Sougo Okita was a smart man, praised as a genius in more than one way. But you didn't need to be a genius to know that the Yorozuya showing up at the Shinsengumi compound was a bad sign. A very bad sign.
As expected of them, they started a fight.
He watched the priests and monks engage the crazy trio, independent of whether they were allied with the Joishishi or not. A wooden sword swung down in the middle of a crowd, clearing the area around it. Elsewhere the sound of a machine gun was heard, hinting at the Yato's signature weapon.
And the glasses stand.
But that wasn't all. He took notice of the two additional presences at the compound, both of which he had encountered before. All pieces fell into place, and he realized that it must've been them in the forest on their way here.
As for their reason to do so, he would have to go ask them.
He acknowledged their way of handling the situation. Hell, if he'd been the one infiltrating the enemy base, he would probably proceed similarly, if not the same.
They were inside the compound, in one of the offices at the far end of the hall. He chuckled.
The last place any of the currently very frantic Shinsengumi officers would think of encountering the enemy, the commander's office.
He walked through the chaos unnoticed, slipping in to the building with no hesitation. He smirked once he picked up the radiating bloodlust seeping through the hallway, confirming his suspicions. His fingers twitched in anticipation as they inched towards the hilt of his katana.
He would see that bloody bitch again today, and he couldn't wait to fight her once more.
Kagura.
Her name burned in his thoughts, enticing him to make her bleed, make her admit defeat. It was irresistible, and the mere sliding door as well as her subordinate were the only things separating him from his visions. He noted that she'd definitely look good tied up in ropes and gagged.
Just as he was about to confront the two Yatos, the small, nagging thought that he'd been having since he first took notice of them surfaced.
Why were two high-ranking Harusame members here?
If his captain was bothered, she sure didn't show it.
He had noticed the slight surprise which had crossed her face for a millisecond when they had found her brother amongst the fray, but it was gone as quickly as it had come.
Kagura being Kagura, having absolutely no plan of the compound's layout, naturally strutted in with all her pride intact, blending in perfectly with her robes and her wide brimmed straw hat hiding her vibrant hair. Shinsengumi members ran in and out, trying to get the situation under control, but succeed they did not.
Heck, they hadn't even noticed the two additional people strolling through their headquarters. After listening in to some of their conversations, Kagura signalled him to follow her down one of the hallways, slipping in to the room at the very end.
Abuto let his eyes skim over the scrolls and papers flying around and whispered "I think this is the Chief's office."
His captain nodded. "Now let's look for information the Harusame may have left. For all we know, they may be working with the Shinsengumi."
The blonde Yato shuffled through a stack of papers on the desk and sighed, wondering why his captain couldn't always show her rational, strategic side.
"It doesn't look like they were involved in the planning." Abuto concluded after a few minutes. Kagura nodded meekly before signalling him to be quiet. He raised an eyebrow, but decided not to question her decisions. She may be bat-shit crazy, but at least she knows what she's doing. Most of the time. Sometimes. Actually, does she?
And thus, once again, Abuto found himself questioning why he ever took in that little girl on Rakuyou all those years ago. Maybe her brother would have been the better choice…
After thinking about his canon self, he realized he was doomed to misery ever since he laid eyes on Umibuzo's children. One was just as bad as the other.
Thinking back to the present, he readjusted his grip on his parasol when he felt the presence of another behind the sliding doors.
Kamui briefly wondered whether the upset feeling in his stomach came from over-eating before storming into this fight. One way or another, he was sure that something wasn't right.
But he couldn't see what could possibly be the problem. Gin was still beating up monks with his wooden sword, Shinpachi was doing his best and even Madao was holding his own. And the Shinsengumi officers as well.
He slammed his purple umbrella down on another priest, watching the man fall over like a dead log. Sadaharu panted happily next to him, giving him an affectionate lick of slobbering saliva across his face. The Yato grinned slightly and patted his head.
The nagging feeling of unease still rested in his stomach, but he decided to blame it on bad food.
The shuffling, even though it was only ever as audible, died down after a few minutes. Okita bend his knees slightly, preparing to engage his enemies any moment, especially since the aura around him suddenly shifted from the unbound bloodlust to something much colder.
Not even a minute later he found himself dodging a fist that would have caused more damage than the sandy-haired officer would have liked to think about. The glinting azure eyes that were scrutinizing him confirmed all his speculations from earlier.
"I have to wonder why the Harusame decided to send a little bitch like you here. Need to 'clean up' anything?" He asked the female snidely with heavy implication.
She didn't reply straight away, instead staring on into his eyes, contemplating something. "No." She said after a few seconds, pulling back her clenched fist, but remaining in his proximity. "My reasons for being here are none of your concern."
Now, Sougo Okita wasn't a people person, and he probably wasn't a world champion in reading other people, but his gut feeling told him that something was troubling this feisty redhead. He remembered the last time he saw her, her raging murderous intent, her vivid blue eyes, her bright red hair contrasting the dim sky – but the girl in front of him was different.
She was studying him, looking for something. Her eyes were cold and calculating, but she wasn't strategizing how to take him down. Her mind was somewhere else.
"Considering that you're in my boss' office, I do believe I have every right to interrogate you." He smirked.
No retorts, no sarcastic comments or witty remarks, hell, not even a single swear word. Okita decided then and there that he preferred the other Kagura.
It shouldn't have been a surprise that he was the one to find her. From what she could gather and heard about the man in question, he was a prodigy and quite intelligent, even if he put that brain into the wrong thoughts. And quite the fighting prowess as well.
After he asked her why they were here, she searched his blood red eyes for any kind of hint, any bit of information that he was trying to hide away. Because, judging by his reaction, the Shinsengumi might not have had anything to do with this.
Since she wasn't answering, he decided to do the next best thing: completely dominate her and force some answers out of her. His thumb pushed the handle of his katana out of its holster and he swiftly drew his sword, bring it up between himself and the Yato. She deftly blocked it with her purple parasol.
The hallway was dark, save for the few rays of moonlight that somehow illuminated the office and a small portion of the corridor.
The Harusame captain was still standing next to the doorway, bathing in the soft moonlight. Okita noted her attire, a sort of priest uniform, and the way the harsh moonlight made her already pale complexion even paler. Like a doll.
He smirked. China doll. If going on appearances alone, it'd be a perfect fit.
Now if only she could also be as fragile as a doll…
Narrowly avoiding getting completely socked by her superhuman strength, he escaped into the office, eyes darting around looking for her companion. His eyes landed on the tall, blonde man who was holding an umbrella in his hand and giving him a disinterested look.
China doll's eyes flitted over to the other Yato. "Abuto, go on to the next room. I'll take care of this."
The blonde Yato, apparently named Abuto, let out a sigh before complying.
"Now back to my question from earlier, care to elaborate?" He redirected his focus to the redhead. She still didn't answer, instead bringing her purple umbrella up between her and his sword.
Then she suddenly twisted her body, bringing her leg up in a lightning-fast kick aimed for his stomach. He sidestepped the attack in the last second, thrusting out his katana in her direction, but she just blocked it with her umbrella.
"Are you suddenly too good to even say anything to me?" He grunted as he blocked one of her fists with his blade. She seemed unnerved, even if there was blood slowly dripping off her fingers.
She narrowed her eyes at him once again.
"Maybe you're just speechless because of my dashing good looks." He teased, continuing his one-sided conversation.
"As if, you annoying Chihuahua." She replied in irritation as her umbrella connected with his side. He swallowed down the spur of blood rising up his throat and let out a pained chuckle.
"Funny story, your brother once called me the same thing."
Her eyes darkened at the mention of her brother. "Don't mention that weakling to me ever again."
But then her face took on an innocent smile once more as she shot out a barrage of bullets at the Shinsengumi captain. "But it fits that you're so well acquainted with him, considering that you're not much stronger."
Okita leapt behind the desk, pulling it up to protect himself from the rain of bullets. His side was aching, and she probably hit some important organ. But that didn't stop him from making snide remarks. "Really? Because the way I see it, you're the one who's not much stronger than him."
He felt her moment of hesitation and he grinned. He grabbed the conveniently placed matches and sake bottle, igniting the alcohol and throwing his makeshift Molotov cocktail at his opponent.
Thank goodness the gorilla always had some sake in his office.
All the fighting stopped for a moment when an explosion suddenly took out quite a bit of the Shinsengumi compound. Priests were sent flying through the air as flames engulfed parts of the building. Once everybody's eyes had adjusted to the brightness, they could make out two figures within the rubble. One holding out an umbrella in front of itself, the other with a rocket launcher perched on its shoulder.
Of course, Abuto heard the explosion. How could one not? But he sure as hell wasn't going to save his captain's ass this time.
He peacefully continued looking through the papers in the Shinsengumi's archive, ignoring all the chaos ensuing outside.
She was pissed beyond anything. Kagura brought up a hand to the side of her face, confirming that the warm liquid she felt was indeed her blood. Her ears were still ringing from the loud blast, and her umbrella barely sustained the damage of the point blank bomb, very unlike her clothing, which was shredded. She pulled off the remains of the robes she wore over her duangua, noting that at least she still had enough fabric covering the important bits.
She made out the sadistic outline of her opponent, who somehow managed to get his hands on a rocket launcher amidst all the chaos. Her eyes swept to the front yard of the Shinsengumi compound, where many disbelieving looks were locked on her. The Harusame members.
She smiled at them and waved. Small fry like them was easy-peasy.
As expected they charged at her, abandoning their opponents. She waited to see whether the Shinsengumi officers were going to react in any similar fashion, but they did not.
However, Kagura still didn't trust them.
And somewhere in the crowd, she locked eyes with equally blue ones.
Kamui knew that whatever the reason for the explosion was, it couldn't have been good. Especially after two thirds of the priests suddenly stormed towards the burned down area. He approached the rowdy crowd, the unsettling feeling in his stomach growing and growing with every step.
The red-haired girl in the distance, standing among the broken pillars and planks, illuminated by the flames that hadn't quite died down yet, with blood running down her face and limbs like tears (as in when something is torn) were running through her clothes was smiling brightly, but fake. Her electric blue orbs found his in the distance, and then one look was enough to establish that things were still the same between them.
It said, "Watch me. Watch me take down this crowd you were struggling with up till now. See how much stronger I'll always be."
Okita momentarily looked surprised as designated priests suddenly began attacking his opponent. But she didn't even flinch, instead she smiled and waved at them, as if she had been expecting it all along.
What a weird girl. No, not girl. Pig-Elephant. What a weird Pig-Elephant.
And then, despite all her injuries, she spun through the mass of people and took them out flawlessly and gracefully, one after the other. Occasionally she fired her machine-umbrella-gun, clearing the wave in no time.
A crackling static interrupted his observations.
"Sougo!"
"Yes, Kondo?" He replied through the radio.
"Are you at the compound?"
"Yes."
"What's the situation?"
Okita glanced at the redhead who was only further destroying their training grounds, splattering blood all over it and leaving a pile of dead bodies behind.
"I have everything under control." He drawled.
"Good, because Katsura just brought down a spaceship in the middle of Edo. Hold down the fort till we get back!"
"Roger." He replied. Time to stop her rampage.
Revelling in the sound of crunching bones and dead bodies falling to the ground, she smiled on as another one bit the dust on the Shinsengumi grounds.
But the Shinsengumi members really didn't seem to have anything to do with the planning. The last priest fell and she decided to also take care of that annoying thorn in her foot, Captain Sougo Okita. She turned around the face him, only to get knocked in the face. Hard. With a rocket launcher.
He never actually expected that to work, but whatever.
She fell over backwards, landing on her backside, spluttering a few curse words as she held her nose.
Okita didn't waste a second, immediately straddling her to keep her down, the blade of his katana at her neck. He held both of her wrists over her head in a firm grasp.
"Why are you here and why are they targeting you? Answer me." He looked at her hard, unwilling to move his eyes off her until she said something.
"You don't know?" She asked as she narrowed her eyes at him.
There it was again, the calculating look. And suspicion.
"Why should I know what the Harusame is up to?" He inquired.
She thought about something for a few seconds before looking him straight in the eye and calmly stating, "They're trying to kill me."
"No shit, Sherlock." He deadpanned.
"Sherlock Holmes doesn't exist in this timeline." She cheekily replied.
"He does now. And answer the question before I make you, I will have you know that I have many methods in my arsenal." He announced.
"They're afraid of me." She summarized her situation with a smile. "The Elders and Admiral Asshole are afraid I'll overthrow them."
"Why are you suddenly telling me this?" He interrogated her.
She chuckled slightly. "They say women don't know what they want, but neither do you. You're going to start questioning my motives after you've undressed and forced yourself on me?"
"Don't change the topic." He tightened his grip around her small wrists, giving her a taste of her own medicine.
A dead body suddenly smacked him in the side, knocking him off the Yato's form. He coughed up the blood this time as he shakily stood up, glaring in the direction of where the projectile came from.
Burning blue eyes and a red braid dramatically waving in the air told him it was China Boy who made him loose his hold on his enemy.
She was up on her feet again, standing proudly.
"Why the fuck did you do that?" He glowered at the Yorozuya member.
"She may be an idiotic bitch, but she's still my sister."
AN: My shortest chapter by far, but I hope the Kagura-Sougo interaction made up for it.
And merry Christmas, I guess.
[Edit 31.05.17: Still busy removing honorifics, don't mind me]
~Emi