Thank you guys all so much for your positive reviews! I really appreciate it! Here's chapter 2!

Kagura still couldn't believe it. Here she was, stuck in this room, forced into a sick "game" controlled by some Saw-wannabe idiot, hungry, and tired. And to top it off, she was chained together with Okita Sougo. Really? She'd rather be chained to a burning stake. And oh yeah, let's not forget that she was holding hands with him like he was her freaking boyfriend or something.

A slight movement of Okita's finger made Kagura even more hyper aware of their linked hands, as she tried desperately hard to ignore the thought that they looked like those stupid couples always flirting around at the park.

This is only to make sure he doesn't grab his keys with his left hand. This is just a precaution. Kagura chanted the mantra in her head multiple times, trying to convince herself of the truth of it even as the warmth from Okita's hand seemed to burn into her skin.

"Sooo, what do we do now?"

Okita's voice broke her out of her thoughts as she jerked her head up to look at him.

"We were being all defiant to that Noh-mask idiot, but how are we actually going to get out of here?" he asked, looking bored as he played with the cord that bound their arms together.

Kagura simply made an incomprehensible noise in the back of her throat to acknowledge his question, staring towards the small window near the ceiling. It was almost morning; a feeble ray of sun was beginning to shine into the room. The two of them were sitting side by side- well, how else could they sit?- on the bed, their clasped hands resting on the mattress between their bodies.

It had only been a few hours since she had been detained in here, but Kagura was already desperately yearning for freedom. She couldn't stand not being able to move freely; hell, she couldn't even bend down or turn a little bit without asking Okita to match his movements with her! She wanted to be able to smell the fresh air outside, prancing around Kabuki-cho with her umbrella. At this hour, she would have still been snoring away at Gin-chan's house, but in a couple of hours she would have been awake, smacking Gin-chan until he woke up, pranking Shinpachi as he came in promptly at eight, and getting ready to go on her routine morning walk with Sadaharu. Kagura couldn't help getting more and more depressed as she thought about it.

Wait. Gin-chan. She hadn't come back home at all the whole night. Maybe even more than one night, since she didn't know how long she had been out on the bed. The unpleasant feeling of emptiness in her stomach was a sign that she had been deprived of quite a few meals, too. Wouldn't he be worried? Maybe he was even looking for her right now as she was thinking this! The thought cheered her tremendously, as she basked in pleasurable images of Gin-chan beating the shit out of Jigsaw and Okita, freeing her from the confines of this cell-like room.

"Miss Cow-monster", came the sudden, familiar unpleasant drawl, breaking her happy fantasy, "I asked you a question. If you keep your eyes closed like that, we're going to get nothing done. What are you dreaming about, sukonbu?"

Kagura snapped her eyes open, glaring at Okita, who wasn't even looking at her as he was still fiddling with the cords.

"Shut up, you bastard" she replied, the words tumbling out of her mouth easily due to so much use, "I have been thinking about how to deal with this, actually. If we can just get out of this place somehow, we can get the Gengai geezer to do something about the bombs."

Okita scrunched up his eyes.

" 'Gengai geezer'?"

"He's just some shady old man who terrorizes the town with his creepy inventions. But he can dismantle the bombs. I think…"

"Uh-huh…"

An uncomfortable silence followed.

The light from the sun was growing stronger, and Kagura was soon able to see more of the room than she was before, when it had been enveloped in the darkness of the night. There was the closet that had the pliers in it, although she still hadn't had a chance in opening it yet, and there was another closet across the room, as well as a table against the wall in which above it was the television monitor… She did a double take when she spotted a small door near the table that was marked "bathroom." She wanted to scoff. What a thoughtful kidnapper, in supplying a separate room for a bathroom. But who knows, for all it could be, there could just be a hole in there or something. She continued her survey, her eyes stopping at the far left corner of the room. There was a large square cabinet that was so big it overshadowed what was next to it. The sunlight was so weak Kagura still had to squint to see what it was that was next to the cabinet.

Her mouth fell open when she saw that it was a door with an exit sign on it.

Huh?

With a burst of strength, Kagura leapt off the bed, gaining a surprised yelp from Okita as he flew off with her.

"China, what the hell?" he asked in an annoyed tone, stalling her as he firmly planted his feet on the ground, watching her suspiciously.

"There! Over there!" Kagura cried impatiently, tugging at him. "There's an exit door!"

Mustering her strength, she dragged him over the carpeted floor to the door, hidden in the shadows of the large cabinet right beside it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Okita raise his head slightly and a dangerous look cross his features, but she disregarded it.

"We're getting out of here!" she announced gleefully, lunging forward to burst through the door.

"CHINA, WAIT!"

Her hand was only two inches away from the door when she was suddenly flung back, and slammed hard to the floor right on her back with an oomph! She grunted again in pain when something heavy collapsed on top of her a second later. Instinctively clenching her eyes shut, she realized that Okita must have landed on top of her. In a delayed reaction, half a second later, she registered in panic that something was on top of her mouth and blocking the airway. She moved her tongue in confusion; something soft was occupying her mouth. It was rather very soft, warm, and…mossy? Forcing her eyes open, she almost passed out in shock when she realized that it was the sadist's hair that was in her mouth.

"GYRAH!" she screamed, pushing him off ferociously, spluttering and spitting.

Okita groaned, rubbing his head, touching the spot on his bangs that had landed on Kagura's mouth.

"It's damp…" he muttered.

"Damn right it is!" Kagura yelled, "What are you going to do about this, asshole! My mouth is now forever contaminated by you!"

Okita ignored her, instead giving a serious look towards the exit door. That reminded Kagura of her original motive, which only set her off again.

"And what the hell was that for, bastard!"

"The door. It's electrified."

"Huh?"

"Shh, listen."

Kagura reluctantly fell silent, waiting for something to happen. And that's when she heard it, a slight buzzing noise.

"What's that noise? Where's it coming from?" she asked loudly, turning her head left and right.

"Like I said, the door, stupid. That's the sound of electric currents running."

Kagura looked at the door with a small gasp. She had almost been shocked by high voltages.

"We had a case like this in the Shinsengumi once," he continued, his tone reverting back to its usual deadpan, "some idiot tried to blast through a door like you did without checking for traps first, and got electrocuted to death. Those damn Joui patriots."

Kagura was barely listening. She had been saved by the sadist, of all people. She took a tentative peek at him. Should she thank him…?

"What, aren't you going to thank me, blissful idiot?" Okita drawled in a loud, obnoxious voice, catching her eye.

Anger flared up immediately as Kagura narrowed her eyes.

"No way in hell, you constipated, sadistic narcissist! And what the hell are you going to do about my mouth! ?"

"What about your dirty little trap?"

"It's dirty now because of your lice-littered, disgusting hair!"

"How rude, I don't have lice. I wash my hair everyday."

"With what, mayonnaise?"

"Don't put me on the same level as that mayo-snuffing bastard, please."

The slight static of the television screen coming to life went unnoticed by the bickering teens, engrossed in their argument.

Jigsaw's masked face soon appeared on the screen.

"Goooooooooooood morning, my little pawns!" he boisterously announced.

"In fact, you should be grateful; I probably cleaned that disgusting hair of yours with my divine spit!"

"Yeah, and Luffy wants to be the Hokage. Actually, you probably left a permanent scent of sukonbu on my hair. How are you going to make up for that, huh?"

"Uh, umm," Jigsaw tried, clearing his throat loudly.

"Are you stupid? Luffy wants to be the pirate king, not the Hokage! You've got your Jump mangas mixed up; apologize to Luffy!"

"Of course I fucking know that. I was being sarcastic to make a point, you dumbass. You're probably the one that doesn't know shit about One Piece and acting all snotty about it."

"Muahahahahaha!" Jigsaw tried again, hoping his newly refined villainous laugh would capture fearful attention.

"Oh yeah, wanna try me, bastard? I'm the Jump manga queen!"

"Okay, do you even know where 'Hokage' is from?"

"…D-Death Note…?"

"My god, China. Get out of here."

"No, wait, I know! Namato! It's Namato! Right?"

"Naruto, idiot. Jump manga queen, my ass."

"Shut it! I knew that already!"

"Oh really. Who the hell mixes up Naruto and Death Note, anyway? You've got to be-"

"FUCKING LISTEN TO ME, ALREADY!" Jigsaw finally screeched frantically.

Kagura and Okita paused, looking towards the screen as if realizing just now it was there.

"Oh, it's you," Kagura said in a bored tone.

Jigsaw was now visibly panting.

"I came…with more valuable information…" he huffed.

Collecting himself with one final, deep breath, Jigsaw continued.

"I see you two have discovered the electric door. That is the only exit you will find out of this room."

"So you're saying we can't get out, then?" Okita asked in a flat tone.

"Of course not! But I will get to that in just a moment. I have something of even more interest to you two that I must share-"

"Hiro-kun? How long are you going to be sleeping, you're going to be late!"

Jigsaw flinched, turning his head towards the left, where there was a door obviously being knocked on by whoever was talking to him on the other side.

"A-anyway, as I was saying-" he began again, trying to coolly ignore the obvious outside noise coming from his side.

"Don't forget your bento, I'm leaving it on the counter!"

"Hey, I think your mother's calling, Hiro-chan," Okita called nonchalantly.

"W-what are you talking about! ?" Jigsaw retorted, flustered. "I- I am Jigsaw! An existence born from nothingness! What is this mother you speak of-"

"Hiro-kun, don't forget about your art lesson after school today, too!"

"Art lesson? What are you, five?" scoffed Kagura.

"Shut up, damn bitch!" Jigsaw yelled, although it was unclear as to which female he was directing it to. And with that, the screen went dark.

Before Kagura or Okita could say anything, though, the screen came back to life.

"I have something of interest to share with you two, Okita-san, Kagura-san," Jigsaw began without preamble, adopting a formal tone.

"Wow, he's trying to act like it never happened."

"Like I said before, be nice, China. You saw that relationship with his mom. He's a pampered baby. Any criticism will hurt his delicate feelings."

"Aww, how sad! Hey, maskman! You won't have your mommy around forever, you know! It's time you start becoming independent so you can eventually find a stable job and keep your mother at peace!"

"I DON'T NEED YOUR FUCKING LIFE ADVICE!" Jigsaw screeched, appearing to be at his wits' end.

Kagura rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she said, "what were you going to say to us, anyway?"

Jigsaw cleared his throat, reverting back to his farce of a menacing evil mastermind.

"I have information for you that I neglected to inform you of previously."

"Spit it out," Kagura said carelessly, itching her head.

"I have stationed bombs at both the Yorozuya and the Shinsengumi headquarters. Should one of your cuffs and collars explode, that person's place of interest will go KABOOM as well, muahahahaha!"

"What! ?" Kagura exclaimed.

Okita gasped as well. Both hands immediately clenched onto the other even more tightly.

"However, I am sorry to inform you that there is a time limit to this. Even if both of you remain alive, in 48 hours, both places will blow up."

"But we can't even get out if we want to!" Kagura cried, enraged, gesturing to the door. "Even if one of us got free, we can't get out of here!"

"Ah, that is the detail I am returning to," Jigsaw announced gleefully. "In 35 hours, the electric currents running through the door will stop for the length of precisely two minutes. That is the only chance you will get. We will see how far this trusting bond of yours will go!"

The screen went blank as Jigsaw spoke his last word.

"How many times do we have to tell him that there is no fucking trusting bond between us?" Kagura spat angrily.

"China, that's not the problem here. I actually have friends on the line here, unlike you," Okita said flatly.

"Oh, since when did you have friends?" Kagura retorted back.

But she couldn't hide her uneasiness. The Yorozuya would explode? That meant Otose's shop underneath was in peril too. Kagura sighed heavily. What the hell am I going to do, she thought, this bastard is going to go for my keys first chance he gets. No matter his attitude, he's like Gin-chan. He's going to do whatever he can to save those tax-stealing police punk idiots.

She looked warily down at their still linked hands. They were holding each other's hands tightly to the point that it hurt, but even this wasn't an exact insurance against a sudden betrayal.

"China…" Okita said softly, waking Kagura out of her deep thoughts.

"Huh? Woah!" she let out a soft squeal when she found Okita's face inches from her, leaning towards her.

"What are you doing! ?" Kagura demanded, trying to move away from him.

Those damn eyes of his again; they were trapping her! What kind of sadistic spell was he using on her? She felt color rising in her cheeks again, as Okita moved in even closer until their noses were touching each other.

"China, I" he began, staring deeply into her eyes.

"I have to piss."

To be continued…

I sorta felt this chapter wasn't as good as my first one, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! I didn't have as much inspiration but felt that I needed to upload anyway.

By the way, did any of you think that it was Okita's mouth that Kagura was feeling when he was on top of her? Hahaha, if so, sorry! No kiss. Yet... :)

Thank you so much to my reviewers:

kagome1230 (lol you are such a dork, good going kari! :P), dentedileone, rosesinthenight, Tsukuyo-Ka, little101, BakaAho, kurasuchi, IgNighted (oh my god, thank you for reading this story too!), vampiregirl134, and my four Guest reviewers.

Thank you so much for reviewing, and please continue; it gives me the motivation to keep writing!

It's stupid that you can't sign a guest review anymore! If you do review as a guest, could you do me a favor and sign it at the end with some name so I can thank you properly? Thanks in advance :D

I don't know when I'll next update, as I have promised myself that I won't update this fic until I update the other one I'm writing (I haven't updated that one in like forever), but I will try my utter best. 2 weeks wait at most! Maybe I'll surprise ya and update in a few days! ;)

Anyway, thank you! See you next chapter