Debt
By xxkoffeexx
Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama.
He stared at the blue sky, a vast sea of calm that belied the bloodshed happening under it. Screams and battle cries rang in the slight breeze, carrying the sounds to distant planes; yet he could hear them clearly as if they were right next to his ear. They might as well be, he thought as he lay spread-eagle on the hard earth.
It wasn't supposed to turn out like this. Only an hour ago—no, forty-five minutes—Hijikata was yelling at them back at Headquarters because they'd run out of mayonnaise, and Yamazaki had received the brunt of his wrath. As usual. It was a typical day for the Shinsengumi, with the usual bickering, the usual trying-to-kill-Hijikata-that-bastard, usual sleeping while on duty, usual run-in with the Yorozuya, usual mission from the top, usual race to fiight the enemies before the Yorozuya suddenly popped out of nowhere again—
Gunfire. More screaming. More yelling. Okita wondered where the enemy got the firearms, but then remembered Yamazaki saying something about the Amanto benefactors distributing shiploads of artillery to their enemy. And speaking of the enemy…
They were much tougher than they'd anticipated. And it being a usual day, they assumed their enemy would be the usual as well. A regular group of criminals was no problem. An army of very-prepared criminals and extremely dangerous aliens was a problem.
Five minutes ago—or was it one minute?—he was up and about, yelling and fighting like everybody else. And he was almost at his peak, the blood in him raging, wanting more opponents (victims) to meet his katana. Perhaps that was why he didn't notice a nasty alien sneak up and suddenly swallow him whole from behind. He cleaved that alien thoroughly, of course, but not before getting some blows himself.
He attempted to move, but the deep gashes in his abdomen and legs stopped him pretty quickly, as well as the sickly pounding in his head. Probably from a rock or something when his head hit the ground. Not to mention he rather thought his wrist was broken, or fractured at the least. Was this retribution from her in some not-funny yet not-surprising way…?
An explosion, not far from him. The earth shook as if it was an earthquake. He closed his eyes as another explosion blasted to his left. The smell of burning and gunpowder was heavy in the air. If he didn't move soon one of those bombs were going to hit him, and in his current condition he doubted any miracle could save him. But he hurt all over and there was blood in his eye and come to think of it, his katana disappeared, as well as his handy bazooka—
So this was the end.
…It's a good way to die.
There was nobody left of his family in the world—universe. It hadn't hit him until after his sister died that he was really an orphan. Truly, utterly, to the sense of the word. All alone. Alone. Nobody would miss him, then. So… it was okay.
A good way to die.
So caught up in his thoughts he didn't hear the gunfire increase, or the aliens screaming in their awful, tone-deaf way. An arrogant laugh, sounded familiar...
A person like me should die in a battle.
The earth was shaking again, not from explosions, but rather like an animal's heavy steps as they pounded across the planes. Terrified screaming, either from the Shinsengumi or the criminals…
…If she saw me, she'd be laughing.
His eyes opened and he stared up at the sky, its calm blue reminding him of her eyes. He smirked. Even as he was about to die she still managed to have the last say, and she wasn't even here to gloat—
The world suddenly turned dark. The sounds of battle still happened around him, but he knew this was it. He was going to die, never to see the Shinsengumi again, or those aliens, or the Yorozuya, or her eyes—
"Oi."
—or her condescending face, or her disgusted expression, or that angry, frustrated and almost (almost) relieved expression she wore once when he'd had a close shave with death. Almost... almost...
Almost like the look she had right now.
…Right now. Staring down at him as she stood with her violet umbrella shading her from the sun. Not laughing. Those blue eyes gazed at him unblinkingly, just like the sky. "Oi. What are you doing?"
He thought it was obvious.
"Dying."
"Of course. Why are you dying?"
"…" He looked at her, wondering if those blue eyes were so innocent that they couldn't see the numerous injuries covering his body. But maybe she didn't mean it like that.
"How selfish." She glared down her nose at him, on hand on hip. "Here you are just dying because you're too crybaby to handle the pain, and your friends are nearly tearing apart the ground looking for you." She sniffed, "They almost tried to kill Sadaharu!"
So the heavy animal had been Sadaharu. He blinked blood from his eye. "Friends?"
An airy wave. "Oh, you know. Gorilla and Mayo, and the rest of you corrupted policemen."
Unexpected warmth suddenly suffused his battered body at her words. He passed it off as his heart beating too much blood. He was dying, after all. But now, as she stood above him and the ground was in danger of being torn apart because they cared…
Suddenly, Kagura dipped her umbrella, and the bullets hit the invulnerable shield without a sound. It seemed there were still more enemies alive and more than willing to finish the battle. But before they could fire another round, the young Yato member held her weapon out in arm's length and fired a huge blast at them without looking away from him. He stared back.
"You," she declared, "are not dying today. So don't die."
"…Why?"
"Because I said so." She stepped towards him as she spoke, and he watched her prop the umbrella next to him, shielding his body. "And besides, I always repay my debts two-folds." She cracked her knuckles. "Don't move until I come back."
Her feet walked away towards the remaining criminals, and he questioned, "Debts?"
She paused, and he could almost hear the grin in her voice, "When you almost blasted Gin-chan and Shin-chan yesterday, I found the stash of sukonbu they were hiding."
Without another word she flew toward the enemies, her fists ready and a battle cry in her throat.
He looked up at the blue sky, partly obscured by the violet umbrella. Now that he wasn't going to die, he could hear Kondou, Hijikata and Gintoki bickering, and occasionally an exasperated Shinpachi telling them to act mature and help search for Okita and Kagura.
Debts… eh?
He smiled.
END
A/N: Ah crap, I actually wrote it. I've been thinking about this story for a long time, and I finally went and wrote it. And not only did I write it, I even published it in Fanfiction… where it will be tossed and beaten and trampled on because there is absolutely NO fic for this pairing. Anywhere. So far as I know.
Okita and Kagura, I mean, of course. They're only the funniest, most outrageous and perfect-est couple in Gintama. I love them to bits and pieces, almost so that I thought I'd cry when I visited the little area dedicated to Gintama fics and found less than thirty fics. Thirty. And not one of them (so far as I know) had this pairing. I was devastated. Still am, in fact.
Haaah. Okay. So this is my first Gintama fic, and my first attempt at writing OkitaxKagura fluff in-character. I hope it was decent. If there are any factual stuff wrong, sorry. If there are other mistakes, sorry. Sorry!
And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading it. Hope it was worth your time! XD