Tea and Dango

[golden_peony]

WHO: Kondou Isami, and possibly you as well~♥
WHAT: Isami is new hereabouts and is just taking tea. Wanna chat her up?
WHERE: Somewhere around the main camp.
WHEN: Early afternoon.
WARNING(S): Just the confusion, hilarity, or possible angst that might ensue.





[Isami not feeling boisterous for the time being, and after being told how it is that she ended up in this world after being in the modern era with modern appliances, she decided that she'd get to it whenever she'd get to it. If there was a battle to be waged, she'd fight and do her part to survive and help out this main camp.

Otherwise, she was now occupying herself with a nice, hot cup of tea and some sweets. Dango to be exact. She has a good pile of it on a large enough dish, and was happily enough munching on some after she had taken a sip of tea.]

Ah~ That sure does taste good~♥

Comments

[sadistsword]

[Dangos were a smell that attracted Souji pretty fast - aside that he had a weakness for sweets it had been also always a good opportunity to spend time with the Kondou of his world.

So when he smells the dangos this time around he follows the smell again to find a blond woman eating them.]

Oh, you managed to make dangos?

[golden_peony]

[She doesn't know who he is, but he sure does seem to recognize the dango. She just offers him a smile.]

Mm! I only thought that a small taste of home would be what I needed, especially after coming here.

[She raises a skewer of it, and holds it out for him.]

Want some?

[sadistsword]

Yes, I would love some.

[It feels like it has been forever since he had dango in the first place. He takes the skewer she handed him.]

Thank you very much. So you are from Japan as well?

[golden_peony]

Yes, I am. Only that I came from a different version of Japan before coming here.

[Her own world is very special, you see. She munches on a bit more of her dango before speaking yet again. She already knew he was from Japan himself, but she forgot to ask something:]

Mind if I can ask you for your name~?

[sadistsword]

A different version of Japan? What do you mean?

[He's so free to sit himself next to her.]

I'm Okita Souji. And yours?

[golden_peony]

My friends and I were made to go into a version of Japan where apparently technology had advanced. It was a nice place to live in, though~

[Okay, that skewer she had in hand has just dropped to the floor.]

My name is Kondou Isami.

[She's trying to make sense of this, but to try to be polite:]

Souji? No, you can't be... why would you have her name? As far as I know, Souji is back home with Toshi.

[sadistsword]

Advanced technology? Like with Western things?

[Souji... is probably not as polite and he gives her a suspicious glance.]

That is what I want to say. I haven't seen Kondou-san around here.

[golden_peony]

[She shakes her head.]

I don't know exactly, but it was nothing like anything I had seen before. Even so, their "appliances" were very useful.

[She gives the young man a serious look, one that she only does when she feels is really necessary, and right now felt like one of those times.]

You're looking at her. I'm Kondou Isami, leader of the Shinsengumi under the Aizu domain, proudly serving the Tokugawa Bakufu in Edo.

[Only if she knew where the hell they WERE, then she'd probably go straight to them. As it stood, she only had herself here, and while she didn't like it, she had to suck it up.

Besides, last time she was back in her home world, she had followed the Shogun back to Edo.]

[sadistsword]

What did you do with those?

[Oh no, he can't stand such a long from someone who is even supposed to be Kondou. He doesn't want Kondou to be angry with him. And her words spoke a detailed truth. And now that he thought closer about it - he did meet a version of himself here, but not.. a woman. Huh.]

If you are truly Kondou-san... then when was I given to your dojo?

[golden_peony]

[Automatically, and with a smile:]

When Souji was nine.

[sadistsword]

Then you are truly... Kondou-san.

[He is not sure how he feels about that yet, but he picks up the skewer that had fallen down and looks a little sheepishly on the ground.]

Sorry for not believing you earlier.

[golden_peony]

[Oh, now he believes her. Well, if he says he's Souji, and if he says he believes who she is, then she finds no problem with that at all.

Stranger things have happened, and in the world she had come from, everyone said that historically speaking, they were male. Perhaps this was something like that?

Whatever, she was going to give this Souji one of her best smiles.]

As long as you understand that I am who I am, I won't have a problem with you at all, Souji~♥

[With this, she gives him a reassuring pat on his shoulder.]

[sadistsword]

[For some reason her smile and her gesture made him feel all warm. It was really almost as if his Kondou was here. His expression turns into a smile of his own.]

Yes? Then I'm glad.

[That meant he got to eat dango together with Kondou all alone. Without Hijikata butting in for once - hopefully.]

It has been a while since I spent time with Kondou-san like this.

[hakodate]

[Of course, the problem with having a tea party in the middle of a military encampment is that there are all kinds of things going on around you. People rushing by with errands and messages, or practicing their moves, or...

...or just sitting a short distance away cleaning their swords. Like this guy, who doesn't seem quite sure whether he's amused or irritated when he glances over.]

At least somebody's able to relax around here.

[golden_peony]

[She looks over to see who was speaking. Hm~ For some reason, he seemed to remind her of someone, but she couldn't place her finger on just whom. She gave him a nervous smile as she replied:]

It is only for the time being, and even if there were anything to happen right now, I've got my sword with me.

[She pats it lightly with her left hand, even if her other hand was holding a skewer of dango.]

[hakodate]

...well, it's not likely that anything will make it this far, anyway.

[He's probably jumped down enough people's asses today, but it's not like more than a handful of the people here are even his own men. And relaxing's as important as everything else, right?

Ootori's been trying to impress that on him. Sometimes, it even manages to stick for a few minutes before he finds something else to worry about.]

[golden_peony]

Yes, with how extensive this place seems to be, I thought it was safe enough to have these for a moment.

[She takes a fresh skewer of dango and offers it to him.]

Come on, don't be shy~ You can have some.

[hakodate]

[Reminds him a lot of someone else who used to try and get him to relax, now that he thinks about it...

But that's something he tries not to dwell on, after...everything that's happened, so he pushes it to the back of his mind before the pieces are done clicking into place, and returns his sword to its sheath before moving over and taking a seat near her.]

I suppose it couldn't hurt.

[golden_peony]

Of course it wouldn't. Even though it's important to be battle-ready, it doesn't help your mind one bit to be so tense all the time and before you know it, you're too tired to fight the good fight over a long period of time.

Relaxing from time to time always helps with that.

[She takes the teapot, and pours the man a cup of tea.]

[hakodate]

I hear that a lot. Doesn't make putting it into practice any easier.

[He nods his thanks as he takes that cup of tea, and takes a sip.

...mm, exactly what he needed.]

[golden_peony]

[She smiles as she finally figured out who he reminded her of. Hair style, eye-color, and even personality, he reminded her of Toshi.]

Ah~ What you said reminds me so much of Toshi. She was always a serious one, and I always had to have her loosen up a little at times. Even when we were just relaxing indoors, she'd never let go of her sword much.

[She pauses as she grabs a new skewer and starts nibbling at it a bit, before she stops.]

Sorry, I shouldn't bother you with that. You're here to relax, after all~

[And with that, she only grows quiet. If the man next to her wanted to speak to her, that is, she was sure he would ]

[hakodate]

[...what.]

I remind you of -

[Okay, maybe he's overreacting; it's not like there aren't other Toshizous in the world, or other names that shorten to Toshi, but...

...well, after running into two other Soujis who definitely weren't his, it's hard not to wonder.]

[golden_peony]

[Oh. So, he wanted to talk about her?]

Toshi. It's what I call her, even though her name is Toshizou. She doesn't let many people get away with it, but I'm one of the few.

Do you know of her, mister?

[hakodate]

[He answers the question...with another question, but he can't really help himself, at this point.]

...what's your name?

[golden_peony]

Me? Oh, my name is Kondou Isami.

What is yours?

[Now that he asked, might as well, right~?]