Here's the second part of the "arc" that began last chapter. I am so sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter out. Thank you for reading, and for all of your reviews ^-^.
Okita walked toward the sound of loud clanging. His footsteps were measured, slow. Through the cracks between the tall aluminum storage units, he could see flickering orange light. He lifted a pair of Shinsengumi issue binoculars.
Moving slowly closer, down the row, Okita scanned the faces with his binoculars. And then he spotted one he recognized. Its owner appeared to be sporting a singe-proof cloak. Okita had made sure, in secret, to memorize the faces of each person on the Shinsengumi wanted list for this very purpose. When the sadism became overwhelming and his blood-colored eyes swam with the need to hurt, he had wanted a legal outlet. And here it was. He licked his lips, and the sadistic feelings inside him stirred, awakening. He yawned and stretched as if just waking up, himself. This man was a Harusame Space Pirate, a shipper affiliated with Dubious Shipping, Inc., if he wasn't mistaken. Just fine. Okita continued to scan the faces. Something was off. He sensed a presence-
"Well, look what we've got here. If it isn't one of the Shinsengumi's little pups."
Okita spun around to find two very sharp swords pointed at him, glinting in the light of the thin crescent moon.
"Ah, I've been found." He stated, unfazed, stretching once more. "Nothing for it but to give it a go."
In one fluid motion, he had pulled out his sword and knocked both pirates onto their backs.
"Kid's got some guts." The one grunted. They made their way to their feet. "But we'll see what happens when the rest of the reinforcements come."
The man suddenly lurched closer to Okita and swung. Blood-colored eyes narrowed and read the move. Inexperienced, weak, simple. Okita flicked the man's sword up, out of his hand. It arced into the air and embedded itself into a storage crate.
"Now then..." he traced circles in the air with the tip of his blade, "What to do with you..."
It may have been something to do with the way his red eyes were shining, or the crisp perfection of each circle the sword made, like the completion of the crescent moon in the sky, but the two men backed up from Okita, eyes wary.
Luckily for them, more footsteps echoed into the square as the rest of the pirates surrounded Okita. One corner of his mouth was lifted upward sadistically, almost involuntarily, in a grim smile. He settled into his customary stance.
He ducked a jab from behind, kicked the man in front of him, punched left, and slashed vertically to the right. A new ring closed in on him. He sheathed his sword, and caught hold of the wrists of the two men on either side of him, and spun in a circle to take out the men surrounding him, finally letting the two men go, releasing his iron grip and carelessly causing them to fly into the crowd surrounding him.
The next circle hesitated only an instant, and then came toward him with their swords all pointed at him, a deadly, symmetrical ring.
A closet door slid open, and Kagura tumbled out, her knees and elbows all tangled together.
Sadaharu had rolled over again.
To tell the truth, he had been tossing and turning all night. Kagura dug her fists into her eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them, and decided to get some fresh air, seeing as she probably wouldn't be able to sleep too much more that night. She padded quietly to the door, slid it open, and stepped out onto the balcony. The cold air hit her suddenly, and she gasped involuntarily.
It was cold out.
But not that cold.
The real problem; Kagura's nostrils twitched. She could smell a fight. And... Okita? That sadist! She crossed her arms. The trouble he got up to when she wasn't keeping an eye on him. He was probably causing the citizens trouble, uh-huh.
If she couldn't sleep anyway, thought Kagura, contemplating the thin sliver of a moon, she might as well go and help him. Only her eyes, reflecting the crescent moon for a instant, betrayed her concern.
She hurried back inside, and pulled on her dress and black pants. Her feet barely stopped moving forward as she slipped them into her black flats and stooped to lift her umbrella before running out into the street.
Okita's eyes glimmered darkly, reflecting the sickle moon. He bent forward and licked his lips, slashing left and right. Had he forgotten something important in the midst of his sadism? Kagura... I might have to apologize to you...
Still, this was his enemy. There were too many of them to over-think it.
He licked his lips again, tripping enemies and then kicking. Flicking the tip of his sword. How to cause the most pain? Carving the image of his sickle moon sword into the minds of his enemies. His red eyes narrowed, calculating.
A second thought flickered through his mind. Kagura... did he need her? To keep him in check?
Almost instinctively, he had not killed any of his opponents. Was this her doing? Maybe it was his innate skill that allowed him to do so, but Okita felt his hold on this mercy was precarious at best. It was slipping.
He slashed a jagged stroke, like a lightning bolt. Its arc cut one attacker, then another.
He turned to continue, and then,
A clang and a couple of quick, light steps atop a storage unit, and then, from above,
"Oy, Sadist, what kind of trouble are you causing this time?"
Kagura's left hand landed first, on his head, and then she propelled herself into the air again, flipping once before landing in front of him, and punching him in the face.
"What are you messing up this time?" she asked, absentmindedly kicking an attacker behind her in the face.
"They're Harusame, China," He said, "So I'm just doing my job as a police officer. You didn't need to save them or anything." His slightly irregular breathing almost gave away how very close he had been.
"Right, then, um," She fidgeted, "Actually, I didn't come to stop you, then, um, of course, uh-huh," She used her umbrella to knock out an attacker over his shoulder.
"Really now?" He stabbed an attacker over her shoulder.
"I came to save you, uh-huh!" She seemed happy with this new explanation.
"Right." He was obviously not convinced.
Both saw an attacker at each other's left side, and leapt up to kick their respective pirates, moving past one another, now facing away from each other.
Instinctively, they moved closer to each other. Back to back. He tightened his grip on his katana.