Kagura let a small smile form on her lips when she heard another person slide on to the bench next to her.

"I'm glad to see you're alright." Soyo's voice greeted her as she opened her eyes, glancing over at the princess.

The smile grew into a confident smirk. "Hah, as if something like that would bother me."

Soyo giggled, and the two of them sunk into a comfortable silence, Soyo's head coming to a rest on Kagura's shoulder. The wind rustled through the tree shading them from the sun, and in the distance a few children were playing with a ball.

"It's a shame I won't see for a while." The princess suddenly spoke up, her voice breaking the silence. "I was hoping I could show you around the castle or something like that."

"I wish I could stay longer as well." Kagura admitted heavy-heartedly.

Soyo let out a long sigh and puffed up her cheeks. "Now I'll be all alone with my big brother, and he'll keep on complaining about the tea I make. Ah, I know! I'll have you try some of my tea, then you can tell him exactly how 'nasty' it is."

Kagura let out a strained chuckle at that. There was a heavy weight in her throat, but she swallowed it down. "My brother used to do the same thing." She managed to say after a lot of contemplation. "He'd always complain that the rice I make was too soggy."

A pause.

Soyo interlocked their hands, giving Kagura's one a firm squeeze, then shifted her head so that she was looking up at her. "But he'd eat it anyway, right?"

"Yeah." She managed to whisper in response.

Soyo smiled at her. "You've changed. And I think it was for the better."

Kagura exhaled loudly and leaned back, letting her head fall backwards and stared up through the mass of leaves above her, flecks of the blue sky peeking through. "You think so? Because I feel… lost."

"That's alright." The princess reassured her. "You still have plenty of time to find your way."

The redhead blinked at her best friend before bursting out in laughter. "W-what the hell? Are you some kind of wise old sage or something like that? Where are you pulling these lines out of?"

"Perhaps." Soyo mused theatrically. "Maybe I was cursed by an evil witch to take on the form of a beautiful young princess, but in reality I'm a slimy old geezer."

The two girls looked at each other before breaking into laughter.

"I'm going to miss you." Kagura wheezed out as their laughter died down. "I really am."

"Me too. But you'll come back, right? After you're done cleaning up."

Kagura smiled. "Yep, I'll be back."

"Commander, we have determined the location of the next Elder's meeting. We're set and ready to leave whenever you are."

Kagura dismissed Abuto with a wave of her hand, still looking at the Edo skyline without any particular thought on her mind.

Correction, she had too many things on her mind that they all just disappeared into one big monotonous hum.

The past week buzzed through her memories, her awkward afternoon with her brother, the choppy conversation with her father that only ended with her punching him and him pulling at her hair, telling her she'd be bald one day as well, her meeting with Soyo in the park, and, well, whatever it was that had happened between her and the earthling police officer.

She still couldn't name whatever it was, but it made her feel happy and nauseous at the same time. Like the times she overeats her favourite dishes.

One of her subordinates passed her, dragging the body of a battered Harusame member behind him, pulling her out of her distracting thoughts.

She steeled herself. After all, she was a Captain first and a woman second.

Strutting through her spaceship with every inch of pride in her soul, she pulled her coat over her shoulders and let an amused grin cross her face.

"Alright, everybody! It's time to crash a party."

Cheers of approval echoed through the ship as the Seventh Division set out to wreak havoc on a certain old men's tea party.

It was good to be back in control.

"I swear, you're just doing this to skip out on work." Hijikata grumbled, leaning out of the broken hospital window to light his cigarette. "I'll have you know that there's a mountain of paper work in your office with your name on it."

"Whatever, Hijikata." Okita replied uncaringly as he continued sifting through some random magazine he found. "If I ignore it long enough, somebody else will surely do it for me."

"It's because of people like you that our society is so fucked up." His superior grumbled, throwing the remains of his cigarette out of the window and settling into the visitor's chair next to the bed.

"I heard the China girl stopped by. You better start talking, Sougo. The surveillance footage of the ship you were on was wiped clean, and the two of you killed literally everybody else on that ship. Right now, you're our only information source since she also disappeared into space."

Okita perked at that piece of information. "So, the pig decided to run away into space again? How unsurprising." He scoffed out loudly, quite contrary to his inner thoughts.

A small part of him felt betrayed, because she suddenly left without saying a word. Another part of him reminded her that she had no obligation towards to him. There was nothing tying her to him.

Hijikata eyed him strangely, but continued his report nonetheless. "The princess didn't give us any additional information either. As it stands, all we know is that the two of you wiped out a ship full of Amanto, and that it's somehow connected to what happened to the compound involving the Joishishi and the Kiheitai, who both have disappeared without trace as well."

He looked up from the clipboard. "If you fill in the holes, I'll push your paperwork onto somebody else."

Okita's eyes flitted from the article about dog shampoo he was currently reading to Hijikata's face. The offer was tempting, honestly.

"The ship belonged to the Eighth Division of the Harusame." He supplied, then redirected his attention back to the article.

Hijikata pulled out a pen – was it seriously shaped like a mayonnaise bottle? – and began jutting down notes. "So it was the Eighth Division, after all. I guess we can assume that the Division is wiped out now, considering the fact that the Joishishi took care of the rest of them during the fray."

Okita turned to the next page of his magazine. "The admiral was on that ship as well." He said off-handedly.

Hijikata audibly stopped writing. "Did he manage to escape or something?"

"No, China killed him after he…" Okita paused. "It doesn't matter, his corpse should've been in that one really fancy dining room."

When Hijikata didn't respond nor continue writing, Okita glanced over the top edge of the magazine. "Is something wrong? Do you have indigestion because of all the mayonnaise you inhale?"

"From the reports we have, the admiral should be a fat, short, balding Amanto, right?" His superior inquired seriously.

"That's how his corpse looked."

"There was no corpse matching that description on the ship when it landed here." Hijikata informed him.

"That's impossible." Okita muttered. "She rammed a knife into his throat."

Hijikata frowned. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Kagura snapped her fingers, and on command her subordinates dropped the bag on the ground. She wrinkled her nose at the foul smell, but kept the confident smirk on her face regardless.

The Elders were still glaring at her, trying to hide their fear, doing so quite poorly.

"Captain Kagura, what is the meaning of this?" One of the braver ones demanded angrily.

"Oh, this?" She smiled playfully. "After you presented me with such a lovely gift, I couldn't help but look for something of equal value to give to you in return. To show my everlasting gratitude, of course."

The tense atmosphere only fuelled her want to make fun of them. "So when the opportunity way presented itself, I immediately thought about what a lovely surprise this would be for you. I hope you appreciate it."

She loosened the string on the bundle, releasing the pungent smell of decomposing Amanto into the room. While the corpse itself wasn't all that identifiable anymore, the stature and tell-tale coat of the person in question were a dead giveaway.

"Admiral Abou!" One of the Elders exclaimed in shock. Hushed whispers followed as the others caught on to the realization as well.

Meanwhile, Kagura began clapping her hands slowly. "I'm so proud of you for recognizing him! I would have stored him in the fridge, but I didn't want his sleaze to be anywhere near my precious food, so the garbage hall it was."

"This can only be seen as treason, Captain Kagura. I hope you are aware of that." One of the Elders explained sternly.

"Hmm, let's see about that. You betrayed me, then I betrayed you. Two negatives make a positive, right?" She shot them a blinding smile.

The Elder next to him scoffed loudly. "Surely you don't beli-"

"Two negatives make a positive, right?" Her tone dropped, leaving no space for arguments.

The Elder grew red-faced, but kept quiet.

"Captain Kagura." Another Elder, one who kept quiet until now, spoke up. "Now that things have come this far, what do you suggest we do about it? Surely you've thought that far ahead."

A broad smirk danced on the Yato's lips at his challenging tone. "It's simple. Replace him with somebody more capable."

"Do you have somebody specific in mind?" Another one questioned snappishly.

She laughed, dramatically twirling her arm around before pointing at herself. "Yup."

"Commander, what should we do with this?" Kagura turned to the subordinate who asked her the question, her eyes trailing to the object in question. Admiral Asshole's carcass.

"Throw it into the next recycle station."

"Got it!"

She watched them carry the bag off and smiled to herself. That would make one waste of space less.

"I'm surprised they didn't put up more of a fight." Abuto remarked after coming to a halt beside her.

"It's not like they really had that many options." Kagura shrugged in response. "Besides, I'm sure I'll look great in an admiral's coat."

"That's not the issue here." Abuto sighed. "You are aware that there is a ton of paperwork involved in this, right?"

"You have to think out of the basket, Abuto." She chided her second-in-command, then dragged him to the closest window.

"It's 'box', commander. 'Box', not 'basket'." He corrected her, but she ignored it.

"That doesn't matter, you get what I mean." She paused for a moment, her large blue eyes looking off into the endless distance outside of the window.

"No matter how many times I see it, it still leaves me breathless every time." She commented, changing the subject abruptly. "It makes me think about the wide, vast universe and the endless possibilities it represents."

Abuto raised a brow. "Is this conversation leading anywhere?"

She gave him a mysterious smile. "It is, but I'm not telling you quite yet."

The blonde Yato sighed in exasperation. His captain was up to something again, and he really didn't want to know what.

Kagura briefly swept her eyes across the contract before her, then deemed it boring, skilfully folding the first page into a paper plane. When the door to her office opened, she sent the plane flying towards the doorway.

"Commander, you really shouldn't be doing things like this to clients' contracts." Abuto scolded her, but to no avail.

"I wouldn't have signed it anyway. It was full of bullshit conditions and wold have left us at a huge disadvantage." She explained lazily, already scanning the next paper. This one didn't live much longer than its predecessor, quickly landing in Kagura's overflowing paper bin.

"I don't think the Elders would approve."

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Since when do we care what the Elders think?"

"Since you started representing them."

That seemed to shut her up for a moment, giving Abuto to opportunity to bring up the matter he wanted to discuss with her initially. "That aside, why are we setting course for earth?"

That same mysterious smile crossed her lips. "Maybe I'm in the mood for some tempura."

To say he was surprised was an understatement.

When he left for his patrol that morning, somewhat reluctantly, too, he wasn't expecting much from the day. It was sunny, some stray clouds drifting across the azure sky, he ran into Kamui, they had a brief scuffle, and then he sat down on one of the benches in the park, stretching out his legs and pulling his sleeping mask across his eyes.

"Hey."

When he first heard the female voice, he thought his treacherous mind was playing cruel tricks on him, so he dismissed it as a dream.

A few seconds later, a pair of fingers were painfully squishing his cheek. "Oi, wake up!"

Grumpily, he slapped the hand away, using his other hand to lift his sleeping mask, preparing himself to glare the living daylights out of her, but when his eyes met her ocean blue ones, he was too caught up in them to glare at her.

"I need you to do me a favour." She declared once she was sure she had his attention. She had his attention alright. Was that coat she was wearing…?

"A favour?" He raised a brow at her, expertly masking his confusion and disappointment.

She nodded. Her being so civil was unsettling, but Okita chose to hear her out anyway.

"I need to talk to your superiors about something. I considered asking Soyo right off the bat," She awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, "but Abuto said I had to do things properly because I have certain responsibilities."

"Wouldn't doing things properly consist of you going through our reception? We don't pay those guys to sit around idly all day, you know?" He answered a bit harsher than intended, but in his mind it was justified.

She just left one day, and now she's suddenly back, making use of him to the fullest without breaching the topic he actually wants them to be talking about.

A look of pure exhaustion crossed her face. "Trust me, I've had enough of paper work for the next five decades."

While that feeling was completely relatable for him, he was still hesitant to give in to his urge to do this for her.

In the moment he took to think things over, she settled onto the bench right next to him. "When negotiations are over, I'd like to talk about… us."

He glanced over at her. "Us?"

"You know what I mean."

And he did.

"Fine. I'll talk to Kondou. Come by the compound around sunset. You do still know where it is, right?" He succumbed to her wish eventually. A small voice at the back of his mind noted that this probably wouldn't be the last time this would happen.

"Thank you." She said earnestly, and Okita raised a brow in surprise.

"Okay, seriously, are you feeling okay?" He muttered under his breath, more to himself than to her, but she blessed him with a soft smile.

"Better than ever."

The atmosphere was stiff, to say the least. Okita fidgeted slightly in his kneeling position, glancing over at the three people sitting next to him.

Chief Kondou and Hijikata were looking at their guests with serious expressions and stiff backs, much in contrast to Director Matsudeira, who happened to be there and decided to stay, and was currently lounging about, helping himself to the secret stash of sake Kondo kept around.

"Despite everything, I don't think we ever got around to formally introducing ourselves to each other." Kondou started off their conversation with a kind smile.

"It is quite a shame." Kagura admitted. "However, I hope it isn't too late for that."

"Of course not." Kondou laughed, waving his hand dismissively.

"Let's leave that in the past. My name is Isao Kondou, and I'm the Chief of the Shinsengumi. This is my superior, Director Matsudeira." With that he gestured to the perverted old man who was busy scrolling through his phone. He paused awkwardly, waiting for said old man to say something as well, but resorted to clearing his throat when nothing happened.

"And, eh, this is Toshiro Hijikata, the Vice-Chief here. I believe you are already acquainted with him, but this is Sougo Okita, our First Division Captain."

Kagura bowed in acknowledgement, and Okita reminded himself to praise her for that later.

"My name is Kagura, and I am the current admiral of the Harusame space pirates. This is-"

Before she could continue, she was interrupted by the sound of something hitting the ground. Everyone turned their heads to the source of the sound, revealing itself to be Matsudeira who had dropped the bottle of sake he was drinking from.

"What was that?" He inquired. "You? The admiral?"

Okita sighed inwardly. He could guess what happened to that one missing corpse…

Kagura's hand twitched, but she remained professional. "Yes, as I was saying, this is my second-in-comm-"

"You're too cute to be an admiral. I know this really good cabaret club where you'd fit in perfectly. What about it, Kagura?" The old man walked over to her, slinging his arm over her shoulder casually, ignoring the burning glare she shot him.

The moment his arm touched her, she extended her arm, keeping him away from herself. "As I was saying," she gritted out between her teeth, "this is Abuto, my second-in-command."

Kondou shot Matsudeira a worried look, then turned back to Kagura with a hesitant smile. "Eh, yes, nice to meet you."

With that he not-so-discreetly nudged Hijikata, who sighed and dragged their drunk director off the Yato who was slowly but surely losing her patience. They just rebuilt the compound, having her lose her temper would only cause more trouble.

"The pleasure is ours." She replied politely, as if Matsudeira was nothing but thin air. "I must also thank you for accepting my request to talk to you."

Her blue eyes blazed with honestly, making Okita wonder exactly what happened in the time period she was gone, and what she was here to talk about.

"Sougo put in a good word for you, and I trust him." Kondou explained proudly, making the blonde man in question feel just the slightest bit bashful.

A look of surprise passed her face, but it disappeared behind her professional mask as soon as it appeared. "I appreciate it." She answered simply.

"So what bring the leader of the universe's leading crime syndicate to my door?" Kondou inquired, switching to business mode.

"This." The redhead pulled a thick pile of papers out from under her cloak, slamming them on the ground before her. Okita swore he heard the floorboards creak under the weight.

His superior eyed the pile. "May I ask what this is?"

"A list of people I don't like."

Kondou chuckled half-heartedly, perspiring slightly at Kagura's dead-serious look. "That's a very long list. I hope we aren't included on it."

"Don't worry, you aren't."

"So… then why are you giving it to us?" He asked hesitantly.

"This is a list of Japanese officials who have ties to the Harusame." She explained, pushing the pile of papers towards them.

Kondou's jaw dropped. "How- What- Why?"

Okita's eyes widened slightly, as well, searching her face for any trace of her true intentions. What the hell was going on?

Kagura closed her eyes, took a deep breath and opened her eyes again, giving them a determined look. "You said it yourself. The Harusame is the universe's leading crime syndicate. However, we call ourselves space pirates. In my eyes, there's a big difference between organized crime and being a pirate."

Hijikata frowned at her. "So you're going to bring the Harusame down? For a reason like that?"

"You have no way of knowing this, but I joined the Harusame because I thought it was the only option I had. As a child, being a pirate sounded adventurous, but I soon learned that we were just a handful of many, and that our lives were filled with doing dirty work, following rules and paperwork." She elaborated. "And just recently, you were caught up in what was initially their attempt to purge me. Consider this an apology for the trouble that I caused you."

"I'm not buying it." Hijikata growled, taking a protective stance in front of Kondou.

"Let me put it in words that you monkeys will understand." Kagura grumbled darkly. "I'm too lazy to run an organization this large. Besides, I already got the newest technology to film the Elders' reactions when the news reaches them. Just take the papers and lessen my workload."

A few seconds passed during which Hijikata and Kagura stared each other down, but in the end it was the Demon-Vice-Chief who gave in first.

"Tch, that sounds too believable." He backed off, sitting back down next to Kondou. "Basically you give us information, and we take care of it for you, benefitting both of us."

She applauded him mockingly, making Okita's lip twitch upward. "You caught on, good doggy. Do you want a treat?"

Abuto nudged her harshly, and with a cough she slipped back in to her business persona. "Do we have a deal?"

Kondou crossed his arms, his eyes flickering to the bundle of papers. "Hmm, it's true that it would benefit both of us, and honestly there's no reason to turn your offer down, but there's something I've been wondering." He looked up at her. "Why us? You could have taken this straight to the Shogun, we know you have… befriended the princess."

Kagura wordlessly reached towards the stack of papers and took the second paper from the top, handing it to Kondou.

He glanced at the paper and grimaced. "I see." He said sadly, eyebrows furrowing.

"As I said earlier, there are no members of your force on this list. At least not living ones." She left the rest unspoken as a certain unpleasant memory came back to all of them.

Kondou rested his hand on the stack of papers. "Thank you." His voice was quiet, but it left an undeniable impact in the room. He stretched his other hand out to her and smiled weakly. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, Admiral Kagura."

She took the outstretched hand and gave it a firm shake. "The pleasure was all mine."

"That… wasn't what I was expecting." Okita confessed as he leaned against the compound wall.

Kagura, who had dismissed Abuto already, gave him a look. "What were you expecting?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. Just… not that."

Silence passed between them, only to be broken when Kagura spoke up again. "I… felt relieved when I found out that none of my division members were involved in the ploy against me. It made me realize just how much they mean to me."

"I'm also relieved to know that nobody betrayed Kondou." Okita responded. "But that's not what we were going to talk about, is it?"

Kagura leaned on the wall next to him, looking up at the sky. "My place is beyond that sky. Despite dissolving the Harusame, I still have responsibilities towards my division, and I will have to deal with the Elders sooner or later."

She took a deep breath. "I'll cut straight to the chase. I wouldn't know how to describe 'us'. To be honest, we hardly know each other, and I'm not ready to drop my responsibilities because of something I can't even name. Additionally, you're in the same predicament. Your place is here, in Edo, just as you have your responsibilities here."

Okita hummed in agreement. He understood what she was alluding to, and it wouldn't be so frustrating if she didn't have a valid point.

"Somebody once told me that I'd never find a girl willing to put up with my terrible personality for life." He admitted reluctantly. "That good looks and money weren't going to cut it in my case. But I didn't really care. I never saw myself as a dutiful husband, and I live on the verge of death every day. I don't need to be a psychic to be able to tell that you've never given romance a second thought either."

"Why would I?" Kagura sighed. "All I've ever seen romance lead to is tragedy."

Okita nearly laughed. "I guess we're more similar than we think, huh? I can relate to that too much for my own liking."

"What now?" Kagura asked, her eyes still focused on the starry sky above them.

Okita shrugged. "Somebody once told me that I'd never find a girl willing to put up with my horrible personality." He repeated, a playful tone to his voice. "But then one day I'm assaulted by a pig elephant with a terrible personality rivalling my own."

She glared at him lightly. "Oi, you're the one who assaulted me first. And who're you calling pig elephant?"

He ignored her, continuing instead. "And despite the fact that she tried to, and nearly succeeded in killing me several times, I can't help but want to be around her. I want to learn more about her. If I could, I'd put a leash on her and keep her by my side forever. But where would the fun in that be? It'd be too easy, right?"

Kagura scoffed. "No girl would stick around after hearing that."

The blonde captain smiled softly. "But you're still here, aren't you?"

He waited for her response, but all he got was strangled sound. He turned his head to see her burying her face in her hands, unsure of whether she was laughing or crying, or a weird mixture of both.

"I won't come to earth often, you know?" She said once she calmed down, eyes cast to the ground.

He pushed himself off the wall, taking the necessary steps to trap her between his arms.

"I know."

"And you're okay with that?" She looked up at him, her blue eyes wavering.

"I am." He grinned at her smugly. "I'll just have to make sure to give you a good reason to come back here more often. Maybe a parking fine. God knows where you illegal aliens park your vehicles."

A chuckle escaped her lips. "I'm a pirate, I don't pay my parking fines."

"Then I'll just have to give you a different reason, right?" He smirked at her before leaning down and capturing her lips in a heated kiss.

Sougo Okita doesn't need a picture-perfect wife with a perfect smile, hailing from a perfect family. He has everything he needs in the form of the vermillion-haired girl in his arms.

And they'd make things work, somehow.

AN: This monstrosity of a story is at its end, and even after re-reading it I have no clue what the plot was about. I do know that I butchered Kagura's character beyond recogntion, however. And that there is no consistency in my storytelling.

Why are so many people even reading this story?

That aside, I have difficulties finding good endings for my stories, so I hope you weren't too disappointed by how this turned out.

Stay tuned for the epilogue, and leave a review on your way out!

~Emi