Kebchii says: Oh my glob! I finally updated. Even I was so anxious to update this. The semester just ended so I've got time on my hands now. Probably. If it makes you feel any better, I'm already working on the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. You should check out chapter 465. I can never do it like Sorachi-sensei.

Summer Heat

Kebchii

"Oi!" Kagura yelled and ran to catch up to the flaxen-haired boy. "Oi, Sadist!" She gritted her teeth when he ignored her. "What the hell's wrong with you?" She jerked when the boy suddenly stopped and turned to her.

"Let's have a bet, China," he spoke, his voice low and serious.

"What are you on about?" She asked hesitantly.

"Let's have a bet," he repeated. "Later on our match."

Kagura kept her mouth shut. She didn't like where this was going. Sougo showed his cocky smile at her silence. "Chickening out, China doll?"

She flared, "Bring it on!"

Sougo moved and fully faced her. The cocky smile was gone and was replaced with seriousness that Kagura wasn't used to. "Whoever loses the match later this afternoon will be a slave to the other until the end of the day."

Cerulean blue eyes stared at deep red ones. "...Fine."

As soon as he got his answer, Sougo walked away. He had left the girl gaping at his sudden leave.

Wait, so that's it? Kagura gritted her teeth together as she watched his retreating figure. Thank you and goodbye? She abruptly whirled around and stalked off to the other direction.

Sougo mentally berated himself on how he treated Kagura. Well, he'd done worse. Besides, she deserved it; especially after how she had presented herself in front of that blonde bastard. His fists clenched as he remembered how much he had wanted to punch the bastard into oblivion.

Hijikata Toushiro saw the annoyed look on the sadist's face and said nothing. He was pretty sure it had something to do with what the china girl did earlier on her match. He shrugged. As long as he got a hold of the grand prize, Sougo can do whatever he wanted to do.

"Eh? What's wrong, Kagura-chan?" Shinpachi asked when he saw Kagura's frowning face. She shook her head in response but the frown was still there. He skeptically looked at her and said, "All right. The match is starting in a few minutes. We'll have to face Okita-san and Hijikata-san."

At the mention of her rival's name, Kagura's frown deepened.

The match started and five minutes later and two change-courts later, Okita and Hijikata had already won the first set. Shinpachi fell flat on the sand in exhaustion.

"Oi, megane! Get up!" demanded Kagura while kicking her poor partner's side. Her attention swiveled to the other side of the court when Sougo spoke.

"Let me warn you that your trick won't work on me, China."

For a moment, Kagura was confused. Trick? What trick? When she realized what he meant, she flushed in embarrassment. Kagura honestly didn't think that the sadist, or anyone else for that matter, actually saw or knew what she did to win her last match with the blonde boy named Touyu.

The match continued and although Shinpachi was up and about, he wasn't doing really well. Kagura had to work twiec as hard to compensate for her partner's performance... or lack, thereof. She looked at the scoreboard and cursed under her breath. Three more points and the sadist will win.

"Kagura."

She turned and saw Shinpachi striking a pose with a thumb up. "Don't worry. We can still catch up," he said and Kagura rolled her eyes at him.

She watched as Hijikata tossed the ball and did a serve. She quickly ran to a spot where she was sure the ball was going, bent her knees and prepared to receive it. As soon as it hit her arms, her eyes widened at the force it held. She found herself losing her balance as the ball bounced back over to the other side of the net.

Kagura's butt hurt and it surprised her that the shot was strong enough to knock her off of her feet. What surprised her more was seeing her rival frantically move under the net and head towards her.

"Oi, China. Are you all right?" Sougo asked as his face hovered over Kagura's. He noticed the blush on her face and dismissed it being flushed because of the game. Kagura thought differently, though.

She leaned on her elbows and shooed him away, assuring him she was fine.

Hijikata interrupted. "Oi, brat. We just lost a point because instead of hitting the ball back, you were busy trying to be the worried boyfriend."

"Die, Hijikata," was Sougo fast response and Kagura watched as he turned and walked back to his side of the court.

"Let's just finish this," Sougo muttered under his breath as Kagura made her service. In a span of three minutes, Sougo scored their three points and the referee signaled their win.

The crowd cheered. Hijikata rejoiced and went to get his supply of mayonnaise. Shinpachi collapsed then fainted. Katsura and Gintoki took care of Shinpachi. Kagura simply stood on her spot, still shocked.

As the crowd slowly dispersed, Sougo walked to Kagura, her back turned to him. "You lost, China." Kagura stayed silent for a long time that Sougo began to worry and reached out. "Chi-"

Big, blue watery eyes abruptly turned to him accompanied with a cry of 'Sadist!'.

Sougo jerked at the sudden attack.

"Please don't order me NOT to eat the buffet. Please!" Kagura begged with her hands clasped tightly between her breasts, which totally distracted Sougo.

With difficulty, Sougo tore his eyes away from the sight. "...what?"

"Please do not order not to eat the buffet," Kagura patiently repeated.

"Oh, that. Sure-" The flaxen-haired lad didn't even get to finish before the girl jumped and hugged him. During that brief embrace, he just felt her. Her. Like... her.

Muttering under his breath, he regretfully tore away from her and took off his hoodie. Kagura's wide smile faded when the he suddenly threw his hoodie over her shoulders. "Don't take that off," Sougo commanded and although she was confused, Kagura complied.

"Enjoy your reward!" Tsukuyo congratulated Sougo and Hijikata. The buffet was prepared just outside the cottage and it was more than enough for everyone.

Everyone dug in, even the losing team, Shinpachi and Kagura. However, while Shinpachi had his freedom, Kagura didn't. Sougo held a plate full of food to Kagura. "Here."

Kagura looked at the stack of food with a horrified expression. "That's all?!"

"What do you mean 'That's all'? This is more than enough for two people to finish!"

She shook her head. "I can't possibly get satisfied with that."

"Fine, then you won't have any." Sougo started to turn away.

"Eh! Wait! Give me that!" Kagura took the plate from the sadist's hands. "Why are you so mean to me, you dumb sadist?"

Sougo smirked at her. "It's your fault for losing the bet. You're lucky I'm not making you do anything that will scar or embarrass you for life."

Kagura glared at him and he skeptically looked at her, daring her to defy him. In the end, she stuck out her tongue and stomped off to where Otae was.

Otae waved at her and patted the space beside her. "Eh, feeling cold, Kagura-chan?" she asked when she noticed the hoodie Kagura wore.

Realizing what the other woman meant, Kagura shook her head and sat. "Ah, no. I just –" She stopped and wondered exactly why did the sadist make her wear the clothing. It wasn't like she was cold or anything. Ack! Maybe he was tired of wearing it and she just happened to be the perfect convenient hanger for it.

Otae's eyebrows shot up when Kagura suddenly fumed and started attacking her food. Well, the latter was not unusual, but the young woman seemed to be in a very bad mood. Now that she thought about it, didn't that hoodie belong to Okita-san?

"Hmmm," she hummed before finishing off her meal.

Later that evening, Otae prepared for bed. She paused when she saw Kagura's futon still wasn't set. She looked around and saw the girl folding the familiar hoodie.

"Is that Okita-san's hoodie?"

Kagura jerked by surprise and turned to face Otae. "Ah, yeah." She looked at the hoodie she held and realized it was neatly folded. She blushed and thought she never folded clothes that neat before.

While Kagura was considering crumpling the clothing a little, Otae asked, "Aren't you going to give that back to him?"

"Eh?" Kagura looked up and blinked. "I was. But then you spoke to me when I was about to head out." The guys' room was just in front of theirs. "Anyway, I'll be right back."

"Wait, Kagur – " The younger female was out and had already closed the door. Otae sighed then shook her head and decided to sleep.

The vermilion-haired girl stood outside the guys' room with the hoodie still in her hands. She really should crumple the neatness out of it. It was just too weird to see it so neatly folded, especially by her.

In the end, she decided to just let it be and raised a hand to knock on the door when a familiar voice suddenly called out to her.

"China?!"

For the second time, Kagura jumped. Annoyed at being surprised, she turned to glare at him only to find him already heatedly glaring at her. What did I do now?

"Dammit," Sougo cursed under his breath as he stomped towards her. "What's with you? Ever since we got here you've been showing a lot more skin than usual."

"Eh?" Kagura looked down at her own body and saw she was only in her tank top and shorts. She furiously blushed. She was used to wearing clothes like that even around Shinpachi and Gintoki and she was sure she would even around Mayora and Zura, but for the sadist to see her clad in only that, she felt embarrassed, which confused her. Still, she covered herself with her arms – a futile attempt, if you asked Sougo.

He slammed the glass of water he'd been carrying on the table just outside of their room and took his hoodie from her and once again threw it around her shoulders.

If possible, Kagura's blush deepened. "You don't have to do this. I'm already going back to my room, anyway. Tsk. You just wasted my effort in folding this neatly."

"No." Sougo grabbed hold of her wrist. "You're coming with me."

Edited 2017.