Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. This fic has elements from Avatar the Last Airbender, but it is not crossover.

Enjoy!

After years of living in hiding, scraping away in abandoned buildings, and struggling to meet ends, Rani's time was up.

An hour ago, she had been looking for the cheapest spices she could buy in the bazaar to use for tonight's dinner. As she was walking through the market trying to find the spice that would add enough flavor to her meal and still leave her with enough money to spend another day, a hand shot out from an alleyway she had been walking by and dragged her into its narrow path.

She let out a small yelp as large rough hands pushed her up against the wall. Her head smacked against the hard clay.

Rubbing the back of her sore head to recover from her abrupt assault, she looked up and noticed that there were three men glaring her down angrily, all of them wearing crimson red robes.

She immediately froze. Her eyes swept over their hooded figures and recognized the white circular symbol on one of their robes. Members of the Extremist Organization! Shit! She thought making a dash for the clearing behind her.

But one of the men lashed out and simultaneously latched on to her waist and slapped his other hand across her mouth, dragging her further into the darkness of the alleyway.

He whispered hotly against her ear, "We know who you are, what you are, filthy leech! You've been found and there's no more hiding! You're coming with us!"

She squirmed in the hooded man's tight grip and bit hard into the hand covering her mouth.

"Gah!" Cried out the robed man, removing his bloody hand from her mouth.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," she spat. She couldn't admit to being able to control another person's blood. Besides, even if they are right, the Extremists had no way of proving their claims unless she actually reached out to control their movements. It was better to feign ignorance.

The other two men surrounded her, making sure she couldn't escape. "Don't play dumb! You're obviously a blood manipulator!" One of them hissed acidly.

"I literally have no clue what you geezers are on about. Don't you old men have anything better to do than harass girls twenty years younger than you," she laughed humorlessly.

"Shut it! We know exactly how innocent you are," remarked one of the men sarcastically.

Still trapped in the robed man's grip despite her biting him, Rani slammed her heel down hard on her attacker's foot.

"Fuck!" He cried out, unwillingly releasing her. She ducked under one of the men's outstretched arms, making a desperate dash for the exit.

Unfortunately, the other two grabbed both of her arms and kicked her to the ground.

"Hey, you stupid bitch! Hold still! Guys, help me hold her down!" Yelled out one Extremist member as he pinned Rani's hands behind her back and bound her hands with thick rope.

The other two members came to his aid. One of them held Rani's head to the ground, while the other was about to gag her mouth.

She tried to turn her head away from the guy with the gag. She thrashed and kicked harder than ever before in her desperate attempt to get away screaming, "Get off me! Get – the fuck off me!" But her cries were futile.

No one would hear her or even care to see what all the commotion was if they did hear her. Not here, not in this part of Adra, where robberies and muggings was a daily occurrence.

The three men continued struggling to gag and pin her down. She couldn't move her head, she couldn't move her hands, and she couldn't reach in and control their blood if she couldn't move her hands! She couldn't do anything! They were going to take her away to probably be sold as some slave or even killed!

After four years of hiding, she'd been found out. Rani already lost all her friends and family to these people. She'd be damned if she let them take her too! She was probably one of the last free blood manipulators on Adra. She could not let herself be captured!

Just as one of the men was about to stuff her mouth with a cloth she heard a loud thud against the ground.

It was deathly quiet for a few seconds. The only sounds coming from the buzzing of villagers shopping during the daily market rush.

Slowly, she opened her tightly closed eyes – she didn't even realize she'd closed them – and saw that the three Extremist members pinning her down were lying still on the ground, open eyes unseeing.

More seconds passed and she noticed blood pooling underneath their bodies and when she finally looked up to see who caused such swift destruction in such little time, she met the most brilliant pair of light blue eyes she had ever seen.

Honestly, his eyes were all Rani could see, she observed as she squinted up at him. The rest of his face was covered in white wrappings with wisps of vermillion colored hair peaking out from his gray hood. He's definitely not from around here.

The strange man observed her bound form for a few seconds, blue eyes taking in her roughed up appearance.

To her it looked like he was contemplating whether he to release her or just leave pitifully bound on the ground. However, he seemingly made his decision because he swiftly walked around her bound body and cut the ties binding her wrists not uttering a word the whole time.

He didn't offer to help her stand up at all she observed.

Once she was free Rani warily turned to the strange man. She held out her hand, "Ummm…thank you for h-helping me. Those guys probably would've put me up in the B-black Market if you hadn't…killed them," she explained cautiously.

The man blinked at her outstretched hand for a few seconds before slowly grasping her hand in his much bigger one and shaking it. "Don't mention it," he replied abruptly.

Taken aback, she thought he meant what he said literally. He appeared to be rather uncomfortable with their current situation, even awkward.

Maybe he wasn't planning on saving a young girl from potential rapists and molesters, thus drawing unwanted attention to him and his outlandish hair that screamed foreigner. Yeah, that's probably it. Although, this man must have some crazy strength to take out, no, not just take out; kill all three of those men at the same time.

"You're not from around here," she said.

"Nope. I'm not," he confirmed, lifting what Rani noticed was a purple umbrella on to his shoulders.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it only ever really rained once or twice a year. Not only that, but the sun was unbearably strong today and Rani had to wear loose pants and a long loose top as protection from the sun's strong rays. Why on Adra did this guy have a rain umbrella?

"Well may I know the name of the person who saved me?" She asked, trying to get more than two word sentences from him.

"Kamui," he stated, looking her down.

"My name's Rani," she offered kindly.

She realized how much taller he was than her. She barely made it past his shoulders. Although, he was pretty short for a man his age. Most of the men she was used to seeing on Adra were taller and a bit more bulky than this guy from years of heavy labor.

However, she could tell from the way his black shirt fitted his chest perfectly that he wasn't extremely thin either. He had broad shoulders and while his forearms were covered up in wrappings, they were nicely shaped. Strong defined forearms had always bin a bit of a turn o –

"Enjoying the view?" He asked amusedly, noticing her eyes lingering on him.

Her cheeks reddened at being caught in her admiration. She whipped her head to the side to cover her red face and crossed her arms.

"N-no! I was just wondering how someone could wear such dark colors in this kind of weather!" She quickly explained. "And not to be rude, but you scream foreigner with your orange hair and mummified body. Aren't you hot?"

"Of course I am," he teased.

"T-that's not what I meant!" She stuttered again, much to her embarrassment.

"Then what did you mean?" He asked with fake ignorance.

She growled in frustration. "You know exactly what I meant."

Laughing softly he said, "It's ok. You're not the first person to find me exceptionally easy on the eyes."

Kamui tilted his head and smiled at her from under his wrappings. He was incredibly arrogant if not a little odd. But she still wanted to know what his purpose for being here was.

Adra wasn't exactly the most luxurious planet to visit unlike planets such as Earth, and there wasn't much on it to begin with. And while Earth had it's issues with tyrannical governments and rioting humans. It still was rather beautiful. Earth had forests spread all over, and deserts, mountains, glaciers, everything.

Planet Adra was just one big ball of sand plus the corrupt governments and uprising tribes, such as her own, the Hinjabis. All there was to go around was sand. Someone could walk thousands of miles and still only find sand, with the occasional scattered villages.

Water was precious and centered at various locations all over the planet, and near water is where villages were usually centered around. There wasn't much to do on it from a foreigner or tourist perspective besides meddling in local black markets.

Maybe that's what he's here for. It could be that Kamui saved her from the Extremists only to take her as a prize to offer to some dealers in the black market.

Suddenly feeling suspicious about his intentions towards her and given his inclination to give short clipped answers to her questions, she began to ask him "Why are you here Kamui? Where are you fro –?

"Enough about me, let's talk more about you," he smoothly interrupted, and despite his wrappings covering everything but his eyes, she could tell there was something wrong with his grin from the way his eyes steadily darkened. Nothing about his expression comforted her in the least. There was something…off about his smile, something off about him.

Rani began to feel unease crawl up her back. Maybe she would have been better off with the Extremist group. This guy went from being awkward and almost charming to suddenly…very intimidating.

But she didn't back away from him. Her parents always told her, never let them see that they got to you; it'll only encourage them to continue.

So she stood her ground. Unfortunately, that didn't keep him from invading her personal space. He stalked towards her till their chests almost touched. She could see his blue eyes more clearly now, which she noticed also had specks of green in them.

Shaking her head to break out of her admiration of his features, she glared up at him, "Well, what do you want to know about me?"

Rubbing the back of his head, he sighed mockingly, "I already know so much about you."

She stared up at him in shock at that revelation.

"What I want to know is," suddenly, he caged her against the stonewall and looked straight into her brown eyes, "why you didn't control those idiotic bastards bodies when you had the chance."

What the hell?! How does this guy know about me blood manipulating?! I haven't tried to use my powers in years! She raised her hands to reach into his body and use his blood to pin him against the wall, but he was quicker.

He dropped his umbrella and snatched up her wrists, slamming her into the wall. Rani groaned at the hard impact.

She tried to move her hands, but Kamui had a death grip on her wrists; it was impossible to break free! This is it! He's gonna turn me in, or blackmail me, or something!

"L-let go of me! What do you think you're doing?!" She yelled. This situation seemed very familiar to her predicament that only just occurred minutes before.

Raising her leg, she tried to kick him in the groin, but he simply stepped to the side and pushed his leg between hers.

She opened her mouth to scream, praying someone would hear her. But, once again, he figured out her intentions and grasped both her wrists in one hand, slapping his free hand on to her mouth, muffling her screams.

Staring down at her impassively, he brought his covered mouth to her ear, his lips almost grazing the outer shell. She gasped at the close contact and he gently whispered,

"Don't even try it little girl. No one can control my blood but me."

She didn't really understand what he meant by the part about him controlling his blood because he wasn't a blood manipulator, of that she was sure. But she was in no position to question what his cryptic words meant.

She stopped struggling, she knew when she was beat. Kamui wouldn't release her unless she complied, at least for now. She allowed her tense muscles to relax and stopped fighting against him.

Sensing her compliance, he removed his hand from her mouth and released his grip on her wrists.

She massaged her sore wrists after having them be strangled to death. "How do you know?" She asked quietly, refusing to meet his eyes now.

Crinkling his eyes, he tilted his head, "I knew who those guys were. I have…dealt with their group before."

That answer didn't comfort her in the least. It just raised more questions. Had he been following her? The Extremist Organization wasn't that well known. They worked in the underbelly of Adra's villages. He had to have been following her to know who they were. If he was stalking her, for how long had he been following her? The Extremists had been hunting her for a few years now and only just found her an hour ago.

Sensing her wariness and confusion he condescendingly explained, "Why else would Extremists go after such a weak looking girl, if you didn't have the ability to control another person's blood."

Weak looking! She'd show him what weak was! Sure, she was rather short and thin looking but her physical appearance was a deception! She could have reached into her would be kidnappers bodies and crushed their hearts if she really wanted to! But she didn't. She couldn't, because –

Suddenly, he clutched her dark brown hair at the roots, breaking Rani out of her thoughts and forcing her to look at him. "Ouch! Hey, let go!" She yelled, trying to pry his hand out of her hair.

Ignoring her command, he narrowed his eyes and repeated his question, "Why didn't you use them?"

"How could I?" She seethed. "I hardly use them at all! I haven't used them for years because I'm forced to hide them!" Her eyes began to water, "It's sick! The things I can do. Being able to reach into someone's body and taking control of them just like that. No one wants to be around someone who has that kind of power!"

"And I don't blame them," She finished quietly, wiping her tear streaked face on the sleeve of her white covering.

He released her hair and moved back a few steps, giving her some space. "So let me see if I figured this out," he said jovially. "You," he gestured towards her, "are ashamed of you're powers. The Extremist Organization is after anyone who has similar abilities to yours, and I," he pointed at himself, "am currently the only one who knows, I am right?" he chuckled gleefully.

She crossed her arms and glowered at him. She refused to answer his question. There wasn't any point to answering anyway; she figured that he was going to do whatever he wanted regardless of her answer.

Judging from her silence and that pissed off look on her face, Kamui assumed he was correct in saying that he indeed had her cornered. Perfect, he thought.

Once he makes his offer to her, this tiny Hinjabi girl will have to join his crew unless she wanted him to rat her out to the Extremists. Of course, he would be bluffing when he threatened her. He would never, could never put her in danger like that.

He would tear anyone, limb from limb, who even thought of touching her. But he needed her to agree to his terms, and this was the only way he saw her complying. Then, maybe, he would finally be able to get some damn sleep once she was off this hellish planet. But what if she – no!

He was confident she would accept his proposal. She had to. These last few years this stupid girl had been fucking with his mind, making him second-guess himself, which was something he never did before she forced her way into his thoughts.

He was always so sure of himself, always right; no one ever questioned him (except his idiot sister). She is one exception.

He clenched his teeth in irritation at that thought. Despite what anyone may think, he and Kagura slowly made peace with each other after their fight between him, Kagura, Umibouzo, and her stupid adopted family.

They still have their sibling spats from time to time, but for the most part they were family again. He, the protective older brother and she, his dumb little sister. The only one he still had an issue with was that baldy.

Kagura was the only other person Kamui would allow himself to bend for, no one else. He'd make sure little Rani knew her place before him.

This guy sure had some mood swings. Two minutes ago he was laughing at her situation and now he seemed somewhat reserved, lost in his thoughts. But it was hard to tell if he looked troubled because most of his face was hidden behind those damn wrappings!

Finally, looking back at her, Kamui gave her that stupid grin of his from under his wrappings, that were beginning to annoy her and asked, "Since it sounds like you're pretty much an outcast on you're planet, would you like to join me and my crew? We're all unwanted heathens living it up in the same ship! You know, just one big dysfunctional family."

She decided to ignore the fact that he just insinuated that she would fit in with heathens and dysfunctional men, assuming his crew was mainly made up of men. Yet, her life so far has been pretty hectic…was hectic the right word? It was probably the biggest understatement ever. But who knows, maybe she could fit in with a bunch of rowdy men considering how her living conditions have been.

Unfortunately for Kamui, she was content to spend her days living in abandoned buildings by herself. She was perfectly capable. She just had to be more careful next time to cover her tracks.

Anyway, coming back to her current predicament, she wanted to know what he meant by 'joining his crew'.

Suspicious, she asked, "Crew? What crew? What do you mean?"

"Oh! You don't know? Was it not obvious enough for you from just looking at me?" He gestured to himself. "I'm a pirate! Well, space pirate I guess is more accurate. Or thief, or terrorist…whatever you wanna call it," He said happily.

Bewildered, she laughed in disbelief. "What?! No! What makes you think that joining you're…you're terrorist organization," she spat, "is any better than my situation right now!?"

Once again, his…whole demeanor seemed to change. She noticed a look in his eyes she had yet to see. Greed. On par with his occupation as a pirate, she thought, mentally rolling her eyes.

His eyes roved over her form intensely. He studied her from head to toe, eyes lingering on her hands every so often. Rani crossed her arms to hide her hands. She felt even smaller than she already was under his intense scrutiny.

"You may not value your powers, but I do. They are…handy." He explained carefully, " I could use someone like you on my crew, even if you look pretty useless."

Gritting her teeth at his insult, she said, "Thanks, but not thanks. I appreciate your backhanded attempt at flattery, but I'd rather not use my powers against victims of your violence. And besides, I'm fine living in hiding."

For a second, she swore she saw cold fury in his eyes before it disappeared as quickly as it came.

He tilted his head to the side and grinned, "I'm sorry, but I think you misunderstood. I'm not asking you. I'm telling you."

It was funny seeing this little girl's face go from looking like a wide-eyed gaping fish to something like a cat about to scratch out his eyes because she was just commanded like an animal to join his crew.

Screw standing my ground! She thought as she backed away, looking around her to see if she had any chance of escaping. This guy was mad! She barely knew him and now he wanted her to join his space pirate thugs just so he could exploit her powers? He's crazy for thinking she would lie down and agree to that!

Picking his nails for non-existent dirt he drawled, "Don't even try it," seeing that she was preparing to flee from the corner of his eyes. "You run away, I'll just come find you and drag you to my ship. Or, I'll turn you in. The choice is yours."

"That's not a choice," she bit out. What he gave her was a shitty ultimatum! But in all honesty what choice did she really have? She looked towards the market at the end of the alleyway as she considered her options.

She could run, but he would most likely catch her. Even if she somehow managed to escape and report him to the authorities, they would want to know what he threatened her with. What would she tell them then? And even if she came up with something believable without revealing her abilities, she was pretty sure Kamui could take out the local police with ease and then either take her by force or turn her over to the Extremists.

Either way, he wouldn't relent. He definitely didn't seem like the type to just let go of thing and he also definitely knew about her beforehand. He had been watching her for quite sometime, Rani was sure of this. She just didn't know why.

She would probably find out in the coming weeks, or months…maybe years. Hopefully not.

For now she saw no other choice. She sighed to herself. I can't believe I'm about to do this. I don't know this guy. I don't know where he's from. I don't even know what he plans to do with me!

Dreading her next words she refused to meet his eyes and looked at the ground. "Fine. I'll join you and your stupid space pirates," she muttered. Looking up at him, her brown eyes clashed with his blue ones. "But know this…I am not joining you willingly," she warned.

"Hmph." Smirking, he slowly approached her, his face mere inches away from hers. His covered lips were so close. Rani froze. If she moved even a little she might accidentally brush his lips. Gleefully taking in her discomfort he softly murmured, "I don't need you to be willing, you'll do as you're told if you want to keep all you're limbs attached to your pretty body."

Backing away from her stiff body he took her limp hand from her side and slowly shook it. His eyes drilling into hers shocked ones, "Welcome to the Harasume little girl."

What had she just agreed to?