an a wary eye on the person walking behind him was, all in all, not a very good idea.
In the evening Sougo rounds up the members of the first squadron, and makes him a cake with mayonnaise topping. No violence was invoked during the entire process, and, after calling Yamazaki in to run a whole battery of tests, Hijikata can only conclude the cake itself wasn’t poisoned, either.
His enjoyment of it is still somewhat dampened, though --- by this point, he's convinced that Sougo was planning something big. It was only a matter of where and when.
Late at night, while barricaded into his room and thoroughly irritated at how peace could be so stressful, it's the noise that brings Hijikata out again onto the veranda. In the middle of the courtyard, Sougo shoulders his cannon, and explains himself without even being asked.
"Fireworks for your birthday, Hijikata-san. One for each year --- I've twenty-two more to go."
The fact that shooting cannon rounds into the sky couldn't be any normal person’s definition of fireworks --- that is the least of his worries right now, with Sougo still looking too wide-eyed and innocent to be believable. "Aa," he mumbles distractedly, and clamps down his mouth in order not to add, So, what’s the catch?
But Sougo seems to hear it anyway. Of course he would. "Did you have a good day, Hijikata-san?"
Hijikata frowns.
"You know --- I decided it wouldn’t be right if you ended up dying today, of all days. So I hope you enjoyed it, while it lasted."
Hijikata blinks, drops his cigarette. "Wait --- What?"
Sougo shrugs. "I thought you’d appreciate it. Danna from the Yorozuya kept telling me --- what was it? Ah, yes --- that the most meaningful gifts you give shouldn't consist of material possessions. Besides, I thought that the day I become vice commander should be worthy of celebration in its own right, not because it overlapped with your birthday, or any other trivial reason like that...."
Hijikata does seriously contemplate running into the courtyard and taking a slice at him. But here are the little details from the day, all adding up, all making sense. The tension's draining quickly and surely from his mind, like mayonnaise from a good-quality dispenser, and he is suddenly very, very tired.
And, well, ceasefire or not, Sougo was still holding a cannon.
He lets himself slide down the wooden pillar at his back, and sits on the edge of the veranda. "Sougo?"
"Yes?"
"Just --- Next time, tell people these things in advance."
"But it’s no fun that way." Sougo replies, too blandly for him not to be aware of the psychological damage he's managed to inflict. He has the cannon up and firing again almost immediately, though, and any appropriate rejoinder would have been lost in the noise.
Without anything better to do, Hijikata watches. Beyond what was necessary for practical purposes, he doesn't know too much about the mechanics behind cannons, but he’s pretty sure that Sougo’s using a different kind of shot than usual. The rounds, after exploding high up in the night sky, are giving off almost no smoke. In its stead, they seem to produce a larger spread of flame --- a rolling curtain of vibrant red, rippling outward, throwing off the occasional shower of sparks.
Still a horribly inelegant display, and --- if they were really unlucky --- chances were that Sougo would hit a ship before it was over. How was it, then, that the more Hijikata looked at it, the more it seemed a pretty decent imitation of fireworks, as far as the Shinsengumi was concerned?
Even the absurdly loud but rhythmic bang, bang, bang was relaxing, in its own way.
Sougo is pivoting on the spot to let rounds loose in different directions, and Hijikata catches a glimpse of his face --- smiling, intent, eyes alight as they reflected each burst of fire. He hmphs, but finds the corners of his mouth twitching a little, too; thinks, this might not be such a bad idea after all.
Until, that is, the last round of fireworks sails within a foot of his head, landing somewhere inside the wooden structure behind him.
"SOUGO!!"
"Ah. It's just past midnight now, Hijikata-san."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Notes:
Really, really hastily written. Thanks for sticking with it until this point. :D
I'm thinking that this might mark my official intiation into the Gintama fandom? It sort of fits, since it was these two characters that got me taking a careful look at the series, in the first place. (Here, after all, was a Hijikata and an Okita that stood a chance of living happily ever after --- if only they could get things right. ^_^*)