Work Text:
“Nee,”
Souma and Nomura froze in the midst of their argument, the faux-cheerful voice from behind them causing shivers to run down their spines as they hurriedly turned around.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Okita Souji, 1st Division Captain of the Shinsengumi and the two pages’ occasional tormen-, er, instructor , stood before them with narrowed eyes as he glanced down at the cat hanging by the scruff of its neck in Nomura’s tight grip.
“S-sir! This cat, it scattered the leaf piles we’d just finished sweeping, and stole our rag! We’re sorry, we’ll take it out of the headquarters right away!” Souma answered, straightening hurriedly while nudging Nomura to do the same. In Nomura’s grip, the cat let out a particularly loud and distressed yowl.
Okita’s eyes narrowed even further, the smirk on his face disappearing entirely. “Give him to me. You’re hurting him.”
Nomura blinked, and hurried to do as told, practically shoving the black cat at the Captain, who, in contrast, carefully placed it in the crook of his arm, gripping it gently to keep it from falling. The two pages could only watch in awe as it immediately stopped yowling, instead nudging Okita’s chest affectionately and starting to purr.
“Um, sir….?”
Okita looked back up, having given the cat a strangely fond look while taking it in his arms, and narrowed his eyes at them once more.
“Toshizo is my cat. You better make sure you don’t hurt him anymore.”
“B-but we didn’t mean to hurt it! We just captured it!” Nomura protested, making the Captain’s green eyed glare turn to him.
“Cat’s a small and fragile. You have to be careful with them, or you could injure or kill them”, Okita stated, his voice about as warm as a winter night. “I don’t care if it was purposeful or not; if you hurt Toshizo, I’ll kill you. Understood?”
“O-of course sir! We’ll be very careful, sir. We’re very sorry!” Souma hurried to assure, and bowed, trying his best to suppress the shiver running down his spine, as Nomura did the same. They both knew Okita’s reputation well enough to know that that was no empty threat. And it wasn’t like they had meant to hurt the cat; they had no idea cats were so fragile.
Apparently satisfied by their response, Okita turned to leave, the cat still in the crook of his arm, being petted by his other hand gently.
“...Um, Okita-taicho?” Souma asked, opening his mouth before he could stop himself.
“Hm?” Okita paused, turning slightly to look back at them.
“How do you know so much about cats? Beside having one, I mean.”
Okita smirked mischievously. “Back when we still lived at our old headquarters, there was once a cat that broke in and messed up the kitchen. Made us chase it all over the compound until I and Chizuru-chan finally found it. Chizuru-chan scolded me when I grabbed it too roughly, said I could have accidentally killed it.”
They blinked. “Yukimura-senpai did?”
“Mmhm. Just about jumped down my throat.”
“Huh”, Souma said, a considering tone to his voice. He’d had no idea Yukimura-senpai had the courage to scold Okita, of all people. He rather doubted many people could do it. As expected of his senpai.
“...Say, Okita-taicho?” Nomura asked, both sounding and looking confused. “Why do you call the name ‘Toshizo’? Isn’t that Hijikata-san’s name?”
Okita’s smirk widened. “It is. Hijikata-san’s face when he heard Toshizo’s name was hilarious. It still annoys him. Also, Hajime-kun’s reaction was priceless. He still refuses to call Toshizo by name, it’s great fun. Chizuru-chan, Sano-san and the others insist on calling him ‘Tokkun’ though. Spoil-sports.”
The two pages stared at him, and came to the abrupt conclusion that really, they should have expected that answer. It fitted everything they’d learned about the Captain’s mischievous personality during the short time they’d been with the Shinsengumi so far. They shouldn’t be surprised.
“...Right”, is all Nomura could bring himself to say to that, somewhat regretting having asked.
Toshizo, having apparently recognized his name, let out a soft meow and butted his head against Okita’s chest, making the man grin and scratch him behind the ears, even as he turned around again and started walking off, having apparently decided that their conversation was over.
Once he thought the captain was a safe distance away, Nomura turned to Souma and complained:
“Geez, why is he that gentle with the cat when he’s so rough with us?”
“Because I actually like Toshizo”, Okita replied back while continuing to walk away, turning his head just enough to smirk back at them.
“Ack!” Nomura yelped. “Sorry sir!”
Okita let out a laugh even as he walked around the corner, the sound echoing even after he’d disappeared from sight.
Souma sighed. “You know, Nomura, one of these days you really should learn to keep your mouth shut.”
“Shut up.”
------
Bonus:
Hijikata sat at his table in his lantern-lit room, writing letters, when he heard a soft meow from the door. Glancing back, he saw Souji’s cat - Toshizo, although he resolutely called it Tokkun like almost everyone else except Souji himself - standing in the open crack of the door, watching him with its green eyes.
As soon as he noticed it, the cat walked over to him, nudging his hand demandingly. Hijikata chuckled with reluctant amusement.
“You know, Souji’s going to come looking for you and accuse me of ‘stealing’ you when he notices that you’re gone”, he commented wryly, even as he lowered his hand to scratch the cat behind the ears.
The cat purred and butted his hand, completely ignoring his words, before jumping up on his lap and curling up with a soft meow.
“Honestly, you’re as stubborn as your owner. Damn fur-ball”, Hijikata said with a sigh, tone filled with fondness despite the words.
He then returned to his writing, occasionally using his free hand to pet the cat sleeping in his lap, making absolutely no move to get it to move.
After all, it wasn’t the first, or the last, time that this happened.