To Not Give In

Thirty Four || Tonight We Feast

Finally, Chizuru broke our silent dispute with a broken, awkward laugh. She cleared her throat a few times before beginning.

"A-Ah, well, Okita-san. So, Suzuran-chan and I would like to take you to a feast that we'll be holding for the captains later on this evening."

Okita-san slowly broke away from my stare and turned to look at Chizuru peculiarly. He cocked his head.

"A feast? Interesting."

Chizuru nodded eagerly as she placed her hands over her lap. Her eyes were shining excitedly. "Suzuran-chan and I just went to get ingredients from the marketplace. We're planning to cook quite the meal."

Despite her enthusiasm, Okita-san gave a dry smile as he shook his head. "Sorry, but I haven't been having much appetite lately. I'll probably be a killjoy to the cheery environment."

I snorted and looked exasperatedly at him. "Come on. You're annoying and teasing but you're never a killjoy. If anything, you'd make the environment even more cheerful."

"That's right!" Chizuru agreed. She exchanged grins with me. "The more the merrier, right, Suzuran-chan?"

"You said it." I gave her a quick thumbs up before turning my attention back to Okita-san. "Well? What do you say?"

The captain gave a great, big sigh and rubbed his forehead. He muttered inaudibly under his breath for a second before peeking back up at me and Chizuru and I raised an eyebrow.

"Hurry, hurry, time's awasting," I said matter-of-factly.

Okita-san laughed. It was a genuine one, lighthearted with the spark of life. "There's no defeating you two, is there?"

"Nope," Chizuru replied fondly.

"I take it that you're coming?" I said warmly.
I didn't need his reply. Just the twinkle of his eyes was enough to tell me that the answer to that question was "yes".

***

We stayed with Okita-san for a while until the time came for us to go back and start preparing for dinner. He'd changed out of his nagajuban and dressed in a casual, pale-green kimono at my request, and now the three of us headed down the sunset-lit streets of Edo, laughing, teasing, talking and just having fun with each other on our way back to the hatamoto mansion the Shinsengumi was staying in.

"I'm not joking!" I protested. "I really did save Hijikata-san's head! From that horrible hairstyle he was going to have if he cut his hair by himself, that is."

Okita-san shook his head and tsked. "You should have just left him be, Suzuran-chan."

I sighed over-heavily and rolled my eyes. "I'm doing a favor for my eyes. I don't want to see that horribly-styled hair every time I past Hijikata-san."

"Good point," agreed Okita-san.

"Guys, aren't you being a bit too critical towards Hijikata-san?" Chizuru said helplessly.

Okita-san and I exchanged glances.

"Nope" we said simultaneously.

I bursted into a fit of laughter right after while Okita-san grinned delightedly.

As I was laughing though, I felt a wave of nausea sweep over me, accompanied by a sudden shock throughout my entire body. My throat became incredibly dry, so much that I choked and my esophagus burned as if it had been scraped by sandpaper. A sudden jabbing pain in my stomach sent my eyes snapping wide open and I crumpled to my knees, gasping and clutching at my throat.