Author's Note:
Yo. Thanks for following this fic so far; please continue to support me as always! There's not much to say about this chapter, except for the fact that some of the previous side-stories will be mentioned.
Before anyone starts complaining about how I portray the time-skip versions, let me explain. According to the Time-skip arc, Sougo becomes more charming, while Kagura acts feminine - I've based my portrayal on this. Although I actually impersonate Bakaiser as a cruel (yet appealing) guy, he appears to be an ordinary prince Charming in the few moments I've included. To limit the chapter counts, his cruelty (especially towards his men) and sadistic teasing towards Time-skip!Kagura won't be shown (or at least not too clearly) in this fic.
Then again, people change as they get older. You can't expect them to act the same as before at the age of 20+.
kawaiinekochan16: Thank you; that's definitely something I like to hear. XD When people say that they like how I portray Sougo, I mean; because he's my favorite Gintama character. Belated Merry Christmas to you too~
prae-333: Thank you~ It makes me very happy that you understand that much - because that's exactly the kind of piece I'm trying to write. Things might be unclear right now, but I hope you'll enjoy it even more when you get the whole picture.
Anne: Thank you, I'm glad to hear that. If I may ask, what exactly did you mean with your question? If you're talking about the wiki page which mentioned moments where Okita saved her, then they were talking about the Yagyuu arc (76-81) and Rokkaku arc (186-187).
All I want for Christmas is…
…Your forgiveness. [Chapter 8]
"Sougo… Is there something wrong?" The vermilion-red haired woman asked with worry in her eyes. Calling him by his first name wasn't an infrequently happening anymore, though the epithets of 'Sadist' and 'China' certainly did sneak into their conversations ever so often.
"Nothing's wrong, my dearest. Nothing at all," the Kaiser sent her a reassuring grin as he got up from his seat, "The air is warm tonight…how about we take a walk in my garden?"
"If that's your wish…" With all anxiety gone, Kagura smiled softly and took the hand he had offered.
"I ordered the gardener to plant some Rose bushes, Poppies, Camellias and Krajeaws, in hope you would like them." Okita led her out of the castle in a manner of a gentleman, which was quite unlike him. He had matured a lot through the years, but like people say: Old habits die hard.
"Is that so?" The Yato felt happy, because flowers were something she adored. Furthermore, he had built that place for her, and her only… Quite romantic, yes? Who would have thought that jerk could be so thoughtful.
As they walked through the backyard, she let go of him and went to smell the blossoms. She then looked back at Sougo with a contented expression on her face,
"Thank you, I love it…"
"I'm glad…"
Okita felt his heart beat faster as he walked with her deeper into the garden where no one could see, hear, or disturb them in any way. He tried to keep his calm because he didn't want to ruin anything by pulling off a stupid joke like he usually did. No, he couldn't risk to mess up. Not today…
"…About what I wanted to discuss with you…"
"Yes~?" The China-girl turned around to face him, slightly curious why her sadistic lover sounded so serious.
"I've been thinking for the past few weeks…" He almost whispered as he stood there beside her, looking up at the sky. The stars shone brightly while thousands of fireflies floated quietly around and lightened up the beautiful place.
"As you're already aware of, we've known each other for a long time… 7 years, to be exact. 7 wonderful years filled with happiness and joy…but also moments of sadness, as well as pointless fights and heart-breaking farewells. Despite everything, our strong feelings got us through the hardships…"
"You're right…" The Yato replied to his statement. Indeed, their love for each other had never changed…
Sougo nodded lightly and thought a bit before continuing, "I might be successful in life, being Kaiser and feared by everyone. Holding this kind of power in the grasp of my hand makes it too easy to get lost; forgetting how to be 'human'… If you weren't here by my side and always reminded me about the kindness hidden deep inside people's hearts—no, inside my heart—who knows what kind of merciless leader I would have become…?"
"That's because it's my job to keep an eye on you," the lady giggled delicately. "Then again… Even with that said, you're still the cruelest ruler around~"
"I suppose…~" Okita stood in front of her, his cheeks faintly tinted pink. He knew it was kind of out-of-character of him to say these things, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment – he didn't want to mess up.
"You taught me how to love and helped me understand how great it was to be loved; emotions which normally would have been incomprehensible for a cruel, cunning sadist like me…" The Kaiser locked his crimson eyes with her ocean-blue ones, "China… I…love you… I love you more than words can express… That's why…I needed another way to prove how true these deep feelings of mine were…"
Sougo paused shortly, breathing quietly. "After giving it a lot of thought, I finally made a decision…and I'll assure you, my beloved, that never have I ever been this sure about anything else…" The sadist gently brushed his cape behind him to get it out of the way as he elegantly got down on one knee and took her hand, feeling his heart beat wildly in his chest.
"My dearest Kagura… I now ask you… - not as the Kaiser, a Captain, or your rival…but as Okita Sougo, that one guy who loves you more than life itself…" As the older male spoke these words, he took out a small, black box from his pocket and opened it to show her the diamond ring. Our S-King kept gazing softly at her as he wore a charming smile on his lips…
"…will you…marry me?
Silence filled the air as Kagura's mind went blank, her eyes widened in surprise. She almost forgot to breathe.
It took a few moments for her to react. But then, she slowly took his hand to make him stand up again. With a light nod and her cheeks flustered, her lips parted:
"Yes…"
The crimson-eyed man knew all along what her answer would be. Even so, a feeling of relief rushed through his body and the nervousness was replaced by pure happiness. He took her hand and slipped the diamond ring on her ring finger together with the promise-ring he had given her many years ago, then placed a kiss on her lips to end the proposal.
Our heroin wrapped her arms around the sadist's neck as she placed her forehead against his. Words could not describe how happy she was… "I would never have said no… After all, you're the only one for me… I love you~"
"And you, for me…" Okita picked her off the ground and spun her one round with his cape fluttering gracefully after him while Kagura giggled as he did so.
"I love you too…"
With that, the two rivals were now engaged. News spread fast, but it didn't seem to surprise their friends much. Although they had never made their relationship public, it was obvious with the years that Okita and Kagura had something going on. A lot of preparations needed to be made; it was the Kaiser's marriage, after all—and with a Yato, at that.
It was hard, even for them to believe what had happened. 'Fiancé'… There was a nice ring to it. This meant forever, right? They would stay together, and nothing… Nothing could separate them anymore…
…or so they thought.
…
…
…
"So you guys figured it out?" Takumi asked with a gentle smile.
"I figured it out," Okita corrected him as he leaned back on the couch and rested an ankle on his knee.
"Without me, you wouldn't have been able to figure out anything-aru!"
"You couldn't have figured it out either way, so shut it."
"You—!" It was annoying how true that counter was. Damn sadist who refused to tell her the answer… She had been asking him about it all the way as they headed to Togae's place, but Sougo's lips stayed sealed.
"Hmph. It's not that I can't-aru. I just don't like to think too much, yes?"
"I suggest you do. We don't want your brain to become as empty as your bra, do w—?"
In that instant, Kagura grabbed the boy by his hair and tugged hard to make him shut up. The fact that she had fallen in love with him and that he had a point about her not being able to figure it out by herself, didn't matter at all; if he insulted her, he would get it. Nevertheless, Sougo was quite the competitive guy himself. With hands reached out, he started to pinch and stretch her cheeks as a reply to the challenge.
Their fight soon turned into a game of wrestle when the Yato managed to fall off the couch, unintentionally dragging the sandy-haired boy with her. None of them felt like giving up just yet, which resulted in more irritation, which resulted in the fight growing severe, which in turn made them want to kill each other. Not that they hadn't always been like that, of course.
Like last time, the client seemed carefree while watching them fight. It might have been her imagination, but this guy appeared to enjoy their arguments to some extent; as if he knew there was nothing to worry about, because they secretly got along under the surface.
"You guys really like to fight, don't you?" When the adult spoke up, they quickly let go of each other and crawled back on the couch again. Looking away, the China-girl crossed her arms as she tried to calm down.
"More importantly… What are you planning?" Okita turned his attention to the terrorist, sounding like an older brother telling bullies to stop bothering his sibling, "You gave her a hard task – That imbecile could never have figured it out on her own."
"Oi! Who're you calling imbecile, you basta—!"
"That's because I knew you would help her," the older male explained with confidence, "After all… Souchirou-kun is a very gentle person…"
"…"
At this statement, the Shinsengumi captain fell silent. Even without saying anything, it was obvious that he strongly disagreed. 'You're wrong… I'm not…nice at all…' was written all over his face. The Amanto really hated it when melancholy invaded him like that… Making mistakes was a normal thing. Why did he always have to take the burden on himself?
"Hey, Sadist. Can't you reveal who Takumi is? The readers must be tired of waiting-aru. A reviewer even thought it was Bakasugi! Can you believe that?"
"…"
"Sadist, what's wrong? Did you go dumb, yes?"
"…no. I thought of an insult just now, but our author won't let me abuse the readers," Sougo shrugged in disappointment. "Not that it makes any sense, though. I doubt those masochists would stop reading this fic after only an insult or two."
"Hah, what can that dude do - stop writing the story? Who cares about the readers-aru. It's not like we get paid for playing along with this anyway."
"If you're unhappy about our condition, why don't you voice your thoughts for a change? After all; without us, there won't be any fic to write."
"Ohh! I should-aru!" Kagura looked up at the ceiling and balled her fist, as if she was glaring straight at her writer. "CrimsonINsight, listen here-aru! You're such a j*rk for not l*tting us say wh*tever we want, y** k***? We're c********* w*** our own ******! *-**, *-****'* *********!"
"Ah. So this is the power of the author." Okita uttered in a monotone voice at how this fanfic's creator dealt with the girl's rebellion.
"Hey, st*p c*nsoring m* w*rds as if I've said s*mething bad! I'm n*t like th* s*dist-***!"
"Give up already. There's no use trying to stand against him."
"I-Idi*t! Y*u w*re the *ne wh* t*ld me to v*ice my th*ughts!"
"And you were stupid enough to do it, China."
"*** ****!"
Takumi laughed lightly at their conversation before getting up. "I'll make us something. Be nice to each other~"
Kagura nodded at him as he left, although she not before long turned back to her rival again. "* **** ***." (I hate you.)
"No, China, you can't take a dump here."
"**** **! (Shut up!)
"Yeah, I know it's difficult to hold it in. Let me bring you to the toilet."
"*** **** *** *** ******** ****-***!" (The hell are you babbling about-aru!)
"Squeeze your ass together. Come on. You can do it. "
"**** ** ******-***! *** ****** *** **** *** ** ** *** ** *****, ***** * ***'* **** ***** ********!" (This is unfair-aru! The sadist can make fun of me all he wants, while I can't even reply properly!)
"Tch. Serves you right, you br***less m***t*** gori***," the young man said, but his confidence soon disappeared when his words were censored too. "…D*mn *t."
"GYAHA******~! The auth*r l*ves me-***!"
"As if y*u're the *ne t* talk. Anyway, back to our main topic," the Shinsengumi captain declared to end their ******-battle, not wanting to let this chapter exceed 4500 words.
"Uh-uh. Now tell me who Takumi is-aru!"
"We were right about him mixing the letters," Sougo began, his expression becoming serious again, "Your mistake, however…"
"My mistake…?"
Instead of explaining everything, the youngster showed her Togae's note - the one she handed to him earlier. It read: {TOGAE "HAJIRO" TAKUMI}. The blue-eyed teen could be slow and naïve at times, but she was definitely not a complete idiot. It only took a moment before she realized the problem.
"Oh no, I forgot Hajiro-aru…"
"Sure did, you brat. We could have continued for hours with no luck," the sadist scolded her as he wrote down Takumi's whole name on a piece of paper and started solving the word scramble for her to see.
{TOGAE HAJIRO TAKUMI}
- {HAJIRO TGOAI TAMEKU}
- - {HIJIRO TAGOKA TAMEU}
- - - {HIJIKA TAGO TAMEROU}
- - - - {HIJIKATA TAMEGOROU}
"Ah!" The Yato's sky blue orbs lightened up with amazement at the sudden realization.
"I expected no less from a genius," Tamegorou, who just came back from the kitchen commented on Okita's analyzing skills, "You're quite sharp, Souchirou-kun."
"It's Sougo."
"Are you serious-aru?" She…couldn't believe it… Her client, a terrorist, was Hijikata's older brother. This guy appeared in the Baragaki Arc, which was one of the newer episodes. Everything made sense now. Or…maybe not. She got some stuff figured out, however many things were still unclear.
"But Tamegorou-san, aren't you supposed to be…" Her voice trailed off because she wasn't sure how to form those words.
"Dead?" The black-haired adult chuckled, as if it didn't matter much. "Seems like that, yes."
"Then how-aru?"
"What do you think?" The older male asked gleefully before answering her question: "Time-traveling."
The female stared dumbfounded at her client. Of course she had heard about time-machines and time-skips – Gintoki mentioned them once in awhile, but…was this even possible? "Takumi-san, you're a time-traveler-aru?"
"Not quite. But I knew someone who was. One day, that kid approached me. I had never seen her before our first encounter, but she gave an expression of knowing me from one place or another," The client poured them some green tea as he shared his story, "She told me that everything happened for a reason – that I should stay strong even though my life would be enveloped in darkness. It wasn't until later that I understood what she meant…"
At that moment, Kagura suddenly remembered something she had read on Hijikata's profile:
[ "When Toushirou was eleven, there was a large fire in the village, and some bandits used this opportunity to break in and tried to attack Toushirou. In the attack, Tamegorou protected Toushirou from getting killed by the bandits and ended up losing his eyes." ]
"'Enveloped in darkness' – You'll become blind-aru…"
Takumi nodded, acknowledging her guess. "Knowing that, I wanted to see my brother one last time. I wanted to have an image of the future Toushi imprinted on my mind; something I could hold onto as my life ended and I couldn't see anything else. That girl…was going to help me accomplish my wish, but we traveled too far into the future and saw something we shouldn't have…"
"Something…you shouldn't have…?" The blue-eyed alien repeated, not sure what the other meant. Despite this, she could tell from his facial expression that it wasn't something pleasant.
"In shock, she hurried back to change the past before it was too late, completely forgetting about me. Maybe she found out later that I had some kind of purpose in this future and decided not to come back? I don't know. Either way, I was left trapped between space and time until I was dropped off here, a few years ago for reasons unknown. When I came to Edo, I heard about a certain Hijikata Toushirou and before I realized it, I had ended up joining the terrorists in my search for more information."
"But by doing that, it'll become impossible for you to get close to your brother without being caught by the police-aru."
"It's okay. Really," The older male sent her a gentle smile, "I can't interact with Toushi without changing the past anyway…"
"I…don't understand-aru…"
"Allow me to explain," he added after seeing the sukonbu-lover's confused face.
"The act of traveling in time is different from, for example, the act of changing the past. My planned journey to the future had only one purpose: To let me see Toushi. As in, watch over him for a short time. This won't affect the timeline, because I'm not doing anything to change it, - even Toushi himself won't realize that he's being watched. At this moment on the other hand, I've accidentally invaded a time where I don't belong. Think about it. What can happen if I meet my brother face-to-face right now?"
"Um…" Although the young lady thought hard, she couldn't figure it out.
"He'll realize the fact that there's a way to travel through time," Okita who had stayed quiet all this time spoke up. "With that kind of knowledge, Hijikata-san might get overwhelmed with emotions and think of going back to the past to save you, his hero."
"Indeed. Everyone has regrets in life and questions they want answers for. However, the tiniest changes can cause fatal outcomes. Some things were meant to happen and we have to accept that, no matter how painful reality may be. I'm affecting your futures as we speak right now, - if it's for good or bad, I don't know. My reason for letting you figure out who I am, was a way to leave you to fate. If this meeting wasn't meant to be, something would prevent you from solving my puzzle, thus not letting this conversation happen."
"I see-aru… There's still something I don't understand, though. If you don't want to change the future in any way… Why did you look for me?"
"I needed help from someone who knew Toushi; someone other than a Shinsengumi member, because they would probably never believe the words of a terrorist. While running through time with that time-traveler, I got a glimpse of episode 102 where Tosshi took pictures of you. Without any other clue to follow, this was the best I could do."
"Oh!"
The teen had worn an embarrassed look on her face as she was taken pictures of. So that's where the whole 'cute eyes' thing came from-aru.
"But Takum- I mean, Tamegorou-san… What kind of help do you need from me? What am I supposed to do-aru?"
"You see, there's another problem I need to deal with…"
"Another problem?"
Tamegorou nodded lightly and a sigh escaped his lips. He then looked into the Yato's ocean-blue orbs in all seriousness,
"…I need to return to my own time."
…
…
…
Kinda lose your sense of time
'Cause the days don't matter no more
All the feelings that you hide
Gonna tear you up inside;
You hope she knows you tried…
– "Unforgivable Sinner", Lene Marlin
…
…
…
With a hand firmly resting on the hilt of his sword, the sadist stood there in the rain like a predator waiting for its prey. Waiting… Waiting…
Just when the poor child passed by, our sandy-haired prince pulled him into a dark alley. Okita slammed him against the dirty, humid ground before digging his sharp blade deep into said person's chest. A scream echoed through the air, but no one was present to hear it… No one other than the attacker, of course.
That kid…had not seen this coming at all.
Sougo's crimson eyes watched the younger victim attempt to fight back, but all in vain. He was completely defenseless against the sadist…
Blazing-red liquid spurted out from the open wound on the boy's rib cage; this, however, was not at all enough to satisfy the Shinsengumi captain. Sougo hastily pulled his sword out of the fragile body before digging it back in, just as deep – if not, even deeper than before. He then repeated this process, over and over and over again…
"W-Wh…y…?" The younger child managed to let out weakly; his voice shaken, breath hitching violently. He seemed to have so much to say, but those last words escaped his lips as nothing more than quiet, helpless squeaks. Slowly, his beautiful eyes started to lose its glow… As if life itself was leaving him…
It wasn't until the prey stopped moving completely that our sadist ceased his stabbing. Sougo had hurt too many people in his lifetime…yet, he was standing there, trembling in front of that one corpse. How many times did he wound the victim…? He had lost count…
"…I…did it…" Okita let go of his blood-covered sword and fell down on his knees, breathing heavily. "I really…did it…" He felt…relieved somehow, but couldn't help how the feelings of guilt and regret tore him up on the inside. Was this…the right thing to do…?
The police officer paid no heed to the drops of water that dripped from his burnished color strands as it began to pour down. At this moment, he had other things to worry about. What if…she found out…?
…No. He couldn't let her know about this… It would break her. Regardless of how much he wanted to tell himself "I did it for her… It's all for her sake…", that kind of reason just wouldn't do… How could he be so selfish…?
Tch… What use is there in asking that now…? It's too late…
It's far too late…
As much as he wished all this to remain only as a gruesome nightmare, it wasn't… He was now surrounded by darkness, but even that couldn't hide the fiery stains on the walls. This was his sin. A sin which could never be forgiven.
There was no turning back.
Albeit not being the weepy kind, the young male failed to hold back one single tear which gracefully trickled down his cheek and landed on the ground… The sadist had already decided. He was going to keep his side of the promise, no matter what…and nothing – nothing else mattered…
"We'll be together…" Sougo clenched his fists in determination.
"…that's…a promise…"
[End of Chapter 8]