Kagura and Sougo launched away from each other, hurtling towards anyone with a nasty look on their face and a green tattoo. "Sougo you idiot!" Kagura yelled, her fists punching an overly intricate pattern of bruises into a Greenie.

"What you mean idiot you China brat! I solved a crime! You should be praising me!" He shouted back, caught in a sparring match with a horror of a man.

"You're the most useless police officer I've ever seen!" Shinpachi screeched, rushing to the audience. "Useless!"

"Yeah!" Kagura helpfully supplied, flipping over Shinpachi to land a flying kick squarely into a woman's face.

Shinpachi rubbed at his shoulder frowning before assessing the entire room. As usual, his two friends were fighting like beasts with zero regard to collateral damage of either the animate or inanimate variety. Sighing, Shinpachi jumped atop a crate, ushered people out, waving his arms to the tsunami of a crowd as they burst out the exits. He couldn't have anyone hurt due to the fighting and didn't want Kagura or Sougo distracted by innocents (though he used the term loosely considering they were all a bunch of criminals or borderline). Right in front of him, a man was thrown to the ground, trampled beneath hundreds of frantic feet. Shinpachi couldn't help but facepalm, "Why can you mob types never be civil?!" He complained, pushing through the crowd and hauling the man up, shouldering the burden of being shoved and elbowed. "Go on, get out of here!" Shinpachi urged, before a hand ripped at his collar and sent him flying backwards across the floor.

Wincing, Shinpachi looked to see two Greenies grinning down at him, one with a broad sword and the other with something that looked like a mace. "Hello Mr. MC."

Shinpachi waved, "Hello." Slowly, he pushed himself off the ground, dusting at his pants, "Now listen, you two look like reasonable men maybe we could-"

The tall one whipped his mace around, the ball whishing past Shinpachi's ear. "OK SO YOU'RE NOT REASONABLE! NOT REASONABLE AT ALL!" His hand shot to his waist only to realize his sword wasn't there, lost in the fray.

Panicking, Shinpachi burst into a run towards the exit, certain it had fallen when he helped that guy off the floor. Sure enough, he spotted it a few metres away before he felt the air move quickly. Whirling around, he nearly caught the wrong end of a sword to the kidney before he ducked, rolling out the way. The two men circled him and Shinpachi had no choice but to face them with nothing in his hand.

Sword guy ran at him forcing him to duck and dodge, his breath coming in pants. He managed to get in a sharp jab into the guy's face before the one with the mace swung at him. His body arched to the left but his momentum sent him tumbling. Shinpachi crashed to the floor only to see the sword come flying at him before it clamored against a purple umbrella. The air crackled with a violent ferocity. "Get. A. Way." Kagura hissed, sliding her umbrella out from under the sword to send it swinging into the man's head.

"Glasses!" Shinpachi's hand shot out automatically as Sougo threw his wooden sword across the warehouse. "You forgot something."

Shinpachi sucked in a breath, his muscles throbbing to get up get up get up. The sword in his hand gave him a fire, battering into the head of the mace and sending it backwards into its wielder's direction. Kagura and Shinpachi jumped back to back. "It's been a while since we've fought like this." Shinpachi mused, eyes already locked on his targets.

Kagura grinned, "It's been a while since we've gotten up to no good, yes."

Shinpachi swung his sword behind him, missing Kagura's head by inches as she ducked beneath his arm in a graceful curve, splattering bullets in an arc. Mace guy roared, his eye stuck shut with blood as he swung at the two of them. Kagura's umbrella burst open, shielding them from the blow as Shinpachi swiped at his legs so his knees scraped the concrete before he parried a blow from another swordsman, careening his blade down to the man's pommel. The following blow to the head knocked him out, "Stop being cool Pachi-boy, it's grossing me out." Kagura proclaimed, her nose squished up like she smelt something putrid.

Shinpachi sputtered indignantly, "You're not cool either you know! You still watch Saturday morning cartoons!"

Eye twitching, Kagura grabbed the nearest assailant and knocked him out cold by hurtling him in Shinpachi's general direction. The man smashed into a wall as Shinpachi screeched and ducked. "HEY!"

"Don't insult cartoons! They're educational, yes!"

"And yet you still say herpes me instead of help me." He sassed.

Shrieking, Kagura leapt at him, pulling at his cheeks. Shinpachi's eyes widened, licking his lips to try and speak between the tugging, "K-kagura-ch-"

"DON'T INTERUPT ME YOU STUPID GANGSTER!" She hollered as her elbow slammed into another guy's stomach sending him careening into the floor.

Somewhere else in the room, Sougo clutched his heart in between slicing a man down. What a girl.

Distracted, he didn't notice the woman sneaking up behind him until she was already close enough to stab him through the chest. "You have yourself quite the beast there." She licked her lips as she stared.

Side-stepping just far enough to avoid being staked through the heart and merely only grazed- well, his definition of grazed may have been confused for stabbed, but semantics were never his forte- Sougo crouched to catch his breath, the smell of blood overwhelming his nostrils. He straightened so his sword caught the tip of hers as he pressed hard, "She's incredible right? But I'm going to have to gouge out your eyes now for looking at her weird." He said offhandedly as he slid his sword down her own to send it soaring past her face, catching her in the cheek.

The woman jumped up, twirling her sword around before pointing it upwards. She threw herself at him again and they danced around their blades. "They hyped you up a lot killer dog," her sword slid dangerously down his and he jumped back, panting, "but I can see now they were just exaggerating."

"Is that why you're panting?" He taunted, his eyes going dark, his fingers curling even tighter around the pommel.

He didn't wait for her reply before he pounced on her, but she wasn't alone as two more of her friends joined in on the fray and their collisions released sparks. The metal screeched and his vision narrowed until only this corner of the world existed and still, it wasn't enough. He quickly found himself stepping back, his offense being overtaken by defense as he struggled to counter three blades at once. He swung ferociously, his mouth opened in what he thought might be a roar but with only the force for a grunt as he bashed his way through the wall their swords created before stopping cold. Two swords crossed at his neck and he was kicked to his knees. His glare burned with rage and destruction. The fury in his chest was nothing compared to the absolutely smothering feeling of defeat.

"You know," the woman cooed, "if you hadn't tried to play hero, we could have just beaten you on that stage and taken the money fair and square and finally showed all of Edo that nobody, not even the monsters of Kabuchiko, could stand in our way."

Her foot flew into his chest until the air burst out of him and black spots danced across his vision, "But no." she mourned, her heel digging into his ribs like she was trying to bury it in him, "You just had to go and ruin everything. So now we have no choice but to escalate everything." He watched as two other guys went to pick up the safe with the prize money and nod at her.

She gave Sougo one last kick before jerking her head in her friends' directions, "Let's go."

Sougo sat silently, waiting for the moment where the swords would inch away just a fraction. A fraction was all he needed. The woman turned her back and Sougo couldn't help the tiniest of smirks edge across his face. The man reached into his pocket for something, the sword moving ever so slightly and Sougo threw his body backwards beneath the swords' V, his hands moving to collapse the soft part of their knees before his skull exploded into pain as the back of a sword battered into it. Blood spurt from his forehead, soaking his bangs and dripping over his cheekbones. Sougo toppled towards the floor and the two gangsters picked him, hauling him out to the exit. Waiting for them, the man in the eye patch smiled. Sougo's head burst into sparks and he tried to force himself awake. His eyes slid shut seconds later.

Drip.

Drop.

Sougo's blood dripped to the floor.

The world silenced except for the blood that ashened Kagura's face. Drip drip drop. His blood left a smear on the floor. Drip drip drop. The world exploded into sound-drip-a woman's laughter- drip- a man's triumphant breath- drip- swords scraping the concrete beneath them. Drop. "Let. Him. GOOOO!" Kagura lurched up from her sweeping kick and raced to Sougo's direction only to be blocked by a row of Green Markhors.

She was seeing red, every living thing looked like a target and her blood was aching, throbbing, shuddering with the urge to kill kill killkillkill. Sweat dripped from her brow and her hand felt clammy around her umbrella as her steps thundered across the hall, the concrete cracking beneath her. A wave of opponents-enemies-the people who took her partner hers hers she was going toshewasgoingto- an arm pushed against her chest like an iron bar.

Shinpachi gave her his back and where she was hot, raging burning aching with fire, he was cool like the rain. "I'm going to distract them and you're going to save our friend. But I won't let you pass if you're not the Kagura-chan we both love."

He should have been afraid, trembling at the knees, sweating from every pore, hearing his heartbeat thud thud thudding in his ears because she was a Yato and she could rip him apart in one blow. Her fury seethed beneath her skin and it spread blackness across every inch of her. He must have felt her bloodlust, it reeked like death. But he stood like a lighthouse, silently strong against the storm so much bigger. His arm against her chest didn't tremble and his voice didn't waver.

Kagura bit her lip so hard it bled and she had to force her body to stay still from how hard she was shaking with the need for annihilation of the most barbaric kind. "S-sougo, they took-"

"I know. We'll save him. We will." Because we didn't include the monster that lived and shrieked within her that she'd been trying to crush for so long.

Kagura was gasping. The air wouldn't seem to get into her lungs. She was breathless, trying to contain everything inside.

She leaned her head against his shoulder. She was incredibly lucky, she knew. Incredibly blessed, incredibly fortunate, incredibly loved. She breathed and her vision expanded and her brain felt less cluttered, she felt more in control. Her voice cracked. "Shi-"

"I won't let you lose to yourself." Shinpachi said with such a surety that it seized her heart.

Shinpachi dropped his arm and squeezed her hand for just a moment. His callouses were rough against her skin that could never be marred. He jumped into the crowd and drew their vindictiveness unto himself, so she could leap over the fray and chase after her boyfriend and every last piece of shit who took him. She wrenched herself from her spot and looked back as she ran and saw him intent on the battle, his sword spiralling and overtaking everyone who came in his path. She hated to abandon him in a fight, hated it with every single part of her, but he'd come after her. He'd win, and he'd come for them. Shinpachi would never lose a fight if he thought his friends needed him. Never. Because that was the kind of samurai he was and that's what made him braver than anybody.

Of that, Kagura had no doubt.

Shinpachi heard her leave but kept his eyes focused on the battle ahead. His sword cut through the wave one by one. Finally, he battered the head of one more guy and as he collapsed, his shoulders heaved with relief to find no one else standing. Shinpachi fell to the floor, his arms supporting him as he gazed up, breathing hard. He knew he couldn't stay still for long, he needed to gather them and tie them all up in case they woke up, but for a second, just for a moment, he wanted to rest, and relish a little, in his victories, and hope Kagura and Sougo would fare just as well. After all the fighting, the silence was kinda nice.

That is, until he looked around again and just collapsed spread eagle on the floor with a giant sigh.

Even during a crisis, he still got stuck with clean up.

Gin howled, smacking the pachinko machine repeatedly, "Why do you hurt me so? What has Gin-san ever done to you? Haven't I come to you faithfully all these years?" He mourned, head hung low.

With a dramatic sigh, he dug into his pockets finding one lone, miserable coin. Looking at it intensely, he thought about the lack of food in the fridge and then looked at the screen full of blatant lies promising riches beyond imagining. "If I win I'll buy Kagura a room extension." He promised, dropping the balls in the slot, taking a sip of sake for luck, and turning the knob.

Gin crossed his fingers.

And then howled.

"SCREW YOU UNIVERSE! I NEVER LIKED YOU ANYWAY!" He returned to beating the machine with zero remorse.

Beside him, a stranger pat him on the shoulder, "It's okay bro, no one ever wins at these games."

Sullenly, Gin turned his head. "Who's your bro?"

Paying Gin no mind, the man offered him a flyer. "Here, you should come check this place out. I've made tons of cash betting on fights there. The key is to look at who's angrier." He said, laughing at his own bad advice.

Gin stared at the flyer. UNDERGROUND FIGHT RING, MAKE HUNDREDS IN JUST TEN MINUTES! ILLEGAL ALIEN VS. TRAINED KILLER! Beneath the words in humungous font, two figures launched at each other. Gin squinted. That girl looked an awfully lot like Kagura, more muscular though…and that guy…he squinted harder…his uniform looked too familiar. Gin stared. And then he screamed. "THOSE BRATS!"

Grabbing the stranger by his lapels, Gin shook him remorselessly, the man's head wobbling around like it would fall straight off, "Where is this? And when? Those shitty brats have been getting rich behind my back!" He paused, "And doing dangerous things! Obviously I care about that. I'm a responsible adult." He nodded assertively, like that would be any more convincing.

More or less regretting the entirety of his life choices, the man held up his hands, "H-Hey man, it's just down by the port, you'll know it when you see it."

Gin dropped the guy and ran out the door, hopping on his bike. He knew something was going on! He just knew it! He was going to ground them! Or confiscate their snacks! Or-or, something! Who raised those idiots anyway?

(So maybe he was a bit of a bad influence, but who knew kids would take their parents' worst traits!)

Gin drove past dozens of normal warehouses before spotting one with the doors blown right off and dents poking out the walls. Knowing with 100% certainty this was the one because he knew Kagura and that bad influence no good cop Sougo and also knew that Shinpachi, no matter how hard he might try, could never quite reign their destructive tendencies in. Bursting in with dramatic flair, Gin's mouth was open, ready to yell, before being confronted with emptiness. The inside was in shambles. Beams from the ceiling had crashed into the floor, wood splinters everywhere and the ceiling looking increasingly dangerous to be under. The ring was torn in places, the rope sagging pathetically, and the concession stand was pillaged and broken in two. Gin's stomach clenched.

Shit.

He should've known better.

His foot stepped into a puddle of blood.

His mouth tasted of metal.

Shit.

His footsteps echoed in the destruction before a sword tip was pressed against his throat. Gin stood still, his posture too relaxed for someone about to be decapitated. "I thought we got rid of you pe- oh! Gin-san!" Shinpachi sounded relieved, before he started panicking, "GIN-SAN?! AHAHAH IT'S GIN-SAN! HOW ARE YOU!" Retracting his sword immediately, Shinpachi's hand fisted into his hair as he laughed uncontrollably.

Gin smacked him atop his head like a lightning bolt. He stared. Shinpachi kept laughing. Gin stared some more. He knew Shinpachi wouldn't crack…not without a little persuasion. "Pachi-boy," soft and cajoling, "you've always been such a good boy. Always cleaning up after us and following the rules. Otae and I could always rely on you to do the right thing, not like that naughty Kagura."

The pressure inside Shinpachi got bigger and bigger and bigger, don't break don't break. It was fine, it was fine-

"Your poor sister-"

Shinpachi broke. (DON'T JUDGE! He had a self-preservation instinct too you know!) "IT WASN'T MY IDEA!"

Gin sighed. "Of course it wasn't. You don't have enough audacity to pull this off. A fight club…" he snorts, "Can't believe you two went behind my back like I was some kind of adult. You're making me into the adult Shinpachi! I'm not mentally equipped for that!" He said insistently.

Not knowing whether to be offended or not, Shinpachi tried to use his body to hide the door keeping the hostages. "Well, you caught us. You're too clever for us Gin-san. And you're being such a good adult about it too, you shouldn't worry so much. Why don't you go on home and I'll clean up this mess, bring some dinner, and we'll call it a day?" He suggested, trying to look as innocent as possible.

Gin's eyes may have looked expressionless, but Shinpachi could see the suspicion. "Where's Kagura? And that good for nothing cop. I knew he was a bad influence, corrupting you two like that. You've never excluded poor Gin-san before. Hijikata was right, eventually all kids leave the nest and start to do crime without the ones who taught them how to do them in the first place." He fake wept and Shinpachi couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Those two got into a huge fight and ruined everything and then left!" He threw his hands up into the air, getting more and more into it. "Can you believe them! Who do they think I am? Their mother? I'm not going to clean up after them this time!" He thought he sounded pretty convincing really.

He should be an actor. And play the male lead in Otsu's music videos. And then seduce her slowly and then date her and then marry her and father her children and then- Gin smacked him again.

"Who taught you to lie! Who's raising you? A gorilla!?" Gin stopped, "Well I suppose maybe a gorilla is raising you, in which case-"

"My sister's not a gorilla! And I'm telling the truth! They left!" Gin looked almost convinced and Shinpachi's sigh of relief was just about ready before something clattered in the back room.

Shinpachi's shoulders tensed.

Gin blinked.

"Ah." He said.

"Ah? Ah what! There's no ah! There's nothing!" Shinpachi yelled, rushing to push Gin back, but bigger and burlier, Gin walked right past his protégé, swinging the door open to find a giant of a guy tied up with rope against a pole, a makeshift gag in his mouth and a broomstick toppled next to his foot. Next to him were eight other people just the same.

Screw the universe. Seriously.

Expressionless, Gin pulled the door shut and crossed his arms.

"You're grounded."

Shinpachi's head dropped.

"Figures."

Sougo woke up to his head pulsing, his side aching from his wound, and a bunch of bruises saying hello. So, not the worst he's ever been, but he's had a hell of a lot better. His wrists felt chafed and he tugged to find them handcuffed or at least tied behind his back, as were his feet. He wiggled some more, trying to find a weak knot or any structural weakness he could use before the man with the eye patch strode into his vision like a cliché supervillain. "I'm glad you're awake, we've been waiting." He greeted.

"Can someone untie me, I'm going to kill you slowly and carve you like a pumpkin, but the chair's gonna slow me down a little." He drawled happily.

The man cracked a smile, "Make your jokes now Captain, you won't have a smile when we chop off your head to send to your Commander."

To his credit, Sougo didn't stiffen or widen his eyes. He suspected this would be their endgame after that woman's mini tirade before she bashed him in the head like a coward. It was just a power move, both to the criminal underworld and the political one. Just another overly dramatic way to say don't mess with us, as though killing a cop you kidnapped and tied up was anything to brag about. Although, technically, they did overpower him at the warehouse…but that was against the goddamn point and when he sliced them all up like freaking sashimi he was going to make swords from their goddamn blood like a tyrant king.

"You don't need me awake to kill me, you know that right? Or is your head really as empty as it looks?" He sneered, his hands tugging at his bonds with slightly more energy.

The man looked almost apologetic, "You don't get to die like that Captain Okita of the First Division. It's not enough to kill you, we have to show the world what a pathetic lot the Shinsengumi is. You're going to be our symbol." His voice raised as though it was some renowned honor to bestow.

Sougo's eyes looked like lava, his mouth pulled in a glower.

"Your face will freeze forever with a look of terror and defeat, so glare while you can. You'll be a disgrace to the Shinsengumi when we're finished with you."

Sougo tugged harder, his lip curling in frustration as the same woman who knocked him out came sauntering over like a jungle cat. "I'll take it from here Lucius."

She licked the knife as she edged nearer, "I hear you're a sadist," she murmurs, "if that's true, then you're definitely gonna get a kick out of this. I call it the Alexa special" Her knife teases his Adam's apple, drawing the finest line of blood before sinking deeper as she edges down his chest.

Sougo winced, his breath coming in short spurts. He hoped they don't get Kagura. He hoped they don't get Shinpachi. He hoped he died before he broke. He hoped- and suddenly the ceiling was caving in and cement and metal pipes slammed into the floor like meteors. Alexa's head snapped upwards, her body curved in a defensive position, but Sougo was already groaning at the yelling he knew was coming.

She emerged from the dust like some psycho heroine and her hair had come loose from her buns so that it fell over her eyes. "Sougo you little shit, what kinda boyfriend are you, ditching their girlfriend like that, yes?"

He smiled, a real true smile before it curled into a smirk, "The kind of boyfriend who's already sick of their obnoxious girlfriend."

Kagura caught his eye and Sougo, who's never really believed in anything like true connections or red strings of fate, felt something that made him wonder. He felt her relief just as acutely as he was sure she felt his. It didn't matter he knew, where they were or who they'd fight, they were undominatable together, like a wildfire carried in a tornado. She might have saved him this time, but he'd save her the next, and the next, and the cycle would continue. They could take over the galaxy if they wanted to.

Kagura ran at Alexa, jabbing and dodging, her leg kicking out into her neck, sending her stumbling. Kagura smirked, landing a punch right into her jaw so that Alex spasmed, leaving her vulnerable to Kagura bending back her wrist, breaking it, as she stole her sword, swinging around to slice clean through Sougo's bonds and handing the weapon over to him. "I hate swords." She complained, holding it out to him like a dirty tissue.

"That's because you're an unrefined fighting machine." He stabbed clean through Alexa and it felt like revenge of the sweetest kind.

Dozens of Greenies flooded the cramped room with full body shields, surrounding their leader. Despite the chaos, Lucius stood calmly at the back, his hands clasped across his front. "You think we wouldn't be prepared for something like this?"

He clicked his tongue, "Why do you think we sent so many of our own fighters into your arena?" Sougo knew what he was going to say before he said it, his fist clenched at how stupid he was.

"You've shown your hand Okita Sougo of the Shinsengumi and Kagura of the Yorozuya. You can't surprise us anymore-"

But Kagura couldn't be bothered to finish listening before she launched forward, intent on pummeling him in front of all his subordinates. "You idiot!" Sougo reached out a hand to pull her back but the two lines of Greenies surrounding Lucius simultaneously shook their knives so that they elongated into spears, edges poised right at Kagura's heart. She skidded to a halt, gawking at how their spears effectively blocked an entry point both above and below. Sougo scoffed. Spears may be able to block her fists, but Sougo saw the way clearly with his sword that could cut through steel. "China! Fall back!"

He launched from his spot only to have adrenaline surge through his veins as a barrage of bullets rain down on them. He rolled onto the floor, jerking to hide behind a pillar as bullets dug holes in it. Kagura grunted, her umbrella bursting open and absorbing the impact, trying to fire back but not being to aim properly. "Sadist!" she cried.

"I'm fine." He shot back, "You're not so much better off that you can worry about me." He jeered.

Kagura's scowl deepened. In front of her, she could hear Lucius laugh as the spearmen advanced towards her, but she couldn't focus on that as her fingers knocked out bullets in the air. The gunfire stopped and Sougo came rushing out to slice them up only to find them above in the balconies as they were trapped below with the ever approaching spearmen. His feet moved like they were dragging through sand as he took real notice of what was going on around them. Their plan was obvious really. The spears would keep getting closer, they'd have to keep backing up until they hit the wall that was probably too thick to burst through, at least not with one punch. They wouldn't get any more time than that before the guns got them.

Sougo had to laugh.

In all the ruckus, he couldn't help but feel outplayed. Kagura's martial arts were useless if she couldn't get to the body without being speared. Long distance fighting wasn't her forte, not by far. If she couldn't touch it, she didn't want to fight it. And Sougo's sword was useless if he was being shot at by enemies he couldn't reach. If he could be up there, he could have cut them all down without a graze. The Green Markhors weren't trying to fight with honor or skill, they were trying to win. And they had seen so many of their matches that it was inevitable they'd see their weaknesses too. His grip around his sword tightened.

But they were forgetting just one thing.

He stood up from his position behind the pillar, motioning for Kagura to join him. She ran to him as she dodged the rain of bullets, stumbling into him as they both crouched behind her umbrella. "What do you want idiot Chihuahua? Can't you see I'm trying to shoot those annoying cockroaches?"

He flicked her on the forehead, "Is that anyway to talk to the love of your life?"

She glared at him, pulling away to run back into the fray before his hand curled around her wrist. "Hey." He said, less annoying this time, "Remember what you said? That we could never lose?"

She turned to him, impatient and on edge, "What good is that now?" Though she looked gentler than before.

He gripped her tighter, leaning into her so that his nose just brushed hers. "Don't you see it? Guns for me, spears for you. They probably thought we hated each other, too arrogant to rely on one another in a real fight since we always outcompeted each other in the ring."

Kagura blinked and then really looked at him, "You're secretly a huge softie aren't you, yes?" She teased, wearing a shit-eating grin.

Sougo grimaced, already pulling away but stopped when Kagura pressed into him for a kiss.

"For the record, I do hate you, yes." She smiled.

Sougo wrinkled his nose, "The feeling's mutual Miss. Piggie."

They could hear the men approaching and concocted another of their classic shouldn't-work-but-ends-up-working anyway kinda plan.

"Ugh this feels wrong. Unnatural." He complained.

"Shut up you stupid dog, do you want to live or not?" She shot back, handing him her umbrella with a sad sort of look.

The umbrella burst open and Sougo looked at his girlfriend one more time before running into the open space, wincing at the force of the bullets. He held his ground, peeking out from the rim of purple to get better aim before retaliating back.

"Haven't you had enough Captain? You've already given everything away." Lucius said in a mockery of pity.

Sougo curled his hands around the handle tighter and planted his feet into the ground with a greater surety than he'd ever felt. "You haven't seen anything yet."

He kept on shooting and hoped no one could hear the crack of concrete.

Lucius took a step forward, "Come now, what can someone like you do now?"

Cracks spread across the pillar's surface and there were murmurs from the ranks. Kagura pulled back her fist once more and the pillar went crashing into the balcony, scraping alongside the wall leaving a dramatic scar. It destroyed the glass railings of the balcony, crushing one of the gunmen atop it.

Kagura smirked from behind the dust, "Haven't you heard? We're the monsters of Kabukicho."

The couple glanced at each other, throwing their weapons in a simultaneous exchange. Catching them at the same time, they pounced. Kagura leapt atop the pillar, sprinting across it to make it to the balcony. With the gunmen's attention on the red-haired menace, Sougo was free to break apart the ranks. It helped too, that Kagura tossed the bodies down below, sending some of the more weak-willed Greenies scrambling. Sougo's sword sliced at the metal tips of the spears before kicking a shield with the strength of a rhino, sending the man toppling. With one man out of rank, the rest was child's play. He stormed through them like pudding and from above, he could hear Kagura's cackling as she caught bullets between her teeth and kicked men down with ease.

Done, she flipped over the remaining part of the bannister and landed next to him, dusting off her shirt flippantly. Lucius looked around him, assessing the damage and realized he was alone. Slowly, he pulled his sword out of its scabbard and raised it. Kagura and Sougo looked at each other only to throw their heads back and laugh. Sougo gestured towards him with extravagant politeness, "Do you want to do it, or should I?"

"Obviously we're going to do it together. We're a couple now, we're supposed to have hobbies together, yes. That's what Anue says."

Sougo nodded, "That's fair."

Lucius jabbed at Sougo's face before they could react, only to be blocked by Kagura's umbrella. The man blocked an oncoming punch but had to quickly duck as Sougo's sword soared atop his head. The man was fast, they'd give him that much. But even he couldn't parry with them for long. Sougo attacked from above and Kagura pounced from below and he was on his knees trying to beg for his life before the both of them knocked the blunt ends of their weapons against his head in disgust.

They turned to each other to gloat (and take the spotlight, but that's just details) before the door flew open again and Shinpachi's frazzled face took up their view.

"Guys! I'm glad you're safe but listen-"

"Shinpachi!" Kagura cried, throwing her arms around him tightly, "You lived!"

Shinpachi squawked, looking indignant, "I'm a samurai you know! A samurai!" But Kagura was still hugging him, so he sighed, his fingers carding through her hair. "Never mind that, I'm just glad you two are okay." He stepped back from her embrace to grip Sougo on the shoulder, "Are you alright?"

"I'm the Captain of the Shinsengumi, of course I'm alright." He said, his nose in the air.

"So you're only pretending to look stabbed and shot?" Shinpachi asked, voice dry.

Sougo stuck out his tongue.

Shinpachi looked like he was about to say more when the trio heard yelling and a ridiculous amount of swearing. Shinpachi blanched and started laughing uncontrollably. "So I brought guests." He said, stepping slowly away from the two.

Gin and Hijikata came running through the doors at the same time looking positively furious, an equally disappointed, but more worried Kondo followed after them. "SOUGO!" Hijikata yelled, marching right up to the boy who was trying hard to look anywhere but at him.

"Ahh," he sniffed, "Did someone drag in some dog shit?"

Hijikata swiped at his head.

Kagura caught Gin's eye and wondered if he'd buy fake tears. When he grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her she thought probably not. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Show Gin-san where they cut you!"

Her face softened, and she reached for his hands. "I'm fine Gin-chan." She said, "We're both fine."

Her guardian looked relieved for a moment before the anger came back and he was shaking her again. "Good! Because you're grounded forever! Forever and a week! Trying to make money-"

Kagura squealed, tackling her earth dad to the floor and covering his mouth. Shinpachi's eyes widened as he rushed to pull her off Gin and settle them both down. Meanwhile, Sougo stared impassively at his superiors. "I don't see why you're so upset. I took down the gang like I said I would."

Hijikata waved his hand around so his cigarette ash went flying. "Don't try and pull that with me. I caught that permhead speeding trying to get here and he told me everything."

Sougo tried to look innocent, "That I orchestrated a genius plot to bring down an entire gang with no backup?"

Kondo patted his shoulder, "That's my boy, always so smart-"

"Kondo-san!" Hijikata choked, "You heard what Yorozuya said. Him and that China girl have been running an illegal fight ring for weeks and it was just by coincidence they even got the Green Markhors involved!"

Sougo sent a glare Gin's way. Traitor.

Kagura's hands left Gin's mouth immediately. "You TOLD?!" She shrieked.

"You were making money without me! I was betrayed!" Gin yelled back.

"Stupid Gin-chan!"

"I'll ground you forever you know! You could have died in this crappy warehouse! If it weren't for Shinpachi we'd have never found your bodies!" Gin yelled in his usual dramatic way, but the grip around her arms was desperate, like he couldn't believe he had ever let go.

She caught Shinpachi's eye before turning back to Gin, trying to look as sincere as she felt. "I'm sorry Gin-chan. It was just a game at first. We didn't mean for it to get so out of control, yes."

Gin sighed, patting her and Shinpachi on the head. "It's perfectly natural to cause a disaster wherever you go. But we're the Yorozuya, we're supposed to be a disaster together."

Kagura nodded seriously as Shinpachi felt another migraine coming on. "That's really not-" he tried to reprimand, before sighing and deciding what the hell, he'd just enjoy the moment.

Across from them, Hijikata was busy looking irate. "You could have died Sougo, did that occur to you? Alone with no backup and they would have paraded your body around town. How do you think we'd feel?" Hijikata glared, his cigarette snuffed out. "You should have called us in the second you figured it out. The Shinsengumi don't leave anyone behind." Behind the anger, there was a deep seriousness, a loyalty that Sougo knew would never die no matter how awful he'd get to his commander.

Sometimes it scared him. How much he knew he was cared for despite his sister being gone. That she wasn't the only reason he had a family. That he had guardians who wouldn't leave him just because he was him.

Sougo's gaze fell to the floor and he had the decency to look just a little ashamed.

"I thought I could handle it. You take things on by yourself all the time." He retorted.

Kondo clapped his hand atop his shoulder, a gentle expression on his face. "And who is that berates him for being so short-sighted?"

Sougo scowled, "Fine. But I'm not going to apologize to a mayo lover."

"What's wrong with mayo?! It's the master condiment!"

"No, you're just delusional."

Hijikata snapped, going off about inferior palettes and being a disgrace to humanity. Ignoring his friend, Kondo stepped closer to his ward, "I'm glad you and China are okay, but really Sougo," his grin turned salacious though as he snickered, "If you wanted to look cool in front of China-san you could have told us-"

Sougo choked, sputtering as Hijikata stopped his rant to snort. "I wasn't trying to impress that brat! You don't pay me enough!"

Hijikata smacked him atop his head, "We pay your board and for your meals, your salary is more than enough you ingrate."

Sougo wanted to say something, caught between an insult and a sneer, but a rumble cut him off. Simultaneously, the six of them looked up at the ceiling to see a web of cracks running through it, dust and rubble tumbling around them. Kagura let out a nervous laugh. Hijikata turned on her like lightening. "China…do you have something to say?" Looking one second before crazy.

"We may have destroyed the building?" She admitted, pointing at the fallen pillar and the dozens of impact spots in the walls and floor.

Shinpachi facepalmed behind her.

Kondo clapped his hands together, "Alright everyone let's run!"

The six of them sprinted out of the room, just making it out into the hallway before a dramatic crash echoed behind them. Screaming, they raced to the exit, throwing themselves onto the grass just to watch the entire warehouse collapse in on itself, taking down the electricity lines next to it and its smokestack toppling into the building next to it, scraping off a decent portion of its upper half. Sougo and Kagura glanced at each other, heads dropping. Like a domino effect, the entire string of electric wires ripped from their perches, knocking out the lighting across the whole block.

"Figures." Sougo muttered.

Kondo tried to smile. "Well, at least we all made it out safely."

Hijikata glowered, "When I'm through with them, they're going to wish they hadn't."

Kagura and Shinpachi slowly back tracked over to Gin, clutching at his arms. "You won't let him take us right Gin-chan? Right?"

"Yeah, you couldn't just stand by while we get tortured and do nothing right Gin-san? Right?"

Gin brought his hands atop their heads and hugged them close, "Oh Shinpachi, Kagura, a father will do anything for his children," they beamed at him, trying to snuggle closer before his voice froze like ice and his smile reflected the sadist he truly was, "but once kids leave the nest, there's not much their father can do."

Hijikata grabbed them by the scruffs of their necks as they shrieked, pleading with their leader to save them. "Gin-chaaaaaan! I promise I'll watch those crappy dramas with you and go to Ketsuno Ana TV guide signings!"

"Gin-san! I'll cook for you every day! And clean your bathroom after you shave!"

But Gin just grinned and waved, "We don't have food at home so make sure you feed them something! Or not, your call. I trust your judgement Vice Chief" He called, but Hijikata just grunted in reply as he stuffed the three kids into the back of the cop car and drove off.

Gin chuckled a little as he started making his way back home. Hijikata was right, there were no such thing as kids not up to no good. But that was alright, what was life without a few shenanigans. He paused mid-step, turning around to follow after the police car, humming as he went. Those goofballs didn't really think he'd leave them to the Demon Vice Chief's whims, did they? Not like that mayo obsessed idiot would scare them all that much anyway, he was just as worried as the rest of them when he heard about Sougo being kidnapped, looking just about ready to kill anyone in sight.

Hijikata wouldn't do anything, but it's good to let kids be scared sometimes, teach them some discipline! Gin nodded to himself, obviously he should write a parenting book. Evidently, he was a natural.

All in all, it really wasn't that bad.

Hijikata dragged all three of them into three different rooms to stew with the guilt as he went into each one to interrogate them "to make sure they didn't have time to corroborate a story." Really, he was just too thorough. Meanwhile, Kondo led the team to round up the tied up Markhors in the fight club warehouse while sending an ambulance and evacuation team to make sure anyone trapped in the building collapse would be rescued. Another team set a perimeter to catch anyone who might have ran during the fighting and all in all, it looked like the streets of Kabuchiko got a little safer…even if it did get a little roughed up in the process.

In the end, after Hijikata had gotten every excruciating detail and yelled his fair share, he threw them together in an overnight cell to go in for the kill. Though Shinpachi was pretty sure it was because they had actual criminals to put into solitary and also that Hijikata was slowly being driven insane by Gin's incessant jabbering and so was going to let them out soon anyway. Still, Hijikata knew he had one last punishment to give out. Standing dramatically so the light hit him from behind, he banged his hand across the bars to get their attention. "So apparently, you all made a hundred grand in your scheme."

Kagura's eyes welled up knowing instantly where he was heading, "Toshi no! Don't do this" she wailed.

"I will!" a pause, "And don't call me that!" he snapped.

"Hijikata-san, let's not rush into anything, don't you agree we did the district a service? We earned that money!" Sougo defended.

"Hijikata-san have mercy!" Shinpachi pleaded, "I need to get into Otsu-chan's next concert, I NEED to!"

The Vice Chief ignored them. "You three need to learn there are consequences for your actions. That money is going into repairs for all the damage you caused in your recklessness. You're lucky I'm not fining your broke asses."

Shinpachi was regretting hiding the real money in the Shinsengumi base.

The three of them sulked, their pleading and whining falling on deaf ears as Hijikata locked the cell behind him and disappeared. The silence was devastating.

Shinpachi sighed, leaning his head against the wall, "So, in the end, we're right back where we started."

"Broke." Kagura agreed, imagining all the snacks she could have bought.

"Grounded." Sougo added, already thinking about all the chores now added to his list and the low-ranking missions he'd be getting now.

"And perpetually in trouble." Shinpachi moaned, sliding further down the wall.

Sougo closed his eyes, a small smile showing through, "Can't say we didn't have fun though."

Kagura chuckled, "Seeing everyone's face when they saw us take out that Shinzo guy was pretty cool, yes."

"Or when we did that joint backflip kick."

"MC-ing was pretty fun…" Shinpachi admitted.

"You had some great one-liners Pachi-boy." Kagura agreed.

The three looked at each other and sighed again. Shinpachi tried to grin, "Well, we all knew it was bound to end sometime, at least we didn't get in any real trouble. We have all our limbs and sure we don't have a hundred thousand dollars, but we still have our savings."

Sougo and Kagura looked away guiltily. Shinpachi shook his head, not even surprised.

"I maxed out my credit card at a convenience store." Kagura mumbled.

"I…may have bought three new knives I didn't need... and a pack of hand grenades" Sougo said, ashamed.

A beat.

And then, "Ok fine, I blew all my savings on Otsu merch."

The three of them looked at one another and suddenly burst into laughter. "We really are idiots." Shinpachi laughed, head tilted back, shoulders finally freeing themselves of their deep-rooted tension.

"Plus, at least one good thing came of this." He pointed at Kagura and Sougo, smiling, "You finally did the world the favor and got together. Kabukicho is safe from your property destroying messed up way of flirting."

"Shut up glasses." Kagura snapped back instantly, but she couldn't help but look at little happy.

"Wait, WHAT?!" At the sound of Gin's horrified choking, Kagura's eyes widened like saucers.

"Shinpachi you idiot!" She yelled, running towards the bars, trying to reach her father figure.

"Gin-chan, it's not what you think-"

"First the crimes and now a boyfriend?! When did you become such a rebel? You're breaking papa's heart, you used to be such a good girl!" He wailed.

"Danna-"

"Don't start with me you pretty boy child thief!"

Gin's sword sliced across the lock before swiping Kagura up off the ground underneath his arm and hauling Shinpachi up with the other. "Hijikata-kuuuun! Guess who just confessed to orchestrating the whole thing to drag the Shinsengumi name in the mud!" Gin sang, grinning manically.

Kagura shot her boyfriend a mournful look. "I'll be back for you!" she called dramatically.

Sougo struck a pose, hand at his chest as he heard Hijikata zooming down towards them. "Save yourself Kagura! I'll hold him off!"

Jostling in Gin's grip, Shinpachi rolled his eyes. Even dating they were still idiots.

It was only later as Gin stumbled home with them that Kagura realized Sougo had called her by her name.

Gin had taken them both home and after forty minutes of sulky silent treatment, he finally gave in after Shinpachi bribed him with three parfaits, one strawberry, one chocolate, and one both. It was somewhere between finishing the second and starting his third that Gin sniffed dramatically and waved his spoon lazily. "So? Aren't you going to tell your tired Gin-san about your shenanigans? I've gotten old enough to live vicariously through the youth."

Kagura's eyes lit up as her hands smacked the table in excitement, "We took down a gang Gin-chan and I broke a loser's bo in one hit and it was so cool and everyone cheered, yes."

"I saw a guy with a dead snake as a necklace, so that was weird." Shinpachi added.

Gin curled his nose, "That's a waste of a good snake," just as Kagura pinched Shinpachi's mouth together, "Be quiet glasses, you're boring."

"And you know! The sadist and me were swinging from the ropes like Tarazan and it was really fun, you should do it Gin-san, it's good for your core, and-" her gaze shot to the delicious bite of ice cream drenched in strawberry sauce and she licked her lips, opening her mouth hopefully.

Gin sighed some more, lifting his spoon up obediently. As he watched her beam through the strawberry sauce, he thought for sure this was true love if he'd ever seen it. The best bite, given to a brat who had nearly given him a heart attack. But still, he couldn't help but acknowledge, as he watched those two gush about their past few weeks and look to him for approval, that he felt completely at ease. It had been a long time since he mattered like this to anyone, and all his griping aside, he was glad everyone was back where they should be.

That being said, he was absolutely not pleased when that despicable daughter stealing bazooka carrying hooligan showed up at his door in the middle of the night as if he was being sneaky. No one snuck up on Gin-san! Gin stared out from between the curtains and rolled his eyes. That idiot cop was as dramatic as they came. Instead of climbing up the stairs like a normal person, Sougo had decided to climb the pole and dangled from the wrong end of the balcony as Kagura stuck half her body out the window to face him rather than opening the door and meeting him outside.

Why couldn't they just be normal?

They were so bad at sneaking around they'd probably be more subtle if they just walked in.

"Why do I have to do this again?" Sougo drawled, legs wound tightly around the wooden beam.

"It's romantic yes!" Kagura insisted, "Like Gnomeo and Juliet."

Sougo rolled his eyes, "You know that was just a shitty remake right? Although you probably wouldn't even understand the original." He sneered.

Kagura snarled, "Hahh?! Come say that to my face asshole."

She had leaned so far out the window she was practically falling out and Sougo at this point had just flipped over so they knocked heads.

"Are you blind China? Or have you not noticed the direct eye contact?"

"You're so ugly I lost my eye sight." She retorted, lifting her face against his so her breath lingered on his lips.

"Your voice is so loud I went deaf." He shot back before kissing her furiously.

They pulled back, laughter in their eyes before Sougo wrapped his hands around her waist to pull her out the window and set her on the floor of the balcony, her legs draped across his legs, his arm wrapped around her waist. Kagura looked up at him and couldn't help her smile. "You're an idiot. But I really like you, yes."

Sougo felt his entire brain short-circuit, looking away so she wouldn't notice. But he was sure she did by her self-satisfied snort and how she leaned into his chest to look up at the thin clouds drifting across the starry sky. "You see that dot over there?" She asked softly, "The one kinda glowing green, yes?"

Sougo squinted, following her finger to see where she was pointing, "Apparently they have flesh eating plants there." She declared, looking positively giddy.

"No way. That's crazy." His voice picking up.

"Right! Let's go see them."

Sougo hummed in consideration, "I guess we could. Wouldn't that be a cool present to bring home? Maybe it'll eat Hijikata-san." He mused.

"I hear they smell nice. So we could give it to him as a gift." Kagura offered, tracing little circles on his hand.

"I've never liked you more." Sougo said seriously, his lips quirking up as she laughed against his neck.

"What other weird planet facts do you know?" He asked, leaning his head against the wall and looking out into infinite possibilities.

Kagura tapped her chin, "Hmm…Mami used to tell me about this one place where it rains diamonds. But apparently it's super dangerous yes, and almost everyone who's gone has died." Her voice trailed off and Sougo was pretty sure they had the exact same idea at the exact same time.

Man was she perfect.

They turned to each other, a half-baked idea and a whole lot of idiotic courage roaring in their veins. "Do you wanna go-" they asked simultaneously before both replying with an enthusiastic, "YES."

A door slamming startled them into jumping apart. Gin-san, his hair a mess and looking frazzled beyond repair stood over them, grabbing Sougo by the arm and chucking him off the balcony. "Who gave you permission to go on death missions young lady?! I won't allow it!"

"Gin-chan!"

"Absolutely not! We can only have one near death experience per arc, otherwise it's too much for poor Gin-san to handle!"

"We'll bring some back for you boss." Sougo said quite seriously.

Gin glared, "OUT!"

Lounging in the park, Shinpachi, Kagura, and Sougo glanced at a wandering ice cream truck and into their empty wallets.

"I can't believe we're broke again." Sougo sighed, looking mournful.

"I've gotten used to a certain lifestyle, yes! They can't just do this to me!" Kagura whined, dramatically throwing herself across a picnic table.

"Well…" Shinpachi started, finger stroking his lip, "we didn't lose everythiiing." Shinpachi said thoughtfully.

Two wide pairs of eyes looked at him like he was a lifeboat.

Twenty minutes later, the three of them looked again at the half-standing warehouse somewhat guiltily before passing through the caution tape and entering the broken building. "I think they kept it somewhere in the front." Sougo said, eyes flitting around, arms lazily locked behind his head.

"Found it!" Kagura cried, tugging off a fallen pipe from the dented safe.

Miraculously, it had survived the damage, looking worse for wear, but still locked. Shinpachi turned the giant dial quickly, pulling it twice before it creaked open to reveal piles and piles of cash. "Shinpachi, you switched the real money for play money ages ago. Why are we here?"

Shinpachi pushed his glasses up so they glinted in the light prefacing his next words with a deep chuckle. "Did I though?" He reached into the safe tossing out stacks and stacks of at home printed bills until he found two bunches of authentic money.

"No way." Sougo breathed.

"You two used to fan the bills a lot for kicks, so I needed to add in some real money so no one could suspect anything. I usually kept it in the front, but it must have gotten jumbled around during the fall in."

Kagura leapt onto him, rubbing his head against her collar, "Shinpachi you GENUIS! You're not just a pair of glasses after all!" she cheered.

"I'VE ALWAYS BEEN MORE THAN A PAIR OF GLASSES!"

Sougo flipped through the bills counting it, looking a little put out when he was done. Shinpachi shrugged, looking only a little apologetic, "I know it's not much…"

Sougo shook his head, giving him a small smile, "You're supposed to take us out for dinner remember? This'll be enough for even that glutton."

Kagura scowled, face softening when Sougo tugged her in to hold her close against his side. Shinpachi shook his head grinning, "You two never change do you." He clapped his hands together, "Well come on then, we're technically all still grounded so we only have an hour and a half before Hijikata realizes Okita-san isn't on patrol and Gin-san comes back from his drinking binge." He tugged at his friends' hands, leading them out the door.

It was only later that he would realize that he had been walking alone at the front the entire time so that Sougo and Kagura could dawdle behind him, taking their time and holding hands. They bickered amongst themselves yet still kept such stupidly fond looks on their faces and suddenly, Shinpachi felt like crying. Was this always going to be his life? A pair of glasses, a forever third wheel, when would he finally graduate to personhood!

A/N I finally finished! I'm lowkey really proud, I never thought I'd be so committed. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favourited and followed throughout this process, you've helped motivate me so much! Let me know what you think and I hope you stick with me for my next fic! I'm loaded with ideas so I might even have a couple running at the same time!