[ .. right. Heisuke is not quite as far along yet as he is.. it's almost easy to forget when they're all together, mostly since Heisuke not having to be a rasetsu is actually a good thing, but he realises it at moments like these. Heisuke didn't return to them just yet, so of course he must feel a distance between them more than they would. ]

Heisuke, if you think even for one moment that I'd believe you would stab me in the back, you're a dumbass. [ Even if they're technically still enemies from Heisuke's point of view, Shinpachi never did view it that way. How could he think of his freind as his enemy, especially when nothing about Heisuke changed? ]

Shinsengumi or not, who gives a damn about that? You're Heisuke, so that means you're my friend.

[ Shinpachi is very much with the Shinsengumi, don't get him wrong on that - but like hell he's going to let that determine who he can or can't talk to on a more personal basis. He's always been the type of person to make his own decisions regardless of anything else, after all. ]

If anyone doesn't like that, then they can suck it up. [ Okay, so it's said in the usual blunt straightforward Shinpachi kind of way, but.. he means all of it fondly, okay. Heisuke's one of his best friends for a reason. ]