Nirvana

Summary: AU. "Well, fuck you too," he had said it out of spite, despite his eyes sneaking brief glances over her body. Well, maybe he had another thing in mind when he said it. Okikagu.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama.

Chapter 10

"Yes? Do you wish to make your order, miss?"

Okita couldn't help but roll his eyes as their target's voice echoed in his ears, ignoring his rich, smooth baritone as the police officer instead made to roast his choice of words. "Mild-mannered motherfucker, aren't you?" he sounded the bitter grumble under his breath and flattened his lips to stifle a pained wince as he felt an abrupt spasm of pain travelling up his right leg, courtesy of Kagura's foot delivering a sharp kick to his shin under their table.

Either the man didn't catch his sarcastic remark or wisely opted to disregard his blatant displeasure, Okita was uncertain as he continued on, timbre as annoyingly pleasant as always as he gestured a hand over towards Kagura, "What would you like, miss? I would assume that such a beautiful lady as yourself must also have a wonderful taste in food."

Kagura blinked her ocean blue eyes at him in slight surprise at the unforeseen praise directed at her. "Uh, okay? You sound like someone who would suit working as a host with that honeyed shit. But yeah, we want to order," came her habitually crude response, her voice an odd fusion of female, inflated ego and shame in spite of her blunt interject.

But true to her supposedly tsundere demeanor, Kagura's lips tugged down into a single thin line even as heat colored her cheeks a salmon pink in embarrassment. The display was nothing short of a mixture of timidity and pride all at once, and it made Okita somewhat miffed to realize that the cause of the admittedly lovable exhibit was another man. He pursed his lips forward in an infuriated manner as the brewing torrent of envy striking at the middle of his chest ruptured his composure, quelling the sudden rush of possessiveness that assaulted his senses as he struggled to recoup his presence of mind. Directing his scrutinizing gaze at their target, Okita fought the impulse to incinerate him into ashes under his withering glare as he collected his thoughts and inwardly reiterated the bits and pieces of information they had regarding the man.

His name was Saitou Shuu from what Okita could recall, age twenty-five years old and apparently a man of many talents. According to Yamazaki's intel, Saitou lived alone in his apartment not far from the restaurant, and worked in the food and service industry as something sort of a part time job - presumably to shroud over the truth of his shady line of business. They didn't possess an abundance of data about him other than his allegedly perfect life and equally exemplary personality. In fact, they hadn't even succeeded to pinpoint the drug ring's secret hideout as Saitou was, to all intents and purposes, as slippery as an eel and regularly managed to obscure any token of suspicious conduct - a prospect Okita deemed to be quite peculiar, considering Yamazaki's abnormal observation skills.

Nevertheless, Gorilla had issued the command to reprimand him and being a dutiful subordinate, Okita could do nothing but follow his orders even if there was a severe lack of proof to doubt his innocence. Besides, in spite of his usually disgusting stalking habits and equally other repulsive patterns of behavior, Kondo had a strong intuition and equitably keen nose when it came to sniffing out criminals, so Okita opted to trust his judgement instead.

The male cop attempted to come up with various strategies to catch Saitou off guard...but his mind was nowhere close to making progress as he was more focused on the gleam of adoration in Saitou's aurelian-tinctured orbs as he conversed with Kagura. Okita could barely perceive the mountain-load of food Kagura was ordering as his glower remained on the levity-congested smile slanted at the corners of Saitou's lips, the man seemingly amused as China went on her recurrent gluttonous tirade.

"And this and this...and yeah, this too." Okita caught Kagura's nimble words once he broke out of his reverie, and finally rerouted his pair of rubies in her direction just in time to see her close the menu pamphlet shut. Saitou had been proffering her patient nods all the while, apparently memorizing her order in his probably sharp-witted brain as Okita discerned that he didn't even bother to take a few notes.

"If you think I'm paying for all that, you're awfully mistaken, sweetheart," Okita uttered in a feigned, sickeningly sweet voice as he forcefully tilted his lips outwards to outline a charming smile. He articulated the rather romantic nickname with clear-cut emphasis, as if in a discreet, deliberate effort to sneakily confer the message that China was his and his alone. He then made a mental account that it was the first time Saitou had actually aimed his stare at him throughout the entire time he was there.

The man's visage preserved his perpetually calm and charismatic guise, but Okita could distinguish the minutely twitching of one edge of his lips in an indication that he had indeed managed to get his point across. If the speck of jealousy in Saitou's molten gold wasn't anything to go by, the painfully forged pretense of respectful bearing in his faked polite smile was testimony enough that Okita had succeeded to get under his skin.

"Ah, my apologies," Saitou enunciated the words and bent his back in a graceful and gallant bow, prompting Okita to suppress the condescending scoff that threatened to slither up his throat. "It would seem that I was being insensitive, flirting with the madam in front of her beloved. You are quite the lucky fellow to have her as your partner," he proceeded with a poised timbre once he straightened his posture once more, though Okita could catch the distinct undertones of mockery dormant beneath his dignified voice.

To a bystander's point of view, Saitou's attitude was the epitome of chivalry at its finest, but in Okita's standpoint, it was nothing but a taunting gesture meant to deal a blow to his inflated ego. And indeed it did, eliciting a billow of irritation in Okita's system as the cop flattened his lips in a muted endeavor to stifle a savage curse.

He was thankful for Kagura's interruption even though she had unabashedly chimed in with an indignant huff, "Whatever, Sadist. Like I give a damn. I'm a capable young lady, mind you. I can pay for myself." She had referred to his earlier statement, causing a single corner of his lips to slope upwards into a lopsided smirk.

"Of course you can, dear. But I would cut back on the amount of food intake if I were you. God knows you've been gaining weight as of late," he couldn't help but throw out the playful jibe. A touch of hilarity was palpable in his scarlet-colored irises as he eyed Kagura's feminine features contorting into a look that resembled her furious embarrassment.

But Saitou just had to choose that timing to shamelessly pull another courting attempt in the form of showering Kagura with a downpour of compliments. "On the contrary, I find your plethora of orders to be a rather adorable showcase, miss." His mouth slanted into a captivating smile but Okita caught the brief, provoking glance he sent him prior to directing his gilded gaze over to Kagura again. "I rarely ever come across a woman who is so honest in what she wants. I must say that I consider a lady who has a ravenous appetite to be very attractive, especially if she is unafraid to admit that she is."

Okita would expect that Kagura of all people wouldn't fall for such a cheap wooing trick - however, from the flush of rosy pink that embellished her cheeks as the blood rushed to her head, he could tell that she appeared to enjoy the attention lavished on herself. Her prominent embarrassment, coupled with the profuse and patent surge of delight he could almost feel radiating off of her, only served as a propellant to the puddle of envy building in his gut.

Unable to hold himself back any longer, Okita's bouts of animosity were transparent as he levelled Saitou with an unwavering, icy glare and the smirk on his lips fell to a form a flat line in a tangible implication of his sprouting chagrin. "You know, for someone who's supposed to be a waiter, you're starting to piss me off. You apologize for flirting with my girlfriend, and then you go on ahead but do it anyway." The snarl that rumbled through his chest was animalistic and hostile as he illuminated the snappy interpose. "Are you trying to pick a fight with me? If you are, you're barking at the wrong tree."

From his peripheral vision, he could see that Kagura was displeased with his lack of manners as a deep, disgruntled frown embedded itself on her forehead. But he decided against acknowledging the look of disapproval as he chose instead to narrow his eyes into slits at the sluggish inclining of Saitou's mouth into a mockingly apologetic smile.

"Goodness. Did I give off such an impression?" The short-lived fit of guttural, gladdened chuckles that rippled out of Saitou's throat heavily dripped with insulting connotations as the sound complemented the dangerous flash of subdued mutual hostility in his aurelian pools. "I was simply stating the facts. Surely a young man with your looks wouldn't be insecure over a lowly waiter such as myself? I would think you'd be proud that your lover is garnering such positive feedback from other men. If you ask me, it'd be a stroke at our male egos to have such a bewitching angel as a partner. You are a lucky man indeed, though I wouldn't be surprised with how well the two of you flatter each other. The both of you make for a couple that is quite pleasing to the eyes."

"Or it'd be a fucking insult and a ticket to hell if you mess with the wrong guy," Okita growled, the sound low and dangerous as it bubbled out of him. "And I hate the way you talk."

"Blame it on my upraising," came Saitou's brisk and smooth riposte. But the taunting smirk on his face lingered as the syllables erupted from his throat with a sneering ounce. "My family has always taught me to be respectful in my use of language, especially if I am in the presence of women. It is really a matter of retaining a sophisticated manner, but ladies do throw themselves at your feet when you talk with eloquent choice of words." His aurelian pupils locked with Okita's antagonistic red ones, the look in them seeming to give off the message: perhaps you should learn a thing or two from me. Your lady seems to like it, and serving as fuel to Okita's already boiling outrage.

A snarky remark teased at the tip of Okita's tongue, but he was swiftly cut off by Kagura as she sounded out an impatient snort. The noise succeeded to steal their attention as two men swerved their gazes towards her, breaking off their spiteful stare-down as she crossed her arms over her chest and aimed an exasperated, heated glare at the both of them.

"Look, I don't really care about what sort of rivalry you assholes seem to have," she started, droning out the words in a tight voice. "But I'm hungry and I want food. Start ordering, chihuahua. We don't have all day and god forbid I spend another second watching whatever this dumb display is."

Okita detested how Saitou's smile took on a flirtatious approach as he seemed to beam at her. "Of course." The waiter then whirled his gape at Okita again, forcing an amiable slant of his lips as he gestured the menu pamphlet towards him. "And what would you prefer, sir? We have a vast variety of choices and I can guarantee that you would relish any of them."

"At the moment, I'd rather much relish the notion of kicking your ass," Okita hissed under his breath before struggling to school his features as he summoned the remnants of his tattered composure. His timbre was gruff and controlled as he spoke, "With how much my darling over here has ordered, I don't reckon we need anymore. We can share everything we eat, like lovers, you see." He added the emphasis in the sarcastic barb for good measure, inwardly enjoying the sight of Saitou's never wavering smile threatening to falter as annoyance seemed to creep under his skin.

But his deep baritone was as level-headed as possible as he nodded his head. "Very well then." Okita discerned the sliver of antipathy in Saitou's fleeting glower before he quickly thwarted the ill-temper and broadened the smile latched on his lips, briskly adopting another stimulated act of chivalry. Proffering them a final bow, he then excused himself towards the kitchen.

Okita's scathing glare stayed on his retreating form, threatening to burn holes in Saitou's disappearing back as the so-called waiter gracefully ambled his way through the double panel doors leading to the kitchen once more. He scowled at nothing in particular before a snap of Kagura's fingers snapped him out of his murderous thoughts.

China wore a baffled expression on her pretty visage as she articulated the question, "What the hell was that?" But the confusion in her voice shortly dwindled, giving way to a firm, chastising edge as she berated him, "I know that we're trying to catch the guy, but you should at least try not to get on his bad side so soon, you idiot. You were emitting intense bloodlust earlier, and I really don't want our cover to get blown."

"Don't get your panties in a bunch," Okita scoffed, catching Kagura's fist just in time as she pulled an attempted punch at his face. He rolled his eyes to the side in uncurbed aggravation, the look apparently intensified by the swirl of jealousy still existent at the middle of his chest. And normally he would be too deep in his pride to admit it, but green envy immediately compelled him to form an unusually honest answer. "I was being territorial, is all. I don't like it when someone is eyeing what's mine. He was leering at you like you were some kind of meat and I hated that."

Kagura drew her lips tight at the candid declaration, her heart doing a somersault as warmth and giddiness cloaked around her before it was overpowered with merged spleen and bewilderment as she harshly wrenched her fist out of his grasp.

"I'm not even yours to begin with, Sadist," she tartly spat out, venom laced in her words as she permitted herself a moment of respite to observe the weird, unreadable look on his visage as the truth behind her response registered himself into his brain. "Hearing that from someone who constantly seduces every girl he comes across doesn't make it sound sincere. Instead, it makes you sound like a pretentious, unfair douche."

She anticipated him to supply her with a derogatory retort of his own like he usually would, but Okita was awfully quiet, his features giving away the overtone that he was deep in thought. He pursed his lips, somewhat irked from the perplexing whirlwind of emotions taking residence in his heart. What was wrong with him? Did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning or something? He couldn't explain the precipitate frisson of profound jealousy gripping him at his sides as the urge to possessively stake his claim on Kagura became all the more powerful. He would admit that he was rather promiscuous himself, considering that he had his own portion of friends with benefits even before her. But never once did he ever feel like giving a damn if they were to take an interest in a different man. After all, it was just sex, and it wasn't supposed to mean anything. No strings attached, no commitments needed and simply casual, lustful unions.

Up until before he and Kagura started to indulge themselves in a sexual relationship, Okita's perception towards her was that he hated her with all his guts. And even after knowing that he was capable of bedding her whenever, however and wherever he wanted, he remained positive in his conception that they were simply sex partners who just so happened to be frienemies who had great chemistry with each other when it came to the act of fornicating. It was supposed to be that way at least, but after what occurred just a while ago, he wasn't so sure of himself. His momentary loss of composure due to the sentiment he could only recognize as jealousy rearing its ugly head could only indicate one thing. He was smart enough to be aware of what it was, but his overbearing pride halted him from accepting it, much less admitting it out in the open. It was a laughable probability after all. Except it wasn't funny and Okita found it annoying that he still couldn't repudiate the stabbing of envy pricking into his heart no matter how hard he tried to brush it off.

Imagine that. Okita Sougo, the ever so sadistic prince who never once experienced romantic feelings for the opposite sex, but the first time he would fall for someone it would be with the girl he loathed for long years. The mere notion was an overdone cliche and he would have died laughing over how ridiculously stupid it was if it wasn't for the possessiveness pooling in his stomach.

But he could tell a jealous, scornful woman from a mile away, and Kagura was the personification of that at the moment. When she mentioned his flirting habits, Okita could hear the acid in her voice even as she tried not to let it show. Granted, she might have been humoring Saitou for the sake of getting him riled up, but he knew that would only be wishful thinking on his part. The cute blush on her cheeks and the meek scowl on her lips as Saitou showered her with overused sweet words were direct manifestations of not only her embarrassment but also her joy at being openly admired by another man. But the realization only pissed him off even more.

"Why are you jealous?" The resentment in his voice was conspicuous as the words left his throat before he could stop himself.

Her ill-humored retaliation came in an instant. "As if I'd care about you fucking another girl. What about you? Why are you so testy?"

Although he had expected her to bite back with the response, Okita still couldn't form a coherent excuse in his brain. Instead, he retorted with the only thing that was plaguing his subconscious. "If I didn't know any better, you were damn happy about the attention he was giving you," he snorted at her, his remark coming across as short-tempered and bitter.

Kagura's eyes flashed angrily at him, possibly because of the fact that he had alternated the subject. But her comeback struck a knife to his chest as it reverberated from the back of his throat, "I'm still a woman, in case you've forgotten. And he's the only one who didn't treat me like a complete jackass, unlike you."

"You don't even know him," he murmured under his breath, his counterattack lacking any bite as her words evoked an unexplainable twinge of hurt to swarm around his heart. "In case it slipped your mind, we came here to arrest him, not for you to find a date."

He waited for a few seconds for her to snap back at him. But when she was silent, he knew he won the argument. For now, at least.


A/N: Not my best. I think the stress from the upcoming internship program is taking its toll on me lol.

AnonymousSiren- Lmao, I see someone's looking forward to Okita punishing Kagura XD. Sorry it didn't happen though lol. To be honest, I think with them being who they are, it'd be difficult for them to admit how they actually feel about each other so expect a little bit of drama here and there XD. And thank you as always for the support!

JuneyOkikagu- Don't we all? Jealous Sougo is cute lmao, but I don't know if I did him any justice with how snappy I made him in this chapter lol. Guess the confusion coupled with the jealousy is making him act dumb XD. Expect a melodramatic love triangle and a lot of bickering, but also some sweet moments between Okikagu in later chapters!

Aw, thank you! You're a sweet gal. I'm glad you think so. Your words go straight to the heart because I'm usually self-conscious with the quality of my stories. Especially since this is my first Okikagu fic, I feel a little bit insecure about it lmao. Seriously though, there needs to be more Okikagu works in the fandom XD. Well, you can anticipate the new guy to be annoying towards Okita for sure.

lightbattery- Thank you dear! Lmao, I didn't know what came over me when I wrote that description about what Kagura was wearing. I think the stress is getting to my head lolololol. Well, he should at least be attractive or else it wouldn't be fair competition, now would it? He has the advantage of being honest with what he wants though, unlike Okita who's too prideful to admit that he actually cares XD. And yes, you can expect a lot more drama in future updates XD.

beautifly92- Hm...I feel like Sougo would kill him before Kagura even makes the offer XD. He's possessive as hell.

CheeryLola- Thanks! I hope you enjoy reading this one as well. I'm not too confident with the quality of this chapter (then again I'm never too confident with my writing in general lmao). Jealous Sougo is honestly priceless. You can expect the new guy to be sticking around for a while of course, if only to serve as Sougo's rival. And again, thank you for the kind wishes!

Heatherishere- I'm happy that I managed to catch you by surprise with the new guy. Kagura's gonna enjoy how honest the guy is, and Okita's obviously not gonna like that for sure. He's gonna have to amp up his game lmao XD. And yes, exactly, there are gonna be few moments where he's actually affectionate and doting with her in later chapters. I honestly can't wait to type out the romantic scenes between them that keep bugging my head for a while now XD But of course, they're gonna need some building up a little before that. Thank you, dear! Everyone's so nice by wishing me well with the internship. Lessens the stress a little.

dwindydwindles- I like your username lol. And thank you, I'm glad to know you're enjoying it so far. Thanks for pointing that out. I was watching Haikyuu before typing the chapter and I didn't realize whose name I was typing.