a/n: Contains spoilers (minor for this chapter) for those who haven't watched the movie.

Chapter 1 - Shelter (Sougo x Kagura)

Okita Sougo stood in front of his closet for about a full ten seconds before he gave the door a good kick.

"Oi, this isn't a boarding house you know."

In response to his kick and comment, a loud knock came from the other side of the door. Not quite satisfied with the answer, Sougo reached for the handle of his closet door. He only managed to slide the door open about two inches, and he caught a flash of red and blue before the occupant had slammed it back shut on him.

A muffled voiced finally answered him from inside his closet.

"Shut up! I'll be gone in the morning anyway!"

A short moment later, Sougo found himself sitting down and leaning against the wall beside his closet door. The sliding door on the other end of his room was open, giving him a glimpse of the sky, which looked so much darker in the light, or lack of it thereof, due to the new moon tonight.

"Why didn't you go running to your boss lady's in the first place?"

There was no answer, and although one may think that the occupant inside the closet had fallen asleep, Sougo had known better. In spite of their differences, he knew the girl well enough to know that she was still moping in silence. It was the same pattern every night for this past week since she decided to take refuge in his closet.

"China."

"Shinpachi and I decided we'll run the Yorozuya our own ways. I didn't want anego to get involved with our own problems."

"So you think it's a better idea to get me involved instead?"

The door rattled next to him, "You're the sadist here! I'm sure you're getting a kick out of this anyway!"

He smirked, "You sure know me well."

"Oi, Sougo!"

The sandy-haired man looked up and saw the Shinsengumi Vice Captain standing on the other side of open door way. The uniform he usually wore was replaced today by a plain black yukata; a half-finished cigarette between his fingers.

"Yo Hijikata-san, sleepwalking this late at night? Better watch out not to choke on your cigarette."

Toshiro scoffed, "I'm sure you'd like to see that happen. If you're going to keep sleep talking to yourself this late at night, you should at least have the decency to close the door."

The dark-haired man stared intently at Sougo's closet door, and after a minute, he slid the door shut and left. When another full minute had passed, a soft sigh of relief came from his closet.

"Sadist! Why didn't you close the door?"

Because it wouldn't matter. Everyone in the Shinsengumi knows that you're sleeping in my closet anyway. And out of the goodness of my heart, I decided not to tell you or you'll never come back here again. He wouldn't have wanted that.

"I didn't think anyone would be up at this time." He replied.

"Danna, that's impossible. We don't even get along. Why would she even come to me for help in the first place?"

It had been very sudden, when the Yorozuya boss asked to meet with him. It vaguely reminded of Sougo of a similar meeting that happened long ago, back when his sister had still been alive and coming to visit him in Edo. And now, it was the silver-haired man's turn to make his strange request.

Sougo frowned when Gintoki didn't answer him. It unsettled him that the man sitting before him was so quiet, his strawberry parfait untouched.

"Danna, are you leaving to go somewhere?"

There was a rustle, and Sougo felt a strong, yet weary hand rest on his shoulder.

"I'm counting on you alright? Thanks Okita-kun."

He felt the pat on the shoulder and then there was nothing.

That had been the last time Sougo (or anyone, as far as he knew) had seen Sakata Gintoki. And just as the latter had predicted, about three months had passed before he found a moping Kagura in his closet one night, seven days ago. Every night since, he'd notice her presence in there whenever he returned to his room after dinner. She'd only stay inside his closet during the night; it was just a place for her to sleep. And true to her earlier words, she'd be gone in the morning.

The only evidence of her presence would just be her lingering scent that remained on his extra futon that he kept in there. Although it made him frown, it wasn't unpleasant enough for him to get his closet cleaned out.

"Why are you even talking to me?"

Her voice had broken his train of thoughts.

"Hm?"

As an afterthought, he found his response rather uncharacteristic of himself, but he decided to ignore it.

"I thought you would have kicked me out the moment you found me here, but you just closed the door and left me alone... why did you talk to me all of a sudden after this long?"

Why indeed. When the Yorozuya boss had asked him to help the girl if she ever sought him out, the very fact that he was currently housing her in his closet should have sufficed. Sougo could have just ignored her for however long she wanted to stick around.

Perhaps, he just hadn't expected find her here of all places; that's why he didn't say anything that first night. There were plenty of places for her to hide in, yet she chose to come here. In the period of time that Sougo didn't say anything to her, he was able to think it over. It was only tonight when he came to a conclusion. That there really was no other place left for her to go, not without being worried over like an orphaned child. This place had been the safest choice for her.

That's why he spoke to her tonight.

"Well?"

Sougo smiled to himself, "I thought you would've appreciated the company."

"I—"

The voice from inside stopped when Sougo got up on his feet.

"Just go to sleep China."

And in the midst of the night while Sougo was "sleeping" on his futon, he heard a soft "thank you" from the other side of his closet. He simply smiled, but decided he would spare his rival the embarrassment by saying anything.

a/n: I actually don't know how or where this idea came about. Originally I was in the middle of writing something GinTae and then this happened. It might have been from watching both the movie and then a random scene in the anime of Kagura and her closet... and then the story wrote itself. This will be the start of a series of random side-stories depicting different characters' lives in this movie-verse, and they don't necessary have to be related to each other... but we'll see. But being an OkiKagu fan, there will be more of them showing up, I think.

12/31 - Edited to add a few more details.