''Here, takoyaki as usual, Minamoto-san."

"Hoho~ thank you, you always remember."

"I wouldn't dare to forget," you smiled at elderly woman. She was your regular customer, every morning she came by to buy takoyaki. She was nice, but fiery old woman that lived nearby.

"Hm, haven't seen that boy around lately? Lover's quarrel perhaps?" she teased.

You blinked. It was a truth though. At first Okita was visiting you as usual, once a week or two. Then it became three weeks till you saw him. You thought that maybe he got caught in some mission or he was busy on the compound. But he never actually mentioned anything of that sorts. Usually he told you what he was up to, of course as much as he could. It wasn't a lot, but still something. Then it became a month, then two, three and no word from him. Almost six months passed since you last saw Okita and you couldn't be more worried. To be honest, even Chizuru's visits have been less frequent. When you asked her about Souji-san, she ensured you he was fine.

You missed him, a lot. You never thought you'd be so lonely without that obnoxious, ever grinning man. You even caught yourself standing before your bakery and looking into the direction he used to come from. Or staring at some additional sweets you usually did for him when you knew he would have the patrol. Your house felt lonely, your porch felt lonely, you were lonely.

"Ah... That's... I think he's busy?" you answered uncertain after few moments.

"You think?" she looked at you strangely. All you could do was to smile in response and hide behind kimono sleeve. "Well, better do something about it, _____-chan, or he will run away!"

You laughed slightly. To think she would be so supportive of this non-existent, for you, relationship. Few years back, she would be threating Okita with a broom. She did that once, and almost hit him. It was at the beginning of your real acquaintanceship with Okita, when the Shinsengumi was seen as dangerous murderers. However when he chased away thieves from her home and saved her cat, she changed her opinion. Now, whenever she saw him, she was encouraging him to marry you. Much to his amusement and your embarrassment.

You shared good-byes with an old lady and waited for next clients. In the afternoon Kaoru visited you and purchased some sweets. She was really supportive to you through these weeks since Kimiko's death.

"Ahaha, _____-chan, why are you so against buying new kimono anyway?"

"That would be waste of money, I told you before."

"But you deserve much more richer kimonos. You have posture of an lady," Kaoru praised looking at you with a slight smile.

"Uh...haha, stop it, Kaoru-chan~."

She was nice girl, ready to praise you and tell you compliments. You guessed she looked up to you and thought of you as of big sister. You weren't surprised that much really, her being younger than you. And you too, started to think about her as little sister you've never had. Though sometimes her smiles creeped you out and unsettled you, you dismissed it quickly. These days Kyoto wasn't the safest place and you were simply paranoid. That's what you liked to think.

A few days later you run across Chizuru and Todou. They were on patrol as usual.

"Chizuru-chan, how are you? Haven't seen you around lately?"

"Ah, I'm sorry _____-san, the headquarters' been busy and all..."

"Haha~ I see. Well, good to see you anyway. I'm on a shopping though," you smiled back at her.

You recalled Minamoto-san's words about Okita. You wanted to know something more about his absence. You got rather disheartened about constant assertion that everything is fine, when it clearly wasn't. You didn't want to pry into another people business, but you couldn't just let that go. Not when that aching needle in your heart caused you more and more pain as the days were coming by. Not when image of blood of his hand was causing you paranoia.

You heard some noise from behind. Some men were causing a rucksack. Townsfolk rushed to see what's happening along with Todou. Chizuru made a move to run towards the scene too, but you caught her sleeve. It was your chance.

"Chizuru-chan," you said slowly. "There is a question I'd like to ask."

"_____-san? B-but...-"

"Please," you urged still holding her by a sleeve. "What's happening with Souji-san?"

"I- Everything is fine..."

"Don't lie to me!" you raised your voice. You looked into her eyes. "I know he's not fine. Is... Is he...?"

"No! No, Okita is alive!"

"Then what...? Please tell me, is he ill?" you saw flicker of dread and confirmation in her eyes. She shook her head. You squeezed her hand. "He is. I'm right. That blood wasn't just my imagination, was it?"

You looked at her in desperation. The turmoil on the street was of no importance to you at the moment.

"I can't... I promised I wouldn't tell you," she whispered.

"Is it pneumonia...? No. Influenza?" you continued your rant. You knew you would find answer within her eyes, by now she was so easy to read. "T-tuberculosis? It is... It's tuberculosis."

Breath caught in your throat. Your mind went fuzzy. Tuberculosis. He was going to die. Okita Souji, was going to die from tuberculosis. Knowing him, he would laugh from the irony. You smiled bitterly. You didn't even hear what Chizuru was saying. Finally you made yourself look back at her.

"I... Can I visit him...?"

"Ah, I don't think it's possible, I mean, girls can't...-"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be asking you. It's okay."

"_____-san, I can-"

"I think I must go, I... the shopping... See you later." You turned around and without looking back you rushed through the street. You felt bad for treating the girl this way, but you couldn't help it.

You turned into an alley and threw up in the corner. You stood there till you couldn't vomit anything more. Tears of strain and despair run down your face. You didn't know how long you sat there in the alley, but when you finally decided to go back home you felt like a wreck.

Agony of knowing what Okita was facing last few months left you on the edge. The image of him bedridden at the compound circulated through your mind. One thing you knew for sure. That you can't leave him alone now. You would not sit and wait for some kind of miracle. You needed to see him. You cleaned yourself up and after sleepless night you understood what you had to do.

You opened your chest with clothes and drew out a brilliant blue haori.

~~*~~

So, Reader-chan is going to the headquarters! Hoho~~
Please let me know what do you think! I'd love to see your opinion :3
Found theme for Okita... It really suits him! O.O .... and stabs me right through my feels!