Working at the Snack Shack was looking pretty good right about now. No one even wanted to interview her. Olivia had found one place that didn't mind her being an amanto, but once they found out that she had no experience, it was back to square one for her. This was torture, but living with Gintoki and the others made everything bearable. Still, she at least wanted her own job. Gintoki had said that she could have a job at Odd Jobs, but she didn't want to rely on them anymore than she needed.

Upon walking past the Shinsengumi place, there was a floor sign in front of the open doors that read 'NEW MEMBERS NEEDED! ABLE BODIED PERSONS NEEDED! HIRING NOW! GO INSIDE AND CHECK IT OUT!'. What an odd sign for the Shinsengumi to put out for hiring purposes. She examined the sign a bit more and walked inside. Pursing her lips, she looked around and saw a line of men to the side and walked straight to the end of it with all the men standing in front of her staring at her as she took her place.

A few minutes later, after a few more men had gotten in line behind her, the doors to the room that they were in front of opened up and a dark skinned, dark haired, tall man with a bright smile greeted them all. Behind him was a blonde, lighter skinned man who had piercing redish-brown eyes and another who was also a lighter skinned man with dark hair, smoking a cigarette.

"Oh," Olivia breathed. 'He's gorgeous.'

"Hello and welcome! I am Kondou Isao, the commander of the Shinsengumi!" The dark skinned man yelled to the line. "Obviously, this isn't like regular hiring for a job! Today, we will be assessing your skills with the sword and strategy fighting! We only have a few positions open unfortunately, and only one position in the 1st division! At the end of the day, we will call the new members up one by one and give you your uniform, your position, and badge! Now, come on in and space yourselves out in an organized fashion!"

Olivia felt a sudden push on her back as she was forced forward towards the doors. One by one, the three men walked back into the room, directly in front of the crowd. As they all piled in, the line was handed a wooden practice sword by one current member of the Shinsengumi, and another was taking names. The member who gave Olivia hers tilted his head to the side and stared at her in confusion but eventually shrugged and let go of the sword. The other who took her name didn't even flinch. Eventually, they had all filed in and the two handing out swords closed the doors to the room. Olivia was standing way in the back beside two very muscular men. They grumbled, glaring at her before turning their attention back to the front three men.

"Okay, okay," The pale, blond said. "I'm Okita Sougo, the 1st division captain and the other guy on the other side of Kondo is the terrible demon of the Shinsengumi."

The other dark haired men pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and puffed out some smoke. "I'm not a terrible demon. I am Hijikata Toushirou, the Vice-Chief of the Shinsengumi."

"The demon Vice-Chief-."

"Enough you two!" Kondo exclaimed and they both huffed, looking away from Kondo. Kondo cleared his throat and put on another smile. "So! First we have to warm up! Get into position!"

Looking around, Olivia noticed everyone getting into a wide, front leg, back leg position with their wooden swords out in front of them and she joined, copying their stance. Kondo gave a wave and everyone started slashing down with their swords in one fluid motion. And Olivia copied, making the same grunting sound that the men were making.

Sougo started making rounds, weaving through the crowd and Olivia suddenly started to get nervous. She gulped and made sure to stare at a spot on the back of the man in front of her. But her nerves started up again when Sougo stopped in front of her and grabbed on to her wooden sword.

"And what do we have here?" He said getting low to meet her gaze. "A woman?"

"A woman?!" Kondo yelped and pushed through the crowd with Toushirou calmly following behind him. Kondo stopped, looming over Olivia with a hint of lust in his eyes. "Oh! You're a gorgeous one!"

"Unfortunately, we don't hire women," Sougo said. "No matter how beautiful they are."

"It didn't say that on your sign out front," Olivia snarled, jerking a thumb towards the doorway. "If you don't hire women, it should say that on your signs."

"It didn't… say… Dammit Yamazaki!" Sougo fumed.

"Oi," Toushirou pushed Kondo aside and stepped in front of the fuming 1st division Captain. "What's your name?"

"Olivia Achi of the Akemi tribe," She responded with a slight head bow.

"The Akemi tribe, huh?" Toushirou puffed on his cigarette. "They were recently attacked."

"Y-yes… I'm the only one left," She said, fidgeting slightly at the thought.

"Hmm, the Akemi tribe were very powerful amanto, huh?" Kondo hummed, rubbing his chin. "Aren't you supposed to have wings?"

"I-I don't usually have my wings out unless I'm flying or need to use magic…."

"She's still a women and we don't hire women," Sougo had stopped fuming and had grabbed her sword once more.

Olivia's eyes narrowed and she stood straight almost at attention. "You don't hire women because they're weak? Not intelligent enough? Just why don't you?"

They all blinked and looked at each other. Kondo shrugged. The Vice-Chief shrugged back and continued to puff on his cigarette. Sougo stared her down and got close, chests almost touching.

"We've never hired women. That's just how the Shinsengumi has worked," He told her.

"Tch. I can beat every man in this room and every man currently in the Shinsengumi."

Sougo arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Is that a promise?"

"It is," She growled.

"Okay. Everyone outside. We're going to have a little tournament," Sougo announced, letting go of her sword. "Everyone against this amanto woman. Whoever defeats her will get the position in the 1st division."

"Wait, hold on a sec-." But Kondo was cut off by the crowd pushing their way out the doors to the grounds with Sougo and Olivia following behind.

Toushirou came out of the doorway behind them, stopped and stared at Olivia as she walked towards the crowd of men who were eager to defeat her. "Are we sure this is a good idea?"

"You know Sougo, Toshi," Kondo said, being the last one out the door. "Once he gets an idea in his head, there's no stopping that idea."

The men and Sougo stood one one side of the yard while Olivia, all by herself, stood one the other side, staring at all the men who were now glaring at her. Toushirou and Kondo looked on from the side lines. Toushirou being very interested in Olivia.

One by one, the men were thrown into the field and one by one, they were almost immediately thrown out by Olivia with only her wooden sword to use. After every win, Olivia grew more and more relaxed and that in turn made her swings more and more powerful, forceful and fluid. Finally, the last of the men in the crows had fallen without Olivia even breaking a sweat. Sougo wasn't frustrated like she thought he would be though, he was fascinated and started to call out the members of the Shinsengumi.

Obviously, these men were much better trained than the others were, but they weren't much tougher. It started easy, but then Sougo started calling in higher members of the Shinsengumi, and the battles got more and more difficult. Olivia started to sweat, but she never faltered. Eventually, Sougo called his own name and came at Olivia at blazing speed.

Now she really starting to sweat.

Sougo was hitting hard and hitting fast. All she was doing was defending with a few dodges thrown in there. She needed to analyze the situation; find his weak spot or an opening so that she could end this, but it seemed that he didn't have a weak spot. She would just have to keep defending until she found an opening.

And finally there is was. His left hind leg hand slipped out of place just slightly, but that's all she needed. Instead of blocking, she took the blow from his sword, in turn, she slipped hers to the side of his hind leg and swiped his leg out from under him. Sougo, the Captain of the 1st Division, fell on his side and Olivia pushed the end of her sword on to his throat.

"Alright, alright!" Kondo yelled, clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "Everyone, take five, get a drink, use the bathroom, do whatever you need to while Sougo, Toshi, and I figure out who's going to be a new member of the Shinsengumi."

The men who were here to be hired groaned as they went to sit down on the porch, get some water, or use the bathroom. Olivia wiped her face with her sleeve and put her sword against the building. As she did, everyone glared at her. She could feel the tension and ferocity in the air, but she didn't let it get to her. If these men suddenly attacked her, she could hold her own. Besides, she had magic. They didn't.

Finally, Sougo, Toushirou and Kondo came back out of the building and had everyone gather themselves in front of them. Olivia, again, was in the way back. She didn't feel confident about this. Something told her that, even after all that fighting, she wouldn't get hired. She was already readying herself for disappointment.

"The first new member of the Shinsengumi is…." Kondo looked at the list in his hand. "Eito Furo for a position in the 4th division!"

The crowd clapped as this Eito Furo went up to the porch and was handed his uniform and badge. Toushirou stepped aside, and Eito stood to the side, facing the crowd with a smile.

"The next new member of the Shinsengumi is… Hibiki Fumi for a position in the 6th division!"

Again, everyone clapped as Hibiki went up, was handed his uniform and badge, and took a step to the side with Eito on his left.

"Next new member will be… Koji Mitsue for a position in the 3rd division!"

Once more, the crowd clapped and Koji was handed his uniform, badge and stepped aside with the other new members.

"And now, for the 1st division position… Naoki Ren!"

Olivia's eyes narrowed. All that work for nothing. She clapped with everyone else as Naoki ran up to the porch and was handed his 1st division badge and uniform.

"Tch." Olivia sneered and started for the doors. Not wanting to stay around for anything else.

"Hold on a second."

Olivia stopped and turned as Kondo scanned the sheet with a small grin on his face.

"Olivia Achi," Kondo turned to look at her who arched an eyebrow in confusion. "The 1st division spot that we had prepared was for a man. We weren't prepared for a woman to come and try out. So, we have made a position in the 1st division for a woman and that is you."

"Huh? Really?" She blinked, frozen in place.

Kondo nodded. "Of course! You defeated Sougo! We could never allow such a wonderful swordsman… er, swordswoman to get away from us. So, come up here!"

Olivia slowly made her way up to the porch. A few people clapped, but most of the men who were there grumbled and mumbled how it wasn't fair to the rest of them. She ignored them. Toushirou handed her a 1st division badge and scratched the back of his head.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a uniform that's designed for a, uh, woman's body so, we'll have to get our tailor here tomorrow to make one for you," He said, turning his head away from her to puff out his cigarette smoke.

"And, uh, you'll have to use the men's shower and bathroom until we can finish building your own bathroom in your room," Kondo said, coughing and… was his cheeks turning red.

"Congrats Achi-san-,"

"Please, call me Olivia. There's no need for formalities…." She told Sougo and the rest of the members that were there on the porch.

"Congrats… Olivia," Sougo corrected himself and put his hand out to her for a handshake. "You'll be under my command… I'll be honored to teach you the Bushido code and whatever else you need to know."

She took his hand gently and shook it with a smile. "I'll be honored to learn from you, Captain."

"Oi," Toushirou interrupted their little bonding moment, if you could even call it that. "Where's do you live? I'll come with you to get whatever you need."

"Oh, well, I just have a bag back at Odd Jobs-."

Toushirou frowned and put his cigarette out with his foot. "Odd Jobs… great."

Olivia tilted her head to the side. "Hm? What's wrong with Odd Jobs?"

"Nothing." Toushirou passed by her as he started for the doors. "Come on, I'll get your things with you. To the rest of the new members, I suggest that you get whatever you need from home as well. You'll be spending tonight and the rest of your days until you retire here at the Shinsengumi."

They waited until the crowd had dispersed before going to Odd Jobs. Olivia had told Toushirou that it was only a bag and that he didn't have to come, but he insisted, saying that he need to patrol the town a bit anyway. They walked in silence; Toushirou slightly in front of Olivia.

She couldn't help but stare at him. On her home planet, she had tons of suitors, but she never wanted any of them. She never wanted a romantic or even just a sexual relationship with any of the Akemi men or women for that matter. Why was she attracted to this human? Before she knew it, Toushirou was knocking on the door of Odd Jobs and Gintoki had opened the door.

"Oh, the Vice-Chief of the Shinsengumi. What are you…?" Gintoki noticed Olivia and frowned. "Getting into trouble, hm?"

"No, no. She just came by to get her things," The Vice-Chief said, puffing his smoke away from them. "She's a part of the Shinsengumi now." He nudged Olivia. "Go get your bag."

She nodded and bounded quickly into the living room, grabbing her bag and bounding back out the door. She scrambled through her bag and took out another sack of money, handing it to Gintoki.

"This is for keeping me here and welcoming me into your family," She said.

Gintoki stared for a bit then relaxed and shook his head. "No. Family members don't need money from other members for giving them a place to stay."

"But-."

Gintoki shook his head again. "You'll always be a member of the Odd Jobs family, even if you have found a new family in the Shinsengumi."