(no subject)
Title: Fourteen Things About Hijikata Toushirou
Fandom: Gintama (not PMK :P)
Word Count: 1,700
Notes: These range from one-liners to fairly long drabbles. Dedicated to moonythestrals for a request from almost a month ago. (I really, really tried to work humor into at least a majority of these. There’s only one that I honestly think you'll find too depressing, but I also don’t think we've watched the backstory for that, so feel free to skip it. :P)
One
Hijikata doesn't know when exactly he realized he'd end up raiding the Rengokukan, whether he liked it or not. When the Yorozuya people had it made it clear that they were going to, or maybe when Sougou had tagged along with them? Or had it been even earlier on -- when, walking through a government complex months ago, he'd overheard a conversation he shouldn't have, and through it first learned of the arena's existence?
As they march the prisoners up the stone steps and out above the ground, Sougou studies him from a few paces behind, and he hears the kid muttering quietly, as if to himself.
"...I should’ve known you were an idiot, too, Hijikata-san."
He lets it go, just this once.
Two
If anyone had tried to tell him that the phrase 'like a fish to water' was outdated and really overused, Hijikata would probably have been inclined to agree.
Still, he goes ahead and smacks Gintoki. 'Like a Shinsengumi vice-commander to mayonnaise' was not a suitable substitute.
Three
Yamazaki, for all his banality and occasional bouts of silliness, is actually one of the people that Hijikata depends on the most. He's well-meaning, dedicated, and surprisingly efficient at his job. In fact, at times when he feels his own temper being stretched to the breaking point, Hijikata often finds himself wishing for some of Yamazaki’s patience and sensibility to rub off on him.
As far as he could tell, some of it might already have. For example, Hijikata knows it wouldn't be reasonable for him to make playing badminton in the vice commander's presence punishable by seppuku, and thus he hasn't, not yet.
Four
Nine of the forty-five clauses of the Shinsengumi code do concern the appropriate use of a cannon. None of them, however, have ever stopped Sougou.
Five
Hijikata never lets himself get caught up in things that've already happened, doesn't see any point in trying to reinstate the impossible. But, cleaning out his desk and shuffling through the papers -- arrest records, mostly, except for one report of Takasugi Shinsuke having been sighted in Edo -- he's too often reminded that there are lots of people who don't think the way he does.
Six
If there was one thing he'd admit to having in common with Sougou, it'd be that they both tended to notice a lot more things than people gave them credit for.
When they run into each other not long after the festival, Hijikata sees Gintoki sporting what was very obviously a sword wound on his hand. Months later, he also manages to learn of it when the latter picks up several more, right around the day when the Joui factions had been fighting each other in the sky above Edo bay. And, if that wasn't enough, he's walked past the Yorozuya on patrol one evening, and unmistakably seen a certain long-haired terrorist jump out of one of its windows.
The thought of bringing the Yorozuya in for a formal interrogation upon the matter, though, has always been repulsive to him, leaves him listless and disinterested. They are very alike, enough that Hijikata knows even if he asked -- even if he bribed, extorted, threatened, and carried out his threats -- Gintoki would still not tell him a thing.
He assures himself that it's not a bad idea to have something to hold over Sakata Gintoki, in case it was called for later. Besides, it's not as though he’s standing about doing absolutely nothing, either -- in the last situation, for example, he had no qualms at all about ordering a few cannon rounds fired in the general direction that Katsura had gone.
They are very alike. Enough that, even if Gintoki did tell, Hijikata might not necessarily want to know.
Seven
Most of the time, he looks at Matsudaira and complains that there are some people who shouldn’t be allowed to have children. Only in very rare instances is he indeed impressed by the depths to which the man's dedication runs.
Eight
Having spent the morning chopping wood for the shrine, Toushi plops himself down on its front steps and accepts the promised bowl of rice without ceremony.
"Sorry, kid," wheezes the old shrine-keeper, limping up beside him. "Got no more pickled radish left. There's this stuff, though -- too rich for me, maybe you'll like it."
Toushi eyes him warily, but accepts the small, yellow bottle. Squeezing some of its contents over his rice, he studies it cryptically and pokes once with a chopstick, before scooping some up into his mouth. A few seconds of thoughtful munching follow.
He throws down the bowl and grabs the bottle to examine it more carefully.
The label reads Wholesome, 100% Organic Mayonnaise, Made from Pasteurized Eggs
Toushi commits it to memory.
Nine
"Glad to see you’re fine" is the first thing Kondou ever says to him, when he comes to in the unfamiliar dojo. He honestly doesn't get it then -- Why would this guy have any reason to give a damn about whether he was fine or not?
Ten
Hijikata dreams that he and Mitsuba live in a run-down dwelling in the countryside, not unlike the old dojo with wisteria vines running rampant over its walls. It's a cloudless summer afternoon, they sit on the veranda, and she smiles at him like this is everything she'd ever wanted. They have a child -- a son that dashes nonstop about the yard, though he's only as tall as the scruffy-looking bush right next to Hijikata's knee; he has short-cropped hair and wine-red eyes the color of Mitsuba's, except that, in this dream, Hijikata can never remember who he reminds him of.
It's as disorienting as hell to wake to an insistent hand on his shoulder and a gray sky over the hospital roof, and to the exact same set of red eyes, now red-rimmed around their edges as well. The crutch is digging into his back and his leg is weak and watery, and this Sougou -- the real Sougou, himself shaking a little -- has to reach out and help him silently to his feet.
Eleven
"Amazing, isn’t it?"
"What is?"
"She is. You guys bring her down from the tower, untie her, and, five minutes later, here she is singing again to the crowd. With everyone still this excited to see her."
"Hnn."
"That's right, Hijikata-kun -- be grateful to her. You should."
"Not that you'd know anything about being grateful."
"I don’t have to. She's saving your image, not mine. Back there, it was you guys that were almost done for, oy...'
"Shut up!!"
Twelve
He takes up smoking during his first month in Edo, not long after he cuts his hair. It was originally only to add to the image of the demon vice-commander -- something that Hijikata had deemed necessary and been determined to maintain, after they’d been ignored at enough official functions and accrued enough whispers behind their backs for him to be thoroughly fed up.
If he had anything to do with it, the Shinsengumi would not continue to be known as a bunch of destitute former samurai from the countryside. (Even if, as Kondou had unhelpfully asked, wasn't that what they were?)
Thirteen
"You must be Hijikata-kun," says the man with hair the color of straw. Behind the square-framed glasses, his eyes hold a mocking glint that's entirely at odds with the smooth, formal tones of his voice.
He holds out a hand. "Itou Kamotarou."
Hijikata begins to hate him then and there.
Fourteen
On a quiet weekday in Edo, Hijikata will be seen leaving headquarters at around ten o'clock in the morning.
His patrol route will take him down the main street and in a full circle around Kabukichou. The sun will be high enough in the sky to make it feel like a proper morning, but not hot enough, yet, for him to curse whoever it was that designed the thick Shinsengumi uniforms. All around, there'll be the people hurrying their own respective ways -- mindless, ever-chattering, but always giving him a wide berth, just as he liked it.
At the dango stand just beyond the second bridge he crosses, there'll always be the silver-haired person in a silver kimono lying lengthwise across a bench, basking in the sunlight. Sometimes, he'll be watching two brats run in the distance, playing with the large white thing that Hijikata always hesitates to call a dog. Regardless, he'll wave absently to Hijikata, send him a languid good morning, Oogushi-kun, and perhaps insult Hijikata's cigarette lighter if he catches sight of it.
Hijikata will end up back at headquarters a little before noon. The guards at the entrance will stand tall, hide their Jump magazines, and salute as he approaches. Inside, Yamazaki will invariably be there, standing a few feet from the entrance and swinging his racket in full view, and Hijikata will have to chase him down on the way to his office.
And there, deeper inside the compound, there'll be more greetings, more salutes, a hoarse and graceless voice to screech Welcome back, Touuuussshi! at him like he's been gone for half a year, and not half the morning. There'll be the brat that falls into step beside him, shoulders his cannon, speaks with his irritatingly blank gaze directed upward, to the ships passing overhead in the sky.
"What's with that ridiculous, life-is-wonderful smirk on your face, Hijikata-san? You should be careful -- you’ll get old."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Notes/Ramblings:
[1] The title is a bad pun on Hijikata's given name -- the 'Toushi' part of 'Toushirou' (十四郎) is written with the kanji for 'fourteen'. (Not that anyone would actually pronounce the number fourteen as 'Toushi', but, still. :P)
[2] I honestly think that Hijikata is going to be one of the toughest Gintama characters for me to write. I don't think the way he does, and can't say I talk anything like him, either! He's also more of a dialogue-intensive character (as opposed to, say, Katsura, who could stand there and have an entire story going on inside his head...), another thing I tend to need more practice at.
[3] If you've stuck with it until this point -- thank you for reading! (Please tell me what you think?) ^_^*
Fandom: Gintama (not PMK :P)
Word Count: 1,700
Notes: These range from one-liners to fairly long drabbles. Dedicated to moonythestrals for a request from almost a month ago. (I really, really tried to work humor into at least a majority of these. There’s only one that I honestly think you'll find too depressing, but I also don’t think we've watched the backstory for that, so feel free to skip it. :P)
One
Hijikata doesn't know when exactly he realized he'd end up raiding the Rengokukan, whether he liked it or not. When the Yorozuya people had it made it clear that they were going to, or maybe when Sougou had tagged along with them? Or had it been even earlier on -- when, walking through a government complex months ago, he'd overheard a conversation he shouldn't have, and through it first learned of the arena's existence?
As they march the prisoners up the stone steps and out above the ground, Sougou studies him from a few paces behind, and he hears the kid muttering quietly, as if to himself.
"...I should’ve known you were an idiot, too, Hijikata-san."
He lets it go, just this once.
Two
If anyone had tried to tell him that the phrase 'like a fish to water' was outdated and really overused, Hijikata would probably have been inclined to agree.
Still, he goes ahead and smacks Gintoki. 'Like a Shinsengumi vice-commander to mayonnaise' was not a suitable substitute.
Three
Yamazaki, for all his banality and occasional bouts of silliness, is actually one of the people that Hijikata depends on the most. He's well-meaning, dedicated, and surprisingly efficient at his job. In fact, at times when he feels his own temper being stretched to the breaking point, Hijikata often finds himself wishing for some of Yamazaki’s patience and sensibility to rub off on him.
As far as he could tell, some of it might already have. For example, Hijikata knows it wouldn't be reasonable for him to make playing badminton in the vice commander's presence punishable by seppuku, and thus he hasn't, not yet.
Four
Nine of the forty-five clauses of the Shinsengumi code do concern the appropriate use of a cannon. None of them, however, have ever stopped Sougou.
Five
Hijikata never lets himself get caught up in things that've already happened, doesn't see any point in trying to reinstate the impossible. But, cleaning out his desk and shuffling through the papers -- arrest records, mostly, except for one report of Takasugi Shinsuke having been sighted in Edo -- he's too often reminded that there are lots of people who don't think the way he does.
Six
If there was one thing he'd admit to having in common with Sougou, it'd be that they both tended to notice a lot more things than people gave them credit for.
When they run into each other not long after the festival, Hijikata sees Gintoki sporting what was very obviously a sword wound on his hand. Months later, he also manages to learn of it when the latter picks up several more, right around the day when the Joui factions had been fighting each other in the sky above Edo bay. And, if that wasn't enough, he's walked past the Yorozuya on patrol one evening, and unmistakably seen a certain long-haired terrorist jump out of one of its windows.
The thought of bringing the Yorozuya in for a formal interrogation upon the matter, though, has always been repulsive to him, leaves him listless and disinterested. They are very alike, enough that Hijikata knows even if he asked -- even if he bribed, extorted, threatened, and carried out his threats -- Gintoki would still not tell him a thing.
He assures himself that it's not a bad idea to have something to hold over Sakata Gintoki, in case it was called for later. Besides, it's not as though he’s standing about doing absolutely nothing, either -- in the last situation, for example, he had no qualms at all about ordering a few cannon rounds fired in the general direction that Katsura had gone.
They are very alike. Enough that, even if Gintoki did tell, Hijikata might not necessarily want to know.
Seven
Most of the time, he looks at Matsudaira and complains that there are some people who shouldn’t be allowed to have children. Only in very rare instances is he indeed impressed by the depths to which the man's dedication runs.
Eight
Having spent the morning chopping wood for the shrine, Toushi plops himself down on its front steps and accepts the promised bowl of rice without ceremony.
"Sorry, kid," wheezes the old shrine-keeper, limping up beside him. "Got no more pickled radish left. There's this stuff, though -- too rich for me, maybe you'll like it."
Toushi eyes him warily, but accepts the small, yellow bottle. Squeezing some of its contents over his rice, he studies it cryptically and pokes once with a chopstick, before scooping some up into his mouth. A few seconds of thoughtful munching follow.
He throws down the bowl and grabs the bottle to examine it more carefully.
The label reads Wholesome, 100% Organic Mayonnaise, Made from Pasteurized Eggs
Toushi commits it to memory.
Nine
"Glad to see you’re fine" is the first thing Kondou ever says to him, when he comes to in the unfamiliar dojo. He honestly doesn't get it then -- Why would this guy have any reason to give a damn about whether he was fine or not?
Ten
Hijikata dreams that he and Mitsuba live in a run-down dwelling in the countryside, not unlike the old dojo with wisteria vines running rampant over its walls. It's a cloudless summer afternoon, they sit on the veranda, and she smiles at him like this is everything she'd ever wanted. They have a child -- a son that dashes nonstop about the yard, though he's only as tall as the scruffy-looking bush right next to Hijikata's knee; he has short-cropped hair and wine-red eyes the color of Mitsuba's, except that, in this dream, Hijikata can never remember who he reminds him of.
It's as disorienting as hell to wake to an insistent hand on his shoulder and a gray sky over the hospital roof, and to the exact same set of red eyes, now red-rimmed around their edges as well. The crutch is digging into his back and his leg is weak and watery, and this Sougou -- the real Sougou, himself shaking a little -- has to reach out and help him silently to his feet.
Eleven
"Amazing, isn’t it?"
"What is?"
"She is. You guys bring her down from the tower, untie her, and, five minutes later, here she is singing again to the crowd. With everyone still this excited to see her."
"Hnn."
"That's right, Hijikata-kun -- be grateful to her. You should."
"Not that you'd know anything about being grateful."
"I don’t have to. She's saving your image, not mine. Back there, it was you guys that were almost done for, oy...'
"Shut up!!"
Twelve
He takes up smoking during his first month in Edo, not long after he cuts his hair. It was originally only to add to the image of the demon vice-commander -- something that Hijikata had deemed necessary and been determined to maintain, after they’d been ignored at enough official functions and accrued enough whispers behind their backs for him to be thoroughly fed up.
If he had anything to do with it, the Shinsengumi would not continue to be known as a bunch of destitute former samurai from the countryside. (Even if, as Kondou had unhelpfully asked, wasn't that what they were?)
Thirteen
"You must be Hijikata-kun," says the man with hair the color of straw. Behind the square-framed glasses, his eyes hold a mocking glint that's entirely at odds with the smooth, formal tones of his voice.
He holds out a hand. "Itou Kamotarou."
Hijikata begins to hate him then and there.
Fourteen
On a quiet weekday in Edo, Hijikata will be seen leaving headquarters at around ten o'clock in the morning.
His patrol route will take him down the main street and in a full circle around Kabukichou. The sun will be high enough in the sky to make it feel like a proper morning, but not hot enough, yet, for him to curse whoever it was that designed the thick Shinsengumi uniforms. All around, there'll be the people hurrying their own respective ways -- mindless, ever-chattering, but always giving him a wide berth, just as he liked it.
At the dango stand just beyond the second bridge he crosses, there'll always be the silver-haired person in a silver kimono lying lengthwise across a bench, basking in the sunlight. Sometimes, he'll be watching two brats run in the distance, playing with the large white thing that Hijikata always hesitates to call a dog. Regardless, he'll wave absently to Hijikata, send him a languid good morning, Oogushi-kun, and perhaps insult Hijikata's cigarette lighter if he catches sight of it.
Hijikata will end up back at headquarters a little before noon. The guards at the entrance will stand tall, hide their Jump magazines, and salute as he approaches. Inside, Yamazaki will invariably be there, standing a few feet from the entrance and swinging his racket in full view, and Hijikata will have to chase him down on the way to his office.
And there, deeper inside the compound, there'll be more greetings, more salutes, a hoarse and graceless voice to screech Welcome back, Touuuussshi! at him like he's been gone for half a year, and not half the morning. There'll be the brat that falls into step beside him, shoulders his cannon, speaks with his irritatingly blank gaze directed upward, to the ships passing overhead in the sky.
"What's with that ridiculous, life-is-wonderful smirk on your face, Hijikata-san? You should be careful -- you’ll get old."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Notes/Ramblings:
[1] The title is a bad pun on Hijikata's given name -- the 'Toushi' part of 'Toushirou' (十四郎) is written with the kanji for 'fourteen'. (Not that anyone would actually pronounce the number fourteen as 'Toushi', but, still. :P)
[2] I honestly think that Hijikata is going to be one of the toughest Gintama characters for me to write. I don't think the way he does, and can't say I talk anything like him, either! He's also more of a dialogue-intensive character (as opposed to, say, Katsura, who could stand there and have an entire story going on inside his head...), another thing I tend to need more practice at.
[3] If you've stuck with it until this point -- thank you for reading! (Please tell me what you think?) ^_^*