Hello guys! New story from me that has been around for too much already. Hope you enjoy!
It's infuriating. He is infuriating.
That's all she knows when she punches and kicks and hits him. Her breath is uneven and she just wants to slam that head of his into the ground, obliterating his annoying and amused expression into oblivion.
Because really, he's such a waste of the male gender. Not that any of the men in her life are useful to start with; but, out of all of them, he's the one that leaves the biggest impact on her. In the bad sense, mind you. She's so tired of him she wants to end him. Yup. So she keeps punching and kicking and hitting. And it only serves to fuel her frustration when he dodges every single blow she throws at him.
Damn him.
He's smirking his stupid trademark smirk, an amused glint in his eyes as he jumps because he knows. He knows how much she despises him and how much of a nuisance he is. So when she aims for his face, her other arm waiting to strike his stomach, he already knows what's coming his way. And he stops her.
She snarls, puffing her red cheeks and taking some steps back before he has the chance to grab her arm and throw her to the tatami on the other side of the room. They're both in a training hall at Soyo's palace. She had been visiting her best friend when they had encountered him by chance, something about having to deliver paperwork to the higher ups. The princess had suggested a sparring match to kill time and, who were they to decline? It wasn't like he never slacked off and she hadn't had anything better to do, and they never said no to a challenge, a lot less if their number one rival was involved.
It has been long since she has been able to land a hit on him. Not because she is not good at it –she's damn good. It has more to do with the fact that, after 4 years of fighting with him, they've come to learn each other movements by heart. Which also means he hasn't really touched her lately. Sure, they still graze each other, but they've gotten so used to the other's routine they can't even fight seriously anymore.
She has gone to Tsukki, Sacchan and even Otae demanding them to teach her new techniques to defeat the damn sadist. And she has learnt lots of new things which had been useful for about a fight. There must be something unique and characteristic in her fighting style that takes him less than a couple of hours to grasp. Something that defines her and, irremediably, he won't be forgetting anytime soon.
It's not like he has asked for help himself. Oh no. May God forgive him, please.
He's Okita Sougo, the almighty captain of the First Division of the Shinsengumi, the handsome and sadistic police officer. He simply does not ask for those kind of things. His attitude also irritates her so much.
She's so lost in her inner rant she doesn't see the katana aimed her way. When she realizes it, her umbrella is already flying and the weapon is pressed against her neck. She stares at him with eyes as big as saucers, surprise embedded in them.
What?
"Are you getting rusted, China?"
"Shut up." She lifts her hand and, when he doesn't move, she grabs his sword to put it away from her skin. She stops, however, when she realises the sheath is on. "What's with this? Are you holding back?"
"I don't plan on killing you when you're obviously distracted. I value my life and I don't' want Danna to come after me like a mad man."
"You couldn't kill me even if you tried." To get her point through, she unsheathes the blade, hand bleeding.
"Oh sure, mostly because daydreaming is the best thing you can do on the battlefield. It's what keeps you alive, right?" The sarcasm is so evident in his tone her face turns red from the anger and she jumps at him, throwing him off balance, and they both land on the ground in a heap of limbs. They struggle for a bit and, against her better judgement, she finds her back pressed to the floor and her arms pinned above her head. He's holding them with one hand, the other gripping the katana grazing her skin, and he has decided to sit on her stomach to keep her in place. Again. Damn him for being bigger and heavier. And bulkier than before.
'When has he gotten such broad shoulder anyways?'
They're both painting, and she can see the way his chest rises and falls with every breath he takes. He's grinning madly and she feels like punching him square in the face, but for now she concentrates on his devilish crimson eyes looking at her. She doesn't know what he has planned, and she hopes she can read something useful on them. They're as concealing as ever, though. She's about to make use of her monstrous strength when her hairs stand on end and a shiver runs up her spine. She opens her mouth to warn him and she sees the alarm in his eyes when he notes the change in her expression, but she doesn't have time to speak.
Everything is white at first, then the deafening sound comes first. It's suddenly hot and blinding and the young Yato closes her eyes and tries to protect herself with her arms, though they're stuck in something. She isn't sure how it happens, but suddenly she's flying backwards and her back collides with a hard surface, the impact taking her breath away and making her gasp, not enough air in her lungs to cry out in pain. She lands on the floor and chokes when something presses against her. She feels tremors, hears some more noises and everythings goes eerily calm.
There's a dead weight on top of her. Her head feels dizzy and, when she opens her eyes tentatively, she can only see black. For a moment, she wonders if she's dead. Then, she realises a lump is obstructing her sight and that's why she can't see a thing. As her mind starts to clear, she notices that one, her arms are still trapped and two, whatever it is that is pressed against her, it isn't as heavy as a chunk of the ceiling should be. Because what else could it be? The bomb, which is the only reasonable explanation as to what has just happened, must have made the ceiling collapse.
Then, with a start, she realises it is warm and somehow soft, and she remembers the Sadist was on top of her when the explosion happened. Her face is pressed against his chest and she can't move her arms because he has his securely closed around her. She is, in fact, gripping the lapels of his coat so tightly that her knuckles must be white. Kagura blushes and tries to pry her hands away, but he's heavy and she still can't move. She's already thinking of a way to excuse herself without getting her pride hurt when she notes he's not moving neither. She sucks in a breath.
"Sadist?" She tries tentatively.
He doesn't move nor answer, and she curses.
'Oh god. You'd better be unconscious and that's the reason why you're not moving. If you die on me I swear I'm gonna kill you.'
She holds her breath again, trying to discern if he's breathing because she hates him, that's for sure, but not enough to wish him death.
When she feels his shaky breath on her temple, her hold on his jacket slackens and she embraces him out relief.
Fine, she doesn't hate him that much.
She's about to berate herself for being so corny when she realises her hands are sticky with something viscous. She decides to move him off of her, and the air filled with dust enters her nostrils, making her cough for a bit. When she manages to calm herself, she places the young officer on his side on the floor as she kneels beside him, the space being too small for her to stand. As she deduced, the ceiling had collapsed and they're stuck. Great.
Despite the dim light, however, her eyes have adjusted a bit to the darkness, and she stares at the blood in her hands. It's not hers, she's not bleeding that much, so it has to be his. Her heart pounds wildly against her ribcage.
'Sadist, I swear if you die here like this…' She doesn't really hate him.
It's then that she hears voices and she remembers that Soyo was there too, seated next to the door and happily watching them while she munched some snacks, and her heart fills with fear.
"Soyo, are you there!?"
"Kagura–chan, thank god you're answering now! I've been calling you forever." The princess replies within a second, and she notices the relief in her voice. "Are you alright? Is Okita–san with you?"
"I'm fine, Soyo, just a few scratches. And the sadist is with me, but he's unconscious and bleeding. I don't know where, though. Wait, I'll try moving the debris–"
"Don't!" The Yato stops dead in her tracks. "We don't know how that will affect the structure of the building. I don't want it crashing on you guys! I'll go get help, just wait for me!"
Kagura listen to muffled footsteps until they fade.
Sighing, she moves closer to the sadist, trying to guess where is he wounded, but she can't still see enough. Remembering her hands were stained after she had clenched the back of his jacket, she thinks the blood might have dropped from his head. She takes her hands to his surprisingly soft yet disheveled hair. It's a mess, but his scalp is not the source of the bleeding. She moves then to his face, tracing his features with her fingers, but finding nothing yet. She doesn't think much about how her touch lingers more than what is really necessary on his damp forehead as she pushes away some locks looking for more blood, as she traces the outline of his straight nose, his high cheekbones soon followed by soft and cut cheeks –though these wounds are barely minor injuries, as her face also stings with them–, chapped lips and a strong jawline. A part of her calms down a bit, because it seems he hasn't hit this damned and scheming head of his.
She may tolerate him.
When it's time to inspect his body she tries to lay him on his back to take a better look at him, but as soon as his body touches the floor he jolts up with a sharp cry.
The young woman backs away from him, startled and squeaking uncharacteristically –it's just the tension– at the way he has woken up so suddenly. Now that her eyes had completely adjusted to the illumination and thanks to her Yato instincts kicking in, she can see the way his face is contorted in pain, with lips firmly pressed together and eyes closed. It's such an unusual sight she's taken aback at first.
She approaches him again and it's then that she notices the deep large gash in his back, bleeding profusely through the torn fabrics of his uniform. She stares as her stomach drops.
'Oh god.'
"Sadist, what the hell have you done?"
He turns his head a bit to stare at her, but it's clear it's not an easy task for him. His eyes are a bit hazy.
"Oh, I see you're still alive. You're like a cockroach. And it's not my fault I was on the way of some chunk of debris." His voice is hoarse and it sends a shiver running up her spine, but it's not like the ones she gets sometimes when he's too close. She has goosebumps all over, and it's not because it's cold.
Okay, she might actually like him. Just a little.
"Where is the princess?"
"She's fine. She left some minutes ago looking for help. There were guards with her."
"I see." After a pause, he opens his big mouth again. "Why don't you use your monstrous strength for something useful and break us free from here?"
"Soyo told me not to, as we don't know if the building will collapse even more."
The girl decides it's time to do something with that cut when she sees the blood pooling on the floor. She frantically looks for something to stop the hemorrhage. His clothes are out of the question, since they're tattered and dripping with the thick liquid. She then looks at her own. She's wearing a deep blue qipao that reaches her knees and black pants. She sighs and takes off the latter. He's gonna pay for this.
"What are you doing?"
"Shut up and be still. I'm preventing you from bleeding to death, you stupid."
She won't say it aloud, but he has somehow protected her. She doesn't know if he has done it because he wanted to –she's never certain about what he's thinking about, but the image of his arms around her makes her feel something weird– or just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he's not supposed to do so, and she already told him once she refused to be a burden to him.
She presses the black cloth to his flesh, and he grimaces.
"I won't bleed to death out of this, China. It's not the worst I've got this far."
"Say that to the poodle on the floor."
"That's nothing."
"Mmmh."
He, for once, lets her be, and she takes the chance to frown as he's not facing her. His breath is more laboured than before, and she hasn't forgotten that he was unconscious not so long ago. She prays for the help to come soon.
Half an hour later she's being led out of the building by a very agitated Shinpachi and Gin, both of them at her sides as Hijikata, walking in front of them, tells her that some stupid Joui faction had decided it was a good day to assault the palace. Their plans have gone to waste, though.
As soon as she had stepped onto a safe and illuminated place again, she had preferred not to look at herself. There's a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, where Gin's hand is resting, and she mentally thanks him. Her clothes are a mess, and her pants are not here to cover the skin exposed due to the long slits at both the sides of her qipao, which almost reach her waist. Not that she cares at the moment, as her thoughts are elsewhere with a certain flaxen haired policeman. He annoys her out of her mind even when he is not around. Just great. It doesn't stop her from asking Hijikata.
"Where is the sadist?" Her skin is already healing, but she knows things are going to be different for him.
"He was immediately taken to the hospital, though he won't last long there. Kondo–san was with him."
"He won't last long?"
"He doesn't like hospitals."
"Uh?"
"It's okay, Kagura." Gin speaks softly and squeezes her shoulder, and she stares puzzled at him.
'What do you know that I don't?'
She decides not to ask anymore. As much as she hates to admit it, there has been a thought eating her alive. She doesn't what to think about the why he had protected her. She is tired and wants to sleep. Tomorrow will be a new day.
Two days later, she founds herself at the Shinsengumi headquarters. She had gone to the hospital first, where she had been informed that Okita–san had refused to stay the second night there, saying that there were plenty of facilities in the Shinsengumi to take care of him. Which was true, but still…
She crossed the door with a decided step, and was greeted by a happy looking Kondo who was exiting the main building at the moment.
"Ah, China girl, good morning. I see you're healing as good as always!" He laughed heartily, and she grinned a bit. In the years they had known each other, the gorilla man had made his way into her heart somehow. Below the goof and simple man he seemed to be lay a loyal and brave samurai.
"Morning, Gorilla. Off to stalk anego so soon?"
"No, no." He laughed again, more nervously this time. "I have to cover up for Sougo. I've been finishing some paperwork and now I have to patrol. I guess you're here to see him?"
"Uh–hu. He was so beaten up the other day I've come to check if he's still alive."
"He's in his room, and he should be up by now. Even if he's always napping around, he actually hates to wake up late. Do you know how to get there?"
"Not sure, I'll just ask around. Bye, Gori!"
After some wrong turnings, Yamazaki ends up leading her to his room. Opening the fusuma a bit, he announces her presence.
"Captain, you've got visit."
"Tell them I'm not in the mood."
She puts the older man out of her way and enters the room, closing the door behind her.
"If you think you can shoo me away so easily, you've got it wrong."
"Oh, great. China. I was dying to see you again."
"Hmph! Stupid." She walks closer to the futon where he's laying, kneeling at a safe distance next to it. You never know what a sadist may be up to. He's laying on his stomach, since his back is out of the question. She can only see his face and she can tell he has purplish bags under his eyes, dry lips and an unhealthy shade of pale skin.
"You look like shit."
"That's not the usual for me, at least."
She raises her eyebrows, looking at him condescendingly.
"I'm able to move, at least." Kagura drags the last words to make sure she gets her point through. "Why aren't you in the hospital?"
He turns his face away from her, looking outside through the open shoji that has views to the garden. It has started raining.
"I don't like hospitals."
"That's not reason for you to be here anyways."
"And that's none of your business."
She shuts up at his sudden outburst. He's usually so stoic she never expects any kind of emotion in his voice. The Yato frowns, but he sighs and looks at her again. His blank face is back at its place.
"Help me up."
"What? With your wounds? Have you gone mental?"
"I'm thirsty." He gestures with his head to a jar and a glass with water on the other side of the futon. "I need to sit up to drink. Don't make me repeat myself."
"That's not a nice way to ask for something." She still moves to help him sit, grabbing his shoulders and pushing him up as she turns him around.. The blanket fell to his lap, revealing bandages upon bandages on his torso through the slit in his kimono, and he flinches throughout the action. She waits for him to take the glass, but when he doesn't move and she lifts her eyes to his, he's giving her an annoyed look. She moves then her gaze to his bandaged arms and remembers that he has to move muscles on his back to grab something with his hands, which is not the best of the ideas right now. Painful.
Rolling her eyes, she takes the object herself and brings it closer to his lips. He opens them and she stares, opening her own a bit, and kind of shoves the object to his mouth. Unintentionally. The water splashes his face and he coughs, turning his face to prevent more liquid entering his nostrils. Her eyes widen.
"Wh–cough–at t–cough–he fuck, China? –Cough– You trying to ki–cough–ll me now? Really?"
She picks up a roll of bandage and tears some of it to wipe his face, red from the effort.
Well, she swears she wasn't trying to kill him this time. She must admit he makes her feel nervous from time to time. Maybe she likes him more than she's willing to admit?
"S–shut up! You moved your face!" She's even redder, for very different reasons.
"Like hell I did! You're really trying to end me!"
"I told you to shut your stupid mouth! Look at yourself! How can you call yourself a man when you don't even know how to drink? You're all wet!"
"And I'm saying it's all your fault, you stupid mountain gorilla! No, wait, a gorilla has actually more neurons than you do!"
"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRGHHH YOU'RE SO ANNOYING!" She wants to punch him so badly because he's so damn infuriating. She balls her fists but when he is about to start shouting right back at her, she covers his mouth with her hands. He can't move at all, so he gives her a murderous glare, and she grins.
"Much better. Now be quiet and drink." Taking the glass again and refilling it, they actually make it this time without yelling.
"I don't want to imagine the day you become a wife, if that ever happens."
"You won't be there to see how awesome I'll be. I don't think you could take it."
"Nobody could take it. He'll have to go to therapy."
"What did you–"
"Stop shouting, dammit. Both of you." Hijikata is standing on the engawa outside the room, clad in his usual dark kimono and a towel in his shoulders. "You're so noisy."
"Yo, Mayora!"
"Don't 'Yo, Mayora' me! I don't want to hear anything else coming out of this room or I'll give you the first patrol shift tomorrow morning ." He then turns away and continues his way, saying something along the lines of "Brats. You'll be the ones going to therapy together at this rate."
"Die, Hijikata–san."
When they are alone again a kind of comfortable silence sets in, and they listen to the rain until Kagura spokes again.
"Why did you protect me?" Fuck her big mouth this time. She didn't want to think about this.
"Eh?"
"When the bomb exploded you used your body to shield me." Fuck her curiosity, too. Now's too late to shut up.
"I didn't."
"You did."
"Where do you get these strange ideas from? I think you're watching too many soap–"
"You were embracing me when you should have been taking care of yourself. I already told you I refuse to be a burden to you." 'And now you have that stupid wound and you can't even move.' "So don't do that again."
"I protect whatever I choose to protect, and if that include obnoxious and illegal aliens, then so be it. Don't tell me what to do. And I believe I told you something similar some years ago, too, so don't come complaining now."
'In this world, there are things you have to protect even if your hands get stained with blood.'
"You're an idiot." He turns his face to look at her and is met by a pair of arms around his neck, her head resting in his shoulder. She leans lightly against him, and he waits stunned. She smells good. "You really are an idiot. If you die on me I swear you won't see another sunrise. I'll personally make sure."
She likes him. A lot.
He sneaks an arm around her waist –wasn't he supposed to be unable to move?– and snorts.
"You're a feisty one, aren't you, China? That's no way of taking care of an injured man."
"I never said I was taking care of you."
"Then what are you doing?" She separates a little from him, looking straight into his eyes. Her gaze falls on his lips.
"I'm thanking you, and making sure you're still alive."
Without another warning, Kagura leans in, closing her eyes and firmly pressing her lips to his. Her stomach jumps and she decides that he's very much alive if he's able to produce such a reaction from her. He doesn't waste time responding, moving his own and kissing her back.
Her brain shuts down and she doesn't know if she just likes him.
They start slowly, tentatively, testing how much of a response they can get out of the other. He brings a hand to cradle her head and grunts in pain, but he doesn't stop. Instead, he kisses her more fervently. The girl opens her mouth to let him in when she feels his teeth grazing her bottom lip, biting playfully. She half moans and her hands entangle in his hair as she moves closer, careful not to hurt him, but barely able to restrain the urge to straddle him.
This feels good, and she puffs her cheeks in frustration when they stop. They're painting, just like they do when they spar. The lack of air is for different reasons this time, however.
"So?" She realizes she's has been looking at the floor and she lifts her eyes to find him looking at her, his smirk back in place. "Am I alive or not?"
"I'm not sure. I don't think you've proven it enough." She smirks back at him, ignoring how red she must be and focusing on his expression instead.
"Then I guess you should come closer this time to make sure you don't miss anything." He's the one closing the distance this time, but she isn't complaining any time soon. She should just admit she kind of has fallen for this infuriating sadist.
As always, tell me any kind of mistake you find and please review! :))