"China." Sougo's tone was serious, like he was about to ask something.

"Hmm?" Kagura responded.

They had just stepped out of Lawson. The Shinsengumi officer treated her to some steamed buns after an afternoon of fighting and destroying public property in their wake. Kagura had a bun in her right hand and her parasol in the other.

"You do realize we can never be friends, right?"

Kagura froze as she was about to take a bite of her dumpling. With her mouth slightly agape, she looked at Sougo with surprise and pain in her eyes. "I hate you, too! We were never friends!" She yelled and darted away.

Sougo was about to slurp his grape flavored ice pop. He had just brought it close to his face when he saw the hurt in Kagura's eyes. Those big blue eyes were so honest, so expressive, so unlike his own. If this were any other girl, he would find amusement at the contorted face of sadness, then sit back and enjoy the show. But this was Kagura, and the conversation he pictured in his head didn't go as he imagined. He was at a loss. "Huh? Oi!" He called out after her retreating figure. Damn this woman. Tossing his ice pop to the ground, he ran after her, amazed at the lengths he would do for this girl, because this was turning into a scene right out of a TV drama. "Will you stop?"

It hadn't been an hour since their grueling match, but the young Yato had already recovered some of her stamina. Trailing just a few steps behind, Sougo pushed his body to run faster. Finally catching up to her, he grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her to a stop, but not without accidentally flinging her steamed dumpling to the ground.

Kagura watched her food fly out of her hand and land on the dirt. That was her eighth bun, but her insatiable stomach wanted more. "Now look what you've done!" She shouted and kicked Sougo's stomach, winding him. This was going to turn into round two of their duel.

"Idiot," Sougo grumbled under his breath as he held his stomach, breathing in heaving gasps while trying to endure the pain. A blow to the diaphragm was not fun. "That's...not what I meant. Ugh! Why'd you have to knock the wind out of me?" He slumped over and gritted his teeth. Then, in one swift motion, Sougo unsheathed his sword and slashed at Kagura, who successfully blocked the katana with her unbelievably sturdy umbrella.

"What did you mean?" She demanded an answer. Still with a scowl on her face, she noted the seriousness in the blond samurai's eyes. He actually ran after her, like how she imagined guys would do after watching so many soap operas. Was she wrong in interpreting his words? He had just wasted her food, but she was willing to apologize.

Gathering all his might, Sougo pushed her away with his katana as far as he could. Knowing her moves well enough to predict that she was going to charge at full force next, Sougo did the same. He aimed at her and lunged his sword, but it was a bluff. Just as Kagura thrusted her parasol, the samurai twisted his body, pinned the umbrella under his arm, and kneed Kagura in the gut. The female Amanto winced and gasped at the pain, but just before she fell to the ground, she tightened her grip on the umbrella, swung, and landed a hit on Sougo's shoulder. Because Sougo lost his balance, Kagura had enough time to get up and aim her weapon at the police officer's neck at the same time Sougo pointed his sword at the Yoruzuya girl's head.

"You didn't let me finish." Sougo continued their conversation, irritation rising in his voice. "Men and women can never be just friends because somewhere along the line, feelings get in the way!"

The Shinsengumi captain watched Kagura appear stunned. That should shut her up. Feeling drained from the emotional turn of events, he sheathed his sword, turned around, and walked away.

"W-where are you going?" Kagura asked.

"Home."

It wasn't every day that the prince of Planet Sadistic was honest about his feelings. Looking at Sougo walking away, Kagura wondered if his shoulders had always been that broad. Before he got any farther than earshot range, she screamed at the sadist cop. "That's not true! Because even if we develop feelings for each other, we're still going to be friends!"

That made Sougo stop and turn around, but all he saw was Kagura scurrying away again. But this time, the sight of her retreating form left a smile on his face.