18Disclaimer: Hi! I'm just a new writer who is totally in love with Hajime Saito from RK. But I also liked the one in PMK. He's very different from the usual pretty boy we all get from watching animes! Lol! I don't own PMK by the way. He he.
Chapter one.
Hajime Saito dodged the attack from Hijikata's page boy easily. The red haired boy, what was his name?-tried attacking Saito with a sharp clean swipe of his bokken. He was aiming for Saito's head. Blocking the blow rather easily, Saito turned his body around so he was in the perfect position to hit the boy's neck from behind.
The boy, Tetsu, quickly sensed the attack and ducked, turning himself to face Saito as he did so. As fast as lightning, he brought up his bokken in one swift stab, hoping to get the much taller and older man in the jaw.
Saito, being an experienced warrior, evaded the boy's stab expertly and ended the spar with a knock of his bokken on the boy's head. He silently approved of the boy's speed and quick thinking. If he kept this up, who knows? Perhaps even Hijikata might consider allowing him to join the team officially.
Tetsu dropped his bottom on to the sweaty floor with a thump. He was panting harshly and his face had turned pink from the heated spar but he was smiling. Actually he was grinning. Turning up to look at Saito he grinned.
"I nearly got you that time, Saito-san!" he cried proudly.
"Hmph! Whatever…" Saito replied lazily. He enjoyed the spar with the boy but he had other things to do at the moment. Carefully replacing back the bokken to it's shack, he began to walk out of the dojo.
"What?" Tetsu cried. "Was that all? You're not leaving now are you?"
Saito just went on walking. He didn't even hear the boy's angry cries. To be honest he hadn't really known what made him want to have a spar with the boy in the first place. Saito had just felt he needed something to do while he waited for lunch time. At the moment he was just too absorbed about his destination: The Peppermint Restaurant. The place was crawling with spirits and being a man that could see them he looked forward going there, even though he never let any of them know. It was easier for them to leave Earth that way.
Walking quickly in long strides, Saito entered town. He didn't like going into places that were crowded but he had no choice. The town was crowded with people, being a market place and an eating gala. In other words; the market was not one of Saito's favorite places in the world. But he had no choice. In order for him to get to The Peppermint Restaurant he had to go through the market place that unfortunately to his dislike, was crowded with people.
Oh, but The Peppermint Restaurant was well worth it! THAT place was swarming with spirits. And people who could see spirits were there as well. Some of his friends were there, humans and spirits alike.
Turning left into a small secluded path that led to an even far more secluded area, Saito walked slowly toward an old dingy looking restaurant. It had the name of the restaurant written on what was once supposed to be a white cloth strewn across the door. The Peppermint Restaurant, it said.
Saito stepped into it without wasting another minute. The inside of the restaurant was far worse than the outside. It was dark and gloomy, filled with the ugliest most wretched looking people any human being could have possibly laid eyes on. And they all gazed at Saito with dead like glances. Saito eyed them back with his dead like gaze as well and moved to his favorite booth.
A young boy immediately popped up to his side as Saito bent to sit on the tatami mat.
To others who weren't used to such sudden appearances, the young boy's popping would've scared their wits out. But Saito just stood there calmly, looking at the boy with his dark sleepy eyes.
Goro stood beside Saito for a moment before bowing slightly. That was their usual procedure they went through before taking Saito's orders.
"What will you have, Saito-san?" Goro asked in his dead calm voice.
"The usual please, Goro-san…" drawled Saito.
"Hai…" replied the boy, jotting down the order on to a folded piece of paper.
As Goro began to make way to the kitchen to inform the cook of a new order, Saito asked a question.
"Is your grandmother still visiting, Goro-san?" he asked, calmly.
Goro turned and gave Saito a small smile. His eyes still looking expressionless he answered.
"She is, Saito-san…"
"And your mother, does she still doubt your gift?" Saito pressed on.
Goro looked away at this.
"Hai…" were the words he uttered.
"Don't worry about it, boy. She will believe in you, one day….." Saito said calmly.
"And if she doesn't don't let that be an obstacle."
The young waiter looked at the man sitting before him. He blinked a few times. His eyes were as expressionless as ever.
"Arigato…" he said and then turned to make his way back to the kitchen.
Saito watched from the corner of his eye as a faintly figure walked, or rather floated to his side.
"Nice to see you here, Hajime…" said a smiling elderly woman. "It's been a while since you came…Hijikata hasn't been very lenient on your lunch breaks?" She added the last question just for her own humor.
"It's nice to see you're still here, Usagi-dono…You know it's not very advisable what your doing to poor Goro's mother…"
The woman looked away, wearing a sad expression on her face. Usagi knew she wasn't suppose to stay on this earth any longer but Goro's condition needed to be proved to her daughter; Aimi. As long as Aimi refuses to believe in her own son's abilities, Usagi felt compel to stay.
"You know why I stay, Hajime." She said quietly.
Saito simply stared at the table and sighed.
"You don't have to do it, Usagi. There are others here who are just like him. Others that believe in him without doubting"
Usagi turned and smiled at him then.
"Let's not talk about this now. Tell me what has Hijikata's page been up to?"
Saito knew Usagi was trying to avoid he topic at hand but he decided to let her get away with it. Smiling to her, he gave a nod and started to chat with the deceased spirit.
"Your order is here, Saito-san!" came Goro's voice a few minutes later.
"Eh? Obasan? When did you get here?" smiling, Goro placed the bowl of plain hot soba in front of Saito. He was looking at his grandmother fondly as he did so.
Usagi turned to look at her grandson and returned the smile.
"Oh, I just arrived." she said.
"Would you like anything else, Saito-san?" Goro asked, still smiling toward his grandmother.
"Some tea, thank you." said Saito while he slurped on his soba.
"Obasan!" Goro nodded to his grandmother and left.
Once Goro left their table Saito continued his talk with the older woman. Some of the men in the bar eyed Saito with small interest and went back to their sake. Others nodded and smiled at Usagi as they left the restaurant. Usagi wanted to know when will Saito get settled down and have his own set of children.
"Usagi-dono, why would I need a woman with me? I'm a man who can see and talk to spirits. Now what kind of a woman wants that in a man?" Saito asked.
"I'm sure there is one!" insisted Usagi, laughing.
Saito smirked in reply.
"The fact that I am Shinsengumi doesn't help any either..."
At that very moment a young man's spirit soon appeared beside Usagi. Then suddenly a young woman's spirit did the same.
They both smiled at Saito.
"You two love birds are still hanging around here, eh? Why don't you leave the world in peace?" Saito muttered under his breath.
The young man's spirit only laughed aloud and the woman giggled into her kimono sleeve. They had been lovers when they were alive but could not marry due to their parents' wishes. Now they wander the earth, never really in peace.
All four of them talked as Saito finished his soba. Well, mainly it was the spirits who talked and laughed among themselves, Saito just went on eating. Gradually more spirits crowded around the booth, some of them were angry spirits and others were sad ones.
After he had finished his lunch, Saito silently crept away from the gang of spirits and made his way back to the Shinsengumi head quarters.
He liked it when there weren't too many spirits. When there were too many, they were just noisy. Noisy like Hijikata's page. Almost smiling at that, he walked back home with a full stomach, feeling very content.
Author's notes: Yeah, I know it may not be so funny and all but hopefully I'll get better as I go along. This is not a comedy. It's just got a little bit of certain humor hints in it. It's the first fic I've done that's not a drama.