I See Red
Chapter 12: Red-faced


He didn't know what he was thinking. He couldn't blame the spiked punch, since he didn't have a sip of it before he went and carried China-girl out of the gymnasium as if they were on a honeymoon.

All he knew was that he was probably going crazy. Seeing her in that red dress, with her pale arms and legs exposed, and her wild vermilion hair falling down her partially exposed back drove him crazy. Seeing her avoiding him all night, clinging to that Glasses Stand and then dancing with that nerd and then barely acknowledging his presence drove him crazy. The way she felt when said Glasses Stand suddenly tossed her to him, the smell of strawberries in her hair, and the glow of her blue eyes under the lights, the flush of her face as she danced, the feel of her small waist in between his hands…

Well, you get the point. She was still driving him crazy 'cause she decided to break the silence by whining that it was cold up on the rooftop. He put her coat around her shoulders and she looked so damn good in it. There was a weird feeling of possessiveness in seeing her wearing his clothes.

Another silence followed after that, and they regarded each other awkwardly for a while. Kagura fumbled with one of the buttons of his coat, her mouth opening and closing like a confused fish. Maybe she wanted to ask where the heck he learned how to dance like that, or why he decided to dance with her anyway, or why was he giving all those death glares to Glasses (but he was sure that she never noticed that). Maybe she was about to say sorry for ignoring him the whole day and was struggling to explain things to him. The things that she wanted to say never made their way to the surface, though, and a new type of shyness emerged—something that he never thought was possible with the usually brutish China girl that he knew.

Finally, she mustered up enough of something to break the silence. "So this is your secret spot, Sadist?" she asked. She looked up at the sky, and the stars shone in her blue eyes.

He looked away before she noticed him staring. "Yep. This is where I go when I need to think. Students aren't allowed here so no-one thinks to go here, but they never lock the door, so…"

"I wish I knew about this spot too. It's pretty nice up here." She allowed herself to take in the view, and she visibly relaxed. She had a huge smile on her face. It relieved him that for once she didn't have that usual grumpy scowl on her face, as cute as it usually was.

"This is a one-time event only, China. After tonight, I'll chase you out of here if I see you sneaking around."

"Try and catch me then, Sadist," she said, with a teasing smile on her face. She playfully threw a punch at him, and he caught her fist in one hand.

He held her hand like that for a while, just staring at it silently. His fingers subtly found her pulse, and he felt it quicken under his grasp. When he looked up at her, her cheeks were a very enticing shade of pink.

"Pink, like an ugly li'l pig," he teased.

"Butt ugly, like a fugly dog," she retorted. She attempted to pull her fist back, but he didn't let go. The other fist came flying at his face, and he caught it with his other hand.

Now, both of her hands were in his, and his eyes centred on hers dead on. She had no choice but to return his gaze, her blue eyes full of wonder.

"Are you really not coming back, Kagura?" he heard himself ask, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

Her eyes widened slightly, hearing him speak her name for the first time. She looked down on the ground, the redness on her face not going away. "I… I don't know…"

"You don't?" His face moved closer to hers.

"N-no."

He hummed and moved closer, a sadistic smile making its way over his mouth. Her face was the colour of her dress now.

"Y-you got hurt, you idiot."

"Since when did you care so much about me, Ka-gu-ra?" Her name rolled off his tongue playfully, and it made her visibly shiver. His face was so close, their noses were almost touching. It was garnering more and more interesting shades of red over her face.

She was trying her best to look at any other place except his eyes, much like a tsundere main character who's caught in a shitty, cheesy situation with the main male lead character of said shitty shoujo anime. Shit, if it wasn't cute. "S-Sougo, you stupid—"

The sound of his name escaping from her mouth probably did it. Whatever she was saying was lost in between as the space between them closed up and their lips made contact for the first time. Nervously, as his hands made their way to cup her face, he felt her hands reach up around his neck to draw him closer.

Neither of them knew how long that moment lasted. When the kiss broke, he opened his eyes and instantly got lost in the deep blue shine of the stars in her eyes. Shit. I'm done for.

No use denying it now. He was head over heels in love with the China girl.

And no matter where she goes or what she does, that feeling with remain in him. He will never have the words to say that, though, and reluctantly, he held her a little bit farther away from him.

"Sougo," she said in a daze. She was confused too. He wondered whether she was offended or surprised at her own actions. She looked down on the ground again and avoided his gaze.

They sat down on the ground simultaneously, their backs against a wall, their faces to the sky. The lights below looked like distant diamonds. For a while, they only heard the muffled music coming from the gymnasium. "I… I don't know what to do, to be honest."

"I know."

"I like going to Gintama High, but… things are just so complicated, you know?" She sighed and let her head fall on his shoulder.

"When you're ready to tell me what's going on, I'll be here," he said in that rare, sincere tone he usually reserved for Mitsuba only, "but only when you're ready."

"Okay."

"And maybe then, you can give me your answer too."

She pulled her head back and frowned at him. "Huh? An answer to what?" she asked.

"I confessed to you, didn't I?"

"When did you do that, huh?"

"When I told you that you were mine."

"That's not a confession, you idiot. If anything, you were acting like a brat whose favourite plaything was being taken away, yup."

He shrugged. Maybe she was his favourite plaything. That wasn't inaccurate. "That's probably the best that you're getting out of me, China-doll."

"You really are insane, you know that? Yup." She said this in annoyance. She failed to hide the fondness in her voice, however. "After I do you a favour and give you your first real kiss. Cherry boy."

"… sure. You're my first kiss," he said nonchalantly. He suddenly felt her hands enclose around his neck, and felt her gnashing her jaws against his head. He heard her speak something rapidly in Mandarin, and he knew that she was insanely jealous of the other girls he dated before, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before she admitted that she was in-love with him too.

'In-love?' Who knew you could use terms like that, Sougo? You fucker. When she finished gnawing him out, he held both of her hands in front of her and kissed her again. The tension in her muscles suddenly went away, and a soft moan escaped her lips. Her mouth tasted like sugar and salt, and her lips were soft and warm, and her hot breath and her strawberry scent was addicting. Suddenly, he couldn't help himself, and he was holding her closer than ever before, and he was putting his tongue in her open mouth, and her hands found their way into his hair. His hands were moving automatically, exploring the exposed parts of her skin, and restlessly his mouth wanted to explore the skin of her neck too. But just as he was getting to it—

The door to the rooftop opened with a bang, and it took less than a second for Kagura to break their kiss and to push Okita away, causing him to smack his head against the wall. Rubbing his head, he turned to look at the intruder, determined to destroy whoever it was that ruined their moment.

The sneer of Takasugi Shinsuke greeted him. He had his sports jacket off and tossed over his shoulder. Kijima, clad in a hot pink gown, had her arm hooked around his, and she glared at the two of them. Bansai and Takechi were close behind, regarding them with blank stares.

"Hm. Sorry to disturb you while you're eating your girlfriend's face, Okita-kun," he said. "I know you're excited to finally lose your virginity, but I advise you to do it in a less public space."

Okita clicked his tongue and stood up, assisting the embarrassed Kagura as he did so. "Did you follow us up here on purpose, you pervert?" His whole body tensed on instinct, and he automatically hid Kagura from Takasugi's stare.

Yet, he didn't falter. "No. You aren't supposed to be here. And you, Red Girl. I thought Matako-san kindly asked you to leave Gintama High."

"And why would I do what that bitch tells me to do anyway?" shouted Kagura. "What the hell is your problem with me, you yankee scum?"

"You're the last person I wanted to see here. Keep your voice down." Uncharacteristically, Takasugi turned away from them, apparently uninterested in a fight. He let go of Matako's arm and lit a cigarette. "If you know what's good for you, you guys better leave now."

"What are you talking about—"

"You better listen to Takasugi-san, Okita-san, else I would have broken my arm for nothing. Sigh. I don't know how long my jealous heart could take this," said the Lolicon, his arm in a sling and his dark eyes barely breaking contact from Kagura's figure.

"I'm sorry, Shinsuke-sama. It seems I failed, after all," said Matako, in an uncharacteristic low, shameful voice. Takasugi merely waved his hand and stared at the edge of the building.

"Let it be known to all persons on this rooftop that the Kiheitai did all it could to keep this encounter from happening," the one-eyed delinquent said cryptically. Okita and Kagura looked at each other nervously, and then looked back at the unmoving Takasugi.

"You know, Red Girl… I know that the rumours about you being Yakuza aren't true. But the Triads… now that's a different animal altogether." He looked up at them and regarded the way Kagura suddenly froze in her place. "… so you guys still aren't leaving?" He asked once more, his voice strong and even.

A feeling of pure dread hit Okita's gut, and he knew that this was the one time they had to do what Takasugi told them. He grabbed Kagura's arm in an attempt to make her move, but she remained frozen, her eyes glued to the edge of the building, where a black shadow was making its way up the protective wire fence. Her eyes widened in horror.

"Shinsuke-dono. It's time, I daresay," said Bansai, tossing a shinai in Takasugi's direction. He caught this in one hand and stared out at the shadow.

"Red Girl, you aren't leaving? You're sticking with this Shinsengumi dog? How sure are you that he can protect you once the shit hits the fan? As it will, right about now?"

The shadow effortlessly leaped onto the rooftop. Under the dim light from the buildings below, Okita was able to make out a human figure clad in all black, his face and arms wrapped in bandages, a long, vermilion braid flowing with the wind. A strange, comically large parasol was strapped to his back.

"Takasugi-san, I thought that this will be a private party~ since we're planning to fight to the death and all." The boyish voice that greeted them was sickeningly familiar. His eyes were creased, and as they fell on Okita and Kagura, they widened, revealing crazed blue eyes. "And weaklings, at that? You insult me, Takasugi-san!"

"A… Aniki," whispered Kagura in an uncharacteristic shaky voice. Okita felt her small figure trembling behind him, and for the first time since they met, saw her truly afraid.

Takasugi clicked his tongue and stepped closer to the bandaged guy. "Pay them no heed, my friend. They're merely unwanted guests. You've been asking me for a fight for god knows how long, and a fight with me—and only me—you shall have."

The red-haired shadow laughed long and hard until he was out of breath. The other members of the Kiheitai even found it unnerving. "No, no, no, Takasugi-kun. Shit. I was looking forward to our fight for a fucking long time, but this?" He lifted the umbrella strapped to his back and pointed the end of it threateningly at Okita and Kagura—he saw then that it was probably a modified gun from how the end of it looked. "This changes the game completely, Takasugi-kun. Did you—did you hide her from me on purpose, my guy? Or are you showing her off to me, telling me I've had her all along, bitch? That kinda thing, huh?" His voice was frenetic and crazed, and his eyes darted from one direction to the other.

"Hmph. Why would I even bother to do any of that?" The delinquent's cold, unnaturally calm voice contrasted greatly with the intruder's. A gust of smoke flowed out of Takasugi's nostrils, hiding his facial expression.

The guy laughed again. "I don't know, maybe 'cause everyone knows I've been looking for this idiot for a long, long, long time already." He moved quickly, and the next second he was already in front of Okita, with the scared Kagura standing behind him. Slowly, he peeled off the bandages from his face, revealing a cold, psychopathic, male version of Kagura's face. "Ain't that right… sister dear?"

The way he said sister was so full of hatred and vitriol that Okita almost flinched. Even though he knew China was kind of crazy, this psychopath who was claiming to be her brother had a face of the criminally insane. "Oi. Stop kidding around, fuck-face. Obviously, China doesn't want anything to do with you. And it looks like the one-eyed bastard over there is close to throwing a tantrum since you've been ignoring him for too long."

"Say, I know you too, you dog! Aren't you that punk bitch who I almost beat up before your homeroom teacher guarded you like a baby?" He laughed out loud, a sharpened fang from his mouth glimmering under the moonlight. "I can play with you too if you like, dog, but maybe after you shape up. Now kindly step aside so we can iron out some… urgent family matters."

"There's nothing to talk about, idiot older brother! Leave me alone!" yelled Kagura.

The guy feigned hurt. "That hurts me, Kagura-chan. You don't want to play with Kamui nii-san anymore? After I spent all those years protecting your ass from being beat up, this is how you treat me? After I took over the Harusame, when that Baldy-"

"You're the worst out of all of them, you idiot! Now go away!"

As soon as the words flew out of Kagura's mouth, the dangerous guy called Kamui lunged for her without warning. Okita felt his body move by itself, and instantly his foot went across the redhead's face.

Barely flinching as he rubbed the point of impact on his face, Kamui laughed excitedly, the frenzied energy from before rising to the point of actual electricity. "So you wanna play now dog? Have you been enjoying that weakling's company that much?... well, Onii-san isn't allowing anyone to ever date that weakling, ever!" Within the next second, a barrage of fists and kicks went Okita's way. He matched his speed and strength, but not as easily earlier that day during Janken Pon.

"Hmph. If you're whining about weakness, it might be a genetic problem, you fucking siscon," he said with a confident smirk. A feeling of excitement inexplicably rose inside him—he finally found his match. His fist collided with his opponent's, and he felt the bones and tendons underneath his bandages strain under the force of his punch.

"Not bad, dude. But let's see you handle this." The umbrella from Kamui's back came down over his head, and he barely dodged it. The part of the floor that collided with it shattered into pieces of broken tile.

Barely a moment has passed when the umbrella aimed for him again, and all he could do was to jump away from it. He heard the click of the safety being switched off. He cursed out loud when he saw a red blur making its way at Kamui's back. "Idiot! Don't—"

"BASTAAARD!" Kagura had kicked off her heels and leaped high enough to kick the back of Kamui's head, causing the umbrella to drop to the ground. The kick didn't hit him squarely, and to Okita's dismay it took him less than a second to turn around and go on full-on berserker mode against his little sister. They moved so quickly that all anybody else saw were black, red, and white blurs spinning around and breaking more floor tiles.

There was something wrong with the way both of them fought—it felt like all the limits were off, it felt like nothing fuelled the fight but unfiltered killing intent. Okita helplessly watched the display of raw strength and power and bloodlust displayed in front of him. When he moved to try to attack Kamui again, a shinai blocked his path.

With smoke coming out of his nostrils, Takasugi said, "This isn't for a Shinsengumi dog to be involved in."

The next moment happened very quickly. Kamui, his pale face now flushed with excitement and killing intent, had finally overpowered Kagura, and had straddled her, aiming to hit her on her face. Takasugi rushed in, aiming to pierce Kamui's head with the end of the shinai. Right before the fist or the wooden sword made contact with any of their targets, the loud bang of the door and the fierce snarl of a dog stopped them in their tracks.

"You rule-breaking bastards. Students aren't allowed here," came the low, dangerous drawl of a tall figure permeating a bright silver aura.

While he was livid before, Okita now had no words to describe the pure rage that emanated from Ginpachi-sensei. There was nothing lazy or ridiculous about his appearance then. His suit was rumpled and torn at some areas, as if he had just come from a massive struggle. Just the mere step he took towards the red-haired siblings was enough to stun everyone on that rooftop into silence. A giant white dog with a red bow tie followed him with bared fangs, looking like a wild direwolf who's ready to eat any villain's face off.

Okita surmised that this was not the Ginpachi-sensei that he knew, but it was him—the Shiroyasha of legend.

"Gin-chan," whimpered Kagura pleadingly. She had a trail of blood coming from a tear in her lower lip. She had her hands to her throat, trying in vain to pry Kamui's strong fingers off.

"Sensei—" began the surprised Takasugi, but he was effortlessly pushed aside by the angry teacher, and he stumbled out of the way. In an instant, Ginpachi's foot was at the centre of the petrified Kamui's face. The sound of the impact was strong, like a gunshot, and any ordinary skull would have sustained a fracture. The older brother's grip loosened, and the small girl was able to wriggle free from his hold. In the next instant, she was being shielded from further harm by the big white dog.

Getting kicked in the face seemed to have snapped Kamui out of the trance. He laughed maniacally and rubbed his forehead. Part of his skin at his forehead had torn upon impact, and blood freely flowed down his face. "What a kick, teach! I came here to duke it out against the strongest person in Gintama High, but it looks like I picked a fight with the wrong person."

"I don't fight barbecue-smelling, snot-nosed punks like you," said Ginpachi. He took a step in between the siblings, shielding Kagura behind his strong back. The white dog padded next to her and growled protectively. "Besides, I'm the only one who's allowed to kick my stupid students' asses, so you just crossed a thin line."

Kamui looked like he was about to retort, but was interrupted with the clanging of the metal fence at the edge of the building and an unfamiliar exasperated voice. "Captain, what's taking so long?"

All of the persons on the rooftop glared at the owner of the voice: it was an older, shabbier looking guy with brown hair and a five o'clock shadow, probably in his thirties. He wore the same black outfit as the crazy redhead. He faltered upon seeing all the people of the rooftop. "H-hey Cap. What's with all the people here? What part of top secret and undercover did you not get?! We were supposed to be sneaky about this!"

"Ah~! About that, Abuto. Obviously, I ran into some unexpected retards!" Despite the blood flowing over his face, he had a happy look and scratched the back of his head comically. "Including that weak idiot over there. See? So excuse me for taking longer than expected."

"Oh?" The man called Abuto glanced at Kagura, and then at Kamui again. "A rabbit too, huh? Anyways, Captain, it doesn't matter. We gotta leave. NOW."

"Now-now?"

"Yes, now-now. For the love of god, hurry up." Without another word, Abuto leaped off the fence and disappeared from sight.

Kamui clicked his tongue and leapt off the roof, not even sparing another glance at the mess he made.

At the same moment, the sound of an explosion, followed by the screams of about a hundred students, suddenly rang out and echoed around the stillness of the night.


It wasn't the first time that Okita felt that nauseating, cold-sweat-down-your-spine kind of fear, the type of fear that you feel when people might be fucking dying around you, but it wasn't a feeling that he missed.

Even though they all ran at the speed of light, the run from the rooftop to the gymnasium felt like it took a hundred years. There was smoke all over the gym, and the scent of it made him choke. He heard someone ahead of him shout something like Don't come any closer, get to safety but he didn't listen. There were people lying on the floor, crawling out, and he needed to help them. His Shinsengumi instinct took over.

At some point, someone pulled the fire alarm, and water flowed freely out of the sprinklers in the ceiling. There must have been a fire somewhere in the gym, and even more smoke covered what little left was there to be seen. He saw a couple of unconscious girls on the ground, and he carried them off. With his limited vision, he saw Kagura and even the members of the Kiheitai begin to help some people too.

Somewhere, somehow, the evacuation effort was accomplished, and a mess of fire trucks and ambulances crowded the school's driveway, their red and blue flashing lights disturbing the night sky. Some people were on stretchers and wheelchairs, and many of them were crying and shell-shocked. But he heard one of the doctors say that apart from a few kids hyperventilating and pulling a muscle from running away, it seems that everyone was able to escape with mild injuries only.

Some grown-ups examined him for any injuries, found none, and put a blanket over him. He saw someone put a band-aid over the lower half of Kagura's face—an injury that definitely wasn't from the chaos of the gym. In another minute she was wrapped in her own white blanket as well.

He walked over and sat next to her wordlessly. She was absently petting her dog with one hand, and staring at where her foster dad was speaking to a couple of police officers.

"Hey."

"This is fucked up."

Nothing summarized the situation better. Okita, who never had to comfort anyone before, awkwardly patted her on the back. Her eyes were turbulent, and he almost heard her mind racing.

"Hey. Where have you guys been?"

Wrapped in their individual white blankets, Hijikata and Kondou joined them, with the former slumping tiredly next to Okita. Both of them had bandages at various parts of their faces and looked equally miserable.

"We were at the rooftop with Sensei when the explosion happened," said Okita. Noting the state of shock in their features, he decided to fill them in on the actual commotion with Takasugi and that crazy older brother later. "How about you guys? Were you there when it happened?"

Kondou nodded. "Otsuu-chan had just started her gig, so most of us flocked near the stage. All I can remember is a flash of light coming from the other side of the gym, followed by a loud sound and a ton of smoke. Didn't see who could have done it. People started screaming and panicking, so it was harder to see anyone suspicious… we worked hard to evacuate everyone and to keep everyone safe, but…"

"But?"

Kondou glanced nervously at Kagura, who returned his concerned gaze. "Gorilla, what happened? O-oi, Mayora…" she asked, the panic rising in her voice.

Hijikata didn't look her way. Instead, he glanced in the direction of where an utterly defeated Nobume was seated all by herself. Next to her was the police chief Isaburo, who seemed to be attempting to console her.

"Shit. Don't tell me—" began Okita. Kagura bolted to where Nobume was seated. The boys watched as the girls embraced each other, the taller, more stoic one of them suddenly bursting into tears.

Tokugawa Soyo, 3Z's class president and princess, was missing. Very likely kidnapped. And most likely by the hands of that Kamui bastard's gang.

Later on, after the tears were shed and bandages were placed and statements were taken and blankets were taken off, Kagura and Nobume marched resolutely in front of the surprised members of the Shinsengumi, and behind Ginpachi-sensei's back.

"I'm through running away from that idiot and his idiot gang," she announced. "Let's get Soyo-chan back."


AN: Unimportant note: *drools* I... I was never good at writing anything except angsty shit or stupid crack shit before and I'm always anxious about writing romantic things. Why the hell did I write romance anyway sobs

Important notes:
I was recently allowed to create my own AO3 account so this story is also posted there under JuniRiceBall. :)

After this or the next chapter I might have to slow down with my updates because 1) real-life related stuff (it ain't easy workin' in health care) and 2) there will be lots of other POVs to be used, and I want to make sure that they will be properly written down. Also the insomnia engine that made me write the story up to this point seems to have burnt out and suddenly it's hard to write again. But not to worry! I've an outline written out so I know how this story ends. I plan to keep this under 30 chapters at least orz
Sorry about my profanities. Thank you very much to those who consistently review this story (and in effect givin me a confidence boost) esp Akely and Addicted~! I've never planned such a long story before and I hope you continue bearing with me~ Please stay tuned for the next chapter, where many other things will come to light!