Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Chapter 3
"Kamui, you bastard!" Kagura screeched. Before anyone will have time to react, she took out her purple parasol and aimed for Kamui's head.
But Kamui, as expected, dodged the attacks gracefully with a big grin on his face. Abuto sighed tiredly. Youngsters these days sure have a lot of energy…
"Oi, calm down! This is not a freaking zoo!" Yelled Hijikata who was making his way through the crowd, only to witness a horrible sight of the ex- meeting room which was looking more like a zoo every time Kagura smashed down her parasol with a powerful force.
"The Mayora is right this time, Kagura-chan. Now, do as the mighty Gin-chan instruct you. Breath in, think of the mountains. Breath out, think of the sea. Breath in…"
"Shut up, Gin-chan!" Yelled Kagura from somewhere in the messy room with furniture flying everywhere. "You want to die or what?"
"What did you say, you damn brat?!" Gintoki scolded as he moved in and locked the Yato girl's neck from behind then knocked her head with his fist. Kamui stopped dodging and his smile dispersed at that sibling-like action of Gin. "Say that again and I will shave off your hair. Do you want to be bald like you dad?!"
"Let me go, Gin-chan! Tax robbers, explain yourselves. Why the do you have criminals in here, unchained and unattended, huh?!"
"That's because we are currently on the temporary peace agreement term with them." Answered Hijikata as he opened the door to the new meeting room (which is right beside the old one) and let everyone in. Damn these violent, messed up Yato kids!
"That's right, Kagura-chan." Added Isao Kondo while he rubbed his hands together nervously, not knowing when he might steps on the land mines that could cause Kagura to go berserk like just now. Girls this age are hard to understand, after all.
Kagura snorted. "Why would you do that? This psychopath right here could betray you at any moment, you know?"
Ouch, thought everybody in the room as they turned and looked at Kamui with pitiful eyes.
"Do you know this guy before or what, China girl?" Okita asked curiously, not being able to receive the telepathy signal from the silver haired samurai who was trying to silence him. Wrong move! Retreat, retreat out of her personal territory, Souchirou-kun!
"Damn straight I do. He is my older brother who is a freakin…"
Click, went the sound of the handcuff as it snapped itself perfectly around Kagura's wrists. She turned around and stared blankly at Okita Sougo who is now standing behind her with a big, stupid grin on his face.
"…Not only are you an illegal immigrant, but you are also related with a criminal? Tsk, tsk…how many laws have you broken so far?"
"What the hell, Sadist?! If you are going to arrest someone, then arrest the real criminal! Why are you arresting me?!"
"I can't do that. We are on the temporary alliance term now." Said the Prince of sadists from the Sadist planet as he roughly pulled the girl up by her arm. "What shall your first lesson be, China? Whip, candles, rape… I mean rope, or would you rather be humiliated in public? Your choice."
"Sougo, that's enough playing around. We are here to do business, remember?" Reminded Hijikata when he happened to saw a big, stormy cloud peaked out from underneath Kamui's smiling expression. Not good, he thought to himself, this big brother Yato has a hidden sister complex!
"Party pooper." Okita murmured and released Kagura's wrists. He then sat down beside Gintoki and listened to Kondo as the Gorilla Commander started to speak.
"Let me explain this temporary peace term in details. Kagura-chan, you already know about the Kumoto, right?"
"Yeah." Kagura grunted. She shot Kamui a sharp look and moved closer to Gintoki protectively.
"Well, your big brother had also told me about them. According to Kamui-san, he was here on Earth before the attack started. He came to warn us one hour in advance, but we still couldn't protect the Terminal."
"What were you doing here on Earth, bastards?" Kagura asked.
Abuto cleared his throat. "Well. We were…"
"I want to hear this from Kamui." Interrupted Kagura quickly. If there were to be something she's sure she knows about Kamui, it would be his lying habits. Ever since when she was young, she'd always noticed that the thingy on Kamui's head, doorknob, antenna- or whatever you would like to call it – would always twitched when he told lies. She was tempted to tell him many times when she was younger, but her Mami told her to keep it a secret because sometimes, girls just need to know what's going on with men in her family. That little secret she keeps did not help her to detect Kamui's bloodlust nor did it help to prevent him from leaving, but it can still be somewhat useful in this situation. And from the look of it, it seems like Kamui is still unaware of his habit.
"If that's what you want, dear sister. Abuto and I were on our great monster hunting journey on Earth…"
The antenna twitches.
"…when we received a warning letter from Takasugi Shinsuke. That one-eyed Cyclops told us about the attack that had just happened."
The antenna did not twitch this time.
Kagura narrowed her eyes. "But why? I thought that he wanted to destroy Earth."
"Oh, he still does." Kamui took out a piece of paper and handed it to Gintoki who sat across the table. Gin examined that paper carefully. "But he said that he refuses to let anyone destroy Earth before he does. He's a type of guy who likes to go after healthy preys rather than preys that are weak and wounded."
"This is Takasugi's ugly handwriting, alright." Said Gintoki when he finished reading the paper and passed it down the table. "But why are you helping us? What do you gain from it?"
"Strong enemies." Replied Kamui with a murderous smile on his face. "Lots of strong enemies. The Kumoto clan has the strength that I desire to fight against. As long as I get to fight them, I don't really care about the Earth or anything else."
"Heh. No wonder he decided to help." Muttered Kagura. His antenna did not twitched, which means that he did lied. The thought of her own brother lusting so much after blood and battles might made her feel sick, but what makes her feel even sicker is the sound of the beast inside her head that's screaming with excitement.
"Anyway, they offered to assist us in this battle. In return, we must let them know every move we are going to make supply them with shelter and food. The agreement will be off as soon as one of us shows any signs of betrayal or when the mission is accomplished. You guys know that you are here under the same conditions, right, Yorozuya?" Asked Hijikata in order to confirm their agreement.
"You tax robbers are going to supply us with food and shelter? Why do I feel so guilty about using the stolen tax money, Gin-chan?"
"It is okay, Kagura. The day that you no longer feel ashamed is the day you become one of them. Gin-chan will pray from the bottom of his heart that you would never have become like that and keep in mind that even though I am lazy…"
"We can hear you, you stupid mutts!" Hijikata shouted. "Kondo-san, do we really have to let them stay here?! Just look at those faces and tell me that you don't want to throw them out!"
"Calm down, Toshi. Shinpachi-kun is Otae-san's younger brother. He's my future brother in law. How can I just leave him out in the cold while Otae-san is staying here?"
"Who's your brother in law?" Screamed Shinpachi. "I will never let the Shimura family marry into some extinct gorilla clan. Wait, my sister is also staying here?"
"Yup. I thought that it would be too dangerous to let her stay alone at a time like this, so I went to picked her up and lured her… I mean, get her to come here by telling her that you will also be staying here." The gorilla explained. Shinpachi's veins popped.
"The real danger here is you! My sister would be much better off staying home alone!"
Kagura stood up and stretched. It seems to her like this meeting was over and the little rays light that are able to go through the Kumoto's flying ship are slowly fading away as the night crept closer. Kagura almost haven't eaten all day and now she is tired as hell. She might not completely trusts Kamui yet, but at least their objectives are the same this time. "Anego is also here, yes? Then I will go sleep with her tonight."
Kondo froze in place. His heart was sinking away. Shit, I totally forgot that girls are creatures which like to stay together in groups! How am I going to sneak into Otae-san's room tonight and take her pictures then?!
"You… you can't, Kagura-chan!"
"Huh? What are you on, Gorilla? who else do you expect me to sleep with if not Anego?"
"Eh… um… well… How about your Aniki?! Why don't you go sleep with Kamui-san tonight? It's a big reunion between you siblings, after all!"
Everybody stopped moving, even Kamui who was about to stand up. He turned around and looked at a human called Isao Kondo with his eyes wide opened, as if he'd just learned that Abuto is actually a girl or that his good-for-nothing father's bald head has suddenly become covered with real hair, not a toupee.
Yeah… the shock was that bad.
Okita Sougo sucked in a deep breath. His mind sank deeply into his twisted sadistic nature as he started to look for ways to ensured that what Kondo had suggested on impulse does not come true.
Not as long as he has something to say about it.
The silence went on for what felt like eternity.
