Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama.

ACT 12

Kagura glared into Housen's dark black eyes, challenging him. "We'll aren't you kind? Concerning yourself with my wellbeing… you really are a saint, yes?" she said sarcastically.

"I'm only capable of showing kindness to my race," the elder yato replied.

"Tch, ironic isn't it? The man responsible for the mass-genocide of his people – the very act that donned him the famed nickname of 'Night King' – is concerned with my welfare."

A wicked grin formed across Housen's features, "we'll you see little girl; you arrived at the most fashionable time. Our ranks are dwindling, especially thanks to the stunt your friends here pulled." He nodded at the captain of the ship, "we're in dire need of a breeder. A pure-blooded specimen as yourself are rare to come by in outer space, it almost makes the casualties worth it… don't you think?"

Her entire body froze. The only movement she was capable of doing, was turning her mouth into a tense frown. The thought of becoming a breeder for his army was a truly disgusting idea, she would never submit to a life living like that.

"Well, what do you think? Do you want to be of service to your clan?" She was about to speak up, but he covered her mouth with his massive hand. The grin didn't escape his mouth as he paused and looked around the room, "before you answer though; think of the lives of your friends here. We're willing to forget the lost ships if you follow us peacefully."

Kagura's eyes widened, she felt a burning heat swelling in the depths of her azure orbs. As much as she didn't want to follow the malevolent man in front of her, she absolutely didn't want to risk the life of her friends. They were severely outnumbered, and there were no scenario where they would successfully overpower the Harusame yatos in their current state.

There were only two options where they could win against the yatos. The first one was to stall until the Royal Planet fleet - led by Kondo - were able to position themselves and flank the space pirates. The other option was a riskier one; it involved Kagura meeting Housen in one-on-one combat. With the strongest man out-of-the-way, the rest of her crew might be able to handle the remaining yatos; at least until the reinforcements arrived.

The first – much safer – option became impossible when Prince Gintoki unsheathed his sword and directed it at Housen's neck. "That's enough," he proclaimed lazily. "We're not human traffickers, there's no way we'll unhand Kagura-chan".

Katsura followed his example and unsheathed his sword; they all did, in fact.

"No Gin-chan!" She glanced over at the man who'd become her surrogate father during their space travels "Everyone; it's okay. Please don't endanger yourselves." She begged, "I won't allow anyone to sacrifice themselves for me." She met Housen's black eyes, "I'll follow you peacefully."

"Kagura-chan, you don't have to do this!"

"It's fine Gin-chan," she sighed and met his lazy eyes with determination. She hoped her stare would convey her plan of overpowering Housen one-on-one. As an added measure, she used the words he'd used when he gave her away at her wedding, "everythin will be fine." She noticed a small shift in Gintoki's features. 'Good' she thought, 'seems like he understands'.

A couple of pirates handcuffed Kagura's hands. "After you then," Housen gestured to his newest possession. "You have a lot of soldiers to make up for."

Kagura had expected to live her remaining life as a breeder in one of the ships holding cells, but the guards had put her in a comfortable room with a private bath. She deducted that they probably wanted to inflict Stockholm syndrome on her; it would be easier for them if she didn't resist her captors.

A couple of hours passed in complete solitude. She had placed herself on an uncomfortable wooden chair next to the bed, she didn't want to fall asleep in case someone entered. However, staying awake seemed like an impossible task. There was nothing to do in the room but stare at the clock on the wall and count the ticking seconds with it.

An elderly woman entered the room about 4 o'clock. She had gently knocked before entering the room. It seemed like she didn't have the ability to speak, for she communicated with Kagura by pointing between the fresh set of clothes in her hand and the bathroom. Kagura understood that she had to shower and get dressed. The elderly woman seemed harmless, so she did as she was 'told'.

The shower was quick, and it felt somewhat relaxing. Like all her problems washed away with the water. She became agitated once more when she studied the clothing Housen had sent for her. It was a golden bikini with a purple veil attached to the bottom. Kagura snorted, this was just ridiculous. When she exited the bathroom, the woman draped her in a black coat.

'I feel like I'm about to enter a weird sex fantasy…'

Kagura was guided to a room further down the hall. There she met with a "romantic dinner". A table centered in the middle of the room with a chair on either side. On top of the table stood a bottle of red wine, two wine glasses and a single candle. Her nose picked up the distinct smell of tomato sauce.

Housen greeted her at the door and offered to take her jacked. Kagura curtly refused, and felt relieved when he didn't force it off her. He, instead, acted like a gentleman and pulled out one of the chairs. Kagura seated herself and watched while he sat down on the opposite side.

"Wine?" he offered. Kagura shook her head, but he poured her a glass anyway. "I'm sure you're old enough to have a sip of wine with dinner." She gave him a hard look, but took a small sip of the beverage; she grimaced at the taste. "Don't worry my dear girl, you'll get used to the taste soon enough." Housen clapped his hands; two plates of pasta appeared in front of them. "I hope you like Italian."

The dinner went peacefully. Housed tried to make conversation, but all he got was curt replies and a single nod here and there. He had finished the bottle by himself while Kagura had only taken another sip of her glass when he'd suggested it would go great with the dessert; if it did go great with the dessert, she certainly didn't think so.

Housen rose from his chair to get another bottle of wine from a nearby cabinet. He popped the cork and poured another glass for himself another glass. He picked it up, swiveled the wine and sniffed it before he took a greedy sip, nearly emptying the glass.

"If you don't mind me asking girl, why did your friends attack my ship?"

She gave him a dull look as she delivered her first coherent sentence that evening, "you know why we attacked you. You're working with my brother."

Housen's stern look shifted to one of profound wonder "Working with Kamui, on what?"

Kagura raised an eyebrow, "dethroning Papi?"

The elder yato grinned "and why would I want that?"

"You're kidding right? You've always wanted power."

"What you fail to see is that I have power already. I'm the most feared pirate in the entire galaxy, why would I care about our"

"But we got intel tha…"

"You've got some bad intel. Up until this very moment, I didn't know that Umibozu had fallen from power, nor my pupil rising to it."

"I don't believe you. Who would…" She cut herself of, it suddenly dawned on her; her brother had sent them on a wild witch-hunt in outer space! The world crumbled around her. She couldn't believe it; all of this was for nothing! Had she not been in company of a real sadist, she would have cried from the revelation.

Housen walked to her side and placed a hand on her left shoulder. Her entire body tensed by the contact. She was afraid of what would happen next, she did not intend to repopulate Housen's army.

During dinner, she had snuck a butter knife under the table. It wasn't exactly her weapon of choice, but she knew she could do some serious damage to the man if he let his guard down. She knew it was now or never; and slowly reached for the knife between her thighs.

As if he'd read her mind, Housen grabbed her right arm. "Now where's your hand wandering off to?" Kagura was fortunately quicker than Housen, and managed to wrestle her way out his grip, while simultaneously sticking the knife in his eye.

The man screamed in agony, "oh, you've done it now you little shit!" While Housen forcefully removed the knife from his eye socket, Kagura frantically skimmed the room for a more efficient weapon. The general of the Harusame had undoubtedly foreseen her revolt and left his weapon behind. She grabbed the candlestick from the table, the candle was still burning, and her jacket caught fire. She flung the thing off her before she turned into the human torch.

A guard ran into the room, but before he assessed the situation at hand, Kagura bashed his face with the candlestick and grabbed his umbrella. She directed it at Housen and ordered him to stand down. The man did as she said, she stepped over the passed out guard and ran out of the room.

She had no idea as to where she would go, or how she would get of this ship, she only knew she had to get as far away from Housen as humanly possible. He would get a hold of a weapon on his own soon, and she would surely be out of her luck when that happened.

Kagura somehow made it to the main bridge with few encounters, she had shot down three pirates on her way there. She found the control-room deserted, and to her great shock, the ship wasn't in outer space as she'd expected, but grounded in a desert. It looked like an unlivable wasteland, but she knew it would be safer for her to face the blazing sun rather than Housen.

Before she ventured out, she made sure to shoot down the equipment, hoping it would make it impossible to contact assistance from the fleet. She shot through the window glass, and jumped out of the ship.