Title: Soothe Me, Save Me Rating: M (for the last chapter/day) Pairing: Saito Hajime/Yukimura Chizuru Summary: When the Shinsengumi discovers the existence of one Yukimura Chizuru, they send Saito to investigate the missing Doctor’s daughter. However, when he gets unexpectedly injured, Chizuru takes it upon herself to nurse this stranger back to health.
Author’s Note: Written for @saichifest ! Thank you, @impracticaldemon and @nalufever for hosting this event! This is essentially going to be a four chapter story, with each chapter corresponding to the given prompts for those days. However, I will be going out of the country tomorrow and will be unable to post on the actual days of the event. I will do my best to get tomorrow’s chapter up and running before my flight!
There’s a small nod to May the Fourth be With You in here. Bonus points to whoever spots it ;)
Cross-posted on ao3.
Saito’s never been one to stray from the less-than-glamorous side of his duty.
Hijikata once expressed his regret - that he inevitably hoists the dirty work on the young Captain. They’re tough jobs, the ones he throws to his subordinate - the kind that needs to be done with a measure of finesse, but could only be left to those with whom he felt an immeasurable amount of trust.
Saito understands this, and as has become characteristic of the stoic captain, accepts his appointments with somber dedication. It’s the least he can do for what he has received in return - a home in the form of a ragtag group of people that would support his path of the warrior and give him a place to feel content.
He’s back in Edo, the first time since he rejoined his peers in Kyoto. They’ve waited for too long without word for the mysterious doctor and his medicinal curse, and with an air of reluctance, Hijikata had finally resigned himself to the idea that perhaps something has occurred beyond their control.
Not that the water of life could truly be controlled, if the previous experiments were any indication.
After a discussion with a local doctor - Matsumoto, if he remembered correctly - they had managed to uncover not only the location of his clinic, but the existence of a daughter he’s both carefully raised and deliberately concealed there.
It leaves a sour taste in his mouth, dragging innocents into this twisted world; but, perhaps she’s not. Saito has always felt there was something off about Kodo, and he had little expectations for the daughter of such a man. Despite wanting to maintain a measure of respect for the fairer sex, he is more than aware of his duty.