Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama
Kagura's Not So Super Sweet Sixteen – Part 4
The trio walked for a while in silence. Gintoki in front, Kagura in the middle and Sougo in the rear with his hands in his pockets. The hallway was barely lit with emergency lighting on the floor, giving off the vibe off a deserted underground railroad.
It seemed like the silence would last forever, until the Shinsengumi captain sped up and walked next to the birthday girl.
She shot him a sideway glare.
"What's gotten under your skin today China? Man, you're so cranky! You're on your period or what?" the man asked, tactless as ever.
She snorted. "You and the rest of the tax robbers have ruined my sweet sixteen yes?"
"It was already ruined; you turned eighteen today, remember?" Gintoki chimed in, playing the tsukkomi in Shinpachi's stead.
"Danna is right you know. You're too old to act this way," Sougo reflected.
"Like the two of were any more responsible when you were eighteen," she defended.
The silver-haired samurai slid his left pinky up his nose. "I fought in a war," he added lazily.
"And I was a respectable police officer." He turned away from Kagura, "which reminds me danna, we should probably incarcerate you soon, before your joui ways rub off on China and the glasses."
The samurai flicked a bogger in the police officer's direction. "Give me a break Okita-kun, if you haven't jailed me by now, you won't ever find a reason to do it either," he said and placed his hands behind his head.
"I distinctly remember the two of you plotting to push every Shinsengumi member down here. I would claim those as valid grounds to arrest both of you for obstruction of the law."
"It's your word against ours. Last time I checked, you're the least respectable of the bunch. No one would ever believe a man with more lawsuits than arrests."
"You're wrong danna. I have far more arrests than lawsuits... besided, people would be more inclined to believe a captain of the Shinsengumi over your good for nothing Yorozuya. Don't you guys owe half the town money?"
Gintoki reached his limit and stopped. He turned around and met the amber eyes of the captain. "Oi, you wanna go Okita-kun?" he placed his hand on the wooden sword in his belt.
Sougo unsheathed his katana,"bring it!" he smirked, "it would be interesting to fight you without those stupid magical swords getting in our way."
The light in the tunnel shut off as the samurai were about to settle their score. They could hear a loud thud as something fell to the ground.
"Oi danna, you're not giving up just because there's no light?"
"…"
"What, you're chickening out danna? That's not like you."
"Gin-Chan, you're not going to let the sadist disrespect like this yes?" Kagura chimed in.
"Danna, are you there?"
"Gin-Chan, are you okay?" the yato got exidengly worried as her surrogate father continued to not answer them.
Kagura ran in the direction she last saw the silver-haired samurai. Another thud was heard, "ouw." She touched her leg, there was something next to it.
"What happened China?" the Shinsengumi officer walked over to her slowly, careful not to trip on anything cloaked by the dark.
She picked up the object she'd tripped on, "hey, I found a flashlight!" She turned it on and beamed it directly in Sougo's eyes.
The man shielded himself behind his arms, "careful where you point that thing, you want me to go blind or what?"
"I'm not sure, give me a reason as to why I wouldn't want you to go blind."
"Well," he pointed at her feet. "Someone needs to check that wound for you, I'm pretty sure you can't bend your neck and examine the back of your shin properly.
She huffed, 'he's got a point'. Kagura lowered the flashlight so Sougo could get a clear vision. He knelt down beside her and looked at the wound.
"The cut seems pretty deep." He shook his head in disbelief, "how did you even manage to get a wound like this… didn't you just trip on the flashlight?"
"I don't know." She shrugged and beamed the light on the ground, "seems like there's a lot of sharp and pointy rocks on the floor."
"At any rate," Sougo loosened his cravat, "we should stop the bleeding." He removed the cloth from his neck and wiped the blood that had already poured out on her shin.
Kagura made a hissed as he touched the wound. "Careful!" she barked.
"I'm being as gentle as I possibly can."
"I'm sure," she said sarcastically.
Her snarky reply prompted the officer to put more pressure on the cut. She hissed again, "I'm being nice her China," he let out an exasperated sight "show some gratitude would you."
"Okay I'm sorry," she said trough her teeth, trying to remain calm. "Just… be careful will you... it really hurts..."
"I have to put some pressure on it, or else I won't stop the bleeding." He met her worried azure stare, "I know you're a Yato, but I'm pretty sure your kind needs blood to survive." He tied the cravat around her leg. He observed it for a moment before he spoke again: "seems like it's effective enough for now, but we should get out of here and stitch you up as soon as possible."
The patient shook her head, "no it's fine. It'll be closed up by the time we reach the hospital. We should focus on finding Gin-chan and the antidote."
Sougo raised an eyebrow, "are you sure you're fine? You don't have to pretend you're strong China."
"No really, I'm fine," she lied.
"If you say so," Sougo said unbelievingly and rolled his eyes. "Can you stand?"
"I'm not sure... could you help me up?" she grabbed the hand he offered her. She tried to put pressure on her injured foot, but she fell right back down. The Yato huffed, "I've lost too much blood… seems like we have to wait for the wound to heal up a bit first."
Sougo sat down next to her, "seems like." He brushed the dust off his legs. "Where do you think danna went?"
Kagura shrugged, "maybe K took him?" she looked at him. "Who do you think K is?"
"It's probably just Katsura," the captain said lazily as he laid down on the floor. He fished after the sleeping mask in his pocket.
The girl next to him wasn't to convinced, "Zura isn't the type to use poison. Poison is a woman's weapon yes?"
"I strongly disagree," he said and put the mask on his forehead, "I poison Hijikata-san all the time."
"And yet he's still alive. Maybe it takes a woman's touch to finish the job," she laid down on the ground next to him.
He rubbed his chin as he contemplated her logic, "maybe you're right. Maybe it's time for me to settle down with a woman and have her poison Hijikata." He tilted his head sideways and studied her features, "you never answered me though."
"Hmmm, what's that?"
"My letter… you never answered it."
She crossed her arms in annoyance as she remembered the unrefined content's of her birthday card. "What's to answer? I don't want to become one of you M's."
The man next to her gave her a puzzled look, "what do you mean, one of my M's?"
Kagura turned her head and fixed her eyes on his amber orbs. "You do know I've met you before right?" she huffed and briskly looked away "several times in fact."
"And?"
She let an annoyed sigh slip through her lips, "and I've seen you with women."
The man couldn't help but grin, "jealous China?"
"Tch, hardly…" she paused to form her reply "I just don't wanna be one of the girls you parade around town in a leash. I'm not that kinda person."
He facepalmed, "oh man you're so unbelievably dense. You really think that's what I meant?"
"It couldn't mean anything else yes?"
"You're girl right? Read between the lines would you?"
"I'm not sure I follow."
"Of course you don't…" he let his hands cover his face in annoyance. "Because you're an idiot," he added under his breath.
Kagura jerked herself up from the ground; she tried to put pressure on her foot again. 'Damn' but she was still in no condition to walk away.
He grabbed her arm, "and where do you think you're going?"
"I was going to find Gin-chan and have him kick your ass, but I'm not well enough," she said sourly.
Sougo rolled his eyes, "fine, suite yourself."
The yato huffed and laid back down, the brisk movement loosened her hair-bun and made the hairpin she'd received from the man next to her slip down on the floor. It didn't go unnoticed as the gift-giver picked it up himself.
He studied the pin between his fingers, making the sapphire sparkle from light emitted from the flashlight. "Well, looky here." He said with a smirk on his lips. "Seems like someone liked the gift they received."
Kagura shot him a sideways glare; hoping he wouldn't notice the blush rapidly blooming in her cheeks. "So! You gave me something I thought was pretty. No reason to get all worked up about it."
"I'm not; you're the one that tried to hide it from me. Now why would you want to do that?" He asked in a fake, coy manner
He had a point. She thought she'd hid it because she didn't want him to think he'd done something good. But was there perhaps another... deeper reason as to why she'd tried to deceive him. She must have known he'd see trough her façade, he always did when she tried to hide something. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."
"You wanna know what I think?"
"No, I really don't."
He turned over so he could lie on his side. He rested his head on top of his hand and studied her face thoroughly before he continued. "I think you secretly like me, but you're afraid to admit it."
Kagura huffed and tried to give off a convincing I-don't-care-attitude as she rolled her eyes, "dream on sadist!"
The man leaned over, "I don't have to," and kissed her on the lips.
He smirked as he leaned back to watch her reaction; her face painted red with fury. "Well... wasn't that nostalgic?" he smirked.
Two men stood crouched behind a rock a few feet away from the two 'lovebirds'.
"Oi, what does Soichiro-kun think he's doing to my daughter?" Gintoki demanded from behind the cartoonish cover.
"Loosen up would you, she's eighteen, she's allowed to do whatever she wants."
"Kissing her rival while her dad's missing in a cave isn't the right time and place for such things," he shot back. "Why are you doing this gorilla?"
Kondo rubbed his chin, "because it's important that Sougo finds happiness."
The silver-haired man was unimpressed "and the real reason you're doing this?"
"I want Otae-san to see the kind side of me: the side that selflessly brings to people in denial about their emotions together."
Gintoki punched the Shinsengumi chief in the gut, "that's not selfless at all! You're just doing this so the gorilla-lady will fall in love with you!" He glared at the nude man next to him, "AND WHY DID YOU HAVE TO BE NAKED TO BRING THEM TOGETHER?"