Sharing a few of my Saito collectibles for Day 1 of Saitofest :)
I mostly collect chibi stuff, but the two acrylic stands above (2019) are amazing and deserve some attention (small-sized Otomate Club tapestry behind). Below are (two of) my Saito tapestries. ...And then the giant Chibi Saito pillow cover from a Japanese hotel Hakuouki theme room.
So I didn’t intend for this to happen, but the picture I drew for Saitofest ended up spawning a fic that sort of follows up on the missing slice of Saito’s snowbunny cake. Since it doesn’t focus entirely on Saito I’ll fully understand if it doesn’t get reblogged by the @saitofest blog, but I wanted to post the story none the less.
The Cake Thief
(also on Ao3)
The following day the excitement caused by Chizuru’s attempt to celebrate Saito’s birthday had died down. And the Shinsengumi captains nearly all of whom had been present, with the exception of Hijikata who had been away from headquarters on business, had more or less recovered from the late night spent drinking and partying. Everything had gone back to normal,… almost.
Okita looked over to where Heisuke sat a foot or so away from him in the bushes they were both currently hidden in. “…Just what were you thinking Heisuke, sneaking a piece of Hajime-kun’s cake like that before Chizuru-chan could give it to him?” asked Okita narrowing his eyes slightly as he studied Heisuke, looking as if he were trying to decide if the other captain was actually as crazy as such an act would indicate.
After all it was well known that, while Heisuke and Shinpachi might steal and fight over each other’s food during meals without dire consequence, attempting to steal Saito’s food from him was unwise at best. Especially when it was something that Saito considered a favorite or to be something special.
“…Me?!” cried Heisuke, a little too loudly, before Okita’s glare and sharp gestures for him to lower his voice silenced him. “Me?... What are you talking about? I thought you were the one who did it.” continued Heisuke in a lower voice, frowning as he looked over at Okita with a skeptical expression. “After all, everyone knows how much you like sweets.”
Okita snorted softly, his glare at Heisuke sharpening a bit, though he didn’t bother attempting to deny the other captain’s mention of his love of sweet things. A moment later Okita glanced away slightly, his glare softening as he hummed in thought. “Heeh,… then if it wasn’t either of us, who could have stolen that slice of Hajime-kun’s cake?”
“I don’t know. …Who else around here likes sweets so much that-…?” began Heisuke before breaking off abruptly as he caught the sound of footsteps coming closer to where he and Okita were hiding while their owner murmured under his breath in an annoyed sounding tone.
Crouching lower in the bushes both Shinsengumi captains froze, their gazes locked tensely on one another as they waited to see if they would manage to avoid discovery. The sound of second set of footsteps approaching caused the former steps to come to a stop, the frustrated muttering falling silent.
“…Pardon me Vice Commander,… but have you seen Souji or Heisuke anywhere?” asked Saito after bowing respectfully once he had come to a stop in front of Hijikata, having crossed the compound as he spotted the Shinsengumi’s Vice Commander.
Even though it appeared to Saito that Hijikata had just returned to headquarters after the business he had been on the previous night, he thought that it was still possible that Hijikata might have spotted either Okita or Heisuke. Particularly if they had been wandering somewhere around town in an attempt to avoid him, having come to the conclusion that he may be suspicious of them after last night’s festivities.
Frowning Hijikata shook his head, heaving out a sigh as he propped a fist on one hip. “No, I haven’t. …I just got back here. …But why? What did they do this time?”
“I see…” murmured Saito glancing down briefly. It seemed that he would have to continue his search for the pair, hopefully determining for certain along the way if one or the other of them was truly the culprit who had taken the missing slice of the cake Chizuru had no doubt worked so hard to prepare for him.
Fighting back the blush that threatened to darken his ears and cheeks at such thoughts Saito looked back up, gratefully focusing his attention on Hijikata instead. “…Then is there anything that I can do for you Vice Commander?”
“No…” replied Hijikata shaking his head once more as he let his hand fall to his side. “…But if you see Yukimura, would you tell her to bring some tea to my room?”
“Of course.” agreed Saito, bowing once more to Hijikata before turning on his heel and setting off across the grounds.
As Hijikata watched Saito’s back retreat his eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, wondering at the faint hint of strangeness he had noted in the third division’s captain’s behavior. The other man had all too smoothly avoided answering Hijikata’s question, dodging it by retorting with one of his own, and had almost appeared to be blushing for some unknown reason just before then. Still, he had far too much work ahead of him to spend much time dwelling on it, especially when he saw no visible sign of anything being wrong around headquarters and the other man avoided speaking of it.
Hijikata was thankful though that he could at least expect to have tea to accompany his work, as he suspected that it wouldn’t take that long for Saito to locate and speak to Chizuru, knowing Saito’s usual level of efficiency. Given the amount of time Hijikata expected the work to take, he wondered if he should have asked Saito to tell Chizuru to include something to eat along with the tea as well.
The slice he had sampled of the cake Chizuru had left sitting on the counter in the kitchen yesterday had been good, even though he wasn’t necessarily a particular fan of sweets, unlike Souji. He did wonder what had made Chizuru decide to make something so fancy and impractical though.
…Really, what would give her the idea to make something that looked like a giant snow bunny… mused Hijikata shaking his head as he started toward his room.
For @saitofest Day 1 Prompt: Fond Memories
Note: image courtesy of @impracticaldemon (thanks for organizing the event also!)
Stars
It is well after dark when Saitō returns from his patrol, and the night is briskly cold, his exhales leaving his mouth in little puffs of smoke.
It’s unusually quiet in the Shinsengumi compound; many of the Wolves of Mibu are gone, either on patrol or off to Shimabara to prowl for a different sort of prey. Others are likely asleep. Even they seem to be abnormally inactive tonight.
He can sense the few members still awake who’ve been tasked with patrolling the compound itself, but as they’re on the periphery, they don’t break the illusion of almost peaceful stillness—something the Shinsengumi’s residence doesn’t typically have.
Not that Saitō minds, of course; neither the cold nor the silence affect him adversely. Rather, he finds it soothing after being surrounded by so many people all day. Here, seated on the engawa in the tranquility of a crisp winter night, he relishes the rare moment when he can allow himself to relax and unwind—well, as much as any member of the Shinsengumi can. His guard is never truly down, after all.
Behind him, he hears the slide of a door opening, then closing, and from the soft, tentative footsteps, it can only be Yukimura.
Then, the sound of her voice confirms it.
“Saitō-san?”
The scent of tea reaches him before she does. She kneels, setting a tray with two steaming cups beside him, and then sits.
“I saw you come back, and I thought you might like some tea to warm you up after your patrol.”
Saitō nods and accepts the offering with a murmured thank-you.
The cup is warm in his hands, and the curling wisps of steam rising from it mingle with his own exhales as he sips it carefully.
To his surprise, she remains sitting with him, drinking her own tea quietly for several minutes. Then, not to his surprise—he has noticed that Yukimura has a tendency to grow unsettled in long silences—she speaks.
“Does Saitō-san like the stars?”
He looks at her briefly, considering, before turning his face back toward the objects in question, where they twinkle vibrantly in the seemingly endless expanse of inky night sky. “I suppose. Why do you ask?”
Yukimura shrugs. “I’ve always loved them for some reason. Some people make wishes on them, but that’s not why I like them. Um…they are…peaceful somehow?” Her shoulders bob up and down again. “I don’t know… I especially like cold nights like this, you know, when the stars are so very bright, where you can see the constellations so clearly.”
Saitō hums in agreement, and Yukimura takes it as a cue to continue.
“That one”—she sets her tea aside and gestures, drawing imaginary lines between some of the glittering specks—“is the big bear, and that is the little bear.”
“And that star”—she points to one of the brightest in the sky—“is tenrō, the celestial wolf.”(1) She angles her face slightly toward him, a smile curving her lips. “I thought that one might interest you.”
It is said innocently, with good intentions, and Saitō is sure that she either does not know or has forgotten that miburō, the nickname bestowed upon them, is seldom meant nicely. He lets it slide, making a noncommittal noise in reply.
Yukimura motions toward two bright stars in close proximity and then dimmer ones near them. “Those are the twins. And to the left, that’s the crab.”
He nods, reassuring her that he is, in fact, still listening. He realizes, with no small amount of wonder, that he is interested in what she has to say. Normally, by this point, constant idle chitchat from someone would have begun to grate on his nerves.
And thus, with no interruption from Saitō, she continues, her hand waving as she points out more constellations and tells him some of the lore surrounding their names. They are fanciful tales, very likely rooted more in myth than in fact, but whoever has educated her has done so in great detail.
“You are very knowledgeable about constellations,” Saitō says, only marginally aware of the trace of admiration that has crept into his tone.
“Oh! Thank you!” The brightness in her voice rivals the brilliance of the celestial bodies they’d been discussing. “My…” She falters, the word trailing off as she swallows hard. “My father taught me about them…”
Out of the corner of his eye, he can see her inhale deeply, her hands clenching the fabric of her hakama. There is tension in the air between them now, likely born of the awkward topic that is Kōdō.
“I…um…” Yukimura takes another purposeful breath. “Anyway, I apologize, Saitō-san, for chattering so much. I know you must be tired,” she says, affecting false cheer as she stands and bows deeply. “I’m so sorry for keeping you!”
She pivots on her heel, clearly intent on making a retreat back to her room. With a swiftness unmatched by most, perhaps all save a precious few in the Shinsengumi, he snatches the hem of her sleeve, forcing her to stop.
“Yukimura.”
She turns partially back toward him, though her face is obscured by darkness. Saitō can’t quite put his finger on why he feels compelled to offer her comfort, but he attempts to do so all the same.
“There is nothing wrong with having fond memories of your childhood,” he says, his own memories of his family and childhood home forever colored by what happened when he killed the hatamoto’s son. He is also well acquainted with the duality of man. “What Kōdō did—is potentially still doing—does not erase the good things he did for you. Just as good people are capable of evil, so too is the reverse true.”
With that, he releases her sleeve and resumes staring at the sky, his head tipped back ever so slightly.
When she whispers, “Thank you, Saitō-san,” he merely nods, and then she’s scurrying off to her room, leaving him to trace the constellations she pointed out with his gaze.
Yukimura, he muses, is not unlike a star herself in a way. Her hopefulness, her upbeat attitude, her desire to be helpful, to be a friend when truly they had done little to earn her friendship, at least initially—it all coalesces into this personality that shines even amidst the inherent darkness of the Shinsengumi. Or perhaps it is because of that darkness that she seems to shine brighter. Whatever the case, somehow, she has become a presence in their lives that they can’t help but appreciate.
Much in the way that a person can hardly look at the sky on a clear night and not admire the stars.
For a very brief moment, before he mentally chastises himself for indulgent philosophizing and heads to bed, Saitō hopes that their own personal star won’t ever dim in her brightness.
~End~
(1) based on the Wikipedia article for Sirius.
Author’s notes: It was a cold starry night last night, and well, this happened. Also, please note, with the exception of Sirius, this assumes a very Western perspective regarding the constellations, which obviously may not be even remotely historically accurate. I started to do some research on astronomy in Japanese history and, well, ultimately I decided that rabbit’s hole was one I’d better stay out of if I wanted to get this finished any time this century. Lastly, I do not usually write in present tense…I have NO idea why my muse wanted this one to be that way…
