Author's Note: Have another OkiKagu story. It's mostly canon (or at least my interpretation of canon), except for certain elements of the last scene.
If any readers out there have requests for a story you'd like to see with this pairing, I'm open to suggestions. I'm looking for some inspiration.
The Next Time He Sees Her
The first time he saw her, he thought she was an idiot.
Sougo knew that some of the remaining samurai who had fought in the Joui war were unhinged, but if that trio of eccentrics were supposed to be bombers, then he might as well have called himself a catfish. He didn't believe it for a second, but even so, a job's a job, and he'd be damned if he allowed the three of them to get away.
Well, they failed—spectacularly, even—but since the three suspects had ironically ended up being the ones to save the day (even if Edo had been in peril because of them to begin with), he decided to focus more of his brainpower on soap operas.
If he'd known she would continue to be such a thorn in his side, he would have killed her right then.
The first time she acknowledged his existence was at the cherry blossom viewing festival, and to his surprise, he came away holding a begrudging respect for her, even if it were tinged with a healthy dose of competitive fervor. Despite the blow she had dealt to his face, rather than being angry, he was more shocked by how strong she was—and he would be lying if he said he weren't a bit exhilarated by it, too.
This would be fun, wouldn't it?
He hadn't realized at the time how right he was, but his unconscious mind must have at least internalized knowledge of the girl's bizarre temperament, because he found himself unsurprised when he saw that it was her who had "kidnapped" the princess.
"Oi, Sougo! What are you doing, pointing such a dangerous weapon at the princess?"
"Relax, Kondo-san—I still have a favor I owe that girl, ever since the cherry blossom viewing festival."
Besides, the large weapon wouldn't have hurt her anyway, nor did he believe she would have allowed harm to befall the princess—it was only a joke, he thought with a twisted grin. Far from killing her, he would make sure to pay her back tenfold every time he saw her, especially since he hadn't felt this energized by an opponent in a while. He wanted to make an impression; he wanted to make sure she would never forget his face, the face of the Shinsengumi captain who had defeated her.
This meant war.
Apparently, in his mind, the concept of "war" not only applied to physical fighting, but anything and everything that could possibly pit them against each other. Whether it was a beetle wrestling competition or a game booth at a festival, Sougo found that when she was around, he wanted nothing more than to play against her. Screw just beating her with his fists and sword; he wanted to beat her at it all.
He didn't know why, exactly. He had attributed it to the first time they'd fought, thinking that he just wanted payback, but as the rivalry he'd instigated dragged on and on he realized he was enjoying it just as much as the thought of actually beating her one day.
After the Yorozuya helped them out that time, with the underground fighting ring, he had begrudgingly admitted that she was more than just a plain old idiot; she could be reliable, if not short-tempered with a violently narrow attention span.
But she was still his rival, and as he cracked wise at her expense (though it was, in reality, just a thinly-veiled death threat), he couldn't help but to overhear her as she whispered a snarky retort about him under her breath.
"Che, that guy definitely likes me. How annoying!"
And he hadn't said anything, just continued to walk away with a tightened jaw and heat creeping up the back of his neck, because if he'd shown any reaction at all he may as well have been lending credence to her ludicrous conclusions.
More than a plain old idiot she was, but still an idiot.
Contrary to what he'd let on, he really had been trying to mend her wrist that time at the Yagyuu dojo. Of course, hearing the telltale snap of bone and the ear-piercing shriek that followed, he figured he would escape with both pride and dignity intact by playing the provocateur. There was no way in hell he'd admit to his nerves causing him to mistakenly bend the bone the wrong way.
Some benefit that turned out to have when he ended up needing to rely on her to fight.
"Stop moving your crotch! It's gross!"
"I can't help that," he had said, biting his cheek in a shallow attempt at distraction. He could have explained to her the finer details of male anatomy—but he would rather have sliced off said anatomy with his own sword.
Even if no one else could tell, he had known how full of shit she was from the second he walked in the room. Her, on her deathbed from a mysterious Yato illness? He'd sooner believe that Hijikata went on a mayo-free diet. He could practically read her mind, she was so transparent—and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out how no one else besides him had managed to see through her.
Okay, maybe he'd taken things a little too far, but it was as hilarious as it was unethical, and in his mind that made it acceptable; and it was just China, after all. She wouldn't die until he killed her.
"If they love you, I'm sure they'll notice," he'd said to her, and he hadn't even noticed the implication in his own words.
Not until much, much later, at least.
The fiasco with body switching was painfully awkward for the both of them, but Sougo thought that it was probably for two different reasons. In the China girl's case, her disgust at his body's proximity to hers had been plain as day (mostly from the fact that she was yelling it at the top of her lungs), but for him, the sight was strangely…not strange.
Watching her body fret over his (even if the two were possessed by a neurotic terrorist and…something else, respectively) didn't gross him out or put him off as he expected it to, and so he had stayed silent, staring blankly at the bizarre scene as it played out in front of him.
That should have been his first clue.
He didn't know why, of all things, he had chosen to say what he did. There was a litany of insults he could have used, no shortage of ways for him to offend her given the circumstances, but instead he had opted for the one line he had never thought he'd hear himself say, even as a joke.
"Seriously…no one will ever take me as a bride now."
He'd heard her over the sound of crashing waves, and despite how serious the situation was Sougo couldn't help but to respond in his usual sarcastic fashion—but even he was unprepared for the atrocity that came out of his mouth.
"How about I take you, then?"
It was a joke, not meant to be taken seriously—and he knew that, as did she, obviously, but the second the words left his lips he found several more pouring out, each one dragging out the retort until it resembled one of his many other previous threats of throwing her in prison.
That was better.
After everything had happened, and all the fights had ended, their commander having returned to their side, Sougo knew what would happen next. There was only one way to go for the Shinsengumi at this point, and he was aware of what that necessity would entail.
He went to tell her goodbye.
It wasn't that simple; of course it wasn't, because it was her he was dealing with, and she was the single densest person he had ever met—not that he was planning on telling her that, or anything meaningful, really, aside from what even a blind man could see at this point.
"We won't see each other for a while," he said, and it sounded wrong to his ears in spite of being nothing less than the truth. It just wasn't the kind of thing he would say to her, and he saw that she realized it as well.
"If that's all you came to say, then you might as well have not come at all, sadist."
He smirked, eyes downcast. She was right, wasn't she? It did seem presumptuous of him, to think she'd accept this sorry excuse for farewell so easily. "Can't argue with that."
She shifted, closing her umbrella. "Don't worry, uh-huh. We'll take care of this city for you, so you can leave it in our hands without worrying too much. That's what you also want to say, yes?"
He wondered if she could also see the hidden meaning within his sideways glance, but even if she could tell what he was thinking, the ability certainly wasn't mutual. "Something like that, I guess. There's one other thing, though."
Her eyes were questioning, curious as they flicked over to him, and that told him all he needed to know.
It wasn't the right time.
"Ah…never mind. I forgot what I was going to say. Sucks for you, China."
"Really, sadist?" She sounded annoyed, but she didn't press him further, and he silently thanked her for it. "…I guess if there's anything else you have to tell me, it can wait until you get back, can't it? But first…"
The ensuing kick knocked the wind out of him in more than one way, and behind the pain in his body and the anger present in his voice, Sougo knew that this was exactly what he wanted. This was the best way for them to say goodbye—the best way for them to communicate in general, it would seem. Not that it bothered him.
He'd miss this.
This time—the last time he saw her—Sougo came to the conclusion that he was an even bigger idiot than he had originally thought she was.
And the next time he sees her, he realizes that he still is.
Thanks for reading! I appreciate all forms of support :)
-Vicious Ventriloquist