Awws, I LOVE MY REVIEWERS! You made me so happy I decided to update a lot faster this time xD So, another round of thanks for Amanto, kamikorosuXP, Ayjah, Koatan, Alice P e a c h e s, peep (well, you made me smile widely with your review, so we're even, yes? And please don't shoot me, even if I encouraged such a threat (not one of my brightest ideas...), since then you'd never find out how this fic ends xD) and Shinichi's Lover! ^.^

Yes, I know this chapter is really short, but the original rough draft was only half of this version's length! I was tempted to add this to some other chapter, but it didn't fit well anywhere, so it ended up as a chapter of its own...and I couldn't think of anything to lengthen it more! T.T

A random fact: I was rereading my rough drafts and realised that I hardly even mention Kamui! O.O And it's all his handiwork that our two sadists got together! How could I ignore him like that? I'm such a bad mother! So, I had to come up with some scenes for him on the spot, and I don't usually work that way so sorry if his parts will suck from now on... T.T

And, well, you got an update a lot sooner than last time, so...forgive me? :puppy eyes:

Peaceful sleep is just a faraway dream!

"This is the border. This is my side, that's yours. The one to cross the line gets punished by the other. Deal?"

"Deal."

The grudgingly engaged couple climbed into Sougo's huge bed, settled as far away from each other as possible, shared a glare and turned their backs on each other. It was their first night together but...

"This totally ruined my dreams of marriage," Kagura muttered into the darkness and growled rather loudly. "Why do I have to stay here with you?"

"Don't place the blame on me, I'd rather drink poison than share a bed with you. Actually, you could just die so that I don't have to get married with you," Sougo answered with his usual not-that-I-care tone.

"You should go and die, bastard," Kagura snapped. "Is there really no way to cancel this?"

"That's what sister said," Sougo answered tiredly, having gone through this same conversation at least fifty times since they left the party.

"Sister!"

After the party ended, Sougo and Kagura marched straight to Mitsuba. She turned to them with a happy smile. "Congratulations, you two! You make such a cute couple," she said and smiled brightly.

"Sister, I'm sorry to ruin your happy mood but we can't go through with this engagement," Sougo said with such a serious face it almost scared her.

Mitsuba's smile dropped into a confused frown. "Why? What happened?"

"Your Highness, I'm terribly sorry to break the illusion but we can't stand each other," Kagura explained and shot a dirty glare at her fiancé for proof.

"Oh, is, is that so," Mitsuba mumbled and turned her gaze away from them uneasily.

That was when Hijikata decided to step into the picture. "What's with that look, Mitsuba? Did something happen?" he asked as he lit a cigarette.

Mitsuba turned to her husband with a worried look. "Umm, you see, Toushiro-san, these two say that they want to break up."

Hijikata blew some smoke out of his system and closed his eyes before saying: "That's impossible now."

"What?" the two unlucky people yelled in shock.

Hijikata turned his piercing gaze to them. "You have already been branded a happily engaged couple by the people. Impressive acting, I admit. But if you break up now, you will both ruin your images for life. Sougo won't be able to become a trusted ruler, though that's already a given considering his personality, and little miss here will most likely never get another proposal since no one would take a woman who called off a happy engagement with the prince after being officially engaged for less than five hours. In other words, you would ruin your futures if you broke up."

"You didn't mention about losing the profits our house earns from this, sir," an amused voice commented from above.

The four looked up only to find a cheerily grinning Kamui waving at them from a tree. "Kamui," Kagura hissed, "what the hell went through your head when you signed me up for this?"

"Hmm, let's see," Kamui hummed and cupped his chin in thought. "Well, besides the bride price they give and the likely increase in jobs, meaning I get to kill more people, I'd say I was thinking about your happiness. You are a lousy little sister and too weak to be called a true Yato, but I still don't want you to grow too old for marriage. Knowing you, no one else would take you," Kamui finished with a grin.

Kagura was seething. "That last bit about my happiness is complete bull, and we both know it! You're just fucking around with my life again, just like when mom died!" she accused.

Kamui tilted his head to the side, still grinning happily. "Oh, but that was to strengthen the family. You didn't die, so nothing wrong with that."

"As if! You just wanted to hurt someone! I hate you!" Kagura practically screamed, the three uninvolved people backing away from the two.

Kamui didn't answer anything to that. Instead, he jumped down and bowed. "It was a pleasure to attend this party, my gratitude for the invitation. I hope my sister won't cause you too much trouble," he formally said before taking his leave, disappearing into the crowd of servants cleaning the area.

Kagura had never before felt so humiliated, angry and depressed. "I'll have your head for this, Kamui!" she yelled after him.

An awkward silence followed her statement. Finally, Hijikata coughed. "At least you can torture each other till the bitter end," he commented dryly.

"But you know the old saying," Mitsuba said as lightheartedly as she could. "The strongest love comes from the strongest hate."

"I can't believe you're related to Mitsuba-san. She's so gentle, like a mother. You, on the other hand, are just a sadistic brat."

"You're every bit as annoying as your brother, though," Sougo commented.

"Kamui's in a league of his own, dumbass!" Kagura sighed heavily. "I can't believe I have to give my marriage kiss to someone like you!"

"Then just die in your sleep. Drown in your own drool or something," Sougo retorted heartlessly and pulled a bizarre sleeping mask over his eyes.

"Why don't you try swallowing your pillow and suffocate," she snarled back, only to be answered by soft murmurs as he started counting Hijikata's corpses.

"Don't count such disgusting things when I'm right here!"

He switched to China's corpses.

"YOU SADISTIC BASTARD!"

So, that's it for now. We will take a closer look at their thoughts and feelings in the next chapter, so please wait for it patiently!

~poakkis