Challenge

The day after the events of Kondo stalking Otae, and then turning to fall in love with Yui instead, Hiroto and the gang were inside the Odd Jobs building.

Staring at each other, they all had solemn faces around them, as an old man sat on the couch and watched the event unfolded.

"So, it's finally come down to this then, huh, Gin?" Hiroto said, with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"It's a shame, but this was bound to happen. It is inevitable." Gin said, getting into a battle-ready pose.

Standing behind them was Kagura and Shinpachi, with a scoreboard next to them. On it, read, 2-2.

"Alllright!!!" Kagura shouted, "Let's make this a fair match, I don't want any dirty business now!"

Both Hiroto and Gin nodded their heads.

"Alright, on the count of 3. 1… 2… 3!!" Shinpachi cried out.

"ROCK PAPER SCISSORS!"

*WHOOSH*

Hiroto stabbed his fingers forward with a two-pronged attack towards Gin's eye, who held up his hand and caught the attack, wedging his hand between the two fingers.

Hiroto then smirked and said, "Heh, scissors beat paper. I win."

"Tsk." Gin clicked his tongue.

"Oi, don't you dare renege on your promise," Hiroto said, with his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Gin said, turning towards the man sitting on the couch and sighing, "Alright then, let's go."

"Say, why are you so exasperated? I'm the one paying for this job, shouldn't you be more thankful?" The man said, leading Gin out of the building.

"Who would be happy to be forced to do hard labor." Gin said.

"Stop your whining and just follow." The man retorted.

*clack*

The door closed behind Gin and the man, leaving Hiroto alone with Shinpachi and Kagura.

*yawwwn* "Welp, now that's out of the way, here." Hiroto said, handing over 2 envelopes towards the two.

"Hm? What is this?" Shinpachi asked as he and Kagura took the envelope with curiosity.

Hiroto shook his head and said, "Jeez, you guys can't even recognize when you're getting your pay?"

"Huh?" Shinpachi muttered, frozen.

"Nani?" Kagura muttered, also frozen.

"Really? It can't be that unbelievable when you guys get your pay, right?" Hiroto said, looking at the two frozen in disbelief.

"Hahaha, it's not nice to joke around about these things you know, Hiro." Shinpachi laughed.

"You can't play with the heart of a young maiden like this," Kagura pouted.

Hiroto sighed and got up, "You guys think whatever you want, I'm going to leave for a bit. You can do whatever you want with your pay, take the day off." Hiroto ruffled both of their heads and left the building, leaving the two still frozen in disbelief, looking at the envelope in their hands as though they just recovered an ancient forbidden relic.

*clack*

Hiroto shut the door behind him and walked down the stairs. "Jeez, just because I don't pay you guys that often doesn't mean it won't happen." Hiroto went to the building below Odd Jobs and entered.

"Welcome! Oh, it's just you. What is it? Have you finally come around to paying your rent." Otose replied snarkily.

"Hm, you could say so," Hiroto said, placing an envelope onto the counter as he took a seat.

*whoosh*

The envelope disappeared in a flash, appearing back in the hands of Otose who was busy counting the banknotes in it.

"Tsk, you really don't hold back, do you?" Hiroto clicked his tongue.

"Of course I don't! You guys haven't paid rent for 2 months! It wasn't about time you did!" Otose shouted back, stuffing the money away and putting a mug of beer on the counter.

"Yea yea, whatever," Hiroto responded lazily and watched the people outside walking past as he drank.

"So, what else did you come here for? It can't be just to pay your rent, right?" Otose said with a probing tone.

"Hm, I'm bored," Hiroto said.

"Silver-haired samurai!" 3 people from the Shinsengumi suddenly came into the bar and shouted out, "Agh! It's not a silver-haired samurai, but a red-haired one."

"We got it wrong again." A bald Shinsengumi member said, then locking eyes with Hiroto.

"Ah! It's you!" The man shouted, pointing towards Hiroto.

"Me?" Hiroto said, pointing to himself.

"Yes, you! You're the guy from yesterday! The one the chief calls brother-in-law!" The man shouted.

"PFFT! He what?!" Hiroto spat out the beer he drank. "Well, besides that. You said you were looking for a silver-haired samurai?"

"That's right!" The man said, clenching his fist and saying, "That bastard is the one obstacle standing in the way of the chief finally being with the one he loves!"

Hiroto held his head and muttered, "This is growing into a bigger deal than it should've been."

The man turned to the other 2 and said, "We have to get going. Goodbye!"

"Ugh, I'm leaving," Hiroto said to Otose, who just shrugged.

Before Hiroto could leave, someone else entered the shop and stood right in front of Hiroto.

"Hm? What is it?" Hiroto said, looking down and seeing Sogo staring back at him.

"Let's fight." Sogo suddenly declares.

"Huh? Um, why should I?" Hiroto asked.

"I can tell that you're strong. A lot stronger than anyone I've ever met. Something is warning me to get as far away from you as possible, but another part of me is wanting to fight you." Sogo said, with his eyes shining.

Hiroto turned to Otose, who had a passive look on her face and said, "It's none of my business. But, don't you dare do it near my shop and wreck it!"

"I don't even want to fight in the first place," Hiroto said, walking past Sogo.

Sogo stuck close to Hiroto's back, his face almost touching Hiroto's back. "Uhm… can you not walk so close to me? It's uncomfortable." Hiroto said.

"Not unless you choose to fight me," Sogo said.

"What if I just fart on you? Will that make you leave?" Hiroto said, looking forward and kept walking.

"If you don't fight me, I'll leak this." Sogo took out his phone and showed a photo to Hiroto.

Hiroto looked at the photograph on the phone. On it, was a picture of Hiroto entering a changing room, and exiting it was Yui.

*whoosh*

*smash*

In a blur, the phone was instantly smashed under Hiroto's phone. "Oh my, it looks like your phone fell directly under my feet."

"It's alright," Sogo responded, taking out another phone with the same photograph on it. "I have spar-"

*smash*

"Oh man, these phones sure are slippery, always falling right under my feet," Hiroto said once again.

"It's alright. I backed them up in a secret location." Sogo, smiling.

Hiroto sighed and said, "Fine, where did you even get that anyway? Oh wait, you're the police, nevermind. I'll indulge you for a bit, lead the way."

Sogo smiled and walked towards a car, with Hiroto entering as they drove off to the Shinsengumi base.

Arriving, the base was mostly empty, as everyone was currently out and about, searching for Gin.

"Hm, so this is your headquarters, huh?" Hiroto said, with both of his hands in the sleeves of his haori, following behind Sogo and he led Hiroto through the base.

"Yeah. This is where we train, eat, and sleep." Sogo said.

"Is it alright to even be bringing me into this place," Hiroto said, looking around the place.

"It's fine. No one would stop you since…" Sogo turned and gave an eerie smile, "Since you're the chief's brother-in-law."

A vein throbbed on Hiroto's forehead as he ground his teeth and said, "My, what a nice perk."

Walking for another minute, they arrived at a dojo. Inside the empty hall, Hiroto looked around the room and saw that it was quite modest in design.

Hiroto whistled and said, "You guys have quite a big ha-"

*swish*

Sogo swung his sword out from its scabbard in one move towards Hiroto's neck, who merely ducked under the slash.

"Whoop. Careful there, you should at least let me get ready." Hiroto said, standing back up.

"In battle, never give your opponent the upper hand," Sogo said, slashing downwards towards Hiroto.

Hiroto merely tilted his body, avoiding strike and strike, as Sogo kept missing him.

"Why won't you use a weapon!" Sogo shouted as he continued slashing towards Hiroto.

"Why should I use one, if I can just tire you out as you keep on missing," Hiroto said, jumping over a low slash towards his legs. Taking this opportunity, Sogo's eyes flashed as he thrust his sword towards the airborne Hiroto.

Hiroto's eyes narrowed, as his body felt light as air. Tilting his body midair, Hiroto stretched his arm forward, and put his hand onto the flat edge of the blade, guiding it into the empty scabbard hanging off his left hip. All of this, done in under a second.

*clack*

The sword clicked in place, as Sogo's sword was sheathed into Hiroto's scabbard. Hiroto chopped his hand downwards, striking a nerve on Sogo's wrist, causing him to lose his grip on the handle of his sword.

Hiroto landed on the ground, facing a wide-eyed Sogo, who stared back at Hiroto in disbelief.

Hiroto took the sword out of its scabbard slowly, and rested it next to Sogo's neck, who still didn't respond and just kept staring back at Hiroto.

"I take that back, why use a weapon when I can just take yours?" Hiroto said, facing Sogo who started to sweat.

Hiroto drew the sword back and tossed the sword towards Sogo, hilt first, for him to catch.

Hiroto stretched his back and said, "Welp, I hope you're satisfied."

"How can I be satisfied with this?!" Sogo suddenly shouted. "You barely fought back, and you still managed to completely overwhelm me! No matter what I did, I could never find an opening!"

"Sogo. That's enough." Kondo's voice came from the side of the dojo, as he walked in.

"Kondo…" Sogo muttered, looking solemn.

"You lost, just accept it. A samurai has to know defeat, in order to grow and become stronger." Kondo said, resting a hand on Sogo's shoulder.

Sogo gripped his sword and nodded. Kondo smiled and said, "Good." He then turned to Hiroto and said, "Sorry for getting you involved in this. I knew that Sogo here likes to fight, but I never expected him to go after you."

Hiroto shrugged and said, "It's fine. I didn't have anything better to do anyway." He then turned to leave, but the moment he stepped out of the Dojo...

"Wait! Train me! Help me become stronger!!" Sogo shouted.

"Huh?/Nani?" Both Kondo and Hiroto said.