( This is why, even as much as he likes Souji, he keeps a certain amount of distance between them. They really shouldn't interact with the past-- this is why there's a rule for it back home, right? There are things they know that those in the past don't know and it hurts to be on the same timeline but farther ahead. Knowing really, really hurts. And knowing that time is slowly ticking... how much longer until things progress to that point?

He looks away, re-adjusting himself so that he can carry Souji back to the apartment. The sooner he gets there, the sooner he can put space between them again. )

You-- ( All of you. Not just Souji but especially Souji since he doesn't know. ) --don't get to talk... ( His voice is quiet and hard but not harsh-- it's sad, it's hurt, he doesn't want to talk about it. )

You don't know. ( What it was like. How he felt. How everyone felt. What happened after. The lack of answers even after all of these years. ) So don't.

( That's his warning.

He likes Souji. He really does. It's really not fair, you know, that he likes Souji. He's a good swordsman; a real samurai. He thinks maybe if they weren't on different sides or maybe if they had met sooner in their lives, their masters might get along. But that can't happen. Even in this place, with it's strange circumstances, can't change that. Souji Okita is with the Shinsengumi and Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki is Sakamoto's sword. They're stubborn and proud and though they may come to respect each other, they can't be friends. Not as long as Souji doesn't know. He doesn't know and he should hear it from someone better than himself, he thinks. )

... I believe ya. ( He really does. ) But save it, alright? Don't go feeling sorry for me or Ryoma-san.

( Even if Sakamoto deserved better, he doesn't need the Shinsengumi feeling sorry about it. )