{~}

Sougo wanted to take off his coat and pull his cravat as they paraded the streets of Edo under the hot glare of the sun. He looked at their chief, Kondou Isao, who stood beside Matsudaira Katakuriko, introducing him as their director. He heard Hijikata heaved a long sigh, probably remembering the reason why and what their purpose is.

The old man grabbed the microphone from Kondou and because face-palm isn't in his dictionary, Sougo's hands itched for his bazooka to shoot the old man or slice Hijikata in half if the former didn't work out.

"Y'all listen carefully, if you make a move on my beloved Kuriko-chan, even if it's just a scrap of your nail, I'll shoot you, ya hear?"

Only the men grimaced. The girls were already whispering to each other. Some criticized him for being a womanizer despite what he said. And the director's response was:

"A man only needs to remember number 1 to live. If ya didn't get that, prepare to die."

"Does that mean you only care for your daughter, you lolicon?!" Sougo blinked at the bazooka Matsudaira was holding. He flexed his hands- empty -and figured that spying on the old man would be crossed out from his list.

"At the count of three, I'll shoot this. One-" The ground shook and the air was filled with smoke as people screamed and ran and complained 'That wasn't three, bastard!'.

But everyone on their side knew it wasn't their overly protective superintendent. Sougo felt irritated and excited at the same time as the panicked voices became more distinct and the place got rowdier.

It's them.

:

:

Kagura snorted at Shinpachi's nagging and at Gintoki's panicked voice. She snuggled further to the warmth of Sadaharu while simultaneously shielding herself from the yellow star that's supposed to be her sole weakness.

"Geez, Gin-san, Mikasa should've been with us if you weren't distracted by that pachinko parlor!"

"I-I-It's okay, we just have to find a time machine...Ack!"

"Oi, what are you doing there, you lot?"

Four pairs of eyes looked at the Shinsengumi officers walking their way. As always, Shinpachi got to do the 'apologizing for the ruckus' part while Gintoki plays the 'useless man around' role. Kagura was startled by Sadaharu leaning forward. His eyes squinted at something behind Yamazaki, who spoke to them.

"Boss, it's better if you don't move much. Something's going on there, Matsudaira-san would reprimand you for not listening to him."

"Eh, what's it about Yamazaki-san?"

"Probably about some corrupt law or something."

"Ah, it's the cat, yes."

Yamazaki cringed at how fast Shinpachi and Boss reacted to China girl. When the Shinsengumi officers looked, however, they only got to view a fluffy, grayish tail before the four passed them like a whirlwind.

And with the furry creature scurrying towards the complaining citizens and an overly-protective lolicon, it can't be helped.

Shinpachi reached out his arms to hopefully catch the feline but empty air would always come to meet his hands. Gintoki shouted, "Ora, ora, ora! Move! That cat's our lifeline!" then crawled afterward because people don't just listen to a shouting person immediately. Sadaharu, being a competitive dog that comes from his competitive owners, stomped and punched and scratched the ground to scare the ca- the people, yes, the people. Kagura felt the energy around come to her as she did what Gintoki did - shout.

"Pikachu! Where are you!"

"Kagura-chan, it's Mikasa!"

She immediately scowled as her voice attracted a different cat.

:

Strangers ran but people who knew stood by the sides and watched as the sword clashed with the umbrella.

There were no words exchanged, their efforts are not wasted on meaningless things such as empty words.

Or so the people thought.

"China!"

"Sadist!"

"Silver Perm!"

"Nicotine!"

"Mikasa!"

"Gorilla!"

Man, they really make the Kabuki district feel like Kabuki district if that does make sense.

"Arf!"

"Meow."

"Oh, Raichu, you're here, huh." Matsudaira ignored the growling insecure dog and leveled himself to the cat. "Shouldn't you be guarding Kuriko-chan? Where's she? Is she with some punk-looking dirty loser? Huh?"

"Nyaa."

This is how the scene was when Yamazaki and his comrades arrived. Raichu? Didn't Shinpachi-san call it Mikasa?

"Yamazaki-san! I finally caught up to you." Kuriko paused to regain composure, her hair just slightly entangled and her face tinged with sweat. "Can you help me find Mikasa? He's a grayish-white Maine Coon with a leather collar. I already asked Yorozuya with compensation but..."

"Um, isn't that Mikasa?" Also called as Pikachu and Raichu.

Kuriko excitedly went to her father's side. When Matsudaira saw her, he immediately got up and extended his arms, waiting patiently as Kuriko slowly raised hers. But of course, no daughter wants a lolicon father. She went for Mikasa and affectionately cuddled with each other.

This doesn't come as a surprise when the citizens were satisfied with the outcome and Yorozuya Gin-chan blames a whole lot of Shinsengumi bastards for losing their compensation.

But because Kuriko liked Sadaharu, and liked Hijikata in a 'you-know-it's-different' way, Sougo cursed Hijikata once again and attempted to start another battle with Kagura's grinning face.

August 26 - Plans

I didn't plan to update but I can't resist

That's what your ship does to you

Chunchun