Chapter 3: The More You Deny Something, the Truer It Is

Sougo yawned and rolled about in his extremely comfortable bed, not at all willing to get up. After all, he was the prince; there wasn't anything that he couldn't get his subordinates do for him while he lazed around. Suddenly, the cozy silence of his bedroom was broken by a tremendous blast and a loud burst of laughter from a few floors below. Sougo tried, futilely, to pull his mask over his eyes and go to sleep again, but there was no way he could, and was that just barking he heard just then?

Swearing to kill the person who had disturbed his sleep in the most sadistic and painful ways possible, the annoyed prince headed down the stairs. When he finally reached the source of all the commotion, he saw a rather 'unique' sight. Kagura, or China, as he always thought of her, was clearly playing fetch with a huge white dog, which was barking loudly and leaping after a tree log. Her laughter and yells sounded throughout the palace, along with Hijikata's desperate scolding and warnings. The servants too had gathered to watch and on the whole, with the exception of Hijikata, everyone seemed highly amused. However, their grins faded when they noticed their sadistic prince standing on the foot of the steps, clearly pissed off.

Kagura soon noticed him as well, partly due to the sudden silence of the servants and her smile changed into a glare. "What are you doing here, Sadist? You're spoiling the fun with your ugly face, uh huh."

"Oi, China, have you got any right to say that? In case you don't know yet, which may be surprising, even though you're the biggest moron in the world, I'm the ruler of this place and I'll do as I like. Besides, with a face like that, I'm astonished that you can even look at yourself in the mirror."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT ME, SADIST?! DO YOU WANT TO GET KILLED, HUH?"

And thus another of their regular, meaningless and violent quarrels started again, continuing until breakfast was laid out on the table. Kagura immediately proceeded to eat through at least thirty helpings of rice, eggs and sweets, while Sougo, Hijikata and the others ate much more slowly and took a lot fewer helpings. The dog, Sadaharu, whom Kagura had apparently found in front of the palace gates in the morning was fed by Tama, who had taken a liking to him. Sougo had been firm that the dog be thrown out immediately, but he changed his mind when he saw the dog chomp down on Hijikata's head and received a glare filled with killing intent from Kagura.

Later that day, Sougo received a visit from the prince of the Mimawarigumi, Sasaki Isaburou, apparently to congratulate his upcoming coronation as king. However, he paid no attention at all to the meeting, which had anyways degenerated into a most impolite war of words between Hijikata and Sasaki. The quarrel or meeting was suddenly cut short by an explosion of yelling, barking, laughing and screaming from the palace grounds. Sasaki adjusted his monocle, looking slightly alarmed and said, "I fear, prince, that a rebel army has just attacked the palace. Of course, this is just an elite hypothesis of mine. But, you do not seem concerned?"

The said prince simply yawned, looking totally unconcerned and replied, "So even elites make mistakes then… That's just an idiotic China brat messing around with her dog and a bazooka." As he said so, he made a mental note that some of the China girl's madness had definitely rubbed off on him, for he found nothing abnormal or even different about what he was saying. Hell, he hadn't even been too surprised in the morning; somehow he had accepted that it was something only she would do and found nothing out of the ordinary in her behavior.

Soon after the meeting was over, Kagura burst into the throne room, twirling her parasol happily. However, her expression soured the moment she saw her 'husband' lazing on the throne. Kagura simply didn't know why, but every time she saw the jerk, her temper would come very close to snapping. She decided that it was probably his annoying, deadpan face that always rubbed her up the wrong way and his insults would then be the last straw before they started fighting again. Well, maybe she would just ignore him this time, she didn't want to give Tama anymore work repairing the castle after their fights. But…

"Ah, what a tiring day… I've had to attend meetings after meetings, take so many decisions affecting the fate of kingdoms, I'm totally exhausted now. Well, some people do have it lucky, they can do crazy stuff like playing with a giant dog all day long and wasting all their time in the most idiotic and noisy way possible…."

"Who the hell are you calling lazy and idiotic, you sadist?!"

"So you admit that you are lazy, idiotic, noisy and crazy, do you, China? How honest of you. Really, I wonder what's the use of even having a queen like you…"

"Having a jerk like you as king is just as useless! And besides, I don't want to be a queen if I have to live with someone as irritating as you!"

What? Does she really dislike me that much? But why does that bother me… No matter, China, I'll surely pay you back for those words, I swear on my pride as the prince of the planet of sadists.

"Don't talk as if you'll become queen if you want to, China. In the first place, you are only here by sheer luck. That forced marriage means nothing to me, and you neither have the standing of a queen or the authority. All I needed was the namesake of a married man, you mean nothing to anyone over here." There. That should pierce pretty deeply. Revenge is truly sweet… Wait, her eyes…Don't tell me, she's crying?

"Oi, China glutton, are those tears in your eyes…"

"S-Shut the hell up! As if your words can m-make me c-cry, you Sadistic bastard!"

And she whirled around, fairly dashing out of the room without a backward glance. But the two men in the room had already noticed her eyes sparkle with unshed tears which fell down her cheeks as she had turned to leave.

Hijikata took a long draw of his cigarette, forgetting that it was unlit, and walked out too, though not before saying, "You'll regret saying that one day, Sougo. Revenge isn't sweet when it's mixed with a woman's tears."

"Just go and die, Hijikata san." He replied, trying to ignore the sudden pang of guilt in his chest.

The evening sky was obscured by clouds, dark and grey. A light, depressing rain fell, the raindrops resembling tears. A girl sat on a tree, completely wet by the rain which also washed away the traces of tears on her cheeks. The continuous rain reminded Kagura of her home back at Rakuyou, where she would sit in the rain, crying because she was alone. And now she was alone again.

The sadist was right for once, huh. I'm only the namesake of a queen, nothing more. It makes no difference if I stay or leave, yes? Though Tama , Jimmy and the others are sort of my friends, there's no way this can be forever, uh huh. They too will forget me soon if I leave… And the sadist already said that he has no real need for me… Curse him, how can he make a maiden like me cry like this, yes?! But I think I'll leave tomorrow, delaying what will eventually happen is just going to make goodbye harder. Tsukky and Anego will be happy to see me, but they'll be sad to know that I married a man who loves the title, not me. But it's not like I want the Sadist to care for me anyway! But if I'm gone, who'll feed Sadaharu? Maybe I'll have to ask Tama…

The next morning, when Sougo woke up, as late as ever, a weird feeling crept over him. Something was missing, something was different, compared to the usual morning… And suddenly it struck him. It was far too silent. Ever since that China monster who called herself a princess had come, mornings had become filled with noise, laughter and yelling. It was true that he found all of it extremely irritating, but nevertheless, the absence of it bothered him. Deciding to find out the cause, he dressed quicker than usual and walked down the stairs to see something he had never expected. With China around, Sougo expected everything, but the sight before his eyes was really something he had never cared to think about before.

China stood in the middle of the hall, a slim suitcase grasped in one hand, and her purple parasol in the other. The golden carriage in which they had arrived stood outside the doors, clearly waiting to take her away. She was presently bidding goodbye to Sadaharu, hugging the dog tearfully. Hijikata, Matsudaira and the rest of the Shinsengumi stood and watched, their faces full of dismay. The maids were weeping softly and the even the air felt heavy.

Hearing Sougo arrive, Kagura stiffened, but she refused to turn around. She was not going to let the sadist see her cry and she knew that seeing his face would make it even harder for her to leave without making a mess. As if from far away, she could hear Hijikata say, "Oi, Sougo, aren't you going to stop her? Is this what you really want?" Unconsciously, her ears strained to catch the sadist's reply, "Have all your screws finally fallen out, Hijikata san? She can do as she pleases; it makes no difference to me either way. Besides, she too married just so that she could ascend the throne of her kingdom, right China?"

For once, he got no reply as the girl simply walked straight out, got in to the carriage which soon disappeared in a cloud of dust, far, far away into the distance.

"Sougo! How could you let China san walk away like that? It is natural for married couples to fight, but they must also resolve the issue quickly! How will you two live without each other? Toshi, you must advise our son!"

"I don't recall being that devil's parent, Kondou san! And please don't turn this into a soap opera. Sougo, you can deny it all you want, but you'll eventually realize what that girl means to you, and to all of us as well. But it might just be too late then."

Sougo's face was as deadpan as ever, as he requested Hijikata to just shut up and undertake a journey to the Underworld. Ignoring the dismal faces of the servants and the Shinsengumi, he walked back up the stairs and simply got into bed again, pulling a sleeping mask over his eyes.

Several miles away, in Rakuyou,

Three women stood at the entrance to the palace, talking deeply. A blonde lady, with scars on her face, smoked a kiseru as she talked to a glasses wearing female ninja with purple hair. A brown haired woman listened to them talk, smiling sweetly. Suddenly, the sound of the wheels of a carriage roused them all from their talk and they immediately rushed towards it, forgetting everything else.

Kagura leapt out of the carriage, running straight into the arms of her 'older sisters', who were in fact her closest retainers. Tsukuyo, Tae and Sachan were delighted to see their princess safe and sound, even though they were filled with worry as to the possible reasons of her arrival. They quickly escorted the girl to her rooms and helped her freshen up after the long journey, finally sitting down to talk over a huge meal.

"So, Kagura chan, how have you been? Was it comfortable at the palace of Edo? But most importantly, how was your husband?"

"I've been very well, Anego, you don't have to be worried, uh huh. Edo was an awesome place to live in, I really loved it! Everyone was very kind and generous and I had lots of fun, uh huh."

"I'm glad about that, Kagura, but what about yer husband? Ya haven't told us anything about him yet."

"He's a total sadist, Tsukky! His face is always very, very annoying, it has no expression! He always rubs me up the wrong way, just by his mere presence! He doesn't even call me by my name, instead he calls me China. And he keeps on insulting me, calls me a glutton, a monster, a gangster. I really hate him, he's the one of the worst guys I've ever met in the world!"

Tsukuyo, Tae and Sachan stared at each other in surprise, not unmixed with both amusement and dismay. Tae said cheerfully, "How very rude of him. But I hope you too called him a few choice names, Kagura chan. Men have to be put in their place after marriage."

"If he's a sadist, then it's problematic because you're not a masochist, Kagura! How will the two of you be able to play like a perfect S&M couple?"

"That's enough of yer sick fetishes, Sarutobi! Kagura doesn't need ta know about anything like that! And what's actually important here is tha, Kagura, ya like him? Can ya really spend a lifetime with him, yanno?"

"Tsukky, what are you saying? Me and the Sadist, we always get into a brawl every time we see each other! I don't even want to see his ugly face most of the time! That's more like sworn rivals than a married couple, yes?"

"I wouldn't be too sure, Kagura chan. Sometimes, those two are not very different. Remember what Hinowa san told us about your bald father regularly getting kicked out by your mom?"

"If you say so, Anego. But it's not as if the Sadist will even miss me once, he himself said that it makes no difference to him whether I'm gone or not. That jerk only wanted the 'title of a married man'; he hardly cares about the marriage itself. So, there's no question of me staying with any more, is there?" A shocked, sorrowful silence fell over the table as Kagura abruptly got to her feet and left the table, her meal still only half eaten.

Meanwhile, in Edo, a sandy haired prince lounged lazily on his balcony, staring at the full moon. Struck by a sudden realization, he muttered a few words to himself, which were soon carried away by the night breeze.

"It sure is quiet without China around…."

A/N: So there ends the third chapter. The next chapter is probably going to be about how our Sadist copes without his best rival…

A gigantic thank you to everyone who read and liked this story, thank you so much! I really hope you liked reading it. Please do take the time to leave a review, your support never fails to keep me going! Feel free to send me suggestions, requests, anything you wish, I love to know what you think about it. Constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement are also greatly appreciated!