An eerie silence surrounded him, only accompanied by the pounding sound in his head, as if somebody was repeatedly smashing a gong right next to his ear. He wanted to bring his hands up to cup his ears, to save himself from the horrid noise, but he found himself unable to. He grunted as he attempted to move his suddenly aching body and quickly found part of the reason for his difficulty in moving. His wrists strained against cold metal of sorts, and once the pounding in his head started to die down with his growing consciousness, he could hear the soft clinks whenever he moved them.
He opened his eyes slowly, wondering what had happened between now and his last vivid memory of collecting weapons with Hijikata in the Shinsengumi basement.
During the time his eyes needed to focus on the dark environment around him, he could make out a vibrant red head just a few metres away from him.
"China Boy?" he asked without thinking, acting more on instinct than on actual thought.
The mop of hair seemed to react and turned towards him with a huff that by no means was male.
"So the dog is also awake now, how convenient." The unmistakable voice of Kagura said in a haughty fashion before turning back to whatever she was doing prior to him waking up.
Okita's eyes needed some time to adjust to the darkness, but once they did, he recognized her feminine form and saw that she was examining the bars of whatever place they were currently being held in.
His head was still aching like crazy, but the sight of a prison cell was no stranger to him, even if he didn't expect to be enjoying the view from the inside of one of them anytime soon.
He sat up slowly, feeling the blood rush down from his head and circulating his entire body, bringing on another wave of queasiness within him. "What happened?" He groaned out after it passed.
The female Yato paused in her movements and turned back to him. "You don't remember?"
He shook his head, examining her further. She was bound by a straight-jacket of sorts, unlike him who was merely bound by a pair of shackles behind his back. Her blue eyes looked tired, and rings of darkness were already forming under them.
How long had they been here? How long hadn't she slept? How long had he slept?
She was wearing a different outfit from the last time he had seen her, back at the compound and facing off her brother… What happened?
She faced the bars again and let out a somewhat bitter chuckle. "I guess they got me. I didn't expect them to drag you along though, I thought they'd leave a sewer rat like you behind." Although she was clearly worn out, her condescending nature didn't seem to be suffering in the slightest.
He sighed and tugged at his shackles. "What's keeping a monster like you from breaking through those?", he motioned towards her new attire. "They must be like paper to you, right?" He decided to give up on getting an answer for his first question, instead skipping to the next thing bothering him.
He'd find out how he got here sooner or later, and even more important, how to get out.
"I have no need to answer to weaklings." She replied, slipping back into her smiling persona she always presented.
"Yes, a weakling you failed to kill twice." He reiterated, putting on innocent airs, but not missing the way her shoulders tensed at his statement.
Just as she was about retort, her attention shifted to something else.
"Get down." She ordered, eyes trained on something outside of their prison. "Just get down and close your eyes. Don't make a sound."
He was about to ask her the meaning of this whole ordeal, but his instincts told him to listen to her and he lowered his upper body back on the hard ground.
They were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps and the appearance of a pig-like Amanto sneering down at the Yato at the front of the cell, as Okita could make out by squinting at it.
"You won't be smiling all high and mighty for long, Lightning Spear. Even monsters like you fear something, don't you?" The pig laughed and tossed a plate of food into the cell.
"You're right." Kagura responded with a cheery tone. "I definitely couldn't smile if I found out you had accidentally turned into the ham on my dinner plate. Nobody should have to live in the fear of accidentally being infected by your stupidity."
The pig's sneer dropped in an instant, morphing into an angry growl instead. "You little bitch… You'll be begging for mercy once our captain is done with you!"
"Heh." Okita could imagine the snide grin on her face. "You mean he'll be begging me for mercy once I'm done with him."
The pig growled at her again. "Don't forget that you're weak right now, little rabbit. You're no stronger than a pathetic human."
"Oh, so you're captain is too scared to take me on when I'm not sedated? I wonder how many important peoples' wives he wooed to get that position?" She shot back without a fear in the world, all too confidently.
Sougo caught the word 'sedated' and his mind went wild. Was there really a way to control monsters like them?
"You stupid cunt!" The pig roared, unlocking the cage in a heartbeat and lifting Kagura up by the collar of her straight-jacket. "To think the captain was considering letting you join his personal collection. You're just a filthy piece of trash that even looks can't save!"
"What, his personal collection of housewives? No thanks, I'm a classy girl." She responded smugly, followed by the pig Amanto tossing her to the ground in an act of rage.
"You'll regret your words soon enough." He seethed at her, forcefully locking the door again.
"Don't keep me waiting!" She called after him through the bars, further enraging him with her sing-song voice.
Once he was gone, Okita decided to speak up. "Why did you do that?"
She looked at him over her shoulder once again. "You're awfully tame today. Cat got your tongue?"
He felt the urge to roll his eyes, but resisted. She was avoiding answering all of his questions, and he wasn't going to let that slip by. "You know what I mean." He said seriously.
"You never know who's listening." She replied cryptically, returning to her previous occupation of staring at the bars.
He sighed. "Do you think laser beams are going to shoot out of your eyes if you do that long enough or what?"
She shrugged with her shoulders, at least it looked like that from behind, he couldn't really tell with the heavy fabric wrapping itself around her slim form. "That'd be pretty cool, but no."
"Then what do you hope to achieve?"
"Their disinterest." She simply said, no context whatsoever.
"What?" He asked, slightly confused.
She angled her head towards the ground and mumbled an explanation. "There's a security camera up there. They'll be watching as long as they consider me a threat, and it's better if they think you're still out cold. Don't move to the front of the cell."
He grimaced. "I don't like taking orders."
"And I don't like being stuck in cells. Looks like we're on the same page here." She snapped in irritation.
"If you keep turning towards me and talk, won't they notice that something is different?" The sandy-haired human asked tentatively. It wouldn't work out with her plans if they found out about it through the camera feed, after all.
"They won't deem it suspicious if they consider it my habit. Talking to myself and talking to the nearly-corpse on the floor, that's what they've written in their protocols for the past five days… or was it six?"
She shook her head and started mumbling to herself, trying to figure out what day it is, all while there was one question bugging Okita's mind.
"Why do you need them to think that I'm still unconscious?"
"Because I need you. If I want to guarantee my escape, I'll need you along the way."
Okita stilled for a moment. Did that mean..?
"Then I'm not that much of a weakling?" He taunted, a smug smirk on his face.
"No, you're still a weak moron, but you're all I have right now, so I'll have to make do."
He let out another sigh. Women, seriously.
"How long?" He asked her, planning for this to be his last question for now.
"How long what?"
"How long are you going to be nerfed?"
She definitely went stiff at that, and the Shinsengumi Captain grinned. He just found a soft spot to poke at.
"I… I don't know." She finally admitted, a teensy bit of shame in her voice. "I only know that they gave me quite a truckload of it."
"Doesn't that make you nothing more than a weakling yourself?" He sneered, using her words against her.
"I'll make you eat those words once I get out of these." She snapped at him, losing her composure for the first time since he woke up.
Okita couldn't stop himself, it was written in his DNA to make other people unhappy, uncomfortable and suffer. But he did understand that maybe now wasn't the right time or place for that.
With a snap of her head she grew attentive and shhhhd him, signalling him to stay down again. It took him a few seconds to notice the approaching footsteps and he couldn't help but wonder exactly how sharp her intuition had to be.
He closed his eyes, putting on his best fake-sleep performance, trained carefully over the years in an effort to skip out on work.
"My my," he heard Kagura say confidently, "Admiral Asshole and his two best friends, to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing your ugly faces here?"
A grunt. "I hardly see how this is a pleasure for you, but a wild animal like has no real perception of such things anyways." A male voice sneered.
"Oh, don't be like that." Kagura cooed. "I do enjoy the finer things in life. Food, killing people, eating, crushing people, crushing peoples' dreams… You know?"
"Heh." The admiral shook his head haughtily. "You monsters really only need the most mundane of situations to feel alive. You are hardly any more complex than an earthling insect. You live to kill, no more."
"Didn't I just say I love to eat as well? Are you listening to me, Admiral Asshole?" She innocently prodded.
A silence fell over the cell, a silence so great he was sure he could hear Hijikata's screams from Earth.
"THAT'S IT! I LET IT GO THE FIRST TIME, BUT YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR CALLING ME THAT!" The sound of the door unlocking accompanied his wrathful shouts, and a few seconds later, a sickening crunch echoed through the cell, along with the sound of a body hitting the ground.
He didn't know what to make out of the situation yet, given the continued silence. Had Kagura taken out the admiral, or the other way around? Where were the admiral's accomplices? Was it alright to open his eyes again?
A sudden sharp pain spread into his ribs after somebody kicked him there full force. It was rough, uncoordinated and brute force. It wasn't Kagura's.
"Looks like the monkey isn't awake yet." A gruff voice said. "I still don't know why we brought him along."
"That's because you think with your muscles, not your brain." A high-strung voice answered. "He knows where the other Yato is, have you already forgotten?"
"No, four-eyes, I haven't. But we could also just look for him instead of waiting for him to wake up." The first voice shot back.
"Don't be a moron. Oh wait, you are, my apologies."
"Fuck you."
"No thanks. Besides, there's a huge flaw in your thought process." There was a dramatic pause, probably to push glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Umibouzo's bound to be roaming Earth now that he knows that we betrayed his daughter. With his son also in hiding, he will definitely come after us sooner or later. And I would rather it be later."
A cough sounded through the room, along with splattering sounds. "My old man won't come for me." Kagura rasped out. "And if he does, it'll be to kill me."
"Now now, we can't have that." The admiral spoke up again, his squeaky shoes making irritating noises while he walked around the cell. "I need everybody to remain alive here. Well, we'll dispose of the human once he's croaked out the information we need, but until then let's treat them like our very best guests."
Another smack, and more of Kagura coughing up blood.
"It's a good thing we took precaution to leave earth." The haughty voice laughed. "My idea, of course."
"Oh shut up, you prick. I'm the one that dragged them here. You couldn't do anything with your lanky body." Gruffy seethed.
"What good is a body like yours if you have no brain? Leave the thinking to the thinkers and go back to work, worker."
"If you're done flirting, can you please go get a room? I feel like throwing up." The only female in the room interjected with an even tone, even if it sounded kind of strained in Okita's ears.
"You bitch!"
"What did you say, brat?"
"No, don't." The admiral stopped them. "We need those bruises to heal by the time the buyers come. You can take it out on her once they leave."
"Oh, so I'm not joining the housewife collection then?" She snidely asked, and once again the police officer couldn't help but note that something was off with the way she spoke.
"Hmpf, as if a monster like you could ever please a man. But some people out there have some weird fetishes, so we don't ask questions as long as they pay up."
"What a wonderful way to treat one of your subordinates. The working conditions in the Harusame are superb." She chuckled lightly. "Is it because I ate all the rice? Or because your wife left you in favour of this ship's captain? Or perhaps,… because of what happened on Earth?"
"Here, hold this." The admiral's voice turned cold. "You're running my patience thin, Kagura. This didn't need to happen you know. If you would have simply followed your orders, this wouldn't have happened."
"Oh please, this would have happened sooner or later. After all, you're just scared of me."
The unmistakable sound of a punch filled the room, followed by another and another. Okita felt something urge him to stop the admiral, but the pain in his ribcage was still killing him.
"Oh, did a fly just land on me?" Kagura chuckled between coughs.
"You wish!" The admiral screeched at this point.
"Hahahahaha!" Her obnoxious laughter rang out.
"STOP SMILING, YOU FUCKING BITCH! STOP LAUGHING!" The admiral screamed in frustration, always accompanied by the monotonous thuds of his fist meeting her face.
But her laughter rang on.
The two other ended up dragging the furious admiral out of the cell at some point, and after ensuring that they were gone, Okita slowly opened his eyes.
Kagura was slowly pulling herself off the ground, her matted hair looking even redder. She shuffled closer to the gate and leaned her face against it, finally pushing her face into the metal, relocating her jaw with an unsettling click.
That must have been what was obscuring her speech the whole time.
"How are you feeling?" He asked her after she had finished setting her joints back in place.
"Been better." She mumbled, turning towards him for the first time since their three captors left. Red streaks had already dried around her mouth and temple, a few glistening drops under her nose holes.
"They said that I know something." He started, ignoring the fact that she was basically covered in her own blood. Pity was the last thing she needed right now. Besides, she would heal soon enough anyway.
"Yes, you should. But given your amnesia, I'm not sure whether that's a good or bad thing for you." She answered with a thoughtful look. Then she trained her eyes on him. "How are you feeling?"
"Definitely better than you." He nearly scoffed in reply.
"I wouldn't know, it's not every day a human gets kicked by a geared up Dakini."
"A Dakini, huh? Never really had much to do with those." He shook his head.
"But I'm serious," she reiterated, "Will you be okay?"
"Who knows," he sighed, then grimaced at the movement in his lungs. "I'll just have to deal with a broken rib or two. Or three."
"I highly doubt you'll last long, but they'll probably treat you if you don't wake up in time. Otherwise they'll just use it as the starting point for your torture." She explained.
"Gee, what comforting words." Okita remarked sarcastically.
"We don't have the luxury of comfort, so we need to deal with the truth. The first problem being that I just got another shot of tranquilizer. The second being that they gave me something else, additionally. The third being that you won't be able to conceal your consciousness much longer."
"I don't think I'll have problems pretending to sleep." Okita interjected with a frown.
"Your body functions will be kicking in soon enough. They'll realize if you drank any water or ate any of the food." She elaborated with an eye-roll.
"Like I said, that won't be a problem." He eyed the food on the ground. "As an officer of the Shinsengumi, I have found myself in the dilemma of eating nothing but mayonnaise or eating nothing multiple times. You could say that I'm a pro at starving myself."
"I'm not sure that's something to be proud of." Kagura commented.
AN: Going through traumatic experiences together makes people attracted to each other, dear readers, never forget that. Survival instinct. Wink wink.
PS: I've noticed that I write Kagura as quite the intellectual being, even if she isn't really that sort of a character. But while rereading the manga, I've come to notice that she actually spits out some pretty eloquent shit from time to time, so I'm just letting it be.
~Emi