A/N: First of all, So sorry for the late update! Exams were hectic. After which, I suffered a bout of writer's block and I also realized I couldn't really grasp a Sougo that's in love character very well. Therefore, after some re-watching of episodes with OkiKagu moments, I finally came up with an interpretation of what I think Sougo is like in love.
Sorry, but i won't be replying to previous chapter's reviews right now because it will take too much time and my internet can give out at any moment. Maybe I will re-upload with a reply at a later time, maybe not.
*Anyway, sorry if it's a bit short, hope you guys enjoy!
...To be more specific, You, Hijikata, should be saluting me, your new vice-chief, Okita Sougo."
In an instant, Sougo had a sheathed sword land on his head.
"You're not vice-chief yet, Sougo. Remember, we're only giving you the chance to win it."
Kondo had finally came out of the meeting room.
After an argument of why Kondo used the word 'yet' and accusations regarding the Shinsengumi officers' alcohol levels when they were making the final decision, Kondo eventually got both his subordinates to behave.
He had dragged both of them to his office and sat them far apart from each other.
"Well? What the hell is going on?" Hijikata asked, highly irritated at this point.
"Kondo-san, I think Hijikata-san is having the monthly red river visit." Sougo piped up, earning him a Shinsengumi issued shoe to the head.
"Toshi, put your shoe back on. Sougo, don't talk about that stuff. Toshi is probably very sensitive about that subject." Kondo scolded.
"Like hell I am!" which lead to Hijikata being barefoot and Kondo having a shoe print on his face.
Kondo cleared his throat, "All jokes aside, ("Is that even possible? It's Gintama." Sougo commented.) Toshi, I and the rest of the squad captains have come to the conclusion that Sougo's petition couldn't just be ignored." Kondo said, "But, we also cannot ignore the way he hid information from those that signed it." He added before Hijikata had time to complain.
The Chief looked at his second in command straight in the eye.
"You, Hijikata Toshirou, current vice-chief of the Shisnengumi, must face the first squad Captain, Okita Sougo, in a duel. The winner will be named vice-chief." Kondo announced.
Hijikata couldn't believe what he was hearing.
How could a bullsh*t petition cause this much trouble for him.
Yeah, he did say he wasn't worried about his position.
But that was only to make Kagura feel better.
He'd rather wear nicotine patches than serve under the prince of sadists.
Hijikata was just about to complain when the office door slammed open, revealing a very panicked Kagura.
"You bastards! How could you guys leave me out like that!? I've been outside on stand by the whole time! I don't know what's going on, is the sadist gonna be the new mayora? Is mayora gonna be jimmy? Is jimmy really gorilla?!" Kagura cried.
All three men blinked at her.
Oh right, Hijikata thought, he had forgotten she was with him.
While Hijikata tried to come up with a way to pacify his fake girlfriend, whom had now began to rant about having the door slammed on her face when she followed them to Kondo's office, Sougo found himself just staring at the enraged Yato.
It had been a while since he'd last seen China, not to mention, it was the first time seeing her after he'd realized he had feelings for her.
One would think that Sougo would have nice things on his mind, when he finally saw the girl he likes, but no, This is the sadist we're talking about.
She.
She.
She.
She turns me on, Sougo thought.
Hey he couldn't help it.
The girl was wearing a revealing outfit that clearly showed just how much she had 'grown up'. Sougo wondered how the hell had he not noticed it before?
Probably because he had never looked at her in that way, until now that is.
Was he drunk or had there been angels, singing in the background, when she had burst into the room earlier?
The light pouring in from outside, silhouetting her, didn't help dampen his illusions either.
Sougo flinched when he felt a sudden tap on his shoulder.
Kondo had crawled over to him.
"Wipe that drool off of your face, Sougo." He teased.
"Kondo-san, Fuck yew" Sougo replied. He secretly checked, though, if he did have drool on his face.
Kondo chuckled.
A Sougo in love was a sight the doting Chief just couldn't get enough of.
Kondo would be lying if he said he hadn't see this coming.
He had always suspected that Sougo had a thing for China.
It was his job, as Sougo's big brother, to help him.
Kondo admitted, It had been a tough decision to pick between Hijikata and Sougo. But, after Sougo showed him just how much he liked China, he immediately jumped over to the ChiGo ship, or was it SouNa?
Anyway, it had all happened when Sougo had come back after his disappearance.
That night, Kondo had been nursing a new black eye he had received from Otae, after being discovered by her in her closet.
As he dabbed an ice pack onto his swollen lid, a shinsengumi member had knocked on his door with urgent news.
Sougo had been spotted entering the compound.
Kondo had immediately ordered the man to bring Sougo to him.
For about an hour, Kondo had shouted Sougo's ear off.
The young man had stayed silent the whole time, which was quite surprising to Kondo.
"Just what is going on with you, Sougo?" Kondo had asked.
Without a word, Sougo had thrown a book onto the Chief's desk.
It was there that Kondo discovered them.
The book was filled, page after page, with schemes and plans to steal Kagura away from Hijikata.
The very last page only contained a few words though:
"Yeah, I like China. Don't make me say it out loud."
Kondo stared at the page, then at Sougo, then back at the page.
He had then promptly burst into tears.
His boy had finally found love.
In no time, Kondo had a blank-faced Sougo in his arms and was bawling like the proud gorilla mother that he was.
"Will you help me, Kondo-san?" Sougo finally spoke.
Kondo couldn't help but feel fired up, this book was a testament to how much Sougo felt for China, Yeah it also showed just how much of a Psychopath Sougo could be, but Kondo would address that issue in a different time.
"You have my full support, Sougo!" Kondo cried.
It was then that he chief spotted Yamazaki passing by his open door.
"And Yamazaki's too!" Kondo announced.
"Hah!?" Yamazaki exclaimed.
And that was how operation: Steal China from Hijikata started.
For their first move, they had put into action the 'More-than-it-seems-Petition Plan' or 'The Shinsengumi needs glasses because they can't read for sh*t, also can some even read? Plan.'
("That name is too long!" Yamazaki commented.)
It had gone pretty smoothly from the start.
Hijikata had been distracted by Yamazaki, with a puzzle that apparently, if solved, would win Hijikata a lifetime supply of mayonnaise.
This gave Sougo the opportunity to go around the compound with the petition, undetected bu the vice-chief.
Sougo had threatened, blackmailed and used other evil means to get the signatures, within the time limit of Hijikata's puzzle solving.
Kondo had then said that he'd deal with the accusations of forceful signings when the time came.
All that lead to now.
With Hijikata scheduled to have a sword fight against Sougo, in a bid for the vice-chief position.
Sougo was one hundred percent sure that he'd win it.
He may have lost last time to Hijikata, but He wasn't distracted this time, in fact, he was more focused now more than ever.
Afterall, he had one goal in mind: Kagura.
Kagura had finally calmed down, after being told the details that she'd missed when she was on stand by.
Kondo had then called Toshi to come closer so he could tell him the details of his upcoming duel.
During which, Kagura found herself staring at Sougo.
It had been a while since she'd last seen him.
Kagura mentally slapped herself when the words 'he looks handsome as always' floated into her mind.
He was being such a pain right now.
She should not be thinking nice things about him.
He had her not only worrying for Hijikata but also feeling extremely frustrated.
The idiot seemed to be focusing more on the Hijikata side than on hers.
It does wonders in lowering a girl's confidence.
He should be trying to steal Hijikata's girlfriend instead of his position, dammit! Kagura thought.
Meanwhile, Sougo was boredly watching the veins on Hijikata's neck, start to pulse as He and Kondo-san argued about the upcoming duel.
It was at this time that Sougo felt someone staring at him.
Red eyes met Blue.
The two maintained eye contact for a strangely long time.
Kagura tried her best not to blush, but the pink hue still found their way up to her cheeks.
To her surprise, and slight horror, Sougo suddenly got up and walked over to her.
He settled right next to her and, adding on to her nervousness, leaned in real close to her face.
"Hey. If you keep staring at me like that, I might assume you're in love with me or something." Sougo drawled into her ear.
Kagura's immediate reaction was to pull her face away from his.
"Wh-what the hell are you talking about? I-I was just trying to see if your demon horns could be seen through your hair, d-damn sadist!" She blabbered, the poor girl was absolutely flustered from her crush's closeness.
Sougo smirked, he liked her reaction and, being the sadist that he was, He wanted to see more.
"Your face is all red, China. You like me that much?" Sougo teased, once again closing the distance between the two of them.
"I don't like you, I hate you!" Kagura shrieked. Oops, she hadn't meant to say that, but he was distracting her so much that she hadn't thought before she spoke.
Sougo had to admit, it hurt when she had said that what she did. Never less, he couldn't stop himself from continuing.
After days of being away from her, plus the fact that he finally realized his feelings for her, Sougo badly needed replenishing of his internal China interaction meter.
Kagura felt like melting when Sougo suddenly pulled her face closer.
He gently held her chin as he slowly leaned in.
"Well then, If you hate me that much, then you shouldn't react if I kissed you, right?" He murmured, a hair's width away from her lips.
It was at that moment that Sougo made the mistake of looking into her eyes.
There was fear, shock and something he couldn't read, in her blue orbs.
Damn, maybe he was going too far.
Her 'boyfriend' was just a short distance away after all, and Kagura apparently 'hates' Sougo.
No wonder she looked so against his kiss.
Yet, he couldn't help but be mesmerized by her lips. They looked soft.
Sougo was so close, he could literally taste her breath; a hint of sukonbu and candy.
"You are still such a brat." He whispered before pulling away.
Kagura blinked.
Saying she was disappointed was an understatement.
Kagura felt incredibly let down that she didn't get kissed by the idiot, as well as furious at the thought that he probably had just been teasing her and she fell for it.
"Damn you, sadist!" She muttered.
"What?" Sougo asked, his face back to a dead-pan expression.
An angry mark immediately appeared on her forehead.
"I said, Damn You!" Kagura growled, before getting up and putting some distance between them.
She plopped down next to Hijikata and proceeded to fume silently.
Damn sadist, she thought.
Playing around with her like that, doesn't he know how much he affects her?
Kagura chanced a glance at him and instantly regretted it.
He was staring at her.
Or so she thought, maybe, being the idiot that he was, he was just staring at Hijikata, since that's all he seems to care about.
Kagura leaned forward and watched as the Sadist's eyes followed her movement.
She leaned backward and His eyes stayed glued onto her.
She got back up and sat back down, his eyes never left her.
What did this mean? Kagura thought to herself.
She was now very confused.
Sougo had to bite down onto his lip, to stop the chuckle from escaping.
Just a moment ago, he had been pissed that China had gone straight to Hijikata after their little 'encounter'.
But now he was enjoying himself immensely, staring at her
Had her facial expressions always been this cute?
His mood suddenly dropped though, when the girl, in an attempt to hide from his stare, went over to the other side of Hijikata, successfully getting out of his sight.
Sougo 'Tch!'-ed and was just about to sulk when China showed up again and peeked out above Hijikata's shoulder.
From her previous reactions to him, the proper thing he should have done was to cut it out. But Sougo had never liked to do proper things..
As she peeked at him, Sougo caught her eye and gave her a wink.
With a squeak, She immediately disappeared behind Hijikata again.
Sougo's body shook with silent laughter.
He just couldn't get enough of China.
There's no helping it anymore, He had to be with her.
Sougo didn't care what he had to do or who he had to do it to, he'd do it all for China.
He watched her now, or at least the parts of her that could be seen from behind Hijikata.
You don't belong with him, idiot, Sougo thought.
He sighed, Loving an idiot was hard.
I'm still test-driving this interpretation of a 'Sougo in love' character so I would actually appreciate criticisms. I would hate to have made him out of character or weird. I am open to re-writing and re-uploading. Why? because my holidays have started and I am FREEEE!
Also, adding on to my usual end of chapter fan-girling , For the new episodes of the anime: OMG KATSURA, SAKAMOTO AND GINTOKI = AMAZE-BALLS!
For the new chapter: OMG JIROCHON!
That is all, see you next week or earlier!