10 - The Wedding (Part 1)

When Sougo's consciousness returned, he opened his eyes and found himself sitting alone in the dark. His hands and legs were restrained to a wooden chair, by, what he felt, was a thick rope. The knot was not tight enough that he couldn't dislocate his wrists to free himself. Clearly, Kuraba was still toying with him.

After freeing himself from the chair, he checked his surroundings in the dark. The room was quite small and the wooden walls were decaying. Even though there were no gardening tools, he assumed that he was in a storage shed, likely on the border of Kuraba's property due to the lack of noise outside.

He tried to open the door, but it was barred from the outside. He flung himself at the door a few times but whatever was blocking the door wouldn't come loose. Since the only available item in the shed was the chair, he also threw it at the door, hoping to make some sort of dent. But, alas, he had no such luck.

The loud noise from the impact must've attracted someone's attention as Sougo heard footsteps nearing the shed. Once he heard the figure outside the door remove the bar, he raised his fists to ready himself for hand-to-hand combat, but was surprised to see a familiar V-shaped hairstyle instead.

"Oh, it's just you." Sougo commented.

"Heh. That's my line." Hijikata remarked.

Seeing that Kuraba's goons weren't patrolling the outside of the shed, he hastily passed Hijikata and headed in the direction of the main house.

"Oi!" Hijikata ran after him. "Not even gonna ask what I'm doing here?"

"Not interested." Sougo didn't even spare a glance his way.

"Fair enough. Well, I wasn't just passing by-" He tried to explain before the two men were blocked off by Kuraba's sword-wielding servants patrolling nearby. "But, before that, I think you'll need this back."

Sougo looked at the sword that Hijikata was currently offering to him. From the hilt and sheath, the sword was clearly his but he remembered leaving his sword back at his maternal home a few streets away to avoid unwanted attention from the police prior to going undercover to catch Kuraba.

"You went to my house?" Sougo inquired right after slashing the first goon down with the back of his sword. "Are all Shinsengumi officers stalkers?"

"Ha. You wish, girly boy." Hijikata slashed the enemy attempting to attack Sougo's back. "I've been looking for you because-"

Another man came at Hijikata's front and he proceeded to cut him down.

"What I was trying to say-" Hijikata was interrupted again by a man that was at his left side, then his right. "What the hell?!"

He wondered where these enemies were coming from. Hijikata thought Sougo still had his back but when he turned around to check on the lad, he realized that the girly boy was no longer there. Instead, he caught a glimpse of his long sandy-haired ponytail as it disappeared around a corner.

"You f*cker!" Hijikata quickly finished off the men that encircled him and followed the boy's trail before the second group of servants could block him. "Dammit, Sougo! Where the hell are you going?!"

When Hijikata was finally able to catch up to Sougo, they were nearing the inner courtyard and the amount of enemies chasing after them had increased exponentially.

Heaving, Hijikata struggled to ask, "Didn't you hear me? Where the hell are you going?"

Turning around to see that the group of servants had quadrupled behind them, he realized that he might actually need help from this police dog.

Finally, Sougo replied, "Kuraba's got my sister and my girlfriend captive. I think they're in the inner courtyard. That's the only place I haven't checked yet."

"What?! Why the hell are you being so slow then? Hurry up! We have to save them!" Hijikata yelled, panicking more than before.

The officer raced ahead, leaving Sougo to wonder where that exhausted officer got the sudden burst of energy from. Sougo figured that Hijikata was here to catch Kuraba, but was confused at Hijikata's sudden interest in rescuing the captive women. Was he simply carrying out his police duties?

The two split up to lose their pursuers and planned to meet by the door to the inner courtyard at the centre of the mansion. Finally losing the angry mob chasing them through the maze-like mansion, they made it to a large wooden door. The two men knew they were at the right place when they could faintly hear wedding music from the other side of the door. They burst through the doors only to be welcomed by the blinding sunlight and the abrupt silence.

Several sakura trees bordered the inner courtyard and their petals decorated the scene, especially through the aisle that the bride had passed through. The only area devoid of cherry blossoms was next to the altar where Kuraba had just received Mitsuba's hand.

Watching the two guests that arrived earlier than expected from the corner of his eye, Kuraba signalled for the musicians beside him to resume playing. Reading the atmosphere, the musicians replaced the once joyous, upbeat song with a more strained and dramatic tune.

Then, the groom finally turned to face the two men and brandished a friendly smile on his face. "Ah, the guests are finally here."

The bride also turned to follow her groom's gaze and was pleasantly surprised to see her little brother at the door. Next to him was someone she didn't recognize, but for some reason, her heart started to race when her eyes met his. She was acting like a teenage girl falling for someone so quickly. She mentally slapped herself and pushed aside those wicked thoughts before they could fester, then welcomed her brother.

"Sou-chan! The servants mentioned that you were bedridden with the flu. I'm glad to see that you're doing fine. Touma-san has to leave on an unexpected business trip three days from now so we were forced to move the wedding earlier. I'm glad you could make it, though. Why don't you and your friend sit up front with the sleeping flower girl? Kagura-chan's been worried about you these past few days. I think the lack of sleep finally took a toll on her." Mitsuba suggested as she eyed the only person in the audience.

Sougo spotted the familiar white cheongsam and head of vermillion hair resting on the neighbouring chair where a wicker basket of leftover sakura petals occupied.

Many thoughts raced through Sougo's head. One, he wanted to deny any relationship to the police dog that tracked him. Two, he wanted to make sure that his girlfriend was safe from any tricks hidden under Kuraba's sleeve. Three, he wanted to separate that trash from his sister immediately. In the end, Sougo prioritized the latter since his girlfriend was sitting at a safe distance from Kuraba unlike his sister and settling the score with Hijikata could be put on hold, at least, for now.

The sight of the scoundrel shamelessly touching his sister's hand enraged him further. He didn't waste any more time in warning her. "Ane-ue, move away from Kuraba! He's a wanted criminal! He's not your fiancé!"

He rushed forward to physically separate the two with his unsheathed sword firmly in his grasp.

"Listen to him, Mitsuba! He's not your fiancé because I am!" Hijikata echoed close behind him.

Sougo felt his foot slip in the middle of the aisle at that comment. Maybe it was due to the increasing intensity of the musician's instruments as the song reached its climax but it felt as if a bomb had exploded inside Sougo's mind. "WHAT?!"

In the still silence, he turned back to glare at the overly confident police dog and threatened him. "I dare you to say that again!"

As much as Sougo wanted to slice off Kuraba's arm, he was far more tempted to sever Hijikata's neck at this very moment. He had never been fond of the police ever since he lost both of his parents to a robbery that could've been prevented if the nearby patrolling police officers were not slacking off from their duties. His hatred for police officers still ran deep to this day.

That dreaded incident along with the dangerous glint of Sougo's katana led Mitsuba to believe that her little brother's hatred was currently directed at the only police officer in the room. She barely knew the officer, but her heart tightened at the thought of losing him.

Just then, the sound of a three-stringed instrument being gently plucked resounded and a gust of wind scattered several cherry blossom petals throughout the scene.

Ting. Ting. Ting.

The melody was hesitant as if it was beckoning him to move forward and his enraged self was more than willing to.

Watching her little brother in a frenzied daze take a step closer to the officer, Mitsuba cried out, "Sou-chan! Don't!"

At the sound of her voice, Sougo snapped out of his momentary trance of revenge. He reminded himself to prioritize his sister's safety over his own immediate desires.

Hijikata felt the deadly aura behind Sougo's piercing red eyes vanish, but continued to remain on him as if silently warning him, "I'll deal with you later".

Finally, Sougo turned his head back to glare at Kuraba, marking him as the new target. "You scum! Let ane-ue go!"

With his current momentum, he sprung forward with his sword drawn high, aiming straight at Kuraba's head. But instead of feeling the sword plunge into the enemy's skin, his swing fell short, just an inch above the criminal's shaved head.

As illogical as it seemed, Sougo appeared to have paused in mid-air. He struggled to close in the last inch to deliver the final blow, but he had no control of his limbs. It felt as if some sort of invisible force was holding him back.

In fact, every time he moved, he could feel pain as if something was cutting through his flesh.

"It took you long enough!" Kuraba turned to yell at the musicians.

At this point, only one of the musicians was playing an instrument. Specifically, a man with spiky teal hair further tuning his shamisen and bachi.

Perhaps, it was due to the headphones covering the man's ears and the dark sunglasses over his eyes, but he remained calmly seated on his chair and focused entirely on his shamisen as if he wasn't just scolded by his client.

Sougo's gut told him that his current dilemma was caused by this strange man. A blind AND deaf musician? Who was he kidding?

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Up Next: The Wedding (Part 2)

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Helpful Notes: Shamisen is a 3-stringed instrument. Bachi is the wooden pick that's used to strum the shamisen. See google-sensei for pics.

A/N: I'm not sure if I can use -dono (Lord/Master) as a suffix for female names. Screw historical accuracy. Mitsuba is officially a -dono. I'll likely edit this chapter later. Just wanted to update and let y'all know, I appreciate your comments! I ended this chapter abruptly since trying to cram all the action here will make this chapter wayyy too long.

Shoutout to all my readers (y'all still here?! go away. jk.): Sorry, I don't have a regular schedule for updating. And thanks so much for waiting patiently. I can only ask you to wait longer...Cause let's be honest, I'm a lazy person. Trust me, I'm not dropping this fic (or any of my other fics for that matter). It'll just be a really slow ride to the end. So, bonus Q & A for y'all.

Q & A:

Author: So how exactly did you sleep through all of this?

Kagura: I didn't! How do I miss seeing Sadist being played with? Every time the director moved away, I would sneak a peek at the action and when the camera pans back with me in the background, I had to stay as still as possible. I'm glad the camera never had to do a close-up shot or else, I'd be caught laughing!

Author: Did anything else happen on set?

Kagura: Hmm. Let's see...There was one time we took a 5-minute break in-between scenes and I saw that Sougo was still hanging in the air cause the director found it too much of a hassle to re-tie him in place. I went over to him and asked, "How's it hanging?". He ignored me and my wonderful pun so I kept bugging him until the break was over. I said everything I normally couldn't say. I think it ticked him off. By the end, he was giving me a death glare. I can't remember what he said afterwards.

As if on cue, a passerby popped into the interview.

Sougo appeared behind Kagura and whispered into her right ear. "Seems like you've already forgotten, I said 'I'd get my revenge on you'. The rope's ready." He paused to stretch the rope in his hands. "Are you~?"

Kagura felt his breath tickle her ear. With a red face, she nudged him away with her elbow.

Kagura: Sadist! You-

Author: Maybe, I should leave you two alone...

Kagura: No, wait! It's not what it looks like! I promise!

Author: Uh-huh.

Unconvinced, the author scurries off.

The next day, the staff opened the set for filming and saw an unusual sight. Sougo was bound and gagged with a rope in a fetal position. Hijikata walked towards him in a calm manner, pulled off the gag in his mouth and guessed, "Kagura?"

Sougo coughed, letting his sore mouth relax before nodding. Hijikata found something else unusual about him. "Then why do you look so happy then?"

"Because I got to please my wife." Sougo stated as a matter of fact.

Hijikata shook his head. He's so whipped. "And since when did you two get married? Hell, did you even date?"

Sougo scoffed. "Did the mayo blind your eyes? We're already flirting so much, how are we not already dating? Better yet, married?"

Hijikata shook his head once again. He could only pray for the little lady's safety.