008 | OVERFLOW

[godsoffortune]

This is an overflow post for 008 | Sakura 2.0: You Can (Not) Have A Picnic. Please bring any further comments here and link to your threads at the original source.

Thank you!

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[sweetdeath]

Yeah, I know him. [Tsuzuki's expression is dark and serious, and he tosses the dove up into the air. It spreads its wings, hovering.]

Find Okita Souji!

[It circles, winging away towards the trees, and Tsuzuki clasps a hand on Hijikata's shoulder.]

Follow me. It'll lead us to him!

[The panic clogging his throat isn't really for Souji. It's just -- Hijikata's shinki lost and breathing smoke, the fire all around them, it's --

He takes off after the dove at a dead sprint.]

[koukai_kirai]

[He does follow, at more or less the same breakneck pace, at first without a second thought.]

[Before they get far, though, Hijikata stops, grabbing for Tsuzuki's arm to stop him, too.]

...He's calming down.

[He still wants to go to him. He wants to find him and protect him, the way he's always wanted to, the way he should have...]

[But that's selfish right now, and in spite of the intensity of his own need, Hijikata knows it. He's the one who needs to see Souji, but there are people who need him right now, who are in danger and don't have time for him to run off for his own reasons.]

He's alright. It's -- It's fine.

[It's not fine, exactly, but all the same, he looks back towards the burning grove -- there's still work to be done...]

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki stumbles as Hijikata's hand closes on his sleeve, and turns toward him. There's panic on his face, too, the mirror of Hijikata's: it's not his shinki in danger. He can feel that Lilka's okay, and Battler, too. But. But.

(The fire. The cherry blossoms. He's been thinking about Hisoka all day. He can't save Hisoka, but if he can save someone, then--)

He swallows back his fear, and waves after the dove.]

You should -- you should still go. He's your shinki. Stay with him.

[koukai_kirai]

[Go to him, Toshi.]

[He can almost feel Kondou's hand on his shoulder, no less comforting and warm for the blood still staining it, can almost see the knowing sympathy in his best friend's eyes.]

[He's spent the last year of his life regretting that his duty forced him from Souji's side, kept him from being there for him as he faced down the one enemy he couldn't defeat with a sword.]

[Hijikata shakes his head, the conflict between his rational side and his emotional side briefly written all across his face.]

I can't.

[I can't stay with him -- the most painful thing he'd ever had to accept. But this is different. He's not leaving him behind, he can still protect him, he'll go back to him soon, he just has to keep his head, has to remember that this isn't the same as what happened before...]

He's recovering. I have work to do, people are still in danger...

[He hates himself for saying it.]

[He'd hate himself sooner or later for saying anything else, too.]

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki forces a bright smile to his face, calling the dove back with a thought. It turns mid-air, hovering as they speak.]

Look -- we can handle it! It'll be okay.

[The fire -- they can put out the fire. If Okita gets hurt, though...

Losing a shinki hurts. Losing a shinki who you really care about is worse.]

Make sure he's okay and then come back if you want.

[koukai_kirai]

[For once, Hijikata actually hesitates.]

[He should turn back. It's not under control, people need someone to keep things moving smoothly, someone could get hurt...]

[How many times has he been faced with this? How many times has he had no choice, really, but to put his duty and the greater good above his personal loyalties, above what his heart tells him to do?]

[But if it's true that Souji isn't in the same situation he was before -- isn't dying, isn't being left behind forever -- it's true that he isn't, either, right?]

[He hasn't sworn himself to the Heavens the way he did to the Shinsengumi. The people here aren't his in the same way -- they don't follow him, and he doesn't owe them every sacrifice he can make to repay their allegiance. As a god, his duty is to take care of and protect his shinki, and that's a duty he owes to Souji alone right now. If a god gets hurt, it won't really do much to them, anyway...]

[All that is enough to make him hesitate, but what finally tips the scales is the thought that he could be back literally in the blink of an eye if he's needed.]

[What's the point of a second chance, anyway, if he repeats all the things he regrets from when he was alive? Maybe for once, just this once, he can afford to choose his own feelings.]

[He looks away, avoiding Tsuzuki's eyes, ashamed to be so tempted even when the other man is giving him every excuse to be.]

...If I'm needed, you'll send for me immediately. Will you swear to that?

[sweetdeath]

Of course.

[Tsuzuki waves at the dove, and it turns on one long wraithlike wing to face away again.]

I'll send you a dove if we need you. Go on.

[It's a good thing that Souji's doing better, but -- but. His god should be with him anyway, Tsuzuki thinks, and nods firmly, letting the tiny shikigami go. It starts to wing away into the darkness.]

And I'll keep an eye on the bucket brigade!

[He turns, himself, ready to dash back to the line.]

[koukai_kirai]

[Hijikata hesitates a moment longer, but only a moment, and then he's running off after the dove as fast as his legs can carry him.]