Yay! I got chapter 8 up before the end of the month, I think that's an accomplishment in and of itself. *pats myself on the back* Without any further ramblings I will allow my lovely readers to begin the chapter, enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING

The green filled campus center teemed with energetic college students. Some sprawled out on the lush grass, thoroughly enjoying the warm rays of sunshine upon them. Others decided to spend their time on the benches alongside a garden worthy of rivaling the beauty presented by a botanical one. Everyone was happy, everyone was in a limbo of bliss with the forthcoming of warmer weather. Spring arrived at the doorsteps of Japan not too long ago but the country and its kinsmen welcomed the new season with open arms. Who would reject the invitation for a soothing spring breeze instead of the harsh winter winds? or the entrancing sight of blossoming flowers? The world, in that brief moment, was beautiful, too beautiful.

Kagura shielded herself from the blinding light that filtered through the large, frameless, windows of the campus dining hall. She bitterly scowled and faced the other way, out of the light's path. Goddamn Spring and its stupid good weather, why couldn't it be a cloudy day? She cursed all the while inwardly expressing her disdain for the jovial students passing by with their trays. And Goddamn morning people too, what with it being 8am and them smiling like they don't want to be back in bed. She added.

Hearing the tapping of heels upon the tiled flooring stop before her table, Kagura glanced upward from her sprawled out position that occupied most of the small, round, table. The female predicted who her non-so-subtle visitor might be simply by the clicking of those heels. For the first time that day Kagura dropped the scowl and offered the feeblest of grins to her best friend, and also the woman holding a Mocha Frappuccino in her hand.

"Did I ever tell you I love you, Soyo?" The raven haired woman handed the caffeinated iced beverage to her friend.

"It doesn't hurt to hear it more than once." She jovially said, taking the vacant seat across from the visibly fatigued vermillion haired Yato." How have you been, Kagura? You look like…."

"Shit."

"Umm, I wouldn't say those exact words, but yes. You look awful lately." Soyo took her friend's hand into her own. " Tell me if anything is wrong, Kagura-chan. It'll worry me more if you keep quiet instead."

Kagura reassuringly squeezed Soyo's hand, " Thanks, this is nothing to worry about though, just some sleep deprivation. Blame it on the crazy Gorilla. I've been crashing at their place for a bit and for the life of me I cannot understand how Anego leaves that household with a sane mine every day."

" It's that bad?"

" I don't want to even talk about it, simply mentioning it will make imagines appear in my mind, ughhhhh!" Kagura said, shivering at the disgust she felt with every thought. She previously knew that Kondo harbored some weird hobbies and fetishes, he was Okita's main teacher for a solid decade and Kagura would not have been surprised if it was due to Kondo's influence that Okita developed his sadist tendencies. " And Gin-chan's place isn't any better either. He basically told me to leave and stop disturbing his lovey-dovey time with Tsukky, they had to do things that kids couldn't see. Well way to make it more obvious than before!" Kagura banged her forehead on the table in frustration, " God, why am I surrounded by perverted idiots?"

Soyo could not help but giggle at Kagura's predicament, new and peculiar events always popped up in her life, nothing like Soyo's own mundane routine. " You can come and stay at my place again, we have more than enough rooms"

The Yato sighed, " Thanks but no thanks Soyo. I don't want to bother your brother, he seems like a busy man, what with running the county and the current Amanto issue, he has his hands full. Besides, I don't think Kamui or Papi are going to be home for a while."

"Because of what's been happening lately, right?" Soyo answered.

Kagura took a generous sip of her beverage, indulging in the sweetness of the mocha and the lingering taste of coffee. If only life could be as sweet as this beverage, sadly its not. She focused backed to her good hearted friend. " Yeah…"

" Be careful these days too, okay Kagura? The bombings have increased and yesterday the Amanto's even held a demonstration in Shibuya. Needless to say though, the demonstration was broken up rather quickly"

"The rising tensions again, huh?"

The raven haired woman nodded, " Kagura-chan, the situation is getting very serious. It isn't a little disagreement that can be mended like before, its becoming bad, real fast. My brother is constantly being urged by the council men to declare war."

Kagura decimated the plastic cup in her hand, " I wonder how Kamui is doing then? Even though we Yato's look like humans, we are Amantos just like the others."

"Im saying this because I worry for you Kagura," began Soyo, a tremor audible in her voice, "but never tell anyone that you're an Amanto, its best to keep this a secret for now."

The Yato dismissively waved off her friend's advice, " Its not like others care or even dare touch me, we Yato's have a pretty bad rep."

" Listen to me Kagura!" said the female sternly. Kagura ceased all movement, the placid Soyo never raised her voice, she was a true lady, the type that was unable to become angry. So color Kagura surprised when she heard the irritation in her friend's voice, but above all, Kagura heard a desperation. She attentively listened, " This isn't a joke."

"I never said it…" but Kagura was cut off as Soyo raised her hand to silence the Yato.

" Do you know Lola? The lizard Amanto from the ecology department?"

Kagura shook her head.

" Well I do, she is the sweetest girl you'll ever met and she never provokes others, always got along merrily with her classmates, until recently anyway."

"The tensions again?"

Soyo bobbed her dark locks, "You guessed it, a group of guys attempted to gang up on her in an alley, GANG UP ON A POOR DEFENSELESS GIRL because she was an Amanto. Lola did nothing to deserve this and I don't want to see you in any similar situation, your skills be damned."

" Is she alright?" A sense of sympathy washing over her for a girl she never met. But that was a technicality, it did not matter if Kagura had never met Lola before, no one deserved the treatment that she unfortunately received, no one.

" Yeah, she is. A little shaken up but your Tsukuyo-san got to her in time."

"She is the head of police on campus after all, that's my Tsukky!" Kagura said proudly. Tsukky, after Angeo that is, was like a second mother to her. And to this day Kagura still cringed at the thought that someone as marvelous and perfect as her Tsukky vowed to eternally love and cherish the lecherous bum known as Gintoki. She deserved better, and Kagura made her opinions quiet clear to both Gintoki and Tsukuyo. Gin-chan almost murdered her for trying to force him to be a bachelor forever while Tsukuyo simply laughed it off, saying that she " did not mind the useless, jump obsessed man." Kagura clicked her tongue thinking about it, Tsukky definitely deserved better.

"Did you hear what I said, Kagura-chan?" The Yato shook off her digressing thoughts.

"Sorry about that, Soyo. Just have some things on my mind."

"That's ok" replied her friend, " Im going to have to take my leave first. It looks like a certain someone is looking for you." She said pointing to the bishounen. " Good luck," she winked before leaving. " And remember what I told you, okay Kagura?"

"Interrupting anything?" the local sadist asked, sliding into the newly vacant seat. Kagura shook her head.

"Just some girl talk, nothing you would be interested in."

"Hmmn, really now." The conversation appeared pretty serious when he walked into the cafeteria, but what did he know about girl talk? He wanted to joke and say they were talking about him, all the girls on campus did, but for once he had the delicacy to hold back after sensing the heavy atmosphere. He disliked it when others pried on his personal issues, so preaching his own words, Okita opted against questioning China, sometimes, things were best unknown. " Did you miss me then, China? You look so down in the dumps, it must have been because you were thinking about my beautiful face, it happens to the best of us."

She rolled her cerulean eyes at him, " Don't flatter yourself, Sadist. Not every girl is head over heels in love with you so get over yourself."

"But you are."

"And so are you!" she retorted, unwilling to lose yet another verbal battle to the Sadist. Regardless of their change in relationship status, they treated each other like before, expect the kissing. Add kissing to the long list of interactions which included death threats, insults questioning each other's mental stability, and murder attempts, many many murder attempts.

"Do you mean I am in love with myself? Because if that's what you're saying then it's true and you once again have proven your low intellectual level."

" Don't twist my words around, Sadist! You know exactly what I mean. And it's your fault that I have panda eyes today. God, that's the last time I stay over at your house, worst idea I ever had." She grimly said, recalling her sleepless night. Initially it seemed simple enough, they were dating, she needed a place to crash, he had an empty place, he said yes. It seemed like a win-win situation for her, Kagura had some private matters to discuss as well, but the key word here is SEEMS. Needless to say, the Sadist did not behave as appropriately as she hoped. Kagura held low standards for the sadist as it was but the sadist proved that night that those standards could actually drop. His lack of decency surprised her more than it should have, in hindsight, though, she should have expected as much. " Next time please at least wear clothes while coming out of the bath, you left an awful mental image. It made me want to pour bleach into my eyes in an attempt to cleanse them."

Okita scuffed, " Don't act as if you didn't enjoy the view, I saw you looking." He said with a smirk.

" And I looked away right after!" Kagura cried in defense.

"Many, many seconds after I would like to point out. Stop acting coy, its not like you haven't seen half naked men before, or is it my beauty that stuns you too immensely?"

Kagura shook her head in disbelief, the sadist could give Narcissus a run for his money in terms of self admiration." Firstly, Sadist, I want to make it clear that I am not acting 'coy'."

" You probably have never heard of the word." He mumbled to himself.

Clenching her fists, Kagura willed herself to execute the breathing exercises she practiced specifically for occasions like these. Ignore the rude comments, ignore the urge to smash his face into the ground, ignore it all, ignore it all. She chanted like a sutra to a brief moment, Kagura continued her sentence. " Secondly, you're not all that special, I've seen better abs before. And thirdly sadist, it was your brilliant idea to let me sleep in your room while you were still using it. It wouldn't have hurt to warn me, you know a heads up that 'hey Kagura, we're sleeping in the same bed since there's only one, that's okay with you?' Was it really that hard to say one stupid sentence?!"

He passively looked at her, " You never asked, what do I look like, a mind reader?"

"At least have some common sense!"

"Pshh, its hypocrisy hearing that come from your mouth, China. Isn't it common sense that a girl shouldn't go over to a single guy's apartment expecting nothing to happen. And besides, we're dating, stuff happens, that's life."

Kagura banged her head on the table for the nth time that day. He totally missed her point but she was equally to blame for the situation that transpired. Her migraine grew throughout the conversation, at least, though, she would be staying in the serenity- or as serene as her hectic life will ever become- of her home tonight. Most importantly, she would be far, far away from the perverted sadist and her equally perverted acquaintances. " Sadist, I feel like there was a point to your visit until you deliberately began taunting me again." She said, deliberately trying to change the topic to one that would not induce anymore headaches.

Okita pulled out his phone, " There is, I wouldn't come to see your face for no reason so early in the morning. Bless my soul for having to deal with you for a majority of the day as it is." He began scrolling intently until he saw the exact picture he desired. Okita turned the screen so it faced Kagura, " I want to go here tomorrow." He said, indicating the tall, skyscraper like building in the photo.

Kagura squinted her eyes, " Where and what exactly is this?"

"You'll see." He said, "be at the train station at noon, I will be timing you China."

She skeptically looked at him, somehow this little excursion they were having tomorrow omitted an ominous vibe, " Should I be worried?" Okita's history of mischievous deeds did little to settle the budding qualms she held towards his plans, it was the sadist after all, nothing good could come of anything he proposed.

"Don't look at me like that, China. I'm not planning to sell you off to human trafficking or anything so relax." He joked," Consider it our first date if that makes you feel better." Okita understood where her doubts came from, he was, well, him. But there was no funny business going on here, he simply wanted to show her something, something related to their past. Obviously this tidbit would be kept a secret until tomorrow, why spoil the surprise. Thus Okita donned his usual stoic face." Just say yes, I know you want to."

Reluctantly Kagura said, "Sure… I'll go along with your shenanigans this once." What was the worst that could happen? She already was locked inside a storage room with him, shared some other worldly connection to each other, and attempted to murder each other on a daily basis, there was little leeway for anything more bizarre to happen. But counting her chickens before they hatched was a bad idea. Nevertheless, Kagura went with his plan on a whim. " I'll see you tomorrow then, Sadist. I best be getting to that physics class I love so much."the sarcasm heavily laced in her voice." Don't want Gin-chan to break out in a fit of anger, he's done that enough times this week."

"Later, China." Okita said while waving to the Yato as she rose and grabbed the heavy book bag that hung from the seat.

" Wish me luck, I'll need it." She said before grimly departing for her first period class.

Okita lingered for a couple more minutes at the table, contemplating tomorrow's schedule. It was the first date and he planned to make it a memorable one. But how?

So not a lot really happened in the chapter but I felt that it was sit necessary to kind of establish the backdrop. There are a lot of growing tensions and I felt that I did not make that perfectly clear in the previous chapters, so lo and behold, my attempts at mending that error. And about the whole Kagura couch surfing thing, lets just say she ended up staying in Okita's apartment and mucho sexy times occurred, jk jk. I'll leave it to your imaginations though, god knows how wild they can be sometimes. Anyways, I hoped you guys enjoyed and thank you for tuning in!