The expression on his face was priceless. Absolutely priceless.
"… I see." He eventually answered, still trying to process what she had just told him. "So the princess has the artefact, huh?"
"Yep."
"You gave the priceless artefact that has the entire Harusame hunting you down to the younger sister of Edo's ruler?" he rephrased her statement slowly.
"Yep, you're actually taking this much better than I expected." She gave him a coy grin.
He inhaled sharply before roughly pushing her to the ground.
"Oh, am I?" He whispered into her ear after wrapping his hands around her slender neck and strangling her with all his might.
"Y-Yep." She wheezed out while pushing a steak knife she had swiped from the table through his thigh. "At least you're not screaming."
He hissed at the sudden pain, releasing his grip on her. "I'm angry, not suicidal."
"Could've fooled me." She answered after finishing her coughing fit. Then she roughly yanked out the knife out of his skin.
A look of disbelief crossed his face. "Are you fucking mental?!" He whisper-yelled at her, his hands immediately putting pressure on the wound before it began gushing out too much blood.
"Yes." She simply replied, tearing a strip of the hem of her dress and plucking his hand away from the wound. "Now stop being a wuss and let me take care of this. You can't run with a knife stuck in your leg."
"And who was it who put it there?!" The sarcasm in his tone did not go unnoticed.
"Me. But I clean up after myself, you see." She responded methodically, tightly wrapping the strip of fabric around his thigh in an expert manner.
"Do you… do this often?" He found himself wondering out loud after observing the neat and orderly way the cloth sat around his leg.
"When you have skin as sensitive to sunlight as ours, you tend to be very good at mummifying yourself. Also saves money on Halloween costumes."
"I'm not even going to ask about that last part."
"Don't."
Two days ago…
Zura dramatically fell to the ground. "May the gods be praised, fresh air! I can breathe again! I will never take you for granted again!"
Gintoki folded his arms. "It's not my fault somebody", he shot glaring daggers at Takasugi, "decided to eat onions before going onto the battlefield."
"Hunh, it's not my fault somebody has diabetes." The other male shot the daggers back threefold.
"Can we not talk about food, please?" Kamui crawled out of the passage, looking twenty years older with sunken cheeks and an agonized expression. "I'm sooooo hungry…"
Hijikata ignored all the commotion behind him. "Idiots, all of them." He muttered, staring at the plants surrounding the exit instead.
Clearly, somebody went through the shrubbery not too long ago. Perhaps even around the time the Princess mysteriously managed to escape the castle.
The cigarette he had just put in his mouth fell out again due to his jaw dropping at the realization.
"Shit." He cursed before grabbing Kondo's collar and violently shaking him awake. "What have you done?! It's all your fault! We've ruined the young Princess! She can never get married now!"
He dropped Kondo back on the ground, frantically stuffing three cigarettes into his mouth and lighting them in one fell swoop.
"Oh my god, oh my fucking god, we're going to get executed for this! What if the Princess has been acting so strange lately due to being exposed to that vulgarity in there!"
Shinpachi merely stood off to the side, a blank look on his face.
No, he wasn't going to say anything this time.
People turned to stare at the odd duo walking through the streets of Edo. One was a giant, white from head to toe.
The other was mysterious, covered in clothes from top to bottom, shadowed by a large umbrella.
But they didn't care, they had a very important mission. They needed to find certain people.
The first thing Umibouzo did when he saw Kamui was slap him across the face. Hard. So hard that the boy flew against the wall of the nearest building.
"Jeez, baldy, what was that for?" Kamui coughed as blood began dripping down the side of his mouth.
"For not looking after your idiot of a younger sister!" The Yato scolded his son. "The other day I got a notice telling me that they captured Kagura and were going to sell her off somewhere! I dropped everything and came here immediately! Do you know how difficult getting an appointment on the planet Cheveux is?!"
"No, I wouldn't have to considering I'm not bald."
"You little brat! Didn't your parents teach you anything?!" Umibouzo whacked the back of his head.
"I don't know, you tell me." Kamui answered childishly.
Now sporting a new bump on his head, Kamui explained the situation, starting with the sudden Harusame-related murders, as Hijikata had indulged them during their friendly underground trip, on to the partnership between Zura, Takasugi and Kagura, then finishing off with the last details of the showdown at the Shinsengumi compound.
During the entire retelling, Umibouzo's frown seemed to grow deeper and deeper.
"This doesn't make any sense." He groaned once his son was done. "What reason could the Harusame possibly have to suddenly backstab one of their greatest assets?"
Takasugi suddenly grew attentive, looking at somebody who was approaching them. "I think there's somebody here who can shed more light on the situation."
The rest of the group turned around to look in the same direction he was staring off into.
"I guess you're Kagura's contact, am I right?" He asked the newcomer.
The black-haired girl put her umbrella aside and pulled off her sunglasses and face mask.
"Yes, that'd be me." Princess Soyo answered confidently.
"Y-Y-Your Highness!" Hijikata stuttered out before bowing down deeply. "I'm so sorry about what you saw in the tunnels, please forgive us! I'm sure Kondo's head is enough to pay for our sins, right?"
The princess elegantly held up a hand and smiled sweetly. "Do not worry, Vice-Commander. Nobody will be losing their head. Somebody may end losing a testicle or two though."
Shinpachi blanched. "That's not something a Princess should be saying…"
Hijikata didn't seem to mind as he was already presenting the princess with his sword and a once-again unconscious Kondo.
"While I would love to be the one to go through with the procedure," she answered demurely, "I'm afraid we have more pressing matters to discuss."
She turned to Kamui and held out something to him. "I was told to find you and give you this should certain events come to pass."
The redhead blinked in confusion before taking the object from the princess.
He inhaled sharply at the sight of what was now in his palm. "Is this…"
"…an Altana crystal?" His father finished for him, peering over his shoulder.
"That's what Kagura called it. She said it was from a place called Kouan." Soyo explained to the best extent that she could. "But I'm afraid that's all I know. We kept in touch regularly, but a few days ago she sent me a rather weird message."
"You two weren't exactly secretive about that." Takasugi commented. "I don't think that's the intended use of an imperial pigeon."
Soyo smiled and put a finger to her lips. "It's alright as long as nobody knows about it." Then her smile disappeared. "In the message she told me that, if I didn't receive another message with a certain key phrase within the next 24 hours, I should seek out the boy who looks a lot like her and give him the pendant."
Soyo hadn't noticed how incredibly quiet the duo had grown during her explanation. They were both busy staring at the small blue crystal in Kamui's hand.
"Kamui, are you… crying?" Shinpachi asked, shocked.
Kamui looked up at him, blinked, and realized that, yes, tears were rolling down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, I just never realized… how much she still thinks about mom."
"Alright, genius, what do we do now?" Okita asked his temporary partner-in-crime. Throwing punches at each other was quite a stress-reliever and pretty efficient in bring on a truce.
"We secure weapons."
He rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Captain Obvious, what else should we do, stay alive?"
She gave him a light-hearted smack. "Preferably, yes. But the problem is where were going to get those weapons from. The weaponry is two floors lower, it'd be impossible to sneak down and up again, considering the fact that the control room is one floor above us."
"Meaning we mug some of the guards." Okita concluded. "Nice, simple, easy. What's the problem?"
She sighed. "I don't know about you, but with all the guards huddled together, taking all at once without a weapon is a bit stupid."
"You have a steak knife, don't you?" He pointed out.
"Don't patronise me." She glared at him. "You're probably into that kind of stuff, but I'm not getting strangled every time I want to land a hit on somebody."
He shrugged. "Might've been the case, you never know."
She scoffed. Then she turned towards the door, opening it ever so slightly and peeking through the slim gap.
Then she turned to him, a mischievous grin on her face. "I take back what I said."
He smirked at her, tilting her chin upwards with his hand. "So you really are an M, huh?"
She scowled, slapping away his hand. "No, you moron. There are two guards standing outside, alone." She held out the steak knife which was covered in his dry blood out to him.
"It's dangerous to go alone, take this."
He rose an eyebrow at the bloodied weapon. "What?"
"Nice, simple, easy, you said it yourself. You take this, stab the two guards and hit the F key to auto-loot. Then you equip his weapons." She explained with a straight face.
He hesitantly took the knife. "O…kay?"
Kagura took the opportunity to calm her erratic heart after pushing the earthling idiot out into the hallway.
The skin of her chin was still burning from where he had touched it, and she had to take a few deep breaths before she could think straight again.
This was probably just a side-effect from whatever they pumped into her system.
Yeah, that had to be it.
She felt her cheeks grow hotter again. It was just a side-effect, right?
Takasugi calmly smoked his pipe as he stood alone in the clearing outside of Edo. Everybody had just run off into different directions, leaving him behind. It seemed even the Shinsengumi leaders had better things to do than stick around the country's most-wanted terrorist.
He guessed he'll just have to wait for the Kiheitai to find him.
Hijikata continued profusely apologizing to the princess as he accompanied her back to the castle, dragging an unconscious Kondo behind him should she want to personally cut off his balls.
To his horror, the princess expressed interest in doing it herself.
He'd be having a very, very long conversation with old man Matsudeira after this.
The poor Amanto didn't know what to do when two crazed idiots suddenly held up umbrellas into his face, telling him that they were hijacking his ship now. Another three humans and two Amanto stood behind them, waiting for the baldy and redhead to organize their transportation.
Shinpachi sighed, remembering the very short conversation between Kamui and Princess Soyo that led to this.
Kamui put the pendant back into Soyo's hand. She gave him a confused, wide-eyed look. "Wh-"
"My sister gave this to you, so you keep it." He flashed her a blinding smile. "Her feelings have reached me, no, both of us." He glanced over his shoulder at his father. "Right?"
The senior Yato nodded. "Yes, they did."
He turned back to Soyo. "That's all we need. That said, thank you for being Kagura's friend."
The heartfelt honesty made the princess speechless, but she managed to reciprocate by smiling back. "It will always be my pleasure."
A sudden beep filled the air, causing all heads to turn towards the long-haired, blonde Yato who was also amongst them.
"Looks like the tracking device I put on her finally picked up a signal." Abuto mumbled.
Shinpachi frowned. "You put a tracking device on your captain?"
"Yeah, we tend to lose her sometimes." He answered nonchalant. "So we injected one into her bloodstream while she was in a food-coma. Probably the best investment we ever made."
"Only one sword? That's pretty lame."
The sandy-haired man grimaced. "What do you expect from two guards who lost in a fight against a fucking steak knife?!"
"Nice, simple, easy." She quoted him, emphasizing her point by making air quotations and pronouncing the words perfectly, her former accent gone.
"I get it, okay, how long do you plan to rub that in my face?" He groaned as they approached the staircase.
"For the rest of your life, which, if you're lucky, will extend past the trip up these stairs." She teased, mirth dancing in her azure eyes.
He sighed. "What am I, your personal meat shield?"
"Exactly. Didn't I already make that clear?" She haughtily replied, the corner of her lip tugging upwards.
"The only things you made clear so far were your questionable life choices." He deadpanned.
"And were yours any less questionable?" She shot back, tilting her head in a way that made her vermillion hair trail across her neck and past her collarbones, which were now somewhat exposed due to her loosening her impractical outfit. And if he followed the line…
He shook himself out of his thoughts. "Everything about life is questionable. The question is whether you are going to choose to question it. I chose not to."
She nodded. "Then don't question mine either." With that, she pushed the doors to the staircase open, cutting off their conversation.
"Stay behind me." He told her before going up the first flight.
The path to the control room was rather empty, suspiciously so.
In conclusion, it was no surprise to see that there was an ambush waiting for them at said control room.
"Let's do this." China told him, and he nodded.
He cleared his thoughts as the sword ripped through the first Amanto, then the second, then a third. This was his form of meditation. His way of calming his soul.
Kagura's bloodlust simmered behind him, adding to the comforting surrounding.
He elegantly dodged a would-be fatal blow, roughly pushing Kagura out of the way. They needed her to stay alive. He needed her to stay alive. He needed to protect her.
He never thought about it that way, though. His sword was always one that went for the kill, it ripped lives out of bodies and left souls homeless. Well, until they went to Soul Society, that is.
It was a weapon of massacre, and yet, here he stood, in front of a rather helpless girl, protecting her even though she technically was the enemy. When had things come this far?
He felt her presence lingering behind him, but he couldn't fend off all the Amanto approaching them from all sides, and without her Yato strength nor the steak knife, China was pretty useless.
It only took one wrongly anticipated move and the feeling of blood splatter landing on the back of his shirt, and all of a sudden his heart stopped. Fear, frenzy and anxiety took over him, and he turned around, not even thinking about masking his concern for his red-haired companion.
She was covered in blood, crimson dripping off her face, a look of surprise etched on her face. Her hair had suffered from an extremely messy haircut, and he felt the dread in him rise.
"Oh…" She muttered. "Swords aren't actually that difficult to use…"
His disbelieving eyes went straight to her hands, where she held a katana similarly to how she would have held her umbrella. The blood covered him from top to bottom, but it took him a second to realize that it wasn't actually hers, but belonged to the very much dead Amanto at her feet.
She must have swung the sword in such a grand gesture that it ended up spraying the red liquid all over him as well.
"Hahahahahaha, you may bow down to me and call me Luo Lang!" She cackled as another Amanto's blood decorated the window panels.
He gulped. Maybe she wasn't going to be that useless, after all.
The last body hit the floor and she supported herself on the sword, panting heavily.
It never occurred to Sougo exactly what kind of monster she was, even without her strength and stamina, she was still a formidable force.
And there she stood, covered in her enemies' blood, eyes burning in excitement and brimming with life. It was an ethereal sight that left him breathless, like a blood-red angel of death, giving off the threatening aura of a savage animal at the same time.
An enigma. Much like his questionable attraction to her.
Her hanfu dress was torn and soaked in crimson, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
And for the first time in forever… his cold, black shrivelled heart reached out to somebody.
A few steps closed the distance between them.
"You should do that more often." He told her as if she had gotten a cute new haircut. Well, she kind of did, but it wasn't really cute or trendy. "It looks good on you."
"What?" She asked in confusion, one eyebrow racing towards the sky, the other questioning its existence.
"Like this…" He casually brushed a blood-stained strand away from her forehead. Her azure eyes gave him a questioning look, but he just gently smiled at her. "Like this… you're at your most beautiful."
She didn't have time to protest or respond as he leaned down and swiftly met her lips with his own.
After all, there was nothing more romantic than making out in the middle of a room filled with corpses.
Elsewhere in the universe…
The Amanto at the steering wheel gulped when he heard two distinct clicks behind him. Daring to turn around a bit, he was met by the barrels of two guns.
"Oi, move this ship faster, my daddy senses are tingling."
"So are my big brother senses."
The Amanto shrieked and turned back forward, moving the speed lever up.
"If anything happens to Kagura, it's your fault!" The father-son duo spoke in perfect unison.
"M-My apologiiiies!" The Amanto cried.
AN: I actually had some huge writer's block, but the new episode filled me with life and motivation. I can't believe we're finally getting the Kagura's boyfriend arc! (But we all know who her real boyfriend is *winkwink*)
Leave a review! Have a great night/morning!
~Emi