Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. It belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

Real

Part 4 of ?

The place where he saw her again was an unusual one, for it had been the hostess club that nee-san worked for. While he was out on night patrol for that day, he caught a glimpse of her not in her trademark hostess look that made her look more like a clown, but that of a young woman who was… ready to entertain the men. China had gotten rid of the hair ornaments and had her hair tied up in a ponytail. Her trademark red qipao was gone, and was replaced with a sleeveless royal blue qipao with golden trimmings that was so body-hugging and cleavage bearing that he raised an eyebrow at the sight of her breasts.

… China has boobs? Since when?

The skirt was long, but the slit of her dress made up for it: instead of the usual thigh-high exposure he was used to, the slit was so high that he estimated it to be navel-length. Light blue high-heeled shoes adorned her feet, as well as matching thigh-high socks.

… Is she even wearing panties at all?

Somehow, the thought of China entertaining men in that outfit, with the possibility of her wearing no underwear, did not sit well with him at all.

Ah, hell. Whatever floated her boat; it really didn't matter to him.

All he wanted was to torment her, since he hadn't seen her for three weeks, four days and—

He blinked all of a sudden, wondering what the hell his brain had just processed. It was highly unusual for it to store such detailed information, unless it had something to do with his plans of killing the vice-captain, or top-secret work-related information.

Shaking the thoughts away, Sougo made his way to the entrance of the hostess club, a smirk plastered in his face. "Oi China, isn't that a bit too daring for someone like you?"

Immediately, she turned her head at him, gave him a blank stare, and looked away.

"Hey, didn't you hear me?" he said, his voice a bit louder than before.

He was met with silence, and China continued to stare off to the distance before smiling at a group of males who were passing by the club. To his surprise, all four of them blushed at the gestured and nearly knocked themselves to the ground, which made the Amanto giggle.

Since when the hell she giggled? Her laughter was more of an unrefined type, her mouth hanging open, the sound of it akin to a maniacal type.

But now, she had a fan on her hand, giggling behind it.

It annoyed him that she was focusing her attention at the fools who were trying their best to stand back up and walk away as fast as they could, all the while stealing glances at her before they were out of his line of sight.

"Oi China, didn't you hear me?" he said, grabbing her arm. Immediately, she shook his grip away, still not looking at him, and was now using her left hand to fan herself. "China!"

"… Is there a problem here?"

Okita looked to his left to see the de-facto lady boss of the Shinsengumi, Shimura Otae, smiling sweetly at him. "Ah, nee-san. There's no problem at all. Just talking to China."

"Weeeell, I don't know if you're clueless or not, Okita-kun, but doesn't it look like she doesn't want to talk to you?" came the sickeningly sweet tone that made him just a bit uncomfortable. "She's not even looking at you at all, even when you're talking to her."

He shrugged. "Well, that's what she usually does… until I do something to get her attention."

A sigh came from his rival. "… What do you want now?"

"See, nee-san? Everything's okay."

For some reason, the female Shimura glanced worriedly at the Amanto. "Kagura-chan, will you be okay for the meantime?"

"Don't worry, anego, I can handle it." Came her reply.

"Well, if you're sure… just scream if you need help, okay?" at the vermillion-haired girl's nod, the cabaret girl-slash-bouncer of Snacks Smile disappeared back into the club.

Just before he could open his mouth, she had beat him to it, her eyes an icy azure. "I don't even know why the hell you've even bothered going here, but let me make it clear to you: you're dead to me."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked hotly. "Aren't you overreacting a bit?"

"Hating people takes up too much energy." She continued on as if he had not spoken. "I'll just pretend that you're dead so that I won't spend every waking moment of my life thinking about my revenge. I suggest that you also move on with your life and go bother someone else 'cause I'm done dealing with you, and… hell, why should I even give a fuck about someone who's already dead?"

"China, you're not the one who decides these things." He said. "Now, stop being an idiot and—"

Before he knew it, a swift blow made its way to his face, and he could've sworn he felt his nose break upon the impact of China's fist. He fell to the ground, and exhaled deeply, feeling the pain spreading to his face. Blood was dripping from his nose, and he was more shocked than angry at the thought of her hitting him with so much force. Whenever they had their usual sparring sessions, she always held back with her hits, but this time around—

"… What the hell is wrong with you, getting worked up over that joke?!" he yelled. "Get over yourself!"

"Fuck you. I don't wanna bother explaining to a clueless jerk who can't understand that playing with a girl's feelings is just cruel." She kicked him angrily in the torso. "Get out of my sight."

"Oi China girl, have you seen Sougo?"

—-

Just when he had hit the lowest point of his night as of now, Hijikata Toushirou had appeared out of nowhere, and immediately, Sougo wanted to kick him. "… Sougo, go to the doctor." the raven-haired chain smoker remarked at the sight of his bloodied nose and rumpled look.

"Fuck off, Hijikata." He spat angrily, wincing a bit when he felt the pain coursing through his nose.

The older man sighed. "… Not my problem if your sister sees you like this."

He just had to hit one of the sorest spots for him. "Tch. That was low."

'Not as low as what you did.' Out loud, he said, "China girl, did this idiot cause any problems? I could've sworn he was going to patrol another area, which is totally not Kabuki-cho."

"Who the hell are you talking about, Mayora? I didn't see any tax robber passing by here except for you."

Ouch. Hijikata honestly felt sorry for Sougo, but knew that one way or the other, he had to learn something the hard way. "Okay, nevermind. Well anyway, we'll, I mean, I'll be going now. See you around."

She nodded at him before continuing to fan herself once again, staring at the people walking down the street. Hijikata grabbed the injured young man's arm, pulled him up, and led him away from the area and headed for the direction of the compound. "Oi Sougo, get yourself together."

"Fuck off." He repeated, his eyes nearly dilating from the rage he was feeling inside. "Don't talk to me unless you wanna die right now."

All the vice-commander could do was hope that China would change her mind about this whole 'you're dead to me' mindset, but knew it was impossible, given that the injury she inflicted upon the Shinsengumi First Division captain had broken his nose. He was at least thankful that it only came to the nose and the torso, for he had no explanation to Mitsuba as to how her brother had ended up half-death if China had gone all out and decided to beat the crap out of him.

For now, he could only hope that the two would be… mature enough to settle their difference before all hell broke loose because of their petty lovers' quarrel.