Hey everyone! Thanks again for the reviews, I'm hoping you'll like this chapter just as much! For this chapter, some parts are fairly confusing, so please send a PM or leave a review for clarification. This is the second half of Sougo's sojourn and I hope you like it. Also, in this fic I made Akainu much more evil than he already is, so yeah! So read, enjoy, review!
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or Gintama
Umibozu sighed as he looked at his son, ready for murder; both of their Yato blood was pumped, and it would be a miracle if this winter island survived this collision. "So Kamui…any particular reason you're in this universe, or bludgeoning this young man to death?"
"Well father, you'll be interested to know that he's Imoto-chan's lover." Kamui smiled.
"WHAT?! And I saved that bastard's life?! Why didn't you tell me?! I would've let you kill him!" Umibozu exclaimed.
"Don't be so ecchi father, I have a lover as well." Kamui added.
"Really? She hot? I taught you how to find the ones good in bed, right?" Umibozu asked.
"First of all, Hosen-sensei was more help than you ever were in that department, and secondly…please don't annoy me with your double-standard ways." Kamui sighed again. "Anyways, I'm actually here on a business merger for the Harusame, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here because my spaceship crash-landed; I collided with this idiot named Sakamoto, he was doing wheelies in space! Idiot crashed straight through my ship, and I ended up here!" The older man explained. "So…we doing this?"
"There's no getting out of it." With that, both men charged forward and clashed their umbrellas in a climatic bang!
Drum Castle
Lucci was panting, for once in his life, he actually felt overwhelmed by an opponent…quickly! No one, other than Strawhat, was able to fight him at this form; but this woman in front of him had barely broken a sweat. He jumped away as she sliced away another pillar. They had collapsed three floors in the castle, and Lucci could only hope that Aokiji and Kureha were all right. If any of them died here, then there cause would be for nothing! Smirking, he noted that Nobume was flying at him at an odd angle; using this to his advantage- he redirected his weight to dodge Nobume and sent the woman a giant kick into the floor below. He stared at her form from the upper level, and jumped down to her body.
Nobume took her chance and sliced at the Leopard-man; Lucci saw this coming, and grabbed her swords and sliced her abdomen with his claws, and head-butting the girl. Nobume was fazed, so Lucci sent another kick to her, sliding her across the floor. "Had enough?"
"Of course not." She stood up and turned to face Lucci. Despite the fact that her abdomen had an open wound, and blood was staining her white outfit, she still stood with her two swords, ready to fight. Just as the fight was about to continue, they heard another voice.
"STOP!"
Robelle Village
BANG! CLASH! Both Yatos clashed their umbrellas as if they were swords, a well as threw the occasional punch and kick. By now, they on the outskirts of Robelle, and had still cleard about half a mile of snow and town in their wake, revealing the barren ground. Just as they were about to continue, they were interrupted.
"That's enough." Kamui and Umibozu turned to the voice; Kamui growled in recognition.
"Not now Spandine-san, this is personal business I'm taking care of. Come back later." Kamui ordered.
"Due to recent developments, we no longer need Revolutionary Kureha or Admiral Aokiji. The rematch will begin soon, and we don't need you needlessly destroying World Government property. Regardless if the reason is personal or not." Spandine eyed Umibozu suspiciously. "So come along, my son is already gathering your girlfriend; we need to return to Mariejois."
"Shove the orders up your ass; I'm not leaving until I get this fight! This is the first time since I entered this universe that my blood's been pumped!" Kamui exclaimed.
"I understand. But you have your orders and are obligated to follow them until this transaction is complete. Or…do you wish to erase your chances of Imai-san's fraction permanently merging with the Harusame?" Spandine raised a brow.
"Hmmm…I suppose I'll go with the long-run." Kamui shrugged and put away his umbrella. "After all, killing this weakling is only a temporary thrill, Nobume-chan can survive no matter what the brutality. Can't lose an opponent like that."
"Very good." Spandine nodded and turned to Umibozu. "I don't know who you are, but I advise that you forget everything you just saw here; otherwise the World Government will have to take issue with you." Turning around, the government offical walked away. "Come along, Kamui-san."
"Later, father!" Kamui waved goodbye.
Drum Castle
"So yeah, we don't need those idiots, isn't that great?!" Spandam exclaimed eagerly. "So Nobume-chan, now that that idiot's obsessed with fighting someone else, want to go out now?"
"Die." Nobume replied.
"But-"
"Yes- die." Spandam turned to Lucci, who looked pissed off as hell to see him. "I don't care what developments the World Government's discovered, but I'll assume they don't need you anymore!"
"GAH!" Spandam yelled. CLANG! Nobume intercepted the claw attack with her sword; she and Lucci stared each other down, until finally putting away her own swords.
"We'll be going now. Thank you for the entertainment." Nobume then walked out of the castle, with Spandam blubbering behind her.
Lucci frowned; wondering what developments were good enough to release a convicted revolutionary and detach an asset such as a retired admiral?
Meanwhile- Heading towards Drum Castle
"And those are the expectations I have for you! Now are you up to the challenge?!" Umibozu demanded of his possible son-in-law.
"Ossan…please stop talking…it hurts." Sougo deadpanned, and huddled his body closer into his coat. After Kamui left, Umibozu took the younger lad onto his back, and had been carrying him up the mountain ever since. It was impressive that the bald man was doing it with one arm; but Sougo was more grateful that the man loaned out his extra coat. Normally the young sadist would hate to appear this weak, but due to the severity of his wounds and extreme temperature, he wasn't going to complain. The trade-off was: Umibozu could drill Sougo non-stop about his relationship with Kagura; which was starting to annoy the hell out of the young officer.
"Don't dodge the question son! I need to make sure you're good enough for my daughter!" He exclaimed.
"Yeah…a father who doesn't pay enough attention to his daughter, to not know she's had a boyfriend for over a year…yeah…you're really the person I need to ask for permission." Sougo replied sarcastically.
"Watch your mouth! I'm still the primary guardian-"
"You left China alone with her mother to die." Sougo grumbled a deadly growel. "You're the last person who has say in China's life as far as I'm concerned."
"…Kagura told you about that?" The old man sighed uneasily. "She never really talks about that…she really told you about it?"
"Eh. She told me about how she watched her mother deteriorate in memory until she was nothing but a mental infant; China fell asleep and her mother threw herself off a cliff, crawling after a centipede." Sougo noticed the man's hold tighten. "You're asking me because China never told you about it, did she?"
"…No, she didn't. After I came back; she was already old enough to travel and her mother had been dead for two years. She left the hut, and didn't say one word to me; I had to hear about what happened from the neighbors." The bald man sighed. "I suppose she also told you the truth behind how I lsot my arm."
"Eh. She told me that she and that bastard got into a fight over a pudding snack of all things, and he snapped. The only thing I can say is that, you're lucky you were there." Sougo replied. "Otherwise…I'd kill you for letting that bastard touch her."
A pregnant silence fell over the two, until the old man broke it. "…I…didn't see you the last time I was on earth…were you seeing my daughter at that point?"
"No…we were rivals at the time…we started dating a little over a year ago…our anniversary's coming up actually." The sadist couldn't help but smile at the thought. "I need to come up with a completely new torture technique on China."
"What kind of anniversary present is that?!" Umibozu demanded. "It can't be! You've already done it with my daughter! She's no longer innocent, is she?! How dare you?!"
"First of all, your daughter was never innocent, secondly…what China and I do, is none of your business." Sougo said bluntly.
"Yes it is! Just because I'm not an involved parent, doesn't mean she's not my-"
"YOU LOST THAT RIGHT WHEN YOU ALMOST LET HER DIE!" Sougo exclaimed. Umibozu was stunned into silence, and let the boy continue. "First…you left her with a mentally deranged mother in the slums, right after her brother almost killed her…then you had the nerve to come back to earth, and lead her into a death trap!" Just remembering the purple slime all over his grilfriend got him pissed off, but the man tried to take Kagura away to a different planet!
"I…I was trying to make up for lost time on that last one. I…really was going to try to be her father." Umibozu said uneasily.
"Too bad; you lost your chance. China's her own woman now…" Sougo smiled. "My woman to be exact. You can never make up for lost time, but you can swallow your own dick and try to trudge forward into a future designed by the strongest force in existence- mine and China's union."
"…Uh…that's touching." Umibozu sweat-dropped. "How serious are you about her? Do you plan to marry her?"
"When I take over the Shinsengumi, yes. Might take a few years, but…don't worry…she'll be legal to marry by then." Sougo smirked.
"So glad my daughter found a polite boyfriend." Umibozu said sarcastically. "So what are you doing on this planet anyways?"
"I happen to be on legitimate evil-empire-overthrowing business. What's your excuse?" The officer scoffed.
"In all honesty…some idiot named Sakamoto crashed into my ship and I crashed landed here." The man admitted.
"A deadbeat dad and a retarded loser, huh baldy?" Sougo replied boredly.
"Why you-"
"Hey look, we're here." Sougo interrupted his attempted murder. Umibozu sighed; he was going to be one hell of a son-in-law.
5hrs Later
As Umibozu got debriefed by Cipher Pole, Sougo had received his treatment from Kureha. "So your guy got chased off by a guy in a hideous suit too, huh?"
"Yes. It was Spandam; those two brutes you know, came here to arrest me for my participation in the Revolutionary Army, but apparently Aokiji and I are no longer needed." Kureha frowned, after finishing Sougo's bandages. "I don't like this. Players like Spandam and Spandine wouldn't let big fish like Aokiji and I go casually, something big must've happened."
"Well obviously…his superiors caught bigger fish." The bishounen replied. "Do you have the suspicion of who?"
"No one that would be caught by those government dogs, but what about you…aren't your comrades in the World Government's hands?" The old doctor questioned.
"Hijikata-san won't die that easily, and they still have use for Kondo-san." The boy shrugged. "Besides…they both probably have a suspicion of what's going on, so I wouldn't worry about it."
"If you say so." The doctor shrugged and turned to the king of the land. "Oi Dalton! The Den Den Mushis back online?"
"Eh. The government relinquished their hold on the line; the rest of former Cipher Pole agents must've gone down to the villages and dismantled the system." Dalton answered. "Kureha-san…this island would be lost without you…but I won't stop you if you feel that something is wrong."
"Perhaps I'll take you up on that later, but for now, we have these idiots to heal." Kureha huffed. "Is everyone from the village okay?"
"Ah. No one was reported injured or missing." Dalton answered. "We should contact the Strawhats."
"Don't bother." Kalifa spoke up. "All of the points of origins were under siege but were freed as of late; I suspect the Strawhats and Whitebeard pirates have gotten word of this already, and are getting ready to take action."
"You don't say?" Kureha frowned. "Forgive me if I find myself suspicious of you."
"It's fine." Lucci scratched the back of his head, sporting bandages himself. "We just want to ask if you're in."
"…The second Dragon pulls the trigger; consider me armed and ready." The old woman said in determination.
Sougo observed the conversation boredly, and then noticed something. "Anybody see where the ice admiral went?"
Meanwhile
Aokiji had gone back to Cocoa Weed and was currently in the process of packing/destroying his things in his office. He was so busy, that he didn't notice someone had come down; turning, he saw that it was Sougo, who still supported himself on crutches. "What do you want?"
"Just wanted to know if you were going to let anyone know of your departure." The boy sighed. "You better be grateful that I took the time to come down here; I had to convince baldy to give me a ride."
"I never asked you to come, leave." Aokiji returned to his work.
"…Out of all the jobs an out-of-work admiral would take, I'd never expect a bookkeeper for a tiny, family-owned restaurant. You doing it because they offered you food and shelter? Or are you just a madao?" The officer asked.
"When I first joined the Navy, I was in the payroll office; it took me ten years to work up to the rank of admiral. I wouldn't be able to live with myself, if I didn't repay these kind people somehow." Aokiji gruffed, not turning around to face the younger man.
"Huh? And judging by the way you're speaking, you spent many more years in the Navy than that. Why'd you quite all of the sudden? You don't strike me as a deserter." Sougo pried.
"As Lucci already told you, I lost the right of successorship to Akainu. I refuse to work under that bastard, so I left. Many soliders resigned due to the aftermath of the war that day." Aokiji sighed.
"The aftermath being that those Spandax-creeps made contact with the Harusame…how long was it after the Whitebeard war really, a year perhaps?" The boy asked.
"Yeah. How'd you know?" Aokiji turned to him.
"Because that's when these Harusame bastards almost killed my woman." Sougo replied. "It was almost one year exactly, that China and I got together, in the midst of a police group merging with the Harusame pirates. You've met them, I'm sure."
"So you know Isaburo-san, Takasugi-san, and..."
"Kamui-san…yeah…I know them." Sougo sighed. "So I don't get it; if the system you were so loyal to, is in danger…why abandon it?"
"It's none of your business! Now leave so I can continue packing up!" He exclaimed.
"Packing up without boxes?" Sougo scoffed. "Your scouring the room to make sure none of the government flunkies took a certain item." Taking out an item from his pocket, he showed the stunned man the thing he was looking for. "I noticed this on your desk and figured it was important, so I decided to take the liberty of using this as blackmail." Sougo frowned, and suddenly felt the arm holding the picture freeze.
Walking up to the boy, Aokiji took the picture. "You're lucky I feel merciful enough to spare your arm, now get out!"
"He threatened to burn it, right?" Sougo stopped him. "I picked it up because I noticed the burn mark in the corner; he threatened to destroy the only memory you have of them, and then most likely expose you, correct?"
"How do you-"
"My sister died two years ago; I'm an orphan and have no other family, and only have one picture of her. That'd be the only reason I'd throw a fight like that too." Sougo sighed. "Tell me, do you really think your avenging their memories by hiding out on this island?"
"It's now about vengeance, it's about escaping. I betrayed her in the worst possible way; I didn't just watch her die, I…actually thought that girl in the picture wasn't mine. You see, we met under strained circumstances and…we fell in love, and…she disappeared one night without explanation, and when I finally found her with a child, I…assumed the worst." Aokiji clutched the table for support.
"So your daughter's alive, then?" Sougo raised a brow.
"Eh. And she has no idea that I'm her father, as she knows me is the person who lead her island to destruction, as well as almost killing her crewmates. I'm proud of her; she found her place in this world, and has a place she can truly call home, I just wish I could tell her that." Aokiji sighed.
"Tell me…your wife…were you the last thing she saw before she died?" Sougo demanded.
"Eh. She died in my arms, telling me the truth; she gave me that picture as her goodbye present. Robin's…only a year old in that picture." Aokiji cracked a smile "She got my tanned skin and black hair."
"Yes, she's beautiful. You're coming with me and the cipher gang." Sougo announced bluntly.
"Didn't you hear a word I just said, I don't-"
"If what you say is true, then you owe both your wife and daughter the favor of cleaning up the Navy; a real man would face up to that responsibility, not runaway from the chance. What would she say to you right now, Olivia-san, I mean?" Sougo stated bluntly.
"She'd…demand that I make amends. Olivia-san was fearless, she'd…force me to take my place as Fleet Admiral." He sighed.
"So what are you waiting for?" Sougo raised an eyebrow.
"How could a man like me, who abandoned his wife and daughter, as well be beaten by the man who murdered his wife, be acceptable for the position as Fleet Admiral?" Aokiji sighed.
"You said that you held her as she died, right?" Sougo asked.
"Yeah."
"Trust me…you're worthy. The hardest thing a warrior of any kind can do is be helpless as their loved one dies in front of them, but…also be strong enough to support their loved one as they die. Trust me…Olivia-san needed you in her last moments, just as…Mitsuba needed me." Memories of her in that hospital bed flooded his mind. "I pushed her to get married to a shady business man to make her have the experience of a wedding before she passed; all I did was hurt her, and she still forgave me. I'm…honestly not far off from you."
"Okita-kun…"
"You didn't turn away, and you didn't sob the snot out of your nose as she died; you let her say exactly what she needed to say, and allowed her to say her final wish. A coward would've done otherwise." The boy finished.
After a few moments of silence, Aokiji looked at the picture in his hand again; it was a picture of Olivia, holding Robin in a rocking chair when she was just a year old. He could never stop smiling when he looked at it, but then he thought of Akainu…what he had taken from him, and…what he was going to continue to take, if he was made Fleet Admiral. Turning to the boy, he looked at him firmly. "If I go along with this…you are to tell no one of this conversation or this picture's existence…do I make myself clear?"
"Or you'll freeze me to death, right?" Sougo looked at his left hand for emphasis.
"Damn right."
"Fine. It's a deal; you participate in the little rematch with Akainu, and you got yourself a deal." Sougo smirked.
"Damn, this is gonna be troublesome…" Aokiji complained, but in the inside, he couldn't be more excited.
5 Days Later- Meanwhile
Far down on the Grand Line in the New World, a famous Strawhat captain looked at the wanted posters of a new pirate group suspiciously.
"Luffy! You're brother's approaching!" Zoro called.
"Ah! Prepare to send him up!" Luffy nodded, but kept his serious disposition. "EVERYONE!" His crew turned to look up at him. "LET'S TEACH THESE ODD-JOBS PIRATES A LESSON!" Luffy grinned. "By the time we're done with them…they'll regret ever going near our home islands."
Review please! Finally, Luffy and the Strawhats will be making their appearances in the next chapter! Along with Ace and several other Whitebeard commanders! I'm kind of in a writer's block in Alabasta though, so after the next chapter, I might take awhile to post. It's not that I'm going on hiatus, so much as...my mind's blank. So if you have any comments, concerns, or questions- leave it in the PM or review!