AU fic based on future with canon elements; I haven't caught up yet, so keep in mind most of the stuff here might be made up or altered. All characters look like their future versions (so yes, Okita has that sexy long hair).

disclaimer: don't own gintama, plot is mine.

/

"Kagura?" Tsukuyo asked in concern, setting her pipe down briefly to give her her full attention. "Are you alright? You've been staring off into space for a while now."

"I'm fine," Kagura lied, though her general disposition and the blank stare she was giving the others probably belied her reassurance.

Everyone was staring at her in concern, some with looks of scepticism and disbelief over her comment. After all, a pretty big bomb had just been dropped on her head. If her face looked anything like the turmoil that was brewing in her mind, then no doubt she knew she wasn't looking particularly okay.

Shinpachi sighed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose from the side. "As I thought. This kind of job is too much to ask her. Let's just go with our original plan."

"The original plan is too risky," Okita muttered, chewing on his blade of wheat where he was leaning against the wall. "Especially since we're trying to keep a low profile."

"Well she's clearly not okay. Look at her face."

"She's a big girl," Okita drawled sarcastically. "She doesn't need Big Brother covering for her anymore."

Shinpachi eyes narrowed, his eyes flashing a warning to the other man. Okita seemed entirely unfazed by his ire. In fact, he was smirking at Shinpachi, the exact type of look that would no doubt bring about an argument or fight.

Hijikata rolled his eyes, letting out a soft stream of smoke. "Enough. We're not going to get anywhere with the plan if we argue like this. But Sougo's right. It's a decision Kagura ultimately has to make for herself."

The eyes were back on her all over again, and Kagura sighed, sitting back against her cushion and wishing that she had had the foresight not to open the door when they had knocked. She could have been enjoying the calm of a warm starlit night right now. The air was humid, but not stuffy and it would have been the perfect night to spend on her roof, basking in the warmth while nursing some strawberry milk.

She should have had more reservations from the get go, especially since the news station had only been playing the video of the public execution of some Joui members all afternoon. From what she'd heard from Otose that afternoon, most all vigilante rebels and people opposed to NobuNobu's rules were on edge now. Things were getting bad for everyone who was essentially an enemy of NobuNobu and keeping a low profile was a must, especially in this city of Edo they lived in.

Kagura herself lived as a vigilante, continuing the work of Gintoki in Yorozuya, but she never bit off more than she could chew by herself, and she made sure her nightly activities never crossed paths with anyone or anything having to do with NobuNobu's bakufu. Once he'd become Shogun, he'd quickly established himself as a ruthless and violent leader and one who had absolutely no qualms squashing opposition without mercy or hesitation. While many of the people who'd originally been publically opposed to his rule had been forced to live in hiding, they still continued on with their duty to better Edo through underground methods and in secret. As such, Shinpachi still continued Yorozuya under the guise of fixing up buildings and what not by day, but by night, he went around Edo, stopping injustices and ruining any activities by NobuNobu's men.

Kagura hadn't left their home that evening, so she hadn't expected any sort of trouble when someone knocked on the door. She'd honestly believed it would be Otose to bring her news about their comrades or even dinner for that night, but what she hadn't expected was two ex-Shinsengumi members along with Tsukuyo standing at her doorstep with sombre expressions on their faces. And what she really hadn't expected was the case they'd brought to her and Shinpachi.

For weeks, girls from various brothels in Yoshiwara had been disappearing and not because Tsukuyo had been inducting them into the ranks of Hyakka. The whole thing was highly suspicious, and Tsukuyo suspected it was because there was a human trafficking ring or something equally untoward happening in the pleasure houses of Yoshiwara. She knew investigating something so large might be difficult, so she'd asked Hijikata if he could investigate with some of his old members undercover. It turned out, for years, the two had been exchanging whatever information they had on current affairs on Kabuki and teaming up with the other whenever they needed help. And with his help, Tsukuyo was able to find the focal point of the suspicious activity to one particular brothel named Lotus that NobuNobu and some of his associates were rather fond of. And so Hyakka and the ex-Shinsengumi-turned-vigilantes decided to team up to get to the bottom of this mystery. And now they wanted Yorozuya's help.

Or more specifically, they wanted Kagura's help by having her infiltrate the pleasure quarters as one of the girls in order to find out what was going on from the inside.

They'd all agreed that they needed to keep a low profile and the best way to do that was to send someone virtually unknown. And apparently, Kagura was the perfect candidate since she had gone off to be an alien hunter in space for a few years and returned nearly unrecognisable from the goofy girl Gintoki had adopted years ago.

"It's a lot to ask, but we can't think of who would be better than you," Tsukuyo continued after dumping some of the ash in her pipe onto the ashtray. "But you wouldn't be alone. Okita will be your liaison who you'll discuss the plan and make decisions with."

"As in he'll buy me," Kagura said, her irritation spiking at the thought of being treated like cattle. "Like I'm some piece of meat."

"It is a brothel after all."

Hijikata shot Okita a glare, clearly telling him to stop being so patronising. He only smirked, obviously finding the whole thing rather funny.

"Fuck off. All of you. Especially you, you sadist piece of shit," Kagura spat, shooting up to her feet and storming out of the living room. "I won't be your tool for this mission."

She ignored them calling her name to come back. She stomped to the front door and left, walking out onto the balcony and trying to cool her racing mind and thoughts by breathing in the calm of the night. A breeze had been blowing a little, making the air chillier than before, but she relished it, especially since it was keeping her from axe kicking the wood of the banister and cracking it to relieve her tension.

Kagura refused to take part in this awful plan. She was a born fighter with physical strength that exceeded most Amanto and humans and a ferocity that was better suited to brawls than something like entertaining men in the seedy district. She was not a tool to be used for a plan like this. What was she supposed to do? Have sex with every single man there while she did her investigation? Did they have any idea what they were trying to make her do? Once upon a time, Kagura might have thrown herself head first into the danger to try to make things right, but that wide eyed, selfless girl had long since departed. This was too much to ask, especially when what it entailed was something extremely personal.

The door opened and slid shut behind her and a few seconds later, she heard footsteps shuffling behind her, approaching her. The newcomer settled beside her, resting his arms on the banister, and she was assaulted with a familiar scent that used to throw her into rage whenever she caught wind of it. Kagura glared at Okita, irritated by his nonchalance and the way he always seemed to disregard her anger.

"What part of me storming out did you not get means I want to be alone?"

"The others designated me as the one to make sure you didn't take off. I guess I'm the only one who can take you on." The words were said with a degree of amusement that almost instantly snapped another thread of Kagura's irritation. Sometimes, she felt like he was truly trying to push her buttons on purpose to get her to start fighting him for no reason.

Kagura scoffed, flipping a loose piece of hair over her shoulder. "I don't recall you ever being able to beat me once."

He grinned, something kind of dangerous that was only amplified by the look in his red eyes. "We can settle that score right now."

"Pass," she said blandly. "And forget it. I'm not doing this job."

His gaze remained on the stars above their heads as he chose his words deliberately. "When did you become so spineless, China?"

Anger flared under her skin and she grit her teeth, her hands curling into infuriated fists around the wood. It was easy for him to be easily on board with this situation. After all, he would be safely away from lecherous men in a district where sex was sold without inhibition or hesitation. He wouldn't have to be violated and touched by people he didn't know. He had some nerve calling her spineless when he had one of the easiest jobs in this plan.

"Why am I the one that has to do it? Why not Ane-go? She knows more about seduction than I ever would."

Okita gave her a weird look. "Why would we send her? She's with child. Besides, she's publically known as Kondo's wife. If we expose her in this plan, she'll be killed without a second thought, especially since the bounty on Kondo's head is so high."

"Wait, she's pregnant?" Kagura could not have ever imagined Otae having little gorillas. Any other time, she might have laughed at the mental image that popped in her mind of the woman nursing hairy gorilla babies, but the humour of the image was staunched by the direness of the current situation.

"You really do live in your own little world, huh?" he said crossly, giving her a look out of the corner of his eye.

It couldn't be helped. Kagura had been largely out of touch with Earth and the people she used to know for several years. And while she'd slowly been reuniting with them since her return, there were many she had yet to talk to or see because most everyone she knew who'd opposed the bakufu was in hiding now.

But she didn't like the way he'd said the words, like she was a disappointment to him. It bothered her more than she wanted to admit. No, she didn't particularly care what that dumbass sadist thought about her, but over the years, they'd become something like working allies—not friends, but not enemies—so she did feel like she was letting someone on her team down.

"You know, you can sit there and call me spineless and think that this plan isn't that bad all you want," Kagura remarked quietly, staring at a ladybug traversing the wooden planks where her hands were resting, "but you're not doing any of the seducing. You don't have to bed these random men."

He stared at her, scrutinising her from her tone, but Kagura refused to look at him. Refused to let him see the fear that had etched its way in her eyes. She didn't like to show weakness, and she especially refused to show weakness in front of him. But even through her efforts, she could tell he'd already caught wind of it.

"Look, we'll do the best we can to make that a non-issue." Okita sighed in exasperation, scratching the back of his head. "We'll make sure to pay several days in advance for you once you start being one of the front girls. But there's only so much we can do. Like I said, it is a brothel you're going undercover in, which comes with certain tasks that must be fulfilled in order to maintain your cover. It's an unfortunate sacrifice you'd have to make, but that's why we're giving you a choice."

Kagura knew. She wasn't an unreasonable girl or stupid. She knew everything Okita was saying made sense, but she was scared. This wasn't a simple fight against an enemy she could beat up or a recon mission. She wasn't playing to her strengths, and she would almost entirely be out of her element in this plot. Girls who worked in the pleasure houses were graceful and seductive with a natural charm to them bred from years of feminine practices. Kagura had spent the better part of her adolescence beating up bad guys and getting into brawls, so this kind of stuff was lost on her.

"We just need someone on the inside who can investigate and who can protect themselves and the other girls. But they have to realistically be the type of girl who might work in a brothel."

It almost would have been a compliment, had she not seen the smirk that formed on his lips and realised the implication of his words.

"Oi…" she grumbled, sneering at him. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

His smirk grew, that familiar teasing gleam in his eyes present. "I personally think anyone other than a pig would work, but everyone else thought you'd be adequate."

"You want to go to your grave early, huh Sadist?" But her threat was lacking its usual punch. He had a point about the criteria for a girl to work in a brothel. Those pleasure quarters had pretty high standards and whoever they had to go with for the plan had to be someone who was fairly young and attractive. But on top of that, it had to be someone against NobuNobu who was willing to put themselves in danger for their plan. That probably hadn't left them with very many options. She wondered how they would have proceeded if they couldn't have requested her help. "If I said no, who was the original person you'd have gone with?"

"…Soyo."

"What?!" Kagura spun to face him, her eyes widening in disbelief and horror. "That would have been horrible! She would never be right for that kind of job. Plus NobuNobu and his men would instantly recognise her. She's too public a figure."

"Which is exactly why she would work," he explained, though he sounded just as displeased about the option in the first place. "It's a tragic story of royalty that lost its throne and ended up not being able to provide for herself except in one way. It's just enough that they might not suspect ulterior motives from her."

Kagura shook her head in disdain. "She's never properly learned to protect herself. How would she defend herself if she gets caught or attacked?"

"That's why we came to you. We can't think of any other options." Okita straightened, stretching his arms above his head with a satisfied grunt when the joints popped and cracked. "We need you for this job. I don't think there's anyone else who can handle this."

"I get it." She wasn't happy about it, but she did understand. "Shut up."

"We'll need your answer tonight. We've waited long enough, and girls keep disappearing. It's time to get this thing started, with or without you, so what's your verdict?" He turned around to head back inside and she watched as his ponytail swished behind him before he disappeared inside the worn down home of her once pseudo-father. "Make up your mind, China."

He didn't need to ask her to make up her mind. Kagura knew. She already knew her resolve to retain her refusal had been squashed with each of his words. And mentioning her old friend definitely hadn't helped. Kagura could only say no if no one else she cared about ended up pulled into this issue. But if she refused, she'd be putting Soyo in danger instead, and as much as Kagura lived for herself now, she was still that same girl who didn't want to see the people she cared most about hurt. Especially if she could prevent it.

With a final sigh of annoyance, she straightened up and headed back into Yorozuya, slamming the sliding door shut for good measure. When she marched into the living room, the patrons stared up at her expectantly, looking like they were holding their breath to see what she would ultimately decide to do.

"So what's the plan?" she said without prelude, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Hurry up before I change my mind."

Hijikata coughed in his hand to try to hide his smile and Tsukuyo nodded to her in appreciation and partly what seemed like an apology. Shinpachi didn't look too pleased, but Kagura figured it was because he didn't want her to put herself into the direct line of fire like this.

"There's a man named Tomoya at a pawn shop on the outskirts of Yoshiwara. We suspect he may be tied to the actual trafficking process, but we have no real evidence as of now," Hijikata explained while flicking his lighter against the butt of a fresh cigarette. "All we know is he provides new girls to the pleasure houses. He tends to aim for beautiful girls who don't seem to have families or a future. Less chance for them to be missed, I'm guessing."

"Kagura, you are to go down there to sell an item. Make sure you mention it is a family heirloom—the only thing left of your family—but that you cannot support yourself any longer," Tsukuyo continued, crossing a slender leg over the other. "Because you are beautiful, vibrant, and young, we suspect you will be propositioned to join the pleasure house for money, and you will do just that."

"Well that doesn't sound too hard," Kagura replied. She'd thought it would be a lot more work to get a job in the brothel. "So how do I get information once inside? Just get those higher ups to buy me and then beat them up for it?"

"I want to kill myself for even saying this," Okita muttered, leaning against Gintoki's desk with a raised brow. "But violence isn't the answer to the problem this time, China."

"He's right, Kagura," Hijikata said, his expression subdued. "This plan requires a little more tact and subtleties. It's risky because the minute they know we're on to them, they'll probably stop activities, so you can't make rash decisions or ones that will reveal your alliance."

"And above that, getting a chance to meet them is going to take a little more effort. The only way you will be close to being able to meet and associate with the other men is if you become a high ranking courtesan. But all women start as an apprentice once they're taken in. You'll probably entertain guests in the tea-house with music, dancing, and conversation, but you won't be doing anything one on one. Only high ranking courtesans will probably meet with the customers that pay the most, and only high ranking courtesans are put on display," Tsukuyo added. "The madam of the brothel wouldn't give her highest paying customers anything but the best."

Kagura should have known it wouldn't be easy. Complicated plans like this with several nuances never were.

"So how do I get to the top?"

"That depends entirely on your progress and how much you are desired by other customers. The sooner the better, so we'll train you so that it's a faster way to the top once you get in the brothel. As for customer reception, Okita as well as other disguised Shinsengumi members will continue to receive you to get your ranking higher."

"And what happens once I get to the top and become a high ranking courtesan at the front of the display? Will you guys have to pay more to see me?"

There was an awkward pause as people shifted their gazes away and stopped making eye contact with each other. Even Okita was averting his gaze, looking slightly guiltily at the ground. The foreboding feeling in the back of Kagura's mind grew uncomfortably. She knew exactly what the silence in the room meant.

"Kagura, once you get to the highest ranking, you will become highly requested and expensive. People will deposit large amounts just to spend a night with you."

"I will not spend a night with any random men," Kagura said angrily. There was a sick feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. "Isn't there a way you guys can override someone's request if you really want me or—"

"It wouldn't make any sense for the matron to turn down a much larger sum of money than the one we'll be paying for one courtesan if someone does desire you for a night," Okita interrupted. "She's a businesswoman first and foremost, China. Once she realises she can make a lot of money off of you, no doubt she'll take advantage of the situation. At that point, there's not much we can do. We don't have an unlimited pool of resources either so we can only keep you out of anyone else's hands while you're starting up. But after that, it won't be easy."

"You mean you're leaving me on my own," she snarled.

"Work fast," Okita said crudely in much the same tone, unperturbed by her growing vexation, "and you won't have to fuck a lot of men."

Kagura stiffened, her body flaring with heat and anger mounting at his callous words. She uncrossed her arms, ready to unleash hell on him, but someone else beat her to the punch.

"Sougo!" Hijikata scolded. "If you're not going to say anything productive, get the hell out!"

He shrugged, quieting though he was barely holding back the sardonic grin creeping on his face. The sick bastard thought the situation was funny.

"I don't like this," Shinpachi growled, speaking up for the first time since Kagura walked back in. "You haven't explored all options or done enough investigating, yet you're ready to throw Kagura into the fray blind? This is too risky."

"We don't have the luxury of time anymore, Shinpachi. Don't worry," Tsukuyo said, smiling to try to reassure him. "Okita will be sticking close by at all times."

"That's what I'm worried about…" Shinpachi stated, eyeing Okita with distrust.

"The rest of us will also be around investigating and can help her at times. She won't be alone," Hijikata added for good measure.

Shinpachi slumped back on the blue couch, nonplussed, but he quieted nonetheless. The situation was still clearly bugging him, but there was nothing he could do about it anymore, and without a valid alternative, they had no choice but to carry on with Kagura as the lead in the plan. Kagura felt for him, and she did appreciate his concern, but their options were really low and the more time they spent trying to fine tune the details, the more these shady dealings would continue happening. She didn't see what else they could do, no matter how much she was starting to hate this plan.

"There's a lot riding on this mission, Kagura." Hijikata's expression turned serious and he snubbed out his cigarette, his blue/grey gaze burning a hole into Kagura's retinas. Play time was definitely over, though she noted wryly, the irony of how dire their situation was that their earlier attempts to convince her was what could be considered "playtime" for them. "If this will help us even a little bit to defeat Nobu Nobu and get Edo back to the way it should be, then we have to put forth our whole effort, no matter the risk. Don't go into this half-hearted if you have no intention of giving it your all. We need you one hundred percent or not at all."

She was convinced she'd lost her mind to agree to something like this. But when she glanced at each of them in turn—Hijikata, Tsukuyo, and finally Okita—and saw the same small inkling of hope in their eyes, she couldn't help but feel a bit of that old energy she used to get when she used to go on missions with Shinpachi and Gintoki to stop crime and right the wrongs of the people around them."

Kagura sighed in resignation, sinking down onto her seat beside Shinpachi. This had to be done for the good of everyone. No matter how much she loathed the prospect, she knew she was probably their best bet—and their best hope—for success. This wasn't going to be easy, but she was nothing if not resilient and a born fighter. She could do this.

"I'm in one hundred."