Chapter 9

                                    

                                          


                          
It was a beautiful morning with the sun shone gently upon the earth. The birds were dancing in the air as if they owned the sky. The clouds were white and innocent without a single hint of gloom. There was peace in the air and no disturbance at all.
                          
            Waking up to the smell of left over sa-ke, I opened my eyes only to see a problem. My eyes grew devouringly large as the face of the demon leaned close to me. Three inches, and our noses would have touched. Holding my breath, I scanned around and found myself unable to move as well. Why is his arm on my waist?! That moment, his hand moved and successfully tickled me.
                          
            Screaming at the top of my lungs, I woke the demon up. Due to my screaming, Hijikata jolted in surprise and reflexively shut me up with his palm, pushing me back onto the floor with a 'thud!'. He sighed in relief.
                          
            "Ssh!" He hissed. He looked worried but somewhat relieved. After all, Kondo's room was just next door. However, blood rushed up to my face as I was overwhelmed due to our close proximity.
                          
            "Ghe dha he uff meh!" Struggling to free myself, I grabbed his wrist strongly that my nails dug into his skin. Hijikata groaned in pain loudly causing me to shut him up with my palm. As the result, he was pushed onto the floor. Due to my retaliation, he also retaliated by letting my back touch the floor again.
                          
            "Ssh!" Hijikata warned again.
                          
            With my nails reflexively sank into his flesh, he groaned again. To shut him up, I got up and pushed him down. When we were finally silent, we found our position...odd. Our eyes met and we ended up staring at each other. Only our breathing was heard. Exploding in self-consciousness, I stoned up. After all, Hijikata's handsome face was just there under my palms; in perfect position that my eyes could etch his image perfectly.
                          
            "Sayo—"
                          
            "Toshi! Are you alright? I heard some noises!" Kondo called from the door. Surprised and flustered, we let go of each other. We had to make sure Kondo didn't find us together. Desperately looking for place to hide, I initially crawled to the cupboard where I had hidden before. However, a hand pulled me by my ankle causing me to land face first on the floor with a 'bump!'
                          
            "Toshi? Are you alright?" Kondo prodded.
                          
            "What are you doing, Hijikata-san?! I must hide!" Getting up, I whispered.
                          
            "Not there!" He whispered back.
                          
            "Why not?! I had hidden then before!" Protesting, I kicked his hand off my ankle and proceeded to crawl towards the cupboard.
                          
            "Wait!" Hijikata pulled my ankle again, causing me to fall onto the floor but this time I managed to prevent my 'face fall' with my arms propping my torso above the floor.
                          
            "Toshi? I'm coming in!" Kondo said.
                          
            "If it's about the lousy book of poems, I know about it already!" Kicking his hand away and crawled into the cupboard quickly seemingly of a lizard, I managed to reach my safe zone. Sighing in relief, I found the narrow place nostalgic. I slid the door open a bit so I could peek at how Hijikata was doing.
                          
            "O-oh! Kondo-san! W-what brings you here?" Hijikata asked, pretending as if nothing had happened. 
                          
            "What? You are alone. I thought you're with someone." Kondo chuckled as sat down.
                          
            "W-who else is here other than me? My room is mine." Hijikata scoffed. He folded his arms on his chest...His style. Rolling my eyes as I heard their conversation, I found the book of poems belonged to Hogyoku still in the cupboard.