Chapter 3 – Greed
The morning after, Sougo woke up with an annoying pain in his back, obviously where the most impact from the crates was.
He looked at the calendar and was relieved to see that it was one of his few days off, but what was he going to do?
There weren't any good movies showing, there weren't any sword fighting competitions and Hijikata would be busy somewhere in the city, Sougo couldn't be bothered looking for him.
After getting dressed he was about to leave to go wondering around the areas when his eyes landed on a specific item in the corner of his room, China's umbrella.
After their last fight in the park he had noticed she left it behind, he was going to give it back to her that day but decided to see how annoyed she'd get from being trapped inside during the day, knowing that Gin couldn't afford to buy her a new one after his big loss at pachinko the other day.
But what he didn't expect was that she'd go out during the night, and too the Hyakka's patrol area of all places to spend her time.
Part of him didn't care if she went back there, but another part was nagging at him that she might get into some serious trouble if she did.
He knew she was more that capable at protecting herself against almost any opponent, but that nagging voice of concern he calls a conscience made him worry about what could happen.
He grumbled and grabbed the item, leaving the Shinsengumi compound and walking into town.
As he walked down the street he was welcomed by the familiar faces of Sadaharu and Shinpachi's glasses.
"Okita? What are you doing here?" Shinpachi asked as he noticed Sougo's casual wear.
"It's my day off" he answered in a bored tone "Is China home?" he asked.
Shinpachi glanced in the direction of the Odd Jobs building and back at Sougo "Umm… she is but she's probably asleep, she's been going out at night so she's been sleeping through most of the day lately" he explained before noticing the umbrella in Sougo's possession.
Realising what Shinpachi was focused on Sougo held it out to him "I found it yesterday… here you give it to her" he lied as he tried to get Shinpachi to take the umbrella "Sorry but I have to take Sadaharu for a walk, Gin's still there so give it to him" Shinpachi explained before Sadaharu took off dragging Shinpachi with him.
Meanwhile at Odd Jobs.
"Oi Kagura! You can't spend every day sleeping! Get up!" Gintoki yelled as he tried to open the sliding door to Kagura's 'room'.
For a split second she loosened her grip, giving Gintoki enough leverage to open the door "Yes I can!" was the only thing she yelled before slamming in shut again, on a few of Gintoki's fingers. "AHHHH!" he wailed as he held the injured fingers "You are acting like a spoiled brat you know!" he yelled at her, kicking the door to emphasize his point.
It was at this moment that a knock came from the front door.
Gintoki sighed and walked over to the front of the house, but not before glaring at Kagura's cupboard one last time.
He opened the door in his usual lazy posture, one hand on the door and the other picking at his ear with his eyes closed "What do you want?" he asked.
"I'm here to return something Boss" Sougo said lazily.
Gintoki opened his eyes and looked down to the Shinsengumi officer "Oh it's just you, come in" Gintoki said as he walked back into the main room/office of Odd Jobs.
Sougo walked in and placed the umbrella on the coffee table "So do you wanna tell me why you have that?" Gintoki asked sceptically. Sougo sat on one of the couches and sighed "China and I were having a fight in the park… something happened… and she left this behind" he said, trying to not mention the fact that Kagura kissed him.
Suddenly Kagura's door slammed open "You've had that for a week and you only give it to me now!?" she screamed from her sitting position in her bed.
Sougo, who had forgotten that she slept in such a place, jumped to his feet expecting a battle "Calm down Kagura, he's brought it back now, isn't that enough?" he asked, trying to stop a possible brawl that could decimate the building.
Kagura pointed her umbrella at him "I spend a week being able to only go out at night and just because of last night you give this back!?" she screamed as Sougo stood there calmly, but with a hint of a blush, barely noticeable.
Gintoki tilted his head "Wait, what happened last night?" "NOTHING!" Kagura and Sougo yelled before looked away from eachother.
Taking Kagura's temporary distraction to his advantage he tried to run only to have a bullet barely miss his foot "You think you can get away that easily Sadist?" she asked with a dark growl as he turned around to see pure rage in her eyes "You think you can get away easily after what you did?" she added.
Sougo turned around and calmly looked at her with a smug smirk "As a matter of fact YOU did it first, I was simply returning the favour, that's all" he said as Kagura's mad expression turned to one of rage "You what?!" she screamed as she tackled him from across the room.
As they wrestled, Gintoki just stood there, not knowing what was going on, more worried about repair expenses than the fact that two single young adults were rolling around on the ground in his entryway.
Just as he was about to break them up a knock came from the door.
"What do you want?!" Kagura yelled from beneath Sougo as the door opened.
"Hello my name is…" the person started but stopped when they noticed the two on the ground "should I come back at another time?" they asked as they were about to leave before Kagura threw Sougo across the room, into Gintoki "It's fine, what do you need?" she asked calmly despite the previous situation and still being in her pyjamas.
The man stepped back a little before speaking up "Well… you see… I have a job request" bringing him the attention of the money loving Gintoki "What can we do for you?" he asked as he escorted the man inside.
After a few seconds of silence the man began to describe what his request was "Well the reward is very large-" "We'll take it!" Gintoki and Kagura yelled, not needing any more convincing to take the job.
Sougo sighed "Hold on you two, he would only tell you that first because the request must be something people usually wouldn't go for" he reasoned.
The man looked down awkwardly, only proving Sougo's words "Well… the job is… there is a young child named Acrolo, he's trapped inside a cave system that is rumoured to be haunted" he admitted.
Sougo looked at him sceptically "Why wouldn't you go to the shinsengumi for this?" he asked as the man sunk into the couch a little.
"Well you see… the child is an illegal alien… he's not supposed to be on earth… so I figured that if the shinsengumi found out they'd take him away from me" he admitted.
Kagura stepped forward, her usual comedic atmosphere replaced with a serious one "Are you a relative of the Acrolo's?" she asked.
He nodded, removing his hat and scarf to reveal gills and webbed ears "We're from a noble family… but after I got my papers to come here… he followed me without my knowledge" he said as Kagura held his hand to comfort him "When I found him in my luggage yesterday, I yelled at him and he ran away, I followed him, but after he ran into the caves an explosion went off" he said worried.
"Wait, do you mean the east silver mines?" Sougo asked with a slightly worried look "Yes… why?" the man asked.
Sougo put his face in his palm and sighing before looking at Kagura and the man "Yesterday a group of bandits were caught using those caves as a hideout… we chased them all out and a few explosions went off trapping the things they stole inside… and if you're story lines up then your brother should be in there too" he admitted as the man's eyes were wide with worry.
He suddenly turned to Kagura, gripping her hands "Please young miss, do whatever it takes to get my brother back, your reward is whatever you wish, nothing is too much" he said as Kagura smiled kindly at him "Don't worry we'll find him" she said as the man blushed, just now noticing the young woman's beauty.
Suddenly Sougo stood next to them "I'm the first division officer of the Shinsengumi and I can confidently say that we will help you as well" he said before Kagura stood and looked him dead in the eye. "Oi Sadist, he's asking us for help, not your worthless ass" she sneered at him but he ignored her threatening tone and smirked at her, leaning in ever so slightly "Why don't we make it a competition? First one to get the kid to the main terminal safe and sound wins, the loser is forced to do whatever the winner wants" he said as Kagura weighed her options.
On one hand the sadist could make her do something unimaginable… but on the other hand, he would have to do anything she wanted, anything at all, even make him spend all his money on clothes and food for her.
She smirked up at him, "Deal" she said confidently as both began to think of different things they'd make the other person do if they won.
Gintoki put a hand on the man's shoulder "Sorry buddy I think she's spoken for" he whispered, loud enough for him to hear but low enough so the two sadistic powerhouses didn't hear him.
Not long later Sougo had gone back to the shinsengumi base and explained what happened to Hijikata and Kondou, they were sceptical at first but agreed to help.
~o~O~o~
A few hours passed before the top three officers of the shinsengumi and the three members of odd jobs were at the mouth of the cave, which was blocked by the fallen rocks.
"So how do we get in?" Gintoki asked as he calmly stared at the pile of rocks, both large and small.
"We dig!" Kagura yelled enthusiastically as she used her strength to almost effortlessly lift and toss the large rocks like balls of paper.
Eventually she cleared enough so there was an easy entrance, reaching into the bag she had slung over her shoulder, she pulled out a flash light and pointed it into the cave.
"The inside looks stable enough to travel through!" she yelled back to the five men who just stared at her, all for a moment forgot that she wasn't human.
"I'm going ahead!" she yelled before jumping down and running into the caves, ignoring Gintoki and Shinpachi who were yelling for her to wait.
Eventually they all entered the cave system, having split up a while ago.
As he walked, Sougo thought back to when Kagura had accepted this job. She only became serious about it when she realised the child was here illegally and the guys relative. But then he remembered back to when he first met her, she mentioned how she held onto the outside of a ship to get here, not only that but her situation with her psychopathic brother was no ray of sunshine either.
He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when he reached the ending of the tunnel. The end opened up into a large hole that from the looks of it several other caves ended there too.
Suddenly he heard skidding feet on gravel and turned to his left only to see Kagura sliding down a slanted rock curvature and trying frantically to stop before she falls into the hole.
Thinking quickly, he grabbed her hand as she passed him, saving her from falling to her death before pulling her up to his ledge.
"Sadist?" she questioned as she looked up at him.
"Any luck finding the kid?" Sougo asked as he shone his torch downwards to try and find a bottom.
Kagura sighed "No luck, the only thing I can even hear in this mine are the bats that live here and the occasional sound of footsteps that sound far too heavy for a young child" she said disappointed.
Sougo looked her over before looking around the large chasm and the holes that were just openings to other caves, wait other caves "Hey China if you yell out to the kid from here he might hear you" he reasoned.
She tilted her head "Why would I yell? You do remember we're competing… why are you helping me?" she asked skeptically.
"Well that's simple" he started as she got really to hit him depending on how he finished that sentence "your voice is louder" he said, surprising her.
Usually, his words held some form of insult, sure he has been kind in the past, but it got rarer as they got older.
Snapping out of her momentary shock she breathed in and yelled "Acrolo? If you can hear me please yell back so I know you're okay!" she yelled.
For a few tense seconds passed before she yelled "We're here to help! Your big brother sent us!" and they waited for a response… but nothing came.
"Maybe he was crushed during the cave in" Kagura suggested as she looked down.
"Hang on" Sougo said as he made a shushing motion with his finger.
A few quiet moments pass before Kagura looks at him "What?" she asked "Don't you hear it?" he asked "Hear what?" she questioned "That metal clanging" he said as if something was obvious.
"And? It's a mine, it's common to hear that" she said simply.
"In an abandoned mine?" he asked as her eyes widened "He's down there?" she asked as she looked towards the dark chasm where the clanging was originating from.
Without warning Kagura jumped off the edge and began to quickly descend the rocky wall to the bottom.
Sougo smirked "You can't win that easily China" he stated before following her.
Just as they reached the bottom they looked around to see that most of the chasm's floor was large rocks and rubble, all of it must have fallen during the cave in.
The metal clanging, although louder now were slower and less frequent, making the both of them think the worst.
As they vaulted over rocks and through small gaps between others Kagura thought back to all the times they teamed up to help others, it was more than e=she cared to admit, but he's a good person when it counts.
Eventually they reached their destination to find a small child with a broken leg lying next to an old rusted pipe, hitting it with a stone.
"Arcolo?" Sougo asked as the boy stopped his action and looked at the pair with a joyous look.
"Don't worry Acrolo, your big brother is waiting above ground for you" Kagura said as Sougo carefully picked the child up.
The two of them helped eachother in getting the boy back up the large rock wall and they eventually reached the cave they had reunited in earlier.
That's when she remembered their little bet "How long is this tunnel?" she asked, facing away from him as a smirk spread across her face.
Sougo took a second to think about it "Well it's not too long, the only fork passing we'll reach is to just go straight forward, we'll be out in no time" he said as he looked back at Acrolo to see he was sleeping soundly on Sougo's back.
Kagura smiled and walked closer to him "I never really thanked you for saving me from falling, did I?" she asked in a deep and sweet tone.
Sougo looked at her with a raised eyebrow "What are you getting at?" he asked as she reached down and turned his and her own flashlight off "China? What are y-mph?" he asked but was silenced when he felt Kagura's lips press against his own.
But it was short lived.
Putting her plan into action she swiped Acrolo off his back and began running towards the exit yelling "That reward is mine!".
Kagura was laughing triumphantly as she ran through the weaving tunnel "Just gotta make it to the terminal" she mumbled as sunlight began to seep into view.
Suddenly Acrolo was taken from her arms and she was face first on the ground.
She looked up to see Sougo smirking triumphantly "Don't think I forgot about that prize China" he said with a sadistic look and licking one of his lips "You'll have to do ANYTHING I want you to" he said before running out of the cave "Damn you sadist!" she screamed.
For almost an hour the two of them would continue this pattern, one would steal the poor child from the other and make it a few miles before the other stole him back.
However in the end… Sougo was the winner.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Kagura wailed as Gintoki held her while reminding her to not take such dangerous bets.
"Don't worry China I'll make it fun" Sougo said kindly as Kagura calmed down a bit... before he added "for me" making her continue her incoherent wailing.