Unseasonable Acts of Reason (or, “a longing invocation of the castaway”) –a HaraChi Hakuouki Fiction

Unseasonable Acts of Reason (or, “a longing invocation of the castaway”)

Shoujothoughts

Notes:

I didn’t /exactly/ know where this is going or why I wrote it specifically, but when I think of Harada, everything in me just screams… well, “family.” We all know how much Harada wanted to settle down and have a whole mess of kids. I’ve written about it before (https://archiveofourown.org/works/14038179), and because *spoilers* he never got the chance in the anime, I just… I dunno. That part always hurts me. It gets to me.

So, this is for anime Harada, my favorite character. It’s not based on his otome route, obviously. It isn’t even really cannon with the anime. I don’t really know what it is. But it feels right to give him what he wanted. I’m working on that, but it won’t be without some complication along the way, because what ever goes smoothly for our Hakuouki men?

Set in an AU somewhere obviously, and when I figure that out I’ll let you know.

Let me know if you want more. I feel like I might continue. I think I know how I want this to go, and I think I know how I want it to end.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

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Sanosuke invokes God quite often in her presence.

Well , he supposes, that’s not exactly accurate , and what god for certain he cannot say, but often enough she has him calling upon some heavenly deity, if not for the reasons one might expect. Today… today is no exception.

The blossoms came early this year. It’s not exactly right to say unseasonably, but early enough, and so, it looks, will she. At least, he thinks she’ll be a she. Chizuru insists otherwise, and yet…

“Yasu!” she exclaims. His eyes smile as he looks at her. “Or Hakaku? Hikaru?” The smallest of joyful hops accompanies this revelation. She’s practically glowing, and he knows the sentiment overused, but he can’t help think it an apt comparison. God… She’s radiant.

They’re walking beneath the sakura. Wind whips around them, freeing a few locks from their well-bound prisons, and though they sweep betwixt them, those petals, he thinks, rain about her like snow come out of season.

She’s laughing now. He holds tight the hand locked in their arms’ embrace, and when it quiets, she rests her extra hand upon her belly and sighs.

“You okay, Chizuru?” he asks. They’ve stopped moving, and everything has gone incredibly still.

“It’s getting cold,” she says, looking out over the treetops. “Do you think it will rain?”

“I can’t say it won’t,” he admits, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing at the passing clouds. “We should probably get you home.” A hand on her head. “The last thing we need is for you to catch cold.” That same hand grazing her face.

She shivers, and whether from the wind of his caresses, he cannot say. Their eyes lock, and in those orbs Sanosuke sees the meaning of everything.

“Hitomi.”

“What?” asks Sanosuke, shaken free of the moment. Her eyes have closed.

“Hitomi,” she says again. “I want to name her Hitomi, Sanosuke-san.” And suddenly, she sways just the slightest bit. Her hands grasp the sleeve of his kimono, and her knuckles are white.

“Oi, Chizuru!”

“I’m okay, Sanosuke-san,” she says, but she still hasn’t looked at him, and that alone is enough to have him bending over her, craning his neck for a better look at her downturned face.

“Chizuru,” he says again, and, this time, her eyes slowly open. She smiles again and straightens her spine, leaning against him all the while as she takes the hand he’s grasped around her upper arm and gently places it on her protruding belly. It takes a moment to break through the haze of his concern, but he can feel it, the movement there.

“She’s excited today. It must be because of the cherry blossoms.”

He smiles, despite himself. Chizuru has been nothing if not an enthusiastic mother, but she is small, and small women often have difficulty in childbirth. This time Chizuru spent carrying has proved the highlight of his life, but it often feels too harrowing nonetheless. She quickly grows light-headed, grows weary. “Still, let’s get you home,” he says. “I’ll draw a bath for you.”

“Of course, Sanosuke-san,” she agrees, and he can see it in her eyes that she is tired. Blissfully happy, yes… but tired.

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Notes:

Yes, I know that Harada says that Chizuru doesn’t think it is a girl before she suddenly changes her tune, but plot, I can assure you.

Please let me know if you’d like me to keep on! I don’t think Harada gets enough fiction, personally.

Love, peace, geese,
~Shoujo