Author's Note:

^-^ A humongous thank you to my betas, AutumnCherry and 2M! Chapters of this fic will be posted at least every other day until further notice. Please enjoy.

Okita Sougo, young and talented member of the Shinsengumi, stands at the side of the road, his eyes fixated on the river just a few meters away. Looking out into the water. Into the sunset. The classic youth gazing at the sunset. Thinking about manhood, maybe, or his first love. Except that he doesn't love anyone. And that he doesn't really care about manhood. Actually, there's only one thing he cares about. And he doesn't really care about it, per say. He is obsessed with it.

Compulsively drawn to it. That's the reason he's staring out into the water now. With the sun just dipping down towards the water, he can only see a sea of red. And that he wants to leap off the road, and drink the blood red ocean, the deep color awakening a primal thirst inside of him. He wants to quench it. He needs to. But he won't. Only an idiot would jump off of a bridge into the water.

It was only water, and he knew his thirst wouldn't be satisfied. Everyone knew that. He took one last, long look at the water. Before turning away.

He then came face to face with a pair of bright blue eyes. Kagura, unpaid member of Odd Jobs Gin. (As opposed to all those paid members out there, of course.) Her hair was up into her usual buns, and she was wearing Chinese style pants and a shirt to match, accompanied by her soft black slippers. Her eyes widened.

"Aha!" She pronounced, jabbing her finger at him "Shinsen Station!"*

"Eh?"

"You're from Shinsen Station!" she smiled, with confidence.

"I'm pretty sure you mean the Shinsengumi..."

"You don't work with trains then?" She asked, seeming genuinely bewildered.

"...No."

"Huh? I thought they said you police people worked with trains!"

"No, no, that's train-ing, kid. That's different." As an afterthought he added, "Although, we don't do much of that either."

"Kid?" Kagura looked upset, "You're one to talk."

"I'm older than I look," he smiled smugly, only a little indignant, "And I'm definitely older than you"

"How do you know?"

"I just do!"

She gasped "You're stalling!"

"Why would I want to buy time? Am I talking excessively?" asked Okita, utterly confused, and, by now, a bit self-conscious as well.

"You talker!"

"Eheh. I think you meant stalker." He said dryly, unsure what to make of her.

"This guy is definitely a big talker, Kagura," she said seriously to herself, changing instantaneosly into a suit and tie, with dark sunglasses,"but I'm sure we're older than him." She nodded self-importantly.

Okita sighed. There was no way she was older than him. And he was neither a big talker nor a big stalker, nor had he ever worked with trains at Shinsen station.

He looked away to try to clear his thoughts from the insanity of it all. He looked out to the ocean. It had turned to dark blue. He realized he had completely forgotten his thirst.

"Right then, Mr. Big Talker." Kagura pulled him back from the land of musing to the land of the...well, Kagura-land. "I'm gonna let you off the hook, so you better be grateful, uh-huh." And then she pranced away.

Okita stared after her. Well, he might have just gotten a high score in the department of confusing conversations. The flashing lights appeared in his vision.

-Bing-Bing-Bing-

-High Score!- Okita Sougo's top weirdest converstions

***1. Just now with that kid. ***

2. Earlier, with Yamazaki about badminton.

3. Earlier, with Hijikata about mayonnaise

4. Earlier, with Kondo about... gorillas?

5. Earlier, with Hijikata about mayonnaise.

He reached the Shinsengumi headquarters, ready to wear the famed sleep mask. But something was different. Was this really the right place? He looked up at a sign to check.

-SHINSEN STATION-. That girl.

*Shinsen Station is a is a train station on the Keio Inokashira Line near Shibuya, in Tokyo, Japan.