Kagura's breath came as short, panting gasps after her 100-lap run around town. She hoped that expending twice the amount of energy than when she first did this exercise would tire her body and lull her to sleep. Another sleepless night was not going to happen. Sleep deprivation is bad for the skin. Normally, she would doze off as soon as her head hit the pillow, but she hadn't been normal as of late, catching herself lying awake in the dead of night and smiling for no reason, her mind replaying her collection of thoughts of Okita.
Seeing the Yorozuya house emerge ahead of her, Kagura raised herself from slumping over out of exhaustion. A bath was in order. She was about to climb up the exterior staircase when a familiar boisterous laugh of a certain gorilla stopped her in her tracks. It was coming from Otose's bar, along with muffled sounds of merriment. If Kondo is there, he might be, too, she thought.
Still out of breath, Kagura turned to the direction of Snack Otose, her feet moving with a mind of their own.
Wait! Another labored breath. I'm soaked in sweat. Kagura managed to stop herself from doing something so idiotic. What reason would she have for showing up in the bar anyway? Still, the thought of Okita unwinding in the snack house below her home, however illusory, made her inch closer to the entrance door.
Footsteps. Footsteps were approaching the door from the inside, and soon she would be seen in an embarrassing situation.
-0-
"What's wrong, Captain Okita?" Asked someone from behind the Shinsengumi captain.
"Nothing. I thought I heard something," Okita replied after sliding the shoji door open and finding no one outside.
With her heart pounding against her ribcage, Kagura flattened herself against the wall, her ears alert for any change in movement. At the last second, she slipped into the alley to the left with the stealth of a ninja. Hearing the door slide shut and Okita retreating back inside, she heaved a sigh.
Why am I doing this? We're probably going to see each other tomorrow anyway. Kagura asked herself, remembering that they somehow wind up hanging out almost every day, whether it was because of her seeking him out or Kami-sama putting them at the same place at the same time.
"The Yorozuya boss sure has it easy, doesn't he? Having a harem of stunning women." Kagura overheard someone say just as she was about to leave. "I'd marry Sarutobi-san in a heartbeat if she stalked me."
The voice sounded like it came from an ossan. The nerve of an old fart thinking he could hook up with Sachan! Now peeking through the window, Kagura found herself crouching to eavesdrop on a drunken conversation. Okita was sitting in a booth with five other men, while Kondo was in the other booth taking life advice from Tama. There were only two things men talked about in the absence of women: stories that end in excrement or women. This conversation focused on the latter, with the men inside probably not considering an old hag, a robot, and an alien cat as such.
"Pfft! As if that would happen," someone scoffed in reply. "What do you see in her anyway? It's not because she's obsessed with Sakata-san, but I wouldn't have the time to hang out with her even if she asked me."
"Ha! That's exactly the kind of insecure thinking that won't get you a girlfriend," someone on a bar stool chimed in. "Besides, the most beautiful and only perfect 10 in Yorozuya's harem is obviously the China girl."
At the mention of that name, half the occupants of Okita's booth jumped up to clamp their hand over the man's mouth.
"Oi, shut up," one of them reprimanded. "Uh, Captain Okita, he meant a different China girl, th-the one from Naruto! He thinks he can make a pass at her." He turned back to the offender and hissed. "You idiot, don't you know the China girl is Captain Okita's woman? He's going to take his anger at all of us if you don't watch your mouth."
Rumors of the pair dating began to circulate when they were spotted spending a summer festival together. Soon after, they were no longer seen fighting whenever the Shinsengumi and Yorozuya crossed paths, but instead worked together, albeit through using each other as a weapon, but still working together. Naturally, gossipers translated those signs as dating.
"Are you all idiots?" Okita spoke up. "Tenten is married to Lee. Look at Metal. He has her eyes. And if you can't even see that, then you all really are blind. China is ugly, repulsive. Who would in their right mind like her?"
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at each other, including Kondo. Kagura crawled out of her hiding spot and straightened up, the sounds around her fading into a distant blur until it was only her thoughts that she could hear. Ugly? Repulsive? Tenten married to Lee? Losing interest, she returned home and curled up in her closet-bed without bothering to shower or change out of her sweat-drenched pajamas. Sleep still didn't come.