Chapter 8

"Okita-san, Kagura-san!" called a voice to the pair who were running through the park gate. Both, upon hearing this, stopped abruptly. Kagura turned to see Yamazaki hiding in a tree. She nudged Sougo as hard as she could to get his attention.

"Ow, China," he said, turning around, "Ah, Yamazaki…"

"Anpan…" he responded.

"Where is he?" Okita asked impatiently.

"Anpan," Yamazaki muttered, causing himself to receive a hard punch in the arm by Kagura, who had climbed up the tree. He apologised, grimacing in pain and reaching up to a plastic bag hanging on a nearby branch. He took out some anpan and said, "he's over there." He then gestured to a bench in the park. On the bench sat a man, who was pointing a large black umbrella at a small boy. Neither Kagura nor Sougo could clearly see what the man looked like because of the distance, however they could both see his dark curly hair.

"Ready to go?" Sougo asked, looking up at Kagura, who was eating some of Yamazaki's anpan. "Stop eating, idiot. We're on a serious mission."

"Mhm, I'm ready," she replied, ignoring half of what he had just said. She jumped down from the tree and they both headed towards the man.

As the got closer to the Yato, his appearance became clearer. He had the pale, translucent skin tone that was expected of a Yato, and bright green eyes. Kagura noted that he was quite attractive, and a similar age to Sougo, but not as attractive as her rival. She bit her lip, that guy was really messing with her head.

The dark-haired Yato looked up at the two rivals and spoke in a low, yet oddly friendly, voice, "so, Kagura-chan, he was right; you're the Yato who the famous Shinsengumi have sent forward… and you even brought a pet." As he spoke the last six words, his startling eyes turned to Sougo. The so-called 'Pet' frowned, about to retort that if one of them was a pet, it would be Kagura, but he was interrupted by Kagura herself.

"Who are you? And who is 'he'?" Kagura muttered.

"I am Katashi," the man answered.

"How do you know who I am? And you didn't answer my other question, idiot, who is 'he'?!" Kagura asked, becoming agitated by the man.

"He told me."

"LISTEN, PUNK, TELL ME WHO 'HE' IS?!"

"He didn't want me to tell you."

"Oi oi, China, we didn't come here to chat to this bastard. We came here to kill him," Sougo said, interrupting before the girl did something stupid. Sougo noticed her tense at the word kill, and unfortunately the Yato man noticed it to.

"Ah, I see, a Yato that's afraid to kill. He was right again; you're pathetic and weak, Kagura-chan," the man said in a sing-song voice, "yet still extremely beautiful." Sougo frowned at this, what was with this bastard? He was insulting Kagura then complimenting her. Kagura lifted her umbrella and pointed it at him; a fierce look was in her eyes.

"Let the boy go," she said, her gaze flickering to the young boy whom was cowering away from the man next to him, too afraid to even run away.

"Okay!" the man said again in his musical voice, lowering his umbrella from the boy. "Off you go, kid."

Kagura froze in surprise as the boy looked up at the dark-haired man beside him, eyes shining with tears. The man gave him an encouraging smile and the boy quickly got up and ran away. Sougo understood the situation much more quickly than Kagura did. "So you kidnapped the boy to lure us out? Is that why you started killing in Kabukicho too? You challenged us by murdering people," he deadpanned, staring at the Yato with his normal serious expression.

"Not to lure you out, you meaningless pet. I needed to lure Kagura-chan out," the man said cheerfully, "He wouldn't tell me where she lived, except that she was residing in the Kabukicho district… Looking for her would've been boring, killing to attract Kagura-chan was much more exciting."

"You murdered to get my attention, you bastard!" Kagura yelled, furious. All those people had been killed just so she could be found.

"Ah, fantastic. I love it when my prey has fight in them. Kagura-chan, humans are weaklings… I cannot fathom an understanding to why you brought one of them with you," the man sang.

"China here is the weak one, I could defeat her with my eyes closed," Sougo commented.

"Shut up, you idiot. We're a team at the moment," she muttered, and then gave him a look as if to say 'once we've got rid of this guy, I'm going to kill you.' He smirked at her.

"So you're so weak that this measly human could beat you, Kagura-chan?" the strangely cheerful man said, cocking his head to the side. "I'm not going to lie, I'm really disappointed. He told me there was a Yato here in Kabukicho, but if this is how pitiful the Yato is, he won't be impressed when I destroy you."

"The sadist can't beat me!" Kagura shouted, "and stop looking so happy with everything you say, you idiot!"

"China, I could definitely beat you," Sougo uttered in his monotone voice.

"Shut up, bastard! I'd beat you easily!" She retorted.

"No way, China, you're not strong enough to beat me."

"Yes, I am! I am Kagura, queen of the Kabukicho district!"

"Since when are you a queen?! You're more like a beggar."

"Ahem," Katashi cleared his throat, attempting to get their attention.

"You might want to get cough medicine or something if your throat hurts," Kagura said pointedly and then turned back to Sougo. "What do you mean I'm more like a beggar?! I'm definitely a beautiful princess or queen!"

"As if anyone would ever thing you were beautiful," Sougo lied nonchalantly. "It's unfortunate that you have neither strength nor beauty…"

Kagura grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close. "You wanna go, punk?" she said in gangster-like manner. The Yato, who was watching the two of them tiredly, cleared his throat again. Kagura looked at Katashi and then released Sougo. "There's a pharmacy just down the road, Katashi."

Katashi began laughing and the two rivals were both facing him now. "What's so funny, Bakashi?" Sougo deadpanned. The Yato stopped laughing and looked at them both, an expression of amusement still gracing his soft face.

"You two," he began, trying not to laugh, "you two fight and argue while the one you are supposed to be fighting is sitting here." He paused for a while. "You're petty and weak, Kagura-chan," he said looking at her, a smile on his face, "beautiful, I'll admit once again… but you're weak." An expression of disgust appeared on his face as his eyes sharply turned to Sougo. "It's because you've been hanging out with this scum the whole time. It's a pity, spilling the blood of our kind when we are slowly dying out. However yours is spoiled blood and it is my mission to dispose of you. Perhaps, if you weren't so weak, I could make you mine… but I can't marry scum… and killing is more fun anyway, right?"

"You bastard… You shouldn't just go around taking innocent lives! I will kill you! I'll kill you to protect Gin-chan… and Megane… and the old lady... and anego… and Tama… I must protect them!" Kagura screamed in fury, though it was still obvious she didn't want to kill. Sougo frowned at the lack of his name; did she hate him that much? He didn't need weaklings like her protecting him; no, he'd be the one protecting her.

"My, my," Katashi sang, "you still don't want to kill? Even after everything I've done? Well then, I'll easily beat you and kill you. Then I'll kill your little pet too!" He was about to say more, however he was stopped when an umbrella swung round and hit his head. "Hehe, Kagura-chan, I see you're ready to fight then," he said, pulling the umbrella down.

Kagura glared angrily at the Yato, a fire in her eyes. "Bring it on," she said hardheartedly.

This was the first time Sougo had seen the girl look so serious then sudden realisation hit him. He froze for a little bit to think. She had attacked when the Yato had mentioned killing him… Did she care about him, her rival who had always gone out of his way to upset her? He quickly shook the thought out of his head and unsheathed his sword; it was time for them to complete their mission.

"Oh, pet-chan, don't get involved, I have no interest in fighting you," Katashi said, swiftly hitting Sougo with his umbrella. Sougo, taken by surprise, was too slow to block the attack and was knocked back.

"SADIST," Kagura yelled as he landed, "are you okay, Sadist?"

"I'm fine, you idiot. How weak to you think I am?" he retorted, getting back up. Truthfully, from that hit, he could tell that the enemy was stronger than Kagura and he were with their strength put together. "Fuck," he muttered too quietly for the two Yatos to hear. He looked up, leaning on his sword, and saw that Kagura and Katashi were fighting at a great speed. It was obvious she was losing, almost of her hits were blocked or dodged, and Katashi hadn't missed a single hit. Her bruises already healing, Kagura desperately put all her strength into one kick. Sougo watched as the hit landed and saw that Katashi was nearly completely unaffected. All she could cause was a slight wince in pain.

"Ah, Kagura-chan," Katashi sang, smiling down at the girl, "I was told about how you fight. Mhm… I was told you always slow down before impact… You don't want to fight. You aren't following your instincts; you're suppressing your Yato abilities. Basically, you're too weak to beat me, right?"

Kagura, blocking out the other Yato's words, threw more kicks and punches at him, occasionally swinging her purple parasol in an attempt to hit him with that. Katashi laughed as he blocked each hit. On one hit in particular, he grabbed her fist and swung her round. Releasing her, he grinned as she flew and slammed into Sougo, whom had been watching the fight in a daze. "Ow," the two said in unison.

"China, you're getting destroyed, idiot," Sougo commented drily.

"You're not helping much, Sadist," she retorted in a sour manner, however once she had risen she held out a hand to her rival, whom grabbed it and was pulled up. "We need to fight together... He's strong."

"I know that, stupid."

"Well then help me!"

Sougo looked into her serious eyes and then smirked. "Tch, to think, China is asking me, someone she hates, for help."

"I don't hate you," she muttered quietly. "Look, Sadist, we need to win this. He could kill them all, everyone we know. We have to work together or… everyone I… we love… will be gone… And we'll both be gone as well."

"I already know that, stupid."

"And I repeat, help me, idiot. Don't just watch the fight, you know that neither of us can beat him alone... and I don't want to lose it."

Kagura shuddered slightly at the memory of when she lost it, when the beast got free. No, she wouldn't let that happen. Sougo immediately assumed by 'it' she was referring to the fight. He looked down at there still entwined hands and then quickly released hers and turned to Katashi.

"Ready to lose, Bakashi?" He deadpanned.

"It's 'Katashi' actually… Not that it matters what you think my name is, you'll both be dead within minutes," Katashi responded happily. Giving no time for a retort from either of the others, Katashi leapt forward and knocked them both away with his umbrella. They landed badly on opposite sides of Katashi, yet immediately got back up and ran at him. Sougo, sword glinting was ready to strike the Yato's left and Kagura, umbrella lifted clutched in one hand, prepared to strike the Yato's right. Both reached Katashi at the same time, landing their hits in unison. Katashi smiled, graciously taking the hits. "Still too weak, Kagura-chan," Katashi laughed, palm striking her chest, knocking her away. "I'll kill your pet first, okay?"

Katashi turned to Sougo, whom stared emotionlessly back at him. Katashi raised a fist and punched Sougo hard in the stomach, grinning mercilessly as he did so. Kagura watched wide eyed as Sougo coughed up a little blood yet, as obvious as it was that he was in complete anguish, continued to fight, swinging his sword at the incredibly strong man. Kagura's eyes widened even more and even began to well up. She couldn't believe it… The sadist was… losing?

"You love that sword, right? I've heard the samurai form a special bond with their sword," Katashi said, as he stomped his foot down on Sougo's sword hand, causing Sougo to scream out in agony as he let go of his sword. Tears ran down Kagura's face as she saw Katashi bend down and pick up Sougo's sword. Realisation hit her harder than all the hits she had previously received from Katashi… The sadist had no hope of winning there… he was going to die. She was going to lose her precious rival. The rival, who didn't know it yet - Kagura didn't even know it herself - , that was as important to Kagura as her beloved Gin-chan was. The thought was truly unbearable. Kagura was swiftly knocked out of her thoughts when she heard Katashi's suddenly sadistic voice. "My, my, Pet-chan, I wonder what it's like for you samurai to be slaughtered by your very own sword. Tell me, is there any honour in that kind of death? Oh, Kagura-chan! Say goodbye to your pet."

The sword was lifted higher.

The two rivals knew this was it.

The king of the sadists was about to die, and his China girl would be after.

"He's not my pet," Kagura whispered.

"Whatever, Kagura-chan!" Katashi sneered, "It doesn't matter what he is to you anymore. He's dead."

Dead.

Sougo closed his eye. It was time for the finishing blow.

Kagura's eyes were as wide as they could possibly be. It was time for the finishing blow.

The king of the sadists was about to die, and his China girl lost control.

Hiya, thanks for reading.
Many thanks to all who reviewed the first seven chapters and to everyone who reviews this one. It's very, very helpful.

Wow, I am so sorry for the long wait. Haha, I just really haven't had time. Sorry about any plot holes too, I've written it over a long period of time so there could be major times because I didn't read over it first because I just really hate rereading my work...

C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only, it makes sense because it's Gintama, okay?
Blueberry761, I'm kind of scared because I took a long time to update this... Don't hunt me down... or else... or else... NO MORE OKIKAGU FOR YOU.
Hachibukai, your silly ramblings were frighteningly accurate. Are you reading my mind? Oh gosh, I'm so glad you waited patiently. *Fears for life in between updates.* I'm so sorry for the long wait, thank you for not murdering me.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE ELSE WHO REVIEWED. I LOVE YOU ALL!

Thanks again, everyone!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
I will update as soon as possible.
I don't own Gintama or the characters. :P