I See Red
Chapter 15: Red Neck
The sun was setting, and the uncomfortable heat and humidity that surrounded the forest was slowly dissipating. It was good for them not to need their umbrellas at that time, since they had a lot of cargo—he with a bag of goods, mostly food in the form of rice balls and meat buns and ramen, and the Captain with the collapsed princess.
The explosions were likely not Housen's idea, although Kamui was insistent that the old man was stupid enough to attempt it should the Shogun refuse their demands. However, it hasn't been 24 hours since the princess was kidnapped, and it's unlikely that they would abandon the negotiations so early. No, Abuto was sure that it was a different group who was responsible. A lot of other people in the Harusame wanted the 7th division dead, after all.
"A lot of people are still salty against what that damned baldy did," muttered Kamui. "But do you think they're dumb enough to try to kill the princess along with us?"
Abuto shrugged. "You never really know what the head honchos of the Harusame could be thinking." It was such a big organization, and each division might as well be its own independent gang from how little interaction they had with each other. The unity that it once had dissolved when Umibozu abandoned the triad.
A small groaning sound interrupted their conversation. Kamui looked over his shoulder and noted that the girl was beginning to stir.
"Hey, turns out she's still alive, after all."
The girl was mumbling something incoherent in Japanese. Kamui put her down on the ground and watched intently (well, creepily) as her eyes slowly flew open.
"K… Kagura-chan…?" she mumbled weakly. "Where am I…?"
"Hm. Looks like she knows the weakling, too. Is that why she's pretty weak, too? Birds of a feather and all that." He started poking her on the cheek in a silly attempt to get her out of her stupour.
"Oi. Know how to treat a lady, will ya? She's probably like that 'cause she hasn't eaten or drank anything for almost a day." Abuto knelt and opened up his pack and rummaged for a canteen of water and a rice ball. Carefully, he tipped some water into the princess' dry mouth, and after coughing for a bit, she gratefully gulped down the cool liquid. A bit of colour went back into her face, and some semblance of clarity was seen in her eyes.
"Thank you," she said in Mandarin, much to Abuto's surprise.
"Nice, Abuto. Lemme try this time!" Kamui took the rice ball and practically smashed the entire thing into the princess' mouth.
She coughed and punched him in the face in retaliation. It was strong enough to reopen the wound on his forehead, and blood freely gushed out of the gash and over his face.
"… shit. My heart is thumping so fast~"
Abuto sighed and handed his captain a piece of cloth. He turned to the girl, who was munching on the rice ball in irritation. "Sorry about what happened back there, princess. We didn't know any of this would happen."
"Please, call me Soyo. Thank you for rescuing me," she said, again in Mandarin. It was much more fluent than he expected, and he wondered how much of the conversations earlier were picked up by her. "I don't really understand what's going on, but I'd appreciate it if you gentlemen were to bring me back home now. I can guarantee a reward for both of you."
Kamui laughed long and hard at her statement, and she glared back at him in response. "Princess, did you get amnesia and forget about the fireballs that almost killed us back there?"
"Fireballs…?" She held her head, and her face scrunched up, as if getting a massive headache. "Wait… I was kidnapped, and out of nowhere a noisy guy who looked like Kagura-chan broke me out of that prison… yes, I barely remember it, but there were explosions, weren't there…?"
"Can you not compare me to that weakling? Don't you know that I'm—" began Kamui before Abuto kicked him in the shin. "What the f—"
"Yes yes, this guy is the little rabbit's older brother! And we've come to help you out, Princess, since you're her friend, aren't you?"
"What are you talking about—"
Abuto pulled down his captain's ear painfully and he urgently whispered, "She thinks we rescued her, Cap. It'd be easier for us to transport her if she doesn't know 'bout us."
A look of enlightenment then followed, and they turned back to the princess, who sported a look of confusion in her face. Abuto scratched the back of her head bashfully and continued in the most reassuring voice he could muster. "Anyway, Princess, we're currently workin' hard to get ya outta harm's way, so I hope the three of us will get along, yeah?"
Even when she had bits of rice on her face from when his stupid captain tried to feed her, the smile that the girl gave was so elegant, Abuto felt like prostating himself in shame and unworthiness. "I understand very well. Then, please take care of me, ya miserable goons."
"Thank you-eh. Come again?"
Soyo stood up on both feet and dusted her now-dirtied and torn ball gown. She stared at them right in the eyes, the regal smile unwavering from her mouth. "I apologize for not speaking clearly. I entrust that you thugs will take me somewhere that's safer than this place. After all, I am a precious commodity to your group, the type whom you can't harm unless there's direct orders from your superiors, aren't I?"
He'd know that glint of sadism anywhere-the Captain had it, and now this pure white beautiful elegant princess in front of him practically glowed in it. Abuto felt his face turning blue. Kamui, on the other hand, appeared unfazed as he retorted, "Don't push it, girlie. I don't give a fuck whether you're a so-called precious commodity or not, I could still kill you anytime I wanted-"
For some reason, Soyo had another clean hit on the red-head's face, and a fresh spurt of blood followed it.
"P-princess! Please don't-"stammered Abuto.
"If you had wanted to kill me, boy, you would would have left me in that warehouse," said Soyo, her voice still sweet and unwavering. "I don't know what you want from me. I just know that I'm no use for you if I'm hurt or dead. Is that right?"
Despite the blood flowing from his open wound, Kamui grinned back at her. "You don't know anything, do you, little princess? You should know, I'm not like the cute little dogs you hang out with at that little public school of yours."
"Oh? 'Cos you stink like a dog. And not a cute one."
"... in fact, I barely give a shit about what happens to you." The maniacal smile didn't leave his face, and yet the little princess didn't waver until he said the next part of his speech. "But it seems like you're valuable to that weakling, so I'll have to keep you very, very close to me. Maybe if you're around, she'll finally come to her senses and come back to her cute brother's open arms, right? Right?"
While Abuto expected a look of horror on Tokugawa's face, upon the mention of Kagura, a look of disgust was plain on her face. A moment of tense silence followed.
"... siscon," mumbled Soyo, causing Abuto to choke on his own spit.
"Oi, who you calling a siscon."
"I can't believe Kagura-chan is related to a piece of garbage like you, you siscon."
"I'm not a siscon. I'm just a regular older brother."
"You're probably a lolicon too, by the looks of it. It's a good thing my dearly beloved older brother who is perfect in every way (except his stained briefs) isn't anything like you, siscon."
"Like I said, I'm not a siscon. If anything, it sounds like you have a brother complex too. (Seriously? Prime Minister Tokugawa has stained briefs?)"
"You said 'too.' You just admitted that you're a siscon, you lolisiscon. (Yes he does. And they smell pretty bad too.)"
"Um, pardon me, Cap'n and Princess," interrupted Abuto, waving his arms worriedly in the middle of the young ones, "I'm glad we decided that we aren't killing each other right now, but we gotta keep movin' before it gets dark, all right? We don't know if any of the Harusame folks got anyone chasin' after us and all."
"Shaddup, old man, yer the one who's movin' too slow," the sadistic sibling-complex duo said in unison, the creepy smiles never leaving their faces.
Abuto physically keeled over, and before he knew it, the two kids were arguing and talking trash about the Prime Minister's stained briefs once more. He stammered at his attempt at a comeback, sighed, and trudged a good distance behind them, keeping an eye for strangers with parasols in the trees.
Gunshots. Screaming. Destruction. Fire.
After briskly beating up about fifty thugs who dared stand in their way outside the warehouse, this was the scene that greeted Okita, Katsura, and Nobume when they entered the warehouse where the supposed Seventh Division set-up camp. But while they were ready to fight even more when they came in, they didn't expect to see what greeted them next.
… well, to be honest they kinda expected it. Okita stared blankly as he watched the members of the Shinsengumi pummel all the thugs they can get their hands on to the ground. Kondo-san was naked, for some reason, and was laughing victoriously over a pile of bodies. The Shimura siblings plus Yagyuu were already done with their share of thugs-the way Otae was grinning at her opponents scared them so much that they look ready to shit their pants, and the way Glasses Stand was covering his nose, it probably already happened anyway. China's giant monster of a dog was happily chewing on some poor schmuck's head. Sarutobi was neatly bundling all the defeated enemies together in bondage gear.
Katsura's duck patted his way towards the trio, holding a signboard which read, [You're late.]
"We did a cool thing back there, Elizabeth. You should have stayed behind and filmed us. It would have been good propaganda for the Jouishishi."
[But… you're with the Shinsengumi and the Mimawarigumi. That would have been sucky propaganda.]
"No matter. By the end of this, these dogs will be at our side, and… hey, don't just walk away from me, you two. Not after we did that cool entrance back there… Hey!"
Ignoring the terrorist wannabe's rambles, Nobume walked briskly amongst the unconscious criminals, not even flinching as her steel-toed boots crushed some guy's organs or balls as she did so. Okita trailed after her as she glared from one corner to another. "… I don't see Tokugawa-san anywhere."
"If she really were in this warehouse, she wouldn't be in the first room we enter."
Nobume scowled. "You're talking as if you already know that she won't be here."
"We got our intel from Takasugi, so I'm taking things with a grain of salt," answered Okita emotionlessly. This earned him a click of the tongue. "Did you really trust in him 100%? Just 'cause he's your sempai or something?"
Nobume glared at him, but didn't say anything. Seeing movement from an open door at a loft, she leapt a couple of meters off the ground, landed gracefully, and ran after it. Okita followed suit.
It led to another hallway, filled with unconscious and/or groaning thugs. They heard the sounds of someone crying and the sound of a fist beating something to a pulp.
As they ran closer, Okita heard a familiar, brash, heavily-accented voice. "I'm tellin' ya, I'll kill ya if you don't start makin' sense, uh-huh! Where's Soyo-chan?! Where did you hide her?" Bam. Bam.
"I… dunno nuthin'! I swear! OW!"
"This is where Ba-Kamui's throwin' his shit around, ainnit? Answer me!" Bam.
"L-like I told ya, that lousy Seventh Division ain't here no more! This here's the Eighth's property now! OWWW! My nose!"
Inside the room, as expected, China was beating the living daylights out of some random thug, who didn't have any front teeth left to sing about. Hijikata was on the floor, for some reason, his ugly mug scrunched up in annoyance and pain, while Takasugi was smoking a cigarette and watching the scene bemusedly. When Okita and Nobume stepped in, he gave them his usual wicked smile. "Ah, Sougo-kun. Kouhai. You survived the brawl."
Okita ignored him. He turned to Hijikata and asked, "What's going on now?"
Hijikata shook his head. "These are just small fry. They don't know anything… I'm actually more concerned about stopping that brat from actually killing that guy over there."
"Did you try to stop her, Hijibaka?"
"I got a bruise on my left kidney to prove it," he grumbled, wincing in pain.
"And I warned you that you couldn't stop a Yato from doing her thing… it's what they are good at," said Takasugi coldly, blowing a puff of smoke in the air.
"And I say, let her kill the guy if he couldn't say anything useful," answered Nobume coldly.
"You shut the fuck up." Hijikata glared at the one-eyed delinquent and even at the cold-eyed girl. Instead, he moved his head, gesturing for the younger boy to try his luck next. "Sougo. She might listen to you."
Sniffing the air, a familiar metallic scent tingled his nose-blood mixed with gunpowder and killing intent-and he briskly went to where China was. As expected, the look in her eyes was different. Before her fists made contact with the poor guy's face again, he caught them with his hands. "Oi, China. You ain't gettin' anything from a low-level thug like that."
Kagura turned to him with those piercing blue eyes carrying a maddening, bloodthirsty glare. The same one that he saw on the school rooftop. "Stay outta the way, chihuahua."
It took all of his strength to keep her fists under control. "I said stop it, China. I thought you left the Harusame so you wouldn't have to do bullshit like this anymore."
She ground her teeth so loudly that Okita expected her to spit out a chunk of tooth in the next moment. "But if we don't find Soyo-chan-"
"If Tokugawa-san saw you like this, what would she think?"
"I'm doing it for her-"
"What about Ginpachi-sensei, huh? If that perm-head saw you beating the shit outta some punk who couldn't give you the time of day, what do you think he's gonna do?"
That stopped Kagura from struggling. The cold glare in her eyes dissipated slowly, and then rapidly, and Okita let her fists go. When she looked at the thug below her in the eye, she raised her right hand once more and hit the floor next to his head with all her might.
The cement floor suddenly had a fist-sized crater next to his head, and the guy choked back a sob. He sputtered, "Y-you'll pay for this, you cheeky brats! N-no matter how strong you are, you're no match for the Harusame!"
"Hm. I'll say we're more than evenly matched, buddy." Okita gripped the guy by the collar, dragged his bloodied body across the floor, and let him look at the main area of the warehouse, where all the fire and destruction and unconscious bodies were piled up. "See, can you believe a buncha high schoolers were able to beat your gang to a pulp like this? Makes you wanna cry uncle, don't it?"
The guy wailed, but didn't falter. "You're the one who's gonna cry uncle soon! I swear it!"
All of them paused when a great noise filled the air. Okita threw the guy against the wall, knocking him unconscious.
"Is that a chopper?"
Takasugi peeked outside the window and nodded. "Looks like one of our friends here called for back-up."
Hijikata grunted as he stood up. "It's good that I've given the signal for everyone else to get outta here minutes ago," he said in a low voice. He cursed under his breath. "How many of them are out there?"
"Maybe 300 or so. With assault rifles."
"That's a lot for just fucking back-up."
"Seems so."
"We have to get moving too." He turned to the others and cursed again when they haven't budged. "Oi, move your asses already. We can't beat these guys. We gotta go, now!"
"I'm not going anywhere without Soyo-chan!" yelled Kagura indignantly. "So just stay outta our way, Hijibaka!"
"Neither am I, Hijibaka," said Nobume, her dark eyes flashing menacingly. "I can probably take on a hundred of them."
"Don't be stupid! And who the fuck are you calling Hijibaka?!" growled Hijikata, losing his composure. "I don't care how strong you are, there's no way you could take on a hundred grown men with just a shinai!"
"Watch me."
"Hijikata-san," said Okita, interrupting his aggravated noises. "We aren't leaving this building anytime soon."
"And why not, you do-S?! Are you that much of a sadist that you think you can take them on by yourself, huh?!"
"... it's just that we don't have much of a choice."
Of course, what Okita was pertaining to was the dark, menacing figure looming behind Hijikata. When he finally realized just what was going on, he jumped back, his nail bat drawn and ready for combat.
The dark figure laughed darkly and clapped his hands. "Good evening, children. I see you've made a mess of this warehouse, as expected… yet this much damage from a handful of highschoolers? I really have to give you credit for exceeding my expectations just a little bit."
The said highschoolers tensed, their weapons drawn out in front of them. The figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing a tall, pale-skinned man clad in a dark, mandarin collar suit, and long grey hair. His figure was imposing, and his smirk was derisive as his gaze went over each standing person in the room.
"... Oh. It's just some old geezer," said Kagura, giving an exaggerated sigh. "And to think I was worried that the main boss finally arrived."
The man's lip twitched upward. "So you think I'm just some old geezer, eh? I don't look main boss enough for you?"
"Why? You look fresh outta the seniors home. Did you lose your way, old man? Do you need our help getting home?"
"Now, now, China," began Okita, not changing his nonchalant facial expression, "he went through all the trouble setting up the tense atmosphere… ya gotta try not to hurt the old geezer's feelings, ya know?"
Hijikata glared at the two of them, begging them silently to shut up, but all the old man did was to laugh that unnerving dark laugh again. "They don't teach good manners in school anymore, I see. I should tell that silver-haired teacher of yours to start doing his job properly, shouldn't I? Maybe an AK to his dead-fish eyes will do the trick."
That shut them up effectively. Seeing the wideness of Kagura's eyes, the man laughed again.
"How-how do you-"
"You're afraid. And now you respect me. That's more like it." The man walked closer to them, both hands hidden behind him, and instinctively all of them stepped back. "Why are you surprised that I know all of you? You figured out rather quickly that the Harusame was behind the incident at your school. It follows that I've done my due research before doing that easy little job back then." He smirked and looked at Nobume, a falsely apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry. I know you did your best, Nobume-chan. But you could have put more backbone into protecting the precious Prime Minister's sister. That was your one and only job, wasn't it?"
Nobume growled and threw herself at the old man, but he effortlessly dodged. In the blink of an eye, he had already beaten up and thrown Nobume fifteen feet over the loft, and all they heard was the sound of her body crashing to the ground below.
"Nobume-chan!" cried Kagura. The boys looked at each other, and Takasugi nodded and went after where Nobume has fallen. The girl motioned to follow him until the old man tut-tut-tutted at her with one finger.
"Now now, Kagura-chan, don't go. Let Takasugi-kun handle it, that broken boy has no use for me. But you-you're the most important person in this room, and I can't just let you leave…" As he grinned at her, one hand was already reaching for her collar, but in the next second, Okita pulled her back and shielded her with his body. Hijikata stood next to him and added to the human shield.
"Okita-kun and Hijikata-kun. You best stay out of the way," said the old man. "Unless you want to be involved too."
"Just try and get yer grubby hands on her, you damn old geezer," Hijikata seethed.
The old man sighed exaggeratedly. "Look, you guys… you can struggle all you want, but it's way too late for the two of you, okay? If you stay quiet, I won't lay a finger on her, and all of us can go home happy, right?"
"Like heck we'll believe you," said Okita, not backing down. That murderous glint in his eyes was no joke, and Okita knew there was no way that he won't try to maim any of them, little monster girls included. "We ain't backing down without a fight."
"If you say so… I must say, Okita-kun, it is indeed very bold of you to choose to help one of my kin in her misguided attempts to foil my plans… and leave one of your own so helpless and defenseless back in Tokyo."
Okita felt his heart stop.
"What… are you saying," he heard Hijikata choke beside him.
The man laughed obnoxiously again. "Ah, Hijikata-kun, I almost forgot… his precious aneue is your one and only sweetheart, isn't she? Ah, young love… I have to say, my men and I are quite jealous of how endless Mitsuba-chan's affections are for both of you… I'm sure there's an endless supply of it for her to give to an old man like me, even inside a brothel, right?"
Within the next instant, all three of them descended upon the old man with their weapons, and in the next, all three of them were thrown away by the sheer force of his bare hands. Their bodies collided against the concrete and steel walls, leaving body-shaped dents as they fell. Again, they got up and leapt, almost simultaneously, and even though Okita knew that he was able to hit the man on the arm and at the back, all it took was one swing of the fist before the three of them found themselves on the floor again.
They did this a number of times, and each time Okita felt all the wind knocked out of his lungs. He knew that his body was physically reeling from pain and shock, but he couldn't feel anything but a cold, sick dread taking over his body. Next to him, Hijikata was struggling to stand up, a thin line of blood trailing from his mouth.
"Kids, that last hit kind of hurt. I don't have a lot of time to play around, though. I suggest you start taking me more seriously." The man indeed looked like he began to hurt in some places, but the wicked grin on his face told them that he was enjoying himself a little too much.
Kagura had a bit of strength in her, and she was able to leap up once more from the ground, but as she aimed one strong leg at the man's head, all he did was to step to the side neatly and to catch Kagura by the neck.
In horror, Okita watched as the strong, unruly China girl that he knew, choke and struggle weakly against the man's vice grip. "Now, this is interesting. I thought that Umibozu's seed would have a little more fight in her. Japan must have softened you, my dear."
Kagura choked out, "L-leave… onee-sama… alone…"
"Hmph. I could kill you right now, and you have the nerve to be worried about somebody else. Are you taking me seriously, Kagura-chan?"
He tightened his grip around her neck, and Kagura choked some more. Okita cursed his body for not moving, cursed his leg for having the nerve to be broken at a perfect 90-degree angle at this time-cursed his arm for not having the strength to hold onto his bat anymore-
"You're just like your father, aren't you? He never took me seriously, Kagura-chan. Did you know that he once left a duel with me to take a dump? Me, Housen, the King of the Night! I've never been more insulted in my life!"
"I… don't… care…" Kagura wheezed out.
"And it doesn't stop there, Kagura-chan! Your little family really, really, really despises me, doesn't it?!" The man called Housen tightened his grip more, and blood started to seep out of the corner of Kagura's mouth. "Your brother has the nerve to not die, just when I needed him to die! Did you know about that, Kagura-chan? He's supposed to be blown to smithereens now, along with that little Tokugawa Princess, but he isn't."
What… is he talking about? Okita struggled to stand up and to listen more closely, ignoring all the pain in his body.
Ever so slightly, he loosened the grip on Kagura's neck and looked straight into her face. "So… everyone in Harusame knows that he's obsessed with you, Kagura-chan. I'm sure he's been in touch with you. Won't you tell me where he went?"
The room fell silent. For a few silent moments, there was nothing but the sound of Kagura's ragged breathing, and of the gears in her head click-click-clicking in deep thought. A subtle shift in the aura, so subtle that Okita almost missed it, made her eyes widen in surprise.
And thus, after a few moments of thoughtful silence, Kagura spit in his face in response.
The bloody wad of spit decorated the geezer's ugly old man mug so gracefully that Okita would have applauded, were it not for the impending feeling of doom that followed them. "You cheeky little brat. You still don't understand who you're dealing with, aren't you?"
"I… know… exactly who… you are," breathed Kagura, struggling to keep her voice audible. "And… you don't scare me… because… my dad will protect me…"
"Umibozu? That old wandering fool?" scoffed Housen. "You must be deluded, thinking that that old coward is going to come for you in your time of need."
"No… not him."
Before Housen could open his mouth to retort, the door flew open with a loud BANG! And before he could turn his head to even look at the source of the sound, a pair of black boots already found their way onto his old face.
Okita watched in awe as a familiar silver-permed sensei began to beat the shit out of the older man, who swiftly began to fight back as well. Kagura fell to the ground and crawled away from the brawl, gasping for air and coughing out blood. Instinctively, she grasped at her neck, where angry red streaks of the old man's handprints already began to show through her pale skin.
The way Ginpachi-sensei fought was nothing like how he attacked Kamui before. His red fish-eyes were dark and furious, and all limits seemed to be off. The way he handled a bokuto was so skillful and fearsome that Okita was sure he was looking at an actual samurai. But even as his blows were forceful and quick, Housen was just as quick to block them, and it was hard to tell then who was winning or who was losing.
Just who are these people?! thought Okita. But he had other things to worry about.
"China... Kagura," called out Okita. He watched her get hurt again, and it really made him feel like shit, but this was no time to feel sorry for himself. Ginpachi-sensei was giving their all to cover their asses, and they needed to get out of there and get help. He tried to crawl to where she was, but before he could reach her, something from the shadows crawled out and grabbed her, and then Hijikata, and then himself.
Seeing them being whisked away, Ginpachi-sensei yelled out their names. Housen hit him in the face in response.
"As expected, Sakata-san. Indeed, you are the Shiroyasha that everyone talked about way back when. Strong, but easily distracted by the very things he wants to protect," said Housen. He was breathing heavily, and the smirk was gone from his face. "Yet I didn't expect you to bring the cops along. What a shame."
As if on cue, Chief Isaburo appeared from the doorway. He carried the unconscious Nobume under one arm and had a gun pointed at Housen in the other. "Housen. You and this faction of the Harusame are surrounded. You are under arrest for a list of crimes too long and bothersome for me to say right now. Let the children go if you want to get out of here alive."
Housen laughed darkly. "You police really think you're all powerful, aren't you…?"
"I wouldn't underestimate these tax robbers, you old geezer," said Ginpachi-sensei. "Especially not this old geezer. He's a dad whose daughter you hurt. You know that no decent father won't hesitate to kill you for that."
Housen smirked, and raised both hands in the air.
In the next moment, however, he and the three shadows who apprehended the kids, jumped out the window, and onto a silent stealth helicopter waiting outside. A barrage of gunfire from the police force below barely missed them, the bullets harmlessly bouncing off the helicopter's hull.
A great noise and a large flash of light filled their senses, and there was a moment when there was nothing but stunned silence. The next thing Okita, Hijikata, and the screaming Kagura saw from the helicopter was the warehouse exploding and turning into a blazing inferno.
The jarring noise of the bombs grew softer as the distance between them and what was once the warehouse grew larger, leaving Okita to listen helplessly as Kagura cried for their teacher and her father.
AN: I cannot believe I was able to continue this lol. I'm sorry for the long wait! I've began writing the next chapter as we speak. More drama to ensue. Will try to write more Okikagu into the next chapter. Til next time! :D
