Dancing With Fireflies

Title: Dancing with Fireflies (Prologue to \"Poison\") (In the works :D)
Author: Kaneyoshi
Rating: R
Fandom: Peacemaker Kurogane
Pairing: HijiOkita
Genre: Romance (this chapter), AU, General
Beta: anubiset (Thank you so much! :D)
Feedback: Yes please! You\'d make this sugar addict\'s day :D

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Shadowy strands coiled around playful fingers, its ends teased whispers against the pale skin twirling it \'round and \'round. In the lamp-lit shadows, a head lay on a serenely undulating chest, lulling it close to sleep in short notice, the only indication of which was the slowing dance of the fingers on dusky hair.

\"Hijikata-san…\"

A questioning rumble.

\"I think you\'re rubbing off on me lately.\"

An eyebrow twitched. \"I think I\'ve been doing more than that for the past few years.\"

The boy chuckled. \"You know, for a man of honor, you have a dirty mind.\"

A grin. Wicked. Wolfish. \"With that \'talent\'…\" he slurred. \"How can you expect a man\'s mind to not make a nose dive down the gutter?\"

\"I\'m flattered. But I wasn\'t talking about that kind of rubbing off.\"

\"Considering where my mind is right now, how can I think of anything else?\"

\"What about your poetry? Doesn\'t any of that come to mind?\"

\"You can be very distracting, as it is.\"

\"I am not.\" He was indignant.

\"Yes you are. We could have wiped out those Ishin rascals by now if you hadn\'t been slipping into my room every night, or me having to give you \'punishment\' for every little mischief you get into.\"

\"Stop complaining. I know you\'re always waiting for me.\" the boy practically purred.

\"Cheeky brat.\"

A grin and his trademark blush instantly replaced Souji\'s attempt at being smoldering. \"Would you have me stop being cheeky, then? Or being a brat?\"

A pause settled like a dusting of snow, but light enough for Hijikata\'s sigh to ruffle it when he took Souji\'s face in his hands and turned it towards his. For a moment, the fukuchou\'s eyes lingered along every fine or flawed feature, intoxicating himself with everything that was Souji.

\"No. I like you this way,\" he breathed. \"Like a clear, reflecting pool.\"

The boy smiled down at his lover. \"That\'s exactly what I was talking about. Your poetry is rubbing off on me.\"

\"Should I be jealous?\"

\"I\'m serious, Toshi-san…\"

\"Suman,\" Hijikata appeased, crossing the scant breath-lengths between them and tenderly kissing the other\'s lips. \"So lets hear it, this poetry. Souji-style.\" he said, tucking a fallen lock of hair behind his young lover\'s ear, and the rest of it over a shoulder.

He loved Souji\'s hair, enough to secretly worship it for its delicateness. But like everything about Okita Souji, there was nothing delicate about it, and he knew that underneath all the deceptive sheep\'s skin was a wolf that hungered for prey.

\"It\'s really nothing significant…\"

\"Nothing about you is insignificant.\"

Fair cheeks flushed crimson.

\"What\'s on your mind?\" his lover prodded, moving his hands on Souji\'s back in soothing circles.

\"You\'ll just laugh at me. I\'m not on par with you when it comes to poetry, Hijikata-san.\"

\"On the contrary. Capturing that pig\'s likeness on ink was poetry in itself.\"

Souji pouted, the one that he always had on reserve for tormenting Hijikata with. \"Hijikata-san wa kechii…\"

\"You know I\'m not. At least not intentionally.\" The kiss was chaste, but their passion, before long, could not stay as tender.

In one swift motion, Okita was once again on his back on the futon, his lover\'s familiar weight settling comfortably on top of him: on his chest, on his hips, between his thighs and coltish legs.

\"Well? Are you telling me or not?\" Hijikata drawled in between kisses, one hand sliding down to a smooth hip.

\"Maybe,\" Souji sighed as that hand skimmed over his inner thighs, his shivers threatening to progress into full tremors at the skill his lover had with his hands.

Hijikata suddenly pulled Souji\'s hips sharply, and at the same time pressed down his own, tearing a gasp out of the young boy as they made contact in all the right places. The fukuchou\'s usually stern countenance broke into a smile bordering tender and the \'dark and devious unknown\'--a feat only a man with the likes of Hijikata Toushizou could do.

Souji was a mecca of flavors in which the fukuchou frequently indulged in greedily, but his favorite haunt was the nape of the boy\'s neck, and the short expanse of sensitive skin connecting neck and shoulder. The graceful curve never failed to catch his attention whenever the boy tilted his head to the side, or even when he wore his hair up.

\'Toshi-san and his neck-fixation\' as Souji would tease him.

Through years of trial and error, he discovered Souji\'s other erogenous spots, most notable of which were his abdomen, the small of his back, and his thighs--points, of course, which the sadist in Hijikata never failed to exploit to his advantage.

\"Whatever did I do to you for you torment me so?\" Hijikata trailed a path of fiery kisses down from his neck to his abdomen, the agile tongue tracing lazy circles around his navel before dipping in teasingly.

Souji\'s breath hitched; he smiled but didn\'t answer. Feeling mischievous himself, he discreetly let the tip of his toe run along the vice-captain\'s leg in an unwavering, feather-like caress, starting from the back of the knee then in and further up…. As he expected, it broke a huge chink from Hijikata\'s firm armor of control.

\"Souji,\" Hijikata growled, bringing himself back up to glare at the boy point blank. Of course, it only sent the other man into a fit of giggles.

\"Your tongue is too good it ought to be illegal, Hijikata-san. Like poison,\" he sultrily purred as he ground his hips languidly against the other man, the child-like mirth gone in a blink. Slender but firm arms wrapped around Hijikata\'s neck in a possessive grip and brought him closer. \"Come here…\"

\"You didn\'t answer me yet,\" to resist Souji\'s lips when it was a scant hair-width away was heresy, but Hijikata was a man of principles. What he wants, he gets; no matter how much Souji insisted that of the two of them, Toshi was more of a brat than he was. But it wasn\'t to say that it didn\'t take a huge toll on him, this resistance.

\"Alright,\" the boy\'s head fell back down on the cushion with a sigh. \"What was it that you wanted to know?\"

An eyebrow twitched. It was too easy, and Hijikata knew it. The boy was a clever tactician--it would take some proper groveling and a bag of sweets (or mischief) to budge him an inch if someone wanted something from him. When in the mood to play his tricks, he would dangle a bait right in front of your face and tie it behind your back, make you run around in circles chasing your own tail. On more lucid days, on the other hand, he simply wouldn\'t tell.

The boy was an enigma to everyone who knew him, even to his closest friends. Toshi would sometimes curse himself for all the trouble he had to put up with when Souji got into one of his \'moods\', but the line of reasoning always led to the same thing: for the love of one Okita Souji, even hell\'s fury will have to wait.

\"In exchange for what?\" Hijikata asked, not entirely sure if he wanted to know.

\"Nothing.\"

Hijikata almost balked. Well, that was a first.

The smile was honest, if not a little disappointed for having been denied earlier. \"I could tell you later or we could finish this,\" he lured, eyebrow raised in expectation.

\"I want to know what\'s on your mind. And no games this time.\"

\"It\'s really quite nothing, Hijikata-san.\" He dismissed with a shrug. \"Just bits and pieces of literary bubbles here and there…\"

\"About what?\"

\"I\'m happy that Hijikata-san is concerned about my thoughts. Arigatou gozaimasu.\"

\"Souji…\"

As much as Souji wanted to play on Hijikata\'s bad mood most of the time, he knew that when he used that tone of voice, it was futile to keep running around anymore. Sometimes.

He conceded, sighing. \"About us… it\'s about us.\" The boy bashfully lowered his eyes, but briefly dared a peek through his fan of lashes for a moment before turning them away again.

\"And?\"

Souji\'s slender hands timidly slipped from around Hijikata\'s neck to his face, a calloused thumb worn out from years of sword practice traced the dark eyebrows, the thin lips. He placed a small kiss on his lover\'s nose and chiseled cheekbones; a pair of iris-colored eyes looked deep into fire-forged amber.

\"I want us to stay this way, Toshi-san,\" he murmured. \"Just like this--just you and me,\" His lips ghosted along Hijikata\'s, teasing. Enticing. \"But \'if they don\'t move, they\'ll be parted by darkness: the flower and the water\'.\"

Hijikata lifted himself a bit to look at the boy beneath him. \"Was that a haiku I just heard?\" he asked evenly, but it belied the amusement in his eyes.

A shy grin spread on Souji\'s face. \"If it was, would you laugh at me?\"

He pondered a bit. \"It\'s good. I like it.\"

Souji\'s eyes grew wide. \"Eh… hontou? Arigatou, Hijikata-san!\" he beamed. \"Just for that, eto… do you also want to know what was it you did that made me torment you so much? It\'s really very simple, but do you want an answer anyway?\" a wicked gleam glinted deep in his eyes that the older man nearly missed.

Hijikata snorted. He knew he\'d be putting himself up again for Souji\'s amusement, but some things were inevitable. \"Hn. What?\"

\"You loved me.\"

Time stopped with a flicker of the dying flame inside the lamp. Shadows crept in closer within that infinite moment, the last golden glimmer of light holding on desperately to the wood, the lacquer, the glass. The last thin evanescent strips of smoke escaped quietly into the night, saying their goodbyes with a whiff of fragrant clouds.

Words were lost in a haze as Hijikata dove back into Souji\'s arms, his lips crashing down on his lover\'s, answering the little whimpers the boy offered with a deep growl of his own. His eagerness ignited a wildfire through the willowy frame squirming beneath him, and was returned with equal fervor.

Deft fingers buried themselves into Hijikata\'s hair, while nails dug perfect little crescents on the smooth skin on Souji\'s hips. In response, lean thighs parted in ardent invitation, and a moan marked the beginning of another bittersweet dance, accompanied by the shuffle of sheets, of skin upon skin, and of wordless cries thrown into clouds of smoke.

When the little flame has gone, defeated finally by the darkness, the coming of another night will rekindle it again. It will bear witness to the same dance, permeate the air with its fragrance, and bring fireflies to greet the shadows once more.

But really… what is one night in an eternity?


Tbc...

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Note: Haiku\'s used were actual pieces made by Hijikata Toshizou and Okita Souji (I\'m sorry.. I\'m obsessed, I know...)

Sashimukau kokoro wa kiyoki mizukagami ~Hijikata Toshizou
(\"The heart facing mine is a clear reflecting pool.\")

Ugokaneba yami ni hedatsu ya hana to mizu ~Okita Souji
(\"If they don\'t move, they\'ll be parted by darkness: the flower and the water.\")

Souji made his on his deathbed shortly before he passed away.



Tbc…