Kagura, of the great Yato clan, dragged her feet slowly towards the fancy hotel's elevator. Her head down, hair's a mess, bangs covering her eyes, and inaudible mumbles were coming out of her mouth.

She stopped as she was in front of the elevator. Her once beautiful oceanic blue eyes were now lifeless and dull as she stared at the button of the elevator. She let out a tired sigh and pushed the down button of the elevator.

OOOOoooOOOO

"Hey Sougo, don't you think it's time for you to think about your future already?" asked a gorilla-looking man, who was seating at his office chair inside a really huge room decorated with expensive-looking ornaments.

Okita Sougo remained impassive as he continued on tapping his PSP. He was still sprawled on the red couch in front of Kondo's desk.

Kondo Isao sighed and leaned back on his chair. He stared at the ceiling of his office with a distant look in his eyes. "Mitsuba-dono is getting concerned about your situation, as well. In fact, she came to me a week ago, asking for help."

Sougo's wine-red eyes looked up from his game towards Kondo. "Aneue did?"

"Yes," Kondo stood up and faced the large window behind him, "And we have decided, since I'm going to retire soon, this hotel is going to be passed down to you."

This got Sougo's attention. He sat up from his position and said, "Wait a minute here, Kondo-san! You can't be serious, right?! How the hell am I supposed to take care of a five-star hotel at this age? And retiring? You? How old are you, 35? That is not the age for retirement, Kondo-san."

Sougo saw from behind that Kondo's shoulders were shaking, as if he was suppressing a laugh. Then, the ever-optimistic gorilla turned around and laughed heartily, making the younger one in the room confused.

"Oh Sougo, Sougo, Sougo. Didn't you know?" Kondo grinned cheekily and braggingly showed Okita his right hand.

That's when Sougo noticed the (engagement) ring on his ring finger. He paled at that instant.

"That right, my boy! This 35-year-old man is getting married! And to the girl of his dreams, too!" Kondo exclaimed proudly as he laughed again.

Sougo rubbed his forehead in disbelief. How did the Gorilla president of the Matsudaira Hotel even managed to convince the other Gorilla girl to say 'yes'? He was feeling anxious, irritated, and somehow a bit happy for his foster father.

But he was still irritated since it only means one thing when Kondo gets married: He gets all the responsibilities of taking care of the hotel.

"I still say no, Kondo-san," said the sadist prince as he stood up and started to walk towards the doorway.

"Unless you have another talented candidate of being the heir of the hotel, you can't say no, Sougo," Kondo explained before the sandy-haired boy shut the door.

Kondo sat back down on his office chair and sighed. He looked at the picture at his table and murmured, "If only Pops didn't pass down all of his responsibilities to us… and if only Toshi…"

OOOOoooOOOO

Okita pocketed his PSP as he made his way towards the elevator. Despite his deadpanned expression, he was distressed. Sooner or later, he would have no choice but to own The Matsudaira Hotel he was standing on. Even if he were to run away or live in another country, he would get hunted down by Matsudaira's dogs for sure.

And so, his only way out was to find another suitable heir, just like what his gorilla boss said.

Okita Sougo and his sickly elder sister, Mitsuba, had been under the care of Kondo since they were young. They owed their lives to him. The two of them were about to die as orphans on the streets if Kondo hadn't saved them.

That's why it was hard for him to say no to him. Yes, he refused earlier, but both knew that he would do it anyway, unless he thinks of an idea to avoid being the next owner of the damn hotel.

The original owner of the hotel wasn't Kondo anyway. It was Matsudaira, the DOM who got tired of managing a hotel and decided to pass it to his son, Kondo Isao, without hearing the latter's complaints, and flew off to Las Vegas to have some fun.

Sougo waited for the elevator to open as his thoughts continued on roaming. When the lift reached his floor, it tinged before the doors slid open.

. . .

That's when he spotted a ghost on the corner of the elevator.

Said ghost was emitting a dark, gloomy aura. Her long, messy vermillion hair flowed down in front of her body, slightly covering her white Chinese dress. Her shoulders were crouched down, and her weary eyes were bloodshot. Her face looked like she just bore all of the sins of the world.

Okita remained emotionless, yet inside, he was contemplating whether he should enter the elevator or not. He was a little bit surprised when he saw her, and for a second, thought she was a real ghost. He was about to close the elevator when she suddenly moved.

She jerked her head upwards, which made the sandy-haired boy stiffen. Her eyes looked like she had cried ever since she was born and only stopped a few seconds ago. She grinned miserably and began saying some words.

Sougo did not comprehend what she said, but sensing that the girl was waiting for him to get inside, he half-heartedly (make that one-fourth) went inside. He sweat dropped as he stood on the far corner away from the distressed-looking girl.

She was still mumbling, which made Okita felt like jumping out of the elevator just to get away from the crazy woman. He was a sadist, yes. He loves to see people, especially women, suffer. But this was a different story. Because first off, he was not the cause of her distress. And second, she was freaking weird.

"What do you think?" the girl asked.

Okita didn't know that she was actually speaking to him when she was mumbling. He didn't know what to answer. He avoided the weird girl's eyes and just prayed that the journey inside the elevator would be over soon.

He looked at the tiny screen on top of the door. It said that they were in the 34th floor and descending.

Funny, nobody else was using the elevator in the other floors.

"… iejsfgs… sdoeir?" she said again.

"What?" he asked.

"YOU WEREN'T LISTENING! YOU ARE IGNORING ME, TOO, HUH? I AM NOT THAT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU, HUH? IS THAT IT, HUH? ANSWER ME YOU BASTARD!" she screamed at him after she grabbed his collar and shook him repeatedly.

"What the hell is her problem?! Leave me alone, freak!"

Okita grabbed her wrist tightly and pushed her away from him. He smelled alcohol from her stinky breath, too. "Listen here, you creep. I have encountered many freaky, weird," he scanned her and added, "…ugly, fan girls before but you are the WEIRDEST and UGLIEST one I've ever met!"

Sougo saw the girl's temper faded away after he said that. She suddenly dropped on the ground and began sobbing. He noticed that her cheeks were red, which means that she was most likely drunk.

"I knew it. No one would accept me. I tried hiding my insecurities by acting tough all the time… but in the end, I'm just a weird, freaky, monster-girl that everyone makes fun of," she said as she sobbed.

He didn't know why but he suddenly had the urge to step on her head. He resisted the feeling though.

And just kicked her instead.

"Stand up. You're dirtying my floor with your existence," he sadistically said. "To compensate for that, why don't you lick the sole of my shoes?"

Woops, the sadist inside of him unleashed. This often happens when he sees someone in agony and he was the cause of it. He had this blazing feeling inside of him to torture this girl more. And there was something in this girl that actually made him stop resisting his sadistic remarks and actions.

"Come on, lick it bitch."

Being a good-looking guy, and his inborn sadism, it was easy for him to turn the toughest of girls into solid masochists. Everyone he knows is aware of this talent (well, except his sister).

"Oi, if you don't lick it, I'm going to tie you u—"

"Sh… p…" she interrupted.

"What was that? End your sentences with a woof."

"I said… SHUT UP!"

Okita didn't see it coming. She enveloped her arms around his waist and flipped him over, screaming, "GERMAN SUPLEX!" as his head hits the floor and suddenly oozed blood.

That time, the elevator reached the ground floor. As soon as the doors opened, the girl dashed away, leaving the still-surprised Okita on the ground, wondering what the hell just happened.

To be continued.

A/N: Because I'm having lots of Okikagu feels lately. This is going to be slow-paced, and more information about the characters are going to be revealed in the future chapters. Why did you think Kagura had such an awful mood?

Hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned!

Gintama © Sorachi Hideaki