Hey guys! It's been forever now hasn't it? Sorry for everything, between classes and work it was hard enough to find time but when I did I was stumped on how to go about this chapter but I think I've got it now. Read and enjoy and please leave a review, I love and appreciate it.
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Chapter Eight
The sound of light music and laughter wakes Kagura up from her restful nap. Sitting up from her uncomfortable position over the side of the table she rubs the sleep from her eyes, only to rub them again once she realizes her change in surroundings. Instead of being in her room on the Harusame ship she is now in a small room full of beautifully wrapped gifts, and plush girlish furniture, not to mention real sunlight coming through the windows instead of the blackness of space.
Before Kagura could stand up and begin exploring her new change of environment a light knock on the room's unnoticed door draws her attention. Bursting through the door came a yapping Sadaharu, charging through the presents and furniture to his small and powerful owner, followed by an indifferent Sakata Gintoki, a nagging Shimura Shinpachi and a crying Umibouzu.
"Guys, what are you doing here?" Kagura asks as she fends off an overly friendly Sadaharu.
"What do you mean what are we doing here? Of course we would be here, we've been planning this wedding for nearly a year now!" Shinpachi snaps at Kagura. "Now hurry up, we're running late!"
"Wait . . . wedding? But, what happened to the Harusame? To the Sadist? How can I go from being a captive for some crazy woman's plot to create an army of bishounen to suddenly being home and at a wedding?" Kagura questioned, not noticing that Gintoki seemed to stiffen slightly and Umibozu's annoying cries turned into earsplitting wails.
Shinpachi removed his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose in the hopes of trying to abate his oncoming migraine. "Just hurry up Kagura-chan, your delaying the entire service and if it becomes delayed any longer we'll all die a slow and agonizing death. Now let's go." Shinpachi commanded turning to Kagura's two fathers and pulling them to either side of the confused girl. Wrapping each of Kagura's arms into both of her father's and placing a bouquet of red, orange and yellow roses into her small pale hands he stepped back to inspect the sight before him.
Holding back his tears the glasses stand turned attractive glasses model stood up straight, gave an approving nod and opened the door to the hallway, leading the trio out of the room and towards the wedding.
Sensing that no one was in the mood to talk Kagura was forced to figure things out by herself as the small group began the awkward walk towards what was sure to be the wedding ceremony. 'What the Hell is going on? I'm at a wedding and the only one that I'm a part of is . . . Anego's and the Gorilla's, but there's still some time to go . . . right? Was everything just a dream?' Kagura pondered. 'But if I'm at Anego's wedding, and the whole ordeal with the Harusame and the Sadist was a dream then does that mean that I . . . OH MY GOD! I'M RUINING ANEGO'S WEDDING!' Kagura screamed in her head, just now realizing how much trouble she was truly in with her she-gorilla big sister.
Just as she was about to begin pulling both of her fathers along with her so she wouldn't delay the wedding any longer she came face to face with tall ornate doors. Immediately her need to rush things came to a jarring halt and a foreign type of nervousness came over her.
"Let's get this over with already Kagura, Baldy. I heard there was an open bar at the reception." Gintoki slurred. He was already drunk and the wedding had yet to truly begin.
"Don't worry Kagura-chan, there is nothing to be nervous about, right? Remember you practiced walking down the aisle dozens of times to get it just right. Nothing can or will go wrong with your strong and reliable Papi around." Umibouzu spoke encouragingly, reinforcing his words with a light squeeze of his hand. Slightly confused about her father's choice of words Kagura only stiffly nodded, but no matter how odd her family is acting, she loves them and begins to relax, starting with a deep breath and a determined look.
Finding nothing wrong with the trio Shinpachi turns and opens the imposing double doors, revealing a simple white wedding accented with the same colors as the roses in the bouquet Kagura is tightly clutching; red, orange and yellow.
Kagura gasped at the sight before her. With a vaulted ceiling that seemed almost endless and large windows that not only let in the perfect amount of sunlight but revealed a beautiful natural scenic view straight out of a fairytale, Kagura was sure she was at a wedding for a princess and not a pair of gorillas.
Kagura immediately felt her chest tighten and the back of her eyes sting. She mentally cursed; she promised herself that she would not cry at Otea's wedding because everyone would look at her ugly face and not the beautiful bride.
Too busy trying not to ruin her big sister's wedding Kagura never noticed the music playing in the background as she was led down the aisle. She almost made it to the end without shedding a single tear until she noticed all the guests, friends and "family" sitting quietly and watching her walk down the aisle. One side of the small church was completely black, almost overflowing with Shinsengumi men and on the other was a wide array of colors belonging to all of Otea's friends, almost all of which Kagura knew or was friends with herself. Then waterworks began.
Before she knew it both Gintoki and her father had unwrapped their arms from hers and given her a gentle shove up the steps to stand in front of the rose covered arbor. Embarrassed and ashamed that she was crying at such an important moment she covered her tear streaked face with her own bouquet and continued to silently cry.
"Kagura-chan, why are you crying?" A familiar and gentle voice chimed in.
"Because, I'm ruining your wedding, Anego." Kagura hiccupped. "If I cry . . . everyone will look at me and not the beautiful bride . . . who's supposed to be the shining star of the day." She explained, burrowing deeper into the now bent and broken roses in her hands.
"Kagura-chan," Otea began gently, placing a comforting hand on the girls shoulder. "of course they would be looking at you. This is your wedding. You are the shining star today, not me, or some other girl." She finished.
"What!" Kagura screeched, silencing the music and loose chatter throughout the room. Looking back towards her powerful sister figure, Kagura was shocked to see that Otea was not in the large wedding dress she chose to wear, but a plain short black qipao with a small golden bunny over where the heart is located.
"I thought this was your wedding!" Otea smiled and shook her head, almost laughing at Kagura, who had her mouth wide open and her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
"No, this is your wedding. My wedding was over a year ago, now close your mouth and turn around. You don't want to keep your handsome groom waiting; he went through a lot of trouble planning this wedding just for you." Otea giggled as she straightened Kagura's ruffled appearance.
"Who the Hell am I marrying then?"
"Me. Now turn around so we can get this stupid ceremony rolling." A familiar voice drawled out.
Kagura went rigid the moment she heard his voice. Slowly turning around to the owner of the voice Kagura was soon looking into the familiar wine colored eyes of Okita Sougo, her soon to be husband.
"Don't look so surprised, China. You did beg me to marry you after all, or did you forget after you hit your head on the stairs after you took that nasty fall last night?" He smirked. Although he was older and looked every bit the dashing prince in his suit he still had a soul as black as the devil.
No longer crying or confused, a furious Kagura crushed the already abused roses beyond recognition. "I may not have any idea about what you're talking about but I have a feeling it's all your fault." She spit out through clenched teeth. "What the Hell happened with the Harusame?"
Sougo couldn't help but sigh. Shaking his head regretfully he began, more to himself, "I shouldn't have pushed you down those stairs." Sougo turned to look at the priest on his right, who happened to be Hasegawa, and told him that it would be a minute before they could really begin.
"We managed to get enough of the Commander's dirty little secrets from her diary to 'persuade' her to give us a ship to send us back to Earth, barely missing your brother. Regrettably the ship didn't send us to Edo and instead left us stranded on a deserted island for three months. Ultimately you fell in love with me, hard, and begged me to marry you. A year later here we are, behind schedule because you wanted to know all the details." He explained, looking down on Kagura and crossing his arms in exasperation.
However Sougo's quick and easy explanation wasn't enough for her, there were too many holes in the story.
"Like Hell that really happened asshole! We can't just explain away the rest of the story like that! Too much was building up, like me meeting Kamui or you meeting him! We can't just get married like that!" She ranted throwing the unrecognizable bouquet to the floor, ignoring the gasps of shock from the forgotten audience.
"Well th-gaaah" Sougo gasped as a bloodied hand suddenly forced its way out of his chest. Everyone in the room began wailing and screaming in terror as they fled the gruesome scene, and suddenly Kagura found herself all alone, frozen where she stood as she watched the hand retract from Sougo's chest as his lifeless body slumped to the floor, allowing a pool of blood to form around him.
"You're right Kagura-chan, you can't just end the story like that." Kamui chirped as he took a large step toward Kagura's still figure. She never acknowledged him as he stood before her, she was too busy attempting to rein in her out of control emotions as she blankly stared at her once lively groom. Shock, anger, grief, happiness, excitement, confusion. They were all running rampant within in her, each with its own meaning.
As Kagura was attempting to understand her emotions she never noticed Kamui's gentle touch on her chin, or the warmth she felt from the fresh blood on his hand. "Especially if you don't get to have a reunion with your dear big brother."
. . .
Kagura jolted upright from her position over the side of the large dining table, falling to the floor along with the chair she was resting in, momentarily stunning herself. She let out a screech the moment the chair made contact with the floor and before she could get a baring on her condition hands were tightly gripping her shoulders and violently shaking her back and forth. With her older brother and a dead Sougo still fresh in her mind Kagura began to lash out, fearful for her life.
Eyes firmly shut she began to wildly swing her arms around her, hoping to land a powerful hit against her attacker. Her flailing fists managed to land a few hits but her assailant stayed strong, their grip on her never loosening. Kagura heard a breathless curse in her dazed state and immediately after recoiled from a powerful and stinging slap to her left cheek.
"What the Hell is wrong with you, you crazy woman?" Sougo grit out through clenched teeth, struggling against Kagura's squirming body. At the sound of the annoyingly familiar and not dead voice Kagura began to calm down and eventually opened her eyes. Confused blue eyes met annoyed burgundy and a silence quickly fell over the room.
Almost immediately after regaining her composure Kagura knew what had happened, she had experienced a horrifying dream and remained half asleep, worrying Sougo and attacking him when he attempted to help her. Kagura refused to look into Sougo's unnerving gaze out of guilt and embarrassment, instead she found solace in fiddling with a loose string on her shirt.
Sougo hung his head and released a drawn out sigh. He stood up and lazily scratched the back of his neck before he turned and walked to the overturned chair, picking it up and placing it upright to face Kagura, setting himself on it. He crossed one leg over the other, folded his hands together and laid them on his lap, watching and waiting for Kagura to answer his silent command.
Time passed and not one word was said. As Sougo calmly watched and waited, Kagura was becoming more and more unnerved until she couldn't take his blank and accusing stare any longer.
"Alright already! Enough! I'm never going to tell you what happened so give it up!" Kagura screamed as she threw her hands up. She quickly jumped up and jabbed a finger into Sougo's chest. "Leave me alone already you demented sadist. It is all because of you that I'm sick now!"
Sougo looked down at the pale and dainty finger poking his chest, then glared up at Kagura.
"I don't know what your problem is China, but I do know that a slave shouldn't disobey its owner. This is your only chance before I get angry. Tell me what the Hell is wrong with you."
Kagura smirked and stood up, looking down on Sougo. "What's wrong Sadist, you've been really weird around me lately, especially since we were at the park. Don't tell me you've fallen for me?"
Sougo stood up to his full height, forcing Kagura to peer up to look him in the eyes. A more sinister and smug smirk than Kagura's graced his features as he looked down on the Yato.
"What are you talking about China?" He asked before bending down near the Yato's ear. "Aren't you the one getting hot and embarrassed around me?" He whispered, making sure to blow into her ear.
Kagura squealed as she jumped back, swatting at Sougo as she increased the distance between them until she backed into the foot of the large bed. "W-w-wha-what th-the HELL is wrong with you!" She screamed. "Stay a-away you you . . . SEXUAL GRASSHOPPER!" Trying to calm her speeding heart Kagura placed a hand on her chest as she evened her breath, not realizing how red her face was from embarrassment.
Sougo stared on from his spot by the table, effectively holding in his laughter and keeping his face as straight as possible. "I think you mean sexual harasser, China, not grasshopper."
"Shut up! Look at me, I'm really sick now! I have a fever and my heartrate is erratic, what did you infect me with?" Kagura questioned. Unable to hold it in any longer Sougo began to laugh hysterically, doubling over from the pain caused by his laughter.
"Ch-China, you you have to be j-j-joking, right? Hahaha. B-because no one can be th-tha-at clueless!" He managed to breathe out. "This is pri-priceless, 'cause you see that is j-just how I thought w-when I hahahaha, when I found out that I was in lo-"
"WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! THIS MESSAGE OF EMERGENCY IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY PYRO. PYRO, HEATING SYSTEMS SO STRONG YOU WISH IT WAS THE ICE AGE."
Sougo and Kagura immediately calmed down, sharing a look of confusion with each other before the message continued.
"Hello my lovelies, this is your Commander speaking. It has come to my attention that a rat from Earth has boarded the ship and is attempting to ruin all of my plans and your hard work."
Kagura and Sougo looked towards the door leading to the hallway as cries of anger managed to make it to their room.
"So, before our operations come crumbling down around us I am offering a steep reward of immediate promotion and a large sum of money to anyone who exterminates the dirty rat. Your target is a handsome human male with sandy hair and piercing red eyes. You have until Admiral Kamui arrives, until then the ship is on lockdown. Good luck men."
Cheers of excite and promotion managed to make it to the secluded room Sougo and Kagura were in and moments later the room began to shake and a thundering noise reverberated through the room.
Kagura turned to Sougo with a confused look on her face, "What was that all about and what does she mean by lockdown?" Sougo shrugged in response when an earsplitting siren began wailing as steel plates began to descend on the windows in the room.
Looking at the now covered window in the room Sougo stated, "That's probably what was meant by lockdown. We can only assume all exits to the ship are now blocked. It's safe to say that she doesn't want either of us to leave. Grab anything useful and let's go, we'll cause so much destruction on her ship she'll want us to leave."
"Got it." Kagura replied before the two began to run around the entire room grabbing anything and everything that would be useful in the up and comping one sided smack down.
Inside the Yorozuya, Shinpachi was shakily doing menial housework to ease his spastic nerves while his good-for-nothing boss was sitting at his desk reading the latest issue of JUMP. It was an odd sight to see, now that Shinpachi was no longer just a useless pair of glasses but a well-established model for a company selling high-end eyewear.
Unable to bear the uncomfortable silence any longer Shinpachi turned off the vacuum and looked to the easygoing and unkempt man he still somehow respects and listens to.
"Gin-san, what should we do? Kagura-chan has been gone for a few days now and her father can arrive any minute. What are we going to do . . . what are we even going to tell him?" He enquired, his voice cracking at the end from the panic that was beginning to set in.
Shinpachi waited in silence for his boss to come up with some sort of answer, one that would be so outlandish and wrong that his straight man routine would put his brain into overdrive and find a more reasonable solution.
Gintoki never answered as he continued to read his JUMP. Giving up Shinpachi began to put away the vacuum and was soon dusting the small apartment clean of any unwanted particles when he began to speak aloud once again.
"You know Gin-san, yesterday when I left . . . I went to a lawyer and had my will written. I'm sure once Umibouzu-san finds out that we lost Kagura-chan he'll kill us. Before he does that, I just wanted to tell you that I-"
Before Shinpachi could finish a car suddenly crashed into the Yorozuya office, completely destroying the apartment and anything within it. Coughing up dust Shinpachi looked out into what once was the room he had just cleaned from the kitchen entryway. Immediately knowing what had just occurred Shinpachi began to sputter apologies as he turned to run away, but he was too late.
Shinpachi soon found himself looking into the furious blue eyes of one of the most powerful Yato known to the galaxy, who coincidentally had daughter issues and said daughter was in part of his care.
"Goo-good day, Umi-" Shinpachi shakily began until he was tossed around like a dog's chew toy.
"Where is she?" Umibouzu growled out. "I stopped by at her apartment to surprise her and found it empty, only her cute little Sadaharu-kun was their but he looks like he hadn't eaten in a while, then I stopped at that weird gorilla woman's home and she said she hadn't seen Kagura in days." Simply talking about his missing daughter made Umibouzu furious, causing him to unconsciously tighten his powerful hands around Shinpachi's throat.
Struggling to breathe Shinpachi began to helplessly thrash about, gripping at the large hand that held him hostage in a vain attempt to loosen the grip. In a last ditch attempt Shinpachi looked over to his boss only to have the life sucked out of him.
At the large desk crushed under the front of the car was not the corpse of the infamous Sakata Gintoki, but the remnants of a cardboard cutout in his image. What little hope Shinpachi had of surviving this ordeal with a furious Yato was over, looking back up at Umibouzu Shinpachi was met with a powerful fist. Just before he passed out from the outrageous amount of pain he couldn't help but think, "Thank Kami-sama I decided to have my will written."
Meanwhile . . .
Inside the Shinsengumi compound Hijikata attempted to control his anger with the breathing exercises his councilor had taught him but it was proving to be a fruitless endeavor, as a result his blood pressure was reaching a whole new height.
Hijikata had started the day with the wrong foot forward. As usual he woke up before dawn to have breakfast and begin the morning training. Yamazaki and several others were fooling around so he had to straighten them out, but in the midst of chasing them he slipped and fell in a pile of dog shit.
After taking a shower and changing into a clean uniform he immediately began the impossibly large amount of paperwork that began to accumulate since all of the festivals ended. It would normally have just been a large amount of paperwork but with Sougo slacking off for nearly a week and with half of the Shinsengumi compound razed to the ground because of a terrorist bombing, he was the only one left, and capable, to pick up all the slack. (With Kondo off planning his dream wedding he was even more irresponsible than usual). Which leads Hijikata to the reason that was making it impossible for him to accomplish anything.
"Oi, Hijikata-kun, do you have anything in your fridge other than these Shinsengumi sausages and mayonnaise? I'm only allowed a certain amount of sweets a week, and on top of that, I'm in a bind and would not like my last meal to be some mayo covered sausage." The Yorozuya boss, Sakata Gintoki, a Joui hero formerly known as ShiroYasha, number two on his list of the most annoying people in Edo was sitting next to him, freeloading on the Shinsengumi dollar and annoying the Hell out of him.