Kagura felt the tranquilizer kick in much harder than she would have wanted to. With an involuntary grunt she fell slightly forward, wishing she could catch herself but found herself struggling against the heavy fabric of the straightjacket.

She fought to stay conscious, since she still didn't know the effects of the second substance they gave her, and if the Shinsengumi guy were to be discovered while she's out cold, both of their chances of escaping will lower significantly.

Going by what Admiral Asshole told her just now, they weren't anywhere near Earth, and with the events that transpired before their abduction, there was no way Abuto could track her down, especially since she didn't have her umbrella on her, where her second-in-command hid a tracker (Yes, she was fully aware of it). But that was a necessary sacrifice. She could only hope that Abuto got her signal before they got separated.

But for her, things weren't looking good.

"To be honest, I'm more worried about you." The blonde captain spoke, with a hint of what seemed like genuine concern. But that was too unlike him.

"Heh, you should know enough about Yato from hanging around with my weakling brother. These wounds will heal in no time." She chided him confidently, a ghost of a smirk on her face.

But he just shook his head. "That's not what I meant. They mentioned something about buyers."

Kagura gnawed on her bottom lip. They did, indeed. And she also knew exactly what that meant. "I'm sure nobody would want a rowdy brat like me. Don't worry, I won't leave you all alone." She teased him, covering up her actual bad feeling about this situation. It bothered her, to be honest, but there was nothing she was currently capable of.

He took his eyes away from her face, and looked at the blood on the concrete floor instead. Her blood. "Don't forget that they gave you something else as well. If they can subdue your strength, I'm sure they can subdue your free will." His voice held a painful honesty, probably because he was at a bigger disadvantage without her.

"That may be." She admitted against her better judgement. "But it's already in my bloodstream, so I can't stop it anymore."

"They only administered it a few minutes ago." He said pensively. Then he looked back up at her. "Where did they inject it?"

She sighed. "I don't know how this'll help you, but my neck." She angled her head, revealing the curve of her neck to him. There sat multiple small puncture holes, the sizes of needles.

Without an explanation of what he was doing, he shuffled closer to her, clearly in pain as he winced multiple times.

"What are you doing?" She asked him with a quizzical expression, but her eyelids started falling down. Man, she was getting tired…

"I'm going to suck it out." He said calmly, avoiding her gaze.

"What?!" She jolted awake, taken back by his statement.

"It's obviously not completely in your bloodstream yet, since the tranquilizer already hit you, but we haven't seen any effects from this second drug yet. There's a chance that it needs longer to travel. Picture it as poison. It's no different from when a snake bites you. You suck out the poison. Plain and simple." He explained, eyes fixated on her pale skin.

What the hell was he saying?! What the hell was he thinking?! Nothing in this situation was plain and simple!

If this didn't work out, all he was doing would have been giving a roofied girl a hickey! And as bad as his reputation as a police officer already was, he really didn't want to have to explain to Umibouzo exactly how something like this had happened.

The Yato looked at him with unsure, blue eyes, and he did his best to concentrate on her neck, on the puncture wounds, because god, the aftermath of this was going to be so awkward.

And then she angled her head away, far enough for him to easily access the hole-infested area. "Do it." She said with conviction, but also drowsiness. "And if you get some of this bloody tranquilizer out as well, it'll just be a bonus."

He nodded, and he shuffled closer to her, thankful that he wasn't bound by a straightjacket and only by a pair of measly chains around his wrists. Ignoring the pain in his lungs and his chest, he steadied the Yato in his arms and immediately got to work, clamping his mouth over the area with the needle marks.

Not a moment too soon, it seemed, as her body slumped against his, signalling that she had fallen prey to the tranquilizer.

That would at least spare one awkward moment.

He began sucking, the distinct taste of something that wasn't blood immediately hitting his tongue. He spat it out in an instant, noting its unpleasant taste, but continuing anyway.

He couldn't believe he was helping his enemy in such a manner, but if he wanted any chances at getting out of here alive, having a ready to go Yato would be a major advantage. They were both planning to use each other to leave this forsaken cell.

That's what he kept telling himself to keep his mind off the actual situation. He glanced at her red strands of hair on multiple occasions in order to remind himself that this wasn't some girl in Yoshiwara.

This was a female Yato capable of ripping off his head, and god forbid she find out that his current thoughts involving her, chains and him sucking at the skin of her neck were anything but decent.

If this didn't work out, he was going to commit seppuku out of his own free will.

He coughed as he tasted blood only, and desperately hoped that he had gotten most of the substance out. She was still out cold, but her bruises had already began discolouring, returning to her usual pale skin tone. All open wounds were already closed up as well.

He grimaced. They were right, she would be all healed up and pretty by the time the buyers came.

He gently set her down, pushing the matted strands of hair out of her face. This situation seemed too familiar, his sick sister lying on a futon with a raging fever, hair glued to her forehead.

He shook his head. This wasn't Mitsuba. She was dead.

He averted his eyes from the spot on her neck, there was no need to remember what just happened. Her breaths were short and even, a bit too fast-faced for it to be considered normal, but good enough for now.

Her blood stained his hands, probably due to the mixture of sweat and dry blood. He wiped it off on his jacket and sighed. What on earth had he gotten himself into?

He seriously hoped that her healing powers would get rid of the bruise on her neck before she woke up. God, this was going to be awkward. He couldn't even take a cold shower anywhere.

A few days earlier…

Kamui didn't really know how to feel about following Abuto around without a second thought, but he seemed to be the one who was most likely to find a good solution for their current problem that didn't involve blowing up something or murdering somebody. He could see why he was assigned to babysit Kagura.

In front of them, Hijikata muttered out a few curses because he had hit his head on the ceiling again, which caused Gintoki, Katsura and Takasugi to bump into each other, sparking another argument.

Shinpachi sighed. They weren't going to even leave the secret tunnel if they kept bickering like little children half of the time.

An unconscious Kondo was being dragged behind the Vice-Chief like a rag doll, suffering from the uneven floor of the compact tunnel.

"I didn't even know we had passages like these under Edo…" The bespectacled boy mumbled to himself.

"That's because bastards like you aren't supposed to know about them." Hijikata grumbled angrily. Not being able to smoke underground was really getting to him. He needed nicotine, and fast.

"Ugh, I really need some daylight right now." Katsura sighed in a dramatic manner. "And some fresh air away from these two would also be nice."

"We don't negotiate with terrorists. You have the right to remain silent." The Vice-Chief growled at the long-haired samurai.

"Hmpf. I won't accept that as an answer from somebody who claims to protect the citizens of Edo, but left behind Leader without a second thought." Katsura pouted, crossing his arms and looking to the side, which caused him to trip on some rubble.

Hijikata groaned in frustration. "I'd like to think that a Harusame captain can take care of herself. Besides, I left Sougo with her."

"Mr. Katsura, please don't underestimate the Commander. She's very capable of taking care of herself, may it be at the expense of everybody and everything around her. Including my sanity." Grumbling the last part to himself, Abuto attempted to calm the Joi leader down, but with little effect.

"If somebody like the sadist had to protect Kagura, I'm pretty sure that she'll be willing to dig her own grave and bury herself in shame. I don't think her ego could handle that…" Kamui added.

He stared at the objects in his hands, more accurately the two nearly identical umbrellas. Well, at least they were at some point. One was used and stained, the other drenched in blood and charred beyond recognition.

His sister had given him the remains of her parasol with a meaningful look right before the explosion, but he couldn't quite grasp what significance it held. He considered asking her second-in-command, but the blond Yato was busy making sure nobody killed each other.

Two wanted terrorists, one space pirate and two high-ranking police officials in one tiny tunnel. And then there was Gin, Shinpachi and him.

Maybe it should be three wanted terrorists? Well, Gin would have no qualms going up against Hijikata, were it not for the fact that he was the only one who actually knew his way around this tunnel maze.

"So exactly how much longer do you plan on leading us around down here? I'm pretty sure I saw that obscenely shaped rock yesterday…" Takasugi pointed towards a shape in the wall, raising his voice for the first time in a while.

"Now that you mention it, it really does look like a –" Gintoki was cut off by a sharp slap to the back of his head, courtesy of Shinpachi.

"You can't going around saying stuff like that!" He was blushing heavily, having realized what the others meant with obscene.

Gintoki grumbled and pouted, rubbing the spot the glasses stand had just hit. Then he looked towards Hijikata.

"Well, on a side note, why are we walking in circles? I know Takasugi wouldn't mistake something like this. So, Mayora? Did you get us lost?"

"Oi, I heard that!"

Ignoring Takasugi's protest, Gintoki stared Hijikata down, as fear began creeping up inside of him. What if they were really lost? Did that mean he'd have to spend the rest of eternity in a small cave with Zura, Takasugi and the rest of these idiots? Not to mention the fact that Kamui will resort to cannibalism if he gets too hungry…

He gulped, but maintained his brave face.

No more Ketsuno Ana, no more parfaits, no more candy… What would life be?!

"Hm, those?" Hijikata glanced at the rock with disinterest. "Kondo put them there as route markers. Nobody really had any reason to object, so…"

"No reason to object?! Any sane woman would object!" Shinpachi interrupted, blush still evident on his cheeks.

"This wasn't meant for public use, the only woman who would be coming through here is the current princess, and she's developed a… rather peculiar side lately, so she should hardly count as sane…"

"You earthlings really are a strange species. What's wrong with that rock?" Abuto brought his hand up to his chin and studied the stone wall.

"You see, it's considered indecent because it resembles-" Kamui attempted to explain the situation to his fellow Yato.

"DON'T SAY IT!" Shinpachi's roar echoed through the tunnels.

The day before that…

Kamui used this short break to catch his breath. He saw his sister disappear behind the block of concrete a few metres away, so he concluded that they were basically having a Mexican Standoff right now. One he had the advantage over.

While her umbrella seemed to have magically reappeared, it didn't change the fact that it took a point-blank explosion from a bomb earlier on and it also held up against a rocket launcher… His umbrella, on the other hand, only had a few blood stains and reeked of the curry Gin had spilled over it some time ago.

He forcefully slowed down his breathing, paying close attention to the block his opponent was hiding behind. Attempting to sense her presence, he gripped his parasol tighter, just in time to turn around in his crouch and block Kagura's sneak attack.

He had no idea how she managed to circle him, but he didn't have time to think about that right now since he was still struggling against her.

Noting the twitch in her leg, he released his block and jumped up, avoiding the kick she landed on the wall where his head was a few seconds ago.

"At least your reflexes are not too shabby." She belittled him with her eerie smile. "But you should really pay more attention to your surroundings."

With that said, she gripped his shoulder and flung him to the side, her eyes trained on something that was behind him. No, someone.

Kamui's eyes widened once he realized that he really hadn't noticed the huge Amanto that appeared out of nowhere, wielding a gigantic axe that could slice him up like sashimi.

The scene looked too dramatic, clouds of dust surrounding him, partially shrouding his figure, leaving only his huge silhouette to intimidate his foes.

"Lookie look what the cat dragged in." Kagura sneered at the figure. "An obedient little dog on his leash. Will you turn around three times and bark for me?"

"I've always thought you were an intolerable bitch." The figure growled in response. "Now I finally have an excuse to take it out on you."

"Hah! You? Take me on?" She let out a shrill laugh. "This ain't your dream world, little boy, this is cold harsh reality."

"We'll see about that." He didn't wait for her response, immediately slashing his gigantic axe at her.

The fight, however, didn't last long since Kagura only needed a split-second to grab his axe and cut him in half.

Blood splattered all over her and Kamui as the enemy fell to the ground.

"Friends of yours?" Kamui gulped out nervously.

"Nah, I like to call them practice dummies."

Xxx

Kondo, Katsura, Takasugi and Gintoki stood with their backs to each other, surrounded by a horde of Amanto that appeared out of nowhere.

"Looks like we'll be teaming up again." Katsura said earnestly. "The White Yasha, the Runaway Noble, the Leader of the Kiheitai and one obnoxious loudmouth. Ah, this feels nostalgic."

"Wait, there's something wrong here." Kondo frowned.

Tatsuma Sakamoto sneezed loudly, then cleaned his nose dejectedly. His headache was killing him and he was hungover as fuck.

He felt a dark presence next to him, turning his head to find a certain Yato standing there ready to kill him.

"H-Hey Mutsu… Hehehehehe…" He greeted her carefully.

The rest of the Kaientai fleet only heard loud screams of pain before the deadly silence. They all sighed at their captain's antics and went back to work.

Present…

Okita's mind felt bleary, and he was having an odd sense of déjà vu. At least the pain in his ribcage wasn't killing him anymore.

Lightheaded, he groaned as he pushed himself up. The stone floor of the cell was still going to cause him back pains after they get out.

Gently rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck, he got his muscles to wake up. The cell was still dimly-lit, but that wasn't what bothered him.

The lack of a certain redhead made him furrow his brows in confusion.

Where was she? How long had he been out?

He looked down at his clothes, only to see that he was wearing a fresh shirt. Underneath he could feel bandages against his skin, covering his torso. That would explain why he wasn't feeling the pain anymore.

China had mentioned that they would patch him up if he didn't wake up in time, so he guessed it must have come this far.

But it still made him wonder, what did he possibly know that made him that valuable to the Harusame?

"Hey, you awake?" A gruff voice called out to him.

He squinted in the dark room, and could make out two silhouettes outside of his cage.

"Yeah?" He responded in his usual deadpan voice. Hiding was of no use since he didn't know where his temporary partner-in-crime went, so this was pretty much his only option right now.

"Heh, perfect. Maybe you can get that bitch to talk." The bigger guy of the two said while unlocking the door. Then he was roughly pulled up be the collar of his new shirt and brought eye-to-eye with the giant Amanto.

Now that he was close enough, he could make out the tell-tale horns of the Dakini tribe.

"Consider it the payment for patching you up." He rumbled on in his rough voice.

"If you hadn't kicked him, we might've been done here earlier." The second guy, a bespectacled Shinra, said.

"Shut up." The Dakini growled.

Okita recognized their voices as the ones who accompanied the admiral that other time. A smirk ghosted on his face.

"Are you done flirting yet?" He asked mischievously, taking pleasure in the Dakini's angry facial expression.

After being unceremoniously dumped on the ground by a super-human Amanto (but he was kind of used to it already) he was dragged out by the chain on his shackles. Halfway through he was pretty sure his shoulder was going to dislocate.

Once they finished dragging up a flight of stairs, his eyes began burning as his pupils were overloaded with light. The bright hallway made it difficult to see after so many days in the darkness, but eventually his eyes adjusted themselves and he could make out the lavishly decorated walls. Red and gold, they screamed 'Look at me, I'm important.'

Thought to be impossible, he was thrown into an even brighter room and was temporarily blinded by the ridiculous amount of crystal chandeliers and golden trinkets, reflecting the light thousandfold.

"Ah, the ape is finally awake?" A smug voice spoke in the room.

Blinking rapidly, his gaze fell on the short, pudgy man with a receding hairline. Next to him sat another blue-skinned Amanto, both of them haughtily sipping wine. On the other side of the table sat… well, sat China, but she was just staring into the distance a dazed look on her face.

He needed a second to recognize her, since they had changed her into a hanfu dress and made her hair up, putting in multiple ornaments as well. If not for her vibrant hair, he probably would have dismissed her as somebody else.

What on earth happened to her?

The pudgy man at the head of the table looked pleased. "Ah, you can get that expression of your face, ape." He sniggered.

Okita pressed his teeth together and put on his best uncaring face after taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," he said in an even voice, "I was just surprised that she actually looks like a normal person for once."

"Hahahaha, you have a point there!" The pudgy man laughed. "But I don't want to be rude, have a seat, ape."

The Dakini roughly pushed him forward, and with reluctance he settled in one of the chairs closest to him, his chains rattling with each movement.

"I am Admiral Abou." The pudgy man said pridefully. "Not that I care for yours."

"I was under the impression that your name was 'Asshole'." Okita commented nonchalant.

The admiral immediately froze up and narrowed his eyes at him. "Whom did you hear that from?" He hissed angrily.

Okita grinned and lifted his hands, the chains and shackles emphasizing the movement. "Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum over here." He pointed towards the Dakini and Shinra that had accompanied him. "They spoke veeery passionately about it."

"Insolent earthling!" The Shinra shrieked. "How dare you put words in my mouth!"

"You fucking bastard!" The Dakini growled. "Have you resorted to telling lies?!"

The admiral, clearly not trusting his subordinates, made an attempt to get out of the situation on the high end.

"You think you can fool me like that, human?!" He proclaimed with false bravado. "Have you no honour left?!"

"You're a pirate." Okita deadpanned " You shouldn't be talking to me about honour unless your name is T-Bone."

The blue-skinned Amanto frowned. "But T-Bone isn't even a pi-"

The admiral, however had lost his patience and fully ignored the man next to him. "Enough!" He roared.

The doors opened and a long line of maids entered, putting multiple dishes on the table and setting up cutlery for the four of them.

One of them set a glass of water on front of him, then they all left in an orderly line.

The admiral had taken the moment to calm himself down. "You're right, ape." He muttered. "This is no place to speak of honour."

"It took you this long to realize that?" Okita prodded innocently.

A fist came down next to him, smashing into the probably pristine table and leaving an ugly crack behind.

"Say one more stupid thing to Admiral As-Abou, and I will personally kill you, regardless of the information you may have." The Dakini threatened.

Well, it would have sounded threatening if Okita hadn't been Okita, but he was used to much worse. For example nicotine-deprived Hijikata and starving Kamui.

Compared to those, the Dakini sounded like a puppy barking.

"Aaaaaaah, you almost called him 'Asshole' there!" Okita pointed out childishly, a sadistic grin hidden under the innocent façade.

"You think you can keep that lie going?!" The Dakini roared, obviously flustered.

The admiral was having none of it. "Both of you, get out of here!" He shouted at his subordinates.

The blue-skinned Amanto merely sighed and took another sip of wine.

Okita carefully glanced over at China, her silence and lack of reaction nagging at his mind.

But not carefully enough, it seemed.

"I always thought Kagura had some sort of accomplice on earth. She started behaving differently after her trip there a few months ago. Never thought she'd team up with a government official, though." He spat out venomously. "But that's not the problem now," He smirked, placing his hand on Kagura's chin and tilting her face towards him. "Isn't that right, Kagura?"

Her docile form and lifeless eyes creeped Okita out slightly, and he did not want to know what else they pumped into her system.

"Hmm, I thought you'd be more reactive if we showed her to you like this, but that doesn't seem to be the case." The pudgy man sighed before picking up one of the cutlery pieces on the table.

"We thought this drug would subdue her Yato instinct enough to make her pass for a normal person, but we can't present her to the buyers in a catatonic state." He shook his head in mock-sadness.

Okiat frowned internally. That didn't add up. After all he did, there shouldn't have been anything left, and it didn't sound like they gave her more of it…

"Oh well," The admiral continued, "I guess we have no choice but to turn to you for information. She wouldn't tell us its location no matter what we tried. So, human, if you want to live, tell us where it is."

"It?" The sandy-haired captain asked in genuine confusion.

"The artefact Kagura took without permission. Where is it?" He took Kagura's head into one hand, pulled her over the table and pressed the blade of the steak knife against her throat.

"I… don't know." He blinked as he answered in full honesty. This was the first he was hearing about this.

"Liar. You were her contact on earth, and organized the exchange with her brother. Since neither of you two have it, I can safely assume her brother does, but she's not telling me where the tunnel led to. You're the one who sealed the entrance, so clearly you know where it leads to." The admiral explained as if it was the most obvious plan ever, and he was the genius who figured it out, but even with all the gears in Okita's mind turning, none of the puzzle pieces fit.

"What?" He asked dumbly.

"Don't play ignorant, monkey." The admiral seethed. "It's too late for that now. Maybe you should have done that before Kagura broke the rules!"

Okita caught the bloodlust sweeping through the room a few seconds earlier than everybody else, making a chill run down his spine. He dared make eye-contact with the only viable source in the room, her, and the dull blue from a few moments ago was replaced with vibrant azure, leaking the intention to kill.

The admiral cried out in agonizing pain as a blunt butter knife pierced through his flesh, pinning his hand down to the table, making him drop the blade held against her throat. Then her sugar-sweet voice filled the silence.

"What kind of space pirate would I be if I actually listened to the rules?"

AN: Another day, another chapter.

Shamelessly fishing for reviews because more reviews make me happier and a happier author will update more, even with this story nearing its end slowly, but surely. It's just a small gesture that shows your appreciation towards an author, and it definitely brightens their day, not only mine, when somebody took the time to type out a review and you get the notification on your phone.

(Except when you're walking down the street and start laughing out of nowhere because the review was really funny and all the other people just give you really weird looks.)

TL;DR: Post a review, anything. Your zodiac sign. The colour of your T-shirt. What you had for breakfast. SOMETHING. It'd be nice if it had something to do with the story, though, but I won't be picky.

~Emi