Hello everyone, and welcome to the first one-shot in a series of one shots! Hope you guys enjoy it, please drop a review after.
I wrote this while listening to 'Shining in the Sky', a Clannad OST. Not the one with singing, since I love listening to raw piano.

Anyway, I don't own Gintama, Sorachi Hideaki does. And he is one cool gorilla.


Hers
-

Blood soaked the soil. Rain fell, misting the grounds but failing to erase the evidence of a battlefield.

In the midst of the endless bodies knelt a Yato girl and a Shinsengumi captain.

"You're as stupid as ever, China. You didn't have to take that blow for me," To any outsider, the man's voice would've sounded harsh and ungrateful. But his China knew.

She raised a frail hand to his face, which he leant into. "You could just voice your true feelings for once, you know. Besides, I'm a Yato; my wounds will heal quickly."

"Not fast enough," Okita Sougo whispered, his voice cracking slightly towards the end. That was the only clue that gave away his real emotions.

"Fast enough, trust me," Kagura lied. "Look at you, reduced to this big sobbing mess."

"I'm not even crying," He deadpanned.

"Haha, true. Will you cry for me at my funeral then?" She asked innocently.

That one innocent question made him feel like slapping her across the face, although he couldn't do it – not in her current state.

"Dunno. You're not gonna have funeral any time soon, though." Sougo answered.

Kagura only smiled, slightly regretfully. "Hey, sadist. Promise me something, will you?"

Sougo tilted his head. "What?"

"If… if something does happen to me here, don't… don't do anything rash." Kagura croaked. "Like, being the dumb idiot you are, you might think it's your fault or something? Well, it is. Partially. But that last act was my decision, so don't you dare pin it on yourself. Promise?"

Sougo took her hand in his and gripped it tightly. "I could promise, but sadists never keep their promises."

Kagura cracked a smile. "Ah, that's the problem. Deep down, you're a masochist, aren't you?"

Sougo's face darkened slightly. "I'm a sadist."

"If I would pick, I would say that I'm a sadist too. And two sadists in a relationship don't work out. So it's either you be a masochist, or…" Kagura let the sentence hang in the air with an evil smirk on her face.

"Oh, so we're in a relationship now, are we?" Sougo smirked right back.

"Wha-" Kagura started to protest, blushing as red as a bride. But before she could, Sougo captured her lips. Her first kiss.

It was a long time before he let go. He just kept his lips on hers, his eyes shut tightly. Kagura was reluctant at first – embarrassed. But she loosened up, and, forgetting about the pain she was in, leant closer to him.

When they finally parted, Kagura was out of breath and Sougo still had that smirk on his face.

"You're going to get a disease now," Kagura managed to say through her dry, bleeding lips.

"Does that disease happen to be called the 'Love Sickness' disease? The one that's incurable, especially when you fall for a beast-like China? Because if that's the case, I've already got it," Sougo looked at Kagura steadily, with his almond-coloured eyes. "And I can't be cured."

This made Kagura blush crazily. "S-stupid sadist!"

For a split second, it was just like the old times. With a bit more love.

But only for a split second. The moment she finished her sentence, she coughed up blood. Lots of blood.

Sougo froze. This was the second time that someone he loved was coughing up a never-ending stream of blood. This was the second time that someone he finally managed to love… was dying.

"H-hey! China, get a hold of yourself! Back up will come any minute now – really soon. You're tired, I'm tired, we all are. Who isn't? We've just fought a two-week, near non-stop war with the intruding Amanto after all," Sougo reasoned. "But we're pulling ourselves together. So you should too – at least until the help gets here. Then you can relax." After a thought, he added, "But not until the point of death."

Kagura only smiled weakly. "You know, I once heard Gin-chan say that we should live a beautiful life instead of fantasizing about a beautiful end. I think I lived a pretty beautiful life, don't you? I have Gin-chan, Shinpachi, Otae-chan and lots of other people to thank… even Gori-san!" She took a deep breath, gathering the last ounces of her energy. Kagura closed her eyes peacefully. "Just meeting you guys… made every day fun. I learnt so many things and you guys helped me, every day… but most of the all, the guy who taught me the most, the guy who made everything better in every situation… was you, Sougo. Thank you for making my life beautiful… all the way until the end."

Her hand went limp. He didn't drop it. He only tightened his grip, his eyes glazing over and she closed her eyes… for the last time.

"I told you to wait, didn't I?"


"I'm worried about him. He's on patrol constantly, he doesn't even bother to take a break!" Kondo Isao sighed.

"We have to go, Kondo-san. Today is the day."

"Ah, right, right. Go call Sougo; we'll go together."

"He's already gone ahead."

"…Ah… I guess that would be expected. Today is the funeral, after all."


The funeral was boring, to say the least. First of all, nothing they said about China was correct. They said she was a "kind and loving, gentle and caring woman". How can you call an ape with no curves a 'woman'?

At least, that was what he thought. Sougo Okita, 1st Division Captain in Shinsengumi. The man who didn't even shed a single tear during the funeral.

He had rocked up unenthusiastically earlier than everyone else, muttering something about 'Waking up early unnecessarily'.

And he was the one who stayed last, until late in the night. He was one of the men who helped carry the coffin to its resting place – underneath a lone sakura tree atop a hill.

"Stupid China," Sougo whispered as rain fell again. It pounded heavily on his back. He ignored it, his dripping fringe covering his eyes. "You made your own life beautiful. You and you alone. The moment you rebelled against your Yato nature… that was the moment you became truly beautiful. The beautiful China I know and love."

He sat there for another hour or so, just quietly observing the dark sky. There were no stars. It was as if the sky was mourning about its loss too.

"You know, I keep seeing this orange-haired lady everywhere I go, with her purple umbrella and beautiful eyes. She always turns around with either a happy, beaming face or an angry, blushing face. Always," Sougo sighed, tired. In more ways than one. "It has been a week since the end of the battle. And yet, I always see her. Every night, I see her. In my dreams, in my room when I wake up in cold sweat. I just…" He sighed again. "I swear I'm hallucinating. I feel like I'm in a never-ending, restless dream. And I'm never going to wake up, am I? Never."

When the rain eased – that was when he decided to leave. He stood up and glanced down at the grave one last time, the grave where his China was now resting.

"Here, take this. It'll substitute for my eyes when I'm not here watching over you."

Without another backward glance, he left.

Thrown onto the grave was his precious eye mask. The eye mask he always used when he was sleeping, the eye mask that his parents had given him right before they had died, stained with their blood. The eye mask, which had witnessed so much in his life and was his most treasured item.

"That's weird. The rain tastes a bit salty."


Thanks for reading C: Feel free to drop a review, I'd appreciate it :D