I finally worked up the courage to put this up. This is the AU OkiKagu story I mentioned to some people a loooong time ago, and truthfully, it's already really old. I wrote the original first chapter something like three years ago! Obviously I've rewritten it countless of times already, but now I finally decided to put it up.

So, depending on how the public (that means you, my reader) receives this, I'll continue onto the next chapter. So, as always, I'd like you to leave reviews or/and send PMs and let me know your honest opinions. ^.^

Oh, and don't mind the title, it was something I came up with in the spur of the moment...maybe I'll change it later, maybe I'll end up being too lazy xD

Now then, I hope at least someone read my ramblings. I won't keep you any longer, go on and read my fairytale OkiKagu!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama.

Whoever said arranged marriages are fine should be shot! Part 1

"WHAT THE HELL?"

Umibouzu fought the urge to dive for shelter as he faced his enraged daughter. "You heard me, Kagura. It's been decided that you will be engaged to His Highness."

Kagura glared at her father even harder. "Can't you do anything, baldy?"

"It's daddy and no, this is final," Umibouzu answered and left the room. Once outside he let out a sigh. 'Sorry about that, Kagura, but daddy wants you to get married and Kamui already arranged everything with Her Highness. Besides, you always wanted to be a queen, right? Now you'll become one! Daddy always thinks what's best for his little girl!'

The one left in the room was completely oblivious to her father's good intentions. Kagura just couldn't accept the fact that she was to become the prince's bride. She had never even seen him! She didn't want to get involved in troublesome things concerning royalty, so she never bothered meeting them. That was quite a feat considering that her father was a general in the imperial army and her brother was the captain of the special unit. Kagura couldn't care less about that. She just wanted to live her life as she wanted, to be free from any duties, not to get married at the tender age of 17! Well, engaged, but it leads to marriage!

Slamming doors as she went, Kagura made her way outside. She needed some fresh air...and someone to beat up.

It was silent in the room. Too silent. It was even more silent than silence itself. It was like all sound had vanished, except it was more silent than that.

"Sou-chan?" Mitsuba asked softly, worried about her little brother's reaction. "Are you alright, Sou-chan?"

"Oh, I'm fine, don't worry about me, sister," Sougo answered, smiling. Too bad Mitsuba could tell it was a fake one.

"Sou-chan, I know this is really sudden, but you're already 21. If you really aim to be the king, you should at least be engaged by now," Mitsuba explained with a worried frown. "And since you never show any interest in the women who visit the palace, I had no choice but to accept this proposition."

Sougo looked away from his sister. "Then whose brilliant idea was this? Her father's?" If he had to deal with an old man hungry for power, he'd rather kill them all.

"Actually, it was her older brother's. And since she's quite a strong minded person, as I have heard, I thought that you might not get tired of her so easily..."

Sougo sighed and stood up. "Thank you for worrying about me, sister. When will I meet her?"

"Sou-chan, we can always call it off -"

"When?" he pressed.

Mitsuba frowned slightly. "In a week, at the engagement party. Her brother called it tradition not to let the couple meet until they are to be joined, or something like that. I am not too familiar with their traditions, but wish to honour them."

"I see. I will take my leave, now."

Once outside the room, Sougo turned to glare at the first thing he saw. It happened to be a maid, and the poor soul fainted from the look that screamed bloody murder and endless torture to the world.

He couldn't believe this. An arranged marriage? With someone he'd never met before?

Sougo started walking (coughstompingcough) out of the palace. He couldn't blame his sister, she had only been thinking about his future, and he refused to blame himself. It wasn't his fault that none of those money-obsessed freaks of nature interested him. So, he decided that it was Hijikata's fault. As a side note, Hijikata Toushiro was a high ranked army official, Mitsuba's husband and Sougo's number one enemy.

Sougo stopped once he got outdoors. Taking a car would surely attract unwanted attention, so he decided to walk. He took the road that led to the outskirts of the city: the streets of night, Kabuki district, where anyone could go incognito.

Kagura kept on punching the bum she had pinned on the ground. His lip was bleeding, he had several bruises and his nose was most likely badly broken but Kagura didn't give a shit about his condition. Plus, he seemed to like it, so why stop? They both felt better so everything was cool.

"Oh, how I HATE that baldy!" Kagura yelled and pulled a fistful of the bum's hair out. "How dare he marry me off like that! I don't care if it's some big shot man with money and power, I'll hate him! I'll ruin his life for good!"

"Share the pain, girl! Share the pain!" the bum slurred.

"Thank you, old bum!"

And so she kept beating him to a pulp and they were both having a good time.

Sougo wandered aimlessly around Kabuki. A casino, a bar, a brothel, a nightclub, another brothel...truly the shady part of the otherwise proper city. None of this truly interested him, though he did sometimes sneak out to play around, but at least his face wasn't known that well around there.

He kept wandering until he ended up in an alley. He was just about to turn around and go back when his ears picked up some rather interesting sounds. He decided to follow the noise and what he saw surprised him: a girl dressed in chinese clothes was beating up a bum and yelling about hating someone.

Sougo blinked a couple of times and even rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things before he smirked. He could entertain himself a little.

"Hey, can I share some pain, too?"

Kagura stopped in midpunch and slowly turned to face the owner of the voice. She was now face to face with a young man, not much older than she was, with light brown hair that slightly fell over his reddish brown eyes.

'A pretty boy?' Kagura thought with a slight frown. 'He sure has fancy clothes. Maybe a noble?'

She took another look at him and felt her stomach twist painfully. 'So my gut finds him that disgusting, huh...'

"Who the hell are you?"

He was very much surprised yet again as he looked at her. He was expecting a total gangster with scars and a broken nose, but she was just a normal girl. Well, what with bright orange hair, shockingly blue eyes, pearl white skin and crude vocabulary.

Taking a look at her body, Sougo snorted. 'Can't even talk about sex appeal. Even a nine year old has more curves than she does.' Even though he knew he was understating her shape, he had a bad feeling about admitting that she was actually quite attractive. So he didn't, not even to himself.

Kagura snapped. "The hell you snorting at, brat?"

"Take a good look at yourself before calling other people brats, China," he deadpanned.

"What are you talking about?"

"Sex appeal: zero."

Kagura shot up from her sitting position on the now unconscious bum. "You want a piece of me, bastard?"

"I doubt you'd taste any good, so no thanks."

That smartass comment was the last straw.

Sougo bearly had enough time to draw his sword to block the girl's umbrella. 'From the Yato clan?' he thought as his face was just inches from her ferocious snarl. 'Well, why not?'

"It isn't nice to charge at someone like that all of a sudden. What if I hadn't brought my sword with me today?"

She smirked evilly. "Then you would be dead."

"Exactly, and we wouldn't want that, now would we?" he asked playfully.

"Speak for yourself!" she yelled in his face and pushed him back, jumping away herself. "It's your lucky day, I'll spare your life for now."

Kagura opened her umbrella and shielded herself from the sun. 'I've been in the sun enough for today,' she thought and walked right past the annoying young man.

"Oh? Are you running away?" he called after her in that annoying deadpan-tone.

She turned to glare at him. "I have better things to do than play with small fry. My brother is coming home and I will not miss him this time."

He sighed and sheathed his sword. "Excuses, excuses. Fine, I'll leave it at this, China. Not like I'd meet you again, anyway. You were a good way to pass time," he said idly and started walking in the opposite direction, climbing over the fence and disappearing from sight.

Kagura was seething. "A passtime? I was just used to pass some freakin' time?" she screamed after him. "You fucking sadistic bastard! I hope you get eaten by a rabid dog!"

And thus their fated first meeting came to its end.

Remember, there's a difference between constructive feedback and nonsense flaming ^.^

~poakkis