Street War – Chapter 11

Sunday morning was dark and grey, despite it being the middle of spring. Kagura stared listlessly out into the distance from the window in the apartment living area, sipping absentmindedly on the strawberry milk that she had stolen from Gintoki. She sighed as she watched the heavy clouds begin to let loose a few droplets of rain. They fell from the heavens and clung to the window, and Kagura watched as they slowly crawled towards the windowsill. Kamui walked into the living area to find Kagura letting out a long sigh.
"Come on, now, little sis'," he crooned. "What's got you all worked up today?"
"Rain," was as much of a reply as Kagura was willing to give. Luckily, Kamui did not need too long of an answer to figure out what his sister was thinking about.
"Hmm… Bringin' back some bad mem'ries?"

Kagura shifted uncomfortably in her position by the window and, sensing her bad mood, Sadaharu dashed over from the couch to lay in her lap. She looked down at his snow-like fur, and gently pet him with a grateful hand.
"I was… a little too young to remember mami's face," Kagura stated. "But… I do remember it clearly. The day that she died."
Kamui sat beside his sister and gave her a sullen look. He tousled her hair gently.
"Her cheeks were so hollow, and her skin was so pale. The rain, that day, it poured down so heavily. It's almost as if it washed the life right out of her." Kagura curled up into a ball. "That's why I hate it – the rain."

Pushing his bangs out of his face, Kamui gazed sadly at his sister. There was not much that he could say in this situation. Kagura was much too young to have both of her parents die in front of her eyes. Her mother was very ill and died when Kagura was only four years old. Her father was quick to follow and was murdered in the dead of the night when Kagura was five. That experience, in particular, had traumatised Kagura. She had been sleeping beside her father, that night, and was awoken by the sound of a robber breaking through their window. By the time that Kamui had heard the commotion and had run into the room, the robber had escaped. He found their father draped protectively over his daughter and a massive volume of blood was flowing from a wound located in the man's chest.

Since then, the two had been passed from relative to relative, but neither particularly enjoyed the experience. So, when Kamui and Kagura were nine and seven years of age – respectively – they ran away.
"But, remember?" Kamui said, holding his sister close. "Gintoki found us on a rainy night. If it weren't for him, we'd definitely be dead – or, at least, shiverin' behind some dumpster somewhere of hypothermia. So, cheer up a bit – the rain doesn't only carry bad memories."
Kagura looked up from her brother's chest, giving him a crooked smile.
"What's up with you, today?" she smirked. "You're acting like you're my brother."
Kamui's tousling of his sister's hair intensified.
"Oh? Now, that is strange, innit?"

Gently and quietly, Kagura slipped out from underneath her dog who had fallen asleep in her lap. She stretched for a few moments, before announcing that she was getting changed to meet with Hongou.
"Staying at home all day is boring," she argued when Gintoki had told her that she would catch a cold. Though he was still hesitant to let her go, she assured him that she would keep her umbrella with her at all times. "Besides, I'll be inside for most of the day anyways. Hongou's room isn't out in the rain, or anything."
Eventually, he relented and Kagura bounded off to slip into something a little warmer.

After she found a warm, hooded parka, Kagura pulled out a pair of boots and snatched her purple umbrella off the rack before heading out. As she made the walk from her apartment to the hospital, she carefully looked ahead to check for puddles along the sidewalk. She made it a point to steer clear of any paths that looked too muddy as she did not want the hospital staff to yell at her for tracking mud and dirt into the hospital.

Kagura's short detours led her to a nearby cemetery, where she noticed a large gathering of people dressed in black, crowded around a gravestone. Someone's passed…? She looked up accusingly at the heavy, grey clouds and, almost as if to reply to her, the sky began to thunder. Kagura narrowed her eyes and slowly approached the crowd – even a crude girl like her understood that there was a time and place to be respectful. However, as she got closer, she began to recognise some of the faces in the crowd.

Gorilla? Jimmy? Afro? Kagura glanced a bit further into the crowd. Mayo-freak? Sadist? Then, her eyes rested upon the picture which lay against the tombstone. Okita… Mitsuba? She blinked in disbelief. She had just seen Mitsuba yesterday and she had looked as healthy as could be. Kagura's eyes blinked away hot tears, her bottom lip trembling. Such a kind, gentle person… She couldn't have, in such a short amount of time…!

Kagura shook her head. From the back of the crowd, she watched as the members of the Shinsengumi each walked up to the tombstone and laid down a lily. The entire ceremony was solemn and silent, with the sound of the rain drowning out everything else. Kagura could only watch, keeping hidden behind another tombstone within the cemetery. She was not too sure that any of the Shinsengumi members would want to see a Yorozuya at the moment. Really, I should leave – I have no business being here. But, in the short time that Kagura had spent talking to Mitsuba, she could not help but feel utterly torn that such a beautiful, kind and gentle person had been taken away by death's claws. Kagura thought it only right that she join them in mourning.

Glancing at Sougo, Kagura found his eyes to be dry. It was the rain dripping off his hair onto his face that wet his cheeks – she could see no signs of crying in his still gaze. Turning away from him, Kagura rested her back against the tombstone that she was hiding behind and pulled her knees into her chest. She bowed her head, thinking deeply. Can he not even cry? Kagura scanned the crowd of Shinsengumi members, and she noted that every single one of them was crying. Even Hijikata, who Kagura had deemed as having as much emotion as a piece of paper, had tears streaming down his cheeks as he sniffled into a tissue.

Eventually, the Shinsengumi began to leave. One by one, they bowed in respect and left the cemetery, leaving only Sougo, Hijikata and Kagura. As the hours passed and it neared evening, Hijikata shifted to rest his palm on Sougo's shoulder. Then, he – too – stalked off into the distance, his hands placed deep into his pockets. Kagura watched as he left, ensuring that she stayed hidden behind the tombstone. Her eyes softened slightly as she noticed Hijikata's shoulders tremble, his head bowed down in grief.

After a few moments, Kagura turned back to Sougo. Why am I still here…? Although she had her umbrella, she had been outside for so long that she was still wet to the bone. Her parka clung uncomfortably to her body and her leggings and boots weighed heavily with the added water weight. Her hair had flattened considerably and her skin was pale, her fingers frozen. It was the middle of spring, but the weather was freezing cold as if the heavens were crying at the loss of Mitsuba. As such, she just could not understand why it was that Okita Sougo did not cry.

Kagura watched as Sougo removed his black suit jacket, folding it up and allowing it to hang on his right arm. Offhandedly, Kagura noted that his left arm was now out of its cast, though she was not sure if it was in usable condition as it lay limp by his side. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of his white dress shirt slowly soaking up the rain. Making sure that there were no Shinsengumi members around, she slowly made her way over to Sougo's still form.

As she neared him, he began to speak.
"You've been here for six hours," he muttered, stopping Kagura in her tracks. "What the hell, China?"
"You knew?" she questioned, standing slightly behind the Shinsengumi member on his left side.
"It's hard not to notice a bumbling oaf like you." Usually, she would have shot an insult back. However, Kagura did not even have the heart to play along, today.
"You've been here for longer," she rationalised. "You'll get sick. She wouldn't want that."

At his lack of response, Kagura turned her attention from him to look down at the pile of lilies. She knelt closer to the ground and placed her palms together in respect, softly closing her eyes. Silently, she prayed that – wherever Mitsuba was now – the eldest Okita sibling was no longer suffering. After a few moments, Kagura stood up again though she kept her eyes closed.
"You can cry, y'know," she stated, fixing her umbrella so that it covered the both of them. "There's no-one here besides me, and I'm not looking."

Sougo made a strange noise with his throat, somewhere between a scoff, a chuckle and a cry.
"And what happened to staying out of Shinsengumi business, hah?" he questioned. "Little Yorozuya piggy."
Kagura half opened her eyes, giving Sougo a look.
"I'll be upset, as a Yorozuya, if my Shinsengumi plaything isn't in top condition," stated Kagura. At her response, Sougo hummed a low note.

After a long pause, Kagura spoke again.
"So cry already, you stupid Chihuahua. What's the point of holding it in?"
"I'm not holding anything in," Sougo argued.
"That doesn't explain the constipated face you're making, right now."
"There are better ways of phrasing that, you realise?" Kagura ignored his curt quip.
"What have you been doing, standing here?" she spat at him. "Would your sister be proud of you for bottling up your emotions like this?"
"My sister would have wanted me to be happy, and that's what I'm going to do, for her sake," Sougo said, as he turned to look at the girl by his side. He gave her a defeated look. "I'm going to be happy."

"Listen here!" yelled Kagura. "All you're doing is making yourself hurt more. You're meant to be a sadist, but you're just acting like a masochist right now!"
She was beginning to grow angry, the handle of her umbrella splintering under her harsh grip.
"I know you, Sadist. You love your sister more than anything, don't you? That was the only time I had ever seen you make such a disgustingly sweet face. So, that's why, don't hold it in. Cry, why don't you?"

Still, Sougo stood silently. Though his eyes trembled, he would not allow himself to cry.
"I can't," he whimpered. "What if sis' is watching right now? She needs to see me happy."
Kagura growled at him, closing her umbrella and dropping it to the ground.
"Agh, to hell with it!" she shouted, pivoting on her right foot as she shot a strong, left-knee into Sougo's abdomen. Though it wasn't strong enough to send him flying, Kagura was satisfied that it did the job as Sougo blinked at her in shock.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Kagura asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Since it hurts so much, your sister will understand you crying just a little bit."
Sougo's eyes widened and, after a couple of minutes had passed, he looked back down at the ground. His bottom lip began to quiver.
"I-I'm not… crying because I'm sad. You hear?" he sniffled. "It's 'cause you had the element of surprise and it hurts. Alright? You hear?"
Kagura did not say anything, only watching as Sougo kneeled on the ground and sobbed, his pants dirtied by the mud. Unsure as to what else she could do, Kagura sat down next to him and reopened her umbrella to shelter them once more. Awkwardly, she began to pat his left arm.

Instinctively, Sougo reached out with his opposite hand to grasp onto Kagura's fingers. He gripped firmly, but gently, as if to focus himself. Then, for another hour, Sougo curled into himself and continued to cry. Kagura watched him from the corner of her eye, holding his hand and providing whatever comfort she could. Just for today, we aren't Yorozuya and Shinsengumi. She closed her eyes and let the rain wash away her own tears. Just for today, we'll be friends.


Author's Note

Whoop, here we go – another chapter! And, expect another one coming soon. Maybe now? Maybe after I come home from work? Who knows, ahah. But expect it soon. ^3^