A/N: Hi to all reviewers (Yato Rumi, Lucky kittens, Choc- Chip Kuki, love at third sight, lany-chan, guest and gintama200), 'favouriters', followers and other readers, sorry for the late update. It's just that I've been very busy and didn't have much time to write. Please enjoy, and let me know what you think! :)

'You want to come with us, Okita-san? To where exactly?' Shinpachi asked the maroon-eyed sadist who crossed his arms in response.

'To search for Katsura, of course.' He finally answered, to their surprise and increasing horror. Kagura was the first to react as she snickered at her arch-nemesis' response.

'Oi what drugs are you on, you sadistic bastard?' She remarked, effectively hiding her dismay. Behind her Shinpachi nodded his head fervently, still too shocked to do anything else. His mind was racing, wondering how the Shinsengumi captain even knew of their connection to the Joui patriot and their intentions. Does that mean I'll be put in jail? Does it mean I'll stay a virgin till the day I die?!

'Heh, the only one on drugs here is you, China!' Came the swift reply as the two began to butt heads with each other, completely oblivious to Shinpachi's antics. The megane broke out of his thoughts and turned his attention to the two rivals.

'Stop it you two! Fighting won't get us anywhere!' He reprimanded, coming in between them and managing to pull them apart. Sougo began dusting his sleeve as if dirt had come on it. An angry vein popped on Kagura's head and it looked like she would say something but Shinpachi checked her with a look before turning his full attention to Sougo.

'Okita-san, we honestly don't know what you're talking about and we've no intentions of-'

'Yeah, yeah, yeah. No need to be all formal.' Okita interrupted brusquely. 'Especially when you're lying.' He added coldly.

When the two Yorozuya said nothing in response, he shook his head and turned away from them, smiling to himself.

'I know about the conversation you had with the Danna. He wants you to find Katsura and ask him what's going on, right? Well, let's just say I also have an interest in finding out certain things.'

'And just how could you have eavesdropped on us when the DOORS were closed?' Kagura pointed out through clenched teeth, as she resisted the urge to pummel his face in. Sougo scoffed, uncaring of her restraint.

'Please. I know the ins and outs of all our prison cells. Nothing can be hidden from me when I want to know something.'

He leaned closer until he was only a few inches from her face. To her credit, she didn't flinch as he stared down at her. Her azure eyes gazed into his maroon as he continued to speak.

'That means that not only do I know for sure of the Danna's ties to Katsura, I also know that he really WAS meeting with him yesterday night.'

They stared at each other for what seemed like hours. All of a sudden, Shinpachi felt as if the two were in another world entirely and he was an outsider. There was an awkward, tense silence that he felt would choke him if it continued for much longer. The two rivals didn't seem to notice his unease, however, for they kept glaring at each other, almost as if to relent would mean losing some imaginary competition.

Shinpachi sighed, almost to himself, and decided to intervene.

'Umm...' He began, only for the two to turn sharply to him.

'SHUT UP MEGANE!'

'Oiiiii!' Shinpachi reared back slightly at their retort. Why am I always mistaken for my glasses!? He wondered as he watched Kagura and Okita abandon their glare competition and begin to argue vehemently with each other.

Having had enough, the megane clenched his fists and knocked them both squarely on the head.

'Hey!'

'OUCH!'

'You two are worse than children! This is a serious situation so stop arguing like you've got nothing better to do!' He scolded, as they nursed the growing bumps on their heads. When it seemed they had relented in their argument, he turned to Okita. He was still a bit apprehensive about the consequences of allowing him to join them in their search but he figured that if they didn't allow him to come along he would just arrest them... or worse.

'Okita-san, how do you expect us to allow you to come with us when you are an enemy of the Jouishishi?' He asked.

Okita smirked at this and gazed at Shinpachi with what looked to be new found respect.

'Now, you're asking the right questions.' He commended.

'Well?'

'Don't worry, I don't plan on going EVERYWHERE with you. But there are ways that I can help speed-track your search.' As he said this he pointed his thumb backwards to his patrol car.

'Come on, I'll give you all the info that I know when we're inside.'

'You seem to be in a good mood today, Captain.' Abuto found himself remarking to the now smiling Kamui as they patrolled the streets of Edo in the evening. Many of the women blushed and smiled as they passed by, though Kamui didn't seem to notice them. He wondered what Takasugi had told the bloodthirsty Yato to get him into such high spirits especially when he had been in a completely opposite mood only a few hours earlier.

His Captain laughed at his comment and opened his eyes briefly.

'You would be happy too, Abuto, if you knew that very soon...you would be getting what you've wanted for a long, long time.' He replied.

Abuto didn't know what to make of this, but he smiled as well. It sounded like there would be battle soon for that was the only thing he could think of that would make his Captain so excited. He could feel a similar excitement igniting within him. Yatos both loved and belonged on the battlefield and he was no exception.

Where the hell is Sougo, dammit

Hijikata couldn't help but wander as he and Kondo stood in front of the Shinsengumi units. Okita's position in front of his unit was conspicuously absent but the demonic Vice-Commander decided to think little of it as Kondo began to give them a briefing.

'Listen up guys. We've received some disturbing reports about recent Jouishishi activity and have reason to believe that either Katsura or Takasugi are getting ready for a showdown in Edo that could very well change the course of history if we don't do something about it first.' The Commander declared.

Unlike the usual case where some officers could be seen talking and chatting while the Commander was briefing them, everyone listened to him with rapt attention. Perhaps the seriousness of the matter had not gone unnoticed. Hijikata nodded in approval and found himself turning to his Commander as well. Kondo had been in a serious mood of late, probably due to the reports he had received from the 3rd Unit Captain, Saitou Shimaru, and as he continued to talk Hijikata was reminded why he admired him so much. Granted, there were times when he questioned Kondo's actions, but he never doubted his strength.

He cursed inwardly when he realised his mind was moving elsewhere and focused on what his Commander was saying.

'We will need to be very vigilant within the next few days. If anyone notices anything suspicious, report it immediately. Our heads are on the line if anything happens to the Bakufu.'

'Yes, Commander!'

When the meeting had ended, Hijikata remained with Kondo and they both watched as the officers filed out of the room, all joviality now lost from their faces in the wake of the bad news they had received. When everyone had exited, Kondo turned his attention to his deputy.

'Toshi.'

'Kondo-san?'

'You'll need to be on the lookout as well. We could do with your skills of observation at a time like this.'

Hijikata nodded his head slowly and debated whether to speak out on one of his 'observations' to his superior.

'Kondo-san, you've been very serious of late.' He remarked.

'Ah, is that so?'

Hijikata nodded again, noticing what looked to be lines of fatigue on his Commander's usually jovial face. He wondered why he hadn't noticed it earlier.

'Is something wrong?'

Kondo smiled but shook his head slowly.

'I guess I'm just worried; If we aren't careful, we could lose a lot of our men.' He turned fully to the younger samurai. 'We need to get as much information as we possibly can in the shortest amount of time. That could make a big difference!'

'Understood, Commander. I'll focus more of our spies on information gathering.'

'You do that, Toshi.'

Taking this as permission to leave, Hijikata inclined his head and rose to leave. Kondo stopped him before he could go.

'Ah, and how's the interrogation with the Yorozuya going?'

'Still nothing. He's as stubborn as an ox. How long do you want us to keep him?'

Kondo crossed his arms slowly.

'Till you get something out of him.'

'Eh? Then he'll never leave!'

'I'm not sure what you guys already know, so I'll just start from the top.' Sougo began as he drove Shinpachi and Kagura through town. Shinpachi was in the front seat while Kagura was at the back sitting directly behind Sougo. Both were silent as the Shinsengumi captain spoke.

'We began to get suspicious when we noticed disguised ronin patrolling the streets. As to who they're working for we aren't sure yet. It could be either Takasugi or Katsura but either way, that's trouble for everyone in this town. At first we thought with certainty that it wouldn't be Katsura since he's become somewhat more of a moderate but...'

'But what?' Shinpachi asked, unable to disguise the worry in his voice.

'We received reports that he was planning on returning to his former ways-'

'There's no way Zura would do that!' Kagura interrupted in disbelief. 'It's Takasugi, no doubt about it! So stop focusing on Zura, and do us all a favour and keep your eye on someone else!'

'That's true Okita-san! He would never hurt the people of this town!'

Okita didn't respond immediately. In fact, he was silent for at least a minute, leaving Shinpachi and Kagura to look at each other. Had he even heard them?

'Oi-'

'You guys seem to be really attached to him.' He finally replied, and they realised their mistake.

'Uh...'

'Don't worry, I won't arrest you or anything. We'll just pretend you never said that.' The 1st Division captain remarked, keeping his eyes on the road.

'Okita-san...'

'I guess that's what makes Takasugi a worse opponent. He can't be reasoned with and he doesn't have people like you to keep him in line either.' He reached into his pocket and put something in Shinpachi's hand. Shinpachi opened it and looked at what seemed to be badges- one like a flower and the other like a mayonnaise bottle.

'Hmm? What are these for?' Shinpachi wondered as Kagura leaned forward to have a look. 'Kagura-chan, put your seat-belt on!'

'Aww leave me alone, mum!'

'What was that?!'

Sougo sighed at their antics and took the flower badge from Shinpachi and handed it to Kagura.

'Those are communication badges. That way when we separate we can keep tabs on each other.'

'Keh, are you giving me a flower? How sweeet!' Kagura mocked as she took the flower badge from his hand and pinned it to her dress.

'Yeah, yeah, I hope you stab you're eye while putting it on.'

'I'll stab YOU first!'

Shinpachi cleared his throat dramatically to end their exchange and returned his attention to Sougo.

'So you want us to separate and search the whole town for Katsura-san? That could take forever especially if he doesn't want to be found.'

A small smile began to appear on Sougo's face.

'No, not Katsura.'

'Hmm?'

'You two need to look for that duck-penguin thing he's always with. Now THAT's a creature that can't hide in plain sight no matter how hard it tries.'

'It seems you were able to convince the Admiral to calm down.' Bansai remarked as he and Takasugi were playing their shamisens. The room was filled with its beautiful sounds. Bansai had a knack for sounds; he could hear the sounds that people made just by looking at them. As he looked at Shinsuke, he saw many things, things that he wouldn't say out loud to anyone else, except maybe to Shinsuke himself.

A small smile crept onto Shinsuke's lips at Bansai's remark.

'I simply told him want he wanted to hear. He and I share the same blood lust, even if our motivations are different.' Bansai nodded his head in agreement with this.

'Yes, I've noticed. He must be over the moon then, I daresay.'

Takasugi snickered but didn't say anything in response, only continued playing. As the room was once again filled with the music they played, Bansai wondered if a certain silver haired samurai would try disrupt their plans once again.

Looking forward to it

'Senpai, do you think we can succeed with our plans?' Matako found herself asking Takechi Henpeita who was looking at some maps.

'Any plan can succeed as long as it is done well and all possible disruptions are dealt with.' He answered, slowly, with his eyes still on the maps he was examining.

'Disruptions?'

'Yes...disruptions.' He replied patiently, finally putting them away and looking at her fully.

'Our aim is to destroy the Bakufu so naturally, the Shinsengumi would be counted as distractions. Also, the Tendoshu who are the real power behind the Bakufu can be seen to be distractions. But so far, the worst distractions have been Takasugi-sama's comrades; Sakata Gintoki and Katsura Kotarou!'

'So why don't we kill them?! How many times are we going to wait for those two to butt their heads in and ruin our plans?'

'Ask Takasugi-sama, not me. If I had my way, they'd both be dead. Especially that silver samurai.'

Matako's eyes narrowed.

'Yeah, yeah. So you can help yourself to that annoying little tramp who follows him eh? You're such a lolicon, senpai!'

'I'm not a lolicon, I'm a feminist.'

'Why haven't you helped yourself to the Harusame Admiral who looks so much like her?'

'What do you take me for? I prefer ladies thank you very much.'

'The both of you need not worry.' A voice behind them said. They turned to see Bansai approaching.

'Bansai-dono...'

'This time around, we'll be taking care of anything and everything that gets in our way.'