Chapter Nine
Hey guys! Finally the update you've all been waiting for!
Sorry you haven't seen much of this story but I've been trying to finish it before uploading this chapter, so I dragged this chapter on for as long as I reasonably could as an incentive. Though I'm sure you'll see all the moments that read like its ended, or where I should have ended the chapter, but, I pushed on so that it could end how I wanted it to.
Hope you guys love this chapter and that it was enough!
…
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 coming one sided smack down.
Kagura and Sougo scrambled about the large suite, searching for anything they may find useful in the near future. While Sougo began his hunt within the large bedroom/dining area, Kagura had gone directly for the grand bathroom.
While opening cabinets and tossing aside towels and other toiletries Kagura had managed to find a rather large backpack, which she began to stuff to the brim with soaps, shampoos, and the softest towels. Leaving just enough room in her bag for the beautiful black dress and matching shoes she had worn the day before, Kagura was packed and ready to go.
Unlike Kagura's luck in finding a backpack and "lost" bathroom items, Sougo had no luck in locating any useful items while he was in the main room. Looking through the dressers, under the bed, and anywhere else proved useless as the Commander was extra cautious when it came to Kagura and had made sure that any "suspicious" items were removed from the room post haste.
After several minutes Kagura left the bathroom to join Sougo by the door to the hallway. As he leaned against the wall Sougo noticed Kagura's backpack. "What's in the bag, China? Find anything interesting?"
"Hm?" Kagura turned her head back to look at the overstuffed bag. "Just some bathroom stuff. Why?" Sougo sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Stepping away from the wall he turned towards the large door and opened it, leaning out into the corridor and looking for any roaming amanto.
"Because, China. How the Hell can toiletries help you in battle?" He questioned, before giving Kagura the signal to follow just as he began to run down the hall, sword drawn. Kagura was close behind, her umbrella in hand and a frown on her face.
"Taking all these towels and soaps will help me with a different battle at home." She huffed. "I may have my own apartment and job but Gin-chan comes over to freeload off of me. Let's just say I come home to find my bathroom unusable because there is hair-"
"Don't finish that sentence, China!" Sougo growled. She needs to get better locks on her door. Sougo thought. He looked around their surroundings for any familiar markers when a small fluorescent sign on the ceiling with "Bays 1-3" and an arrow pointing right appeared just ahead. "This way!" He called back.
Kagura and Sougo rounded the corner and came to an abrupt stop. Standing further down the hall was a group of amanto armed to the teeth with wrenches and hammers, with one individual holding a blow torch.
"That's gotta be them!" One grimy amanto exclaimed.
"A human and the Yato Princess!" Another shouted.
"He does have piercing eyes!" The amanto with the blowtorch cooed.
"GET THEM!" Both parties shouted, running towards each other. Kagura ran forward ahead of Sougo, umbrella at her side. Just as she swung it above her person, ready to smack it onto the leading amanto's heads; a resounding click and the sounds of mechanical movement caught her attention over the clamor of shouts and feet. Kagura suddenly stopped without warning and opened her umbrella. Sougo nearly crashed into Kagura's figure but managed to catch himself in time, her change in behavior confusing him. Sougo opened his mouth to question her when the familiar click and whine of a turret gun loading a magazine drew his attention.
Sougo crouched behind the safety of the Yato Clan's deadly weapon just as the rain of fire began. Bullets began to rain down on the unsuspecting group of amanto and just as soon as their shouts and cries of shock and pain echoed along with the sound of gun fire they soon died down, leaving only the sound of rounds being fired.
Kagura and Sougo stayed in their position behind the purple umbrella for several minutes until the gun fire stopped and the sound of turrets dropping the empty magazines to reload sounded through the now empty hall. With practiced ease Kagura quickly stood and shot the turrets until they fell to the floor in a smoking pile of metal.
Without a second thought Sougo ran forward, hopping over the bloody corpses of the amanto with ease, not sparing a glance. Kagura wasn't so cold. She had managed to make a few steps until her feet brushed against a body. Kagura looked down and her breath caught in her throat. The amanto that lay on the floor were not fighters but mechanics, working men wanting to get ahead in life. She shook any other thoughts away before they managed to become the forefront of her attention.
Kagura ran after Sougo, her survival more important. "Hey, Sadist!" She called out as she neared him. "What exactly is your plan to get us back home? We can't exactly do any kidnapping or some kind of hostage situation now that everything had gone to shit." Kagura pointed out.
Sougo never bothered to look back when he answered her, keeping his eyes peeled for any more signs pointing them in the right direction. "We're heading for the bays to hijack a ship, after we get the rest of my stuff of course." They quickly turned right and jumped down a flight of stairs. "Keep your eyes and ears peeled for any more of those turrets, China! We still have a long ways till we get to any of the loading bays, this whole ship is unbelievably large."
Both Sougo and Kagura spent the next few hours running around almost aimlessly. Every other turn they would run into amanto ready and eager for a promotion, not to mention more turret rifles and even more kinds of devious traps, such as lasers and hallways will floors that delivered electricity to anyone who set foot on the floor, forcing the two to make numerous detours.
"I'm getting tired of all this running and fighting, Sadist!" Kagura wheezed, much to her chagrin. "You and I both know we can only take so much!" Kagura shouted over the raucous sound of turret fire. They had set off another one of the many traps dotting the ship, trapping them under the fire of nearly a dozen different turrets, on nearly all sides.
They weren't the first to set off the annoying trap however, dozens of bodies littered the floor, different colors of blood mixing together to make a sickly brown.
"Shut it, China!" Sougo hissed, clutching his arm when a stray bullet caught him near the shoulder. He ducked behind the makeshift wall of bodies, cursing at their luck. "Give me one of those towels dammit!" He demanded at he began clawing at Kagura's backpack.
Kagura released an indignant "Hey!" as she turned to swat his hand away, moving her umbrella and allowing a bullet pass their defense and go through her left wrist. She hissed at the pain and quickly retracted her arm, moving back to the position she was in previously, crouched behind a rather large amanto.
"Dammit!" Kagura cursed as she inspected the wound. The bullet had gone right through the bone, obviously shattering it; however the injury was not bleeding and Kagura knew from personal experience that she would soon forget about it and use it more than she obviously should.
"You alright, China? Maybe you should worry more about our lives than some towels." Sougo quipped before the sound of ripping cloth told Kagura that he had taken a towel. She rolled her eyes.
"Just give me a towel, dumbass. We have to hurry and get out of this damn hallway. As sick as it is, the bodies won't last long and it appears these are special thermal turrets. They won't stop until were dead or they need to reload."
"Then just shoot them down when they're reloading, dumbass!"
"Easier said than done, they all reload at different times and rates! I would need to be ridiculously fast to get the turrets when they're reloading!"
"Damn." Sougo cursed. "If only I had my bazooka." They sat in silence for a while, both trying to come up with a sure fire plan to get them out of this mess. Kagura couldn't help but groan at the whole situation. Sougo shot Kagura a questioning gaze, obviously not understanding why she was whining.
"What?"
"I just wanted to go and help Tsukki and everyone in Yoshiwara plan the festival they were gonna have. Now we're in the middle of space on a pirate ship using dead bodies as a protective wall against heavy fire! What the Fuck! It got so dark, so fast!" She wailed, throwing her hands up in the air.
Sougo couldn't help but chuckle as he looked up at the steel gray ceiling speckled with blood. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his katana. "Well . . . it wouldn't be a normal day with our merry group of friends if shit like this didn't happen on a weekly basis!" He looked back down at Kagura and couldn't help but soften his look as he remembered all of the fights the Yorozuya and Shinsengumi have been in together.
"Pfft! Guess not." Kagura laughed. They sat in a comfortable silence for a brief moment until the sound of a reloading turret caught the Yato's attention and she quickly closed her umbrella, pointing it at Sougo.
"Oi! What are you do-" Until Kagura fired, the unique bullet from her umbrella flying past Sougo's ear and reaching its target, effectively destroying one turret; not without risk however as a bullet managed to strike Kagura's cheek, leaving a streak of blood on her pale skin. Sougo gripped his ear in pain. He released a string of colorful curses, positive that his right ear was now permanently useless.
Kagura opened her umbrella back up, laying it on her shoulder to shield them from bullets. "We should search these bodies for any grenades or something, they would really help us at the moment." Sougo nodded and they both began searching the deceased amanto around them.
It didn't take long to find what they had wanted. "Okay," Sougo began after laying what they found between them. "we have two flash bangs and only one regular frag grenade. What do we do?"
Kagura leaned forward, hand on her chin as she began to think. "How about keeping the flash bangs and send the frag grenade down the hall towards the most turrets, the shrapnel with destroy most if not all of the guns on that end giving us a lot less to deal with."
Sougo considered her plan while also trying to think of anything else that could be more effective. He sat unmoving, his face scrunched in a scowl as he thought about their chances until he agreed.
"Finally!" Kagura shouted, quickly snatching the grenade from the floor between them.
"We should wait a moment before w-" Kagura quickly pulled the pin from the grenade and stood up, throwing the now active weapon down the hall to land near several of the firing guns.
"FOUR!" Kagura screamed when the grenade left her hand. A wide grin spread across her face when she knelt back down, collecting her umbrella and the two flash bangs, stuffing them in her pockets. "You should get ready Sadist, we don't have much longer until it goes off and in such an enclosed space we'll just end up getting hit by all the shrapnel."
Sougo stared at the Yato across from him, his mouth wide open. "ARE YOU INSANE?!" With umbrella in hand Kagura leapt forward, grabbing Sougo by the back of his shirt, dragging him along behind her into open fire the moment an explosion went off behind them.
Kagura opened her umbrella defending them from the bullets coming at them from the front, running unbelievably fast despite the extra weight she was carrying, and the ammunition she was blocking and dodging. Until she was safe from fire after rounding the corner that lay only thirty feet from where she and Sougo were trapped, did she let out a breath she had not realized she was holding, releasing Sougo in the process.
Sougo slumped to the floor momentarily winded by the quick turn of events as his mind processed everything that happened. He stood up finally, dusting his torn clothes as best he could, wincing when he accidentally brushed his wounded shoulder. He turned around to Kagura, mouth open to begin lecturing her when he stopped.
Kagura was crouched down, glaring at the wrist she clutched in her good hand. "What's wrong with you China girl?" He questioned while he scratched the back of his head.
"It's my wrist." She whimpered. "It got shot earlier. It wasn't that bad but I knew I would forget about it since it wasn't bleeding, and I did. Now it hurts like Hell after carrying your immensely fat ass!" she spit. Sougo inspected the wound she had unwrapped before stating. "You need a splint at least, and if anyone has an immensely fat ass it's you. Maybe you should lay off that shit sukonbu you call food." He replied before walking away and down the hall.
Kagura bristled in anger as she shot up to stand, her annoyance at the sandy haired man quickly diminished however. It's best to just ignore what he says and cooperate with him. Especially if I want to get back to Gin-chan and Sadaharu. He must be so hungry. But he's a smart boy, he'll figure out how to get the food I left in the kitchen. Kagura thought to herself, her worry for the inugami at her apartment clouding her anger. She readjusted the stuffed bag on her back and rewrapped her wrist before taking off after the receding figure of her unlucky companion.
When Kagura had finally managed to reach Sougo he was mumbling to himself. She strained to try and hear what it was he was saying but only managed to pick out, "Should ask what happened." Which he followed with a shake of his head. "Tell her sometime." A nod, followed by, "Why me?" Kagura did not understand what he was talking about to himself but chocked it up to him having finally lost his mind.
They were no longer running, instead walking at a leisurely pace. While Sougo was off in his own world, talking to himself, he never once noticed Kagura's presence or heard her shouting his name to get his attention. He really must have lost hearing in his right ear. Kagura huffed and grumbled, staring at Sougo's broad back. Of course he was still wearing that fancy pirate suit, but the over coat was gone, leaving just the white dress shirt underneath. The coat was an inconvenience and he had decided to discard it, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt just above his elbows. She couldn't stop her eyes from roaming his body.
His shoulders were broad she noted, his whole back was. The defined muscles he gained from working out and fighting every day for years had paid off, giving him a well-toned body. Kagura strained her eyes to get a closer look, from an inconspicuous distance of course. The thin white dress shirt mixed with the lighting had allowed Kagura to see the shadows on his back from the muscles, giving her a clearer image. It didn't take much to get a picture of what his bare back looked like and soon Kagura was remembering the night she walked in on Sougo in the bath.
Kagura covered her burning face in both shame and embarrassment as she rapidly shook her head back and forth. She internally squealed. This is terrible, I'm turning into a huge pervert like Gin-chan! How can I-! Kagura was interrupted from her thought by a sudden force driving into her from the front.
"China! Pay attention will you." Sogo huffed. Kagura groaned in pain. The sudden tackle had taken her by surprise and as a result she was winded and struggling to get air into her lungs, however a weight remained on her chest making it difficult to breathe.
"Get you're . . . giant ass off me!" She gasped out, cringing at the sharp pain from her wrist as she pushed Sougo off her person. She rolled over onto her side, taking in large gulps of air like a fish as Sougo stood back up with sword in hand.
"Sorry." He said in passing before continuing. "We don't have time for that. We have company and to be honest, I'm a little too tired to fight everyone. What about you?"
Kagura sat up, looking pass Sougo's legs down the corridor at the large group of slowly encroaching amanto. "I don't want to fight them. I just want to eat some food and go to sleep." She whined.
Sougo turned around, extending his free hand out to Kagura, which she gladly accepted. "Is that all you have on your mind China? Food?" He mocked as Kagura got to her feet. Smiling when Kagura's face slowly contorted from anger to an embarrassed pout. She crossed her arms over her chest, looking anywhere but him as she mumbled, "Not recently."
Sougo smirked. Bringing a hand to his right ear, leaning closer to the blushing girl. "What was that?" He asked innocently, his eyes wide like a child's. "I can't hear that well in this ear. Could you have perhaps . . . finally acknowledged your feelings for me, the Great Sougo-sama?" He joked, chuckling when Kagura's face turned crimson and she began to wave her arms around in panic, denying any attraction for the man in front of her.
Sougo held his hands up, yielding to Kagura's growing temper. "Alright, alright. We should just get going already before we're overtaken." Sougo ignored Kagura as he looked back at the encroaching party of Harusame. They were taking their time approaching the duo, believing that they had nowhere left to run.
Sougo glanced towards Kagura, who was now staring at the pirates, before tightening the grip on his sword and facing the pirates. "Should we just make a run for it? Just plow right through them and find a place to rest?" He asked. Kagura took a few steps to stand next to Sougo, her umbrella in hand. She nodded in agreement, a determined look in her eye. "Let's do this then."
Without warning Sougo and Kagura dashed forward, catching the group of amanto by surprise. The two dodged and weaved through the large party, parrying attacks here and there when an amanto was quick enough to retaliate.
To an exhausted Okita and Kagura the crowd felt endless until Sougo called out that he could see the hallway splitting off. A surge of energy boosted Kagura forward when the end of the cramp hallway was in sight, however in her eagerness for freedom from smelly pits and nasty comments she failed to notice a large and bristly arm reach out towards her.
Kagura was yanked from behind by her hair, nearly falling backwards until she used an unsuspecting amanto to launch herself upright. She looked ahead at Sougo's distant figure before turning her head and looking back at the dumbass who pulled her hair. Attached to the large hairy arm was a smug grin belonging to the one and only Nezumi. The very same amanto that placed a bet with Kagura in her favorite Kabuki park.
Nezumi's boar face approached Kagura's, who was sporting her own impassive expression. "Nice seeing you again, Oujo-sama." He said as he looked her up and down. "Must say I like the clothes you wore before much better." He finished. The surrounding amanto began to laugh, the few that were part the retrieval party (that made it back alive) agreed, feeling confident enough to once again voice their own opinions.
No one paid much mind to Kagura, believing that she had given up as she had not yet spoken a word or attempted to fight back. Calmly Kagura sheathed her forgotten umbrella and gently wrapped both hands around the boar's large forearm attached to the hand still gripping her hair. Nezumi noticed the action and commented that she finally settled for a real man instead of her cowardly boyfriend. Before anyone could react Kagura had turned the massive arm so that the elbow was facing the ground, and jumped up kicking her right leg into the amanto's shoulder with enough force that everything shattered and tore apart, rendering the limb useless.
Hearing the crunch of bone echo along the hallway caused all the amanto to cringe, clutching their own shoulders in shared pain. Nezumi released his hold on Kagura's hair as he grasped his crippled shoulder, crying out in agony. He fell to the floor, crying and cursing Kagura.
Kagura looked down on the large pirate, flipping her long hair back over her shoulder. "You're no man." Kagura spit. "A real man knows how to treat a lady with compassion, whether he hates her or not." Kagura finished before turning around and running through the stunned group in the hopes of catching up to Sougo. When Kagura finally made it through the group of pirates she was met with another dilemma, the hallway split off in two directions and Sougo was nowhere to be seen. "Stupid Sadist." She mumbled. "Couldn't be bothered to even notice I was gone. Bastard." She cursed, upset that she could now be caught alone and unaware at any moment. She looked left and right, down either hall before making a decision. "The Sadist says he's always right so he must have gone that way!" Kagura shouted before taking off down the right hallway, away from the pirates that were recovering from their shock.
Kagura had ran for another fifteen minutes, not once did she run into any traps or pirates, before deciding it was best to slip into one of the rooms and take a break. Thinking now or never Kagura slid to a halt before one of the many doors lining the hallway she was in. Pressing the button on the wall made the door slide open upwards, allowing Kagura to peer inside. The room was large and spacious containing a few dozen bunkbeds and rows of lockers. "Must be a barracks." She said before stepping in. Quickly scanning the room for any unwanted guests Kagura walked into the room, inspecting each bed before finding one that fit her standards at the back of the room, hidden from view by a bed covered in laundry.
Not daring to actually rest under the covers Kagura sprawled out on top of the covers after setting her umbrella and backpack to the side. Finally laying her head on the pillow and closing her eyes, Kagura was quickly deep asleep, free from any dreams and worries.
. . .
When Sougo had seen the end of the hallway, exclaiming that it split off in two, he dashed forward, only paying attention to his goal. When he had finally broken free from the crowd he never looked back, believing Kagura was still close behind. With a quick, "this way!" he turned left and never looked back until he determined that it was safe enough to rest. The silence that surrounded Sougo unnerved him but he didn't worry too much, Kagura tended to be quiet and observant when push comes to shove, so he thought nothing of the silence.
"I think we should rest here." Sougo pointed to a door on his right. Pressing the button and allowing the door to open revealed a small and dusty custodial closet. Sougo immediately closed the door again and moved on to the next door. When the metal door rose it showed a storage closet, filled to the brim with cardboard boxes. Sougo sighed. "Better than nothing. C'mon, China. Let's try and get some rest."
Sougo took one step forward and turned around, worried about the lack of nagging. All color drained from Sougo's face when he found that he was alone, no moody Yato behind him to complain about how he made her feel or yelling that she wasn't going to rest in a dirty closet. Sougo's heart nearly stopped. For how long was she not following him? Was she taken by the pirates? Did she just get lost? "She must have been grabbed when I wasn't paying attention. Dammit!" Sougo cursed, punching the nearby wall in frustration. "Where the Hell is she?!"
Sougo was about to turn back down the hall, to begin his frantic search for Kagura when heavy footsteps began to ring down the metal hall. "I'm sure I heard something down here?" Someone shouted.
"Shit!" Sougo grit, turning around and dashing back into the storage room. He closed the door behind him quickly and was enveloped in darkness. As the footsteps came closer and closer Sougo held his breath, praying he wouldn't be found.
"Dumbass!" was quickly followed by an unmistakable slap and yelp. "There's no one here!"
"I know I heard something. What if the Admiral's sister is hiding in one the rooms?" Another slap followed by the same cry.
"Idiot, this hallway is nothing but janitor closets and overstuffed storage rooms. This hall is so unused and dusty that no decent woman would hide here. We have to find some place elegant and clean."
"Why? A hiding spot is a hiding spot, right?"
"Wrong! I heard that the Admiral's sister is the most beautiful and ladylike. And with a father like the famous Umibozu she must have been raised in the lap of luxury! So only the finest meets her standards!" Sougo only shook his head in amazement at the pirate's ignorance. Little did they know, but their elegant and ladylike Kagura was nothing but a brazen woman with no social grace, a mouth filthier than a sailor's and spent her time on Earth living in a closet, leeching off of a broke samurai who did anything for money.
"Oh~! I see, I see. Then let's head back to the kitchens. She must be hungry by now? And the Commander makes sure we have the best food."
"Lead the way."
Sougo sat in the darkness, mulling over what he had found out. If the Harusame are still searching for Kagura that meant she hasn't been recaptured yet, which means there is still a chance of escape. The Shinsengumi officer groaned. Not only does he have to find a workable ship after finding the loading bays, but now he has to find Kagura before either of them get caught. Sougo rubbed his face furiously. "Great. Just great."
. . .
Kagura woke up feeling relaxed and revitalized. After sitting up and stretching away the stiffness until she felt like noodles Kagura hopped out of bed full of energy. Quickly strapping her umbrella to her waist and slinging the backpack lazily over her shoulder, Kagura set out in search of the bays and the missing Sougo.
Opening the door and looking up and down the hallway to find it empty was a good start. Kagura turned and ran up the hall, stopping to peer around corners and crashing into rooms when she heard footsteps. It was while she was hiding in one said room that she overheard a pair of amanto arguing to each other about the kitchen being a no go, and that "the human hasn't been found and no one knows where the Oujo-chan is."
Kagura breathed a sigh of relief, Sougo wasn't caught and the Harusame had no clue as to where she could be hiding. Perfect. When the coast was clear Kagura left the room, continuing her search with a new tactic in mind, opening every door.
After countless doors were opened Kagura was about to give up when she finally caught a break. Before her stood two large double doors, wide and tall enough to allow large items to pass through. Opening a door and peering into the room, Kagura was happy to see a large warehouse, filled to the ceiling with large crates and machinery. A warehouse was always next to the docks, or in her case a loading bay on a giant ship.
Stepping into the room and closing the door behind her Kagura began skipping about the room, looking for the exit that was sure to lead her to her destination, and hopefully a certain companion of hers. After only a few minutes of mindless wandering Kagura found exactly what she was looking for located on the other side of the room. A giant door, tall and wide enough to fit large crates of cargo and the vehicles moving them in and out of the room. The door was sure to be connected directly to one of the bays Sougo was talking about.
Kagura eagerly ran across the room towards the grey metal doors. Halfway to her destination Kagura came to a jarring halt, immediately jumping back several meters just as the metal floor exploded, bits and pieces of metal, wood and other debris flying in all directions.
Kagura stood ready with her umbrella in hand, waiting for any attack. Through the dust Kagura could only barely make out the form of a person rising from the crater in the floor.
"Whoops! Came in a little too hot, my bad! At least you managed to dodge though or you would have gone splat, all over the room! So that says something about you!" Came a cheery voice. Kagura narrowed her eyes in suspicion, not at all liking her new found company.
As the dust began to settle in the room Kagura became able to make out the owner of the too cheery voice. A young man around Kagura's age emerged from the crater. He had wide bright green eyes that reminded Kagura of a child's, dark charcoal colored hair that fell at his waist in a braid, and familiar fair skin. Wearing traditional dark purple changshan with matching white pants the young Yato stood before Kagura, observing her from a safe distance as he swung his open bright green umbrella around.
"My name is Shi!" He chirped, closing his umbrella and resting it casually on his shoulder. "What's yours, Princess?" He smiled, tilting his head to side and looking at Kagura with big green eyes.
Kagura eyed the Yato suspiciously, there's only one reason why another Yato would be on the ship. She took a deep breath in an attempt at calming her nerves. No point in leaving such a gentleman hanging. Kagura thought.
"My name is Kagura. How do you do?" she asked, giving a mock curtsey. Before standing in a familiar stance for battle, the grip on her umbrella tightening.
Shi laughed, returning Kagura's gesture with a bow. "I'm glad I convinced the Captain to let me come with him. I get to meet such a beautiful and funny woman! It's a shame we have to kill each other! Boohoo!" He cried, wiping away fake tears. "I've got an idea! If both of us live, how 'bout going on a date with me?!" Shi cheered.
Kagura was stunned, never had she met someone before quite like the young man before her. She didn't know how to deal with someone like him, especially if they were overly . . . happy. Kagura opened her mouth to reply when Shi's demeanor changed. Gone was the exuberant young man and in his place was a serious, no nonsense man. Immediately Kagura was ready.
"Are you ready, Princess?
. . .
Sougo was not as fortunate as Kagura to sleep in a bed and soon after find her way to their desired destination well rested. Sleeping in a cramped supply closet prevented the young officer from having any decent sleep, and coupled with the significant chance of being discovered, any bump or light scrape woke him.
Exhausted and irritable Sougo left the closet, not bothering to check if the hall was clear of Harusame. Hoping that cutting down a few, or a dozen, people would raise his spirits.
After walking for what felt like hours, opening doors to small breakrooms, boiler rooms and what he can only assume was a shop for crewmen, Sougo opened a large set of familiar looking doors. Rushing forward he brought both hands out, firmly pushing both doors open.
With a look of relief, Sougo looked up into the room, and his hopes were dashed, instead replaced with exasperation. The doors did not lead to one of the many loading bays belonging to the Commander's large ship, but one of its kitchens.
The kitchen was large, full of dozens of shiny stoves and ovens, and pots and pans. Sougo's eyes slowly swept over the length of the entire kitchen, looking for any stray pirates. He found no one but a single amanto standing in plain sight to his left.
Leaning on a mop, next to an obvious pile of spilled food and alcohol was an old wrinkly janitor. His grey overalls were patchwork in some places, replaced with red and blue pieces of cloth, and mottled with dirt and oil stains. His matching grey cap barely contained his white hair as it stuck out in all directions.
Sougo stood in the kitchen's entryway staring at the old man. The janitor never said a word or really acknowledged Sougo's presence. The scruffy janitor leaned on his mop, scratching his chin in a lazy motion before pointing to his right. Sougo stared at him for only a moment before giving a brief nod and running off down the hall towards the loading bays.
It only took a few minutes of unobstructed running when Sougo finally made it. Bursting through the doors to one of the loading bays Sougo was met with not the cacophony of chatter and work noise but silence. Suspicious and ready for a surprise attack at any moment he took slow deliberate steps into the large area.
Walking around a pile of large crates Sougo discovered why the room was silent. He had entered the very bay he had awoke in only a few days ago. Instead of row after row of moaning amanto crying out in pain as they lay on their cots, he found silent unmoving pirates who had not succumb to their injuries, but had their lives snuffed out prematurely. This isn't good.
Sougo ran towards the next bay and found it in similar condition. Worker after worker lay where they were cut down. Ships, equipment, and cargo were destroyed and useless as they lay in heaps of broken and crushed metal, and shredded wires.
"Dammit! What the Hell is going on?!" Sougo shouted as he raced onward, hoping to find at least one working ship to hijack.
Every loading bay he ran through was in the same condition as the previous, absolute chaos, and soon Sougo's hopes of leaving the ship were nearly nonexistent. He stopped before the large doors that led to the last bay, positive that it would be the same as the previous. Taking a deep breath Sougo pressed the button that raised the large door.
The door slowly opened, the mechanical clanks as it rose the only sound. Already Sougo can smell the familiar scent of fresh blood and oil. The door had finally opened and already Sougo could see the bodies and totaled ships. He walked in, halfheartedly looking for any answers to the destruction when the screech of straining metal soon after followed by a small explosion resounded.
Sougo was on scene in moments, the small ship that had exploded still in flames. He looked around for whoever could have caused all the destruction and found one more of the smaller ships not too far from the flames. Intact.
Further from the last remaining ship, sticking through the thick metal of the Commander's giant ship's walls was another smaller ship. The intruding ship was a maroon color, jutting through the wall at an odd angle, the obvious result of crashing into the side of the loading bay. As much as Sougo dreamed that the ship belonged to a rescue party come to get him he was smarter than that. The sound of scraping metal sounded behind him and Sougo turned just in time to witness a familiar shock of orange before he sidestepped a large sheet of metal that flew towards him.
Sougo schooled his features, hiding his excitement so as to play the part of the sadistic badass. Casually walking forward towards the only red head he knows with such monstrous strength.
"Hello to you to, China. Glad you found your way here. I'm surprised you didn't get so lost that you ended up back at our room." He teased. He noticed right away that Kagura's clothes and hair were different. Her long hair was braided, reaching the middle of her back. Her clothes were not as light in color and overall appearance, with a large tan cloak covering her body made her appear thicker than what she was. Sougo was suspicious, especially since he had yet to hear the familiar screeching and cursing that helped make Kagura, Kagura.
Sougo silently inspected the person in front of him. Orange hair, monstrous strength every Yato has, and . . . a purple umbrella he knows just as well as his own katana. Sougo's suspicions where gone, it could be no one else. Why the Hell is she ignoring me?
Annoyed that he was being ignored, especially by Kagura, he shot a hand out and tightly gripped her shoulder, turning her around to face him. Mouth open to begin scolding the Yato, it opened even further when he was standing eye to eye with a male version of Kagura.
The sounds of screams and wood against steel echoed throughout the remains of the Shinsengumi compound as men ran for their lives while two demons fought, one a green mayonnaise monster and the other a white beast made of the sweetest sugar.
"Like I said, what the Hell are you doing here?" Hijikata growled as he held back Gintoki's bokuto. "I have my hands full already, I don't need you adding to my problems." Hijikata finished as he pushed Gintoki back, but before he could counterattack, the borderline diabetic had retreated through a pair of opened shouji doors leading to the courtyard.
Gintoki yelled back his reply all the while running from the Demon Vice Chief, who was hot on his trail. "I told you already, I just wanted to lay low for a while!"
"Bastard, you're involved with something big and illegal again aren't you?" Hijikata cursed as he jumped over a small bush, nearly tripping over a badminton racket on his landing. "When I get my hands on you, you'll-" Suddenly a loud and devastating explosion occurred, blasting Gintoki and Hijikata several meters away.
The two men were buried under a large pile of rubble. Once the two managed to break free of the debris both paled at what was before them.
For Hijikata both his heart and cigarette had fallen after his eyes took in the full scale of the damage around him. What had remained of the infamous Shinsengumi compound was now nothing more than a pile of rubble, only splintered wood, broken tiles and plaster, and paper flying in the wind reminded anyone that an imposing compound once stood on that exact spot.
Gintoki did not care about the building's condition, or what happened to any of the men that had decided to stay at the headquarters after his fight with Hijikata began, all he cared about was his own life and all his instincts at that moment screamed, "It's now or never!" Immediately Gintoki dove back under the rubble but it was too late.
A large and dark shadow overtook the two, putting a stop to any movement. Hijikata stood rooted in his place as he stared up at the terrifying man. A shiver ran down his back when cold blue eyes met his own grey ones. Out of the corner of his mouth Hijikata muttered only one question, "He, is the reason why you're lying low?"
Faster than Kondo could say yes to anything and everything Otea, the all-powerful Umibozu swung his umbrella down with Earth shattering force onto Gintoki's messy perm covered head. Out of reflex alone Hijikata managed to avoid any collateral damage. "Yorozuya~!" He screamed out.
As Umibozu took slow and deliberate steps towards the crater he had made, Hijikata sat off to the side, shaking in fear. When the alien sweeper bent over to pick up the sure to be shredded remains of Sakata Gintoki, Hijikata noticed something all too familiar poking out of a sack hanging off of the famous Yato's shoulder.
The blue and lifeless looking body of the famous eyewear model, Shimura Shinpachi, was sticking out of what looked to be an old burlap sack. A clatter drew the fearful Vice Chief's attention from the lifeless Shinpachi to the bloody corpse hanging limply in Umibozu's hand.
Opening his umbrella with a snap to shade himself from his dangerous enemy, the sun, the balding warrior slid off his helmet revealing his aging office worker face. Containing his anger with some difficulty, Umibozu quickly walked to the only officer in sight, the feared and infamous Demon Vice Chief of the Shinsengumi.
Throwing the two bodies none to gently at Hijikata's feet Umibozu spoke through clenched teeth as an unhealthy amount of veins began to bulge out of clear frustration.
"I'd like to report my cute, beautiful, and helpless daughter missing, and two deaths." Much to Hijikata's shame, he had taken a huge hit to his pride. On that day, which was known as the Shinsengumi's Day of Destruction, Hijikata Toshiro, feared Demon Vice Commander, shit himself.
So guys, how did you like this chapter? Was it good? Okay? . . . Terrible? I hope not. I feel like Sougo and Kagura's relationship isn't progressing as well as it should, but I'm the author so I look at everything critically. What do you think?
If you have anything to say, please leave a review!