"Oi, China."
Sougo walked up to the girl standing on the bridge. She was leaning against it and throwing sticks in the river.
"What do you want, Sadist?" she said in a bored tone.
He stopped a foot away from her and placed his back toward the railing of the bridge. "Don't be so excited to see me, now."
"Since when have I ever been excited to see you?"
"I dunno, maybe every time that I've showed up you've picked a fight with me?" he answered with an eyebrow raised.
"Tch." She rested her chin on hand, lazily swinging her other arm over the rail. "Whatever. Just tell me what you want."
"Does that mean you're going to give it to me? About time you do what I say." He inched a little closer to her.
"As if. You must have a reason for coming to find me, yes?" she said, eyes still looking at the river below.
"I do," he replied.
She looked up. He had a serious tone that he did not typically use.
"Oh?"
Sougo was even closer now. "Yeah. Well, things didn't work out with Nobume."
Kagura tilted her head. "Really now."
He shrugged. "Yeah. Well, I have time to fight you now."
"Seriously, Sadist?" she asked, turning around to face him. "You have time? You hardly work as it is, uh-huh."
"Whatever, China. Just… just pamper me a little , ok? I'm itching for a fight."
They were not exactly alone since they were in a public area, and Kagura wondered if they should move elsewhere before continuing this conversation. She was, in fact, very upset with the sadist and she really wanted to pummel him. But she knew him well, almost too well really, and understood that this time around he wanted to fight for only one reason.
"You can't use me to forget her, Sadist. I'm not down with that, yup. Find someone else to vent your pain to, or find a drink instead."
Sougo froze. "Eh? What're you talking about?"
Kagura sighed. "Right, you can't hold your liquor anyway. Get lost. I'm done with you."
"But - "
"Sorry, I don't like being that third character that comes along and messes up the straight line by being a perpendicular line. This ain't a crossroad, uh-huh."
Sougo stood up straight and tried to grab her arm. She stepped back. He stepped forward. This continued until they had moved off of the bridge and to the bank of the river.
"C'mon China, for old time's sake."
"What're you, an old geezer? I said get lost, Sadist."
This time he managed to successfully take her arm and jerked her to him. "Hey now. Look at me, stupid alien."
She did.
"Now tell me you don't want to fight me," he said, his eyes boring into hers.
She could tell that he was in pain, just like her. And not the usual physical pain. Something to do with the throbbing mass in her chest that brought feelings she had been suppressing for months.
"You're hurt. I know that. So beat me up, ok? I'll fight back, you don't have to worry about that," he said, his face exhibiting the same exact emotions that she herself was trying to hold in.
"… stupid…"
"What was that?" he said, holding her tighter. "Repeat that."
She kneed him in the place it most hurt and he immediately released her, falling to the ground in pain.
"Stupid Sadist! I am not for you to use to fight! I haven't fought you all this time while you've been happier elsewhere even though I was hurting! I dealt with it, and I wasn't alone , either! I have Gin-chan and Shinpachi and Anue and Soyo-chan and MADAO and Zura to help me."
"… that's an awful lot of people…" he muttered.
"What, you think I needed you? I'm surrounded by friends. What's your problem?" she said, her arms crossed.
Sougo stood up, his eyes giving off that red gleam when he is truly angered. "That pisses me off."
"Then just die. Anyway, You've got Gorilla and the Shinsengumi. Go tell your subordinates to commit seppuku or something. Or fight Mayo-san. I don't care. You've got other people to help you besides me."
He blinked, looking surprised. "That's true."
She started to walk away but was stopped by a grasp on her hand. "What the - "
"But I came to you first."
Kagura paused, and stared at him. They stood there for what seemed like an hour. She had a hard time looking away from those red eyes that were uncharacteristically showing so much emotion, and the beating mass inside her wanted to both punch him and also bury her head in his chest.
However, she knew that neither was an option. She was not going to comfort him, and she was not going to lose face either.
"Ugh." She shook his hand off. "Stop it, Sadist. I'm doing all I can not to just wring your neck. But I know that's what you want right now and there's no way I'm catering to your whims. Especially if it's to help you, after I've had to deal with."
"China -"
"I said, get lost!" she finally screeched, and delivered a kick to his face. "Happy now? Go kill Mayo-san now! And leave me alone!"
Before he could retaliate, she had run off. He sat in the sand and drew his blade.
"Fine, China. But you'll come back." He grinned, but something inside him twisted.
He shakily stood up again and began to walk back to the compounds. His breath came in hitches and all he could think about was spilling the blood of those he hated. He wondered where Hijikata-san was at the moment, for Sougo had the not-so-sudden urge to plot the demon commander's untimely demise.
AN: Apparently this site only allows short titles - but we know that Gintama loves long titles.
This isn't the typical romcom of Okikagu, but it's something I whipped up last year and never posted. I had a lot of "feels" when Nobume was first introduced.